Mike McDaniel – November 27, 2023
Download PDF version
Monday, November 27, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I wanted to ask you about running backs. With RB De’Von Achane, I know you said if he played, it wouldn’t risk major injury. Was it a pain issue or a mobility and movement issue on Friday? And is RB Chris Brooks ready to be designated to return this week?) – “It was more of all things involved, all variables. Knowing the team that we were going against, knowing short weeks and what you kind of need to be able to orchestrate a victory in those weeks, they’re always physical, they’re always fast. There’s always some uncertainty on both sides of the ball, in my opinion, because the bottom line is you are taking a full work week and cutting it in half, almost. So any uncertainty with things of that nature I didn’t think was very smart for him to put his best foot forward, and I felt good about what Raheem (Mostert) and Jeff (Wilson Jr.) were bringing to the table. So it just didn’t seem as prudent. There will be a lot of guys on short weeks or after short weeks where you’re already putting your body through a blender, so there will be a lot of guys that will be essentially day-to-day and will need all the time to game time. I’ll probably be in the same process with De’Von because I want to be fair to him. He knows how to play one way, so as he goes, he’ll tell me he can play. I already know that. But I’ll just be closely evaluating everything he does and making sure that we have a confident version of him, which is what the people want in general.”
(And RB Chris Brooks, any sense on whether he might be designated?) – “I think he’s pretty close to being able to start the window. Now it’s just a matter of negotiating all the other hoops that are involved in that. We have plenty of things to kind of filter through from an injury perspective from this past game and we’ll sort that out as the week goes. I know one thing, he’ll be ready to go when his window is activated because he is hungry to participate, for sure.”
(The other side of the short week is you have the long week after. Do you think that’s going to prove beneficial?) – “I think so. Just right now, it’s a little more cloudy, because you have more time (but) you know me about forecasting. I try to take it day by day. So it’s almost like you’re cloudier now, but I’m pretty confident that that will help as guys got some much needed rest. We had an active building in terms of rehab and just really player maintenance over the weekend. Guys are being very diligent and so I expect things to clear up as the week progresses. But right now, we are standing in muddy waters, my friend.”
(I feel like I could ask you about almost everyone on the offensive line.) – “Do it. (laughter)”
(The biggest question I guess I have would be about T Terron Armstead. How is he doing and will you be without him for the week?) – “It would have been interesting if it would have been a one-score game, what I would have seen from him because, we’re trying to do our due diligence. He has had his fill of watching football. So he’s going to be pressing me hard to play this week, I know. For me, I see it as week-to-week injury so we’re going to have to find a middle ground. But again, these are healthy things that I would much rather prefer, as opposed to trying to convince someone that they are capable of playing. We’ll see how that progresses. But as you guys have seen, I wasn’t just BS’ing when I was saying that I was very happy with the depth and how many NFL linemen we have on our football team. I think we’ve shown that we’ve been able to operate at a high level with all sorts of various alignments and that’s to the credit of a lot of players and coaches, and the personnel department on top of that. It could shake out a lot of different ways but that’s what the fun of December is right?”
(You were talking about how RB Jeff Wilson Jr. was going to be ready for the opportunity after he was inactive against the Raiders. I noticed that he gave the pregame speech before the guys broke out for warmups. I was curious, do you what goes into kind of anointing the person who does that? And what does that kind of say that it was him?) – “That’s good observant journalism right there. You’re right. He is a guy that has a strong role within the locker room. He kicked in the door fast and furious when he got here. He’s emotionally charged in competitive moments to a degree that he can bring along other people. And he knew that it was his time. He’d been patient, as patient as anybody that we’ve seen on this team. But now he was going to get the opportunities regardless how the game played out. Those type of sparks are invaluable down the stretch of a season. When you have guys littered among the roster that instead of sitting there and putting their head down and saying, ‘where’s my opportunity – me, me, me.’ Same scenario, just a different mindset of, ‘okay, here’s my opportunity. Now let me take all that patience.’ He’s been a great teammate and he’s been contributing each and every week in his own way. But when you take all the desire to perform and have it build in a healthy way, then when your opportunity is presented, you can make a tangible difference on an NFL Sunday or Friday, in this case. So that’s a cool part. He exemplifies what I see this team as, and it’s one of the reasons why I think the sky’s the limit for this team as we progress moving forward, is because there’s a lot of independent contractors just in general in the world and just in our society. And when you can get a group of people to work together for a common goal that’s bigger than themselves, you have a chance of doing some pretty cool stuff. It’s hard on short weeks in the division on the road. Regardless of what the narrative is, it is very hard to win in those scenarios by multiple scores, regardless of what either team is going through. But when you have people like that, when your team is littered with shots in the arm like Jeff Wilson can provide, it gives you have a chance to do some pretty cool stuff. He made some very, very important plays. He came out of the gate with intent. And against a physical team like the New York Jets are, you have to match and exceed if you want to win. I thought he did that and inspired others to do that.”
(Commanders QB Sam Howell has been sacked 55 times. That’s far away the most in the NFL. How does that affect a young quarterback and their play throughout the season?) – “I think each individual person, their journey is unique to themselves. I think there’s been times you can objectively say, yeah that hurts the development. But there’s been times that it hasn’t. I think Peyton Manning was sacked a ton, or was it picks? I can’t remember. But every individual’s journey, I think it’s important that for young players, it doesn’t turn to scars. It turns to lessons. I think it’s a whole orchestration of people that are involved in productive offense. He has been sacked a good amount, but I think he’s also making a ton of plays in the pass game. And I think as long as you’re making plays, you don’t want that to be the circumstance every year, but you can definitely survive it and continue to progress as a young player if that isn’t the only thing you’re remembering. I think they’ve made too many plays for it to be one of those scenarios. Because of all the plays he’s made, he’s in a situation where it cannot be a scar, but it can be lessons as he progresses with his game.”
(You have some history in Washington. What are your memories there and what will it be like visiting again?) – “There was a lot less command in Washington when I was there. You know what I mean? (laughter) I think it’s a different owner, different coaches. It’s pretty much different. I’m not sure who’s still there from when I was there. But I do remember a very, very passionate fan base. I didn’t realize the total scope of history and how big of a region call themselves Washington Commander fans. That was an interesting part. I remember – do you guys know what stink bugs are? There’s a lot of stink bugs in Virginia. I didn’t know what those were until I was there. Don’t step on them, because then they stink. (laughter) That’s on the top of my mind. There’s a lot of history in the area. As a history major, that was really cool. It feels like decades ago that I was there relative to what the place looks like now. I think it would be unfair to draw too many parallels from my time there. That’s like asking grandpa did guys hit hard when games were telecast in black and white? Relatively, I guess. It’s a good place that deserves some success and when they find it, which I’m sure they will, I have a ton of confidence and a lot of respect for Coach Ron (Rivera). Coach Ron, as he called it, was the first person that when I was trying to get a GA job coming out of college, I was writing letters all over the country, and he was one of the first people to actually respond to a letter to try to get me a job. He didn’t give me a job, but I have a lot of respect for him. He’s played in multiple competitive scenarios with Carolina as well. I’m sure they’ll get that place going sooner then later and hopefully if we have any say in it, it won’t be this week.”
(Is there anything new to report on LB Jaelan Phillips’ situation? Whether it be his possible connection with Jets QB Aaron Rodgers or Aaron Rodgers’ doctor or anything like that?) – “I think they’ve spent a lot of time consulting with a lot of different experts in the field. I think they’ve narrowed it down. They’ll probably have the exact formula, the exact surgeon and place of surgery here in the next 24 hours. They’ve been diligent trying to make sure they have all the information and all the different directions we can go and do what’s most comfortable for Jaelan, as well as the best thing for the Miami Dolphins football team.”
(Friday on the broadcast, they told a story about how you and your wife met. I felt like there were some gaps in that story. I was curious if you could possibly fill in those gaps for us?) – “Absolutely, I would love to. This was news to me. So yeah, I would say the skeleton of the story is correct. But there’s a couple important caveats. First of all, the perceived threat I made to a player was over the top a joke considering both he and I knew that as the running backs coach, I had no ability to say if he was there or not. It was more in gest. And then second of all, my wife was telling me people were talking about me stealing people’s girls. The dude had met her for 45 seconds. (laughter)”
(But you called dibs?) – “I kind of did but no, it was a light-hearted, very unique scenario. It was a special place in our memories, but I don’t think it was – I feel like I was painted out to kind of be a d-bag, and it wasn’t like that at all. (laughter) It was all nice. We were celebrating as a team and it was something that I think, Steve Baylark, the player that was dancing with her, was well aware when I made that joke in gest that it was more important to me then it was to him. And I’m pretty sure I was right. I have a family now. Good decision. (laughter)”
(Was it the dance moves that won her over?) – “Clearly. (laughter) It wasn’t my physical disposition, I promise you that. It was a cool, lightheaded story that I felt like took a turn, so I appreciate you following up. (laughter)”
(This pales in comparison in the grand scheme of important things that happened in your life, in light of that story, but T Kendall Lamm’s back. So he came back in for a few snaps late in the game. Is he well enough? Is he ambulatory? Do you think he can fill in for T Terron Armstead if needed?) – “(laughter) Especially after the shape he was in at the beginning of the day, you want to talk about an absolute warrior that has become such a big fixture in our locker room and is so important to us winning and losing football games. He proved it to even be able to be of strong service to us, in his mind, to just be able to go and orchestrate his job. That’s just a real – it speaks to him and who he is and how important this thing is to him. I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to be able to play this week, however there’s some obstacles we have to get through. That’s kind of the residuals of having that short game, having that type of issue. That’ll clear back up throughout the week but I’m very optimistic because of who he is.”
