Anthony Weaver – December 5, 2024
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Thursday, December 5, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(How much was LB Tyus Bowser missed in terms of setting the edge last Thursday? What does LB Mohamed Kamara need to do at this point needs to do to get to play?) – “Tyus (Bowser), whether he was missed, yeah, of course. I think Tyus has a presence out there, he’s just familiar with the scheme and he’s been through a lot of battles, particularly in those situations. But I don’t want to take anything away from ‘Q’ (Quinton) Bell. I thought ‘Q’ Bell went out there and played really well and continues to flourish when he gets opportunities, so excited about him. As far as Mo (Kamara) is concerned, he’s just a very young player who’s still trying to earn trust amongst his teammates and that only comes through consistent, repeated, positive action. When he’s out there, can he make plays, can he be impactful? Yes. As the games become more important, it’s hard to live through some of those potential rookie mistakes that can occur. Again pleased with where he’s trending, but practice is very much different than games against the opposing competition, particularly when you’re vying for playoff spots and things of that nature. As he continues to grow in his technique and fundamentals, his attention to detail and scheme, he’ll earn more reps.”
(Does LB Bradley Chubb look to you like he’s ready to play? I know that’s a decision that you, General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel et cetera will make collectively, but how close does he look to you to being able to help in an NFL game?) – “That’s difficult to say; I’m basing it off like seven full speed reps. I’m really just incredibly happy for the kid. I know the work he’s put forth just to get to this point. I’m sure it’s going to be some time just to gain confidence and get back to where he feels comfortable going out there and playing in an NFL game.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel noted that on film he saw some guys stopping their feet on defense, not running through the tackle. In all your years of experience, do you believe that that could be a result of the cold?) – “No. It’s one of those things where, as a coach, you’re always trying to predict what’s going to happen in the game. Our poor tackling in this showing was certainly one I didn’t see coming. Was it the cold? Who knows. Was it playing on a Thursday? Who knows. It could be a variety of things. You got to give credit to them, right, just in terms of breaking tackles. Josh Jacobs is not an easy guy to bring down. Do we need to be better in our technique and fundamentals and like wrapping up, driving our feet, not diving off the diving board? Absolutely, but I certainly wouldn’t attribute that to the cold. I’ve coached in Houston where we’ve gone to Green Bay and we’ve won, a number of places where it hasn’t been a concern. I certainly wouldn’t put that on the weather.”
(CB Storm Duck, the first quarter, the touchdown pass in front of him and then the RB Josh Jacobs run, he’s there. What about the teaching moments? I’m not criticizing him at all, I know he’s had a good rookie season. Do you put your arm around him? Do you yell at him? Does that depend on how each guy is? What’s your policy on that?) – “No, each one of these experiences for him are new. It was unfortunate in that particular game, the plays that kind of hit us, he was right by and really had a negative impact on those plays. They’re all learning experiences, and you try to make sure he understands why he didn’t have success on those particular plays and coach him through them. That way when those same plays present themselves again, he’ll now make the play with confidence. It does me no good just yelling at a kid, particularly if you don’t know if he’s been in those situations and you as a coach have kind of coached him through it so he can have the success. That’s all we try to do with him. Again, I have so much confidence in that kid. He’s stepped up for us in huge situations and certainly not going to lose confidence in him now.”
(I say QB Aaron Rodgers. You say?) – “Future Hall of Famer. He’s a stud. He’s one of the few guys left in the league that I’ve played with, right? Him and Calais (Campbell) and Marcedes Lewis would be another one. Has all the arm talent in the world, a lot like (Matthew) Stafford where there isn’t anything he hasn’t seen. A lot of times, if you’re not great with your disguise on what you’re showing pre-snap, he’s going to figure it out. You’re going to try to do everything you can to try to affect him with your rush, because that’s probably the one thing that he can’t really control. I’m going to put a lot of onus on the guys up front to have a good game, and when we do bring pressure, it’ll be calculated.”
(Did you sack Aaron Rodgers?) – “I did not. I did miss a sack on him, I do remember that.”
(What happened? Did you stop your feet?) – “It was really cold. (Laughter) I’m kidding, that is a joke. He was just faster than me. I was rushing off the edge, he bailed and kind of gave ground and ran around me and I lost the edge. Yeah man, heck of a player. He has weapons too, so we are certainly cognizant of those guys.”
(When you have a player like S Jevón Holland, obviously there were a lot of expectations for him coming into his career because of his talent level, how would you assess how he’s played? Do you feel like injuries and setbacks have impacted how he’s played this season and what you’ve asked him to do?) – “Yeah, I think just kind of being in and out of the lineup has certainly affected some of that. It’s unfortunate the stats haven’t been there for Jevón (Holland). When he’s on the field, you certainly feel his impact even though it may not show up necessarily on the stat sheet. I think the games he’s missed, you can feel it. Particularly on our side of the ball on some of those plays where you thought if he would’ve been there, those plays would have been made. I love Jevón, I think he’s a heck of a player. Those stats to me, they’ll come. They’ll come with the snaps.”
(Green Bay scores 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half. There were a lot of missed tackles in that series. What happened?) – “We were essentially in red two. They were in a three by one set, they motioned to it. Jordyn Brooks was kind of standing on the line, he can be in more relation to two there and then Storm (Duck) took a chance and went inside to try to make the tackle, missed it and ends up capturing the edge. Storm, again, another young player, needs to set the edge there, we’ll chase that thing from inside out and we’ll get him down on the ground – hopefully stop them from a first down, definitely shouldn’t score a touchdown. Prior to half, what really contributed to those three points was Jalen Ramsey, he missed a tackle on the tight end, I believe, on the sideline which kind of extended the drive and put them in more of a manageable field goal situation. Again, it was tackling in both of those cases, unfortunate. Don’t know why it happened, but that game – sometimes the ball just needs to bounce your way a little bit. We were about two feet away from having four takeaways. Third play of the game with (Zach) Sieler on the sack, how close was that to being a takeaway and a huge play in the game? Kader Kohou, the play he gets hurt on, the ball is in the air forever, very close to a takeaway. Jalen Ramsey on a corner blitz tips the ball, close to a takeaway, and then obviously a lateral that we all thought was a lateral where Siran (Neil) picks up and goes for a tug. The missed tackle, they stink, definitely didn’t see that happening. Don’t anticipate that happening again, hoping that was a lesson so when we play cold games and hopefully they are meaningful ones in the end, we have no excuse. We’ve been there, we know what we need to do. But sometimes the football gods just aren’t shining upon you man. The guys played hard and I think that showed the second half. They didn’t stop trying to score points in the second half. If they could’ve scored 50, they would’ve scored 50 – they scored six. Did we miss a couple tackles in the second half too? They had a checkdown go for like 40 something yards to the running back. Yeah, it stinks but there are play of opportunities there to be made, and unfortunately in this particular game, we just didn’t make them.”
(CB Siran Neal’s play, is that one that you guys submit to the league and see what they say?) – “I don’t know who submits what to the league. What, do you get an apology letter like – if it happens enough times, I’m still going to lose my job. (laughter) They don’t care, like ‘Hey, sorry we messed up.’ Great, is this official going to stand in front of you guys and do this? I don’t think so. (laughter) God bless them, they have a difficult job. But again, I think sometimes the football gods got to shine upon you man. You’ve got to make those things happen.”
(How tough was that to stomach?) – “I’ve been in this league a long time, man. I’ve had some – that AFC Championship loss last year stings a lot more than this one. Again, I think there’s lessons to be learned in this game that hopefully pay dividends in those two games that ultimately will be cold in Cleveland and New York at the end of the season.”
(LB Jordyn Brooks is an aggressive, physical player. He had a few aggressive, physical plays. After the game, he kind of opened some eyes when he said he thought that the overall defensive performance was soft. You’ve heard the comment, what was your reaction to it?) – “I think that’s Jordyn (Brooks) – it’s one of those things when you’re talking after the game, you’re reacting purely off emotion. I’m sure that once he watched the tape, I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his tune, because that game, the missed tackles you could say they kind of equate to softness in the moment, but when you see why they occurred, you would see that softness had nothing to do with it. I give credit to the Green Bay Packers for just making plays and making us miss.”
(Talking about the bad luck, I can think back to the Buffalo loss, you guys had a tipped pass on that last drive that could’ve been picked off as well. The Cardinals game when Kyler Murray had his arm going forward, Calais Campbell swats it back and bounces right back to him like a basketball. My question is how much do you harp on that or what is the teaching point when you have defensive meetings? Are you showing guys that being like we have to keep coming because this could happen or do you not focus on that?) – “I think the first thing you do is you make sure you’re hopping on every loose ball regardless of whether you know what happened – that was case in point with Siran (Neal). The other thing you’re just trying to coach is where is that tenth of a second, can that be gained? Is that better timing on a blitz, is that not being in your stance ready to play? Now rather than just being there and getting there for the tip and him just having control of the ball, now you’re being there a second early and that ball is out. It’s always those little intricate details that you’re trying to coach guys through that takes them from good to great.”
(Obviously you have a talent in CB Jalen Ramsey who is comfortable, efficient and familiar with shadowing a player. From a defensive coordinator’s standpoint, I want to know the cons to having a player shadow a guy?) – “I think the stress isn’t on Jalen (Ramsey) so much as it puts pressure on everybody around them to know their jobs. When you can play somebody into the boundary or at a particular position, then everybody else, they kind of fall into place and just know they’ve got to learn that one particular spot. Once you start moving guys around, there’s a trickle down with everybody around them. To me, that’s where the weight is. The weight is on the other guys to kind of, ‘Hey, this guy is sitting at No. 2 in the slot, now I’m this. This guy is No. 1 to the boundary, now I’m this.’ It’s all the pieces around them that have to know how they fit together based on where that guy is now.”
(So I’m guessing CB Jalen Ramsey isn’t shadowing anyone on Sunday?) – “We’ll find out. We’ll find out on Sunday.”
(When CB Jalen Ramsey is in the nickel, obviously I’ve heard the theory that you always want your best players closer to the ball and the line of the scrimmage, especially somebody as physical as him. What are the pros and cons to him being in there at the nickel spot?) – “I think the pros are just what you said, he’s around the ball, he’s around the action. You can feel his presence more in both his physicality in the run game, I’ve seen the guy set edges on tackles where a lot of nickels aren’t capable of doing that, and then obviously you can blitz him. You have a little bit more blitz flexibility when he’s there. The negatives to that are your potential matchups on the outside, if you don’t have a player that you feel confident in, particularly if there’s a size deficiency or things of that nature, and then sometimes, his skill set isn’t necessarily perfect for some of those jitterbug guys that you have at the slot position. He’s kind of straight line, fast, has good change of direction, but you get some of those guys like the Wes Welker types back in the day from a matchup standpoint, just doesn’t work in your favor. So you kind of pick your spots based on opponent, based on what we’re trying to do that week schematically. The beauty when Kader (Kohou) is out there is you really don’t know when we’re going to pop it out on you from an offensive perspective. When you have to substitute it, as soon as you trot a guy in, they’re going, ‘Hey, 5 is going to nickel,’ and you lose that element of surprise.”
(How do you like to explain to players how to handle the opposing quarterback going into a slide, possibly going into a slide, might be stepping out of bounds, might not? It seems real delicate, how do you go about that?) – “That is incredibly difficult, and you’re obviously referencing the kid in Houston situation. I think throughout the week, you always watch what’s in this quarterback’s DNA, what’s he done in the past. Really, Trevor Lawrence in the past, he’s been a guy that wasn’t sliding a whole lot. He was going to try to run through you, he’s a big dude, so I could understand why something like that could occur. You would hope that – again, the onus is on the defensive guy and rightfully so. Those guys are protected for a reason and I get it. You just hope that if you see a guy going in that slide position, you have to pull up. You don’t have a choice, and I know that’s a difficult thing but it’s no different than the Poyer hit in the Buffalo game. That is such a bang-bang play, and for him to hit somebody, even when you say in the strike zone and not make contact with the helmet, it’s so much easier said than done. It’s terrible for both parties, for all parties involved. As a defensive guy, again, I err on the side the aggression, but if you see that, you have to try and pull up.”
(You mentioned the slide thing, and I can understand how that’s a difficult play, but I always wonder about the sideline plays too. Especially you see Patrick Mahomes always doing this, and that was the Gardner Minshew and Jevón Holland.) – “Yeah, you’ve seen it with (Gardner) Minshew and Jevón Holland. You’ve seen it with (Patrick) Mahomes where he looks like he’s going to go out and then he turns it up for another six or seven yards. Again, we’re going to try to hit you and if that’s what you’ve shown on tape, don’t be surprised if you get hit late.”
Danny Crossman – December 5, 2024
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Thursday, December 5, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(If you could take us through, on the first punt, what WR Malik Washington should have done?) – “In a perfect world, he recognizes the spin, plays the drift and catches the football with a fair catch. In the scenario that transpired, once you lose the rhythm of the ball, don’t make a bad play worse. So in that case he should have aborted and got out of the way.”
(There was another play, this was the second time I think in three weeks or four weeks, where WR Malik Washington fielded a punt at the five-yard line, and in both instances there was a penalty on the return where the team was backed up to start on offense. Do you have a set rule as you’re inside the 10, leave it alone or do you leave it up to their discretion?) – “There’s several different guidelines we use and it’s based on a lot of things. It’s based on where the ball is being punted from, what’s the space, what’s the call, are we in a single, are we in double, what are we playing on the gunners in terms of them getting down the field, so there’s a lot of things that go into that. We have great confidence in Malik (Washington), but those are some of the – like every position across the board, there’s growing pains with young players and that’s part of it. We got to minimize them, but that’s part of the National Football League and young players. But we have complete confidence, and we’ll keep working and keep practicing and hopefully those things turn the other way.”
(Am I safe in assuming in a perfect world you’d rather he not field a punt at the five-yard line?) – “Absolutely not, that’s not what I’m saying. It depends on the situation. There’s times that that’s a good play. There’s times that that’s maybe not the right play. So there’s a lot of things that go into it situationally in the game.”
(He seemed to slip on that and a lot of guys – I mean the field was what it was. Was there cleat issues?) – “Well most of our guys were wearing seven studs and didn’t have a lot of issue. You could see going into the game and historically there, that’s always been a little bit of an issue. Whether it’s the late day dew games or the night games when it’s colder with the surface being heated from underneath. Again, that’s part of it and understanding don’t make a bad play worse, to put it in the simplest terms. And that’s, regardless of position, one of the things we try and echo.”
(What is the skill with WR Malik Washington that makes you think he can be a good punt returner long term?) – “When a young player comes in who doesn’t have a lot of history, that’s an opportunity to help make the football team, and a lot of guys that have the skill set of a returner or a defensive back, who have good ball skills, who understand reading a football in the air and adjusting to it, have an opportunity. Now it’s going to be different when you have bodies involved and people run at you, but he’s done a great job on developing from when we got him in the draft and like I said, we’re so happy to have him. We just got to eliminate some of the issues on this climb to what we feel is a very good player.”
(One more thing about WR Malik Washington. He’s a very tough kid, isn’t he? He took a big hit that game. I thought I saw him knock down LB Lukas Van Ness, No. 90 from the slot, right?) – “He’s a lot of the things that we’re looking for. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical. He’s a good football player, but as I said, we’ve got eliminate some of the small things with young players. Again, that’s part of it. You hate to say it and you hate to live with it, but there’s a long, long list of things that we really like about him as a player.”
(How hopeful are you to have LS Blake Ferguson for Sunday?) – “Again, that’s a work in progress. We just opened his window and finally able to get some work on the field. We got a little bit yesterday, we’ll get more today, so that’s a work in progress.”
(On the opening kickoff, it looked like LB Chop Robinson and LB Channing Tindall got blocked, but DB Elijah Campbell was right there. Should he have taken on that blocker, or should he have tried to make the tackle?) – “Well, he did take the (blocker). We had two guys sort of play into one another, so that put us in a little bit of a bind, and then there was a lot of space then for Elijah (Campbell) to have to defend. Like anything, there’s some plays that you see where you can look at one major issue and point the finger at it. That play, we had a couple things, maybe non-ideal location on the kick, two guys end up in the same gap to create a lot of space, and again like we’ve talked about in here, against a very, very good player. So you put those things together and they’re at their 43-yard line to start the game.”
(This has nothing to do with your team, but I’m curious. Maybe the best kicker of all time has had trouble, how much – you’re in this position, and not to ask about him obviously, but in general – how much of kicking is mental?) – “A large part of it.”
(Like what? What percentage would you put?) – “I wouldn’t, but when you take – I’m going to put Justin Tucker in the exceptional player at a position. When a guy that’s had the success that he’s had and until this year, had the one hiccup maybe eight or nine years ago where he had a little bit of an issue in a year, but every other year he’s going to be 95.0 percent. Unless you see something jump out at you physically, which I don’t see because he’s still striking the ball at a high level, the mental part, it’s big. I don’t want to put a number on it, but it’s not talent, that’s for sure.”
(Have you had, and again, this isn’t about your team, but in your career have you had kickers – things just mentally something happening to them?) – “Oh, absolutely and it’s part of it. I’m not going to – we had a year where we had a guy start of 16-for-16 with several game winners and overtime winners and the next two games, he missed three kicks in one game and first kick of the next game. So a guy that’s 16-0 with multiple game winners all of a sudden missed four out of five kicks. And again, it’s part of the process. That just is a position where when you’re not out there a lot and there’s only one thing that people expect and want to see, when that’s not executed, the magnifying glass is on it.”
(I wanted to ask you about Green Bay and the kickoffs. Was that weather related and are you going to see more shorter kickoffs because of the change in the climate, change in the weather? And is there truth that the ball gets heavier, harder when it’s cold?) – “It gets harder and doesn’t compact as much is what happens. It doesn’t get heavier, but like anything – take a ball and put it in the freezer just for fun, and then try and squeeze it and you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, that’s a different animal.’ So obviously without the ball compacting as much, it’s not going to travel as far. So yeah, I think anytime when you start getting cold, it can have a factor, but I go back to last year when we played in Kansas City in the playoff game, by the end of that game both kickers are kicking touchbacks. It’s a moving target and some days guys are hitting the ball well, some days they’re not, then you add obviously the game plan part of it in terms of what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to kick the ball. But simple rule though, yes. Wind and cold you’re going to see probably more opportunities in the return game.”
(How did S Patrick McMorris do?) – “Did good for his first time out. It’s always good to see guys that put in the work that get injured in the preseason and have to go four months before they get an opportunity. Again, another good, young player that we’re excited to have and get more on his plate and see where it goes.”
(You guys had a field goal where Green Bay jumped. Your guys didn’t move. From scrimmage, wouldn’t the offense touch the defensive guy and get the penalty? Is that different on special teams?) – “No, it’s not different but you don’t need (to). As soon as that guy crosses, that’s such a, for a lack of better terms, face-to-face play. There’s not a lot of separation there, as soon as that guy breaks the neutral zone, he almost is in fact touching us before we even have a (chance). But it was a nice job with the cadence, being able to get the five back to be able to come back, bring the offense back on the field and get the first down. You look at all those not change of possession, change of possession plays where you’re able to get the offense back to get the first down. Those plays are so – that guy moves, it’s almost impossible for him to not have contact – but the rule stays the same.”
(I know we talk about things that weren’t called and if you expect a call. Did TE Julian Hill get a block in the back on a kickoff return?) – “You know I can’t comment on that. But as I look at it, whichever team that would be on, I would have expected that call to be made. If it was us on the return team, I would have expected that to be a call.”
(And then on field goal, this is very minor. You made some changes on the line, T Jackson Carman not there anymore – OL Liam Eichenberg and DT Da’Shawn Hand were out during the game.) – “Well, a lot of that has to do with the game day. Who’s active, who’s inactive.”
(The punt that WR Malik Washington muffed, when that ball is rolling around it looked like CB Siran Neal and LB Quinton Bell had a chance. I know it’s tough, can you teach how to recover that?) – “Well yeah we do, and those are drills you do.”
(I mean that ball’s just hopping around, and Green Bay is there too.) – “Their guy is getting ridden out by two guys blocking him so him having first access. Those are all how and when to recover kicks, yeah, that’s part of some of the drill stuff you do, absolutely.”
De’Von Achane – December 4, 2024
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
RB De’Von Achane
(You’re probably the only person that chose another teammate’s charity foundation, The Tua Foundation, for you cause and cleats. Why did you make that decision?) – “He’s on my team, why not? He’s my QB1, so I can’t go wrong with choosing his foundation. There is a lot of people with their own foundations. I thought why not go with Tua (Tagovailoa); you can’t go wrong with that.”
(The last four games, not as much team rushing production as the previous four when you guys were on a hot stretch. What do you think has lead to that and what can you guys do to get back into some rushing production?) – “I just feel like teams just realized we were running the ball a lot so they started putting people in the box, but that just gets us going and opens up me in the pass game. I feel like we’re not going to get away from it, keep going but it’ll just open up different things for us.”
(How difficult was that fourth down situation or that goal line situation for you guys not to be able to physically punch it in?) – “It was frustrating. Like you said, we always want to score when we’re down in the red zone, and I feel like us scoring right there would’ve changed the game. If we score that touchdown, I feel like we go into a one possession game and the game is different. The outcome is different, we have momentum and we go down and get a stop, the whole game changes.”
(What do you think the Jets defense does well?) – “They got a great defense from their d-line to their DBs. I feel like they got a great defensive line. They come up the field and get to the QB. I feel like us, this is our first time playing this year, but we also play them twice, so I just feel like we got to key on the details and learn from when we first play them to the second time.”
(You had the guardian cap on and now you’ve gone a few games now without it. What was that decision making process?) – “There was no decision. I wore it to begin because of my mom, but I just felt like I didn’t need it anymore. I got a better helmet, so I just felt like I don’t need to wear it anymore.”
(Did you change your helmet?) – “Mmhmm.”
(OK, what was it then? What is it now?) – “It’s like the same, it’s just got more cushion inside.”
(In terms of this team, how critical is it to finish out strong? I guess you know the odds of what happens if you lose a game the rest of the way.) – “At this point on, I think every game is a playoff game. We know we’ve got to play every game like it’s our last, and I feel like that puts us in a position to go out here and make sure everybody puts it all on the line, 100%. I feel like we can’t take no days off.”
Tua Tagovailoa – December 4, 2024
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Obviously you don’t play Aaron Rodgers, but what’s it going to be like being across from him, playing a team that he’s on considering how much he’s accomplished throughout his career?) – “I would say first off, a lot of respect to Aaron (Rodgers) and what he’s done throughout the course of his years playing at Green Bay. Obviously, we got to play against him two years ago, and he’s a Hall of Famer. Whether he looks like the same way he did in years past or not, you’re just going up against greatness regardless. The mindset that he has and to be able to still play at his age is really remarkable, and I’ve got a lot of respect for his game with how he goes about his business and how he does his things. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
(Does it feel like this matchup was a long time coming? It was so long ago that he went there and then missed last year and you face him for the first time late this year, so it’s been like I don’t know how many months-) – “Yeah, it’s been a long time coming but it’s super cool. I’m excited to see him go out there and have fun with his guys and play. Hopefully they don’t do too good against our guys, but we’re going to come out there and we’re going to compete as well and just admire good football if he goes out there and does his thing.”
(I think Aaron Rodgers turned 41 this week. Can you imagine yourself at age 41 still in the NFL?) – “I don’t know. I don’t know, that’s a long way to go for me. That’s a long way to go for me, so I’ll take it one year at a time – 26 feels good right now.”
(I’m sure you’ve heard the questions and concerns about this team’s toughness. As one of the leaders, how do you respond to people saying that this team is not tough mentally, physically, can’t handle the cold?) – “I would say that comes more from an individual in the way that I look at it. It comes from individuals and collectively you’ve got to all have that same mindset, that’s why we have team football, that’s why you’re in team sports. I think you’ve got to look at it as are you mentally tough and are you physically tough, they have to go hand in hand. If one of those things has a kink in it, it could go one way or the other. That’s what I would say with that.”
(How did you assess your game personally in the cold? Are there some positives that you can take away for the next time you’ll be in those environments?) – “There’s positives and there’s negatives, especially when you lose. There’s things that you wish you could have had back in that game, and there’s things that we just needed to clean up and be better with and more crisp.”
(You’re not new to the idea of people having a lot to say about you, whether it’s your play, the team you’re on or whatever. With some of the narratives, as Head Coach Mike McDaniel calls it, do you or the team feel like you have something to prove?) – “I think we as a team, as a collective team, we think we always have something to prove. Whether things are going right or things are not going right, everyone is going to have something to say whether you’re doing good or whether you’re not doing good. Sometimes guys read into it and they read too much into it and you can get it. And it goes both ways, right? Whether you lose and then you go down the rabbit hole of trying to respond to people, or when you win and you buy into what everybody is telling you and what not. I feel like that’s something that – around the league, it’s not just us – that is something that will forever be a battle for a lot of the guys playing in professional sports.”
(How surprised are you this team is 5-7?) – “Very surprised. I don’t think that shows the character of who we are as a team. It doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together. Nobody else will say it but me, and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself obviously putting myself in harm’s way in the second game, going down – basically leaving my guys out to dry, that’s what I would say. Anyone can have an opinion about, ‘It’s football. It’s this, it’s that.’ I do take heart to that as well and still don’t want to do that to my guys again.”
(Speaking of which, there was obviously a play that got a lot of attention this past weekend with Trevor Lawrence. When you saw that play, you thought what?) – “Well I actually heard from a couple teammates what had happened and they were having conversations about it, then I went and looked at the play, that was crazy. I thought that was crazy. He was giving himself up and defensive guy came and smoked him. Then again, I don’t know the reaction time with being a defender trying to go and make a play on a guy, so like I don’t know all the logistics with that but I felt like he did have time to sort of, even if he was going to launch, he could’ve launched out of the way knowing that Trevor was giving himself up. To that, I hope Trevor is doing OK. I hope his family is OK. I know that can take a toll on your family more than yourself sometimes, and I hope his wife is OK as well.”
(There was a comment that Tom Brady was suggesting that maybe there should be a penalty if quarterbacks slide too late, trying to take a look from the defender’s point of view. How do you weigh all of that? I’m sure it’s – things happen so fast, it’s got to be difficult.) – “Yeah, that’s what I would say too, it’s difficult, and I would say for the defender for sure because they’re trying not to give up as many yards as possible. So for them, it kind of goes against what they’re trying to do essentially. I’m glad I don’t make up the rules and I’m glad I’m not in any of those meetings to give my two cents or whatever. I’m glad those guys in the higher ups are going to be able to talk about that one.”
(On a lighter note, I wanted to ask you about Moana 2. I saw you took your teammates and a lot of the younger kids to the movie. My personal opinion is Moana is the best Disney movie because it’s educational about cultures. As somebody who is popular, infamous – you represent your culture, very popular to Samoan and Polynesian community. How important is that representation to you? Not just the movie, but knowing that an entire culture of people look up to me?) – “I think it’s really cool, and when you look at it, it’s so cool because maybe a lot of people don’t understand that it’s necessarily not one culture; it’s many different cultures sort of mixed into one. Now in Moana 2, you kind of see more of other cultures than you did in the first Moana where it kind of felt like it was more Samoan, more Tongan, you can see some Hawaiian in there. And then in Moana 2, you can see Māoris in there, you can see Fijians are in there as well. You can see a little bit if you know or if you can understand, and I thought that was cool. My personal opinion, I didn’t think the songs were as good as Moana 1. Maybe that’s a hot take. (laughter) But I thought the songs in the first Moana stuck more than the second one. Overall the kids enjoyed it, glad we got to get out with a couple of teammates and spend some time with their kids and their families.”
(How much is the tattoos and the things like that about representing who you are and having all those kids look up to you?) – “Yeah, it definitely is a representation of who you are and your ethnic background. Different meanings of symbolism and you can sort of tell, ‘Oh this guy is Māori because the way his tattoo looks. This guy is Tongan, this guy is Samoan.’ But yeah, they just all have different ethnic background meanings to them.”
(And what are you?) – “Samoan. And then Hawaiians have their own as well. They also had in Moana 2 a good amount of Hawaiian ordeals in there, too.”
Chop Robinson – December 4, 2024
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
LB Chop Robinson
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about Jets QB Aaron Rodgers today, about facing greatness. Your first go around to face Aaron Rodgers, what are your thoughts on that?) – “Aaron Rodgers has been in the league since I was like, I think I was 1 year old in his first year, so it’s been a long time, a guy that I grew up watching and I’m just excited to go against him. He’s been in the game for a long time, went against honestly everybody, seen everything, so it’s just honestly going out there and just scheming him out.”
(I know you look up to LB Bradley Chubb, what was it like finally getting the chance to practice side-by-side with him?) – “It was crazy. I actually told him when we were warming up, I was like, ‘Damn, I’m actually on the field with you now. First off, we were just in the film room, out there on the field just side-by-side, but now I’m actually working with you.’ I was like, ‘that’s crazy.’ He was like, ‘yeah, we’re going to keep it going.’ So it’s just a dream come true and I’m just blessed.”
(When you watch the highlights, or any of his tape from last year, what do you notice?) – “He’s just very relentless. I’ve been watching him since he was back at N.C. State, so I feel he’s been the same guy in college. He elevated in some things, but him, just his effort and just going, especially in his pass rush. He’s just going, he never stops. That is something I wanted to take from his game.”
(On Aaron Rodgers coming back from that injury. Some are saying that his age is showing, tell me what you see in this quarterback right now, at his age and the situation the Jets are in.) – “To me, from when he first started playing to now, I feel like he’s still doing things that’s amazing. Especially at his age, he’s a little older now, so just doing the same thing he was doing back then, just not as much because of his age. But to me, he still looks like Aaron Rodgers out there.”
(I bet you’ve had a lot of these moments through your rookie season when you’re on the same field playing against guys who you remember watching when you were a kid. Does it seem like it’s getting old either? Cause it’s kind of like you’re getting your craft going, but you’re also soaking in some pretty amazing stuff.) – “Yeah, I’m just soaking it all in. You only live once. This has been a dream my whole life to get to the league, to not only be here, play with guys that I’ve been looking up to since I was in high school and everything like that. Honestly, I’m just blessed and soaking it all in day by day.”
Mike McDaniel – December 4, 2024
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Last month the running game is at 2.96 yards per carry. Are you at the point where you’re considering personnel changes either potentially at guard or giving more carries to RB Raheem Mostert or maybe carries to RB Jeff Wilson Jr. who obviously has the toughness which every team likes? Are you considering any of those personnel changes?) – “I’m considering not telling you and the Jets our game plan, but yeah, I think rest assured there is never anything that, first and foremost, that I don’t take on personal responsibility for. That’s the job and your job is to try to problem solve, find solutions for players, scheme and results. And so there’s a lot of things at bay. This is the same conversation in ways that we were having prior to I think the New England game and much of the NFL season is finding solution, not necessarily overreacting to result; but taking result very seriously as it should and trying to benefit your team with some solutions in personnel, schematic. Those are very much all on the table always in situations that you don’t have the results you want.”
(What do you think of facing Jets QB Aaron Rodgers as a Jet for the first time ever? It feels like that move happened so long ago.) – “You’re pumped as a competitor to go against greatness for sure. Outside of that, I think there’s challenges that each and every team present and those challenges are specific to scheme and players and one of the best to ever – like a lot of people throw footballs in general and when you’re top tier of those who have ever done it, it presents its own challenges, but you attack that with a collective effort, tonality. For him, you’re talking about how we defend pass routes, how pass rush is, how run defense is because he’s a very, very difficult quarterback to go against when it’s run pass even. When you don’t know if it’s run or pass and have to defend both, he’s an elite ball thrower. So I think it’s kind of weird that it did happen so long ago and it’s the first time just based upon where the season is at and where the schedule fell, but looking forward to the challenge and very much focused on that.”
(Do you want your guys looking at social media right now knowing that things could be negative? Do you want them to use that as fuel or do you want them to totally ignore that?) – “I think I’m fortunate enough to be – I think I was in college when the iPod came out and the first Nokia cellphone and when Facebook started. So I acknowledge how ever-present (social media is). Like it would be if I’m asking them to not be on social media, maybe I feel better, but I’m more so like I’m trying to be in front of expectations of what things occur. Like literally it’s like clockwork each and every year. Your expectations need to be settled when results aren’t what you want. Listen, there’s a lot of people, fans that really want to see you do well. And I know one thing: when something doesn’t go your way and you have no control over it, it’s maddening. So stuff is going to be said. What I talked to the team about is yeah, expect it and – I think it’s kind of ironic – to expect something else would be… you’re entitled to something that other people don’t get. This is a big boy business. The people that don’t know your situation will have a lot of comments on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, but you can’t on one side of your mouth get mad about that and then accept the cheering and the praise. It’s one of those things that right, wrong or indifferent; in this generation, it is noisy either way. So I’m either coaching, managing expectations through success, trying to keep people levelheaded or trying to not have people worried about the wrong stuff when stuff that they can’t control in terms of what people say after a result that our team can control – we lose a game and as a head coach, I expect it. I’m not looking to be above and beyond and I think the more that you can talk to players about understanding the why, I think the better off you are. But to be absolved of the noise is impossible unless you are extremely antisocial for a lot of these guys.”
(The idea of toughness has been talked about this team a lot. Do you think that toughness is something that comes from the players or it has to come top down? Like can you instill a tough attitude in this team or is it if the players don’t have it, they don’t have it?) – “I think again, I expect any and all things to be on the table when we don’t fulfill first and foremost our own expectations which we haven’t hid from and fallen short. I think you have to be – as a coach, I try not to focus on anything but factual things that can improve players and teams. So if I have an example of weakmindedness or situations where a guy is turning something down or how he’s loafing because of a result; those are things I can coach. And I think you bring to attention – I think holding people accountable is part of how as a coach you can impact toughness. I think overall it’s a violent, competitive sport that when things don’t go your way, a lot of things get thrown out there. Who’s to say who’s right or wrong. If you disagree with that sentiment, to me, there’s only one emotional reaction and that’s the focus on proving that wrong. But to sit here and debate ‘tough, not tough’ – all I know is dudes are aggressively tackling each other, taking on hits and I assess the tape because that to me is fact. You could hypothesize innumerable amounts of things whether it’s player, coach, all that and in situations where if you’re worried about the toughness of your team, to me, you study the effort, intentionality and how people are playing when things are tough, when things are down. So to answer your question, I’m very aware that the narrative exists and with absolute certainty I know the narrative will exist unless it changes; there’s one way to change it and that’s winning a game against the New York Jets and you know what? People still might not call you tough. Cool. I’m very much – I take it very serious that as a head coach, to be responsible for things that can help, to be accountable and to bring forth information that’s actually helpful, not finger pointing. Accountability is first and foremost for me and then players, you can’t hide in this league game after game, so we’ll either have people talking about our toughness or we won’t.”
(Were there a few turn downs or loafs on defense that angered you?) – “I am alive, I have ears and eyes and I hear the stuff after the game. So the coach in me is very like, ‘turn the page’ and I’m like a hawk eye. I’m looking at each player and not only what they’re doing but as a coach you have like a filing system of like, ‘I’ve seen this player in this situation multiple times’ and I saw strain, I saw technique and fundamentals that fell short as the game progressed; but it wasn’t turning down. For me the tackling – if you go and look at it – every missed tackle you have a defender whose feet are stopped at the point of attack. I understand in the heat of the moment and the frustration especially when you put so much into it. I can understand right after a game, players feeling X, Y or Z. So I think it’s important as the head coach that I have factual evidence and then we go as a team and assess it. And it would have been ugly if there were guys loafing or turning it down from a team perspective, but that’s why you do things as a team, because however motivating I am, it’s not as motivating as that locker room and peer-to-peer accountability. For me we have enough leaders that it’s important to that if that gets on the radar, I’ll have four or five players demanding that they’re not on the field with a guy and that’s what you want.”
(I know there’s a lot to be gleaned from the next couple days in terms of how LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cameron Goode look in practice since we haven’t seen them in a long time, but given that it’s very rare for you to open a window and have that player play that Sunday, can you rule out that either or both might play or where do you stand with that?) – “To me it’s really easy with guys that have – their window is opened because of them. I think there’s nothing more difficult as a player than getting injured at the end of a season, having to rehab through the offseason and start the season in that same regard. So you want to talk about having to be intentional and deliberate with your daily activities and mentally strong; so them having their window opened is something they earned and I don’t discount what you’re saying at all. I think you’re dead-on, I think it is rare; however I wouldn’t take an opportunity away from someone that was ready for it especially when they dive so deep to get the opportunity. So that’s why I kind of just let it play out literally not for any sort of competitive advantage or whatever; I’m going to let the players play, watch the film of themselves, go back to practice again with pads on, do the same thing again. And then right, wrong or indifferent; if a guy feels 100 percent ready to play that has done what they’ve done in front of their teammates – the walkthrough today, it was really cool to see the response of teammates when those guys got reps. And when they’re ready, which I’m also not trying to – like my expectation is that that takes time. It is the first football practice in a year. So I’m not expecting anything, but you don’t rule it out just because. Bottom line is want them and their earned opportunity when they feel ready to execute what’s asked of them and that they’re able to play, and fortunately with those two guys, such a great relationship with them and I trust them that I won’t have to – we’ll be able to talk through it and be responsible because they’re competitors but they also understand that they want to be right, too, for the team.”
(What type of work are you expecting them to get? Are they going to get looks work or base defense work this week?) – “Both. You’re understanding that their window is open, but time will tell if they’re playing. You can’t shortchange the people that are playing right now to not be ready for the game. They also can’t take every rep, so you get them involved and in the process, but you can’t overdo it. But their game has to be right so how do you make it up? You make it up on look teams as well, so you try to balance it that way so that everyone is afforded the appropriate opportunity for this Sunday.”
(I think last week LB Anthony Walker Jr. shouldn’t miss extensive time. How is he doing and how did LB Tyrel Dodson also do with his opportunity?) – “So ‘Walk’ (Anthony Walker Jr.) is doing well, intentionally not practicing today, but if I know ‘Walk’ I’m expecting to see him tomorrow and we’ll be prudent with that. ‘TD’ (Tyrel Dodson), like I can’t say enough good things about him. Coming in here and being a Mike linebacker and assimilating with his teammates and earning their respect; for me as a head coach, I can observe from a mile away when players earn the respect of their teammates simply by how they interact and how they celebrate or how they communicate and I think it just says a lot about him how the confidence of the defense didn’t waver with a guy communicating calls to each and every one of them that they just heard his voice for the first time a couple weeks ago. So I think he did a phenomenal job being ready to play starting-caliber football in this defense and doing so with a game plan on a short week, so really, really happy with him on the team and he did a great job.”
Mike McDaniel – December 2, 2024
Monday, December 2, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(It wouldn’t be Monday without asking you if LB Bradley Chubb or LB Cam Goode will begin practicing this week?) – “Well, of course their window will be opening. Yeah, those two, they’ll be out there practicing on Wednesday and to me, those are the I think very impactful just to have them on the practice field. That’s never lost on teammates when you have an extensive injury that happens in-season so then you are finishing the season rehabbing. The offseason program, they’re watching them rehab. The beginning of the season, they’re watching them rehab. While everyone’s on vacation, they are here rehabbing. So it’ll be exciting to get their windows started and they’ll be practicing on Wednesday.”
(Can you speak to the boost that can provide the defense to have an edge rusher of LB Bradley Chubb’s caliber and obviously everything LB Cam Goode does?) – “I think just from a team standpoint, any time you have, like I said, guys that are sacrificing day in, day out, right in front of you, just having them to start practice; that in itself, beyond the players but the people, you inherently don’t take as much for granted when you’re out there watching them go through it and been fortunate enough to be for all the teammates that will be out there with them. They’ve gotten the opportunity to play, I know those two won’t take any practice rep for granted and I think that just in general is an added lift regardless of what happens between the lines on whatever Sunday.”
(Did you get any clarity on CB Kader Kohou’s back? Just making sure that it’s not something that would sideline him.) – “Yeah, he’s still working through it and I know it’s not something that’s in the conversation of a roster adjustment or whatever. Whether or not he’s going to be ready for this game, that’s a little too early to tell, I think.”
(How about CB Cam Smith?) – “His injury was a little more severe. What that means for – I would say that would be week-to-week. Discussing ways to attack it, but it was a rough injury that will keep him out for this week. I know that much.”
(CB Kendall Fuller?) – “Optimistic, optimistic. He is still in protocol, but optimistic just based upon conversations with the experts and him. Optimistic that he’ll be out there this game, but we’ll see how the protocol progresses.”
(I don’t think we followed up with you on the QB Tyler “Snoop” Huntley activation, would it be competition now coming up for that backup job between him and QB Skylar Thompson?) – “No, but the plan is that I wanted to see ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley) operate and everything, but the plan is to have him back Tua (Tagovailoa) up this week.”
(You’ve seen plenty of QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Davante Adams in your time as a coach, what makes that connection, and the Jets passing game if you can, special or difficult to defend?) – “It’s all the working history that those two have, you can’t replicate. Like it’s hours upon hours, so when you talk about pass game in the National Football League, if it was a seven-on-seven league, it would be a much different league. The big component in the pass game is getting open in the timing of the play because of pass rush. So those hyper split-second things that happen on every given down, you talk about a tenth of a second can be the difference if you know what someone’s going to do and a completion explosive. You wait one-tenth because of uncertainty and it’s a sack-fumble. The two extremes of pass plays, everything is dependent upon guys being on the same page in super contested situations. So you talk about the way that they can orchestrate the old west coast ‘Lookie’ route – which is he can break in or break out within five yards. I mean they have some of the all-time best clips and have done it Week 1, Week 17, playoffs. They’ve done it a ton so that working relationship goes a long way in football, so I think you have to be that much more sound in your technique and fundamentals and rely on your teammates to own their leverage and if you’re an outside leverage player, to rely on the player that has inside leverage that’s zoning, or vice versa. Those things are paramount, otherwise they’ll take advantage of any sort of indecision with convicted play, so it’s something that you have to prepare to not make it a competitive advantage that inherently they would have unless you are on your Ps and Qs and ready to defend them.”
(A question about the offense. The offense that we see this year, is it here to stay, the offense we’re seeing now? Or next year, do you go back to the WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle-centric offense?) – “I think it’s important that you don’t – there’s a saying about like ‘swim uphill,’ or go against the current or something. Whatever that is, you want to score points on as many possessions as possible. You do that by getting first downs, getting yardage, getting in field goal range and then punching it into the endzone. I think the more you execute at the zones that defenses are giving up to defend Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle), the more that it comes full circle. To me, the offense hasn’t really changed from a concept standpoint; it’s been an emphasis on how to take advantage of people overplaying those two. So I think you saw it in the past game. It was the end of the game, but it was a coverage that they had been running all game. We had a 30-yard completion in rhythm to Tyreek that was something that was heavily influenced by Jonnu (Smith) sitting down in the five-yard area that when you turn those five-yard completions into 14-yard gains like he did earlier in the game, I think that same offense that you’re referring to, it’s all about how defenses are choosing to really attack you and what they’re willing to concede and if they’re willing to concede certain things to double those guys, we have to execute in full tonality. Not only the other eligibles, not only the quarterback, not only the protection, but Jaylen and Tyreek have to threaten the defense the same way if they were getting the ball. And if they do that, and defenses are made to pay, I think within that game, that 30-yard completion that I’m referring to probably wasn’t open earlier in the game. It’s much of executing from an entire tonality, an entire unit, all 11 people and you can pick your poison when you’re running appropriate offense. And if they want to bring a five-man pressure or blitz or bring six, you have to be able to execute there. If they want to drop an extra guy in zone, do a three-man rush or a two-man rush; that’s the game you’re playing. So I think the more production that we see across the board, I think just in this last two game sample set or maybe the last three games, you’ve seen some explosives and some more production closer to what we’re used to from Tyreek and Jaylen. They’ve been ready for the opportunity, but it’s also been based upon having to be able to be productive doing other things to make them defend the flats or the short curl areas or whatever they’re giving up to give that extra attention to those two.”
(Speaking of that production TE Jonnu Smith already has career highs in receptions and receiving yards and has a few games left. What have been some of the keys behind the success?) – “I think his development first and foremost within the offense, I think he’s really gravitated towards the timing and understanding, how being open when the quarterback is ready to throw it to him and being able to use his speed on the stems of routes vertically before he snaps down or does any sort of break. That’s been huge for him and I think he signed on for the journey with a vision of, hey, I think I can really take advantage of where defenses are going to try to really load up that intermediate and third level of coverage and that space; I can make people pay. And then in coordination with all the work that Jon Embree has done with him and Tua’s ability to be confident and convicted when he goes to him, he’s getting the ball and probably he’s getting better ball placement for his run after catch than he’s ever had before which is based upon Tua’s skillset and what he is elite at. And then just honestly the momentum, every time Tua throws it to him I think he’s positively reinforced based upon his teammates because his teammates – Jonnu brings juice when he touches the ball. You can feel the violence with which he carries the ball and approaches tacklers and he’s not a fun guy to tackle. He’s a hard guy to bring down and certainly someone that I think at the beginning of the season probably was fourth or fifth on the table of priorities of people to attention to on offense and I think he’s climbed his way up simply taking advantage of the opportunities presented. So I think it’s the whole, really the operation from the quarterback to Jonnu and Jonnu is making the most of those opportunities by the amount of separation he’s achieving in his routes and then his mindset – understanding what he brings to this team with the ball in his hands and taking that personal.”
(What are the ways that you and the coaching staff measure the physical and mental toughness of the team?) – “There’s no shortcut to that. I think it’s very, very important to remove emotion and critically assess how people respond to all sorts of things, whether there’s a similarity in the amount of mental toughness you need to have if you have a two-score lead or you’re down by two scores. Either way, you should be focusing on the job at hand, your specific role, your technique, your fundamentals, and letting the four-quarter game play out as such. And so you find out a ton in winning, you find out a ton in losing. You find out a ton in just how people respond to all the different things thrown a professional football player’s way. Regardless, we don’t execute our jobs in a vacuum. I think it’s a big indicator when there’s a lot of noise – good or bad – so if people are crowning you to be the Super Bowl champion midseason or people are talking about next year in the middle of it, either way you really get a vision into where your team’s mental fortitude is at. I think the journey from 2-6 to 5-6 told me a ton and it gives me a certain sort of expectation now being 5-7 moving forward. You want to know if a team can really focus itself on the opponent – honestly, that’s the only thing that really matters. For us, that’s the New York Jets. As tough as the last game was against the Green Bay Packers or as cool as a three-game win streak, all of it is erroneous. You have to prepare yourself for the next game and that’s where it’s imperative to be mentally strong as a football team, and based upon kind of our circumstance as a football team, we were blessed with adversity early. So you feel like you have a mentally tough football team based upon that and expectations based upon my experience with them. Our whole football team will have an opportunity to showcase mental toughness and internal fortitude this week coming off a loss. But you’re tested constantly in the National Football League just based upon the longevity of the season, how difficult each week is and how many times you have to pick yourself off the canvas to have a successful season. Because outside of the ’72 Dolphins, that’s what every team has had to do to have success.”
(How is T Kendall Lamm doing?) – “He proved who he is once again for us. The injury that he sustained during the game, getting on the elbow, a lot of people don’t even sniff the field again. That’s a very painful injury. He came back and could have played longer if we asked him to. I think he’s a veteran that knows how to take care of his body and has a very high pain tolerance so he’s doing all right.”
Chop Robinson – December 2, 2024
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Monday, December 2, 2024
LB Chop Robinson
(I don’t know if you heard LB Jordyn Brooks’ comment afterwards that he thought the team was affected by the elements up in Green Bay. You’re somebody from the north, you played at Penn State, did the elements affect you? Did the elements affect the team in your opinion?) – “It was definitely different coming from here. Not being at Penn State for a while and going back to the cold, but I felt used to it. It’s definitely getting back into it and getting warm and everything, but the main thing, we just got to tackle, make the plays that were in front of us.”
(Does that happen to guys that come from those environments, but then you spend some time from Miami, you’ve been in warm weather for several months, and then once you go back that first time back it kind of hits you?) – “I mean, yeah. It hit me the day before when we got off the plane but I’m kind of used to it, so just got to go out there and just execute honestly.”
(Besides the missed tackles, what else came up when Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver talked to the group today as areas he wants shoring up in?) – “I mean that was the main thing, juts missed tackles. There’s times where it could have been a one-yard gain or two-yard gain, but we turned that into eight yards. The main thing is just tackling and stopping the ball.”
(Is it different with the fingers, like grabbing when it was cold? The hitting obviously hurts a little more when it’s cold but is it the wrapping up and stuff with the hands? Is that what gets affected by weather mostly?) – “Yeah, you could say that plays a factor but honestly at the end of the day, you just got to tackle, wrap up, run your feet through contact – that’s the main thing. I feel like we were wrapping up but not running our feet through contact, so just got to work on those.”
(You spent years at Penn State, you played in the cold like we talked about and then you come down here after getting drafted. You get off the plane and that humidity hits you in the face. So I guess my question is, what do you find more difficult, adjusting to that heat and humidity coming from the north, or coming from the south and going up north to play in cold?) – “I wouldn’t say either one is difficult, it’s just adjusting to it. Either the cold or the heat, whatever you’re in, you just got to adjust to it and be able to play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, it’s just something you got to get used to.”
(What do you think are some of the things that are contributing to your pass rush wins? The run you’ve been on of late that have now also translated to accumulating some sacks.) – “I would just say listening more to my coaches, just taking all the information from all the vets and all the older guys, watching film with them, working extra with them. It’s been paying off, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”
(What was the best thing about the run that you were on? Was it seeing the actual result with the sack or maybe the affirmation that you’re doing the right thing? 3.5 sacks in four games, what was the best thing about that?) – “Just taking in the information from the vets, doing everything that I could to make plays and make things happen, and once I took the information from the film room and on the field and took it to the game, it worked out for me. So I’m just going to continue that and then take it one day at a time.”
(What does that moment feel like when you’re doing the “Chop” celebration, and you have like eight guys behind you doing it with you?) – “It feels good, especially having Zach (Sieler). I feel like every time I did it, Zach was always right beside me. So just seeing Zach after every time I get a sack, it feels amazing just having the whole team do it with me.”
(How do you feel your pass rush arsenal has increased over your rookie season?) – “I feel like it opened up. I feel like once I came in, I would just focus on speed, that’s the only thing I had. But once I started to learn more against the tackles I was going against and talking with the older guys, I was able to open up my bag and figure out different moves, and I feel like it’s been working for me.”
(We hear that being wider has helped you, it’s given you the option of a two-way attack. Is that accurate? Or what has being wider, lining up wider, done for you?) – “It sets up different rushes for the tackle. I could use my speed; my main thing is getting off the ball, so once I get off, if he sees me so wide, he might try to run out to me. I could take the inside or power him, so it just sets up different moves for the tackle that I’m going against.”
(Are you using the power move more? It seems like you’re kind of running through offensive tackles more than you did, maybe six, seven games ago. Is that accurate or am I imagining that?) – “You could say it’s accurate. I always started off with that because I feel like a lot of tackles I’m going against, they see my size and they’ll be like, ‘He can’t power.’ So once I bring it to them, I just put them in their mind as it messes up their game a little bit.”
(I think you were two years old when QB Aaron Rodgers got drafted into the NFL. Did you grow up an Aaron Rodgers fan?) – “Yeah, my older brother, he was actually a Green Bay fan; he loved Aaron Rodgers. So I’m excited to go against him, excited to go against the Jets, excited to go against my former teammate (Olu Fashanu). When the game comes, I’m just excited to play.”
(What will a sack on QB Aaron Rodgers mean to you?) – “It would mean a lot. Just watching the guy when I was a baby, and then my older brother, that was his guy too. So just doing whatever I can for the team for the win.”
(Have you and OL Olu Fashanu talked this week? Or is there any Penn State talk there or Dolphins-Jets? Are you guys texting at all this week?) – “He texted me the other day just asking, ‘I better get that jersey.’ He told me that he better get that jersey after the game, and we’re definitely going to make that happen.”
(How was playing at Lambeau Field? How did that compare to I guess Seattle or some of the other places you played this season?) – “It was good. It was a lot of experience, a lot of history at that stadium so just going out there and just soaking it all in. Since I was a kid, I’ve been seeing it on TV, so it’s honestly a blessing just to be out there.”
(What are some of your memories of going against OL Olu Fashanu?) – “I would just say really one-on-ones everyday in practice. When I first got to Penn State, I kept hearing the hype about Olu (Fashanu) and then once I went out there, I tried to just burn him off the ball and he put me down to the ground. I was like, ‘OK, yeah. He’s the real deal.’ (laughter) So I would just say honestly, the one-on-ones that I went against him every day in practice, and he made me better.”
(And you would get your payback on him?) – “Oh yeah, 100%. Always got my payback.”
