David Long Jr. – September 2, 2024
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Monday, September 2, 2024
LB David Long Jr.
(Tell us about your reaction when you learned you were getting stripes on your sleeve.) – “It was special, especially knowing it’s player-voted. It means a lot when you’re in here training with these guys, offseason – I’ve been here, going into my second year – and we all know the grind especially with the heat out here. We know it’s tough, and it means a lot to sit with these guys and train with these guys and know they see the effort I put in. But besides that just more responsibility that I already put on myself that I have to carry. I can’t be getting on everybody else if I don’t have myself together. So just being me, that’s all it is.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you were playing it cool when they told you that you would be a captain. Was there a moment where you didn’t play it cool and maybe called a family member?) – “Yeah, for sure. The person I called was my mom, because we have our little talks when stuff is going bad and when stuff is going good. So she knows what it means to me, and she was excited. She felt like I could’ve had it any other year in the league, and she just felt like it was around the time everything is just coming together and we talked about it for a while.”
(When was the last time you were a captain at any level?) – “College, that was the last time. Then at Tennessee as far as the Mike (linebacker) and having the green dot, that’s a role itself, but no captain until here while in the league.”
(What do you think of the possibilities for this defense this year?) – “No limit for us, man. We talk about it every day. You see on every level it’s multiple dawgs, multiple elite players, and we’ve just got to hold each other accountable. We know the ceiling – there’s no ceiling for this group – we’ve just got to come in and attack that, be intentional with everything, whether it’s jogging off the field or whether it’s in the meetings fixing the little things and helping the people behind us be right there with us.”
(I know you bring the intensity all the time. Where is this defense and this team overall as far as bringing the intensity all the time?) – “We’re right there. We’re working with each other. I think that’s what it’s all about as far as bringing the person next to you, especially on both sides of the ball, all three phases are working together. And it also comes with the relationships off the field – how close we are so we can hold each other accountable when it comes to those times when we’re in dogfights. We have to get on each other and not take it personal. I think that goes a long way.”
(Why is that so important to everybody in terms of the closeness and hanging out with each other and camaraderie? Why is that so important from a leadership standpoint?) – “Like I said as far as being able to hold each other accountable; when you come over – you see across the league – guys go on the sideline, you see them kind of going at each other. That’s not coming from a belittling place or like, ‘I’m here and you’re there.’ It’s coming (from) like, ‘You’re my brother, I want to see you succeed.’ And that comes with knowing each other, not just the football family. These guys that got kids, a little older – like Calais (Campbell) – they joke about him being older and stuff, but it’s also just so much behind that, so much experience and stuff that can trickle down to the younger players.”
(What’s it been like to work with LB Jordyn Brooks and just everything he brings not just on the field but also the same way like the intensity, leadership?) – “It’s good seeing Jordyn (Brooks) open up. He’s new on the team, quiet guy, but is also good player, elite player. Fast and physical but it’s good to see him get settled in and him opening up and flowing. I think that goes a long way. I keep saying it goes back to when we’re in them dogfights, when it comes clutch time, that gives you kind of a relaxing feeling on the field when you can trust your brother next to you. It gives you a little weight off your shoulders knowing you’re not out there by yourself.”
(Coming from Tennessee, you obviously have a lot of experience playing against Jacksonville. Do you have a game or moment against them that stands out to you?) – “In Jacksonville – it’s always tough in Jacksonville. Glad it’s here – both hot as ever. But no, it’s tough. They’re a disciplined team, good quarterback and players that can make plays if you don’t take care of your responsibilities. But like you said, I am familiar, and then they have some players. We’re familiar with them, getting around the scouting board earlier this week, but just playing our game. We don’t need to do nothing other than what we’ve been doing this whole way, and that’s just playing fast football.”
(Their running back Jaguars RB Travis Etienne Jr., No. 1, what does he do well?) – “Make people miss. He’s a hard runner. He’s been like that since coming in the league and disciplined. You give him some space, he has some speed that will make you pay for it. That just goes back to us playing fundamentally sound football like we’ve been doing and just continue to build on that.”
(Jacksonville has blazing speed at positions you don’t traditionally see it. RB Travis Etienne Jr. is a burner, TE Evan Engram is a burner. But you guys also play against TE Jonnu Smith and RB De’Von Achane and RB Raheem Mostert every day. How much does seeing that speed every day help with a matchup like this?) – “That’s a good question. It’s a lot especially not even just the speed; it’s so much motions and stuff they do over there. They’re going to keep you disciplined. Even when you’re disciplined, it’s a trick to it, so it’s great that we have those players on the other side of the ball that we’ve been facing every day to be prepared for things like this. But it’s also going to be like coming straight from practice going against Jonnu (Smith) and those fast guys, even ‘TC’ (Tanner Conner) on the other side of the ball. It’s a lot of guys over there that are similar that we’ve been grinding with as well.”
(DT Calais Campbell is one of your other captains. How does a guy who just got here become a captain that quickly? What does it say about him?) – “That’s funny because I’d seen people saying that, but the thing is he’s not being anything other than himself. He just does things so naturally which just comes as far as he’s another coach on the field, another motivator, and you can see it’s not something he tries to do. It’s just like you said, it just comes out. He pulls younger players to the side and coaches them. He just talks about whatever is going on, not even just football. So he just comes in and fits that role, and people just gravitate towards it.”
(How important is that nose tackle spot to what you do in the trenches?) – “It’s a lot especially because it’s a lot of o-lines that we go against, and if it’s muddy for me, it’s a problem down there. We have some killer guys up there up front that get the job done well, him (Calais Campbell), Zach (Sieler), (Da’Shawn) Hand, all those people behind them. If the trenches are not well-fit, it’s going to be a long day especially in the run game. You stop the run, you win a lot of games. So it’s very important and I would say one of the most important jobs on the team. I think we’ve got the right guys in that spot. I know we’ve got the right guys in that spot.”
(LB Emmanuel Ogbah just didn’t look right in No. 51, did he?) – “Actually he was liking it for a little bit honestly, but he had to go back to (No.) 91, That’s his number. Everybody keeps trying to get me out of the (No.) 11; I think I’m going to stay with it.”
(You were No. 51 last year, right? Why’d you make the switch?) – “Yeah, that’s my college number. I’ve been wanting to get it for a while and it was open, so I’m going to test that out real quick.”
(The offensive players talk about three years in Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s system – not that this applies directly to you, you’ve only been here a little bit. This is the third year with a new defensive coordinator. What is the challenge for defense going into learning the new system and getting comfortable with it?) – “The challenge is all playing as one. We have so many defenses where we’re on a string and we have to communicate, and like I was saying, going against this offense that we’ve been going against, it just challenges more to communicate like I said because they have so many moving pieces and Mike (McDaniel) does so many things on that side of the ball. It’s been a great challenge for us just to keep hitting on communication which has been the biggest thing especially in the backend. We have communication down; it’s not like – we have the players, the talent to do it, run with anybody, hit with anybody. But when players are not communicating correctly, it opens big plays up. So I think that’s the biggest challenge, that everybody can speak. If we win the play before it starts, we’ll be all right.”
(What has impressed you about LB Chop Robinson so far?) – “It’s just coming together, coming every day to get better. He’s coming in, he’s open and learning. He takes coaching, but he’s a natural athlete. Just once he gets the right person here – like he has Calais (Campbell) right there on the side on him, he has these older guys – (Bradley) Chubb, ‘JP’ (Jaelan Phillips) – even though he’s still young a little bit, he has experience. He has some great people in front of him that he can learn from. There’s no ceiling for Chop (Robinson).”
Mike McDaniel – September 2, 2024
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Monday, September 2, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Congrats on the contract extension. Just to fill in one detail about it, was this done entirely through your agent or was there a neat moment in the last couple of months where Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Steve Ross said to you, “I’d like to give you an extension, we’re happy with what you’ve done.” Was it a meeting? Was it a phone call? Was it anything like that?) – “I appreciate it, thank you. I see – the congratulations goes to the organization. I think there’s a lot of people that lift you up that to give you the opportunity to become a head coach, but once you become a head coach, for that program to sustain, that takes each and every person involved in it so I see that as an accomplishment for the organization. And there was a neat moment, as you phrased it; I had dinner over at Mr. Ross’ house a couple weeks ago. It was a great dinner; I ate all of my steak.”
(Did you eat your vegetables?) – “I did. I did, they gave me minimal. (laughter) So they anticipated that.”
(So did you have an idea that was the discussion of the dinner? I’m trying to get the details right here.) – “I knew he wanted to have dinner and I knew I was going to be a good dinner date, I guess you would say. Outside of that, you don’t really forecast too much. It was an opportunity to hang out with Mr. Ross, so I jumped on that. So yeah, that’s why I’m employed.”
(Was there any, I guess, kind of sense of relief when you look at your watch? Because if I remember correctly, you bought that as an investment not only in yourself but the work that you’re putting into this team, so signing that extension, do you feel some kind of sense of relief?) – “You know, I really haven’t even thought about it, to be honest. I think part of trying to have a program sustain is you have to really look at each and every day and what goes into it and what you’re asking of other people and who are those people that are supporting you and really rallying the troops each and every day. I think for me, I haven’t really thought twice about it afterward from the regard of, I guess – I’ve had a ton of reasons, millions and millions of reasons to approach every day with everything that I have and really giving myself to everyone as best I can. I guess this is another reason to be motivated to kind of really attack each and every day your fullest, so I probably have just some more reasons to do what I’ve been intending to do since I got on grounds here, and that’s a – I mean, September 2? Man, we’ve got a great September 2 today, and I’ll do September 3 when that comes.”
(What do you view as the common denominator between the eight recently named Miami Dolphins captains?) – “Really good players. I think off the top of my head, 28 Pro Bowls – boom. How about that? That’s fast facts. I think you have guys that have not only the respect and the regard of their teammates, but they’ve earned their stripes, so to speak, from the league. I think the National Football League, your peer – really the opinions of your peers, there’s nothing that I think you can have a stronger attachment towards if you’re a player. It’s as important as the name on the back of your jersey, and I think with our particular unit, I think it was cool to see the amount of conviction the team had for the individuals across the board. I saw a lot of – there was a lot of worthy people on this team, a lot of captain worthy leaders, and I could tell by the way the award was received by each individual that it meant a great deal, because it was a very high honor, particularly on this team.”
(For LB David Long Jr., he’s been through a lot in his life professionally and personally. For him to get the captaincy, what did that mean to him and you to see that?) – “Well, he tried to play it cool in front of all of his teammates. I’m convinced that him and a couple other of his fellow captains probably had an emotional moment behind closed doors. That’s just me guessing because I truly know how much this game means to David Long Jr., and I thought it was a really cool orchestration of a player-voted captainship for him to let him know just how much regard his teammates hold for him. It was a very cool moment to be a part of, something that I think none of his teammates were surprised by but happy that he was bestowed that honor.”
(When you started prep for the Jaguars, what about their defensive front jumped out at you?) – “I think how they come off the ball, how they play with consistent technique and fundamentals and their relentless strain. I think that’s pretty obvious from the minimal game tape that we’ve watched, but that’s something that’s been paramount in Coach Nielsen’s (Defensive Coordinator Ryan Nielsen) kind of repertoire defensives lines and defensive fronts that he’s coached in previous teams. Very talented group that is playing hard together, that’s what I see on tape.”
(Quick follow up if I can, DE Travon Walker, it seemed like he made a big leap from Year 1 to Year 2. What kind of challenge does he present?) – “Typical of every defensive line you face in the National Football League, especially ones that have invested some top assets into some elite athletic defensive front players, I think you really, both on run and pass, not just on pass, but in your run, you’re scared of ‘Walk’ (Travon Walker) making a play at the point of attack or from the back side of a play. I think his game is kind of – I just saw little glimpses of evolution that you know is coming. You can tell that they’re preparing to put him in positions to make plays and be a primary area of focus, so that’s going to have to be something that each one of our offensive players along the line of scrimmage, including tight ends and receivers, we’re going to have to be aware of his game. It’s going to take several people to slow him down, for sure.”
(To build off of that, what have you seen from LB Josh Hines-Allen and what do you think of your pass protection package overall? Have you seen enough from it right now or do you think it’s kind of a work in progress?) – “I think the stuff that we’ve gone into the offseason emphasizing and things we wanted to get better at as far as protection is concerned, it’s a very timely matchup when you’re looking at all their pass rushers and the problems they present, really kind of overlapping with some of the stuff that we’ve been trying to focus on and get better connected with. I think much like you are orchestrating an outside zone run play where you’re trying to tie in blockers to the course of the ball carrier, you get better in pass protection by getting better connected from the blockers and the launch point from the quarterback and having consistency with the depth and what you’re blocking for. I think that’s stuff that this group will really challenge you on, because any time you have speed with adept rushes, particularly on the edge, they can really expand your pocket. And if you’re not tied together with your launch point and where your blockers are, you can have individual pass protectors get edged pretty quickly, and there’s a lot of space that is tough to protect against. I think they’re a great group to start with because they’re super talented that if you’re not on your game, you will be exposed, and I think that’s something that you have to be used to in the National Football League in terms of protecting the passer because you don’t get a week off from elite pass rushers and unified fronts.”
(Can I get an update on two guys? OL Aaron Brewer and DT Benito Jones, where are they in terms of their practice participation levels and close to readiness for the season?) – “Well, you’re going to see them participate in practice this week. Boom.”
(OL Aaron Brewer can handle the snapping with the hand?) – “You have to let the player do it, but that’s the anticipation. Fortunately enough for our group, we’ll see how that progresses. I feel great about our starting offensive line, I also feel great about the contingencies we have in place should we have a different version of that this week. So all things, I’m confident by the work orchestrated by the individual players, and how that will play out over the course of the week, my crystal ball is broke, but we’ll take it one step at a time.”
(Why great? What would you describe great about what you…?) – “Because of the adversity we’ve had since the spring has proven to be a wonderful opportunity to really get looks at players in different spots, and got a lot of work, extra communication from all the individuals, so it’s almost like they got extra reps from the spring into the fall just because the different lineup changes that we had and the different injuries we were managing from spring into training camp. It’s almost as if it was the training staff’s diabolical plan to mix up the groups early, so that we can just not even bat an eye once we got into regular season mode.”
(WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, how are they recovering from their injury deals?) – “They’ll be practicing today. No setbacks to relay as of yet. They’ll be out on the field today.”
(How has LB Chop Robinson grown from Day 1 of training camp to today? Is he ready for game action?) – “Grown a lot just because we ask a lot from edge defenders in our defense. You ask to be not only of primary importance in the run game but in the pass game as well. I think understanding the box that you kind of have to play within as a pass rusher is huge. Gone are the days of running the hoop 11 yards that you can get some college productivity at. Typically you have to really tighten that angle because quarterbacks don’t drop back as far, as well as just different keys to how to play the game within the game. Different stance keys that kind of diagnose run or pass, situational awareness, all of these things, he doesn’t waste a day out on the field which is good news for us because he is a talented player that we are counting on to contribute. I would expect nothing else from – that’s the great thing about Chop (Robinson) is he attacks each practice the way a veteran would where you’re trying to get something out of it and adding to the tools of your game.”
(Presumably you guys took a close look at WR Brian Thomas Jr. in the pre-draft period. What was your evaluation of him as a player?) – “Super talented player that has a unique combination of being able to be a down the field third level receiver that can track and make plays down the field, while also having a route running skill set to do your underneath and intermediate routes. You see a very talented individual that can take his game as far as he wants to take it. I think it’s adding to the plethora of LSU Tigers out there in the league. He’s a very talented individual that we will be well aware of when he’s out there on the field. It won’t be a surprise, because we did a lot of work on him coming out.”
(What are some factors that you’ll consider each week as far as running back touches? Obviously, those guys are healthy right now – you have a lot of talent in that room. What are some of the things you think about each week?) – “Each week just trying to get individuals opportunities and let those opportunities shape their overall breadth of how many touches they get in the course of a game. I think it’s important to make sure that guys have the opportunity to – it doesn’t take long in a game for you to get a guy a couple carries, then the next guy gets a couple carries, and then you feel, ‘OK, well, this dude, it’s one of his days. We better lean on this guy and give him more.’ So it’s just to get everybody involved is important for me and then letting the game take its course on who’s competitive edge we’re going to lean on the most.”
(You’re in a unique spot at receiver because obviously you have three veterans in WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Braxton Berrios. But then you have options this week. You have two young guys at 4 and 5 in WR Grant DuBose and WR Malik Washington, and then you have two really experienced guys on the practice squad in WR Robbie Chosen and WR Dee Eskridge, and obviously WR Erik Ezukanma is coming back from his injury. How unique or difficult is this call on whether to elevate the practice squad guys or go with the young guys? I know Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman is a part of that decision. Is that kind of an unusual spot to be in?) – “I guess in a healthy regard, yes it would be unusual just because there’s a couple different directions that you can go. Again, you try to facilitate the most opportunities possible; taking advantage of the extra day of practice we have this week is huge for us to shape the direction we’re going to go. We just have a lot of different versatility, not only in the receiver room but really at all the skill positions offensively that you, week-in, week-out, have the ability to tailor how it’s going to manifest towards the people that you have. I think the bottom line is that I feel very good about where that room is at because of the existing assets that we had, and the people we were able to add I think fit the mold of what we’re trying to do and trying to be as fast, physical with as elite technique as possible. However we deploy that, I think having versatility and options helps you in a competitive scenario against opponents week-in, week-out.”
(What did you like with QB Tim Boyle?) – “So I had followed him through the course of his NFL journey. There was some good overlap tape that I’ve had in previous years, and then this past preseason I thought he did a great job. I think it helped me personally having personnel connections with two of his previous coaches, that being Bobby Slowik as a play calling offensive coordinator in Houston, as well as Matt LeFleur in Green Bay because you want to add value to the room, and you want to make sure the personalities fit and really the group can grow together. I think not only as a player but as a person, that’s where Boyle fit for me and fit for our group, so we’re fired up to have him.”
