Frank Smith – September 5, 2024
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(If I’m not mistaken, a Ryan Nielsen defense you’re going to get a lot of twist and stunts up front, right? Does that make the communication more important among offensive linemen or is it still mano a mano? How do you view that?) – “I don’t know if it’s necessarily as much communication. I think it’s more being fundamentally sound and making sure you’re on set plans, how you’re looking to work together with each other. Ultimately, the offensive line just understanding rush patterns, games, all of that goes into the preparation. I think the biggest thing when you’re trying to pass off stunts or pick up pressures is just making sure that you’re fundamentally sound and you’re communicating with each other set plans on what you’re looking to do versus certain looks.”
(You guys could’ve spent money outside of the offensive line. You obviously brought OL Aaron Brewer in, but by in large, you’re running back the guys you had last year. What back in February or March when you were putting this plan together made you think these guys were ready to take the next step and they can handle this?) – “I think ultimately, it’s the makeup of the guys, their willingness to improve. You see the growth. With offensive line, a lot of times you could immediately get stuck in currently where they are at, as opposed to when you see growth sometimes it’s going to move at a different level than maybe a skill position where you see immediate production. For offensive line, it might be moving in different ways, and ultimately, we felt with the guys we see it’s the right resolve, the right makeup, consistency of our system, consistency of the coach and just you see guys that are hungry to get better. They’re working together, getting more in tune to their fundamentals, how they’re going to work together on what they are doing. Ultimately it goes into a big part of it is you look at the entirety, and then you look at knowing each guy every day is going to get better. We were very pleased with the growth we saw and then this offseason has been great when we’re looking at the group, and we confident in how they performed and how they’ve grown in the offseason and all the way through training camp.”
(With OL Liam Eichenberg, he’s played every position on the offensive line. Why is right guard potentially the home, the right fit for him?) – “I think the one thing you guys know is our versatility with the group is something that we always want to make sure we’re strong with, just because the NFL season is long. You just never know what contingencies will pop up, so we’re always working with guys making sure we have a broad skill set as opposed to, ‘You’re here. You’re here only.’ With things that especially happened in the offseason, with guys that are maybe in or out with an injury or not going to be here just with whatever is going on, it allows us to work with all of these different scenarios. With Liam (Eichenberg), you can’t say enough about him as a person. He’s a team guy, his willingness, his growth over our time here has been tremendous, so just ultimately with him or all the guys, it’s just when they are able to move around, they really gain a perspective of how each part – because with the offensive line you say left side, right side, what’s the difference? There is a difference, because it’s just your body movement, body mechanics. It allows them to really understand themselves and where they feel comfortable at and have better scheme, understanding of what’s going on on one side or the other or the body movements and how challenging it is. Overall, the o-line and it’s versatility is something that we’ve stressed here.”
(Do you think OL Aaron Brewer will be ok?) – “Yeah, he’s been doing a great job. This week, he’s real excited with how he’s been working, and we feel very confident with all the guys just in how they’ve been getting ready for the game. The greatest thing you have when you have guys in and out is it forces communication, because you’re playing next to a different guy. The one thing we’ve seen a great growth in is our communication as a group.”
(In what ways have you seen OL Robert Jones grow?) – “The confidence in what he’s trying to do and knowing himself. The hardest thing in playing offensive line is when it’s new, you’re trying to just make sure that you understand the concept, the scheme and where you fit. But then as you gain the consistency and the confidence you know kind of, ‘OK, here’s how I need to play to be successful.’ You can really see him understanding how he needs to play to be successful, how he fits in combinations as he’s playing with different guys. So just ultimately you see the confidence growing and the knowledge and understanding where he needs to play and how he needs to play to be his best.”
(We asked QB Tua Tagovailoa about his confidence in the interior offensive line a couple of weeks ago. He said I get the ball out quick anyways. How much is that a mindset for this offense and approach for this offense regardless of who you have and how much they have grown?) – “I think it’s a foundational principal of just everything we do. Just pass protection is understanding the timing of the play, launch point, area we’re protecting, whether it’s a drop back pass, quick game that changes, play pass that changes, movements that change. We make everyone understands what the play is, what we’re trying to do, the timing of which they are going to occur. It’s the same thing in the run game, where’s the aiming point, how we’re pressing combinations. It’s just a part of our process to make sure guys understand not just where you fit, but how you fit with the other 10 guys. I think it gets lost at times in making sure that everyone understands how they fit and how we all work together to get each play maximized and to be at its best.”
(Do you see T Terron Armstead having to work his way into form given the lack of reps he had during training camp, or does his experience make that a moot point?) – “His experience and communication of knowing himself and having his process to where he needs to be when we get ready for NFL Sundays. Then him and I going all the way back since he was a rookie in New Orleans, it’s just his communication, his knowledge of himself and what he needs, it’s top notch. With him, he’s very open with his communication and I know he’s in a great place right now. I’m really excited for this season with him.”
(When you face a team with a new defensive coordinator in the first game of the year, you don’t really know exactly what you’re going to get from a play style standpoint. About how long do you think it takes to get a feel for what they’re going to do and making the adjustments you have to make for that?) – “There is some nuance to when you’re facing a new coordinator, but the hallmark of Ryan’s (Nielsen) defense last year in Atlanta and just his time as a defensive line coach with the Saints is playing with consistent fundamentals and techniques. Good against the run, obviously aggressive in rushing the passer, so there’s consistencies you can see that you just know will translate to the players in the new scheme. Ultimately with them there are challenges because there is not as much information that you’ll normally have, and that’s you it’s just making sure that when you’re facing something new, you make sure you’re on what we need to do and we understand what we’re trying to accomplish, what we need to do inside of the scenarios of what we think are going to happen. Ultimately with new things and variables, the most important thing you can control is yourself and making sure that we’re all on the same page connected together.”
(WR Tyreek Hill said that he was happy that you added some size with WR Grant DuBose. Obviously, the lack of size at that position hasn’t stopped you guys offensively. Do you believe the size of the receiver position truly matters?) – “Not necessarily, it goes into ability to – when you think about route running, where do you create separation and space for yourself? Off the release and at the top of the route. When you’re running a route, if I can’t get a release or I’m not good at the breaking point, I’m going to get covered. That’s why you guys can see in our individual all the time, Wes (Welker) starts off with releases. So we’ve got to make sure that if you want to get separation on a route, it doesn’t matter if you’re 6’5 or whatever height you are, it’s all about your release and it’s about how you control the top. Because the defender, if he can control the release, he’s controlling the space and then now he’s controlling the space, he’s closer to you. So now at the top, if I didn’t get space off the release, now the top is going to be tighter so now I got to really be on it. But if I win on the release, create space, get vertical in the route, now that’s where things can work. I think ultimately when you look at it, you’re not necessarily saying height; you’re saying guys who can play with proper fundamentals and technique and have ball skills so that when the ball is in the air, they can go get it. I think that’s the most important thing we look for.”
(A lot have been said about the TE Jonnu Smith package. How much have you enjoyed putting that together with Head Coach Mike McDaniel and the creative ways you can get that incorporated?) – “It’s awesome, just the versatility we have with the guys and looking for guys with skill sets we can employ in different ways. The great thing about him is his willingness to maybe do different things that he hasn’t done in other places, but ultimately his physicality and his style of play. Like you said earlier, saw it early on and not surprised about it now. Just glad that he’s here and being a hometown guy, it’s even more important to him to be successful here and bring out the best for his team.”
(We’ve seen RB De’Von Achane and RB Raheem Mostert play some wide receiver and they’ve talked about the pass catching, adding more of that to their game. How has your philosophy changed on maybe running backs playing receiver as you’ve gained more of those skill sets in your room?) – “I don’t know if it’s really changed. I think it’s more of as each year changes, what are different way you can employ your guys and challenge the defense to defend the width and the length of it. With the backs, just like the tight ends, everyone has a different skill set that bring out a nuance to the offense. Them especially this year, they wanted to grow in the offense really working on pass game stuff, so I think for us it really hasn’t changed. It’s more of each year, you’re evolving towards challenging guys and seeing what they can do. I wouldn’t say that it’s changed in any way, I think it’s just this offseason it’s something that we’ve been working on with them and they’ve done a great job with it. It’s the same as tight ends – line up in the backfield or line up out wide or running reverses. It’s always you’re trying to look at your guys and how you can use them to maximize what the defense is trying to take away. Now we can make sure they are having to realize that a certain group is in and they can line up everywhere, now it creates stress on the defense for, ‘OK, it’s not just one personnel group. This is how they play. They’re in 3 by 1; they’re in 2 by 2. OK, now they’re in this. They can line up in different variations of it.’ I think that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do is trying to make sure that we have a complete skill set with our guys and we don’t just say, ‘Hey, running backs play from the backfield, tight ends play from the line. That’s where now the defenses react because they don’t know where everyone can line up or play.”
(I don’t think Jacksonville had DT Arik Armstead much at all in the preseason. He had the surgery in the offseason. What are you expecting from him? Is he definitely going to be inside on passing downs do you think? They have DE Josh Hines-Allen and DE Travon Walker; what do you think they will do with them?) – “All of those things. Year 1, Game 1, new guys, not entirely sure of how they’ll use him and maximize his ability. Just know he’s a tremendous player, obviously familiarity with him from San Francisco with some of the guys. They know the type of player he is, know he’s going to be a very good addition for them. They could a multitude of things that we’ll have to react to, but ultimately if we’re on what we’re trying to do and executing and we’re on the same page together, that’s the most important thing when you go into Game 1.”
Anthony Weaver – September 5, 2024
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Thursday, September 5, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(I know Coach Mike McDaniel suggested that LB Jaelan Phillips’ snaps would be monitored somewhat, obviously two games in five days. So you have him on a snap count, essentially you have LB Emmanuel Ogbah, what’s your vision for who else will get edge snaps among LB Quinton Bell, LB Mohamed Kamara and LB Chop Robinson? And are you at the point where you can trust Chop on early down running plays?) – “Yeah, all those edge guys are going to play, and I honestly have the utmost faith and trust in their ability and what they’re going to go out there and do just because I’ve seen it, day-in and day-out. With some of the younger players like Chop (Robinson) and Mo (Kamara), are they’re going to have their growing pains and make some mistakes? Sure, but from my standpoint I also understand having been in their shoes, you got to let them touch the stove a little bit, and then coach them through those when they do have those hard times and try to make sure they are not repeat offenders. But all those guys are going to play. Excited about watching them play, just to see how they show up when it’s real and it counts against some of these big boys. But I know they’re going to go out there and do well just because of their daily approach to work.”
(When you have a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence – you know his turnover numbers better than I do. Do you tell your guys go for the ball also with him? Or bring him down first? How do you balance that?) – “So take Trevor (Lawrence) out of it – we’re always trying to get the ball. As a defense, from the second I’ve gotten here, we’ve always preached turnovers and we’ve charted it to the points where we’re trying to get shots on goal every day. We’re trying to take the ball away at least twice a day from our offense. That’s something we’re constantly trying to reinforce. Coach Barry just gave a great presentation to the entire team about the ball and the importance of it, both as an offense in keeping it and us in taking it away. Take Trevor Lawrence out of it – tremendous quarterback, I have a tremendous amount of respect for who he is and what he’s done in this league. Whoever we’re playing, we are trying to get that ball. That is our job on defense – keep them out of the end zone, take the ball away because just like any – I believe we have a great offense. So if you give Steph Curry extra shots, good for Golden State. If we give Tua (Tagovailoa), Tyreek Hill, (De’Von) Achane, (Jaylen) Waddle extra snaps, extra shots at taking the ball down and scoring, good for us.”
(Do you think you’ll have CB Jalen Ramsey?) – “Yeah, I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful. I say prayers every night, we talk to God. But the one thing I do know about Jalen (Ramsey), is that it’s not for a lack of work ethic. He’s doing everything he can in the training room to try to put himself out there. We just got to be smart and cognizant that we do have two games in whatever that is, a little over a week, so we’ll see.”
(You just mentioned having two games in four days, how tricky does it make it to navigate all of the injury situations? The injury report had eight projected starters on defense on the list itself. How tricky does it make it to navigate those issues?) – “The one thing, and I think Mike (McDaniel) appreciates this about me, you have to adapt in this league, right? People talk about injuries, and they complain about this and it’s like, ‘all right, are you going to complain or are you going to look for the solution?’ So ultimately for us on defense, we’re just trying to do the next right thing so when this adversity and these problems arise, it’s like OK, are we going to waste our time getting upset and mad, or are we going to figure out what the solutions are. Now fortunately, I think from a depth standpoint, we have a tremendous football team. For the 53 guys that made this roster, they had to earn their way on this roster because we cut some really good players. So even though there are guys listed injured, the guys behind them we have just as much faith in. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be here. So let’s take Jalen for example. If Jalen doesn’t play, opportunity for Ethan Bonner, opportunity for a young player like Storm Duck. These are opportunities for guys who have earned their way on the roster. You wouldn’t be here, and we wouldn’t even think about putting you on defense if we didn’t think you could play. So regardless of who steps out there – I don’t care who starts, I want to know who finishes. I’ve said that before and I think all those guys can finish.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit more about CB Jalen Ramsey; he seems to be the one person in the entire defense that if is off the field, you guys probably have to do things differently because he’s so versatile in so many different roles. Do you kind of have to think about two different games to call?) – “I think you’re cognizant of it just because you know the potential eraser effect he can have, but we’re not making wholesale changes if he doesn’t play, let’s put it that way. You obviously can’t replace a Jalen Ramsey with any one particular player. I think it just requires from the defense as a whole to pick up that slack and I think we’re more than capable of doing that.”
(In looking at the end of your bio, there’s a gap year between 2008 and 2010. Was that just you were finishing up your career and getting into coaching?) – “Yeah, so that was 2009, I had microfracture knee surgery. So at that particular point I was rehabbing, seeing if I could get back. Didn’t decide probably until like November, December when I was out there training, and I was just in pain. I was like, ‘Probably shouldn’t do this anymore.’ (laughter) So that’s where the gap year is.”
(How did you get into coaching then?) – “Yes, so at that particular point there was part of me that thought I was going to be in media. I had done radio shows and TV in Baltimore, but at that particular point in time, there was a bunch of former coaches of mine who were doing well in the coaching profession and I still had this football itch that I wanted to scratch. So I started to reach out to some of those guys. Greg Mattison was at the Baltimore Ravens at the time, he was the first guy that I reached out to. He was trying to bring me there potentially as a pass rush specialist or something of that nature, but there was still a bunch of guys that I had played with. And Coach Harbaugh, at that particular time, was a little nervous with that. Got it. And then Coach Mattison reconnected me with Urban Meyer. And I’ve known Urban since 1996, I believe. He helped recruit me to Notre Dame. So I call and I talk to him. He was like, ‘Weave, how long have you been out?’ At that point all they had left was a graduate assistant job and there’s a time limit on that, like how long you’ve been out of college, and I had just hit it. So I had to run and take the LSAT or whatever it was, had to pass that, thank God I passed. I was a little nervous about that, I hadn’t been to school in a while. But passed that and then was fortunate enough to go down there in 2010 and join the Gators with Urban which once I stepped on campus and got around the players and saw the impact, I could have on them, not just as football players but as men, I was sold. I was in my element and there’s part of that like when I got to Houston in 2006, it was like me, and I had to kind of be that coaching mentor to Mario Williams. Well then next year we drafted Amobi Okoye who was like 15. So there was a stretch there in Houston where I kind of fell into a similar role, so it was very natural to me as I got into the coaching profession.”
(I’d to ask a little bit about the play calling duties that you’re assuming. First time I assume?) – “I called defenses in Houston in 2020.”
(Oh, that’s right. How is it going for you? How comfortable are you doing that?) – “I think it’s been great. We’ll find out. (laughter) But you know what? Went through 2020 – went through 2020 in Houston. It was my first time to call plays in this league and obviously had some adversity for a number of reasons. (In) 2021, actually turned down a coordinator opportunity to go to Baltimore because I just thought from a scheme standpoint, my knowledge I was lacking. Baltimore had played really good defense for a number of years at that point with Wink Martindale. They were top five almost every year. So I’d been in that building; I knew just from a culture standpoint what it was, but I had never actually been in the kitchen to see how the dinner was being cooked. So at that particular point I was like, ‘You know what? If I get another opportunity, I’m not going in with less guns than anybody else. I want to make sure I’m fully loaded.’ That was my motivation to go to Baltimore. Got there – not only did I learn a bunch defensively, but learned a bunch from Coach Harbaugh who I think is one of the best in the league. Hopefully, God willing, taking that step back and acquiring more knowledge helps us be more successful here in Miami.”
(What is it about Baltimore? What is the secret sauce? Because you were there as a player, you were there as a coach. And I’m not bigging them up even though I’m a big Ravens fan, what is it about that mentality that you hope translates?) – “I think there’s so much ingrained in the building just from that 2000 Super Bowl team. And the fabric of that team, you still feel it when you walk between those walls. We’re building towards that. I think we have the men in this locker room to get that done. But why that sustains in Baltimore is because they finished the job in 2000. So we have everybody in this building to have that type of dawg mentality so to say that they have in Baltimore, but ultimately, you got to win it all if you want it to be long lasting.”
(The secondary has faced injuries throughout training camp leading into Week 1. If CB Jalen Ramsey is ready to go, how confident are you seeing as how that unit, the starting unit, hasn’t practiced together?) – “Oh man, incredibly confident. Just because even though they haven’t been able to be out there and take full speed reps together as a unit, in terms of walk throughs and all the communication and interworkings that are involved with that are just as important. From a skill set standpoint, once the ball is snapped for those guys to go out there and execute, I have a tremendous amount of confidence in that. What you missed is that continuity and communication, and I think we’ve been able to get that through walkthrough reps.”
(What has DT Calais Campbell brought in his time here and how have you seen his teammates respond to his leadership in a guy like him?) – “Yeah, I’ve talked about Calais (Campbell) before, and I don’t even know if I could put his value into words. You talk about a guy who’s done this for 18 years or something like that, has every right to walk in this building and be entitled – Man of the Year, however many hundreds of millions of dollars he’s made. But I’ve never been around anybody that’s done what he’s done and continues to stay humble and hungry. So if there’s any example to the younger players of what it takes to be the consummate pro, and have a long-lasting career in this league, just look at Calais and do that. When I was in Baltimore and I was with him – take Justin Madubuike for example. People like to give me credit for Justin Madubuike. Yeah, I coached him. Gave him everything I had. I also told those guys, ‘Watch that guy. Do everything he does, and if you can do it from a young age just imagine what that’s going to do for your career.’ Because Calais, he acquired this wisdom and habits through time. And ultimately, like as parents and adults, we’re always trying to share that wisdom to try and shorten that time for younger people. So for all of our younger players, he does just that and the beauty is that he wants to share. He wants to give it because he wants to help everybody around him to make our team better so we can win a Super Bowl. His effect, even me talking that much, I don’t feel like I’ve justified him. Because there’s not – I’ve been around a lot of good ones, and I don’t know if I’ve been around a leader better than him.”
(How much does that help for any unit to have that one or two players that have been there, who have seen different things over their career to have younger guys kind of gravitate to?) – “I think it’s incredibly important. As coaches you’re always trying to talk and preach and help. You can say, ‘Yeah I’ve been there, blah, blah, blah,’ but it’s a different generation. They don’t remember Anthony Weaver, the football player. They just see this old guy out there with his gray hair, who gimps around with knocked knees and gets hurt playing basketball. They’re like, ‘I’m not listening to this guy. He just got a shot in his hip because he played basketball with these other old men.’ But when they hear it from real dudes who are their peers, it carries more weight, it means more.”
(What’s the best part about getting everything started on Sunday?) – “Oh man, it’s like football Christmas. You’ve been wrapping presents. You have all this anticipation. You really don’t know what you have yet. You think you know; you don’t quite know, but come Sunday, we get to unwrap the gifts and see what we’ve got. So super excited. My family gets it – season starts I was like, ‘Football season, bye.’ (laughter) But just really excited to see what we have on this team because I know right now, we feel whole heartedly we have a special group, so just ready for the rest of the world to see that too.”
(What does TE Evan Engram mean to their offense? What does he do for their offense?) – “Wow, you talk about a matchup problem. He’s a guy who’s really underestimated as a blocker in the run game, but he has all the skills of a wide receiver. He is a matchup problem. I don’t think you can task any one person with taking a guy like him away. It’ll take multiple guys, but yeah, you have to account and be cognizant for him on every snap. The problem they present is that they have a bunch of those guys. They have a lot of good skill players which as a defense, you’ve got to love the challenge.”
(You mentioned John Harbaugh and you talked about his impact on your career. The other guy you talk about is Romeo Crennel, what did he do for you?) – “Oh man. Particularly that year in Houston was a trying one, so you talk about a calming force and a steadying influence in my life, it’s Romeo Crennel. It’s funny because in this coaching world, there’s nothing he hasn’t seen or done. The guy has been to however many, X amount of Super Bowls – I think he’s won like four or five. He’s been a head coach, he’s coordinated and then if you just talk to him – first you look at him, he still wears Air Monarchs like 1980, I don’t know where he’s spending his money. (laughter) He to me epitomizes just what it is to be a coach. He’s not in it to pound his chest and be like, ‘I’ve done all of these things.’ He’s in it for the players and to share wisdom and knowledge and ultimately, that’s all I want to be.”
(We’ve seen three safety looks a lot with Baltimore, do you think we’re going to see a lot of S Marcus Maye as a result? And was he the ideal guy to complement S Jevón Holland and S Jordan Poyer when you play the three of them together?) – “You’re definitely going to see a combination of three safeties at some point. What combination that’s going to be? Yes, I love Marcus Maye – tremendous football player. I wouldn’t sleep on Elijah Campbell either. I also think he’s a football player who is, yeah, he’s at a stage in his career where people think he’s descending. I don’t believe that. I think his knowledge and wisdom continues to grow. So you’re going to see us play three safeties because I think at times, based on specific personnel groups where we want our best 11 on the field, one of those guys need to be on the field. So ultimately, that’s what’s going to dictate it.”
Danny Crossman – September 5, 2024
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Thursday, September 5, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(You guys have had some success with that, I don’t know what you call it, the squib kick. Where do you see all of this going? Is everybody going to show their cards this week?) – “I think that it’s going to take a couple weeks to really know what’s going on when you look around the league. From the preseason, some teams did very little, some teams did a lot on both sides of it, in the return aspect along with the kickoff aspect. So I think it’s going to take a couple weeks till you really get a feel on where it really is going to go. As I’ve said all along, I think it could be an exciting deal if people play it that way; it could be a lot of the same old if people choose to play it that way. I think there are going to be spots in the game where there are going to be decisions to make, which is all part of the fun of this thing.”
(There are some people in this room who think this is going to be nothing but touchbacks this year. Is that…) – “I think you’ll see some teams possibly doing that. I think you’ll see everybody around the league choosing their spots based on the numbers and where the numbers go. After the preseason, the numbers were a yard and a half difference, but the percentages of returns beyond the 30 (-yard line) were over 40 percent. So you take those numbers, you tie them together and you’ve got to make some decisions.”
(I’m not asking who your punt returner is, but what are the qualities that you look for in a punt returner and why was WR Malik Washington used in that position in preseason?) – “He’s a guy when we drafted him had a history in the return game, as a guy who was available throughout a lot of the preseason games to give him those opportunity and then seeing if you can build on the success. You want to make sure that it wasn’t a one-stop deal. You don’t ever want to make decisions too early, so we gave him plenty of opportunities and he took advantage of them, really did a nice job. What we’re looking for, ball security and decision making. If you start with those two aspects, you’re going to be in good shape, and then youre looking for the other stuff – the ability to make people miss, the ability to have an explosive play. But ball security and decision making is where it all starts in the return game.”
(Decision making is when to catch the ball, what part of…?) – “When to, when not to, what you’re showing, what you’re not showing, disguise looks, alignment and to be able to get to the ball wherever it is on the field. So all those things of the game before it’s even ever in your hand are just important as what you do once the ball is in your hands.”
(How much intrigue is there for tonight’s game, Friday night’s game just to watch that aspect, the new kickoff and how it works out?) – “The intrigue is high, and it’s really going to be high for, like I said, the first month, month-and-a-half in my opinion because I think it’s still going to be a learning curve. I think we learned a little bit in the preseason, but as I said, certain teams approached it differently which is everybody’s prerogative. So I think now once we get into the regular season where it truly does matter in terms of wins and losses, I think you’re going to get a little bit better idea of where this thing is going and may go.”
(Has it changed the body type that youre looking for on the special teams units to I guess maybe lean towards more linebackers, edge rushers, tight ends?) – “I think the elimination of the space has made it a viable option where you can see bigger bodies. Now where that goes, you’re not having to cover that 45 or 50 yards of space before that play really develops. The play is – you’re already down the field, so some of the spatial activity being out of the game could lead that way, but it will be interesting what teams do, and it’s how everybody’s roster is built and what you have available.”
(K Jason Sanders has made seven of his last 10 kicks from 50 yards or more. Has your confidence level in K Jason Sanders’ distance range been proven to increase in the last year?) – “Not really, I’ve always had – you guys are well aware, I’ve always had very, very high confidence in Jason (Sanders). The leg strength with Jason is never anything I’ve been concerned with; obviously being able to put it between the sticks is the only thing that matters, I don’t care how long you kick it. But really feel good about where Jason is and along with the rest of the specialists, but Jason has had an outstanding camp. Again, we chart and see every single practice the kicks he has, and really like where he’s at right now going into the season.”
(You mentioned ball security in relation to WR Malik Washington early on. Given that he’s a rookie specially, I would ask you how confident are you in his ball security skills?) – “If we put somebody out on the field, we feel very strongly that we’re – you’re putting the ball in anybody’s hands, you’re putting the team and our fortunes in their hands. So anybody that’s going to be on the field, we feel good about them being in that position and being able to handle the football.”
(WR Devin Duvernay is a guy who’s burned you guys in the past. What makes him special and what do you need to do to contain him?) – “I think it all starts with he’s got outstanding speed, so if you give him any kind of crack, he’s got the ability to hit the home run. But to go back, we started the whole process – what he does as a returner, he makes good decisions, he doesn’t take unnecessary chances, he’s going to play to the team but then when he does have those opportunities, he’s a super talented football player that can score from anywhere on the field.”
(P Jake Bailey was not challenged in training camp. What did you learn about him last year in your first year working with him that you like so much?) – “I think the biggest thing with Jake (Bailey) is the combination of when you play the previous team he was on twice a year, you end up seeing every single game they play. So knowing what Jake was before he got here and then just to be able to work with him on a daily basis just reinforced a lot of things that you saw him being able to do in the games, works well with the group, really good with Blake (Ferguson) and Jason (Sanders) in terms of their camaraderie and how they work and communicate with one another. All three of those guys, couldn’t be happier with where they are at right now as we enter the season.”
(What percentage of the game day elevations for practice squad last year, without looking it up, would you guess those guys participated in special teams?) – “I couldn’t give you a number, because it was – based on position, it varied based on what we elevated or added guys for. Some guys we added more for what we had to get defensively, some of them based on what we had to get offensively and some of them based on what we needed to get from the kicking game. So if you’re a late call up, unless you’re a lineman, usually we’re going to have to have something where you can do because if we’re going to lose one of those positions, we’ve got to have somebody that can fill one of those roles or several of those roles.”
(Did General Manager Chris Grier consult you on the WR Grant DuBose pick up off waivers? What was your assessment of what kind special teams player he was in the preseason with Green Bay?) – “Every guy that we talk about – we get a list of guys and you go back and look at what they’ve done and their history, both in the National Football League and some guys in college if they have limited production or limited play time in the National Football League. But he’s a talented young player, and any time you have the chance to add talented young guys, especially at those positions when he gives us some things that we don’t have throughout the rest of that room, it was an exciting get. We’re glad we have him.”
(I’ve always wondered this question. How many core guys do you think you need? Like when they’re putting together the 53-man roster, do you say, “Hey, I need these guys to make my unit strong?”) – “Those conversations happen throughout the league and how teams develop and build their roster, every team is a little bit different based on the general managers, the head coaches, what you’re looking for. So there’s always those ongoing discussions, not only at the end of the season, at the beginning of the season, throughout free agency, the draft – you have 39 roles. You take away the kicker, the punter, the snapper and the return player, on the big four phases – kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return – you’ve got to fill 39 roles. So there’s 39 positions that you have to fill, so you’ve got to have the bodies on game day to be able to fill 39 spots. So some teams you’ll see they may have six DBs active and they have three guys playing all four of those phases. You may have another team where you may have five running backs active but you have three of those guys playing 10 to 12 of those roles. So as long as you fill those roles, they can come from anywhere on the roster. Obviously, certain spots are going to be filled better by certain type individuals, i.e., speed and or size.”
(Crazy question about the field. You guys have a multi-use field – UM plays on Saturday before you play on Sunday. Do you guys as special teamers take a walk over the field and look for divots and things like that pregame? Is that a factor and is that important?) – “Of course it’s important and that’s every field, no matter where we’re playing. Some teams are single use and the field is in great shape; other teams are single use and the field can have some issues, but that’s something you’re always looking for. Especially on the hashmarks for the kickers in terms of when we’re hitting field goals and even sometimes for the snapper of what the length of the grass and some of the holes you’ll find there, but that’s something we do on a weekly basis.”
Tua Tagovailoa – September 4, 2024
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Wednesday, September 4, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I wanted to ask about the 2019 College Football Playoff Championship. What do you remember about that game?) – “We lost.”
(Does it haunt you?) – “We lost, brother. Any time you lose any of those games, they stick with you, and I wasn’t happy about that performance, the way we came out as a team offensively especially, but it is what it is. You learn from all those mistakes and you grow from that, but it wasn’t a good memory.”
(Is there any extra motivation facing off against Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence on Sunday?) – “No, because I’m not playing him; he doesn’t play defense. I’m not playing against him. I’m playing against their defense, the scheme that their guy has for them and they’ve got a good scheme. They’ve got a good scheme.”
(It’s our first time talking to you since Head Coach Mike McDaniel got his extension, you got yours earlier. We see the smile on your face. How great is it to know that you two are linked here for the foreseeable future going into the season?) – “Really cool. It’s really cool. Any time anyone on our team, I’m speaking for myself and I’m also speaking for other guys, any time anyone on our team gets paid and is able to change their life and their family’s life, it’s always something big.”
(You mentioned the Jags scheme. What’s the process like for you of going up against a defense that has a new coordinator that doesn’t have any real tape that you can go up and study?) – “So for me, I study their players that they have. Although not the same scheme, just who’s good at covering, who’s someone that we think, OK, maybe we have a little more leverage with this guy in coverage. And that’s how I sort of base it off of just watching film on the guys that are on the field. Then you go back to New Orleans when he was the DC to the Falcons – we had a joint practice with them last year. There were guys that were on the team last year that played with him in Atlanta and then there were also some guys that were on the team with him when he was coaching the Saints, when he was the DC. So we got a good amount of information that we can collect from a group of guys in the locker room and then just watching tape.”
(Going back to Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence for a second. You guys, your paths are kind of similar. You were both highly touted coming out of high school, played at big programs, won national championships. Are you friends? Do you have a relationship with him? Do you know him at all?) – “We’ve crossed paths before. I’ve seen him on vacation a couple times in the Bahamas. That’s all I can say and there’s just a mutual respect between us there.”
(Do you remember the first time you heard the name Trevor Lawrence, like when you had an idea that he might be something really big?) – “I mean, leading up to the national championship, they had to win their game prior and so we knew of him and then in that national championship game, that’s where, really, I think he made a statement in who he was as a player and just in general. That was his freshman year, too. Him coming in the national championship game, leading his team and we had a really good Alabama team, too, and he did what he had to do and they killed us. (laughter) They killed us.”
(I’m sure it was different the way you build up, but at what point do you know in camp or as you approach Week 1 that “Hey, we’re ready for this? It’s been a long offseason; we’ve put everything in place and we’re ready to go for Week 1?”) – “You want to think you’re ready for anything, but you never know until you go out there. Schematically, we think we know what they’re going to do, but until we go out and run our plays and get a feel of what they’re doing with their run fits, with the back end in coverage, how they’re trying to marry both up with each other, you really don’t know if you are. You’ve just got to go out there, get a feel and like I said, they haven’t really put on film as a team what they do and what they do well. So I think it’s also for them, they’re trying to figure that out as well, too.”
(I asked Head Coach Mike McDaniel earlier the biggest differences between you from Year 1 to now when it comes to preparing for a game and he mentioned that you’ve refined your ability to absorb the complex verbiage of the offense and also how to divvy up your time and understanding that. What’s been key for you in getting to that point?) – “Just continuing to look over the plays, continuing to look over what we’re going to do, what we want to do throughout the week. First and second down, that’s what we’re looking over Tuesday the day of and then working into the night with third downs on Tuesday, so that today we’re ready for first and second downs and we’re already ahead of the chains, we’re getting ready for third downs. And it’s the same thing, it’s the same process. We don’t know what they’re going to do. It’s just all right, here’s plays that we’re good at; let’s go and see what they’re going to present to us, let’s run it and then we’ll get a feel from there.”
(You’re entering your third season with Head Coach Mike McDaniel. Your relationship I’m sure has evolved immensely. That synergy – better than ever I’m sure together on the sideline – how does that help you in 2024? How will you foresee it that the synergy that you have when it comes to moving that offense?) – “I think I’m seeing it a lot better. It’s a little clearer than it was last year. It’s a little clearer than it was the year before and continuing to grow in the offense, continuing to – we’re trying to continue to maneuver through a lot of the minutia that happens within his offense of a lot of guys moving and I think that’s all it is. Both me and him, I think we’ve both grown together in becoming more vocal together and then with our guys that we’re playing with, that we’re out there with.”
(One thing we keep hearing from your teammates is how much more vocal of a leader, vocal of a person you’ve been this offseason. Is that something that you’ve noticed within yourself?) – “I would say yes and I would say no. A lot of the guys know who I am off the field. Just on the field, it’s just I guess coming out now. That’s just what it is. I guess feeling more comfortable bringing my own personality onto the playing field.”
(Just to follow up so it’s not like – you didn’t come into this offseason with some concerted effort, like “I want to be more vocal,” “I want to make sure I talk more and pull my receivers aside?”) – “No, no. I would just say it’s just bringing my own personality into playing the game of football. That’s it.”
(Do you still approach a new season like you have something more to prove after you’ve proven so much the last two years?) – “Yeah, I think that’s how you’ve got to come into the season every year. You’ve got to come in with something to prove every time. Everyone else is – the rookies are, the 17-year vets are. So I don’t think anyone comes into the season thinking, ‘Oh, let me just see if this is going to be a season where I’m healthy, if this is a season where I could do good, I could be average or whatever.’ I think everyone wants to be really, really good at coming in this first week and trying to sustain that throughout the entire year.”
(You’ve got a whole offseason at maybe a little bit lower playing weight than you were last year. How much have you felt your mobility and maybe even your speed increase from where you were last year?) – “I would say it’s not anywhere near where I was at Alabama, and I say that with humbleness because I wasn’t as fast still at Alabama, but I was able to move a lot quicker when I was there. But I think after the hip injury, it kind of did take a toll still on my mobility, but I think I’m a lot better than I was last year and the year prior, so I feel a lot better.”
(Earlier this week WR Tyreek Hill was talking about the excitement level and I know every year has an excitement, but do you sense – he talked about it being a little different, that you guys feel like you’ve really evolved as a team and are ready to take that next step? Do you feel that as you enter Week 1?) – “Yeah, I do feel that. I say that just because of the practices that we’ve had, the intensity that we practice with going against our ones and the ones going against us. There’s been a lot of things that have trickled into the locker room that hadn’t happened in years prior and so I would say that’s just the feel of ‘Dang, this does feel different,’ and we’ve got some dawgs on the team.”
(To go back to QB Trevor Lawrence, what do you think of the way both your careers have taken off and also, he’s another guy that got paid this offseason?) – “Yeah, I mean congratulations to him and his wife. I think they just had a newborn, so congrats to them on that as well. When I’m trying to connect both of our journeys, I would say definitely two different journeys. Two different journeys, that’s for sure, but also there are some similarities in the way. But I think the way he’s handled everything that he’s gone through there in Jacksonville has been really commendable and has been really good for him, and as you can see, it’s worked out really good. So I’m very happy for him.”
(Going on to the leadership question from earlier, Head Coach Mike McDaniel kind of said he noticed an it factor in you I guess in regard to how the team responds to you when you speak up and when you’re vocal. I’m curious for you at what moment kind of did you realize that you had gained the respect of the team as a vocal leader?) – “Like the it factor? I’ve had the it factor. (laughter) No, I’ve had the it factor since I was in high school, then going into college, and then coming here. That’s how I’ve always viewed myself as – going out and competing. Yeah, very, very nice, very cool, calm collected, but inside just very competitive. So a lot of the guys know how I am and whatnot, but I guess it’s just only now showing that I’m becoming a little more vocal so that’s it.”
(You talked a lot about that excitement with the offense coming in and we’ve talked about it a lot as well with these rookies that have come in as well. Now with camp over and getting ready for that first week, how excited are you for these new additions with WR Malik Washington and RB Jaylen Wright and things like that?) – “It’ll be cool. It’ll be cool for them to get their first live reps in a game, and it’ll be cool to see how they respond to adversity. Everyone on the other side of the ball gets paid, too, and they know that. They know they’re going to have to bring their A-game every time they’re in there and just going to have to study up because we’ve got a good amount of stuff that are going in.”
Jordan Poyer – September 4, 2024
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Wednesday, September 4, 2024
S Jordan Poyer
(Even as a veteran, does Week 1 still excites you to get back out there?) – “Absolutely, it’s football season. This is what we play for. This is what we trained for all offseason. That’s what OTAs are for, training camp. Week 1, we’re excited to play. I’m excited be out here and get the season going.”
(What does the Jags present challenge wise with QB Trevor Lawerence?) – “Obviously an experienced quarterback. He’s got an arm, he’s got legs, he’s got really good talent around him. (Evan) Engram, obviously (Gabe) Davis coming over there, Christian Kirk, and obviously their running backs. We’re going to have to play extremely well to win, but we feel good about our practice today and the game plan. We just want to continue to get better each and every day.”
(You got QB Tua Tagovailoa taking pictures of you while you’re being interviewed. What’s it like being neighbors with him?) – “My dawg, man. I love Tua. We’ve gotten to get to know each other really good over the last four or five months now. He’s just a really good guy. We hung out off the field on a boat and our families getting to know each other. It’s been really cool to get to know Tua.”
(There haven’t been many days where the starters at safety and the starters at corner have played together. Is that a concern at all? Or because it’s smart guys, experienced guys back there, does that not worry you?) – “I think we rely on a lot of our experience. We’ve got guys that have played in the league for a long time on the back end, so just being able to understand our jobs, understand the jobs of the people around us and communicate. I think the biggest thing on defense is being able to communicate with the guy next to you. If you’re all wrong, you’re all right together. Like I said, we had a really good day at practice today, we’ll continue to build on that and move forward.”
(You’ve been playing for a long time, been a part of a lot of different teams. What’s special this group that stands out to you to start of the season?) – “I just feel an energy. It’s a different energy than what I felt even playing against them last year. This groups seems really close. It seems like they got something to prove. Obviously, we understand we’re a very talented team, and it’s in those moments of adversity, in those moments of – whether through a game, throughout a week, whether it’s throughout a season, being able to stick together through those moments and continue to just stay the path, and continue to work and continue to grind. You want to go 17-0 – we hope to go 17-0 obviously – but at the end of the day, you might drop a game and it’s in that moment right there, how do you handle those moments. This is a well-equipped team with a lot of veterans and a lot of leaders on it. So we just want to continue to build off that and hopefully get that momentum going in the season.”
(Can you talk about what’s the importance of being a player driven team? Why is that important?) – “I think that’s huge. We’re the ones out there playing obviously. That’s not taking anything away from the coaches; this is a great coaching staff. They understand where to put us in position to be able to make plays offensively and defensively. When you’re out there playing with your boys and playing for your boys, I think that’s a huge factor in the game. In the fourth quarter, it’s your boys. These are my guys. These are the guys that I’ve been grinding throughout training camp, OTAs. You want to look them in the eye and understand that this is our job and we’ve got to get a job done. I think that team camaraderie, that player-driven leadership is a huge part of the team, and we do have that here.”
(You were one of the guys that everybody says that you get everybody together. What’s the importance of that?) – “Like I said, I think just being able to understand who you’re playing with. We’re not just teammates; we’re brothers. We’re friends. Our families have gotten to know each other. We all essentially got each other’s lifelines on the line each and every down. In the fourth quarter when it’s crunch time, I want to be able to look at the guy next to me and understand he’s playing for me and I’m playing for him. Those are important moments in the game and whichever way the coins flips at the end of the game, you know that your boy’s got your back, you’ve got his back.”
(1:00 p.m. kickoffs at Hard Rock Stadium are kind of infamous around the league. What’s it going to be like to be on the shaded side now.) – “(laughter) That will be interesting. I’ve never been on the shaded side, so we’ll see how that plays out. No, I’m extremely excited for this home game, man. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time, ever since I obviously signed here. Just to be a part of this football team and this part of the organization is such a cool opportunity for me. I’m just taking full advantage of it and just trying to be the best version of myself I can be.”
Jaylen Wright – September 4, 2024
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Wednesday, September 4, 2024
RB Jaylen Wright
(Is this a moment you’ve been waiting for?) – “Oh yeah, a dream come true. I’ve dreamed all my life, always dreamed to play at the highest level. Not only that, but to produce well at the highest level, so I’m really blessed with this opportunity.”
(How many friends or family tickets are you going for?) – “I think this week I just got two – just my mom and dad. Nothing crazy.”
(And if you score, you know what to do this time, right?) – “Oh yeah, I’m keeping the ball. (laughter) Yup.”
(With four really good backs in the room, are you mentally in the state where if you don’t end up getting many snaps or carries you’ll be OK with it?) – “Yeah, it’s a long season. That’s how I look at it. Preparation creates opportunity, so just me being prepared and being ready for whenever that moment comes, I’m fully confident that I’m going to take advantage of that opportunity. We’ve got four good backs, but all four backs are going to produce really well.”
(How does your feeling of preparation for your first real pro game compare to what you remember about your first college game?) – “Preparation, I still kind of got the same preparation schedule as far as watching film, taking care of my body, just knowing what the defense will do, what they like to do and what are their weaknesses and strengths. Preparation wise, I’m taking the same approach that I had in college, but of course it’s a lot more talented people on the field on this level. So I just let my preparation take care of everything on game day.”
(Do you get anxiety or nervous the night before the game or morning of the game?) – “I mean yeah, that’s what comes with it – anxiousness, anxiety, nervousness. That’s the beauty of the sport we play, that’s the love of it. It’s always once I get that first contact, once I get that first play in, it all goes away and I’m ready to ball.”
(What’s part of your ritual before the game in terms of either walking the field and listening to music or sitting at your locker? What do you like to do between the time you get to the stadium and kickoff?) – “I just like to stay to myself. I like to stay locked in, just have time to myself, pray. I pray a lot; if it weren’t for God, I would be nothing. Prayer, me praying, that calms me down, calms all my nerves down. Just have my confidence and be ready to perform on game day.”
Mike McDaniel – September 4, 2024
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Monday, September 4, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I know you don’t want to ruin the surprise of the first injury report of 2024, it comes out in a few hours, but with that being said, can you share with us what’s been keeping CB Jalen Ramsey out of practice? And do you expect him to play on Sunday?) – “He’s gone anti-grass; he just doesn’t play on grass anymore. (laughter) I’m very proud of him – I’ve never been prouder of a player not practicing, like honestly. No puffery. On the regular, the dude practiced both with starters and on the scout team, did the entire practice last year as he was coming back. He’s just making me proud because he knows how important he is to this team and what he’s looking to accomplish with the team as a captain. So I think everyone’s kind of impressed because – that’s a different headache, dealing with him trying to be on the field when he’s not supposed to. So it’s good, and the human body tells us, I don’t really forecast that, but I know he’s doing everything he can today and there weren’t any setbacks today. So you know me, that’s where my mind lies – good day.”
(You are 6-1 in September in your tenure, including two 3-0 starts. Why have you had immediate success the last two years early going?) – “I think the key, we were better at the point differential, for sure – scored more points. (laughter) No, I think it’s a multitude of things; each team is different, there are some commonalities. I think for me, people talk about starting and finishing and all the things in between. I think you do your best with what you can and max out your team and everything works itself out. I think there’s been times in the first two years that we’ve, as a team, won some games – correlation, causation… No, I think what you get to see in the first month is a – it’s probably 230-some days from the last time that you’ve competed in a box square that sustains. And in that time, from one season to the next, you get to see what people have put in and how guys have been able to come together in a short amount of time relatively. It’s a new team, generally half the team is new each and every year, for every team, and you get to see where their game is at from last year to this year. I think far too often people just take names as names and almost look at people as how they viewed them last year. Every season, every player is either better or worse and no one is really staying the same. There’s generally competition that (General Manager) Chris Grier makes sure that will heat you up if you start getting complacent. So I think where the team is at – 2022, that particular team, 2023 – this team I will say, regardless of we haven’t played a game fully, this is our first Wednesday practice, but I think I wouldn’t be the only person to say that the team has tried to build upon what the former teams have taught them. And how you can get a lot out of each and every single day in the offseason and really transform yourself, and behind closed doors, it’s unveiled on Sunday.”
(You’ve got a couple of rookies making their professional debuts on Sunday including LB Chop Robinson and RB Jaylen Wright. In general, what have you said and would you say to a youngster playing a real game on this stage for the first time?) – “This juncture, you kind of just wait. Ironically, the major ones have already occurred. It’s weird for guys to play in rookie minicamp. They don’t talk about it but you can feel just uncertainty, that’s with every person. The unknown is the No. 1 cause of stress. And in that, I think guys, they’re football players that want to feel comfortable. You do that, you earn your stripes with your teammates; it’s not given, but you can feel when the guys are anointing you – one of the people that can help them accomplish a team goal. That’s a big deal, especially for a veteran team. So there’ll be a moment, but it’s football and it always comes back to that. There’s a lot of stuff in between. We’ve talked about football for 230 days since the end of the season. We’re all very fortunate to be a part of something like that, however, it’s all built up for your opportunities that are few and far between. Even the longest career, relatively – NFL games are special. I think there’ll be a moment for those guys. They are ready for it, but it probably won’t even get to my desk because they’re right in the midst of the locker room, the team, where it would probably take two seconds for Duke Riley or any – we have some characters in our locker room that will get guys’ minds right and they’ll be good. They’ve proven their stripes with their teammates.”
(I can’t tell you how many texts I got yesterday about your depth chart, mostly from fantasy football players, about the F position. Could you explain what the F position is?) – “It means a lot of things. Namely, for our team in particular we’re fortunate to have some – I think everyone has been talking about the different type of weapons we have or the good football players we have that have a multitude of skill sets. So in that, when you say starters, to me you’re talking about a caliber of player and there’s about 15 of those guys on our team. No one has noticed that fact that there wasn’t one depth chart last year that was the first play of the game exactly right. Right? It would’ve been illegal every game. There’s 12 – there’s only 11 on the field. For our football team, you can have – in an F position, the starting point is you are inside the X and Z away from the tight end, or to him, to 3 by 1. And then whether that you’re playing any iteration of those formations, 2 by 2, 3 by 1, 1 by 3, whatever, there’s five eligibles. Any one of those you kind of get more of a sense like you are in the blocking core. Maybe you’re in the perimeter, maybe you’re doing both. You have skill sets that sometimes we have – most of the time our fullback by definition of what a fullback is known to be isn’t playing fullback. He’s playing receiver, or tight end, or a multitude of things. For us, F can be a third down target, can be a core blocking tool, an asset, a guy you’re trying to get the ball to in space. Maybe if you have some players that occupy a lot of space that defenses have to regard, Fs can take advantage of underneath space in defense. Really, I don’t even know by – it’s not fair to categorize certain guys as just one thing. I think the strength of our offense is that we have a bunch of people that are cross training, because the idea is that everyone is moving in unison. So to move together and to appropriately execute your job relative to your teammates, that multiplicity is endless. What is an F? He’s not the Y, Z, or X, and he’s a good football player that probably has some skills that the football team can benefit from.”
(It’s that simple?) – “It didn’t dawn on me; I should make it a lot easier. (laughter) It would be a lot easier just to kind of give you depth charts of any personal package, but I don’t even know what those are until a given day because players decide when they make plays, how much they want to be used. We may have our five running back set come out. Who knows?”
(From a game preparation standpoint, what would you say is the biggest difference in QB Tua Tagovailoa from the first year you were coaching him to coming into this season and what you’ve noticed in him from that standpoint?) – “A complete refinement. The first year, you’re engaging in conversation to make sure the expectations of what preparation – everyone knows preparation. So am I doing a good job of preparing? What are those kinds of standards, what was he used to, and the one benefit I knew that I could offer Tua (Tagovailoa) as well as our tremendous coaching staff is examples, connections. We had Drew Brees come out, just trying to understand just how you can find different ways to be better prepared for when you’re playing football. There is nothing more fun for these guys than to be confident and execute on things that they’ve trained for hours and hours and hours, but that’s only affective if you’re doing it appropriately. Those are things that we were talking about Year 1. This year, he’s in full – he thought he had exactly the way he wanted to operate nailed down and then went the extra step. I can feel him being – even Wednesday walkthrough, which is the hardest for quarterbacks in our system by far, it always has been because we’re so verbose. You can just tell by that walkthrough that he’s refined how to divvy up the time to effectively absorb what he’s learned and what he already knows.”
(One of the things that seems to be agreed upon on the part of teammates was how vocal QB Tua Tagovailoa is now compared to year’s past. What have you told him in terms of demanding excellence out of everybody and how to get that point across to teammates in the correct way?) – “I’ve told him that the way he wants to lead, if he wants to lead, he’s fully capable of doing in a manner that no one should tell him how and he has – you just knew there are certain guys that have an it factor with large groups, especially teams. You know when a team believes in the quarterback, quite honestly, and the appreciation for what his skills were I think were strong, but nothing compared to the respect and the regard that his teammates had for not forced, ‘OK, this is my first rep at being a quarterback in the National Football League. I’m going to do this, this and this,’ and finding himself as a person. That’s been front and center with the team, so he’s being him. I think that’s – I don’t know the measurements, but there’s ways to measure energy waves, and the strongest energy wave you can give off it authenticity. Write that down. (laughter) So I think that’s what people feel and that’s why people follow, is not only do they like and believe in him, believe in his skills and his ability to lead them to places they haven’t been, but they also trust it and regard it for what it is, which is true. And that’s why I think everyone can feel there’s – we talk a lot about Tua (Tagovailoa), and as we should, he’s an incredible part of this franchise, but there’s a lot of players on the same trajectory – I just hog all their press conference time because I talk too long at questions. (laughter) There wouldn’t be a better way to represent his leadership in that people aren’t copying what he’s doing but they are seeing and adjusting; he’s found his way to make sure we are on our business, our walkthrough tempo, we get all our plays in with extra time to spare, but does so while being able to make fun of, I don’t know, Jaylen Waddle’s shoes or something. Guys can feel that; they can feel his confidence level. I think you guys can too, it’s just real. He’s more confident because he has more confidence.”
(How is LB Jaelan Phillips? Will he operate with some kind of snap count limitations Week 1? Or how will you kind of manage his situation?) – “Yeah, you know the ‘Jaelans,’ they’re always messing with me with the way that it’s the greatest problem to have, quite honestly. Just naturally, I think there’s a couple components – for so long, there’s just been positive checkboxes. I think realistically we’re just trying to – I think everybody is kind of on board to, we’re not trying to play a whole game either. You got to manage it in some regard. I think we’re getting closer to what that will be nailed down to with maybe 15-20 reps to spare. Who knows? But regardless, we also have to keep in mind that it’ll be his first game back, we have a game four days later and just being able to manage professional athletes.”
Alec Ingold – September 2, 2024
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Monday, September 2, 2024
FB Alec Ingold
(Second year in a row where you’ve been selected a team captain. Could you talk about the significance of that for you?) – “I think it’s never why you lead or why you want to be a voice in the locker room – a lot of guys lead a lot of different ways, but when your peers nominate you for the work that you put in, from OTAs to training camp and saying, ‘We trust these guys to lead us through all the good times, all the bad times, all the hard times.’ It’s a lot of responsibility, probably the greatest honor you can have in this league. Really excited for Zach Sieler. He’s been leading for a long time now, right? Leading by example, doing it in his own way, and for him to get that nod this year, I was just so happy for him. It’s extremely validating for the way he works, the way he shows up, he’s beating dang near everybody in the parking lot pretty much on a daily basis. For him to get that nod, it was really cool.”
(How do you describe your leadership?) – “I think it’s evolving. I think it’s dynamic, it’s whatever is being asked. I think you start with leading by example and working your tail off, and then I love the hard stuff. I love the adversity. I love the toughness of this game. I think that’s what brings teams together. I think that’s what wins championships at the end of the day, is overcoming the adversity of a season and coming out that side stronger, closer together, more bonded. I think that’s where I’m always aspiring to lead through is those tough times.”
(WR Tyreek Hill said this is the most talented team he’s been a part of here with the Dolphins, do you agree?) – “Yeah, 100 percent. I mean top down, I think you have playmakers and it’s going to expose new challenges that we have to deal with as a team. All of this explosiveness, all of this talent, how can we come together? And I think that’s going to be the journey of our team is how we can lean on one another, how we can be accountable to one another because we don’t need one single person to carry this load. We got a lot of guys on both sides of the ball that can do that when their number is called. It’s about being patient, it’s about making the plays that come to you when your number is called, so I think that’s what’s going to be most exciting about this year, seeing so many different, talented guys step up at different points.”
(My issue is third-and-short conversions.) – “Yeah, it’s my issue too man. (laughter) It’s my issue too.”
(My thought process is that a fullback is primarily supposed to help you deliver those third-and-short situations. So how come you’re never getting the ball or rarely on the field in those situations?) – “Yeah, I think that’s really on me. I have to inspire the play callers to be able to call that and dial it up. When an offense is running the ball, everyone can feel it, right? It’s inevitable. You’re getting three, four yards. Everyone is falling forward. Everyone is moving these chains. When you have a line in the sand and it’s second-and-short, you’re not falling down at third-and-one, you’re falling forward and getting those yards and that inspires the play call, that inspires the formations, that inspires the play type to be drawn up. And I think that’s a lot of onus on myself, the big guys up front to say, ‘When those numbers are called, we can inspire the team, the guys in the huddle, the play callers from the first snap.’ It doesn’t have to be the third-and-one in the middle of the third quarter to say, ‘OK, now let’s go get it.’ That’s a mindset that builds throughout the game, so I think that’s something we’re all working towards and especially myself. Yeah, let’s inspire the play callers. Let’s inspire the guys so that when we’re running the ball, we don’t have to look anywhere else. We don’t have to do anything fancy. We can lean on guys. We can play smart, physical, elite technique football. That’s what we say, now we got to go out and execute.”
(You guys are an outside zone running team. I love the outside zone, it’s one of my favorite schemes, concepts and you guys are successful at it. But when things are constricted into those short yardage situations, is that what the problem is? That you are more of a movement line as opposed to a power line?) – “That’s a good question. I mean when you get to the Xs and Os of it and the concept of outside zone versus inside zone or gap scheme, I think it really is if you’re running off the ball and you have that elite technique, it really doesn’t matter what the defense is. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, you should be able to run outside zone for third-and-one if you want to or inside zone. I think I would go back to that answer and really reiterate and hammer down the fact that it is a mindset. You see big Julian Hill coming down hill, it doesn’t matter if he’s power blocking or he’s outside zone blocking, he’s hitting somebody and they’re moving. Those are the types of plays that we can build on throughout the game so that there is confidence within everybody in the huddle that it doesn’t matter what the play call is, we’re getting that yard – we’re getting those two yards. I feel like that’s the key point in my mind.”
(But isn’t the Dolphins’ mindset and identity a creative, fast, not power –) – “Yeah, well I mean creative and fast, fullback probably doesn’t belong too much in that in that conversation either. (laughter) So I think it really is how much more we can do and what we can do well. I think that’s what we’re going to be able to find out this next week, is what we’ve been up to and how we have evolved as an offense and a team so that identity comes out of not what we say with the words on the walls or what we talk about or last year’s film, it’s what we’re doing right now and how we’re improving through that. So I think that’s where we’ll really create the identity starting on Sunday.”
(Do you take it personally when it’s third-and-one and you hear a pass play coming?) – “No, once again, it shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter what the play call is. Let’s go execute. Yes, I would love for 21-personnel to be in there and we can do whatever we want, I think that’s just a competitor that wants to help the team win.”
(What was your reaction to Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s extension?) – “Well earned, well deserved. You get really excited when you see the belief throughout the organization when you reward your guys in the building. And I think it’s a testament to a lot of the hard work of all 90 guys of the entire staff, the way that they’re communicating front office to player management to equipment to everything. He’s the head of this team, and when you see that as a player, it definitely breeds confidence, like we have the people in the room. We aren’t looking anywhere else and going and grabbing – we have it here. How do we invest in ourselves? How do we invest in this identity? How do we invest in this culture to make it right? So a lot of confidence, a lot of excitement. Really happy for him.”
(What do you think TE Jonnu Smith can add to this offense?) – “Everything, anything you want. I mean you saw him early preseason, all through camp – you guys see the amount of different plays that he can create for this offense. It goes back to that talent. How can you get that guy more touches, more creative with the ball? It’s going to be really exciting; he’s always got a big smile on his face and he’s another leader on this team that leads by example. You see that speed, you see (No.) 9 running down the sideline, that gets everybody else going. So I think he’s doing things the right way and I’m really excited to see how many different plays y’all get excited about when you see it on Sunday because the dude can play ball.”
(How big is TE Jonnu Smith’s play package?) – “I think whenever you get a guy like Jonnu (Smith) in, it’s so novel, it’s so new to the offense and a guy that’s bought in mentally, I think the cool part is whatever it starts at, it’s not going to stop at. You know what I’m saying? Whatever it’s going to be, it’s going to be a continuation of, ‘Can we expand here? What can we do here? Here’s a new wrinkle here. Oh, that’s going to look great there.’ So whatever it looks like Week 1, I think it’s going to look a heck of a lot different Week 17 with the way that he can consistently execute.”
(What is the biggest change that you’ve seen in QB Tua Tagovailoa from last year to this year?) – “Man, I think it’s that self-confidence. It’s self-grace. It’s self-conviction. And I think it bleeds off into the locker room of being able to lead exactly how he needs to lead and how he needs it to be. He has a vision for this offense, he has a vision for himself, and to have the confidence to go out and say that and speak it and have great conversations, great communication – it’s not just the huddle. It’s the locker room. It’s the training room. It’s the weight room. I think you see it, it’s just infections right now. It’s spreading throughout the entire locker room in the best way possible. And I think that’s something that’s really cool to see (No.) 1 take a step up this year, because the results on the field were one thing last year, but the way he’s leading this locker room on and off the field is something completely different now. It’s really exciting to see.”
(Is that confidence just built based on how well he performed last year or the Pro Bowl or the reaction he’s getting from teammates?) – “I think it’s bought into the process of it. The results came yes, but I think really, it’s the process you buy into it and you can see all of the learning curves that we go through together, and nobody’s flinching here. No one’s blinking over a tough play, a bad snap – whatever assignment happens on the field, the results, the Pro Bowl, the stats – that’s one thing. But the process in which he shows up, that’s where the confidence comes from. That’s where the preparation comes from, is the way you show up every day so then you can cut it loose and have fun and know that nobody’s blinking. It’s trust. It’s true trust that’s been built, and that doesn’t come from stats. It doesn’t come from last year. It doesn’t come from accolades. That comes from the way you show up every single day, so that’s what he’s doing day-in, day-out.”
