Zach Sieler – October 14, 2022
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Friday, October 14, 2022
DT Zach Sieler
(For you, what do you see on tape when you watch the Vikings?) – “They have – Kirk Cousins, the offense, the o-line, everyone – they have a really solid offense. So you have to respect it, then we have to do our game, do our assignments and limit the mental errors.”
(Protection-wise, is there anything they do differently with QB Kirk Cousins or does he just get the ball out so fast?) – “He does a great job working with his o-line, working with his protections and how they do it and how they scheme it up. It’s just us adjusting to what they’re doing and making things happen.”
(What have you seen in the Vikings run game – RB Dalvin Cook and their blockers?) – “Dalvin Cook is a great running back. Their o-line does a good job of working together on their combos. It’s just a matter of us doing our job and doing our thing.”
(There’s been more playing time for you this year and you guys have been very good against the run. Are you pleased with how personally you are doing with the increased workload?) – “I think it’s not even me personally but just as a d-line, we’re working well together. So the snaps between all of us is helping all of us play to our highest potential.”
(I know Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer talks about pressure rather than sacks but is sacks something on the mind of the guys, just obviously hoping to increase the total or is that not a concern?) – “The biggest thing in our mind is matching the rush to the coverage. The coverage helped the rush and the rush helps the coverage. Whatever happens from there, happens.”
(What are some things that you’ve seen that you guys can do to get more pressure?) – “I think it’s just keep learning to work together as a unit up front and with the linebackers, and just being able to work our games together.”
Mike McDaniel – October 14, 2022
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Friday, October 14, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Is QB Tua Tagovailoa or QB Teddy Bridgewater out of the concussion protocol? Or is either one on the cusp of exiting the concussion protocol?) – “I mean, I just do what I’m told. One thing I know for sure is coaches don’t clear (guys) from protocol. Right now, they’re still in it, which I believe is normal. They tell me and then I react. So the plan is by tomorrow, if Teddy is not cleared then we’ll have to elevate Reid (Sinnett). If Teddy is cleared, he’ll be the backup quarterback. That’s about all that I have with that.”
(How much work did QB Teddy Bridgewater get? I guess it’s a 30-minute window he can work?) – “You get a couple of reps. What he did do – so he had a couple of reps. He’ll get more today but what he has done is he’s become one of the most diligent notetakers on the entire team and he’s pretty locked in. We do this fun game during practice where I’ll say the formation of the play – and you guys watch the games, we have a lot of formations and we move a lot – and he can guess the play out of the 120 plays that he has at his disposal. That was the issue. He doesn’t get that much work with the guys. He gets some in a limited capacity but he’s gotten all of the reps he can get mentally and is handling that quite well.”
(All things equal assuming the health of all quarterbacks, who do you see as the No. 2 behind QB Tua Tagovailoa? Is it still QB Teddy Bridgewater?) – “Yeah. Teddy has been No. 2 forever. We decided to start Skylar (Thompson) because we knew it was best for the team in terms of having the week to prepare and all of those things. Nothing has changed. The team really believes in all three quarterbacks. That’s one thing we’ve been fortunate that we talked about since preseason is the luxury to have three quarterbacks at your disposal.”
(We’ve seen QB Tua Tagovailoa change up some of his routine this year before games. Can you talk about when he’s been out, can you give us any insight on how he’s prepared maybe? Even though he knows he’s not going to play, has he given you insight into what he’s doing for those mental reps?) – “I think when you commit to a process – the biggest thing for him has been being at football practice, being with his teammates and going through the weekly process. To get to where he’s gotten to at the beginning of the season, you have to fully commit to that. Once you fully commit to that, it becomes a part of what makes you feel whole during the week. From a preparation standpoint, he’s used this week to get reps. He knows that he’s not playing in the game but he’s getting reps at preparing. He also sees himself as a leader, which the whole team does. And the team needs him this week in terms of his spirit, his encouragement. Skylar (Thompson) needs his help. He’s also a captain of this team so he’s been very vocal. He was pushing us vocally yesterday at the start of team run. He was pushing the team. He’s really assumed – all of the things that aren’t football directly, he’s assumed the same responsibility, which I commend him and has residual effects because people are invested in Tua and they don’t want to let him down either.”
(QB Kirk Cousins hasn’t been sacked a lot this year. Is it the protection or maybe their weapons kind of dictate how aggressive teams can be when trying to get after him?) – “I think it is a little bit of both. Kevin O’Connell does a great job of – he’s a quarterback at heart. So the team that they employ gives the quarterback a lot of early options. I think it’s a testament to their timing. The protection is good, don’t get me wrong – at all. But a lot of credit goes to Kirk Cousins too, because Kirk Cousins – what happens when you are fully prepared for your offensive gameplan and what opposing defenses can present to you is you can make decisions that are a quarter or a 10th of a second quicker because you’ve played the game in your mind. Well, in the National Football League if you are passing the ball, that is an eternity. That’s the difference in a strip-fumble or an explosive completion. I was in Washington when we drafted Kirk. I know his preparation. He was a quick study and a professional from the get-go. I’ve watched him persevere with both teams, good seasons from his teams – the majority or all of his seasons have been good. But I’ve really watched him grow and progress. He’s a very good quarterback that thrives when people overlook him. So we are definitely not overlooking him.”
(You just mentioned Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell and a stat that probably only matters to me but this is the first battle between two rookie coaches under 40, the running record since the merger in 1970. So my question there is – I know you guys were both coaching in the NFC West. I’m curious what your relationship is with him and what you think about this matchup?) – “Oh, I have tremendous respect. Ironically, I believe at the time he was – I remember evaluating him coming out of college. I was young myself and I think he was like right around my age or something. But he was coming out like when I was working in Houston. So I remember him coming out of San Diego State. Then, in 2014. I was receivers coach in Cleveland and I remember him visiting. He visited Coach (Mike) Pettine and our team. I think at the time he was thinking about getting into coaching. So I remember vividly him coming in and we’re kind of just talking football and doing that kind of stuff. Then we both had gone through Washington as well. So there was a lot of overlap. Obviously, I know a lot of the guys at the Rams. So he’s somebody I’ve known for a long time. There’s some coaching symposiums that you get anointed by your own team to go and they’re like future possible coordinators and head coaches. I had overlap with him there. So an extensive relationship with the guy. I know how detailed he is. I know how players play for him and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s having success that he’s having at all. And he’s significantly taller than me. Like a full head. (laughter)”
(Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith was optimistic that OL Austin Jackson would come off IR and be available Sunday. Is he still on pace for that and is he your starting right tackle whenever he does return?) – “See what you guys are learning about Frank Smith is he’s overly optimistic to a fault. (laughter) Yeah, I think I think that was a hair aggressive. But one of my favorite people on staff. We’re taking it day-by-day with him. Listen Frank, just don’t just live in hope, you know? (laughter)”
(What do you expect them to try to do to a rookie quarterback? What have you seen through the years of how defenses do against rookie quarterbacks?) – “It’s generally different, case-by-case, with specific defensive coordinators and defenses. And there’s certain teams like the Vikings, that you’ll know they’ll come and approach it by playing their system. Sound systems, like the one Ed (Donatell) runs, with the players that they have, they have all the bullets in the chamber to throw a quarterback off. To me, they’re going to play their system, and do what they feel is advantageous on each and every call. But the system in general is built to confuse quarterbacks. They generally start pre-snap, and all their defenses generally start out looking the same. They really immerse themselves into post-snap movement, meaning that if it’s two-shell during the cadence, that means nothing. Their whole system in general, to me, the starting point comes from not allowing quarterbacks to know what they’re attacking. So I think they’ll be very comfortable, confident, and deservedly so to just play their system the way they want to play it. And if they, within that, they pretty much have every answer as far as coverages and fronts to do whatever they want, or to attack the offense where they feel vulnerable. Or if they’re having any sort of issues, they have ways to plug those holes up.”
(What’s the most important thing for QB Skylar Thompson to keep in mind knowing what you just said? Is it pre-snap? Is it once the ball is snapped? What’s the most important way to counter?) – “Well, the good news is it’s a different presentation. So don’t get it – I don’t want to mislead, but that’s also a philosophy of our defense. When that happens in a meeting with players, we always cough over it. (laughter) But, to answer your question, it’s the inverse. A lot of times what you see from our defense is single safety at the snap, but it’s the same principality where they’re doing multiple things on post-snap movement. It’s more so like preparing for all the opponents he’s prepared for where you have to get used to the new plays, the new formations and calling all the stuff. But his introduction into the NFL has been through – he’s got to go through his progressions and he knows little to nothing before the snap, because in a different presentation but with the same philosophy, our defense gave him great work at that really since he’s been here.”
(What everyone really wants to know. On Wednesday, you said the ping pong table was out to increase opponent prep. Yesterday, WR Tyreek Hill says it’s all about just getting a new decked out ping pong table. My journalistic duty is to come back to you and ask, what is the real story here?) – “Hey, I will always differ – listen, it’s the players’ locker room. And if they giveth, they can taketh away, and they can re-giveth. (laughter) That is their space. I just want them to be here at work as long as possible. If the story changes 14 times, I could care less because I’m just doing my best to report the news. But the end of the day, it’s their space and I’m happy that – if that is the truth, which if it changes, I could care just as much less – if it does change, good for them of upgrading their standards for ping pong play because nobody wants to be average. If you have an average just green table, like, what’s that about? (laughter) So I like the fact that they have all that stuff going on. It’s hard to keep up and in two days, who knows, maybe for Tyreek (Hill) it was punishment and then he thought that his teammates deserved it, so he gave it back to them. Or this whole time he was just playing a ploy on all of us. (laughter) All of which it’s really not that meaningful to me, but I’m glad that they’re getting that all worked out down there because it is the captains’ locker room, and he’s one of the captains, so what he says goes to a degree.”
(Speaking of ploys, not saying that WR Tyreek Hill is making any ploys or not, we don’t know. But have you got used to Tyreek’s ploys, and maybe games that he plays sometimes?) – “Oh, yeah. No, it’s tremendous because I appreciate humor. I appreciate people coming to work every day with energy. The bottom line with Tyreek is when he’s in here, he’s in his parking spot, he comes inside; everybody on the team whether it’s a player, coach or football staff member knows that he’s going to get himself ready to go perform on the field. That’s why he’s really held in high regard. Yes, the football play is awesome. But he’s a captain and he is a leader because of everything else. And because he himself recognized that there’s a responsibility to being who he is. There’s a responsibility when you’re when you’re signed to a big contract. There’s a responsibility when you’re a good player. And that’s the thing that is never wavering regardless of what’s going on with ping pong tables or not. I have no idea what he’s talking about with the stuff in the locker room, but I know one thing – that he’s going to come on the field, and him and all of his teammates and myself included, will know how important all of this is to him. He’s one of the first guys to accept the challenge of coming to work and making losses right again.”
(On a more serious note, with QB Skylar Thompson, I know it’s been a while, but what did you guys see in him when you drafted him? And maybe how has it translated having him six months from maybe what you initially expected?) – “We were really excited to draft him. That was a target of ours that we had on our mind. We didn’t have a plethora of draft selections, so it was easy to hone in on people and we were targeting him for a long time. And that being said, he’s exceeded expectations. But he also has lived up to expectations from his play. I didn’t know how he prepared and I didn’t know how the moments aren’t too big for him. I didn’t know that part. I kind of guessed, but what you saw on tape was a guy that was super tough. A guy that one of the things I look for a ton when you’re watching quarterbacks is what is he making decisions on? Is he seeing defenders or is he looking at receivers? There’s a big difference because you have guys running routes, and then are you staring at the routes and seeing if they’re open or are you looking at defenders? And when you look at defenders, you can anticipate and throw with timing which maximizes yards after catch and explosiveness. So the way he saw the field, what he saw and then his toughness – because you know when you’re watching college tape that they’re throwing from pockets, that sometimes they’re muddy, sometimes are pretty clean. You know what the pockets look like in the National Football League, so they’ve got to be able to stand in there and to degree be fearless in their own way. And you saw that and you saw how competitive he was. All those things are a pretty sound formula for a guy to be pretty solid in the NFL and he’s got an entire football team that’s excited to play with him because of the stuff that we found out when he got here, which is that there’s nothing more important than his preparation and that when push comes to shove, if the read is telling him to make the hard play in a crucial moment, he’ll go after the hard play. He won’t take the path of least resistance. So that’s one of the reasons you feel so confident with him because of – his teammates believe the same thing we do and we’ll go out there on Sunday and approach the team as a team, not a team with a rookie quarterback. Just a team.”
Anthony Campanile – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(We heard LB Channing Tindall has been making some progress. What can you say about it? What’s your progress report for him?) – “I think Channing is on course for where we were hoping he’d be. I think he’s doing a good job progressing. He got in the game a little bit the other day. I think he was excited about that and I think he did a good job when he was in there. So yeah, I think he’s progressing. Like any rookie, just kind of taking it all in and trying to get better every day.”
(How tough has it been to be patient? The defense isn’t – we don’t see the I guess the metrics, the sacks and the strip-sacks that we saw last year or even earlier this year. How tough is it to remain patient and keep faith in what you’re doing?) – “I think that’s football. You’re just constantly staying at it, staying the course. You believe in the guys that you’re coaching. I know we have great players and guys that care so much and great coaches around them. So it’s just staying the course, doing the work every day, and knowing that those results will come. So yeah, that’s why you’re out there every day, obviously, practicing and hopefully getting better every day, which I think we’re doing. But you got to go at it like a maniac every day. That’s just the way the game is. The NFL is a great league because obviously every Sunday you’re going to play a great opponent, and you got to get up and get ready to go for next Sunday and you can’t dwell on anything where you didn’t get the results that you wanted.”
(Obviously, a big topic of conversation around the league this week was the roughing the passer calls. Has there been anything different you’ve been trying to emphasize the guys with the way they take down quarterback on those types of plays or anything like that?) – “No, just the way the league conveys that message and trying to get them to play within the rules and making sure they’re doing a good job of that. They’re doing their very best to do that.”
(What will make Nunzio Campanile a great college football offensive coordinator?) – “Oh, man. I think ‘Nuns’ (Nunzio Campanile) will do a great job. He’s a passionate guy and loves his players; loves the place he’s working at. I don’t think you could be more New Jersey than Nunzio Campanile. Yeah, I was going to name my son Nunzio, and my wife was like – at the time we’re living in Michigan and she said he’s certainly going to be the only Nunzio in Michigan, so you might want to rethink that. (laughter) He ended up Anthony Nunzio. But yeah, I mean, I think he’ll do a great job. He’s a sharp football coach, he cares, he’s crazy passionate, and I’m certainly rooting for him. I love him. I’d jump on a grenade for my brothers, so I’m excited for him.”
(What kind of intangibles does LB Elandon Roberts bring to the defense?) – “I don’t think you could coach – we were talking about passion for football. I don’t think you could coach a more passionate guy than that guy. I mean I definitely talk to him more than I talk to my wife. (laughter) But I mean that in the context of like, even when he’s not in the building, talking about football or texting each other. I don’t know if anyone outside of this building could ever understand how much that guy cares and how hard he prepares. That’s one of the great things about coaching. You’re coaching a guy that’s a pro. Watching him do his job every day is really cool. And how passionate he is about just the littlest things. It might be short yardage, it might be whatever it is that week. Can you get a little bit of an edge with this alignment? Is there any tells? I mean, he goes out there on Sunday and he’s definitely expended all of his energy in the week, to the best of his ability, to try and get ready for the game on Sunday. I love coaching the guy, as a human being and as a player. I’m very fortunate to coach him.”
(Do you see that what he does and what he brings trickles down to the other guys?) – “For sure. I think that room has a very good culture of it’s just good people. It’s guys that care about each other. They’re not afraid to talk that way. And I talk about that a lot but I mean that like – I think anybody that’s in that room, you couldn’t be in a more proactive environment. As a coach, you enjoy it every day. You are around great people, they care and that definitely trickles down I think to the other guys in the room, for sure. Especially the young guys, seeing that, that’s a great way to come up in this profession, being around guys that do things the right way and care about each other. But yeah, for sure.”
(What kind of challenges does the Vikings running game and in particular RB Dalvin Cook present your group?) – “Just an explosive back. I mean I coached against Dalvin when he was in college, and having coached against him before, if you’re not where you’re supposed to be, if your eyes aren’t where they’re supposed to be, then he’s going to make you pay for it. So he’s an explosive, explosive athlete. He’s a hard, physical runner too, and a tough kid. So that to me, he’s definitely one of the better backs in the NFL, in my opinion. I just think he definitely challenges you to be where you’re supposed to be each snap and forces discipline and communication to be correct across the front.”
(How did that college matchup workout?) – “I think the year he was playing, he might still be running from that game. (laughter) I was at Boston College one year they beat us. I want to say it might have been maybe his last year there; and then the next year, we got them pretty good up in Boston. So that was, yeah. I don’t think he was there anymore though.”
Darrell Bevell – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Quarterbacks Coach Darrell Bevell
(How did QB Skylar Thompson look last week and what differences do you expect to see this week with full preparation?) – “I thought Skylar (Thompson) did a really nice job for us coming in in kind of an unforeseen situation, particularly obviously that early in the game. But I thought he did a nice job for himself. There’s always going to be some plays we’re going to look back on and what could we have done better or done different? We’ve focused on those. And then this week, just an opportunity for him to have full preparation and the whole game plan – the game plan is a little bit tailored to him as well. So I’m just excited to see what he’s going to do this week.”
(How much of a difference does that make for a quarterback having the full week of prep as the starter?) – “You guys have been around long enough to know as you as you watch practice, I mean the starter gets every rep. So for the backup guy, he’s getting whatever crumbs are left – the individual periods, the scout team reps. So it’s always big and important for them to get a full week of work. There’s so much involved in just nuances of the footwork game that we do, and so to have that preparation and have all that time, it’s going to be a big bonus to him.”
(There’s been a little bit of talk about the fact that QB Skylar Thompson had to go through the game without being able to lean on QB Tua Tagovailoa and QB Teddy Bridgewater, having them on the sideline to talk to. How does that affect how you handled last weekend and even this week, in terms of, are you talking to him that much more or trying to build his confidence? What’s happening there?) – “Yeah, last week there was a lot going on, and the two veteran guys weren’t there and then the next guy – even Reid (Sinnett) wasn’t dressed; he was on the sideline. So I just felt a little bit more urgency to stay with him, to communicate even more and just try to be the veteran presence that he would need. On a week like this, I can still give him the information, but then when I walk away, I don’t have to worry about what’s going through his mind, because you’ll have those two veterans that will be able to stand there with him and give him some of the insights that they have.”
(Has QB Tua Tagovailoa been in most quarterback meetings the last week and a half, some of them?) – “He’s been in some of them. Yeah, and more this week. Last week was no, so it’s just kind of been a progression.”
(What has he been like through the whole process of coming back?) – “Tua? He’s been great. He’s been outstanding. I mean, he’s chomping at the bit. I think anytime that something’s taken away from you in any way, I think there’s sometimes a more heightened awareness of how much you appreciate something, and I think Tua is going through that a little bit.”
(Looking at the film from last game, QB Skylar Thompson’s feet not being aligned on some of the plays, just how did you see that when you were you reviewing the film and how did it maybe kind of throw off some plays?) – “Well, we speak about our feet all the time, and we let our feet take us through our progressions, our reads and kind of speak to us. So when your feet are not correct, when you’re not taking the either the correct drop, or the timing for the play – because sometimes you can speed up your feet too fast, it’s telling you to move on. And so, those were some of the things that happened. With a full week of preparation this week and the different nuances that we have, he’ll get more reps of those in live situations and so I think he’ll be even more improved on that.”
(Is there a way to quantify how much two-high safety looks that you guys have seen, like, more than you thought or about what you thought and what do you do in the passing game to have success against that?) – “I think, to answer the first part is, we have an extremely fast team. So I think it’s not something that surprises us that we will get two-high safety looks. I think the next part of that is, what do you do against it? Well, I think the answer is always take what the defense gives you. So there’s still opportunities for explosive plays. There’s still opportunities for throws down the field, but there’s going to be throws underneath as well, just like there is if it’s a single high safety. You just have to be able to understand the progressions, the read, the timing and take what they give you.”
(It’s possible that QB Teddy Bridgewater without a concussion is able to play on Sunday and get cleared, but he can’t practice fully yet. So what goes into the decisions, those conversations, you, Head Coach Mike McDaniel, Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith have over deciding QB Skylar Thompson early in the week over Teddy without too much practice?) – “The head coach ends up ultimately making that decision, but obviously you want to weigh the situation and any time you’re in the protocols, you don’t know how the protocol is going to end up, so the guy could end up clearing on Sunday. So we thought it was advantageous for us to be able to get the guy that’s going to get all the reps in practice and not miss any days to be able to be the guy that’s going to get the start in the game.”
(What was your initial thoughts the first time you saw QB Skylar Thompson on the field? I think it was probably back in spring. What struck you the most?) – “I was really fired up just with his presence and how he was handling things. I know he’s a little bit older guy, but it wasn’t overwhelming to him, I think is the first thing that stood out to me. And then I think the second thing was just how well he prepared himself to be ready for the moments that he was going to be put into, and every time that we’ve had a critical moment, he’s answered the bell, and he’s done a great job with it. And there’s little steps along the way that just situations that he got put in, where it’s like, ‘okay, he passed that, what’s he going to do if this happens.’ And then that happened, and he passed that. So I’m just really excited about the progression that he’s made.”
(I can’t think a seventh-round, rookie quarterback coming into the NFL first time on a field like that. Probably could be overwhelming, couldn’t it?) – “It totally could be. But like I said, any time you’re prepared, that eases some of your anxiety. But still, once you get on the field, it’s a whole other level and sometimes I think it’s good to be thrust in the moment where you don’t have a lot of time to think about it. But he handled himself really well and he’s only going to get better from that.”
Tyreek Hill – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
WR Tyreek Hill
(QB Tua Tagovailoa is still in concussion protocol, but just to have him back out there, what does it mean for you and the team?) – “Well, just to have him back out there, his energy, his leadership, the way that he’s able to have fun with playing this game throughout it all man, it’s just amazing within itself. So, it’s always fun to have your brother back out there on the field. I’m looking forward to having him whenever he’s back, but it’s good to see him healthy.”
(Do you get a sense that QB Tua Tagovailoa wants to be out there sooner than later? I know that there’s a protocol.) – “Oh, obviously, man – that’s every competitor. I know every guy in this locker room will be wanting to fight back to get back on the field at any point. But obviously, it’s up to the trainers, it’s up to the professionals for them to do their jobs and protect us from our own selves. Because we all love this game so much and we all want to do everything we can to help the team win, but we don’t often sometimes think about our health.”
(I know you said you could put up numbers with anybody at quarterback. Can you speak to your confidence with QB Skylar Thompson?) – “That’s just me, dawg. That’s just the way that my grandparents always raised me – believe in myself, no matter what. I was a fifth-round draft pick. everybody told me I was too little. Everybody told me I was just a fast guy in his league. So, I mean, I’m going to talk my (expletive) whenever I get a chance to talk my (expletive) – that’s just me, man. But for Skylar (Thompson), he’s a young guy who can come into this offense and make a lot of plays, whether it’s to me, or whether it’s to any one of the weapons on this team. So I’m looking forward to playing with him again. I know he’s very excited. He’s very confident in his game also. And, yeah, it’s going to be fun.”
(People have pointed to you, for the short time you’ve been here, as a leader on his team. Is there – how do you approach when a new quarterback is out there, “Hey, I’m here, whatever you need?” Is there a conversation? How do you approach that as a leader?) – “Well, me just being me, I just tell the quarterback, ‘Look, man, it’s your show, dawg. I’m just buying tickets and showing up to it, you know what I’m saying? I’m just trying to make plays for you.’ Skylar (Thompson), he’s a young guy. Obviously, I’ve been in this league for a minute and that was just my whole message to him. You just go out, call the plays, and you’ve got the keys to the boat. You drive the boat.”
(Earlier in the week, Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that it was the captain’s decision to take the ping pong tables out of the locker room. What went into that decision? How did you guys come to it?) – “You know what man, I’ve got a brand new ping pong table coming for the guys. I just decided to get like an all decked out Miami Dolphins ping pong table for the guys, because the ping pong table we had in here was just too basic. So I feel like the guys, they really deserve something brand new, so that’s what we’re going to roll with, dawg – a brand new ping pong table. I don’t get into all the analytics, giveth and taketh away – I don’t get into that … That’s something that my grandparents never taught me to be, and that’s not what I am. So I feel like the guys needed a brand new ping pong table, man.”
(What was it about the focus part? Guys being more focused and taking the ping pong table out?) – “Look, these are professional athletes. This is our job, this is our livelihood. I can look every guy in his eye and stand in front of this whole team and just look at the faces on this team and tell you that every guy on this team is focused. Every guy on this team has the same goal and that’s to win games. Like, we don’t come up – we don’t drive all the way up here and just say, ‘Oh, we’re going to play ping pong today.’ No, that’s not what we do – our job is to go out and play football, man. Having ping pong is nice, but I just feel like the guys – we just needed like a better table.”
(So when is that delivery coming in?) “I don’t know yet, man. It takes a minute for things like that. Instead of Pimp My Ride, it’s pimp my ping pong table. So that’s what we’re doing – custom job, baby.”
(So why chuck out the old one?) – “Because it was kind of bent. It was bent. We’ve got a serious tournament going on. You see the paper on the wall? It’s still up there, so that’s the tournament we’ve got going. The tournament isn’t in the air.”
(You have WR Justin Jefferson on the other side this week. Do you ever get into battles with other receivers, check the stats to see who played better? Does that ever matter to you?) – “No, that doesn’t matter to me, man. As long as I see that ‘W’ on the win column for us, I’m cool with it. Fairly, having stats is cool and all, but I feel like being a winner is something that I can be a part of forever. I’ve been playing this game so long, and that’s the way I’ve been taught ever since I was a kid. Like it’s cool to have 200-yard (games), 100-yard games, three (touchdowns), but if you want to be a true guy that really loves the game of football, a true competitor at this level, you’ve got to learn how to win. Sometimes it’s going to be you getting 20 yards a game, sometimes it’s going to be you going crazy, so it’s all a part of the sport.”
(What impresses you about WR Justin Jefferson?) – “Oh, Justin Jefferson? Bro, he’s like a real sneaky – he’s sneaky fast and the way he’s able to get in and out of his breaks as a route runner. I’m really impressed with his game as far as him being so young. I believe he was like a two-star recruit coming out, so I really applaud him for working hard and getting to the level he’s at now. So man, shout out to him. I know he’s going to keep working hard. The receiver market is steady going up, man, so I’m very happy for that. I hope by the time my son is able to play football in the NFL, it’s like at $40 (million) or something like that. (laughter) So Justin Jefferson, keep raising the market brother.”
(Let me go off script for a second. You talk about winning and that’s more important than stats. Have you thought about Canton? You seem like you’re on track there. Have you thought about that?) – “I mean, I really haven’t thought about any of that at this point in my career. Like I said, I was – for me, I already accomplished everything that I basically wanted to accomplish. A smalltown kid, fifth-round draft pick, and I’m able to be that role model for so many kids around the world, but most importantly, I’m able to be a role model for kids back in my hometown, who probably don’t even believe in themselves, but they get a chance to look at me from the same city, same dream, as a role model. For me, man, that right there is a part of my blessing every day, and that’s really why I play football. That’s really why – I try to motivate myself with that each and every day, because I began to think it’s not all about me all the time. (I’m) really blessed to have this platform that I’m able to perform at. I thank God for it each and every morning. I’m able to wake up, provide for my family, provide for my kids. And, man, if I’m blessed to go to Canton, I’d be very thankful for it. If not, I’m just happy to be able to play this great sport. I grew up jumping on a trampoline imagining I was jumping over Randy Moss as a kid – now, I’m here.”
Josh Boyer – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(So you guys have faced a lot of high quality receivers. You get Vikings WR Justin Jefferson this week, what makes him so tough?) – “I think his body control, his ability to catch the ball from all angles, he has very strong hands. He has a very quick, I would say, release. He’s sudden at the top of the routes and he does an outstanding job of tracking the deep ball.”
(RB Dalvin Cook, same question.) – “Dalvin Cook, he’s a dynamic runner. He’s very strong. He does a good job of pressing blocks and he can take – if space is available – he can take a play and make it a big play in a hurry and he’s been very good at that. He’s very physical, he’s very big, he’s very fast and he presses blocks well. He has great vision so he’s able to find seams in the defense and he’s been an outstanding player for him. They also use him in the pass game when there’s space there, and that presents an issue, too. And we’ll have to guys to close to him quickly.”
(What was your evaluation of how CB Noah Igbinoghene did in his first snaps on defense?) – “I thought there were some really good clips out there. I think there’s some things that we can improve on and I think especially, I would say all of us, you internally look at yourself; and I would start with me and things that we could detail and coach a little bit better. But I did think he had some positive clips out there, for sure. I thought he had some good ones and I think there’s some things that we could probably detail and coach a little bit better and get him a little bit better on, but I thought it was a good start for him.”
(Through the first three games of the year, you guys had one of the best fourth-quarter defenses in the league. Obviously that slipped down after Cincinnati and New York. How big of a topic of conversation has that been? How big of a concern is it for you guys right now?) – “I think when you look at the past two weeks for us, we look at a lot of different things and things that continue to be issues, and then you make an assessment of okay, are we coaching this? Are we stressing this? Is there a different way to do it? Is there a better way to detail it? And I think that’s kind of the process that we’ve kind of taken this week going into it. If there’s some better ways to do some things that we’re struggling with, that we need to implement that and we need to get it done in a hurry. And we have a great group of guys. We have a great challenge this week, so it’s an awesome opportunity and it’s very humbling when you come in and the majority of your coaches, and the majority of the players; everybody looks at it as ‘it’s my fault.’ So the accountability is huge and the work ethic, and I would say the dedication to get it right, has been an awesome thing. So this has been a really exciting week for us and we’re really excited for the opportunity this week.”
(To follow up, what are some of those things that you guys might not be executing as well in game situations as you did the first three weeks of the season?) – “Well, I would say there’s things even in the first three weeks that I would say are still ongoing things that we need to improve and get better without going into scheme or specifics on that. But I would say there’s things that we’ve kind of pinpointed that we need to probably detail better – that’s probably a good adjective to use, on how we approach it and the amount of progress that we need to see on that to be really the defense we want to be.”
(I remember last year when we asked you about some of the early season struggles from the defense and you talked about having to evolve and how teams catch on to what other teams are trying to do. At this point in the season do you think that the defense has evolved enough to stay on its toes or to keep opposing teams on their toes?) – “Yeah, I think we’ve definitely had a variety of different things. I think the way we detail and execute things, I think can be better. I think there’s been certain situations that we obviously can get better. There’s a lot of things – and without getting into specifics on every single thing, because I think that would give you a schematic disadvantage if you went into all those – but I definitely think we’ve had a high volume of defense in a lot of different things that we’ve thrown at people and I think that us executing better, communicating better and detailing it better as coaches, and I would start with myself on that, I think that will allow us – and like I said, I’m really excited because our players, they’re accountable, they’re dedicated, they’re working hard and we’re really, really excited. That’s the beauty about sports, especially we’re talking about, you know, Game 6 here. So when things don’t go your way and then you’re presented with another great opportunity in front of you the following week, it’s a great opportunity and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
(What led to LB Channing Tindall’s first two defensive snaps of the year on Sunday and do you want to weave him in a little bit more?) – “Channing (Tindall) has been making great progress in practice and obviously physically, there’s a lot of things that we like that he does, and I thought he did well with the snaps that he was in there. And obviously, you’re always trying to work ways to get guys involved, especially if you think they can excel or succeed at those. And it’s like all of our guys, I was excited for his opportunity. Just like Noah (Igbinoghene), I was excited for him to get an opportunity. And when guys go out and they execute, you try to create more opportunities for them just knowing and understanding that you always want to put them in a position that they’re comfortable with, that they can handle and that gives them the best opportunity to succeed.”
(It seemed like the first three weeks, this team really did well at playing complementary football, P Thomas Morstead’s punts and nailing people inside the 20, you guys with the stops, the offense with the big plays. It seems that that hasn’t happened so much the last couple of weeks. No. 1, is that accurate? And No. 2, how does that affect the defense when you, I guess it makes you have to work a little harder?) – “Yeah, I mean a lot of complementary football is really kind of field position based. So you kick the ball off, if they get a decent return, that puts you a little bit behind the eight ball. Or if you start on defense and you give up a couple of drives – even if you do get them off the field, and they punt, now it’s a plus-50 punt and your offense is backed up. So all the yards are important as you go down and that’s really how you kind of play a complementary game. If the offense turns the ball over and you’re able to get a stop on defense – you could go through the games, and I would say all three phases, we’re working hard to make sure that we can play a more complementary game. And I think there’s always, from opening kickoff, there’s always opportunities for each team to play complementary football. So if you kick the ball off and you pin them down and you’re able to get a three-and-out or call it a four-and-out or you’re out in the first series, then you’re not punting it at midfield, your offense is not backed up, and then they have less field to go. Or the same thing, if you can create a turnover defensively, then you’re putting your offense usually in better field position. Now if you create a turnover in your minus territory, then you’re really preventing points there, and then it’s the offense, okay, they get a couple first downs, now they can put the opponent in a, call it, poor field position starting point.”
(Not to pin everything on one guy but with the pass rush, DE Emmanuel Ogbah has been the impact pass rusher the last couple of seasons and this year he’s got one sack in five games and we’re not really necessarily feeling him all that much at least from our vantage point. What do you see happening with him this season?) – “Again, I start with self-reflection. And that’s not an easy thing to do. I don’t know how anybody else feels about that, but when you look at things, and you have to sit there and tell yourself, ‘hey, this isn’t good, this isn’t good,’ that’s not a fun thing to do, but I do think that we can detail things a little bit better. I think he’s a dedicated player for us. I think he works hard. I think we can put him in some better situations from time to time and I know it’s important to him. And like I said, that’s why I feel really blessed to be here and be around the guys that I’m around because those guys – all of them are like, ‘Oh, this is my fault. This is my fault.’ He’s accountable, but I do think we can detail things and put him in a little bit better spot and then I’m really excited for his opportunities coming up. And I know you guys have heard Mike (McDaniel) say this a lot that adversity is an opportunity. And that’s really the way we look at it. And I know that we’ve kind of approached things, I would say, tweaked a little bit different this week just on the things that we emphasized or detailed and our players are working hard at it, and hopefully we’ll see those results on Sunday.”
(How much of an emphasis have the missed tackles been and how much do you think this can kind of clean up some of the problems that you faced in recent weeks?) – “Again, it ties all in together with complementary football, detailing things that we want to work at and get better at. And again, I would say any time that we can eliminate yards after catch or yards after contact, it’s going to do two things. I mean, really it puts the offense behind the chains, which sometimes narrows down the plays that that you can see. And the other thing that it does is it saves you field position. So it’s definitely something that that we’ve emphasized, and it’s definitely something that – and again, you can say something like, ‘hey, we need to be better at this,’ but like, okay, what are you doing to get better at it? And are the things that you’re doing to get better at it, are they helping you? If they’re not, then what you need to do is detail it a different way or take a different approach. And I think that’s the great thing. Nobody’s complaining, nobody’s making excuses, nobody’s quitting. Our guys are really detailed in what we’re trying to get done. And like I said, we’re really excited to go out there and play a really good football team this Sunday here at home.”
(We’ve all seen how effective your defenses can be with Cover 0 over the past few years. Not having your top two corners for either the whole game or part of the game at least 100 percent, how much does that factor into how reluctant or willing you might be using Cover 0?) – “I think when you’re talking about call it, and again, there’s different ways to go about pressure. I think when you when you factor all that in; one, you look at the offense, what what’s available to them and then what’s available to us defensively. And I think anybody that you see us put out on the field in any call that we make, we’re very confident in those guys. And I think we have a lot of guys that we’ve been able to play on defense that we’re pretty confident in. I don’t think it so much changes. It’s more like what do we think puts us in the best spot against that offense? And again, obviously, you’d like to have every player that’s available to you. When you don’t, you adjust and you don’t want to really put players in, call it a disadvantage. But I don’t think it really has to do with so much the player who it is. It’s really basically what the offensive structure is, what they’ll do to it and then our matchups. That’s really kind of what it comes down to.”
Eric Studesville – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(What has RB Raheem Mostert recently? We were just talking to Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith, and he says RB Chase Edmonds will still get his opportunities as well. Just kind of the dynamic of them two right now?) – “Well, I think right now, those guys have been sort of taking the reps and who we’ve had in the game the most. We have great confidence in both of them. Raheem (Mostert), played well last week, having 100 yards and doing some things. But I’ve got a very talented room – I, we – we have a very talented room of guys in there, and there’s going to be opportunities for everybody in there. We’re going to need all of them at some point in time, so we just keep moving it around. We think that’s to our advantage, and we think that’s an advantage that we have with our running back room.”
(We saw RB Myles Gaskin get his first real carries of the season. You spoke about a lot of the selfishness of that room, but obviously a guy like RB Myles Gaskin, who was really getting a bulk of the carries his first couple of years maybe kind of stepping back into a secondary role and then having an opportunity on Sunday, just how have you seen him handle the first month or so of the season?) – “I think it speaks volumes to the room. The room is that we have a talented group in there. There’s a lot of guys that are good football players, and they’re unselfish. I think I’ve said that before. They’re competing – they all want to be the lead dog. They all do, and really, you want that from a running back. Their opportunities are going to come, but they all want to contribute whatever way that is to help us win. That’s the one thing about that room is that all those guys are going to do whatever they have to do to try to help us win. I think that’s the mentality that you have to have, because you’re going to need different guys at different times. Things are going to happen along the way. They’re all ready to go. They all prepare great, and when their opportunity comes, they’ll be prepared for it.”
(Are you operating under the assumption that you’ll have RB Raheem Mostert available on Sunday?) – “I’m always operating under the assumption that I’m going to have all of them until we make a decision as to who we get. But that’s why we have to all be ready for it, because we don’t know what those things are. Different things happen at different points in time. I expect Raheem (Mostert) to be there. I expect Chase (Edmonds) to be there. I expect Myles (Gaskin) and Salvon (Ahmed) and Alec (Ingold) and everybody to be ready to go because it’s – we just never know when those opportunities are going to come.”
(We’ve seen some instances where you’ve had RB Raheem Mostert and RB Chase Edmonds on the field at the same time. What type of challenges does that pose for a defense as opposed to just having a standard maybe FB Alec Ingold in there or maybe an extra wide receiver by having those two running backs?) – “We don’t know – that’s why we do it, right? We do it to see what the defense is going to do and what kind of challenge that poses to them. It may change a lot of things. It may change a personnel grouping. It may change the front. It may change how they perceive coverages. It may change what they think is going to happen – is it run? Is it pass? Is it – whatever that is, that’s to our advantage. And so the ability to put those two guys on the field, who are two of our better players, it’s just one more thing that they have to prepare for, and they have to chase ghosts on and try to figure out where we’re going with that.”
(Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith was saying that the run game success that we saw against the Jets kind of built off of the Cincinnati success. What’s been going on in the last couple of games? What have you liked that you’ve seen last couple of games?) – “Well, I think the thing that I liked the most is that this entire offense is committed to this and getting better. We’ve done some things that we could have certainly could have done better. There’s been some plays out there that we’ve hit not as consistently as we want. So I think there’s an urgency in the entire group to get better, and that’s what we’re seeing. We’re seeing that guys aren’t saying, ‘Oh, this isn’t this.’ They’re committed to it. They’re focused on it. They’re taking care of each other. We’re trying to get this run game going better, and it takes everyone in the run game (and) it takes everybody in the pass game. I think what we’re seeing is that the whole group is saying, ‘You know what? We’re going to all put this on all of our backs to get this improved.’”
(Where does that come from? Is it that they know the offense depends on it, or the coaches are making that a priority or it’s it comes from inside?) – “I don’t think it’s a different priority than the pass game. We want every play to be successful, so we’ve all got to be coordinated on every play to get better. That’s not – that’s run, pass, or whatever that is, screenplays, whatever that is, we’ve all got to be in on this. It’s not coming from one place, other than I think all of us – coaches, players, the entire organization – we want to be the best team possible and we’re going to keep pushing to be excellent in what we do. And if we’re not excellent, then let’s figure out ways that we can get better.”
(Getting WR Tyreek Hill involved in the run game and having that play where TE Durham Smythe comes in under center in motion and scores, that kind of creativity that you guys have began to add or expand on, how much do you enjoy that aspect?) – “I like all those things, because I think those are – again, I think that goes back to the conversation just a moment ago, that’s more things for the defense staff to prepare for and chase ghosts for and get ready for, and I think that’s to our advantage.”
(Last week when I talked to RB Raheem Mostert about what you guys might need to do better to improve the running game, he specifically said calling out IDs and stuff like that. How have you seen that area improve over the last couple of weeks?) – “Well, again, I think it’s the same message. Right? We’re all in on this, so we are all involved in pass protections and run game, that way we all know where everybody’s going and why and what the purpose of that is. And that’s on – the entire coaches, players, all of us want to get these things right, and that’s what we’re practicing, that’s what we’re meeting on, that’s what we’re correcting, that’s why we watch tape – all those things to make sure we are on the same page. Because that – when we’re all on the same page, that increases our chances for execution.”
Danny Crossman – October 13, 2022
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(The missed field goal – nobody expects a 54-yarder to hit, but what happened on that?) – “It was just a little inside out. Again, we expect – any time we send Jason (Sanders) out on the field, we expect points. We wouldn’t send him out there if we weren’t expecting points. So again, just another little inside out, missed by a hair. But you only get points if they’re through the uprights, and when we take the field, we expect points.”
(I know in Week 2, you had the kick return touchdown against the Ravens that you allowed. Obviously, you haven’t allowed a touchdown since then, but some returners are getting pretty long returns. What has kind of stuck out in those plays, maybe a call or is there maybe somebody out of place?) – “I think it’s a little bit like we talked about before – we’re shooting ourselves in the foot with a little bit of some technique issues. Some – we talked about couple weeks ago, it’s like fitting a run and everybody needs to be in the proper gap and the proper fit. If you get off against good football players, like you’re going to see in the National Football League, you’re going to get leaky and you’re going to give up some yardage. So we’ve got to clean up those technique issues. Again, I’ve always told you guys, it all starts with me. We’ve got to be right and we’ve got to be where we’re supposed to be.”
(Can you assess how S Clayton Fejedelem did in his first game back?) – “It was like a first game – there was some real good stuff and there’s some stuff that we got to get cleaned up. But it was good to have him back.”
(How much of a boost can a player like S Clayton Fejedelem lend to special teams? Just having that veteran presence there.) – “Well like anything, I think when you have a guy that has experience and has had success and has been a productive player, when you get that guy back, I think it builds everybody’s confidence, first and foremost, and it’s a great example for the younger guys.”
(How has TE Tanner Conner come along in special teams?) – “He’s growing. When you look at his background and where he is now, a lot of things for him the first time is literally the first time. (laughter) But we’re very happy with Tanner (Conner) and how he’s progressing and very happy to have him on our club.”
(Something that I thought that I saw – the kickoff return when TE Durham Smythe went out, WR River Cracraft came in. That seems like it’s usually a heavier player or tight end. Is it his blocking? Why was that?) – “There’s a lot of different things that go into why certain guys are at certain spots. That was a situation we had multiple guys at that certain time with some injury stuff. So you’re allowed to have 11. We hope to only have 11, but we’d like to get 11 out there. So we have a lot of guys that we ask a lot of in terms of what they learn and having to be able to play multiple spots in a backup role, but that’s the National Football League.”
