Brock Osweiler – October 31, 2018
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
QB Brock Osweiler
(Now that you know you’re going to start your fourth game, are you taking these games by game or are you going with the mindset that you could be the quarterback for an extended period of time past this?) – “I’m taking it week to week and really not even week to week, more or less day to day. I think that’s the right approach to take in this situation. In some circumstances, really the NFL is a week to week league. I think you guys have seen it enough now over the years. I’m not looking too far ahead. I’m just focusing on one day at a time and whatever coach tells me, that’s what I believe and that’s what I’m rolling with.”
(Do you think you’ve changed some opinions about your ability over the last few weeks?) – “I’m not really sure and to be quite frank, I’m really not too concerned with any outside opinions. Really, the only people I care about as far as their opinion is my teammates and my coaches. That’s not to be rude to anybody or anything like that; but at the end of the day, that’s really all that matters is the opinions of my coaches and my teammates.”
(I understand you don’t care about our opinions, but GMs and coaches around the league, you want to change their opinion, obviously.) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think those guys have probably always looked at it probably different than you guys have. They understand the plays that are getting called in certain situations, things like that. I guess to answer your question maybe in a better way, you’re always trying to put your best foot forward. You’re always going out there every time you’re on the field to have success and to help your football team win a football game. You’re never going out there to lose a football game or not be successful. I guess to answer your question, to go out there and doing some positive things right now, yeah absolutely it feels good.”
(Do you think you’ve helped your career the last three or four weeks?) – “Time will tell. Time will tell. I’m really big on staying in the present moment, learning from past mistakes and then just living in the moment. That’s what we did today. I had a laundry list of things after the Houston game that I want to clean up. It was really about one page of notes. We have a great coaching staff here. They took that page of notes and they turned that into drills – things that I didn’t do right in the game – in hopes that we can correct those mistakes, make sure that they never happen again and then just move forward. That’s kind of an example of what we do.”
(How much of the list is made up by you and how much of it came from the staff?) – “It’s mutual. I think we sat down and between Friday to Monday, we watched the tape three times, so we really dissected that thing. That’s how we always work. I want to be the best possible quarterback I can be. A coach once told me, he said, ‘You’re never staying the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.’ I want to be on the getting better end and the only way you can do that is through hard work. Like I said – and I’ve told you guys before – I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where we have great coaches here. They want to coach us hard and I want to be coached hard. I want to get better. We sat down, we worked together on things that we thought needed to get corrected and we went out there today at practice and worked on that.”
(You look behind with coaches. Now being four starts in a row – and maybe for the immediate future you might start – are you involved in game planning at all, what plays do you like? Do they ask you anything going into formulating the game plan?) – “They do when the time calls for it. But at the same token, we have a tremendous coaching staff here – Coach Gase, (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Dowell) Loggains, the rest of the offensive staff. They do such a great job in game planning they don’t need anyone else’s opinion, which really makes it great, because it allows me to focus on my job, focus on my reads, my rules, my footwork, my progressions and I leave the Xs and Os to those guys.”
(Has it benefited you that Head Coach Adam Gase continues to tell you early in the week that you’re the guy?) – “Yes. That means a lot. It helps out. Like I’ve told you before, whether you’re the backup quarterback or the starting quarterback, you prepare the same way. You really do. The only difference is you don’t get the practice reps if you’re the backup. The fact that he comes out early, says I’m starting the game which allows me to take all the practice reps during the week, that’s very beneficial.”
(When did Head Coach Adam Gase tell you that you were going to start?) – “I don’t think Adam and I really had a conversation. I think just being here over the weekend, coming in today, it was … I want to say it was assumed. But when you’re in the building as often as we are, you kind of know what’s going on with the other guy and things like that.”
(So when did you assume?) – “I treat every week the same way. Like I just told you I think two questions before, whether I’m the backup or I’m the starter, I’m preparing the same way, I’m doing the same things on Mondays, I’m doing the same things on Tuesdays. So to be honest, I wasn’t really worried about it. I did my same ritual. I came in today, I found out Ryan (Tannehill) wasn’t playing this week, he’s still doing some rehab things and away we go with another week. I wish I could answer it better, but there was no definitive moment where I was told I was starting.”
(Your thoughts on your first game with WR DeVante Parker?) – “DeVante is an extremely talent receiver. He really is. He’s a big target, he’s physical, he plays hard. He did some great things for us against Houston and I expect him to do some great things against New York. In fact, I expect him to play even better. I think DeVante is just getting rolling. I really do. He showed some flashes last week. He made some really big-time catches. In fact, there was a third-and-1 really in the back of my head where he caught a slant, there was a linebacker that dropped off the line of scrimmage, I couldn’t lead him in front, I had to put it on his back shoulder on a slant, which isn’t easy for those guys and he went out there and he snagged it and made a big play for this football team. I think that guy is just getting started. He has a boatload of talent, ton of potential and I’m super excited to see what he does this week.”
(Can you take us through two plays? One, the interception. It looked like WR Danny Amendola was held. And two, WR DeVante Parker had a step on the DB and it was just a touch overthrown.) – “The first play, the interception, obviously, it’s a play you wish you had back. Whether it was a penalty or not, that’s not up to us to decide. It was the coverage we were hoping for; it was the window we were hoping for. Unfortunately, we didn’t make a play and it ended up in a turnover and points for the other team. That’s something that can’t happen and we need to clean up and we will clean up. As far as the overthrown ball to DeVante, that’s the one you wish you had back. The offensive line did a tremendous job of holding up. It was kind of a ball-holder play. They held up, they gave me the time, DeVante ran a great route and I just didn’t throw a good ball point blank, period. That’s pretty much how that one went. Like I said, it’s one I wish I had back. But going back to it, you can’t have that play back. All you can do it learn from it. So today, I think we had about five or six reps where we replicated that exact same scenario and threw that ball five or six times. Hopefully we got that one cleaned up and that’ll never happen again.”
(What kind of success did you have today with it?) – “It was much better. (laughter)”
(For curiosities sake, we were trying to figure out on the play where you got spun around and it went to review, were you trying to tuck the ball back in?) – “No, I wasn’t. DeVante was pretty wide open on the sideline, so I was trying to throw it to DeVante. Unfortunately, that guy came free. That’s something, once again, we have to clean up between myself (and the) offensive line. But we had a chance at a big play on the sideline and I was trying to throw it to DeVante.”
(Are you looking at this as an opportunity to prove to yourself again that you can start in this league or are you looking at this opportunity as ‘I have to do my job so when Ryan is healthy we’re in a good spot where he can come back?’) – “Absolutely not. I think your mentality in this league is when you get your opportunity to play, you never give that guy his job back. That needs to be the mentality. And if that’s not your mentality, then you’re just in the wrong business. That’s nothing personal against anybody; but if you don’t have that competitive spirit, this isn’t the league for you. To answer the first part of your question, every week not only are you going out there and trying to put out your best performance for yourself, but you’re trying to do it for your teammates, your organization, your fan base, your family – it’s everything. Every single week in my eyes is the Super Bowl. Every single week is the biggest game out there, because this sport is so special and you never know when you’re going to get another opportunity. When you do get the opportunity to play, shoot, I play every single play like it’s my last. I put laser focus on every single play. I’m playing as hard as I possibly can so hopefully I never have to go back to the bench.”
