Raekwon McMillan – December 12, 2019
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Thursday, December 12, 2019
LB Raekwon McMillan
(When you had been with the backups at first during part of the offseason program before your injury, did you and Head Coach Brian Flores ever have a discussion where you asked, “okay, how do I fit in this defense? What’s your vision for me?” Was there every any heart-to-heart you had with him or Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham?) – “Yeah, we sat down. I sat down with all of the coaches and they talked about how they see me in the defense. It all started off by getting healthy. I couldn’t help the defense (and) help this team if I wasn’t healthy, so once I finally got healthy, I was able to do my thing; but I met with all the coaches. They told me what they wanted me to do.”
(I don’t know if I want to use the word “pressure,” but you were a second-round pick. Your first year went out because of the injury. Then your second year is basically coming back from that and this year you’re kind of showing why you were a second-round pick in the first place. How much of that has been in your mind? I don’t want to say “wanting to show” that it was the right to move make you a second-round pick, but does that ever enter your mind?) – “As a high-round guy, you want to come in and show, ‘I’m not a bust’ or whatever. ‘I’m worth everything that they put into me.’ But I really wasn’t worried about that because it was always reiterated (to me) by (General Manager Chris) Grier and everybody from the head up that I’m their guy and they want to see me do good, so it was never a situation where they were trying to put me on a back-burner. Anything that happened was because of something that I did out there on the field, not because of them.”
(The run defense statistics for the team have improved after a bad start the first four or five games. What are some of the things that have gotten better from your perspective for the group?) – “We’re just playing together, playing smarter together. At first it was watching individuals and we didn’t know each other. I talk about this all the time: we were just a bunch of individuals out there trying to play defense, and from the outside looking in when I wasn’t playing a lot, when I finally got a chance to play, that’s one thing that I wanted to help on this defense. When I came in, I wanted to bring everybody together so we could play defense collectively and not just individually.”
(I wanted to follow up on what General Manager Chris Grier said to you when Chris was telling you, “We’ve got your back. You’re our guy. We believe in you.” How much does that mean to you?) – “It means a lot. When I wasn’t playing and stuff like that, I sat down and talked with all the coaches, and they basically all told me I need to get healthy so I can go out there and ‘show me.’ And he was saying from the jump that he had confidence in me and he can’t wait until I get back. That was basically our conversation. I’m not knocking anybody else, he just was ready for me to come back.”
(And this took place this summer?) – “No, at the beginning of the season.”
(In a traditional 4-3 defense like last year, you were just right in the middle there. If you can just help me understand a little bit of the football X’s and O’s, because this defense is multiple, sometimes three down linemen, sometimes four, sometimes three linebackers, sometimes four, sometimes two or one – you could have any combination of that – has that changed in any way how you’re being positioned on the field from game-to-game?) – “Yeah, you’ve got to get comfortable as a – I’ve always been a stand-up linebacker – I had to get comfortable on the edge. My first time playing on the edge was against the Patriots in Week 2. I showed them that I could play on the edge, so that opens up the packages that I can play in. It’s not just, ‘oh, he can only play when we’re four down linemen and three linebackers,’ but he can also play on the edge. If you build your versatility as a player, it helps you be in more packages on defense. Say if we’ve got 10 packages, but you only fit two, you can’t complain about playing time because your skillset only fits two; but if your skillset fits six, seven or eight, then you get more playing time. That’s what I showed over the whole season.”
(How much on the edge have you played since that Week 2 game?) – “Not a lot because we’ve got some good edge guys. I’ll be over there every now and then.”
(When had been the last time you played on the edge?) – “I played on the – oh, you’re talking about before this year?”
(Before New England, yeah.) – “Never. (laughter)”
(At Ohio State at all?) – “No. I probably came off the edge on third down, but no, I was a stand-up Mike (linebacker).”
(What are some other areas of your game that you’ve improved that have allowed you to play in more packages?) – “Getting my body right. Not even just X’s and O’s, just getting my body right. I couldn’t have the excess fat, the excess body weight on me. Losing the weight and being more agile, being able to move with the scat backs in the league helped me a lot.”
(I know LB Vince Biegel’s said he’s played over a half dozen positions this year. How many have you played in terms of all the linebacker spots and any other role?) – “Every linebacker spot. Everybody in our core group has played every linebacker spot and on the edge. Sometimes…”
(So you’ve played you think four different positions this year?) – “Probably about five or six.”
