Liam Eichenberg – May 15, 2021
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Saturday, May 15, 2021
T Liam Eichenberg
(Correct me if I’m wrong here, but did we get a new haircut?) – “Yeah, I shaved my head.”
(Is that in response to the heat maybe?) – “No, that’s just a football thing for me. I always shave it when I practice.”
(I guess my question will be how is it going so far? A couple of days on the field and in the classroom now – how are you adjusting to rookie minicamp and what have you noticed about your teammates and the people here?) – “It’s been awesome. Kind of what you asked about, the people here are great. They care about you, they want you to excel and it’s about the team. It’s not about individuals. Practice has been going well. Lifting, the strength coach is great. They put is in a position to excel. Everything is going great down here.”
(Rookie minicamp, this is your first taste of Miami Dolphins and the playbook and so forth. Eventually, do you see yourself as a guy that is going to be competing for playing time, competing for a starting position?) – “Right now, it’s about being consistent. I’ve only had two days of practice. I just want to improve. It’s not about starting right now; it’s about improving every single day from being on the field and then also in the meeting rooms, understanding the offense. There’s a lot going on with offense. First off, I need to get that down.”
(But eventually, I’m talking about.) – “I mean eventually. But right now it’s about just improving.”
(San Francisco T Mike McGlinchey is a guy that I’ve met a couple of times. I met him at Notre Dame and in the playoffs actually. I think he was down for the Super Bowl down here. Yeah, he was in the Super Bowl. I’m wondering if you guys are tight and have you been able to talk to him a little bit about the transition from college to the pros?) – “Yeah, I talked to a bunch of my former teammates – Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson – and then the guys who are undrafted free agents like Sam Mustipher, Alex Bars – so I keep in contact with those guys a lot. I could call them at any time and they’d answer unless they were at practice or in meetings. They’re great guys and we stay in contact.”
(McGlinchey is a guy who played left tackle and right tackle at Notre Dame and now has become a strong player at right tackle in the NFL. What are your observations about him and being able to handle both sides. He could play guard, he could play left tackle, right tackle. What are your observations about how he’s been able to prepare himself to do that?) – “I would say it’s about being available – being able to play wherever the team needs you. At the end of the day, you want to put your five best offensive linemen out there and you want to win. Mike was a guy who was able to slide into guard. He was able to play left tackle, right tackle. Just having that versatility. On top of that, it’s also about being consistent. Mike was also a great leader who set a good example for myself and other guys.”
(We weren’t able to watch practice this week so I’m kind of going in here blind. Did you guys do one-on-ones against defensive linemen or was that not part of the work this week?) – “It was just focused on fundamentals and improving. We did a lot of individual drills, had the opportunity to work with ‘Coach Lem’ (Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre) and understand the Miami Dolphins technique and fundamentals. Practice went well. It was good. It’s nice being down in Florida for the first time practicing. I’m up from up north. It was awesome.”
(The reason I ask is we got to speak with LB Jaelan Phillips earlier today. I’m curious, when you get to go one-on-one against him, that seems to be like a matchup we’d certainly all love to watch.) – “I mean yeah, it just goes back to fundamentals and technique. Every rep is important – not just one-on-ones.”
(You mentioned something that coaches always preach. You want the best five linemen out there. For you, how would you feel if it wasn’t maybe your best position or most favorite, but you were out there? How would you feel about a circumstance like that?) – “I mean any position that helps this team win and helps this offensive line excel and succeed. It doesn’t matter if I’m playing guard, tackle or center – I’ll figure it out. I’ll get to the point where I feel comfortable and I’m able to help this team win.”
(Tell me more about this head shaving. Do you do it on a regular basis? Straight razor? Do you have some buzz cuts? And why before football practice?) – “It’s just kind of a reset. It’s kind of a blank slate. I’m also balding, as you guys can tell. (laughter) Last year and the year before, I would always shave my head and grow my beard out. It’s just kind of something I do for football. It puts me in the mindset.”
(So are we working on the beard or did that give a shave too?) – “(laughter) I’m working on it. I was clean shaven for all of these meetings for these past couple of months.”
(So you felt like you had to clean up your image for these individual teams?) – “Yeah, definitely. Yep.”
(And now we’re going to get to rough offensive line look?) – “Definitely. Yep.”
(You mentioned working out with Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre back in the run-up to the draft and now you get a chance to work with him here on the field. I’m curious, what’s the difference in the way that coaching goes between the run-up to the draft and now that you’re here with the logo and the Aqua and Orange. What’s that difference with coach like?) – “He’s a very consistent coach. Everything he preached at Pro Day, he preaches now. It’s not like he showed up at Pro Day and did something different. It’s about getting your hands inside, setting to your position, being in a good position and kind of using his technique to win every single rep.”
