Mike McDaniel – October 16, 2023
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Monday, October 16, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Did CB Xavien Howard’s further testing reveal anything worrisome with the groin as far as potentially missing time? And did the RB Chris Brooks MRI indicate that he could be out a while?) – “In the particular cases that you speak of, I would say that ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is more day-to-day and Chris is more week-to-week, I would say. There’s some swelling that has to go down with Chris before we can totally get the timeline or rough estimation. We’re going to see how ‘X’ calms down and responds to treatment. Just normal weekly question marks that we have to figure out.”
(Was LB Jaelan Phillips on snap count limitations still dealing with the oblique?) – “Yeah, to a varying degree. We try to be very intentional. When you get really good players on the field, your temptation is to just let them go. I know he wanted even more involvement than he got, speaking to who he is as a player and the type of mentality he brings. Yeah, we were trying to be concerted with the amount that he got as to not overuse him.”
(I know you’ve talked about respecting the opponent. The last couple of weeks though, on paper, weren’t the same as this week as facing Philly. How much does that change, do you think, the mindset of a team preparing, knowing what is ahead with the quality of the opponent and having to do that on the road on Sunday night?) – “I think so much of football, you’re playing an opponent but it’s individualized to a particular team. But like I spoke to the team today, this game will probably garner more attention from outside the building for sure, considering I’m still waiting to have a question about the Carolina Panthers defense or offense, and we’ve already gotten one on Philly this week. But I think it is really hard to turn it on for good teams. I think you’re already behind the 8-ball if all of a sudden you’re going to say, ‘Alright, now we’ve got to work hard.’ It was everything to me how we approached last week in terms of making sure that we’re at the stage of the development of the team to worry about ourselves. This week will be no different in terms of that. Having said that, me personally, I get so fired up to play – the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the best teams in the National Football League. When you are trying to be your very best, you want to play the best. So I know all of our guys will be excited for that. But I think if they hadn’t prepared adequately for the Carolina Panthers, they would have lost yesterday. You don’t all of a sudden turn it on when you’re down 14-0. They were prepared. They have some good players and made some good plays. But the bottom line is, each and every week you have to put your best foot forward or you’re going to find out the hard way the type of results that lends.”
(With Derrick Brown and Brian Burns, who had a lot of production this year but not much yesterday, how were you able to…) – “Very very big-time challenges. I think going into the game, that team was No. 2 in the league on third downs. They’ve been making some plays on the defensive side of the ball. I think our guys were prepared enough to handle that challenge and, as best they could, keep them off a stat sheet that they’re used to being on. Those are huge things when you are trying to win football games. I know from an individual standpoint, those guys that have those matchups knew what type of players they were going against. That will be the same thing this week. There will just be more guys that have those matchup concerns because of the quality of the team that we’re playing overall. I don’t think you can just show up. You have to really be on your P’s and Q’s to be able to perform against playmakers, and I thought that our guys on the edge – whether it was offensive line or tight ends or fullback, everybody responsible for blocking did a good job in preparation and execution to keep those guys from making plays because they are good players.”
(What is your assessment of the cornerbacks not named CB Xavien Howard yesterday?) – “There was some definite development. I thought it started in the week of practice. There were a couple things that I thought we took away that are problem plays that they’ve had success on. I thought there were a couple instances that could, from an onlooker, you could blame some of the perimeter guys for some completions that more had to do with underneath coverage issues. Overall, I thought they competed and played pretty well. I thought there was a lot of pressure that we got on the quarterback that was a result of coverage. That it was coverage and a second or third hitch pressure. There were really the most splashes of good team defense, which we’re building on a week that I thought we had our best game with that the week previous. I think our team defense is coming together like we had hoped.”
(You mentioned earlier about not wanting to turn on a switch. You want to be able to come out ready and play the way you want to play. Is there a balance there between the confidence of the team and particularly the offense knowing, ‘Hey, we’re down 14-0, no big deal, we can score?’ But at the same time, not wanting to be in that position? How do you balance that knowing you could do it but you don’t obviously want to be in that spot?) – “I think it is important for games to play out in very different fashions, specifically in the beginning of the season, just because it never changes. There are leads, more often than not, by one team. In the first half, first quarter, what does that do for various teams? If you do have a lead, how do you approach the rest of the game? We’ve had a couple of those scenarios and I think we’re comfortable in that setting, having a lead, pressing forward and not taking your foot off the gas. I hadn’t seen our team respond to a two-score deficit the way we’d like to with only a sample size coming from Buffalo. That’s something you have to do. And you just acknowledge that however it plays out, we can handle. You never want to end up in a hole but it is good to know that your team has the experience together as a team to rely back on. ‘Hey, this is the way we operate when things aren’t going ideal.’ That is huge in the game of football, just like life. You’re never going to just have a path of no resistance. It is a balance but I think you can take things from every experience and that was one that was new to us.”
(What did you think of OL Liam Eichenberg’s second start at center?) – “I expected some comfort level in his game and him being able to execute some things that he may not have been able to his first rep. It was a pretty safe bet considering it was the first ever time that he had done that in a game. I saw really just him handling that position. It’s such a communicative position, and there’s a difference. Step one is making the right call before the snap. Step two is executing the snap and step three is the actual play. Well, even before you get the ball snapped, your conviction and how you authoritatively make a declaration or set a combination target, that has implications. We could feel it during the week. We actually had guys mid-play celebrating his decisive call, and that manifest itself in the game. I thought his play, he blocked people well, but he also did his part to help others block their guys as well with appropriate communication decisiveness.”
(This week, is OL Connor Williams on track to practice?) – “Yeah, he had a good weekend. Just because we try to protect players from themselves, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t practice Wednesday, but that will be a day-to-day thing. He had a good weekend, although frustrated. He’s one of the more frustrated players that doesn’t play that I’ve been around. He gives you the worst look. He’s mad at you that you’re protecting him.”
(You have two weeks to activate RB Jeff Wilson Jr. What led to him not being put in the 53 this past weekend? Do you feel good about him being able to play this week?) – “I think that he was prepared enough to play. Going into the gameplan and with regard to the entire team and the scope of what was going on with the team, it kind of necessitated us to have that spot directed somewhere else. I think he was more than prepared. We’re very aware of the windows. We just have to be patient, like a movie premiere.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. I think he’s had a couple of incidences this year with cramps. I think by his own omission, he says, ‘I don’t hydrate enough, I need to hydrate more.’ I know he’s had IV’s. How much of a concern is that now?) – “I think it’s something that we’ve tried and tooled around with. He’s as accountable as it comes. He really takes that ‘C’ on his jersey serious with being captain. So, he’s trying to be hard and proactive. I’m sure he’s right. He’s a high-octane athlete that we’ve been proactive with some of the IV measures as well. I think it’s kind of game related when you go a bunch of spurts where he’s doing some very explosive things where it seems to come up. We’ll continue to try to get ahead of that, because we prefer when he’s on the field and not off of it for sure.”
(I’ve been curious for a while. Some coaches give victory Mondays, we seem to see these players in here, win or lose, on Mondays. What’s your philosophy behind that?) – “Well, I think you hear me say it’s putting your money where your mouth is when you talk about the development of a team during the season and getting better. You hope that players – you create an atmosphere where it’s more not about avoiding the building for a day, or not doing that, and making sure that we’re getting better. That game tape, there’s nothing more valuable. I think that prioritizing that, victory Mondays end up meaning that you take some of those learning lessons and put them on the day that you’re starting the gameplan for the other opponent. We do it at times when we’re robbed of sleep and guys need some time to sleep in, but outside of that, it’s too valuable of a teaching tool in our minds and really my mind, that you want to get better from so your best football is at the end of the year.”
(We hear on the broadcast all the time about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to hold defenders, look them off, move guys. I just wanted to hear from your perspective how valuable that is and how that makes this offense go in a sense?) – “When you’re trying to play timing-type football, it’s imperative that you have to. Sometimes guys are in zones that you don’t want to be in for you to throw on time, so that ability, not only is it good for opening up windows, but it also really helps you get the answers to the test of where to go with the ball. Because if guys aren’t responding to your vision within the timing that you’re used to, then you can replace them with a check down or an outlet or progress throughout the progression. To be confident to pass the ball against zoning defenses, it’s absolutely critical. All the teams that have quarterbacks that do well with drop-back passes, those teams have quarterbacks that are able to manipulate zoning defenders because defenses get paid too. They generally work a lot at zones and how to orchestrate them. So, to be able to know where everybody is on the field and being able to trust that and manipulate defenders to try to get open windows, it’s a huge part of his game that is one of the reasons why he is so productive really.”
