Mike McDaniel – October 18, 2023
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Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Opening statement) – “We’ll start Jalen’s (Ramsey) window today. It’s a testament to him that we’re doing that and we will rule him out for Philly, but I’m excited – I just had him break the team down – I’m excited to have him back.”
(Do you have anyone on the 53 that won’t be able to practice today for non-rest reasons like CB Xavien Howard with the groin or anybody else?) – “Especially with a team like ours, that’s hard for me to open-end because I’m more focused on the guys we do have. I’m trying to – I can’t even remember. Connor (Williams) will not be practicing, day-to-day. ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is day-to-day, won’t be practicing.”
(RB Chris Brooks?) – “Yeah, that week-to-week issue is still the exact same in terms of the swelling kind of calmed down and we got a better lens into it, so that will be, we’re talking weeks timeline, not days. But not season-ending at all. So that’s the state of the union there.”
(What kind of timeline is CB Jalen Ramsey on to return? Like how many weeks do you think?) – “Oh, you used the word. (laughter) You guys just think that I’m BSing, but we don’t give necessarily ‘timelines.’ We gave from the onset with Jalen, we gave kind of like a rough target, but everybody’s body is different. He called his shot early. I think the day that he got injured, that he was going to beat whatever the target would be. He certainly did that. That being said, this is the first time that he’s going to be playing football so we’ll acquire information but very optimistic it will be sooner than later obviously because we’re starting the window that is open.”
(A lot of times with knee injuries, a player’s confidence in that knee is so important. What does CB Jalen Ramsey tell you about how the knee feels – pain, mobility, things like that?) – “Jalen (Ramsey) couldn’t control the injury that he had, but what he has controlled is how he’s addressed the injury so that day that you were like, ‘man, I’m not waking up today,’ and hit the snooze; literally every single day, he has not done that. So he is as confident as one can be before his first practice and all the stuff that he’s done in terms of all the work with the strength staff and the training staff. It’s the exact way you’d expect Jalen Ramsey to be. He has a lot of God-given talents, but I think his greatest talent is how unique of a deliberate worker, teammate (he is). I’ve never been around a guy that had this long of a rehab that hasn’t missed team meetings or hasn’t missed practices. He is finding a way to affect the team in one way, shape or form, so his confidence will be as high as one can be in this stage, I can tell you that much because of his work.”
(As an amateur schedule reader, you’re three weeks before the bye. Do you see a chance that CB Jalen Ramsey plays before or after the bye or…?) – “You know, I’ve got one day and that’s today. I think it’s fair to say there’s a chance. I’m just not going to – case in point, the target date I didn’t share because I don’t know. So I think it’s fair to say, but you’ve got to take it one day at a time with those type of things, but I would say that I’m cautiously optimistic.”
(You said CB Jalen Ramsey hasn’t missed meetings or anything. When he’s on the sideline, he’s pretty animated. I remembered him on one occasion going to celebrate and jumping. Are you amazed by like…?) – “Yes, all of it. He literally called his shot. He called his shot and we’re in the business of doing everything that we can right by a player. He’s a member of this team and we’re doing right by him. We’re fair but not aggressive on target dates and he told us before his surgery that he was going to – he kept telling me he was an alien. So I’m starting to believe him and that’s a cool thing for such a well-established player at the top of his game for the whole team to see on how you attack things and it’s why when the time comes and he is on the field for an NFL game, we’ve talked about it at length, it’ll be the most fun that he’s ever had playing football simply because of the perspective that you get when it’s taken away and you have to diligently work minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day to put yourself in position for the opportunity for the window to be open to practice today.”
(Is CB Jalen Ramsey cleared for all movements including contact? I mean you typically don’t try to have contact in practice.) – “No, he’s not cleared for movements of receivers running past him. Not cleared for that. (laughter) Just so you guys know. (laughter) I think at this stage one of the big things that you learn in OTAs, as a team, for you to be successful, you have to really, really be mindful and deliberate with how you practice without pads in general. So I think our team does a good job of that in general and so if he wasn’t – especially as a defensive player – if you’re not fully cleared medically, we can recreate stuff on the side, but we can’t allow him to practice. So he is cleared for all movements except for offensive touchdowns versus him.”
(Where is T Terron Armstead and RB De’Von Achane kind of in their recoveries and the thought of having CB Jalen Ramsey and those two guys come back for the second half this season, what are your thoughts on that?) – “I think they’re really both – (Terron) Armstead has a glow in his eye like he has high expectations for his return and he’s just really, really proud of, this is all the players’ team. In particular, being a captain for two years and just being such a big part of that offensive line room, I think he is feeling really confident and ready to contribute when that time comes. And no setbacks with De’Von as well. He’s been doing great and has high spirits. It’s like he’s become a second or third-year player already with his attention in meetings and stuff. So that’s awesome. I really like the players that we roll out every Sunday, particularly on the defensive side. There’s a lot of guys that have gotten opportunities from Jalen’s absence and whatnot, and that prospect of him coming back, I think everyone is fired up for because you want competitors. And when you get healthy competition within a position group or on a side of the ball where people want to match good plays, I think the residuals are outstanding. So that will be an exciting day, but it’s not like I’m longing for it. I very much love the competitors that we have and I think the world of all the guys that have been able to rise to the occasion and step up. That’s the nature of football as you can tell the whole league deals with those things, so we’re not unique in that circumstance.”
(Can I get an update on RB Jeff Wilson Jr.? He practiced last week, by all reports did pretty well, but then wasn’t active and was downgraded on Friday. Setback or just no roster spot? And what are your expectations for him?) – “There was no setback. It was more big-picture, whole-team, limited roster on game days. You have to take it up with the league on that one, but he’s doing great and he was ready to go. And really, I’ve never had issues with players chomping at the bit and then being like, ‘all right, you have to wait.’ It just means he’s going to be hungrier and I think we’ll all benefit from when that time comes; but again, all these decisions, they’re not independent of each other. It is all-encompassing and your football team has different needs on a week-to-week basis depending on your opponent and just depending on the actual health of your roster as well. So factoring in all those things, that was a major decision. I actually thought that we would get to see him play, but as the week progressed, the numbers didn’t really ration out appropriately. It has nothing to do with his ability or ableness.”
(From a game-planning standpoint, how much extra work is it for you and Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith when you have several high-end non-quarterbacks on the opposing team whose health is in question? Obviously Darius Slay, Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter this week. Does that add extra work for you and Frank in terms of discussion scenarios of what we would do if each guy plays, if each guy doesn’t play from a game plan standpoint?) – “Generally, it factors in, but if the majority of your thought process is based on what opponent is playing, I’ve found that – and we can all believe that – regardless, there’s consistent techniques and fundamentals and scheme that we’re going against and our guys are a bunch of competitors that want to go against the best. That’s why they’re so excited for a non-conference game because you have a team in the Super Bowl that is fresh off their first loss in a six-game season. So they’re eager for that. But I think it’d be doing a disservice to that team and you’d be setting yourself up for a strong humbling experience if you over-dwelled on individuals. That is a team that plays as a team, that they’ve dealt with injuries before, they’ll continue to deal with them. And if they have that jersey on, it seems like they all have the same intent, which is a cool form of football that they enjoy playing together and are super aggressive and physical while doing it. So I wouldn’t say that we would lose sleep on any individual because I think that’s doing a disservice to the whole unit.”
(There are some folks who believe that many quarterbacks in this game, with you as the coach, with WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, maybe even many, many quarterbacks would excel and flourish, would be near the top of the passer rater leading and be an MVP candidate. What if any pushback is there relative to “wait, no, hold on, Tua is a little different?”) – “My answer to that would be, ‘who the f cares’ because it is a team. We’re working together and I know one thing. I’ve coached stuff a long time. I haven’t seen people do what our guys do and I mean, in a lot of experiences, to their credit, to their ability and their commitment to their craft; I know as a teammate, we’re all dependent on each other and I’m not in any hurry to prove myself without those guys because those are part of who we are and to try to say it’s this person or that person is kind of missing the point. It is a team working together, people working together and myself, Tyreek Hill, Tua, cool but what if no one’s blocking anyone? You know what I mean? Like we’re all connected in that way. That’s why I think a lot of the guys; Tua’s success is their success. Tyreek’s success, Waddle’s, Raheem’s, etc. We’re all tied together, it’s a journey that we’re experiencing together. Somebody will get the statistics from it, but none of those statistics are worth anything if you don’t have full support from your players across the board, all 11, and then it goes down to the organization and all those things combined. But I know this; our players run a lot of plays that I have a lot of history with and it looks different, and that’s because of hard work and unbelievable ability. So don’t try me on other players. I’m not trying to prove that.”
(What is it about Philly’s QB sneak that makes them so successful at it and have you seen a team really be as successful as they’ve been running that play?) – “Well, no, and it’s kind of like their play. I think what makes them so successful is a commitment to leverage and detail on something that a lot of people don’t detail. Shoot, they leaned into it before it was successful, detailing it up and then it has success. I’m a huge fan of things that are within the rules of football that you can’t stop. That’s to their credit. The semantics, whether it should or shouldn’t be, I just more respect and regard what goes into that. There’s a lot of people that would love to convert 80-some percent of third or fourth-and-1s. I would love that. And they have a situation where their players have leaned into it and if you don’t like the play, you should try to stop it. A lot of people have and it’s a really hard thing to stop, which means they’re really owning the finer details of the play.”
