Quinton Bell – August 5, 2024
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Monday, August 5, 2024
LB Quinton Bell
(I wanted to get some background on your story if that’s OK. What positions did you play in high school?) – “In high school, I played a little bit of everything; receiver, I played corner, a little bit of safety, a little bit of outside linebacker.”
(And were you recruited by any of the larger schools? Obviously, you went to smaller school.) – “I had a few injuries my senior year coming out of high school early in the season, so I had a couple interests from a couple schools but didn’t wind up getting any scholarship offers out of high school.”
(Did anybody back away that was D1-A or D1-AA?) – “I had a couple schools come visit my high school – the Sacramento States, the San Diegos, those types of schools came and talked to me for a little bit, but ultimately no offers out of high school.”
(So I’ve been to University of Texas, University of Oregon, University of Florida, if I were to go to Prairie View A&M University, what might I see that’s a little different?) – “Just a smaller school. Smaller school, smaller facilities, little bit smaller stadium. While I was there, we did get a brand-new stadium, we did get brand-new locker room, brand-new weight room and things like that, so it definitely upgraded from my freshman year till now. But it’s a smaller school, HBCU, so D1-AA, but hey, PV man, PV you know. It was a blessing to be able to go there and like I said, it was a grind, but ultimately, I made it out and I’m happy about that.”
(Moving to edge rusher was obviously the right decision, who’s the person you want to give credit to most for that?) – “Todd Middleton. He was the one who basically called me. I was taking a nap in my dorm room one day and he called me and said, ‘Hey man, come in and talk to me.’ He said, ‘I want you to come edge rush,’ and really at the time it was a crazy request. I was a receiver, I was about 215 (pounds), lanky. But he started talking to me about opportunity, he started talking about the NFL and ultimately, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made to this day, for sure.”
(Last time we talked we were talking about the scout team camo jersey and then today you come up with the orange jersey. I’m just curious, can you reflect upon the last 9-10 months and how far you’ve come and what comes to mind?) – “It’s all my hard work. It’s always a wonderful feeling when feel like you’re coming out here and grinding every day, trying to get better and just leaving it all out there and that work is being noticed and appreciated. It only makes you want to go harder, so I come out here every day. That orange jersey is only the beginning. I want to continue to stack these days, continue to get better, continue to gain trust with these coaches, that’s my main goal.”
(To us you’ve been one of the surprise players of training camp. I’m wondering what others are telling you and what you feel you’ve done best in this camp?) – “I’m definitely getting a lot of great reviews, great reviews from my peers and people gaining respect and gaining that trust. I just feel like I’ve been flying around. I feel like I have a high motor, and I feel like the faster you play, plays come to you and you’re going to make plays just off playing fast. I definitely feel like my speed and my get off and those things are my strengths. So my main goal is just playing fast, letting the plays come to me, knowing my assignments and yeah, I’m flying around. That’s the main thing I’m doing, just flying around. I feel like I’m going to find the ball just off my speed and my ‘want to,’ my will and my motor, I’m going to make plays.”
(You were talking about Prairie View A&M University earlier. When you have T Terron Armstead, T Kion Smith and other HBCU guys, do you guys talk about that experience?) – “Oh of course. Of course, it’s always good. There’s only very few of us, but it’s always good when you have a couple guys that come from HBCUs on a team and they talk about the experience. A lot of people don’t know what it’s like to go to an HBCU and what it’s all about and what happens there, so it’s always good to have a couple guys on your team that have similar experiences like that coming out of college.”
(We saw Outside Linebackers Coach Ryan Crow throw on the pads today and do some jump sets with you guys. What does a hands-on coach like that do for you?) – “Ryan Crow is amazing. He’s definitely probably the best coach I’ve ever had. He’s just a very good teacher, and one thing that I really, really pride myself on is being coachable. I feel like to make a switch from receiver to defensive end, you have to be able to be coached. It’s such a drastic change, and so from Day 1 in college, I prided myself on being coachable. ‘I need to learn these drills, these techniques, take it to the field. Yeah, I’m fast, but that’s only going to get me so far. I got to get better at being a defensive end, not just an athlete.’ And I feel like Ryan Crow does a great job of just being a teacher, doing drills that translate to what we’re going to do in a game and real football, and I feel like I’m absorbing it very well. I feel like just from OTAs I’ve gotten so much better just off of the drills that he’s having us do.”
(From mid-January until the start of training camp, how often would you think about the fact that you knew this opportunity would come? Obviously with LB Jaelan Phillips and LB Bradley Chubb coming off injuries, that there would be a chance to not just make the team but earn playing time. Was that something that you thought about most days this offseason?) – “Oh yeah, absolutely. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t think about it, but ultimately, I definitely knew that the opportunity was there. Either way it goes, no matter what opportunity was, no matter what the draft was, I was going to come in ready to play and ready to look like this and ready to fly around. It’s a blessing to be at the right place at the right time and really doing what I feel like I want to do in this training camp coming off of OTAs. Either way it goes, I was going to be ready. I’m just blessed to be in this position and have this opportunity.”
(Have you been looking forward to the joint practices and start making plays against opponents instead of just your teammates?) – “I’m very excited. It’s fun going against the Dolphins and this crazy offense that we have, but when you get to go against a different color and you get to really play real football against another team that’s so exciting. I can’t wait, I’m excited. My blood’s boiling for tomorrow.”
(How was your wide receiver career going?) – “It was alright. It was alright. You see I’m on defense now, so it wasn’t too much. (laughter) But I played for three years, I probably had one or two touchdowns in three years. I wasn’t going to get an opportunity in the NFL as a wide receiver and I knew that which is why I made the switch because I had nothing to lose. I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘You know what? I should have tried that, I could have maybe did something.’ No, I said, ‘I’m going to do it and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,’ and here I am, so thank God.”
(I guess you were a physical receiver then for them to even consider you making that switch?) – “Yeah, I was a big receiver, like I said. I was probably like 215-220 (pounds) on a good day. I definitely had to put on some weight when I made the switch, but I think defense is where I was supposed to be.”
(I’m looking at your transaction history and there’s a lot of guys who have a list like this: drafted, waived, released, tryout, tryout, tryout, signed, activated, waived, signed, signed, waived – you get it, it goes on and on and on. A list this long, it’s one thing for me to talk about a list, what’s it like for you to live that?) – “I feel like my whole career, starting in college, has just been a grind. ‘Get it out the mud,’ as we say, and going through that has just made me stronger. It’s made me stronger; it’s made me work even harder. I love when people tell me ‘I can’t.’ I love when people tell me ‘No,’ because I’ve always known what I’m about and I’ve always known my skill set and what I can be. And I proved it in college, man. I had a great season playing one year of a position, and I know if I can do that, I can do anything. So I love the grind. I love the mud and I feel like ultimately, all the things I’ve been through in the NFL have just made me better and made me want it more.”
(Who here has given you confidence?) – “Everybody. Everybody, my peers, my coaches, just a feeling of knowing I have my coaches behind me, that I’m gaining the respect of my peers and my teammates on both sides of the ball, special teams as well, gaining that trust and that confidence. Everybody. Everybody is making me feel like I’m being noticed and that my work is being appreciated and noticed and they see me, and I’m going to keep going. I’m not going to stop now.”
