Braxton Berrios – August 12, 2024
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Monday, August 12, 2024
WR Braxton Berrios
(Watching Friday’s game from the sideline and seeing tapes of other NFL games, your reaction on the kickoff rules back then – for returners, it looks a little chaotic out there, but how might you describe it?) – “I think in preseason regardless kickoff return is a little chaotic, but I liked it. I saw a lot of things, obviously in our game alone, a lot of things we did good, a lot of things obviously that we’ll learn from and get better at. But at the end of the day, I think the opportunities are there more so than any other year, and that’s exciting.”
(What’s it like to see a fellow Hurricane come back in LB Jaelan Phillips?) – “Oh, it’s awesome. Obviously when it all went down, you kind of knew that he would attack rehab. And to say that and think that then watching him every single day throughout the offseason, when most people aren’t here, he’s here, obviously through OTAs and through training camp, just absolutely get after it. The fact that he’s come back in such a short amount of time just speaks volumes to this training room and really him and his dedication and commitment to this team, it’s incredible.”
(After seeing the kickoffs, what’s the key here? Are there going to be opportunities to break some? Or are we going to see an awful lot of 1st-and-10 on the 23-yard line type things?) – “I think first and foremost, I think they’re trying to put the ball in play. The changes in the rule was to get more returns, and if they kick it straight into the end zone, it’s the 30 (-yard line) instead of the 25. If they don’t make it to the 20 (-yard line) or kick it out of bounds, it’s upward from there. So I think you’ll see a lot better field position, and I do, I think you’ll see a lot more returns for touchdowns. How that is going to happen, I have some thoughts on but I’m going to keep that in house and between me and (Special Teams Coordinator) Coach Crossman. But yeah, I think you will see more returns for touchdowns this year and at an absolute bare minimum, I think you’ll see better starting position for the offense.”
(What skill do you see with WR Malik Washington that kind of leaves you intrigued?) – “He’s attacking everything like a pro, I think, first and foremost from a learning standpoint, and then obviously that’s why he’s here. He can do a lot of great things with the ball in the air, and then also in his hands, running routes and blocking as we saw down there in the red zone. He’s really been awesome, been a great teammate and we’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for him”
(How is the inter-wide receiver competition going that you guys do every training camp?) – “It’s actually going really well. I think it’s either tied up or somebody has the upper hand by one after today. So it’s actually like really close and neck and neck how you would hope it to be to, so good job captains.”
(When does it end? Does it end as soon as preseason is over?) – “That’s a good question, I don’t know. It’s either that last preseason game or whatever practice or two after that whenever training camp officially officially ends. But I’m going to guess it’ll probably be through the third preseason game.”
(So is it the losers buy the winners dinner?) – “I’m going to keep that one in house, too.”
(Wasn’t that the case before?) – “That has been the case. Yes, that has been the case.”
(Nice dinner?) – “It was a nice dinner, yes it was.”
(It feels like on every level, offense, defense, coaches, players, that just building chemistry and camaraderie this offseason has been really important. Besides this competition that receivers do, what else do you guys do on offense as pass catchers to make sure that you guys are close off the field?) – “I mean honestly, we hang out and I think that’s key, just not inside meeting rooms but obviously in the locker room we see each other but getting out outside the building and doing things. Whether it’s the dinner for that, whether it’s hang out at somebody’s house and anything else, and then obviously all the team events that we through, we’re all there together. I think it goes a long way, seeing each other outside the building, seeing each other with their significant others and spouses and kids and all that, I think that really building the team chemistry ten-fold rather than just when you see people in the building.”
(Is that something that kind of gets lost at the pro level? Because it feels like – I didn’t play college ball, but it feels like in college, you guys are in class together, live together, everything.) – “It can, it absolutely can. Everybody is grown. A lot of people like I said have wives, have kids, have girlfriends they live with. Everybody has – football obviously is their career, but everybody has their own life around it. It can, it can get lost, and that’s why when you have a team that makes an effort and makes it a point and a coaching staff that makes it a point to get everybody together outside the building, again, I think it goes a long way.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa obviously has lost some weight after the team had wanted him to bulk up a year and a half ago. Do you see any change in terms of mobility at all going back to OTAs to now?) – “Yeah, I do, and I think he said it as well. I think at the end of the day, whatever he feels best at is going to be best for this team. Obviously he feels best where he is, and we’re all confident that he’s at his best.”
(WR Tyreek Hill gets the first pick and he chooses WR River Cracraft over you. How do you feel about that?) – “That’s OK. That’s OK. River is a dawg, man. He comes out every day and obviously he knows what to do, he does the right things and then he makes plays. Obviously we’ve seen him this camp, he’s had a tremendous camp. He’s absolutely earned and deserving of that first pick.”
