Kendall Fuller – August 15, 2024
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Thursday, August 15, 2024
CB Kendall Fuller
(What was today like getting an orange jersey in a practice against your former team and then of course finishing practice with an interception?) – “It was fun. The football side of it too, but also just the relationships you build when you’re at a place for so many years. It was fun just seeing the guys. Competing against them again, competing against Terry (McLaurin). I think the first or second rep of practice he had a touchdown on me, so to be able to make a play at the end but just to go back and forth and compete against guys, go against a different team, it was fun man. It was just a blessing. It’ll be fun on Saturday to compete with everybody, so I had fun.”
(What was your perspective on that one where he beat you on the touchdown, and also the interception at the end?) – “The coverage that we were in, it was a coverage we haven’t ran as much. For me, it was a learning experience of just knowing how or when I can expect to use my safety, and whether or not I can use them or if I have to be more aggressive. Terry (McLaurin) had a good route, good catch. At the end, it was just an out route that I love to make plays on, and I was fortunately able to make a play on it.”
(You had a chance to see their rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Your thoughts on the young fella?) – “I like him, man. I haven’t watched the tape yet, but how he carries himself. He looks like a pro; he looks like he has an edge. It looks like he trusts his ability a lot. I mean, shoot – even just looking on YouTube, social media, I heard about him checking a play in the first preseason game, and to be able to have that confidence as a rookie, to go out there and play football… At the end of the day, a lot of the times you rely on Xs and Os, and sometimes you just got to play football. I’m excited to compete against him on Saturday and hoping he has a good future and enjoys it in Washington.”
(Did you bow to the Commander’s sideline on that play?) – “No, I didn’t bow. It was a celebration that I’ve been doing the last couple of years that all of them know that I do, that I did.”
(You said you basically, I think, anticipate playing on Saturday. Do you feel like you need that work in the preseason?) – “I mean, yeah, any time you get to go out there on the football field, you always make it productive. At the end of the day it’s Year Nine, every day out there, you come out here to practice today, you make it productive. There is stuff that you can learn from, grow from. Genuinely I’m not sure how much we are playing at all. I’m going in with that mindset, but at the end of the day, whether you’re on the field or the younger guys are out on the field, you’re still interactive. Any game in the NFL, preseason or not, is a blessing and you try to enjoy it.”
(How do you feel you played for Washington last season?) – “Made some plays, gave up some plays. I think I played pretty good. As a group, we didn’t play to our standard last year, but that’s a question I genuinely don’t even think about as much just being somewhere new, a new year. Football in general, you got to move on to the next play, move on to the next year. I’m with a new team, a new group of guys. It’s been exciting, and I’m excited to try to do something big here.”
(We’re going to see a lot of CB Kader Kohou with you and CB Jalen Ramsey this year in nickel packages. What stands out to you about CB Kader Kohou being a teammate and playing with him now?) – “For him to be young, I think just how like he carries himself. He carries himself like a pro, he carries himself like a veteran. Whether that’s just like his preparation, his skill set is undeniable on the field, how he is in meetings and especially the nickels for how much they remember for how much we do things. Something that I’ve always said is being able to play nickel and corner I think is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL. I have a lot of respect for any guy that’s out there playing a little bit of nickel and a little bit or corner.”
(I wanted to ask you about CB Cam Smith real quick too. Obviously, Dolphins fans are eager, a second-round pick, to see him develop. What skill set do you see there that makes you think this guy can be a player?) – “Just his athletic ability. His athletic ability, his intent. Me and him have conversations on the side where I just always tell him to be aggressive. That is something that I think (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) does a good job of. He wants guys to go out there and play with conviction. If you can come out here and play with conviction out here on the practice field, you’ll be able to learn things that you can or can’t do. I think that is something that Cam (Smith) has been doing, even his first practice back. You could see him showing up all over the tape and things like that, so I’m excited for him.”
(I missed the celebration today, so if you could tell it again that it would be great. And the second thing was those Washington teams weren’t always the best. There is a little bit more juice to this team. There were even some Super Bowl aspirations. I don’t want you to bash your time in Washington. But compare the energy of the two training camps?) – “It’s hard to say. Year in and year out, no matter what team you’re on – I was in Washington for four years. Each team, each group, each year is different. Especially being somewhere new is also going to be different. My two years in KC was different. Each and every year is different. Right now, I like the standard that we have here and the standard that we hold one another to that the coaches hold each other to, the players hold each other to. And we’re just working every single day, working to get better, working to compete against each other day in and day out. It’s been fun.”
(The celebration you did, I missed it.) – “A celebration that a lot of people on the outside won’t understand. A lot of the guys in Washington knew that that was a celebration that I always did. For them, they all knew what I meant and what I was doing.”
(Did you lobby for that orange jersey today?) – “No, (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) had said to the team yesterday that he had messed up the last joint practices by not giving it to Calais (Campbell) or Jonnu (Smith) for them being in Atlanta last year. He was like he couldn’t make the same mistake twice, so I definitely appreciate it.”
(Did you pick anything specific that might have been and inside joke to these guys?) – “No. I’m a man of faith, a man of God. A lot of them guys, even here they know that I have some Christian rap in there, some Gospel music in there, and then besides that I let the other DBs send a song to get in there.”
(What were the conversations like seeing S Darrick Forrest and CB Benjamin St-Juste when you saw them?) – “It’s fun, it’s guys that you’ve been around for the last – some guys two years, three years, four years. Genuinely not even football, but just talking to them about life in general. I know ‘Juice’ (Benjamin St-Juste) is a dad now. A lot of them coming up to me, I just got married. So just getting back around those guys, catching up, congratulations and things like that. It was fun just to see everybody.”
(How do you feel yourself coming along in this defense and what do you think of Defensive Coordinator’s Anthony Weaver’s scheme?) – “We do so much. So many guys do so many different things. They ask everybody to be able to play and do so many different responsibilities. I enjoy it, man. I just love how we’re all coming together, all working for the same task, for the same goal. Genuinely it’s been fun, I’m enjoying it. Not even just the Xs and Os, but just the people, the tone that Coach Weaver sets, I’ve been enjoying it and it’s definitely been fun.”
(Having gone against WR Terry McLaurin, and WR Johan Dotson so often in practice and linking back up with them today, is there some familiarity there?) – “Yeah, 100%. Me and Terry (McLaurin) have been going together the last four years. It’s been fun to get out there, get lined up on them. There was one route they ran where he was like, ‘Man, I kind of knew you weren’t going to jump it.’ He was able to get me on a route and things like that. So it takes you back. Fun to compete against them again and it’s going to be fun to compete on Saturday as well.”
(You’ve been on a championship team in Kansas City. Is there a common theme that championship teams have that you guys are hoping to instill here?) – “Yeah, if I tried to put it simple – great talent and great standards. If I had to just make it simple. I think we have great talent, and I think we’re building great standards. So we just got to keep putting that work in every single day.”
(I know it’s only joint practices, but did you notice anything different going against WR Terry McLaurin in the offense now versus when you were up against him the last few years?) – “Yeah, they were definitely stretching the field. Especially early on, they were quick tempo stretching the field. That first period they definitely came out strong. As a defense, we’ve got to be able to handle that adversity whenever we face it early on. Just how much quick tempo they had, the talent they have, the quarterback they have, it definitely is a great offense to go against. So many different guys, so many different playmakers, but definitely just how much they stretch the field and the tempo that they play with.”
