Mike McDaniel – August 19, 2024
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Monday, August 19, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Did WR River Cracraft sustain an upper body injury Saturday night and is he out long-term?) – “It was an upper body injury; it will be some time, for sure. It doesn’t appear to be season-ending, but it will be some time. I think no one likes to see injuries in general. I’m top of that list, but I think if there’s anyone equipped to handle adversity, it’s River Cracraft. I don’t know how many teams he’s been on, but it’s a lot. He’s worked his way to be a very good player in this league and that confidence will sustain. He did some real good things in the game, and so when he’s back, I expect him to be the best version, just like we saw.”
(Can you update us on CB Cam Smith? We saw he put the ice pack on his right hamstring it appeared.) – “You’re no doctor?”
(I can play one.) – “It was actually his elbow. He was just trying to throw you off. (laughter) It was a different spot, something that was unfortunate. I imagine he’ll be week to week, but he did the most with his opportunities in terms of he committed to things, he gave up plays that were learning lessons and then made plays, there was some growth there, handled some adversity which is gigantic for a corner in this league. He’s had some good development, unfortunate but week to week, he’ll be back.”
(Did LB David Long Jr. come out okay with whatever he dealt with? Was he going to be out anyway after that?) – “So that was more of a typical game scenario. He was available to go back in, the window had closed though for what we kind of had planned for opportunities, so we didn’t send him back out there.”
(WR River Cracraft’s injury obviously doesn’t help a position that’s been kind of banged on – WR Jaylen Waddle has been out for a while. Are you confident that you’re going to have five or six wide receivers Week 1 that you guys are going to be able to rely on?) – “I am. There has been a little stress on the depth of the room but there’s also different caveats to that. Are we approaching Jaylen Waddle the same way we would in season? The answer is no. There’s things of that nature that come up a ton. We are getting – we’ve had a couple lineup changes I think would be a conservative way to say it, but we’re also getting a very clear picture of some very strong battles and giving guys opportunities. That’s the cool thing about football, you get to learn stuff every day. How cool is it from my vantage point some of the opportunities that Erik Ezukanma was able to really showcase his talents. Some of the younger receivers got a lot of involvement, whether they were getting targeted or not, we got to see really who we’re working with and we’ll continue to do that. I think there’s a silver lining to that; we’re getting a lot of information and so that’s the positive with that. There’s so many people to evaluate and this is such a tough roster to make. You do appreciate some clarity with some of those battles when you do have injuries in positions really.”
(Would you anticipate any change in WR Odell Beckham Jr.’s status this week?) – “The way he works – one thing I’ve learned about Odell (Beckham Jr.) is he is putting his best foot forward. He’s had some guys on this team that he has been teammates with on previous teams, whether in college or in the pros, and the way he’s committed, they’ve really reassured me on how this is the best version of a rehab and meeting room version of Odell. He’s really going after it, but I promise you, he didn’t sign up for that. So I know there will be progression, there’s been progression every week, but I just know what he signed up for, what we signed up with him is for development within the offense during the course of the season to be at our best and be at our best when our best is required. I’m not rushing the process. I’m not worried about it because I know the intent is right on both sides and the intention is to not have something holding him back once he gets on the field. You learn how we do something a certain way; you have a visual then you go and do it physically and then you can adjust and learn quickly. It really hurts the learning process if you do it and then can’t do it again. So that’s where we’re at with that. I don’t expect to see him this week, but I expect a progression just because I base it upon all of the information that I have gotten so far – it’s been a continued progression, we’re just being very deliberate about it.”
(Could you share a little bit of how you go about advancing the offense in the offseason? Either new plays – I get you’re not going to share the new plays, but do you sleep with a notepad by your bed? Or like the motion you brought in last year, since it’s all out in the open, how did that come about?) – “Quite honestly, the way that our staff approaches it and the way that I believe in is that it starts with the offseason critique of yourself in the most brutal way possible to really not be sensitive – every day we try to do our best. Are we happy with the results? Why are the results this way? What are defenses doing? And then you kind of let your players set your vision and just with intentionality, try to figure out how to solve defensive problems. So it’s not chasing the new, it’s learning a new feature of a defensive responsibility. Going against various defensive structures in this league that are pretty popular every time you practice against a new style, you learn new things as well. And then when you approach practice the right way, you get reactions that are similar to (and) that are close to game like and you can just evolve by trying to solve problems with the tools that you have. It’s a fun process because I never go into the offseason thinking, ‘All right, we’re going to invent some new stuff,’ even though I know that we won’t be the same versions of ourselves as we were the previous. And then after that, you focus on what fundamentals and techniques are we really good at, what aren’t we good at and how do we do the stuff that we’re good at more. With all that, and different defensive – defenses change every year to have different points of emphasis on what they’re trying to stop and then you naturally evolve to that. So it’s an ever-evolving process that I don’t ever see it stopping. It’s only way I ever really know how to attack the offseason and try to get better.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa just said during a recent interview that it’s taken about two years for himself and others on the team to overcome some of the self-doubt that was set in by the former coach here. What’s it been like for you to be along that ride over the last two years and what do you think the status is of that now for those players?) – “I think there’s been so much talked about with – I think there is some, just naturally when different people are leading an organization that happens. I think for me, especially right now, I am so laser focused into what this locker room needs and this particular set of circumstances that it’s hard for me to kind of really appropriately assess that. It feels like it almost – I’m not spending much time patting myself on the back for much, and I think there’s a lot of players that have grown since I’ve been here and that growth is all that I care about. The inherent growth that they’ve already had, I’m just really focused on pushing guys to be their best selves or the best version of themselves and reach new heights, and that’s got me plenty occupied. I don’t really have time to reflect like that. What does that mean? Today is awesome.”
(How would you describe your comfort level with the backups at quarterback situation right now?) – “I think it’s funny to – I have a lot of… I guess let’s peel it back. Let’s go back to I have a good amount of history with both quarterbacks, and both quarterbacks have been able to win NFL football games against good opponents in the regular season. They both have things about their game that that I really like, and so this whole offseason, we started with acknowledging that and how can we appropriately find some distinction between the two, just because we felt like they’ve both proven in years past to be quality backups. So quite honestly, what the approach that I’ve kind of taken is to create super difficult situations for both of them, and as that manifests, whether the play calling choice, the situations that I’m asking maybe them to do certain things specifically to put them in difficult situations, because what are we really trying to evaluate? We’re trying to evaluate who’s best to serve handling a difficult situation. Inherent in being a backup quarterback is that you are in a difficult situation, whether that’s in game or starting a game. So we thought it was most appropriate to do that, and how that’s presented itself in practice is I’ve gotten a ton of information. There’s so many different nuances that I’m trying to focus on on a given day and then carrying that message to the game. It’s much broader than do we go down as an offense and score. It’s quite literally handling difficult situations and saying, ‘Hey, you have to go do this. I’m going to call this play, probably against a non-premier coverage. And let’s see what you do.’ I’m going to – you’re going to play a quarter with a receiver playing running back, how do you respond? And so from my vantage point, I feel bad, because all that information, whether I was a fan or I was sitting in your guys’ seats, I’m not sure if it totally reflects the entire process and all the information. I’m looking for nuances, resolve, the conviction after a bad play happens, how the offense is coming to the line of scrimmage, how you’re leading them, all sorts of different things on top of what I’ve already learned about them. So how that’s manifested in preseason games, I’ve tried to do the opposite of what I generally do which is put players in advantageous situations, because I think that’s – collectively as a staff, we kind of looked at it like we need to try something different to separate these guys because when they’re comfortable, their games are going the same direction we need. We need to figure this out, and we see that as our responsibility. So I’ve put them in a tough a bunch of tough situations, and I will continue to do that this week and through the next preseason game so we can have all the information possible (on) who best is suited to be the guy behind Tua.”
(We didn’t get updates on two people, offensive players, WR Braylon Sanders and RB Chris Brooks.) – “So Braylon Sanders looks to be week to week with a lower body injury, but it’s week to week, and then Chris Brooks is in the concussion protocol. How long does – what does that look like? Timelines are irrelevant when it comes to concussions for me. I’m just worried about him feeling good as a person (and) we’ll take the next steps. So I definitely don’t do timelines for those.”
(Should we expect to see S Jordan Poyer back this week and how have you seen him returning this time?) – “I think the locker room shares my affinity for Jordan Poyer. You talk about a pro’s pro that’s really added a ton of value on and off the field for our team already. He’s a warrior, and I think he’ll exhibit some of that this week because he’ll be back on the field, probably sooner than most would. He’ll get some action in both practices upcoming and then we’ll take it from there.”
(I wanted to follow up on the earlier question about your approach with players. Certainly for a while, long-time college and NFL coaches were harping the negatives, kind of old school. You embrace the power of positivity, why is that and why do you think it’s more effective?) – “I think me personally, it makes sense given the current climate of the trials and tribulations of players in the modern era. I think there are countless number of reporting by people that wouldn’t deserve the title of a reporter necessarily, because of the advent of social media and there’s a lot of negative in in the world and a lot of people telling you when you do stuff wrong. For me, I think to raise someone’s – to really maximize someone, I think it’s beneficial for someone to be showing them a vision of their greatest self. Quite honestly, it’s something that I’ve drawn (from) my life, and I know if my mother didn’t pitch to me that I was worth something, I don’t know where I’d be. For me, that’s the way that I approach it. I don’t think there’s any absolute way to do anything, but for me to reach players, it’s what’s made sense in my journey. I just to stick to myself and what makes sense for me to do my job as I see it for them.”
(Based on what you just said – even though it may not seem this way – there’s maybe a connection to what we were talking about earlier about WR Odell Beckham Jr. because this past week he got into an online debate, if you want to call it that, with fans who were jumping on his case saying basically that he was slacking and wasn’t working hard to get back on the field. Any message you care to share with fans to consider how hard players work to get back on the field when they’re hurt?) – “That was news?”
(It was a social media thing and WR Odell Beckham Jr. fired back at them several times.) – “It’s good that you’re schooling me up on the front end, because you’ve picked up on the fact that I have no idea what’s going on with social media, but one can assume. I think it’s more – people have their own stuff going on, so for me to over-judge and to pitch to people that they should behave a certain way, I kind of look at it like the law of large numbers where if there’s infinite access to share your thoughts, there are probably going to be some negative ones. And so assuming that there are negative ones, how do I best assist players on their journey because that is something that’s not talked about a ton, but it has to be real with so much screen time devoted to social media and just the science behind negative versus positive feedback. Which I’m a believer in science, I’m for science. Do we have any science resisters in here? (laughter) But I think I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t take in the entire scope of the NFL players’ reality, and I know when I got in the National Football League, the current nature was different or the nature of just voices and narratives. So it’s got to be challenging. If there’s anything challenging, I try to bring it up and weigh whatever I’m doing against outside influences and I would have to be completely unaware not to know that there’s a lot of narratives built upon results that a lot of times are compounding in nature towards individuals because a lot of people care about the results of games. And I also know that there’s a reason – there’s multiple reasons why it’s good that I don’t have social media and if I was my 15-year-old self or my 7-year-old self or my 22-year-old self; I cried and said a lot of things growing up about results that I was not wishing to happen. I was really mad at a lot of players that I didn’t know in 1989 when the Broncos were getting scorched by the 49ers. So I think that’s a part of it, too, and I try to make sure that guys do understand that the people with opinions do pay the bills, but they also don’t know the whole story and you shouldn’t over-invest into narratives. But I understand that they’re also people as well, so it’s very – I just think it’s the way that things are and probably will look moving forward and it’s best to be an asset of value for your guys and then I don’t vilify fans’ opinions. They’re entitled to (opinions) and I can absolutely understand that sometimes people say stuff – maybe they mean it, maybe they don’t – but I know growing up when the Broncos lost, my week was ruined. And I was mad. So that’s a reality, too.”
(I wanted to get your take on this Noah Lyles-Tyreek Hill potential race. I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about it. I’m guessing that you’re off of social media, but apparently Tyreek wants to race the 100-meter champion. Your thoughts? Do you think he’ll win? Have you heard anything about this?) – “Yeah, I would love to weigh in. Can we get one of our division opponents to sign Noah Lyles so I could actually care about the race? (laughter) Because if it’s on a football field, I know those circumstances. I think Tyreek is one of one and I don’t put anything past him. I know Noah Lyles is really fast, so I appreciate the competitors being competitive, and let’s get him on a division opponent so the results of that race can actually matter.”
