Kendall Fuller – December 9, 2024
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Monday, December 9, 2024
CB Kendall Fuller
(Obviously so much has been made about head injuries in the NFL. How concerned were you about the second concussion and did you even have to consider not playing the rest of the year or beyond?) – “I think after the second one it was mainly just getting the knowledge, all the information you can to make the best decision for you. So that was pretty much the process, the thought process is get all the information that I can to help me just understand the decision that I’m going to be making. Our team, our training staff did a great job of giving me all the information I could to make a smart decision, a safe decision, and I was happy to get back out on the field.”
(When did you feel back to normal after?) – “Not too long after, genuinely. Physical movement, exercise always helps. I was lucky to where the symptoms were very mild, so not too long after but with it being the second one, we definitely had to be just a little bit more cautious with it, for sure.”
(Did you have conversations with QB Tua Tagovailoa during that process?) – “Yeah, I had a conversation with Tua, I think like right after, just kind of seeing different thoughts that he had, the process that he went through and things like that. I talked to a number of guys that I’ve played with who’ve had concussions and things like that, definitely just reached out to everybody.”
(Did you give any thought to wearing the guardian cap?) – “No, just the science that they go through, the league, (with) different helmets. Guardian cap can help different helmets, (or) there may not be that much of a benefit to have it. I pretty much got the top-rated helmet that you can wear.”
(Is that new or is that one that you’ve had?) – “No, I haven’t had it, so it’s a new helmet for me.”
(What’s the name of the helmet?) – “I’m not even sure. (laughter)”
(How did it feel? Did it make a difference? Did it feel good?) – “I mean, yeah – the helmets that you wear before feel safe. You can say it makes a difference whenever you come out of a game healthy, but at the end of the day, any time you take the field there’s a risk of a head injury, risk of any type of injury. They say the NFL has a 100% injury rate. I can say it makes a difference because I came out without a concussion, but I’ve also had many games with the different helmet where I came out without a concussion.”
(I know you’ve known CB Jalen Ramsey for a minute, since high school, I think. Tell me what do you see in how he’s being used here? Being close to the ball, shadowing people, DK Metcalf, Garrett Wilson and what is it like playing opposite him when you have to kind of change your game when he’s shadowing somebody?) – “I don’t think of it as too much of me having to change my game. You play corner in the NFL, you play on the right side, left side, I played nickel a good part of my career as well, but Jalen (Ramsey) is just a guy that can do everything. He likes to do everything. He has such a big skill set, and as a competitor, even for him, it’s fun when you’re able to do so many different things on the field, where you can go cover a top guy, get inside, blitz, disguise a blitz, pop out. So for him, I know he’s enjoying it, just having fun being able to be all over the football field.”
(What does that do to an offense? I guess they always have to be aware of where CB Jalen Ramsey is, right?) – “Yeah, I mean it makes them study and prepare. He’s a gamechanger no matter where he lines up, so they have to prepare for all the different places and all the different things that we ask him to do on the defense.”
(The play at the end of regulation, are you thinking in that moment any throw near the sideline get the guy out of bounds, make sure we save time for the offense? On the very last defensive play, getting Davante Adams out of bounds?) – “Oh, the back shoulder? At that point, you really just – if I could go back, I would’ve played a little bit more underneath of him knowing that they’re not necessarily trying to take a shot. But really just try to keep them (and) make it as hard of a field goal as you can, so that was really the mindset. Let’s try to play tight coverage, make them kick a long field goal. Genuinely that was the biggest goal and the biggest mindset we had.”
(How do you look at how you guys did yesterday? You got the win, of course; they had two 100-yard receivers. How do you reconcile that? Did you guys do a good job?) – “It ain’t nothing to reconcile; Kader (Kohou) has been in the league three years, me and Jalen (Ramsey) both nine years, there’s days where you look at the film and you’re like, ‘Dang, we could have been better.’ You don’t necessarily reconcile it. When you leave the game, you know you could’ve done better. It always feels good to correct things and knowing that you need to get things fixed after a win. I mean after the game, we just know different things that we’ve got to work on, get better to be better for next Sunday.”
(How was it to have the three of y’all back together?) – “It was fun, just having everybody out there. Any time you can have everybody healthy, it gives you a better chance to win. For me, just being out for the last however many weeks, just being back on the field, being next to them, going out of the tunnel with them and things like that, it was definitely fun.”
(How many quarterbacks would you say right now could throw a back shoulder fade? How many can use it consistently in their game?) – “It’s the NFL, all of them got it. All of them just can do it maybe at a better rate than others. ‘A-Rod’ (Aaron Rodgers) especially with the different guys that he’s had, he can do it as good as anyone. But I think all of them have it in their bag, it’s just a matter of – if we’re playing golf, I may be super good with my 7-iron. You could hit your 7-iron, but it just may be what I do best and that’s what ‘A-Rod’ does best. I think everybody has it, but his is definitely elite.”
(I don’t want to get into your medical history at all, but you mentioned the conversations you had with some of the doctors and everything. Was there anything that you learned throughout this process that’s going to help you down the line?) – “Mainly just you’re understanding what type of risk you’re taking actually going out on the field. Just asking them, ‘Hey, is there more of a risk of me getting a concussion with me going back out there just because I’ve had one in the past,’ and things like that. There’s nothing that they can sit here and tell you down the line, ‘This is going to happen, that’s going to happen.’ It was mainly just understanding the risk that I’m taking going back out on the field.”
(Is there a secret to December success in the NFL? I know it’s a battle of attrition and everything like that, but how does a team succeed in December?) – “Health is definitely one of them, just having everybody out there healthy, and then I don’t think it’s a secret, it’s just a matter of 11 guys on the field doing their job and winning their matchups. I don’t think it’s necessarily a secret; football is always going to be football. When you have guys going out there and making their plays, whatever team makes the most plays is going to win. It’s just a matter of it’s December, every game counts in December, but at the end of the day, it’s still football.”
