Kenyan Drake – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
Running Back Kenyan Drake
(What does it feel like to actually get hit – legit tackled hit – for the first time in a while?) – “It was very reassuring. It was good to be back out there – full pads, full speed, full go. The defense was ready to get at us. We were ready to get at the defense. It was good to get the competitive juices really flowing again.”
(We’re not 100 percent sure, but we think you were involved in the scuffle. Is that accurate?) – “Sometimes you got to get in (and) get down and dirty sometimes. It’s football. It’s a contact sport. You can’t avoid contact at all times. You try to keep in on the practice field – keep it off the game field – because you get flagged 15 yards in a game. The competitive juices kind of get flowing once everybody goes to the ground, so it happens every now and then.”
(What started it?) – “I don’t know. Just some scuffle. I saw my guys in white jerseys in it, so I was like, ‘What the heck, I’m going to join, too.’”
(So you weren’t the primary?) – “No. I really don’t know (what happened). I just saw people grabbing each other. I tried to go in there, try to break it up, somebody pulled me off. I didn’t like that, so things happened.”
(What is your comfort level compared to last year as a rookie?) – “From a cliché standpoint, a year wiser. That’s simply put, but I’m not really necessarily comfortable, because I won’t necessarily say that I’m where I want to be personally. I know this team is not where we want to be personally. It’s really more about getting used to being uncomfortable, because at the same time, like I said, we’re not where we want to be. We want to take the next step not just be a playoff team, but be a Super Bowl team.”
(Speaking of comfort, we saw RB Jay Ajayi went off the practice field. How comfortable are you in the starting role if that should happen at any point?) – “I feel like any one of our guys are ready to step up and take that responsibility. Jay is a great player, but football is a very brutal sport, so if somebody goes down, it’s always the next man up. We wish everybody to obviously be healthy, because we need everybody at full speed to be a great team, but I feel like any one of us are ready to come up and have that role.”
(I know all three of you guys are trying to be complete backs, but I was thinking about the receiving perspective. In my opinion – there might not be a group as good being able to do things in the passing game out of the backfield. How would you describe what you all have from a receiving perspective out of the backfield?) – “Just being a complete back in general, not just with running the routes; but also being versatile and getting lined up out wide. (Head Coach Adam) Gase does a great job with putting us in space with linebackers and safeties, so we can exploit that versatility that we do have. Any one of us can go out there and execute that. I feel like Gase does a great job of putting us in the best position to be successful.”
(Did you see how RB Jay Ajayi got dinged up?) – “No. Like I said, it was full contact in various periods today, so who knows. He was taking shots left and right, and that’s just the game. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back sooner rather than later, so I’m praying for his recovery.”
(You guys committed last year to being an outside zone team, and that was something you guys worked on a lot. You also during the season had some success running some power as well. Is that something that you guys could go into a little bit this year as well, have that in your bag of tricks and be a little more versatile?) – “Yes, of course. Having that outside zone scheme definitely opens up the capabilities of the offense, because stretching the defense out gets the defense to run. With the inside zone scheme, it’s all about the perception of an outside zone play and hitting it down the field, so when they take a couple steps out farther than what they think – thinking it’s an outside zone play – you kind of crease it up the middle and get 3 or 4 yards. Those 3 or 4 yard plays turn into 10 and as the game goes on, you hope you can break them as the defense wears down.”
(You got a little bit of a break with the weather. It was a nice overcast day for training camp in pads. It wasn’t as hot.) – “Yes, but the humidity down here, that’s a killer. The sun might not have been out, but it still feels like you’re practicing in a swimming pool. It’s cool to be down here and acclimated, because I feel like it’s our home-field advantage.”
(With punt returns, how comfortable are you getting fielding those balls?) – “It’s an everyday thing. The weather today kind of played a factor. I should’ve took my visor off, because it was kind of hard to judge the ball when it went up in the air with the rain and the wind and things like that. That would be like a game thing. I won’t have my visor on and things like that; but it’s a process every day, because it’s not like kick return where it’s a fixed point where the ball will be. You’re liable for the ball to skip off somebody, for it to be blocked or somebody being in your face. It’s about having that confidence. The more I do it, the more confident I’ll be.”
(What’s the hardest part about that job?) – “Just (the) unpredictability of it. You’ve got to have that confidence like, ‘Alright, when I get this ball – when I catch it, first and foremost – I have to possess it.’ That’s the most important thing. I think (Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) ‘Rizz’ (Darren Rizzi) stresses that a lot. You don’t necessarily have to catch the ball, because at the same time, possession is the most important thing. If the ball hits the ground and it rolls, we still have that possession. As long as the offense comes on the field the next play, we have a win, because we’ve got the ball back. We don’t have to be heroes back there. As long as we possess the ball, that’s the most important thing.”
(You obviously did the kick returning last year. Have you been told we want you to compete for the punt return this year as well?) – “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve been told that, but I want to go out there and put myself in (the) best position to help my team win. If fielding punts, if playing my natural positon at running back, if lining up out wide being a receiver, kick returner, punt returner, kickoff, anything they ask me to do, I’m all for it.”
(In one-on-one pass protection drills, I’ve seen you and LB Kiko Alonso seem to have some good, lively battles. Is that aspect of your game closer to a strength or a weakness right now?) – “I feel like in anything I’m doing … This is practice, so I’m trying to get better at everything, whether that’s running between tackles, lining up out wide, being comfortable coming off of press, releases, pass blocking, anything I feel right now, I feel like I need to get better at. I appreciate the competition that the linebackers and everybody else gives everybody as we’re out there. We’re all competitors. We’re all trying to get better. I just enjoy going out there and getting better every day.”
(You and LB Neville Hewitt kind of have a chippy thing going? What’s it like in the locker room after practice?) – “We’re teammates at the end of the day. Once we step off the field, we’re back to real life. It’s kind of cool going out there and being competitors and doing what you’ve got to do to get the edge; but at the same time, you’ve got to realize we’re all human beings at the end of the day, so I don’t hold any grudges against anybody.”
