Ndamukong Suh – September 13, 2017 (Conference Call)
Download PDF version
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh (Conference Call with Los Angeles media)
(First of all, I hope everything is good for you back in Florida after Hurricane Irma What’s this week been like, football-wise, preparing for a game coming off of something so important back home?) – “First and foremost, thank you. (It is) much appreciated. In regards to football, in my personal opinion, it’s just back to business as normal. I got here on Monday. I’ve been watching film the last couple of days, and we’ve had our first couple of meetings already, so really it’s just having an opportunity to take my mind off a little bit of what’s going on back home in Florida and focus on what’s important out here, and then obviously we’re not worried about football and taking care of that stuff. Obviously the real world hits hard, but it is part of life.”
(It’s a unique situation, you had your game canceled and you have so much time to prepare for the Chargers. How did you guys go about that? Did you watch the Chargers game on Monday night? When did you guys really start prepping for this Chargers team?) – “Yes, it was definitely different. I think everybody’s situation was different. Some guys stayed in Florida and then flew out with the team. I personally left a little bit earlier; I went to go train back home and get prepared in that particular way for myself, assuming that we were eventually going to come out to LA earlier, looking at how the storm was preparing itself and moving along through the weekend. And tell me what your last question was? Sorry, I missed that.”
(You had so much time to prepare for an opponent, almost like a bye week. When did you guys start watching film on the Chargers and did you watch their game Monday night? How did the preparation for the Chargers go for you guys this last week and a half?) – “Like I said earlier, I started Monday and obviously we got into it as a team today for the first time, and also watched some film as well on Tuesday, in working with my coaches. I did watch a little bit of the game on Monday; but for me, I prefer not to watch so much live TV as I like to rewind and look at different things and whatnot.”
(What did you see, in the film you’ve watched so far, that may be different from Chargers teams from the past that you’ve seen, with the new coaching staff and any new personnel you’ve noticed?) – “Yes, (they’ve got) a fairly new offensive line. Matt Slauson is the main consistent guy, I think as well as with their right tackle (Joe Barksdale). Watching overall, primarily in the run game, they have some of their head coach’s (Anthony Lynn) inklings of how he likes things to be done. I think he’s been a running backs coach for the majority of his career and at this stage, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve watched a little bit of the pass game and obviously seen what they’ve done; but I have an idea of what they plan to do. At the end of the day, understanding and playing against them many times, I believe they’re going to have a particular scheme for us up front, as well as our overall defense, so I really can’t just say that overall they’re going to do this against us.”
(You guys are in a unique situation because of QB Ryan Tannehill’s injury you brought a quarterback in late in the process with QB Jay Cutler. How has he come along and is he up to speed with where he would have been had he been at camp and what’s his effect on the locker room?) – “Jay, in my opinion, has stepped in and it’s been a great situation. I think it’s awesome what he’s been able to do and accomplish with (Head Coach Adam) Gase in Chicago when he was the (offensive coordinator) there. I think the offense he’s familiar with. It didn’t seem like he had too many hiccups. I think the biggest thing that they’re going to have to get used to on the offensive side of the ball, going up against them in camp, is just the timing – different athletes, different guys that he has. I think we’ve got a great core group of skill players that he’s excited about. Obviously, I’ve spent some time with Jay and talked to him and whatnot, so I think overall, we’re not going to find out how great he’s going to be and how great our offense is going to be until we have live bullets, which will be this Sunday; but I think we’re moving in the right direction from obviously going up against him in practice.”
(With Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph leaving, how different has the defense been or has it been pretty much the same philosophies and schemes as you had last year?) – “I think (Defensive Coordinator Matt) Burke has definitely had his own taste on it, which I enjoy. I’ve been with Burke since really my rookie year. We both were rookies in Detroit together, as it was his first linebackers job officially in the league and me coming out of the draft. Vance is a great coach, I enjoyed him and congratulated him on his win this Monday (against the Chargers). I definitely miss him because he’s a great person, but I’m excited with what we have here with (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams) and Burke, as I said before. I’m excited about the season and what we’re going to be able to do. I think we have a great plan and as we’re getting into this week, and really seeing what we’ve got prepared for Tampa, if we played that game, I have a lot of excitement and enjoyment looking forward to the season overall.”
(This is going to be a unique situation, I think for everybody on Sunday, where no one really knows what to expect at an NFL stadium with 27,000 people in it. You’ve played, obviously, in huge games throughout your career. Do you think it can even be loud with that amount of people there? What do you think the environment is going to be like in a stadium that’s so small?) – “Honestly, I’m not too concerned about it. It is going to be a smaller stadium, and obviously less fans, and things of that nature. I can’t think back to a situation in the pros or especially not in college, as Nebraska has 90-100,000 people; but I guess I would just go back to saying it’ll be similar to a high school or a small college, wherever it may be. I could say going out to Florida (International) I believe is where we had our first prep practice and live scrimmage my first year down here in Miami. I can think back to that. That was a smaller stadium and what not; but at the end of the day it’s not really a big focus for me. I think it’ll be loud and exciting and I look forward to just playing.”
