DeVante Parker – November 18, 2020
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Wednesday, November 18, 2020
WR DeVante Parker
(I wanted to ask you about your pace this season. You’re actually after nine games, you’re kind of on pace where you were last year. The last seven games of last season you really tore it up. you had a few games over 100 yards. I think five or six touchdowns maybe. Do you think you need to turn it up here a little bit in the next stretch here to kind of meet those totals from last year and help the team out especially with depth being an issue at the receiver position?) – “Whatever position I’m in, wherever the coaches – whatever position they put me in to make a play, that’s what I’ve got do. I’m not worried about stats and all that. I just want to win and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’ve just got to keep doing that.”
(Kind of following up on that question. You had great success last year with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick because he was just kind of a star with those 50-50 balls. He would throw at a high point and you would come down with it. QB Tua Tagovailoa is a different quarterback. He’s timing and accuracy and boom-boom getting the ball out. Has that made you change your approach at all, your game and what have you done to build chemistry with him over the last month?) – “I would say we just spend a little time like during practice when we’re not up or something, getting passes on the side, get the timing good and just have to bring that over to the games.”
(I know you had that catch on the sideline. It looked like it was a TD but wasn’t. What did you think about it? Did you think you got your feet in and just kind of your view on that play?) – “On that play, I didn’t feel like I didn’t get my other foot down; but I felt like my shin or outside of my leg was down, so I thought that should have counted, but it didn’t. We still were able to punch it, so that’s all that matters.”
(When you see WR Jakeem Grant produce the way he did last week, how encouraging is that for the offense and then just for his confidence? He’s already a confident dude, but his opportunity now seems to be here to prove that he’s an NFL receiver.) – “Yeah, like you said, they gave him chance and he’s out there making plays. That’s what we need from him and he’s helping the team out, I would say, in every category. Special teams, too. He’s doing good in that. So whatever coach can do to help him; whatever he can do, it’s working.”
(I got to ask you about the stars inside your car. Is that a custom car you got?) – “No, I didn’t customize. It came with the car.”
(What is it? What kind of ride do you have?) – “It’s a Rolls Royce truck.”
(I wanted to ask you about the pass that QB Tua Tagovailoa caught off the ground on the snap and then threw it to you on the sidelines that you high-pointed, I think probably before the touchdown. I think that play kind of speaks a little bit to the chemistry that you guys may have, that he knows you’re going to be open. He knows you can high-point it. Can you take me through that play a little bit and your reaction to it afterwards when you saw that the ball was actually on the ground before Tua threw it?) – “Like you said, I was running the route – just a regular go route. I just looked back, I saw the ball was in the air, so the timing was still there. Like before, I didn’t know the ball hit the ground until after the play; but he still put the ball in the right spot where it needed to be and I was able to come down with it.”
(You were a part of that 2016 team that got hot – I don’t know what it was, six, seven or eight games straight late in the season to make the playoffs. You’re one of a few guys still left from that team. What from that experience can you carry over to now and what is the key once you’re this hot to keep it rolling?) – “Trying to keep everyone on the field as much as possible. Injuries are a big part of the reason why some teams can’t move on. Keep doing what they’ve been doing – it’s next man up in this league, but I think if we just keep on playing like we’re playing, keep practicing like we’re practicing; I think we’ll be fine.”
(Do you guys circle the playoffs or even the division, as a goal of things you guys want to conquer before the end of the season?) – “No, we just do it one game at a time. Take it one game at a time. That’s it.”
(You mentioned the injuries that teams have to overcome. You obviously overcame a bunch earlier in your career. What was it about you mentally that’s gotten to the point now where you can deal – I think you had a groin injury earlier in the season, you played through it. What has changed within you personally that you’ve got that mental fortitude to push through some pain?) – “Some injuries are real bad to where you can’t, but when I first started coming into the league, you’re not used to things like that. So you think it’s something real serious when it’s not and as you grow older, you know you can fight through things.”
(I want to go back to the question about this year and the 2016 team. Did you kind of have the same vibe, the same feel that you guys were onto something special when you started this run?) – “Yeah, I knew we do. Even the end of the season last year. Like I said, Coach Flores and all them are doing a big part in we’re building a team, and everything’s coming together right now. We’ve just got to keep doing a good job with that. We’ll be fine.”
