Durham Smythe – August 19, 2024
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Monday, August 19, 2024
TE Durham Smythe
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel obviously is only going to show much with your 12-personnel sets here. We’ve seen TE Jonnu Smith running some. Are there things – without telling us what – are there things up his sleeve and Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith’s sleeve and Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree’s with you and Jonnu together that you’re excited to see how they will do come September and October?) – “I think just looking at Mike (McDaniel), Frank (Smith), ‘Embo’s’ (Jon Embree) history of really emphasizing the talents they have at positions, whatever they might be, tells you that I think there is a lot to come. And we’re excited about what we have in our room in terms of just different talents really with all six of the guys that we have here right now. So I’m sure they have a ton of stuff up their sleeve. They always have in the past, probably some stuff we haven’t even seen yet so it’ll be fun to see how that kind of evolves as the season goes.”
(The tight ends they’ve signed as undrafted rookies over the last two years, we know how physical TE Julian Hill is. You’ve called him maybe the most physical guy. Does TE Hayden Rucci have some of those qualities? What has impressed you about him?) – “Yeah, I think so. He’s a very mature rookie, and I’ve said that about a couple guys the last couple years, but he kind of continues the trend. He has done a great job of absorbing a lot of stuff being thrown at him as a rookie. And it’s funny, from the day I saw him in whenever it was, March or April, to this point, he’s come a really long way. And I think what he’s been putting on tape the last two weeks in these last two preseason games, has been exciting and I think he’s an NFL football player. So that’s exciting to see.”
(Kind of unfortunately for me, I’ll always put my ignorance on display. What is the team security [shirt]? What’s the origin of that?) – “The team security is, you know, I’m a big supporter of that program in this building. Drew Brooks and Larry (Juriga), the guys that kind of run that show; I’ve gotten close to them and I’ve been here long enough that I kind of consider myself to be a part of that facet. A player but also a part of team security, just protecting this organization. So it’s really just a couple good guys that I like being around and we have some fun.”
(What kind of ways have you seen TE Julian Hill improve from Year 1 to Year 2?) – “I think in all facets. He’s a guy that, I think I said a couple weeks ago, it really sticks out how much this means to him and how this is priority one, far and away for him. Then he came in with talents. He’s a strong kid, fast, whatever, physical. But he’s gotten so much better at really everything along this last year, whether it’s catching the football, timing in terms of the run game, things that kind of come with experience. And he got a good amount of that last year, and he’s really improved in all facets, like I said, and I’m really excited to see what his ceiling is because I don’t think we’ve seen it yet.”
(You’ve kind of become an elder statesman in this organization where, I mean, there’s no active streak of longer than you and I guess K Jason Sanders, right?) – “That’s right, yeah, it’s crazy to think that. I feel like I got here just yesterday, but when you think back, it’s a couple coaching staffs, it’s been a while. But it’s cool. This organization’s come a long way since I’ve been here. A lot of good people have come and gone and are still here. So I feel lucky I’ve been able to be a part of an organization like this for so long.”
(There’s no nameplate in your locker that says “longest tenured,” but do you ever feel it? Are you made aware of it ever? Does anyone ever say something where that thought that was just brought up occurs to you much?) – “It’s been brought up a couple times just randomly in the last couple months, but it’s funny because it almost surprises me every time it’s like, wow, it doesn’t feel like I would be the longest (tenured) one here. But like I said, it comes back to just feeling lucky to be a part of an organization like this with so many good people, not only that have come and gone within the coaching staffs, but in the player department, organizations, like I said, the security team, the people in the cafeteria, the people that run the media, the people that have been here as long as I have; I feel really lucky to be a part of an organization for this long with people like that kind of behind the scenes.”
(Sounds like something Head Coach Mike McDaniel would bring up randomly.) – “Yeah, I bring that up to him, yeah. (laughter)”
(Are there keys to being kept on an NFL team for many years if you’re not a Pro Bowl player? You seem to exude a lot of them terms of smart, reliable, hard worker. What in your mind, are keys to that? To being a prolonged, half-a-decade-and-beyond player in a very unstable business?) – “Yeah, I’ve been asked that a couple times, and when I think about it and actually break it down, I think it comes down to a couple things. In its simplest terms, I think it’s being consistent every day. Not being someone who gets too high or too low. On a day-to-day basis you know what you’re going to get basically, and No. 2, it’s being able to adapt because every year – you’re on the same team, you’re in the same organization, but it’s a new team every year – and I’ve had a bunch of different roles in the last seven years. And it’s being able to adapt to what personnel we have on a year-by-year basis. Taking the role they give you and trying to be the best at that you can, and I think if you do those things, you’re consistent, and you adapt to whatever role you’re given on a year-to-year basis, you have a shot to stick around for a little while.”
(Not to beat the elder statesman story into the ground here, but you have been here though for one of your teammate’s – QB Tua Tagovailoa’s –entire career. From this side of the podium, it didn’t seem like he was that vocal of a leader, of a person. He was more of a lead-by-example kind of guy when he first got here. It appears that he has grown more into that role. Am I out of balance for saying that? Or how have you seen him develop as a leader or just as somebody who’s more comfortable speaking his mind over the past four years?) – “Yeah, I think you kind of hit it on the head there with being comfortable. He’s always been a guy who does the right things, like you said. When he was young, more of a lead-by-example guy, but I think he’s just gotten so comfortable in the last couple years, and there’s a lot of factors that go into that. I think in this game if you’re playing really well in terms of your standards, it’s easy to be confident and comfortable. And obviously these last two seasons, he’s played very well, up to his standards. And I think when you’re doing that, like I said, you’re confident, you’re comfortable, you can say what you want to say, you can be yourself around the guys. There’s other factors that go into it, too, but I think when you play well and you’re doing the right things, it’s easy kind of just to be yourself and be more vocal to the surrounding guys.”
(How much have you enjoyed the creative ways that TE Jonnu Smith can get the ball in this offense, one of which was on display in that opening drive?) – “He’s a very unique player. He’s a guy who obviously can play tight end very well, but he’s almost built like a running back and he can run the ball, too. He can do a lot of things, so I think with a talent like that, it’ll be fun. Like I kind of mentioned earlier, with the staff that we have that kind of finds crazy ways to get players like that the ball in space; it’ll be fun to see what he can do and what that comes for him. But he’s a very unique player. I’ve never played with a talent as unique as that, and it’ll be fun to see what he does throughout the year.”
(What have you guys learned about your short-yardage offense in Friday night’s game? I think you had three chances, four including the pass on fourth-and-1?) – “Yeah, I mean obviously I think in terms of success rate, it was two-of-three early in the game at least. That’s something that we’ve focused on in the last year and I think that’ll come with time in terms of seeing what our success rate is and how successful we will be, but it’s something we’ve definitely focused on. And there’s a lot of ways to attack short distances. You can spread people out. You can put 13-personnel, 22-personnel in the game. And I think we’ll do a pretty good job of mixing up those approaches to it, and try to get better at something that we know we need to improve on from the last year, year or two.”
