Durham Smythe – November 18, 2021
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Thursday, November 18, 2021
TE Durham Smythe
(I told TE Mike Gesicki that I had never seen you run so fast. You know the play I’m talking about. He claims it was a 4.9 and I do not believe that’s accurate. How fast was it?) – “That’s a good question. We’ll have to check the numbers on that one but yeah, really since the Combine back in 2018 or whatever that was, he’s given me a bunch of crap about top-end speed and stuff. I can guarantee you it was better than a 4.9. (laughter)”
(I’m trying to remember the play. Did you have a lot of grass there?) – “Yeah, a ton of space. It’s always fun when you catch a ball in the flat and you turn and there’s nobody there and you can kind of just take off and you don’t have to worry about really anyone around you. That was nice.”
(The Jets have a couple of really strong interior defensive linemen with DL John Franklin-Myers and DL Quinnen Williams. Without giving away your gameplan or anything, I know a lot of times it will be incumbent on a tight end to either wham those guys or line up in the backfield. What kind of challenges to those guys present you and your approach to this game?) – “I think their entire front four and really their front seven is one of the strengths of their entire team. They are pretty talented across the board – good players really in every position. I think when you face a front like that, it’s going to be a total offensive effort. You’ve got to keep those guys guessing. What are we going to do on this play? What are we going to on that play? It’ll be a nice challenge and I think like I said, with that being a strength of their team in general, it’ll be kind of up to us to set the tone from that perspective.”
(Going back up to Jersey, isn’t that where TE Mike Gesicki is from?) – “It is, yeah.”
(Does he have a little bit of a community that comes together when you guys go back up there or is it all ball?) – “Yeah, no it is all ball. But Mike is a homebody to begin with. Any time that we get anywhere in that area, I hear a lot about it, we all hear a lot about it. So he’s excited to be around family, friends and his whole thing.”
(Are you a fan of the popular MTV show Jersey Shore?) – “No. Myself? No, personally. I can’t speak for Mike (Gesicki) either, but I don’t know if that is an accurate representation of the area. If it is, then that’s fitting for him. (laughter) It’s on brand.”
(More of a Sopranos guy?) – “Oh yeah, love The Sopranos.”
(Have you been to the Jersey Shore?) – “I have actually. I say that all about Mike (Gesicki) but I was actually born in Philadelphia before I moved to Texas early on and we used to spend summers out in the south Jersey Shore. A week here, a week there. I was almost too young to remember it, but I do have a little bit of background there.”
(I’m wondering about young TE Hunter Long, who we haven’t seen a lot during the games. What have you noticed, if anything, about how he’s doing in practice and how he’s handling not playing?) – “Hunter is a good football player. I know with him not being exposed to the general public yet, people don’t really know that about him yet. But he’s a good football player. He’s a smart guy. It’s always tough as a rookie in a position like that. I was in a similar situation when I first got here back in 2018, but there were some injuries and then I had to play. It’s always about the situation but he’s done a great job in terms of staying involved in the gameplan, involved in the game-planning. He’s, like I said, a good player. He will be a good player in this league, I think he’ll play in this league for a long time as long as he continues on this track. It’s cool to see that obviously without getting as many reps in games, he’s still staying so involved, so that’s kudos to him.”
(Have you and TE Mike Gesicki had to have chats with TE Hunter Long to keep his spirits up because he came in as a third-round pick and he’s inactive most weeks?) – “Like I said, he’s a smart kid, so he almost doesn’t even require that. He knows what happens in this league in terms of specific situations and things of that nature. He’s one of those guys that I think is self-motivated enough that he doesn’t really need us to pick him up here and there. I will say he’s ready every week so if there’s ever something that happens, he’ll be ready and he’ll be able to fill in.”
(I’ve heard that tight end is the second-hardest position to learn to get to the point of contributing in the NFL because of the many different facets that you have to learn to do your job. Do you think that that’s accurate?) – “Yeah, I mean obviously I can’t speak for other positions but in terms of at least the path that myself and even Mike (Gesicki) being in the same draft class have gone through, I think there could be some accuracy to that. I, in terms of what I was thinking and how comfortable I was in 2018 versus now, is a huge differential. And I think Mike is probably the same way. I don’t want to speak for him, but in terms of his production, it seems like he probably is the same way. I think it is, kind of like you mentioned, it’s a culmination of we have to do so many things within the offense. Maybe one day you’re focused on being a receiver, the next day you’re focused on whatever. It does take some time to be able to feel comfortable from a holistic standpoint. I think there’s definitely some accuracy to that.”
