Kendall Fuller – July 26, 2024
Download PDF version
Friday, July 26, 2024
CB Kendall Fuller
(What’s it been like working here in a new setting?) – “It’s been fun. I mean football is always football. Just learning new people, being around the building, new coaches, new players. Any guys that I’m around I always like to learn from, always like to compete with. So at the end of the day, football is always football, but anytime you get to get around a new group of guys, a good group of guys, it’s always fun.”
(We like to keep our eye on QB Tua Tagovailoa, how was he spinning it today? What did you think in 11-on-11, 7-on-7, everything?) – “Yeah, I mean he’s impressive. He’s always looking impressive on Sundays, but it’s different once you get to see somebody on a day-to-day basis, just their mental, how they process information, how he processes defenses. You can just tell his intent with every snap that he takes. So it’s been fun to see him, learn from him and watch him compete.”
(Three days against this offense in practice for you, how does this offense and what they do schematically challenge you as a defender?) – “You got to cover them vertically, horizontally. You got to be able to make one-on-one tackles in the open field with a lot of athletic and fast guys. It’s funny because playing Miami last year, I kind of know a little bit about the offense, but being able to go against every day and just see how much they attack you vertically, horizontally in space. So, you got to be prepared at each level.”
(Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver seems to give a lot of defensive backs a lot of freedom – talking about CB Jalen Ramsey as a chess piece and S Jevón Holland wants to play all over the place. How do you feel it’s been? Do you feel that freedom in the backend?) – “Yeah, it’s been fun, man. We all move around. Jalen (Ramsey) is all over the field. Sometimes we’re playing right, sometimes you’re on the left side. Even just within the defense, corners can be asked to do different things that a nickel would do, that a linebacker would do. So that’s what makes the game fun, just being able to have a lot of different responsibilities, a lot of different techniques that you got to do – it makes the game fun. So we’ve been enjoying it man. ‘Weave’ (Anthony Weaver) has been good, energetic, fun, so definitely a guy that a lot of guys enjoy playing for.”
(In the past, have you been moved around all over in your other years?) – “Yeah, I mean, I started out playing nickel, nickel corner. I played a little bit of nickel safety, played a little bit of corner safety. I’ve pretty much lined up everywhere, so I’m comfortable just about lining up anywhere on the field.”
(At this stage you still would play nickel? You still feel comfortable inside?) – “Yeah, I mean genuinely – especially with the systems that I played in, you’ve been asked to do so much, so genuinely I feel comfortable anywhere on the field.”
(Can you talk a little bit about the mentality that it takes in there as compared to out on the perimeter and maybe how some of your past experiences have kind of set you up for all of the versatility in this system?) – “I mean, nickel was just – to me, nickel was a more challenging position, just because it’s so much more green grass. A lot more responsibility, specifically mentally, physically, it’s the NFL anywhere. Any position out on the field is going to ask a lot of you, but just from the mental standpoint of all the grass that you’ve got to cover, just even playbook wise having to remember, ‘Alright, do I run on this motion? Do I not run on this motion? Do I align here? Align there?’ Corner, you pretty much know what you got to do, but nickel to me is a very, very challenging position. I’m glad that now they’re starting to get a lot more respect, All-Pro, Pro Bowls and stuff like that, because it’s a challenging position.”
(Does the way this defense kind of meld together in those two roles as far as being able to do multiple things – does it make communication easier on the backend for y’all?) – “Yeah, I think you just have a lot of guys that – my biggest thing, no matter what position you play, is learning where everybody because once you know where – it’s all about knowing where your help is, knowing where your teammates are going to be, knowing their responsibility. They make a mistake, if you know what they’re doing, you might be able to cover up for him. So it brings everybody together, everybody is just working on being a better football player, understanding the game of football more, not just learning what you can do and that’s it. So I think even from that, you’re able to have – all of us are always having constant communications and things like that, because all of us have played all over the field.”
(What’s it like covering WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle and maybe, soon WR Odell Beckham Jr., in practice?) – “Yeah, it’s been fun man. Just like I said, the speed that they have, the talent that they have. People can focus so much on the talent, but just the competition, you know what I mean? All of us are big little kids out there on the field. So just being able to go out there and play the game that you love and enjoy and just have fun working against one another and learning from one another. It’s been real fun to get out there with them.”
(You have a unique perspective with WR Tyreek Hill because you’ve been his teammate a couple times now, right? Can you talk about how he’s kind of evolved, especially while guarding him? And has he made you a better player over the years of your career, him specifically?) – “Yeah, I mean 100%. I think any guy that you line up across on a daily basis is going to get you better, because every man that’s made it to this level can do something at a high level, you know what I mean? Other guys may do one thing at a high level, another guy may do another thing at a high level, so what he can do, his speed, and probably what separates him from a lot of guys that are fast, how he can stop at a dime, his routes and things like that. So it’s been fun. The biggest thing that I can still see from him, and I appreciate, is just the joy being out down the practice field. He still always has that same work ethic, but you always want guys to make the most of this opportunity, have fun being out here. We’re blessed to be able to come out here and play football for a living. It’s been like four years since I played with him, so to still see that joy is always good to see.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel his leadership has kind of evolved. Have you noticed that? Any difference between the WR Tyreek Hill back then and the Tyreek now?) – “That will be hard for me to tell just because me being on defense and him being on offense. But I mean even just being on the opposite sideline, seeing him going in there and work – a guy at his level still taking all the reps that he can, still trying to work and perfect everything, everybody sees that. So it’s not all about what somebody says, but what they do that speaks loudly.”
(Now that you’ve been around him for a couple of months, how would you describe Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver’s coaching style?) – “Fun. Just fun, energetic. I mean, he definitely is going to demand a lot out of everybody, but he’s there with you every step of the way, pushing, pushing you. You make a mistake, he’s going to come to you, talk about what you could have did better, talk about what you need to do going forward. I think the biggest thing, he’s always willing to listen. And that’s something that you appreciate being a player, having a coach that’s just – he wants to hear what you see. He wants to hear what we think, and I think that says a lot. I used to have a coach that said – he always talked about how you always got to be green. You always got to be willing to learn, willing to grow. So to see him as our defensive coordinator still having that mindset of like wanting to learn, wanting to grow and wanting to hear from us, that trickles down throughout the whole staff, whole team.”
(I guess on the scheme side of things, obviously, you were with Jack Del Rio over last few years. I guess what has been the biggest adjustment for you going into this scheme in what you’re asked to do?) – “I mean not a lot, honestly. I had Jack (Del Rio) for the last four years, but I would say my first four years in the league, I probably had a different defensive coordinator each year. So I think I probably played in every system, almost, under the sun. So it’s not too much. Terminologies are a little bit different, but at the end of the day football is football. You might do a couple of things, more coverages that you may run per snap percentage versus in Washington, but end of the day, it’s all football.”
