Kenny Stills – November 1, 2018
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Thursday, November 1, 2018
WR Kenny Stills
(On the field, how would you describe how the first half of the season went for you?) – “That’s a tough question. I feel like I’ve taken advantage of the opportunities that I’ve had. Obviously I have an injury right now, so that’s a little frustrating. I try not to focus too much on the first half now that we’re moving into the second half and just focus on this Jets game.”
(How do you keep this team focused on the fact that you guys are still competing for a playoff spot?) – “That’s easy. We look at all of the records around this league and we see that we’re still in the hunt and that’s enough motivation for us to go out there and play one game at a time. If we can start stacking these games and heading in the right direction, then we have an opportunity to still be in the hunt.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase painted it as you probably think you could play a game tonight if you needed to or wanted to but he’s pretty concerned that if you come back a moment too soon on this, it could be a long-term issue. Where do you stand on that or what do you think?) – “I stand with whatever he says. We’ll see how I feel on Sunday and we’ll make a decision there.”
(Have you ever had this type of injury before?) – “It’s been a while. Most soft tissue injuries are pretty similar in the fact that you don’t want to rush. You don’t want to come back too early because you risk making it worse. We’ve got to be smart about it and we’re taking it slow.”
(I think you’ve been injured all season pretty much it seems like. You hit your shoulder. How is the rest of you other than that?) – “It’s a contact sport. It’s football. All of us are banged up. None of us feel 100 percent. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
(Nothing else would keep you out other than that?) – “No.”
(You’ve now had two collisions in the back of the end zone. I know you didn’t want to go there the last time we talked but do you think the fans are too close?) – “No. I really don’t think it’s a problem. I think that there’s potential to have some better awareness on that side. If the people on that side know that we’re in the red zone and there’s potential of a score, just to have a little bit of awareness on the fact that we might be potentially running into them. I felt awful for what happened in the last game and I tried to reach out and find the lady’s name and send flowers. I think she wanted her privacy. It’s frustrating that stuff like that happens but you want to make sure people are okay. I just hope that we can all just have better awareness when it comes to potential scoring plays and security and people that are in the end zone.”
(I was wondering if that shook you up because she didn’t see it coming either but you would have never expected to run into that situation on a football field where you just plow through someone like that.) – “Yeah. Luckily I was able to see her and just kind of put my arm out. Because the other option would have been put my helmet and shoulder pads into her, so it could have been worse. I’m just happy that she’s okay and that I came out of it okay.”
(What made you choose compassion in that situation? When you get a touchdown, you’re probably frustrated you get banged up.) – “Yeah. Honestly all of the credit there goes to Mike Gesicki. I was so flustered and in so much pain at the time that I wasn’t thinking about anything but just what had happened to me. Mike had come over and was like ‘Hey bro, you ran into the lady. You should go over there and give her the ball.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re right.’ I thanked Mike after the game and he’s like ‘That’s something I know you would have done if you would have been cognizant of what happened.’ So I appreciate him and I told him he’s a good dude and thank you for that.”
(How did you get hurt on that play? Was it just your shoulder hitting her?) – “Yeah. My shoulder just kind of felt like something kind of funky happened because I didn’t expect it.”
(From the impact with her?) – “Yeah.”
(Obviously you released a documentary explaining why you kneeled. Why did you feel the need to do that and what kind of statement are you trying to make with the shirt there?) – “So the shirt just says unity is the new cool. It speaks for itself. I’ve always been somebody that’s trying to bring people together through conversation and instead of dividing people, bringing people together. Through the documentary, I just wanted to kind of share with people why I’ve decided to protest or how I got to becoming active or involved with hopes that people could better understand who I am and potentially … not sway people but get them to understand this is who I am, this is why I got involved and this is something that’s important to me. It’s not something that I just decided one day that I’m going to go out here and do and I’m just out here kneeling and there’s no action behind it and no work behind it.”
(How do you deal with just constant negative reactions to how you are protesting?) – “I think the first couple of years were a lot worse when it comes to the negativity. A lot of the social media channels have done a good job of you being able to filter kind of the negative comments and the bad stuff that you’re able to see. This year has been a lot different. There’s been a lot more support; a lot more people reaching out and really supporting and having my back. It’s important to share in the story the negativity and the hate that’s out there so people understand and see it, but this past year has been a lot better for me.”
(Do you have intentions to play on Sunday? Are you going to play on Sunday?) – “We kind of spoke on that and we’ll have to see.”
(As a fellow wide receiver, with all that WR DeVante Parker has been through with the injuries, how happy were you for him with the game he had Thursday?) – “I’m extremely proud of DeVante. I’m so happy for him. I’ve always had his back. I think all of the receivers and most of the guys on this team have always had his back and supported him. We know what he can do as a player and he showed that on Thursday. That’s the spark that we need to see from him and we hope that he continues to perform like that.”
(Can you handle that if it comes to that, where you feel like Sunday you could play and they say we can’t let you do it? Are you going to be alright?) – “Yeah. I mean it’ll be frustrating. I’m not going to act like I won’t be upset but I understand that we’ve got to do what’s best for the team and I know the guys that we have can go out there and perform and get us a victory.”
