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Kenyan Drake – October 23, 2018 Download PDF version

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

RB Kenyan Drake

(Do you expect to have some plays called on the side like you did on Sunday?) – “No. This week is a whole new game plan. We have people that are going to be in the position they need to be in. It’s not really that off-script right now.”

(We saw that long explosive run from you this past week. What was different for you there?) – “Everybody did their job. Great seal blocks by Kenny (Stills) and my boy (Nick) O’Leary. Everything kind of just went according to plan and that’s just how it is.”

(WR Albert Wilson’s injury seems like he’s going to be out for the season. How much of a presence and important has he been for you guys this year?) – “He’s been making a lot of plays. A real good leader on and off the field, so we’re definitely going to miss his presence. It’s always a next-man-up mentality so we’re going to have some more great players that have to step up in his absence and make plays and go out there and just do what we have to do.”

(How do you get the running game on track, because that’s been kind of a bit of a problem?) – “We just have to put ourselves in manageable situations to run the ball, even if that’s getting the short passing game going early, trying to get second-and-manageable, third-and-manageable so we can have those manageable runs instead of being in that situation. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

(The stats say that this is kind of a different team the first half and second half offensively. How do you get that switched? How do you play that high level in the first half?) – “We just have to stay on schedule. For example, the Cincinnati game. The first half, that was one of our best first halves all year. We stayed on schedule, we ran the ball first and second down, got short passes on first and second down, put us in third-and-manageable. We were able to convert those third downs. From there, just making sure we put ourselves in a good position to make plays. That’s just what it is.”

(More frequent than not, you guys are playing from behind after the first quarter and halftime. Is that harder, does that put pressure on what you guys have to do?) ­– “That’s just the name of the game. Great players are all around the league. Playing from behind … Every game you expect to be close. As long as it’s winnable in the fourth quarter, that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter if we’re behind or not.”

(You’re pretty fresh, aren’t you?) – “I feel pretty good. It’s a short week so everybody is probably a little banged up from the week before, but at the end of the day you just try to do what you need to do. You have the recovery that you need to do and get ready to go out there and just play this game.”

(Do you feel like the team’s goals are still ahead of you? I know Head Coach Adam Gase said yesterday despite what’s said outside the building, you guys are still pretty confident where you’re going.) – “Last time I checked we’re 4-3 and there’s a lot of teams around this league that are 4-3. All we have to do is make the necessary adjustments we need to make to be 5-3 and take it one game at a time.”

(QB Brock Osweiler said yesterday you guys are going into this with an ‘us against the world’ mentality. Is that pretty much the message?) – “Everybody kind of has their way of getting ready for this game. Like I said, at the end of the day, whoever we have in front of us, we just kind of go out there and just play our game. It’s a one-game season essentially. It’s just Houston in our way this time. After that, we’ll just worry about then, but we’re just trying to go out there and get that win any way possible.”

(There are some playmakers up front for Houston. What do you see the challenges of that defense?) – “We just have to make sure we control their front seven, their pass rush, their aggressiveness and also use that against them. Some misdirection stuff, you just kind of get them thinking, not just really playing with their ears pinned back and try to make plays. When we go out there, we have to make sure we kind of just slow them down a little bit and play our game.”

(You’ve delivered some pretty hellacious blocks in the backfield. I think some of your highlights this year have been just some people you’ve laid out. What does it take as a running back to have that courage to stand in there?) – “I’m a football player. I value myself with playing without the ball. Going out there, making plays, making blocks, being ready to be, from a schematic standpoint in general, that brings out the one-eleventh. If everybody is doing their one job and you have 11 players on the field, that’s how you get big plays like the run that I had or the catches that Albert (Wilson) had this year, or anybody else in general. If we can mirror that up, I feel like we can have successful plays all the time.”

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