Malcolm Brown – October 21, 2021
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Wednesday, October 20, 2021
RB Malcolm Brown
(In these situations when you’re on a five-game losing streak, how much do you feel as a veteran that you have to speak up or you have to say something?) – “That’s a good question. I feel like for me personally, I guess, I’m not a guy that’s ever going to start doing the whole yelling and screaming thing and we’re on a losing streak or whatever. I think that comes from within the locker room. Yeah, us older guys definitely – I’m learning that too because I’ve always been kind of on the back end of things and never been the vet on the team and stuff like that. I think it comes from within the locker room and really just encouraging guys. I feel like the yelling and screaming and all of that type of stuff, for me I don’t think that helps me. I feel like encouragement is where it comes because we’re already losing. We already feel bad. Why come in and do the whole yelling and cussing and screaming, ‘We got to do this, we got to do that’ (thing). For me personally, I’m more of a guy that will be encouraging this entire season, win or lose.”
(When you’re a running back and your team averages the least amount of carries in the league, which you guys do, do you take that personally?) – “I think we do need to run the ball more. I think I saw even a comment where ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) said the same thing. That’s something that, to be honest, is totally out of my control. Whatever plays are called, when we’re out there in that huddle, it’s my job to execute whatever is called and whatever my job is on that play.”
(When the team called your number in a critical fourth-and-1 situation near the end of the last game, I was curious what was going through your mind when you knew you were about to get the ball?) – “Get the first down. I knew the situation. It was one yard. We need to definitely as a team get better. I feel like I’m definitely the type of guy to where I need to find a way to get that done no matter the circumstances. But yeah, when they called it, I had full confidence in everybody. If they call that in the same situation again, I’ll still have full confidence in everybody and in myself to get it done.”
(In general, what do you feel like is the key for the short-yardage run to be a successful play?) – “Just pure heart and will. I think it just comes down to a mentality. I feel like you get into certain formations, certain plays, certain situations. There are times where the whole stadium may know you’re about to run the ball and you’ve got to get it done.”
(Going back to the whole notion of the five-game streak and all, throughout your career going back to even college and high school, have you experienced something like this before? And is there anything that stands out as possibly a path towards snapping out of it that you could maybe take away and implement here?) – “Right off the top of my head, I can’t really think of a major one key to that. I just know from looking at us, looking at the film, looking at the team – obviously I only like to speak for offense and there’s a lot of little stuff that we can correct. A lot of little stuff that people sitting on the couch watching the game may not even see or may not know about. But in this room and in this building, we know about it and we have to get those type of things fixed.”
(How was QB Tua Tagovailoa this week in the huddle? Upbeat? He played hurt last Sunday. Just upbeat and ready to go? You mentioned the five-game losing skid and never been through that, but to get this thing turned around?) – “Yeah. Even when he came in last week and played, we had full confidence in him. He definitely was. He was upbeat and ready to go throughout the whole week.”
(We saw a few times in the game that you were kind of mugged up in the A-gap pre-snap for pass protection. I was just curious how that changes your role in pass protection compared to when you are kind of riding sidecar next to the quarterback in the shotgun.) – “For me, it’s a little bit easier. Some downs obviously it’s going to be a passing down, so whether I’m up there or back near the quarterback, everybody knows it’s going to be a pass. But for me, if my responsibility comes, it’s really getting to him before he gets a full head of steam. Sometimes it’s tough. If he’s mugged up in the A-gap, he’s essentially four to five yards closer. So for me to be able to just meet him right there and just kind of stop before he even gets his momentum going, it’s a little bit easier sometimes in my personal opinion.”
(When you were talking about your leadership style and how you’re not one to stand up in the locker room and start yelling and screaming, it sounded as if you were also saying that you haven’t heard anybody else on the team going through that. That it’s been more on the encouragement side than on the yelling and screaming side this week. Am I reading that accurately?) – “Not really. (laughter) That’s some guys’ personality. I was more so speaking for myself. I’m not really a guy who – I’ve before in the past stood up and spoke in front of the team, whatever team I’m on. I’ve done that type of stuff. But when it comes to the whole outburst and start yelling and screaming stuff, it kind of takes a lot for me to get to that certain type of point. I feel like it doesn’t always have to be that to get your point across. That’s always been my thing. I feel like I’ve gotten plenty of good points across in the past, whether it be here or on a past team, without doing the whole yelling and screaming thing.”
(From your personal experience as a player, who is the best player leader that you’ve been around and why?) – “Man, that’s tough. I could probably name multiple people. You’re making it hard on me. (laughter) I think that comes with guys that you know have had success at a high level for a long time. So when you – and really just older guys that have been around the NFL for a long time. They may not even have a ton of experience. Guys like Andrew Whitworth come to mind. J-Mac (Jason McCourty) comes to mind. E-Rob (Elandon Roberts) comes to mind. Aqib Talib comes to mind. Guys that have had success and been in this league for a long time.
(On sustained success) – “Somewhat. Maybe somewhat. But I can’t sit here and say a second or third-year guy can come in. If he gets that vibe from the team, he’ll get that respect too.”
(You said you’re not the one that’s being vocal, yelling and screaming. But some guys are. I guess the natural thing is who are some of those guys and what are they saying?) – “(laughter) Nah, man. We aren’t going to get into that. (laughter) It just depends on personality. It depends on who the person is. You can get your point across any way you want to.”
