Malik Reed – March 22, 2023
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Wednesday, March 22, 2023
LB Malik Reed
(After a year away from them, how comfortable will it feel to be around Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio and LB Bradley Chubb again?) – “It’s going to be awesome. To come in the league and being in Coach Fangio’s system, I feel like was huge for me, personally as a player. I learned so much about the game, a lot about the outside linebacker position, to be on the edge, setting the edge or in coverage as well. I’m excited to get back to work with him and my brother Chubb. We had a lot of great times in Denver. That’s a guy that was really close to me, and I’m excited to be able to play with him again.”
(You had your best statistical season under Vic Fangio a couple of years ago. It seems like wherever Vic goes, he brings the best out of the outside linebackers/edge rushers. What is it about Vic or his scheme that allows guys like you to thrive?) – “I feel like he’s been around the game so long. He’s been around so many great players. Like you said, he’s a great defensive coordinator. I think he helps get us in the right positions to be successful and he allows us to go out there and do what we do, and make plays and be playmakers. He knows we’re out there for a reason and to have an impact on the game. He does a great job with his scheme and how he coaches that position. He does a good job of putting us in the right spots at the right time so we can do what we do best.”
(I saw the dream killer chain. When you signed with the team, I was reading about that. Who came up with the nickname and where does that come from?) – “It was actually Von (Miller). I played with Von a few years and he gave it to me my rookie year. It’s something that stuck with some of my teammates. It came from the preseason. I had a good preseason and he was like ‘you’re killing quarterbacks dreams out there. Keep doing that. Keep being you.’ It was something between us and I felt like it carried on after that.”
(We’re looking forward to getting to know Vic Fangio, so fill us in on what we’re going to find out. How would you describe his personality?) – “I feel like he’s really about the business and the business of winning. I feel like having success as a defense and really doing a great job on that side of the ball. I feel like with him, you’re getting a guy that works extremely hard. You see that throughout our three years together. The progress that I feel like we made in year one that I was there in Denver until my last year. I think we were the No. 8 scoring defense then. You just see progression each year and I feel like that is a testament to the type of coach he is and the type of coordinator he is as well. I feel like you’re getting a great guy in him.”
(I saw that in 2020 and 2021, you had a total of 13 sacks. How do you describe your approach to the pass rush on the quarterback?) – “I feel like it’s relentless. I feel like that’s where it starts. In order to get sacks and be great at rushing the passer in the league, I feel like everybody has that. That has to be where it starts. I use what God has given me and use my tools to my advantage. I’m not the tallest guy, so I like to use leverage in my game and be able to get under tackles and get to places that are hard for them to bend to. That’s how you can summarize my game.”
(What kind of sneaker head are you?) – “I always have liked shoes. I feel like growing up, we didn’t have the most money and stuff like that growing up. It wasn’t like I could go out there and get all of them that I wanted. But there were always some that I feel like I enjoyed. Once I got to college and started to make a little money – the money that we would get each month – I tried to save it up so I could buy me some shoes and stuff. I had to stop because I was spending too much money at first. But once I got in the league, I feel like I started to bring that back and establish the enjoyment of buying sneakers and wearing them, figuring out what outfit you wanted to wear them with and stuff like that. I feel like that’s something that’s definitely sparked since I’ve been in the league.”
(How much does a pair of sneakers have to be for an NFL player to say ‘no this is too crazy, I’m not doing that?’) – “Great question. For me, personally, if it’s – there are some crazy sneakers out there that are expensive. If it’s over five grand, that’s too much for me. I can’t go above that.”
(You’ve had so much success playing with LB Bradley Chubb. When you found out you’d be coming to Miami and playing alongside of again, can you take us through the conversation? What was it like? And did you guys share some dreams on how it’s going to be working together again?) – “It’s amazing. My time with Chubb on the field, off the field, something just always clicked and it felt so natural. It’s a testament to the type of guy Chubb is and I feel like we’re similar in how we think sometimes. I feel like that flowed into us as teammates to where we could have a lot of success with each other. I feel like once there was some inkling of being able to come to Miami, I’ve been really excited to have the opportunity to play with him again. The type of player he is, and the type of person he is, he’s seeking to be great and win in a big way. I feel like that’s the type of people you want to surround yourself with, not only on the field with football, but in life. That’s a testament to the type of person he is. He’s seeking to be successful in whatever he does. I was definitely excited once we figured out we’d be playing together again. I called him once it was in the workings of me coming there. He called me back once he heard the news. ‘I didn’t know. I had to call you back, congratulations.’ He was so excited and I was excited too. I’m definitely excited to be back playing together again.”
(I wanted to ask you about the role of the pass rusher because obviously it’s a passing league. But you guys have good edge rushers, you’ve got a good secondary and you’ve got a good defensive coordinator. What do you do to change, control the game, put fear into a defense as an edge rusher, and then from a total defense perspective?) – “I feel like it’s huge. That’s become a premium position in the NFL, once they started to transition to more throwing the ball. It put a lot of spotlight on the edge position and how big of an impact they could have on the game. Not even just rushing the passer but setting the edges. You have to be solid in that because if you’re not setting the edge and they are running the ball all game, teams are going to do that. That’s huge to start there. Then when you do have those opportunities to get after the quarterback, just as much as it is on the edge rushers to get back to the quarterback, it helps when you have guys on the outside that can lock up. The man to man, the safeties flying around, the quarterbacks be a little nervous to throw it back there in the secondary. It helps each other. It goes hand and hand – the rush and coverage. That’s something that Coach Fangio preaches. I feel like in terms of playing great defense in the league, that’s what coaches preach. It goes hand in hand. You got to be great in the front end and great in the back end to be great as a defense. It’s really being relentless. Something I’ve learned over my time, even conversations I’ve had with Von (Miller) – I was fortunate to play with him for those three years. He was like ‘a lot of sacks come off effort sacks.’ Everybody thinks it’s because of these great moves, but it’s really how bad do you want to get back there to him. You got to want it more than the guy in front of you trying to stop you. Being relentless – and that’s from the ends to the d-tackles – having that relentless pass rush and covering up for each other and stuff like that, I feel like that’s what leads to having that big impact as edge rushers.”
(Do you think it’s possible in today’s NFL for a defense to control a game? Or is a defense always going to be reacting to what an offense does?) – “I definitely think a defense can control a game in terms of stops, three-and-outs, getting turnovers, which is huge. Those two things I feel like are huge factors in terms of outcomes of a game, whether an offense is putting up a lot of points or whether they’re not. I know it’s simple, but if they can’t score, they can’t win. That’s the thing I feel like as a defense, you live by. You definitely want the offense to do well and succeed and stuff like that, but controlling what you can control as a defense, and that’s how fast you get teams off the field, whether that’s turning the ball over or getting stops, I feel like that has a big factor on the control of the game and field position and stuff like that – holding them back to where they’re playing from their end zone and the offense getting a short field and stuff like that. That plays a big factor in controlling the game.”
