Matt Breida – October 8, 2020
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Thursday, October 8, 2020
RB Matt Breida
(I’m going to start off with the obvious question. How would you describe your level of excitement at facing your former team this weekend?) – “It’s cool going back playing against my former team. I’m not going to treat the week any different, though. It’s still like any other week.”
(At the beginning of the week, did you text any of your teammates or has your phone been silent on that end?) – “No, I talk to those guys almost every week, on a weekly basis, because we’re still close. But no, not about the game. Nothing like that. Like I said, I don’t think any of us are going to treat it any different. It’s still a normal week.”
(When San Francisco was kind of loading up on all those backs with RB Raheem Mostert and RB Jerick McKinnon and a bunch of other guys, what were your thoughts initially and then I guess what were your thoughts after you were traded to kind of have an opportunity here in Miami?) – “It was fun to play with all those guys. You need depth at running back. It’s one of those positions where injuries do happen. I was excited to play with all those guys. We had a good year last year, and then as far as the trade goes; when I got traded here, I was excited to be part of this organization. Not to say nothing bad about the Niners – they’re a great organization, too, but I always like new challenges and that’s how I looked at it.”
(From a production standpoint, you had the big screen pass this past week and another I think 12-yard gain or so later in the game against the Seahawks. Were you happy to get the ball more and kind of show not just us, but everyone, what you’re capable of in terms of explosiveness and spin moves and all that?) – “I think everyone knows what I can do. I’m happy just to whatever – like I said before time and time again – whatever my role is, I’m going to do. I’m going to be happy no matter what. I’m very fortunate and very lucky to play in the NFL, so I’m not a ball guy. I’m not someone who’s selfish. I just want to win at the end of the day, so whatever we’ve got to do to win, that’s my goal.”
(A handful of us are flying out to Northern California tomorrow – some of the guys on this Zoom call here – what did you like about Northern California? What’s something that you say, you know what, I enjoyed that?) – “I love the weather. The weather’s perfect every day. It’s probably one of the best things. Everything else, I don’t know. Taxes are high. Cost of living is high, so I don’t know. But yeah, the weather was nice. The people were really cool there and like I said, the 49ers are a great organization.”
(Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and Head Coach Brian Flores and a bunch of guys on the defense, are they kind of asking you for some insight on these formations and gadget plays and pre-snap things that they’re going to have to be looking at on Sunday?) – “I feel like the coaches here, they do a great job of breaking down the film and going over what we need to learn and stuff. If they ask me for insight, then I’ll give it to them; but I think the coaching staff and all of our guys that don’t get recognized, our video crew, they do a great job breaking it down for us. I think they’ve got that well-handled.”
(What are some of your best memories of the Super Bowl run last year?) – “Just how close we were as a team. All of us are brothers. Like I said, I still talk to pretty much all those guys if not a weekly basis, definitely on like a monthly basis. We try to stay in touch where once you do something like that and go to a Super Bowl, you’re bonded forever from that. It was just a great experience last year being able to do that this early in my career.”
(Before we’ve had you on, you mentioned some of the similarities you’ve seen between this team and the early Niners teams that you were a part of. I just wanted to get an update from you on where you think that is in Week 5 for the Dolphins.) – “As far as team chemistry or…?”
(Just the similarities between the two teams that you’ve seen.) – “Definitely I would say very similar in the fact of guys who love to compete. The same thing goes back as far as I was talking about how close the team is. We don’t have a lot of egos on this team. It reminds me of going in – like I said – going into my rookie year and my second year, we had a lot of young guys that are playing right now and it’s a process. I understand everyone wants us to be winning right now and we’re right there. We’ve been in every single game that we’ve played in. We could easily be 4-0 right now instead of 1-3, but the fact is we’re 1-3, so we’ve just got to learn how to finish as a team and I think we’re on the right track and we’re very close to putting it together pretty soon.”
(How much have you been able to follow what your former, not only 49ers teammate, but college teammate, 49ers RB Jerick McKinnon, has been able to do and how remarkable it is?) – “Oh, me and him talk every day. I’ve been telling people this, though, since he hasn’t been playing and got hurt. I said, ‘he’s going to succeed no matter what.’ The dude works his tail off. I looked up to him when I came into college and we played together, and he’s proven a lot of people wrong still to this day that think that he’s going to come back and he’s going to be the same back. I’m pretty sure he’s still doing the same stuff he was doing before he was hurt, so I’m very happy for him and what he’s doing right now.”
(Obviously the 49ers gave you an opportunity as an undrafted free agent. How do you sort of process the emotions of the gratefulness that you have for that, and then also the fact that they traded you?) – “I’m very grateful. I don’t think the trade was like they didn’t want me anymore. The NFL is a business at the end of the day, and you can’t get your emotions too caught up in the business side of the NFL because at the end of the day, it’s a job. We’re getting paid to do this; and just like me, just like them, you’ve always got to make the best decisions no matter what the circumstances are. I feel like that’s what they did. I’m in a great position now. I don’t look back. I’m always thankful for them because that was my first team. They did give me an opportunity, but I’m also grateful that the Dolphins are giving me another opportunity to allow me to keep playing this game.”
(I know you’re going to try to approach this as just another game, but have you envisioned what it may be like to kind of warm up pregame, kind of be in the stadium again? What do you kind of envision Sunday’s game being like for you?) – “It’s just going to be fun, finally getting to play against those guys that I played with the last three years, finally in a real live game. Probably a lot of smack talking with them on the field, but at the end of the day, it’s a game. We’re all brothers, so I’m looking forward to it and like I said, I’m not treating the week any different as if we played Seattle last week. It’s going to be the same preparation, same thing. I’m not going to go out there and do anything extraordinary that I don’t do. I’m just going to do what I’ve got to do.”
