Mike McDaniel – December 23, 2024
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Monday, December 23, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(With CB Kendall Fuller, did he hopefully not suffer a torn ACL or anything that’ll end his season?) – “Yeah, hopeful enough to hopefully have some better information tomorrow. Still sifting through that but to really be clear, I’d have to follow back up tomorrow. I’m anticipating having some more information for you on him in particular.”
(Is there concern it could be very serious though?) – “No. Not to that degree, no.”
(LB Jordyn Brooks, he actually came in back late yesterday, would that portend well for how he’s doing with the quad and the knee and his ability to potentially play Sunday?) – “I think what plays in his favor is he’s a tough warrior anyway, but on top of that, I think he’s playing some of the best football of his career and so it’s going to be pretty difficult to keep him off the field. I know he’ll do any and everything and so I feel optimistic just based on that. Our experience with him is that he’s found a way to make himself available and particularly right now where he’s playing some really good ball.”
(I did some charting on first down runs. I think I had 18 for 130 [yards] for you guys. I’m curious, what type of impact does that have on your offense when you can run that successfully on first down?) – “I think having that as a weapon opens up not only what you can do on second down, but the types of coverages and fronts and just kind of dictates the terms and just kind of brings some equilibrium to how people defend us. We learned early in the season that people would play as conservative as possible until we made them pay. When teams are generally doing that, they’re light in their fit and when you can have success on first down in particular, it opens your playbook up for further first downs, or second-and-4, you can just kind of attack a little bit more and who you’re trying to get the ball to. So it’s a big part of what we’re trying to do, just in terms of how you can play on schedule football, how you can minimize really good pass rushers because pass rushers are neutralized the most when they’re not pass rushing, when they’re having to transition from a run fit to work into a pass rush that’s generally enough time for you to do thing things that the quarterback and the eligible position that you can really affect the game. So I think for what we’re trying to do, you’re trying to move the ball, have time of possession – which I think we had over 30 (minutes) – and not turn the ball over. A key element is that execution and success of the running game on first down.”
(I saw you get the game ball from Mr. Ross, how cool was that moment and just curious what are those conversations like after games with Mr. Ross whether it’s win or lose?) – “For me, it was so much about the team and knowing what collectively we’ve gone through to be able to put a game together like that in that moment. As a human being, it’s still the game was about the team, but it was nice to – I feel so fortunate to have an owner like Mr. Ross who’s so supportive, and then on top of that, he’s taken the time to consider your journey, regardless of if it’s on my mind or not. Just that thoughtfulness and that gesture, I mean who doesn’t want to work for someone like that. It was a really cool moment that I wasn’t anticipating, and I just appreciated his thoughtfulness in that regard, but the day was about what we’ve been working endlessly to have a three-phase game like that. A lot of the time, forecasting and having to rely on our own beliefs and putting those into motion and actually executing and getting the return on the investment; it was a big deal, and it was a fun day at the office for all of us.”
(A couple of questions about WR Tyreek Hill. Last night, he’s saying that he thinks he needs more practice time with QB Tua Tagovailoa. Does Tyreek’s wrist ailment make that a tough decision? Does that factor into the equation to you?) – “Absolutely. I think that’s part of what he was voicing his frustration on – battling through injuries and things is a part of the NFL process that makes practice participation, particularly for veteran players, a little more tricky. I think the biggest thing is identifying and being able to, individually, I can only go off of the information provided in terms of – it’s why you depend on the trust factor within this business, because I can’t feel for him. So then you try to do right by him as best you can and he wants to do the right thing as well. Sometimes game situations provide the clarity to you that, ‘Hey, I need more of this to be able to execute that.’ So then you find different ways. Sometimes that’s challenging based upon the recovery from a previous game, but what isn’t challenging in the National Football League that’s worth anything? Those are things that as teammates, players are trying to find the solution, obviously trying to – I think you guys have heard how much I value practice – so I think all of that, we’re all working together to try to get the right formula for execution on game day.”
(WR Tyreek Hill talked about his frustration. He said “guys in here know what I’ve been going through” – have you talked to him about that frustration? Have you felt the need to talk to him about that frustration?) – “The frustration is that Tyreek (Hill) is a competitor and he wants to be – his greatest self, competing on the football field. He really has a different level of competitor in him that he can’t help himself but go 100 miles an hour on the football field and loves to train. He’s always been known as a very deliberate, aggressive full-out practice player, so being able to utilize what he knows is his platform on this team as a captain and utilize his greatest strength which is his disposition as a competitor; that’s something that when he feels in certain weeks that he can’t do that, it takes something away from him. It’s a frustrating process and guys know that he doesn’t want to watch, he wants to play. So all of that is just an example of how the list of things that players go through in an NFL season; it’s not just showing up on Sunday and sometimes you have to take mental reps based upon the work week. Is it a short week? Was it an overtime game the week before? Did you have 11 targets and nine completions? Did we throw it to you over the middle 18 times? Whatever those things are, you have to find solutions and there’s always variables that make it complicated. The key is that guys know exactly what their motivation is, what they’re trying to do and when you fall short of exactly what you envisioned your execution to be like, you turn the page and you address the problem and sometimes you have to be creative. But I think ultimately Tyreek just has super high expectations for himself and I think he is unwavering in that because the responsibility he feels as one of the best players in the league at any position and certainly one of the best players on this team. I think there’s a lot that goes with that responsibility and that burden that he puts on himself and when you don’t get the results that you work for, you get frustrated and the great thing about Tyreek is that he’s a competitor and will not skirt around solutions and will work as best he can and you do what you can with the situation at hand. He’s playing through a ton of discomfort and guys recognize that and he’s one of the reasons why our team is able to compete through all the ups and downs of the season at this stage of the season because he’s a tone setter that a lot of guys match.”
(Will WR Jaylen Waddle practice this week?) – “I’m expecting to get absolutely everything from Jaylen Waddle that he can do. I’ve learned over time to not forecast with him, just his pain tolerance, his competitiveness. I’ve been talking to our head athletic trainer at length about making sure that we protect him from himself because he’s one of those guys that will try to will himself to performance. So we’ll see how the week progresses. I don’t really know exactly what it’ll look like at a couple positions, but at this point in the season, that’s old hat. You have a lot of people that are ready to contribute and you have to be able to adjust and we’ll take it day by day and see how it goes.”
(Have you and General Manager Chris Grier decided whether LB Bradley Chubb will be activated by Wednesday’s deadline?) – “What’s today?”
(Monday.) – “That’s a lifetime in the National Football League. Those conversations will be had in the immediate future. We haven’t tied the bow on that yet, but Bradley (Chubb) is working downstairs today and we will get to that point shortly.”
(It seems like CB Kader Kohou might be playing some of the best ball of his career at this point right now. Just curious what you can say about him, what he brings to the table every single day and how it translates to on-field performance?) – “He’s a prime example of a guy that had the intangibles to do what very few guys do and that’s contribute as an undrafted rookie, and with that, he kind of settled in on some expectations and with changes in the system and some injury stuff, he hasn’t always been satisfied with where he was at and he kept fighting. And I think just as of late, you can tell his teammates are rallying around his play because they know how important it is to him and they know how important he is to our defense and our team. When he’s playing well, he’s a coverage player that stops the ball in space like a linebacker. He has instincts and the toughness and just really the football awareness to do things in the run and pass game and nickel defense that is of primary importance. He’s at the point of attack a lot, so when his game is going, he not only makes plays but he affects his teammates both in as the corners and safeties as well as the linebackers. I couldn’t be happier for him because he’s battled through, like I said, some injuries and stuff and you can really feel the momentum of his game increasing and case in point, that interception was a clinic curl responsibility in Cover 2 that he read the quarterback’s eyes and played off the pass rush and the timing of the play, knew where the eligibles were but played fundamentals and technique the way that we would go clinic it in Phase 2. And when guys get production off of technique and fundamental work and are able to utilize it appropriately, it’s a big deal and it’s how you play sound and effective football. We know takeaways lead – plus/minus lead is the greatest indicator of wins and losses, so it was a big deal for our team and couldn’t have come at a bigger moment.”
(K Jason Sanders hitting the field goals that he’s hit, eight straight from 50-plus – how does that affect strategy as a head coach? How do you view the 50-yard field goal? Is it almost a sure thing and could you see yourself allowing Jason to attempt something from 60, 61, 62?) – “It’s a great point that you brought up because specifically the last field goal, the thought process and the play calling from my perspective was a direct result of my confidence in both Jason (Sanders) and our defense. Just having the ability to run time off the clock and make sure it was a running clock either forcing to use a timeout or leaking the time when you feel super confident that you are going to make it a touchdown game and then you feel super confident that the opposing offense is going to have a tough time going the length of the field and putting it in the end zone, you can play appropriate complementary ball and that’s what we’ve been striving for, but the play calling decision was a direct result of that conviction and confidence which allows teams to really have to do above and beyond to beat you. And that’s the way you want to be playing December football, is hedging your bet, taking calculated risks, but being able to lean on all three phases to get the W.”
