Mike McDaniel – November 25, 2023
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Saturday, November 25, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(With LB Jaelan Phillips, do we have confirmation that the Achilles was torn? Then with T Terron Armstead, hoping it’s not as serious as OL Isaiah Wynn’s quad. Any sense whether Terron is serious or more of a day-to-day thing?) – “The Achilles is torn, for sure. The long road to recovery starts for Jaelan now. Terron’s isn’t as serious as Isaiah’s. It’s game-to-game, week-to-week.”
(Can you just take us through the emotions right now for the team and can you describe what LB Jaelan Phillips means to this team as a player and as a person?) – “The emotions, that’s one of the things that is making our team – on each game day, one thing that you can say, take all the critiquing out of it, is we have a very hardworking, straining team that plays for each other. I think that is a consequence of people really sharing each other’s journey. Everybody knows what was on Jaelan Phillips’ mind. He felt like he was ready and able and had put in all the work to make a big step in his game and he’s a big part of the team. But the fortunate thing that this team has is they do have a lot of – you don’t necessarily replace Jaelan Phillips. But you can have guys that are fully capable to step up and kind of get his production through different ways. We are fortunate enough to have some depth. I think our players understand that the only way that we can kind of do right by Jaelan Phillips – it’s the lesser of evils, is the worst-case scenario is for him to be going through his rehab and watching us not fully take advantage of our opportunity. So there’s an element of people playing for him, I think. We’re all very aware of, this is something very commonplace in the National Football League in terms of, you don’t generally go through a season without losing a player or two that is one of your core players. So it’s something that is a part of the journey. It’s really unfortunate for Jaelan. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s fully capable and I know his mindset will be that, as weird as it sounds now, you’ve got to figure out a way that it can be the best thing that ever happened to you. And that’s the challenge that we all have when something like that kind of really turns your world upside down. It’s tough to kind of get there, but eventually you do, and we find different ways to make it something that has helped and that will be a defining moment in a good way. So the challenge is long, but he has all his teammates, all the support. We all know that he’ll come back with vengeance when his time comes. But he’s got a long journey, for sure.”
(On a point you made there, you don’t just replace a guy like LB Jaelan Phillips. Will the plan now be some LB Andrew Van Ginkel and then a little bit more work for DE Emmanuel Ogbah?) – “Yeah, I think that’s the starting point and then you just let the players shape what that is exactly to a T. But without a shadow of doubt, there’s going to be those two individuals that will have to step up, and that will also open up opportunities. When ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) is not playing stack ‘backer, that means there’s very capable and ready – I think David Long (Jr.) will have to step up as well and play a role that he’s been thirsting for anyway. That’s why it’s kind of like a group of people. You don’t necessarily replace him, but it just gives different people opportunities and you kind of spread that out to do your best to compensate for that production loss.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. It’s two weeks in a row now that he looks like he’s got dinged up a little bit. The hand and I guess the ankle yesterday, even though he played through it. What’s your thinking on him as far as usage? I know he’s got the most targets in the league. Do you weigh one against the other, midseason game, maybe watch his snap count?) – “I will say that targets are not the same as play-time percentage. If we deep dive into play-time percentage, I think there’s probably 15 to 20 receivers that play more than he does, which is strategic. We want him to be at his best. But I don’t think that enters into the equation relative to – he’s a football player that wants the ball and I’m not going to be like, ‘hey, man, you might get hit.’ Both the scenarios were kind of unfortunate too. He has an incredible history of being able to stay healthy and play in games. I can’t remember the – somebody could Google the stat up real quick, but it’s like a crazy amount – he’s only missed like two games or something. I don’t even know. He is a guy that does have to protect himself in the field. You guys saw probably on the TV replay how he got rolled up early, which was just unfortunate. But he’s at a really, really good juncture in his career. I think his teammates have expressed it. I think you guys can kind of tell by his energy. He’s at another level of professionality. He’s going to make sure that if there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m very confident he’ll take care of himself and we have a good working relationship, such a trusting relationship with the players and (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) where we’re not going to press things too early. You know what? Do you represent several different fantasy defensive teams? (laughter) If you’re speaking on behalf of your fantasy defensive teams, then yes, that’d be a great idea. But outside of that, I think he’ll always be involved. We do manage his play-time percentage though.”
(Are you all satisfied with the depth at the linebacker position? Have you and General Manager Chris Grier discussed the possibilities of exploring free agency at that position as well?) – “Yeah, that’s something we look at throughout the year and we’re keeping abreast. Anytime you have a little nick by any player, you’re kind of assessing that. We had workouts a couple of weeks ago. As far as any time you get injured, you assess that whole process to figure out how you’re going to best serve your roster through whatever means necessary. Whether it’s on our team, which we have a couple players that have opportunities to get a little more exposure that I think they’re ready for, but also we’ll continue to do that. It’s ever evolving. Basically anytime someone goes down from that position group, if there wasn’t an immediate workout before, we work some people out just to assess the state of the union.”
(Quick follow up. The game was on Friday and you typically play the Friday song on Friday. Were you at all tempted to incorporate that pregame or postgame?) – “No, it’s kind of like a chill (song). I could’ve done it postgame but at that point, I had forgotten. But pregame, we’re not making it to the game. You make it to Friday to get to the game. You’re at the game. It would have to be like a remix Tecmo version. Maybe you can come up with it. Some house music Friday song, then we’ll be in business for our next Black Friday game.”
(That’s a pretty physical football team you guys were able to rush for 167 yards on the ground. Also you hit a couple verticals against press coverage. I was curious how impressed you were about your team’s ability to not only match that physicality but dictate things with that 15-play drive to close it out there late?) – “There’s always things as coaches, the point of coaching is to improve players, so there’s always stuff to improve upon. If your locker room is correct, no one’s trying to play the perfect game. They are expecting to play and get better as they progress. But that being said, it was kind of a perfect scenario for the parallel between what I was hoping the team was and what they showed that they were. A short week is physically demanding. There’s a lot of different distractions with regards to holiday season and having a nationally-televised game. We go to New York and you want to make sure guys are worried about nothing but themselves and how we play as a team. There’s only one way that you can beat that football team is what your saying, is you have to match and/or exceed their physicality. I thought that was, for a short week, that was very encouraging to see. You could feel the momentum of the game. I think there’s something you can’t totally quantify it but there’s an element on every good team I’ve been on where people play as a team, the different phases do. So I keep talking about that. And every time it shows up – I could feel it yesterday. Someone would make a play in a different phase off a play made or when someone was down, someone countered and swung the momentum back. The greatest example we could ever have is the unbelievable play by Jevon (Holland), and not only the play Jevon made but the pass rush that had to move the quarterback in the pocket, which got the receivers down the field further, which made them as tacklers worse. Then the effort with the plays made by the defense like Christian Wilkins and Bradley Chubb blocking at the point of attack. It was like everyone recognized this was a moment on the defensive side of the ball with no time left to rectify a couple of things that happened offensively. Those types of things are monumental. That’s what I saw was physicality on all three phases and continued team development, which is the most important thing in my opinion.”
(Earlier in the season, it seemed like CB Jalen Ramsey sort of created a blueprint for a player who is injured keeping themselves mentally engaged with the team, helping their teammates. I’m curious if there are lessons to be learned there that can help LB Jaelan Phillips as he’s dealing with this injury. He was pretty open with the confidence issues he’s had and just how challenging it was for him to be hurt. So I’m wondering if there are some lessons to be learned?) – “There are some definite lessons. I think it’s a different application considering Jalen Ramsey was at the beginning of the season working to the middle. However, what Jalen Ramsey did, you’re exactly right. That will forever live in my memory bank. I guarantee it has residuals. Now it’s a different exercise to be in the back end of the season. The biggest thing will be what maximizes Jaelan Phillips’ ability to recover in his best self. I’m sure there’s, for him, he’s really going to want to be around the guys just knowing him. But you also want to build perspective but don’t want to make yourself completely miserable because it’s tough to just sit there and have that taken away from you. There’s a balancing act. It’s probably early in the process to say exactly what that looks like, but without – I know every player on this team going through injuries, especially ones that have an extended timeframe, are absolutely impacted by what Jalen did and the blueprint in that regard is real.”
(A couple of your players commented on the turf at MetLife Stadium, and I was just curious if you had any thoughts or cared to comment at all about the turf there at MetLife.) – “I mean whatever I say is going to be bold print. I don’t like injuries. I would encourage to follow the science, whatever that is because I’m not reading books on it and I’m not studying it. That’s not my role. I think everybody is incentivized for the safest situation possible. For me, if I did know with factual evidence through study that any sort of injury was 100 percent avoidable on a different playing surface, that would make me lose my mind. I would flip over tables. But I don’t have that. But if that’s there, it’s super important because our game is a vessel of the best players performing, so if we’re not doing everything we can to ensure that they have the ability to play, then we’re being counterproductive and should just take a lesson from hamsters and run on a wheel. We should run hamster laps. So I don’t know. I just hope everyone does their due diligence. In my profession, I just have to believe that’s being done, has been done and is going to be done. It would be ignorant of me, meaning lack of knowledge, if I just said ‘Yep, it was the surface.’ I don’t know that. I hope it wasn’t, for sure.”
(I was curious if LB Jaelan Phillips might consult Aaron Rodgers’ specialist about a speedy Achilles surgery to maybe help him come back sooner.) – “Yeah, hopefully they’re on the (Pat) McAfee Show this week talking Achilles. (laughter) I do know there was some information distributed in the periphery, because there was a lot of stuff going on. I don’t know him personally but I’ve heard great things about Aaron Rodgers and the type of human being he is. I think he was working some channels to get in touch with Jaelan as of last night through a couple of people that have some relationships with him. He’s a smart guy that is not afraid to chase the most exotic science. I think that’s kind of something that, specifically Jaelan Phillips, he’s not one of those old school, ‘I’ve always done it this way,’ type of guys. He would be open to whatever. I think player relationships are important for the actual tangible rehabilitation, but it’s also important to talk to the guys that have been through similar situations. You’re a performance athlete that needs to maintain mental stability and health with regards to being a professional athlete that can’t be an athlete at the time. I think all of those things are very important. I know as of last night, there were some things developing, but I don’t really know those tangibly yet.”
(Did LB Jaelan Phillips travel back with you guys?) – “He did.”
(On OL Austin Jackson’s ejection, I’m curious what your thoughts were looking back on that.) – “I don’t think it is a correlation. It’s not happenstance that it’s the first guy that’s been ejected since I’ve been head coach. That’s something that from the first day I started, I explicitly articulate that stuff outside the whistles are a waste. Ultimately, even in the moment, if you don’t realize this, in hindsight you’ll always recognize that it is kind of a selfish move in regards to you hurt the team and you hurt yourself. The one great thing about Austin Jackson is he’s given me so much reason to trust and believe in his – he shows me every day how coachable he is. I know he was very much in the tank about doing anything negative to the team. He’s really committed his entire laugh to do the opposite. So I’m very confident that won’t happen again, but it’s something that people have to realize on the front end that their actions have consequences. And if you are getting 15-yard penalties or are getting ejected, those consequences can be quite severe with regards to the team.”
(I wanted to get your take on OL Liam Eichenberg’s performance at right guard.) – “I really really like coaching the guy because he just gets better at stuff within the system once he understands it. And right now, we’re at a cool spot where that learning curve is super fast, so when he goes from center to right guard, he’s getting better with every rep. I think he played how we expected him to play – like a starting NFL right guard that is an asset that can make plays. He made a couple of plays in the run game that were humongous in terms of the outcome of the game. A couple of the runs that resulted in points had something directly to do with what he was doing on the line of scrimmage. And I thought he protected the quarterback well. It was an encouraging step. I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised, but you are always pumped when your expectations are matched by actual production.”
