Mike McDaniel – October 2, 2023
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Monday, October 2, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(What do you have for us on T Terron Armstead?) – “It looks to be weeks not days. We have to kind of see how everything settles down and then we’ll be able to make a better prognosis for that timeline here in a couple days, by the end of the week or so. But I can say that he won’t be playing in the next game, but he will be playing again this season.”
(So T Kendall Lamm becomes the starter there?) – “Yes.”
(How did T Kendall Lamm do last game, and how has he done all season?) – “Kendall (Lamm) has done a tremendous job this season. I did see him do a good job in this past game. I also did see a difference that he would attest to that when you’re preparing all week to be the starter or you’re getting 20 to 30 percent of the amount of reps. That’s nature of the business for a lot of guys. When you aren’t starting, you have to be the best version of yourself. I think that he kind of holds himself accountable to being as good, if he is getting starter reps or not, so that’s something that he can chew on moving forward. But I have all the confidence he’s played his tail off and is a huge part of our room. I know nobody on offense has anything but confidence in his play and him being there.”
(What’s the prognosis on LB Jaelan Phillips? Was there a situation where he was this close to playing?) – “Yeah, it was one of those situations where, again, with Jaelan (Phillips), we have to be his best defense mechanism. I think him and the guys that barely didn’t make the game, him and Connor Williams as well, will be stuff that we’ll be trying to see guys practice, hoping that they can practice on Wednesday and when they do practice that they can be good enough to go in the game because they’re big contributors. But we won’t let them rush our process and panic after a one-game losing streak.”
(How did OL Liam Eichenberg do yesterday at center did you think?) – “Center is a funny position in terms of it is pretty remarkable that outside of one kind of snap that was kind of a lollipop, he executed things – the only way teammates can actually perform is if he executes, and he did it with an ease that shouldn’t be understated with regard to making calls. We didn’t have any declaration issues and the snapping process. There are definitely some plays that he wishes he could have back. Some that were particularly in pass protection where he’s kind of getting adjusted to the speed with which games happen and then at the center position, the defender is literally right on top of you. You don’t have the space like the rest of the linemen do between you, so it just happens a little bit faster. There are a couple things that he will learn from and get better from. It was a solid first game starting at that position that the coaches want him to get better and learn from it, and I know he does too. So it was a good starting point to build from.”
(That was as much as we’ve seen QB Tua Tagovailoa get hit obviously this season. How did he get through the game?) – “It’s a credit to what he’s done this offseason. We’ve been able to avoid situations like that where part of that and part of the hits are on the play caller who is calling more passes than runs. I think probably in hindsight I abandoned the run game to a degree too soon and put them into situations that they didn’t need to be in. But overall, it was – I guess that’s a blessing in disguise that he did go through a game where he did get a little more contact and he was able to come out of it strong and ready to get ready for the Giants.”
(I have a question on a stat and I’m not sure how they track this. They said that 80 percent through the first three weeks, QB Tua Tagovailoa threw to his first read. Yesterday, he threw to his first read just 50 percent of the time. I don’t know how they track that, but I just wanted to get your take on QB Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to progress through the first read and get to the second, third, fourth read?) – “Those games, you can’t necessarily control that. There are sometimes in this league, offensively or defensively, if you are determined to take something away, they’ll find a way. There were multiple times that he did progress a couple plays there were in clinic fashion. So those particularly, when you get into a one-sided game where you’re behind a little bit and you’re passing and getting a little off schedule on first and second down, that can happen. You end up throwing the ball more and you become a little bit more predictable in that way. So we needed him to be able to progress. I think he did real well on some plays. There’s a couple that – I know one interception and then the tipped ball that Jaylen (Waddle) caught were progression plays that he would like to be better on for various reasons. I was really happy with how he approached the game, how he executed a vast majority of things that he did. The great thing about Tua (Tagovailoa) is that for me in our relationship, I can just literally coach him on the things that he’s not good at and don’t have to worry about it making him worse, because he’s going to use it all to make sure he improves moving forward.”
(Did they do anything yesterday to take WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill away from the offense?) – “I think like most teams, everybody has a plan for that, and generally, it involves either a complete coverage commitment or a double. What happens is that’s one of the reasons why they are just as dependent upon the run game, as is the quarterback, as is the offensive line. They’re dependent on me to call a good game. When you get into situations where you’re behind and guys can kind of predict pass, they can play softer coverage that takes the ball away from you outside the numbers with a corner and a safety and then inside the numbers with sinking ‘backers and such. That’s not something that we hadn’t seen. It’s just tough when you get into that situation and you’re behind several scores to really dictate the terms the way that we like. I think the Bills did a great job adhering to their gameplan, and they didn’t take anybody away with one or two individuals. It was a team commitment that when you keep 15-yard plays from being 30-yard plays and you stop 12-yard runs and make them 3-yard runs, it has a residual effect that they deserve all the credit in the world for.”
(What did the film tell you regarding your defense’s inability to contain WR Stefan Diggs yesterday?) – “It was kind of what my gut was telling me after the game. I saw two plays directly associated with the technique and fundamentals at the point of attack by the corner, but then there were other plays that were a trickle-down effect from pass rush expectations on that play, from integrity in our pass rush plan and whether or not we voided lanes for Josh Allen, one of the best in the league to do it, to make plays last longer and go off schedule. So it’s a collective group of individuals that to me, as I see it after the fact, after action, that had more to do with his stat line than anything else, is guys not forcing the issue, guys not trying to make plays and guys playing team defense. That’s what we need to focus on and what we will focus on moving forward.”
(Can you explain the decision to go for the two-point conversion at that point of the game?) – “It has to do with a lot of analytic talk. It was an 11-point game at the time, so you’re trying to make it a nine-point game and understanding that if you miss the two-point conversion, your defense at least has to hold the offense out of the end zone regardless, and a field goal would just make it a two-score game. So it’s kind of a tactical measure that being down by nine, you’d be in a situation where you can score a touchdown and then win with a field goal, knowing that the defense was going to have to stop them from getting to the end zone at that point anyway, so it doesn’t hurt you as much. Some analytical talk that we discuss on a weekly basis, and that was the plan coming out of halftime.”
(How does that process work during a game? Does somebody from upstairs tell you after the touchdown what the analytics say?) – “No, this is something that they know. The guys that work with me on the analytics side know that I need time to properly prepare and make that decision. It’s more than just what the chart says. It has to do with a lot of things that are going on in the game. In this particular instance, it was something that we discussed coming out of the tunnel after halftime that, ‘Hey, we’re getting the ball back. If we do go down and score, we would be pro going for two. Here’s why.’ We had already discussed that scenario, probably in the summer, so I knew exactly what they were talking about. That gave me time that I thought, I guess it’s kind of a shot at myself, but the play we called, I was thinking about the entire drive. I thought it would work out. It didn’t. Thus I’m talking about it on Monday, which is always the case. That’s the nature of the business, and I will never run away from that fact.”
(What is your level of concern with how the defense has looked a month in?) – “My foremost concern is that what I know to be fact regardless is we are 3-1 and two of those wins came with, bottom line, the defense was on the field to win the game so to speak, both at the Chargers and New England. So like every season, first and foremost, I know nothing matters during the course of the season if you’re not progressing and getting better. My concern would be if what happened to us on this previous game, we didn’t absolutely get better from. Because I know the journey is long, and at the end of it, for the season to be worth anything, you have to be in big games and be at your best, and those things that happened on Sunday can’t happen. I have the utmost faith in the defensive coaching staff and our players. I was very candid and let them know that my expectation is that we aren’t that team that continually makes the same mistakes. I really, really want to see guys come together in their journey and understand that not one player has to make a play on each play. I think there’s some of that, too, where guys have a high standard they can feel during the game, and it’s not living up to their standard. So it’s, ‘Alright, well I’m going to go strip the ball from this ball carrier,’ and then not get the ball carrier down and leak for seven more yards. Things of that nature. Guys just trying to make a play. The entire locker room, they need to really come together as a group, and we need to as a defense play better team defense. That’s the great thing about this game is there’s nowhere to hide. It is what it is, and that doesn’t bother me. You get beat 48-20, you should know coming into the building that things have to get corrected and that’s not to our standard. I think we’re on that process. I think meetings have been good today, and we’ll see what that brings forth on Wednesday.”
