Myles Gaskin – September 6, 2021
Monday, September 6, 2021
RB Myles Gaskin
(When I asked Head Coach Brian Flores about the areas in which you’ve improved since he met you, the first thing he said was blocking – protection. So how have you done that?) – “Just making it an emphasis for myself. Being a smaller guy obviously – you’re in the league now – so those guys are 260, 250, so you’ve got to bring everything you’ve got each play. I think I just kind of dove into it. ‘Coach E’ (Eric Studesville) and all the other running backs – we’re always trying to help each other so I think that’s kind of brought me along. Obviously when I was younger to now, being able to help the younger guys – Salvon (Ahmed) obviously, Gerrid (Doaks). Just kind of seeing it. Just seeing it over and over again and seeing what I’m good at and kind of honing in on those skills.”
(The follow-up is when a LB Khalil Mack kind of guy is coming at you…) – “I wouldn’t be blocking him. (laughter) He’s on the edge, but I mean…”
(It could never happen?) – “It could. No, no not like that. (laughter) But I’m saying I’d probably just cut him. That’s a rare dude. But outside of that, I try my best. Just keep working at it. If a Khalil Mack is my matchup, I’ll do my best.”
(How new is this to you? Did you do much protection in Washington?) – “Yeah, I did at UW. When I was younger – freshman, sophomore year – they kind of shied away from letting me do it. They kept me in like, free releases; but as a I got older just like here, I got more comfortable with it obviously in practice and then translated to the game. So just like anything else, just repetition and believing in yourself and not being afraid to make mistakes. That’s how you grow at anything.”
(Did you take it as a vote of confidence when your team didn’t draft anybody, didn’t draft a running back this year? Did you see that as believing in you?) – “Yes, but I mean at the end of the day, I don’t think – I think they have confidence me. I have confidence in myself. Just always work. However the draft went, I knew I was going to work as hard as I possibly could and that’s every year, every season, every day. I love this game, so I just like the grind.”
(You’re such a good receiver that you could be a third-down back, but you are also the lead first and second-down back. So what do you think is required of an NFL back who actually doesn’t have to come off the field?) – “Being consistent. Knowing his responsibilities, just like anything else. Just being able to do their job to the best of their abilities; for myself, if it’s running the ball – running hard, hitting the right holes, communicating with the O-line, what they see, what I see. If it’s receiving – getting open, catching the ball when it comes to you. And if it’s blocking, like I said before, just working on it and being able to be where I am now; I guess – ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) said what he said and I appreciate that obviously, but I still think I got a lot of work to do in that aspect. I probably always will just being a smaller dude.”
(Kenyan Drake was a dude – you were with him for probably a year, right?) – “My rookie year.”
(He wasn’t the biggest dude, but he would sometimes throw a nasty block. Did that rile up the team watching it back on film?) – “Absolutely. That was a guy I kind of learned a lot from in that sense. His pad level – obviously he’s not the biggest dude either – bigger than me a little bit, but his pad level when he was blocking was kind of interesting. I never really looked at it like that and just kind of like I said earlier when I was a rookie; just learning from the older guys, just taking bits and pieces from their game and just kind of talking about it. And being able to do what I can do – I feel like a lot of young players try and emulate people – just taking bits and pieces for myself.”
(Aside from pass blocking, a lot of fantasy football owners are excited about what you can do because of all the other things that you mentioned – running the ball, catching the ball. What’s the message to anyone that trusts you on their fantasy team?) – “I don’t know anything about fantasy. Best of luck. (laughter)”
(I thought it was interesting that you were a seventh-round draft pick and you’re currently the seventh-most popular running back that the world is drafting. So I guess the question is, what does that say about draft status and what a guy can get done in the league?) – “I think when I first came in the league, my dad and a lot of people also told me, but definitely my dad – my dad never played in the league or anything about that – but it’s not about getting to the league, it’s about how long you can stay in the league. And I’ve heard that around the league from a lot of people and I think I just kind of carry that with myself. I don’t know about the question, if that answers your question. I don’t really buy into the seventh-round draft pick. I only just keep it as a chip on my shoulder in that sense; but fantasy, all that type of stuff does not interest me. I just play football. I play football.”
