Frank Smith – December 8, 2022
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Thursday, December 8, 2022
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(On the 49ers game and if the corners, linebackers, inside linebackers got a lot of depth on routes.) – “I mean overall, the drops and what they do; it’s part of their system. Whether or not they’re a couple yards deeper or not, it really doesn’t affect what we’re trying to do. We’re obviously trying to – when they’re in zone coverage, you attack the space in between the zones. Man to man, you’re beating the man over you. So overall there wasn’t really anything that we would say that we’re looking at as far as going ‘oh, they did this.’ It’s more of just our execution on each play. Alright, where we can be in the timing and the rhythm for the quarterback. That’s kind of more of where we look at, not necessarily how deep and where they go. It’s just understanding zone or man and where the area’s locations we’re trying to hit.”
(Y’all were 0-for-7 on third down. Time of possession battle, losing it most of the game, it was similar to the Buffalo game earlier. What are some of the keys to preventing…?) – “Yeah, I think just overall for us, it was a great environment for us to go out there and really, it felt like a playoff-type environment. For us to go in there and learn from things, especially areas where we know we can improve – they did a good job obviously with the execution of their plan. We felt like there’s areas that we could really clean up on. I think ultimately some of that results in the third-down stuff. But again, when you get faced with those opportunities in games and those situations, and it doesn’t go the way you want it to go, it gives you a great opportunity to come back and go to work with your teammates or as a staff and make sure we tune up on the things that we need to do for this week.”
(How does it feel to be back in LA and are there things you can contribute to the defensive game plan from being with this team just last year?) – “Yeah, I love LA, man. I loved living here in Newport Beach, California. It was awesome. I was fortunate enough – Brandon (Staley) is a good friend, so is Joe (Lombardi). Very fortunate for my time there. As far as my input on stuff, I may have familiarity with the scheme and stuff like that but there’s a lot of new players. So I don’t know as far as my impact. It’s just certain conversations I’m going to have. But overall, what we were doing last year and what they’re doing this year, obviously there’s some differences. So, ultimately we just have to line up and play and execute our fundamentals and techniques.”
(What stood out to you when you looked at the tape of QB Tua Tagovailoa’s performance against the 49ers – some of the overthrows and things like that – what stood out as far as things you have to correct or was it just one of those days for him?) – “Again, when you look at the environment and all that, it’s like – we have such a competitive team – guys want to make plays and it’s just not like, at times – were we pressing, were we not? Were we trying to be perfect as opposed to let the game come to you? Those environments, those things are stuff that obviously that we have discussions on afterwards, but ultimately, it’s like, hey, in the course of a football season in general, there’s going to be a game or two or a couple that you’re just like, ‘Oh, that wasn’t our best, but what do we learn from it?’ And I think that’s ultimately from that environment, I think that’s the challenge of a football season. Is that some games where you feel like you had excellent execution and another game where you feel like there’s room for improvement? I think that’s really the story of the season and how you improve from that will be obviously how we’re measured in this next game on Sunday night.”
(How did T Eric Fisher look yesterday in his first day?) – “Great. It was it was awesome to have him out there. He’s a sharp guy and we were really excited with the opportunity presented to get him here.”
(The first play of the game against San Francisco, it looked like the 49ers S Talanoa Hufanga followed WR Tyreek Hill because he motioned outside and it opened up that area of the field for WR Trent Sherfield. I don’t know if it was… But what kind of pride do you see from Tyreek being able to impact the defense and open things up for teammates like that?) – “Yeah, it was kind of they were running a pressure. So in that, that’s where he’s going to match for his leverage. So really, it was a combination of things and really, I think it comes down to trying to just really – he hit the right spot at the right time and he executed excellent fundamentals. I think that was a great example of all 11 executing and at that time, they pressured, so there was a hole in their zone that they normally wouldn’t have when they’re just playing a four-man rush. So overall, I think that him being in the right spot to make sure they keep their leverage, braking at the right time in or hitting the ball right on rhythm; I think all of it factors into that explosive play that we had.”
(Going back to T Eric Fisher for a second. He hasn’t played a down in almost a year now.) – “Yeah, he’s very fresh. (laughter)”
(I was going to ask. Are there signs of rust or does it look like a guy who’s been working out day and night?) – “I have WD 40 in my backpack, so we’re good to go. No rust. (laughter) No, it’s really I think ultimately for him, he has such a wealth of experience. Playoff battle-tested lineman. Especially a guy older in his career, I don’t think there’s rust. It’ll be for him just our techniques, our fundamentals, just learning that it’s different from Kansas City or at Indianapolis to what we’re doing. So I think that’s really for him. It’s just getting up to speed with that and then getting in football shape ready to play. But no, he moved around, you can see he’s very talented athlete and he’s a big guy who moves well, so we’re really excited to have him. We’re glad it really worked out.”
(He’s played his whole career on the left side. Can he play on the right? Is that something that’s crossed your mind?) – “I think he does have experience on the other side as well. Both sides. So for us ultimately, we look at guys with position flex so obviously he did have some experience on the other side, but ultimately, the goal is that if he’s called upon to play, it’s just obviously helping us with wherever we need to and he’s been awesome so far with his contributions mentally. And now looking forward to a physical next two days.”
(Realistically, can T Eric Fisher play this week or you don’t foresee that?) – “I mean, realistically, he could. We’ll obviously, the next two days, just get him up to speed with everything we’ve asked him to do. But pleased with what we’ve seen so far, that’s for sure.”
(The time that you were around Chargers QB Justin Herbert, what’s something that surprised you about him?) – “Man, what surprised me about Justin? How competitive he is. So he’s extremely competitive. He’s one of those guys that I think whatever you do, he’s trying to win because he’s kind of – I wouldn’t say quiet but he listens very well. So when his competitive side comes out, that was something really cool to be a part of. You get to see like when the game is on the line and how he focuses and how he’s really trying to compete with his teammates. That was awesome. But what a great guy. Just fortunate to spend a year and really get to know him.”
(On a quarterback’s environment having an effect on success) – “Yeah, absolutely. My first job in the NFL was with the Saints and then you look at – that was Drew Brees right after we won the Super Bowl, but if you remember beforehand, they let him out of San Diego. And hindsight is 20/20 as they’re saying, ‘Hey, we can’t win a Super Bowl with this guy. We need to go draft Philip (Rivers).’ Put him in the Saints system and now he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. So I think ultimately, and I think it even is beyond quarterback – all positions – you put guys in the right scheme, in the right environment, around the right teammates, and that’s when they flourish. So I think sometimes if you don’t have those situations, those are where the challenges arise. And I think in reality it’s probably all environments, even all businesses. I’m sure you guys, too, have had places you worked where you’re just kind of like, ‘alright, this kind of sucks.’ But it’s kind of like ultimately, I think that’s just what every player is looking for: a system that makes sense to him that they can own and they can master, they can put their stamp on it. And then have a staff that works with them, a staff that communicates well together, guys who really enjoy coming to work every day because the pro season is so long. When you have a system that you believe in, players that you love working with, a staff you love communicating and working with, that’s when you get great situations. And I think ultimately, hopefully that’s the environment we’re creating here where players love to come to work every day.”
(You mentioned QB Justin Herbert’s competitiveness. Is there a specific example that comes to mind?) – “Oh, just, I mean, when I raced him one time, he had to beat me. (laughter) No, I’m not racing him. He’s fast. No, it’s just overall like with him, just you can see his attention to detail in a walkthrough. When we were in two-minute drills, you could see he wanted to always be on it because he’s always trying to learn. Just everything with him. And I heard with his teammates, he’s extremely competitive, too. Just overall, he has that focus. You could just see it in his eyes when he’s in that moment and that’s what I enjoyed about him. But I mean, the great thing is, is that Tua has that same competitiveness, Drew (Brees) had that same competitiveness, so it’s like you look at these great quarterbacks; you’d say that’s kind of a common trait of them all because they just don’t want to win. They want to be on all their details and make sure they can play their best all the time. I think that transcends into the rest of their life and they play cards and are trying to win.”
(Obviously from the outside, I think people are obviously comparing Chargers QB Justin Herbert and QB Tua Tagovailoa just by the nature of where they were taken in the draft. Would you say that that’s going to be something that’s really similar?) – “Yeah, I think that they both have that drive. I think that their personalities are very different, but when it comes to them wanting to win, doing what it takes to win, both are extremely similar in that capacity. They have different skill sets, but yes, I think like that intangible of the competitiveness is one thing that definitely they would be comparable for.”
Jaelan Phillips – December 7, 2022
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
LB Jaelan Phillips
(What was it like being back out here today?) – “It was fun. It was real fun. This whole city is real nostalgic for me. It has a special place in my heart. Obviously it didn’t work out with football, but there’s no bad blood at all, man. I’m just grateful to be back here soaking in every moment. I’m so blessed.”
(Did you take any moments of self-reflection, like you’re back on the same field you once retired from, in an NFL jersey?) – “I don’t got time for self-reflection. I try to stay present. I talk about that a lot and I think that maybe sometimes when we think about like, ‘oh, you know, back in the day,’ or when I see my homies from college, I’ll talk to them about it. But ultimately, I have no regrets about how everything went down. I think it was all God’s plan. It was all perfect timing. So yeah, it’s a crazy journey for sure, but it feels great.”
(What was your favorite UCLA football memory?) – “Football memory? The first game I ever played. We had the second biggest comeback in NCAA history – 35-point comeback against Texas A&M. I had a sack-and-a-half my first game as a Bruin. It all went downhill from there. (laughter)”
(Why did you come here?) – “Why did I come here? I was always a Bruin at heart. My dad went here. My aunt went here. My grandpa was the dean of the school of music for a bit. My grandma taught French here. So I have a lot of family connections and ultimately, I just felt really connected to the coaching staff and the guys on the team and I live an hour and some change away, so it was really the best of all worlds.”
(You were recently announced as the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. How did you find out and what did that mean to you?) – “I found out in a team meeting. Coach McDaniel let all of us know. And really, it’s incredible, man. I was just saying in the interview over there, the community work I do isn’t about recognition. It’s not about awards. It’s about uplifting the community, giving back to the community that did a lot for me and trying to inspire others to do the same. But it feels great obviously. I feel incredibly humbled and honored and just really grateful to be able to receive that nomination and really grateful for everybody on the Dolphins staff that’s helped me throughout this, everybody on my agency staff that’s helped me through all this. I really couldn’t have done it all without them and just people in the community, Dolphins Challenge Cancer. There’s been a lot of people that have been involved in this process. It’s really not about me. It’s a lot bigger than me, but it definitely feels great.”
(Was there anybody who maybe gave back to you and maybe that always left an impression on you?) – “I think it is more so just the example that my parents set for me. My parents and grandparents as well. They’ve always been big into philanthropy and always just told me that the No. 1 important thing in life is to give back. And so I really tried to live my life like that.”
(Last time you were here as a student athlete, I don’t know if you’ve visited since, but last time you were here, did you ever envision you getting to this point, a first-round pick in the NFL, as much success as you’re having?) – “At a point, I did. Coming into UCLA, being the No. 1-ranked player in the nation. I kind of figured I’d be a No. 1 overall draft pick kind of thing. And then about half a season later, I was like, I might not ever play football again. So definitely a whirlwind of emotions. But like I said, ultimately I think God has a plan for everybody. I think his plan for me was to be able to set an example for people and I think that I’m exactly where I need to be now.”
(This next string of games, how important is the pass rush going to be? You have QB Justin Herbert up next, QB Josh Allen quickly after that. Just how key will the pass rush be?) – “We always talk about football gets real in December. I mean, this is playoff football and it’s not necessarily win or go home, but you’ve got to have that sense of urgency in the preparation and in every game moving forward. So yeah, pass rush, complementary defense, complementary football in general is going to play a big part in that, so we definitely have to bring our A-game and just keep preparing like we have been all season.”
(How much family do you have and how far away?) – “I have my immediate family and my aunt and uncle live right next to my parents, and then my grandparents on my dad’s side live in Redlands as well. It’s like an hour and 15 minutes away with no traffic, about three hours with traffic. (laughter) But I have like 91 people coming to the game, so lots of friends, lots of family, supporters. (laughter)”
(I remember last year as a rookie kind of a slow start in training camp, ramping up during the regular season … Can you kind of give an example of something on the field where like it’s clicking faster? Maybe it didn’t click as fast maybe in your rookie year?) – “To be honest with you, I don’t even think I can recall anything in particular that just clicks or anything like that. I just think the more experience you get, the faster you can play and the more instinctive you can play. I feel like I kind of set out with the season and my goal was to become a more complete player overall and be able to play early downs as well as rushing the passer. I think I’ve done a decent job at it and I’m going to keep moving forward and keep trying to progress on that line.”
(How’s that chemistry between you, LB Bradley Chubb and LB Melvin Ingram coming along?) – “We’re super tight, man. Super tight. We’re good friends. That’s my dawgs. I love them boys, man. I got a lot of appreciation and I’m really grateful for the guys that we have in the room. It’s not just Chubb and Melvin. It’s ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel), it’s Cam Goode, it’s Brennan Scarlett. We have a really, really tight-knit group of guys.”
(I guess specifically I meant on the field. Like when you guys are on there together, how is that?) – “We are having fun out there, man. I don’t know necessarily how that affects people’s game plans and things like that, but all I know is I love having Bradley (Chubb) over there. I love having ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) over there. I love having Melvin (Ingram) over there. So it’s really cool that we all get to kind of do our thing and show our production.”
(You love South Florida but what are some things that sometimes you miss – a place, a restaurant, a spot, a beach or whatever – that is unique about Southern California?) – “Healthy food. It’s bougie. (laughter) It’s kind of how I am. But yeah, it’s the weather. The weather’s better out here. I’m sorry, South Florida. (laughter) The humidity is a little eh, especially in camp and stuff. But yeah, for me, I mean, you got Tender Greens, Sweet Green, Tocaya, Nekter, all these like – and I’m kind of prissy when it comes to that. I like my good foods so nothing wrong with South Florida food. I’ll give a shout out to them, too. I like a little Pollo Tropical sometimes, you know what I’m saying. But yeah, I think Cali – I was born in Cali, raised in Cali, so I’ll always be a Cali boy at heart, but I definitely got a lot of love for Miami.”
(Speaking of sacks, the guy that you’re going to have to bring down on Sunday, QB Justin Herbert, I guess how difficult is he, a guy that size to bring down? What do you see on tape as far as what you have to do when you’re in pursuit of him?) – “Yeah, I think that, Justin’s (Herbert) a really athletic guy. Crazy strong arm and he has kind of deceptive speed, too, especially once he gets out into the open field. He’s 6’5, so he’s really got the stride. So it’s going to be important for us to keep our rush lane integrity and rush as a team and really like I said, play complementary football. I think there’s so many layers to complementary football. It’s not just about the offense and the defense and the special teams being complementary; but it’s also the linebackers and the d-line playing complementary, the d-line and the back end playing complementary and even within the rush, the four of us or five of us if it’s rushing, like we all have to be on the same page. And so I think it’s going to be important to do that. But yeah, like I said, he’s extremely talented so it’s going to be a fun one.”
Tyreek Hill – December 7, 2022
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Wednesday, December 7, 2022
WR Tyreek Hill
(Can you describe the energy today getting back on the practice field on a college campus?) – “The energy was great. The team was moving around good. Everything looks usual. Me, I still feel sleepy though. I’m tired.”
(What have you said, or what would you like to say, to QB Tua Tagovailoa in regards to how the last game didn’t go as well as expected and what you expect from him moving forward?) – “I mean, I pretty much can’t say too much. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to play with one of the best quarterbacks in this league. We all have bad games. We’re all human. We all go through certain stuff. My message to him is just come out refocused and a lot of people forget about what you did last game when you go out here and throw for six touchdowns or something crazy, and it all be forgotten. I’ve dropped a crazy amount of passes in my career, but my whole focus and the way that my parents raised me is you can’t be great and dwell on the past or whatever. You got to be able to move on. Tua has been great about that. He’s definitely a hard worker.”
(People say that you’re the reason for QB Tua Tagovailoa’s success. What do you say that?) – “Nah. I don’t say nothing to that, bro. I’m not the reason for his success. The head coach…”
(How so?) – “I mean, (anyone) who put together a 700-play clip, they got time on their hands. (laughter) They got some time on their hands because I’m not going to do that. I’ll sit here and say you can do this and do that. But I’m not going to just sit here and put a clip of 700 plays in and we’re going to watch it. Tua is already special. This whole organization knew it. But that’s just the inside. You just got to get the outside people to believe in it, and they’re starting to believe in him.”
(What do you think about being reunited with T Eric Fisher?) – “It’s great. As soon as I saw him I was like, ‘bro, do you remember our handshake?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, bro.’ So fun times with him. My son is a huge fan of Eric Fisher. So my son, the first thing he said was like, ‘Hey, Big Fish.’ Because when I played in Kansas City, me and ‘Fish’ were neighbors. And my son used to go to his house and hang out and stuff with ‘Big Fish.’ So I love having ‘Big Fish,’ man. He’s like a big brother to me and he’s definitely going to help this team in a positive way. So just his character, he was drafted number one overall, so he’s just a locker room guy for this team.”
(I want to take it back to like March when you were first traded here and signed that contract. Coming into this locker room the highest paid guy on the team, essentially a locker room full of strangers, was there something you said to the guys when you got here to help break that tension?) – “I walked into the locker room and I said I’m him. I looked at everybody, I said ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) I’m going at you day one training camp. Day one, I said ‘I’m going at you on day one in training camp.’ That’s me. Nah, I didn’t say that, for real. (laughter) I kind of knew some of the guys on the team already because you know how NFL guys are, they hang out during the offseason and they train together, so there was no tension or nothing like that. I came in, who I am, a fun guy to be around, trying to be the best teammate I can be and just help this team win and grow and show the guys how I got to where I am. Just trying to be big brother for all of them, especially to the younger wide outs, because outside of football, we all have goals that we want to reach. I try to be that mentor for those guys as much as I can.”
(There’s a Sunday Night Football game followed by a Saturday night national TV game. The networks are scrambling to put the Dolphins on TV. Does that create more pressure for you to come up with new celebrations?) – “Oh, no. Not at all. We make sure that we got time to practice those. So whenever we’re in meetings and stuff like that, we just find crazy playtime, ‘ Like hey, bro, I was thinking of this celebration. What do you think of it?’ And we just practice it there in the meeting. We got plenty of time to practice that.”
(Have you seen the waddle celebration in the World Cup?) – “Those things been going crazy, huh? So yeah. We got to get (Jaylen) Waddle in the end zone. Huh? How about that?”
(What’s the tattoo on your right leg?) – “Right here? So my tattoo on my right leg, I got all the fast guys. I got Dash. I got Flash. I got Sonic the Hedgehog. And then I got my favorite character of them all – he’s not fast, but he’s like a bully. His name is King Pin. Do you know who King Pin is? Batman, the big dude. He’s big and he smokes a cigar with a cane. Yeah, him. That’s my favorite character of all time. He’s like a menace.”
(You got a cheetah somewhere?) – “Yeah, I got a cheetah on the back of my leg too.”
(Is there anything that you guys are going to do in your free time in LA? Bond and spend time together?) – “Well, I mean, I flew my whole family out here. I got about 15 people out here. Basically the people that I live with. I told myself I couldn’t go a week without seeing my kids, without seeing my mom, my dad, my stepdad, my sister. I couldn’t go a week without that because my mom, she takes care of me like I’m in middle school. She feeds me, washes my clothes. She does all that for me. So I couldn’t be without that for a week. But as far as spending time with the team, we got a lot of stuff planned as far as like bowling. I believe we got a comedian coming through tonight. So I’m looking forward to that. Get some laughs with the guys and just spending time with each other, having a good time.”
Tua Tagovailoa – December 7, 2022
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Wednesday, December 7, 2022
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(What’s it like being back on like a college campus?) – “Yeah, it’s cool. Just kind of scoping the area a little, it does feel a little weird just because you see there are students that are still in school and are finishing classes late in the afternoon and then also late at night. So it gives some flashbacks of being in college, but I think it’s really, really cool what UCLA has here with the hotel that we’re able to stay in and then the view with their field and their state-of-the-art facility. I think as a team, we’re very fortunate to be staying here.”
(When you reviewed the San Francisco tape, what did you take away as the biggest concern to fix this week?) – “I would say my spot in the pocket. There were many points in the game that I wasn’t in the spot that I told the guys up front I would be in and so therefore, I kind of put myself in bad situations. So doing that and then there were also some plays that were missed that I wish I could get back. I can’t be playing wishful football. This game, we’ll hopefully take everything that the Chargers give us and take advantage of our opportunities.”
(I’m curious, I know this is the second time that you’re facing a team led by QB Justin Herbert at quarterback. I was just curious, what’s the relationship obviously same draft class, fifth and sixth picks. Is there any relationship there?) – “I would say I haven’t communicated with Justin (Herbert). I never really knew him on a personal level. I knew of him in college. I mean, he’s been a baller, and then you also look at his career thus far in the NFL and he continues to do really great things. He’s a great player. You can’t say anything bad about this guy. He’s good. He can run, he can throw, he can throw on the run. I mean, he can do a lot of things and it’s pretty remarkable. I have nothing but respect for him and his game too.”
(I don’t have to tell you that because of where you were drafted and where QB Justin Herbert was drafted, people are always going to compare you two and match up your stats against his. Is that something you accept? Is that something you think is a bogus comparison? How do you feel about it?) – “I feel that I’ve been very blessed to have gotten chosen, regardless of if I got chosen before him or after him. I’m just happy to be where I’m at. I don’t think anything of it. I know everyone else outside of our building and fans want to make speculations about that, but for me, I’m just very fortunate, very blessed to be in this position. I’ll let everyone else handle the talking with that. That’s my stance on it.”
(Is there any difference in how you feel after a game like Sunday’s where plays were there and you guys just missed them and weren’t clicking versus knowing there were no plays there at all?) – “Yes, because there’s a lot of things you can improve on. There’s areas of work that you thought maybe you had down that, ‘Hey, reality check. Here’s what the deal is.’ So it was good for all of us offensively to see the mistakes, to talk about the mistakes. We’re just looking to learn from that and hopefully transition into a really good week of practice this week and prepare for a good Chargers team.”
(You’ve talked about this, so forgive me for asking again, but compared to last year, what’s the biggest single change that you can attribute your great success to?) – “Oh, man. I would say there’s not a single thing. There’s many things. Just starting with the top, the belief our head coach has in as in me, the belief that our organization has in me – not just has but had in me – and continues to have. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain all the things that go on behind the scenes. There’s been a lot of support from when I came here, prior to coaches and anything. But my teammates, the amount of support that they show me.”
(What about the coach?) – “What do you mean?”
(What kind of support?) – “Our coach? Shoot, (I have had) many conversations with our head coach. Like I said before, he ended up making a 700-play tape like a highlight tape of things that he thought I did really, really well of the entire last season. He just continues to be overly positive with how he communicates with me and how he communicates with all of the guys on the team. But it’s not just our coaches, it’s also my teammates, the staff and like I said, the organization.”
(When you were considering which college to go to, did you ever think you’d might end up at one of the LA schools?) – “Yeah, I thought I was going to go to USC. I thought I was going to be a ‘Fight on Trojan,’ but my dad wanted me to go to Alabama. It was always a dream of mine to go to USC, because in Hawaii, we normally get the Pac-12 games. And when I was young growing up, USC was the hot team here on the west coast. So when I ended up getting an offer in high school, it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is crazy.’ I can’t say that I regret going to Alabama, because I know I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in now if I hadn’t gone there and experienced what I did. But I would have went to USC.”
(What were you feeling when you watched that 700-play tape?) – “I didn’t watch the whole 700-play tape. There’s no way I was going to watch all 700. (laughter) I probably only got to like 90 with him. It was a lot of hours of one play, just 14 minutes on just this one play and just talking about it like, ‘Wow, what did you see on this? Why did you guys do this?’ It was a lot of conversation, and I thought the coolest thing was like nothing that I said within the play or whatever could be wrong. He really just wanted to know how we operated that or got that done. If there were some nuances that he felt could be fixed, he would end up doing that. So that’s all that was. We didn’t watch the whole 700, but he scrolled down and I saw 700-something. It might have been more – I’m just saying 700. (laughter)”
(Did you happen to catch that you’re leading the Pro Bowl voting right now? What would that mean to you?) – “That’s news to me. That’s first time I’m hearing it. You know, that’s awesome. That would mean the world to be recognized for something like that in a league that’s really tough and the competition is really tough and the guys are really good. It’d mean the world. Coming into my third year and experiencing a lot of things that I’ve had to experience and go through, that’d be awesome.”
(What does it say about T Terron Armstead that we saw him today just putting in the work that he can and trying to fight to be out there for you guys?) – “He’s a veteran that he always wants to be out there. It killed him watching from the sideline. Every time we came off and didn’t score, he’d always come to me, ask me what I’m seeing so that he could relay it to the guys. He would relay something from the o-line to me and kind of ask me, ‘Hey, if you could just stay in this spot more than this spot, just because this guy is going to need a little more help.’ So he’s kind of the visionary for the guys up front. He’s the captain for those guys up there, and we all respect him. So just seeing how much this means to him, football and what he’s doing to try to get back out there to play with us, it’s pretty remarkable. I think this is his 10th year or 11th year, and he’s up there in the trenches – that’s hard. That’s hard, so for him to have gone through all the challenges that he’s gone through and continuing to go through, you have to be strong minded.”
(How is the ankle doing?) – “At this point of the season, it’s as good as it’s going to get.”
(The team recently signed T Eric Fisher. I know he’s working with the offensive line, but is there anything in particular you’re doing with him to speed understand?) – “No, not necessarily. I got to meet him when we ended up signing him, just kind of two ships passing in the night going into meetings. But he was in the o-line meeting with our o-line coaches, just trying to get dialed in there. I went and introduced myself. I mean, the dude is a tank. He’s big. He’s big.”
(I’m going to be sitting down with LB Manti Te’o later this week, and I think you guys have a relationship. Just growing up in Hawaii with him, knowing how big of a high school story he was and the stuff he did at Notre Dame, when you were younger looking at him, what did you think about him and just kind of what he meant?) – “When I was little, I think I can recall maybe like in the sixth grade, Manti (Te’o) was the biggest thing coming out of Hawaii. I think there was a – the first game I got to go and watch him play was like mainlanders came to Hawaii to play their best guys from the mainland came to play the best from Hawaii, I guess. Or I don’t even know what bowl that was. I was like in sixth grade. First play, I think the opposing team throws a slant and Manti just smokes this dude. It was the coolest thing to see just, the reaction of the fans, how big he was. (laughter) When you’re young and you’re looking at someone like that, you’re thinking they’re the biggest people in the world. When I would train outside of where I was in high school, I got to see some instances where he was training as well at the same spot. Then you fast forward to me going to Alabama, doing what I did there and him being able to reach out, I thought that was the coolest thing and how like a lot of us people from Hawaii, we all try to stick together. That’s my Uce. That’s my man. I have the utmost respect for him. I love him too.”
(When you look at LB Manti Te’o now, his career is over. You saw the Netflix special and just how much that really did. When you think about him now and everything he’s been through and what he’s become, what are your thoughts on that?) – “I’m proud of him. If you go and ask Manti (Te’o), because every time he talks to me, he always says this. He always tells me, ‘Man, I feel like you’re my real little brother. Every time I see you, I feel like we have this instant connection because of how we were raised from our parents, the journey that we had to go through to get to where we’re at.’ I’m not saying that to make myself feel good, but it’s really cool when someone like me at a young age looked up to someone like him, and to hear those words said to me, that’s freaking cool. But like I said, I have the utmost respect. I’ll probably call him after this and tell him that I was putting trash on his name. (laughter)”
Mike McDaniel – December 7, 2022
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Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(On the experience in Los Angeles) – “It’s been awesome. Great facilities here at UCLA. They’ve been awesome in terms of having everything we need. As far as an experience, I’ve been like in one room – my office. And my hotel room. So it’s been pretty normal from that standpoint, but I know guys have been out and about and it’s been very enjoyable for the team.”
(This may be a weird way to look at a loss, but could there be silver linings in terms of recalibrating?) – “Never. (laughter) No, I think, to me, that’s the only way to approach anything. There’s always going to be – in a football season, in life – there’s always going to be things that don’t work out the way that you want them to in the immediate present, so I think that’s our goal any time that we’re not fortunate enough to get a win. If you have a loss, the point is to make it purposeful. So those are all things that, I’ve been reiterating to the coaching staff and the players since the game occurred is that’s the point. If you’re going to have to go through that and if you’re going to put all that effort, that intent, that emotional commitment into a game and then have it all for a loss; then you might as well make it purposeful. So that’s what we hope to do.”
(What are the keys for QB Tua Tagovailoa in practice this week in order for him to get back on track?) – “I think this is such a cool opportunity for each and every player that this is part of the NFL experience, is you can have some hot streaks where you’re doing well more often than not, and then you can have a game that there’s a lot more plays that you’d like to have back. From a football perspective, that’s not – everything that went wrong wasn’t a direct result of the quarterback. It never is exactly like that. However, we all know that he wants to play as well as he can and he thinks that he could have done better in that game. So that is life in the NFL and whether you have seven Super Bowl rings or you haven’t been to a playoff game yet or you’re a rookie, you’re a 10-year vet, you’re a five-year vet; you will always – player, coach, anybody involved – be going through that experience, so that it is not something that, hey, it doesn’t happen to the best ones ever to do it. Every person has to go through that and so your objective is to get better from it, and that’s the that’s the world we live in.”
[Question inaudible] – “No, I think win or loss, like I’ve told you guys before, I really believe in always progressing and trying to find things to do better at so that every win we’ve had, I felt that same way. And when you only have eight rushing attempts, you for sure look back and understand why you made those decisions and then how you’re going to adjust that in the future. I think a lot of it did have to do with game flow in the moment. When we did hand the ball off, we did have some successful gains and we were doing some solid things, but you have to get in a rhythm in the run game and whether that’s the amount of play calls or every place is tied to another so you convert on some of those third downs and we’re probably not talking about as drastic of a ratio as well. So we’ll get better from it. I know guys are hungry and can’t wait for another opportunity to play football.”
(What have you seen from the running backs in response to that? I believe in postgame that RB Jeff Wilson mentioned that he called for extra meeting time among running backs?) – “See that’s a credit to them. It really is unfortunate that in a game that they were – it’s a shame that they didn’t get more opportunities to make plays. So I look at that as 100 percent on me to find more ways to involve them in the game and if that means we’re not running the ball, that’s not an excuse. They’re very good receivers. But one of the themes that you’ll hear from the entire team is they look at it the same way where, ‘Okay, well, I do have (opportunities). On those (opportunities), how can we get better or what can we do to make sure that we get more opportunities?’ So I think that’s the way you want your team to work. Ultimate accountability, it’s infectious, and I think they do an unbelievable job with that in that room and have all year.”
(On T Terron Armstead) – “No, I think bottom line is he’s a big part of our team that is one of the reasons we are where we’re at when he’s playing and what makes him special is even when he’s not. But obviously, that will be awesome for the guys. We’re going to progress – he won’t be doing anything today, but I know he’s working hard at it and it’s one of those things that I expect him to either be out there on the field or be on the sideline for good reason because he would hurt our long-term goals with him. So we shall see. Again, no crystal ball. It doesn’t travel. (laughter)”
(Is T Terron Armstead’s pain threshold for a player you’ve ever seen the highest because it seems like…?) – “It’s up there. It’s up there. He’s a tough dude that he gets himself on game day to places that – he has one of the most stark contrasts personalities of anybody on the team, from practice to there’s just another level of focus and intensity. True competitor and because of that, he does everything he can to stay on the field when things aren’t going his way.”
(Did the Niners do anything I guess specifically or differently than other opponents in terms of taking QB Tua Tagovailoa’s first read away?) – “No, I think they’re a defense that’s been together for a long time. And good defenses, you have smaller windows and I wouldn’t say anything different. I think the way we look at it is you want to be able to do well against good defenses. That’s the objective if you’re trying to be great yourself. And they force you to truly execute and if you’re not on, they make you pay, in which case they did this past game.”
(Is T Eric Fisher out here and is it reasonable to think he can get up to speed to suit up and to be available on Sunday?) – “He is here. I’d be careful to predict anything. On one hand, we haven’t had even one walkthrough and he hasn’t played football in a minute. On the other hand, one of the reasons why we were so fortunate to get him is because we know that clock, he’ll be up to speed fairly fast relative to most players just because of experience, his intelligence and commitment. And so I just don’t know exactly how long that is so we’ll see. We’ve got to get at least one walkthrough under our belt.”
(Did WR Tyreek Hill have anything to say about T Eric Fisher coming here?) – “Only good things. He was fired up. Any time you have somebody that, those are the relationships that we’re chasing each and every day, are those ones that you do something special and win a championship together. That bond is forever and you have a different place in your heart and that experience just you really know you can count on a player and it brings you together in a different way and I’m excited to have a connection from that Super Bowl team on our team this year.”
(It’s kind of a cool return for LB Jaelan Phillips. What have you learned about Jaelan since meeting him?) – “He’s a very talented human being both physically and mentally. There’s cool layers to his personality that he really is talented enough to do a lot of things in life. So I didn’t really have any perspective on that and he’s just coming into his own, really as a football player. He will continue and strive to get better each and every day, week, game and year. And he knows that he has room to grow, too. So I think the sky’s the limit for that guy and he’s really benefiting from a room of great veterans of talented, really well established, good players on our defense between (Bradley) Chubb and ‘Mel’ (Melvin Ingram) and (Andrew) Van Ginkel and (Emmanuel) Ogbah and all these guys. You’re also learning that Jaelan can seize the opportunity when you have a lot of really good players in front of you each and every day in drill work and ‘what can I gain from their game and apply it to mine?’ He’s a sponge for that.”
(What’s the plan for OL Liam Eichenberg? His return today, this week?) – “We’ll get a little action from him today. It will be in a very limited manner. Most of the stuff will be on side, but he’s done an unbelievable job getting himself really to where he’s at from I mean, shoot, injury. It’s to his credit that that type of injury that he’s come back so fast and excited for him because he was playing his best football when he got injured. You hate to see that and get excited for a guy to get back in the swing of things.”
(On LB Trey Flowers) – “Yeah, I don’t foresee seeing him anytime soon, but I’m wishing him as fast of a recovery and he’s doing well in the process.”
Mike McDaniel – December 5, 2022
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Monday, December 5, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So I wondered if signing T Eric Fisher was in part because of any belief that T Terron Armstead likely is going to miss more time.?) – “No, it’s more – this is something we were working on for it seems a couple of weeks. So it’s more with the idea that our intention is to have our season longer than the regular season and that being both pretty thin on the roster and seeing an opportunity to add a player of high quality with big-time game experience. So it wasn’t necessarily reactionary to Terron (Armstead) as much as it was trying to take advantage of there being a player out there on the market that can make sure that anything unforeseen that we can have high quality play in the most important time of the year.”
(How will you manage QB Tua Tagovailoa and his ankle this week? And are you confident in his ability to go ahead and participate fully in practice and then play on Sunday against the Chargers?) – “We will just be mindful of what he does. Really, you’re looking at Wednesday, just making sure that we don’t do anything to have any setbacks, breaking the pocket and whatnot. But I’m very confident and don’t anticipate any sort of setback that would negate him playing in the upcoming football match.”
(It’s not a good Monday for you all, I guess, but you all are in the perfect opportunity to still control your own destiny. Only having two conference losses, have you expressed the importance of this game to your team when you face the Chargers coming up?) – “Our team is very aware. I think that is something that is pretty obvious in terms of the importance of the conference and it’s the second most-important game next to the division opponents. The biggest thing is that guys really wanted to try to get the victory against a very good opponent this past game and it didn’t happen, but we feel like there’s some definite places where we can get better from it. And the next game can’t come fast enough. So guys are eager to get started on the Chargers and you always try to really bask in the opportunity to play in front of the national audience. So I think the team really relishes the opportunity to play a good football team and get back on track after the one-week hiatus.”
(I know you’re all focused on the Chargers and that’s understandable, but we learned today that the Buffalo game is going to be Saturday night. And I’m wondering how you plan to manage that. If it’s almost like Thursday night road game, given that you’ll be flying across the country getting back probably in the wee hours Monday morning and then having to fly out Friday?) – “You’re right on both fronts. We are very much focused on the Chargers, but there will be an adjustment to the schedule. We’ll be somewhere in between what a normal game is and what a Thursday night game is. That will be a challenge. But that’s something that I think it’s important across the board for when we get to that point that players, coaches; they take it as a challenge that I don’t want anybody spending any time feeling sorry for themselves and I don’t think our team will. The bottom line is we have two opportunities to play in front of a national audience. It’s something we’ve been building towards for the whole season in terms of how we play, but only one of which we can really do anything about in the immediate future. So it’s definitely challenging but not something that anyone’s going to spend any time feeling sorry for themselves about because that’s not our decision to make. We’re happy to have the opportunity to play in front of our peers and a national audience and we’ll do our best to take advantage of that.”
(When you looked at the film of the 49ers game, what jumped out at you in terms of what wasn’t clicking in the passing game? Was it timing? Just accuracy? What were some of the things that you want to correct from that?) – “You want to be hitting on all cylinders all times and the thing about a passing game is it can be very potent when all cylinders are hitting, and I think clearly it wasn’t in terms of our completion percentage, the throwing it to the opposing team as opposed to our own team, and just really being as consistent as we needed to be. And that I think from my estimation, there was, as I told the team, I thought there were times that really guys were pressing. There were some times that we did have time to go ahead and make a play and the eligibles got their depths and were available in the timing of the play and other times that they weren’t, and we kind of let plays linger and really overlap to further existing plays. So these are things that from my vantage point are very, very correctable that I think we needed that stage, that environment – one of those things where, hey, you have a really good team, one of the best units in the league that are trying to defend you in a certain area and really pushing all resources towards it. What you have to do to be able to combat that and the level that you have to play. So I think a lot of guys learned stuff. I think guys did learn various things without losing confidence. They were very accountable today, which is one of the reasons I’m so deeply invested and confident in this team and expect it to look better and take a step forward this this next coming week.”
(I wanted to ask you about Chargers QB Justin Herbert and the unique challenges he I guess presents with that arm and all that. And did you get a chance to visit with him in the pre-Draft process and if so what did you come away with?) – “To answer your question, he does have an arm. I think, I believe two of them. (laughter) And it is strong. I’m not sure how much he can curl, but he can throw the ball far. And I did not meet him that particular year. I didn’t get a chance, but I saw his college tape. And obviously, I’ve seen a lot that he can do on the NFL stage. And it keeps you honest as a defense. In the same realm as Josh Allen, if you don’t have your appropriate rush lanes or you drop a coverage, he can make you pay on any part of the field. And your job is to make him execute within the confines of a traditional timing and you just have to be a little more responsible in your rush lanes because he’ll make you pay or break the pocket to extend. So great challenge because he’s the type of player that you play down the stretch and in elimination games that you don’t have any choice but to do your best to make sure that he doesn’t beat you by himself and make sure that you force the receivers and all the eligibles to get open in the regular timing of the play and you force or you allow coverage to work for the pass rush as well or coverage is tight so that he has to try to extend plays and you’re consistent and your rush lane integrity is strong. So a very, very good player. A challenging player that our guys will be up for and excited for test.”
(Along those same lines, the stats show a drastic difference for the defense in terms of points and yardage allowed home and on the road. What do you think might be the cause of that?) – “I think it has to do with particular opponents. I think it also has to do with the stats don’t account for or offensive turnovers that turned to points have to do with that as well. So I think they’ve gotten kind of unfairly shaped. That’s something that’s been on our mind that the captains have brought up for several weeks and I thought that was a step in the right direction yesterday. But obviously not to where we want to be, and that’s the good thing about this team is they haven’t, during the streak of wins, haven’t lost sight of the ultimate goal, which is to progressively get better every week. I think that’s the hardest thing to do in National Football League with all the different distractions that can occur and different narratives that can happen, and people can get worried about the wrong stuff. Our defense hasn’t. They’re continually trying to progress. I saw that on tape and I think there’s some situations, a couple in particular, that the ultimate score looks a lot different, if there’s one or two plays made on the ball, there’s not a penalty here or there. And ultimately, there’s a couple of third downs that I think were very manageable for us in terms of making the play to get them off the field. There are too many variables. I don’t think it’s just being on the road. I think has to do with the opponent more than anything, and I really am having high expectations for a robust turnaround this coming week.”
(The ball went harmlessly out of bounds, but I’m pretty fascinated by the effort that DT Christian Wilkins displayed to retrace his rush and go force a fumble 20 yards down the field. I’m curious the reaction of you and your staff when you see something like that on tape.) – “It’s something that we’ve been getting better at during the course of the year. It’s something that we point out in all of our team meetings because that’s team defense. Because what happens – that happened a little further down the field than we would like it to happen – but if you get an eligible to stop his feet because you have aggressive tackling down the field or if the offensive player has to stop; really good defenses make them pay and get turnovers in those type of situations. So that’s something that as a captain, we’ve counted on Christian. He’s done it a ton during the season. I think one of the bigger hits of the year came against Buffalo in a similar situation against (Dawson) Knox, I believe. And it’s one of the strengths to his game to have consistent strain and that affects players. They feel it, they hear it. And it’s part of the physicality of our defense that we really, when we’re going at our best; there’s not just him, but the whole d-line is able to get some action chasing the ball.”
(Just to follow up on the initial question where he was mentioned, what’s T Terron Armstead’s outlook this week and the plan for the three practice sessions?) – “I feel pretty good about where he’s at. He was pretty close this past week, relatively to where he just continues to defy normal timelines with injuries that would keep a lesser athlete with the toughness and desire that would keep them out for longer. So I expect him to get some work and practice this week. I don’t know exactly – every day is so important for that healing process. So whether that’s Wednesday, Thursday Friday, we’ll at least let Tuesday happen before we concretely pin that in. But his plan is to get some action this week for sure and I know he’s optimistic to play in this upcoming game.”
Connor Williams – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
OL Connor Williams (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(What are your thoughts on how you guys protected the pass game?) – “I’m proud of how everybody stepped to the play today. From left to right, I think we did a great job. I mean, obviously they’re a great D-line – that’s a high caliber D-line. To be able to do what we did and hold up the way we did, I’m proud of us. Obviously, it is never perfect, obviously things need to improve. We are going to hit the film room and try to improve on those, but I am proud of everyone.”
(What makes DL Nick Bosa so hard to stop?) – “You know, everybody at this level has about the same talent. I think at the end of the day, it’s that energy. It’s that effort to it. So I think that’s what we’re learning, that in those big games you’ve got to be able to step up into that environment and execute at that high level.”
(What was it like after the first play, the touchdown?) – “Obviously it was electric. Definitely for (No.) 14 (Trent Sherfield) to get that ball. I mean, it says it all right there, but then just being able to put it in the past, being able to move on to the next game.”
Christian Wilkins- December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
DT Christian Wilkins (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(Can you talk about the 49ers performance?) – “They’re a good team and they showed it today. We fought hard as a team and everything like that, but it came up short obviously. But San Fran is a heck of a team, and I just feel like this is a good [experience]. You try to find the positive and everything and this is a learning opportunity for us. We come on the road – this is December football and if we want to be the team we can be and want to be, you have to have experiences like this. So just learn from this one onto the next one, the 24-hour rule. That’s my thing, that’s the rule in the NFL. So we’ll learn from it and get better because we have to play next Sunday, it will be here before we know it.”
(What did you learn from this one today?) – “Obviously, we have to watch the tape to really be able to learn from the little details. There’s obviously things we can clean up, obviously things we could have done better, so definitely have to watch the tape to fully know. I did feel like we competed hard and we competed to the end, regardless of the score, regardless of the outcome, regardless of what happened. I did feel like we did fight hard, so we got that. We just have to clean up some other things.”
(Is there anything they did that you weren’t expecting when QB Jimmy Garoppolo went down?) – “No. I wouldn’t say so. I feel like they pretty much stuck with their offense. They did a little more short passes and quick passes, things like that. Probably just get the quarterback going into the rhythm, but respect to him, he did a good job just stepping up. I told him after the game, ‘Way to step up.’ It was definitely respectable. Like I said, we fought hard, but there’s some things we can get better and things we can clean up.”
(Sometimes a win can disguise some mistakes. So maybe you can look at this as a loss to pick apart some of the mistakes?) – “Yes, absolutely. When things are going good, it’s going great. Sometimes you don’t want to fall into that trap. So that’s what I’m saying. It’s good. This is a humbling loss. Take it as a learning experience, not a loss. That’s how you have to look at it and just learn from it, move on and get better.”
