Jacoby Brissett – October 3, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Postgame – Indianapolis
QB Jacoby Brissett (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(Jacoby, how do you explain the struggles in the first three and a half quarters and then the last two drives were different?) – “It for sure is frustrating, and it’s all on us, and we’re putting our defense in bad situations and things of that nature. Yeah, it’s frustrating, you know, and we just have to find a way to stop the bleeding and focus and concentrate and really just start to take it one play at a time and repeat that cycle over and over again.”
(Is there anything in particular that seems to be killing the drive for you guys?) – “It’s really us. It’s really us. It’s our execution in those critical moments. And all of us being on the sage page at once. At times we are on the same page, and we execute, and there are times that we’re not and we get put behind the 8-ball and things like that. We just got to find a way to really zero in on our task, and it starts from play one of the game. We can’t wait until those minutes at the end of the game to really start going.”
(Jacoby, it’s easy for us in the box and the fans at home to say why aren’t they pushing the ball down field, but from your perspective – we heard Brian Flores say there are opportunities to do so in the game, but from your perspective, what keeps you from trying to push the ball down the field?) – “There are definitely opportunities. Sometimes when we call them, they really just push back and they forced us to throw the ball underneath. I think towards — we started to find ways or tried to, but it will come. Whenever they come, they’ll start coming in bunches because we have the guys to push the ball down the field.”
(Those two touchdowns. Sorry, those two touchdown drives at the end of the game, DeVante Parker had a huge role. Does that give you, you know, what does that do for your chemistry with him moving forward?) – “Just from last week, last week when we got in those situations, I overthrew him a couple of times, and then this week we hit him because we got that experience, we get to talk about it, we get to practice it and then we come out and then he has, like you said, a big role, and he makes big catches.”
(Jacoby, to that end, for both Parker and Gesicki it seems like they’re getting more involved third quarter, fourth quarter, and are teams trying to take those two guys out?) – “At points, yeah. They know when certain spots that we like to target these guys. But it doesn’t matter, they’re still good players. We just got to find a way to get these guys the ball more often. Got to do a better job of that, and keep getting better.”
(Jacoby, how are you doing and have you had a chance, are you getting a chance now with the two games you start and lose and obviously the Buffalo game you played most of the game. How disappointing is that? How will you take that looking back, now going forward?) – “Obviously, it’s frustrating. You never want to go out in a game and lose. Nobody goes out and says, hey, I’m okay if we lose. You just keep building and you keep finding ways to get better. The DeVante Parker situation, for example. The week before, we don’t hit it, and this week we hit a couple. You keep finding those things to push forward and keep getting better at, and then once they start all forming together, piece by piece at a time, then you have something.”
(Jacoby, what was going through your mind when the ball came out on that fumble play?) – “I was trying not to get sacked and trying to get the ball out, and Grover just got me at the right time.”
(Jacoby, late in the second quarter, the Colts had the ball on fourth and one, and they went for it from their own 27, willing to risk giving you guys the ball on their 27. Did you take note of that? Was that sort of a personal affront?) – “For sure. Definitely. And yeah, I mean, it’s Frank (Reich)’s MO. He is not scared to do it. Definitely as an offense you say, hey, it’s borderline disrespectful, honestly, because they think they can stop you and not get a touchdown. Yeah, I mean, it’s part of the game.”
(Is there a simple answer for what is wrong with the running game?) – “No, it’s never simple. But it’s never that complicated. You’ve just got to keep finding ways to do what we’re good at in the run game, and I think we are getting better. When we start to hit some of our downhill runs, we pop a couple. Yeah, I think we’re getting better in the run game. We just got to get better at everything, you know?”
(Jacoby, how do you find consistency as an offense especially starting next week?) – “I think ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) did a good job of just telling us to look in the mirror and that’s where it’s going to start because it’s going to start from within, and that’s where it always starts, and then you go out there in practice and show why you are going to line up and going to dust it off, put the pads on — back on and get ready to go back to work. Thank you.”
Mike Gesicki – October 3, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Postgame – Indianapolis
TE Mike Gesicki (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: What was difference between the two scoring drives? Seemed like you were a lot more involved in the offense. Was it the Colts giving you that revamped type defense or not?
MIKE GESICKI: I don’t know. I can’t put a finger on it. You just have to go out there and make the most of the opportunities when they present themselves, and that’s kind of what it was there. Had a couple of opportunities to make a play, and I was able to do so.”
Q: What do you have as why this offense can’t produce the first three and a half quarters of a game?
MIKE GESICKI: Just got to keep doing what we’re doing. We just got to keep believing and trusting our coaches, trusting that they’re putting us in a position to be successful, and go out and execute. It’s little things, man. It goes back to how you do anything and how you do everything. In practice, working out, getting here on game day, going out and making plays. I mean, everything equates to the big picture. Just got to keep going, man. We got another 13 football games ahead of us, so we’re going to stick together and that’s really all that we can do.
Q: Mike, I know that the starting quarterback is out, but in general, do you feel like there’s enough talent in that offensive room to produce at a higher rate?
MIKE GESICKI: Yeah, absolutely. I think we have a lot of talent. Jacoby is a starting quarterback in this league as well, so you can’t — it’s not put on any position group or, you know, so on or so forth. This is a game of football, and so they’re getting paid to go out and make plays and so are we. They made a couple more than us today, and that’s really all it is. We’re going to go back and watch the film. I’m sure a lot of guys will go back and watch it tonight and get back in there tomorrow as a team and get ready for Tampa Bay next week.
Q: Brian was out here a few minutes ago and blamed lack of focus, concentration, attention to detail, things like that. What are you seeing in practice during the week? Is it crisp?
MIKE GESICKI: We got good players that are making plays in practice, and we got good players that are making plays in games. Just got to string it together more consistently and really it’s just — we’re just one play away. You know, you got that one play on offense that will kind of spark us. Our defense is playing tremendous, and we got to be able to go out and compliment them, and I think that you saw that little bit in the fourth quarter. One big play, man. Everybody — it just wakes it up. Defense and then, you know, they’re staying on the field and getting on the ball and go no huddle.
Brian Flores – October 3, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Postgame – Indianapolis
Head Coach Brian Flores (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: Can you figure out a rhyme or reason why the offense struggles to produce in the first three-and-a-half quarters of games?
COACH FLORES: I think we played bad across the board. Offensively, defensively, in the kicking game, drops, penalties, turnovers. I mean, we played poorly really across the board, so we got a lot we got to fix, a lot of things we got to correct. Offensively just couldn’t get anything going. Got it going a little bit late, but, you know, too late, and it’s not enough, so we got to do a better job earlier in the game, which we’ve talked about, but we’re not — we’re still not able to do it.
Q: I know it’s just four games into the season and you’re playing without your starting quarterback, but as you look to fix this offense are the necessary tools inside the room or do you need to go outside whether that’s switching offensive coordinator personnel, whatever it may be to get this offense going? What do you think the solution to this offense is?
COACH FLORES: I think we have to take a look at everything. We will take a look at everything, but I would say it’s really across the board. Offense, defense, special teams starts with me, coaching. I got to do a better job. I know I say that every week. I don’t want to come up here and say that every week, but I got to do a better job of figuring out a way to help us play better than that, but we also got to play better, and we’re out there taking turns making mistakes in all three phases, and it’s not enough. It’s not good enough.
Q: Coach, what is the biggest disconnect right now?
COACH FLORES: It’s a tough question. I think this is a hard-working team. I think they compete. They prepare the right way. It’s not manifesting itself on Sundays right now. For long enough periods of time we are inconsistent. We can’t string plays together. When we do string plays together, there’s a penalty or a drop that sets us back or a penalty defensively and then, you know, instead of being off the field, we’re back on the field or a penalty in the kicking game instead of getting the ball, we give it back to them. I mean, there’s a lot of things that aren’t connected. We got to play complementary football in this league. We have not been able to do that, and a lot of it is basic fundamentals, watching the ball, keeping your hands down and away from the face mask area or the face area. I mean, there are things that are correctible that have been correctible, and we need to correct.
Q: Did you consider going at any point to QB Reid Sinnett?
COACH FLORES: No.
Q: How would you describe how QB Jacoby Brissett did?
COACH FLORES: I thought he did some good things late. I thought offensively we had some drops that killed drives. We had some penalties that killed drives. We missed some opportunities early to put some points on the board, and then we couldn’t – we’re inconsistent. That’s probably the best term to use right now across the board. We’re inconsistent.
Q: For the second week in a row you got hot on offense at the end. You were throwing the ball down the field, short passes for the first three quarters. Is that QB Jacoby Brissett? Is it what the defense was giving you? Is it the offense?
COACH FLORES: You’re right. I think we try to take a methodical approach early. We did have some shot plays early. They covered them. We had to check them down, and we weren’t able to push it down the field as much as we wanted to early in the game, and then obviously late when you got to push it down field and you are trying to create plays or make plays; we got a couple, but we also had the fumble where we’re trying to push the ball downfield. So that didn’t work in our favor.
Q: Could it have helped to force the issue? I mean I know you want to take what the defense gives you and you want to play methodically but could it do anything positive for you to force that issue, push the ball downfield and try to establish that early on?
COACH FLORES: Potentially. I mean, I think – I know early on there was definitely some shot plays there that ended up getting checked down. We need to do more of it. I think as you’re trying to call a game, you feel like there’s some situations where you’re going to get a first down, and then you’re going to take a shot. We had drops and penalties in those instances. There’s a lot that goes into it that I think you guys probably wouldn’t know, but, you know, that definitely showed up. Hey, you know, we should get a first down on this. It’s there. We got it. It’s dropped. It’s a different — now it’s a different — we have to go into a different mode.
Q: What happened to WR Will Fuller with his hand and if you could update on CB Byron Jones as well?
COACH FLORES: Well, Will (Fuller) was out. Obviously, I know you guys got that. Probably have more information tomorrow, but significant enough that he was out for today and probably have more of — we’ll run some tests. We ran some tests. We’ll run some more tests and have a better understanding of what happened there. Byron (Jones) wasn’t able to come back. Again, that’s another one we’re going to — right after the game, we’ll run some tests. I know he was trying to get back out there. We saw him running around a little bit. He just didn’t feel like he could really go handle a nine ball, handle the things you have to handle at that position.
Q: Before you came out, we heard G/T Jesse Davis describe the locker room as probably not somewhere you want to be right now. Given that and given these two bad losses, how much of your job now is getting players to believe that they can perform so much better than they have?
COACH FLORES: I think our players, they believe that. You can’t play in this league if you don’t have confidence so, I know they know that they can play better than we’re playing. I think we know that we can eliminate some drops and eliminate some of the penalties that are not that hard to correct. It’s just a little bit more concentration, a little bit more attention to detail. They know that. We’ve talked about it. That’s not showing up on game day, but I think right now it’s about that. It’s about watching the ball and staying onside. It’s about kicking the ball on the field of play. It’s about keeping your hands away from the face mask area. It’s about catching the football. It’s about those things, which I think if we just do a little bit more of that, we would feel better. We would have better results.
Q: What went into the decision there, I think it was the first quarter, to take the delay of game penalty instead of the field goal with K Jason Sanders?
COACH FLORES: We wanted to pin them deep, which we ended up doing. 50 — I forget what the score was. I think it was 3-0, maybe. I thought we were playing decent defensively. I think it was like a 55 or 56-yarder. I think it’s a tough decision. I have a lot of confidence in Jason that he would make that kick, but we wanted to play field position right there, and I think we ended up putting them on the 1-yard line, and I think we got the ball back. I’m not sure. I got to go back and watch it, but just, you know, that’s kind of one of those you could kick it. If you kick it, you don’t get it, and then you give them good field position, or do we want to play a field position game and try to play defense. We were doing some good things defensively at that point so just felt like that was the best for the team.
Q: Would you say the lack of consistency or all the things that have gone wrong lately, is that maybe a lack of focus in some players or maybe some lack of talent at some positions or a mixture of the two?
COACH FLORES: I think it’s a lack of focus, a lack of concentration, a lack of attention to detail, a lack of – I think it’s all those things, and that starts with me and getting these guys to understand how important those little things are. The little things are important in this game. They’re very important. The details are important in this game, and if you don’t get them right, then you’ll have a false start penalty when you don’t need them, you’ll have a drop when you don’t need them, and those are momentum-shifting plays that if you don’t make them and they do, you don’t get the result you want so that’s what we have to do. We got to focus on those little things, those details, and play a smarter, more disciplined football game because we’re not doing that right now. We’re not doing that. That starts with me.
Jesse Davis – October 3, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Postgame – Indianapolis
G/T Jesse Davis (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(What does it feel like in there right now?) – “You know it’s probably not somewhere you want to be right now, but we are just trying to go through it in our head how it feels and what went wrong or what didn’t go right. No. 1 thing is we have to stay together.”
(How do you do that?) – “First of all we just go watch the film, go see what happened, where to start, then go over corrections and then meet with the coaches. The biggest thing is don’t be pointing fingers at people. We all, everybody makes mistakes and whatnot, but this is a team and that’s how we’re going to treat it.
(Do you have any explanation for why this offense can’t produce in the first three-and-a-half quarters of a game?) – “It’s things like penalties, pre-snap penalties or penalties in general. Things like that. You know, it could be one little mistake, and, you know it can all go to hell. I just got to focus on getting myself better and getting the guys next to me better but it’s frustrating. That’s for sure.”
Brian Flores – October 1, 2021
Download PDF version
Friday, October 1, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Will C/G Michael Deiter and WR William Fuller V be available to you Sunday?) – “Deiter was injured in practice on Wednesday. He’s going to be out and likely to go on IR. Fuller, he was at practice yesterday. We expect him to practice today and go on Sunday.”
(Is OL Greg Mancz next up at center?) – “Yeah, Greg will start at Center.”
(I know you talked about him after the acquisition and sorry to ask you again, but what are some of the qualities in which you like about OL Greg Mancz?) – “Smart, tough, competes. He’s picked up the offense quickly. Vocal. He’s done a nice job so he’ll be in there this weekend.”
(How big of an impact do you see the C/G Michael Deiter injury having on the team?) – “Yeah, I mean Deiter is the starting center. He’s done a nice job really the entire spring, training camp and the start of this season. It’s unfortunate but we’ve got to move on with the next player and the next man up mentality like we’ve talked about. But yeah, it’s a tough loss. It’s a tough loss for the offensive line, us as an offense and us as a team. Deiter will be the first guy to say for us to go out there and prepare and practice the right way and hopefully play well on Sunday.”
(Is this a situation where C/G Michael Deiter going on the IR and will return or is this a situation where his season is done?) – “I think we’ll take this like every player, it’s day-to-day. Every injury is a little bit different. The rehabs are always different. In this case, it will be a minimum of three weeks and we will see how the rehab process goes in those early weeks and have a better idea of where we’re at after those initial three weeks.”
(Where does that leave you as far as a backup center? I’m going to guess G/T Jesse Davis just because he does everything else.) – “Jesse can snap. He’s snapped before. We’ve got a couple different ways we can go there. Again, there’s a good amount of versatility throughout the offensive line. We’ll have a plan. We have a backup center.”
(How difficult is it for the offensive line to mesh and take steps forward now that it’s going to be the fourth different starting offensive line?) – “It’s the way it goes in the National Football League. A lot of teams are dealing with injuries and COVID and that’s just kind of how it is. We’ve talked about that here, being able to shift guys around and move guys into different spots. We do that really early in the season in training camp because it’s more likely than not that will be the case during the season. We’re dealing with it. A lot of teams are dealing with it and the next guy has got to go in and execute. That’s why we practice and prepare and move guys around.”
(When you put C/G Michael Deiter on IR, is bringing up C Cameron Tom a consideration from the practice squad to the 53?) – “Potentially. That is potentially something we might do. There’s a few different ways we could approach this. Cam has done a nice job. He did a nice job in training camp for us. We brought him back to the practice squad so there is potential for that.”
(With the high number of quality wide receivers that you have, what factors go into what decides who is going to be up and who is going to be down in a particular game? How much of it is how they practice? How much of it is matchups?) – “I think it’s gameplan-specific. Who we think will have success in a given grouping, a series of plays, their value in the kicking game, what they bring to the table in the kicking game, blocking in the run game. It’s just all the things we talk about at the wide receiver position. There’s a few different things we talk about as a staff. ‘Hey, we think this guy will be good in these sets of plays. This guy will be good on this on third down or this on early down or this in the run game.’ That’s a lot of the conversations we have as a staff early in the week and that kind of plays into our projection of who would play best in those roles. We’ve always got to have backups and then we let guys get those reps during the week and make that determination at the end of the week.”
(You a do a good job of communicating with players. I’m always curious in a case where established NFL guys are on the inactive list as opposed to young players like WR Albert Wilson and WR Preston Williams, who has had some success in two years, do you make a point to explain to them during the week? Do you have Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard do it in the case of the receivers, when it’s more experienced guys as opposed to a young guy?) – “I’ve always said I keep my conversations with players private. But yes, I have conversations with – I try to have as many conversations throughout the week as possible. It’s hard. It’s hard to talk to everybody on the tea, but in those specific situations like inactives and play time and up, down things like that, yeah, I try to have those conversations. Like you said, honesty is always the best way to go. We feel this way, this is why you’re up, this is what we feel like you can do and this is where for this particular week, a guy may not be up. I think that’s the best way to handle it really for any player, coach or anyone in the organization, just to be honest. I think our guys respond the right way.”
(What have you seen out of TE Mike Gesicki this week especially after having a good game with 10 receptions last game?) – “The way Mike prepares is really the same every week. He is someone who it’s very important to him. He practices the right way, prepares the right way and he’s anxious to get out there and practice. Like a lot of our guys, he believes that if you do it right in practice, you give yourself an opportunity to do it right in the game. His preparation has really been the same, it’s not like it just spikes up because he played well. I think he’s pretty consistent with his approach to the game every week.”
(I want to ask you about the possible challenges that DT Grover Stewart and DT DeForest Buckner present for the Colts up front?) – “Two very good players up front. Hard to move both guys. DeForest, it’s hard to move him. He’s very quick. He’s obviously very talented. A tough guy to block. Then next to Grover, it’s hard to move Grover. Then they’ve got Tyquan Lewis that goes in there and does a good job. They’ve got some good players really across the board. They do a nice job defensively. They really do a nice job across the board – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. Specifically the defense, it’s a tough front to play against. They do a lot of things to create confusion schematically. They’re well coached. I think Coach (Matt) Eberflus has done a very nice job since he’s been there. We’ll have our hands full, that’s for sure.”
(With G/T Rob Hunt, just thoughts on how he’s done at right guard. Do you and Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre have a conviction yet whether he’s better at guard or tackle? Or might that take a full season to get a handle on?) – “I think Rob has done a nice job in there at guard. I think he’s learning that position. I think it’s early as far as getting game reps at that spot. He’s still developing. I think he has all the right make up to develop. I think for him and a lot of our younger players, it’s just about playing with some consistency.”
(You’ve mentioned that every team deals with injuries in this league obviously. Looking at the Colts practice report yesterday, there are a lot of guys were on that list. I know you’ll scout and prepare for all 53 guys, but when you have that many injuries you’re looking at, do you have to build in contingencies on how you’ll do types of plan for what they may or may not have available to them?) – “I think first and foremost, we try to prepare for really everyone and assume that they all will be out there. Until we get the word, which a lot of guys don’t practice or are limited on Wednesday and Thursday and then practice on Friday. We probably won’t have a – we don’t get a game status until today. We prepare for everyone but in a situation like this, there are more guys you are preparing for. More guys, more of their offensive linemen, more of the – it looks like some injuries in other places. You’re just preparing for more guys. Our guys know that whoever is in there will be well coached, have good fundamentals, good techniques, are going to know what they are doing, are going to play fast. This team plays fast really in all three phases. This is the National Football League, so everybody is good. Our team knows that. Our team understands that. We know this will be a tough 60-minute ball game.”
(Speaking with CB Nik Needham and DT John Jenkins yesterday, we asked if they had picked QB Jacoby Brissett’s brain at all about the Colts. Both of them said no. John specifically said it’s a new regime, it’s a new year. Jacoby isn’t in that building and neither am I. That kind of mentality, how does that help you guys throughout the week as you prep for this game?) – “I think those guys watch a lot of film on their own. We sit in meetings, we kind of go through it. But yeah, every year is different and everyone has their own way to prepare. I think those guys – Nik and ‘Jenk’ – they prepare well each week. I think that’s the mentality. I think they watch film with their coaches on their own. I think everyone has their own routine as far as how they go throughout the week. I’m confident in those two guys that they’ll be ready to go.”
(I was going to ask you about WR Will Fuller. When you have a player that’s battled injuries like he has and who has missed this much time, how do you get gauge of whether he’s game ready, especially when he’s fighting something else?) – “I think Will is game ready. I think we saw that last week. I thought he did some nice things. I thought he made a couple of good catches. When he’s been at practices, which he was yesterday, you see some of those things. You use practice, you use the game and you make that determination. We wouldn’t play someone we didn’t feel confident was ready to play. I think Will will be ready to go.”
Nik Needham – September 30, 2021
Download PDF version
Thursday, September 30, 2021
CB Nik Needham
(One thing that’s a little different this year, we were talking to Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer about this, is more players are being used in the defensive backfield than last November/December. Obviously you and CB Justin Coleman are sharing slot duties and four safeties are playing. Last year it was just S Bobby McCain McCain, S Eric Rowe and S Brandon Jones. I’m curious if you tin that has had any impact at all in terms of third down defense being a lot worse as a group this year. I know it’s a small sample size, but is that a factor a lot of guys playing which could lead to confusion or is it unrelated?) – “I don’t think that’s the issue. I think we have to do a better job on first and second down. We got a lot of teams getting in third-and-2, third-and-1, which are real manageable third downs. When they’re in that situation, it’s like 50/50 for them to get it. If we can just execute better on first and second down, we’ll be able to keep them in backed up situations like second-and-10-plus. Just doing that will create a third-and-10 and we are more likely to get off the field with that. It has nothing to do with confusion.”
(How much time in practice do you spend splitting boundary and slot? Do you spend time at both?) – “Wherever they put me, whenever they do that, yeah. I think it’s all gameplan and matchup-wise. I’m more in the slot but like you’ve seen last game, I will go outside as well, because when I first came here, I played outside corner so I have that available with me. I think just wherever they need me or wherever they think this week someone will fit, that’s where they plug a guy.”
(How frustrating does it get when offenses are moving the chains on you like they have in the past couple of games?) – “It’s very frustrating because we know we are better than that. We got too many talented guys on the team to be giving up all of them third downs. We’re just back to the drawing board. We’ve been going over it with Coach (Josh) Boyer and focusing on the minor things as far as execution and communication. That’s really what that comes down to as well.”
(In addition to trying to force more third-and-long situations, what are some other things that were definitely happening last year on third downs that lead to the team being first in the league in that category, that you would love to see start to happen again?) – “I think we just have to make more plays on the ball. Win our one-on-ones. We’ve got to win our one-on-one matchups. I think that’s what it’s come down to as well, D-line and DBs. Like I said, if we can all start doing that and really focusing on that, winning our one-on-ones on third down, this guy is not going to make the play to get the first down. If we can all think like that and move like that, I think it will be more successful.”
(I know they have a new offensive coordinator but has QB Jacoby Brissett shared anything about the Colts offense with you guys?) – “No, I actually haven’t asked him but that’s a good idea. (laughter) I might need to go talk to him and see what he knows about over there. But no, I haven’t asked him yet. I like your shirt, by the way.”
(It’s only been three games but how do you feel like you are performing overall?) – “I think I’m playing alright. I’ve got a lot more work to do. I would say I’m off to a better start than last season, I just feel a little bit more comfortable. Like I said, I’ve got way more work to do. I just need to focus on one play at a time. Like I said earlier about the one-on-one matchups, like last game, I gave up a catch. Me, personally, I don’t want to give up anything so just to have that mindset every game. I think if you stack those on top of week on week on week, you’ll just get better every week. That’s my goal and the overall focus for me.”
(Thinking back to a play last game. I’m wondering from your perspective if you saw it the same way. There was a high pass to TE Darren Waller and you were deeper in coverage. Did it look like that ball was going to get to you and Waller just comes in and leaped?) – “We were in Cover 3. The seven route, I had a fade on me and I was kind of in between because Derek Carr is a good quarterback and he had already tricked me kind of with his gameplay in the game. I saw him looking at Waller but I didn’t know. He might double-pump it and then throw it to the fade. You have to always protect the go ball, so that’s why. But I did for a second think it might go over his head, so I was kind of a little hesitant. That dude is big. He’s big as hell.”
Jaelan Phillips – September 30, 2021
Download PDF version
Sunday, September 26, 2021
LB Jaelan Phillips
(Good to see you get a lot of snaps last week. How did it go? What were your thoughts after watching the tape?) – “Man, it was incredible. Just the experience as a whole. I don’t want to give the Raiders too much credit, but their stadium is whew. (laughter) Their stadium is crazy. We had a great experience as a team just going through adversity, staying together. It’s always good to get those kind of games. Obviously you always want to come out with a victory, but at the end of the day, I think it was really good experience for me personally and for us as a team. So yeah, definitely happy about that.”
(And pleased with the sort of rush that you were able to get? You seemed to pressure well on a few plays. Were you pleased with how you did from that standpoint?) – “I’m never totally pleased, but I feel like I’m almost there. I feel like I’m starting to get some pressures and I need to find a way myself to convert those pressures into sacks, into negative plays. But it definitely felt good.”
(Did Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer tell you during the week or was it the game morning or was it just how the game went along that you were going to be used in more of a pass-rushing role. When did that become apparent?) – “I pretty much knew all week. The game plan changes every week, so it really just depends on their personnel, on what they’re doing, the matchups that we want to get. It just so happened that this week I was able to get some advantageous matchups, so it was good. It was a really good experience.”
(What was your reaction when he told you?) – “Like I said, it’s the same every week. It’s just – I like doing everything. It was fun. It was fun.”
(Do you think beyond the matchups that you also have shown something to coaches to allow them to trust you a bit more?) – “I think if anything, they’re just starting to notice that I’m getting it more. I think they’re starting to have a little bit more trust in me and I think that kind of equates to more playing time or being used in different positions. So I think for me, I’ve said it before: my focus has just been to get more comfortable in the scheme and then just keep improving every week on the things that I need to improve on.”
(Is there a particular vet that maybe you’ve leaned on just in terms of kind of getting the ropes and kind of understanding what it takes week to week to be successful?) – “I’ve definitely gotten close, especially the d-line – Emmanuel Ogbah, Christian Wilkins in particular, Zach Sieler. These are all guys that I definitely pick their brain a lot. Ogbah especially, just obviously he’s an end. He’s somebody that I kind of aspire to be like so I definitely try to talk as much as I can and what they do that I can appreciate. (John) Jenkins does this as well, ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) does this as well. They hold me accountable, regardless of it’s a good play or a bad play. They’re just going to keep it 100 with me. It’s never good when someone is just blowing smoke at you and saying, ‘oh yeah, that’s great, that’s great.’ You want someone who’s going to keep it real with you, so I definitely think I have that on this team.”
(There’s been a lot of talk about third-down defense and getting back to where the team was last year. I know you weren’t here but what do you think separates third down from first and second, and what’s kind of the key to having success from your experience on third down?) – “I think the philosophy of the offense changes, right? When it’s third-and-10, they’re most likely going to air the ball out just because they obviously need to get the first down and they need to gain yards. So as a defense, you don’t want to place more importance on any particular down because the bottom line is if you don’t do well on first and second down you’re not even going to be able to get to that third down. So third down is just an opportunity to get off the field, get the offense back on the field to score points and at the end of the game, whoever has the most points wins. So it’s definitely paramount for us to get out there and be great on third down like we were last year. We’re just going to continue working on that. It’s definitely been a point of emphasis though.”
Myles Gaskin – September 30, 2021
Download PDF version
Thursday, September 30, 2021
RB Myles Gaskin
(You’ve consistently been at about five yards a carry. What do you think is the key to that?) – “Just trusting my blocks. Just trusting those guys up front. I think that Jacoby (Brissett) did a great job last week, so it kind of opened up some holes for me. Like I said, just trusting and believing in the play call, and then the guys up front.”
(Blitz pick up I know is something you’ve worked on. You’ve talked about improvement there. Are you happy with where that is at for you and for the running back room right now?) – “I think I can do a lot better, just being a smaller guy, I’ve told you guys that before. I’m just always trying to work on that. But yeah, I think as a running group, I think Malcolm (Brown) is the head of that because he’s an older guy. He always gives us little nuggets for myself, Salvon (Ahmed). Yeah, I think we can get better. For myself, I think I can get a lot better and as a running back group, I think we still got a little more room to grow.”
(When you guys have a day where you produce 133 rushing yards, which basically equates to, if you average it out it is 2,100 rushing yards a season. Do you think that should ultimately lead to success for the team?) – “The success of the team doesn’t just come from one thing at all. If you just have that and then no passing yards, then hell no. I think everything needs to be balanced. I feel like ‘E’ (Eric Studesville) and George (Godsey) have been taking good care of that. We’re figuring it out as we go. Obviously we’re trying to find out our strengths as a team still and running the ball has been good for us at times. But in different games, we’ve got different things we need to do.”
