William Fuller V – September 15, 2021
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
WR William Fuller V
(How does it feel to be back? Honestly, we’ve been asking Head Coach Brian Flores about you and he said that you need to get the chemistry back, the timing. Where do you feel that is with QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “It’s getting there. Like he said, I haven’t played in a while. I haven’t been able to practice so just being back out there catching some balls from Tua in live practice was good. It was good to be back out there. It felt good.”
(I’m sure you watched the season opener. Finally getting into this offense for real for games that matter, what are you most excited about? – “Just being back out there playing, helping the team win. That’s why I play the game. I like helping my team win. Whatever it takes for me to go out there and help my team win, that’s what I’m going to do.”
(What was that perspective like watching games form afar, watching games from home or wherever you watched from? I can’t imagine it was too enjoyable for you but maybe it was. Did you look at it differently than you would on film?) – “I was just trying to make it as positive as I could. Just learn from a mistake that I made. Just not taking football for granted. Watching it on TV, wanting to be out there and help my team win in Houston and in Miami. Like I keep saying, I’m just happy to be back playing football. I can’t wait for Sunday.”
(I know that at one point in your life you ran 40 yards in 4.28 seconds. How close do you feel to top speed at this point in your career?) – “I’m still confident with my speed. I do a lot of work in the offseason – speed and strength. A lot more than I did earlier in my career. I feel good. I feel good with where I’m at with my speed and my strength.”
(How do you feel your speed impacts the strategy that defensive backs use on game day?) – “In a defensive room, the first thing they are telling the DB is don’t get beat deep. Don’t get beat deep. So I use that to my advantage just to play as fast as I can, and that gets the defense on their heels. Like I said earlier, we’ve got a lot of speed so a lot of guys can do that.”
(We saw the offense mostly work underneath in Week 1. How much does the infusion of a deep threat, like you present, now affect things?) – “We are going to see. We are going to see. I love throwing the ball deep, so we will see what the coaches do with the game plan. I’m just going to go out there and execute whatever they have for us. If that’s underneath, that’s underneath. If that’s deep, then I’m going to give it whatever.”
(You’ve done so well throughout your college and pro career tracking the deep ball. That’s one thing that I’m always curious about – when the ball is in the air and you have to make certain adjustments. If you were talking to a bunch of ninth grade receivers right now, what would be a tip that you would give them that they should try to keep in mind when tracking the deep ball?) – “Actually my second year, Randy Moss told me this – he came to training camp. He said when he ran his deep balls, a lot of receivers when they run their posts or go’s, they turn back and look at the quarterback. The quarterback, he’s probably already thrown the ball. He told me look up when you turn around, don’t look at the quarterback because the quarterback doesn’t have the ball anyway. That’s helped me a lot, getting the ball in the air quick, not turning around and looking at the quarterback but looking up for the ball. That’s helped me a lot and just running out of your break. Run three or four steps out of you break and then look up and try to find it.”
(Is there one part of game day that you are looking forward to experiencing again? It’s obviously it’s been such a long time since you’ve gotten to play an NFL game but is there one thing? Like putting on the pads or something.) – “Definitely playing in front of fans. Just watching teams around the league last week, it was electric. I’m ready for the fans to be back out there because I played last year without any fans. I’m ready to play here in Hard Rock (Stadium) for the first time.”
(When you are watching at home, the Patriots are driving late, CB Xavien Howard makes the play and you guys win the game. Are you calm in those moments? Are you reacting as a fan or as you would on the sideline?) – “I’m always more nervous when I don’t play. I don’t have any nerves when I play football. I don’t remember the last time I got nervous playing a game or got butterflies or anything like that. But when I’m watching, I don’t know why but I always am a little jittery. I guess because I just want to be out there so bad. It’s tough just watching from home.”
(The speed that this whole team has; you have you, WR Jaylen Waddle, WR Jakeem Grant and a lot of guys. We talked to Jakeem earlier this offseason and he said he was the fastest guy on the Dolphins. What is your thought on that?) – “We are going to have to set up a race after the season or something and get that out the way. (laughter)”
(I’m guessing you feel good about your chances?) – “Yeah, I mean I’m confident in my chances. I feel like I’m one of the fastest guys in the league. If we line it up, we’ll see.”
(You weren’t here last year for the 56-26 loss to finish the regular season; how much do you hear guys talking about it in the locker room?) – “We always talk about this a lot, about how in this league it’s always close games. That one got away from the Dolphins last year. I wasn’t here but we don’t want that to happen. It left a bad taste around the locker room. I can tell from just being around the guys hearing them. We are working hard this week to make sure that doesn’t happen and it’s a competitive game. Just go out there and try and get this win.”
(I thought Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville and QB Tua Tagovailoa showed some nice aggressiveness late in the game, in particular Tua throwing from the goal line on that slant to WR DeVante Parker. What has been the messaging that you have heard about the coaches and the offense and how aggressive you guys would like to be?) – “That just comes from confidence. I think we are just going to keep building that throughout the year as we keep practicing and playing games. Just having that confidence and knowing that the guys on the outside can win. We can run the ball and win. Just having that change of pace – run the ball, throw the ball and just being able to win wherever and just playing confident. I think we’ve got the guys that play confident and score points.”
(This offense seems to run a lot of the RPO scheme. I’m curious from a receiver standpoint, what you think of that style of play?) – “It’s real tough on the defense. You put someone in a bind. He has to make the right decisions. If we play it right, the defense is never right. I love RPOs. Like I said, you put a linebacker in a bind or a safety in a bind. If they make that wrong decision, we can go 70 (yards) or like last week we were hitting big runs. It’s fun.”
(How is your relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa? Do you talk with him at all or do you just rely on what you do on the practice field?) – “Actually, Tua introduced me to his strength coach down here. That’s who I was working out with so me and Tua were throwing a lot in the offseason, working out together. We’re close, we’re cool.”
(I know players don’t like to look back, they look ahead. But your numbers last year across the board – even yards after catch – like everything, were the best in your career. What was working? Just older and wiser or there something that you changed that was allowing things to click?) – “One of the biggest things was ‘Hop’ (Deandre Hopkins) wasn’t there. He got a lot of targets when we played together. When he left, I changed my role to playing X. The X is the boundary receiver and just gets more balls in general. I just took advantage of it. I changed my workout routine a little bit in the offseason and like I was saying, I got bigger, stronger and faster. I was just playing a lot more confident and I’m working to get back to that now, being out here practicing and playing.”
(Without there really being any tape of you being out there playing with QB Tua Tagovailoa or on this team, is there an excitement of what can be without the Bills being able to scheme on anything you’ve done here in the past?) – “Yeah, I just try to be consistent and play my game. I think it’s a surprise. I don’t know what it’s going to look like, the Bills don’t know what it’s going to look like; but I’m going to do my best to get open and catch the ball. We’ll see how Sunday goes.”
Christian Wilkins – September 15, 2021
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
DT Christian Wilkins
(How tough was the news about not having DT Raekwon Davis for some time? How do you pick up the slack? I’m sure it’s good having DT John Jenkins around.) – “Obviously that is definitely tough for Raekwon and everything because he’s such a hard worker. He’s fun to play with, fun to be around. We’re still going to need his energy and his spirit around and everything like that. At least we still have that. It’s nice to have other guys who can step up and have played a lot of football in this league and have a lot of experience. Guys are just going to have to pick it up some way, somehow.”
(How would you grade how you guys did against the Patriots run game?) – “I think it was a solid start. Not saying we played bad, but we’re obviously going to have to get better and improve each week if we want to get to where we want to go. That definitely starts on the practice field, in meetings, and taking it one play at a time, one meeting at a time, and just getting better and better. That’s where it is all going to happen, so we’re just going to try to make improvements this week because you’re never 100 percent.”
(How would you describe the Bills offense?) – “They are really talented. They’ve got weapons everywhere – a really good o-line, really good quarterback, really good skill guys, good running backs. They’ve got talent everywhere. They are a heck of a team. We’re really going to need to prepare well if we’re going to take care of business this weekend.”
(Does your pass rush plan change at all against a guy like QB Josh Allen who, if you get to him, maybe he can shake off a tackle and make a big play after that. Do you have to change your approach when you face a guy like that?) – “You can see what he can do and everything. You can see what kind of ability he has. We’re just going to focus on our game plan and control what we can control and take the right approach in order to slow those guys down.”
(QB Josh Allen progressed from Year 1 to Year 2, and then from Year 2 to Year 3, he took that big leap. Where have you seen him improve the most?) – “He’s become a more complete player. He really doesn’t have many weaknesses so he presents a great challenge for us. Like I said, if we want to do well this week, we’re going to have to prepare well.”
(I know players don’t like to look back on what happened last season; but they beat you in week 2 and then the finale in Week 17. Do you feel that maybe some type of payback is in order Sunday?) – “Not really. It’s a new year, it’s a new team on both sides. We can’t necessarily worry about that. It’s not a grudge match or nothing like that. Yeah, it’s a division game so It’s important, and it’s the most important game of the year because it’s the next one. But we’re just going to have to prepare well. You can’t think about anything else except the task at hand and one play at a time.”
(You guys were effective in the red zone defensively Sunday. What’s the key for you guys when you get down there?) – “Again, just preparation and understanding that in those situations, in those critical situations, we have to be at our best because things do happen throughout the course of the game. So third down and other situations, red area and things like that, that’s when you’ve got to step up and be at your best.”
(A full Hard Rock stadium on Sunday. Not that you guys need a lift, but what can that atmosphere provide?) – “I’m definitely looking forward to that. We’ve got some of the best fans in the country. It’s always exciting to play at home so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m excited about that. To your point, it’s all about what we do. The fans aren’t playing for us, so we’re going to have to prepare well. But it’s going to be exciting to be home with a packed crowd.”
(How concerned are you about some of the quarterback draws that they like to run and what can you do to try not to give QB Josh Allen that lane, because once he takes off…) – “Like I was saying earlier, he presents a great challenge for us. We’re going to have to stick with our game plan and stay within our scheme in order to get the result we want.”
(From what you saw in the Bills/Steelers game, what did Pittsburgh do so well to limit that offense?) – “They did some things really well. You can learn from every opponent and every opponent they’ve faced as well. They did a really good job of executing their game plan and that’s we’re going to need to do. Whatever the coaches decide that we’re going to do, that we’re going to go with, players have to lock in on that and execute the game plan very well.”
(There is nothing specific about how they brought pressure?) – “I’m not going to speak on that. I don’t know what they necessarily were doing, but I just felt like they executed what they were doing well.”
(The turnover battle was so important on Sunday. Is that something you guys have talked about again for this week?) – “We just try to create a mindset here where it’s all about the ball. That’s always important every game – not one game over the other. It’s important every game to take care of the ball and try to get takeaways.”
DeVante Parker – September 15, 2021
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
WR DeVante Parker
(What do you think WR Will Fuller is going to add to the offense?) – “Speed down the field. Spreading the ball down the field and probably having other guys open with his speed. Anything to help the team out.”
(What is it about the Patriots? It seems like you have a good day against them every time you play.) – “It’s nothing to do with the Patriots. I just want to have a good game every Sunday no matter who it’s against. I just want to go out there and play hard every play.”
(What happened on the long pass on the right side of the field there? What do you remember about how that play worked?) – “Tua (Tagovailoa) just got the ball, read his reads, threw it up and gave me a chance to attack the ball. That’s what I do best. It was a big play that we needed.”
(What do you remember about facing off against Bills CB Tre’Davious White? What do you enjoy about it? What are some of the challenges that come with it?) – “He’s a great corner right there. He’s hard to beat and you just know you have to be on your q’s and p’s against him. Good athlete right there.”
(What makes him Bills CB Tre’Davious White hard to beat?) – “I would say he’s very patient. He’s not going to go for that first move and you’ve got to switch it up against him at all times.”
(On that 1st-and-14 late in the game that QB Tua Tagovailoa threw that slant to you that set up 2nd-and-1. The first downs kept the clock moving late in the game. A lot of people would have run in that situation. What does it mean to the offense to see confidence in the passing game in a late-game situation backed up like that?) – “It means a lot that during that time in the game, we can still pass the ball and get good yardage. It’s something we will always need every Sunday. It helped us that game.”
(Do you keep track of your favorite corners and most difficult corners to face?) – “No, I don’t.”
(With the Dolphins putting in a new offense, where is the maturation? Are you guys still adding plays? Are you still sorting out what you like, what you don’t like?) – “For right now, like the game?”
(Just in general. Obviously it’s early in the season and you just finished the first game. Where do you feel like the offense is?) – “I think we’re in a good spot right now. We got the first win. We are going to take it one game at a time and see what happens from there.”
Brian Flores – September 15, 2021
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(On DT Raekwon Davis) – “I don’t get into anyone’s medical situation. He’s going to take it day-to-day. He’s going to work to get back as quickly as he can, like any player who is dealing with something. Obviously he’s on IR, so it’s a minimum of three weeks. We’ll take it day-to-day. I understand the question. I don’t like putting timelines for a number of reasons. I’ve had injuries. I’ve had setbacks. So if I tell you it’s three weeks and then it’s not three weeks, then everybody is wondering what happened. That’s the reason why I don’t give timelines. I’ve personally had injuries and personally had setbacks. That’s kind of the thought process on that.”
(I know it’s just Week 2, but a win would put you two games up on Buffalo with a tiebreaker. Getting these division wins early in the season, knowing that you’re coming back or you’re going to face Buffalo later, how big will that be?) – “Our focus right now is on the preparation. Buffalo is a very good team. Obviously they were in the AFC Championship a year ago. They have a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches. They’ll be ready to go, so we’ve got to prepare in all three phases, situations. We’ve got to have very high execution to have success against this particular team, which is a very good team.”
(The last time you played them, it didn’t go so well for you. What can you take from that game as you prep for this one?) – “Yeah, it didn’t go so well. But last year is last year, just like last week was last week. We’re focused on right now, we’re focused on today, we’re focused on our preparation. Obviously we’ve studied the game. There are a lot of things we didn’t do good enough. We’re trying to make those corrections and not make those mistakes again. They’ve got some new players and so do we. It’s different. We’re starting from scratch from that standpoint. It’s about the preparation this week.”
(What are the difficulties of a quarterback like Josh Allen? He can use his arms and use his legs. How do you contain something like that?) – “He’s a very talented player. He’s improved incredibly over the course of his career. He’s got a lot of confidence. He has total command of the offense. He has autonomy to make changes at the line of scrimmage. He can throw it; he can run it. They have good backs; they have good receivers. They’ve got good skill all over the field. They’ve got a good team. It’s about communication, it’s about everyone handling their assignment, their responsibility, playing team football, tackling well and having good execution overall as a team. That’s a tall task and this is a good team. We’ve got to prepare and that starts with preparation. We can talk about it all we want, but we’ve got to prepare the right way, we’ve got to practice the right way, just to get an opportunity to have success on the field.”
(With Buffalo’s ability to disguise how they blitz, what kind of onus is on QB Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to create outside of the structure and improvise as the play develops?) – “You’re right. They do a very good job of disguising. That’s not just a one-person situation. Our receivers need to know what the coverage is, the backs need to know what the coverage is, the line is looking at some of that stuff too as far as some things from a protection standpoint. It’s a team. Tua is a big part of that, there’s no doubt about that. He’s got to have good awareness and good overall knowledge of what may or may not happen. But everyone is involved in that and we really need everyone on the same page. Tua can know, but if someone else doesn’t know, it still doesn’t work. To put it on one person I think is unfair; but with that, said as a team, we’re going to have to all prepare and be on the same page if we want to be able to execute.”
(The process of making corrections, does it differ coming off of a win as opposed to coming off a loss when you’re asking the guys to be self-critical?) – “I don’t think so. I think corrections are corrections. I think our guys are open to that. They understand that. They want to get better, they want to hear the critiques and they want to play better and help this team win. We try to make the corrections but every week is a little bit different. We’re going to see some things that are different this week than we saw last week. Some of the corrections that were made against a fullback in the game, we may not see as many of those plays this week. Hopefully somewhere done the road when we do see a fullback or a big fullback team, they hopefully remember the corrections from Week 1. But that’s the game. We try to get them to rely on their fundamentals and techniques and their rules. When they make a mistake in one of those areas, we try to correct it. Hopefully there is some recall the next time that situation arises.”
(What do you think of Bills CB Tre’Davious White?) – “A very good player. Good cover corner, good tackler, good ball skills. A very good player. It’s hard to get open against that guy.”
(With TE Mike Gesicki getting 21 offensive snaps, do you envision utilizing him more often moving forward? Was it a matchup thing against New England?) – “There are so many things that go into that question. There is situation, matchups – there is a lot that goes into it. They had the ball 36 minutes in the game, so we didn’t really have that many offensive snaps. There is a lot that goes into it. We’ve got a lot of different groups. Mike is in on a number of them. He’s not in on some. The down, distance, situation can play into how much a player does or doesn’t play. It’s the same really across the board – offense, defense and in the kicking game. We had 21 kicking game snaps. It’s normally 30. So all of those guys’ kicking game numbers were down too. There is a lot that goes into it. Obviously we have a great deal of confidence in Mike and think he can make some plays for us. We’ll try to put him in positions to do that, but every game is a little bit different.”
(Last week we were talking about facing a rookie in QB Mac Jones. You said that your thought process was always to impact the quarterback. Normally you’d think that means to blitz but is there also an understanding that maybe you can do that in other ways – not necessarily to blitz but in disguising coverages and stuff like that. What are your thoughts on that?) – “All of that is a part of potentially affecting the quarterback and the offense. You can blitz them, you can not blitz them, you can send eight, you can drop eight, you can do a variety of things – blitz safety, post safety, there is fire zone. You can do a lot of things. At the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you think you do well. If somebody asks me to go out there and play man coverage, it’s not going to go very well. Just because it might be a good disguise, it’s not going to work out. I’ll tell you that right now. At the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you think do well as a team and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
(Regarding the timeline of DT Raekwon Davis, are we looking at surgery or standard rehab?) – “Again, I don’t get into people’s medical situations, surgeries, things like that. I think it’s just common courtesy to stay away from people’s medical situations. If Raekwon wants to talk about that, he can; but I’m not going to.”
(Can you say definitively though that the injury is not season ending?) – “He’s going to take it day-to-day. That’s what he’s going to do, that’s what I ask our players to do on a daily basis on really anything. He’s going to take it day-to-day. He’s going to rehab it. It’s IR, so it’s a minimum of three weeks. We’ll see after that.”
(How are T Austin Jackson and TE Adam Shaheen doing?) – “Good. Adam will be back today. Austin’s back. They will both be at practice.”
(Today is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and it happens to be Independence Day in Honduras as well. Can you shed a little bit of the core values that still help you to this day coming from a Hispanic household?) – “Obviously I grew up in a Hispanic household – my parents. It’s a family environment. Aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone is at the house. We spend a lot of time together. We eat dinner together. It’s something that’s very important to me, I do it now with my family. That’s very important to me.”
(This is a little bit open-ended, but what does WR Will Fuller’s return do for this offense?) – “Today will be his first day back after last week. He’s had some practice time with us. We’ll know what more to expect after we practice and get into it a little bit. If we are just going to go off of past history, obviously he has had some production in this league. He’s got speed, he’s a good route runner. We will practice today and see how it goes and make a determination on who plays, how much people play and if we think he can help us, he’ll be out there.”
(Specifically, I know you said you have to see him at practice, but is WR Will Fuller kind of a counter against a Bills defense that traditionally doesn’t give up big plays given his history as a deep-play, big-play kind of guy?) – “There’s a lot of layers to that. Again, if you’re going to create any type of positive play, it’s not just one person; it’s the entire team. It’s the o-line, it’s the backs, it’s the tight ends blocking, it’s the quarterback throwing an accurate ball. It’s not just send the player out there and he’ll make a big play. I understand your question in that he’s had some explosive plays over the course of his career, but there’s a lot that goes into it. I don’t think it’s just he’s in and it’s automatic. There’s a lot that we have to do as a team to create those – a lot of execution that has to be made to create those types of plays especially against a defense like this who, like you said, limits big plays. We are going to have to execute. We will see how Will does in practice, we will see how all the receivers do in practice. At the end of the day, we will put the guys in there that we think will help us move the ball down the field, get first downs and try to create some chunk plays.”
(We’ve all seen WR Albert Wilson’s upside over the years of course in between his injuries and years off and stuff like that. How confidant are you that he’s going to be able to get back to that key contributor game-in and game-out type guy? What are your thoughts on his development so far?) – “He’s done a good job. He did a nice job in training camp. He’s another guy who missed some time due to injury, worked his way back, got back out there 10-12 days ago, had a good week of practice last week and we are just trying to string good days together. We had him in the game last week. It’s a new week and our preparation on Buffalo is ongoing and he’ll be part of that. His role will be what he makes it.”
(Rewatching Sunday’s game, a play that jumped out to me was late in the game when QB Tua Tagovailoa hit WR DeVante Parker on a slant. I think it was a 1st-and-14 and he was on his goal line. What about the aggressiveness from the play-caller and quarterback in that situation, considering it might have been easy to run the ball. What are your thoughts on aggressiveness in spots like that?) – “I talked to the team this morning that we were done with last week and we are really focused on Buffalo. We always want to be aggressive and I think you need to be, especially in that situation. We’re going to need to be against Buffalo. We are. We are going to need to be against Buffalo.”
(How much can T Liam Eichenberg playing the way he did, how much could that accelerate a young kid’s growth? How much can that fast track – not to say skipping steps – but how much can that opportunity help him?) – “I think playing in games, regular season games and preseason games, I think that gives you – every play is an experience. Good or bad, it’s an experience and it’s one that you can learn from. He definitely learned about the speed of the NFL game, the power of the NFL game and I think he probably gained some confidence in some of the things he did in the game. We want to build on that. We want to build on that today in practice. There’s a lot of things we have to get better at, a lot of situations we have to get better at, our awareness on some things has to be better. I think he understands that too. He’s working at it.”
(It’s not every day that you see a first-round draft pick of a year ago inactive for a team. What does CB Noah Igbinoghene have to do to get back in uniform and on the field on Sundays? How close is he to that spot?) – “I thought he had a good training camp. At the end of the day, you can only bring so many players to the game. Some guys have to be inactive by league rule. Last week it was him and we’ll see how it goes in practice. We have to have inactive players, that’s per league rule. He’ll continue to work hard, he’s a hard-working kid, it’s important to him. We are going to do what we feel is best for the team.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa’s development as far as how he goes through his progressions and his second, third or fourth read) – “I think he’s a young player who is getting better every time he steps on the field. That’s in a lot of areas; that’s calling the play, reading defenses, his decision making, his progressions and it’s all getting better. I think it’s getting better.”
Xavien Howard – September 15, 2021
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021
CB Xavien Howard
(When teams don’t throw at you, is there ever a time in the game where you would actually like some action in the passing game? Or are you just accustomed to that some weeks – teams aren’t going to attack you because of how good you are?) – “I feel like teams are going to try me. I feel like some teams probably (try to) lull me to sleep. Some teams probably give me less opportunities to try to intercept the ball. The mindset of the defense is getting to the ball. That’s our main thing and that’s what everybody on the field wants to do is get to the ball.”
(Does last year change perspective for quarterbacks and offenses and how they approach you?) – “No, I feel like – the crazy part is I still see the stuff that they attacked me with last year that certain teams are doing. It’s only the first week. There’s a lot of football left. People are going to have different game plans to attack me. I’m just ready for it.”
(What’s the challenge of lining up against WR Stefon Diggs? Or what do you enjoy about lining up against him?) – “You’ve got to line up against five guys. They’ve got Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis, Isaiah McKenzie. You’ve got the quarterback also. There’s a lot that they have. It’s going to be a tough battle. You just have to be prepared for it. He can extend plays, run the ball, everything. There’s a lot of stuff that they do well.”
(QB Josh Allen, how have you seen him evolve as a quarterback?) – “Each year, just seeing him from his rookie year, he’s taken a big jump each year. I feel like he was a top five quarterback last year.”
(I know you have a lot of respect for other AFC cornerbacks like Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore and Bills CB Tre’Davious White. What do you like about White’s game?) – “He’s a baller. He tackles well. He plays the ball. He does a lot of great things well. He’s also quick. Just watching his game – I try to watch a lot of guys’ game, especially when I’m playing against them. Each corner, I try to learn from and try to see what they do well.”
(Have you ever swapped jerseys with either of those guys?) – “No, I haven’t.”
(I know you don’t play directly against Bills CB Tre’Davious White but when you play an elite corner, does that give you motivation that you’ve got to make sure you have a better day?) – “For sure. I want to be the best corner on the field when I’m playing, no matter who the opposite corner is. I try to be the best corner each game.”
(You guys had a lot of success punching the ball out last game and the Bills fumbled four times in their opener. Is that something you guys talk about, that there are more opportunities there?) – “Yeah, I feel like there will be a couple of opportunities out there and how they play ball. Punching the ball, interceptions, everything – forced fumbles, everything that we’re going for. That’s what we do on defense is try to get the ball.”
(The season finale last year didn’t go the way this team wanted it to go at all. Is there any type of revenge maybe when you see the Bills this time around? I know you guys don’t want to look back but the way they beat you.) – “I’m definitely not looking back but it’s in my head, though – what they did last year. But it’s a new year. It’s a new team. New personnel. There are a lot of things that are going on and we’ve just got to be prepared with what they bring this year.”
(There’s a team that throws out four or five wide receivers that you’ve got to cover. How valuable or how important is it to make sure the communication is right with the rest of the cornerbacks and the rest of the DBs, because you could see some bunch formations and rub routes and stuff like that. How valuable is that communication?) – “Last week, it felt like we saw a lot of bunch routes, pick routes and a lot of stuff they do well. I feel like we’re going to see the same thing. Depending on what coverage we’re playing, they try to attack us in this way or that way. We’ve just got prepared for whatever they bring.”
(Going back to the way quarterbacks approach the way you play defense and all – you mentioned lulling you to sleep and that sort of thing. If you’re a quarterback – put yourself in a quarterback’s head for a minute – how would you attack you?) – “I played quarterback. (laughter) I played quarterback in high school. I feel like I’d just try to take advantage of the opportunities they’ve given me or whatever the quarterback is doing. I won’t give people the up on me on how to attack me. They’ll see. (laughter)”
(Is this an opportunity for you guys to set the tone in the division? You get a good win on the road in the first week. The second week, you’re playing one of the top teams in the division. Is this that opportunity for you guys?) – “We’re just taking it one week at a time. It’s still early football. We’re only going into Week 2. There’s a lot of football left. We’re just taking it one week at a time.”
(Does your quarterback experience from way back when, does that in any way help you in what you do now?) – “Yeah, I feel like it does help me. I played everything so playing receiver also helped me, just looking back and finding the ball. I feel like a lot of cornerbacks panic when the ball is in the air and that’s probably what I do well is just look back. No matter if I’m beat or not, I try to make a play on the ball.”
(What were your QB stats?) – “I ran a lot. I wasn’t passing that much. I really was like a zone read quarterback. It was decent. I’ve got to look it up. I forgot. But I did my thing. (laughter)”
(QB Lamar Jackson style?) – “For sure. RG3. (laughter) That’s who I thought I was. (laughter)”
(Defending WR Will Fuller in the past, do you remember your reaction in March when you heard the Dolphins had signed him?) – “Yeah that game we played them in Houston, that was crazy. I was happy about the signing. I said there’s a lot of speed on offense. They’re going to open up a lot for a lot of guys on the ball.”
(WR Will Fuller was saying something about tracking those deep balls, that Randy Moss taught him to look up and not back at the quarterback. Is it a similar concept when you’re running side-by-side with him?) – “Right. Like he said, Randy Moss – wow, that’s crazy. I didn’t know that. Randy Moss taught him to look up? Yeah, that’s crazy; but that’s the mindset I have. I try to look up because the ball is in the air. Especially being in the NFL, a lot of guys like Russell Wilson are throwing moon balls, so you’ve got to be prepared for stuff like that.”
(Is there a moment where you have to train yourself or fight the urge to turn and jump for it?) – “I try to read the receiver also and sometimes if I’m on my sideline, everybody is yelling ‘Ball!’ and that gives me the leeway to look back also.”
Josh Boyer – September 14, 2021
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Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I wanted to ask you about the fumble production you guys got in the game and particularly the defensive backs. Three of the four forced fumbles came from defensive backs. I was just wondering if there was a coaching point or something you could tell us about how Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander and Cornerbacks Coach Charles Burks kind of get those guys coached up to get so many balls on the turf?) – “Well, I would say it’s one of those things that we work with all of our guys as a group. We start practice every day with the tackling/turnover circuit. The unique thing about that is all of our coaches coach all of our players. As we go through the circuit, which I’m sure you guys have seen out at practice, it could be a number of guys that are coaching different techniques. Obviously it’s something that we believe in very strongly. Our players believe in it. They work at it tremendously hard. We were able to see some production from that on Sunday.”
(I wanted to ask – obviously the Patriots started the game with a 35-yard run. Not how you wanted to start, and they had some success running the ball. When you look at the film, what stood out to you in terms of some of the success they had on the ground?) – “I would say the thing with the New England game is obviously we can coach it better. We can put the players in better spots. We could do better at our fundamentals and techniques. There were some good things out there and then there were some things that we need to improve. I would say the most important thing is that we’ve kind of turned the page on that game and we’ve moved our focus to Buffalo. It was good to get a win but one win isn’t going to get you anything in this league.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jaelan Phillips. He was in on only 22 plays the other day and I know he was limited throughout training camp. Given that he came into the draft recognized as such an outstanding pass rusher, was there thought given toward letting him focus on that to start his NFL career, and then gradually working the coverage skills, just to kind of let him show his skills right off the bat?) – “I think with all players, you expose them to a variety of different things and then ideally what you’d like to do is you’d like to utilize their talents to what they do best within the scheme or the structure of what we’re trying to do, given our game plan. Again, I thought Jaelan did some good things out there. I thought there were some things, like all of us, that we can improve. We’ve kind of put all of that stuff behind us and we’re full steam on Buffalo.”
(Speaking of Buffalo, from what you took away from that Steelers game, what was it that Pittsburgh did so well to stifle a Buffalo offense that was second in the NFL last year in passing yards and total yards and scoring?) – “I think one thing to take into consideration when you’re looking at Buffalo is they’re very much a game plan oriented offense. One week they could look different from the next. They’re going to attack what they perceive to be your weaknesses. In a given week, their game plans can look different and varied. Obviously they’re a very talented group. They’re very well coached. Brian Daboll is one of the best coordinators in the league. I would expect that we’ll see some different stuff than they showed in the Pittsburgh game. Obviously Pittsburgh, those guys defensively, they played well, they tackled well and they made plays when they needed to. But again, I would say each game with Buffalo is a very unique thing in and of itself.”
(I know we don’t like to look into the past too much but in the season finale game against Buffalo, it kind of stands out because you guys didn’t look like that at all last season. What were the lessons that you took that game that maybe you carried over to the offseason in terms of things that you needed to improve on? And how has that game sort of altered your approach?) – “I’d say this is 21 years of coaching for me and not all of them have gone exactly the way that you want them to go. I think your approach and the things that we believe in – fundamentals, techniques, taking it one play at a time – I don’t think that changes. I don’t think one game changes that. Obviously in some games, things go your way; in some games, they don’t. I think our approach is put the players in the best position to succeed and work hard to make sure that we’re doing that; and really focus on our fundamentals and our techniques, playing one good play at a time and doing it for 60 minutes because wins are very hard to come by in this league and we’re going to have to be at our best for an entire game. That’s kind of – the approach doesn’t really change. Hopefully that answers your question.”
(I think looking at Buffalo’s team, you can’t really look around QB Josh Allen and his ability to kind of be a dual-threat. I’m curious, teaching point wise, how do you try to teach your guys to defend both his legs and arm?) – “I think we’ve got to play good assignment football. Guys that are assigned to play the pass need to play the pass. The guys that are assigned to play the run or the quarterback scramble, they need to be able to play that. Obviously he does a good job when he’s running the ball and he does do a good job when he’s on the move of looking downfield and making plays there. He’s got guys that get open when he extends plays. It’s very challenging. I would say I go back to Brian Daboll and he puts them in very good schemes to make it very difficult to defend.”
(A philosophy question: the QB spy, some teams use it more depending on the style of quarterback and whatnot. What’s your thought on that style and when you decide to use it and when you don’t?) – “I think there’s a time and a place for everything. The game has been around for a long time. I think we’ve kind of seen it all and things go full cycle and I think you just pick out what you feel is best for the group that you have against the group that you’re going against. Without kind of saying too much on that, I think it really comes down to personnel, what they do, what we have and what we can do. I think there’s a number of different options that you have on that. Honestly, it really goes back to you’re just trying to put your players in the best position to succeed.”
(I know you guys had five cornerbacks active against the Patriots and obviously CB Noah Igbinoghene was a healthy scratch. I know you would say you’re probably just putting the best guys out there, but what does Noah need to show you in practice or wherever it may be for you to be comfortable having him active on game days and on the field?) – “Well, there are a lot of things that go into the decisions of who is active on game day. It’s not just the defense. There’s a kicking game element involved. Then obviously that’s ‘Flo’s (Brian Flores) job (from a) roster management (perspective) to let us know who we have available. I think Noah is working hard to get better. He had a good week of practice last week. Whether you guys see guys out on the field or not, the thing is always the same for us, we’re always trying to get players to be the best versions of themselves. Some weeks, players will be highlighted. They may have bigger roles than what they have in the following week, because we could be a little bit different week to week. He’s working hard. We’re happy with that and hopefully it continues and when guys get their opportunities, hopefully they’ll make the most of them.”
(Your thoughts on how DT John Jenkins held up playing more snaps with DT Raekwon Davis going down?) – “Like all of us, I think there were some good things out there and I think there were some things we could get a little bit better at. I thought John went in and did a good job. He’s a solid veteran for us. He gives us good leadership. I thought he played physical. I thought all of our guys played physical and they played hard. I think it’s my job to make sure we’re doing a better job of putting these guys in better situations so they can have success out there because I think all of those guys, they played hard and did a good job.”
(Considering QB Josh Allen’s success against man coverage last season, how critical will it be for you Sunday to throw different looks at him? More than just man coverage, but to mix in zone. I guess a follow up from that, is he the kind of guy that it doesn’t really matter how many different looks you throw at him, he’s just going to make a play? He’s just going to make plays throughout the game?) – “I think Josh Allen is a very good quarterback in this league. I think their offensive staff has done a great job with him. You can see his progression over the years and I would say Josh Allen plays the quarterback position as good as anybody. He does a really good job for them. He can read defenses. He makes good decisions. He’s got a strong arm. He can make all of the throws. I think what you try to do is what we try to do every week. You try to put pressure on the offensive line. You try to put pressure on the quarterback and obviously you don’t want to sit in the same thing over and over again because that will make it a little easy for him; but you also want to put your players in a good position to succeed. I think there is a variety of things that people have tried to do to him. He’s seen it all. He’s seen it all over the last handful of years and he’s obviously done a great job with that. We’ve got a big challenge in front of us this week.”
(Have you watched the tape of the season finale, the Buffalo game, at all since the week after it happened, over the last eight months? Will you and your players watch any of that this week?) – “Yeah, I’ve seen it several times. I’ve watched it quite a bit. You try to take as much as you can from each film that you watch. I think that’s just part of preparation. You like to study players, schemes, calls, all of those things that go into it as we’re game-planning and prepping this week. It’s definitely something that we look at.”
(Following up on a previous question, they scored 56 on your defense, which I’m sure you’re not used to at all. If you could change one thing for this upcoming game from that last go-around against Buffalo, what would that be?) – “That’s a good question. If I could change one thing – I just hope that I’m going to work a little bit harder, a little bit better, put the guys in better positions. You can play the what-if game all you want. You just try to study things and do what we believe in and try to put a sound game plan that the players can execute, and then really just take it one play at a time. I don’t know – living in the past, one way or the other, I’ve been a part of championship teams, I’ve been a part of losses. At the end of the day, none of those mean anything this Sunday. What means something is our preparation, our work going into the week to put ourselves in the best position to succeed.”
George Godsey – September 14, 2021
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Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Co-Offensive Coordinator/TE Coach George Godsey
(I wanted to ask you a QB Tua Tagovailoa related question. In your view, where is he in his ability to go through his progressions, and if the first option isn’t the right option, where is he in his ability to look off that player and go to option two, option three, even if he’s under duress?) – “I think that’s the position and it’s a very complicated equation. He’s growing each day. There’s a lot of different defenses we see and a lot of different personnel groupings and ways to strategically align that. When you combine our play with the amount of defenses that are possible, there are a lot of variables. We try to give him as many looks as possible; but ultimately when we get to game day, there is probably a new look we’re going to have to discern and make quick decisions. We harp on that with him, and he knows that. It’s a matter of being decisive. We try to give him as many looks of that in practice and move forward from there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the scoring on opening drives of halves. What made you guys so successful coming out of the first half and the second half with a touchdown scoring drive, and what changes when it goes from that first drive? Are there adjustments in play that changes things going forward?) – “The first drive, our players really executed. We had a third down where we were on the ball and executed that to continue the drive. We had a big play on a run and when we got the ball in the red area, we punched it in. It was well executed by the players and obviously Tua (Tagovailoa) leads that group. He did a good job of getting us in the right plays there. And then New England made a couple adjustments that kept us from moving the ball on another drive. I think there are a lot of factors in that. Both sides were playing this game behind the game. They did a good job adjusting and then it took us a little bit to get adjusted from there. We scored right before half and then in the second half, we made some adjustments there that we were able to score on the first drive there. It was a little bit of back and forth and that’s how we feel every NFL game is. There are good coaches, there are good players and it’s difficult out there at times.”
(I have a question for you regarding just vertical passes in general, in particular the 36-yard pass from QB Tua Tagovailoa to WR Jaylen Waddle. He came back on a back-shoulder type of throw and it looked like he had a step on top of the defender. I was curious what the rules or the teaching points are on that particular type of look where you get the step and they try to make an adjustment for back shoulder or to go vertical over the top. How do he and Jaylen communicate what to do on that particular look?) – “That really comes from practice quite a bit. In that look, (Devin) McCourty was tilted over to where (Mike) Gesicki was on the single receiver side. That put the three receivers in a one-on-one situation where the longer it travels, the more accurate we’ve got to be because the ball hangs up in the air for everybody to see what angle it’s coming down. Jaylen did a good job of adjusting to it. It was a big play. It was a play that got us eventually for some points. It changed the field position and it was a tough throw. It was an inside fade is really what we call it. It was good to see that ball get connected.”
(Overall, what was your impression of the performance of the offensive line. You guys had a mixed bag of running the ball but I know in that first possession, you were able to get RB Myles Gaskin open on a third-down run running out of the pistol. As opposed to running out of the shotgun, how do you think that benefits your offense and particularly the offensive line?) – “Just overall with the offensive line, we were able to run the ball at times. It’s hard when you’re looking at an average and you take three knees at the end of the game. That average can kind of get a little skewed. Those guys know there are some opportunities there for some bigger plays. In the pass protection, that’s a good pass rush front. That group will cause some problems during the year for sure. For our situation at line, being able to handle some changes there during the week, and be effective and give us enough time to distribute the ball, we think that group needs to continue to improve but it was a good first outing. As far as the pistol is concerned, it’s another alignment that we look at. Some teams look at it as a back in the back field, other teams still look at it as a (shot)gun. For us, it’s just another formation. Our guys have done a good job of ball-handling to make sure we can execute that when we need to call that. On that particular play, it was well blocked for us to get the 15-yard run.”
(I wanted to ask you about G/T Jesse Davis and how important his maturity and leadership is for this young line. The second part of that question is are you a buyer into the theory that the right tackle is the most important lineman for a left-handed quarterback?) – “First off, you hit it on the head with Jesse as far as leadership and maturity. Keeping that group flat-lined is what we say – not too high, not too low. They pretty much carry the offense because they have to be able to get a body on a body in the run game and then protect for the quarterback. Jesse has a lot of experience in the division. He has a good wealth of knowledge to provide to a lot of those younger guys; but also at other positions because he’s communicating with the tight end too. He’s a big piece of our unit and we’re happy to have him and thankful we got him. We think that both of those tackles are very important – both left and right. There are so many things that kind of go on with the scheme with play action and RPOs, point of attack runs, backside runs, that Jesse’s a big piece, Austin (Jackson) is a big piece, Liam (Eichenberg) is a big piece. From outside in, a lot of times that’s where the pocket gets crushed. If we can be firm on the outside, obviously we’ve got to be firm on the inside for the quarterback. That can provide us with a little bit more windows to see left and right on the edge or on the perimeter.”
(We saw it a little bit with WR Jaylen Waddle this past week. Obviously you guys get WR Will Fuller back this week. What impact do you anticipate his speed and the combo of his and Jaylen’s speed will have for the offense?) – “Will has been a high performer in his career. We’re excited to get him back. For Will, I know he’s excited. He’s been itching at the bit. He had a little bit of a setback with an injury, but now he’s back out there – with the suspension too. It’ll be good to see him out there in practice and fitting him in. That group, we’ve got a lot of weapons. Moving them around, getting them open versus certain matchups, and really the catch and run element especially with Will is a factor with his speed. They’ve got to do their job in the run game, but when they’re called on in the passing game to get open, they are an important piece for creating those big plays and putting points on the board.”
(You had some success early with up-tempo, especially in that first drive. Did you get to it as much as you ideally wanted to? And how much does time of possession factor how much you go up-tempo? When it was as lopsided as it was in the second half, are you reluctant to go up-tempo in a close game with that gap in time of possession against you?) – “You pretty much hit on all of the questions that go through our head as we’re going through that. There are some situations where we will go up-tempo, whether it’s a positive or negative play. The three-and-outs are some of the things we talk to the group about, about eliminating those. If we can eliminate those three three-and-outs – there are some self-inflicting plays and then there are also some things we’ve got to do from a coaching staff to get them in a better position. We really want to keep moving those chains and when we can get into third-and-manageable, convert those. The more opportunities we have on normal downs, the more opportunities we have to use or not use the tempo.”
(Looking ahead a little bit to Buffalo, I don’t know how deep you’ve gotten into their film or into Sunday’s game, but was there anything you saw from this defense that strikes you as different from what you’ve seen from them in years past?) – “It’s a fast defense. They make a lot of plays. They tackle you when they need to make the one-on-one tackle. Every throw seems to be contested. They do a good job with their scheme of changing in and out of certain coverages so they are not predictable. They had a hell of a year last year and they held Pittsburgh to limited yards in the first half. This is the same defense that’s been as productive as it’s been in past years. We have a big challenge. We have a big challenge up front. The linebackers obviously have played a lot of football. They play every down. Then their DBs have a wealth of experience and a lot of people know every one of those DBs, regardless of what team they cheer for. There is a reason why they are a good defense. They play hard for 60 minutes and we’ve got our work cut out for us. From our perspective, I wouldn’t say we’re just getting ready to know them because they are in our conference, so we do have some familiarity. But early in the week is a very important part to setting the game plan for Sunday.”
(How you utilized the three running backs, did you like the carries/touch distribution? Would you have wanted to get RB Myles Gaskin more carries after he had five on the opening drive and only four the rest of the way and was averaging over five per attempt?) – “It goes back to (a previous question) about holding onto the ball a little bit more and having more time of possession to where we get the opportunities. We feel like that group, we have a lot of depth at the running back position, the tight end position and at the receiver position. There is only one ball out there. We know that. There is a point where we want to make sure that those guys all get their opportunities. At the end of the game, there was some good running by Malcolm (Brown). Early in the game, like you said about Myles, we had some critical runs there and plays from Salvon (Ahmed). That group knows it’s by committee. The same thing with the tight ends and the receivers. There is no ego in that room, which as a coach, we love that about those guys. We love coaching them. They know that when their number is called on, that their job is to perform and that group continues to do that regardless of which one of those guys are getting the ball.”
(This is the first time we’ve got to see the fullness of your guys’ new offense. What stood out to you about the operation process and the final result of what we saw?) – “From an operation standpoint, it was pretty clean from our perspective. We were playing on the road. That environment is not an easy environment. We saw a lot of teams here in this first week where maybe it wasn’t as clean with let’s just say line of scrimmage penalties, delay of games, in and out of the huddle, having to call timeouts. That part of it, Tua (Tagovailoa) did an excellent job of getting us from coach to quarterback, to huddle, to the line of scrimmage. Then we know we left some plays out there. It’s the first week, thankfully. We’ve got some room to improve and that’s the way we want to look at it. We want to improve each week. We’ve got to eliminate the turnover and be 100 percent ball security. We know we can do some better things in the run game and in the pass game. Fortunately we get another opportunity here coming up and again it’s against a very formidable opponent. We need to be correcting the mistakes now and making sure by Sunday that those fires are put out.”
Danny Crossman – September 14, 2021
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Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(Obviously you can never go wrong with WR Jakeem Grant as your returner because he’s done a great job with it over many years; but I was wondering was that a clear-cut decision for you or did WR Jaylen Waddle’s presence on the team make it a difficult decision where it could have gone either way?) – “We’re just looking for the best players. The more guys you can have that can do multiple things, you’re going to be happy. We have multiple guys who we feel very confident in the return game. Obviously Jakeem has had an outstanding career so far and we think he has a lot more to give. We think we’ve got a couple of young guys who also have a chance to be really outstanding.”
(I wanted to ask you about the good old term hidden yardage. I know we had the one chipped kickoff that you pinned them deep on. Just overall, how did you feel you guys performed in winning the hidden yardage battle?) – “As you guys know, we did some good things but we can always be a lot better. I thought we missed a couple of opportunities for some better players to even help more in that field position battle. Overall, I thought the guys played hard. We’ll hopefully build on that this week.”
(Obviously you have a lot of returning players on your coverage team, but among new guys that you had for the first time in coverage, who comes to mind as a couple who stood out with their coverage work on Sunday?) – “I think some of the guys that have played in other places and have some experience from around the league, who we had evaluated as guys that could help like (Brennan) Scarlett and players like that; they came in and did what we expected them to do. Duke Riley and the guys that have some experience performed at a level that we had anticipated they would. Those expectations are based on past experiences.”
(Just your thoughts on P Michael Palardy’s punts on Sunday. And the one that ended up going into the end zone, I think I saw WR Mack Hollins kind of signal to him like “my bad.” Should he have gotten that one?) – “It’s hard to say. You’d like to say you make all of those plays; but you give their club and their returner some credit for doing a good job with what he did on the particular play to try to get Mack to hesitate. But yes, in those situations, those are plays again where we need to find a way to make those plays to help ourselves in the field position battle.”
