Transcripts

Calais Campbell – November 14, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 14, 2024

DT Calais Campbell

(Head Coach Mike McDaniel had a lot of praise for you yesterday. How good does it feel when you hear him call you the Tom Brady of defense linemen?) – “It feels good. I’m glad that Coach (McDaniel) believes in me. I’m glad I’m here and I’m still able to play this game I love. Obviously this is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ business and I’ve got to go out there and perform again this week. Otherwise it’s a different tune, that’s just how it goes. I’ve learned that through my experience, but it is cool to see Coach show a lot of love though.”

(What is your reaction when you hear so many people surprised that you’re playing at this level this far into your season?) – “Well I work really hard, so I’m not surprised. I feel like my preparation and just the dedication I put into this game, I expected to do well. If I can’t go out there and dominate, I don’t think I’m going to play anymore. I want to play at an elite level and so I definitely put the time and effort to do that, so it feels good to be able to do it and other people recognizing it is nice, too, but at the end of the day, it’s got to carry over to winning ball games.”

(During the broadcast on Monday I think from their production meeting either Joe Buck or Troy Aikman said that you mentioned you’re treating this year like your last. Do you think this year could be your last? You’ve played so well. Do you think you want to squeeze another year or two out of yourself?) – “I’ve always been in the mindset of leave everything on the field, burn rubber and just go as hard as I can go, and then when the offseason comes, I figure out next year when that comes. That’s how it’s been quite of a few of the last few years. Next year doesn’t even exist to me right now, so I’m playing this year as if it’s my last and I’m trying to do everything I can to empty the tank and give the game my all. If the offseason comes around and I feel good still, then we’ll figure it out then.”

(Can you think one thing that Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver says or does in his approach that is a little bit unique?) – “I don’t know, I think having a player experience – he played eight years in the league – I think that helps him a little bit just being relatable and communicating to the guys. I think he has a good balance of showing love and then kind of being hard on guys and just trying to find that balance of encouragement and then accountability, but he does a great job. He’s a phenomenal coach, great leader. I think his passion for the game and his desire to win is what separates him, which I think everybody that does anything wants that but he just does it at an elite level.”

(He’ll be a head coach?) – “Oh yeah, without a doubt in my mind. Very soon and I think he’ll be a great head coach.”

(Was there ever a moment on the sideline for you guys where you guys are just chilling without talking to each other, just relaxing? Because I haven’t seen it yet.) – “That’s not really football. (laughter) We’re relaxing in the offseason and maybe on the day off, get a little relax time, but while there’s time on the clock, we’re always working to figure out how we can be better. I’ll get a little oxygen to catch my breath, but no, we’re always trying to figure out how we can win a ball game. This year we gave up 10-point leads multiple times and have to fight and claw back from behind, so you realize just every moment is precious and you have to always be working towards winning the ball game.”

(How much do you set the tone for younger guys with that type of thought because I see everybody engaged?) – “Yeah, it’s important. That’s part of my role is to set the tone and be an example for the young guys, a mentorship role and just making sure I communicate to them like what it takes to be successful and be a pro. We have a lot of young guys that we’re dependent on and they’ve been playing really good ball for us, but you got to stay on them. You can’t relax. This is a long season. You get 17 games guaranteed as a team and the goal is to be able to get to the playoffs with that. We dug ourselves into a big hole so our margin for error is already very low, so we don’t have time to try to go through growing pains anymore. We have to be on point.”

(You had a year with DeShon Elliott in Baltimore. You’re on this year’s Dolphins team now. What did you think when you heard his comments about last year’s team – a lot of players which are now on this team – that last year’s team was soft?) – “Anybody can say anything. Define ‘soft’ – I think the guys I’m going to war with every day, I believe in. I know they’re tough and we’re going to show it. Just we’re in a critical part of our season and I feel like guys are locking in and building that mental toughness you need to go and make a run. At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t do anything though, but DeShon (Elliott), a guy I like, a guy that was a good teammate when I was teammates with him; his opinion for us doesn’t matter. His opinion, it means nothing to me.”

Tyreek Hill – November 14, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 14, 2024

WR Tyreek Hill

(As you’ve gone through everything with the wrist, has surgery ever been a consideration? Will you need do you think at some point?) – “Yeah, but I’ve been talking to a lot of people about this particular injury. At the end of the day, I just got to suck it up and just deal with the pain. It’s going to get worse the more I play, but I got get it out for my team. I’m here, I’m locked in no matter what, no matter how I feel. So even if I’ve got to cut my wrist off, I’m still out there because I love the game of football. Surgery was brought up and it was talked about whenever I talked to a few of the doctors, but it’s my call at the end of the day and my call is to stay out on the field.”

(Is it likely going to be needed in the offseason? Or does it depend on how it heals?) – “When that time comes around, I’m sure I’ll be in a good space to make that decision, but right now I’m not going to just give you a straight-out answer.”

(Everybody knows your obvious talent, the No. 1 player in the league voted by your peers. When you look at your numbers this year, what do you think?) – “I feel like for me, I feel like I took a step forward in my game. Our position coach, he has helped me develop becoming a full receiver which is blocking, being stronger at the catch point, running precise routes and stuff like that. A lot of people look at the numbers and say, ‘Oh, he was this and that,’ but I feel like as a player, I’ve gotten better. As a leader, I’ve gotten better, and I just feel like I’ve gotten better in that sense.”

(The constant two-high safety defenses, is that just taking away the deep passes this year?) – “I wouldn’t say that because there are ways, there are plays that you can build to go deep, man, But whenever that time comes, it’ll come. If we’ve got to run the ball 40 times to make teams believe we’re going to run the ball, then me and ‘J-Dub’ (Jaylen Waddle) – well, I’m going to speak for myself, Imma block my tail off.”

(What did that TE Jonnu Smith play, breaking tackles, getting down to the one-yard line, what’d that do for you? How did you react to that?) – “I was turned up, bruh. I like to see Jonnu (Smith), man, big play ability. That’s something we’ve been waiting on all year from Jonnu. He put it on tape with the Falcons, he put it on tape with the Titans and for him to be able to continue to make plays in this league like that, running through linebackers is impressive for a guy his size. I told him, ‘Look man, you got to find a way next time because you gave me the touchdown. I appreciate it though.’”

(To get the story straight with the injury from the beginning, what was the original injury going back to the preseason?) – “It was just like a small, little wrist injury. Nothing too crazy.”

(And then it got aggravated in the Week 1 detainment?) – “No, I wouldn’t say – I’d say Commanders week, when we had that joint practice; red zone play.”

Frank Smith – November 14, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith

(Could you please explain why the team claimed TE Jack Stoll?) – “It was like always when you’re going through the process of the season, when guys appear on the wire and you’re able to claim them, the opportunity presented itself. Sometimes guys are available and you just don’t have roster space because of needs of the week, and when you have the extra space, you’re able to acquire a guy, maybe that you weren’t necessarily thinking tight end or whatever. But yeah, we’re excited to be able to have him here and look forward to adding him to the roster.”

(His skill set, could you address what he does well?) – “When you look for big athletes at tight end, guys who move well, blocking, special teams, he has a versatility that helps us at the position gain depth and ultimately impact in all three phases of what a tight end we’re going to ask him to do.”

(Did you see Associate Head Coach/Tight Ends Coach Jon Embree’s reaction after that TE Jonnu Smith play? And what was yours? Did you jump out of your seat there?) – “Yeah, I can’t say what I said in the press box. (laughter) So the greatest thing about Jonnu (Smith) is that’s the value he adds to the team. You have the wide receiver skill set, when you the tight end skill set that once you get the ball in their hands, they wreck shop, it’s fun to watch.”

(How do you evaluate the inline blocking from the tight end position so far this season?) – “I think that early in the season, there were certain things that we had to improve on and we’ve gotten better at it. I don’t really take a whole lot of stock into other outside opinions into what they say or what that is. The reality is what we see and what we’re asking to do, so when you man reach at the point of attack and put No. 97 in the dirt by yourself, that’s pretty good – that’s hard to do. Or you take No. 8, one of their better players and you’re able to stretch and move him to on the numbers to outside, that’s not easy to do at the position. So ultimately for me, Julian (Hill) particularly, his growth has been in the last month is good, especially coming back off the shoulder, and Durham (Smythe) is doing what we ask him to do and playing off, especially last week when we needed it with Julian down. And then Jonnu (Smith) is really growing in that role now with the pass game, all the variables, that’s always hardest for the pass game tight end. So overall, I think our guys are doing what we’re asking them to do. There’s been a lot of growth in the last month and I think we’re going to use that to build in the next part of the season.”

(The identity of this offense last year, last couple of years was speed, quick strike, downfield and it seems to be taken away, is that how you’d explain why you’re not getting the downfield passes? Are defenses just saying, “We’re not going to let that happen?”) – “I think ultimately our job is to score points and win the game, and how we do that – one year you’d say, ‘Hey, you do this,’ another year, ‘OK, are we moving the ball and efficient and scoring points?’ The thing ultimately, if defenses are defending in a way that you can get four-play drives to touchdowns, great off of explosive plays. If they’re trying to mitigate that, now we have to work and maybe have more efficiency as we go down the field, then that’s the way it’s got to play. I think that’s the good thing that we’ve seen lately is if they’re trying to defend the deep part of the field and trying to take areas away, they’re also vulnerable in other areas. I think that’s the growth that a lot of us have seen here in the last month is that we’re attacking the defense, and each week we sometimes get different things than other teams and that’s where we have to adjust. I think our guys have done a great job expecting to know that you can’t rely on just one thing. The variabilities that we’ll see will take all of us to work together to get it done, so I think that’s the goal.”

(How would you assess T Kendall Lamm starting at right tackle?) – “I think he was executing what we’re asking him to do, worked well with Liam (Eichenberg). There’s a couple things though I know that run game wise later in the game, there’s stuff we did earlier in the first half that I’ll look at as coaching that we could have gotten back to that we had. We had that bigger run that was 15 yards off the outside zone that we didn’t get back to. We got to its complement off inside zone that gained five or six. Going back to a couple things earlier that worked, but ultimately, I think Kendall stepped up – Monday Night Football, as the line did and they’re executing the game plan against a very good defensive line that I think in about two or three years, a couple of those guys will be high-profile guys in the league because they’re rookies this year.”

(Do you think you’ll have OL Isaiah Wynn available this week?) – “As far as availability, when guys are cleared through all the medical process, they’ll be available. I don’t really have timelines for that as far as when or where, it’s just what are we able to do for the game and who’s available? We’ll decide after we get through Friday, Saturday.”

(What are you thinking for OL Isaiah Wynn when he does become available?) – “I think when he becomes available, we’ll look at where we’re at. Sometimes if you’re completely healthy, how does it work, and if you have natural parts of the season where you’re sitting there, you’re going like, ‘OK, wow. This is the fit.’ So I think ultimately it’s when he’s ready to go and all those things are a part of the process. We’ll have to evaluate where we’re at completely, whether that’s this week, next week, whatever as we go.”

(If I would have told you at the start of the season that WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill would have averaged a combine 91 yards to start the season, what would you have said?) – “I think that would have been like, ‘Yikes. OK, there’s certain things that must be occurring.’ It’s not as limited to, ‘OK, why did that happen?’ And then when you look at our season, you wouldn’t say it’s really been normal so far; at the beginning, there are a lot of things that took place. I would say that if that’s how this starts at beginning, how do we end? You can either say, ‘The beginning,’ and that’s defining of who you are, or you say, ‘All right, how do we finish?’ That’s the important thing for this year is to build upon what we’ve learned to make sure we maximize it each week, and we’ll need it this week versus the Raiders.”

(A football player is never going to come out and say, “Yeah I’m injured and that’s why my performance is suffering,” you just don’t hear that. But given that WR Tyreek Hill has a wrist injury, how much is that affecting his performance do you think?) – “I think like you said, guys are always dealing with certain things and they’re the measuring stick as to knowing their bodies and when they can go and perform. Ultimately, you trust their ability to know themselves and when they can go out to perform and when they can’t. But you got to credit to him for, like everything, the NFL season is not easy and each week presents a new challenge. For him to be able to be pushing through all the things and giving his best week-in, week-out, there’s nothing more you can ask for as a coach.”

(I know you guys don’t want to make excuses, but it occurs to me that this is the longest time QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle have been together, right? Because training camp Tua had the hold-in, Tyreek had the thumb, I think Waddle had the hamstring or whatever, then Tua gets the concussion. Is that accurate and does that serve as kind of good things are to come as they spend more time together?) – “I love the optimism. (laughter) I think ultimately, yeah – there’s truth in whatever you’ll give yourself. However we are what we are record wise, we are where we’re at in the season, and now we’ve got to band together and continue to make each day count as we want to get back into a real competitive fight within the division and the AFC. So I think that each week that we can get continuity always helps and ultimately, when you go through the adversity, what did you learn, how does it help you for each week because when things are easy, you go through prosperity – that’s sometimes more challenging that adversity. It’s a different kind of push, so this year the adversity, we learned a lot and then make sure now we’re using each week as we’re playing together to get back in the hunt.”

(I wanted to ask you about T Patrick Paul in terms of his development. Knowing he’s one of the biggest offensive linemen I’ve ever seen, probably just under Bryant McKinnie. Is it more beneficial for him to cross train and play right tackle or more beneficial to cross train and work as left guard because you have limited options at both spots?) – “Interesting question. I would think that for us, it’s like the range and the length really bodes well to outside because it’s the foot, the ability to kick and to cover space that bodes well to playing tackle. So it’s better in that realm to be flexing on both sides as opposed to some guys who have different skill sets (that) we can move more inside and they can stay on their side. So when you have to flip sides, it cerates a little bit more stress because it’s one side versus the other, dominant foot and non-dominant, all kinds of stuff like that. He’s embracing it, but I think for him it’s tackle to tackle where we’re going to keep him.”

(What did you think of OL Lester Cotton getting thrown in there? And you’re confident in him if he has to start this week?) – “Yeah, he came in and was executing. It’s always hard when you come out in the middle of the game to get into the swing of things before. We have confidence in him and all the other guys, and the biggest thing is as we get through the week, make sure we have the guys who are ready to go and they’re connected in the game plan and communicating together.”

(Going back to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that they have still made an impact even when the ball isn’t in their hands, whether that’s blocking or whatever.) – “That’s correct.”

(Is that something that you guys have had to ask them to do more of or is that them volunteering to kind of take on more outside of the regular ball catching duty?) – “It’s them being great teammates for the rest of the guys around them and knowing that coverages, defenses we’re getting, our ability to block and run the football helps change coverages if you’re able to block and do all those things. They’ve been outstanding in their willingness to do it and the different forms of stuff we’ve been asking them to do.”

(I liked OL Liam Eichenberg’s penalty that he drew.) – “Liam (Eichenberg) is a funny guy.”

(I don’t get to hear what he says, it seems that he annoys the opponent. Is that right?) – “I don’t know exactly due to me being in the fishbowl watching the game way up high, but his intensity and the way he plays, I’m sure he has fun with the process. I don’t know exactly but I can imagine.”

(He claimed there was no acting on that play, that he actually did headbutt him pretty hard. If you had a close friend, who maybe wasn’t an intense football fan but just came to you and asked, “So when QB Tua Tagovailoa throws an interception—”) – “That doesn’t sound like a friend I’d have though, Barry. (laughter)”

(OK someone who’s not an intense football fan, maybe someone who’s a marginal fan, and he asks you–) – “Still doesn’t sound like somebody I’d be around.”

(When QB Tua Tagovailoa throws a pick, why don’t you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel tell him, “Either avoid the play altogether with making a tackle, or merely push him out of bounds but do nothing else that doesn’t involve your hands.” What would your answer be to him as to why the organization does not tell him to do that?) – “I’d be like, ‘This is why I don’t have friends who are marginal football fans.’ (laughter) We covered that topic and the guys have too. Ultimately, our goal is to not have turnovers, and if we don’t have turnovers and we’re working together we can avoid these situations of what ifs. I think ultimately, our goal is to play turnover-free football, penalty-free football and that’s the goal, and be efficient in what we do if we do that, we can avoid certain things and we’ll be OK.”

(On the touchdown to WR Tyreek Hill, he mentioned that he acted like he was going to block. That’s usually like a tight end type of deal, right? That’s how you affect the game?) – “Yeah, when you’re down in the red zone and you’re trying to run the ball in in sets that look like you’re running the football, that bodes well to quick play action. So I think that’s the other thing like we’re talking about when you’re getting engaged in blocking and all those areas, do you now get opportunities that tight ends would normally get because of our blocking stuff? So yeah that was a play we’ve had up for – I think it was up the week or two before, and it was a perfectly called at the time just because they we’re going big personnel group, trying to stop the run and a run-action made it a great execution by ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) to get the ball and all the guys to score.”

Anthony Weaver – November 14, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver

(I’m sure we’ll have a lot of questions about the great job you and the group did on Monday, but just to get one housekeeping thing out of the way, did David Long Jr. ask for his release or did he express to you, Head Coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier that he would prefer to be in a place where he could play?) – “I think that was just a team decision. Obviously we have a tremendous amount of love and respect for ‘Dave’ (David Long Jr.). He is a starting-caliber NFL backer and at this particular time we know we chose to go with ‘Walk’ (Anthony Walker Jr.) so it was probably the best move for just all parties involved. It gives him a chance to continue his NFL career and go flourish elsewhere but incredibly grateful for his time here for sure.”

(Did he ask for his release?) – “That I don’t know. You’d have to talk to – that’s above my paygrade.”

(With LB Tyrel Dodson what do you think that he can add to this defense?) – “I think the first thing is that he has scheme familiarity coming from Seattle, right, with the defense that Mike (Macdonald) installed and he’s a playmaker, right? You’ve seen it on tape. He flies around, he hunts the football, and he can contribute on special teams, too. So he introduced himself to the defense and you could feel his energy and his passion, and any time you’ve got guys that have that on defense, those are the type of guys you’re looking for.”

(What kind of chip on your shoulder do you get when you’re waived as the leading tackler from another team?) – “I couldn’t tell you. It’s never happened to me, but any time you get fired or released or cut from a job, I imagine you have a chip, right, that I don’t care what profession you’re in. I imagine he wished Seattle was still on our schedule and we hadn’t played them already and that’s usually when those things become most apparent.”

(Obviously going without CB Kendall Fuller now Sunday and perhaps beyond, has CB Cam Smith done enough – this is kind of like what I asked you last week – but has Cam done enough where you say, going into this game, “he is our third corner with CB Kader Kohou and with CB Jalen Ramsey” or have the struggles been such that you open up the competition and say “we need a fresh look in CB Storm Duck, CB Ethan Bonner and CB Siran Neal”?) – “I don’t necessarily think it’s a struggle for Cam. I just think you’re just going through some growing pains from a younger player. Who plays in place of Kendall (Fuller), I think it’s very much a competition. Prior too, guys like Storm (Duck) were hurt. Storm Duck was hurt, Kader Kohou was hurt. So Cam went out there and did a an admirable job, right, especially just considering how much practice time he had missed, so that competition in that position will certainly be up for grabs this week. We’ll look how the guys compete throughout the week and I expect him to be near the top because that’s the type of guy that he is. He’s going to go out there and give everything he has to earn that starting spot.”

(I have a question about Tampa 2 coverage. It seems like it’s more prominent now than it has been in recent years after it was really popular in the early 2000s. Is that accurate and why do you think it’s more popular now?) – “I don’t know from a numbers standpoint where it is in the league. All you’re ever trying to do is try to figure out conceptually what you’re getting from a route standpoint and put as many bodies in those windows to try to dissuade those routes. I think it’s one of those coverages where you can get to it from a variety of different ways and sometimes when you’re maneuvering the safeties and showing the middle close and then all of a sudden it’s open, showing (Cover) 0 and then all of a sudden it’s Tampa 2, there’s a bunch of things you can do to essentially slow the quarterback’s decision-making down a little bit when you can play Tampa variations and then mix it with some middle close zones and fire zones and things of that nature.”

(So CB Storm Duck was cleared, good to go at the point to the injury report but then he was still inactive. Was that still maybe dealing with some remnants of the ankle issue?) – “Yeah, I think it’s one of those things where he’s still very much trying to get confidence back in that ankle. But we see from a competition standpoint, we see the same guy he’s always been. He’s going out there, he’s working, trying to work through it. At that particular time we just felt like with Cam (Smith), he’s got a number of reps. He went out there and did, again, a very serviceable job versus Buffalo so we felt confident with him going in that last game.”

(What pleased you most when you studied the film in a game in which you held the Rams without a touchdown?) – “I was just most pleased with just the collective effort of the group, particularly the situation where we were at. You’re sitting at 2-6. You had every opportunity to go across the country and feel bad for yourself, but our guys didn’t do that. They answered the call. They stuck together, they endured and I think we went out there and had our best performance to date so I applaud those guys. We have a bunch of grown men who are willing to look adversity straight in the face and throw their best punch.”

(What did you see from a communication standpoint?) – “Yeah, again, I think on all levels it was our best game to date. It obviously helps, you have some connectivity there with guys that have played a bunch of ball – with Kader Kohou coming back, Jevón Holland, Zach Sieler. Outside of the players that they are, there’s just so many cumulative reps that they’ve all played in meaningful games. So when you get those guys back and it’s a guy on every level, obviously that’s going to help step up your communication, too, so I think it was certainly our best game to date. We had very minimal errors and the ones we did have really didn’t hurt us.”

(What do you think when you look at Raiders TE Brock Bowers for them and maybe ways to defend that tight end?) – “Oh man, that guy, I’ll tell you what. I don’t want to slap ‘Rookie of the Year’ on him yet, but he is an absolute force. He as a tight end – shoot, you could probably put him a tailback, you can play him anywhere you want. So we’ve certainly got to account for him the entire day, particularly in critical situations. You have to think that (he is) a guy that he’s going to target, but what an incredible player. I look forward to just seeing the trajectory of career and where he goes.”

(Back to CB Kader Kohou for a second, I noticed some reps where he was peeling off into the deep path on some of your two-high looks and I was wondering what is the process for trying to decipher how much a player can put on their plate? Because he’s played inside, he’s played outside, he’s getting back at some depth now. Like what goes into that process of deciding if guys can do that?) – “That’s certainly something you’re trying to figure out all throughout the offseason. We tried very much to – when we’re installing to our players – we try to teach part to whole, so we don’t just try to pigeonhole and say like, ‘you’re just a nickel.’ We try to learn like, ‘here’s a curl flat technique, here’s a seam-and-a-half technique, here’s a three-hole technique.’ And we teach everybody the jobs. And then whoever can learn the bulk of those jobs and as many of them as they can retain, we’re like, ‘All right, this guy we can do a bunch with. Like he can play all these techniques fairly well.’ So the more our guys understand the big picture of what we’re trying to do conceptually, the more problems we can present to an offense because we’re able to morph and they can’t just say like, ‘That’s the nickel. He always does this.’ ‘Jalen Ramsey, he’s a corner, he always does this.’ You have no idea where our guys are going to be which I think is what makes it hard to play offense against us.”

(Would it be fair to say that this team is kind of sort of morphing into a defensive team?) – “No, no, I’m not saying that. We have a tremendous amount of pride on our side of ball obviously and every time we go out there, we have a standard that we expect to live up to. We don’t want people to score. But with the talent we have on the other side of the ball, we are very much a team. So to say that we’re an offensive or defensive team, I don’t think that’s fair at all. We’re just trying to make sure we hold up our end of the bargain come game day.”

(How do you guys carry over the momentum from Monday to next week?) – “This league is about enduring and getting better. I talked to the guys about just having faith in the middle of the season. It’s so long and it’s so grueling that it exposes the frauds and if you’re not willing to push yourself and constantly get better throughout, then you’ll have a failing season in the end. So while our record certainly isn’t what we want, I told the guys like, ‘if you thought we were a playoff team coming into the year, then raise your hand.’ I was like, ‘well, the playoffs just started a little bit sooner for us.’ So we got some pieces back, we got our quarterback out there and let’s go on a run. So we’re not overlooking the Raiders by any means and right now, we have a very magnified focus on our opponent ahead.”

(DeShon Elliott said that this team was soft last year. I know you weren’t here. Has that come up in meetings? Do you want your team to take that to heart or just kind of disregard it?) – “I know DeShon. Obviously respect who he is as a player. I don’t think any man that walks on that field and plays this game is ‘soft.’ So I know the guys in that locker room. I know the passion and the physicality and the tenacity that they play with. So the fact that he feels that way, hey, God bless him, but we have an opportunity to go and get rid of that whatever, ‘softness’ phrase or whatever the heck he wants to say. We get an opportunity every Sunday to change that.”

(There is a different brand of football in the AFC North. I think everybody understands that…) – “Yeah, because what is there to do in those towns? (laughter) Going to go eat crab cakes. Of course, you’re going to play football and go eat crab cakes. What else are you going to do? Of course it’s a different brand of football. I’m joking. I’m never going to be welcome back to Baltimore again. (laughter)”

(Why is it different football in that division?) – “I think it probably starts with just the majority of the teams in that division when you think about the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals; for the most part, they’ve had consistency. Both from a head coaching standpoint and a front office standpoint, so how those teams have been built has been consistent for a number of decades now, right? The one exception in that division is the Browns, and they’ve had the issues they’ve had probably as a result. So I think that’s probably the biggest reason that their style of play has been consistent. Now, if you had turnover in the front office and people came in with different philosophies, then maybe it changes, but when you have Ozzie Newsome and I forget who the new guy in Pittsburgh is, and Mike Tomlin is still there, obviously, like they have very clear visions and philosophies of how they want their teams to be built. And I think that’s the type of brand of football they’re all looking to play.”

(When a player isn’t being exactly what you want from a scheme perspective, a technique perspective, an assignment perspective or maybe they’re on the verge of being benched or losing playing time, what approach do you take in the communication with guys who maybe aren’t doing their best?) – “I think you do everything within your power first to coach and to teach and try to find if one way is not working where you’re not getting through to them to get them to execute the job that you want them to do, you go through multiple facets to try to get that done. If you can’t, that’s when you start exploring other options to then make a change. The one thing we’re never going to do here is give up on a player. So we’ll do everything within our abilities to try to get them to go out there and communicate and execute at a high level.”

(LB Quinton Bell got an increase in defensive snaps, got the sack of course. It seems like those snaps came at the expense of LB Tyus Bowser’s a little bit. What led to the decisions on playing time on the edge?) – “I don’t know if it came really at the expense of anybody. The plan going in was to roll those guys a little bit more just because we all believe they had earned it. They go out there and they’d shown it throughout the week of practice, particularly ‘Q’ (Quinton Bell), Tyus (Bowser), (Emmanuel) Ogbah, Chop (Robinson) – all those guys – they push each other to get better and I think collectively that room is getting better as a result. So to have any of those guys just sitting on the bench I think does a disservice to the team, particularly when you get to this point of the season. You want to make sure everybody’s out there, rolling, getting reps so we can be fresh throughout this entire push.”

(Do you have to have a conversation with a conversation with the guy who plays opposite CB Jalen Ramsey that basically, “hey, you’re going to be attacked” because they’re going to generally try to avoid Jalen?) – “I don’t think that conversation needs to be had. The one thing that I know for sure is if you’re out there and you’re playing in this league, you are an incredibly confident human being. And if you’re not, that’s usually when you’re struggling and we’ve got to find a way to build that confidence back up, so I know every one of those guys that touch that field for us, they think that they’re Superman and they should because they are the elite of the elite and go out there and play with that same swag and confidence every day.”

(In terms of defensive backs who played the fifth and sixth-most on Sunday, just to go back to that, the one thing I hadn’t brought up was the scenario of S Jevón Holland in the slot and S Marcus Maye with S Jordan Poyer – is that something that you don’t want to do in huge volume because you like what Jevón gives you at safety and because CB Kader Kohou is so effective in the slot? Or is that a real consideration, those three for a ton of snaps together?) – “I think that’s more just a matter of matchup, right? When you’re trying to match up and potentially have a bigger body in the slot. The thing with us, we can put Jalen there, who is a big body and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty in the run game. He’ll fill a B-gap. He can do all those jobs and we feel the same way about Jevón, so it’s really about just match ups and who can we put on the outside? Do we feel comfortable with the matchup there if we move Jalen inside and if we need Jalen on the outside, then it’s like, all right, well, if we want to get bigger, then we’re probably using the safety.”

(Could you put the role of CB Jalen Ramsey just into words? We see him moving all around. What is sort of the mission statement?) – “The mission statement going into every week when you’re thinking about your players and in particular your impact players – and we have a bunch of them – but with him, you’re always just trying to put him around where you think the football is going to be. So if you know they want to target a particular receiver, you try to put him there. If you know that they want to do something protection-wise and you think you can him a free run at the quarterback or in the backfield, you try to put him there just because you know the more he can get around the ball, the more opportunities he has to make plays for your defense.”

Danny Crossman – November 14, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman

(I was going to ask about the two waiver claims this week, what they can do from special teams from what you’ve evaluated over the years on them, LB Tyrel Dodson and TE Jack Stoll.) – “Both guys have been productive. Obviously (Tyrel) Dodson when he was in Buffalo early in his career was a four-phase player and a good special teams player, like you hope for most guys who was able to develop into a starting player and has done a good job as a starting linebacker. Really excited, fast, physical so like to see where he’s going to be. Obviously picking up (Jack) Stoll, played on a couple of phases in Philadelphia. Again, another big athletic body, so you can’t have enough of those.”

(You guys sticking with LS Tucker Addington at snapper this week?) – “For right now, he’ll be getting the reps and we’ll see where the rest of the week takes us.”

(LB David Long Jr. since his demotion on defense was getting some special teams snaps. Now obviously waived, what were you seeing from him in those few snaps?) – “Was doing a good job. As you guys know, when you get a uniform on game day, if you are not playing, we’re wasting a roster spot. When you’re limited to 48 guys on game day, everybody that gets a uniform on game day except hopefully the backup quarterback and maybe the eighth lineman, everybody better be participating in some phase. David (Long Jr.) did a great job, made the transition and was able to play on all four phases for us the last couple of weeks and did a good job.”

(CB Siran Neal got a flag running out of bounds. I don’t think there is a general yardage on that, but what is the rule? I know you’ve got to try to get back in. I think he was out of bounds for like 20 yards or something.) – “The penalty wasn’t necessarily that he was out of bounds. Once you start your track and your course back into the field of play, you can’t make any adjustments in the white. Once you start that angle back into the field of play, if you make any kind of move when you are out of bounds it is a penalty. So as he’s making that track back into the field of play, he sees the returner going hard to his right and just naturally adjusts his course but that is considered a move out of bounds which is illegal.”

(To get clarity, once somebody gets you out of bounds, you have to make one track?) – “Once you set that angle – it’s got to be not without reason angle. You can’t set an angle to bring you back into play 40 yards down the field. You got to start your angle and your course to get back into play, and if you make any move back out of bounds, you can make a hard turn to go into the field of play, but if you do anything that changes your course to stay out of bounds, it is a penalty.”

(K Jason Sanders has a kickoff that lands right at the 20, right inside the 20 early in the game. I’m wondering, is that kind of the perfect kickoff execution to hit it in the landing area?) – “Well it was deeper than that, but any time you can get the ball where there’s got to be an adjustment where you’re able to get a head start, it’s an advantage to the kickoff team.”

(Back-to-back weeks where P Jake Bailey has a couple of short punts. Were those just mishits?) – “The angle, the course – he hit three good balls. Obviously the one course the line was a bit wide, ball ends up turning and gets out of bounds. Hit three good balls, we just got to work the line a little bit better.”

(I wanted to ask about some of the kicker injuries that we’re seeing across the league. Obviously, we’re seeing more 50-plus yard kicks. Do you think that practicing those is putting a strain on kickers’ legs? What are your thoughts on that and how do you kind of be proactive in preventing those leg injuries?) – “I think it’s a combination – I think some of the injuries have been related to having to make plays in coverage, that’s come up with a couple of guys. There have been a couple of ankle injuries with guys that have had to try and make a tackle, and that’s come up that way. The soft tissue stuff is always a concern. I don’t think the length of field goals has anything to do with it, maybe the amount of workload some of the guys are having. We always work backward, so as the season progresses, we’re going to get less and less reps because of just the natural wear and tear. When you start in July, you’re building to be able to be active and kick for really six hours. Guys start warming up 10:30 (a.m.), 11 o’clock and you got to be able to go until 4:30 (p.m.), so that’s a long time to be active. You’ve got to make sure you’re doing a good job during the week.”

(I have a technique question for you. Admittedly, I don’t know what I’m watching when I watch these games. I thought when Denver blocked Kansas City’s field goal, they double-teamed one of the linemen, kind of knocked him over and came in. I thought the Rams tried that with T Patrick Paul on K Jason Sanders’ first 50-yard field goal. I thought Patrick held his ground pretty well. What’s the technique when one guy is on either shoulder, what do you want them to do?) – “That’s one of the common rushes you’ll see around the league, and everybody plays it different. Some people play people, some people play gaps. So the technique and what you’re teaching and obviously what we teach is a little bit different maybe than maybe some other teams. That’s a hard play. We talked about it a little bit last week when you guys mentioned Calais (Campbell). For the rush team, you’re able to tee off, not a taxing play, but it’s tough. You get two or three bodies on one individual, you start getting 800 or 900 pounds playing against one guy, it’s a hard down for the field goal protection team.”

(How do you anchor yourself? Can you give me any technique?) – “I won’t. Maybe in the offseason, we’ll spend some time. We’re not going to get too into detail with that.”

(Do you go look at the Kansas City blocked field goal, just a professional curiosity?) – “Yeah, we do weekly plays around the league – all the onside kicks, all the blocks, all the big returns, all of that stuff, penalties, all of that stuff. I get a cut up every week and go back and look through it and see what’s happening around the league, what’s happening good, what’s happening bad, why it’s happening most importantly.”

(You show that to the team as well?) – “Parts of it, it’s an extensive tape. We don’t have time to watch the whole thing, but there’s pieces of it weekly that we try and bring to the attention of the team. A lot of it’s trends, what’s happening, what are people trying and then technique. If you don’t play the right technique, this is what could happen. If you do play, this is what’s happening. All of that stuff is part of our weekly plan.”

(Is that Kansas City play, is that a common–?) – “Yeah, especially for them. That load, getting four guys heavy, on two on the outside, that’s a common thing for them.”

(What makes P AJ Cole one of the best players at his position in this league?) – “I think No. 1 how they use him. They want to play ‘the flip the field’ as I refer to it. They are not afraid to – when they are punting from the minus-20, they’re not worried about a 60- or 70-yard punt. They’re feeling good about their coverage team and they are letting him rip it away. You see trends around the league where some people go to that and then they are coming back to playing more hangtime and directions. He’s a talented, talented player, and they’re letting him play to his skills.”

(We’ve talked about the 50-yard field goal before. The last game there was four of them and you just don’t bat and eye, right? That’s just football in 2024?) – “It is. I don’t think it’s necessarily different from any other year. I think a lot of times what happens on a lot of those plays, what is the down and the distance for that play. I think you’ve seen around the league the analytics of the fourth and short. Those field goals decrease because people are more willing and apt where the numbers are telling you to go for it. But now it’s not fourth-and-1 or fourth-and-2, it’s fourth-and-8 or fourth-and-9, and now that’s why you’re seeing the field goals based on distance to gain more than how long the field goal is.”

(I’m curious about your hands team. I don’t necessarily want to get into specifics, but when you have your hands team out there for an onside kick and then they I guess they a linebacker, is that something they target? The linebacker because he’s got the worst hands?) – “No, I think every kicker has his favorite kicks. Every coach has his favorite kicks. That just happened to be a situation where an inside ball goes to a player who we feel great about. That’s a spot where a lot of teams are going to kick the onside kick, is an inside ball. Anybody that we put out there, we feel very strongly about them being able to make the play, but it’s not about somebody targeting an individual. It’s more you want your best kick. Whether it’s obviously, the look that you’re getting, the people – it’s such a low percentage kick, it’s 7%. You want your best kick to give yourself the best opportunity.”

(Wasn’t there a rule that they were trying to change? I forget, there’s so many special teams rules, because at this point, the onside kick is kind of–?) – “Part of the discussion in the rule change with the new kickoff was when they did and we were going to play back from a normal 35-yard line with both the cover team back to the 35 and normal restraining rules of the return team, being able to change the numbers – hey changed it where you have to have two outside the number, two in the alley. They talked about being able to go to six and four as opposed to having five and five. They talked about being able to put more people in those restraining line areas where you can play more of an overload, but for player safety standpoint, they didn’t go with it.”

(Do you know the percentage before the rule change?) – “Over the last, it’s always been somewhere – at the end of the season, it will be somewhere between 8% and 12%.”

Zach Sieler – November 13, 2024 Download PDF version

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

DT Zach Sieler

(You’ve done very, very well this season which isn’t a surprise to us, but how would you say you’ve done this season?) – “Honestly, I think it’s been a good year, but there’s a lot to correct still. Obviously, there’s a lot – I missed a couple plays early on I really want to get back and really focus on making those plays this second half of the year, this second push.”

(Head Coach Mike McDaniel described DT Calais Campbell as the Tom Brady of defensive linemen –) – “That’s very fair.”

(Fair in what sense?) – “What he brings to the table is so much more than just on the field. On the field he does so well, obviously. You’ve seen him this year at 38 years old doing what he’s doing, hasn’t skipped a beat. But off the field, the leadership, the mentorship, bringing guys along, taking the extra time to stay with the young guys and coach them up or help them – he’s staying after practice helping them with different techniques. It’s very rare you have a guy like that, and it’s been a very big blessing for me to play with him, I’ve learned from him.”

(He said he’s found some sort of fountain of youth, is there anything you ask, “Hey, how are you doing this at this age that when I’m that age I can apply to my game too?”) – “I hope I’m playing at 38, we’ll see. It’s incredible to see a guy like that, and yeah, I’ve picked his brain on, ‘Hey, what do you do off the field? What do you do in the offseason? What do you do during each week to help keep you in shape and keep your body going?’ A lot of it’s God and a lot of it’s his determination and staying disciplined.”

(I’ve got to tell you, just watching him walk hurts me. You saw him walk, that lean that he has.) – “Once he warms up, he’s rolling, that’s all it takes. I know what you’re talking about.”

(So you’re playing the Raiders this week, I think they have a defensive lineman you know pretty well.) – “Who’s that? (Adam) Butler? ‘Jenk’ (John Jenkins)? (Christian) Wilkins? Robbie (Rob Leonard), the coach?”

(How much have you kept in touch with Christian Wilkins? Or is there no contact?) – “We keep in touch pretty often, but I do think we both kind of unwrittenly, we’re not talking this week. If he’s up or not, obviously whatever.”

(Is that the only way he stays quiet?) – “I don’t think you’ll ever going to get him quiet.”

(As far as being a captain is concerned, how often do you guys meet with just the captains and QB Tua Tagovailoa protecting himself, has that come up at all in the captains’ meetings?) – “We don’t tell Tua (Tagovailoa) what not to do. He’s done an amazing job this year, and I think he’s doing the best he can. He’s making plays, he’s doing what he can for the team. It’s been great to watch him play. We do meet weekly and we do talk about things, but that is not one of them.”

(DeShon Elliott called the 2023 version of this team soft on a podcast recently, just wanted to get your response to that.) – “I haven’t seen that yet.”

De’Von Achane – November 13, 2024 Download PDF version

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

RB De’Von Achane

(What impact do you hope the win in the last game will have on the team moving forward?) – “That was a long time coming. We knew we could go out there and get a win, so that just showed what type of team we are. We’d been having a few bad weeks, it just showed we can always get it going. That’s just the start of something new. We are not going to worry about what happened early on in the season and just kind of capitalize from the win we got last week.”

(Having had three games under his belt returning from injury, do you think QB Tua Tagovailoa is taking it to a new level?) – “Yeah, most definitely. He’s always getting better every week, as you can see. He made a lot of plays this week with his legs and scrambling and getting out of the pocket, so you see him getting more comfortable.”

(How does that help the offense? How does that create a great challenge for the defense when the quarterback is willing to roll out to his left, roll out to his right? There was one play where he made two guys miss and he found WR Jaylen Waddle, he found RB Raheem Mostert. How does that help the offense?) – “It helps a lot. When you have a mobile QB who is able to escape the pocket and still make plays, it forces the defense to change up their stuff and run other coverages. We’ve seen a lot two-man this year, and when we have a QB that can do that, I feel like it makes the defense think a lot more.”

(Did you tell him you’ll take care of the tackling? Just step out of the way. That’s what I would do, I would be like listen man, your job is to stand over there.) – “He’s just a team player, I’m sure he didn’t mean nothing by it. I’m pretty sure he didn’t try to do it, but we always tell him to make sure you’re safe and away from all danger.”

(I wanted to ask you about the guardian helmet. How has that worked out for you?) – “I feel like it’s good. People always ask me how it feels, I’m like it feels regular. We practice with a guardian cap, so I just feel like it isn’t a big deal. Sometimes I don’t feel it’s there until people say something to me about it, so it’s just regular.”

(Was there any point where you could feel the weight? Or do you think it doesn’t add weight?) – “Not really because like I said, I practice in it every day. It’s not something I just threw on and it was new to me. If it was new then – obviously, the helmet is lighter without it, but I feel like it’s safer for me when I have it on.”

(I think the Rams had at least one guy that was wearing it. Do you ever talk to any of the other players in the league when you see they are wearing it?) – “I never had a conversation with nobody else. I’m pretty sure they got the same reasons as me.”

(Has there been any feedback from the offensive playmaker this week just to QB Tua Tagovailoa this week about taking some chances there on the tackle? I’m sure you guys took a sigh of relief when everything was OK, but just playing safer because there’s instincts. I’m sure you could speak on instincts.) – “It’s probably just you’re a football player, a competitor. I mean he threw a pick, I’m pretty sure he wanted to make the tackle. Of course most of us said something to him about, but it wasn’t on purpose.”

(Can you speak on that though? There being the fine line between instinct and playing smart as an NFL player because things are moving fast out there?) – “He’s a competitor. He’s not thinking, ‘Oh, I’m finna go out here and get hurt.’ He’s a QB, he knows right from wrong and he was being smart. I feel like it’s just the competitive nature in him just to go out there and try to stop them from scoring.”

(How much momentum did you get from Monday night’s win?) – “A lot. A win in this league if very hard, no matter who you play. We’re going to take this win and just try to keep it rolling.”

(A short week, cross country flight. How do you manage your rest?) – “We just make sure we get into work, come to the training room and keep our bodies right, just hone into the meetings and details. It’s a short week, but we had a lot of short weeks this season. We’ll make sure we’re ready for Sunday.”

Jevón Holland – November 13, 2024 Download PDF version

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

S Jevón Holland

(You played very well Monday. Did you feel anything on the knee at all or you felt completely back to your normal self?) – “It was a little grab here, grab there, but nothing I couldn’t get through. It felt good to be back out there flying around.”

(One thing that came out in Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s press conference today, I don’t know if you’ve seen the clips on social media, a guy who was in your room last year DeShon Elliott said on a podcast, “The team I was on last year, the majority of the team were not mentally tough individuals. They were soft as bleep.” Have you heard that he had made that comment? What’s your reaction? Is there any truth to that?) – “I heard he made the comment, I saw the clip. I mean honestly man, if you want to call somebody out, go ahead and do that and drop names, but other than that, it’s whatever makes your boat float, whatever allows you to have a good night of sleep, it is what it is. But if you’re not naming nobody, you’re not calling nobody out, then all the rest of the comments are just empty. You’re just talking at that point. I wish nothing but the best for DeShon, he’s having a great year. I hope he continues that success, but other than that, that (expletive) don’t really mean nothing to me.”

(What can one singular win do for your momentum here?) – “It changes the whole thing. I think last week’s win really helps us take that step forward, because we were building on a lot of good things and I think a win solidifies that we’re continuing to trend in the right direction.”

(How are you handling the short week here? Cross country flight, 1 o’clock game Sunday, not a whole lot of time between kickoff.) – “Just been sleeping when you can, I think that’s the magic medicine – as much sleep as possible. Definitely from Monday’s game to now, getting as much sleep as possible.”

(It was a great night for the players, great night for Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver with the game plan that he devised on Monday. What do you like about how he has run this defense?) – “It’s very player based. He’s really thinking about how to put us in the best position possible to go out there and be successful and put our attributes on the table and try to put us in position to make sure that each and every individual strength is magnetized in the defense. I think with that, he does a great job making the play call and putting us in the right position when it counts.”

(What do the Raiders bring to the table?) – “They’re a good team. They’ve got a bunch of weapons on offense. They’ve got a hell of a tight end, Bay Area product, so I’m really looking forward to playing them. It’s just another challenge in this upcoming week, I’m looking forward to it. They were a good team last year. They played us well last year, so I’m assuming that they’re going to play us well this year. They’re going to be a scrappy team; they’ve got a good defense and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a dogfight.”

(Extra hype celebration from you making those big plays, I think the entire defense was just kind of like what had been planned all along with Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver. Is this the type of defense we should be seeing every single week?) – “You’re talking about successful like getting sacks and what not? Yeah, absolutely-”

(Maybe not those numbers, but I’m sure you guys have not been living up to exactly what you guys wanted with all the injuries and everything?) – “Going through injuries kind of puts a damper on the complete success of the defense, but I think last game was a peek into what our defense can do. I think as the weeks go on, we’re just going to continue to build on that performance. If the plays come to us and we make the plays, I think that’s going to go well for us.”

Search Transcripts

Weekly Archives