Andrew Van Ginkel – November 2, 2020
Download PDF version
Monday, November 2, 2020
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
(I’m sure someone else is going to ask you about your fumble return; but I want to ask you about the gash you got on your face. What happened? Did you catch a cleat to the head, it looked like you were bleeding pretty good?) – “Yeah, I just caught a cleat to my helmet, and then my helmet came up. It’s nothing too serious. Just a little bloody.”
(Where would you put that in terms of pain from football you’ve experienced?) – “I don’t know. Honestly, it was just numb so I didn’t really feel too much pain. I wouldn’t say it was up there. Probably on the lower end. I’ve definitely had some injuries that were a lot worse.”
(What was going through your mind when you saw the football? Running down the field, I saw you taking a couple glimpses up at the scoreboard as well too. Take us through that moment and what was that like for you celebrating afterwards as well?) – “I didn’t even know what to feel. I was just numb. I was so ecstatic. When I picked it up, I was just thinking I can’t get caught. I just took off running as fast as I could, and just seeing (Seattle’s) D.K. (Metcalf) the other day, that was going through my head. (laughter) I just gave it everything I had to get to the end zone.”
(Focusing on the defense as a whole, as big as your play was, there was so many other big plays. What were your thought on the entire group’s performance. It really kept you guys in the game for the entirety yesterday.) – “I thought the defense played great, and it’s something we can continue to build off of. There were so many plays that we wish we could have back that didn’t really go our way. I dropped a pick, or whatever the case may be. There’s just little corrections that many fans or a lot of outsiders don’t see. We’ve just got to continue to build and continue to get better off of it.”
(You still played 25 reps on special teams, and that is one of the themes on this team is a lot of guys who play offense and defense will play prominently on special teams. I’m just curious if you can walk us through that mindset of contributing in all three phases and not taking special teams any lighter than you do any of your defensive assignments?) – “Right. That’s a big portion of the game that doesn’t get as much appreciation for it. I know ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) takes pride in that, so I take pride in that as well. It’s a big part of the game. Any time you can flip the field or score touchdowns, it’s a huge momentum swing. It’s just part of the game that goes unappreciated. I take pride in that.”
(How much fun are you guys having playing defense right now, especially when you see the confusion you’re creating on a guy like QB Jared Goff like you did yesterday?) – “It’s a blast. The coaches do a heck of a job putting us in the right spots to succeed and to be able to make plays like this. Any time we can make a play and just go out there and have fun, that’s what we enjoy doing. It’s awesome.”
(You made your NFL debut 50 weeks ago or something like that – last November. There certainly was not the same amount of fan fair as QB Tua Tagovailoa making his debut. Did you have a chance at all before the game or after the game to talk to him, to maybe calm his nerves, and how do you think he handled the moment?) – “Getting your first start or first playing time is definitely not easy. There is a lot of pressure and a lot of things that go into it. For me, it’s just going out there and doing the little things right, and just relying on your practice and what you’ve been doing to get to that point. It’s something that you’ll continue to get better and improve on.”
(When we talk about a defensive identity, I know it’s an on-going process and it will continue throughout the rest of the season, but what do you think this defense’s identity is now? When you think about the things you’re doing really well, what are the main things that come to mind?) – “I would say our energy. Week in and week out, coach said a few weeks back – just playing for one another, and having fun, and brining the energy. Whenever someone makes a play, go be with them and celebrate. I’d say that’s a big part, building momentum and relying on one another. I think energy is a huge part of it.”
(After the game yesterday, Rams DL Michael Brockers was very complimentary of your guys’ defense and his perspective from the sideline just wondering how you guys were continuing to apply that pressure on QB Jared Goff. In your role, how appreciative can you be that the cornerbacks, specifically CB Byron Jones and CB Xavien Howard, it seems like for the majority of the game they were getting their assignments done?) – “It’s awesome. You can’t have a pass rush if you don’t have DBs guarding or covering guys in the secondary. It goes hand and hand, and vice versa. Just seeing them lock their guys down, getting picks and pass deflections is huge. Knowing that upfront we can go and get after the quarterback. I’d say it works hand and hand together.”
(There was a really nice photo of you and Head Coach Brian Flores on the sideline after you came off with the touchdown on the Dolphins Instagram page. I just wanted to ask what was that moment like for you and coach, and some more of the celebration you got from the teammates from the sideline?) – “It was awesome, just seeing how happy he was for me and just living in the moment. It was a big play in the game and a big momentum shift. Just seeing all of the teammates and coach, just coming around me, it’s awesome. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”
Brian Flores – November 2, 2020
Download PDF version
Monday, November 2, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(From the beginning when you got here, you talked about team football and all three phases of the game complementing one another. For a lot of people, that’s a vision and a goal; but it seems like your team has found a way to do that in the last month. What has that process been like?) – “I think probably the word you use it for is coach speak. I really believe in it, though. I’ve seen it. I believe that that’s the way the game is supposed to be played. No phase is more important than the other. Nobody’s job is more important than anybody else’s and that’s from ownership to the people who clean to everyone in between. It’s a total team effort. I think the phases can complement each other if you place an emphasis on it, and that’s something we’ve talked about here and as you mentioned, that I’ve talked about with you guys and I’ve talked about it with the team. I think you get what you emphasize and it’s something we emphasize and it’s starting to show up on the field a little bit; but we have to continue to emphasize it and continue to make it – stress its importance so that it’s not just coach speak and it’s not just in one ear and out of the other like what happens to a lot of people, and one can actually play that way on Sundays.”
(After watching the tape, what did you think of how QB Tua Tagovailoa played? And also, with RB/WR Malcolm Perry, was him being active yesterday a function of WR Lynn Bowden Jr. had a baby and Malcolm’s practiced well? Or was the chemistry that he and Tagovailoa had in training camp, where they had several long completions, did that factor into your and Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey’s thinking about him playing yesterday?) – “Malcolm practiced well, so we wanted to give him an opportunity. We thought he played well in his limited snaps. (With Tagaovailoa), like everyone else, (he had) some good plays, some bad plays. We’re making the corrections now. A lot of things we can get fixed. For his first time out, again, some good and some bad. Hopefully we see some improvement next week.”
(You’ve been eloquent and passionate about some of the issues with social justice and such. I have a question for you regarding an election-based story we’re doing tomorrow. I’m wondering in what ways do you see a difference in this election in the willingness of players to speak out and try to be more of a part of the conversation than they’ve been in the past?) – “I think players are always part of the conversation, or those conversations are behind had, I should say. I think they’re difficult conversations to have and I think they’re important conversations to have. I think the players understand that. I think they also understand that they have a platform and they can use that platform to encourage people to go out and vote; but also, encourage people to listen to one another, to unite and come together more so than divide. I think that’s important to a lot of the players. I think they want better for this world. I think, to a man, you hear that over and over again. I think a football locker room, and I know it’s been said and I see it, that in a football locker room, there’s a lot of different guys from different backgrounds and somehow we all come together and have those conversations and learn about one another. I think a lot of guys feel that and they want that for everyone else. Unfortunately, that’s not the case; but I think we all, us in our locker room and in our little bubble, we see that it can happen, and I think that’s why guys are maybe a little bit more outspoken right now, along with what’s going on in the world. I think the George Floyd situation obviously struck a chord with everyone. People are still feeling the effects of that and I would say that would be at the top of the list of why people and our guys are much more vocal.”
(I wanted to ask you about your defense. Last season, you guys finished last in scoring defense, last in yards allowed. This year, you’re already first in scoring defense and top five in a lot of other categories. How do you feel about the vision of your defense? Everybody playing well, playing together, the new pieces – how do you feel like it’s all coming together so far, knowing that you have a lot more to go?) – “This morning – I’m very leery about statistics right now because I look at the stats from yesterday’s game and we gave up this many yards passing and this many yards rushing. When you look at it, it felt like we got dominated and I didn’t feel that way during the game. Look, this is a week-to-week league. I’m not – we’ve got to just focus on today and focus on improving today and focus on getting better in practice this week, and not worry about the statistics. Just worry about the next play and the next practice. Hopefully our guys understand that. We’ve got a tough opponent this week. We’ve just got to play good football, and that starts in practice.”
(A year ago today, you guys were 0-7, and a lot of things were being said about you guys. Since then, you guys have been 9-7 over the last 16 games. I wanted to get your view on what you think is the heart of that turnaround and are you where you expected to be?) – “I think the heart of it is the players. They are the ones who are out there on the field. They are the ones who are out there practicing and preparing. The credit goes to them. I know I’m not out there tackling anybody. Nobody wants to see that. (laughter) The credit goes to those guys. It’s football and you’re never really where you want to be. There has never been a perfect game played. There is always room for improvement; but I do think these guys are improving. I think they’re coming together. I think they are building relationships and I think you see that on the field. When you see Jakeem (Grant) make and his big return and guys are flipping out on the sideline, it makes you want to build that rapport on the team. I think that’s grown over the last year-plus. Hopefully it continues to grow. You can never get enough of that.”
(An T Austin Jackson question. Does he need some more time or is he ready to practice or close?) – “He’s doing everything he can to get back as soon as he can. I know he’s eligible and I understand the question to come off and start practicing, but we’ll see. We have a couple of more workouts, a couple more rehabs before we make a decision on that and whether or not he’s going to practice. I’m not going to say he’s close or not close. I don’t want to put a timetable on it. He’s doing everything he can to get back. He’s making improvements.”
(We’ve had a lot of conversations over the last few days about QB Tua Tagovailoa. I wanted to ask you about the 10 guys surrounding him. Do you feel like they did enough of their own job yesterday, and if not, how much might that influence your thinking as we near the trade deadline on how active you might be?) – “I thought the other 10 guys played well in spurts and they didn’t play well in other spurts. I think at the end of the day, we need to get all 11 guys playing well from play to play. When they get that consistent … that’s something we’ve talked about and stressed today in these meetings, really in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams. The second part of that question was about the trade deadline. The trade deadline is what, tomorrow? I’m sure there are going to be rumors swirling around, who we are trading for and things of that nature. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) handles all of that. I’ll be getting ready for the Cardinals. I honestly won’t have too much information on that. Chris handles it and as soon as I’m off of this call, I’ll be trying to figure out a way to get Kyler Murray, and (DeAndre) Hopkins, and (Chase) Edmonds and that group contained or limited. Try. We’ll try to do that.”
(I’m sure you’ve heard that the Cardinals had two players test positive over the weekend. I have no idea what is proper in a case like this, whether you would have contact with the Cardinals or concerns about that, or whether it changes anything or what you do at all. Secondly, what is your election plan? Have you already voted or are you going to vote tomorrow?) – “I already voted. Mail-in ballot. It’s in and accounted for. As far as Arizona and their COVID situation, I haven’t talked to anyone over there. I haven’t talked to (Head Coach) Kliff (Kingsbury) or anyone over there, or anyone from the league for that matter. We’re just going to do business as we normally do it. We’ll prepare the way we normally prepare, and prepare to travel the way we always have for an away game. We’ll try to get ready to play against a very good football team.”
(Is there some concern about the game possibly having to be pushed back, or at what point do you worry about that? Or does the league inform you as soon as possible?) – “We just follow the league’s lead on that. They’ll let us know if there are any changes, postponements or things of that nature. As of right now, we’re scheduled to play Sunday at 2:25 Arizona time. That’s the information I have now. It’s 2020, so we all have to be ready to adjust and be flexible; and if that’s the case, that’s what we’ll do. If they want us to play Saturday, Monday, tomorrow, that’s what we’ll do.”
Bobby McCain – November 2, 2020
Download PDF version
Monday, November 2, 2020
S Bobby McCain
(I think a lot of us saw that you were mic’d up in a clip from the team this morning. When the defense has such a good performance like you guys did yesterday, just how happy and in the moment were you, realizing that this is what you guys are capable of?) – “Just excited just because we know the preparation that we put in each and every day in the week. So going out there and having that performance, it just shows you that it pays off – the hard work pays off throughout the week. The long meetings and the hot practices, everything pays off.”
(I found a fun stat. Over the last three games, you guys have allowed 0-of-14 passes over 20 yards to go completed. I know you won’t brag on yourself too much but I’m just curious how much pride you personally take in that and what’s the overall ingredients for preventing deep passes from going complete on your defense?) – “Just playing good football. That’s one of the pillars that we have here is just defending the deep part of the field. If you can do that and you can keep guys in front of you and make tackles – make sure tackles and take out all of the leaky yardage – it’ll make you play better as a defense.”
(I know last season was last season but you’ve definitely come a long way as a defense from then until now. Last in scoring defense and last in yards last year to now first in scoring defense and in the middle of the pack but still top five in a lot of statistical categories. For you, how does it feel to kind of see everything coming together with the new pieces and you guys having some success, still knowing you have a lot to do?) – “Like you said, at the end – we still have a lot of work to do and we can be better. We try not to (focus) on statistics and worry about what people say about us and where we’re ranked here and where we’re ranked there. As I say each and every week, it’s coming out and being better. If you were better than you were last week, then you’re doing pretty damn good.”
(You’ve been fortunate enough or unfortunate enough to be coached by three different head coaches and be part of a number of different regimes. This is kind of the first Dolphins team that has played complementary football on a consistent basis. Not just one game but you guys have done it for like a month now. What is the difference? How did you get here?) – “Just preparation. I just want to correct you, I’m very fortunate – very, very fortunate – to be able to be here with the Dolphins during the tenure of my career, and it’s taught me a lot of lessons. So just understanding the preparation that we have and whatever we do each and every week, it pays dividends on Sundays at 1 o’clock. We know, the guys know, but no one outside of this building knows how hard we work. No one outside this building knows how much it takes and the amount of mental stress that we go through throughout the week just to be out there on Sundays. It really just shows the defense, and as a team collectively, playing complementary football that if you do what you’re supposed to do throughout the week and you just keep working and keep getting better, the results will happen.”
(I think it was QB Tua Tagovailoa who told us yesterday that you went up to him after his fumble and kind of got his head right. A, if that’s accurate, why was it important for you as a leader to go and do that; and B, what was the exact message that you gave him?) – “I just went up to him and I told him, ‘we’ve got you all. Clear your mind.’ I know it’s his first series as a starter, so I told him, ‘just clear your mind and we’ve got y’all. Don’t even trip. Don’t worry about it.’ I’m not exactly sure the exact words but it was something of that nature. It was ‘clear your mind, go to the bench and we’ve got your back each and every time, so don’t even worry about the turnovers.’”
(I guess looking ahead to Sunday for Arizona, you’ve got a guy like QB Kyler Murray. How does that change maybe how aggressive that you guys can be as a defense when you’ve got a guy that can use his legs like he can?) – “We know the Cardinals have a really good team. And we’ve got a really good team. It’ll be a good battle. It’ll be a good game. We’re going to go up there to Arizona out west and try to get a W. We know what they’re capable of. We know Kyler Murray is a really good quarterback, emerging quarterback, in this league. They’ve got D-Hop (DeAndre Hopkins) and (Christian) Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald and (Kenyan) Drake isn’t playing but they’ve got a number of guys who can do a lot of things. It’s a good test for us. We’re going to come and have a good week of practice and at the end of the day, it won’t be about them; it’ll be about us.”
Eric Rowe – November 1, 2020 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Rams
S Eric Rowe
(All week it was us talking about this Rams defense coming to town, and you guys were the ones that stole the show. How much does that mean to you to kind of show them what’s up?) – “Kind of through the week, we caught wind of ‘Rams defense this, Rams defense that.’ We’re like, ‘man, they need to worry about our defense,’ and that was one of our focuses on mind to show up. People keep sleeping on our defense and that’s fine, but we’re going to show up every week.”
(Congrats on the win and the big-time performance. I wanted to ask you, what kind of confidence level it gives you when Head Coach Brian Flores consistently goes back to that Cover 0 look and trusts you guys to match up on the back end and not have any of that help over the top?) – “Oh man, it’s just a mindset. We’ve been working on it since training camp. I mean it started out rough but everyone sees the results that it puts the line, the coordinator, the quarterback; it puts pressure on all of them. And the kind of results, I mean quick passes, tipped balls. We’re getting turnovers, our sacks, and then we’re off the field. Every time we call it, all of us have high confidence.”
(In terms of the different looks that you guys gave Rams QB Jared Goff, at what point did you realize he was uncomfortable back there?) – “From the first time we ran (that call). Obviously we know teams practice against this play, but when they tried to screen and that doesn’t work, they tried to quick-cross and that doesn’t work, when they try a quick hitch and that doesn’t work; you can just see it on their face. Not just him, the o-line and the head coach, like ‘how are we going to stop this play?’ And once we see that, that just gives us more confidence.”
(I’m sure you’re going to get a lot of flak for this. You had a pick six in your hands. Nothing but real estate in front of you. How much is that going to dig at you? You guys won the game, but I know that’s going to dig at you as a competitor that you had it right there.) – “Oh my God, that was on my mind the rest of the game. I’m on the field thinking, like dang, I could have – a touchdown would change the whole complexion of that game second half and I broke on it so fast that it got behind me and I had to reach back and oh, I’m hurt because I know all I had was just grass after that. And it’s probably going to eat at me all the way until next game.”
Christian Wilkins – November 1, 2020 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Rams
DT Christian Wilkins
(A couple weeks ago we were asking about you jumping over a man. Today we’re asking you what was that interception like?) – “You know, well, it was a – let me take you out to the play. Let me take you to the mind of a defensive back. They called me to drop, it’s all in the hips. I just really had to open my hips and break on the ball. You know what I’m saying? I saw the line of the quarterback. I saw where he wanted to go so I just had to break, follow his eyes. I was able to break and make a nice play for the team. Just happy to make plays that can help us win.”
(I think you did a good job not throwing away your shot on that play) – “Yeah, I would agree. My man – whoever said that. That’s good stuff right there. (laughter) I would agree.”
(I do actually have a question there. You were here last year when y’all started off 0-7 and now y’all are in the playoff hunt. What can you say maybe about the turnaround the team has done from the first half of last year to where you are now?) – “Well, I just would say that we just kept getting guys who were just buying in and keep working hard and it starts up top because ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) does a good job of setting the mindset for the team – for the organization – and we all just kind of take on that personality. We just all have the mindset to get better each week, get better each day and this team has got a lot of guys who work hard and just love each other and we enjoy working with each other every day. When you’ve got that kind of energy and the right people around the organization and in the building every day, you’re bound to do some good stuff. But we’ve only got – we’re in the hunt, like you said, but our work is not done. We’ve just got to keep preparing and keep that mindset each and every day and each and every week.”
(Describe the confidence that’s on this defense right now after all these wins you’ve stacked up and the way you’ve shut teams down.) – “Really, like I said, it just goes back to just getting a good game plan each week and executing and preparing hard each week. Like I said, we’ve got a lot of guys who enjoy working with each other, who care for each other, so we play for one another and we don’t like to let each other down. When you get that, guys just playing hard, you’re bound to do some good stuff.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores was joking earlier that he’s going to have to hear you talk about your hands a little bit more this week after you made that interception. How often are you in his ear about getting you in in certain special situations like last year where you had that touchdown catch?) – “I’ve been saying it for a couple years now that I could play a legit receiver in this league or be a legit offensive weapon, and hopefully coaches and everybody else will start taking me a little more seriously about that because ultimately, like I said, I just like to help the team. (laughter)”
(At one point the Rams had two completions and three balls tipped at the line of scrimmage. How does that get in a quarterback’s head? He’s not a small guy at 6’4, but how does it change what he does?) – “Well, I never played quarterback, but I just know when you’re doing things to – whether you’re getting pressures or getting batted balls or even just touching them, know what I’m saying, just little things like that, we try to emphasize that just so that we can make plays and just bring juice to the defense and just keep good positive things going.”
(You guys were on the field for 92 snaps and it was pretty hot out there today. What was that fourth quarter like? Was it just survival? What was that?) – “Ooh. Well, I will say, yes, that was quite a challenge. It was hot out there and everything. But you know, we just pushed through it. We just had to dig deep and fight hard, and luckily for us we’re in the toughest of conditions every day when we’re out there at practice with the humidity and the heat, and we get a lot of snaps and a lot of reps. So we were pretty much prepared for it, and we just had to dig deep, which was good to see that we could push through it through the elements.”
Tua Tagovailoa – November 1, 2020 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday November 1, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Rams
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Just in general, how do you feel you played today?) – “I don’t think I played to the standard of what this offense is capable of. There were certain plays where I could have stepped up and made the right throw, made the right decision. But I’ve heard it many times from the guys in the locker room; it’s good that we still came out with the win. Aside from that, thank God we’ve got a good defense, so when we do start to string good plays together, we know that we can be able to make plays and then get the ball back and continue to try to do the same.”
(Just curious what the conversations were like on the sidelines with your teammates, whether it was QB Ryan Fitzpatrick or maybe anyone on the defense, when let’s say after the first series, the fumble or throughout the game, if they saw something, what the words of encouragement were throughout the game from them?) – “It’s a long game. It’s a 60-minute game. The guys never really needed to say anything. It was more so we came to the sideline and I was kind of telling the guys, ‘Hey, that’s my fault. We’ll get it the next series.’ But a lot of the chatter was just talking about how we could fix certain things because they were giving us a little different look than what we expected and what we had seen in practice, and so we tried to kind of fix up what we were trying to do on offense.”
(Obviously, this was your first start. Can you take me through the emotions of, one, first getting out there, and two, your first touchdown pass to WR DeVante Parker?) – “It was fun just being able to go out there and play a full 60-minute game now. Being that it was my first start in the NFL. We really faced a really good defense. I’m proud of what we’ve got to do offensively, but I do know that there’s still a lot of things we need to correct come Monday. But you can’t say that this defense is really good – they’ve got (Michael) Brockers, they’ve got Aaron Donald, they’ve got (Taylor) Rapp, Jalen Ramsey and all these other guys – and not expect to be stopped a good amount of times. That’s just not realistic. We’ve just got to continue to work and see what we can do to fix, to see what we can do tomorrow with what we need to fix in getting ready for the Cardinals.”
(It’s been a long journey for you, but could you take us into the moment after you slung that pass to WR DeVante Parker in the end zone and just the celebration that happened afterward and if you have any plans for the ball?) – “That was fun. That was really fun. It always feels good throwing a touchdown and being able to celebrate with your team and your teammates on the sideline are celebrating, as well. It’s not easy, especially like I said, scoring against a defense like that, but just enjoying the moment every time, just enjoying the moment. And I’m keeping the ball.”
(We all saw your first drop-back and you landed on your back and fumbled the football. What was that sequence like? It seemed like a real prime welcome to the NFL moment for you.) – “That was a good hit. That was a good hit. It’s football. I tried to step up, make a throw, Aaron Donald swiped at the ball behind me, and I don’t know who the guy was that took me off my feet and pretty much body slammed me, but hey, that’s football. I’m not going to lie, I did enjoy getting hit that first time. That was definitely a welcome.”
(Did you have a chance to talk to your parents?) – “I didn’t get a chance to talk to my parents yet. I’m going to go home after this and probably see them. I’ll get to talk to them then.”
Emmanuel Ogbah – November 1, 2020 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Rams
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(There were so many big plays today, it’s hard to ask you about just one, so I wanted to ask you about how you affected Rams QB Jared Goff. Did you feel at some point that he didn’t want anything more to do with you guys, that you broke him a little bit today?) – “The key to the game was just attack Jared Goff. As a defense we did a good job rushing them, rushing coverage, going head-to-head, rolling all them boys back; that did a great job for us and we got a chance to get back there.”
(You talked about everybody working together and that synergy. When you guys are at full strength like this, is this something that you guys can turn in week-in and week-out, a dominating performance that can really help you guys move forward?) – “We’ve just got to keep stacking good days, try to keep getting better every week. We’re playing together, we love each other, we want each other to do well. We’ve just got to keep it going as a team.”
(I wanted to back to the strip-sack and the fumble return for LB Andrew Van Ginkel. Looked like you had Shaq Lawson on the same side as you there. What does that do to kind of free you up to get that free rush on Rams QB Jared Goff and get that free run at the quarterback?) – “I was surprised they left me unblocked, but I just ran as fast as I can, and I just saw the ball sitting in his hand, so I just really kind of went for the ball.”
(What is it about this defensive scheme that allows y’all to frustrate offenses so much and for you to kind of get your skillset playing as well as you are?) – “It starts with (Defensive Coordinator Josh) Boyer. He calls a great game plan every game and we just go out there and execute. That’s why we’re here.”
(In terms of the coverages and rush schemes that you guys use, was the key to confusing him keeping him off balance in terms of Rams QB Jared Goff?) – “Yeah, we know if we could get back there as fast as we could, we could affect him, so that was the whole goal”
Jakeem Grant Sr. – November 1, 2020 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Rams
WR Jakeem Grant Sr.
(Take us through that punt return, and seems like that was a long time coming for you. You came close a couple times. You finally got to break one.) – “Coach went into it. He told me that I was going to get an opportunity to field one in. We know that (Johnny) Hekker is a great punter, so it was only one opportunity that I got a chance at and made the most of it. Like all credit to my teammates that were on the unit. I don’t even think I got touched, so like I said, man, it’s all credit to them.”
(I’ve been through this a few times with you before, and every time I ask you, you always say that you haven’t reached top-end speed on a particular play. How fast were you going today?) – “Probably I would say about 80. I’d say we were going about 80 to get around the edge and just a little short burst to get to the end zone just to make sure nobody was behind me. So yeah, I mean, until somebody is actually right there, then I’ll run full speed, but until then, no point.”
(What do you think it meant for the special teams to come out and perform and you play a big role, especially on a day when the offense didn’t have it going?) – “Man, it was very important. You know, like every phase of our team, like offense, special teams, defense. When one thing is lacking the other thing has to pick up. That was big important. That was a big play in the game, and I’m just glad that my teammates were there to help me spring it.”
(Now you own the franchise record for career punt returns for touchdowns and overall kick returns for touchdowns. Can you wrap your head around that and what’s that mean to you?) – “It means a lot. You know, like I said, I feel like that’s just one stepping stone of Mount Everest and the season is not over and I can still continue to break that record, and that’s my goal. And I’m going to continue to try to break it each and every game, so I’m not done. I’m not finished.”
(Can you kind of describe maybe how the turnaround has been like for this team from the first half of last year to where you guys are now?) – “Man, we’ve got a lot of talent. We’ve got a lot of guys that truly care about each other. We’ve got a lot of guys that sit there and we play together. There’s a lot of leadership on offense, defense and special teams. It’s not just because you see a guy being a captain doesn’t mean he’s just the only leader out there. Everybody on our team has their leadership role, and I feel like that’s what’s making our team a good team.”
