Noah Igbinoghene – September 3, 2020
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Thursday, September 3, 2020
CB Noah Igbinoghene
(How do you feel you’ve improved the most since you slipped on a Dolphins uniform?) – “Just my overall technique and just learning the game. The game is kind of slowing down to me. I feel like it’s been hard for a lot of rookies in this class because we didn’t have a preseason or minicamp or anything like that; so I really had to progress just in the meeting room, honestly. Practice has been limited, so I feel like just mentally, I’ve really grown. Physically as well, just as far as my technique and stuff like that – just little details of the game and just mentally overall.”
(Auburn Defensive Backs Coach Wesley McGriff told me he couldn’t use you a ton in the slot because they obviously needed you outside. Have you worked there much this week and how comfortable are you there in nickel packages?) – “I’m comfortable with doing whatever the coach asks me to do. I’ll do whatever they ask me to do whether that’s corner, nickel, safety. It doesn’t really matter. I’ll play anything on the field they need me to play, so that’s kind of the mentality I have towards that.”
(We know that you played cornerback your final two years of college after converting from wide receiver. I’m just curious how you feel that transition is going at this point in your career and is there anything you’ve had to kind of work on extra to kind of get you more familiar with the cornerback position?) – “Like I said before, it’s really just the mental part of it. Coming from a wide receiver, it’s a whole transition. I really had to switch my mind on things defensively, I would say, and so I really had to learn the game I feel like a whole different way. I feel like I’m more natural learning it that way, I would say, because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here, honestly. So just that part of the game, I feel like that’s why.”
(I wanted to ask you about what’s it been like having CB Xavien Howard back in the room after he came off the COVID and PUP lists; and he was in Zoom meetings and such before, but what’s it been like actually having him on the field next to you and in the building?) – “It’s a huge – he’s somebody I looked up to before coming to the league and it’s crazy that I’m playing beside guys like Byron (Jones) and him. It’s crazy just to see him work on the field, him being right next to me; it’s a dream come true. I’m just happy to see him on the field and healthy and everything. I’m just ready to see how he does in the season.”
(Obviously “Igbinoghene” is a long name. I wanted to know if you’ve got any teammates giving you nicknames – “Iggy” or anything like that of that sort?) – “They haven’t started it yet, but I think it’s coming. I think it’s coming soon.”
(I know your background is as a receiver and you haven’t been playing cornerback that much, but what is the toughest challenge of playing inside in that nickel role?) – “Honestly I would say the receiver can go many different ways. Playing corner or playing outside, you have the sideline as your help and so you can really use that to an advantage. Inside, you don’t really have the sideline so you can really go anywhere you want depending on the coverage you’re in. So that’s why I feel like slot is harder just mentally. Physically, I think corner is harder; but mentally, inside you have to know a lot of things.”
(Cornerbacks have to have the ultimate confidence in themselves, kind of like a baseball closer. Even if they give up a homer, they have to come back on the next play or the next day. I’m wondering early in the season, you’re going to matching up against guys like Patriots WR Julian Edelman and Bills WR Stefon Diggs – guys you probably watched on TV. What kind of approach do you take to that? How do you feel about doing that real soon?) – “Honestly, I approach the game like I’m going to dominate every single game. That’s just the mentality I have. Like you said before, playing corner in this league and any league, you’re going to get beat. I don’t care who you are, you’re going to get beat. Even the greatest get beat, and so it’s all about the next play. That’s all our coaches preach to us and so I feel like you wouldn’t be able to be on this level if you didn’t have that mentality because stuff is going to happen, just like life as well. I approach it like that. I approach any game like I’m going to dominate who I’m going against. I’ll never change that.”
(I wanted to ask you about special teams – what you’re expecting and what your comfort level is as a potential return man in the NFL?) – “I’m comfortable doing anything my coaches ask me. I did return in college at Auburn and so it’s something I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing kick return for a very long time, so it’s something I’m very comfortable with. Whether that’s punt – whatever special teams they want me to play, I’m willing to play. I’m just ready to get out there.”
(I wanted to ask you about your position coach in Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander. We’ve had a chance to talk to him a few times and he seems very direct but also intense and very to-the-point that way. I’m just curious what your experience has been like with him so far and what you’ve taken away from him both on the field and the classroom.) – “He’s taught me, and my cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, has taught me a lot about this game. There’s a lot of things I didn’t know coming in that I thought I knew. There’s really a lot of things about this game that I didn’t know and they both sat down and had many conversations with me in the summer. Those one-on-one meetings I feel like really got me right mentally to just come in and be a step ahead, I would say, so I appreciate them from the bottom of my heart. They’ve taught me a lot besides football as well – just in life and stuff like that – so I can’t wait for what the future holds for all of us.”
(Obviously you were playing a lot of outside corner with CB Xavien Howard gone. I guess where is your comfort level at playing slot corner?) – “I’m comfortable playing anywhere. I’m a baller at heart, so I feel like I can play anything on the field. Whether that’s offense, defense, special teams; I feel like I can do anything, so I’m comfortable doing anything.”
(I’ve been curious for months. When you left that meeting on March 5 on campus – you and the other Auburn defenders with Head Coach Brian Flores and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer – what did you emerge thinking? Had you thought that it would be fun to play for them? Boy, it would be demanding? What thoughts went through your mind that day?) – “After that, I really did want to play for Miami. That was one of the teams I really wanted to play for. Just everything we’re trying to do here. Coach Brian Flores, just his mentality as far as the team, I really feel like we relate just mentality-wise – and so just like you said, I really enjoyed that meeting when they came up there to Auburn for Pro Day and stuff. It’s crazy how stuff works out.”
(Now you’ve gone up against many of these guys during practices from training camp. Who would you say is the hardest receiver to defend for you so far?) – “I can’t pinpoint one. They all do a lot of things individually that’s different, I would say. I could say one person and another person does something else. They all really have one thing about their game that really separates all of them, so it’s been a challenge at times guarding all of them. And so I’m getting used to it, like I said before. I‘m getting better every single day.”
(What do they bring to the table? You said they all have one attribute. What’s that attribute that stands out to you about this receiving unit?) – “Speed, physicality, size. We’ve got craftiness. We have every single person to match what you want in an offense, so I really feel like we’re going to be a very special offense this year. Like I said before, we have every receiver for any category you want, and so I can’t wait to see what they do this year.”
Brian Flores – September 3, 2020
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Thursday, September 3, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to see if the odds were in our favor for you to let us know who your QB1 and QB2 were for next week?) – “Not in your favor. (laughter) I think you knew the answer to that, though.”
(I like that Miami Heat shirt. Tell me what did you think about the game and I guess what’s it like supporting other South Florida teams here?) – “I thought the game was fantastic last night. It came down to the wire. A lot of great situational basketball at the end and it came down to free throws, so it was good. Obviously I’m a fan of ‘Coach Spo’ (Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra) and that team and the way they play. They’re tough. They’re physical. They grind things out. They play smart basketball. I’m a fan and hopefully we can kind of learn from a lot of things they do and emulate a lot of the success that they’ve had over there.”
(Obviously we’ve asked you a lot about QB Tua Tagovailoa since he’s got here since he’s the new hot figure, but I wanted to ask you about what the impact you think QB Ryan Fitzpatrick still has on this team?) – “From a leadership standpoint, from an experience standpoint, I think he brings a lot to the team. He’s smart. He’s tough. I would say from a toughness standpoint, he brings a lot to this team as well. It’s important to him. He’s competitive. And for Tua (Tagovailoa) specifically and Josh (Rosen), they kind of talk through end-of-game situations, end-of-half situations, third down, two-minute, red zone, Mike points in the run game, defensive structures. All of those things, they’ve been very helpful to the young players. It’s the same defensively; so a defensive guy can go to ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and say, ‘hey, what’d you see on that? What made you make that throw versus another throw?’ And he’s more than willing to take on that role and answer questions. I think he brings a lot.”
(I have another QB Ryan Fitzpatrick question of my own. It’s well-known your affinity for him and the relationship that grew between you two throughout the course of the season; but did you really know him before you guys signed him and how did that relationship develop?) – “I don’t know if anyone’s used the word ‘affinity’ with me and any player. (laughter) ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) – obviously I’ve coached against him, watched him play in this league for a long, long time, hadn’t met him but knew of him from (when) I went to B.C. (Boston College), he was at Harvard. So I knew of him, but I think what you hear about him as a person, that was all true. We’re seeing that. He’s all the things that I’m looking for in a player. He’s tough, he’s smart, he’s competitive. He loves to play. He’s a great teammate. He’s coachable. I probably have a lot of similarities from that standpoint about the way we approach the game, and I think it’s been a good fit. ‘Affinity’ – I don’t know if I’d use those words, but I like the guy a lot.”
(Obviously you guys are 10 days away from New England. I wanted to ask, are you guys game-planning for them and I guess their uncertainty at quarterback at this point or are you still in camp mode?) – “It’s a little bit of both right now. We’ve obviously started some preparation on them, trying to get familiar with their personnel. They’ve got some new players – the quarterback situation obviously – but at the same time, we’re going to use today and work on some things that we may not have seen from our offense, our defense today, over the course of training camp – not necessarily New England, but just different looks that we haven’t seen offensively, defensively. Really in training camp you work against – whatever your defense does, that’s what you’re going to see offensively. Whatever your offense does, that’s what you’re going to see defensively. Whatever you do in the kicking game, that’s what you see. But some other teams are a little bit different and there are some other concepts that we need to see more of. So that’s what we’re working on today and then we’ll get into the game plan a little later in the week probably.”
(I know last season probably just seems so, so far away; but heading into Year 2 – Year 2 of your coaching career here as a head coach – what are some ways that you feel like you’ve improved and evolved as a coach and what are some things that you’re still working on?) – “I’m still working on everything. I try to improve on a daily basis in every area of my life – coaching, fatherhood, being a husband, friendships. I try to get better really at everything; but yeah, there’s experiences that I had last year that I think about as I’m trying to make decisions in this season, conversations that I’ve had, experiences, situations in practice and games. I certainly don’t have all the answers. I don’t think I ever will, so I lean on our coaching staff – (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny Crossman to (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) to (Defensive Coordinator) Josh Boyer to (Running Backs Coach) Eric Studesville. I feel very comfortable with our group, so I’ll lean on those guys; but as far as relationships with the players, the guys who were here a year ago, they kind of know how I’m wired. They know what I expect, so that’s been good as far as comfortability from that standpoint; but at the same time, we also have a lot of new players who are still getting to know them as well and they’re getting to know me. And that’s kind of football in general. That’s how we try to build a team. There’s always some new guys and we’re just making everyone feel comfortable but at the same time coach them hard.”
(It’s been a minute since WR DeVante Parker and WR Jakeem Grant have practiced, at least that we’ve seen. I guess housekeeping-wise is there any uncertainty about their availability for Week 1?) – “Both guys are working hard on a daily basis to get back out there. They’ll be out there as soon as they can be. As far as their availability, we’ll get the injury report starting next week so hopefully they’re not on it, but we’ll see. They’re working to get back out there quickly, as soon as possible.”
(We are a little over two full days away from cut-down day. Given that you haven’t had preseason games to look at film, how comfortable are you that you’ll be able to make all the right decisions on Saturday?) – “We’re going to do our best to make – we’re going to try to make the best decisions that we can make based on the information, the practices, the walkthroughs, the meetings. We’re going to try to make the best decisions that we can. Look, no one’s ever perfect. We want to be perfect. We strive for perfection and we’re going to make the decisions we feel in this moment that are best for this team. And there’s a lot of factors that go into that. We’ve already had a lot of conversations on this as a staff. I’ve had these conversations with (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore). There’s – again – a lot of factors that go into getting down to 53. These are tough conversations for us as a staff and then obviously they’re tough conversations with the players who end up getting released, but that’s a part of the business. I think everybody understands that, so I think the focus right now is on today. That’s kind of what I try to – my message to these guys is there may be some anxiety and some of those things going on about, ‘hey where’s my standing,’ but the best thing to do is just go out here and have a good practice and let the chips fall where they fall.”
(I know last time I guess we asked you about CB Xavien Howard, he was just getting off of PUP and getting his legs under him. I wanted to see where you feel like he is at this point and if he’s making progress with those elements that you wanted to see from him?) – “Yeah, he’s made a lot of progress. He’s looked good out there. He’s fast, quick. He’s just got to work on the techniques, the fundamentals, which that’ll come; but he’s looked good conditioning. And those are things that we work on on a daily basis to get better. He’s trending in the right direction. I would say that. Again, a lot of competition at that position as well. We’ll see how it shakes out.”
Austin Clark – September 2, 2020
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Outside Linebackers Coach Austin Clark
(I just wanted to clarify with you, that beyond LB Andrew Van Ginkel, and LB Trent Harris who exactly is in your room and if you could comment on those guys and how they’ve looked? Not those two but the others?) – “I would say I work with whoever they ask me to work with. It’s not really a room or position or anything like that. Day-by-day I come into work and fired up about all the guys on our front.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Tyshun Render and how you’ve just kind of noticed his progress so far through training camp. He won some awards in college about best effort, best hustle guy. I’m curious to get your take on him and if you’ve seen that same effort here in camp so far?) – “I would say those awards are accurate. He’s a grinder, he’s a tough guy. He plays really, really hard and I would say that’s probably his best attribute. I love the kid. I think he’s getting better each day. Got a lot of work to do, but I think he’s on the right track.”
(Coaching philosophy question. I know that you guys – one of the big things you do is find like opponent weaknesses and find matchup advantages. I’m kind of curious in general, what’s the best way for a coach to help a player and a player on his own to identify advantages that mgiht help them in a game?) – “I would say the first thing and we’re big on this here and I personally believe technique and fundamentals are the most important thing that goes into any front play, any defensive play that you do. As a coach, identifying what we want them to do and how we want them to do it and holding that standard each and every day. So there may be a time where they make a great play doing it wrong. You say hey, ‘that’s a hell of a play right there. Here’s how we want you to do it and if you were going against an All Pro here that might not work.’ So I would say the biggest thing for me personally is technique and fundamentals. As far as matchups and different things that you could use depending on an opponent scheme or what they’re showing or what they’re doing; I think that goes into it as well, and I think film and background, I think what we have here with our head coach and defensive coordinator especially in the division and their background with opponents, and even players. With some of the players we have that have backgrounds with a lot of these teams we’re playing is big.”
Gerald Alexander – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander
(From the 10 practices we saw, it looked like the young corners competing for jobs all had their moments with CB Breon Borders, CB Tae Hayes, CB Ken Webster, CB Jamal Perry – how difficult a call is it when you talk to General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Brian Flores in terms of deciding who to take from that group if you don’t have room for all of them?) – “I think that obviously we’ll take everybody’s body of work throughout camp. Those guys really did do a good job competing in camp. It’s a good problem to have – to have some good young talent out there showing what they showed in camp thus far. It’s a decision we’ve got to make as an organization to kind of figure out what’s the best personnel that we feel like we’re going to be able to go into the 2020 season with. We love what those guys have done on tape and obviously that’s led us to some tough decisions to make.”
(I wanted to ask you about the two draft picks. Obviously CB Noah Igbinoghene has been in a prominent role basically Day 1 since we’ve seen him. How has he progressed as a player when you first got your hands on him I guess a couple of weeks before we did. What did you see, what traits did you see in him then and how has he developed? With S Brandon Jones how comfortable would you be playing him from scrimmage if needed?) – “As far as Noah (Igbinoghene) – you started to see over the course of camp him get more and more comfortable in his role as a perimeter corner out there competing. You see the competitiveness that he has as a player – things that we thought we saw as a college player. He’s still pretty fresh at the position. He hasn’t been playing corner for that long in his career, obviously being new to this level, but you start to see a guy who is developing technically out there on the perimeter and look forward to kind of getting the chance to kind of see what he can do throughout the course of this season. As far as Brandon (Jones), I would feel just like anybody in this building, we just haven’t had the chance to see it live yet. Unfortunately we haven’t had the opportunity to see these guys play in games – these young guys for the lack of the preseason based on what we have seen so far in practice. It’s going to be an opportunity for him to go out there play in a real game that I would feel comfortable with and then just going out there and getting a chance to learn from there. He’s going to be a guy that has to learn from experience out there on the field – whatever that role is big or small. I’m looking forward to see what both of those kids can do in a real game.”
(I wanted to ask you about having time together, experience, communication, and things like that. You often hear about that for example on the offensive line, and you hear about it in the secondary. Given that, we have not seen for obvious reasons CB Xavien Howard on the practice field with the other guys in the secondary. How concerning is that for you and how much time will be required before ‘X’ can get on the same page with the safeties and with CB Byron Jones?) – “I think ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) has handled himself as a professional in the midst of obviously his coming back and being on the field with those guys. One of the things that he’s done is to make sure that throughout the meetings and out there on the field if he is not taking the physical rep, he’s taking the mental rep. He understands the communication that’s going on with those guys out there on the field. So when he does insert himself into that role on the field there is some familiarity even though he hasn’t take the physical rep as much as some of the other guys given the situation. I’m not too concerned about it. I think that he understands the terminology. He understands the responsibility that comes with certain calls and certain communication, but it’s just about, again, getting that on-the-field experience and practicing it and obviously once we get into game time, being able to execute the things that we need to execute on the field.”
(I wanted to ask you where is your comfort level in the guys that you have playing nickel cornerback? I know CB Jamal Perry has been in the a lot, but I saw CB Noah Igbinoghene was getting some lessons in there, or some reps in there as the nickel spot. How difficult do you think that is to play in this era of the league?) – “That position is so valued now. That nickel role with the amount of spread personnel formations that you see offensively, and you’ve got to have a guy in there that can cover in space, that can tackle in the run game, that can maybe add perimeter pressure off the edge. Those guys are invaluable in today’s league. As far as Jamal (Perry) and guys like Tae Hayes and Noah (Igbinoghene) getting some of those reps – through practice and through training camp those guys have showed flashes of making some splash plays and having tight coverage on the slot. Those guys have done a good job, so I’m – based on what we’ve seen so far going into the season – my comfort level is high on them, them getting into the game. But obviously there’s got to be some improvement as we continue to develop in the secondary and especially at that position because it’s such a valued position.”
(Coaching philosophy question. What would you tell a player separates good from great?) – “Good from great – I think it’s really about routine and then understanding. What I always tell those guys is that understanding leads to control. When you get a chance to understand your responsibility – not just yours as a player – but the entire big picture of what we’re trying to get done as a secondary, and what we’re trying to get done as a defense even though you’re one of an 11 piece puzzle; if you understand what your responsibility is and how you’re going to be attacked, that can give you an opportunity to do great things. That’s controlling the field and then personally what do you do to prepare yourself throughout the year, throughout the weeks, throughout the day to make sure you’re going to be able to perform at your highest level on any given day. It’s tough. It’s just like anybody else in any business who is dedicated to their craft. It takes more than being ordinary. It takes doing extraordinary things all the time and that’s what I would say from a player. That’s why there are few great players in this league. Something about those guys – not just the physical part – has made them stand out in their career and shown their body of work when it’s all said and done.”
(You’ve got cut-down day on Saturday. I know this is your first time as a coach in the NFL, but you’ve lived the NFL life before. I’m just curious to get your take on the challenges of cut-down day and kind of how that is from a player’s perspective and a coach’s perspective?) – “This is fresh for me obviously from a coaching perspective. I think obviously these are tough decisions you’ve got to make as an organization to make sure that you’ve got the best 53 guys going into the season that you feel like you can win with. As a player, I know it’s taxing. It’s emotional. I’ve lived kind of both sides of it. Made teams and got cut from teams and so I understand the situation that the players are going through. For some of these guys the cut down may be their last opportunity to get a chance to play in this league. It is a huge accomplishment if you do make a roster. I understand really both sides of it. I’ll get a chance to obviously experience this side as a coach. But that’s the reality of this league. It’s a very competitive league. I tell guys all the time, even when I was coaching college ball: to stay in this league is harder than getting here. And it’s really hard to get to the NFL and play at this level. That’s the reality of the business, and we’re going to go about our business as we normally do and just look forward to the 2020 season with the guys that we decide are going to be Miami Dolphins.”
(I appreciate you bringing up that point. What do you remember from cut-down day when you were a player? You bounced around so much as kind of a journeyman. What was it like to get fired?) – “It’s a hard reality. You don’t know if your playing career is over. You don’t know if that opportunity is going to come, but if you continue to want to play at this level, you have to make sure that you are physically prepared to take on any call from any team and go try out and all of that. I remember just being in that mindset of trying to continue to hold on and then I also remember when the reality hit me where the opportunity to play in the National Football League was over. It’s a tough deal emotionally as a player and as a person, you’ve got to kind of look forward to really the next step in life if that situation is a reality for you as an NFL player. I’m fortunate enough to have found a new passion obviously with what I’m doing as a coach. But it took a while and it was scary. It was scary being a 27-year-old about to be married, and about to have a kid on the way and not know what my next step in life was going to be. Through actually volunteering at my high school as a coach I found a new passion in coaching and I pursued it, and now I’m here today.”
Steve Marshall – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall
(G/T Jesse Davis told us yesterday that he’s primarily a right tackle for now. Have you decided and I don’t expect you to share with us who it is even if you have decided, but have you decided if G Solomon Kindley will be your right guard or if T Robert Hunt will be your right guard?) – “That process is ongoing. We’re pretty close to making that decision and we’ve got a long way to go to the Patriots, so there’s really no reason to make any decision right now; but we’ll go from there. Jesse – like you said – he’s been at right tackle, he’s been at left tackle, he’s been at left guard, he’s been at right guard; and he’s got a lot of versatility, and he’s had a really good camp. We’ll see where it all kind of shakes out here.”
(Where is G Michael Deiter in his development as a center?) – “Mike (Deiter) is a guy who came in here last year, played left guard. He has center in his background. He’s working basically every day. I’ve been very pleased with what he’s done at center, and he’s multi-position learning. He played center at the University of Wisconsin when he was a sophomore, so it wasn’t unfamiliar to him and it’s just like Ted (Karras) and all our other centers – Keaton Sutherland – that we ask those guys for a lot, and there’s a lot of things. Every day’s a new adventure for them; but again, Mike has competed extremely hard and I’ve been very happy with his development.”
(I know you mentioned G/T Jesse Davis, but it seems like overall in the unit there’s a lot of young guys on the o-line as a whole. Are you comfortable with maybe the lack of veterans, kind of having a young group as a whole?) – “We are young, that’s for sure. Jesse (Davis) is one of the old graybeards. I think he’s 28, 29 or whatever he is. Ereck (Flowers) has been in the league four years and he’s still 26. Ted Karras – 27. So there’s a sense of – yeah, there’s guys that – the only way this league is so different as we’ve talked before, this league is so different than college football as far as the speed of it and the mental aspect of the game, and some of that stuff only comes with playing and experience. The young guys that we do have, we’ve just got to get them in there and see where they are and put on top of it no preseason games, where they could get a little taste of what the speed of the game is. We’re going right into the first ballgame. It just happens to be the 12-4 football team that’s the Patriots. It’s a big task; but again, it’s been a great camp. We’ve had a lot of competition. There’s been a lot of good. We’ve had our hiccups, but I’ll tell you one thing – the guys have fought their tails off and are working hard and like I said, we’re anxious to get this season rolling.”
(I was hoping you could go a little bit more in detail about those three rookies that you have – the three draft picks – something quick on each one of them for me?) – “Rob Hunt – he’s the (University of Louisiana-Lafayette) Lafayette kid that came out and came in here and has done extremely well. We’ve asked a lot of him as we have ‘AJ’ (Austin Jackson) – Austin – and Solomon (Kindley). They’re multi-position learning. So that on top of just learning a new league, going against the d-line that we’ve got, has been a big challenge for them. Every day like I said before, every day with Rob Hunt and Solomon and ‘AJ’ has been a new adventure. They’ve got to learn and one of the things I think they’ve learned where they were the big dog at their college game, in practice it’s highly competitive every single snap. You’re going against (Shaq) Lawson. You’re going against (Emmanuel) Ogbah. You’re going against Christian Wilkins or any of those guys on the d-line. It is a battle every day; and that’s the thing that I think that young guys coming into this league – and ours are no exception – that hey, every game, every practice is a highly fierce, competitive practice. And that’s where they’re learning every day a little bit better as far as handling that kind of pressure or competitiveness – whatever you call it – and then obviously the chance that they’re being thrown in the mix or potentially thrown in the mix if they go. That’s kind of the whammy; but hey, they’re talented young guys and like I said, we’ll kind of see how it all comes out. They’ve learned a lot in a very, very, very short period of time and they’ve gotten better every day, and I can give you that right there.”
(I’d like to go to an offensive line coach convention one day. I think that’d be fun…) – “I don’t know – they’ve got them – I don’t know if you – Bob Wylie used to (do them). I haven’t been in a few years, but they have one in Cincinnati every May where eight or nine of the o-line coaches go and talk a little football and do a few other things there. It’s become so big. When I started college coaching, (former NFL coach) Jim McNally and some of the older guys – Hudson Houck – some of these (guys) used to have it. I have great memories of those type things. Yes, that would be very entertaining for if you wanted to learn kind of that world.”
(My question was – you’ve done this for a minute – so I’m curious how would you describe your own style? What’s your approach?) – “I’ve been asked that through the years. I don’t know if I have an approach. It’s hard to kind of – I’d love to say that I’m a teacher of it – and part of being a teacher is learning from an o-line spot, there’s a tremendous synergy – I don’t know if that’s the right word, but I’m going to use it anyway – that between, hey, you play with a lot of fire, you play with a lot of intensity, but you’ve also got to play with a sense of smartness, a sense of ‘under control.’ There’s a fine line there. I think that’s kind of – the line coaches that I’ve learned from through the years and I’ve taken away a lot of things from that, is where I see great coaches can get guys to learn things where their mind is clear enough, where they can play at the optimal speed. And I think you know what I’m talking about there and that’s really the fine line, and that is truly – as you’ve heard the word through the years – a process to get a young guy from one level to the next and a lot of it is just pure repetition. A lot of it is having the type of offensive system from a call standpoint where they can come up to the line of scrimmage and their minds are clear and they don’t have to think about a thousand things and they can go play ball. And that’s the fine line between getting them to be where they need to be to win in this league.”
(I don’t know how I can top the offensive line convention part of it…) – “That’s hard to top. (laughter) That would be hard to top. You guys would like that stuff. Now, it goes Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s a three-day deal, now. It’s not like a two-hour deal. (laughter)”
(I’ve got nothing on that, but what I would like to ask you – earlier on you had mentioned something to the effect of we’ve got some time before the Patriots game. Just to clarify – even if you’re not going to tell us what your five will be – what is your timetable for deciding that five and how confident are you that those five are going to be your guys for a while, not just one or two games?) – “You never know what the future holds. I think we’re really zeroing in on really not the five because you really can’t zero on the five. You guys, again, think about who the starters are, but we’re really zeroing in on the eight or nine that are going to be there because you’ve always got to take in the what-if factors. What if a guy gets hurt? What if one of our guys goes down? Who’s the backup? Who’s got to play two positions? So I’m more focused on that as we get ready to start into the season because again, those guys have to play multiple positions and you’ve got five starters, but you’ve also got – if we travel with seven – if we have seven up on game day or eight up on game day, okay, one guy goes down and who’s the position? Now if you lose two of them, then you get into do we need an extra tight end or what have you because it’s really more of – that’s kind of my job. I think as we go forward, we’ll have a pretty good plan on going into it who is going to get the ‘starters’ reps and who gets the backup reps. So it’s more from my standpoint because I’m right there every day, getting eight or nine guys ready depending on how many I get on game day. I think there’s a new rule now that you can take eight guys to the game. And so that’s my focus, is getting not only the starters but the other guys ready to go, too.”
Josh Grizzard – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard
(I’m trying to get a sense for coaching philosophies and coaching approaches for all the guys who are in a new role for the first year, so I guess the one I would ask you is what do you think are the keys to helping a player reach his potential?) – “I would say to make sure these guys are consistent and find ways to motivate each guy; and I think the key to that is you can’t coach one guy the same way that you can coach another guy. So does that mean you can be hard on them on the practice field or the meeting room, or do you need to pull him aside and know that he doesn’t really appreciate being called out, but he’d rather, ‘just tell me on the side what I need to do.’ And being able to figure that out from my end, I think then helps them because it allows them to maximize their potential. And just making sure they’re stacking good days back-to-back, making sure that if there is a bad day that you don’t come back with another bad day; so finding ways to improve what you did the day before. Again, each guy is a different story.”
(I guess when we first saw RB Malcolm Perry out here, he was still transitioning to receiver and now we’ve seen a few highlight plays from him already through practice and scrimmages. Where have you sort of seen his kind of evolution and where is your comfort with him playing receiver at this point?) – “He’s done a nice job and it’s a testament to him that he just works his ass off all the time; so for him to be able to come in here and make that transition from playing quarterback has been – it takes time to get a feel for routes and coverages and things like that, but what he does a good job of is not making the same mistake twice. So if you see something wrong on one play, ‘hey man, you didn’t do it quite how we wanted it,’ he does a good job of walking through it on his own and coming back the next day and improving on that and then filing it away for, ‘okay, this is how this needs to be done the next time.’”
(I did want to follow up again on RB Malcolm Perry. At what moment did you realize during training camp that hey, this kid may be a player from what you’ve seen so far?) – “I don’t know if one thing stuck out during training camp, but I actually coached down in the East-West Shrine game back in January and had a chance to work with him down there. I was working with the quarterbacks. He was of course playing receiver, and just to see his attention to detail and commitment and knowledge and smarts; and you could tell that it was a guy that had a passion for the game. So for a lot of the same reasons we were talking about earlier on – not making the same mistakes again twice – you can just see that he’s very serious about getting better from day to day. Guys that really enjoy the game, that’s easy for them because they can come here and work and he kind of epitomizes that.”
(As you know from working with Adam Gase and Clyde Christensen, they both believed – and Adam articulated to us – that WR Jakeem Grant is better on the boundary than in the slot. Do you agree with that and are you using him more outside or inside?) – “Really what Jakeem (Grant) and the rest of our guys – they have the ability to play outside, they have the ability to play inside. It depends on a week-to-week thing. It depends on a matchup for who we’re going against. I see Jakeem as a guy that can do both. We all see the ability that he has. Does that mean playing on the outside and taking advantage of his skillset there or moving into the slot based on matchups, he can do that as well. So he really has the flexibility to do both.”
(I was wondering do you have a good QB Ryan Fitzpatrick story?) – “I do. So unfortunately when I was at Yale, we did not beat Harvard one time, so five years – brutal – again, not happy about that. But I can’t remember who we were playing. I feel like it was the Jets or somebody and Yale was playing Harvard, and I had the pleasure of watching it with him on his phone as Yale beat Harvard, so that was a highlight of time spent with him.”
Eric Studesville – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(As you guys studied RB Salvon Ahmed in the draft, what did you think about him when you looked at running backs in the draft and what has he shown you the first few days?) – “In the draft, I thought that he did a nice job up in Washington. I think it was very similar to what Myles (Gaskin) did when he was up in Washington. He ran the ball (well). He uses speed out in space. He made a lot of plays up there. He’s just an exciting young player.”
(I know RB Malcolm Perry has been doing a lot with the receivers but obviously he could be used in your room as well. How do you kind of use a player like that who may not be with you full-time but may see some snaps out of the backfield at some point?) – “We’re always trying to create and come up with new things like that and you have a player who’s got a unique skillset. Obviously his productivity at Navy was unbelievable last year and we’re just bouncing ideas off right now; but we don’t know what to do with it right now. We’re still trying to figure out what the running backs can do before we can do anything, and he’s got a big job ahead of him learning all the special teams stuff and the wide receiver stuff, which is new for him, too. So the possibilities are out there, but we haven’t spent a lot of time with that at all yet.”
(Speaking of possibilities, how much are you campaigning to get your hands on LB Elandon Roberts in the backfield?) – “(laughter) It’s a nice possibility of having him be able to go both ways and come over there. Obviously he’s done that and done it successfully at New England, but at the same point in time, we’re really happy with I think some of the things that Chandler (Cox) has shown and done so far in camp, too; so the chance of having both guys there and two people that can do similar-type job descriptions if we need it is a nice issue to have.”
(I wanted to ask you about carving out specific roles for your tailbacks. I know everybody has this vision of RB Jordan Howard as a power back and RB Matt Breida as a guy in space, but obviously that telegraphs things when you put them on the field. How do you do that – go about carving out roles without telegraphing what you intend to do?) – “I think they carve out the roles. They’re going to determine what they can and can’t do. I think the thing that I try to do with them is to expose them and show what they can do in all of the different runs. Don’t just isolate one guy to say, ‘hey, he just runs all the toss plays’ or all the outside plays or this or that. They all have to be able to do it and you expose them to the whole variety – our whole menu of plays – and then they kind of determine, ‘hey, I’m a little bit better at this one than the other ones’ or this is what their strengths look like. I think that’s kind of how we develop and create those roles, but I think the main thing is that you can’t – it’s easy to fall into a trap of just making them do one thing and saying, ‘hey, he’s good at this’ because you’re a broken shoelace or a chin strap away from a guy that you’ve now pigeonholed into being able to do one thing to really handcuffing your offense to what you need to do. So I try to expose them to everything. We’re going to emphasize what they do best, but at the end of the day, if we’re calling something and it’s working and those kinds of things, then they’ve all got to be able to do it.”
(I know you mentioned it’s kind of right now just getting the basics taken care of, but I am curious because last year you guys ran plenty of direct-snap Wildcat type of stuff and a lot of times it was RB Kalen Ballage in that package. I’m just curious, generally speaking, what is it to you that makes a good back when it comes to taking direct snaps out of that Wildcat package?) – “The ability to get the play started is a huge plus. That guy – like the quarterback – he’s touching the ball every play. I think that’s something that Kalen (Ballage) obviously had a background in that before he came here and did that in college and did it successfully. He had what, eight touchdowns in one game doing all that stuff? I’ve had different guys over the years do that, but it takes time to develop that skill. It’s not something that they just inherently do, so it takes time to develop that and to do all of that. Some guys are better at it than others.”
(I know you haven’t had any preseason games to actually see the live action of it, but I guess how comfortable do you feel with your backfield now to maybe this time last year?) – “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know that I can remember what I felt like last year. I’m so focused on what we’re doing right now. I like this room. I do. I like these five guys that we’re working with and I think they’ve all done a good job of coming and working, competing, trying to showcase what they can do, trying to determine – just like we talked about a moment ago – what their role and function is going to be on this team. They’re competitive. They’re serious. They want to be good. They’re hungry. They’re able to be pushed and I think – I just like the whole room, the dynamic that’s going on with all of them. So every year I’m excited. I feel the same way every year though at the end of the day because I think we’re going to – we do exactly what we think puts them in the best position to be successful and we’re going to try to continue to do that. And I like where we are right now. If there’s anything that I don’t feel comfortable about, then I need to get on that here in the next week and make sure we get it set before next week because we’re running out of time.”
(Oftentimes last season, a running back would get the ball and they would be met immediately by some defenders. I think maybe RB Kalen Ballage got an unfair shake for the 1.8 yards per carry average because of that. What are some things that kind of went wrong with Kalen’s time here, especially with last season?) – “I think that’s unfair for me to go back and look at all that right now. I’m really – I love that kid. He did everything I asked him to do and I just think right now going forward, I’m so focused on trying to get this group of guys ready to play in two weeks that I’ve looked at so little of last year recently and gone back over it. I’m really focused on what we need to do to move forward. I’m focused on moving forward.”
(Has the fact that RB Patrick Laird been slowed by the shoulder in the last week, has that been hurtful in your evaluation of him or do you pretty much know what you have with him?) – “It’s obviously decreased his reps and things, and he’s done a great job to this point in time; but injuries are part of what we do. That’s part of this, so that’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up, get some more reps, demonstrate what they can do; and that motivates Patrick (Laird) to get back on the field, too, and he’s done a great job with that. It’s part of our game. Losing time is part of our game, but that’s what we have to overcome. That’s constantly what we’re adjusting and moving pieces to do at every position, not just mine. And we are evaluating, but we’re evaluating how they handle adversity, how he handles this little setback that he’s gotten into right now and it’s always part of the evaluation process of everything that happens to these guys during this time that we’re trying to pick the team.”
Anthony Campanile – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(Last year, LB Sam Eguavoen coming from the CFL – mostly used in pass coverage early on playing inside, then used more of a pass rusher role late in the season and played well. Your vision for him would be what – a guy who you think is good at both, a guy you think has pass rushing upside and how has he looked in camp?) – “I think he’s done a great job in camp to this point, and he’s a guy who’s been able to – he’s really done a good job with everything we’ve asked him to do. I think that’s been his – what you saw of him last year as well. He’s an awesome guy to coach. There’s nothing that he won’t do for the team. He’s a team guy – a guy you love to coach – and like I said, has a great skillset. (He) can do a bunch of things.”
(I’m going to resist the temptation to ask you about your Sunday menu and instead if we could address the LB Raekwon McMillan trade. He filled some roles for you last year and I’m wondering what you saw from this group of linebackers that enabled you to part with McMillan. Who’s going to take over those roles and what are you seeing from those guys?) – “I think all the guys – like I said last time we talked, I guess a few days ago – everybody’s really done a good job. Everybody’s been a total team guy. Great room. Been able to fill a lot of the roles and things we’ve been asking them to do throughout the summer, and I said this a few days back – I loved coaching Raekwon (McMillan). Great guy. Great kid. And I think he’s a really good player in this league and I think he’s going to have a lot of success – continue to have success – but some of those decisions are obviously the organization and I think he did a great job. I think everybody here thinks he did a great job, so I enjoyed my time coaching him and I think all the guys in our room have been awesome the whole way. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do throughout the summer, like I already said. So I’m really, really excited to get started here.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Elandon Roberts. He has come in and seemingly been sort of one of the more vocal players on that unit. How many spots can he actually play and what are the skillsets that he brings to your group?) – “Somebody asked me something similar last week. I think he’s really a physical guy. He’s been that way throughout his career. A lot of fun to coach. You had just alluded to his communication skills, his leadership skills. I’ve really enjoyed being around that. I think the guys on the team and the guys in the room have enjoyed being around that; so to me, that’s the type of guy he is. He’s a real throwback football guy, high character person. You can see like I said, the guys the room, myself; everybody loves being around this guy, so I’ve enjoyed my time coaching him and he’s done a great job for us as well this summer.”
(I want to ask some of the first-year guys on the staff about their coaching philosophy so I wrote down what are the keys to helping a player reach his potential? I know it’s a very general question, but I’m kind of interested in coaching approaches. What are the keys to helping a player reach his potential?) – “I think one of the things that is often overlooked in coaching but is certainly very, very important, is I believe a coach’s job is to organize information so that the player can process it and play faster. I think that’s our job, so organizing the information so the guys are thinking in sound bites, not sentences; and they can play fast. I think good football players and good football plays are made with anticipation so you’re trying to take away all anxiety because anxiety – obviously you’re in fear or unsure of what’s going to happen in the future, whether it be in the next few seconds or the next few weeks. Anticipation is you have a pretty good idea, ‘hey, this is probably one of two or three things, not one of 10 things.’ And I think guys that have great anticipatory skills when they’re playing; you can take a guy that maybe runs a 4.7 (40-yard dash) but he looks like he’s playing at a 4.4 (speed) and vice versa. You can have a guy that is a 4.4. (speed) running the wrong direction; so I think our job as coaches is to get that progression down because your eyes, feet and hands – I think it usually goes in that progression each play. My eyes are going to tell my feet what to do. My hands are buying me time. And a lot of information is sent from the eyes to the brain, telling your feet what to do each play. So I think that’s a big role in terms of the schematics for our job as coaches.”
(I wanted to ask you, you guys have that multiple feel with the defense. You’ve got players playing – some guys playing d-line, some guys playing linebacker. I wanted to ask how you kind of go about coaching some of those guys – the DE Shaq Lawsons, the DE Emmanuel Ogbahs – who in some fronts may be with Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby and then on some fronts may be with you?) – “I think one of the great things about this organization and ‘Coach Boyer’ (Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer) and ‘Coach Flores’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) – I may have mentioned this in the past – everybody really gets an opportunity to coach all the guys the way practice is set up. There’s no egos in our defensive room, so everybody, really, it’s a collaborative effort. And that’s really a lot of fun. I think you get a great feel for all the guys on the unit and you really get to kind of spend time with players from all different groupings on the field. So that’s been awesome. It’s a great – I think philosophically – it’s something I’ve really enjoyed as well, and I’ve enjoyed getting the opportunity to be around all these different guys every day. They’re awesome. It’s a great group of guys.”
(Maybe this is a question for Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer or Head Coach Brian Flores, but I’m curious because typically the player that wears the green dot – the communication helmet – comes from the linebacker unit. I’m just curious, last year we had LB Jerome Baker wearing it. Now you’ve got some more guys that can probably communicate the defense as effectively. I’m curious what goes into the decision to who wears the green dot – the communication helmet – on defense?) – “I think what you’re striving for is to have a bunch of those guys on a unit that can do that, and that goes back to communication. Do you have players that are – obviously you want to built your unit full of smart, football guys who have a relatively high football IQ and we feel like that’s the case here. We’re fortunate to have a bunch of guys who love football. It’s not only their profession, it’s their passion. So the more guys you have like that who kind of understand the inner workings and schematics – the front, the back end, how they work together, what the offense is trying to do – that affords you more of an opportunity to find players who can step into that role on Sunday. And we felt the guys throughout the course of the spring and summer have done a very good job of that.”
(It’s Sunday dinner question time. Favorite time of the interview, baby. All right, tell me about the best lasagna you ever had and what makes a great lasagna?) – “That’s my mother’s (lasagna). That’s my mother’s. But you don’t want to take that right out. You can’t take that right out. You’ve got to let that sit a little bit so then everything kind of hardens up. It’s all got to kind fit together for a little while. So the people that take right out (of the oven) and serve it, I think that’s a huge mistake. You can’t cook it too – like to me, you get the macaroni done, then when you throw it in the oven – you’ve really got to know what you’re doing there because you can mess up lasagna. You can easily mess that up. That’s not an easy one. That’s a great question though. (laughter)”
