Zach Zenner – December 5, 2019
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Thursday, December 5, 2019
RB Zach Zenner
(Even as tired as you were last night, did you still study for a few hours? How does that work on the first day on a new team?) – “(laughter) Of course. Yeah, I mean I’m trying to prepare. I hung out here for a while and studied all the way up until I called my wife and then went to bed.”
(You seem very level but for some guys, their first day on a new team when they’re claimed off waivers during the season, do you think it can cause anxiety? Can it be stressful just in terms of being overwhelmed with a lot of material?) – “It’s definitely stressful but it’s just part of the game. The majority of players in the NFL, this will happen to them at some point. There’s probably – I don’t know what the percentage is but I would estimate it’s a low percentage of individuals who start their careers somewhere and end their career there.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores told us today that he actually studies all of the waiver guys who are available as obviously the General Manager Chris Grier does. Did Flores say anything to you which made you realize that he knows you and has seen your work? Was there any exchange like that?) – “We had a meeting, for sure. I know that he’s a smart guy. I know that he’s up on all of that stuff like you said. He knows what’s going on throughout the league, is paying attention and that was clear.”
(Did anybody in the building – General Manager Chris Grier or a position coach or anyone – say I remember you in a particular game? Was there a particular moment that somebody mentioned to you?) – “No. Most of it has just been trying to help me learn what’s going on. Maybe we’ll get to some of those other conversations in a week or two.”
(One last thing – what’s the level of complexity here with learning assignments as a running back and special teams guy compared to previous stops? Is it comparable? More difficult?) – “I think it’s comparable. It just depends. The football concepts are very similar across teams but the language is different, so that’s the main issue.”
Brian Flores – December 5, 2019
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Thursday, December 5, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(A couple of things on the running game – I know no one can be happy with the 3.1 per carry average. I know it’s always a combination of things with the running game. Would you say that the blocking has been more of an issue than the running backs finding holes? And also, who has your best run blocker been this year?) – “Like you said, there’s a lot of things that go into it. I think it’s a combination of the things you just mentioned. Sometimes it’s blocking. Sometimes it’s running. Sometimes it’s receivers not getting the correct guys. Sometimes it’s miscommunication. Sometimes it’s – it’s a myriad of things. At the end of the day, you don’t point at just one thing. It’s never one thing. You just try to get all of it right and if we can get everybody on the same page – and again, it’s a hard thing to do – get 11 guys on the same page, execute versus defensively what they’re giving us – but we’ve got to be able to do it. We’ve got to do it more consistently. It’s something we’ve talked about for a lot of weeks now, and I think they’re working at it. I have to give credit to the defenses that we’ve seen. We’ve played against some good fronts, and I think the score plays a role in how much we’ve been able to run; but every game is a little bit different and we’re not going to make excuses or say, ‘hey, it’s this or that.’ We have to block better. We have to run better. We have to do everything a little bit better.”
(Who’s been the best run blocker do you think of your linemen?) – “I think – you could point to one guy, but one guy is not going to get it done. I’m not going to point out one guy. I think we all have to do a better job, starting with me. That’s my message to the team. It is. One’s not going to get it done. That’s my answer to that.”
(Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea singled out QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and C Daniel Kilgore as two leaders of the offense who maybe corral the younger guys together when you guys are kind of trailing in games and leading the comeback. Who are some guys on your defense that really have all the players kind of locked down and locked in when things are going not so great?) – “(Jerome) Baker, (Davon) Godchaux, Raekwon (McMillan), Jomal Wiltz, Eric Rowe – I think all of those guys. I think this is a team that feels like we can battle back and get ourselves back in games when we’re down. I’d like for us to not play that way and try to play a little bit earlier in games. It’s something we’ve talked about a lot among other things, but I think we’ve got a lot of guys that have belief in each other. We all know there’s no quit. We’re going to keep competing, and if you do that, things turn in games. You need that belief in order to get back in games and to start games as well.”
(How has LB Sam Eguavoen done this season, especially relative to his transition from CFL to NFL?) – “I think he’s made a lot of improvement since the day he got here, really since we started spending time with him. This is a guy who works extremely hard. Football is important to him. He studies. His preparation is very good in all areas defensively and on special teams. Whatever roles we ask him to perform in, he learns it quickly and does it to the best of his ability and we’ve asked him to do a lot of things in the kicking game and defensively in different groupings and different positions; so I think he’s made a nice adjustment and I still think there’s a lot more room to grow and develop. We’re going to use these last few weeks of the season to do that and then hopefully that gives us a good start to what’s next to come.”
(How has LB Sam Eguavoen done in areas of physicality – run stopping, tackling and things like that?) – “I think he’s a physical guy. I think he plays downhill and is not afraid of contact. When we ask him to set the edge, he’s been able to do that. I think he’s a tough, physical guy and hopefully we’ll continue to see more of that from him throughout this week in particular and then the rest of the year.”
(What does DT John Jenkins bring to your defensive line? What would be his most underrated asset?) – “Leadership. I would say, I think that is underrated. He’s the veteran guy in the room, and he’s been on some good teams, around some good players and brings that experience and that leadership to the room. He’s a good player, too. He really does a good job with fundamentals, technique, specifically on first and second down. He’s a hard guy to move, and I think he’s played really solid football for us.”
(How does the run game philosophy change if at all, now that you’ve gone from RB Kenyan Drake to RB Kalen Ballage and now you’re with RB Patrick Laird? How do things change?) – “I don’t think it really changes much. We want to run the ball efficiently. That’s always at the forefront, and we want to move the ball efficiently in the run game, in the pass game, in the screen game, in the play-action game; but specific to the run game, nothing really changes, I would say. We’ll mix the scheme runs with the zone runs with the various runs we have, and at the end of the day, it comes down to execution. I have confidence in all our backs. We wouldn’t change what we would do for – I don’t think we have to change what we would do for Myles (Gaskin) or Patrick (Laird) or (Zach) Zenner or De’Lance (Turner). We just have to execute better than we have.”
(You’ve added four players in the last couple of days. Would you and General Manager Chris Grier and Vice President of Football Administration Brandon Shore just want to get a look at as many players as you can over the last month in practice settings to see if maybe you have something there and of the four, anyone that you remember in particular that you had seen in the scouting/pre-draft process or in games that stood out to you?) – “Yeah. All of these guys – obviously you guys know (I have) a background in scouting, so I watch a lot of – I watch everybody. The guys we brought in, I watched them all and we feel good about them. Mack Hollins for instance, he’s a tough, physical wide receiver, plays in the kicking game. He’s had some production offensively and in the kicking game. We like him. He’s a guy that obviously, we just saw him, so we know a lot about him and the rest of the group – Evan (Brown) with the Giants – we watched him in the preseason. I watch all this stuff, so anyone we feel like can help us get better that we feel like has some developmental potential, we’ll look into it. We don’t make every move we could possibly make, but the ones that we think feel like will help us, we try to make.”
(When you do look at these guys before you add them to the roster, how much film and how long are you taking to watching these things? Do you have the film cut for you so you can see some things beforehand? What’s that process?) – “I watch a lot before I make a determination on what I think a guy can or cannot do. My process is a little different than I guess some other people. I take a good amount of time once a name comes across my desk, or we check the waiver wire on a daily basis. I watch a good amount of it along with our next opponent. I’ve got a routine on how I’m doing this. We’re not going to delve into my exact routine right now. (laughter) But yeah, I do spend some time.”
(Is that process that General Manager Chris Grier or someone else in the front office will say ‘hey we’re looking at this guy, tell me what you think?’ And then you get back to Chris or someone else?) – “That’s fluid. There’s a lot of communication from that standpoint. I’ve looked at the wire every day for the last 15 years. It’s just part of my routine and process. I know all of the – or I look at, at least – all of the transactions on a daily basis. Chris and the personnel staff does the same thing. I just think that’s part of working in this league.”
(When you look at the wire, what percentage of players do you think that you know just based off looking, playing and watching football?) – “I know a lot of them. I’d say when I was in personnel, I knew pretty much all of them. When you get into coaching, you know the guys you’ve played and you know most of the league; but there are some teams you haven’t seen and some new players that have been acquired. You don’t see all of the draft picks so maybe not as much when you are coaching, but this is a different role. I spend more time on – the draft last year, obviously I knew a chunk of those players and the rookies that are in the league now, I know the lion’s share of those guys, and I’d say over the next couple of years I’ll know most everyone. Hopefully I’ll know everyone.”
(WR Trevor Davis is one of the new guys you brought in here. Where do you see him making the most immediate impact?) – “Well he’s got return value – kickoffs and punts. He’s fast, he’s big and he’s had some production offensively as well. Anybody who comes in here, the opportunity they receive is going to be up to them and how they perform in practice. Trevor had a nice practice yesterday and we’ll see how it goes today. That’s the case for everyone. You guys have heard me say that every day that I’m up here.”
(Going back to the waiver wire and mining it for gems, what’s one or two guys who you’re really proud of that you spotted on the waiver wire and really feel good about, ‘Hey, this guy really panned out.’) – “I could name a couple of guys but it’s not a one-man show. I think it’s the entire staff. We have a really good personnel staff here. They do a good job of uncovering guys and I’m not going to sit here and say I’m 100 percent on draft picks or free agents. No one is, but having that background I think helps me a lot. But again, it’s a team collective effort. It wasn’t me who found any specific player. I think that part of it is about having strong opinions on players and being able to forecast and predict what guys are going to do. I guess I feel confident in that area as well as I feel confident in our staff to get that part of it right.”
(I’ve heard other coaches say you guys play and coach with house money, and that you are playing with nothing to lose. What do you think about that aspect of it, and is that something you enjoy or appreciate being said about you?) – “We’re aggressive and we’re going to play to win. If we feel like there’s a place where we can gain an advantage, we’re going to try to do that; but I think every team does that. As far as playing with house money, I guess you can say that. We’re going to play to win. We’re going to play to win and if there is something that we like and we feel like we can make a play on, we’re going to try to do that. We’ve got a group of guys in there who practice hard and compete. You don’t win games with trick plays in this league. That’s just not how it works. You have to be able to execute on play-to-play basis and play consistently and we need to do that.”
(How would you assess G Michael Deiter’s growth?) – “Deiter, I think he’s had a solid rookie year and he’s continuing to develop and get better on a day-to-day basis. He’s had some ups and downs, and he just needs to continue to trust the process, play with consistency and play with the same effort, grit and toughness on a play-to-play basis. I think he’s tried to do that, and we’re going to stay on him to do that, that’s for sure.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – December 4, 2019
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Tuesday, December 3, 2019
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Two things: were you actually stopped at the goal line by one person last week?) – “(laughter) Yeah. Malcolm (Jenkins) totally got me. It wasn’t good.”
(The second question is about the red zone offense. Over the last six, seven weeks, it’s No. 1 in the NFL and earlier in the year, it was near the bottom of the NFL. What’s changed?) – “I think we’ve run the ball well down there. We really have in some of those short-yardage situations. I think we have big targets. I think our coaches do a great job of scheming down there and getting our players in position to make plays, and there’s been a couple red zone scrambles as well. But I think we’ve really just put a heightened focus on that area and the difference between seven and three points is obviously huge, especially when we were struggling to get down there. Points are at a premium always, but just being able to take advantage of that when we get down there, and I think the coaches have done a great job with getting us in the right position.”
(How has your experience been being a part of this team and what were your expectations going into the season and were they met?) – “I came into it without – I just came into it kind of like I come into every year, especially when I come to a new team, which is put your head down, work hard and see what happens. In terms of expectations, I don’t know that there were many. I just came in and tried to do the best I could. I’m happy with the fact that I’ve been able to – that I was re-inserted into the lineup and able to play and able to grow with some of these guys. The way that some of these guys are playing right now and developing a rapport with them; that stuff has all been really good.”
(You don’t want to talk about your future obviously, but has there been any part of this experience that would not – if you want to play – want to continue to be here?) – “No. No, not at all. It’s been really – I don’t like losing, but in terms of the day-to-day and the effort that we put in from the top-down, the coaches to the players to the kitchen staff to the equipment guys, everybody – this is a really good building in terms of all that stuff and the effort and the ‘want to’ is there. I’ve had a very positive experience.”
(Sunday’s game, you guys came down from 28 to 14. There have been a couple times in previous weeks where you guys have come back from deficits but maybe not all the way. Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea kind of credited you and C Daniel Kilgore with being leaders on the offense and guys being able to follow you when in those positions. Why do you have pride in doing that and leading the team and making them feel like even when you’re down, you’re not really out yet?) – “I think experience helps, I think, and having been in situations on both sides – having been in situations where you were winning and maybe you free up a little bit and take your foot off the gas and lose a game and then the flip side of it when you’re losing, you just keep trying to get one possession at a time, get back into a game. I think the experience of being in those games that have been up and down and just experience in the NFL, that’s what happens in a lot of these games. I think that helps, and I think that rubs off on guys. Danny’s a guy that’s real even-keeled up front and does a great job in getting all those guys in order. I’m kind of the same way in that I’m not going to get too high or low. I’m going to get excited when we score touchdowns, but there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve experienced and seen and been through to know that it’s always going to be 60 minutes worth of a game.”
(How fun is that for you to kind of instill on everybody else with such a young team?) – “I think just – we’ve talked about weeks back just learning how to win. There are so many different ways to win in this league and I think the Cleveland game really set up what happened in the Eagles game in that there was a belief out there and sometimes even through losses, there’s plenty of stuff that you can gain from it and grow from it; and I think that was a good example of that.”
(Where do you see your game right now? Do you think you’re playing at a higher level than ever before, as high as you’ve ever been or…?) – “Personally, I feel like I’m better now than I’ve ever been. Statistically, whatever, just in terms of what I’m doing and my focus and preparation and going out there with the group that I have and my confidence is at an all-time high just in terms of all that stuff. As an offense, our focus really the last few weeks has not necessarily been on the opponent; it’s been on us and fixing us and getting us better and working at practice. The guys have done a really nice job of really putting the focus on that and just continuing for our team to grow and to improve every day.”
(How has your comfort with Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea and vice versa, grown and improved throughout the season?) – “Chad and I have a really good relationship off the field and in a working relationship, there’s going to be bumps along the way; but there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve really grown this year, me and him – because the play-caller and the quarterback especially for him being kind of a first-time play-caller and me being a guy that’s played in a lot of different systems, there are certain situations and different things that maybe we don’t always see it the same way, but the communication that he has had with me leading up to games and talking through certain situations and what we expect and what we want or maybe what I like in a certain situation, Chad’s been a great communicator. And that really goes a long way – a coordinator that has no ego, that’s a great communicator, that wants to do what’s best for the team has really been helpful for me in terms of asking for suggestions every now and again, maybe doing something a different way because I’m more comfortable with it a different way. He’s been really open to a lot of that, and I think he’s really grown as the season has gone on.”
(RB Patrick Laird is kind of an interesting dude. He said something about a podcast, that you were Airdropping him something on a plane. Do you know anything about that?) – “(laughter) You’ll have to ask Patrick about that.”
(We will, I guess. What are your experiences with RB Patrick Laird? I would imagine you guys have some interesting conversations.) – “Yeah, I mean it’s just – he’s so young, you know? (laughter) No, Patrick’s a great guy – a real interesting guy just in terms of not just what he’s been able to accomplish and achieve as an underdog kind of his whole life on the football field; but off the field, just different interests and things that always make it fun to talk to him.”
(Do you see a little bit of yourself in him?) – “I don’t know. No, not really.”
(I wanted to ask you about the Dolphins-Jets rivalry. You guys played them a few weeks ago, and I don’t remember any questions to anybody regarding the rivalry. You’ve been on both sides of it. Back when there used to be a whole lot of venom, a lot of copy that – stuff we could write about – where is this rivalry now? Is it still trying to find its legs once again? Where is it?) – “I think – and I can just I guess speak for us as a team – we’re really trying to find ourselves and improve, and we’ve only won three games this year; so there’s a lot of things internally that we’re just trying to focus on and fix and get better at. Some of those questions and then historically and in the past, some things that have happened, that is not really our focus right now. We’re kind of hyper-focused on the now and getting ourselves better.”
(So you don’t have any venom for us, then?) – “(laughter) I mean I’ve been on both sides of it. (laughter) Yeah, I mean so has Brandon Marshall. There’s been plenty of guys that have been on both sides.”
(What type of unique feelings come back when you go and play in New York? You spent a couple years there.) – “I’ve got great memories there (and) a lot of great friends, so I’m looking forward to that a little bit and just maybe being able to catch up with some people. I saw some of them on staff or on the team, but even just old neighbors and things. Just people that made it such a special place for our family for a couple years. There’s a lot of good people there.”
(What do you think this last stretch of the season can do for you guys? Do you think you guys can get on a run and put a winning streak together here?) – “I think it’s important for us to continue to get better. I think that’s really important and it’s been a fun group to work with, especially the last six, seven, eight weeks – whatever it’s been. Guys are working hard and it’s not – we’re not counting down the days to the end of the season. We’re really excited to get out there and play every Sunday, and that makes it fun to come to work every single day and give it all you have because you don’t want to let the guy next to you down. I think we’re in a good spot with that right now. We just have to continue to focus one game at a time and continue to do that.”
Eric Rowe – December 4, 2019
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
CB Eric Rowe
(What was it like to get a new deal?) – “It’s great. I’m excited to be here, add some more years, to keep playing football, keep playing football somewhere that you like. There are some guys playing at some places they don’t really like; but I was blessed to get a place I like, teammates and coaches I like. Getting that deal is amazing.”
(A lot of times deals happen in the offseason. Why do you think this one went down right in the middle of the year or during the year?) – “I have no idea. No idea. I just kept playing week to week and then my agent was like, ‘They want to extend you.’ I was like, ‘Oh. Shoot, that’s great.’ I don’t have to worry about free agency, where am I going to be next year, me and my wife have got to move. You know how all that goes. Stability, everything is great.”
(No one has been around Head Coach Brian Flores more than you have. How excited are you about the possibilities here. Obviously, more of the roster will change, but how excited are you about what can happen eventually with this franchise?) – “Definitely it’s tough to say with the record on the outside, but everyone here is getting better as a team – offense, defense special teams. We’re all getting better as a team. Obviously, with new coaches and new guys, things rebuild; but I already see in the future it’s going to be a lot better.”
(How much do you think your willingness to embrace the position change when they moved you to safety played a role in them wanting to lock you up long term?) – “At the time, I think Reshad (Jones) was down. Shoot, that was it. He was the last strong safety, so when they moved me there, it’s what the team needs. Anything we have to do to win. They threw me in that role and I was like, ‘Alright. I’m going to do the best I can do,’ and obviously it turned out great.”
(There was never any hesitation on your part, any resistance to the position switch was there?) – “Me? No. They were like, ‘Hey, we need you at safety. Reshad (Jones) is dealing with some injuries. We really don’t have anybody left.’ I’m like, ‘Alright. I’ll go back there.’ As long as I can still go out there and cover, that’s all that mattered.”
(I know we’ve talked about this, but it’s seemingly becoming more and more clear just logically that because you’ve done so well at safety, you might ultimately be that into next year. I know no one said that to you you’ve mentioned, but are you growing into that belief where maybe this will be my permanent spot going forward into 2020?) – “Yeah. Yeah, I do, especially now. They signed me, they like me at strong safety, covering tight ends, fitting the run when I need to. They see me there. That’s not a bad thing for me.”
(When you singed the contract, did they ask you to sign it ‘Eric Rowe, safety?’) – “No. That would be wild. (laughter)”
(You did it on college, right?) – “Yeah, I played safety in college. I was more free (safety) than strong and being in the box if that counts for anything; but yeah, I was a safety.”
(When you originally signed here in the offseason, the one-year deal, did you kind of look at is maybe an audition that could lead to something big or something longer or were you just strictly focused on this year?) – “I was strictly focused on this year. The past couple years I had been injured, dealing with surgery, so it was my first year being healthy in that part. So I was like we need to focus on just playing good ball out there. Everything will fall into place after that.”
(WR DeVante Parker said that he’s been able to stay healthy in part by doing acupuncture and massage, more acupuncture and more massage. The coaches complimented you for how you have done injury prevention. Is there anything that has worked for you that you think?) – “Yeah. Every Monday I have someone come to my house and she does acupuncture, dry needling. Even if I’m not tight, even if I’m feeling good, feeling super sore, just every Monday she just comes and (she) works on my legs. And then Tuesdays, I do a massage. Just my weekly routine. If I’m feeling good, it doesn’t matter. If I don’t feel like I don’t need it, I’m going to get it any way. Just keep that routine to prevent injuries because it’s a long season.”
(What’s harder: covering WR A.J. Green or WR Julio Jones or covering a monster tight end like TE Zach Ertz or TE Rob Gronkowski?) – “It’s still harder to cover receivers. Who did you say like Julio? It’s still tougher to cover receivers to me, personally. They generally have more routes in a route tree. I wouldn’t say game-plan routes. Not taking anything away from tight ends; but to me, it’s still tougher to cover receivers.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores mentioned that one of the things you’re going to continue to work on is angles against the run. How is it different supporting the run from corner versus safety?) – “There’s gaps. Now you’ve got linemen coming in your face. Things are moving fast down there. Usually my eyes are on tight ends became I’m usually manned on him, then he blocks and I’m looking and I just see ‘boom, boom, boom,’ and I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ve got to fit somewhere.’ As a corner, you’re kind of outside in. Your really only fit is if the receiver comes down and blocks the safety, you stay outside. That’s about it.”
(Should Utah make the College Football Playoff?) – “Yes.”
(That guy on TV said, “No one wants to see Utah in the College Football Playoff.”) – “I know.”
(What did you think when you heard that?) – “They’re just hating. (laughter). They’re hating.”
(They’re ahead of Oklahoma right now. The worry would be if Oklahoma jumps them if one of those spots opens in the top four. That would be the concern.) – “I’d be so mad. If we lose and it’s like, ‘dang, alright.’ But if we win, it’s Friday, 8 o’clock, I’ll be on the couch watching that game.”
Mike Gesicki – December 4, 2019
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
TE Mike Gesicki
(Is the confidence as high as it’s ever been in the NFL so far?) – “I feel like I’ve just got to continue with my process and just know that when my opportunity comes, I’ve got to make the most of it. I feel like the coaches and the players around me put me in position to be successful. I’ve just got to continue to make the most of my opportunities.”
(It’s amazing to see QB Ryan Fitzpatrick – can you give us some insight to how important he is to have you guys find yourselves the way you have over the last few weeks?) – “Yeah. I think ‘Fitz’ is a great example of a team guy, a leader, somebody that me as a younger guy can kind of look up to and how to carry yourself in this league and how to help out younger guys. He’s an extra coach on the field. I really can’t say enough good things about ‘Fitz’ both on and off the field.”
(Does QB Ryan Fitzpatrick loosen you up in the game? Where does the comfort level come from?) – “I think it’s kind of grown over time – over the course that he’s been here. I feel like I’ve been able to kind of grow closer with him and kind of build a relationship with him and all of that kind of stuff. He’s really easy to get along with. On the field he’s always joking around and just always keeping it kind of mellow, and having fun out there, which you guys obviously see that. I think that’s a big reason why we’re starting to see a little more success and why he’s been successful as well.”
(You talked about how many of your buddies were Eagles fans. I’m curious the text messages you got after that game. Were there any funny interactions? What were those moments like?) – “I actually didn’t get a ton from those people, I guess for obvious reasons. It was a cool game. It was a fun experience; but ultimately now it’s time to flip the switch and move forward and focus on the Jets. We have another opportunity to go out there on Sunday and (need to) maximize those opportunities.”
(Two straight games in New York City, kind of the center of the universe. Is that kind of fun to think about, to look forward to?) – “Yeah, absolutely. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to head up there and play, obviously this week playing the Jets, and to make the most of that opportunity. It’s another divisional game. They are a very tough, talented, physical, well-coached team. I think it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
(What about playing in the cold and all of that stuff? Is that something you thrive with? I’m not sure if you’re a hot guy or cold guy.) – “Well, before I got down here, I definitely was not a hot guy. (laughter) I’m kind of used to the cold. I grew up in New Jersey, played at Penn State. I’m used to all of that cold weather stuff. At the end of the day, once you’re out there, the temperature doesn’t really make too much of a difference.”
Patrick Laird – December 4, 2019
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
RB Patrick Laird
(How has your life changed over the past couple of weeks now that opportunities have arisen?) – “I think the main thing that has changed has been more playing time on Sundays on the offensive side of the ball. I’m still on all four phases on special teams, and then my routine during the week has been pretty much the same. I just have to do a better job after the game of just taking care of my body, but it hasn’t changed that much.”
(When did you know that you were good at catching the ball out of the backfield and when did that skill kind of develop for you?) – “I appreciate you saying I’m good at it. (laughter) Actually my second year at Cal, I moved to receiver for a year and then they moved me back to running back. Probably in that year, just developing my hands, developing my route-running. I still have a lot of work to do on that. I can get a lot better and run better routes, catch more balls. So in my mind, I think I’ve done some things well and the coaches trust me, but there’s a lot of things I could do better in the passing game.”
(From your perspective, how important has it been that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been there with you along the way here?) – “He’s a great teammate. I have a lot of great teammates. A lot of the older guys, I was blown away when I showed up how nice and supportive everyone else is. Yeah, ‘Fitz’ is one of those guys that is extremely helpful to the young guys. He’s just a great leader on the offensive side of the ball. It’s obviously great to have guys like that on the team.”
(Can you give me an example of like during the game, something that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick might do that your typical run-of-the-mill quarterback might not be able to do that either loosens you guys up or turns it into a game like we saw the other day?) – “I don’t have many other NFL quarterbacks to compare them to because him and Josh (Rosen) do a great job of communicating to us running backs; but on the play where I ran out into the flat and I was able to break a tackle, ‘Fitz’ had told me ‘Expect the ball.’ It’s kind of nice when he’s able to step up to the line and he sees things pretty quickly. He’s had a lot of in-game reps obviously playing 15 years or whatever it is, so there are little moments like that where he can anticipate what they’re going to do and then give you some words before the play starts.”
(Some stories you know are going to take a life of their own when you hear them. The whole “Intern” nickname was one of them.) – “(laughter) Yeah, I’ve already heard those stories incorrectly repeated.”
(What’s the correct version of that story?) – “So the story is I walked into the cafeteria that we have. I sit down with one of the operations guys and with him are some operations interns that were here during training camp. So I’m just talking and asking these guys questions. They’re all still in college and they’re undergrads, so I’m asking them what they like to do, what brought them here, how their time is going here, and then one of them goes: ‘So what do you do here?’”
(What did you say?) – “So I told him ‘Oh, I’m on the team.’ And he was really apologetic. I didn’t take it – I wasn’t offended in any way. I thought it was funny, so I told that story to the team when I got called up one time, because they have the rookies come up during training camp just to entertain the team. So I told that story and people thought it was funny. Then the offensive coaches have been calling me that just for fun. They know I don’t take offense to it, so I think it’s funny. Then ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) mentioned that to the color commentator or the TV guys at some point. So they got a hold of it.”
(A bad game of telephone, huh?) – “Yeah.”
(If you were an intern in another field, what would it be?) – “My last internship I did, I did an investment banking internship at a great boutique investment firm in San Francisco called Greentech Capital. I really enjoyed my time there. I still keep in contact with one of the partners there, or the managing partner. He actually might go to the game this Sunday, so I guess I would say that. But I’m going to play football as long as I can. (laughter)”
(So do they call you ‘Intern’ just to call you over? Patrick or ‘Intern?’) – “Both.”
(Is that one of those things where you don’t get to pick your nickname, you just have to live with it now? Or how does that work?) – “Well the defensive side of the ball, I think they have a better nickname for me. They call me – the defensive guys – ‘White Lightning.’ Walt Aikens started that one. (laughter)”
(Do you like that one?) – “It’s fine. It’s cool. (laughter)”
Brian Flores – December 4, 2019
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(You have a 37-year-old quarterback who is still lowering his shoulder and getting after it. Have you seen any at all diminishment in QB Ryan Fitzpatrick at age 37 or is he exactly what you thought he might be this year?) – “I think he’s a good player. He’s a tough, physical leader. If anything, I think he’s improved over the course of the season. He’s very diligent as far as – let’s call it injury prevention and taking care of his body, like a lot of our guys are. I think that’s just part of his routine. He’s done a good job.”
(Is there kind of a re-thinking as to the lifespan, I guess, of an NFL quarterback as far as playing is concerned? You see guys in their late 30s in the league now. Is 37 even a big deal anymore?) – “Yeah, you see a lot of guys playing later in their careers. I think it’s a testament to how they train and how they work out in the offseason. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is part of that. How they take care of their bodies in-season. ‘Fitz’ has obviously done that as well as some other quarterbacks throughout the league. It’s a tough position to play, I know that. Guys take a lot of hits. It’s tough mentally, physically, emotionally, and not everyone can do it. We’re happy with the way ‘Fitz’ is playing right now but we’ve got to continue to play that way.”
(You had 40 passes, 20 runs, the Wildcat, trick plays, the most points in the season, the most yards. Is that sustainable? Do you think you guys can really sustain these next four games, especially with how you guys are at the running back position?) – “The offensive output?”
(Yeah.) – “I think it’s – look, every week is different. We’ve got a lot of challenges this week with the Jets and their style of play. (They’re) a good run defense. They have been playing well defensively, I would say, over the last four weeks. Every week is a little bit different. We’ll try to game plan and scheme up a few things to put our guys in the best position. If that’s Wildcat, then that’s Wildcat. If it’s 40 passes like you said, then it’s 40 passes. If the run game is working, we’ll do that. But every week is a little bit different. We’ll just try – like we always do – to play to our strengths, try to take advantage of their weaknesses and try to play good offense and a good ball game in all three phases.”
(What do you attribute the improvement in the red zone offense to?) – “Practice and execution and players making plays in those situations. We had a couple of guys – DeVante (Parker), Mike (Gesicki) and Patrick Laird (make plays). Look, in the red zone in this league, the field is condensed so you have to make good throws, you have to make good catches in tight coverage. It’s harder to run the football down there because the safeties are right there. I think we’ve got guys – we’ve practiced well in the red zone. We’re having better execution in the red zone; but at the end of the day, players have to go up and make plays, as well. We’ve had that.”
(I know in different sports over the years, I’ve encountered when the team is not in playoff contention anymore, sometimes management will ask the coach to see a certain player. Marlins Manager Don Mattingly mentioned that to us last year that Marlins management said ‘Can you play these guys so we can take a look and evaluate them.’ Does that happen with General Manager Chris Grier at all? Does he tell you that he’d like in the final month to see this young, this young guy, etc.?) – “Chris and I, we have conversations like that all year. That would be no different than it’s been the entire season. We’re trying to – we’ve had as many guys play – I’m not sure of this but as many guys as anybody in the league. We’ve taken a look at a lot of guys. We’ll continue to take a look at different guys and see what combination is the right combination, what different guys can do with different groupings, and try to give guys an opportunity to see if they can help this team this particular week and also in the future. I think that’s something we’ve done all year and we’ll try to continue to do that.”
(What can you tell us about RB Kalen Ballage’s injury and if it’s very serious and if it could affect him in 2020?) – “Kalen obviously went out with a leg injury. Look, if this were earlier in the season, I think we’d be able to get him back. But because we had just four games left, we decided to put him on IR. (Is it) serious? To a degree. But this isn’t a six month or four month (injury). I think if this were earlier in the season, we’d put him down for a few weeks and then hopefully get him back.”
(You’ve mention on occasion how special your former high school coach, Dino Mangiero, is. As you head home to coach a game on Sunday, can you reflect on sort of the impact he’s had on you and where you are today?) – “Well, it’s not just me. There are a lot of guys who went through the program there – our high school program – in Brooklyn and now he’s coaching in New Jersey at Mater Dei. He’s impacted a lot of young men and I think you learn a lot about life playing football. I’ve told a lot of people this: everything I learned to be successful in life I learned in those meeting rooms and on that practice field in Brooklyn and from him. Hard work, great effort, compete, preparation, being on time and then just overall just doing things the right way. It will be nice to see him this weekend. It’s always great to see him and his family, and hopefully we’ll get some of the guys from high school at the game as well.”
(Is there one specific thing that Dino Mangiero may have instilled in you that you still utilize when you’re out there on the sideline to this day?) – “There’s a lot. If there’s one specific thing, he was big on being mentally tough, obviously being physically tough, but being mentally tough and dealing with adversity and dealing with good times and bad times. Never get too high, never get too low. You’ve got to try to stay even. That’s something that I’ve taken with me since 1995 when we first met. He’s a great coach, and I was lucky to learn from him, along with a lot of young guys.”
(Do you anticipate going back to your childhood home or having people from your childhood come to the game this week?) – “It’s kind of a long ride from Jersey, but I was in Brooklyn this past summer. It’s hard to get back up there, but there’s a lot of good people there and I learned a lot about – I got a lot of life lessons growing up in Brooklyn and there’ll be some friends and family there, but I probably won’t get a chance to get back there.”
(What is it about high school coaches and the impact they have because you see guys get to the NFL and a lot of times you can ask them who had the most influence on your life, and they’ll talk about their high school coach even when they get to the Hall of Fame. Sometimes those guys, they’re presenters.) – ”I think that time – (age) 14 to, let’s call it 18 – mentally, physically, emotionally, kids are going through those adolescent years and trying to find themselves as men. They’re right in that maturing process. That mentorship, that leadership, the impact that’s made in that time, I think it goes a long way to shaping a young mind and that’s why I have so much respect for high school coaches in all sports – football, baseball, basketball, soccer, men’s sports, women’s sports – all of it. They have such an impact that’s made, and it’s something that, the lessons that I learned and kids learn on the high school level, I think they take with them really throughout their lives. I think they get shaped in a way that is positive, and that’s always a good thing.”
(Have you gotten any messages this year from your high school coach or your coaches maybe through some of the highs that maybe made you smile?) – “Yeah, I talk to Dino (Mangiero) a lot. He’s always got words of encouragement; but whether it’s college coaches, other coaches I’ve worked with, I’ve gotten a lot of messages. I’ve gotten support in the good times and the bad times, and those are your real friends. Those are people who are going to support you (through) good and bad. It’s been nice.”
(Regarding the CB Eric Rowe contract extension what was it that made you guys want to make sure that he stayed around?) – “Eric, he’s a versatile player. Obviously he’s played multiple positions this year. Again, another conversation between (General Manager) Chris (Grier), myself, (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore). It just felt like an opportunity to extend the contract, do the extension. If we feel like that’s the right move on a particular player – they’re all case-by-case – then we’ll try to get it done. They don’t always get done, but in this case, both sides were able to work it out and we got it done.”
(CB Eric Rowe can play corner and safety, but is it about his strengths and skillset that have actually worked out quite well at safety?) – “I think he’s got good length. He’s a good matchup for tight ends in coverage. He’s still got a ways to go from a run game standpoint, which it’s hard to (do). Going from corner run fits to safety run fits is very different and something that he’s picked up quickly, but he’s got some improvement to make there. He can also still go out there and play some corner as well, so we’re not saying that that’s out of the (question) – we’re not doing that. He’s versatile. He’s played some deep-half, middle-of-the-field safety, played corner, safety, kind of understands the run fits now. That versatility helps, will help us defensively and hopefully just continues to improve and we expect that. We expect him to improve, and we wouldn’t have done the deal if we didn’t think that.”
(Did you have an idea or picture of what this team would look like by the end of the season, and are they on pace to be that?) – “No, you never really have an ‘ideal’ picture of what it’s going to be. Every year is different. There’s so much change on a team every year whether it’s through transactions or injury; so I never have a ‘hey, I want the team to look like this.’ You hope everybody stays healthy and the team you put out there on Day 1 is the same as Week 16, but that’s very highly unlikely. Things are fluid in this league, and I think we’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust and make the best of whatever situation comes up. And I think we’ve done that to a degree. We’re still learning to do that, and this team’s still growing and trying to improve and build. I think if we just stay on that path, then we’ll be okay. We’ve got a tough game this week. The Jets are a good team. They’re talented. They’ve won three of four. They’ve got good coaching. They’ve got good players, and this is going to be a tough challenge for us, so we’ve got to go get them. We have to have a good week of practice if we want to give ourselves a chance to play well.”
Dave DeGuglielmo – December 3, 2019
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Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo
(Is it too early to tell if G Michael Deiter is a long-term starter in the NFL? Can you make that assessment yet?) – “I can’t make that assessment on anybody yet because none of them have played enough football. He’s a rookie. He hasn’t played enough football, even with as much as he’s played this year. I don’t know if you can say that anybody is a long-term anything. People get injured, careers get cut short, guys’ talent drop off because of whatever. You just never know.”
(Through 12 games, what do you think you have with G Michael Deiter?) – “I have a guy who’s played left guard through 12 games. Outside of that, I think those assessments are made in the building. I don’t want to say one thing and then get a different read as I go back and re-evaluate all of the tape, good or bad. I don’t want to overextend what he’s done, or over-inflate his production or lack of production one way or another. I don’t know. It takes a while to truly get a good read of an offensive lineman. It’s a little different. You’ve got to weigh all of the pieces together.”
(Can you say anything about how you think G Michael Deiter played?) – “He’s a rookie trying to find his way in this business. It’s hard for rookies to do that. He’s had experience blocking some of the toughest guys in the business throughout the year. That’s good for anybody to have that kind of education, and hopefully it will serve him well going forward.”
(How has G Shaq Calhoun played since coming back?) – “Like I said, he’s in the growth process. He’s learning. He’s a rookie. That could mean a lot of things. Sometimes that’s a bad word, it’s a good word, it’s a lot of things. Rookie stands for a lot of things in my book. There is a lot that goes into that.”
(What does G Shaq Calhoun do well that made you all want to see him again at that spot?) – “Well, he’s quick. He can move very quickly for his size, which in this day and age, you need guys that can move. You play against really athletic defensive linemen. It’s more about the defensive people and how you can matchup with them. There are obviously some deficiencies with all of our athletes upfront. He’s no exception. He’s got some size issues and some anchor issues that he needs to work on; but he’s a hard-working guy, he studies the game, he doesn’t make mistakes that often and he’s one of those program kind of guys and you want to see if we can help develop.”
(T Julién Davenport has given up a ton of pressures last year when you weren’t with him in Houston and this year so far. What has made you guys want to continue to invest time in him with that in mind?) – “He’s young, he’s athletic, he’s a good guy, he works hard. He’s played through some injury. What can you ask for? I can’t wave a magic wand and have five Supermen out there. I’m not going to – Anthony Munoz, I’m not going to wake up and he’s going to stroll into my meeting room. We’ve got to develop the guys we have and as long as they’re willing and they’re tough, you go through the process.”
(But how can you get T Julién Davenport to cut down those pressures, because he’s…) – “Again, it’s – you’ve got to keep working on the fundamentals, the basics. That’s with everybody. He’s not the only one. Some of the pressures, he’s had his hard moments and he’s had really good moments. At the end of that game the other day, all of a sudden he was picking up the same stunts. He was moving. He wasn’t being affected by the same type of moves. It’s a process. This coaching style is different than the one he had. This system is a little different than the one he had, so how we’re asking him to do things is different than what we did there. I really didn’t assess a lot of what he did there. That line coach is a good friend of mine, but he teaches a different style than I teach, so he’s got to adapt – remember now, this guy played for a week, then went on IR. I didn’t work with him (while he was on IR), so I’ve worked with this guy for three weeks. Let’s not overdo that the guy’s been here a year. The guy’s been in the training room, so if you really want to know about his development, go ask the trainer. He’s been working with him a lot more than I have. (laughter) He’s got to go through the whole routine. He’s still learning some of the drills. He hasn’t been around. It takes a while to get into the system. He’s really – for all intents and purposes – he’s a rookie. He’s a rookie in our system. Yeah, he’s had some playing experience, but we’re putting him into a different environment here and we’re hoping he can develop and learn. He works hard. He’s got to keep working hard. That’s just the way it goes for all of them. I was standing there – Davenport wasn’t the only problem out there the other day. We had a lot of problems and we’re equally to blame, myself included. We’ve got to find a way to get guys to be in the right position and worst-case scenario, take the charge. Take the charge and take one for the team and be a speed bump, but don’t – the free runners, things like that, we can’t have them. We’ve got to work on that. That’s again, not just him. That’s all of those guys. Each one of them had a situation where they had to – they have to firm it up.”
(How has C Daniel Kilgore played when he’s been healthy this year?) – “He’s done a good job. Danny’s done a good job. He’s actually adapted to what I’m – if you say one thing about we’ve done in the last X-amount of weeks, is the middle of our pocket looks different. If you really want to examine something, examine how the middle of the pocket looks on a play-by-play basis. The issues aren’t coming right smack-dab down the middle, which allows the quarterback to work the middle a little bit more than say, when we first started this thing in Week 1. It was a jailbreak. Guys were coming in from all angles, so Danny is the key component to making sure that that middle is firm. It’s solid. Now it may seem like nothing, but when he’s uncovered and he’s working left to right, he can alter his call to assist one side or another; and we ended up doing that during the game the other day. I said, ‘Danny, let’s check the call here in terms of where you’re sliding.’ It doesn’t mean his blocker responsibility changes but how he’s setting – he may be looking left, but he’s helping right or vice versa. Because he’s a smart player and he’s done this a lot, he’s able to help keep that thing squared up, firmed up and allow ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) the ability to come underneath. That really makes the tackle’s job a little bit easier. Again, free runners are free runners. It (doesn’t) matter; but if those guys can turn a defensive end at 8/12, 9 as opposed to going to 10, 11, that’s a huge difference now. Huge difference. We’ve been able to solve a little bit of that. I’m not saying that that’s completely solved, but that’s where you begin. Nowadays in pass rush, if you ask these pass rush specialists, if you want to affect the pocket – look at the guy up the road, the Superman. If you look at the ninja, he gets affected by one thing only – pressure in the middle. When the pocket collapses, then he doesn’t have the ability to move and buy time or move to get away from the true rushers outside. That’s an issue and we’re trying to solve that problem here and we’re working. We’re not complete, but we’re making it better bit by bit in order to allow the quarterback to do what he needs to do. You’ve got to start somewhere, and that’s the foundation, is the middle of the pocket, and I think it’s been long neglected and people don’t get it, that that’s what really makes the pocket the pocket. The depth, that depth, that buffer.”
(The quarterback can work the edges, can mind himself in the edges if the pocket is clean.) – “We go over the philosophy inside-out. If you’re going to get beat, it better be out, never in. You do what you’ve got to do to make sure that you’re inside-out on your defender. Period. That might mean an extreme set to your inside. You can’t just get beat right off the bat outside, but if you’re going to fight a guy and you’re going to lose ground, it better be to your outside because that buffer zone –obviously for a quarterback, the most natural thing to do is take his forward steps up once he hits his back foot on the ground. Ba-ba-ba-boom, and then read. It isn’t as natural going side-to-side and then throwing. So we’re trying to create that little comfort zone, that little safe zone for him. If we can give him two or three yards of step-up and even better when teams rush wide. We saw that the other day a couple times where they starting rushing wide with both the tackles. Well now, even though they’re winning up the field on the edges, ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) can step up and throw the football. A good quarterback knows how to work a pocket, understands what’s being developed in a pocket, how we’re trying to create it. Every team, every system is different. Our system is designed to solidify the middle first and then the edges second; so what looks like a guy getting beat around the edge, he’s really not getting beat around the edge. It’s by design. I want him to run a guy at nine yards. As long as the middle is firm. What gets lost in a lot of the assessment of this is, in order for me to truly get the middle of my pocket firm, I have to make my tackle set a certain way to allow the guards to stay flat around their set; so if I’m restricting my tackles from getting width on a particular set based on a defensive look, that’s going have him a little slower getting to the edge. I’m going to give up one thing to get another thing, so I’ll give up the yard and a half on the back end of the pocket in order to gain a yard and a half on the front end, because that’s what the quarterback’s looking at. He’s not stepping back, he’s stepping up, so I need it there, not there. I ask those tackles to stay within the framework of that interior pocket for a split second before they start to expand. Once they expand, there’s a bunch of other things they have to hit on. Like number one, they have to expand…”
(So you don’t them to take a wide set?) – “I don’t want them out there because if you go out there, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong out there. Everybody has their philosophy. ‘I’m going to engage quickly or I’m going to do this.’ Listen, you need to be inside-out. You need to be square. That’s first and foremost. In my opinion, the wider the defensive end is, the deeper you kick. It’s not vice versa – the tighter he is, the flatter you kick. If he’s right on my shoulder, I don’t need to get depth. I just set to him. If he’s got width, I go vertical because all I’m trying to do is get on the line between the end and the quarterback, but the line doesn’t change. It just follows with him, so get back here. He’s got to get to me. I don’t have to get to him. His goal is back here in the pocket, so again, I’m requiring the tackles to help the interior so that the interior can then set the base of the pocket, so the quarterback buys the time. Again it’s kind of reverse thinking, but the whole idea of getting the middle of the pocket firm is to allow those guys who are lesser athletes – the defense is going to play wide three-techniques. How does a guy as a guard get all the way out to a wide three-technique without kicking for depth? He does it because the tackle’s protecting him on his set so that he has time to be flatter to engage firmer on the line. Now, we set the line of scrimmage a lot deeper and it allows the quarterback to do his thing. You’ve got to give up one thing for another, and that’s how I teach the tackles. I thought Jesse Davis had as good a game as I’ve seen him play last week. He had one or two snaps that weren’t good, but he literally looked for the first time, looked like a legitimate big-time NFL right tackle last week. (It’s the) first time. He’s been progressing to that, and he’ll keep getting better and better and he may have his ups and his downs, but for the first time he set to protect the young kid inside. He expanded. He got width. When 55, when (Eagles DE Brandon) Graham was on the edge – (Graham) got him on the first play. He bull-rushed him. After that, Graham started moving around to different spots because that wasn’t happening, so then he started attacking on the inside. He has the ability to move around to different places, so if he’s going to pick, he didn’t pick 77 (Davis). He realized that was useless, so he started finding other spots to do his work, which is – when you look at it, when you recognize it, that’s pretty impressive when a guy like Graham goes away and goes to a different spot.”
(When you look at this offensive line, are there prototypes at center, guard and tackle and how do you go about that – free agents or rookies?) – “You need good players. Smart, tough, guys that can move. I don’t know what to tell you. I love them all. 6’5, 320, run a 4.7. Yeah, that’d be great. Where do you find them? How do you get them? That’s what you’ve got to have – smart, tough and guys that can move. That’s plain and simple. If they can think and speak, they can move. You might be able to get a guy a little stronger. You might be able to put a little weight on the guy, but there are certain things that you need.”
(Size over athleticism or…?) – “Absolutely not. Athleticism is first. This is the National Football League. The days of the big, slow athlete playing up front, you might be able to have one and plug them in. But you can’t have that. You’ve got to have guys that can move. You’ve got to have guys – and you don’t have to be huge to have strength and leverage and explosive power. Those are things that they don’t go hand-in-hand necessarily. Each individual is different. Each athlete is different and there’s a lot of guys out there that have some qualities and others and you’ve just got to find the right mix. You know how it goes. They’re hard to find, but you’ve also got to find guys you can develop. You can’t go out and pick them all. You can’t go out and just say, ‘hey, I want this one, this one…’ We’re not Alabama. He picks whatever he wants. That’s why he’s good every year. I mean, are you kidding me? That’s easy money doing that. (laughter) That’s why you wonder why Florida can’t win all the time. They pick whatever they want. They just leave the rest for the riff-raff to pick up. I got it. (laughter) We don’t have that option, so what you have to do is you have to get some young men in – kind of like what Iowa does. They get these guys and who the hell knows where they get them, what farm, what pig farm they pulled them off of – good kid, tough kid, smart kid – you work them, you develop them, they gain 40 pounds and next you know, they’re getting drafted in the NFL and playing 10 years.”
(Has that always been your thing or that just developed the last 10 years?) – “No, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. My thing is, I coach who they put in the room. (laughter) They put somebody in the room and I coach them and I try to get them to play well Sunday. That’s the best I can do. I’ll help them in any way I can to assess that. That’s a program-wide process, but I’m going to coach what they put in the room. If they put my daughter in the room, 11 years old, I’d put her in a three-point stance and make sure she knew who to block on a 64-protection. Period. (laughter) I don’t know what else to tell you.”
