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Pat Flaherty – July 28, 2019 Download PDF version

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Offensive Line Coach Pat Flaherty

(On G Michael Deiter) – “The first thing with Michael, because of his rookie status, is you want to get him in one spot and that would be guard. Then eventually, what he’s doing is he’s able to work both sides. That’s going to be what we’re going to try to limit right now with him until he gets those types of techniques. (He’s a) smart player. He knows his assignments. But until you can do the technique over and over again, that’s what you need to do and get better as it goes.”

(G Michael Deiter mentioned yesterday that at Wisconsin they were really solid in the running game. He feels like he’s a little ahead but still has a lot to learn on the pass sets. Is that where he might have a little bit of…) – “Here’s the thing about young guys when they transition to the NFL. He played in the Big Ten (Conference), a good league. But he’s going to be playing against better players. Now his technique, which he was well-coached in college, but his technique has to change a little bit because he’s going against better players. Some of the things you’re able to execute in college won’t get the job done here. That’s the transition and learning phase he’s going to have to learn.”

(With your right tackle spot, obviously you have one guy stable in there right now in T Jordan Mills. What are you looking for from that position, from that group?) – “We have competition at every position, even at the center position. The one guy (on the offensive line) that’s probably getting the most reps is maybe (Laremy) Tunsil. Everybody else, we’re going to find it’s open competition. Obviously Daniel Kilgore is a veteran, but we need Chris Reed and Kyle Fuller to get in there and get some snaps along with Tony Adams. The tackle position is wide open. Jordan knows that. It’s not to motivate anybody. If I have to motivate them like that, they’re in the wrong business. It’s just get the best five that we can. The question really from your standpoint is when you’re going to make a decision? I can’t answer that right now. It’s going to be when we feel solid, when (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores feels solid, and (Offensive Coordinator Chad) O’Shea, that we have the right five in there.”

(With G Chris Reed, he spent most of the OTAs as a first-team left guard. You had him in Jacksonville. What does he bring to the table?) – “He’s a versatile guy. He’s been in the league a few years now, so he’s worked at center and guard. Mostly I’d say his last year in Jacksonville, he started to transition to center. Maybe a little bit the year before that, when I got there. But before that, he didn’t play any center. He still has some learning curves with techniques – not with assignments, he’s a smart guy. We need him to be versatile on game day as well. It’s the same type of situation. There is competition at left guard. Nothing has been solidified. I tell them each and every day on the offensive line: ‘You guys will develop the depth chart. We as a staff will give you what the depth chart is, but your play dictates it.’”

(I know it’s only been two days in pads, but the play of G Michael Deiter as a rookie, what have you seen out of him, the good qualities and what have you seen him do well?) – “That’s a great question. There is good and bad. You see flashes. That’s why we drafted him, but he is a long ways away. He’s a long ways away of being where Michael’s going to be a good NFL player. That’s not saying that through the next couple of weeks he cannot gain some ground. That’s what we expect him to do. Then we’ll see where’s he at when it comes to Week 1. I’ll say this, the guys I have in that room are hard workers. I think they are tough, physical guys. When you have that type of mentality, you have a good opportunity to get better and possibly win the job.”

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