Patrick Laird – November 4, 2021
Thursday, November 4, 2021
RB Patrick Laird
(Tell us what the emotional journey has been like this year. Obviously not being on the 53, was that a let down? Were you down? Were you hoping you would be claimed elsewhere so you’d be on a 53? We haven’t talked to you in quite a while.) – “Obviously it was the goal to make the team initially. But my mindset was whatever happened, I was going to learn from it, take it as a challenge, take it as an opportunity to learn from. I think I heard ‘E-Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) talk about that in terms of his leadership. I was going to do that whether I was a practice squad player or not. Take it as an opportunity to learn. That was my mentality. Whether I got claimed or not, I wasn’t going to hope for one thing or the other. Whatever happened, I was going to be happy with it and just attack that opportunity.”
(So you weren’t especially down the week of September 1st, 2nd, 3rd?) – “Was I down? I mean, yeah it’s like if you don’t accomplish a goal that you had, you’re going to be a little bit disappointed. So yes. But that whole day happens really fast. It’s 24 hours and then you find out they are going to sign you back to practice squad. You could be down for a week but that’s not going to help you, so the short amount of time you feel down about that, the better I think. You just move on and again, I just try to be the best practice squad player I can be.”
(You’re one of the unique players who has been here for all of it – 2019, 2020 and now 2021. All three very unique seasons. How do you get this headed in the right direction? Taking what you’ve seen in 2019 and 2020 and putting it into 2021?) – “I’d be naive to say I know all of the answers just because I’ve been here. I’m still a young guy in the NFL relative to a lot of other people that know better. I think some of the messages our coaches are preaching every day ‘stick together, continuing to work, trust the process.’ A lot of coaches and players on this team and organizations have found success in the NFL. I got to trust that they know what they are doing. It’s just going to take more work. Every guy trying to do their job as well as they can. Having the attention to detail that you need to win in the NFL. I’m sure ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) has said this, but the margin of victory is slim. It’s going to take those little details. I see guys working on it. We just got to take those small details and go out there and execute on Sundays with them.”
(In your opinion, obviously pressure is built once you start losing and now you’ve lost seven straight. How much of a relief would a win be?) – “You go out every Sunday and just try to win. If you don’t have the mentality that you can win every game, then it’s going to be even harder to win. You just need to go out there with confidence. I don’t know if this is answering your question but you’re going out there expecting to win. If you don’t win, you’re disappointed and you’ve got to learn from the mistakes. If you do win, you’re happy for that plane ride home or whatever the rest of that Sunday is, and then the next week, that Monday, you’ve got to start preparing for the next game. I don’t know if relief is the right word. You want to win every Sunday. So when you do, you’re happy. If you don’t, you learn from the mistakes, and then you prepare for the next team.”
(What was going through your mind that week after RB Malcolm Brown was placed on IR? And then it’s you, RB Gerrid Doaks, and then they sign RB Duke Johnson on the practice squad, and then the idea is one of the three of you is going to get moved up. What’s going on in your mind as far as am I going to be the guy?) – “For me, I try to have the mindset that whatever decision the coaches made, I would be happy with it or fine with it, and I would work the same way. One other goal I had when I was signed back to the practice squad was I was going to work and prepare like I was on the active roster. My routine really didn’t change that much. I still watched film and studied all the plays the same, so if they did decide to call me up or sign me to the roster, I would be ready to go. I felt like I did a good job of that last week. There was some of that anticipation – am I going to be the guy they call up? If i am, I’ll be ready and I’ll stick to my same routine, which I think is what happened pretty much.”
(The RPO offensive style that QB Tua Tagovailoa is utilizing often here, that he used at Alabama. I don’t think you have experience in that particular system in your past, right?) – “At Cal, we did a good amount.”
(So for the RPO to work – was QB Jared Goff there when you were there, or no?) – “He was, but I didn’t play that much with him on offense. That was my first two years andthen had Davis Webb who is on the practice squad of the Bills now. So I actually got to see him last weekend. Then we had two other quarterbacks my last two seasons.”
(For the RPO to be as effective as it can be, can you tell me what your thoughts are on that and what the benefits of that style of offense can be?) – “It’s different with college and the NFL because in college you can go three yards down the field with the linemen, whereas in the NFL it’s only one. That plays a little bit of a role into it. And then in the NFL, just with my experience – I don’t know about other colleges – but it’s a lot more complex. The different reads and the defenses you are seeing. Like you said, Tua (Tagovailoa) has experience in that. He’s good at it. He’s good at seeing the conflict defender or whoever he’s reading. It’s a numbers thing. The quarterbacks are seeing it, the line is seeing the numbers, who they are putting in the box, who we want to have conflict with the various routes. I think Tua does a good job making those decisions. As a running back, the best mentality you can have is expect the ball. If he pulls it and throws it, that’s out of your hands. You just expect the ball and look at your run read.”
(Now that you’ve experienced the league from a practice squad perspective, as well as a 53 perspective, is there any part of being on the practice squad that makes you feel like you’re not fully a part of the team? Any sort of emptiness? Anything that you experienced like that before last week?) – “I’d say the first week during warmups, when I was watching everybody else warm up, and have their pads on and I’m just on the side with sweats and a t-shirt, I felt like – I wanted to be out there. That’s just the feeling I think you should have as a competitor. Like, man I wish – I just miss putting on pads today and playing in a real game. That was something to get used to. But as far as being on the team, you’re still an integral part of practice and gameplan. You have to study the opponent and how they are going to attack our team. You want to give the best look on scout team that you can or on special teams that you can. I try to have pride in being the best practice squad, best teammate that I could be during that period when I was on practice squad. Watching on Sundays is the biggest difference.”
(Were you able to travel to New England or Las Vegas?) – “Yeah. They are allowed to travel a certain amount of practice squad players, so I was one of those guys.”
(On gamedays for home games, before you joined the 53, you were situated where during the home opener for example this year?) – “You have a work out. So I guess that’s another difference. So they have the practice squad guys come to the facility and work out. Then certain guys are in boxes or at home, whatever it is.”
(Was it home for you at all for any game this year?) – “Yeah.”
(How weird was that? Watching a game, knowing you’re a team employee, but not at the stadium for a home game?) – “I felt like a Dolphins fan.” (laughter)
(Do you prefer to watch it from the game or at home?) – “I think the reason they have you watch it at home sometimes is with COVID. I actually don’t know all of the rules for it. Whether I’d prefer to watch it from home or the stadium, I’d rather just play in the game. (laughter) My favorite game to watch was last Sunday.”
(I remember LB Zach Thomas told me years ago years ago that if he was injured at home, he would cookout and grill. I just thought that was crazy to imagine that Zach Thomas, while his team was playing, would be grilling.) – “Sometimes it’s funny because I’d grab like a coffee right before or something, and I’ll see all of the people – I live relatively close to here, so I’d see people going to the stadium and I’m just a random dude with a coffee in my hand and I’m wondering like –they obviously don’t know who I am. But I’m about to watch the game just like them. But I know just a little bit more about what’s going on in the game.”
(People know who you are. You get recognized don’t you?) – “Very rarely. Very rarely.”
(The home games so far have been a combination of being at home or being in a box for you?) – ‘Yeah.”
(So you finally get into a game and you make a critical third-down conversion and there is this yellow flag on the ground. What goes through your mind at that point?) – “You have to move on at that point. I actually didn’t know what the penalty was. Every time I watch it on TV watching football and see the person do the first-down point, I always thought that was dumb growing up. I was like that’s what you’re supposed to do is get a first down. But then when you get into the NFL and you realize how hard it is to get a first down, and then a third-down conversion that’s a first down, I got real excited and I did the point. (laughter) I was embarrassed that I let myself do that and then I especially see it when there is a penalty and it’s called back, it’s like ‘oh, he definitely looked dumb doing that.’ I was just really excited I was in the game making a play.”
(What made you do it?) – “Just the excitement of converting on a third-down play.”
(You said you would not do it.) – “I always told myself that I was never going to do it, and then you get a big first down and sometimes your emotions just do that. I was just excited to make a play for the team and keep the drive going. Then like you said, you see the yellow flag and move on to the next play. I don’t think I was in on the next one. They had a different personnel grouping in. You can’t let that affect the rest of your game.”
(Of all the scenarios that could’ve happened last week in terms of you, RB Gerrid Doaks or RB Duke Johnson being elevated and moved to the 53, the best scenario happened for you in getting a regular 53 contract and not being elevated just for a week. I would imagine financially it’s better as well. Was that pleasing to you that it was the best possible outcome for you personally?) – “Yes I think is the honest answer. But I don’t want that yes to sound like I’m happy that other guys weren’t elevated. Obviously, I was going to trust whatever decisions the coaches made and be happy with it.”
(I know that you’re a key part of the social initiatives for the Dolphins. You and CB Byron Jones are key members?) – “Yeah. There are a few of us, the Social Impact Committee.”
(What’s one thing that you guys have been able to do that you’re particularly proud of or you think is quite interesting?) – “There is a lot of stuff that I enjoyed doing with the committee. One in particular this year that we did that was cool was we donated $100,000 to Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade, and Broward County school districts. What we wanted to do is not just hand them the money and they can do whatever they want. We wanted to see the projects have measurable impact. The thing with Palm Beach County is we discovered that they had – I don’t want to misquote the number but it’s around like 15,000 families that don’t have stable WiFi at home. I think you guys can obviously imagine the disadvantage a kid would have just not having good WiFi at home. They are creating this WiFi mesh network in Palm Beach County. That’s another issue in itself. But they need these WiFi extenders to go in the homes that the family can plug in and use. Those need to all be configured to the Palm Beach County WiFi network and all of that. We actually had those brought to the stadium and I think we did over 500. Just configured them so now when the network is set up, the families are going to get this box and a kid is going to have WiFi to study and participate in class, whether it’s virtual or not, and then their family will as well. That was a really cool initiative that we did and we’re excited to keep doing stuff like that going forward, having real measurable impact with the money that we’re donating.”
(Do you know what the range is on those? How far from the tower or whatever?) – “That’s what they are doing right now. They are building towers in certain neighborhoods in Palm Beach County. That’s part of the issue is they are trying to figure out the logistics and get through I guess the political backlash of trying to set up some of these towers with some people having ideas of what these towers – they think the towers have other… Whatever it is, they have different reasons for why they don’t want the tower near their building or whatever it is. Palm Beach County, the district and the superintendent and the administrators are working really hard. We’ve been encouraging – if there are people in Palm Beach County that want to go to school board meetings and help support this initiative, they should do that.”
