Terron Armstead – August 15, 2024
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Thursday, August 15, 2024
T Terron Armstead
(How does it feel right now as you continue to sort of uptick your practice participation, get closer to maybe more team stuff to come possibly?) – “I feel good. I feel real good. I’ve been knocking the rust off, got some team work the other day – I think Tuesday. It was fun. It’s great being back in there with the guys, moving around, moving people. I love it.”
(Were you trying to vouch for some joint practice play out there today?) – “Yeah, I tried to get the first rack of team but sticking to the plan and to the protocols, so I turned away a little bit.”
(How much do you feel like this has helped your body and will help you during the regular season?) – “I don’t think there’s a way to truly know. I think it’s just being smart as far as everything that we can do in a preventative aspect, but football is football. You still go out there, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do full speed so I’m going to have to be in there hitting, clashing, all that good stuff anyway. So I think it’s just kind of taking a load off the body as much as we can.”
(When you see CB Kendall Fuller get, I guess, the game-clinching pick there at the end and celebrate in front of his ex-team. Just kind of take us through that moment, how special it is to see a guy succeed like that in front of his ex-team?) – “You can tell the impact that Kendall (Fuller) has brought to this team already. He’s a joy to be around, guys love him in the locker room and on the field. He’s a leader. Not the most vocal guy, but he’s a very consistent pro which you love to see. He’s always on his game, always on his technique so it’s only fitting for him to be the one to get that interception in practice against his former team.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said the other day that you can tell the belief you guys have in the running backs by the way you’ve blocked for them. I was wondering what belief you have in these running backs. Can you describe that?) – “We have a stable. We do. We do have a stable. Very dynamic. A lot of speed and then you’ve got guys that have their own unique styles, too, so ‘SA’ (Salvon Ahmed) comes in and he just flashes in his own way. De’Von (Achane), Raheem (Mostert), the young rook (Jaylen Wright), too. So we have a lot of guys that can hit home runs. So up front it definitely gives you a boost of energy and you know you don’t got to do too much. You get your man and it’s a chance to be a home run.”
(How quickly has that belief come with the rookie like that? You guys believe in him to block for him?) – “We believe in him for sure. You see the talent. You see the ability. He’s still learning. He’s still growing, but he has a lot of game and a lot of confidence, too.”
(A question to follow up if I can – you haven’t played in a preseason game in years. What is training camp like for you? What are you focusing on? What are you trying to do day to day?) – “I think that’s the key to day to day. Just daily improvement, working my technique, cardio, conditioning. Get my hands right, get my eyes right. Just be ready to play football. So I don’t think it’s this year, last year. I think every day is its own day and I try to just go out and improve every day.”
(And then what about helping others? How much are you – you’ve got some youngsters – I get the impression you counsel them quite a bit?) – “For sure. For sure, that’s part of it. That’s part of it. The knowledge I receive and the knowledge that I still get, I try to give it back and try to explain it in a way that’s easily retained. We’ve got a great group of young guys. We do. Every one of those young guys, I believe will be on an NFL roster. So there’s a lot of talent in that room and they come to work the right way. We have a standard in that room. We try to fly off the ball. We try to be physical and set the pocket in pass pro and those guys, they come live up to it every day and it’s hard in training camp. It’s the hardest part of the year, so to be able to do it and put your best foot forward every day; those guys are receiving coaching and advice and they’re taking it all in stride. I love that room.”
(What makes you confident that OL Rob Jones is ready to step up and be the starter next to you?) – “He’s proven. He’s proven. He’s still young, but he’s got games under his belt against high-level talent. He’s proven. He’s a dawg. He’s physical, he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s tough. Everything that you want in a player. I love playing next to him.”
(Back to your students, what stood out to you about what T Patrick Paul did in the preseason opener?) – “His pass pro is looking really clean. He’s getting a lot of – he’s finding his patience in his pass sets. He’s long. He’s 6’14. (laughter) So he’s able to use his length and he’s keeping his feet in the ground. Still got some things that I want to see from him on a more consistent basis, but he’s starting to see more flashes of the dominance that he has in his body, his toolbox, and that will continue to show more consistently. Pat (Patrick Paul) has been great. He goes after it every day hard, physical. He’s freaky athletic. He’s tough. But then the tools that he’s got, the God-given gifts that he has, to be able to use those as well – more experience, more knowledge, he’ll be just fine.”
(You’ve been around a while and have a good perspective on the games everybody hears. What do you think this team has learned maybe the last year, the last couple years that have helped going into this one?) – “Yeah, I think the focus is on us. Like we’re not looking at anything outside the division, the conference, the league. We’re focusing on us and our daily intent, our daily mentality. We know we have a talented team, we know we’re going to win games. Now it gets to winning those big games, winning those big moments, the games that we’re not necessarily supposed to win, all that good stuff. And you can’t show and prove until that time comes, but in the meantime, we chip away. We’re working to be ready – to be physically, mentally, emotionally, ready for all those moments.”
(I’m sure you’ve blocked in every run scheme imaginable to man.) – “That’s a fact.”
(How much fun is it, if fun is the right word, to be on the installs for Head Coach Mike McDaniel and Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith’s run game installs because it seems to us like it’s pretty different every single…?) – “It’s great. They find ways to continue to innovate. They continue to evolve the run game. They put the defense in bonds that’s advantageous for us as far as leverage, and then they allow the o-line to be playmakers. So I’m able to get up to the second level, the corner, or maybe even a safety, things that in most run game schemes you don’t necessarily do. You’re usually blocking a d-end or double teaming on a d-tackle or something like that, but be able to get up to linebackers, corners and all that, I feel like I get a chance to make a play.”
(This team is known obviously for the two guys on the outside and QB Tua Tagovailoa and how effective you are at passing. And yet we know how diverse and talented the running back corps is. How does that affect the offensive linemen for one, knowing that teams have to defend both and how beneficial is it to this team’s long-range hopes to go somewhere?) – “Yeah, we’ve got weapons. We have weapons all over the field and we’re not apologizing for it. I want all of them out there. We’ll all be out there at the same time, and o-line, we’re going to be a weapon for us, too. We’re going to fly off the ball. We’re going to move people and give those guys an opportunity to make plays. So we know about the two guys outside, as you should. You better game plan for those two and the ones in the backfield and up front, we’ve got to do our job, too, to allow them to get the ball in their hands with space and they can make plays.”
(Flying off the ball is a phrase that I hear a lot this camp with the offensive line. They say that you guys have been doing very well at it. What does that mean? What does that look like?) – “It’s an intent. It’s a mentality. It’s an approach to knock a defensive line off the ball and then you see it consistently and you watch the sideline copy of the film and you see two yards of push off the ball. That’s automatically a two-yard gain before the running back ever gets touched, you know what I mean? So those are body blows. Those are body blows to a team, to a defense and it gives us confidence and gives us energy up front to know that we’re dominating the front like that. We have a chance to win a lot of games, a lot of games.”
(Those skirmishes that happen out there, I feel like that’s become kind of standard in training camp. You’re one of the most respected voices I’m sure in that locker room. How do you view those?) – “That’s a part of it, really. Tempers are very brolic, alpha male kind of sport. People get pushy. It’s hot, all that good stuff. But football fights, it really is nothing to even discuss.”
