We Fought All the Way to the End | Press Conference

We Fought All the Way to the End | Press Conference

you got to correct and get better at, you know, that’s that’s every week and you try to maintain the same demeanor that you have when you lose as when you win and and you got to correct things got to get corrected. Every game is always going to have that. Um, so we’re we’re getting through that process, but really some pretty cool individual performances um in the game that these guys stepped up when, you know, we needed their best and we’ve been looking for a couple of weeks now to have our our best players play their best and and I think we got that from quite a few guys over the course of the game and um Jeff Simmons, I think, leads the charge. The way that Jeff’s playing right now is, as I’ve said multiple times, is is about as good as anybody in football. and he continues to set the standard for what we’re looking for from our football team from an energy and effort perspective and then is making a ton of plays. I thought Calvin Ridley stepping up and and being really productive over the course of the particularly the fourth quarter was uh was great to see especially coming off a limited week of practice. He only practiced once over the course of the week and to show up on game day like that was impressive. Um you know the the one that’s a sneaky performance but was really really productive for us was Johnny Hecker. um the way he punted in that game uh flipped the field for us a couple of times and and put our defense in in a really great spot and then we held up and then we flipped the field and the other side offensively with field position coming out of it. So his his hang time, his distance, his direction, all that stuff was fantastic and really a critical piece I think in that late part of the game uh of flipping the field and yardage wise for us was was huge. Um, and then I think we got a bunch of guys, you know, Leg I think had a really good game. Was really pleased with how he played. Uh, our special teams continues to make impact plays in the return game with Chim. Uh, and those guys on the front line and K. It was really impressive. They two great blocks by James Williams and um, and KB uh, to spring that kick on on Chim’s return. Um, and then our tight ends played well uh, when we needed them to. made some big catches, some big catching runs, and at the end of the day, I felt like our offensive line protection was maybe as good as it’s been all year in that particular game. And and then Cam ultimately at the end when when we needed to see the number one pick play like a number one pick, he did. And um that was a big reason why we were able to win the game. You mentioned last night that he he would uh live in two-minute and four-minute if you guys let him. What what’s the kind of balance of incorporating that versus situational versus opponent? Yeah, I mean there’s a there’s a there’s a personnel perspective. You know, we we felt like going into that game, um, one of the things that was going to be good for us and help calm that defense down some, they’re real multiple when you get in 11 personnel. Uh, and then particularly when, you know, huddle against them, they they they had shown to to pressure quite a bit and make it hard on you. So, we got bigger against them, especially early in the game. We were in some 12 and 13 and even some 21. We had some fullback stuff in there as well. So, that was by design. we felt like that calmed that front down and calmed the scheme down a little bit. Um so that in just in and of itself in the game plan wasn’t really part of how we were going to attack those guys. Um but we have done quite a bit in no huddle and I think that that package continues to grow. Uh it is something that Cam feels very comfortable in um and has shown to execute well. So those are things that we’re you know by game plan of course but those are things that he does has has shown to to play well in and those are things we’re going to keep expanding as we keep going forward. Are you looking for Cam to embrace the fourth quarter with the underd throws in and completing the easy passes because the obviously the long ones are beautiful, but the other ones got you down the field. Yeah, I think that’s a great lesson for him that that’s what we needed from him early in the game, too, is we had some opportunities to complete some balls um that that were the the easy throws. You know, we’re trying to trying to make it as easy on him as possible. Some of those throws he made at the end of the game were high level highle difficulty throws um and really good catches, but trying to make those be the throws that have to happen a couple of times a game and the rest of it be as easy as possible. And um he’s he’s figuring that part out as we go. Um had some opportunities early in the game and I think he really calmed down in the second half and just just focused on putting his eyes where they’re supposed to be and and just throwing the ball where it’s supposed to go and not trying to do anything other than that. And I think you saw how effective that is when you do that and you can move the ball down the field as long as you take completions. And that’s the one emphasis for him all this week was is we got to complete the ball at a higher rate. Um not all that’s on him obviously, but there’s a part of that that does fall on his shoulders and and we got to continue to do what we did in the fourth quarter. You also mentioned that second half, I don’t want to call it adjustment, but change of like how he saw things. Was there did you guys I know there’s not a lot of time, but did you guys go over anything in particular or just It’s been an ongoing process. Those are things we can kind of continually talk to him about. Um the only thing I I just said to him at halftime is is really just that I said just all you got to do is put your eyes where they’re supposed to be, make sure your footwork matches it, and just throw the ball. Like it doesn’t have to be anything more than that. Um and I thought he did a much better job of that over the course of the second half. uh you just you saw the ball come out of his hand when it was supposed to go to the places it was supposed to go and it’s still there it wasn’t perfect. There’s still things that were corrected and coaching. But um I think if he the I think it clicked for him a little bit in the second half is probably the best way I can describe it. And hopefully that leads to starting off the game with with that sort of same mentality and being able to find those things and and move the team down the field a little more consistently than than we have over the first month of the season. So hopeful that the improvement is rapid. He come down on the on the guys need to be able to catch balls that are in catchable range versus sometimes he seems to throw 100 miles an hour when he doesn’t necessarily have to. That’s part of it. You know, there’s there’s a part of of throwing catchable footballs. Um and he’s just he’s got an an unbelievably twitchy release uh and really natural body torque when he throws. Um, and there’s there’s learning how to layer those throws and learning how to take a little bit off. And again, that’s all part of his growth process over over the course of these games. And um, I thought in this game it was was really really good consistently throwing the ball catchable in the spots that needed to be put in for the most part. So, uh, again, he’s he’s he’s still he’s learning every time he goes out there and he’s improving every time he he takes the field and, uh, been been pretty pleased with the the rate of improvement. Brian, after the after the win in Houston last year, you guys went to Washington. Didn’t go very well. Do you learn anything from that experience in terms of getting the team back this week? Um, yeah. I mean, I’ll go back and look at my notes and make sure I’m I’m not doing any of the things that I did the last time. Um, I don’t think it was anything really dramatically different to be honest with you. It was um, you know, I think we we that game was a product of some early turnovers that that broke it open pretty quickly. Um, but we got to be ready to go play again. And I think my point to to you guys after the game is the same as it was to the team today that we are it’s one game and and we’re trying to win more games and stacked wins and stack the process. Um, and that’s our focus and and it feels great to win, but but we also aren’t I mean I’m not satisfied with with all of it and they shouldn’t be either because we got to play better. um earlier in the game and you know there’s that good teams if you give them a 21 point 21 to6 lead in a in a uh in most games in this league you’re going to have a hard time coming back and thankfully we found a way to do it but that’s not the way we want to live nor is it sustainable and uh we got to find a way to play better earlier and I think that’s the key and uh having the same mentality about how we feel after a loss when you’re correcting the tape and making sure you’re correcting what needs to get corrected the day after when you watched the film of what you just talked about how it kind of transpired having a perspective since you have the bird’s eye view now. Is it did the plays that took place that allowed you guys to come back? Does it seem as bizarre as it was at the time? Just the I’ve seen I’ve seen a lot of bizarre things in my time um in the league and that’s just the way the game goes sometimes. And what I what I like about what happened in that game yesterday is that, you know, really for the first four games, you know, we were the team that was making the errors to lose the game, you know, and and that’s that’s how that’s the that’s a real thing is uh you certainly can lose yourself a game uh a lot quicker than you can win one. And to be on the other side of that and take advantage of those opportunities uh when they were when they arose and to be able to make the plays necessary to win the game um was was a nice change of pace for us. And that’s where you want to be. And weird things happen in this league all the time. Ball bounce is strange. I mean, I I could take you back to the TBO season in Denver and and show you a whole bunch of crazy stuff that happened that has no real explanation in how we won some of those games. And but I think the important part is is when you when you get opportunities to go close a game out and win it. Uh we did that, you know, for the first time all year. And and we weren’t the one uh that was that was putting ourselves in position to lose. And I think that’s where I’m the most proud and the most excited that maybe we’ve, you know, turned a corner in that regard. What led to to maybe Keem and Calvin have so having so much success yesterday and how much do you hope that’s kind of a a confidence builder springboard for those guys? Yeah, I think I think I think somebody asked me a question about that maybe on Friday. Um, just about how how do you get Calvin going? And I and I and my answer is the same then as I think it is now is that you just got to keep finding ways to to use a skill set. Um we protected well in the game which I think was a big part of being able to push the ball down the field a little bit more um and find some explosive plays. Um, but I got a lot of confidence in Calvin and he’s shown his ability to to change the game for us and he just needed to to capitalize on the opportunities and and I think he was in a in the right frame of mind to go do it and and really played well for us down the down the stretch of the game and and we needed every bit of that to to be able to win and we’re going to need that moving forward too. So, got to keep putting him in the right spots and giving him opportunities and we keep protecting well and giving Cam a good pocket, we’ll be able to find him down the field. When you talk about Cam’s kind of comeback in that fourth quarter, how he played there? Can can you look back at maybe just some of the other quarterbacks you’ve been around? Any of those guys kind of come to mind their ability to shake off a rough three quarters or a rough start like that in the same way Cam was? Yeah, that’s a that’s a requisite for NFL quarterbacks if you want to win games. Um, you know, it’s always going to come down to the end. Every one of these games is usually in some version of a one-sore game. Uh, they’re competitive. Uh, and how you play at the end is really what’s going to define you as a quarterback. I think that’s what defines the quarterbacks that are all in the Hall of Fame is their ability to rally their team when they’re when they’re down and and win the game late. I mean, when I was in Detroit with Stafford and 16, I think we had like eight fourth quarter comebacks that he he engineered and won. Um, you know, Burrows had had quite a few big moments coming back and and winning late in games. And I think that’s what you have to do if you want to play quarterback at a high level is uh find ways to win and and even if it’s not pretty when it starts, uh, how do you how do you finish the game? And again, I think the best way to put it is uh you know, you want your guys to be at their best when their best is required and and I think we got that from a lot of guys at the end of the game. Is that kind of a good step to see in his growth to to come back from from that? Yeah, it’s a huge step. It’s anytime a quarterback can play like that at the end of the game. It’s it’s a huge huge benefit to to hopefully stacking that feeling and and knowing what it’s like to be in that spot and then performing. So, it was it was it was definitely great to see. Simmons mentioned Primo from uh Thunderbirds. I know he came to speak to you guys. Uh what was the relevance of that? What how did that whole process go? Yeah. Uh I probably can’t speak on that too much. Um what am I allowed to or should Okay. Um yeah, it’s it’s a there’s there’ll be more coming on that today, I think, a little bit. Just the background on I know it probably looks weird that who is this guy and why are they talking about him? Um he and he’s from the Netflix documentary The Thunderbirds. He’s a fighter pilot. Um kind of a guy that that we connected with. I used that that documentary as a medium uh over the course of training camp to you know get some get some messaging uh reinforcement from just a different place and it’s it’s awesome. If you haven’t seen it, I’d watch it. Um, but our guys sort of connected with Primo and and some of the things that he went through and uh they they really they became he became they’re like big fans of Primo and uh it worked out. We tracked him down and and found out that he was uh training out in Arizona. Uh he’s he’s flying for the reserves and he’s training he’s learned how to fly the F-35 right now and uh one of the other guys, Thunder, one of the other guys in that documentary is out here. He’s an instructor and so they were both in Phoenix and so I had him come talk to the team on Saturday night and then uh as you’ll see he was in the locker room after the game. Um cool moment but but really awesome human. Um gave a great message to the team and and a lot of the things that in that documentary I think are are very pertinent to team building and um I think they all connected with it and and you know like I said probably gave us a little bit of spark and some energy and I thought it was great. You seemed really connected with your players coming off the field offensively and defensively. You also seemed active with the officials. Was your second game where where you weren’t locked onto the headset so much? Did you feel like you were able to command the whole situation a little bit better and engage more? I did. Yeah, I really did. Um there there’s I found, you know, I can have a lot more energy. Um I can I can sort of have a lot more fun from a connection standpoint on the sideline. uh because I’m not thinking about the next things. I’m still thinking about some of it, but it’s not as not as focused. Um yeah, I actually really had a lot of fun um doing that. And I think the players felt it. You have to ask them more specifically, but I just felt like it was a it was an opportunity for me to to show my support for our guys and have great energy on the sideline in the midst of a of a challenging start and and finding a way to finish. So, uh yeah, I think I’m I’m kind of learning my way through that process and what that looks like for me. um you know without the play calling and and I think it was positive. Pearson was really productive early and managed to kind of take him out of the game. How’d you like how that played out and maybe how’d you do that? Uh a couple things. I think defensively they they made some some nice adjustments pretty quickly um in the first half in the first half probably after that first quarter. Um you know started moving moving Legerius over there a little bit not all the time but a little bit more uh into the boundary. Um, but I think what what made it uh more pronounced was that I thought we rushed really well, you know, and I thought we didn’t give him a ton of time to make plays off script and and that’s really that touchdown was an off schedule play. Um, but I think those guys did a really good job of of rushing and containing the quarterback and and making it hard for him to hold on to the ball uh long enough and and that’s that’s how you win in this league if you can disrupt the timing of the offense and not let them get the ball down the field. I mean, it’s things we’ve dealt with for the first couple weeks and our defense did a good job of of settling down and and figuring out some answers. As much tackle eligible as you did has to say something about your tight ends, does it not? No. No. I mean, we’re we’re the the thing about our tight ends is we’re a little bit smaller in stature. you know, those guys are um those guys block willingly and they’re tough at the point of attack, but anytime you can add a tackle in there and create increase that size and strength the point of attack, you do it. Um there’s a bunch of teams that do that at the moment. And it’s hard to find the the old, you know, 260 lb, 265 pound wide tight end that goes in there and blocks like a tackle. So, you might as well just put the tackle in there and let let him handle the point of attack. and um our guys do a good job when we need them to, but but it’s just again trying to just use our personnel the best we can and put our guys in great position and uh it’s been effective for us certainly track with the special teams penalties. Um we had the block in the back by Marcus was was close. I mean it was close enough that that they’re going to call it. But I thought that was a that was a tight tight call. Um I think we got called for illegal illegal formation. We were a little too deep on one of the punts at the wing. That’s just an alignment thing. You just got to move up. Um, usually they warn you for that. Um, I’m trying to think of the other one. I think we might have had a false start maybe on the kickoff. I think we left a a tick early. So, nothing dramatic. I don’t think it it’s anything crazy. We just come little things we just got to tighten up. Not even close to the play. Like why? He was I mean he was the the the corner on the return. Um, far away from It was I mean, it was one of those things where you you try to get a fly by and you can see him pull his hands off. I mean, he’s not trying to block him in the back, but it was close enough to where they felt like it was a call and and we’d like to be a little cleaner technique-wise there for him and not not put himself in that spot and and really you really want to fly by and keep your hands off uh so they don’t they don’t flag you for that. So, it’s it’s a technique thing for him more than anything else. Evaluate Spears and I guess Winston playing for the first time. Yeah. Um it’s good for Taj T. I think had 17 snaps. Um had a couple carries. He was in there some pass pro. Uh good start for him. Um really good start. You know, getting getting back to the getting back to playing just like all these guys that come off these injuries. It’s hard to throw him in there for a full for a full tilt. Um but he he played a good role and in that that role keep increasing I think as we move forward. And um Kevin did some really good stuff on special teams. You see him he’s getting his legs back underneath him. Um it was good to get him out on some game action. It’s been a while I think 13 months since he’s played in the game. Um, so we’ll be smart about that and and he’ll start getting bits and pieces of of defense as we keep moving forward and he’ll keep doing some special teams. So, we’ll keep increasing his role as he gets in better shape and and hopefully see more of him. But, he’s been he was really impressive in practice this week. You saw the things that make you excited about his potential um and and I think his role will continue to grow. What do you make of this trend of the guys dropping the football goal line? Do you bring that up with your team? Yeah. Yeah. God, every every time it happens, you bring it up. Um, yeah, we have a saying we call we say letters and logos, you know, and you never never never never never under any circumstance you let go of the ball until through the letters and logos of the end zone. Um, and that’s that’s something that I know every team in the league preaches. Um, I we every time it happens, we show it on Fridays. We show it. We show it when it happens in college. We show it when it happens in the league. We showed it to Donnie Mitchell last week. Um, and just don’t relax and just run through run through letters and logos and you’re never going to have a problem. And uh you know some of the times just just keep the ball in your hands so you can keep it for later. You know what I mean? That’s the I don’t know. It’s it’s wild to me that that continues to happen and I know it’s getting coached everywhere in the league and uh it pops up three four times a year which is which is crazy to me. Has 29 tackles the last two weeks. I’m guessing that’s more than just a number right now. Uh super productive. Um he’s really starting to play well. Well, he plays the game you need to play at linebacker. He plays downhill. He plays physical. Um, and he finds the ball. I mean, there’s there’s no substitute for a guy that can get the ball carrier on the ground and tackle it. Uh, I think what’s even more impressive, too, is I think he played 56 snaps of defense and then he added 17 more special team snaps because we had some injuries in the second half and he had to take I mean, took more snaps than anybody on our team yesterday and then played well on special teams on top of it. So, he’s really come along. He’s growing. uh he’s becoming the type of player we envisioned him being. Um he’s still got things to keep cleaning up, but but his production on the ball is undeniable and his physicality and how he plays is is what we’re looking for. Chim’s near the top of the lead in all allpurpose yards. Obviously, you’re going to say that that’s great, but how can that be something that you guys can take more advantage of too offensively after he does what he does? Uh we’ve tried to we’ve tried to find some things tried to manufacture some things for him. um some easy touches, um some screens, some reverses, some things like that. That that that stuff will continue. Um you know, he got targeted down the field a few times, didn’t connect on it, but got targeted a few times down the field. Um he’s got real speed and he’s got real ability to track the ball and uh we’re going to keep finding roles for him uh to play. He’s he’s certainly earning it. Uh he’s he’s turned out to be everything I hoped he would be as is a really good young receiver and a really good return man. and um he’s got some ability to be explosive and and we got to keep finding ways to to mix him into the process on offense as well. So, uh just like all these young players, their roles will continue to increase. It’s been 10 months since you guys have had a victory Monday. How much does it relax or lighten the mood around here? And what does it say the fact that players are here today maybe to your point that you’re not satisfied with one? Yeah, we we got work to do, you know. Um, I think it it feels great. Don’t get me wrong. I get it’s it’s it’s super positive and um it’s a whole lot easier to go talk to the team. It’s a whole lot easier to come talk to you guys. It’s everything’s, you know, the coffee tastes a little better, the sky a little bluer, but um at the end of the day, it’s it’s just like anything else. It’s just one it’s just one game. It’s one win. Uh we don’t want to overreact to it. U we want to take the good and and move on and and keep those things and then we got to correct the things we got to correct because there’s plenty of that. And so we keep trying to to to do things the right way um and can and and stack doing things the right way and hope that it continues to pay off. And yeah, we’re here working because it’s not it’s not that time yet. You know, those you earn you earn days off by winning a couple of them and and doing that playing well enough to win three, four in a row and you can start talking about having days off, but but we have we got to keep rolling and and our guys are on the same page and and we know we got to have another great week of practice and and we’re looking to go back out west and and try to get another win. What involvement did you have uh with Bo and Nick on that on that last drive offensively? Yeah. Um you know, I think that the cool thing for me is is Bo and Nick work really really well together. Uh Nick’s role is incredibly important. Uh what he does during the week. The amount of work he takes on um is is part of why we’re able to continue to press forward the way we are. U Bo did a great job handling the game plan, calling it u which was really good to see, but a lot of communication from a lot of people. Um, I’m involved in all of it. My headsets’s on during the entire process and certainly in the last drive because there’s so many situational things that come up that that we got to be on top of and managing the timeouts at the end and and what we’re going to do in that last sequence and all that stuff. So, um, that’s all communication between me and Bo and and what what we want to get done and to the quarterback. So, yeah, heavily involved in all of it, but I think Bo did a really nice job calling the game. Uh, really really happy with that. And uh I I think I think Nick’s role is is in in increasingly important um for how we are right now and the and the things that he does and and the level that he does it at is is huge for us. So it’s it was a good process. You guys lose your best tackle and then face a handful of pretty tough fronts to begin the year and and people are wondering what exactly Bill does around here. What’s going on with the offensive line that’s supposed to be renovated and and be a strength of this team? team and it feels like quietly the past couple weeks they’ve started to trend in the right direction. What are you seeing from that group? Uh just that, you know, I think you’re seeing a group that’s playing together. You know, it’s got a couple games under their belt now with really four of the five starters in there for most of it. Um I I think Pete Pete is playing really good football for us. Uh I think Kevin Zitler is playing really good football for us. Uh Dan has played better over the last couple of weeks. uh he’s really started to that group is starting to take on a little bit of an identity. Um they’re playing better. They’re playing better technically. They’re playing better as a unit. Um Lloyd’s been really solid. He gets better every week that he comes off the injury. And then really Oolie Oolie’s played well for us. Even even yesterday was was a good game for him in a reserve role. And can’t wait to get JC back. Hopefully that happens soon here. Um, but I think it’s just the totality of playing together and and you’re starting to see uh moving the line of scrimmage a little more. We’re doing some good things in the run game. It’s been productive. Um, they’ve been good in pass pro. They’ve been better the last two weeks than they were the first couple. Uh, and and we got to keep that going. Last one. Why not go for two? And is that going to be your philosophy in that situation? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s a fair those are all questions that that are fair and and our philosophy is in those spots when you’re down 15 going to get to to close the gap to down nine. Um you know, our our we talk about all these things. They were talked about well in advance of the game. It’s not a surprise for us that um our philosophy is going to be to kick that and and make it a one possession ball game. Um there’s a lot of things you can you can dive into details on, but but that’s ultimately where we settled. Uh for us, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about it and going through the the scenarios and um that’s where we landed on it and and felt like that was the the right thing for us. All right. Thanks, guys. Okay. Thank you. I guess what was it like for you? I guess celebrate first win in the NFL and and how you guys did it. It’s awesome. I was uh super proud of our fight. Um you know, really nobody really blinked on the sideline. Um you know, especially in our room. Uh guys that have been around a lot of NFL games, they kind of know how it goes. Um obviously uh felt good to have some things go our way uh that we needed to go our way but like I said we were just um we just continued to uh persevere and fight and um good things came out of it. Just like how Cam Cam delivered a strike to Calvin hit you on the down the sideline. How’d you like how he played and what are you learning about him as you as this season goes on? It’s just like me. He’s a rookie adapting to a whole new level, whole new league, um whole new offense. So, um, you know, just like for me, I think some of it’s some, uh, some growing pains, um, for all the rookies, too. Uh, but that just comes with, um, you know, kind of adapting to playing in a new offense, playing against National Football League defense is the best players in the world. Um, you’re going to have your growing pains at times, but, um, you know, I think we’re all starting to, I guess, settle into gamelike atmosphere and and, um, you know, I believe, uh, we’re starting to make some strides. How much you feel like you buy yourself at least a little absolution with the big catch after the earlier drop? Yeah. Um it’s just staying in the moment. Uh staying in the game. Um you know, that’s uh something I’ve tried to uh work on is just not let things like that get the best of my mind like it has in the past. Um you know, I was I was happy I was able to uh redeem myself later on in that drive. Um, but you know that that just comes with maturity, I feel. And um, you know, playing in this league, you’re going to have bad plays. Uh, you’re going to have things that you want to forget about. Um, but, uh, you know, the tape’s out there forever. So, just capitalizing on every opportunity that I get from here on out. And, um, like I said, not letting a miss block or a uh, or a drop ball get the best of my mind or, uh, or the way I’m playing. What was the biggest change from from your standpoint where you guys are, you know, struggling to kind of get in rhythm offensively after that first drive for the first three quarters and then you turned it on that 80 yard touchdown drive? Yeah, I think it helped out a lot that uh our defense kind of came out and stoned him in the second half. Um we kind of fed off that energy. Uh you know, Jeff and Ardan and uh Seth were all on the sideline like you know, just just keep fighting. It’s going to turn. It’s going to turn. Um it’s going to break. And sure enough, you know, some things go our way and and it started to break and um you know, then our road fans kind of got into it a little bit and uh we were able to feed off the defense and our fans energy and um you know, we just uh we were off and rolling from there. Like I said, we got some things to go our way. Uh great hustle play by Sneed. Great heads up play by uh by Lock in the end zone. Um some of the craziest things I’ve ever seen, but uh like I said, some things go our way and um you know, the dam finally broke. So, we were super lucky. We were super fortunate, but uh ultimately we stayed in it and fought to the end. Lucas has been complimentary of your improvements you made as a blocker. Do you feel feel that that has been the case and what maybe um what led to improvement there? Yeah, I mean I guess I would say I like to uh pride myself on being a kind of do it all tight end, but um you know, obviously the blocking aspect wasn’t a huge part for me last year, my senior year. Um but like I’ve said before, it was in previous years. That was kind of my my role that I fell into in the at the University of Texas with Javian Sanders there and and a loaded tight end room. But, um, you know, from the time I got here, uh, just doing some extra work with Luke and and learning from guys like Chig on on how to step to contact and bring your hands and get your pad level down. Um, Luke told me today, you know, I’ll probably hear it the rest of my career is just getting my pad level down. That just comes with with length. But, you know, having a coach that is pretty fresh out of the league, I would say, and did it for uh for a long time at a very high level, um you know, obviously he knows what he’s talking about. So, it definitely helps to have that and then some experience in the room with Chig and just kind of see how Chig uses his length and his power uh in the trenches and and just doing what I can to take certain things from guys around the league, too. um Sam Leaporta, Jake Ferguson, uh TJ Hawinson, guys like that. How do you look at it when they put the tackle eligibles out there um and use use those guys in in a role that might be yours in different circumstances? Just a matchup thing. Um you know, our our offensive coaches are are great schematically and um you know, that that was the that was the matchups they wanted to get this week. So, I would say it was just a a game planoriented thing. Um, I don’t look at it as a, oh, well, they want him out there because I’m not getting my job done. Um, I look at it more as a, all right, we want to establish a run game. Um, we want to get big people out there to match up better with their different defensive uh, personnels and packages. So, um, you know, I love the game plan. Uh, and, um, you know, obviously it worked out in our favor. Lots of rookies on this team. You know, Cam’s first win, also your first win. How how do you guys as the rookie class kind of celebrate this this first one after a tough start? Yeah. Um you know, I think it’s uh kind of been reiterated, but winning in this league is hard and um you know, a lot of things have to go your way for you to win. You got to be the master of um of the things you can control. Uh you know, pre- snap, post snap, um alignment, things like that. Things that, you know, I guess we we harp on pretty frequently every day around here. Uh, and you know, it’s gotten better as we’ve gone on from week to week. Um, the penalties have gotten less, the uh, alignment errors have gotten less. Um, guys are making their plays, guys are feeling more confident, we’re starting to click, um, we’re starting to build chemistry. Um, with a young quarterback, young receiver room. So, uh, you know, as long as we can just continue to take a step forward, um, you know, two step forward, maybe one step back, and just kind of keep that steady growth going, uh, I think we’re going to be in good shape. You play in the SEC, College Ball, playoff, all that. What’s What’s been the biggest difference this level from now? Technique. Technique is everything. um being a good player in college, you can kind of get away with high pad level, um poor hand placement, but um you know, kind of I would say getting thrown into the fire as a as a Y tight end in this league um as an early age technique is everything. And um you know, I’m still kind of working out those kinks and um it just comes with uh with some time and um I’m super grateful for the opportunity that I have to play as a as a young player in this league and kind of build those calluses and uh and work on that technique in real game situations against, like I said, the best players, best edge rushers in the in the world. When you’re running one of the when you’re running one of those goal line corner type fade routes, at what point in the route do you actually see the football? How much of it is trust that the ball’s going to be there versus looking over your shoulder? How do you manage that? Yeah, Cam told me, uh, pretty early on in the week. Um, you know, we saw AJ Barner from Seattle run that route. Um, Elijah Royal from Seattle run that route. So, um, we knew we could potentially take advantage of that. Uh, we knew that he could probably after running one of our core concepts be trailing the hit. So, Cam told me early on in the week, you know, he’s going to throw it up like a fade. and um you know just use the abilities that I’ve had, the abilities that I’ve shown to go up and make a play and um you know he obviously trusted me enough to to go up and get the ball. So um you know I believe uh I believe that’s why I’m here to make plays like that. So when it comes to when it comes to those type of catches um it’s a non-negotiable for me. Thanks. Thanks guys. Appreciate you coming on. What’s feeling like uh you guys have been working to try to get to this moment. what what’s what’s it feel like today compared to maybe some other Mondays and how do you kind of keep this feeling going? Um definitely a better feeling in in the building um all around um finally got a you know got that win off our back um and we did it the way we wanted to do is finish it in the in the fourth quarter now that you got the the win you broke that ice like how critical or what can that do to spin it forward to to more wins? Hopefully hopefully that can you know guys can gain confidence um in their preparation and gain confidence in the in the game plan and then see that you know just making the small you know catch here catch there or tackle here you know just doing the small detail stuff can allow us to win the game as you look back on it just that is it weird to think about the confluence of events that everything had to transpire the way it did for you guys to get there. Yeah. Yeah. Um it was crazy. I mean, it was a whole bunch of plays that were, you know, miracle plays that kind kind of came our way, but um no matter what, we fought through it. Um and we fought all the way to the end. Ryan said the way that you guys how that went down isn’t necessarily a sustainable way to win, but what about what you guys did defensively is sustainable? Yeah. Yeah, we did good things. Um early on we didn’t do good things. um let them jump up 21 um six on us which we don’t want to do but um we end up stopping them in the second quarter all the way till you know halftime and then we did a good job of just not letting them get any more points and that’s what we can build off of. What you how do you like what you guys did defensively and um know you struggled a little a little bit with Harrison early and kind of took him out of the game. How’ you how do you feel like you guys did that? Um we did good. We had great communication um and just sense of urgency of of playing fast and playing physical. Um you know, as we just finished watching the film, you can see, you know, we’re attacking the pocket um with violence, putting that pressure on Kyler and then just mixing up some disguises that kind of made him second guess a few few looks down the field and allowed us to, you know, get knock him down a few times. It talked for so long about about finishing in in the fourth quarter, you didn’t allow a single point as a defense. Like how good does that feel to finally have something like that to build on? It feels good. But I mean, that’s what we preached all last week and the week prior. Um, and to finally go out and do that and do that and end up victorious was was a great feeling. You’ve been with Jeff for for your entire career at this point. Just what do you attribute this jump of his to? What is making him play at this kind of level so far? Um, I think it’s just his preparation, his experience throughout the years. Um, his preparation in the offseason, obviously, whatever he was doing, his transition to the end season, great. Um, he’s been playing great. I mean, I feel like he’s always been playing great from from my perspective uh as a backend guys, but um he’s a great player for us and we count on him a lot. With Kelly not having to worry about calling a play or being ready for the next play from 10,000 ft above, it looks like he’s a lot more engaged with with even the defense coming on and off the field. Are you feeling that as well? And does it make a difference? No, it makes a difference. Um we definitely feel it. I mean, even on the practice field, meeting rooms, he comes in the defensive meeting rooms now sometimes. Um he’s on the defensive side in the walkthroughs listening. And so he wants to know kind of what everyone’s doing um all across the board, not just offense specifics. What do you remember most from that stretch last year where you beat Houston, then you go to Washington and have a slow start? I remember after the game guys talked about maybe being hung over from the win. Do you think that was the case then or the lesson? Um I mean I was a while ago. It’s hard to remember exactly, but I mean those things can happen. But that that comes down to, you know, your leaders and making sure that, you know, we don’t get too, you know, caught up on just one victory. You know, we had to go about go out this next week or this week and do it again and prove it. I think it’s been since 2022 since you guys strung them together back to back. Probably a little too long in your mind. Yeah, def definitely too long. Um, so we got to go out there and try to go one and0 again.

00:00-24:29 – HC Brian Callahan
24:30-32:38 – TE Gunnar Helm
32:39-36-21 – S Amani Hooker

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