Todd Bowles & Baker Mayfield Speak To The Media | Press Conference Live Stream

Todd Bowles & Baker Mayfield Speak To The Media | Press Conference Live Stream

How you doing? Walk through Wednesday, but what can you tell us about guys like Bucky or Chris? We’re going to up their ramp their reps this week and ramp them up and kind of see where they are. So, we’ll get a good idea tomorrow and Friday on exactly where they are. Chris Brazwell like an ankle injury. How significant is that? Uh, sort of today. We’ll see tomorrow. Um, hopefully he doesn’t have any setbacks. If he does, it’s going to be a little bit concerning. Um, it seems like Watts is out there. Does it look like he has limitations? Could he potentially be back or at least you’d have him to offset a potential loss? He’s supposed to be full speed this week. We’ll see how his hand in when we practice tomorrow and run around, see how he uses it. Todd, this is your seventh year of running this defense. Um despite three takeaways that you gave up the most points you had ever given up in Tampa. Um what were your emotions watching the game film? Uh is there any sense of embarrassment or anything about what happened in Buffalo from a defensive standpoint? I’m embarrassed every time we lose, but from a defensive standpoint, we didn’t play well. We had a stinker. You know, it happens. This league humbles you. Every now and then, you going to have something that messes up. Uh, as coaches, we can definitely do a better job. As players, we can do a better job. And we didn’t play well. We didn’t coach well. That’s really all it sums it up to. You know, one play that I think might have got lost, Todd, was uh after the punt and Buffalo’s drive, they started on their 15th and made some first downs and then it was a third down play. And I I think the play didn’t work and then it was a face mask penalty on on Parish. Uh otherwise they probably got to kick a 50-yard field goal or something in the win. So that that was a critical play, wasn’t it, Ton? It was critical. I mean, it’s unfortunate, but that was full speed part of the game. Those type of things going to happen. You rather take that over busted coverages or somebody not being where they’re supposed to be. He played hard and we stopped him. It was very unfortunate at the time, but that play didn’t lose the game. Does it look like you’ll be without Dean? And if so, are you just going to continue on with Morrison or would you consider any changes there? No, we play a couple guys there. Paris is definitely a consideration. Morrison has been practicing as well. And we’ll practice them both and kind of go from there. Things a little nicked up right now. If he doesn’t make any progress, you know, there’s a good chance he might not be in there. I didn’t see Chase Mclofflin out there. I don’t know if that’s injury or illness or what he was excused for a personal one. He’ll be back tomorrow. Won’t be a problem. To to see another walk through today. I know that’s kind of kind of dictated by just the injuries overall. Um but at some point if you had five, six weeks in a row where you’re not in full practice on Wednesday, do you think that has a negative impact or in terms of of what you want to do with the team during the week to get them ready for Sunday? We’ve done the same thing the last two years. You know, unfortunately this Wednesday a lot of people have taken ale as a bug going around the building and we had about five coaches and about 15 players down that helped aid in this walk through. So there’s nothing we can really do about that today. Was that Worst’s best game of the season, uh, Todd? And and how did those two guards play on Sunday? I thought he played well. I thought he played well last week. You know, I thought he played well last week. When you run the ball for 200 yards, those guys battled, you know, they were they battled and they were a little embarrassed from the week before and they came out and had a good week of practice. I thought they really played tough. Is there anything Tristan likes more than getting out on the edge pulling like that against some of those DBs? He like I definitely don’t want to see it, but he likes carrying the ball. So, you know, he want he wants to recover an onside kick and I I think that’s on his bucket list. So that’s probably the best thing he wants to do right now. Seriously, his athleticism though for a guy that size is crazy, right? It was great. Just to get him out on the edge. If you’re a running back and you’re following somebody like that, then you can’t help but smile. We’ve seen some offensive lineman as as lead back. You’ve done that. Have you tinkered with the idea of putting him back there? No, we’ve tinkered with the idea of Vita, but we haven’t tinkered with the idea of Tristan. Why not? He’s selfish. He wants the ball. Todd, are the Rams in consideration? Maybe if somebody wants to pick uh the best team in the league right now, the most complete team in the league, are the Rams in the conversation? They definitely are. I mean, they’re playing great ball right now. They don’t beat themselves. They get very few penalties. Uh they take care of the football and they play very hard on defense, so they’re definitely in the top two. How are they able to rally around uh losing a great player, a Hall of Fame player like Aaron Donald, and then a few years later, they they got a heck of a defense. They drafted some young defensive guys that could really get after it. Uh they made some good picks and those guys are panning out for him. You’ve gone against Matthew Stafford a lot his this season already. 27 touchdowns, two interceptions. Is he playing his best football right now? Uh I’m not sure he’s playing his best. He’s been great for years right now, but he knows exactly where to go with the football. He’s very accurate. Heck of a competitor. Uh one of the toughest guys to play against. He knows the offense inside out and he’s having fun. So, he’s really driving the boat for him. They run the 13 personnel a lot this year from a defensive standpoint. What is it about the three tight ends that they’ve been running that has allowed them to be so uh dominant offensively this year? You think it’s three tight ends, but it could play out like two tight ends or even one tight end. They’re very versatile and what they do when they run the three tight end set. If you’re big, they spread you out and they can throw it. If you’re small, they can pound you. So it it’s a very smart aspect of their game and what they do. Sean’s a great coach and does a great job with that. So we really got to be sharp. Can you talk about the one-two punch they have with Puka Naku and also Devonte Adams who’s leading the league in touchdowns with 10. Oh yeah, both tough. Uh both aggressive at the line of scrimmage. It’s hard to play one-on-one. They’re very savvy at the top of the route as well. Fuka and Devonte both have very strong hands, very polished route running. So it’s going to be a challenge for our guys. Todd St. Stafford’s seen every blitz uh invented o over the years and yet if you don’t move him off his spot, you know, he usually shreds people. So is that kind of the dilemma going into this week? That’s the challenge. Yeah, that’s one of the challenges other than the run game. Obviously, he’s very good at what he does. And you know, if you don’t get him off his spot, he’ll sit back there and pick you apart. So, we got to try to do it with four. And then if when we do pressure, we got to try to make some hay. Todd to that uh to that degree getting pressure with four that’s been that’s been an issue and we and he is really good against the blitz. So as a play caller and especially going up against McVey how philosophically how do you how do you treat that? Is it all based on film or your gut feeling in certain situations? How do you treat that? Some of it is film and some of it on is what we do best and what we do and which players have strengths that we can take advantage of on our team. It’s really trying to hide our weaknesses and then try to expose theirs. That’s really what it boils down to. So, we want to make sure we’re sound and we’re taking care of everything. We got to take care of first and then we worry about the other stuff. But, we got to get after it. No matter whe it’s a three, four, five, sixman rush, we got to get after it. How do you go about fixing your coverage on special teams? Um, we’re trying different guys in different spots. We’ll move some guys around and you know if worse comes the worst we’ll try to kick it out but you know it’s got to get better and we’ll work on that this week and that’s what we’ve been focusing on. You guys on practice squad that you might give a look there for that or everybody’s available right now. Coach, so far this year Vita has played a career-high percentage of defensive snaps. Has there been any thought that maybe less is more in terms of maximizing his productivity at times? at times depending on how the game flow is going. You know, we got to bring other guys along at the same time. So, depending on what we’re doing, but he’s comfortable. We’ve talked to him about it. He’s comfortable playing those amount of reps and he doesn’t show any fatigue. So, right now, he’s okay. Todd, late in the game, it seemed like guys were having a lot of trouble getting off blocks. Is that technique, fatigue, uh their scheme? What What did you see in the film? I thought it was more technique. I didn’t think we got off the ball like we’ve been getting off the ball. And when you don’t get off the ball and you got bigger guys, it’s hard to get him off you. How proud are you of Tiki Smith, Todd, and taking his game to to another level in year two? He’s a confident player. Uh we’re confident in him. Um he understands the game. He’s just one of them guys that knows how to play. I wish coaching wise we can take credit, but he knew how to play when he came in the door. And he understands the game very well. and he’s a heck of a competitor. He’s always going to show up on Sunday. How’s McCullum playing, Tom? Well, the last two weeks, just average. Uh he’s been playing great at the start of the season. Couple things he’s got to work on when he gets bored, but uh he’s got the talent and the technique. He’s been solid for us. Uh probably subp part of the last two weeks, he doesn’t get a lot of action, but at the same time, technique-wise, he can clean up some things. Has Barry showed you enough when he’s played outside pretty confident? Oh, absolutely. We knew that coming in the door. Happy Thank Congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate it. We saw you scrambling around out there having some fun. What’s it like to just get back to using your legs and obviously I think you’re feeling better and that’s that’s part of it, but to get the rushing touchdown and kind of get back to shake and bake. Yeah. Um just obviously health first and foremost, the ability to be able to do that and take advantage of um some third down scrambles or just early early downs um when the passes aren’t there, be able to take off in the rush lanes and go from there. But uh yeah, something I just tried to start utilizing more and more last year and continuing that this year. Were you happier with overall offensively your teammates with the mindset? I know you had said that the previous week. I know you wanted the win, but did you notice a difference? Yeah. No, I think there was a difference mentally. Um, and anytime you you run the ball like that, guys are locked in. They’re doing their job, and that that takes everybody, not just the O line. Obviously, they played extremely well uh to run the ball over 200 yards. But, um, yeah, I think the message was well received. We just obviously didn’t make enough plays when we needed to. Good news is Baker, you’re not facing Aaron Donald on Sunday. The bad news, they still got a heck of a defense. Yeah. What are they showing on tape? These young guys are playing really well. Um, obviously they’ve invested a lot of capital into the the front seven in the last few drafts. Um, these guys are just playing really well. I mean, Verse and uh, Young on the edges. Obviously, the interior guys are also playing really well between Fisk and uh, Turner. So, they’re winning a lot of one-on- ones, making plays, and the backend guys are playing aggressive because of it. U, they do a good job uh, just mixing up personnels. Got a lot of DBs that they can throw in there. Uh, versatile that seem to be on the same page. I mean, Schula’s been there a long time, so anybody that started their career there has had him the whole time. And uh yeah, sound defense, making a lot of plays, familiar system family that we’ve played before this year. Um but they do a lot of good stuff on their own. Does the secondary uh Baker capitalize on uh the belief that that quarterback’s not going to have much time? Absolutely. Yeah, you could see um especially last week looking at the Seattle tape of understanding the pass rushers getting home, the safeties are kind of keyed into the lower routes, getting some interceptions and guys jumping routes. So um yeah, like like always, game starts up front. Uh it’s got to be one in the trenches and then but for them that that allows the secondary to play aggressive. Your offensive line played pretty well really well last week, especially when you got outside and ran the ball. I don’t think Tristan loves anything more than to get downhill. What’s that like to sit back and see just guy be that athletic. Um it’s it’s awesome to see, you know, you show that potential when he’s out out in the open field able to make a block like that. Um but just it shows his pure athleticism, how big he is, how well he’s able to move. Uh and then obviously the power that comes with it. So um yeah, looking obviously get get more plays like that. Uh makes our lives easier. Um hadn’t had one like that in a long time. So it was good to see and obviously Tuck Tuck played really well. Baker, the uh the two-point plays and some third twos and fourth and twos the past few weeks have really been an issue for you guys. What’s going on there? Doesn’t seem like you’re going to the run in those situations where you could. And also maybe the lack of having bigger receivers and tight window areas. What’s going on there? Uh I’d say the two-point play, um the first one at least, I need to get to a different play. That that one that one falls on me. So that’s that’s not scheme or the players or anything besides me. Need to get to a better play. Um, yeah, and it’s just just comes down to in that down in distance, who wants it more and uh when it comes to the run game, yeah, if it’s dialed up, we need to execute it. What do you remember about the third and two pass to uh Shepard before the punt? Um, yeah, they they did a good job obviously covering that up. Um, it’s a zone coverage, but the guy it’s following Shep. It gives him a man indicator to keep running on his route. So, they did a really good job covering it up. Um, for me, looking back on it, can I extend it a little bit more? Maybe scramble for it. Um but yeah, they they obviously covered it up well and from there just move on. Baker, a couple years ago, obviously being your chapter with the Rams, you talked about in the past, need to revisit that, but you know, you got to be close to a lot of those guys. Sean and obviously came here and stuff. What’s your memory of that? Just uh you know what it’s done for you and what it’s like to go back there now. Yeah, I mean there’s there’s no way for me to, you know, sugarcoat it. It was pivotal in my career, in my journey. Um I told you guys it helped me find the football or the fun in football again, that joy. Um and just getting to learn from those guys. Obviously, it looks a lot different now that Raheem Morris is gone, Zack Robinson, Liam, but um Sean’s been there the whole time. So, it’s um yeah, they helped me out and, you know, helped me discover what offense I really want to play in and uh you know, the responsibility that comes with in that. a lot of accountability at the line of scrimmage and to check and get to the right plays. But um yeah, it was instrumental in in my career. Uh something I’m forever grateful for and it’ll be fun to go back and see some familiar faces. A lot of weird things happen in that game. Greg’s written a lot about it. But one of the ones that you know is not knowing how to spike the ball or what to call like I mean it is a critical thing on a 90 something yard drive with no timeouts. Yeah. Little things you know thinking about that game of Brian Allen turning around and telling me what the cadence is on a on a clock situation. Um, just funny stuff like that that you you look back and cherish. Uh, the moments that you didn’t expect to come up and having a two-minute offense, but yeah, some some fun memories. From one quarterback to another, what do you appreciate about Matthew Stafford’s game? They can do everything. Um, he’s always been able to make every throw. Um, you know, I think obviously as long as he was in Detroit, didn’t get a a whole lot of credit for how really good he was. Um, and you’re seeing that now. He’s to me, he’s always been a top three or five quarterback in the league. um and and one of the best, if not the best, pure passer ever in the history of the NFL. The way it comes off of his hand, uh the way he can change his arm angles, obviously the no look passes really started with him. So, um he’s he can do it all. Makes it really tough on your defense. You got to be sound with your eyes, but he also knows how to move you and move around the pocket, too. During your time in LA, Stafford obviously wasn’t playing, but what did you see maybe from what he did behind the scenes that you kind of maybe added to your game? Um, I think I just I gained an even more level of respect for him about the communication about how he wanted certain routes, certain schemes to be done. Um, when you’re at that level, that year, I guess, in your career, um, you kind of run the ship. And so, just had a lot of respect for him before, but seeing it in person on the how detailed he really was and exactly what he was going to try and check to, uh, that was that was big seeing in person. uh every loss is depressing, Baker, but after the game, did you kind of feel that the team played with more energy than they did against New England? Any difference between the pass the passion that the guys had? Yeah, there was I think without without a doubt the the fight, the passion, the energy was there. I think mentally everybody was locked in whether you know lost focus during the game or just didn’t make the plays. That’s the difference there. But um that’s the mentality we have to come out with starting fast, being physical, especially on offense. But, uh, yeah, I think everybody was was bought in on that one. When Sean is having a daylight like that, what does that do for your offense? Um, he just obviously he has that extra gear, so uh, any sort of those plays that that can extend into being explosive runs or passes. Uh, it’s big for us. And so obviously, you know, continuing to lean on him, continuing to trust him and grow whatever package we have for him and and go from there. But, um, he has that big play potential that we need to try and take advantage of. You’ve been a girl dad. Now you’re about to be have a little bigger. What What was it a reveal party? What was that moment like when you found out you’re going to have a son? Um no, we did just a little private reveal. Uh just the fam, but yeah, obviously fun. You know, everybody’s like, “You going to let him play football? Do whatever you want.” Um my parents didn’t want me to play football. At a certain point, when your kid wants to do something, you just encourage them to do whatever they want to do. And uh obviously trying to handle that the best way, but I’m going to have a little shitad on my hands. That’s karma. Thanks, guys.

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