Head Coach Ben McAdoo
July 30, 2017
Q: Did you like the intensity in the wind sprints today?
A: There were no wind sprints. We had timed interval striders today at the end of practice for some conditioning. Players did a nice job.
Q: Seems like they were pretty heated, wouldn’t you say?
A: You know how it is with family. Sometimes you have some dust-ups. Some of the best dust-ups you’re ever in are with your family, so you learn from them and move on.
Q: After something like that, do you talk to Janoris (Jenkins) and (Eric) Pinkins, or is it just understood brothers being brothers out there?
A: We know how to be a family.
Q: What’s your reaction to S Jadar Johnson retiring?
A: My reaction is I wish the man nothing but the best. He’s a young man that has a bright future ahead of him.
Q: Did you have a conversation with him?
A: I had a conversation with him, a personal conversation. They released a statement, he and his agent, and we’ll leave it at that.
Q: Today was a longer practice, what were you trying to get accomplished today?
A: We build them up a little bit. Did some competition in there, some more conditioning, and opportunity period in there with the young players, and an opportunity period for the veterans to work some different skills that they don’t normally get to work. Then we’ll bring them down with a day off tomorrow, and then start the process with pads.
Q: What’s the thinking behind the “Dollar Dollar” period?
A: The more you can do in this business, the longer you have a chance to stick.
Q: Is the opportunity 7-on-7 portion designed to get Davis Webb reps?
A: It’s to get young players opportunities to compete and show what they can do.
Q: Do you study that 7-on-7 opportunity the same as you would veterans?
A: We film everything we do. Traveling from one period to the other gets evaluated, everything that you do gets looked at and evaluated and taken into consideration.
Q: Do you look at it any differently because it’s with the young guys, expecting more mistakes and mental errors?
A: No. We evaluate everything the same.
Q: How do you think K Aldrick Rosas looked today?
A: Aldrick did a nice job out there today. We kicked early in practice, I’ll have a chance to go look at the tape. I need to do that before I comment too much.
Q: You’ve said before that you like the rookies to contribute immediately to special teams, do you see this group of rookies contributing immediately to the special teams units so far?
A: I see guys out there competing without pads on. It’s a good start, but again, we have to develop the fundamentals with the pads on starting on Tuesday.
Q: What happened to RB Shane Vereen?
A: He was sore and we were smart and held him. He could’ve gone back in, but we decided to hold him.
Q: Lower body?
A: Lower body.
Q: With K Aldrick Rosas, how do you put the pressure on him?
A: Put 80,000 people in the stands and watch him kick. That’s the best way to put pressure on him. It’s a great environment out here. Our fans are tremendous, they’re out there and they’re yelling some things at him, too, that helps put the pressure on him. So we do appreciate that, but there’s nothing like kicking in games, even in preseason games. That’s the best way to put pressure on him.
Q: Did he make them all?
A: Yeah, I want to go back. I never second-guess officials, we know that. So I’m going to go in and take a look at the tape. I thought that one snuck in there, but we’ll take a look at it.
Q: Was that crowd noise coming out of the speakers at one point?
A: Yeah, elevator crowd noise today. The offense had a home day today, so we just wanted to simulate a pressure period, put a little different emphasis on it so everyone knew what was going on, that it was different and it stood out. So we had crowd noise, but the offense was home so we had it at elevator tempo.
Q: Where does Will Tye fit in with the tight ends?
A: He’s a guy that’s competing for a job. Our tight end group has vastly improved, it’s a very competitive group and I can’t wait to see them play in the preseason.
Q: How has Mark Herzlich handled going between linebacker and tight end?
A: Very well. He’s a pro. I’ve been around a guy like him, a guy like Spencer Havner in Green Bay when I was there, he played on both sides in multiple positions on both sides. So those guys, guys like Mark, are truly unique and special that they can flip the jersey and flip the switch and go to the other side of the ball and be a contributor there. He made a couple nice plays for us.
Q: What does DT Robert Thomas bring to the table?
A: Rob is a high energy guy. Plays with a lot of energy, tremendous passion, good leverage, big body. It’ll be interesting to see how he competes with pads on.
Q: Where do you stand at that position?
A: Right now, we’re rolling them in. We need to see what it looks like when we’re playing football.
Q: Are you trying to bring the rookies along slowly?
A: We want to develop them. Again, it’s not all the rookies. Everybody’s different, each player is different. You have to treat them all that way and bring them along as fast as you can bring them, but you have to tailor some things to each guy. Almost like an IEP sort of, to try to bring them up to speed as fast as they can come.
Q: Does S Andrew Adams have a legitimate chance to challenge for a starting spot?
A: We have a lot of guys that fit into that safety spot that are competing for jobs. Andrew has a great command of the defense right now, for a guy in his second year, and he’s making strides on special teams, so it’ll be great competition.
Q: How can your players benefit from an off day so early into camp?
A: Just taking care of their body. Watching what they eat, staying hydrated, staying on top of the little things with treatment, and getting some sleep.
Q: After last week’s report in the New York Times, do you talk with the guys about CTE and the younger retirements in the league?
A: We talked about, the opening day of training camp we had a conversation on empathy and how it fits into our value system and how we try to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes before we judge. I think that’s a big part of it.
Q: What are you trying to get accomplished on Tuesday at practice?
A: We’re going to come back, when you put the pads on, the intensity goes to a different level. So we’re going to be smart about how long we’re on the field – that’s the first thing. We’re going to make sure we teach the fundamentals the right way before we just roll the ball out there and start hitting on each other. So it’s about the fundamental part of the game, and learning how to fit your pads in because you play so much without your pads in the game today.
Q: Just the uppers right?
A: Just the uppers.
