WR Brandon Marshall
September 21, 2017
Q: So Brandon, if football is a chess match, which piece would you be?
A: Right now, I’d be the pawn, because I’m getting smacked right now. That’s good stuff. I like that one.
Q: It’s an unusual position for you, coming off two games that were not your best…
A: Oh yeah, coming off a game that wasn’t my best.
Q: First game, one catch late…
A: Yeah, but it’s not all about catching a bunch of balls to be effective. Yes, it is an unusual position. You know in the past always kind of start decent or hot and being able to help the team. So far I haven’t been able to help the way I wanted to and meet expectations, but we’ll figure it out and get it going.
Q: Do you feel like this is the week?
A: I feel like this is a good week for our team to get a win.
Q: When practice started you made a catch in the first practice and you said you needed that to know that you still got it. Do you need something like that in the regular season, a play like that, to sort of reaffirm maybe to yourself?
A: Well I mean yeah…I don’t want to go too far into that. It’s the National Football League. Nobody cares about your past, it’s what have you done for me lately, right? Every year you have to prove yourself, that’s what makes this game so special. It doesn’t matter if you’re All Pro or make the Pro Bowl or win the Super Bowl, you have to come back out the next year and do it all over again and do it better. So far, I haven’t been able to do that.
Q: To go back when you guys had it inside the five against Detroit, you’re heading out there to line up, are you thinking I need the ball in this situation? Is that still first and foremost in your mind like that’s where you thrive?
A: What I’m thinking is if the ball comes to me, I need to make a play for my team. So, that’s my mindset in that situation.
Q: Brandon, when a team is in a hole like this, from your experience, how do you rise in a situation like this? Maybe not put a team on your back single-handedly, but how do you raise your level when the team needs it most? What is that process like?
A: Yeah, I mean, make a play, right? I don’t want to do this because I don’t want you guys to question me on a past game when we’re already preparing for another game, but to answer your question, that was an example last week. The team needed a big play and I had an opportunity to make a big play and I didn’t. You need that type of playmaking ability, you need that type of excitement and things will change.
Q: That’s happened to everybody in this league at some point in the past. How have you gotten past a moment like that in your past?
A: Make a play. Yeah, make a play. That’s it, that’s all you have to do is make a play. You know, good players need to play good and elite players need to play elite. Big time players need to make big time plays in big situations. That’s what it’s about.
Q: They’re a very injured secondary. I think three of their top six defensive backs may not even play in this game. When you go into a game like that, and you probably don’t even have a lot of film on those guys, how do you have to approach it? Is it more about what you do?
A: Well, it is, but it ain’t. Obviously you have to understand the guy you’re going against; his tendencies, what he likes to do and maybe where he’s challenged. So you just have to dig deep, maybe go through some preseason film, but our staff does an amazing job of pulling up what we need.
Q: You talk about bigtime players, do you still consider yourself a bigtime player?
A: No. I just need to make a play, man, that’s all it is. The GPS says I’m running faster than I was last year. Does that give it to you? Catching the ball, that’s fundamentals and that’s God given. You know, when your body starts breaking down, and I’m older, I’m 33, but we have tracking systems in our pads every day and the GPS says I’m moving faster than I was the last two years, so maybe that will help you out.
Q: How bout Odell, can you kind of feel Odell chomping?
A: His energy? Yeah, I mean, he got in there and made a few plays for us and got some excitement in the stadium. We need that.
