RB Rashad Jennings
April 21, 2016
Q: As someone who has been here, what is your sense on the newness? A new coach, new weight room and new players. Do you sense a lot of newness here?
A: Yeah, I mean obviously we have a majority of the same coaching staff where we are fortunate to have the leadership as we do in Ben McAdoo. He is somebody who is in house, he understands the architecture of the team and as many of you know, we have a good team, we had a good team last year but the mistakes were overshadowing the successes we did have. By having someone who understands the architecture and isn’t coming in to blow up the whole team and just to keep building on the successes from last year is key. Obviously there are a lot of good things I can continue to say about Coach McAdoo, but he pinpointed some areas that we feel like we needed to address, I am sure we are going to do that in the draft and it is exciting, a lot of newness but it is not changing the goal and that is to go out here, compete and fight for a Super Bowl.
Q: The team spent a lot of money on the defensive side of the ball in free agency. What was your reaction to those signings?
A: I was good, I was excited. We are bringing in some key players who are going to make some dynamic plays and contribute to us winning. We got a chance to see two of the guys in Miami playing against them not too long ago and actually training in Miami with a few of the guys, so when we heard the news we were excited. Again, we just added depth everywhere and all positions.
Q: You guys on offense are a lot more familiar with Coach McAdoo. If the defensive guys came to you and asked what they can expect from Coach McAdoo, what would you tell them?
A: You can expect a consistent man who is going to demand greatness from you, who is going to bring greatness himself. He is going to be the first in and the last out, he is meticulous, he is a militant about his work, he has high expectations and he is not a guy who plays favorites. He wants whoever is going to be the best player out there on the field.
Q: What is your take on the changes in the training program?
A: So far, I like it. Obviously we are not in too deep yet. It has just been a week and half, so there is a lot more that they want to implement but what I have seen so far is we are focusing on speed, focusing on power and finding that sweet spot between force and velocity, and I think he has a great program to make sure that we are all going to be full speed. I got a chance to talk to him yesterday, I came in for an hour just to chop it up about what the in-season program is going to look like and the team is going to be excited for where we are going as far as how we are taking care of our body in the weight room.
Q: Do you think that has a chance to cut down on the number injuries?
A: Yeah, absolutely. Everything counts --- the way you eat, the way you sleep. I’m the type of person --- this is just me, but I don’t think there is such a thing as overtraining; it is called under-resting, but that is just me personally. I am a workaholic but what we are doing, I think guys are going to respond very well to it, they already are just hearing the conversations in the locker room about the weight room program and running and conditioning and where it is moving forward. I think it can definitely cut down with some of the injuries, obviously that goes into a lot of other sciences, too, and it is football, c’mon now. You know, you don’t go into it thinking how I have to stay healthy, you are going in to figure out how to win a championship and you leave it up to the other professionals to make sure they have our back and we have the best staff to do that this year.
Q: What did you put an emphasis on in the offseason and what do you want to do differently this season?
A: So every season, it never changes. You always take your tape, every touch, every pass, every catch, every protection and you watch it and you study yourself. Some of the things I am continuing to harp on with my game are being in the right spot at the right time, working on balance, explosiveness, you know all of the things that have been able to sustain my career thus far. This is year three in the same system and I have never been able to say that in my whole entire career, so I am excited about the speed and quick decisions I am going to be able to make this season to help the team win.
Q: Do you expect to come in, in the same spot in the rotation that you left last season?
A: My expectations are always when your name is called, go in and play.
They just think it but never say it.