Transcript: Head Coach Ben McAdoo

Head Coach Ben McAdoo

June 1, 2016

Q: Where has Geremy Davis made strides since last season?

A: Geremy was nursing a leg early on, but he’s bounced back quite nicely. He’s a guy that is a big, physical guy we can rely on. He knows the offense very well and seems to be hitting his stride right now.

Q: How big a jump has he made since last year?

A: It’s still early on, but like I said, he’s a guy that seems to be hitting his stride right now. He’s very comfortable in the offense. He knows the system fairly well and he’s doing a good job for us at this point.

Q: How do you look at the tight end position at this point?

A: The tight end position and the receiver position are pretty much two in the same right now. We have a lot of guys going in and out of there and trying to show what they can do and we’re going to give a lot of looks at those two groups and we’re counting on the cream rising to the top.

Q: How is Larry Donnell doing with the neck? Is there anything you need to watch or is it a full go at this point?

A: Right now he’s full go.

Q: How are the three safeties who all missed last year? Are there any limitations on them right now?

A: We’re keeping an eye on them, but they seem to be working into shape quite nicely. With the second year in the system, things are coming a little bit easier for them.

Q: When you have three young safeties go down at a position, how difficult is that to deal with?

A: It’s difficult. It’s essentially their first year all over again. The difference is they have a year in the system, so they were able to get their hands around it mentally last year and now they have a chance to go out and perform.

Q: How has Nat Berhe looked?

A: Nat has looked good. He’s moving around fine. He’s playing high, he’s playing low and he seems to have a good grasp of things.

Q: Do you see the defense starting to gel?

A: Today was a third-down day. The defense did have a good day. They’re making some plays. They’re swarming around the ball. Their pursuit has been very good. It can be better and it will get better, but they have some guys that are there that have a nose for the football.

Q: How do you organize the OTA’s; you said today was the third down day?

A: We’re trying to get the situations in early and when we get a chance to emphasize it, we really emphasize it. Today was the third down day. We’ll hit the red zone and green zone tomorrow and then once we have them in, we’ll continue to work them in each day.

Q: I know some teams do some work on division rivals at this time of year. What’s your philosophy on that?

A: We do studies and we’ll implement them when the time is appropriate.

Q: How has Eli been throwing the ball so far this spring?

A: He seems to be throwing the ball just fine. He seems to be strong and confident. He knows the system well. The ball is spinning off of his hand pretty good.

Q: What about Ryan Nassib?

A: Ryan made some nice plays out here today. I thought he did a nice job.

Q: Coach Spagnuolo said that he liked Darian Thompson’s ability to be vocal and lead. Do you see that when he’s with the veterans?

A: Absolutely. He hasn’t backed down from the communication part of things. You see that and it’s evident. He also has a nose for the football, whether it’s picking a ball off or being able to scoop and score and he showed that today. That part of the game comes natural for him.

Q: When veterans don’t show up for the voluntary OTA, does that become a positive for the younger guys?

A: I don’t think there’s anything positive when someone can’t be here. We’d like to have everyone here. Obviously we have a few guys that aren’t here today. They reached out. They communicated and that’s what we ask. These are voluntary practices and when they can’t be here, we just ask that they communicate that and the guys who have missed today have been outstanding with attendance.

Q: Do you expect them back this week?

A: Absolutely.

Q: How do you handle situations when players’ personal lives start showing up in the gossip pages?

A: They’re grown men. You have to trust players with their personal lives and the decisions they make. If they ask for advice, we’ll certainly be willing to lend a hand.

Q: What do you need to see from Andre Williams to get him back into the mix like he was when he was a rookie?

A: Andre just needs some reps. He looks good right now. He’s moving around well. He’s fluid. He’s working a lot on catching the ball and doing a nice job for us there. We’re spreading the reps around. It’s early. It is June, but we’ll see more from Andre when training camp rolls around and we get the pads on.

Q: Based on technique, have you seen a jump from Bobby Hart and Ereck Flowers?

A: Yes. Those two young guys are coming along nicely. They still have a lot of work to do, but at the same point and time, they are making some progress. They’re doing a better job of with their pad level, keeping their elbows tight and working with some bend.

Q: You had Shane McDermott working at every spot on the offensive line in one of the final periods at practice. Was that to give guys a rest or is there something you like about him that you want to see him at different spots?

A: I think the more you can do in this league the better chance you have of making a club.

Q: It was pretty unique.

A: He’s a smart young man who works at it. He’s a center and you expect him to be able to have some type of versatility.

Q: How is Orleans Darkwa doing?

A: He’s working through it. He’s making progress. He’s not back yet, but hopefully we have a chance to see him at training camp.

Q: Has Victor Cruz been able to do anything more recently?

A: He’s progressing, but he’s still in a holding pattern. We’re looking forward to getting him back to training camp.

Q: So he’s going to stay where he is until that point?

A: Yeah. He’s working to progress. He’s going to be out of the team periods until training camp.

Q: The fields seemed to be a little bit shorter today.

A: They’re a little bit shorter. We’re working on some things. We wanted to use all of the green grass out here. We have three things we’re looking at. Player Safety. We want to make sure we have the opportunity to work the whole field that way. In the green zone we want to work on high back five throws and defend our high back five throws on the defensive side of the ball. We want to kick less field goals. Josh (Brown) has been good for us, but we don’t want to use him so much. We want to throw more touchdowns on offense and on defense we want to make sure we defend the whole field.