LB Mark Herzlich
August 21, 2018
Q: (About the helmet hit)
A: That’s not the intent of the rule. I’m not necessarily going to do things differently from that standpoint, but we do have to be careful to know what the intent of the rule is and what plays you can’t do, so there’s no real… You never want to be hitting with your head down anyways in any situation. It’s good when it comes to players’ safety.
Q: Do you think by the time the regular season comes around they will have seen that play in which you were penalized and realize that’s not a penalty?
A: I know that every single game we play we send in different calls that the coaches have questions on, so we’ll get clarification on that at some point, maybe within the week, I’m not sure exactly. I know the league looks at every single play, regardless of a penalty or not.
Q: The way that the rule is written, would you prefer it if it becomes a reviewable play?
A: I’m not exactly sure what is going to make it work correctly. If it’s easier for the refs to see it as a reviewable play, that’s one thing. If it’s the type of rule where they’ve got to see it fast motion, that’s kind of how it goes. But that becomes two very different penalties where you can stop and take a replay of a flag like that. That would be very different than a bang-bang play.
Q: Wouldn’t have it been smarter to maybe consider the old spearing rule and just maybe been looking for that a little more closely than to actually create a new rule with new wording?
A: Obviously looking back and saying (inaudible) this is a rule that is there for us, right, so we have to now play with that rule. To me, at the end of the day, the spirit and the purpose of this rule is right. We want our players to be safe, we don’t want to be – we want to take the head out of the game. You see in preseason a lot of times when you get certain holding calls on punt return emphasized, it’s called a replay. This could be a situation where they are overcalling it right now so you get used to it, but as players, we do have to know that they are out there.
Q: It’s kind of like the play that anybody is talking about. Have you heard from players around the league? Anybody text you, former players?
A: On social media after the game, I looked at it, people were saying things. I don’t have time to watch TV right now, so I don’t even know what they’re talking about.
Q: Just for you, individually, coming back after missing all last season, kind of where you feel you’re at after these first couple preseason games?
A: I feel pretty good, I’m getting back. I’m loving working with these guys on this defense and it’s great working with coach (James) Bettch. We got Bill McGovern aa linebacker coach. I really love our room. It has been exciting.
Q: That fourth down stop that you had, is that kind of indicative of the way you guys have played against the run the first two games?
A: I got the tally on the stat sheet, but four guys were hitting him. That’s what we want. You’re not looking to have a one-on-one fourth-and-one stop, you want to have three or four guys hitting him at the same time. Collectively, that’s a great defensive play.
Q: Every year that you’ve been here, it has been kind of a battle to make the roster. How did you approach this year coming off the injury and everything?
A: Same way I did rookie year. I treat every single preseason camp as if I’m a rookie and in order to make this team as an undrafted free agent, you have to make sure you know more than everybody, you have to do extra because you’re not a shoo-in and I’m never going to be a shoo-in. I want to come out here and work as hard as I possibly can, add the most value at every position I can.
Q: You ever feel comfortable?
A: I feel comfortable because I feel comfortable with me. I don’t think, in terms of a roster spot, I never am confident I have one, but I’m comfortable with who I am, what I do, so at the end of the day, I know as long as I’m doing everything I can and I believe that I can, then it will take care of itself.
Q: In a nutshell, what’s the biggest difference between the position playing inside linebacker in the 3-4 versus a middle linebacker in a 4-3?
A: It’s not too different. The last couple of years with coach Spags, especially in our base defensive fronts, we had Devon Kennard playing on the line of scrimmage in basically a 3-4 defense, so you’re seeing a lot of the same run fits and every single defense has a little bit of quirks here and there. Linebacker is linebacker at the end of the day.
Q: More pass coverage?
A: Honestly, it’s about the same. You got to cover guys in both.
Q: How much does the players association stuff take away from what you do here or do you have to find time to fit it in?
A: There’s no ‘oh, by the way, I’m doing union stuff.’ You got to fit it in. We’ve had calls throughout training camp and you get on phone calls after our last meetings at 10 p.m. and you just got to get it in when you can.
Q: Anything said on anthems and things like that?
A: We’ve had the discussions with the owners and those discussions are progressing and we just are hoping to figure something out with them to have a mutually beneficial resolve for this.
Q: You’ve been around for a number of years here, so the Jet-Giant game, which is a fan kind of rivalry. Anything to it for you at all? Do you tell some of the guys ‘hey, we’re playing the Jets, it’s kind of fun?’
A: Just so happens that the Jets game is also the third preseason game, which is our first game plan game. It’s just a different feel for the week where we’re trying to learn about what they’ve done in the previous two games, so you’re getting in a more of a schematic type thing when you’re going out on the field. That’s exciting on its own because you’re not going in the game as blind as you were in the first couple. This is kind of the big game regardless of who we’re playing, honestly, in the third preseason game. This becomes the big one.
Undoubtedly as a cancer survivor you gain a little extra perspective about what's important.