Wide Receiver Darius Slayton
Q: Obviously there is a lot of attention on the outside about (Quarterback) Daniel's (Jones) big catch, a lot of memes, a lot of comments and kind of photoshopping him into different things. What's been the reaction to it inside the building? Are you guys having fun with it?
A: Yeah, I mean, I think everybody was pretty excited about it. Obviously, it was a pretty special play for anybody to make, but especially a quarterback.
Q: Did you know he had that in him?
A: I know he's a pretty decent athlete, so I wasn't too surprised he was able to pull it off.
Q: You guys seem to want to move the pocket a lot yesterday having Daniel on roll outs to his right and you were successful hooking up with him a few times. On those kinds of plays, it's kind of an all or nothing thing, isn't it? He doesn't have a lot of options when he's rolling so hard to the sideline. Can you just take us through what that's like and how you kind of have to be in sync with him the whole way?
A: It kind of depends on what part of it you are. Obviously depending on the route, you're just trying to move in sync with the quarterback while finding holes or open spots while you're running. It's just kind of trying to be on the same page with him.
Q: Do you think he is especially good at that? Getting out and kind of you guys running in unison together?
A: I think he's good at everything. So yeah, he would be included in that.
Q: There's always a lot of attention to who's not out there, right? You came back after missing games, Shep (Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard) couldn't make it, other guys are still not back. In your experience, can a quarterback kind of lift the guys around him a little bit, maybe guys who aren't used to starting? You're a guy who is used to being on the field, but kind of rallying people around him. Can a guy do that?
A: Definitely. I think everybody on the team believes in DJ, so whether it's guys who have played a lot of snaps or guys who have played zero snaps, everybody out there believes in 8 and knows that if they're out there with him, they're going to have catchable, accurate passes to catch. At the end of the day, it's just on us to complete them.
Q: How did you end up feeling yesterday after coming back?
A: Pretty good. It's always a little sore after getting hit after not getting hit for a while. But I feel pretty good all in all.
Q: I asked you last week about (Wide Receiver) Dante Pettis and you gave me that nice little wiggle at the podium. I've got a different question about Dante, did you know that his (Houston Astros Third Base Coach Gary Pettis) dad is a baseball coach for the Astros? Does he talk about that a lot? Does he talk about the Astros in the locker room? Does baseball come up a lot around him? Just curious – I don't know, are you a baseball fan? I don't know if you guys talk about that.
A: I'm not really a baseball guy, but it has kind of came up recently because obviously the Astros are in the World Series and I'm from Georgia and the Braves are in the series. I've kind of hopped on the bandwagon over the past two weeks and just rode the wave. We've kind of had a little back and forth over the last few weeks.
Q: So do you guys have a bet on the series or anything? What's the story there? Who's going to win the series?
A: Not yet, but obviously you know I'll be rooting for my home team and obviously he'll be rooting for his family, so I guess we'll see.
Q: You had a good rookie season and (Linebacker) Azeez Ojulari's having a good rookie season. I know outside linebacker and receiver aren't the same thing, but how much in the middle of your rookie season is it like, you've got off to a good start, you've put some things on tape and now defenses adjust to that and you've got to now figure out and you say, 'okay, I have to find a new way to have success?'
A: Obviously, like you just said, Azeez got off to a great start, but I think kind of the fine line is allowing yourself to let your confidence build and belief build that you've made plays, and then still maintaining that humility and knowing that you still have a lot to learn. But just taking advantage of opportunities to make the plays when you can make them. I remember yesterday during the game, it was kind of the first game where we were up, and the opposing team was in an obvious passing scenario. I remember I actually told all of our edge rushers, but I remember I specifically told Azeez, 'hey, this is when you get to work. They've got to pass. They're in two-minute. I'm saying this is when it's time to turn it on.' Obviously, he's done a great job of doing that for us so far.
