Head Coach Brian Daboll
August 4, 2023
So, first thing, congratulations to (quarterbacks coach) Shea and Emily Tierney. Late last night they had their first child, a little girl. He hasn’t had much sleep but he’s here at practice today so congratulations to them.
Q: Do you feel bad about getting on Quarterbacks Coach Shea Tierney at practice yesterday then? Were you not happy?
A: I’m not happy most of the time (laughs).
Q: How’s Ryder Anderson doing?
A: He won’t be out there today but he’ll work through it.
Q: What about defensive tackle Leonard Williams.
A: Rest Day. He’ll probably have another one today.
Q: Those guys are usually out on the field for rest days, right?
A: Yeah, I’d leave it to the trainers, too. I think whatever’s best for the player. Whatever treatment they’re using or rehab or cold tub, whatever that may be. I think (Senior Vice President, Medical Services/Head Athletic Trainer) Ronnie (Barnes) and his staff do a really good job of communicating whatever we think is best for the guy.
Q: What’s the plan or idea behind operating with three quarterbacks?
A: Each year’s different so sometimes it’s four, sometimes it’s three. (We) felt comfortable with he three (that) we have.
Q: In a lot of places, it was portrayed that last training camp you set up QB Daniel Jones for adversity to see how he would respond. Are you still taking that approach?
A: Look, here’s what we do. We sit down as a staff (and) sometimes I sit down on my own and not let anybody know what’s going on, see how they react, whether that’s a coach, whether that’s a player. Again, all the substitutions and things that we do in training camp, which I know is important to you all, all of it is planned. Maybe it’s for a personnel matchup, maybe it’s to see a reaction. So, everything we do, we try to map out and plan the best way that we can. This year is different than last year but certainly we have a lot of conversations. Sometimes I’ll just spring something on a coordinator in a certain situation or a player to see their reaction in a competitive situation. But every year’s different.
Q: Is it still slanted against Daniel because he’s the starter?
A: No, no. I wouldn’t say any of that. I’d say you try to put players in different positions and that’s the job of a coach and that’s what I try to do.
Q: What were you getting on Dexter Lawrence about?
A: I don’t know, that was a few practices – I think somebody asked me that. I don’t think you were here that day. I can’t remember. It’s practice, it’s competitive. I love (defensive tackle) Dexter (Lawrence).
Q: Back to Daniel. From our perspective it looks different than it did at this point last year. What much different does it look from your perspective?
A: I don’t even think of it like that. I didn’t think of it that way last year, and I don’t think of it that way this year. Go out there, practice (and) coach the things we need to coach. Put him in different situations (and) see his reactions. Like I said last year and I’ll this year, I have a lot of confidence in him, he’s done a good job, he works hard, and he learns from his mistakes, like you want all your players to do.
Q: What impresses you about him this year?
A: Well, we’re in day eight of training camp. I think he’s operated our offense. Certain plays I know he’d like to have back, we’d all like to have back. He’s a consummate pro, he tries to work every day, he tries to improve and that’s what we’re going to need from him.
Q: What do you look for when a guy gets beat in one-on-one drills?
A: One-on-ones are really about fundamentals and techniques. It’s competitive all the time because it’s one-on-one but it’s not real football. You’re trying to improve techniques and fundamentals. One-on-ones for an offensive lineman are hard. One-on-ones for defensive backs against receivers are hard but you’re trying to just improve techniques (and) fundamentals. You go back, you watch them, you coach but that’s really what one-on-one’s are for, really the individual technique part of it. Who gets beat and who doesn't get beat, that’s going to happen all the time. Particularly in certain drills you know that it’s more skewed toward one side of the ball, but you need to do them to improve your techniques.
Q: What do you look for when someone gets beat in group sessions?
A: Just move on to the next play. It’s going to happen, it’s football. You’re going to have a bad call as a coach or a bad decision or a bad play as a player. It’s about the next play so our next-play mentality is important.
Q: What have you seen from Evan Neal’s technique?
A: I think Evan’s done a good job, like I said a couple of days ago. He’s improved, he’s got the right mindset and we’ll just grinding along with him.
Q: What do you think of Jalin Hyatt so far?
A: I’d group him with all the rookies. Some good, some bad, some things to learn from but he’s really in the same category as all the rookies that we have.
Q: What do you think when you hear him say he wants to be Offensive Rookie of the Year?
A: I know he said that yesterday. That’s something that’s obviously important to him, but I’m not really focused on any of those type of things. It’s just really getting better each day and learning the playbook. He’s got a long way to go, just like all the rookies do.
Q: Do you think that puts pressure on him?
A: You’d have to ask him.
Q: I asked your opinion.
A: I already told you what I thought. I’m focused on today (and) getting better.
Q: How have you seen cornerback Deonte Banks handle the ups and downs so far?
A: Really just like all the other guys. Everybody’s had a bad play or multiple bad plays and people have had good plays. So training camp is about learning from your plays, learning from your mistakes, correcting your fundamentals, improving on your strengths, then really honing in on some of your weaknesses to try to make them your strengths.
Q: How has Micah McFadden improved from last year?
A: He’s been dependable, he’s been out there. He’s had a lot of reps. He’s done a nice job in there, he’s one more year in the system and he’s a competitive guy.
Q: Is wide receiver Parris Campbell practicing today?
A: Yeah, he’ll be out there. (Linebacker Jihad Ward) Haddy will be out there. He’ll be doing something, probably not the whole practice. (Guard) Jack (Anderson), he’ll be out there. Not today but he’ll be out there. It’s not anything long term.
Q: Was that what you were asking?
A: Again, each player – I think our staff does a great job of individually analyzing each player and then we’ve got to do a good job of making sure that we take care of them when we have to take care of them to make sure they can be ready for the long haul.
Q: Anybody else not practicing today?
A: Azeez (Ojulari) will get a rest day today. Other than that, no.
Q: Did you work out anybody yesterday?
A: We did. We worked out a few guys today this morning too. Like I’ve said before – nothing right now.
Q: One of your more intriguing free agent signings was Amani Oruwariye. What have you seen from him?
A: He’s been a consummate pro. We’ve thrown him right in with the group, he’s done a good job with our techniques, I think (Defensives Back Coach) Jerome’s (Henderson) done a good job with him, he’s battling out here (and) competing. A competitive spot like a lot of positions that we have.
Q: What do you think about John Michael Schmitz? Can you see the nastiness and toughness that his college coach raves about?
A: I think that’s more when we get into preseason games. It’s really about technique (and) doing things the right way. He’s a pro as a young player. He meets a lot of extra time with (quarterback) Daniel (Jones). I think he’s improved each day but he’s in the category with all the rookies. A long way to go.
Q: What do you want to see from your right guard position?
A: I think, it was a few days ago. The days are running together but it’s whoever plays the best. That’s why we’re putting them out there, we’re giving them different match ups, different looks. A guard, an interior offensive lineman’s job is to keep the pocket firm and get movement at the line of scrimmage. So, they’ll get a lot of opportunities to do that and whoever are the best two or three or however many it is, that’s who we’ll go with.
Q: So you consider both spots open?
A: I consider almost every spot open on our team.
Q: Not left tackle.
A: Not left tackle (laughs). Again, we’re trying to make it-- that’s what’s training camp is for – as competitive as we can. Some of that is just ‘let’s see this player against this player.’ So, you can’t move everybody around so maybe you move one person one day and you don’t want to see him all the time against one particular player, so you either move a guy on defense or you move a guy on offense and then you put another guy in there to see how he matches up against a guy. Some of that’s one-on-ones but a lot of times we try to do it in team, too, so we can get a good evaluation, not just against one player. So, when we’re out there in one-on-one’s I ask the coaches to make sure they are trying to mix and match guys so we can see how they perform against each other.
