Head Coach Brian Daboll
November 3, 2023
Q. Word on the offensive tackles?
A: They’ve had good days. We’ll see how they do today. I think they’re making progress, getting close. We’ll let them go out there and practice today and see where they’re at.
Q. We kind of always lump them together. Is one more ahead of the other?
A: I'd say both of them are improving, so we'll see where they're at. They've taken some team reps, which is good. We'll give them a little bit more today, and we'll see where they're at after practice today.
Q: Do you know how you’re going to list them on the injury report?
A: Questionable, as of right now. So, let's see how practice goes, but as of right now, that’s what I got.
Q. That’s a step forward for (tackle) Andrew (Thomas), it seems like.
A: Yeah. I’d say both of them have made steps forward.
Q. How does that affect (guard Justin) Pugh if Andrew comes back? Does Pugh automatically go into a starting guard spot? How do you handle that?
A: We're working through some stuff. We're sorting through it. I’d say we've used a lot of different combinations here the last two days, and we'll do that again today. I don't want to make a decision yet based on how it goes in practice today, but we've kind of mixed and matched a bunch of guys.
Q. Would you do a rotation in-game?
A: Potentially.
Q. (Kicker) Randy Bullock, what did you see from him? I assume he’s going to be the kicker on Sunday, so what did you see in the tryout?
A: A veteran guy. We’re actually adding another kicker, Cade York. He was on the practice squad in Tennessee. So, we’ll have both guys out here today and do some kicks and see where we’re at for Sunday.
Q. So York is going to the 53?
A: He is, yep.
Q: Who is out?
A: Who is out? We’re talking through that. We’ll do that after practice.
Q: Is (kicker) Graham (Gano) done for the season?
A: Yeah, he’ll have surgery upcoming here, so he’ll go on IR.
Q: If Cade is on the active roster, he’s going to be your kicker this week, not Randy?
A: Not necessarily. We’re going to have two of them out here today and we’re going to kick and do our normal stuff, and then we’ll make a decision.
Q: Why handle it that way? It just feels kind of unorthodox.
A: We brought one from the practice squad and we signed another one to the practice squad. Again, we’ll see where they’re at here when they kick and snap with (long snapper) Casey (Kreiter) and hold with (punter) Jamie (Gillan) and do all those things. We’ll do a bunch of that today.
Q: So, today’s kind of like a tryout for those two guys, basically?
A: Yeah, we’ll see where they’re at and see how they kick.
Q: Other than your two tackles, is there anyone, setting aside (tight end) Darren (Waller) and (quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor), is there anyone whose status for Sunday is in question or doubt at this point?
A: I’d say (running back Jashaun) Corbin. He had a little hammy yesterday, but I think he’ll be okay. But again, we’ve got to get him out here. He’ll be questionable for the game.
Q: What happened with Graham? Obviously, we know he was injured, but what was the boiling point?
A: Had a good Friday. Kicked good in pregame and things change obviously. So, went out and played and had a few meetings with, I’d say, doctors this week, a couple times during the week and then decided to do the surgery.
Q: So, you already said Darren is out. So, what’s the plan? I mean, you only have one tight end on the 53. So, what’s the plan?
A: So, we have a couple guys obviously on the practice squad. They’ve been working through some things and obviously we’ll bring most likely one of them up.
Q: Just one?
A: Potentially, we’ll see.
Q: Obviously (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) is coming back, but he has an injury history. What is your confidence level after last week in (quarterback Tommy) DeVito? It’s not going to be a weather game, so if he needs to play a more traditional football game.
A: Yeah, no, he’s does a good job. He’s here for a reason and he’ll be ready to go.
Q: So, if you can’t use, as far as I understand, (quarterback) Matt Barkley as an emergency QB because he’s on the practice squad, right? Do you plan to bring him up on Sunday or is he still –
A: I’d say, understand the questions, a bunch of those conversations we tie up here at the end of practice.
Q: So, it’s possible you could have three active quarterbacks on Sunday?
A: I’d say there is a lot of moving parts right now. Don’t want to give you the answers to them because we are still going to talk about it. See how practice goes, where everybody is at and then we’ll have our decisions made.
Q: You had (cornerback) Deonte (Banks) cover (Jets wide receiver) Garrett Wilson all over the field. What did he show to kind of earn that assignment and how did he do, how’s that going forward?
A: He’s done a good job. He’s really improved for a young player. He’s done a nice job. Again, each week the defensive staff sits down, we go through the game plan, why this guy should match this guy, maybe they should stay on separate sides. That kind of changes on a week-to-week basis. When I sit down with (defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) and (defensive backs coach) Jerome (Henderson) and we go through the game plan of how we want to play things. But I thought he’s done a nice job.
Q: Has anything happened in the college game that’s helped young cornerbacks acclimate to the NFL? It seems like the last couple of years that the younger guys are getting up to speed quicker.
A: I think it depends on the system that you go into. Obviously, we play a lot of man-to-man coverage, so there’s not a whole bunch of thinking in terms of that, just go out and cover the guy. Again, they throw it quite a bit in college, but every guy is different. I’ve been around a bunch of young ones, really at every position. Tae’s done a nice job.
Q: (Wide receiver Sterling) Shep(ard), he didn’t play a snap on Sunday. He’s had a few games like that. He’s obviously a veteran. How do you manage that? He’s not some rookie who is not playing.
A: Yeah, you talk to all your players about their role and what their role is. You have conversations and if they have any questions, they ask, you tell them and that’s the way you do it.
