 Big issue coming into this year, even with a lot of new personnel and Taylor really missing the last two games. Impressive that only four sacks after three games here. Yeah, I think our guys have been doing a good job of giving me some time. I think that we put a lot of focus and attention on it throughout the off-season. But it's really a full unit thing, right? It's the blocking up front, it's myself getting the ball out and receivers winning in a quick time so that the ball can come out. So I'm really proud of our guys and, you know, seeing some of the spring and training camp work pay off. Are you in a situation a lot of times where you're trying to get the ball, you're getting the ball out quicker, has it been noticeable for you? And also, are you like doing more of living to play another day when nothing's there and just throwing the ball away? I think that it all comes into play. You know, I think that just knowing what concepts you got, you know, are you going to have an opportunity to do down the field? If you do, great, you know, take a shot at it. If not, then, you know, find a completion somewhere and if nothing's going to be available, then, you know, get rid of the ball, throw it away in a safe place. Ryan, got the strong start to the game on Sunday. What's the challenge now in carrying it through half-time and being more productive and staying on the field longer in the second half? Yeah, no doubt we've got to come out and execute better in the second half. Like you said, we did some good things in the first half and really didn't do nearly as many good things in the second half. And it wasn't a drop-off in focus or urgency. I didn't feel like we just missed some opportunities on making some plays. So just have to clean those little things up and be able to come out and carry that momentum through half-time into the second half. You mentioned the blocking, the O-line when it comes to the Colts defense, one of the best rush defenses in the league through the first three weeks. What stands out to you on the tape and just how much of a challenge do they pose? Not only for Derek, but the offense and what you're trying to do as a whole? Yeah, no doubt. They're really solid defense. You start up front, they have a big penetrating front. They play fast, their edge rushers are good. Their backers play really fast, whether Shaq plays or not. The guys they have in there across the board play with a lot of speed. They're long, they use their length well and they play with a lot of speed. So it makes it tough for the O-line to get up on that second level. Then secondary-wise, they don't play a ton of defenses. They're pretty simple in what they do, but they're really good at what they do. That's their philosophy is they're going to be good at a few things. And they mix it up by where they drop their safeties in and all that type of stuff. But at the end of the day, their focus is playing really good at what they do. And you got to tip your hat to them. They're doing a good job of it. Ryan, how good was it to get Robert Woods going? You kind of had something go in there in that last game. Just how important is to keep that? And also, just anything with Austin Hooper, you're just continuing to make that somebody you're going to target? Yeah, no doubt. I think Robert's done a good job the past two weeks, really, of kind of building on what he did in Buffalo and coming out and having another good game here at home last week. So I definitely just want to keep it going in that direction with him. And then Hooper is going to get his opportunities. Hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll see when they end up coming up. But obviously, a talented guy and have a lot of chemistry with him. So I'm just looking forward to those spots opening up in games and being able to get him the ball. With Woods, does it shorten the learning curve significantly when it's veteran to veteran when a new guy comes in? It definitely shortens it. Some things just don't, it's a quick conversation as opposed to having to introduce something. He's already seen it before, heard it before. We're just getting on the same page. Some things I don't even have to tell him. He just already knows and does it. So yeah, having that veteran presence in that room, that veteran leadership there, then just as far as getting on the same page with me, he's done a great job so far and it's showing. How do you like the guys to come back to you and tell you they're open on a play when you may not have gone to him? Like how has that type of conversation gone for you guys so far this season? Oh, it's good. I mean, it's going to happen, right? You're not going to see every open guy every time. You know, you're kind of going through your reads. Safety's may dictate it, coverage may dictate it, or it could just be a play dictated. So you're not going to see the full field every single play and occasionally a guy's going to win on the back side or something. So just having that dialogue of, okay, how they're playing me on the back side. You know, what this corner is doing me okay in this coverage. I'm getting this outside leverage. I think we have something here on the inside. You know, whatever the case may be, that dialogue has been good and it's going to be critical as we move forward throughout the season to take advantage of some of those situations that arise throughout a game and we can make mid-game adjustments. Brian, after the start to the season, how nice would it be to be able to get back to 500 at the start of October? Oh, it's huge. We want to go one and O this week. That's to go each and every week, but crucial at this point in the season to go get a win. We got a division opponent on the road in a tough place to play. So have our hands full, but it's going to be important for us to go out and play well. It's part of the reason you think, Brian, there's been so much variety in the receivings and receiving yards this year. Don't necessarily have that dominant number one receiver. Are you more likely to look broadly, I guess, at your options than maybe you were? Yeah, I mean, I think I try to find a good spot to go with the ball each and every time I get to throw it. You know, whether that's a matchup dependent or play dependent, it all kind of varies depending on what we have going on, but our guys have shown across the board that each of them had different strengths and can get open for me. So have a lot of confidence, no matter what the play call is, that we'll find a good spot to go with the ball. Were getting Derek involved in the past game on Sunday and with what Hilliard's been able to do, how good is it to know that the check-down is not necessarily a give-up play? Yeah, anytime you check the ball down to Derek or Don Trell, it's not even close to a give-up play. Both those guys are explosive with the ball in their hands. Derek had some good gains underneath, as well as Don Trell, and what he's done a little bit earlier in the season. So yeah, we're going to try to push the ball downfield and take our shots and give opportunities to our receivers, but not going to force it into a window we shouldn't and drop it down when we need to. Has the learning curve kind of come along for Jake, in your opinion, and when do you think he might be, make possibly more involved in the offense? Yeah, if Jake, I think, has done a good job with what we've asked him to do, you know, we'll see, we'll see hopefully we can get more involved as the season goes on. But right now, he's jumping into everything we're asking him to do. He's obviously shown, you know, he can make some place for us on special teams and on offense. So yeah, if he can continue to progress, then we want to get him involved and help create another weapon on our offense. You had a chance to say anything to Taylor, I guess, since he got put on into reserve? Yeah, I've been communicating with Taylor, man. It's just tough to see him go down again, you know, for the second time in, I guess, three years. Just really a tough situation with how everything went with him and why he's out and all that. I'll let him get into that, but really just frustrating situation for him primarily and just missing, missing having him around, missing having him, you know, anchoring down that left side for us. What's it like when the couple gonna be a little bit quieter now the rest of the season? No doubt it'll be a little bit quieter. You know, sideline conversations from the O-line department will be a lot less, but definitely gonna miss Taylor. What's it like when a new guy comes in, whether it's Dennis Dailey or maybe LaRave and Clark now and building trust with those guys? Yeah, you have to trust him from the jump. You know, Dennis kind of got thrown in there after being here just a short period of time, but he came in, he did a good job for us and I think, you know, he's getting kind of settled in a little bit over there on the left side. We'll continue to build that trust even more and, you know, I'm confident in what he's done so far and that he can continue to, you know, do that and be better. How much of you watch it? I know a lot of it was maybe on the other side of where the hurricane's coming in, but how much of you kind of watched the hurricane coverage up for Florida this week? Yeah, watching it, you know, over the weekend, you know, just kind of seeing where that thing was gonna end up going, obviously kind of turned into a big storm there. So, you know, thoughts and prayers go with everyone there on the west coast of Florida. Really hope that everyone can remain safe and it's not too bad as far as the east coast goes and for Lauderdale, you know, it ends up just being, I think, a little bit less than tropical winds and a lot of rain. So, yeah, thankful everyone down there is safe, but pray for the people on the west coast. Hi Teresa. Mike, you had the strong start on Sunday in the first half. Now what's the challenge of trying to get that to carry through halftime and play that well or close to that well in the second half? Well, it's always a challenge, but it's something, obviously, that we have to continue to look at in all three phases. You know, I'm just making sure that, you know, we're prepared this week. It'll be critical, you know, against the Colts, we've been up, we've been behind these games. You know, I mean, both teams are gonna battle, so it's gonna be a challenge throughout. We'll have to, you know, make sure that whatever, whatever we're doing early, if it's positive, we'll have to continue it. And then if not, you know, make sure that we're battling to get back in the game like we did last year. And, you know, if we do get up, it's gonna be a struggle to be able to close anybody out. What would you say are some of the keys to you guys being able to get the rushing attack going? Well, I mean, it's no different than what it is. It takes 11 guys. It takes us, you know, playing with fundamentals, playing with pad level, playing with, you know, good, great technique, breaking some tackles, you know, everybody getting to the support players and making sure we're working to the right guys. As you watch the film, do you feel like you're getting closer to one of those long runs by Derek Hemmle? Well, I mean, I think some of that is just gonna be, you know, you don't draw them up thinking that they're gonna be 75 yarders. We've had some, you know, we had some runs that were really close. We've had some really good official runs that had one that got us down to the one yard line. We broke through, we've gotten on the safety a couple of times. So confident that if we can continue to do some things that we were doing, you know, the other day that'll be a challenge. This is a great defense, fast, you know, they run the football. It hasn't been easy to run the football on them. So, you know, we'll have to, it would be great this week. For defense, it is Colts coming in with third best rush defense. You mentioned they're fast up front. What are some of the challenges they bring? Well, they're athletic. I mean, they have a very consistent scheme. I think that, you know, they don't, they don't really, it's not like they're trying to trick you. They play a bunch of guys up front. You know, Buckner and Stewart are the leaders in there that, you know, they can move. They can stay in their gap. They can play with their hands. They do a lot of different things. The edge guys are active and fast in a tough match up. And then, you know, just really inside the linebackers are fast. They tackle, you know, it's gonna be critical that, you know, we try to get on them if you don't put a hat on them. You know, they'll be there and most likely, you know, trying to hammer the football out. What makes your title kind of unique? You fit a lot of good running back. What makes a title unique? Well, speed, breakaway, speed, toughness, but also patience to dip in and kind of burst out. You know, we're all at the point of attack where we're gonna have to have a great wall. You know, can't give them a whole lot of seams and, you know, tackling him one-on-one is not where you wanna be all afternoon. See, as close a challenge as there is to like Derek Henry right now, like you get a sense of what other teams deal with against you this week? Well, I mean, I don't really like to get into comparisons. They're a different type of back, you know, they have an obviously different running style. But that's the challenge this week is what they'll try to do and how they've used him in the different, you know, schemes, whether it's under center in the gun, inside zone, outside zone, you know, gap scheme. So, you know, there's a lot of different things that they present. What's your place kinda when your DBs are going up against a guy like Pittman and those jump balls are coming their way? What's kind of the best strategy there? Well, I think you have to stay patient. You know, first is that you stay patient and not start, you know, grabbing, you know, I mean, trying to make sure that you're in phase and then also challenge and try to play the football and go up through the pocket. How much is Danico's ability to slide out to the edge, helped you to offset some of the depth issues you've had with injuries at outside line? Well, his, you know, his versatility and really just his attitude and presence here since he's been with us, has been outstanding. It's, you know, a player that we've always had a lot of respect for. Love coaching him, love watching him compete and help him, you know, he's factored for us and he can move inside, you know, do a nice job on the edge. So, you know, that's a great skill set to be able to do both of it for us. What's your assessment of where Ryan is with this group of receivers at this point? You know, I mean, we've had some favorable plays. We've had some passes that we'd like to have back. You know, we'll keep improving and trying to get better. But I think that it's, you know, there were some really nice things that we did the other day. Unfortunately, we threw, you know, we threw the interception, Ryan threw the interception and, but, you know, there were some X plays in there. There were some times where we had to, you know, pick up some big third down conversions. And so, you know, we're just looking for consistency. We're looking for great, you know, quarterback play and making sure that, you know, Ryan's executing our offense and the guys are helping them out and being where they need to be. What are your thoughts on the way Jelani Woods emerged, especially as a red zone target? I know he was the guy that you guys had some interest in coming up. Well, I think that as you look at that last statement there, it's around, we have interest in all of them. You know, we look at all the players, tall, long, athletic, you know, just to match up in the red zone that's difficult, you know, the quarterback can put it up there and they can, you know, try to make a play. So he made a huge play the other day, you know, very impressive play, great timing, you know, Matt put it where it needed to be. And again, it's just the catch radius is a lot bigger when you're looking at a guy that size. Some of the factors regarding... The tackled numbers are pretty good right now. Is that a good thing, or does he need to break up a few more passes along the way? He's gotten a lot of the, you know, I mean, you look at some of those and again, those can be misleading, I think. I hear where you're trying to get to with as far as like the, you know, catch tackle and the guy just keeps throwing. It hasn't been that, you know, I mean, we've played some zone with them in there and the nickel and first and second down, you know, nickel, that player is a glorified linebacker. And so, you know, every DB and everybody that we have cover needs to try to cover better. But I would say that his production in there has come from, you know, triggering in a run game or whether it's a screen or, you know, a vice tackle, they catch it in front of you. So, you know, we'll keep working with Roger and his versatility. What's your like about Schobert? I know he's only on the practice squad, but what's the challenge for a guy like that who hasn't had a full camp or weeks of practice as well? He's played a lot of football. He's played a lot of football inside, inside linebacker. He's an instinctive player and we'll see where he is at the end of the week and how he can help us just like everybody else that we asked to, you know, prepare like they're gonna be a starter this week. A few more guys, just got here. Mario Edwards and Raven Clark, what do you like about those guys and how important is them to get up to speed as quickly as possible? Yeah, it's gonna be, you know, a challenge, but, you know, the Raven is somebody that, again, has played some football. That's kind of what you target at this point in time in the season, you know, with guys that have been, have played, you know, and maybe in different systems. So he's working hard with the coaches. It was in here the last couple of days since we signed him. You know, Mario's played, been productive, has some versatility. So, you know, we'll see if he can help us. Beyond just blocking better, has there been any other factors that have contributed to the past protection being better as Ryan getting the ball out quicker or is he just throwing it away when he knows there's obviously nothing there? Are there some of those things coming into play? We're just trying to do the best each and every week. You know, we've played some pretty good players, you know, so just doing different things and, you know, in protection and with the route that we have, knowing that you don't have all day when, you know, we've played some of the guys that we've played. Are you able to get to 500 after the start to this season? I think that's just all you're looking for is just try to get, you know, back to the surface. You know, it's obviously the next week, it's a challenge, it's on the road, you know, first division game. So, you know, it's going to be a lot of work this week. You know, we're going to have to put as much into it as we ever have. I think that the guys are excited, you know, for the challenge and making sure that, you know, we understand who these guys are. I have a lot of respect for this organization, for this team. You know, these have been, you know, battles, you know, each and every year, each and every game, twice a year. So, you know, that preparation has already begun.