 So would you become a better pass receiver over the years and also yards after the catch, too? Do you think you'd do that better than maybe when you? Yeah, I think coming out here and just working on it, me and Coach Tron, we work on it a lot throughout practice and just having heavy, heavy emphasis on it. Because it's something I want to get better at. Just constantly work at it. Is yards after the catch in particular, is that something that you feel that you do anything differently or are better than maybe your first couple of years? Well, I mean, I hope so. He doesn't do just catching the ball and just trying to get what I can out of the play. So you're down at the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award winner. I mean, what's something like that mean to you and where you can see this have always been a good sport playing growing up? Yeah, I just try to be nice to those guys out there and pick them up, give them handshakes and tell them nice tackle. So hopefully I'll be able to take it home. But it was all about being a good sport, being a good competitor. And I'm honored to be up for it. Guys, when you were growing up, was it probably maybe starting in Alabama when you came in the league who set a good example for you coming in? I think L.T. LaDane and Thompson, my favorite player. But I play her all the time, so I watched him a lot. And that's probably the one I would say. When you think back to the Bengals playoff game last year as your first game back in a long time, how do you compare going into this game versus that? What was going on in your head coming back in the injury and so forth? I think the screw's been my foot a little longer. But yeah, I'm just coming back from injury. And I've been in the swing of things this season now, so. Derek, how beneficial was this mini-buy week for you? And how much of your batteries recharge heading into this last or this part of the season? You know, I mean, rest is always important. And we appreciate coaching them this time. I'll get our body back under us. I'll get away from this for a little bit and recharge and get back to work. How do they look now compared to the team you saw on defense back in January? I think they look the same. I mean, I think they play how they play, you know? And that's how they do things. And the same guys over there, the same guys playing well together, making tackles, making plays, plays packages, different fronts, different looks. So I think they look the same, playing well. Which when the team throws for 300 yards, like they did last week, that encouraging for you that means maybe defenses start to open up just a little bit if there's more of a downfield threat in the passing game. I mean, Ryan's been balling. And Seba's been doing a great job making catches, making plays. I'm just happy that everybody's out there to be able to make plays and be able to stream drives together and get points. How much has having trailing back kind of helped with that just because he adds that element of speed on the outside? I'm just happy to see him getting his own make plays, big plays going downfield and catching passes. I've seen that a lot in college. And to see it now, it's good to see. And you know, he's going to be a weapon for us. You had mentioned on the offseason, Tanya Hill had contacted you guys, talked about the loss and where he was at that point. Have you seen anything different from him just as far as like his leadership or his urge to win or preparation or anything that doesn't matter? He's last two weeks. He's in the last two weeks. That speaks for ourselves. He's just balling, ready to get in there, ready to ball. He's lead of this offense. He's a warrior. And I think he shows that weekend and week out. You lobby for more chances to throw the ball since you've now got your total up to three touchdowns in your career? I mean, I'm Peyton Manning. So I mean, I hope I get another opportunity. Why does the jump important on that pass? Like, why can't you just take a step or two and lob it over the line? As it worked the times I've done it. That's why it's important for that. Did you like your depth on that play? Did it play out kind of like you thought it would as far your depth getting the line where you thought they maybe bit? And what's the key maybe on that play? Yeah, I mean, at the time, I thought it was good. And I looked and at the replay, I was kind of up in there. But I was glad I was able to execute it. But you're just trying to make it look like something else and go over the top and get a touchdown. So I was like, hey. I'd appreciate an opportunity just to say a couple sentences before questions. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge how serious this situation is. I understand what a sensitive and troubling subject this is. And I'm not naive to how much pain there may be for some people involved in similar situations. I put my family through some things that they don't deserve. I have an amazing wife, an amazing son who love me unconditionally. And I don't want them to have to endure anything more than what I've brought on. It's devastating that my actions or anything that I'm involved with could ever bring negative attention to or bring distractions to this organization, to the ownership, Miss Amy, and to the front office and obviously Coach Brable. I believe in myself as a man. And I believe that I will answer the bell to lead this offense going forward. I thank Coach Brable and John Robinson and Miss Amy for allowing me the opportunity to lead this offense going into this weekend. And these guys in the locker room, they deserve for me to put my best efforts forth in that. Because of the nature of the situation, I know there are a lot of questions. I know people are looking for details and answers. And unfortunately, because of the situation, I'm not able to discuss quite a bit of that evening. And at the proper time, when appropriate, I will answer any questions that I can. How abstracting is this for you this week in terms of you trying to go through your normal work week? It's not a catchphrase or a tagline that this is a family here. And these guys have really helped me focus on the job they deserve for me to do for them. So I've been working hard to try to compartmentalize my dealings with my duties here. The rideshare availability here, is that well communicated here? And are you aware of that? Yes. Yes. So why not use? I can't get into the specifics of that night. Did you drink here or on the plane? I can't get into the specifics of that night. One report that stated that you had received or that you communicated that you had been receiving death threats, is that report accurate? And if so, can you elaborate on that? I mentioned how much my family has already been through. And that is a portion of what I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment. Did you call the match? I understand there are a lot of questions. And I wish that I were able to just lay everything out. But I'm not able to comment on the events that night right now. Do you have any sense of the real trust with this organization after what happened? I try to build trust every single day in this organization. I feel as though for 20-plus years in this business, I've worked hard to try to create and maintain an identity, try to live strong in my faith and be a man of high character. And my hope is that the feeling that these players and the guys that I work with, that their response has been genuine and that track record speaks for itself. I know you said you can't address the events from that night. But the death threats, is that something that you had experienced before that night? Is that something that has been ongoing? I appreciate the timeline and trying to be sensitive to not talking about that night. I'm not going to get into that portion of things at this time. How do you approach this? How do you approach this with the? Discipline might be coming? Or have they given you any potential timetable so that you're not just sitting wondering every day? Right now my focus is on being a great offensive coordinator today. And I will take face on everything as it comes. But I owe it to these guys to focus on today and my duties today. Is there a plan in place in case the league comes down and hands out discipline at an unexpected time? I'm fairly certain you discuss that with Coach Vrable. That would be a question for him and his plan. Have you ever considered not coaching this week? Or was it always the plan to kind of wait out the league? I love this team. I love the men I get to work with. And I love the role that I've been entrusted to be a part of. And as long as they allow me to do that, I want to be great at that role. So I got you separate from that incident. How difficult has this season been for you personally? I'm well aware of the pressures, the responsibilities, and the expectations that come with the privilege of coaching in this league. And each season is going to have its own challenges. I'm a man that wants to step up and answer challenges. And I believe that I've tried to do that and will continue to do that given the opportunity. Can't think of much tougher. As the first football goes, what's the challenge this week against the Bengals? And how much different do they look, maybe compared to the team you saw in January? Yeah, appreciate you turning into football. This is a very talented unit. Obviously, they bring some things schematically that are a challenge. They can create match-up issues. And they're a well-coached unit who isn't going to give you anything simply based off missed assignments. So we have our work cut out for us. We need to be detailed in our assignments. We need to play with speed and urgency and confidence. And that's what we're focused on this week, is making sure that we build off of the positives from the Green Bay game and attack this opponent. From a divisional game against Cincinnati to now, obviously there's a lot of turnover on the roster, but you're a common thread. How do you approach this game? Is it a revenge game or a redemption type of game? Or do you try to look at it where it's just another opportunity to prove yourself? I think you have to look at each week as its own storyline. And there are a lot of people on this offense that were not here for that divisional round. And so to make it anything like a revenge game or a get-back game would isolate those new characters in our story. And so we're really approaching this thing as another opportunity to go out there, improve and build on some of the things that we did the other night in a positive manner and help this team win another game. Surprising is it to see 10 games in a season, Don Trollhill, you're leading the team in touchdown catches with four. And what does it say about him and what he has done? And not sure I would have guessed he'd be leading the team, but certainly not surprised at his success. He works extremely hard. We saw in training camp the efforts that he put into learning some of those schemes and building a rapport with Ryan. And so I'm very happy for him, proud of Don Trollhill. What's made him so effective? One more time, I'm sorry. Don Trollhill, you're especially in the red zone. What do you think has made him so effective? Yeah, again, just building that rapport and that trust with Ryan of being where Ryan expects him to be when he expects him to be there. Did he get the ball to Traylon more? I think Traylon's grown each week that he's been back. And again, confidence is such a huge thing. When he can go play fast and play with confidence, it gives him the ability to create some separation and go make some of those contested plays. And then obviously the quarterback builds confidence in him each time that he sees that happen. So Traylon's an important piece of this offense and look forward to seeing his role continue to grow. When he does, when he plays like... What effort to see his role grow differ from the effort to see Chig's role grow? What you guys have talked about for the better part of six weeks, but you haven't targeted more than two or three times a game? Yeah, he's made his targets count. And they play a little bit different roles in personnel packages in terms of how many receivers and tight ends you get on the field for different jobs and things like that. So I see them as kind of two separate entities. When Burtz plays like he did the other night and just the fact that he's back in the lineup and gives you that element, how much does that open up the offense more for other guys in the past game to win their battles? Yeah, I think confidence breeds confidence. So as you have some success, other guys start to naturally step up their game and play with a little bit more energy and excitement. And something we did on Thursday night is we converted more third downs, which gave us the opportunities to get into some more of those plays. And so if we're able to do that, I think more guys get to eat. That play actually fast at Burtz, the 51-yard game. Is that something like you dial that up to generate confidence between Tannehill and Burtz? Or is that something that you want to put on tape so the rest of the league will know one-on-one if you're going to take advantage of it? At the two-minute warning? Is that the one you're, yeah. So that's a unique situation. When you're that close to the two-minute warning and the clock's going to stop at the end of that play in a four-minute scenario anyways, it gives you the ability to be a little bit more aggressive with the call. And obviously, Ryan liked the opportunity to take that one-on-one matchup based on how Traylon been playing with speed and confidence throughout the game. And I was glad to see it pay off for those two. What did you guys play in the game that was in hand last time you were up there? Is that a factor in that, too? It did not to me. It did not to me. If we were to do it, you should do a little bit of a waiting game with Ben to see how that's going to play out this week. Yeah, very proud of and excited for Aaron and how he handled that situation. Plans sent on a short week without any full-speed reps in practice. He really relied on some of the training that he had in training camp and in years past and just very, very proud of him and happy for him how he played. Something good seems to happen every time Shig touches the ball. I guess what has maybe enabled him to get those explosive plays whenever he's kind of had the ball in his hands? Yeah, he's got a very unique skill set. He's got the speed. He's got strength. He saw in the Denver game he was able to bounce off a post player coming in for the tackle and generate some run after catch. He has good hands. He has good concentration down the field. He makes the plays he's afforded the opportunity to make. So excited about where Shig's at in his development. And hopefully we can get him some more opportunities. So Craig, Caleb now getting the chance to practice. So with the injury that he had, what was he able to maybe do to work on his kicking skills while recovering? Yeah, I mean, he had plenty of time to go out there and kick during rehab. I know he had a setback early during training camp and things like that, but he's been able to go and work with our trainers and kick and obviously feel comfortable of putting them back on there to practice with us. So we'll get another opportunity to see him today and see how he does. I knew he was going right out of the gate. Yeah, we thought he did well. I mean, for a guy who hasn't really kicked in a team setting for so long, for him to go out there and make a couple nice field goals really gave us a lot of confidence in him. And I also think he gave a lot of confidence in himself. Any time a player deals with an injury and then has another setback, it's a big wonder if he can go back out there and do that type of thing. And he went out there and did a great job for us yesterday. What did he show you before he got hurt? What did he show you before he got hurt? I mean, why did you like him, I guess, so much? Yeah. And you're willing to keep him around? Obviously, we were excited during the offseason with him. Him and Randy were having a great battle during OTAs and really neck and neck on a lot of things. Both of them had a great camp. And when he unfortunately got that injury on the last, pretty much the last day, we obviously wanted him to rehab and stick around. And if he could come back, we could give him maybe another opportunity if something were to happen to Randy. How was Randy progressing? Yeah, good. He'll continue to do rehab. We'll try to kick him again at some point in time. But he wants to get out there. And he keeps on saying that he needs to be out there to help this team, which is what we want. But we're going to do what's obviously best for Randy and what's best for the team. How long can you take that during the week? I mean, you think you need to know to that age? Yeah. I mean, it's tough because the earlier you know, the better it is for all of us for the team, for Coach Rable, for ourselves. Because we obviously want to get them in those situations where they're going to get to in the game. And if we can't, and if we have to decide later on, that obviously makes it tough. And it also makes it tougher for Morgan and Ryan with our operation. You feel confident with Caleb if he has to kick on today? Sure. Yeah. You know, obviously today's a big day for him too. But from yesterday, we feel confident in him. And we think the more and more he gets out here and he works with Ryan and he works with Morgan, he'll continue to get better like he did during OTAs. Is there a, how is that balance for Ryan being a holder now? Potentially three different kickers, three different weeks. Do they like the ball in a different way? So like, how is that adjustment then for him? Yeah, that's a great question. Because each and every kicker might like to have their ball tilted, maybe straight up and down, things like that. We're lucky with Randy and now even Caleb that their ball is pretty much straight up and down. So there's not going to be a crazy adjustment for that. But that's why you guys see Ryan Stonehouse out here all the time working on that. And he's talked to Caleb and what Caleb likes. And he'll continue to work at it and try to get better at it. But yeah, there's not too much difference between the two. With Randy as part of the fear too, I mean, you could maybe get to Sunday and then he does something again in warm-ups. Yeah, that's been our big conversation. Because when Randy ended up getting hurt during warm-ups, we had to go and kick off Stonehouse, which obviously puts a lot on his plate too. So that's a lot of things that either Coach Vrable, John Robinson, myself, Chase Blackburn, James, will continue to talk, see how Randy progresses. But yeah, we don't want to bring a guy up. And then all of a sudden he gets hurt. And then he's out for another two to three weeks. So that's the stuff that we're going to continue to talk about and see what's best for the team. I know a lot of hinges on weather, winds, wind, all that. But what is Caleb? Does Caleb potentially give you a more distance than maybe Randy? And what do you think it ranges? Yeah, that's the one thing that we really liked about Caleb. He played at Iowa. So he's used to not the greatest of weather. And we always thought he had a really strong leg. I believe he was first or second last year in the NCAA on touchback percentages. So he's got a strong leg for a guy who's not very big. So yeah, he provides us with a little bit more power as far as kickoff and maybe even more on field goal, too. So the biggest thing for Caleb is him feeling comfortable out there going to attack the ball because he hasn't really done that in a while and just have confidence in himself to hit it with full power. Get the sacks. Yeah, I mean, it's been a big emphasis for us throughout the offseason. And going into training camp throughout the season, we did a good job of it early. Haven't really done it as of late in terms of getting it off the quarterback. Again, it's tough to play defense in this league if you don't get turnovers, right? Especially against probably one of the better offenses in the league. So find ways to create them, whether it's off-burrow, if we get lucky. And for some crazy reason, he throws this one. But it's a big part of the game. You're saying that their passing game changed all that much without chasing the lineup? I wouldn't say a whole lot. I think all those guys are stepping up, making a lot of plays. You see Higgins, man, he's having a hell of a year. And they're talented. They got a lot of talent skill-wise. They do across the board. So I think all those guys have done a good job stepping up and taking on a little bit more probably with Chase being down. We'll kind of see where he's at Sunday. We're seeing a serious uptick for David Long as far as getting pressures. What has it been behind that? Yeah, I think for him, he's always been an instinctive player in his instinct show when he blitzes. He's pretty good in those one-on-one situations versus backs. And if he's able to get on some alignment, some guards at times, you kind of see his quickness show up, being able to get on edges and do some different things. So I think really that's where his instincts kind of show through in the passing game, probably more so than some of the other stuff we ask him to do. Do you feel like you guys are sending him a little bit more on blitzes and giving him a chance to attack? Yeah, I mean, I think there's a time and place based on what teams are doing to us and what we're asking him to do. And I mean, some of those other guys coming to play in regard to that, just if we're dropping some guy out from line scrimmage. So I mean, there's a lot of things that go into kind of making those decisions. What have you seen from Bud as he kind of works his way back again and how much of a boost would he give you if he can play? Yeah, I think Bud just brings energy. Like out on the practice field, like you feel his presence out there. He's loud. He talks. He's never really down on the dumps out there. He's always going, always bringing that positive vibe. And I think the other guys feed off it. So it's good to get him back out there. We'll kind of see as the week goes where he's at, what he's going to be able to do. It seems the past rush is a lot more effective just when he's on the field. What are some of the things he does that maybe go unnoticed that makes the defense that much better? Yeah, I mean, I think just his history, his career, like he's been a double digit sat guy at times. I mean, offenses take note of that. They take note of guys like that when they're out there. They got to have a plan for them, be prepared for guys like that. I think just his ability to power and kind of constrict the pocket a little bit at times that complements some of these other guys and kind of hinders the quarterback on places to go, right? If we're collapsing from the outside, we're getting pushed in the middle. Like it kind of all complements each other in those front four. To be said, maybe psychologically about shutting down another team's run game, kind of winning that battle in the trenches. Yeah, I mean, I think it's week to week. I do what teams are trying to do, what their identity is. I mean, we pride ourselves on our physicality and being able to stop the run and set edges and play square and swarm to the ball. But it really changes each week with our mindset going into the game of what we feel like the most important things for us to come out successful. What about if there may be, I think touched on it there, but one or two priorities for this team and specifically in terms of stopping a run game, what's most important? Yeah, I think we got to be sound. We do, I mean, mixing is a good back. P. Ryan has done a good job in there as well. Ultimately for us, when we talk about stop the run, it's always about the edge, being able to build a wall with those front guys, being able to play square in the run game. You don't want to be turned inside ways, getting your shoulders turned. And then ultimately the backers being able to get downhill and fit too, right? Take some of those doubles off. So that's our mindset, no matter what scheme kind of we're playing, that's really what we're looking to do. How about you, have you maybe checked on Danico and what does it say about him that some of you guys are out there checking on his health and kind of speaking up his leadership? Yeah, he's been a big part of what we do. He has, the production's been there for us. He's another unselfish guy for us up front that we've asked to do things at times that ain't always to his benefit, but to the benefit of the unit. And I think guys appreciate that. They understand his impact out there. And he comes to work every day. I mean, he's in his 30s out here grinding every single day trying to get better, not really taking a whole lot of days off. And I think guys appreciate that. Especially, I mean, you look, the young guys on the team to have that example and to see a guy doing it, like there's no excuse for a 24, 25 year old not to be out here working when Nico's out here every single day. Obviously it's forced by injury. It seems like something you could have done by design. Yeah, I think, I think a lot of the credit goes to the players, the guys we've asked to do it. They've been able to go in there and handle it from Raj to Elijah to Kaloo to Hook at times. All those guys have went in and been able to execute, you know, and I think it's always a little bit easier, probably even more so safety coming down at times than it is potentially even a corner, outside corner slide in there, just based on our scheme and what we asked of that guy more times than not. But I've been pleased with it, I've been encouraged by it. And again, this guy's taking advantage of their opportunities preparing like they're gonna play and then going in there and ultimately finding success doing it. How much you like your chances if you get nine sacks again? Not looking, not looking that way. You know, I mean, we got to find ways to affect them. We'll see how the sacks go, but we got to find ways to affect them. He's a top tier quarterback in this league. He's playing at an extremely high level right now. It's gonna be a big time challenge for us from Sunday. Some of it was by injuries and attrition, but have you noticed improvement from Murchison since he's gotten another crack at the end of the run? Yeah, I have. I think it was showing up when he was on the practice squad early in the year. He saw him continue to work. He wasn't, for lack of a better word, bitter about not being on the 53. He took it as the challenge and he continued to work to improve and he's earned it. Like he's earned the opportunity to go out there and play and he's done a good job for us when he's been out there.