 Um, just want to review here to roster, um, put, uh, Dylan Radins on IR, um, with an injury he suffered last week, um, so he'll be done, unfortunately, for the season. Signed quarterback, uh, Josh Dobbs from Detroit's practice squad, and, uh, were able to also sign Zach Johnson, offensive lineman, uh, to the practice squad. Uh, I don't really need to take a whole lot of questions. I'll just touch on Josh's situation, you know, I think that this is a player that gives us the opportunity to, to strengthen and, you know, really, um, add depth to the quarterback position, uh, obviously with what Ryan, you know, in his situation, will still monitor that and try to make sure that he's doing everything he can to try to get to the game. And if not, uh, that we have guys in here that can, um, you know, that'll be able to help us and, you know, develop in our system. Okay. I appreciate it, and I'll keep you guys updated as we work along the way. Um, yeah, I mean, I think that that's, um, you know, how, how things happen, obviously, with the death of Franco Harris, a plan for that organization was somebody that, uh, you know, you saw in the hallways every day for four years, uh, with the championships and the accolades and, and the history and what he embodied as a player to that community and that city, uh, and, and his passing after the 50th anniversary of such a historic play. So, you know, there, there's, um, you know, a lot of, a lot of people that make an impact on this game, players and coaches and, you know, everybody alike. So, uh, I know that he was beloved in that organization and that fan base and certainly will be missed. Thank you. Craig Pro Bowl, uh, rosters are announced tonight. Uh, what, I mean, Stoney, what, what kind of a case do you think the young man's made for himself? Well, you know, obviously he's done a great job. Uh, when you go out there and improve it with leading the league and gross punning, um, and then I think we're third in net right now, uh, he's obviously done a really good job for an undrafted rookie coming in here, um, taking over from a guy who's been in the Pro Bowl for a couple years too. He had some big shoes to fill. We think he's done a really good job. Obviously, uh, he just works at his craft all the time, whether it's his punning or his holding, um, couldn't be happier for the season that he's had. But we know there's still three more games left to go. He can still improve on a lot of things. Um, so we look forward to him getting better too. And if he makes a Pro Bowl, great. If not, it's going to be something for him to work for in the future. Oh, I just think Mason did, I guess, for a decision making and I know we had the one that didn't feel cleanly, but how would you grade him overall? Yeah, um, you know, obviously the most important thing is giving the ball back to the offense. Um, you know, we don't like to see any type of muffs or drops like that. But you know, he had to run up there and get a 33 yard punt, um, which is tough sometimes, especially when he got guys that are in front of him. But overall, um, you know, we'd still like him to make some more plays when he had that opportunity. He got tackled right there when he caught the ball. But, uh, you know, the thing with Mason is, um, when he gets that opportunity, he's got to take advantage of it and, uh, we'll continue to work with him and hopefully the next time, uh, he'll be able to take advantage of it. necessarily been great from, from distance. That's maybe the kind of the one knock on him. Does the cold impact that too in terms of, you know, what kind of range you might, yeah, ball fly, all that stuff, you know, get colder weather, maybe even windier, um, than they're usual. But, uh, yeah, we, you know, work on the kicks again today, especially like the longer ones, um, you know, maybe not the 55 or 56 yards. Um, but, you know, those ones that are from the 40 to 49 yard line or even the 50 yard line, uh, we just got to be smart as far as football wise, you know, if it's at the 35 yard, are we going to kick a field goal or are we going to pun it, try to pin the team in? Um, that's all situational football that I'm sure coach Rable and I will talk about, um, along with our defensive coordinator or even, uh, Todd, you know, of what we want to do. Do we want to go for it? We want to pun it or we want to kick a field goal. All the injuries, obviously, we talked about how it affects the offense and defense, what about from your end in terms of plugging guys in and out and having a limited number of guys available? Yeah, you know, because you always strive for consistency and when you have the players there each and every week, uh, you know what you're going to get. But with, uh, you know, new guys, there's also new opportunities for them to showcase their abilities. So, uh, you know, we're looking forward to those guys when they do get the opportunity that they know that they have to take advantage of it. Um, you know, and that's just something part of the game of football. You're going to have injuries. Guys are going to have to step up, um, whether it's offense and defense or even special teams, uh, you know, it's just an opportunity for them that coach Rable preaches a lot. And we also preach on the special teams that when you do have that opportunity, you got to go and seize it and take advantage of it. Coach Rable always talks about, you know, chig a compo and Hassan Haskins, what they've done. Yeah. What's your take on just their contribution on special teams and rookies? Yeah, uh, surprisingly, um, we knew chig and we also knew Hassan could be good football players on special teams, but, uh, they've kind of exceeded some expectations for us, um, you know, Hassan just going down there at one point in time, he was leading the league and tackles, uh, you know, and then obviously dealt with an injury, but, uh, we were excited to get him back in there and try to do some things. Uh, you know, he goes out there and gives us great effort and he obviously knows and understands what we're trying to get accomplished in chig for an offensive player, too, to go down there and make tackles, whether it was on kickoff or making a great play on, on the punt. Um, this last one, it was an open field tackle. You don't see many NFL tight ends make plays in space like that. So, uh, we're excited about those guys in the future and we think we're doing, uh, they're doing a really good job for us. Night here together? I'll tell you what, a sharp guy. I'm a sharp guy. He's, uh, he's been really impressive this far. About his, like a skill set and maybe how he could, could step in if needed in some role. Yeah, obviously, you know, got good arm talent and good understanding of the game, a wealth of experience. He's been a part of a bunch of different systems. So, uh, you know, should be able to get acclimated pretty quickly and, uh, you know, excited to see what he has. This is a skill set, you know, maybe mirror that of Malik's any and at all. And if so, you know, I guess if Ryan can't go, does that make game planning a little bit easier with two guys like that? Sure, there's some similarities there. You know, I would tell you, uh, I probably didn't do a, a deep dive into skill set since the last time we evaluated it, evaluated them in free agency. But yeah, I think there's some similarities there. Once again a week, we now think you got maybe three years starting off as a lineman on the injury report, maybe four and just all the uncertainties here on a, you know, three days before game day. Yeah, uh, I know that we've talked a lot about the next man up mentality around here and all that, you know, um, we just have to put our best foot forward each day and try to get this thing back on rhythm. So it doesn't really matter who's out there. We got to approach this thing, um, you know, with, with a focus on the details of our, you know, our execution and, and, you know, try to get this thing back on track. I think you saw, but a lot was made about the packers and some of the players, Aaron Rogers and some of the players like going back and starting to watch practice film. Is that something that you guys have, have done throughout the year? I mean, I imagine it's hard now with the walk through how everything is, but is that something you guys have done throughout the year? Yeah, we watch practice together every day. Yep. Why, uh, why go away from Derek and the two third of twos when he's your bread and butter guy? Yeah, I wouldn't say that we were trying to go away from Derek. Particularly in those looks against the chargers, there were specific defenses and defensive packages that we were trying to take advantage of. You know, they were playing their big nickel front with five bigs on the field and one of them obviously Malik had the first one. That was a conversion. The second one, we just missed an opportunity. They played coverage a little different than we expected. They dropped Nick Westbrook. He was, you know, by himself on a corner out. And then on the third one, we got a matchup with Chig being covered by Kyle Van Hoy from the line of scrimmage, which based on my last couple of weeks at the podium here would be something you guys would be pretty fired up about. So we just didn't execute well enough. Certainly not trying to abandon Derek. We've had success around the ball in those third and shorter windows, and that's certainly an option. I'm not saying that the options we chose were better than running the ball, but there were reasons for them for sure. Has Malik's knowledge of the system and his, I guess, grasp of the playbook been better now that you can open up things a little more for him than maybe when he was in there four or six weeks ago? He's definitely growing every single week. Not only in his confidence and his command of the huddle and the way that he's used some of his show team experiences to learn some lessons and to see some things, but also just how he diagnoses defenses and our conversations. You know, the conversations I've had with him the last couple of days are different than they were six, eight weeks ago. So I've been very pleased with how hard he's worked and the progress he's made this year. Also in terms of what you can call him, what you can't, you're having to patch the offensive line as you might have to do this week. How much is that a consideration in terms of what you can go with? Yeah, I definitely don't feel a lot of limitation on what I can do with him under center in shotgun for us. And I think that he's grown to a point where he's comfortable with a lot more of the menu. With Malik, of course, Ray Boyd said that he felt that was the most comfortable he seemed in the game. Can you elaborate on that? What did you see to make, if you feel the same way? Yeah, I think he got in and out of the huddle well. I think he got through his progressions well, handled a can in the run game well. That drive, like many of our drives on Sunday, derailed with a penalty that got us into a behind the stick situation and that's gonna be hard for anybody, particularly somebody who was kind of thrown in spur of the moment. So I was pleased with a lot of things he did. Like I said, we converted the first third and short with him. And I think that he's gonna have an opportunity to continue to grow in his understanding of some of the base concepts that we have and expect to see some growth from him. Talk about the discussions you've done over the last six weeks or so. I would say that the game has slowed down for him. I think that he's able to process and able to communicate what he's seeing more clearly. And I think that it's a byproduct if it's not the first time he's seen some of these bluffs or some of these pressures or had to face cover zero or what have you. And so I think he's able to kind of process quicker in the moment, which obviously gets you to your reads faster. And when you get to your reads faster, you don't have to jam a ball in there or throw a fastball to try to beat coverage. So that's been an area of rapid growth. And I think that that's a byproduct of the work he's put in on show team against our defense and all their disguises in different looks. But also the time he's gotten on the field for us offensively. When you talked about some of the conversations being different now than earlier with Malik, I mean, you probably can't get too much specifics, but kind of broad term, what do you mean by some of the? Yeah, maybe what we're trying to attack with a certain look. You know, if we have a certain three level pass concept, it's okay, what defender do I want you to get your eyes on and why? And that conversation is less of a teaching moment now and more of a discussion. And so that's been fun to have over the last couple of days is just saying, okay, this is what we're seeing. And oh yeah, I saw that clip versus team and it's been more of a dialogue than a teaching. I'll just work for you on that final drive on Sunday where you went down and tied it. And why don't you think you were able to have that consistent success throughout the game? Yeah, I think we play with great urgency. Guys got to their spots. I think we were able to get guys into the proper spots to attack some of their zones. And then people took advantage of their opportunities. You know, we hit Chig on the check down. He was able to pop out the back door for a big explosive. When we get down in the red zone, there's a great belief that we're gonna punch the ball in the end zone. So guys were playing fast, hoop hit his landmark on the in break that got us down there inside the five. And then we were kind of playing the situation, trying to make them burn their timeouts, but obviously try to be aggressive with those calls. And ultimately our warrior of a quarterback even on a bum wheel snuck it in there with some help from a pile push. And you know, that's who we've got to be. And that's who we strive to be on all of our drives. We just haven't been consistent enough. Without Hilliard, are you in a mix and match situation and sometimes going without a back there maybe more than you would? Yeah, I mean, obviously we had a couple of O2 snaps, you know, with two tight ends and three receivers on the field in the game the other day. And you have to supplement that. I mean, it's no secret that Don Trell was a situational weapon for us, you know, produced in the red zone and obviously on third down. And it hurts to lose, you know, your third down protector like that, but it's going to be people stepping up in droves and taking, you know, that job in chunks. So excited to see who steps up and takes advantage of that opportunity. Thanks, Todd. You got some more pressures, you got a couple of turnovers that, you know, had been lacking in the last few games before. Yeah, I think the guys did a good job rushing. They were kind of winning some of their 1-0-1s and some pressures mixed in. There was a different, I think, mentality from some of those guys, which we had talked about. But yeah, I mean, we found ways to win rushing, you know, so ultimately that helps. Would you say different mentality? Yeah, I just thought some of those earlier games, the past couple of games, when we called some pressures, the guys were late or not with the right demeanor in terms of going. I mean, we want them to think it's a race to the quarterback because that's the only help those DBs got, right? It's us being able to get home where we're pulling a guy out of coverage like that helps get into the damn quarterback. So just that mentality, that understanding. Seems like the markers walk. He's winning that race to the quarterback a lot lately. You know, what do you make of just his uptick and standing out the way he is? Yeah, I mean, he's been great since he's been here. Since the first day he walked really onto the field for us, he's been the same guy, right? He works hard. He focuses on fundamentals, the details of his job. I think he's a leader. He plays with the motion. He plays hard. I mean, a lot of effort stuff showing up. He had two great power rushes last week where he affected his quarterback and was able to get him. But he's just consistent, you know? He's consistent. He's reliable. I think we all got a lot of trust in him. He's earned more opportunities and he's made the most of them. Got to see if you're tired and defeated. Are you getting the same overall energy out of the group? Is that part of the issue? Yeah, they've been good. The past two days, they've been good. I mean, anytime you lose a game like that, guys are going to be disappointed after. I mean, you guys heard the old cliche, the 24-hour rule. But you've got to be able to turn the page. I mean, it's a long season. You're not going to win them all, unfortunately. And we've got to be able to turn the page and focus on the Texans and what they're doing and forget about what happened last week. What about game day? Yeah, I thought it was much better for us. I did. I felt like our guys were into it even after that first drive where we had some self-inflicted wounds. I mean, there's no telling where that thing goes. And they responded. They did. I think we had seven straight drives of either them punting or interceptions, right? So I thought the energy was really good on game day. It was a play in the back of the end zone when I think Cristian was involved. I mean, was that potentially used as a teaching tool that led to Roger's play? Yeah, I mean, when Cristians, I think we were telling them, why don't you just catch the dang ball because you're in balance, right? In the game for us. I mean, that's just a instinct of play by an instinct of player. I mean, that's a heck of a play, something you don't really see that often. I mean, I'd love to take credit for it, but it's not like we're out here working on that. It's too quarterbacked that they have going. How do you sort through that? Yeah, we've got to see who's in the game for them. They'll put them both in there at times. I mean, I think it's a little bit different with what they're doing with each of them. Obviously, they're doing it for a reason. Driscoll, he's got speed. He's big. He's strong. He's not sliding. He obviously can throw it as well. I mean, he had the touchdown pass. I think it was against Dallas down the red zone where he threw it up and the guy made a play. Obviously, his background, he's a quarterback. So I mean, they're doing different things that kind of create some, I guess, some advantageous looks for him. And just using the players they got to their advantage to scheme up some things. How much does that require more film studied by players and recognition during the game when they're doing that kind of thing? Yeah, you said it. I think the recognition during the game is going to be vital for us. We've got to know. We've got to understand which guys in the game, if they're both in the game. They're going to have new stuff. We understand that. They're going to have wrinkles with both packages with what they're asking those guys to do. But that's probably the biggest thing, just identifying who's in there and what they're hopefully throughout the week we can learn and study and have a good understanding of what they're trying to do with them. And that way, it comes second nature when we realize who's in the game on Saturday. You talked about Roger a couple times up here learning to be more physical out there. It appeared that he had one of his best games on Sunday. Is he learning more? Yeah, yeah. I thought, I mean, obviously the interception stands out. But I thought the third down with Mike Williams at the stick was third and eight. And they tried him. It was one-on-one out there. He stood his ground. He battled. And he was able to break up the pass. So those are the things. Just continuing to harp on the little details. The situational understanding is big. I think there's still some growth that can be had there. But he is. He's trying to play with the technique. And I think he's becoming more consistent. I think he's, like I told you guys a few weeks ago, I think he expects every time for them to come at him now. He's not really caught surprised by them throwing the ball his way at times.