 Coach, could you talk about the performance of the offense today and being able to sustain some long drives? The 91 drive was the second longest this season. Yeah, we were glad that they played some of their top guys to go out there and compete. We figured they'd bring a lot of pressure, which they did. So it was good back and forth, some things that we weren't really clean on that we fixed and credit to our players and our staff. But we put the offense did string some drives together, some other things we can certainly, as always, you can look to improve. But it was good to see. It was good to finish your D-Lev with a 1. Yeah, along those lines, Coach, 7 and 10, some closure on the season. What are some of the highlights or just some of the things you can move forward with the franchise here now? Yeah, obviously, I thought this group of guys, tomorrow will be sad, knowing that this team's given us everything, the way they've come in day and day out and it started in the spring, the habits they brought every day and that you talk about foundation and culture and what it means to be a falcon. We talk about our ethos and these guys. And obviously, we'd love to still be playing, but we're not. But there's a lot of good things that happened. We wanted to finish the season strong. It's important to win every time you go out there. And our guys did that the last two weeks and there's a lot of bright spots to finish the season. How much can you maybe build off of the last two weeks? Is there something to take into 23 or is that kind of fallacy? Sure, it's just the way that every day, no matter what, we're always coming in that building to do our job and to do our best. You can rationalize a lot of things in this league, you look around the league, but that's on who our guys are, our players and everybody in that building. And it's important to them. It's important to come in here on a Sunday and to play well and to win. And you build those habits, Mike. You come into this building. It was important for us to play well at home. And it means a lot to us. Our fans mean a lot to us when you spend a Sunday to watch our guys and watch this work. We really wanted to end this with two wins and I was glad we did. As far as maybe the evaluation, you can get out of Desmond from today. Is that a little bit of a trickier evaluation because of the books playing a lot of their second guys? It's a national football league, Mike. You know how hard it is to make a roster in the national football league. You want down there, you want to talk about their starters. They put that long drive together. I thought he operated. We tried to come out. We didn't start the way we wanted. They had a say in that as well. And we'll try to get aggressive, start the second drive. And we're able to string some plays together and get down there and thankfully able to get a touchdown. We only got three. Got aggressive off the turnover, off the sudden change. Took a shot at it and then made sure we at least came away with points, which I thought was important. And I had the one turnover on a little quick issue there on a protection thing. And I thought we overcame a lot. So there's a lot of things. Mike, red zone, third down, fourth down. And I think we've seen that the last four weeks. There's a lot to learn from and pretty pleased. We got a long way to go before we make any decisions in the off season, but there's a lot you can learn from this, Mike. And in terms of LGR, at what point this year did you get a sense that maybe he'd be able to be a guy that can be 1,000 yard back in this league as a rookie? Well, I think as the season went along. I mean, some of it, we were very confident. Obviously, there's a reason we drafted him. I was pretty pleased with the way he was trending. And then some of it sometimes opportunities happen. I don't know if anybody was running the ball better than the CP was early in the year around the league. And unfortunately, he missed some time. And it was an opportunity where Alger, I thought, stepped in and did a nice job. So did Caleb Huntley. And I think he really took off. So some of it was by circumstance, a little bit quicker. But we had a lot of confidence when we took him out of BYU. The record was the same this year as a year ago, but do you walk away feeling a little different? Yeah, it's a much better time. How so? Well, last year you talked about the first year of transition. I talked about it earlier in the week. Some of the obstacles that as we tried to set the foundation, some things we were limited with. We had a little more of a veteran team. We had some guys that have been here a long time. We had some rookies that were playing for the first time. Then we had some guys that were first year that are no longer with us out of necessity where we were to fill out a roster. Those guys gave us everything I have. It was a little bit different team, but we had a little more veteran presence when you got into close games. This year, to add to the rookie class from a year ago, we had another group. Got some guys that, you know, I think, you know, weren't necessarily at the end of their careers that are on some one-year deals that I've been pretty pleased with, and we'll continue to evaluate that. And you could feel a little more of a foundation and an identity, especially up front. The offensive line, I thought, weekend and week out, it rose to the occasion. They're knocking people off the ball. We wanted to run it, we could. There's a physicality in a brand. And, you know, the next challenge is to make sure we become more explosive offensively. We need more pass rush. I get all that. But every game was, other than one up in Cincinnati, for the other 16, was a dog fight, and these guys embraced it. So there's a big difference. You had two rookies set offensive rookie records here between Drake and Tyler. I don't know, what does that speak for the future, do you think? Well, it's a great foundation. Another thing, too, I've been on a lot of rookies that they start fast, they take a lull, and it's up and down. Talk about the rookie wall. Those guys got better as the season goes on. That's very encouraging. You talk about the run game and an identity, our tight ends and receivers, and what we put on the quarterbacks plate. It's a big part of Desmond's job, too. If you want to run the ball the way we do, there's a lot of things, schematically, I won't get into, but we put a lot on this plate. And he handled that really well. And it's a coordinated effort. It does take all 11, and not that the line. They were so excited about Tyler getting that 1,000 yards. Like I said earlier, CP ran the ball pretty well, especially when he was healthy earlier in the year. So that's hopefully trending in the right direction. It's about a culture when you walk in that room, day in and day out. That's an example of who's got set. You just mentioned the offensive line. I was going to ask you about that, because when you start listing the running backs that had impressive yards per carries at some point, you've got to think that line must be doing a good job. Run blocking, would you list that as another place where you believe a foundation has been set? Well, it's also, you watch Drake Lone and Block. Watch those guys, watch Kaderrill Hodge. Watch those guys get in the mix. Guys with things we asked Parker Hessey to do. Nobody will ever notice. Guy just does his job. CYU is a captain in Iowa, defensive end, by the way. Just a thankless professional that doesn't get enough credit. Michael Pruitt, Kyle Pitts, some of the things. Those guys had a big part of it as well. The backs, everything's coordinated, the quarterbacks. So pretty pleased. Something you want to build off will evolve again. But yeah, I'm very pleased with the run unit. Going back to the thought of evaluating Desmond Ritter and knowing he had four games. When you kind of move forward now into looking back on those four games, is it one of those things where you really break down and put a lot of weight in the progress that's made or who he ended up being towards the end of that four game stint, if that makes sense? Yeah, it makes sense to me, but it's both. It's a process. It's a day-to-day, we've been in the building for a year, like all our players, you know. And we adapted, circumstances changed, and we needed to see what he could do and play it against some of the top defenses. Two on the road, two at home. They threw everything they had at him. I'd argue as the games went on, he got better. Very encouraged by watching him in pressure moments. Did change my thinking a little bit on 4th down. Wanted to see him handle that, and I thought he did well. And when you can do that, and you can win 3rd, 4th down, you know, that says a lot about you to be able to play extend, look to throw, not get rattled. Again, not perfect, but we saw a lot of progress, but there's a lot you can evaluate from. And this is kind of just going back to something that you said well before the season even started, talking about being better at home and playing better at home. When you look at six games, one at home, I know the record being what it was, but those six games, what did that mean for this team and where it's at? We talked about building a foundation to go back that. We want this place, and our fans deserve that, you're gonna spend time and money to come watch us. Michael, you asked me, and it's important to finish. It's important every time we go out there to do our job, they deserve that. That's what, you know, it's our charge. That's the way we're wired. And so it's of great importance to us, and we'll continue hopefully to build off that. So when people come in here, they fear it. Our fans, you could feel them today, and we appreciate that. Thank you. Good, how are you? I know it's early, but can you give me some reflection on how you felt today, and did you feel that you continued a path of progress through these four games? Yeah, 100%, you know, early on, we didn't get started as fast as we wanted to, and then the run game kind of helped us settle in, settle down, and then we got going. But like I say, I like to be 1% better every single day, whether that's going out there to practice or coming in for meetings, but it's 1% better every single day and every single week. Can you just talk about how the offense progressed and the offensive line, and everybody, how it grew throughout the year, and how you were able to run the football and open things up other places? Yeah, obviously the basis of any offense is going to be the guys up front, and we go off them and how they go. So whether it's run game or pass game, they want to dominate the line of scrimmage, and what's they've done? As an offense, as a team, we've had these ups and downs, but one thing that stayed consistent is those guys up front. So it's a tribute to those guys and the hard work that they put in and everything that they do in their work and their daily appreciation to practice. But like I said, it's a tribute to the guys up front, and we go off them. Hey Desmond, I mean, you might have answered this already, but do you feel like you've shown enough in these four games to have the job next year? Yeah, I mean, that's not my call. I'm gonna go out there and play my game and do what I do, and at the end of the day, I don't care about stats, I don't care about what it looks like, but at the end of the day, I want to win. And so that's who I am as a person, is want to be a winner, want to be a competitor. And so, like I said, that's not my call, but I just want to win. What did you feel like you took the most from this four weeks that you, or maybe learned the most from this four weeks that you think can help you going forward? Yeah, just be patient. Take what's there. Don't try to do too much. Don't try to force anything. You're gonna have guys open, you're gonna see guys, just make it there. And so that's what, not only today, but over the past four weeks, it's just been staying calm and just taking what they give you. This season ended, not the way you guys wanted it to end, but what would your message be to the fans? You know, we're gonna come back better. You know, this was, like I said, you know, it was an up and down ride the entire season. There were a couple of times where we wanted to get over the hump and we wanted to keep it going. We had a couple setbacks, but you know, our goal for these past two games was a finish two and a half. To start the new year two and O in 2023. So where we have the momentum to come in, put in the work in the off season and get better for next year. So you know, I know every single person, every single coach player is excited, you know, to go to the respective cities to get better. And then to come back together in the spring and go to back to work. Yes, Desmond, how do you feel the blending of the run game and the passing game went for you all today? Oh, I felt like it was pretty good. You know, like I said before, you know, most offenses in the league, in high school, little league, whatever it is, they want to start with the run game. They want to dominate the run game that's going to set up the pass game. So like we said, you know, when you have a dominant, you know, offense a lot up front and a great run attack by CP Avery and Tyler. It helps set up those those pass plays a lot easier. And for the future, what is it a bow given that Drake London finish so strong and Tyler also finish strong this year? You know, it's huge for them. You know, I'm happy for what they did and how they finished. You know, I know that, you know, those are too hard working guys and they're not going to settle for anything. They're not going to look back at this season and see what they did and, you know, come out next year and not do the same. I know that they're going to work that much harder to try to be that much better. Follow up on that with Drake and Tyler. When you met them at rookie mini camp, could you see kind of how this year was going to trend for them? I mean, if you kind of just are looking at them when you knew them then and kind of now where they're at now. Yeah, I would say rookie mini camp was, you know, there was a lot of clouds going on in everyone's head. So, you know, I don't know if I was seeing much more outside of the playbook and then, you know, trying to execute the job. But, you know, you could see that, you know, these guys are like I said, said they're hard workers. You know, they're determined and, you know, they're going to show up every day and go to work. So when you have guys like that, you know that they're going to be successful at the end of the day. I know you've talked before at length about this offensive line. Arthur Smith said kind of when we were talking to him earlier that essentially the foundation and identity of this offense kind of starts with them and started with them this season. Is that kind of something that you saw not just in the last four games from them but all this season from them? 100 percent. And, you know, we don't just have to talk about offensively either. It's a defensive front, too. That's one thing that, you know, our team pride ourselves on it is just being big on both sides of the ball. Dominated in the llamas scrimmage, you know. If you're on defense, not letting the quarterback feel comfortable back there. If you're on offense, you know, push the guys in front of you back as far as they can go. And so, you know, when you rely heavily on that, you know, it helps us out. But no, you know, it's a tribute to those guys. You know, they're hard work. But, you know, we go off those guys, both offense and defense. Do you feel like your confidence has gone up over the course of this four-game experience? And if so, why would you say that? Yeah, for sure. You know, you can't come into this game without confidence. If you do, the defense, the defense coordinators are going to see that, you know, they're going to feast on you. But, you know, you just, with repetitions, as anyone does, whether it's, you know, a reporting job or, you know, the national football league quarterback, the more you do, the more repetitions you get, the more comfortable you're going to get, you know, the better you're going to be. So, yeah, you know, I feel like I got comfortable and, you know, just kind of progressed every single week. Can you take me through that, the first touchdown pass? It looked like you kind of baited him into coming in and uncovering Michael there. Yeah, you know, at that time, you know, I'm extending the play, you know, getting outside the pocket and just trying to make a play. I'm seeing the window whether I should run, whether I should throw, you know, on any time we're out of the pocket, you know, Coach Rags always talks about, Coach Ragon always talks about just attacking the line of scrimmage. When you attack the line of scrimmage, it's going to make the defenders either pick you or pick Prue. So, you know, they got to pick one or the other. So I just extended it as long as I could and Prue popped open. So it was a great play by him. I just stand available. I know you've said in the last couple of weeks you've had some time to think about how you're going to celebrate your first TD pass when it actually happened. Did you remember any of those plans? No, it just was just pure emotion. You know, me and Prue just screaming at each other's face. And, you know, then I was looking for the ball and I see CP run over and go grab it for me. So, you know, he knew I was waiting on that, too. You know, he wanted to be the one last week to get it. But, you know, it's just a huge testament to all those guys just giving me the ability to go do that. So, I was going to ask, you do have that ball in your... Yes, I do have that ball. That ball will be with me. And about the confidence, a follow-up on the confidence question when you were given the ability to stay on the field on a fourth down play, did you feel like that was confidence being shown you from Arthur Smith? Oh, yeah, 100%. Not only in just me, but in the offense as a whole. You know, he trusts all 11 guys out there. You know, if he didn't, he wouldn't have called it. You know, he wouldn't have put us out there in that situation. So it's not only the confidence in myself. But all 11 guys out there on the field. Thank y'all, have a good one.