 Hi, Teresa. Good morning, African and Mike. How are you? Hopefully after your biggest problem today. I'm here. Every day. We've started. Mike, with some of the injuries that wide receiver, how helpful has it been that Robert Woods, with his experience and having him not only in that room, but having him on the field this season? Well, I mean, I think he's helped us in a lot of ways. I think he's taken advantage of his opportunities. He's certainly tried to play multiple positions for us and some moving parts. And we've got other guys that are like that. I think Nick Westbrook can do that. I think Cody can play some multiple spots. So we'll see where things shake out this week. Which challenge, I guess, Mike, Fison team, is go play a whole lot first time played him since you've been head coach? We had him here a few years ago. But obviously, every year is different. Every week is different. Just try to get to know him, Jim, just in the personnel. Who they are, what their style is. And that's what practice is for. That's what the meetings are about to make sure that we understand what their skill set is, what their play style is, and predominantly what coverage is in fronts and conceptually what the scheme looks like. What do you think of their front with four first round picks? I don't know if Young is playing, but so at least three first round picks there. What do you think about it? I mean, Nick certainly figured it out a couple of years ago with recruiting interior defensive linemen. They're fantastic. Payne and Allen, sweat, length. But Payne and Allen, they just got a great instincts. They play great with their hands, their pad level. They're not just two gappers. They can disrupt, they can change it up. Rarely out of position, rarely on the ground, and very disruptive. It would be a huge challenge for us. We talked earlier in the week about Mario and DeMarcus and kind of sorting through who has a better week and how to distribute the snaps. Imagine they're kind of looking at the same role out of your game plan. Are you simply plugging guys into the same thing that you guys have drawn up earlier in the week and sorting out who's better suited to do this? Well, I think we just try to work through everybody and see who's available, see where guys are going to play inside and base defense, or whether it's nickel, what the third down. Right now, we're focused on first and second down defense and how we're going to match up and making sure that those guys all understand where it is that they're going to be playing and what they're going to be asked to do. Do you think with the game plan as you go along, if a certain guy is having a better week and his skill set is a bit different? Well, I think that's always something that you could do. Hopefully, I'd like to figure that out earlier in the week so that you're not, I would say, wasting reps. But we'll get a lot of work in today and start the preparation and see what we think it looks like. What are some of the things that, beyond, go ahead. OK, sorry. Does it help to have kind of what you've seen from Carson Wentz last season facing him? And just the problems that he kind of have in this year, obviously, been sacked 17 times, just taking advantage of that. Right, and they have been sacked 17 times. They've also moved the ball down the field very effectively. He's done a great job on third down. So his play strength in the pocket has allowed them to move the football down field at times. And they mix it up, and they'll get it in McCormick and Samuel's hands quickly and allow those guys to create. But then also have the ability to hold on to it and move the ball down the field. Beyond the interception that he had Sunday, what are some of the things that you've seen out at T-Air Tart that's brought his game to another level? It seems like he's holding up really well at the point of attack to allow the linebackers to clean things up. I think it's just really just his comfort level. And the more that he plays and the more that he's with us and the things that we ask him to do and the techniques, and maybe the conditioning is improved. And I think he's got an idea of a little better idea of what they're doing offensively, maybe. And that's helped him as well as far as just his alignments and maybe the blocking schemes that they're doing instead of just attacking and trying to be in the backfield, I think he has a much better understanding of how he can effectively make a play. Is he more athletic maybe than a lot of guys who are just in the middle as a run stopper? I mean, I wouldn't base that off of one interception, but I think that he has his power. He has play strength. I mean, he's one of the strongest players on our team. There is a burst there. And again, I think that his comfort level is increasing. What do you get to bring back Shaheem Carter and is he a guy who could potentially factor in this weekend? Everybody, again, that's here could factor. We've been through this. And so, but Shahe is a guy that I think, one, he's a great teammate. I think he plays multiple positions. He knows what to do. He helps us on special teams. And we'll kind of see where he fits in. We've had him here in the past. What about Sam Oku, Aiyinonu? What do you like about that skill set and what's helped you? Sam-o, Sam-o. Well, I mean, he's earned the right to be on the 53, by the way, that he's practiced and the way that he's improved and developed. So we'll continue to try to see where he can help us and fit in. But it comes work every day with an attitude to prepare like he's going to be playing in the game. That hasn't happened yet. And we're hopeful that there'll be a role for him here by the end of the week. Does he have anything in particular? Well, I mean, he's not the longest player, but he's got really good power, good quickness. And I think that he's continuing to learn the game and understand blocking schemes and how to take on different things. You mentioned Monty with practice this week. I mean, what do you hope to see from him, maybe, as you start that window? I think we are confident the way that the return to play has gone on the side. And so we'll see where that is and how that translates to some of the 11 on 11 and some of the special team stuff. And we'll be careful as we work him back. But by all accounts, he's excited. He's ready to go. He's conditioned and feels great. When Eric came off the field, he did a TV interview and he was frustrated with the way you guys played and all of that. You expressed a different theme, obviously, in the locker room. And he and everybody came out with a different message. Why was that messaging kind of important to you coming off of that? Because I know how difficult it is to win in this league on the road, Derrick holds himself to a high standard, which I appreciate. I think they all do. But I also want to, I mean, we have to be able to enjoy winning in this league and it's hard. And it's half the league. I told him half the league is two and two. And so we have to continue to improve. But there's a lot of good things that happen in the game which allowed us to win. And there's a lot of things in there that have to get corrected for us to win as well. How do you feel Roger McQuarrie has done just handling that physicality from the nickel spot? Because I know initially that was an area where you wanted to kind of ease him into. Well, I don't think it was because of the physicality or the ability to go in there and tackle. I think it was just how much did we want to put on his plate mentally from inside, outside, motion, this adjustment. I think there's a lot of things that change based on that because everything that I've viewed, I think he's been a very willing tackler, made one of the best tackles of our season last week to force him into third and 13 or whatever it was at the end of the game, which then Danico got to sack and they missed the field goal. So that was a tackle on Heinz out there in space. So I think that his tackling has been good. We always, we need to cover better and that goes for everybody. Our officials may be taking note of his Heinz-y style of play and calling that maybe a little bit more in a way that he needs to be conscious of. What we're going to keep playing the game, it just all depends on what crew you get. I mean, really, I go and watch all the other games. It's about the same. I guess scripting plays better this year. Do you give that some credit for some of the quick starts on the first drives and so forth? I think when we do well, everybody, especially the players, most importantly, should get credit. And when we don't do well, we all can do better. It's just, I think it's execution. It's play design. It takes everybody. Todd hinted that that scripting narrative maybe gets overrated because invariably, you get thrown off script on that early drive. It's not as if everything you're doing on that initial scoring drive is according to what you're doing. No, because there's third downs in there. There's short yardage in there. There's GBOT. You get behind the sticks. We're going to have to continue to string some drives together, some plays together and convert. You need to, we talk to them all the time, to get scoring drives in this league. You have to have some X plays. You're going to have to have some third and fives or third and seven conversions that are pretty dirty. And then you're going to have to avoid the critical mistakes or the critical penalties. And that's, you can look at them. And that's how I break them down. That's how I look at them. And you can look at all our scoring drives. And the good ones have had all those without the mistakes and the penalties and the ones where we get stalled have had just mistakes or execution. You might have been asked this already, but how do you think Dylan Cole did the other day when they were filling in for Zach? I think that they, our inside linebackers played the run as well as I can remember. They were filling gaps. They were triggering. So we'll need that this week. They've got three backs that they handed a two last week with Gibson and McKissick, Williams. And then we'll have to monitor where Robinson is. And he's a good player. We've studied him and he's got good size. So it'll be important for us to know the back in the game and how they're trying to use them. And our tackling will be critical this week. And these guys are tough tacklers. Sorry. Any change on Hooker going into this week or still in protocol? Still in protocol, but anticipate that he'll be out there today and working through just the different things that you have to pass through as it relates to practice and activity. You mentioned Robinson. What is the challenge of trying to plan on how they might use him or how you can match up with him when you really haven't seen NFL tape in the starting offense and trying to plan for that without a ton to go off of? Well, there's plenty of film just of what they're doing. I don't know if they'll change the entire offense. It's, you know, there's a lot of moving parts each and every week, but, you know, they'll do a lot before the snap. They'll move guys around motion. Sometimes they'll go fast. So we'll have to just be ready and be aware of whatever backs in the game. Try and march around with a very coached team. Coached teams and do you see him implementing that in Washington this year? Well, I mean, I think first and foremost got nothing but the utmost respect for Ron and his impact for this league as a player, as a coach, you know, mentor. And, you know, they're just, they're physical. They're sound, you know, defensively very, very good. And very, you know, they've got a lot of variations. They bring a lot of different coverages to you, a lot of fronts, different personnel packages that we'll have to deal with. And, you know, offensively, I think like a lot of us, I mean, I think they're just, they'd like to run the football, use play action, you use once as, you know, play strength to move the ball down the field. And then, you know, like the Dallas, they made a commitment to it, to run the football, some of the other games they had gotten behind. And then, you know, therefore it goes in a different direction. But, you know, we have to be ready for a physical football team. Coach Rivera, I talked to him at the combine and he spoke very highly of you. How did that relationship develop? And, you know, how has that benefited you as a coach? Well, you know, you go to the meetings and, you know, you kind of just, you know, visit with guys and hit it off. And, you know, there's a lot of time there to talk about life and, you know, coaching and ways that you can impact your football team, ways that you can help your team. And, you know, he's been through a lot. Some of these guys have been around the game much longer than I have. And I'm always trying to find ways to, you know, help our football team, help our staff, help myself and things that I, you know, try to go through on a daily basis. Momentum of drives, is there such a thing can one impact another? Like at the start of games, you guys have seemingly, you know, one after another, you guys have scored in the second half differently. Is there a momentum that goes from one drive to another that impacts things like that at all? I mean, there's definitely a momentum in the game. I don't think there's any denying that. But as an offense or as a team, your job is to take each drive in and of itself, each play in and of itself, you know, it doesn't really matter, you know, what happened at the last play. You have to be able to reset and get ready to go to the next one. So, you know, that's our focus each and every time we take the field. Ryan, if you do that where after a play you sort of have to take a half a second and say, okay, calm down, either, you know, come down or kind of get yourself back up kind of thing or does that happen naturally? Oh, it definitely happens throughout the game and something you're aware of at every position, you know, just being able to reset. You know, sometimes we're talking about it in the huddle. Sometimes it's on a personal level, you know, so yeah, definitely part of the game is being able to reset and get ready for the next play. Ryan, if you guys have to be without trailing for an extended period of time, I guess what do you lose when he's not out there and what are maybe the qualities of the past catchers you guys, the other ones that you guys have that kind of gives you confidence? Yeah, trailing is obviously a tough guy to replace, but it gives other guys opportunities. So, you know, whoever ends up stepping in their force and getting a bigger role was gonna have to come up huge for us. So, you know, we have big strong physical receivers who can use their size and strength to create some space. So we're gonna have to do that moving forward. What's the thing going with your relationship with Josh in terms of getting him up to speed and where you want him to be part of this? Yeah, Josh has been out here for a few weeks now, so I think he's learning, you know, as we go forward and we'll continue to try to do that, you know, including this week. When you look at the second half, obviously the questions always keep coming about it, but it is something where you haven't scored in three games in the second half and going into, you know, a game like this and then having the bi-week, like how much of an emphasis do you guys put on that as an offense to be able to come out and do something there in the second half in terms of play? Yeah, we just want to be consistent, you know, and in everything we do, you know, being consistent and able to play good throughout the game. So that's something that we talked about the past few weeks and will continue to do so. You're almost a quarter into the season. I mean, what do you like about what the offense has done so far and, you know, aside from the second half issues, what are some things that are gonna have to get better for you to take it to another level? Yeah, we just want to continue growing, you know, at this point in the season, you know, very much mentioned to us this morning, half the teams in the NFL are two and two. So we found a way to win a couple of games here in a row. I want to continue to stack those wins as we move forward and to do that, we're gonna have to continue to improve each and every week, you know, moving forward. You mentioned some good things we did on offense or we have done on offense the past few weeks, been efficient in a lot of areas and you just need to continue to, you know, work on the things we haven't been as clean up. Robert Woods mentioned comfort level as a reason why there's been increased production over the last couple of weeks. From your perspective, what has gone into, you know, him getting more targets and you guys having more success? He stayed steady, you know, I think Robert's done a good job since he got here of buying in and trying to do everything we were asking of him. And I think, you know, first couple of weeks, maybe just really the first week, second week, he had a good game in my opinion. So he just kind of stayed consistent, stayed on top of his details. And if you're able to do that, you know, the ball is going to find you. So have a lot of confidence throwing him the ball and hopefully he can continue to get himself open. There was a lot of history with him, you know, just being in the league. Is there anything that that you've seen from working with him that kind of surprised you? Like, oh, wow, I didn't realize that, you know, he brings that to the table. Yeah, I don't know anything specifically. Just a veteran presence, like you mentioned, a guy who's played a lot of football understands, defences understands what we're trying to attack through our scheme. So that veteran presence in that room has been huge for us. Mike clearly didn't want you guys coming out of the locker room someday expressing frustration about the offense, about the second half, about that stuff. He was upbeat and he wanted you guys to be upbeat. Do you have a feeling for why that messaging was so important to him? I found a way to win the game. And that's what it comes down to is winning football games. No matter how they come, find a way to win each and every week. You said you didn't really know what happened at the end of the first half there with the clock stuff in your comments after the game, after looking at it, what happened there and why is the clock management stuff been a little bit more suspect this year than it's been historically with you at quarterback? I mean, I wouldn't say that's the case. Maybe that's your opinion. But we had that situation there. Possibility to, for tackle short of the sticks, run the field goal unit on and be able to kick the field goal with the running clock. We had enough time on the clock that we say we have enough time to get that off. Obviously, we'd like to get the first down and be able to spike it and stop the clock there. But we weren't able to execute it. The evaluation then coming out of that is not that you should have just thrown that out of bounds instead of trying to run there? Well, it's a tricky situation because it's third and one. If it's third and seven or eight, then it makes it a little more clear you're not going to be able to run and get the first down there. Being third and one, kind of had some quick pressure was able to get up through the pocket in a muddy pocket. I thought I was going to be able to get with my legs and just came up short. The veterans kind of sprinkled throughout this Washington defense, but kind of long up front. I mean, just in terms of your passes, making sure that you have enough space there with what these guys can do with slapping down the ball. They're talented, no doubt about it. Their front is extremely talented. They're big. They're physical. Across the board really starts inside and really moves outside as well. So a front that I have a lot of respect for, that we as a team have a lot of respect for, they're disruptive. They rush to pass you well. And then you prepare that with backers who are physical. And overall, it's a really physical front. Is scripting been any better Ryan this year? Is that one of the reasons you guys have had the really good success in the early drives this year? Or what do you attribute to it? I mean, yeah, we've had some good calls, no doubt about it. But we've had good calls throughout the game. At the end of the day, it comes down to guys. Raves always talks about making the picture come to life. And we've executed well early in games. And we have to do that throughout the game. Does it make it any more, I guess, puzzling that you've been able to execute so successfully at the start of games and then seemingly different story in the second? I don't know if it's puzzling, but something, no doubt, we want to get cleaned up. When you evaluated it when you went through the second half the other day, what did you come away with in terms of answers for that and your performance in particular? Yeah, we had some things we got to get cleaned up in that second half. Some of it, execution, missed some opportunities across the board. So some of it was myself, some of it was other guys. But we can't have these sprinkled mistakes, a mistake here, a mistake here, a mistake here. When you add them up, then now we have three drives that were stopped because of mistakes. Have to be able to play cleaner football. And if we do that, we'll have success. Why is it that those mistakes? How excited do you get when you see the light kind of come on for a young guy like Chig, and he's able to make a couple of big plays for you? Well, it's exciting. To see him getting the end zone, just the energy, obviously, he's brought a lot to the table for us and is a talented player. So to see him getting the end zone for the first time, I thought his celebration was a little suspect, expecting more from him. No, no, no. But it was good. I saw him toss the ball, and I'm like, all right, I got to track down that ball for him. I was able to snag it for him. But yeah, happy for Chig. Obviously made a big play for us there in the red zone, and a couple plays throughout that game. You mentioned it comes down to mistakes. I guess the question then would be, why are those mistakes not taking place in the first half and then so regularly taking place in the second half? Where is the disconnect there that those physical mistakes, or those errors that are sprinkled in, are really mainly sprinkled in after halftime? I don't think that's true, because we have mistakes throughout the game. It's a game of football, it's an imperfect game. Sometimes the mistake just happens at a critical point in the play. So it's not like the first half is mistake-free, and just because you score a touchdown doesn't mean the drive didn't have mistakes on it. So having those critical mistakes, which heavily impact the play one way or the other, are the ones you have to eliminate.