 Derek, the way Will is throwing the ball down the field and, you know, 20-yard passes and things like that, are you seeing some more room to run with the defense maybe having to respect the deep ball a little bit? I mean, if we are being efficient and making big plays in the pass game, I think that correlates to, you know, having space in the run game and, you know, the same way with the run, if you run the ball effectively, then it opens up for the pass, so. What did you say to Ryan in the aftermath of the decision being made? Oh, I just told him, you know, I want to see, you know, your teammate go through something like that, but I just told him, you know, just got to keep working, keep focus on getting better, and just stay locked down with it and just keep being yourself. Say anything to Will, or kind of business as usual since he started the last two games? No, I didn't want to say anything to Will, you know, he's been preparing and doing what he's supposed to do, and, you know, he's lasted the games and playing well, so, you know, just keep doing what you've been doing. Have you been impressed, you know, I guess you touched out there, have you been impressed on what he's done so far and some of the things he's helped with with the offense? I mean, yeah, I mean, I thought he'd been doing a great job. He can only get better and keep on improving. You know, he's coming to work every day and working to get better and, you know, it's been fun having him in there and just excited to see what's to come. You talked about wanting to be clearer and the huddle kind of better at calling the players just from your perspective, how's he been in the huddle aspect of it all? Setting in? Will, the huddle. How good is he at delivering plays when he's calling? You said he wants to be clearer? Yeah. I mean, the play's been called right when we were running right. I mean, I don't, I mean, that's just something for himself, I guess. You've got a sense of urge to everyone to win every week, but nine games left, what's kind of mindset this team and kind of, is there kind of a now or never type mindset going into what's left? Yeah, I think you just take it week by week. Focus on each opponent each week. Focus on being one and all in that week. Being locked in on everything and try to go out there and go get a win on Sunday. They're coming off a Thursday game. We're having a few extra days built in there. Do you feel like those extra couple of days help out with the freshness and your body just feeling better, having that extra day off? I mean, we, you know, you get like a little mini-buy week on Thursday night game, so it gets guys time to get their bodies back under them, be ready for the next week, so the body feels good. What have you seen from the box defense, Ante? They're a great defense. I think they've been solid for a long time. I feel like those guys have been playing together for a while, too. You know, they're disruptives up front, especially with 50-NR Vita Vaya, smart linebackers and steeped linebackers with Devontae David and Devon White. You know, they've got great corners, some safeties who are good in the run game. So they're a solid defense all around, you know, so you just got to be locked in and in the meetings and letting it correlate to the practice field and, you know, going through the game plan just so we can go out there on Sunday and be ready to execute. They're a solid defense for sure. You're young, starting out. How much did you kind of gauge your week-to-week progress, like watching film on this game and kind of comparing it or thinking, well, I did this better or I still need to work on that? Sit again. Did you kind of track your week-to-week progress in terms of, I'm steadily getting better or I need to work on this? Did you measure yourself that way? I mean, I think every player evaluates himself. We've got the week game after game, seeing what they can do better or what they can improve on. I think that's how you get better. I think that's how you grow as a football player. I think, you know, every player does that no matter however the game goes. There are people with a lot of games here. A lot of the guys you've won those games with are gone or in Ryan's case now in the backup role. What gives you the confidence that the current group in the locker room can win games down to stretching this season and make it a little successful here? I mean, I don't get that deep into thinking about, you know, all of that. I mean, it's still football. We still got to go play. We still got the right guys to go in there and go do it. You guys just got to go do it. Play well on Sunday. Pull it all together in all three phases and go out there and get it win. But I don't really get into all the other stuff. I've got a game to play. Focus on my job and what I need to do. Do you feel any different with the carry's touch down in terms of wear and tear halfway through? Or is that something you're not conscious of at all, apparently? I'm not going to say wear and tear. No, I feel great ready to go play. You know, excited to play a game on Sunday. The lack of road wins. Does it feel different when you go on the road? You know, it's been nearly a year now since his team has won away from Nashville. Can you tell it? Or is it just one of those things that you can't put a finger to it as to why there hasn't been more success on the road lately? Yeah, I think we're just not executing. When we get on the road, I don't know whatever the case may be. Hopefully it changes this Sunday. I think we just need to execute in all three phases. Do more of the small things in games, the details of the play. And I think it just comes down to execution for real and when we get down in the red zone and putting points, getting in the end zone. Because it's hard to get down there in this league and when you get down there, you've got to make sure it ends with seven. I mean, field goals are fun, but at the end of the day, you want to get seven points to be able to win. Did you see any improvement going from a home game to playing on the road? Is there specific points that you try to focus in on Will to try to help him improve from week to week now at this point? Yeah, it doesn't change with how we handle anybody really. We're always going to continue to try these guys to improve. He did a great job being able to go and handle the environment. Operation was clean. End of half in terms of our two-minute execution was clean. So he did a really good job being able to go and handle that environment, which is a tough place to play, especially on prime time. And yeah, we're definitely looking forward to making some strides again this week. You mentioned you're going through that process, but you mentioned the things you feel well. You guys want to win, but there's expectations. How do you kind of balance that still being patient and allow him to develop as a player while having a high expectation? Yeah, I mean, the expectation's never going to change. The standard's never going to change. So obviously, we need to do a better job. Everybody needs to do a better job to make sure that we're scoring more points and putting our team in a position to win. The thing for us where we need to do, continue to do a good job, again, with everybody, but especially with Will, is being able to go and have those teachable moments for him. You know, the end of the game there for him, that throw we made to Josh, you know, probably not a throw. Definitely not a throw we want to make in that situation. And him just understanding, okay, I think there was 11 seconds left. We should have two cracks at this thing. If it's not clean, we can get this ball thrown somewhere. It's our guy, no guy, and not putting the ball at risk. And that's just one example of a moment that, you know, I'm not necessarily sure everyone understands the levity of it until they're in it and until they have to go and make that decision to make that throw. So finding different examples like that to be able just to continue to teach him and continue to help his progression. In terms of being able to play to Will's strengths as a quarterback versus what you've played to with Ryan's strengths as a quarterback, does that change your play call in certain situations at all knowing, you know, maybe what he's good at versus what Ryan was good at? Yeah, we're always going to try to continue to cater to the skill sets of our players. So, yeah. Because of his arm strength, his ability to maybe throw with somebody bearing down on him or as he's getting hit, are you willing to occasionally take more risk? I don't think there was any... I don't think we had any reserve or any worries about taking risks with anybody that's been under center for us. That's exactly what you were talking about at the throw to Josh. Was that one where he came to you and said, what did I do wrong or did you kind of approach him? Just kind of what is the dynamic there? Yeah, you know, as soon as it happened, I was waiting for it to come up on the Jumbotron to get a look at it. And he came over and when he came over, luckily it came on the screen and we were kind of able to have a mini film session if you will, right there in front of how many people were in attendance. But his willingness to learn and his willingness to want to do right and to want to win has never been in doubt, but it was never clearer to me than it was at that moment. Those face-to-face, teachable moments, is that a part of the reason why you are down on the field when you're calling? Yeah, I think there's a lot that goes into that. I think you get a true feel for the environment. You get a feel for your guys up front when they're running off the ball, when they're surging. If you will, I think you get a feel for the big fella, right? You feel him run. And then, yeah, being able to have that immediate feedback within the dialogue, the back and forth, you know, one of the benefits to being on the field. You know, there's drawbacks, too. Obviously, when you're up top, you get to see more and you're kind of taken away from the emotional part of the game, if you will. So there's pros and cons to everything, but... I was like, I guess for you, as far as the offensive line goes, with a couple guys now banged up and trying to find a replacement. How's Dylan Dunn kind of stepping up when he's had an opportunity? Yeah, he's done a great job being able to come in. And again, when we've talked about it, basically just, hey man, like whatever's going to get us the best five on the field. And then he's done that. He's come in and spelled us a guard. He's spelled us a tackle and he's come in and we haven't skipped a beat. So, you know, hats off to him and his preparation and his mentality. That's not an easy job. And it's a great job by Sully Haas and Jonesy in there and making sure that those guys are not just, you know, in just learning one position. They're learning the whole concepts and learning the whole scheme. And yeah, so he provides us a little bit of versatility and gives us an opportunity to make sure that we get the best five out there. What do you expect from Andre if he's back in after having been taken out? Yeah, block his guy. Again, the expectations aren't going to change for, you know, what the job description is, what the standard is, what we expect from our guys when they go out there and play. Would you give Will, like on a given week, compared to Ryan, the same amount of stuff? I mean, do you feel like he's got full command of everything at this point? Yeah, yeah, he's, you know, if we went and looked and compared the amount of plays that were up in the game plan, they were, they've been consistent with whoever's been in their center. But you might agree on the arm strength as he'll play with the big chunk plays and the X plays and so on. Yeah, you know, the guys up front have done a good job of being able to provide him the time to be able to get that ball off. The guys that have been running the routes have been, like that route that hop ran when we were backed up. I think it was what was the end of the first quarter, right? When it was first and 23, I think, like that was a great read by him. It was a great reaction by Will to be on the same page and it was an accurate throw. So, yeah, and, you know, he's got a big arm, but it's everybody around him that's been able to keep him upright and keep him clean. And then our guys have been doing a great job of going down and making plays on the ball. Moving back to Pittsburgh, the second to last drive, four minutes left, what was the thinking with the run, run, run to end the deep hole? Yeah. Well, the first play there was, you know, a reverse. I thought we could get an explosive play with that. I think that got us five, got us into a second and five situation, wanted to run a play there for us. That was going to either get a first down or get us into a third manageable. We didn't execute that. We thought we were going to have multiple or we knew we were going to have four downs. So the same thought process went there. We had a good play that we thought was good for the situation that we had rep throughout the week. That was either going to be a first down or get us into a fourth and close, fourth and short. We didn't execute and then we didn't convert on the fourth down. That fourth down play with that backside burst 101, I imagine that's an alert. But do you want him to go there in that situation? You had the three by one, you know, the three on the right. If he caught it, would you ask that question? You know, I mean, like, like, like, you know, I mean, so like that's, that's where we're at. So we, we love that match up going into the week. We had it earlier in the game. I want to say it was on the third quarter. Ball was on the right hash trail and ended up smoking them. Ball went somewhere else. So, you know, when, when we're sitting there and we're getting him ready, it's like, hey, big alert here on this particular play. He had the match up if, you know, six more inches to the right and it's first and go from the four. So that's the type of trust that we have in our playmakers in our quarterbacks to be able to make those, those, those decisions. And again, it's something that where if that wasn't, if that wasn't prepared for or talked about throughout the week, then yeah, it had a big issue with it. But with that particular matchup and the way that trial had been running, we felt good about it and it just didn't hit. But that's still lower, like a lot lower percentage, right? When you're trying to just move the chains on a... Sure. Yeah. Again, like if, you know, if six more inches to the right, you know what I mean? So it's, it's very easy. And that's a part that for me personally, being able to kind of learn and grow from it is, is, you know, you have to be able to teach the process and not the result. So as we're going through, and hey, this is what we game planned. We like it. We like that matchup. And then you can't tell someone that. And then when they go and do what you had prepared for and it didn't work out, it came up like, well, why the hell did you throw that ball? You know what I mean? Because then now all of a sudden it's, it's, well, what do you want me to do? So yeah, if it was a matchup that we hadn't talked about previously that we had earlier in the game, then, you know, I'd be with you guys, but I'm all for it. How do you like the way that connects with Kyle Phillips? It seemed like they did that most of the time. Yeah. Yeah, Kyle did a great job of winning his routes. And, you know, came up in the two minute drill especially. He was open. We'll trust him. And that's the thing like Kyle's been out here and he's been running and he's been working. And, you know, when you put that time in the grass and you're one of the quarterback needs it to be and you're able to win, you know, with rock craft and suddenness. And create separation and, you know, the quarterback funnel. He has settled in play well for the last couple of weeks. Anything change with him or just kind of been more perfect in his technique? Yeah, I think being out here practicing, trying to improve the technique of fundamentals is vital. I think he's played square. He's challenged. He's made some big plays for us. So hopefully that continues, but I'm proud of him with how he's responded and we just got to keep going, keeping that consistency. Surprise, I guess, is the word about how drastic that change in the run. You know, you guys had that long stretch for eight, ten weeks. And then it's just... Yeah, I mean, I'm not surprised when you go back and look at the film, you know. It's just we got to be more consistent, play with technique, fundamentals. At times we play with a light box. We've been able to get away with that a little bit more in the past and what we're doing right now. But ultimately, like, you go back and look at that Pittsburgh game, they had five runs for 84 yards, I think, and it was all self-inflicted wounds, right? We gave up two on the edge. It shouldn't have been able to get out there where our body is out there and they just end up bouncing it and we're not able to get off and make a play or we start retreating, giving some ground and they get around there. So we just got to make sure we're locked in. Everybody understands their role. It takes all 11. Passing game, running game, it takes all 11. Everybody's got a job to do on every single play, making sure where they're supposed to be, how they got to fit, and then we got to make sure we're getting guys on ground. Some of the guys talk like the run defense failures recently and the pass rush failures recently are an aberration from like what you are. But the stats over eight games say that's what you are. Do you think the guys have a clear feeling for what you are? Yeah, and I think that probably stems from Paul a little bit what I just talked about. Like you go back and you watch these games. There's six to eight plays that are killing us and costing us, right? Like I said, the five plays for 84 yards, you take those out. It's 20 some runs for 80 yards, right? So there's few and far between and we got to be better on those plays and we can't sacrifice our technique fundamentals and give up those chunks because it is the stats don't lie. The stats don't lie and if that's what you are, that's what you are and we got to make sure we do a better job of being more consistent and eliminating the big ones. Keep working, keep working. I mean, we got to keep working at it. Guys got to trust what their job is in each scheme. We got to make sure we understand our role, right? Like I mentioned earlier, it takes all 11. I think there is an understanding of it, but come Sunday, come Thursday night when it matters, we got to be able to do it. There are always variables in runs in different places, but has it come down to if you're winning a higher rate up front and you can eliminate some of those possible variables, possible mistakes? Yeah, I mean, I think it takes everybody. There's times those front guys get doubled, right? And those backers got to be able to fit. They got to be able to take some of those doubles off so the other front guys can show up. I think it incorporates everybody, the safety, potentially feeling, filling in a whole. I mean, at times, guys are going to get reached, right? Outside zone guys get reached. It's on the guys behind them to make them right, right? That's part of football. It happens every single game. So I think there's got to be coordination. There's got to be an understanding of where I'm supposed to fit, but at the same time, I might have to make somebody right at times. With the lack of pressure and the stacks, how do you look at it? Some say, okay, we'll put it back. Pittsburgh throwing the ball really fast. Others say, well, they're not winning up front. Yeah, I think it's a combination. I think it's a little bit of everything. I got to do a better job getting these guys in situations where they can't win, right? I think when we do get those opportunities, we do have to win. I think that's part of it. I think the ball out quick comes into play at times. Of course. I think there's a lot of things that go into it. I really do. Just like I'm talking about in the run game, it's going to be all 11 every single stack, right? So if we're able to challenge, if we're able to be tight, if we're able to possibly get them to go to a second read, that's going to buy some time as well, right? But we got to make sure we're locked in the games aspect that we've had success with at the time. I think the coordination of some of those things at times costs us right where we're wasting some rushes, where we got to do a better job making sure we're all on the same page with that. What are the big difference at home as opposed to on the road? It seems like at home, like, God, they go crazy, but it doesn't happen as much on the road. Honestly, I don't know if I have the answer to that right now. I think we just got to make sure we're ready to go and take the same approach. I think we do, going into games in terms of our mentality. But third down, we got to own that down. Like, we got to treat it as our down. We got to have that mentality that put the onus on them, put the pressure on them to have to convert. And we got to make sure we're taking that mentality every single third down to try to get off the field. Have enough of your guys gotten better week to week, steady progression over the season? Yeah, I think there is, like I said, Paul, I think there's a lot of stuff that, and we show them every week, we talk about it every week. It's the consistency and the eliminating of the 6-8, 8-10 plays a game that are showing up. And it's across the board, right? Like, it's not just one guy, it's not just one group. Like, I think it comes down to the unit, just the consistency, play it and play out. You never know what plays going to be a difference in the game. You never know it could be early in the game, it could be late in the game. But at the most critical times, especially late in the game, we got to be at our best and we got to make sure that we're executing at a high level and performing and finding ways to get off the field. What needs to happen in terms of your guys that are supposed to set the edge to prevent runners from either bouncing outside or being able to turn the corner? I think we got to keep our presence there, right? We got to try not to do too much, try not to make plays that are not really our plays to make. Everybody wants to be involved, everybody wants to be productive, right? But when you're out there on the edge, you got to be there. Like, your hat's got to be there. If those runners feel like they can test you, they're going to test you, right? So we got to make sure they see us out there. We don't start coming under or trying to get off blocks early out there to try to make a play that somebody else is fitting that gap inside anyway to help us. So let's make sure we do our job, understand what plays you're supposed to make. And if you fall in late on something, great. But make sure you make the ones you're supposed to make. The message of make the plays you're supposed to make, don't try and do too much, is a message that Mike was saying after the Indianapolis game. And it feels like here we are with the same message sort of about that edge play. What's it going to take for that message to sort of get through and turn into results? I hope showing them in the results that we've had from them not doing that at times, right? Like, proofs in the pudding, everything's on film, we can see it all. Making sure these guys understand, like, the guy's right behind you and he's going to make the play. Don't jump inside, because now he's not going to be able to make you right. There's a time and place, and I talked about earlier, where these back-in guys have to make guys right, right? At the same time, if it happens late in the down, at that point they're lying to them. They can't make them right. If it's early in the down, they can read off and they can go play and they can correct them and fit where they need to fit. But if you lie to the guy late in the down and start showing somewhere and then come back in late, it's tough for those guys to make them right. Yeah, I thought we left some things out on the field this past game against Pittsburgh. One, we got to do a better job blocking for them on the outside. But, you know, he's doing a good job going back to our catch in the ball. We're just looking for him to make a guy miss, you know, and try to get some more positive yards. So we'll hopefully get that back on track this week, because I felt like that was kind of our low point on our special teams this past week. Is it his job until further notice or you didn't tend to go back to Kyle? No, Eric's, you know, earned the right to continue to do it for us, you know, and hopefully this week will be better. But yeah, I think he's earned the right to be our starting punt returner. Did it feel like it was a regression maybe from week one, or are you still seeing that? No, I mean, I think he does a good job. We've got to do a better job blocking for him. You know, that's a key thing for us. You know, we want to try to win on the outside with those guys. And it's a tough job for him. You know, they got a guy that's running as fast as he can. We're trying to backpedal, get our hands on guys. But we've taken pride in that for four or five years. Guys on the outside, whether it's single or double-pressed, they've taken a big time pride in it, and they've done a good job. So we got to continue to work on that and do a better job for Eric, too. Did you feel like, I guess, like, hey, York made some strides maybe during the time when he was here and I hate to see him go? Sure. You know, I'm happy for him. You know, anytime you get, you know, part of an active squad, you're happy for the player. But yeah, we thought he made really good strides while he was here. He simplified a bunch of things, kind of got back to what he was doing at LSU. And, you know, he's got a lot of potential and a lot of good traits, and hopefully it works out for him. How enjoyable is it to send the folk out there every time? Well, you feel good because every time you send them out there, you expect him to make it. I think that's the confidence level that we have in him. He hasn't himself, and he's proven it year after year. You know, even when we go out and practice, when he trots out there, we expect him to make all those. And he does a really good job, obviously. So I feel really fortunate that we went out and got him, you know, and he's been a really great addition to our special teams' units. How have you enjoyed him personally and spending some time with him, getting to know him a little bit? No, he's awesome. Got a great family. You know, he's a very happy-go-lucky guy. You know, nothing, he never gets too high or too low. He's the same thing every day. So it's been really fun to have him around, you know, with the younger guys, even with Stonehouse. You know, Stone, he's still a young player for us. So he obviously helps out Ryan a bunch, too. So we're just really excited to have him with us. And watch how we do things and watch how Ryan operated early on in the year. I think it's really benefitted him as he's starting to play. How did Ryan maybe handle the situation? How do you maybe expect him to handle things, maybe moving forward? Ryan's been great. He's been a true pro. He's been in all the meetings. He's been willing to help in any way possible. So that's what I expect from Ryan. He's the ultimate pro, and I'm sure he'll continue to get up. Will seems to have a good sense of poise and calmness, through pressure, and the moment doesn't seem to be too big for him. Have you noticed an unusual calmness about him than a typical rookie or young quarterback? You know, he has. He's, you know, the two games that he started. He has been calm, and, you know, he comes in a sideline. We look at the iPad. We figure out what's going on. Maybe where the reach should be here, where the protection should be here. So he's been very good about that. He's been very coached on the sideline. He's got to go out and try to give him some clues and take it from there. What do you think about, you know, because he hadn't played a lot. Like, he hadn't really seen him play since August up until the game against Atlanta. Any far are you surprised at how maybe well he's played right out of the gate in the first two games? I don't know. I've been surprised. I guess the best thing that he's done is his preparation. I think like any young player in this league, you've got to understand what it takes to be successful in this league. And I think Ryan set a great example in the room, and that's a great example in the room of what it takes to play the quarterback position and what it takes to prepare each week. And I think Will's starting to figure that out. His preparation these last few weeks has been really good, and I think that's contributed to him playing better. What does he look like? Like, has he won those guys against their early stays later? Has he done that from the time he's been here? Yeah, you know, yes, he has. He's in. You know, we sent him the plan the night before, and he comes in. He studies it. He has good questions. We review it. He's in early. He watches a lot of film. And I just think his preparation is what's helped him get off to a good start now. Obviously, it's just a start. It's only a quarters, and he's got to keep improving, getting better. But I think he's heading the right direction. How much did that kind of QB training program you could deal with him on Mondays and then after practice? How much did that just help him be ready to step in for that first start and last week as well? You know, the goal was to try to prepare him and try to prepare any player on the team to be ready to play when their number's called. So, whether it was throwing on Mondays or calling plays after practice or running through it with air, you try to simulate the best of your ability what it's going to be like in a game situation. You try to put them through as many things as you can, whether it's on the field in the film room. You're trying to groom these guys to one day be able to be starters and be successful players in this league. So, everything we did was to try to build him for this moment and hopefully continue capitalizing. You look at the early success that he's had, right? Four touchdowns, pretty solid out in last week. That dictates a lot of expectations. How do you go about just being patient with him, understanding he's a developing player but still having the standard to be the standard? You know, he sets a high standard for himself. He's very hard on himself, very critical on himself. So, I don't think that's an issue at all. I just think it's just be yourself. Continue to be who you're being. Don't change the preparation. Your preparation's been good. Don't try to be anybody different. Just go out there, be will, and lead the team. Pure curiosity, but have you ever asked him just stand flat-footed and throw it as far as he can? Have you ever just tested that? I have not. I'm sure he's done it before, but I've never asked him to do it. What's maybe the most impressive throw you've seen him make? You know, really the thing that I've been most proud of him for is developing a second pitch that we've always talked about. A lot of times, particularly he had a fastball. So, we all know he's got a fastball, but he does. He's got a sinker, he's got a change-up, he's got a slider. So, just to see him, the different club selection on some of his throws, that's been the biggest point of improvement that I've been proud of.