 It was great energy, honestly. A lot of guys are super excited, super excited about this year, super excited about getting back out there. Really just trying to build a team. A lot of guys are trying to define roles in this team, including myself. Every year is different. And every year I feel like this team or this organization is going to demand more and more out of me. So not only being a leader, practicing hard, doing all the little things, whether it's in the meeting rooms, recovery. I know a lot of the young guys are watching me and everything that I do is funny. Well, it's not funny, but Buster decided to retire. I don't know if it was yesterday or a few days ago, but I got the news yesterday. So I'm really the oldest guy in my room now, which is very, very weird going into year seven. But like I said, trying to set the example every single day. Requirements, are you placed on yourself in this year? Yeah, I don't place any pressure on myself. I understand the expectations is always going to be high. My standard and the standard of this team is always going to be high. We're always going to demand a lot out of each other, regardless if you're a first year guy or a seven year vet or a 12, 11 year vet or whatever. The expectation of the standard is always going to be high. And I'm going to make sure that I keep my standard at a high level, because I can't expect anybody else to raise their expectations or raise their standard if mines are not extremely high. So the standard is high. The expectation is always high. What are you seeing in just the early going from Caleb and how good is it to see him back out there without me? Yeah, it's really good. Obviously last year, coming off whatever injuries and surgeries he had, he looks really fast. I know he's worked his butt off. I mean, really worked his butt off this entire offseason, obviously dealing with the ACL and trying to come back and OTA, you know, he was kind of limited. But you know, even just talking to him in the meeting room, I got to work out with him a little bit this offseason here in Nashville. And like I said, he looks really good. His meeting room, just his notes and his work ethic in the meeting rooms asking the right questions, answering all the questions. Honestly, I've been highly impressed from him. But like I told him, and I'm sure Vaibhs told him as well, you know, we just got to continue to stack days, stack days, the ups and downs in his league as a cornerback, you know, it really isn't really good. So not saying he's been up and down, but just his momentum is going this way. So we've got to make sure he keeps going this way. On the first two plays of seven on seven, Tana Hill hits the two bombs to start off the period. No, it's not frustrating. Obviously, you know, those guys get paid. Both receivers make some really good catch, especially Traylon, the kind of diving catch. But obviously, you know, talking to Christian, he has high expectations for himself and his standard is high as well. So, you know, at the game, beat on one play and then another play, just tell him, hey, you got a lot of opportunity. Go out here and bounce back. We don't need the back and forth trash talking stuff like that. So, but you know how this league go, you know what I'm saying? We come out here super excited. First play of the game, when we get bombed on twice, you know, kind of flat lines, a little bit of the momentum and the energy on the sidelines. So just, it's a teaching lesson. You know, that's what camp is about, it's first day of camp, but I know Christian, he has high expectations for himself and I know he'll bounce back strong tomorrow. You got to get yourself better, but how much do the defense maybe put it on themselves to help maybe the guys across the ball from him? You mentioned trailing, but would some of the guys you're competing against? Yeah, I mean, like I said, man, we're not putting any more pressure on ourselves. Didn't normal. Obviously the offense, they have a high expectation. We're going to expect a lot from those guys as well, regardless of, you know, any type of roster movements or who's new guys out there, new faces. You know, Vray was always going to keep those guys at a high standard. So we're not putting any more pressure on us, thinking that we got to go out here and hold the offense up and nothing like that. You know, 2020, the offense held us up and last year was kind of a little bit different. So every year is different just because we got a lot of talented guys and we guys coming back. That means nothing, honestly, it means nothing. Every single year is different in every year. Like I said, every year is going to be different. So we're going to try to make sure that we're just holding our end, just doing what we can as a defense to try to, you know, be one of the best in the league. You talked about being the oldest guy in the room. When you came into the league, did you imagine year seven you'd still be going strong playing some of your best football? Of course. I mean, it's not to brag or anything like that. But like I said, my standard is high. I came in with a lot of confidence and every year I've just been, you know, getting better and getting better and getting better. I mean, I wouldn't say I thought that at year seven I'd be the oldest guy, but you know, it's the way things happens in this league. So, but like I said, I've been confident and I'm always confident in myself and I'm going to play as long as I feel like a player at a high level and I don't think that's going to end any time soon. You talked a lot about the scar and the wound from Cincinnati for him personally. Out of your worst moments, how that helped you grow and what you envisioned maybe that does for you? Yeah, I mean, I feel like just in life period, you know, they're always going to be ups and downs. And I think that, you know, regardless of what happens, I think just as far as our work ethic and everything that happens, you know, just use it as fuel. You know, everything should be used as fuel. When you have a good year, use it as fuel to have a better year the next year. If you have a down year, just use it as fuel. And I don't think that you should really get down on yourself or nothing like that because in life, there are going to be ups and downs. It's all about how you handle it and how you just, you know, respond really. So, like I said, I know Tannehill, he has a high standard for himself. And I know at the end of the day, regardless of what happened last year or whatever, I don't think he's really getting any energy to it at this point because like I said, it's a new year, new expectations, new team. And I expect Tannehill to have a great year. And I think he does too. KV, it's too personal, I understand, but losing your mother just kind of wears your head space at us, you kind of prepare for this new season. Yeah, man, honestly, just being vulnerable, man. Obviously leaving mini camp early, getting the news. And I think it was a Tuesday, my mom ended up passing away on the next Tuesday. We had a funeral on Saturday. At times, I feel like it's, you know, kind of still in shock a little bit. It hasn't really set all the way in. Some days are good, some days are tough. But at the end of the day, I feel like what I've learned throughout this process is that, you know, you just really never know, you know, this thing came out of left field. And so just trying to wake up every single morning with just gratitude. Gratitude that I have another day to come in this building to be around the guys. Cause my routine has kind of helped me, I wanna say keep my mind off of it because, you know, during idol times is when it's really tough. But I have a great circle around me, really kept me up. I've had a lot of people reach out, hundreds of people reach out to me and just try to keep me upwards. So, but like I said, every single day is different. But I try to come here every single day, just being grateful that I have another day. And that's what I try to express to the guys like, same thing in this building, you know, you never know when it's gonna be your day. You never know when an injury may end everything or just your life period. So, and it's crazy because, you know, I feel like people that has been through these situations will always tell you, really love on your loved ones. Make sure you're calling people every single day to tell them you love them. And that's something I'm just trying to preach and try to do for myself, calling my family, checking on my siblings. But like I said, it's definitely been tough just being vulnerable. But I feel like I'm in a good headspace today or just period, but it could be different tomorrow, honestly. How much credit do you give her for you being here today? I mean, everything. Like I said, my mom was everything to me. Just her work ethic, every single day. I mean, raising seven kids, majority on her own is tough for anybody, especially at my mom. And she just took it with stride and she handled it with the utmost, you know, character and everything. And that's why I learned a lot of my, just who I am today is because of her. And I owe everything to her. But one thing I understand too is like, you know, just thinking spiritually, my mom is with me every single day. And I mean, it might sound weird, but I talked to my mom a lot and I could just hear her voice, hear her voice pretty much saying, just keep your foot on the gas. And that's what I'm gonna keep doing every single day. Are you dedicating the seasonal to her? Yeah, I mean, honestly, man, I'm gonna dedicate every single day, dedicate this year, because like I said, everything, the life I've been able to build for myself and my family is the life that she wanted and the life that she would want for herself. So I got to keep that in mind every single day because I know my mom was proud of me and I'm really proud and I'm really happy that, you know, the last few times that I was able to spend some time with my mom, you know, it was weird because she was in a real place of peace. You know, I was able to buy her home and she was really working on herself and I'm talking about she was working out to me how she wake up in the morning. She's drinking beet juice and all I kind of got on the whole, you know, cause I've been changing my diet. I've been getting on her diet and stuff. She was working her home business and everything. So, but like I said, man, I know she's proud of me. She's proud of her kids. All her kids are being successful and doing their thing. That's something that I can take on for the rest of my life that my mom was proud of me and that's obviously helped me throughout this whole process. There's generally a pecking order to such things. Do you notice when a young guy comes in and tries to maybe work a little further up the line for drills, did you do that when you were a young guy? Is there something to that? Yeah, for sure. Honestly, one of the drills, you know, Roger, Roger's a guy, man, he works extremely hard and he's always competing extremely hard but we was doing some of the open field tackle drills and I had told him, hey, jump up there. I know it's a pecking order with some of the veterans you want those guys to go but have an older guy tell you to back up, you know what I'm saying? Before you have to, for somebody had to tell you to go and obviously like this is no knock on him but as always, you know, I feel like just some of the young guys, they want to be able to compete but they also want to get respect to the veterans but I tell them all the time, hey, jump up there and if an older guy tell you to back up then that's what you want. You know, you want to be competitive. You want to go out there and show the veterans and the coaches that you want to come out and compete every single day. So yeah, like I said, it's definitely a pecking order but I encourage guys to go up there and try to take a leadership role early. It doesn't matter if you're rookie or not. I was in for you and I'll be able to have your family out here and what kind of energy does that give you? I heard you joking with your son just to follow, hey, future first rounder but to show him what you do and be able to have them support you. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing. This is actually the first year because I think COVID year, you know, we kind of just had to be on the side. First year, my kids been able to run out there on the field. Like I say, it's kind of a full circle moment, man. Like I said, man, my mama or my mom, she was really, really proud of me. She told me a lot the last few months that she was a lot how proud of she was of me and like I said, this life I've been able to build for myself and my family is something that she'll be proud of. So I just got to keep that going. Every single day is different. Every single day is going to be tough but at the end of the day, just keeping that always in mind that she was proud of me and it's just like I said, it's a big blessing, man, to have my kids out here, two beautiful children. That diet that you were working with, how has that been now that you got to test it out of one day of training camp? How is this something you want to stick to? Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think it's something we try to stick to not only, you know, just when I'm done playing football. Like I said, I feel like I feel great. My energy levels is great. But like I said, it's something that's always continuous. You know, life is a journey. My diet is a journey. You know, I got to have those cheat days in there every now and again but I think just being consistent with it, my energy levels is good. I feel fast and just trying to stay healthy, trying to beat, it's all about being available, you know what I'm saying? I feel like with my diet and everything that I've been doing, I just feel real fresh, feel good and it's all about a feel. So like I said, someone's trying to be consistent with. What's the go-to on cheat day? Go-to, I mean, it depends. I mean, I might have a cheat meal, you know, some ice cream at night or something like that. I'm real big on like cookies and stuff. But I think for like, as of right now, I'm trying to go at least 30 days without any cheat. So this whole training camp, no cheat meals, no nothing. Try to stay consistent. But like I said, definitely, you know, it can depends honestly. It might try to give me a burger or something like that. No fast food burger, but a nice burger. It can just depends. Last one, Steve. You said yesterday that the ultimate goal is to win a championship around here. But you can't start at the end. What are the goals you have now to measure your progress throughout training camp and the season really to get to that ultimate goal? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, instead of measuring the goal from the end, you know, you just start, I mean, it's found really cliche, but just one day at a time. Let's measure each day. Try to just shorten those measurements because that's kind of how you have to have your mindset. Your mindset is always, you know, be where your feet is. Don't try to think so far ahead. Think about today. Like I said, think about the morning meetings. Think about practice. Think about, you know, when I go in this building, what type of recovery I am, keeping myself to a schedule. You know, I journal a lot. I write down notes at night time. What I done, it's something I've been doing new as well. Like, you know, writing all my notes down. Okay, would I do good today? Where are a couple of things I need to work on? And writing down what I'm gonna do tomorrow. What's my recovery? What is my routine gonna be? And just trying to stick to that. If I feel like I can stick to those things and keeping, you know, just pretty much living in the moment. When you look back on things, you will realize, okay, these things helped us get to this point. And I think as long as we keep that mindset, the ultimate goal will be realized. How nice is it to see him starting to put these together now on a daily basis? That's the goal for every player and every single coach. Come to work, try to get better, try to improve each and every day. You know, whatever happened yesterday doesn't mean anything about today. Whatever happened in the period before doesn't mean anything about the next period. It's, you know, these practices we try to do our best to structure them like a game. Whether the defense gives up a play early in the series or early in practice, you have to come back and keep playing and competing. So we try to point all those things out. And, you know, I thought it was a good start. He had admitted to not attacking it the way that he thought he should have initially. You know, what did I say to you just about accountability standpoint? We all have to hold each other accountable. Ultimately, I have to hold everybody accountable. Self-motivation, you know, schedule, routine. You know, there's a lot of transition that everybody, you know, goes through. You know, you just sat here and listened to Kevin Byrd and the maturity, the growth that he's gone through, the representation of our organization. You know, so we try to use him as examples. You know, I mean, that's why I love having my son around here, you guys see Carter out there. And so hopefully that he becomes a teammate or husband or father that Kevin and a lot of these guys that are those things on this football team. So hopefully they can help the younger players to transition through family, through relationships, and then also understand that they have a job to do here to be, you know, football players. Sorry. No, I'm sorry. Kevin said he liked the energy today from the team. What did you think about the energy? What did you like from day one of training camp? Well, I think there was an urgency, you know, moving around on the field. That's how we want to practice. That's how we want to operate. We want to, you know, be going from drill to drill, make sure everybody knows where they're going, that there's a professionalism to it, that the drills are planned out. And when we're working together, that everybody knows where they're supposed to be, O-line, D-line, receivers, quarterbacks, DBs, two-spot drills, trying to get as many reps in as we can. You know, and then we'll just, you know, see where it goes from there. Off-season award winners off the top of your head. Yeah, yeah. So we recognized Dylan Radins on offense. We recognized Des Fitzpatrick on offense. Tori Carter on offense. DeMarcus Walker on defense. Amani Hooker on defense. And Caleb Farley on defense. And that was through a criteria of effort, consistency, and improvement. Going back to Caleb Farley, Kevin also said he was impressed with what he's seen with him. Just what have you seen out of him in the last couple of months, the work he's put in, not only with the rehab, but the playbook as well? Yeah, and I think he can, you know, I mean, again, he is a certain set of circumstances of coming in, not having had a whole lot of conditioning or strength training or football for that matter. And the off-season was an opportunity for him to do that really train hard, lift, add strength and size that's critical in this league, but also an understanding of what his job is and what the offense is doing and formations that they're in or splits that they're in and recognizing all those things. And then now trying to, you know, add that to practice to where you're able to recognize those things on the field and not on the film. The film's a little slower than the field. I thought it stopped a great deal about the wound he felt from the end of last year. I know it's clean state, slate, new start, but how do you expect the guy to deal, to funnel his disappointment into what he does next? You know, I mean, we all deal with some sort of trauma, you know, throughout our professional or our personal career. And, you know, we try to help him. I think he's done a great job of putting the work in for himself, but the best way of when things aren't going well for you is to be around guys that you trust, that you care about being around people, family. And so I think the best thing for all of us is to get back out here and get to work. Certainly enjoyed the time over the summer, but nothing compares to standing in front of a football team to try to develop a team, try to prepare them to win, watching them practice, watching them compete. There's nothing that I've ever done that will compare to that. So I think when things are going great, it's always best to be around people that you care about and that care about you. Bired is a leader out there. When Jeff is out there on the field, how does he feel that role too? Well, Jeff is, you know, he plays to a certain standard. And when you do that, you know, you have the luxury to be able to hold other people to that standard, whether that's in a weight room, meeting room, or on the practice field. And he's, you know, and everybody leads differently. But I do appreciate Jeff's willingness to play with passion and also, you know, hold guys accountable. And then if, you know, he'll hold himself accountable if he doesn't, you know, live up to the standard that he set and that we expect of him. What did you see from Malik today and what do you want to see from him as camp progresses? You know, we touched on this the other day, continue to make the correct decisions, but improve timing, which we believe is going to lead to improved accuracy and just going out and having fun. The command at a huddle, you know, we haven't had, you know, to recall anything or step out of the huddle or have Todd give him a call again. And that just, I think, works to the flow of practice, is when you can do that, you know, then things go a little quicker and everybody's ready. The operation at the line of scrimmage, your motioning guys, your moving, you're getting us into the right play, not sitting there taking 20 seconds to find the right play. So those are the things that he's done well, you know, and just continue to, you know, recognize the coverages as we talk to him about, hey, this is going to be this coverage, you know, see how it's going to play, take a mental rep, you know, that's something that we have always believed in is making sure that everybody's got the call back there, that they're watching their position, that they're taking a free rep and getting the coaching. How proud are you of Dez of the progress he's made from last training camp to this training camp and where especially do you think he's gotten better? Well, I think the year on the practice squad gave him a lot of confidence. He went out there and he ran routes with the intent to go win, that every ball was going to be thrown to him. And when we try to explain that to all these guys, like this is your opportunity to go play against, you know, starting players on the defense. And I know that there's a card in these defensive coaches, they love to draw the lines on the card and everything and we just tell them, like that's a route, this is our route. We just tell them in our language, run that route, get open and whoever the show team quarterback is going to get you the ball. And I think he started doing that, he started gaining confidence. And also that's just the biggest thing is probably, and him just understanding what this, the day in and day out of pro football is and you know how competitive it is. And John, I think both kind of mentioned that you've been a little bit maybe more vocal and they also like your energy a lot too. Do you think you've been more vocal yourself, maybe whether it's talking to a receiver or a coach or whatever and also I guess do you have, feel like you've got an increased energy? I don't know if I don't feel a lot more vocal. I feel like I just am leading the way that I believe is effective in the way that works for me. So I'm going to continue doing that, continue pushing the envelope, trying to bring this team, this offense along as fast as we can. It's going to be a long process as we go through training camp but have a big opportunity to get better at this training camp and excited to try to take advantage of each and every day. And I'm proud of our guys when we came out here day one and got off to a good start. This part of it before pants come on just kind of feels like an extension of what you were doing in the last couple of months. How valuable is that time for you to be able to kind of get the receivers on the same page, get the tight ends on the same page. Just kind of get guys accustomed to the way that you want to run things. Yeah, it's huge. You know, I thought we got a lot of really good work done in the spring. And didn't have a lot of full speed team reps or if any but we got a lot of really good work on the details and in timing as far as the pass game goes. So whether it was individual or group or seven on seven we made some big strides over the course of the spring and felt like, you know, through our meetings, you know, the past couple of days that our guys have retained that information, retained those coaching points and were able to kind of pick up where we left off in the spring. How about you two have a good first day and get off to a good start, especially given how many new weapons you've got in this camp? You all want to take advantage of each and every day. Whether it's the first day or the 15th day, not every day is going to be perfect. Not every day is going to be great but we're striving for greatness. So I want to come out here and compete and try to make the plays that we have the opportunity to make. So I was proud of the guys today with the mentality that we came out, came back in condition. We're able to run and take advantage of the reps we've got. What can you say about the pass and then the back, kind of like a back shoulder later? What are your thoughts on, you know, how you were able to get with him today after not having many reps during many camp OTAs? Yeah, it's nice to have trailing out there. You know, we've been back a few days before you guys got here, had the rookies and some of the Vets QBs back a couple of days. So we got some reps over the past few days and I'm excited to have him out there. You know, he's got a long way to go but, you know, making plays like that does a lot for building confidence for a quarterback for myself and just knowing what you're going to get over there. You know, if he wins consistently and makes plays like that for me down the field, you know, it gives you a lot of confidence to go his direction. He admitted to not attacking things the way he may have should have initially. What's that say about his accountability, you know, for you as one of the leaders of the team to see him take himself accountable like that? Yeah, I know that accountability is huge, especially in this program, you know, it starts from the top and trickles its way down. So having that awareness of just knowing when it's not perfect, when you did miss an opportunity, being able to recognize that and try to rectify it as you move forward, it's huge. So proud of him and the way he's come out, you know, this fall and off to a good start. Right, what does it mean to have just Robert Woods kind of progressing as he's progressing and Grable also mentioned NWI, just the versatility these guys both have and how much will that benefit you if you can start to build that chemistry early on here? Well, it's huge, you know, I think Robert's been around a long time and has been a playmaker. So excited to bring his veteran point of view and veteran play to our team and seeing him out here kind of running really full speed for the first time, getting some routes on air. He looks really good, you know, on air. So excited to build those reps with him and continue to build that relationship as we move forward. How about at the end of last season affecting you? How do you now kind of use that wound, as you've called it, going forward to drive you as you look to kind of repair and heal it, whatever, whatever you need to do? I love the little add-ons there. Yeah, it's just fuel, you know, you look at, you know, things in your past and experiences you've been through and you can learn from them and you can use them as fuel as you move forward. So, you know, that's the thought here of moving forward is attacking this year, you know, each and every day and trying to get the most out of it. How much has changed maybe when you first came into the league and maybe with less practice time, what's maybe important in the July, August to get ready for the season? Yeah, it's a long training camp, but yeah, things have changed a little bit. You know, I came in after the two of days were, I know I'm old, but I wasn't around when the two of days are still going on. So, you know, I missed that, but you know, it's a long training camp. There's a lot of opportunities, a lot of days and you can't let the grind of the training camp diminish the value of each and every day individually. You know, have to come out with a purpose and intention each and every day and try to take advantage of the reps that we get. Last year, we asked you a lot at training camp about training camp interceptions and if it was good offense or bad defense, you start the seven on seven with two long passes, one to Nick and one to Traylon. Is that good offense or bad defense? I mean, I don't know, man. I tried to go out and take advantage of the reps that we get. You know, we had an opportunity, Nick did a great job of winning on the corner there, had a low safety and were able to hit them deep on the first one and Traylon had a one on one on the backside on the second one. So, you know, when we get those opportunities, we want to take advantage of them and to start off the camp, start off this year being able to have guys go make plays and read down the field. It's a good start and hopefully we can build on it. Did you want to start camp with a bomb like that? Yeah, we know, we taught an hour talking this morning and wanted to put some down the field pressure on our defense and I didn't know if we were going to get the look or not. Thankfully, you know, defense, you know, called the coverage that gave us that look and, you know, we were able to execute and make the play. You got a sense or maybe more of a sense of what Tim Kelly will bring to the passing game and kind of how, you know, how his role will fit with you. Yeah, having another veteran coach around to help us with the pass game I think will really help us. You know, he's been around a lot. He knows football, just talking scheme, talking concepts with him, having him help with our receivers and our tight ends. I think it's going to be huge. So, you know, anytime you can add a veteran coach with a lot of knowledge to your staff, I think it's going to help us. He's starting quarterback off limits to Ben Jones on his birthday. Do you walk around with your head in a sliver? Ben Jones got me a few years ago. So thankfully, Allagot was a hug today, which was nice and didn't get a pie in the face. So far, yeah, so far. Yeah, he usually don't only get you want unless you, you know, get him back. So then, then you're on the list forever. So I just took my one and we'll move on. Do you do anything on your birthday since it probably always plans around training camp time? No, I haven't been able to celebrate my birthday probably like 15 years, you know, going back to college, you know, so college is always training camp. NFL is my 11th year, always training camp. So hopefully got some good years left in me with no celebrations. And then first one when I'm out, we're going to celebrate a big. How much pride is still being here still to be in the league? A lot of players burn out in this league, especially at your position at 34 to still be here playing at a high level. I'm thankful for the opportunity. You know, it's something I'm still passionate about. I still love the game. I still love coming to work and competing. You know, it's, it's a, it's a tough thing, but at the same time, it's something that I love doing and I don't take for granted. So, you know, don't, don't take it for granted, but want to want to cherish it a little bit and take advantage of the opportunities you have.