 There had such great success, again, in the first half on Sunday. What's happening there in that second half? And how frustrating is it when you all have had some good first halves these last couple of weeks? Yeah, we just shoot ourselves in the foot and just a little things. And I feel like we clean that up and we'll strive for it and do what we want to do in the second half, but just working on it and fixing it when we're out here. You feel like the unit has maybe gained some momentum, maybe in the running game over the last couple of weeks, I guess, with the first half success? Yeah, I mean, it should be encouraged by the success that we had in moving guys off the ball, but I think you should want more and stay hungry. I feel like the whole week for you this week, we enjoyed that. Y'all talking to us, probably like Team Run again, I got so many. So, you know, back when I was at Bemba going in Team Run against those guys. So, yeah. Have you gotten to know Brian Romeson, didn't he? I guess from your visit to Tuscaloosa, did you kind of follow him and hope he got better after his incident over this year? Yeah, I talked to him when he was at Bemba and kept a relationship with him. And, you know, whenever he was there playing throughout the season and when he got drafted and, you know, getting back to being able to play football now. So, yeah, we talk all the time. How incredible is that story, Derek, you know, of him being able to come back some quickly from, you know, significant situation there? Oh, yeah, I've seen him somewhere. He's a university king. So, I'm sure, you know, it was nothing to him. But just back, just getting back into the swing and things after something like that, you know, happened to him. But I'm just glad that he's able to play football and do something that he loves. You were pretty frustrated coming off the field and the interview you did with TV talked about kind of being unsatisfied with the way things unfolded in the whole game at the second half. And then after, Mike kind of gave you guys the theme and the message. Spoke, spoke differently. How important the messaging from him after the game? He's a head man, so it doesn't do something, that's how it goes. I mean, that's simple. Derek, coach for Able said yesterday, you hold yourself to a high standard. Very respectful of that and he believes the team has high respect for that, too. Have you noticed yourself being more critical of your performance this year than maybe last year? No, I'm always always been the same way. I'm a very critical and that's how it's always been since I've been playing this game. Do you, when you, when you're not satisfied, I guess, do you go back and watch the game film particularly critically? Do you just kind of replay things in your head? How do you, how do you work yourself through that, I guess? I do that after the play is over. So in the game and after the play, I'm I can take myself at any time. It don't really matter if it's after the game or during the game. I'm always doing that. It's constantly what I do. How do you kind of move on from play to play, like the camera showed you on the sideline after the, after the catch? I think you thought you should have and you're clearly a little frustrated. How do you get that out of your mind? Move on next play, kind of thing? It's hard. I don't really think I do. I think you just got to go out there and play and, you know, try your best to get over it and go out there and make a play. But I still think about it now. So are you working on it today to get better? Do you run angry at times? Like, does that help you or do you kind of in the same mindset throughout a game? You think? I mean, when you don't make a play, you should make it. I'm sure you're angry. So, I mean, I guess if you want to call it that, but I'm always going to run the same and I can't make a play. He coaches you guys not to expect a home run on every play. But, you know, it's still there at times. Like, how do you balance that, like trying to get those long runs, but not pressing too much to get them? Yeah, I think you just don't press and just go out there and play. And do that play and try to execute it as much as you can. And if it's there, you know, hit it. And if it happens, it happens. But I don't think you have to press too much and think about it. Then you take yourself out of your game. I think you just go, you know, let the game come to you. And he also commented about the importance of you guys setting blocks up and, you know, making sure that everything is, you're in the right spot, so to speak. Is that something that you feel happened a lot last week and going forward? Well, I mean, it's all tied in together in the run game blocks. And the things that we do, and, you know, as long as every guy do their job and, you know, I do mine, then we should have a successful play. But, you know, like I always say, it starts out here. So we got to take care of this person. Then they leave on the Sunday. In that game last week against the Colts, it was like we were close to breaking the big one. Do you get that feeling that, you know, that's coming at any point? Or is that just something that happens and you surprise yourself? I don't really try to think too much into it. I mean, if it happens, it happens. The player there try to make the play and go to the next play and, you know, just keep playing. How much are you enjoying spending things into the passing game as kind of a supplement to the run, especially when the run isn't going? Oh, yeah, that's been fun. I just got to catch the ball. So yeah, that's been fun. When you go back and look at those two that you didn't pull in, do you find some common thread there? Yeah, I just get a little excited, you know, because like you said, it doesn't happen often. And I just got to look the ball in and catch it and, you know, try to make a play. After games, do you find yourself being yourself up more for maybe a play you didn't make? I guess so. I said, after games, do you find yourself beating yourself up more for plays you didn't make that maybe some of the good ones you had? That's every game. Every game, I'm always the same. I'm always critiquing myself. And it's a good playoff, but it could have been better. It's a bad play. Well, it was terrible. So that's how it is. What is Haskins doing that's making him so effective on kickoffs right now? Yeah, I think he's obviously understanding what we're trying to execute on our kickoff return. He understands that he's got to catch the ball and we've got to run vertical with it. And he does a really good job, obviously, of seeing the blocks and how we're trying to get everything taken care of, as far as double teams and single blocks. So we'll continue to work with him, try to get him better, not only on kickoff return, but also punt. He's doing a good job for us. He had a big time open field tackle on Heinz in the fourth quarter. So we're really proud of him the way he's really got better each and every single week. He doesn't have a lot of experience. I mean, how sort of remedial have the lessons had to be with him along the way here? I mean, we had to start slow with him, but he's improved every single week and the guys out here each and every day early catching kickoffs. Our biggest thing that we're going to continue to work with him is trying to catch the ball with forward momentum, not really trying to go off to the side and try to catch the ball, but try to catch the ball with a little bit forward momentum because it's going to help out our blocks even more when that happens. Ryan indicated that in the first half, he thought there was sufficient time for the field ball unit to do its thing. Was there sufficient time? We always expect us to, no matter what the time is, to go out there and execute it. What we're trying to look for is the official to give us a signal, whether it's first or fourth down. That's the one thing that we're going to try to do every single time. We didn't get that from him until late when the official gave finally the fourth down signal. We just got to do a better job of going out there. Obviously, if we're coming in on an angle, we don't want to hit our kicker or our punter who's going to be our holder. So 19 seconds, we should have time to go out there and execute some stuff. We just got to make sure that official gives us a first or fourth down because if we get caught in a situation where he signals for first down, but it's really fourth and we put our field goal unit out on there on the field, that's going to cause some confusion on that part. So we'll continue to find that official, see what signal he gives us, and we'll go out and execute next time better. In that situation, though. Is that whenever the play rule down, that's the 19 seconds? Is that when the clock kind of starts? So the 19 seconds when the play initially starts, that's when we look at it and we feel like 19 seconds should be enough time for us to go out there. In that situation, though, shouldn't you assume the worst that it's fourth down and rather than wait for the official to presume it's a first down? I wouldn't necessarily say that because if we assume it's fourth down and we start running our guys out there and then all of a sudden he signals for a first down, now we've got five or six guys coming from our field goal team out there, our offense will be saying clock, clock, clock because it's first down. And that's the part we don't want to create is that confusion. We want to definitely see if it's going to be a first or a fourth down signal in order for us to get those guys out. As Kyle gets healthier, do you try to incorporate him back maybe in the punt return or you should say maybe how it has is? I think the most important thing is we've got to continue to catch the ball, which Robert has done a good job. We'll continue work with Kyle on that and hopefully gain him the confidence that he had during the off season and during training camp. Do you think his confidence has lacked there in a little bit just having some of those reps not go his way? Yeah, I'm sure. Hopefully there's no self doubt with him, but I'm sure as a player you're thinking, man, I've got to go back there and catch the ball with confidence. But I want to necessarily say that his confidence is shot. It's just probably going him getting in there and getting a bunch more reps and then he'll feel more comfortable doing it again for us. And then get some yards. Sure. When Robert did have a chance two weeks ago when he did catch the ball and he had that opportunity to go make some things happen, he gained 21 yards. So we didn't really get an opportunity last week. I know there was a fair catch and then the other one was a 19 yard punt OB. So if we have those opportunities to take advantage of it, we definitely got to do that. How nice does it help the offense when Henry is making catches? I mean, first two games, no catch. I think he's got eight now combined over these last two games. How valuable is he in that part of the game? Yeah, we love getting the ball in his hands anyway that we can. And especially when we're trying to take some of these play action shots and all that, and they sink into coverage, getting a check down to him is just like Hannah and the ball against a good box. So we'll take it any time we can. But he's done a nice job in the pass game and a couple of good screens, too. So that's been nice. He really puts the work in, too, right? I mean, we see him at the jug machine all the time during training camp and all that. He really does put the work in to try to be a better pass reciever, right? He does. And then if something happens to go awry or he has a hiccup, he works really hard to kind of put that to bed and get those reps throughout the course of special teams or practice with Ryan. So yeah. Yeah, it bothers me that those guys aren't able to enjoy the success and kind of the experience of having a more comfortable second half. I think we've done some really good things in the first half, and I think that we're just on the cusp of breaking through and having a really efficient second half as well. We're just a couple of plays here and there. My only frustration with it is that I think those guys work hard enough that they deserve to enjoy some fourth quarters. I guess run game specifically, you have had a lot of success. Run the ball first half, maybe not as much. Second half, is it just breakdowns maybe there as well that could pull you up? Yeah, I think a couple of factors in that. Obviously, not gaining first downs doesn't give you the ability to repeat runs in the second half. And I think that that's something that we've done well in the first half is we'll come back to runs and make minor adjustments or Derek sees the read again or a combination gets a second chance to fit it. And if you don't gain first downs in the second half, you don't have that opportunity to repeat runs like that. And then secondly, we've just got to be more efficient with our opportunities. We have a couple of hiccups that cause some inefficient runs. And if we can get those straightened out, I think we'll start to take off. If you're a saver group, if trailing isn't able to go, how much confidence do you have in these guys to win those matchups on the outside? Like take that personally and make teams pay for that? It's a great opportunity for these guys. It really is to go out there and show what they can do in one-on-one situations. And I think it's been great to watch the process this year off-season training camp. Those guys getting a lot of time on task with Ryan, having an understanding of where Ryan expects them to be and how he expects them to come out of the top of the route. So I'm excited for these guys' opportunity and see what competitive spirit they have. Third down pass there to Chig, uncommon formation, uncommon sort of play. I mean, things like that, are they in the playbook that you just sort of wait for a particular time? Or do you dial something up like that and draw it up during the week and put it in? Yeah, a lot of those plays are maybe a concept that we have out of a more traditional formation and then we just tweak it or modify the concept to get Chig in the right spot. The defense doesn't know what formation you're in or who's in line where until you actually break the huddle and line up there. So sometimes it's off of a personnel grouping that you might want to show one thing and then do the other. So I think that's kind of a situational adaptation, if you will. These that you guys have had in the past game have obviously come off of play action. Do you need to kind of have guys win more one-on-ones in the straight dropback game to kind of balance that and give yourself more overall balance in the past game? It depends a little bit on coverage. If it's a big man game, then yeah, you've got to win some one-on-one matchups and we've got to help them get in positions to get open with catch and run opportunities and things like that. If it's a zone game, then it's really about having that feel for where you fit in the zone. It may not be you beating a certain defender. You have to beat them to the spot or you have to feel that softness in the spot. So it kind of depends a little bit defensively, but there's definitely a win-your-job element to converting and to winning in one-on-ones dropback. Perfect situation. What should have happened is the easiest thing for Tannehill to throw the ball away once he's feeling pressure or is there a better alternative there? I think there's always some retroactive, easiest decision. I think there were a lot of unique factors in that because he scrambled for what he thought was the first down, which would put us in a position where we could then get up and clock the ball. Where he was tackled was right at the stick, so there was some indecision on the spot and whether it was the first down or not. So we work diligently here to try to cover as many situations as we can. That one was, I don't know what's a superfect of unique situations. So I can certainly help by trying to get outbreaking routes or going with something a little more one-and-done on the read, but we were close to what we wanted there. Would you have Chitrailin have gotten out of bounds, maybe instead of trying to get an extra yard or two? You'd always love to stop the clock as opposed to fight for a yard. So you've had some success with getting Derrick outside to swing pass early on, that touchdown that got called back and setting up wide receivers blocking for him. How have you felt about wide receivers and blocking on the second level and their ability? How important has that been to getting Derrick going more and maybe hitting some of those home run runs? Yeah, those guys, that whole group has really played selfless football this year for us and they've done a great job blocking on the perimeter. I thought the timing on that swing screen was absolutely excellent. Jeff Swame did a nice job of fitting that block as well without it being offensive pass interference and I know it went in as a run, but you gotta be careful there, not blocking while the ball's in the air. And I think Nick Westbrook and Cody Hollister and Robert Woods and Chitrailin and all those guys that have had their opportunities, even Kyle Winnie's been asked to block out there have all done an excellent job of saying my man's not gonna make the tackle. And when we play that way as an offense, we play efficiently, we move the football. We've gotta make sure that that translates to every area and not just blocking for Derrick in space. I'm sure you'd like guys to be running wide open, but can separation be, I don't wanna say overrated, but you've got a quarterback capable of making tight window throws. Are you satisfied in some circumstances if a guy's just got enough for a tight window throw and the separation thing? Absolutely, yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. NFL open is not four or five yards of separation, right? NFL open is in a place where you can catch the ball even in a contested situation, but the ball's out in front of you and you can catch it in front of your eyes. So we can't search for these times where guys are just running scot-free, right? We need to be able to create separation, maybe with rubs and picks, things of that nature where we're able to get guys access and then make tight contested catches for sure. But the way that teams are playing your receivers, it's clear you got big physical receivers, you guys work on combat catches. When there's one-on-one out there, no safety over top, I mean, would you like to see more checks? Like, hey, go to that fade, go to that nine route. Is that something that you want the guys to do more? I think some of it is situational. I think when you're dealing with some pressures and things like that, you have some opportunities to use some checks. And then I think we talked about the play pass earlier. Sometimes it's got to fit within the quarterback's timing and drop and things of that nature. So we're always looking for ways to attack down the field. We want to be able to put our guys in the best position possible based on their skill set and their abilities. And that's just an ongoing process and a challenge for me to see how can we push this ball down the field more consistently. As a play caller, though, when they're doing that, that's something that you take personally for your guys who are out there? Because I mean, it's a form of distance. Yeah, you always want to try to stoke that competitive fire, right? And say, hey, they're putting you on an island over there. It's mano a mano who's gonna come down with it. So absolutely. What's the difference in Nate Davis from last year to this year? Seems like he's been much improved in terms of being both a run blocker and a pass protector. Yeah, I think another year under his belt, more experience. You know, he's seen more, he's lived more. And I think that he's really dedicated to taking it one snap at a time and maybe putting either good or bad behind him and just going on to the next play. So very pleased with Nate and the way that he's stepped up in a leadership role. And I mean, believe it or not, he's a vet now. So he's got to help with some of the youth we have up there. And it's been fun to watch. What have you seen in terms of Josh Gordon's progress since he's come along? And I guess a reason for him maybe not playing last week as opposed to the previous two weeks what went into that decision, too? Yeah, as far as who's up and who's down and all that, I'll leave that to Coach Vrable to talk to you guys about those decisions. I'll speak on Josh and his work habits here. He's been working diligently to get more and more comfortable with the offense. I think he's getting in better and better shape, understanding how we want to do things. I think he's growing in his kind of width and breadth of understanding the offense. So he's not just a single position player. So like the work that he's putting in. I think that when and if his number gets called, he'll be ready to contribute. How many times, how long have you practiced that? As a coordinator, how do you pick the time? Hey, we're going to use this play. Which one, the last play of the game? The late one, yeah. About five days. I was marinating about five days. Yeah. Just in for the coach who came. And when you're working to play like that and it works at the right time. I mean, how good is that as a cell as an offensive coordinator? Yeah, I'm definitely looking for those small victories. So I celebrated that one a little bit. I was excited to see that play executed and us be able to kneel on the football. Obviously, we want to perform better in the second half. But any game that you tell me we get the knee on it to end the game, I'll take it. Shane, so many different starters. Most in the NFL on the defensive side. How much, I mean, obviously you have experience from this last year. But getting these guys mixed in so soon in four games, what's been the biggest challenge in getting this group to solidify? Yeah, I think ultimately always it's the communication aspect of it. The scheme, making sure guys understand their role in the scheme. And we're all on the same page, right? Like, whatever we're defending, whatever is called, making sure 11 guys know how to execute it together as one unit. And I think that's the biggest thing. We've got to work one weekend and week out, with guys, different faces, guys, some guys talk more, some guys talk less. But making sure we're putting emphasis on that throughout the week just so they all feel comfortable come Sunday. How's the communication been in the back end? I'm thinking of McCreary on some of the crossers where it seems like he's worried or concerned about traffic that maybe isn't really there. Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things. When you play man coverage, that's something they're always going to do to try to create that traffic you're asking about in the picks. I think it's always something we've got to be on the same page without there, because we can play those things different ways. But in terms of the crosser, the one that showed up the other day was just leverage. And I think that's coverage-wise in the passing game. That's what's been showing up. It's been our discipline and coverage. Being able to execute whatever type of coverage it is, whether it's zone, whether it's man, whether it's a zone match, and guys being on the same page in terms of their drops, what they're looking for, and then also the leverage. When you're a man coverage, the leverage is critical. Because more times than not, you've got a piece somewhere and just making sure you're playing to using that piece and not playing against it where you end up with two guys on the wrong side of a man. Mike was really a complementary of the inside backers against Andy. What stood out to you from that group? Yeah, I think they played downhill. Like, we talked about setting the edge and building a wall. And we were good up front for the most part. We weren't really playing peek-a-boo. Guys were controlling their gaps. They were physical for the most part. And the backers were getting downhill and filling the holes. So I think as that continues, that's probably going to be the biggest thing, is just those guys continue to play downhill. So Lonnie Rice returns, obviously, good to have him back. But what's the kind of balance working him back in? And we can maybe expect to see him here soon? Yeah, I mean, he was out there. Yesterday working, he'll work again today. And I think he looks good. Like, he's moving around good, fresh legs, right? And he's been working on his own with Frank and the training staff to get back, going through different drills. And I think he had a good understanding schematically of what we were asking him to do yesterday as well. It's just going, being able to take it from the meeting room to the field and all the little details and techniques that come with being able to truly execute a call. That's just something he's going to have to continue to work at to get caught up. I was going to say, I mean, he's been out a long time. I mean, is the first day maybe easier? And then you have to grind through after that sometimes? In terms of just staying sharp. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure he was really excited to be out there, right? And I think he's done a good job throughout being locked in and staying engaged in those meetings. I don't think he's tripped it off in the No Man's Land, where it's starting from ground zero yesterday, right? So he's been involved. He's had opportunities to kind of go through things with Bobby. It was that curve. So I think that always helps in. And then, I mean, just like anybody else, we get in training camp. Once you get going, man, those legs get a little bit heavier and he's going to have to fight through some things there. But hopefully, mentally, we can keep him ahead of the wave a little bit. What did you see out of Caleb that was progress on Sunday and what do you see that still needs work? Yeah, I mean, every place he was tight there, I think the one down the field, it was just he got disconnected from the guy and looked back and the ball was under thrown and he lost contact with the guy. So there was a bunch of space there and the guy was able to come back and he wasn't able to relocate him, right? But I did, I thought his technique improved overall. We just got to continue to work the down the field stuff as it goes. But I mean, they tried to run an out route on him. He was quick to transition out of his break and drive on it. So I mean, you're seeing little improvements as we go and he's just got to keep working to become more consistent. You don't want to give up big plays, but he needs to play as opposed to just work on the practice field. How do you balance that? Yeah, I think, I mean, with all these guys, the more you play, the better you're going to be, the more you're going to learn, the more you're going to experience, it's a fine line. I mean, we're trying to get the best 11 out there at a certain point in time, right? And we got to balance that as a coaching staff based on what we're doing schematically, based on what we're kind of asking those guys to do. But again, you want all these guys to be able to go out there and play and learn. Because ultimately they're going to learn more on Sunday than they do out here on the practice field just by being the exposure and the unknown and just playing the game and everything that comes with it where it's not scripted and they know what's coming and how to play certain things. Even over here. Mary will come in so quickly and get that amount of snaps. And also, how do you like that stunt that you're able to do with he and Danico Archery? Yeah, I think he came in here hungry. I think he had a chip on his shoulder from whatever it was in Jacksonville to come in here. He had an opportunity to go out there and play, and I think he made the most of it. I think he plays hard. I think he's attacking. It's a bigger body out there for us, which is a little bit unique to what we've had. So I think he did a good job coming in here, getting ready to go, and then going to execute and play. And him and Nico, they got a history. They're together in Oakland. You kind of see them around the building. They're together. I think they got a pretty good relationship, friendship. So it's no surprise they go out there on Sunday. They're able to execute something together because they have that history. They might have not repped that thing a thousand times, but there's an understanding of what the guy inside's doing, what the guy outside doing, where they can make it work. What's Sam O'Don, I guess, in recent practices, in recent weeks, I guess, to get promoted? Yeah, he just shows up. You turn the film on. You watch the show team. You watch special teams. You notice them. He's going hard. He's trying to play with technique and fundamentals. And if a guy practices like that, usually that correlates. You hope it correlates. And we talk about earning everything you get around here. And I think he's earned an opportunity to hopefully go out there and play. And I'm excited to kind of see where he is. How much pressure do you like to put on tomorrow? How much pressure? Yeah, we'll see. I mean, we'll have to evaluate the reps as the game goes, just what those guys are doing and what we're asking them to do in certain packages. I think their roles are going to be a little bit different depending on what we're playing. So we'll see. Does he have to give you something maybe standing up on the edge, too, as well as with his hand in the dirt? Yeah, I think there's some versatility there with him. I think when we initially saw him and liked him, it was the interior pass rush ability. And I think that's improved from training camp to now, just watching pass rush even. I think that's improved. But yeah, I do think there's a little bit of versatility there. The Mario role, the Walker role, he's similar skill set wise, body type wise as those guys. It's not going a lot. Washington's offense has struggled so far this season. They've given up a ton of sacks. They've pretty much lost a lot of the categories. How do you keep your guys from getting lulled to sleep by those stats and going out and executing? Yeah, I mean, it's the NFL, man. It's week to week. Regardless, they got NFL players. They're all NFL players. We understand that. We got to be ready to go regardless of who we're playing. They got a lot of playmakers over there. They're doing a good job of trying to find ways to give them the ball, too. So we're going to have our hands full with 17, McLauren, with Samuel, and all the different things they're doing with him and the running backs. They got four running backs that are good players if Robinson gets back. So I mean, they got town over there. We just got to make sure we're focused on doing what we need to do and playing our game. And I mean, we can't take anybody lightly in this league at all. I think stats are out, especially early in the year, man. Stats are stats. We got to be ready to go. All the injuries, you've got the balls coming out at least last week, quicker passing. Is this a week where you want to challenge your guys to come up at the line of scrimmage and cause a little more chatter where the back end can help the front end? Yeah, I think it all is correlated to our scheme. What we're asking those guys to do in first, second down what they're able to do in terms of being pressed, being off. But you do see it, ways to get 17 and 10 the ball. They make a ton of guys miss in space. They get them the ball. And sure enough, the first guy don't tackle, right? So we're going to have to do a good job swarming and everything else. But yeah, in terms of our secondary, being able to change the picture on those guys, I think that's going to be critical.