 They're looking at this Colts rusty fans are doing really well without Shaq Leonard. What have you seen from them so far? I think they always been the same. They always play hard, fast, physical, disruptive. And they always been the same as I've been playing. I mean, I've been playing really good football in the run. You're expecting to see him back in the mix for them on Sunday? I already don't know his status, but I know he's been out for a little while. But if he's back, you know, he's a heart sore that deepens. So, you know, he's always, you know, around the ball when he's in there. Well, going back there to the soil stadium where the foot injury took place last year, will that be a mental hurdle for you to clear just to get it out of the way? My foot's fine, so no, I'm good. What was your feeling? Do you remember what you were feeling when you left there that day last October? I know that kind of sets you in motion for a return, but what was your feeling when you left there last October? One foot felt different than the other. I wanted to figure out what was going on. How much dirt do you look forward to these, you know, divisional battles? You mentioned it's always a physical game when you guys play the games. Yeah, I mean, there's always a battle in the trenches and, like you said, they've been good in run defense and, you know, it's always a challenge. It's always been a challenge, so you got to get your mind right for Sunday and, you know, it starts out here. So just trying to do that until Sunday comes. What kind of battle, Derek, are you getting closer to getting that trademark homerun type of carry that you, you know, kind of patented? I mean, yeah, I mean, as long as we, you know, stick with it and continue to do the things we need to do to be able to have those big plays, I think it will eventually come. But you got to take care of the little things and make sure we're doing what we need to do to have those big plays. Pretty big battle of quality running backs here, Derek. I wonder what your thoughts are on Jonathan Taylor. What's your impressions of him? One of the best running backs in the league is not the best. He's young and he's dominated the league at an early age. You know, I think he'll be doing it for a while. And he's exciting for the game and he's a big playmaker for them. And, you know, it's going to be a challenge for our defense to stop him. But yeah, he's a little... You've played against him a lot. I mean, no matter who they've got, what do you kind of expect when you face the Colts and their defense? Big physical around the ball. They hammer at the ball, try to get the ball out. They're going to fly to the ball no matter where it's at. And they play full tilt. Built some momentum against the writers and how important is it maybe to kind of keep the positives that you did then going on Sunday? Yeah, I think you just try to build off the positives and then correct the things that we know that we need to get better at. And then continue to focus on that, have the emphasis on that until Sunday comes and right there, execute. What's the divisional game for you guys after, you know, three weeks of non-divisional games? How much do things kind of amp up when you go against the divisional foe? Well, we know each other very well. So, you know, it's really just being focused all week, you know, hammering on everything that we need to do to be able to win the game. You know, because we know it's always tough and we know what type of game it is every time we play this guy. So it is really focusing on everything that we need to focus on to get out there and get a win. Have you noticed maybe a more heightened sense of focus this week because it is a divisional matchup? No, I think this coach is being on us about, you know, what we need to do, our keys and everything like that and then making sure that it translates when we get out here on the field and things like that and paying attention to the meetings and taking action notes for what we need to do to be ready. How much was it for you and the offense in general to be able to get more involved in the passing game last week and how good is it to know that a check-down is necessarily a give-up play when there's you or Don Trill who can break a tackle and make a big gain out of it? Yeah, and now I just think you just take what Deepins gives you, get out there and be available to get you a spot and then try to get noticed yourself and take advantage of, you know, whatever you can out of the play when you catch the ball. How much do you enjoy that, though, Derek? I know, you know, being a running back, obviously, it's part of the game a little bit, but just how much do you kind of like mixing in that aspect of it? I mean, I like the ball in my hand the way I can get it to catch it or run it, so it doesn't matter to me, so. Two of your teammates and Coach Frable after last week's game said, you know, that they noticed maybe something even more impressive about you than regular, whether it was breaking tackles or, you know, crashing through the pile, that kind of thing. When you look back at the clips at all, did you notice anything different at all about your own game? Just trying to run the ball hard and, you know, get the most out of a play and, you know, get north and celebrate tackles and try to make a big play. That's all I was trying to do, and, you know, try to be better this week. Go to coffee order and are you a Starbucks or a Dunkin? I don't drink coffee. I thought he was surprised by that. Yeah, I don't drink coffee. I think Robert Woods had only had one punt return maybe in his career, I think, before Sunday. How did you guys settle on him? Was it kind of a process of elimination almost and how good was he on that one? Sure, I thought he had a really good week of practice. That was probably the start of it. You know, he's been back there and doing some work and doing some good things, and we obviously had the confidence in him to go into the game, and obviously he did a really good job of going back there, catching the ball, hitting the ball to the all-fence, and when he had an opportunity to return one, he did a really good job of making a guy miss in space and creating some positive yardage for us. So we were really happy with Robert going back there. To be honest, we're trying to get called back for a penalty, but what makes him a good candidate there? I think one of the biggest things, he's a running back, so he's used to finding creases and holes and trying to catch the ball on the run and finding out where the actually return is going to go. So, you know, he did it a little bit in college. I know he was always antsy to get back there and try to get one, but, you know, we obviously like how big he is too, where he can break some arm tackles because you see a lot of returners still get tackled with some arm tackles, but he's going to be big enough to run through those and, you know, unfortunately, we end up having a penalty, but we were encouraged with the way a sign ended up catching the ball and running and getting upfield. How much scrambling goes into the Special Teams unit with all the injuries because backups become starters, practice squad guys or guys off the street become backups in Special Teams players? Yeah, it's nothing new because, you know, and it's not just us. It's around the league, you know. We'll have to scramble each and every week just because of guys getting hurt. They might be playing more offensively, defensively. They get taken off of Special Teams because we just know that in order for us to win, guys are going to have to go in there and play some offense and defense if guys get hurt. So, we'll just move guys around and see, and, you know, we preach in the off season of guys being versatile, and they've got to play a bunch of different positions, whether it's right guard on the punt, left guard on the punt team, they got to play them all. So, our guys are used to it, and we talk about it each and every week that they might have to play multiple positions each week. We're trailing in their berks, that is, at kick return. Not back deep, but where he is. What is it about him that makes you want to, you know, make sure that he's involved on there? Yeah, one, he's a big body that's willing to block. And that's, you know, when a guy who gets drafted in the first round, you know, we've got to sit him down and talk to him that, hey, it's just not always offense or defense or whatever position he's going to play. You know, you're going to be asked to play some things on special teams, and he's embraced that, and he's done a really good job for us. We trust him to even go back there and catch punts and kickoffs. And he's got to be another versatile guy that goes back there and do a bunch of different things. So, we're really happy with trailing right now what he's doing and helping our team. Is the plan to continue to utilize Robert Woods in the punt returns, or would you like to get Kyle back in the mix at some point? Yeah, you know, I think that's going to be a day-by-day, week-by-week basis. Whether we want to have Robert back there or if Kyle can go back there and do that, we obviously got to continue to work with Kyle and try to continue to get him better on his catch mechanics. But yeah, that's going to be a day-by-day thing. Ryan is obviously booming some of his punts. What are some of the things you're kind of harping on him that he needs to continue to do to get better? Yeah, I mean, he's striking the ball really well for us. So, Jim, we don't want to do too much just because of what he's doing. But, you know, there's always things that we can work on with him, whether it's getting more hangtime, whether it's getting more direction on his kicks. You know, so there's always little things that will continue to harp on with him. And we got to continue to stress with him. It's just not punting because he's also got to be a good holder to Randy, too. So, those are a lot of things that will work on with Ryan throughout the season. Speaking of him being a holder, we see him over here catching off the judge machine. Was that your idea, his idea, how did that? That's everyone's idea. That's just one of those things when he came in, you know, he didn't hold his last two seasons at Colorado State. He held early on in his career. But that was just something that he had to get back to doing on a consistent basis. And this guy's just put in the work and he did it in the offseason training camp. You know, we just love his work ethic because he's out here all the time just trying to perfect his craft. I know he's using the jugs machine, but normally it's Morgan Cox doing that. It seems like he's just been a steady presence for you guys. How much does he really help solidify that whole procedure? Yeah. You know, Morgan, he's been awesome for us. He's a leader. He does everything that he's supposed to do. And he is like a jugs machine because when you go back there and you see all his snaps, they're perfect. We hardly have to move the laces, which is going to be huge for one, our holder and our kicker. So he obviously provides a great presence for us just to be there. Guy who's going to do his job all the time and do it right. How do you guys are getting closer to getting those long runs that Derek Henry typically is able to do? I do. I think we were close on a couple last week. We obviously had, you know, the 24-yarder and a couple other double-digit yardage runs. I think it's just a matter of finishing those blocks, that last shove, that last bit of effort. And we'll spring them into the secondary. So I do feel like we're close. Beyond just blocking the man in front of you, what are some of the things that have gone into the improvement in past protection? Yeah, I think they're doing a good job of communicating the games that we've been seeing. You know, we've done a nice job of getting our protections slid certain ways and trying to help out. And I think there's been some unselfish play, too, some guys that are chipping and, you know, helping those tackles a little bit before they get out and they're out. So it's been a combination of a lot of things. You know, I think guys have been doing a nice job against man coverage, as well, trying to get open in an efficient manner so we can get the ball out. How exactly, in particular, you know, another game under his belt, how has he shown improvement to you? Yeah, I think more time on task. He's getting more and more comfortable with the scheme. You know, he's talking a little bit more with his teammates. And, you know, I think that's always something that leads to better chemistry on Sundays. So I'm excited to see his continued growth. Todd, Donald, you know you're still effective for you in the first game out of the backfield. Might this week be an opportunity to get him more out in space in the passing game against the Coles? Yeah, I think we're always looking for opportunities to give, you know, playmakers a shot with the ball in their hands. And Don Trell certainly did a nice job in the opening week. And with his opportunity on third down, you know, making a guy miss and creating an explosive in a backed up third and long situation last week. So like where he's headed and I like how he's fit into things and, you know, he's a dynamic guy with the ball in his hands. How much of a lift can it be offensively when the defense has got everything covered up but you hit a big play like that off a check down? Yeah, I think that that's just a testament to how hard our guys work to have a nose for the sticks and to be situationally aware. You had some guys finishing well, blocking on the perimeter. And that's just validation as a coaching staff that if you play hard and, you know, you're never conceding anything that good things happen, you know, and that's a great example of that play there. You had a really good start in the first half, the second half, not as much. What went on this past game where you get 24 points and then you come back and you have zero in the second half? Yeah, it'd certainly be nice to be a little more comfortable in the second half. But we just need to be more consistent. You know, I think in the first half we really had a tenacity, a togetherness, you know, the details of our combinations and, you know, adjustments in the run game. You know, some guys getting open, like I said, in the past game. And then in the second half, for whatever reason, it just wasn't as consistent. Maybe one guy here, one guy there, a little miscommunication. And of course, when you don't convert third downs like we didn't in the second half, you're going to have less opportunities, you know, to extend those drives and give Derek another shot at maybe the same run so he can see it a second time or things of that nature. And we were close. You know, we had, you know, the fourth and inches, you know, hoop if he's able to keep his momentum rolling. We pick up a first down there. That's the cross midfield. We had a close call on a backside in cut to trailing. You know, Ryan did a nice job getting through the progression there. We just weren't able to connect. So again, I think we're close to putting four quarters together. It's just going to take more consistency to get it done. How do you think you've done this as far like layering plays and setting things up for, you know, later in the game? Yeah, again, I think that depends on the opportunities to be able to do it, right? If you don't pick up first downs, you're not able to come back with the counter punch. I think in the first half, we were able to set up some things and then come back off of play passes or screens or what have you off of those looks. But that gets difficult to do if you're not sustained and drive. So I've certainly got to do a better job at making sure that, you know, we're able to get into those counter punches, if you will. Todd, along those lines of needing to be more consistent, I guess what does it take to be that? Is it as simple as just being mentally sharper? What does it take to have that consistency from start to finish? I think it's a combination of things. I think there's, you know, a focus that needs to be on a play-by-play basis, you know, and making sure that we're resetting every single huddle. Certainly from my perspective and things that I can improve on, it's just an intentionality with the drive review on the sidelines and setting up what we're going to be getting to the next drive or maybe the next third down, you know, so we can kind of predict some of those futures, if you will. And so we're all looking for ways to become more consistent. What it's not is pressing. You know, what it's not is, oh man, this is a big third down. We got to pick this up. We have to let, you know, our playmakers go make plays. We have to, you know, stick to our training and the rules that we've established and go execute. Coach DeForest Buckner, just the challenge, match-up challenge that he presents. Yeah, absolutely. I think there are very talented from across the board. DeForest brings a really unique skill set. He's very long. He's big and powerful. He's an instinctive football player. And so that's going to be a big challenge for our interior. The communication there, the fits on our combinations are going to be critical, right? Making sure that we're in and out of the right plays, you know, and that Ryan's helping us with the looks. Those are all going to be critical things. And then, obviously, we've got to handle the road environment on top of that. So there's the challenge of, you know, potentially being on silent cadences and all those things. So big challenge ahead of us, and it certainly starts with DeForest. In addition to kind of the talent, obviously, you lose with Taylor being out. Is there some adjustment at all to, you know, kind of not having that same energy, vocal presence, whether it's in the huddle group, the room or whatever, is there adjustment process there at all? You know, Taylor is such a unique individual and brings energy and life to those around him. And we, you know, we miss his presence out there. Even on top of that, I would say that just the chemistry of making those calls with the guys next to you, whether it be with the tight end or whether it be, you know, with Brew, where maybe it used to be a one word communication to guys that have done it a lot, and now it's a little bit more layered, right? And so there's certainly aspects to that. But for a long time around here, you know, we've had that next man up mentality, and we've certainly never said, well, we're dependent on one guy to make this thing go. And so we expect that product to become a little bit more consistent here as we get more time on task with each other. You might come out of the locker room on the second half and say, let's blow this team out. Let's blow them out. Let's get it done. Yeah, I would love that. I would love that. For my blood pressure and my, you know, my stress level, I would love to be able to do that. Yeah, again, you know, there's that fine line between confidence on what you've done in the first half, right? And then assuming that it's just going to happen in the second half. And that's where the line's gotten a little bit blurred for us. We need to stay on those details. The things that drove the success in the first half can't wane in the second half. And I don't think anybody's coming off the gas, so to speak. It's just that urgency and maintaining that tenacity for the details that we need to continue to push for. I don't know if you follow, like, all the things being said about the team, but, you know, as soon as they're in a struggle offensively, they say fire tied down. You know, when you're getting blamed for everything, like, how do you handle that and just continue to keep your head down and do what you have to do? Yeah, I will tell you very bluntly, I can't pay attention to all the stuff that's going on out there and all the opinions about me. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I respect the fact that people have jobs to do and, you know, people to find, to place blame on and all that. I know that I'm responsible for the offense. I know that, you know, there are certain things that come with this role, responsibilities, critiques, you know, and kind of constant evaluation that comes with this role, but I can't afford to let somebody else's opinion cloud what Coach Vrable thinks of the job I'm doing or what John Robinson thinks of the job I'm doing or, frankly, what the players in the locker room think of the job I'm doing. I owe it to them to give my best. And in that process, I really try hard to maintain my identity. I work my tail off, and I do it for, you know, a bigger audience than trying to, you know, get the praise of man. I don't really do this job to be celebrated in the media. I do this job so that I can be the man I'm called to be and the role that I have, and hopefully I can continue to improve in that at every turn and help get this offense where we want it to be. Some, you know, probably a lot of people thought that Hooper and maybe Shague as well might be more involved, more productive at this point. In some respects, is that a matter of blocking? We know how important blocking is for tight ends to get on the field. Is that one of the reasons maybe we aren't seeing them as involved as much in the past game? Yeah, I think that we're always pressing to try to find ways to create matchups, right? This is a matchup-driven league, and sometimes the matchups where they need to be involved in blocking becomes more important to our efficiency and success than necessarily them free-releasing on a route. You know, I think we've been close on a couple opportunities with Hoop situationally. I think Chig's coming along. I think his role is developing. But in the same vein, I've seen some other guys step up and take advantage of their opportunities like Robert Woods having a good game for us last week and a number of targets. And so between Derek's workload and whoever steps up in the receiver department and all that, we're not really keeping Tally on, well, this guy had this many targets and this many opportunities. We're just going to continue to press them to try to do the best in their job and then hope Ryan finds the guy that's open. And maybe some of these other backs you've seen in the NFL. Yeah, he's a really good back. Got the ability for the X-Play always. Explosive. I think he's got good patience, good vision to see and fine creases. We got to do a good job making sure we don't give him any creases in there because if he sees that he hits it first and through and getting on the second, third level pretty quickly. So we're going to have to do a good job keeping him bottled up. Tally's kind of seen it all at this stage of his career. What's that chess game going to be like for you trying to disguise what you're trying to do versus what he sees? Yeah, I think that's a big part of what we do in general is trying to make everything look the same as much as we can and then post snap having to go and adjust as we need to. But you're right. He's seen it all. We've got him here this year even. So we're going to have to do a good job disguising like we always talk about. Not showing our hand too early for him. I think he does a great job at the line of scrimmage and in that scheme they've always been good at the line of scrimmage of being able to get in and out of plays or get to a play. They think it's best if they see something pretty snap. So we just got to do a good job making sure we're holding our water and see where it goes. He's got many young receivers that he's been working with. What do you see from them on film holiday? Yeah, I think Pierce had the big catch last week down the sideline. Again, I think obviously Pittman's been there and he's been a guy. They're going to look to get him the ball as well and then you've got Dolan that they mixed in there and they've actually used Heinz a little bit out there. One of his big attributes is his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield or if they line him up out in the slot. They're finding creative ways to get those guys the ball. The guy at the end last week in the red zone came up big form, big body dude. I think they're doing a good job putting their players, their receivers and positions to do what they do well and then try to execute their scheme to relate to those guys. You've got three weeks of film to see what he looks like with the Coles but how much do you have to go back and delve into his Falcon's film to find tendencies of things like that versus what he's done with the Coles? Just because it's such a small sample size I think that's with any player at any position it's more trying to figure out who they are as a player, their skill sets, what they do well what they might struggle with probably even more so with the quarterback in terms of scheme but you're doing that with any of these players just because if you don't have a big sample size from where they're at now you're going to have to go back to get some plays where you can evaluate kind of who they are. Is it tougher having your full front four? Is it tough to balance having to simulate pressure and bliss a lot more than maybe you would have had if you had everybody ready to go? I think as the season goes you've got to use the pieces you've got and we've got guys that we feel confident in regardless of whatever scheme we've got we're never going to be wholesale changing based on some of that stuff but we've got to have confidence in those guys to be able to go in whether we're rushing four, rushing five I don't think you can wholesale change who you are from my identity, schematically, whatever it might be and there might be some tweaks just to make sure you're getting those guys in position to do what they do best and not putting them in harms way but we're going to be true to who we are and hopefully those guys can continue to step up and make place for us. What does Caleb need to do to earn more playing time and how have you seen him handle not being out there as much as he'd like? Yeah he's got to work man it's every day trying to improve that's the message for all 53 guys that are on our active roster and the other 16 that are on the practice squad we're out here every day to improve to become a better player whether it's on an individual basis on a unit basis to fit but put your head down and work I think he's handled it well I think he's accepted the challenge in Elijah Morton last year he had some early struggles and then came back and ended up having a good year for it so I think the message to him is just put your head down and keep working when opportunities arise hopefully the work and the commitment that you've made throughout the week pays off on Sunday. Are there any particular things that went into like him going from the starter and training camp to a guy who played one snap last week? Yeah I think we made a decision to go with Mitch. How long does it generally take a guy to start trending in the right direction when he's in that sort of position? I mean it's case by case I mean again they got multiple days throughout the week to get out here and work be locked in and meetings be locked in and walk through and jog through take advantage of their reps speed reps show team reps right but they got a lot of opportunities throughout the week to hopefully that thing starts to turn quickly for these guys. You've been most impressed with Roger being a rookie and there's not a lot that you're critiquing every day I mean obviously for you you are but for us as the media it just doesn't seem like there's a lot to pick on early on. Is that impressive as a rookie? Yeah I think he's a very poised individual he loves football you can see it gets frustrated when he makes a mistake doesn't want to make the same mistake twice I think he learns well from his mistakes which kind of allows you to move on to the next thing right and I think overall just his demeanor and his love for the football has kind of shown up throughout and his ability to learn his ability to go out there and execute and then obviously on Sundays to go out there and play without the panic without the oh crap what's happening now he's under control. I know he's always a practice squad a guy with his experience potentially being in there and also how hard is it considering he's not been in training camp much or played how hard is it to potentially Yeah I think any time you got a vet that's played a lot of football I think it's good for the room, good for the unit just the knowledge that he can kind of share with some of those other guys is always valuable I think the transition is probably a little bit easier for guys like that coming in I mean he's been in a lot of systems so there's a lot of oh yeah we did it like that at Cleveland oh we did it like this here so there's a lot of his ability to kind of relate things to what he's done and then we'll just have to see as the week goes where he's at in terms of picking up what we're doing he's a smart dude and then also just where he's at condition level What about Edwards and how valuable his versatility is? Yeah I mean I'm excited to Adam I am I think the cash rush ability stands out I remember watching him a few years ago when he was a free agent and being excited about him liking him then so excited Adam we'll kind of see as the week goes what he's able to handle and what he can give us in terms of where he fits for us What do you have in terms of either getting deep and making the play or drawing a PI and how do you advise your DPC that he's big he's got a big catch radius he just can't panic right you got to be able to stay in phase you got to be able to locate the ball and you can't panic on a guy like that and he's big they're going to throw it up and he's going to be able to go up to it and you better be in position to make a play on the ball right you can it is what is we can't really face guard or do any of that we got to be able to make plays on the ball and make sure we get our head around but it starts with not panicking when he goes into a good position at the point where we can get our head around and be able to play the football Shane is there a commonality in the X plays you guys have given up and what's maybe the key for fixing that yeah I think there's I mean we've had some runs and we've had some passes and I told the guys today like you go back and look X plays equal points it does like just look at all our drives throughout the season we give up X plays there's points associated we don't give up X plays there's not many so we got to continue to stress making them earn it not getting the ball thrown over our head not giving them creases that gashes for 15 20 yards in the run game got to keep things in front of us and hopefully make them drive the field more more times they got to run a play more opportunities for us to make a play right and to get off the field give them a negative yard yardage get them off track so that's something we we got to get fixed we got to get fixed and it's kind of hurt us here early on these first third game