 So might you'd hope that will might be able to be on the field today is is he gonna be able to practice and How do you try to you know keep easing him back in to check his mobility? by practice, you know, I mean, I think that he will be able to Do this to run here you go check that again you got a text so kicked out of there Get you guys fighting amongst yourselves By practicing I think that's why the practice still is always going to be important to be able to evaluate where guys are health-wise and also from you know an understanding of what we're supposed to be doing in all three phases and You know again, it's it's important and I'm excited about getting out here and practicing Well, there'll be limited team stuff today, but I would imagine that there'll be some you know some passing game stuff That's the speed and you know hope that he can do that Yeah, that started as soon as they signed, you know as soon as they signed being able to meet with us and the coaches and Getting them up to speed as quickly as possible. We always talk that you know, it doesn't matter how you end up here You know the only thing that matters is what you do while you're here You know, we've gotten guys ready to play. You know some of those guys may may You know be you know available this week and may you know get an opportunity Guys here that close it in on some personal milestones like Hopkins and Henry both getting close to a thousand yards Landry could get doubled into sex. How important would you like to see for those guys to be able to accomplish those personal miles? Well, I think that that's always You know, they were in this For the team and we're in this to win win championships, but also along the way You know, you have to have individual success players have to make plays Offensively defensively and on special teams. So with that personal success, we'll get enough of it You know it can lead to the success of the team and so Would hope that those guys can can get everything that they want and the you know within What we're trying to do Yeah, I think that there's always a balance there. I'm making sure that they're doing the things that You know help them be successful whether it be this year or you know in the past and making sure that they're not Doing things outside of what the scheme is that could ultimately affect the team But I don't think any of those players, you know, I hope that they all You know have great games and can achieve whatever it is that they're they're looking to achieve How much is it? How good has it been to kind of see him hit his stride here over the last six seven? Well, I just think that he's feeling, you know more comfortable and again every injury and every rehab and every You know, everybody heals differently things, you know, some guys take less time some guys take more time and You know, again, I just think that it's been good to see him. He's been out there every day he's been working and They've been with us for a lot. So you want good things to happen to people like her To go get people off somebody else's practice squad then it appears sometimes in that They'll get promoted by their team or or maybe decide to stay and get a raise and decide to stay Yeah, there's there's a lot of those situations that happen this time of year, you know When we take somebody off somebody's practice squad, we're required to keep them For a minimum of three weeks on the active roster Some teams do, you know, we've we've tried to do that in the past and some teams will will promote the said player Maybe a veteran player that has, you know, a number of credited seasons That's on the practice squad that may ultimately get called up to a playoff team May stay there's a lot of different scenarios and I think that a lot of those depend on the individual player What he's done in his career what he wants to do the opportunity that may be presented Whether it's here or or somewhere else Well one we didn't have any depth on the practice squad when you had five guys the depth is somewhat limited Sometimes it's a player that has played, you know as played in the past and is you know, what you would call a veteran player Versus a younger player that may be on the practice squad that you're still Developing working with and still want to move forward with but may not be ready for the game Getting his time. How does it look for you this week? Well, I think it's too early to tell You know, I thought Dre finished the game well and you know expect more from Jalen So we'll kind of work through the week and kind of see how that goes and Try to come up with a decision that we think is best for the team and then You know everybody that's you know up on on the game day roster Has to be ready to play That was strictly due to injury No, it was just a you know, I mean whether it's injury or performance or a decision that You know, I made it just was you know Felt like we could get more from that position You know, I think there was again Otis plays with with the speed and the violence that I appreciate we asked them You know to use his hands on kickoff coming out of last week He went down there was involved in a double team uses handshed and I think the last kickoff that we had and made the tackle You know, he ran and made some good tackles he chased the football Had a really really nice play over on our sidelines came from a long way away Great angle great speed and you know held them to like two yards. So And then there were some you know some drops and some details and I'm like we we'll figure all that out And I promise you the most important thing right now is that that you play with an effort of violence of speed You take the coaching and you know, we'll get some of the details that we'll have to have this week cleaned up Anything extra that goes into it coach when you talk about his physical play and maybe learning from past experiences Of how to maybe slide or do things that aren't he do he slid? He protected himself the last time we we played the Texans and he dove forward and Got us five yards and we had a half a yard And so I rewarded them by going for it on on fourth and a half a yard. So you know, we're not gonna Yeah, we're not gonna restrict these guys to you know playing Outside of how they are wired to play and It's an instinctive game You know, there's sometimes the pocket breaks down if you're a quarterback and you have to be able to move and avoid protect the football and Ultimately, we would like you to do the best that you could to protect yourself, especially at that position But there also is a you know And a responsibility that you have to try to you know help the team on the field and Score a touchdown or convert on on a third down There's a player that Has come in and You know bided his time and Worked I thought he got in good shape while he was here and the details and the technique and Took advantage of his opportunity and So now he's earning more opportunity and I'd like like coaching him and enjoy having him around How did he do in the tackle eligible role he had Sunday and does that merit maybe more work? Yeah, I think it does. I don't I think it does at least going forward There was certainly an excitement And a willingness to want to go play saw them You know trying to finish and it was a new opportunity for him. So there was you know, there's some mistakes and things that we will have to coach and clean up but Usually when you saw the end of the pile, he was there. Raider was there or or rup. He was there. So that's a good start Like when you brought guys either up from the practice squad or in off the street You've had a lot of success getting them ready to play and just a short amount of time What do you attribute that to a simplified approach or how does how does that work for me? Well, I think one it's always, you know, it's always on the player Right well, we're going to give you as much as you can handle and You know the role that you have each week. I think our coaches do You know, I do a very good job of of getting those guys ready and then also you know trying to Put them in a role that will You know be consistent with what they know. We don't want to put them in a bad position you know that You know is forcing them to do something that maybe they Didn't learn over the course of of three or four days You've got 16 on IR now Is there anything different about the injuries this year? Is there any different feel to kind of the injuries? I think they probably are. I mean, they're just you know, some of these IR, you know You know, we got into a situation where we had to make a decision on you know, I talked about this the other day or yesterday It wouldn't you know, maybe it would have been a couple weeks But you know, if you weren't available this week, we needed the roster spots. So You know, we've got some mcl's in there and you know I'll try to do my best to continue to evaluate that You know the health of the team and that's obviously always something that's critical You know, but you know, when you when you're talking about some some mcl's or You know, ac spring or whatever the things that occur during during a football game a very violent game You know, it's hard to account for for some of those things when guys fall into Jeff's knee or Amadi's knee just using those You know as an example Maybe not as bad as it's been the last couple years. I mean any any injury is bad You know, I mean any injury anytime we lose a player Um, you know, it affects the team and so You know, we'll have to obviously look at those things and continue to do it But that's why we have you know a practice squad and and guys that can come in there and step in and you know, it's It's never great when you lose players It's you know, something that you know, you'll have to deal with through the course of the season Um And trying to get them is is ready to play and then when injuries do occur You know that we all have a great responsibility to to get the player back as as quickly as possible Yeah, we'll get some of that early on with some guys that have uh Um Not played a lot of football for us and where we've been the last couple weeks, you know, really not being able to do a lot of speed Um, we'll try to get some work in there and then we'll see where things are tomorrow I mean, I think Tajah's Valuable Player just like everybody else and you know just made a decision You know some of these kickers that were playing you know, they they have the ability to Put the ball in a lot of different places and You know make it advantageous for their coverage, you know the hang time and You see it's kind of trending towards You know, just fair catching it and putting it on to 25 Uh watch position instead of on the thing under center It's tough. I mean it's tough wanting to be out there and play on watching everyone else But I mean still fun. It's a different perspective. Obviously. I had that for you know first half or so of the season But when you're not even suited up or whatever it's a little different but trying to find ways just to you know be a good teammate and uh Cheer the guys on but um, you know, definitely would rather be playing and looking to get back to playing here soon It's good. It's coming along. Well doing everything I can to get it back And uh, yeah, I mean we'll see how this week goes, but um taking it day by day What have the days been like for you as far as we have and and and still study and try to get everything done? Yeah, I mean it's continuing to just prepare as if I was playing and um Keeping the same mindset regardless of the situation. Uh, it's tough, but I mean The time in the training room obviously takes away from the other time that you usually have but I mean that's part of the game it's part of the sacrifices you have to make and um Yeah, I mean just continuing to work with these guys to to get me ready as soon as possible Do you think it is to play a couple more games, you know this season? I just want to play ball. I mean, I just want to go out there and Win games and get to leave the season with a good taste in our mouth, you know Um, we've had some tough losses and looking to just get the little things corrected Especially, you know playing a team this week that we just played two weeks ago. You don't get that a lot So that's interesting. Um, but opportunity to really kind of put a new version of us on tape versus that same defense Which is going to be exciting Uh, I'd say it's honestly just pain tolerance. Yeah Party wants to go head to head with Stroud looks like he may be on the verge of coming back this week Is there a party that wants to go head to head with another member of the 2023 draft class like you did with christianne? Yeah, I'd love to compete with him. I mean, he's a heck of a player and um, never got to compete against him in college and Watching him from afar and what he's been able to do has been really impressive. So, um, you know Hopefully he's he's getting better here soon and it would be a lot of fun to compete against him Well, how much does it help with your limited preparation then this week? Having just played them two weeks ago if you have to miss some things in the training room Does that help everything's still kind of fresh in your mind? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um Um It's funny like even just with the one week in between it's like you can get your wires crossed like oh This is how seato is playing it and and how we want to you know, either ID things or do whatever But it's important to be able to get your mind back set in the in the right space But it is a lot more fresh because it is just two weeks ago. Um, and uh, it doesn't mean that it's any less preparation though What we told you before about how Deandre Inspires you to elevate your game, but how much has he been a common influence on you? Just like having that veteran that guy who's seen it all been through it all how much has that been that common for you? It's been cool. I mean, um It's been cool in that just just who he is and then what he's been able to do and that he must see something in me to really care and and um Try to pour into me. So, um, I try to take everything I can from him and We're continuing to build our relationship and feel like it's just gotten stronger and stronger throughout the weeks and you know Hopefully finish off these these next couple weeks feeling really really good about Our chemistry as well as you know everyone else's And you have you have like that high energy personality. He's such a chill, not a lot of guy Do you ever have moments where you're like, come on man get hyped with me. You know I mean that's his type, you know, you got to see how dudes are wired and and you know Approach it appropriately and you know, he's definitely one of those dudes that It's not going to do any good to get in his face and scream at him You know, but um, you got to just you know massage the relationship and understand kind of what's the best way to get through Someone and with him, it's probably the best thing is Having a you know level-headed one-on-one conversation about what's going on Obviously sometimes emotions are flying and things can get a little higher Um, but you know, you got to just maintain the relationship the best way possible Obviously understand it very well and that guys are different and being around football teams your whole life Have come to understand that or there are moments where you wonder how somebody can be like that Just based on how you are like how could I be that calm when it's so exciting and Yeah, I think we all fall into that with anything in our lives or any opinions we have like How does this person think about it this way when I do but um That's just the beauty of the of this world and the game and just how everyone's different and it's the job of you know, the leaders to understand How they are different and then in turn how to Respond and how to approach them to to get the most out of them the best out of them So something i'm continuing to try to do and better myself at and looking to Focus on these next weeks two weeks especially Yeah, I mean now that you know, we're eliminated from playoff contention We talk about different ways to motivate vedas and that's definitely one. Um, I I just want to win games and um I'm not as much excited about knocking them out as I am is just winning a football game and if that's definitely a little bit extra motivation, but We're going out there to put our best ball on tape and to come back with a win You know that wins that we haven't had as as much as we'd like to this year So if we are able to swim it you know finish off these next couple weeks with some wins It makes us feel a whole lot better about everything Friday and and with that I guess to kind of give the whole legs stability there. Yeah, I was just but it was for my knee I was still feeling a little uneasiness there, but um Uh tried to tape it up in a way so that I could you know move around a little better, but uh, you know Didn't end up you know finishing that day, but these guys they got all sorts of tricks and stuff to Make you forget about what hurts. So I'm willing to try anything Have you had to figure out how to navigate any heightened pressure in this format in this need and coming back from the injury and going about it in the recommended timeline? Yeah, I think it's tough to come back to the field and play with a different energy like knowing that you're you're hurt like it's hard to Play differently and and have that in the back of your mind I feel like you can't play that way, you know, you got to be able to just go full tilt Um regardless of what's going on or else you get yourself and your teammates hurt so You know there's pain everyone's got pain at this point in the season everyone's dealing with something Uh, I kind of just got to put it behind you and in play as if you're not hurt How much have you been able to I guess learn week over week just being a rookie in this league and how much does that I guess Like make you itch to get back that much more of like what could I be learning? How could I be growing in these games? Yeah, I think a lot of the growth I've made has just been through Mistakes and you know good things I've done on the field and just With the mistakes trying to limit them and not have them pop up again. I've done a decent job of that I think so seeing the growth from week to week is exciting and then to miss out on that growth for a week Um is disappointing, but um like I said these two weeks are really really important We want to get these wins and and get out of this season You know feeling feeling good about how we finished it and then on an uptrend going into next year um And for me, that's important with me in my game, but just got to continue trusting my process and Taking advantage of the reps I get How much different did the game look from the sideline last week compared to those first six weeks? Like you're having played in games now Were you seeing things from the sideline that you think you maybe wouldn't have seen those first couple games? Yeah, I mean I was definitely more into the Just the pictures and kind of what was going on and what we're looking at and what we were facing and Why it wasn't working or why it was working and then Just staying in tune with what we're thinking game plan wise. Um, I just feel like my football IQ is increased and With that my understanding of everything's going on has gotten deeper, which is makes the game more fun to watch