 Did you know much about Earl Campbell before you came to this franchise? And have you gotten to know him at all through the franchise? I did with the husband before I got here. But yeah, I mean, I watched Earl, NFL Network when they showed NFL films, all backs in the 80s. He was a beast, a ram, legend, so I was very familiar with Earl. I got to meet him a couple of times throughout my career. Has he said anything as you kind of get close to some of his marks? Do you guys communicate at all? I don't talk to him on a weekly basis, but anytime I see him, it's always encouraging words. Same with Eddie. I mean, you're getting close to some marks that he's set and helped set the standard for this franchise. When you're with those names and being mentioned, how nice is it to feel to be in that kind of company, Eddie and Earl? Yeah, I mean, it's always a dream come true. I was the kid looking at the TV, watching Eddie run, and like I said, watching Earl, NFL films, and all the old film on him. And they are the epitome of this franchise, and the running back position as far as how they played it, the physicality, success they had. So that'd be two guys that I looked up to. And it's a dream come true to have a name associated with. Has Eddie been giving you a hard time at all about getting close to him? He's coaching right now, so I haven't really talked to him much. But anytime I see him, or if he has something to say, he always reaches out. Important as a game, Derek, in your mind, coming off the box against the division team and trying to build some momentum here to start back? Yeah, I think in the next week's a good time for everybody to get well rested and come back, flying around and get ready for a division opponent. We just played two weeks ago, so we were very familiar with. We know what type of game it's gonna be, a physical game, a hard match game. So instead of come out here and be able to work and improve and get better to Sunday. Did those kind of games kind of like have a buy one, get one free to it, where you get a win in the conference as well as a division? Do you look at it that way at all? No, it's another vision game. It's a good team, and it's gonna be a battle in trenches. Is it easier or harder to play a team so close together in a three-week span like this? Is it any different than playing them three weeks ago, than playing them in December? I don't really try to get into all that. I mean, our opponent is our opponent, and it's a division opponent. We just played two weeks ago, we know very well, so I mean, there ain't really much to it. It's great to play, execute, and do what we need to do in. Do you feel like there have been home run opportunities that you guys have missed out on, or that you guys haven't gotten to the verge of home run? I haven't been thinking about that, Paul. I mean, when it comes, it comes. I'm not pressing and I mean, whenever it happens, it'll happen. Does it feel like maybe the rhythm is getting closer to, you know, with the blocking? And I mean, there's some new faces on that line, particularly with Taylor now out. Are things maybe getting a little easier closer to that moment? I mean, we're just trying to focus on executing and do what we need to do to be efficient, make plays, and not going to do my job, you know, running hard and finishing runs and doing all those things. I don't really get into all the other stuff about it. I mean, as long as we execute and do what we need to do, I think we'll have success, and that's what we need to focus on. You're breaking runs in the fourth quarter, that kind of thing. What's it going to take to get back to that this season? Has it been concerning to you that you haven't had a lot of success late in games this season? I'm not concerned at all. Miss a long season. Just have images on it and work on it when we're out here. I mean, that's all you can do, and eventually it'll happen. And, you know, we've got the guys that, you know, that'll make it happen, but we just got to get better. What do you make there of the fact that you guys are so good in the red zone, but, you know, it's been a different story trying to get to the red zone. Does it seem like a kind of an odd combination for the offense? Well, when we get down there, we score, but we just got to get down there. I mean, that's just the only thing. When we get down there, we know we put points on the board, and it's just about getting down there and putting drives together, sustaining and, you know, finishing with points. Ryan started 48 straight games for this team at quarterback. With all the injuries you guys have had in other positions, how important is it that he's been able to answer the bell week after week that he's a warrior? He's the leader of his team and whatever you can do to help us win. And, you know, it gets better. That's what he's always going to do. I respect him for it. He's unselfish and, you know, he'll do whatever it takes to win. What are you expecting from the Colts on Sunday? You guys beat him in the last time you played him. They've won two in a row, but certainly have had not a great streak against this team recently. You expecting a kind of a fired up, hungry team coming in here Sunday? I think the Colts always come out and play hard. I mean, it's been a way since we've been playing them, so I wouldn't expect nothing less. Defense, they fire around it fast, it's physical, and, you know, that's how it's always been for them. Well, can you tell us about Rachel Rivas and maybe why you're kind of paying tribute to her today? Yeah, she's my girlfriend's aunt. Valya in cancer right now. I don't know. I mean, that's her personal business, but just want to shed a light on her, you know, with the platform I have and, you know, anything I can do to be a positive light to her and, you know, just let her know that, you know, I'm thinking about her and, you know, you know, praying for her and, you know, why she fights and, you know, just stay strong and God will take care of the rest. Thank you. So everyone, this is Tiny. The Titans are doing a great job of promoting adoption for dogs, and he's a very cute dog who needs a home. So if you guys get lonely and, you know, you need a friend, Tiny can be your best friend. Why'd you end up with Tiny as a dog? Uh, I don't know, but I think Tiny's a good name. I mean, he's not too big. Um, and I feel like he'd be exciting and bring some joy to your life. Y'all need a friend. Derek, do you like talking about dogs more than like answering your questions about football? Oh, the print's on the week. I thought you were joking. Thanks, Derek. For self-scouting and whatever you, what are some things you like, what are some things you guys have got to do better here, you know, as you get going again? Yeah, we, uh, we definitely had a chance to dive into some things a little bit more in depth, you know, and take a peek at number one, some things that we're doing efficiently and need to do a little bit more, need to call on a more frequent basis, took a look at some things that maybe we had tried the first couple of weeks and have decided maybe they're not for us. And then certainly spending time trying to help the guys individually improve on their techniques and their fundamentals of the bread-and-butter schemes that we're asking them to do. So it was a very valuable time, and I'm glad we had that time, excited to try to implement the things that we looked at. And you look at that and you try to decide, like, who should play more and who should play less. Where does Chig Akanpo come in in that equation? Because he's had some recent success. Yeah, I think he's done a nice job with all the things that we've asked him to do, and we're going to give him opportunities to improve. As Coach Vrables told you guys before, and we believe wholeheartedly around here, you get the opportunities that you earn, and Chig's done a nice job with everything that we've asked him to do to this point and excited to see what else he can do for us. When you have an opponent that you just saw and you're already familiar with, does that give you more time during this time to do the self? It's kind of like you change it up a little bit because of that? It was a pretty unique bi-week in that regard because we played them so closely to our bi-week and the second time that we played them, and so it gave us an opportunity to kind of go back and reapply some of the things that we thought from the first game, maybe one to try in the second game, and so on. But you try to stay in a routine and a rhythm as well, and so you don't want to overanalyze or have that paralysis by analysis. So there's a fine line there. How did... Derek hasn't really hit a home run. 24 yards is a long thing. That's been a key to the offense. Do you think they've been there and you've missed them or do you need to do better at kind of creating the opportunity for them? Yeah, I think it's one of those things that falls into a couple different categories. Maybe it's finishing a little bit longer on a backside block. You know, maybe it's a missed opportunity or a shoelace here or there, and then certainly I'm always going to be self-critical and look for ways to try to get him out in space and make DBs tackle him. So I think all three of those components factor into that and we believe we're really close. I think we've been really close on the number of runs. We just got to pop through. Well, for any kind of additional perspective on Derek when you see him approaching those records like, you know, Earl Campbell, Eddie George, names like that, can you talk about that a little bit about how kind of special that is? Absolutely. I think when you're around somebody like Derek who has a chance to have his name written in history books, is a pretty special type of person to be around because it takes a lot to get there. And I've been fortunate enough in my career in different stops to be around some guys that have approached some of those benchmarks before, the Randy Mosses of the world and Calvin Johnson's of the world. And it's unique to watch their work habits and none of it's an accident. Those guys that have sustained success, it's the day-to-day that they put in. I know that sounds cliche and like coach speak, but it's true. Those guys that work really hard to take care of themselves, to be as consistent as they can, it shows up. Obviously there's a lot that goes in before they even become pro football players, but that's certainly a common theme. I have a lot of respect for Derek in the way he approaches the game and the way he handles his business. So it's fun for me to see that rewarded with things that could bring him recognition. But the coolest thing about Derek is the personal recognition is not as important as the team recognition and success. So I think that's going to serve us well going forward. Having to run so many players in and out of the last couple of years with all the injuries and whatnot, Ryan still managed to play in every game and he made 48 straight starts for this team. How important has that been to allow you guys to kind of keep your head above water? Yeah, it's been critical. We've dealt with ebbs and flows in a lot of different positions, but when you have a quarterback that's as tough and sturdy as he is, it helps you remain a little bit more consistent and keep that foundation. And Ryan's toughness is extremely underrated in my opinion. He stands in there. He shows up every single week, deals with all the nicks and bruises and never says a word. All the stuff inside the building behind the scenes that he puts in to be ready on Sundays, it's admirable and it's greatly appreciated, and it's a great opportunity for me and the rest of the staff. Mike said yesterday that one of the things in the fourth quarter in the second half that he felt was off was getting guys on the same page. To your estimation, what are some of those things that have been out of sync between guys that you guys need to clean up and make sure is cohesive as a unit? Sure, maybe it's the second time we run a scheme and we want to make a little tweak to how we're fitting a combination block of motion landmark that we want to try to create something. Just getting those guys on the same page either with some halftime adjustments or maybe some things that we didn't execute well in the first half when we try to come back and run them again in the second half. We certainly need to be more detailed in the second half and I look forward to turning that page and kicking that door down here in the next second half of the season. In the past you've been able to rely on Derek a lot and you're still feeding him as he carries but you're not having the same success in the second half. Any reason why you think that is late in the games? The easy answer is shots on goal. If you're only running 56 plays in a game you don't have an opportunity to continuously wear down the defense and so we need to sustain drives better in the second half. That goes to third downs. We need to convert more third downs, particularly the ones that are in that manageable range and we need to find some ways to take advantage of explosives because it's hard in this league to have 12-15 play drives. We need to find some chunk plays in there and guys take advantage of their opportunities to make those plays. If it's not too personal I know it's your dad's name on your shirt can you speak about the impact he had on his life and maybe the ability to kind of honor him this week? I appreciate that opportunity Jim. My dad passed away in 2004 of lung and bone cancer. He was a lifetime smoker and started dealing with some respiratory issues and some back pain and different symptoms but like a lot of people from that generation didn't like going to the doctor didn't like going to checkups, didn't like asking for help and so unfortunately by the time things got so bad he had had lung cancer that spread to the bones in his back and you know was kind of past the point of return and so you know honoring my dad with this shirt is also a way for me to explain to people that hey it's worth getting that checkup it's worth going to the doctor it's worth letting somebody know that you have a minor health issue that you just can't get over because you never know what it might end up being and in my dad's case who like I said lifetime smoker probably had a pretty decent idea what it was sometimes people just don't want to look truth in the mirror you know and so that you know is a pretty cool opportunity that the NFL gave us to honor people I wouldn't be here without my father and the way he raised me the values he instilled in me the work ethic he instilled in me but I also want to honor him by saying maybe there's somebody else that could avoid the same fate he wound up with simply by getting a checkup my rabble mentioned a couple times as well as Stonehouse has performed this year that the last game wasn't necessarily his best are there one or two things hang time, direction or anything like that that he might need to work on I think one of the things that we working on the past couple days has been his directional punting you know he's been doing a great job with hang time obviously booming the ball getting some really good yardage on it but we want to really work on his consistency on his directional placement and that's some of the things we've been doing in the past couple days and you know and he understands that and our players understand it where we want to punt the ball so we're looking for a little bit of improvement on that and obviously again he's doing a great job for us but we still feel he hasn't even had an eight game yet that's how well he's been doing in practice so we're hoping that translates into the games and hopefully we can do even better having a relationship with him before the draft how important do you think that was for him to come here even though you already had Brad? Yeah you know I think that's something that we try to do one with all of our players try to build a relationship but when they're coming out of college it's a little bit different because we got to recruit them especially if you know they might not get drafted so if we can build a little bit of a relationship beforehand and when they're looking for a team to come to us as an undrafted free agent at least they'll have some oh hey you know Coach Chase they did a really good job recruiting me a little bit but it is tough when you have a really good punter and Brett Kern to say hey listen why don't you come in here and compete against Brett Kern learn a little bit if you don't win out you know that's okay you're at least going to learn some stuff so it was important for us to have that relationship with with him beforehand was it a priority for you at the time to try to find a punter or was it more you like what you saw in him? I don't think we're really going out there and looking for a punter it was something that we saw on film with him and said hey let's give this guy an opportunity to come in and compete for a job and then obviously he just took off with it and ended up winning the job maybe just self scouting during the bye what are some things you like about what you've seen so far from your group maybe some other areas you can improve yeah we like how hard our guys are playing right now you know just getting compliments from people from around the league you know just how hard the players are playing for us right now which says a lot about the guys because they're really taken to special teams and they want to improve and get better at it so I think our effort has been good we like our details that we're doing on our return units right now guys have really bought into the concept of what we're trying to get done so that's been important and I think we can always improve on tackling you know especially in space and then just our one-on-one blocks whether it be on kickoff return or punt return so we'll continue to try to work on that too is Josh Thompson a special teams ace? you know I want to consider him an ace right now but we're going to try to continue to work with Josh that's one of the things that we kind of looked at when he was in college how well he played on special teams and then you know just looking at his pre-season he did a pretty good job there with Jacksonville so you know he's going to try to find a role for this team and if it's special teams that's going to be great we like how he's working right now and he's meeting and he understands some of the stuff on special teams that we're trying to do already and we're looking forward to seeing if he can do some stuff on the field a lot of these guys have come in with big special teams reputations as a group is there a clock for when all of that should combine to a collective special teams success beyond what you've had? yeah I mean the more and the more guys play together whether it's reps out on the field or even game reps the more that we can get hopefully collectively we can continue to improve and I think that's just going to help us out with more time you know on the game situations where guys are working together they kind of understand what their skill sets are what they're really good at what they need to improve on and guys can go and play off of those guys too is it part of it that you're never going to have consistent people isn't special teams? yeah oh sure sure because it's always changing for us and it is for everyone else too I mean guys get hurt guys are coming in doing different things they might not play a position that they practice you know two weeks beforehand we might have to move them but they're professionals they understand that they got a job to do and whatever we give them those guys are going to end up excelling in it why is Kevin Rader seemingly a very good tackler for a guy who's an offensive special skill set player? yeah we saw some things last year with Kevin when he played for Pittsburgh especially on their kickoff unit he would go down there and make some tackles I think that's just his mindset you know he's going to go down there and just be a football player even though he is a tight end on offense you know I'm sure he played some defense in high school and he just has that mindset that he doesn't matter if he's a tight end or not he's just going to go down there and play with all out effort and make some tackles but really happy with Kevin on how he's playing especially this past game normally with offensive players offensive skill position do you have to kind of give them refresher courses on how to tackle oh sure but I think Coach Rabel does an unbelievable job some of the drill work that we do in practice we're not just having defensive players go through tackling drills we've got some offensive players that will go through that and Kevin obviously is one Haskins Cody Hollister those guys that are playing on special teams that are offensive players we are putting them in drills to make tackles in space so I think that helps those guys no I think there is an opportunity for Kyle to go back there in fact I just talked to him again you know tomorrow or yesterday that hey you could get an opportunity at any point in time and we want you to be back there and we want you to go out there and have a big 46 yard return like you did the first time and you know great thing about him and he's yeah Coach I'll be ready for the next opportunity so we'll see when that comes but he's been working hard and hopefully we can get him back there again yeah they did a good job protecting them they did a good job getting the ball of his hands in a timely manner again I think they the tempo kind of helped them as well I mean they mixed that in I think there were over 30 snaps of tempo so I think that played a part in well as well but they did a good job they did they're getting the ball in the guys hands that they had available and they were making plays and we're going to have to be ready to go to defend the past defend the run defend it all now so how stressed does that put on a defense with the lack of ability maybe to get guys a breather or a substitute yeah I think the substitution is always a factor being able to get guys on the field get guys off the field and I think just overall just it kind of gets guys a little anxious right they're not really sure what's going on things are moving fast I think it comes down to us being able to get the call and get communicated and make sure we're settled in before the ball snapped if we can handle ourselves in a timely manner in terms of getting the call and we can get lined up and play then it's just playing football like regular but it does it adds a little stress to our guys a little anxiousness just making sure we're able to get the call and get to where we're supposed to be before they stamp the ball I was just going to say like Fred said yesterday X-Play is still kind of number one on the list in terms of things to work on a little bit of you know are you tired at all of kind of the repetition of this delivering that same message time and time again we got to keep preaching it because we obviously haven't changed the trend so we got to make them earn it we can't be getting the ball thrown over our heads we got to be able to make tackles we can't be not making mistakes with our execution that's causing some things at time there's a ton of reasons for them and we got to do a better job of eliminating them and making them earn it how consistent are you you got DB's just coming through the door yeah that's part of it and again we're out here practicing communicating they're meeting all together we walk through the communication is a big part of it I think any defense any scheme you're in that plays a major role but making sure we're all on the same page and kind of got to over do it right now based on what we got going on with the different people that have been cycling through you got to over do it is there anything specific that you're doing differently in practice yeah I mean we're working on different things playing the ball down the field is a big one we got to make sure we're staying on top I think going back to the last question I think the communication aspect is coming into play and then just cleaning up our coverage technique and fundamentals making sure we get to our landmarks when we're in zone coverage making sure we got our eyes on our man we'll wear man coverage all the little details that go with understanding what coverage we're in and what concept that falls in because there's a lot of different concepts that we play and guys just have to understand the differences between zone man if we're playing some sort of match concept so we're repping it working on it we know it's something we got to get fixed how much is getting the money hooker back go into that communication that you mentioned to have that consistently getting a guy who's virtually a captain of the second division him and KB have worked hand in hand for a long time now I think that's an added benefit for us for sure is having him back having him back there to be able to communicate where again it takes a little onus off of KB to do that and with the different corners, different nickel at times like there's constant communication whether it's full field, whether it's half field going on so I think that'll be a big benefit for us getting him back beyond the communication just the playmaking for Omani coming back if you get Bud back this weekend for this matter, what does that mean? I'm excited to get those guys back they're out here working now again I think we've the guys have stepped up and made some plays for us when they weren't out there but it's always good to get those guys back I'm excited to kind of see Bud go on Sunday cut it loose, he's had a good few days of practice here and then obviously with hook Hook's just consistent, reliable he makes the plays he's supposed to make he's rarely in the wrong spot so he's just somebody you put out there and you never really have to worry about him What do you want to see from Monty Rice before he can move back from Special Teams to have playing a role in defense? Yeah he's progressing I think he's getting better each day just again he's missed all of spring, he missed all of training camp so there's a lot of reps and we always talk about that year one to year two that's where a lot of growth comes into play for a lot of these guys so just continue to work out here on practice field and I do I see improvement each day there's just always new things that are showing up with him that he just hasn't seen in a while that we just got to work through Mike's talked a lot about maybe during the by week is finding guys who deserve to play more, maybe guys not play quite as much I mean do you have that are you looking for those players in your side Yeah we want all these guys to earn it we got 53 on the roster 16 on the P-Squad, we're elevating the P-Squad guys every week we want these guys to earn it nothing's handed to them if they are playing a lot and they're not doing so hot they don't deserve to be playing so much so each day in practice each Sunday that we're out there these guys got to go there and earn it and that's a benefit if you got a competitive roster and these guys that are hungry that are coming in new or on the P-Squad they show their improvement in practice well it's time to let's give this guy a chance Dylan Cole kind of an example of that he's taking an opportunity that maybe was unexpected and kind of run with it? Yeah and I think he was forcing the fire a little bit with the injury as well but yeah I think he's done a really good job for stepping in for Zach here these past few weeks and he's improved he has from early on whatever that role was special teams mixing in to play some linebacker or on certain packages to now play in the bulk of those snaps we've seen improvement from him and I think his comfort level being out there has improved yeah so this is my mother-in-law one of the toughest people I know got diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 still battling still fighting every single day would never know that she's got breast cancer around my kids everybody else so proud of her happy to represent her this week it helps at the same time you never know what they might come out there and throw at us but at the end of the day like we're kind of familiar with the players, familiar with the team so just go out there and do what we gotta do for the bi-week and just for you personally good to get some rest and how much you now look forward to kind of pull team ahead knowing that that's in the past yeah definitely needed to get rest a lot of guys had to come back and get our mental together but we're looking forward to going on this run and just going to have fun enjoying each and every day for every game we're talking about the second half offense maybe just starting with getting those first downs and what else is it going to take to get that going through not only the third but the fourth quarter as well she's got to go out and fight and hone in on our details at the end of the day it's like one player at a time one driver at a time is about to put something together to be a game to win Derek Henry not only the backs but also being really utilized in the past hits and games as well it's great but then it is it's not about me it's about the team and how we can put together a win and like how the team the players need me I'm here for them and it's gonna go out there and put a game how about the importance of just getting that second one over at Colts and you know it's weeks and series before halloween yeah we're here to try to win every game you know what I mean so we're not too much hone in on what that's going to look like for the next game next and opponent so that's how we're looking at it