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Press Pass | Coach Pederson on Preseason, Roster Evaluation · Press Pass

0:03
Speaker 1: Hey, Doug, I'm curious, from your time in Philadelphia to now,
0:08
Speaker 1: how much time do you devote, let's say, on a
0:11
Speaker 1: weekly regular season for preparation to attention to the defensive
0:17
Speaker 1: side of the ball.
0:19
Speaker 2: Well, I mean that's a good question.
0:23
Speaker 3: Obviously I don't log my hours on that side of
0:25
Speaker 3: the ball, but I do spend time looking at the personnel.
0:29
Speaker 3: I do spend time, you know, visiting with Mike obviously
0:33
Speaker 3: the defensive staff, you know, during the week, not so
0:40
Speaker 3: much just understanding the game plan, but sometimes sometimes yeah,
0:45
Speaker 3: sometimes understanding how we want to attack an opponent or
0:48
Speaker 3: what their thoughts aren't attacking an opponent, you know. And mainly,
0:55
Speaker 3: though mainly it's been more about the personnel side, just
0:59
Speaker 3: making sure that the right guys are in the right
1:02
Speaker 3: spots and we're you know. It's a great example of
1:05
Speaker 3: that would be last year with with Darius Williams. You know,
1:07
Speaker 3: he started out playing nickel, and then we felt like
1:10
Speaker 3: his best position, which he always has played an outside corner,
1:14
Speaker 3: you know, and moving him back to corner and things
1:15
Speaker 3: like that and just making those type of observations and
1:18
Speaker 3: suggestions are all things that you know that I try
1:23
Speaker 3: to I try to try to do.
1:26
Speaker 1: How much do you think that you're on the league,
1:28
Speaker 1: particularly as a backup who's observing things from the sideline.
1:32
Speaker 1: You're seeing how coaches are interacting on the sidelines with players.
1:35
Speaker 4: And all that.
1:36
Speaker 1: Do you almost think that being in the backup for
1:39
Speaker 1: all that time and being in a position of observing
1:41
Speaker 1: as opposed to being on the field on a full
1:43
Speaker 1: time basis, prepares you for where you are now better.
1:48
Speaker 1: I've been, you know, a five time Pro Bowl quarterback
1:51
Speaker 1: and played for eighteen years.
1:52
Speaker 3: And yeah, wouldn't be a head coach if I had that.
2:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely wouldn't be standing here.
2:02
Speaker 3: No, But I do believe that that being a backup,
2:07
Speaker 3: you know, being in the quarterback position. You know, I
2:11
Speaker 3: feel like one of my strengths is just the awareness
2:15
Speaker 3: right the surroundings, what what's around me, and watching watching people,
2:19
Speaker 3: watching players, the interaction of things, I think is part
2:25
Speaker 3: of what a head coach goes through, you know. But
2:27
Speaker 3: I think that preparation of being a backup quarterback, you know,
2:31
Speaker 3: I think about those days in Green Bay and you're
2:33
Speaker 3: assisting the starter, and yet you're you're also preparing it
2:37
Speaker 3: as a starter, and so you're having to know everything
2:40
Speaker 3: and you're just you're just watching and observing.
2:42
Speaker 2: And I think that really has prepared you know me.
2:44
Speaker 3: I think as the years go on, I get I
2:48
Speaker 3: get better at it obviously, and but yeah, those those
2:53
Speaker 3: those years is uh, you know, playing quarterback in this
2:55
Speaker 3: league have definitely prepared me for this, for this opportunity.
3:00
Speaker 4: Updates on Josh Wells, Folly, Beentre Miller, and Devon.
3:07
Speaker 3: Devon's in the building now, he's he's here just you know,
3:11
Speaker 3: as we mentioned last week, you'd be back in the
3:13
Speaker 3: building and I haven't seen him yet, but I had
3:16
Speaker 3: a message from Ferg that he was in the building.
3:18
Speaker 3: So I'm looking forward to you know, seeing him and
3:21
Speaker 3: and I believe his wife is with him, so be
3:23
Speaker 3: great to see him.
3:26
Speaker 2: Ventreil is unfortunately.
3:29
Speaker 3: It's a it's an achilles, so that's a that's a
3:32
Speaker 3: season season ending uh injury there with the achilles, so
3:37
Speaker 3: it's you know, he'll be he'll be missed. Fully is
3:40
Speaker 3: progressing nicely. I would anticipate him on the field this
3:43
Speaker 3: week with the with the group, So looking looking forward
3:48
Speaker 3: to getting him out there. Josh is still you know,
3:50
Speaker 3: still nursing the injury and still you know kind of
3:53
Speaker 3: weak to week, you know with that, So who else
3:57
Speaker 3: did you have on there? Yeah, I mean Cooper's Cooper's
4:01
Speaker 3: not close yet, so he's he's still gonna he's still
4:03
Speaker 3: gonna miss some time.
4:05
Speaker 1: Not sure what you do with those two yet.
4:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, those are all the conversations we'll have. We started
4:11
Speaker 3: him this morning. Obviously, we're in the process of you know,
4:14
Speaker 3: Trim and the roster now and throughout the day obviously,
4:18
Speaker 3: and those would be conversations that we get to eventually. Caleb,
4:24
Speaker 3: he's not dinged up, you know, he just uh, he's
4:26
Speaker 3: got the knee. He's got some like Chad Muma, you know.
4:29
Speaker 3: So I just didn't want to didn't want to put
4:30
Speaker 3: both those guys out there, you know, the other night
4:32
Speaker 3: and risk you know, anything further any setbacks going into
4:35
Speaker 3: the season shot.
4:36
Speaker 5: They needs three weeks off the Blood Dinners.
4:38
Speaker 4: Is that correct before you can have contact.
4:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're asking a question I don't really have the
4:44
Speaker 3: answer to. Yeah, on that one, I know he's off
4:47
Speaker 3: of him and I know he's been clear to to
4:49
Speaker 3: get back out there and and you know, be a
4:51
Speaker 3: full participant.
4:52
Speaker 5: So he could be ready for week on that Yes, Okay, Yes,
4:56
Speaker 5: Derek Perris got some defensive snaps the other night.
5:00
Speaker 3: Anything to that, well, no, I mean, you know, he's
5:02
Speaker 3: obviously a former delignment in college, and you know, we
5:06
Speaker 3: were we were a little thin at the d line
5:08
Speaker 3: spot with with the guys we had up in the
5:10
Speaker 3: game and and obviously, uh, with some of the injuries there,
5:13
Speaker 3: and so we just we just had him prepared, you know,
5:16
Speaker 3: to go in the game and and give us some
5:18
Speaker 3: give us some snap.
5:19
Speaker 2: So I think he did a did a pretty good.
5:21
Speaker 3: Job under the circumstances, and you know, it was it
5:24
Speaker 3: was good to see him out there doing that.
5:25
Speaker 5: Is that part of the evaluation process, I guess moving
5:28
Speaker 5: forward with him, if it would.
5:29
Speaker 3: Be a conversation, yeah, you know, if if obviously he uh,
5:35
Speaker 3: you know, we see how these next couple of days ago.
5:37
Speaker 3: If if he's a if he's a practice squad player,
5:39
Speaker 3: he's obviously a you know, he's talented and and he's
5:42
Speaker 3: kind of that that Swiss army knife. You can kind
5:44
Speaker 3: of put him anywhere, you know, whether it be on
5:46
Speaker 3: special teams, offense, defense, So you know, definitely a guy
5:49
Speaker 3: you uh, you know, have some intriguing and redeeming qualities
5:53
Speaker 3: that you can use I tell.
5:55
Speaker 5: Him you talked about the death semuch during the preseason.
6:00
Speaker 2: Are you finding that that feels real as you go
6:04
Speaker 2: through this process today?
6:05
Speaker 3: Uh, we are, We're finding that that is real. And uh,
6:10
Speaker 3: you know, we also know that the there's you know,
6:12
Speaker 3: there's gonna be some good football players that are gonna
6:14
Speaker 3: have to be released. And it's a it's a tough,
6:16
Speaker 3: tough twenty four hours or so here and around the league,
6:20
Speaker 3: but you know, it's just a it's a credit to
6:22
Speaker 3: obviously Trent and his staff and and the quality of
6:25
Speaker 3: athletes that and players that we've brought onto this roster
6:27
Speaker 3: and the depth that we've brought to this team. And
6:32
Speaker 3: you know, it's uh, it's it's it's kind of that
6:34
Speaker 3: bittersweet you know, you'd love to keep 'em all, but
6:36
Speaker 3: you can't, and uh, you gotta make the You gotta
6:38
Speaker 3: make the best decisions moving forward. I was a barbecue yesterday,
6:42
Speaker 3: and was that just your way of trying to bank players, staff, coaches?
6:46
Speaker 5: Everyone?
6:46
Speaker 2: Just work of the hard work.
6:48
Speaker 3: I mean training camp A grin, yeah, and no, the
6:50
Speaker 3: it went well, you know, and it I it is
6:53
Speaker 3: it it really is a y. You're you're winding camp down.
6:56
Speaker 3: It's really the last last preseason game. It's kind of
6:59
Speaker 3: the last week. You know, you're going into this this week,
7:02
Speaker 3: and you know you're down to your roster sizes and
7:05
Speaker 3: all that, and just a way for you know, the
7:07
Speaker 3: players to have their families and and uh, just to
7:10
Speaker 3: kind of relax and you know, appreciation for for all
7:13
Speaker 3: the hard work and you know, the time spent you know,
7:16
Speaker 3: out on the field for everybody, and just a good
7:18
Speaker 3: way to relax and wind down the end of the
7:20
Speaker 3: end of training camp.
7:21
Speaker 5: How do you look at this week? Is this a
7:23
Speaker 5: recharge the battery before the real I guess grind of
7:27
Speaker 5: the season starts, or do you look at this as
7:29
Speaker 5: all right, we immediately go full bore into week one?
7:32
Speaker 2: How do you look at this week a little of both.
7:36
Speaker 3: You know, it's obviously it's twofold, right, You're you're cutting
7:39
Speaker 3: your roster down. You're getting to the the fifty three
7:41
Speaker 3: and then the sixteen or a r K seventeen with
7:44
Speaker 3: with io you know, practice s club players, and you
7:48
Speaker 3: don't want.
7:49
Speaker 2: To you don't want to go backwards.
7:50
Speaker 3: You don't want to like, you know, not push right
7:57
Speaker 3: from a from a practice standpoint and all that yes,
7:59
Speaker 3: it is a way to kind of recharge and you
8:02
Speaker 3: don't have the intensity of practicing and getting ready for
8:05
Speaker 3: a game this week. But at the same time, I
8:08
Speaker 3: want to maintain, you know, the sense of urgency. You know,
8:12
Speaker 3: as we head into the first week of the regular season, is.
8:16
Speaker 4: Going to just the one cut change the mechanics of
8:18
Speaker 4: how you guys do your cuts.
8:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's long, it's a longer day obviously, and and
8:25
Speaker 3: you know you're doing a lot more guys. You know,
8:28
Speaker 3: it's it's challenging for the personnel staff to do this
8:32
Speaker 3: many guys. But I like the fact that we can
8:35
Speaker 3: keep everybody you know to the end because really, you know,
8:40
Speaker 3: sometimes you let a guy go maybe too soon, when
8:42
Speaker 3: when you haven't really given him a chance to you know,
8:45
Speaker 3: play in the last preseason game or or take another
8:48
Speaker 3: look at him in practice or something like that. So
8:51
Speaker 3: you know, it's a challenge that way. But but I
8:53
Speaker 3: think it's good that we, you know, can can keep
8:58
Speaker 3: them and it just makes it a little more challenging for
9:02
Speaker 3: the for the personnel side in.
9:05
Speaker 4: The room to tell the guys or how does that
9:08
Speaker 4: I mean for us, it's it's you know, we you know,
9:10
Speaker 4: we meet as a staff meet offensively and defensively with Trent,
9:14
Speaker 4: and you know, his his team, and you know, we
9:17
Speaker 4: go back through the roster one more time and put
9:19
Speaker 4: a plan together and then we just, uh, you know,
9:21
Speaker 4: we kind of turn it over to the personnel department
9:24
Speaker 4: and and let them begin the process of calling players
9:26
Speaker 4: and getting them in here, and then coaches get to
9:28
Speaker 4: spend time with the player and and.
9:31
Speaker 3: You know, do what we can to help them moving forward.
9:36
Speaker 3: If he's a practice squad candidate, obviously, you know, we
9:40
Speaker 3: try to let him know that we'd love to have
9:41
Speaker 3: him back, you know, on.
9:42
Speaker 2: Practice squad if possible.
9:45
Speaker 3: But but it's a you know, it's a difficult day
9:47
Speaker 3: for everybody with your being here if you have to.
9:50
Speaker 4: Cut in.
9:52
Speaker 2: And to spank him at one point the same thing, No,
9:59
Speaker 2: would you do the would you wanna be the.
10:01
Speaker 1: One that told him?
10:02
Speaker 2: I would.
10:02
Speaker 3: I'd wanna you know, I'd wanna tell him, you know,
10:04
Speaker 3: obviously he'd he'd Trent would want to visit with him
10:07
Speaker 3: as well, and and I definitely wanna talk to him
10:09
Speaker 3: and just.
10:10
Speaker 2: Just let him know.
10:10
Speaker 3: I mean, he's been through this process before, you know,
10:12
Speaker 3: with with a couple of other teams, last year, and
10:15
Speaker 3: you know, it's I'm very familiar with it obviously as
10:18
Speaker 3: a former player, and and just you know, just walk
10:23
Speaker 3: him through the process and and let him know that
10:25
Speaker 3: everything's gonna be okay. How did you feel sort of
10:28
Speaker 3: about how this preseason went for you guys?
10:30
Speaker 2: How do you feel about the team? How do you've
10:31
Speaker 2: gone through it?
10:36
Speaker 3: I felt, you know, y, obviously the wins and losses
10:38
Speaker 3: are are a big part of it, but it's not.
10:41
Speaker 3: That's not everything. You know, there's some of that can
10:43
Speaker 3: be a little misleading, you know. I think I think
10:47
Speaker 3: if you look at the first unit offensively and start there,
10:50
Speaker 3: I think there were five possessions this preseason, two of
10:54
Speaker 3: them in turnovers, you know, a couple of touchdowns, uh,
10:57
Speaker 3: things like that, So it wasn't as clean is maybe
11:00
Speaker 3: you would like those are some things we got to
11:03
Speaker 3: clean up, you know, as we as we go this
11:05
Speaker 3: week and obviously prepare you know, defensively, I think you
11:10
Speaker 3: see just how they kind of picked up where they
11:13
Speaker 3: left off a year ago, you know, being being being
11:16
Speaker 3: dominant in the run run game, being able to stop
11:18
Speaker 3: the run, and and and yet still you know, we
11:21
Speaker 3: have some you know, work to do with the past
11:24
Speaker 3: game and just making sure guys are on the same
11:26
Speaker 3: page there with coverage and but they're but there, everybody's
11:29
Speaker 3: a year in the system, so it's much better to
11:32
Speaker 3: be able to teach and correct because everybody understands.
11:36
Speaker 2: Where we are.
11:36
Speaker 3: And then and then I think the third element that
11:38
Speaker 3: is you look at special teams and the the depth
11:41
Speaker 3: that we were able to provide, you know there you know,
11:45
Speaker 3: special teams units. A lot of guys got opportunities to
11:49
Speaker 3: play on special teams and it was a great way
11:50
Speaker 3: to evaluate. So, you know, but overall, preseason was was
11:55
Speaker 3: a success. We didn't get or didn't have many guys.
11:59
Speaker 2: You know, in or that that we won't get back.
12:02
Speaker 3: Obviously Ventrail being the you know, probably being the only
12:05
Speaker 3: one really you know in this situation. But you know,
12:11
Speaker 3: it's it's it's over now, and uh we're onto the
12:14
Speaker 3: regular season.
12:15
Speaker 5: Such a large rookie class, it feels like a lot
12:18
Speaker 5: of these guys were able to kind of make an
12:20
Speaker 5: impact or the receipts are good. How pleased are you
12:22
Speaker 5: with what you sing from from all these guys that
12:25
Speaker 5: we bring in so many of them at one.
12:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it was a great group. You know,
12:29
Speaker 3: they were eager to get on the field. They're eager
12:31
Speaker 3: eager to learn. Go all the way back to that
12:32
Speaker 3: rookie mini camp when when we had them in here
12:34
Speaker 3: for the first time and and been very impressed with
12:38
Speaker 3: with the group you know as a whole, and they're
12:41
Speaker 3: they're up in the coach's offices, they're wanting to learn,
12:43
Speaker 3: get better, you know, each day, and and you know,
12:47
Speaker 3: and that's that's a good sign, good sign that we're
12:49
Speaker 3: bringing in the right guys you know, as a as
12:52
Speaker 3: a staff and the right guys onto the team.
12:54
Speaker 2: So excited for.
12:57
Speaker 3: A lot of these guys because they're gonna you know,
12:59
Speaker 3: they're gonna play and they're gonna have to play.
13:01
Speaker 2: And and you know, around the league, I.
13:04
Speaker 3: Think you you're gonna see more and more teams you know,
13:07
Speaker 3: with with rookie rookie starters out there. You know, and
13:11
Speaker 3: look at Kansas City, you know, last year with the
13:13
Speaker 3: amount of rookies they had in the back end and
13:15
Speaker 3: of their defense. So it's just kind of where you are.
13:18
Speaker 3: But but very pleased with our rookie class.
13:21
Speaker 1: This year to you talk to them in the off
13:25
Speaker 1: season about thinking that the running game was gonna take
13:29
Speaker 1: a set in terms of cohesion.
13:32
Speaker 5: Have you seen that during the preseason a little bit?
13:34
Speaker 3: I have, I have, and I think it really and
13:36
Speaker 3: uh we know it starts with the bat uh, the
13:38
Speaker 3: the O line and and tight ends right in the
13:40
Speaker 3: run game.
13:40
Speaker 2: But it's really the backs too.
13:42
Speaker 3: And and you know how how impressive TJ has been
13:45
Speaker 3: and the improvement we've seen with TJ, and then the
13:48
Speaker 3: addition of Tank, you know, uh, a bigger back, kind
13:51
Speaker 3: of a downhill guy, you know. And then and then
13:54
Speaker 3: there was this great competition throughout with with the Earnest
13:57
Speaker 3: and Jamichael and Snoop and and you know, uh, Quadri
14:01
Speaker 3: you know, all of a sudd mean, there's the guys
14:02
Speaker 3: there that they can they can play and have played
14:05
Speaker 3: in in this league before. And you know, we pride
14:10
Speaker 3: ourselves on running the football. We're going to have to,
14:13
Speaker 3: you know, and I think it just helps It helps
14:16
Speaker 3: the past game, you know when you can do that,
14:18
Speaker 3: and and uh helps your quarterback obviously you don't have
14:21
Speaker 3: to put everything on him and and uh, but uh,
14:25
Speaker 3: the improvement has has been gradual, but it's but it
14:29
Speaker 3: is definitely in the right direction.
14:31
Speaker 1: You're still the central I think of Saint pretty broke
14:34
Speaker 1: in college right that he Murky Achilles with do you
14:37
Speaker 1: think that's related?
14:40
Speaker 5: Related?
14:41
Speaker 2: No, I don't you know.
14:42
Speaker 3: It's again, that's that's something I don't really medically, I
14:48
Speaker 3: don't really know I have the answers to on all that.
14:50
Speaker 2: You know, I just kind of coach football and I
14:54
Speaker 2: just report the news.
14:58
Speaker 5: You have.
14:59
Speaker 1: You've said for that you wanted to see about what
15:02
Speaker 1: you had on the on the back end with the
15:04
Speaker 1: pass rusher rather than you know, going out and getting something.
15:08
Speaker 2: Do you do you.
15:09
Speaker 1: Still feel that same way now now that we're closer
15:11
Speaker 1: to the preseason, as opposed to let's say, the possibility
15:16
Speaker 1: of you having I don't know, a surplus of guys
15:19
Speaker 1: at one position that you can maybe use to leverage
15:21
Speaker 1: the trade for something that you may need in the
15:24
Speaker 1: past rush or do you kind of just feel like, hey,
15:26
Speaker 1: let's let's just let it go and see what we got.
15:29
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think. I think when you really look around the.
15:33
Speaker 3: League, you know, it might be a short of shortage
15:37
Speaker 3: of pass rushers that are that are out there right
15:40
Speaker 3: that if they are, they're on somebody's team and they're
15:42
Speaker 3: they're locked up for a few years. It's just I
15:47
Speaker 3: with that being said, we are pleased with where we are.
15:50
Speaker 3: I think Yazier's development young player did some nice things
15:54
Speaker 3: in the preseason, but still has some some work to
15:57
Speaker 3: do and some growth as as he continues to you know,
16:00
Speaker 3: to get better. You know, Josh and Trayvon now going
16:04
Speaker 3: into the regular season, you know understand I think where
16:10
Speaker 3: where where they need to be and how they need
16:14
Speaker 3: to affect the pass rush, you know it Obviously where
16:17
Speaker 3: Folly was beginning of camp, I mean he was, he
16:19
Speaker 3: was dominant, he was, you know, aggressive this foot, you know,
16:23
Speaker 3: kind of setting back a little bit, but we're expecting
16:25
Speaker 3: him back this week and and really get him back
16:27
Speaker 3: to that that full potential that he had, you know
16:29
Speaker 3: early in camp. You know, I guess the one for us,
16:34
Speaker 3: you know, Devon was the one that was kind of
16:36
Speaker 3: the shocker, you know, with everything, and we're just we're
16:40
Speaker 3: just happy that he's he's healthy and heading in the
16:42
Speaker 3: right direction. But that's a that's a big one, you
16:45
Speaker 3: know from a pass rush standpoint, But big bodies are
16:50
Speaker 3: and and pass rushers are hard to come by, you know,
16:52
Speaker 3: and and you just got to continue to develop your guys.
16:55
Speaker 2: What you see from Caleb and I mean that. You know,
16:59
Speaker 2: he's another one.
16:59
Speaker 3: You know, I liked where he was at at the
17:01
Speaker 3: end of last year, how he came into training camp.
17:04
Speaker 3: He's another one that's gonna get a lot of snaps.
17:07
Speaker 2: You know.
17:07
Speaker 3: This year he's going to be in a you know,
17:09
Speaker 3: as a number three, you know, outside Russier. He's gonna play,
17:14
Speaker 3: and he's gonna have to play, and he's gonna have to.
17:15
Speaker 2: Play at a high level.
17:16
Speaker 3: He understands that, so been pleased where he's you know,
17:20
Speaker 3: where he's at with the storm.
17:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, how much does that disrupt you guys?
17:24
Speaker 3: I know you're not in the building too much this
17:26
Speaker 3: this week as players. We'll keep an eye on it,
17:31
Speaker 3: you know, obviously late tomorrow into Wednesday, you know, and
17:35
Speaker 3: I think all day Wednesday, we'll just monitor that and
17:37
Speaker 3: and see see where it's where it's going.
17:39
Speaker 2: Uh. You know, we we went through this last year,
17:44
Speaker 2: you know, obviously.
17:44
Speaker 3: With a couple of storms that came through, and and
17:46
Speaker 3: this one might come a little bit closer than those
17:48
Speaker 3: two did. So we'll just we'll just keep an eye
17:50
Speaker 3: on it, you know, and and make decisions as we
17:53
Speaker 3: as we go. But you know, we got this place
17:57
Speaker 3: and indoor facility if we need to use it. So
18:00
Speaker 3: we're we're looking forward to them.
18:03
Speaker 2: Started against
18:09
Speaker 3: Mm hmm