Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Grant Udinski and Brenton Strange on Offense Chemistry Ahead of Preseason
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: I know Liam talked to us yesterday about as up
- 0:02Speaker 1: line combinations trying guys out. In the response, what have
- 0:05Speaker 1: you seen from maybe Joanah getting an opportunity at Guard,
- 0:08Speaker 1: Fortner getting an opportunity at Guard, Patrick's kind of been
- 0:11Speaker 1: all over the place. What have you seen from them?
- 0:12Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 0:13Speaker 3: I think I mentioned this before, but the nice thing
- 0:14Speaker 3: about this group is the flexibility of guys who can
- 0:16Speaker 3: play inside, outside and left and right, which is kind
- 0:19Speaker 3: of rare to find. It's challenging for those guys to
- 0:21Speaker 3: go out there on a day to day basis, or
- 0:22Speaker 3: even between racks and go from left to right because
- 0:25Speaker 3: it's such different body machacs. You would think it'd be simple,
- 0:27Speaker 3: but you're next to a different guy. It's different communication.
- 0:30Speaker 3: But it's encouraging to see them embrace that and kind
- 0:32Speaker 3: of approach you with the growth growth mindset. Did you
- 0:34Speaker 3: ever say, yes, say he thinks things are kind of
- 0:36Speaker 3: slunk out for Travis and he's playing faster.
- 0:38Speaker 2: Is that kind of what you've seen as well? Yeah?
- 0:40Speaker 3: Absolutely, And the progress is never going to be linear,
- 0:42Speaker 3: but it's nice to see him stack those days and
- 0:44Speaker 3: continue to progress mentally and physically with some of the
- 0:47Speaker 3: technique stuff.
- 0:49Speaker 2: A lot of guys played a lot of football league.
- 0:52Speaker 2: Where's that shaking out right now?
- 0:55Speaker 3: It's kind of similar to the old line room a
- 0:56Speaker 3: little bit, where we have guys with a lot of flexibility.
- 0:58Speaker 3: Where Breton you saw him make an unbelievable play today,
- 1:00Speaker 3: has done some nice stuff. Hunter made a great play.
- 1:02Speaker 3: Johnny Mont's been great when he's been out there. Good
- 1:05Speaker 3: to have him healthy. So the nice thing about those
- 1:07Speaker 3: guys is they're versatile. They add value in the pass game,
- 1:10Speaker 3: the run game. They can line up flexed out, they
- 1:12Speaker 3: can line up in line, they can line up in
- 1:14Speaker 3: the wing, they can come back, they can go across.
- 1:16Speaker 3: So there's a lot of different things that those guys
- 1:17Speaker 3: can do. So the mix and matching them is what's
- 1:19Speaker 3: nice about that room.
- 1:21Speaker 4: Is he kind of underrated pass catcher, Like he's made.
- 1:23Speaker 3: Some catches in one on ones that are kind of,
- 1:26Speaker 3: you know, like wow, Well, I don't know that because
- 1:28Speaker 3: I don't I don't know how the rest of the
- 1:29Speaker 3: league or anyone else looks at him, but I think
- 1:32Speaker 3: he certainly has put in the work to improve that
- 1:34Speaker 3: part of his game and has a lot to show
- 1:37Speaker 3: for when we give him the opportunities to do it,
- 1:39Speaker 3: which is encouraging to see. You saw the catch today
- 1:41Speaker 3: and a couple other opportunities where the ball maybe didn't
- 1:44Speaker 3: find him, but you see him winning, separating, running Chris routes.
- 1:47Speaker 3: You know, that ability to whether to track the ball
- 1:49Speaker 3: or separate from guys shows up.
- 1:50Speaker 4: Jermy's full gup. Just to wrap up with.
- 1:52Speaker 3: Ten room, Johnny Hunt. Yeah, he's been going, made still
- 1:56Speaker 3: the progress. Yeah, So like seeing him back in team.
- 1:59Speaker 3: It's great to have him there.
- 2:00Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 2:00Speaker 3: Yeah, we missed him. We certainly missed him in the
- 2:02Speaker 3: media room, mental on the field while he was gone.
- 2:04Speaker 4: Kevin O'Connell has had a quote about Johnny in the
- 2:06Speaker 4: past where he's like, he's the best tight end three
- 2:08Speaker 4: in the NFL because what is it about him that
- 2:10Speaker 4: you know, kind.
- 2:11Speaker 2: Of stands out him.
- 2:11Speaker 3: Yeah, well I think he, you know, really could be
- 2:13Speaker 3: more than that because of that flexibility, because he can
- 2:16Speaker 3: block so many different run schemes in the run game.
- 2:18Speaker 3: He can line up inline, he can line up as
- 2:19Speaker 3: a wing, he can be going back across the formation.
- 2:22Speaker 3: When he's off the ball, he can be in motion.
- 2:24Speaker 3: He can run a pretty wide route tree. So that
- 2:26Speaker 3: versatility is hard to guard because you can be an
- 2:29Speaker 3: eleven personnel, twelve personnel, and he can be doing such
- 2:31Speaker 3: a variety of different things.
- 2:33Speaker 1: Yeah, how impressed have.
- 2:35Speaker 4: You're doing with Yami's ability to kind of do everything
- 2:37Speaker 4: like Brian's not out there and you guys keep going,
- 2:40Speaker 4: keep rolling.
- 2:41Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a testament to his work ethic and his
- 2:43Speaker 3: preparation because when you're running the same position, same alignment,
- 2:48Speaker 3: same routes every single day, and then minutes before practice
- 2:52Speaker 3: you're switched to a different position, it's complete different routes,
- 2:54Speaker 3: different alignments, and you didn't have time to prepare. That's
- 2:57Speaker 3: a testament to his ability to prepare for something that's
- 2:59Speaker 3: kind of foreseen. So it really shows his mastery of
- 3:02Speaker 3: the offense and his work to continue to try to
- 3:04Speaker 3: take that next step in terms of mastery in his role.
- 3:07Speaker 3: But the entire offense, you're.
- 3:08Speaker 1: Absolutely focused on the offensive side of the ball. But
- 3:10Speaker 1: I guess we could talk blocking Joshua Cephas. We see
- 3:13Speaker 1: him making great catches seemingly every day, But what did
- 3:15Speaker 1: you see from him? Maybe the dirty work? What if
- 3:18Speaker 1: you've heard special teams wise, like overall the picture from.
- 3:21Speaker 3: Eighty, Yeah, the dirty work is certainly something that he's
- 3:24Speaker 3: tried to work on and progress at. I think you
- 3:26Speaker 3: see it at times. I think there's stuff that he
- 3:28Speaker 3: still wants to work on, that he knows that he
- 3:30Speaker 3: wants to work on. But like the other guys that
- 3:33Speaker 3: I mentioned, it's encouraging to see him embrace that and
- 3:35Speaker 3: try to take on that role because he sees the
- 3:37Speaker 3: value that it provides not just for the team but
- 3:39Speaker 3: for him personally and the opportunities that can provide him.
- 3:42Speaker 2: How big is outday? Just in terms of the evaluation process.
- 3:45Speaker 2: Are you guys going against it calling it for a
- 3:47Speaker 2: first time?
- 3:48Speaker 3: Yeah, it's another piece of the puzzle, so different environment,
- 3:50Speaker 3: going up against different competition. I think this stuff is valuable.
- 3:54Speaker 3: That stuff is valuable, but it's just another piece of it.
- 3:56Speaker 2: Parker Washington's a pretty good day out of the day.
- 3:59Speaker 2: As a player designer.
- 4:01Speaker 4: What what can you do with a guy like that?
- 4:04Speaker 2: I guess versatility is the word of the day to day.
- 4:06Speaker 3: It really kind of is a little bit. But when
- 4:09Speaker 3: you see a guy who can win consistently against man
- 4:11Speaker 3: coverage and match coverage, tight covers like that, make plays
- 4:13Speaker 3: on the ball, attack the ball with his hands, those
- 4:16Speaker 3: are encouraging for the play caller. They give you comfort
- 4:19Speaker 3: to give him isolation routes and put him in different spots,
- 4:22Speaker 3: just like we talked about Yami's ability to line up
- 4:24Speaker 3: in different spots. It trusts. It allows you to trust
- 4:27Speaker 3: Parker to be at different spots on the field. A
- 4:29Speaker 3: guy goes down here, he can plug and place at
- 4:31Speaker 3: different spots and go and execute a wide route tree.
- 4:35Speaker 4: I feel like we've talked about it pretty much every
- 4:37Speaker 4: time that we talk to you, But just Travis being
- 4:39Speaker 4: able to be on offense and then put on the
- 4:42Speaker 4: white penny go over to the defensive side and play
- 4:44Speaker 4: against the offense, just does they ever get like not impressed,
- 4:49Speaker 4: not impressive.
- 4:52Speaker 3: Well, I've certainly never seen him before, so he can't
- 4:54Speaker 3: compare it to anything else. I don't know that it'll
- 4:57Speaker 3: ever be not impressive because of the mental and physical
- 5:01Speaker 3: strain of it. But I guess hopefully the hope is
- 5:05Speaker 3: that we do get used to that eventually. But certainly
- 5:08Speaker 3: right now, every time he's switching back and forth, it's
- 5:10Speaker 3: it's new to me for one person.
- 5:11Speaker 1: I don't think we've asked you much about Seth And again,
- 5:14Speaker 1: what have you seen from the rookie.
- 5:16Speaker 3: Seth's progress has been great. Same thing with embracing his
- 5:19Speaker 3: role and really that master of the offense. When you're
- 5:21Speaker 3: going out there with the threes or the rookies, it
- 5:24Speaker 3: can be a lot going on because it's a lot
- 5:26Speaker 3: of guys learning the system. So it's different when you're
- 5:29Speaker 3: the starter and you have a bunch of guys who
- 5:31Speaker 3: have gotten one hundred reps, two hundred reps, three hundred
- 5:33Speaker 3: reps and they've mastered their alignment, it's kind of smooth sailing.
- 5:36Speaker 3: So for him to see him really step up and
- 5:39Speaker 3: have that autonomy to run the show, get guys lined up,
- 5:43Speaker 3: get things coordinated, is what's been awesome to see both.
- 5:48Speaker 4: For any question of training camp.
- 5:49Speaker 3: Have you met show this is Show?
- 5:53Speaker 2: I have not.
- 5:53Speaker 3: I've only met Show personal Eric virtually. What's up Show?
- 5:57Speaker 3: I'll just I won't mess up with he's working. But
- 6:00Speaker 3: all right, that's awesome. He's the star we need. Yeah,
- 6:04Speaker 3: he's gonna get our view counts up. Well, I apologize
- 6:08Speaker 3: Show for making you listen to everything with that.
- 6:11Speaker 1: You answered your I apollo you guys, but you Friday
- 6:15Speaker 1: night Trumpor had like perfect scrimmage and he.
- 6:18Speaker 2: Throws the pick that's been a problem for him. Is
- 6:22Speaker 2: it a learning situation? What do you say to him after.
- 6:25Speaker 3: A left Well, we're always taking it kind of with
- 6:27Speaker 3: a one play at a time, what now mindset. So
- 6:30Speaker 3: we want to learn from those mistakes, but we don't
- 6:33Speaker 3: want to come out the next snap or next series
- 6:35Speaker 3: and be gun shy just because of something that happened
- 6:38Speaker 3: in the next snap. You have to kind of play
- 6:39Speaker 3: at one play at a time, especially at the quarterback position.
- 6:42Speaker 3: So it's the same mindset and approach with every snap,
- 6:46Speaker 3: but giving them the comfort and confidence to move on
- 6:48Speaker 3: from a throw like that, you know, to progress differently
- 6:51Speaker 3: and to learn from that mistake. I think with reps
- 6:53Speaker 3: and times he sees it, he recognizes the mistake and
- 6:56Speaker 3: he'll improve. All right, thanks guy?
- 7:00Speaker 4: Uh like the one hand to catch out there.
- 7:02Speaker 2: Uh.
- 7:02Speaker 4: Just how has this camp been with uh kind of
- 7:05Speaker 4: a bigger role now?
- 7:07Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's been a learning experience. Uh, just
- 7:09Speaker 2: coming out here and to justin obviously being in a
- 7:11Speaker 2: different role. Uh, how I wanna approach every single day
- 7:13Speaker 2: and uh, how that'll be just to kind of you know,
- 7:16Speaker 2: put my best foot forward to get myself ready uh mentally,
- 7:19Speaker 2: spiritually and uh physically for the game. So I'll say
- 7:22Speaker 2: it's been a learning experience, but I think I've been
- 7:24Speaker 2: getting better every single day, So uh, I can't complain
- 7:27Speaker 2: at this point in your career. How ready do you
- 7:29Speaker 2: feel for that role? I feel ready, man, I th
- 7:31Speaker 2: I think, Uh, everything that I've done up to this
- 7:33Speaker 2: point has prepared me for this, my whole entire life. Uh,
- 7:36Speaker 2: God's playing honestly, Uh. And I mean from when I
- 7:40Speaker 2: was a young kid to now, like feel like everything
- 7:43Speaker 2: has prepared me for this upcoming season in this moment.
- 7:47Speaker 2: How different is the rules this year?
- 7:49Speaker 4: I not just about leadership. I don't think about what
- 7:51Speaker 4: they're asking you.
- 7:52Speaker 2: To do, you know, I honestly, from a playing aspect,
- 7:56Speaker 2: I don't. I don't think it's much different. Cause obviously
- 7:58Speaker 2: Evan was down last year for a lot of games,
- 8:00Speaker 2: so I I had to take on that role, but
- 8:01Speaker 2: it was it was different. I was in and out
- 8:03Speaker 2: of it, you know, so and when you're in and
- 8:05Speaker 2: out of it, you know. Uh. Obviously, if the reps
- 8:08Speaker 2: are different, the roles are different, what you're gonna be
- 8:11Speaker 2: asked to do in the game, plans different, So that
- 8:12Speaker 2: that changed week the week in which it it kind
- 8:14Speaker 2: of messed with me a little bit last year, just
- 8:16Speaker 2: tryna understand and feel my way and trying to always prepare.
- 8:19Speaker 2: But I think something that I've done good ever since
- 8:23Speaker 2: I've honestly been in college, and that my college coaches
- 8:25Speaker 2: taught me was to always prepare like you're gonna be
- 8:27Speaker 2: the starter. And I I think that that paid off
- 8:29Speaker 2: for me last year. And uh, no matter if I
- 8:32Speaker 2: was a starter or whatever it was last year, that's
- 8:34Speaker 2: that's how I always prepared.
- 8:35Speaker 4: How much to getting those reps last year kind of
- 8:37Speaker 4: helped prepare you So this year.
- 8:39Speaker 2: I think it helped a lot. Uh you know, uh,
- 8:42Speaker 2: just being out there and having the experience. I'm a
- 8:44Speaker 2: I'm a visual person. I sit in my locker, I
- 8:46Speaker 2: visualized before the game and just you know, think about
- 8:49Speaker 2: what I'm gonna do, look at the call sheet and
- 8:50Speaker 2: and visualize myself making the plays and some of those
- 8:53Speaker 2: some of those calls that we have, Like I've gone
- 8:55Speaker 2: out there and I made 'em before I can, you know,
- 8:57Speaker 2: Like I mean, it doesn't it kind of sounds a
- 8:59Speaker 2: little self centered, but like you know, look yourself up
- 9:01Speaker 2: on the internet and watch yourself making the plays. You know,
- 9:04Speaker 2: everybody has their own way of getting themselves into that mode,
- 9:07Speaker 2: and visualization is one way that I do it.
- 9:10Speaker 1: A lot of people around the league, knowing what Liam
- 9:12Speaker 1: did with Kate Atton last year, have maybe looked to
- 9:15Speaker 1: that as though this is what Brenton could be. Do
- 9:17Speaker 1: you watch what Liam did with the tight ends last
- 9:19Speaker 1: year in Tampa or is this just a completely different offense?
- 9:22Speaker 2: Uh I do? Uh you know, And I don't only
- 9:24Speaker 2: watch Kate Aughton. I watched Tyler Higbee, t J Hockinson,
- 9:27Speaker 2: and those guys are also in the same roles and
- 9:30Speaker 2: their lead tight ends, So you know, it's it's good
- 9:32Speaker 2: to have somebody that's going out there and done it
- 9:34Speaker 2: and done it at a high level. So uh, I
- 9:36Speaker 2: do watch them. I watch them a lot, just how
- 9:38Speaker 2: they how they run their routes and a lot of things,
- 9:41Speaker 2: how they block and everything. So it's good to have
- 9:44Speaker 2: a person that has done it and done it at
- 9:46Speaker 2: elite level.
- 9:47Speaker 4: Those games early last year where Evan was out with
- 9:49Speaker 4: I think Bahami, your relationship with Trevor, do you see
- 9:53Speaker 4: those games showing up now in camp like that relationship specifically?
- 9:57Speaker 2: For sure, I think that there has to be a
- 9:58Speaker 2: trust factor, and uh I think that I'm each day
- 10:02Speaker 2: I'm coming out here and just trying to earn Trevor's
- 10:04Speaker 2: Trump's more and more, cause that's a big part of it,
- 10:07Speaker 2: you know. Uh, He's had a relationship with obviously like BT.
- 10:11Speaker 2: Like BT, it was there for him all last year.
- 10:13Speaker 2: And then, like I said, I was in and out
- 10:14Speaker 2: of games last year, so I wasn't always the guy
- 10:17Speaker 2: that he was throwing the balls to or whatever it was.
- 10:19Speaker 2: So I think that that's a big thing for me.
- 10:20Speaker 2: It's just coming out here and just not only proving
- 10:23Speaker 2: to Trevor, but proving to the coaches and proving to
- 10:25Speaker 2: my teammates as well that I can be a a
- 10:27Speaker 2: reliable playmaker for this team.
- 10:29Speaker 1: Oh, we got to know Hunter and Johnny maybe a
- 10:31Speaker 1: little since they got here. Can you describe those two
- 10:34Speaker 1: guys and the dynamic in the room between. Is there
- 10:36Speaker 1: anything quirky or funny? I know we were talking to
- 10:39Speaker 1: Grant about how Kevin O'Connell said that Johnny is the
- 10:41Speaker 1: best tight end three in the NFL.
- 10:45Speaker 2: You know, we don't look at it like that, like
- 10:47Speaker 2: tight end three. But I I think that they're great guys,
- 10:49Speaker 2: you know, and I I love just having the opportunity
- 10:51Speaker 2: to come in and be with them. Uh, and then
- 10:54Speaker 2: during the OTA's as well, like us, like going out
- 10:56Speaker 2: and doing different things, whatever it is, playing golf or
- 10:58Speaker 2: just you know, getting some food or hanging out. You know,
- 11:01Speaker 2: they're great guys. And what I what I love about
- 11:03Speaker 2: them the most is, you know, sort of sort of
- 11:05Speaker 2: like Evan, y'all think that I'm a a long tenured
- 11:08Speaker 2: Jaguar player, but I'm I'm still a young player. I'm
- 11:10Speaker 2: still learning, still trying to find my ways. These guys
- 11:13Speaker 2: have played football and they played a lot of snaps
- 11:15Speaker 2: and they know the game. So uh. Something that I
- 11:17Speaker 2: I really uh respect about them is that whenever I
- 11:20Speaker 2: have a question or whatever it is, that they're always open.
- 11:23Speaker 2: You know, I can text him, I can call him,
- 11:25Speaker 2: or we'll go here and sit in the cafeteria for
- 11:27Speaker 2: an hour after everybody's left and just you know, just
- 11:30Speaker 2: hang out and be boys. So uh, I love those
- 11:32Speaker 2: guys already.
- 11:33Speaker 3: Man.
- 11:34Speaker 1: Now you love to uh talk about your former and
- 11:37Speaker 1: current teammate Parker Washington and State. What have you seen
- 11:40Speaker 1: from Parker and camp all?
- 11:41Speaker 2: Y'all saw today one of the first players out there,
- 11:43Speaker 2: he made a great contested catch he he continues to
- 11:46Speaker 2: do it every single day, and you know, I think
- 11:47Speaker 2: that he just puts his head down and uh something
- 11:50Speaker 2: that I really respect about him is he puts his
- 11:52Speaker 2: head down and he comes out here and works no
- 11:53Speaker 2: matter what. Every single day. He just does what he
- 11:55Speaker 2: needs to do, and he just he's quiet and he
- 11:59Speaker 2: he works. You know, at the end of the day,
- 12:00Speaker 2: it's all about the work, and I think he's one
- 12:02Speaker 2: of the hardest workers on the team. Watch staff, Jankis.
- 12:06Speaker 2: But your coach remained in Richard Anglulo.
- 12:09Speaker 3: How is his role changed with this new offense and
- 12:12Speaker 3: which it like to be able to still work with him?
- 12:14Speaker 2: Uh? You know, I'm I'm just a player, so like
- 12:17Speaker 2: I don't really uh Like, obviously I have a good
- 12:20Speaker 2: understanding of what goes on with the coaches, but I
- 12:22Speaker 2: think that he does a great job of getting us
- 12:24Speaker 2: ready for the games each week, whether that's preparing cut
- 12:26Speaker 2: ups or whether we're in the meeting room and he's
- 12:29Speaker 2: he's telling us certain looks and things. But uh, I
- 12:32Speaker 2: just play a game, you know. I I do what
- 12:33Speaker 2: the coaches ask me to do, and and that's that.
- 12:36Speaker 2: Do you take those one.
- 12:37Speaker 4: On one roughs kind of personal, Like when you're lined
- 12:39Speaker 4: up against a a starting safety, You're you're trying to
- 12:42Speaker 4: show like, hey, I I belong here, I I.
- 12:45Speaker 2: Can do this. I think any time that I step
- 12:47Speaker 2: on the field is I I take everything personal. You know. Uh,
- 12:51Speaker 2: s sounds a little corny to say that, but like,
- 12:53Speaker 2: I take everything personal. I don't wanna win every single
- 12:55Speaker 2: thing I do, whether that's uh catching the balls or
- 12:58Speaker 2: whether that's in the run game, whether that's in the
- 13:00Speaker 2: past game. I want to impose my will and I
- 13:02Speaker 2: w I wanna show everybody and prove it to myself
- 13:04Speaker 2: most importantly that no matter where you put me, no
- 13:07Speaker 2: matter what you ask me to do, is I can
- 13:09Speaker 2: get it done and I can win.
- 13:10Speaker 4: Is that something you're excited for? The running game? With
- 13:12Speaker 4: Liam's schemes and just how creative he is.
- 13:15Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited for everything. I uh had heard Haines
- 13:18Speaker 2: he say something the other day which I think he
- 13:20Speaker 2: said that Tempa was like close to last in the
- 13:23Speaker 2: league for the run game, and then last year they
- 13:25Speaker 2: were like, I wanna say top five or something. So uh,
- 13:28Speaker 2: it's it's very exciting. You know, you need to be
- 13:31Speaker 2: a well rounded team. You need to have a run game.
- 13:33Speaker 2: You need to have a past game, and they they
- 13:35Speaker 2: compliment each other. So uh, I'm looking forward to just
- 13:38Speaker 2: going out there and playing ball with my teammates.
- 13:40Speaker 4: What do you need out of the preseason?
- 13:42Speaker 2: How much time do you need? Do you wanna play?
- 13:44Speaker 4: Do you need to play?
- 13:45Speaker 2: What do you think to be ready?
- 13:47Speaker 1: You know?
- 13:47Speaker 2: I I I think that I'm ready, you know, But
- 13:49Speaker 2: I I think that anything that the coaches want me
- 13:51Speaker 2: to do, if they want me to go out there
- 13:52Speaker 2: and play every single snap, I go out there and
- 13:54Speaker 2: play every single snap. I love playing football, So like, uh,
- 13:58Speaker 2: whatever that is that they want me to do, I'm
- 14:00Speaker 2: happy to do it, you know. Yep, thanks, that's righte