K.J. Wright, Kris Kocurek assess 49ers' roster ahead of 2026 NFL season
K.J. Wright, Kris Kocurek, Matt Eberflus and more speak with reporters during the second week of OTAs on Tuesday in Santa Clara.
K.J. Wright, Kris Kocurek assess 49ers' roster ahead of 2026 NFL season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Highlight film of the, of the guys that you guys are drafting for Kyle Yeah, so I, I've done it every year.
So we all make a highlight tape of all the linebackers we're interested in drafting, free agents, and it's a combination of highlights and stuff they need to get better at.
And so I've done it every year, but this year was my first time showing the whole room what I see, how I'm evaluating guys, and it was a good one.
I'm, I'm sure you want the team to draft- Absolutely.
Oh, absolutely linebackers.
Absolutely.
So how, how do you, like, sort of game it so that people will love your film and wanna draft one of your guys?
So I, I start off, first thing I show is how does this guy make plays?
Like, his tackling, the way he takes on blocks, his speed, his football IQ.
Like, I really try to paint the picture for Kyle to show this guy fits what we wanna do as a football team.
And so I put all the good stuff first, and at the very bottom, like, this guy is still a football player.
There is stuff he gotta get better at.
And so I show the get better stuff at the bottom.
But up top I wanna capture Kyle attention 'cause if I don't, all right, let's go to the next guy.
What did you see about Jayden Dugger?
Dugger, I, I kid you not, when I watched Dugger, in the first 15 plays I was like, "I gotta have this dude.
I gotta have him."
I just looked at his frame, I looked at his speed, and he had this one play that not too many linebackers can make.
It was a reverse.
It started to his right and it went to his left, and s- most guys are late on reverses, but I saw this guy move to his right, and he went to his left so quick, and I put that as a second play, when I showed Kyle.
So long, athletic, smart.
His football IQ is something that y'all gonna love about him.
Really, really smart linebacker, and, really good player.
I fell in love with him in the first 15 plays.
John Lynch obviously hinted that he, you drafted ultimately a prototype of yourself.
A, a mimic of myself?
Yeah.
we're, we're similar.
We're real similar.
Both tall.
He's faster than I am.
He's, longer.
I know I'm a long guy, but he got these long arms.
but I really love a smart linebackers, guys that can see the game good, guys that can anticipate, anticipate plays is something that I love.
And so when I saw that from Dugger, he can bend as well.
So watch Dugger.
When he makes tackles, a lot of guys play high, really high.
He's a guy that can bend, sink in his hips, and find a way to still make really good plays.
Has his experience at other positions sort of help him at linebacker- I lo- understanding the defense and all that, yeah?
Yep, I love it.
So just to fill y'all in on Dugger's background, played safety in high school and in college.
All right, then he spent down to play on the ball linebacker, and this last year was his first time playing true stack linebacker.
And so you could see the rawness in him, and I love that type of stuff.
I like a guy that I could groom, that I could mold, that I could build, that I could teach how to strike and use their hands, and so he's just getting started, man.
He has a way to go, obviously, but this guy's gonna be a really, really special player.
I'm excited for him.
Is your, is your strong side spot a little bit of both of those things, playing on the ball and, and off?
Yep.
Not, yeah, I don't wanna get too talked about schematics, but they're gonna be versatile.
They're just g- they're gonna be here, they're gonna be there.
You gotta be asked to do different things in different situations.
And so we know where Fred and Greenlaw gonna be.
They gonna be boom, right there.
But this other guy, you gotta be able to have a nice toolbox to be able to stay on the football field, essentially.
And KJ as he's stepping into the, to the head linebackers role now, what, what have the last few years or couple years meant to you in terms of, like, getting you prepared to, to take on this role?
So thankful.
First of all, I'm just super thankful for Kyle Shanahan for, like, trusting me to bring me on this football team.
Like, Kyle doesn't know me.
He just know me from seeing number 50 make plays on him on Sundays- when I was with the Seahawks, but he doesn't know me.
And, thankfully, like, Sherman gave him a call and said, "Hey, man," like I told Sherman, hey, I wanna coach.
And he said, "I'm gonna call Kyle," and that's how this, this whole thing worked out.
And so first of all, thank him for trusting me, and just to put me as a quality control coach.
If I ever become a head coach, like, and this first time coaches, be a quality control coach, right?
You learn how to coach, learn how to get organized.
You learn how to sit back and listen, do PowerPoint, visio.
Like, you really learn the basic fundamentals of football, right?
I got 11 years of playing, right?
Let's learn how to actually coach football, and this is a new profession that you're in.
So for him to trust me to, to now lead this room means the world to me.Um, Johnny Holland is, been everything to me.
Just for him to groom me, mold me.
You know, you don't feel any egos.
Like, been super, super supportive.
Every day I go in his office and, "Coach, what can I get better at?
What can I learn from?"
And he's been my rock throughout this whole transition.
Guys who were players who had the level of success you did maybe aren't always sure that they wanna get into the grind of coaching.
Hey- Did you have any, did you have any moments of doubt along the way?
That was me.
I got up in my press conference when I retired and I said, "Guys, I don't know what I'm doing, but I know I'm not coaching."
I swear I said that.
But, when you retire, them days get long.
The 24 hours feel like 48 hours.
And I just wanna thank my wife, too.
She, like, she know where my heart is.
She know what I wanted to do.
She said, "Babe, go."
Like, "Get out the house."
Like- "You getting on my nerves.
Go work."
I said, "All right, babe.
I'm, I'ma try this thing."
And, thankfully that she gave me the green light to do it.
She said, "We- I'll take care of the kids and we'll be good."
And life's been great ever since I made this transition.
What has Raheem Morris'- Knowing he never wanted to coach influence been so far?
Uh- Knowing he never wanted to coach, and then obviously having that playing experience, how does that kinda make you relatable to those younger players?
Yeah.
So the beauty of playing and coaching is, like, anything that these guys have went through, I've experienced.
I know the stresses and anxieties of this profession.
I know what injuries feel like.
I know what getting benched feels like.
I know what getting a big contract feels like.
And so I can really connect with these guys and just guide them throughout this process, right?
And, so anything that they need, man, it stays between us.
Like, I want them to understand that you have that trust factor with me.
And, for me to be able to play and now coach, it definitely does help me out.
On that note, where does Nick Martin fit in that room?
His, his first year was, was pretty difficult.
Yeah.
Took him a while to get on the field, and then he had the concussion, kinda derailed things at the end.
Yep.
what is the next step for him and, and, and in working with him?
No doubt.
No doubt.
Just looking at Nick, Nick has a lot of tools when it come to his speed, when it comes to his physicality, right?
My, my job as a coach is to actually get the game to slow down for Nick, right?
'Cause he sees it and he moves so fast, but as a linebacker you gotta have speed, but you also have to have precision, precision too.
So to just be able to slow the ga- the game down for him, help him be able to see it, diagnose, have really good key drill, that's gonna really help him take this next step.
It's something Saleh said last year, you know, when he was first getting started, was he needed to slow down.
Slow down, yep.
You know, like, well, what is the biggest- I guess, gap that has to be closed there?
Yeah.
So for example, if a team, they run inside or outside zone, right?
Once you see it and dissect it, all right, it's a run play, go make the play.
All right?
We play Kyle Shanahan, we play Sean McVay, what y'all think they gonna do?
They gonna fake run it and then run a boot, all right?
So to be able to just, to differentiate between those two is what you have to do as a linebacker.
So see it, every play isn't full speed.
They gonna motion you, jet you.
Just slow the game down, and with repetition, that'll come for him.
What have been your first impressions of Raheem Morris and, and the demands he asks of his staff for you guys?
I love Raheem Morris.
High energy.
He's a guy that holds guys accountable.
And, and, and I've been around some coaches, like, not scared to hold guys accountable.
He directs every single person, and that's something that I can appreciate from a defensive coordinator, right?
So watching his energy, and just bringing a new scheme to us, right?
We've been running, you know, the 9s been running the same thing since Saleh was here, so 2019.
So just to have someone come in new and just bring in something different, it's been a breath of fresh air, I think, for this entire building.
Guess it's more variables, I would guess, rather than give it away what he's doing, just to- Exactly.
Exactly.
Doing, doing similar things, make it look different, but it's gonna be perfect for us.
I, I asked Saleh about you potentially going with him to Tennessee.
He said it was made clear to him immediately that you were off limits.
Was there, was there any conversation that Kyle had with you about, like, "Hey, this is kind of the plan for you-" Yep "where we want you to be?"
Yeah.
No, I mean, he told me right after the season, you know, "This is how I see things, and, this the direction I wanna go as a football team."
And, you know, the biggest thing was, my question was, "All right, with Coach Holland?"
And he said, "Coach Holland will be right there in the room with me, helping me grow, grooming me along the way.
It's my first time."
And so as long as, as he was good and, and everything made sense, I was good with it.
So yeah, it was right after the season.
The, the other thing Saleh told me is that he compared you to DeMeco.
He said, "These guys are gonna be fast risers in the business."
Have, have you, are you far along enough in your career that you allow yourself to think about, like, "This is something I'd like to get to eventually"?
My, my goal is to be a really good linebackers coach for them seven, eight guys in the room right now.
How can I help these guys get better?
How can I help a Fred and Greenlaw, who are top Pro Bowlers and All-Pros, how can I help these guys get better at, at the linebacker position?
So that's my focus, taking guys that are already great, "Hey, let's get a little bit better.
Let's, I'ma add this to your game," and helping guys like Larry Wirth and Jayden Dugger, to really take those guys to become the next Fred Warner.
Does Romello have the skill set to play, linebacker the way Dugger does?
And how involved No.
No.
Okay.
Nope.
No.
Ro- Romello is a guy, I want Ro- well, I'm, not I want, Romello is good at, like, going forward.
He's good at rushing that passer.
I also evaluated Romello high, too.
Fell in love with the dude.
Loved his energy, loved the way he could rush the passer.
And he's a guy that could drop back into pass coverage, right?
But Dugger is a guy, s- choose stack linebacker.
You stack the ball.
You can spin down on the ball and play some sound backer, but he really is gonna excel off the ball.
Romello is a guy, choose a spinner, go that way, Romello.
Yep.
Seven to eight guys in that room, it's likely that five to six will stay when those cuts are done.
How do you put that in the right perspective for those guys?
Yeah.
It's, you gotta be honest with them.
You gotta be honest.
And Coach Holland, he actually told me, "The first thing you have to do as a coach is be honest.
Don't, don't BS guys."
And so if I do see a guy that needs that extra coaching, "Hey, man, come to my office.
Let's talk.
Let's get this whole thing figured out."
And so my goal as a coach is that all these guys have a football building, like you got somewhere you can call home come September.
And so we know the nature of the business, and, I guess the best five will stay.
Some of your favorite coaches when you were playing, what, what'd you like about them?
Like, what was the- Shoot, where do I start?
Ken Norton Jr. was my favorite coach of all time, and he took a young pup from Mississippi and, and grew him into a badass football player.
And what I love most about Nort was he took the extra time with me outside of that block that we have as a football team.
"Hey, meet me here at 6:00 in the morning.
"That ain't on the schedule.
But he met me there, he was honest with me.
He embarrassed me sometimes in front of the room.
I didn't like it, but when you push a player, right, they have no choice but to rise to the occasion or they gonna fold, right?
So a lot of pushing as a player, respectfully, goes a long way.
So that's what I really appreciated about Nort was the extra time.
He pushed me.
Like, "You're here to coach me, make me get better."
To kind of follow up on that, do you see any of the guys on the current roster that have that type of mentality that you want to kinda have that same relationship with?
Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I know that when I look at, really it's all these guys.
Like, you know, I told them the other day, like, "I'm not here to be your friend.
I love you guys, but I l- I'm here to make y'all better football players.
All right?
That's, that's our relationship.
We gonna be cool and all that, but my job is to help you make a lot of money and be a Super Bowl champion one day.
All right?
That's my top priority for these guys."
Is Bruce Irvin a good comparison for Melhey?
Bruce and Romello, yes.
Yes.
You could say that.
Yeah.
He's, Well, you know Bruce.
Yeah.
Bruce was a guy that West Virginia drafted in the first round.
Everybody thought the Seahawks was crazy for doing it, and then he showed, "Hey, I can rush the passer."
And he actually got mad 'cause we moved him to linebacker, 'cause the room was so deep.
We had Cliff Avril, Clemens, Michael Bennett.
You need to get on the field, right?
And one thing that I can appreciate about Raheem is he's gonna find a way to get the best players on the football field.
And so I'm excited for Romello's future.
He's definitely a Bruce Irvin comparison.
Yep.
Yep.
Have you met any guys early, like, like, they did with you early on?
Like, you know, in the, in the morning, 6:00?
Oh, absolutely.
You had that.
Ja- Jalen Graham and Tatum Bethune come to my office every morning.
And, be- look out, J- Tatum hasn't been healthy, but look out for Jalen Graham.
He's a guy that can play all three positions.
Right now he's at the Mike backer because Luke got the concussion.
So Jalen Graham has looked phenomenal.
The way he bends, the way he's seeing the game, his footwork.
He's doing an outstanding job for us this OTAs.
Is he sort of built for that, that strong side role as well?
He, he seems to have- Yeah d- done a lot of stuff in his, in his past, yeah.
Yeah.
I, I love Jalen.
His, his background, he played nickel in college, so I love Jalen.
I stay as that star to the, I can't tell, talk too much, but stay at this position and stay off the ball as much as possible.
For Jalen, that's where he will excel on this football team.
Do you aspire to be a head coach one day?
I, I do know this, I do wanna be a really good linebackers coach, and I know that I do wanna be a defensive coordinator.
I for sure know that.
And so I'm working towards that, and we'll see.
We'll see once we get past that point.
Ask me when I become defensive coordinator.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What have been some of the biggest surprises about being a coach that you found, and how have you changed as a person?
Organized.
You gotta be organized as a coach.
I always wonder like, why these guys stay till like 9:00, 10:00 at night in OTAs?
I'm that guy now.
I'm that guy.
It's about making sure I told my wife the other day, I said, "Babe, I'm responsible for these guys in this room, and if not, if I'm not on point as a coach, they for damn sure not gonna be on point as players."
And so just being organized and just preparing them to just get better, right?
What are you showing them?
Are you just showing them mess, or are you really showing them what you want them to do on the football field?
So just preparing them for that day is just my biggest focus.
What do, what do you think of these two guys?
Yeah.
We, we do an extensive, extensive review on all of our, undrafted free agents, and we thought both of them had a very, very, very good chance of getting drafted.
So they were obviously, if they did happen to slip through the cracks, they were rated very highly on our, on our undrafted list of, players that could be possibly be available.
kind of be real, being honest with you, I thought both of them would get drafted at some point in time, you know, on the third day.
And, so we did a lot of work with them.
We did Zoom calls with them.
We did, you know, the whole gamut of, of, pre-draft stuff with them.
Brought Bryson in for a, a 30 visit, so we got to visit with him there.
Greg Scruggs had coached, JT, James Thompson at, at Wisconsin, so that, that was a connection there.
So, and then once the draft ended, like it was pretty quick, they made the decision they wanted to come here, and it was pretty seamless for a recruiting deal, and end up getting both of them, which was, which never thought would happened going into the draft.
But we happened to get both of them, and we're excited about it.
Both have a skill set to play in the NFL.
We, targeted them, went after them, and it ended up working out.
What about Mykhail Kylara?
What do you like about him?
Same thing.
He's just a guy that was really productive in college around the football.
The, the energy he played the game with, technique he played the game with, natural leverage, get off, and then very, very instinctual player.
Always around the football, so drew us to, to Kylara, you know, so another one in the mix.
How would you, how would you assess- This is already How would you assess the rookies from last year?
CJ, Alfred, Mykel.
I know his season was cut short, but their performance last year and how they're looking going into year two.
Yeah, they gained a lot of valuable experience.
Had to play a lot of, all three of them had to play a lot of football.
Mykel I know got cut short, but then, AC and, and CJ had to play a lot, and, you know, I thought they, they grinded and got, got better as the year went on and got valuable, valuable reps, you know, and won a lot of games with them in their playing.
And it's, inside, you know, D tackle-wise, it's very difficult to go from way, the way college football is nowadays, transitioning into the NFL and being a highly productive player.
Usually it takes a while, and those guys were able to get better as the year went on.
And then I thought they were playing their best at the end, and then, you know, into the playoffs, CJ had some really good games in, you know, the Philadelphia game he made some really big plays, and AC was around the ball all year long.
So, really excited about the experience they got last year, getting thrown, get thrown into the mix and having to play a lot, and as the year went on, play more and more, and now going into their second year, just seeing that second year jump.
And, um-Everything not being totally new to them, I'm really excited about it, both of them.
They're made of the right stuff, both of them are.
Coach, you've probably been asked about Height already, but what have you seen out of him through OTAs?
Anything impressive, anything stood out to you so far?
just his speed, his ath- athleticism, his explosion on get off, and then just natural pass rush ability.
it's been really, you know, impressive so far.
you know, we're not in pads or anything yet, so that'll be the de- the de- determining factor for the whole thing.
But just the way he moves, and, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we, we, you know, we drafted him to, to rush the passer, and he's really excelled at that.
Like, his get off has been really, really good.
Being able to put tackles behind the eight ball with his get off and, and making them set differently and, and protect differently and getting on them quickly, and then just, you know, the work ethic that he brings in.
Like, he works really, really hard, the energy that he plays with, and so just the whole package.
We're excited about him.
And bringing in Odighizuwa, what have you seen from him?
Is he meeting the expectations that you guys expected of him coming in for what you've been able to see so far?
Yeah, so far, he's been, he's been awesome so far.
His work ethic is, like, off the charts.
Like, he comes in and you talk about putting in a full day's work, he's gonna do it, whether it's in the film room, whether it's in the weight room, whether it's on the grass out there practicing.
He is very, very in tuned into working extremely, extremely hard to get the most out of his skill set.
And then just watching him on the field, so far so good.
Like, it's been awesome.
He can move around.
He's athletic.
He's quick.
He can rush the passer.
we, you know, we find a lot more out in training camp than we do now.
pads come on, but really excited about him.
Can't wait till camp gets here to see him really, like, put it all together and go against our offense, and then in preseason games, and then, you know, as we get going into the season, like getting to see him match up in, in our defense versus other teams and, and go at it.
Really excited about him.
You've been here for, a Nick Bosa ACL comeback before, so how do you see him going through this one, and what are your expectations for him, and how does he just uplift the whole unit being present?
Well, they, you know, they always say with ACLs it's always, you know, the better once you've been through it, and you kinda know what to expect along the road.
And, you know, fortunately with And I shouldn't, there's nothing- I know nothing unfortunate about either one of them, but- Understood you know, if it's gonna happen, it, they ha- they both happened earlier in the season, where it's giving him time to- Yeah you know, to, to not rush it and like be able, be able to take his time and be really meticulous with the process and, and not skip any, any junctions with along the way.
So, he's been through it before.
you know, you never quite know till you do go through it, but you know, he got through it that, the first one, and we went down to Detroit, and next thing you know, he's got 15 and a half sacks at the end of the year, and Pro Bowler, and, you know, it was all good.
So, Nick's very meticulous about his, you know, everything that he does, you know, and, and rehabs, you know, once, with, with this stuff's gonna be at the top of his list.
I mean, obviously the unit missed him on the field last season, but just him not being available, did, did that kind of deflate a lot of the unit also?
I know there were other injuries along the way too.
Well, anytime you got a former- Yeah defensive player of the year and a guy that's been in the teens in sacks and Pro Bowl basically every single year, every time that guy's not in your lineup, it's not, not ideal.
Yeah.
What is having a guy like Bosa and then the inside pass rush that he brings, what does that do for the entire defense?
Yeah, like, yeah, when you, when you got a guy inside that can win, and, and if, you know, you get him into one-on-one situations and, and a guard or a center has to protect against him one-on-one, you anticipate a guy like Bosa winning that matchup.
And, you know, when he wins those matchups, he's in the quarterback's lap.
He's getting the quarterback off the spot.
He's, you know, he's got a really long wingspan.
He's not the tallest guy in the world, but he's got like an 85-inch wingspan that's around the quarterback, and it just, you know, it sets up things for, one, himself, and then, two, all the other rushers that, you know, that are coming at the quarterback.
Like, if you got an interior rusher from the inside in the quarterback's lap, then he's gotta account for that and get off his spot, and next thing you know, his, his eyes aren't downfield on receivers.
He's looking at the rush.
Like, that affects a lot.
How much w- were you guy- have you guys been missing?
You sort of haven't had that element, a guy at his level with, you know, with Javon when he was healthy, yeah.
Yeah, well, we had probably, you know, at, at that level, you know, as far as the pass rusher inside, probably Javon and Arik Armstead- Right, right when we had that combination in '23.
Mm-hmm.
When we, you know, we were Super- Right Super Bowl team.
Yeah.
You know, had that type of win ability inside.
so it's v- very nice.
You know, it's one of the, one of the things when we, you know, this off season when we were looking, it was very important to, you know, for us to be able to find a guy that can, that can affect it, affect the pass rush from the interior, you know, at a high level.
And we, we, Q. Bosa's that type of guy.
Went out, you know, obviously went out and pursued him.
Didn't know if we were gonna, you know, quite get him, and it worked out, and we got him, and we're, you know, it's been awesome so far just watching him work and the way he goes about his business, and you can, you know, you can just tell that the skill set that we see on the field here in, in the spring, it's the type of skill set that translates to winning on Sunday.
There are obviously the, in this division, Sean and Kyle that call plays, obviously.
Feels like defensively that's almost, does that rarely, if ever, happen, the head coach call?
Was that something you had done, that you considered doing?
What do you mean?
Managing, calling the defense while also being the head coach.
I did call the defense.
You called the defense?
Yeah, I called the defense.
Oh, that's- When I was in Chicago, yep, yep.
And how did, how, how do you manage that?
I mean, given that everything you just said about not having- Yeah, I mean, you're, you're on the, on the line with the offensive coordinator, on the line with the game management coach, and then just, go from there.
How does it r- how does it, how would you compare that to what the offensive coach goes through?
Is it the same?
It, it is the same.
Yeah, it is the same.
But, you're, you're working through your play calls also at the same time, you know, so I think that's, it's a little bit of a benefit there.Wanted to get an idea of kind of the coaching connections and kind of lineage that, that brought you here with Raheem.
Yeah.
I know up in D- Dallas, he worked a lot with Tampa guys, and I know Raheem started in Tampa.
Can you kind of trace that all back to, to Tampa as you go through- You can, you can yeah.
Yeah, I believe you can trace, trace it back to Tampa.
It's, all those guys were there.
I became connected to that Tampa system, you know, when I was with Coach Marinelli.
I was with him for five years.
he was obviously the legendary D-line coach there.
Mm-hmm.
And, and yeah, it's all, it's all traced back to that.
It's, it's, it's a great way to play football, you know?
You, it's about teaching the guys, their techniques and fundamentals in a, in a simple way, where they can grab onto it and play fast.
And, that's what, this scheme is about.
This is what that scheme was about.
And the guys know what they're doing, and they play fast.
They make a lot of plays.
You've been very known for your work with linebackers.
The 49ers, do they have a reputation outside of this building, especially under this regime, for their work at that linebacker position?
Yeah, you look at, at Law and, you know, and Fred.
They're, they're an amazing group, and I, I watched them over the years, and what a phenomenal pair of linebackers.
You know, the yin and the yang, they play off each other really well.
And, they'll be a, they're gonna be exciting to watch this year, for sure.
And also from a coaching perspective, you look at Saleh, he started as a linebackers coach, DeMeco Ryans.
It seems that this building has, just from that position specifically, a very good one.
Yeah, those are, those are some very good coaches and very good linebacker coaches.
They've been great coordinators and, really good head coaches too.
And, it's, they've always had good backers here.
You know, it's been, it's been a long tradition.
Yeah.
And, these guys will do a great job this year.
Well, it's, it's excellent.
I see why he was a head coach, and, and, you know, he have the right energy and is a great leader.
Are there big changes or small adjustments this off-season?
No, not, not, not big changes.
You know, football is football.
There's 11 guys on the field, and everybody run the same coverages.
There's kind of different ways of people doing it.
And, but, you know, it's, you know, I would say it's a little bit of what we've been doing, a little mixture.
And, you know, but the style of play is probably still gonna be the same.
We gotta play hard, and I think the biggest part of what we're doing is we, we gotta get more, takeaways and get the ball more.
And I think we'll get a chance to get more takeaways.
On that note, Coach, your tenure here has been incredible.
How do you see the 2026 version of this defense coming together as you're going through OTAs?
Well, you know, everybody hopes we'll be the top, one of the top defenses, but I, I just, I, I think our style of play will never change.
And, and, we're gonna play hard.
But I think the biggest thing for defense that you, you have to get the ball, and you have to put stress on offenses.
And I think we'll be able to do that, you know, with guys healthy and, with our new way, new scheme of doing things that, hopefully we'll be able to put more pressure on offense and get more takeaways.
The more, the less we on the field, the better we are on defense.
Fun news thing.
what was your first impression of Myles Garrett getting traded to the Rams?
you know, I said to Kyle, kind of a little gut punch at first.
You feel like, "Oh, gosh, here we go."
But then, you know, I woke up really early this morning, earlier than usual, and I came in and just watched tape, and I said, I mean, he's, he's an outstanding football player.
That he's gonna be a challenge for us to take care of.
But it is, you know, we had a plan last year.
We do You're gonna do the best you can, and everybody has good players, and he's a great player, and it's good for, it's good for them.
Helps them, and, it'll be a good challenge for us.
So you ca- you came in today and watched Myles Garrett tape first thing in the morning?
Is that right?
I sure did, yeah.
I just wanted a reminder because it felt, it feels, you know, it's kind of came out of left field, right?
Would you say- Sure, yeah that was a left field one?
Yeah.
Yeah.
so it came out of left field.
Just sitting there saying, "Well, oh, wow, so what about this?
So let me..." Then you remember him, but we know he, we haven't been in the division.
You don't play him all the time.
You're like, "Gosh, yeah, he, he made a couple plays."
And you say, then you're like, "Let me go back and look at the tape and see what it really was."
And, and he's a, he's a great player.
I'm not taking one thing.
He got after us.
Yeah.
But it wasn't, you know, we did have a plan.
The plan was somewhat effective, and so we can, you know, there's other ways to do things as well.
So, you know, we'll see how it goes.
How formi- how formidable are the Rams front and the Seahawks front, just in terms of all the good defense you've had to go against?
These two defensive fronts are pretty strong.
Yeah, they're, they're all, but everybody.
That's my, that's where I've kind of come to.
Yeah.
Like, we can look at the schedule.
I think last year we had the easiest schedule until you got to week 10, then you did it, and we had, like, the fifth hardest schedule in football.
You know, so you can, you can play this thing, and then you, you play out the year.
You play this out, and yes, you do the, the Yes, talent-wise, they're, they're a talented group.
But I think, you know, our division, what is it, five out of the last nine years we've been representing the Super Bowl from the NFC West, and, and defense has been a big part of it.
So they're all a good defense, but everybody does.
I mean, to make a trip to Lambeau, go here, go, you're like, "Gee, they all have good players."
And, and short of a team getting banged up and hurt, there's always gonna be a challenge, whether it be interior-wise or exterior on pass rush.
So it's always gonna be somebody.
Does this change the strategy going into week one down in Australia?
Yeah, it's, it's not really I mean, strategy-wise, we haven't started a game plan yet, but obviously it does, it does, it's a factor.
But I'll say this.
Now, I think, you know, I don't, this is gonna come out.
It's not gonna come out wrong.
It is what it is.
Myles Garrett's a player, and Jared Versen.
We had to take care of Jared Verse before taking care of Myles Garrett.
Either you, you ta- It's an edge player, and you kind of have to do it, there's only one or two ways to There's a lot of ways to take care of an edge player.
But just say there's one or two ways to take care of an edge player.
Well, if you decide that's who you're gonna take care of, different than when it was Aaron Donald.
You take care of an interior player with a separate s- a, a different way to do it.
So you're, yes, you're, I'm not saying they're the same guy.
I think Myles Garrett's a, one of the, he's an all-time great pass rusher.
He's an unbelievable talent.
but it's still an edge rusher that you have to account for.
How much does the addition of the passing game affect how Brock Purdy can get rid of the ball faster and then alleviate maybe the, the pressure?Gosh, you just know offensive line too well.
The faster you throw it, the less we have to block.
I mean, yeah, it's the truth.
But no, obviously the pass Our, our last year, our drop back pass game, was, was more than, than solid.
I mean, I, I, I don't know that obviously being good at getting the ball out quick or being able to get open quick, whatever those things are, does help.
Obviously it's way too early for any declarations on the left guard job, but just kind of like how do you kind of view the position and, and w- the options that you have there here in, you know, June?
There's a lot of guys.
That's what So it's wide open right now.
It's gonna be hard to get them all.
It's not gonna be hard to do it, it's just they're gonna all get their chances somewhere and we're gonna have to go with the best player.
I don't know that one person's gonna clear cut win the job.
I mean, you look at it and, and, and, you know, Toth has been limited a little bit this spring, so he's not been able to get, to get guard reps. you know, the biggest improvement most guys make is between year one and year two, and so you're gonna see a big jump in Connor Colby, and he has to make a big jump because when he stopped playing, it, it, it was not real good for him.
So, but Connor has made a nice jump.
As far as you can tell right now- Sure Rob, Rob Jones coming in.
we've got obviously the draft pick, uh- Willis Co- Willis.
Yep, Carver Willis.
I, I, I always call him Corbin.
I have all these- Two last names is tough.
It's weird, yeah.
So Carver's there.
Carver's done a nice job as well.
and, I don't wanna leave anybody out in the group, but there's, everybody's getting reps over there and working really hard to get the job and work, working to play that position and, and we'll see how it goes.
I really don't know and, but I feel real confident in the guys that are here.
I do.
I do think that, you know, you guys have heard this discussion before on what I feel about drafting offensive lineman.
Mm-hmm.
And I think there is a line, wherever that line is.
This year it happened to be where, En- Enrique was, Enrique Cruz.
He was to me, I, I think he's a, a starter going forward to some point in the league.
I think he's a starting t- talent, and he's sitting there in the fifth round.
But I think he was the it.
He was like, for me, that was the guy, and then after that, now there may be other guys that start.
Connor was a seventh round draft pick.
That wasn't my projection for him to be a starting guard.
Now, he exceeded our expectations when he first started playing, and he may still exceed our expectations.
but the other guys that are there are guys that are totally capable of being starters at the position, in our system and how we do things.
Connor would be exceeding.
So is the replacing Matt Hennessy at, at backup center, is, is Toth.
I know he played both guard and center at Philly.
Is that somebody that you're- Yes looking at for that?
And that would be the problem.
If Toth did win the guard job, which we I said he, he's not, he will be involved in it.
If he's one of our best five players, it does create a little bit of a It gets a little sticky because then your ba- your s- backup center's in the, in the g- in the game.
So then that means he's at risk of getting hurt.
So then who's your back- So there has to be a third center that you have to keep on ice because you don't want, you know, 'cause then else, and if all your centers are playing.
One time I had all my centers were playing both guards and center in the game, and you're like, "Well, wait a minute, I'm losing If they, they could all go out.
What's gonna happen?
Who's gonna snap the ball?"
So, yeah, but that's the plan right now.
Toth is challenging and then he'll get to compete at guard.
So that would be another, that's another layer to the problem.
But right now that's not the problem.
What was your workout like with, with Cruz?
it was, was it at Kansas or Chicago area?
Chicago.
It was Chicago.
Yeah, it was Chicago.
beautiful day in Chicago.
Happened to be warm when I went.
It was nice and, worked out at his high school.
It was a great, it was a cool, it was a cool deal.
His high school coach came out and, one of his other coaches held the bag and, and we just put, I just put him through some paces, and what I really wanted to see was, I wanted to see, his football like There was You can put a guy on a chalkboard and, and learn sh- you know, can he learn football, and we felt pretty decent about that.
But there were some questions, like he had a little bit, maybe his football background wasn't great, so we wanted to go check it out.
And Kyle said, "You gotta go there and start correcting him and see how long it takes to get mad at him.
And if you get mad at him really, really fast, he may be a guy we don't wanna take, and if you have, if, if he can pick it up, then maybe we can do it."
And that's what happened.
I went there and, and he's really amazing.
It happened to Trent yesterday, okay?
I went to This will explain the workout.
Trent came to practice and, and he saw Enrique do something and he cor- and he, and he corrected him.
He spent a little bit of time over there and next rep he did, Trent said, "Oh my God, he did everything I told him to do."
And that's what I found with Enrique.
He was, you correct him and he was like, boom, boom.
I was working on a guard actually, 'cause we didn't know if we'd be able to draft a guard before him.
He might've been competing at guard if not for drafting the kid from Washington.
So, so we put him through the paces there and I said, "No, he can make these corrections."
He just doesn't have a ton of His experience is just not, it's just, I don't know how to say it.
It's just not all together yet.
What I saw on tape in Enrique was I saw everything you need to do, be to be a starter, you see him do it at one point.
Like every, every skill that there is that a guy, an anchor, a redirection, a linebacker, a second level, a pull, a, a s- a, a spectacular pass block.
You're like, "Wow, that's incred-", but it just wasn't consistent yet, and it, is it inconsistent because of up here or is it inconsistent because it just has to have the physical reps?
When you, when you go on these workouts, do you- I don't know who gets two questions in one.
It was easier when Cole had one.
Would, and, and the guy is, you know, beginning to impress you in the workout.
Do you, you know, step on the, the gas at that point?
Do you keep pushing him and pushing him?
No, no, no.
I just, the, the, the number one thing is it was, I don't know how, you don't want to get anybody hurt.
That's kinda like the thing in football right now, although that's the 100%, everybody does get hurt in football, but you don't want anybody to get hurt.
So you don't wanna hurt them when they shouldn't get hurt, which is a workout.
So no, what I do is like, "Okay, you didn't do something right, okay?
So, let me correct you.
You do it.
Ah, great job."
Okay.
Then I go f- do four or five other things.
Then I'll come back, "Hey, let's go back and do that again.
Let's see if you can do it, and then see if you remembered what I told him, if the recall's there or something like that."
You, you brought up that Trent Williams was at practice yesterday and he showed up.
What's his, I guess his physical and mental state right now going into this year?
He's awesome.
Awesome.
And then early takeaway just seeing him and- No, he looks great did he have a good reaction about Miles Garrett coming aboard?
Yeah.
Alexey Woods.
I'll let you talk to him about that.
Yeah.
Okay, great.
No, it's, Trent's always great.
It's always funny, when he came here, I don't know, a few years ago, one of the first years he was here, Kyle wanted him here a little bit more and he came.
I, I, I took him through an individual period and I said, "Kyle, all we're doing is taking Trent off the tire right now."
Wow.
Because he's phenomenal.
He, he looks great.
Now, he still needs to work and, and, and as we saw, camp has to be a certain way because he started the season maybe not the way we want, he wanted to start the season.
And we gotta be sure he gets enough work during camp that, that we can get him to a good position.
Chris, is Cruz athletic enough that you could see himBeing utilized as a blocking tight end, is he's, is he 'cause it can be a tight roster spot.
Yeah, he's very athletic.
He's a very, very, very athletic kid.
That's what I love about the kid.
He's got athleticism, he's got speed, quickness, strength.
He's got all the, the traits.
And, we'll see.
He could, he could fill in many of those spots possibly.
His roster's a long ways away, and yeah, there seems to be with, you know, Lowe and Pleasance and him and, and then the guys that we know are the starters, it There's a lot of guys, so we'll have to see how it plays out.
With Tylan last year, how much did the knee injury he had in, exhibitions sort of maybe what he was able to do?
I think what happened is he, he was developing well and then he kind of hit a, a lull because of the knee.
So he fought through it and played through it, which is awesome.
The problem is he, he didn't maybe practice quite the way he could have.
didn't maybe come through.
You know, it just, stuff wasn't as good.
And he didn't say it hurt and didn't say it bothered him, but it was something.
And it slowed his, it kind of slowed his progress down, and then he kind of struggled coming back from it.
I, I, I will say this about Dom last year, and I don't know if we talked about this before, but Dom, Dom's rookie year, Dom flew by the seat of his pants and did a couple techniques, and he got by with it until about the last three or four games.
And I kept telling him week, I said, "Dom, you can't do this all year."
But he kept doing it, kept doing it.
It's what he was comfortable with.
It's all he could do with, with certain techniques, and it caught up with him at the end of the year.
This year he said, "I gotta fix all that."
So this year he went through a lot of the bumps that his rookie year I'm not making an excuse.
Right.
He's, it, it, it's, he had to, he had to learn to do some of these skills that he had never done before, so that's- Were you, were you How much did you weigh whether moving him to the left side to fill that spot?
I don't think we did.
I think it could have played out based on free agency and the draft and so on.
But why not?
I'm just curious.
Just I know he's obviously stable and good at right guard, but why- That's why.
Okay.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Yeah.
I mean, if, yeah, it would have to be, like I said, we drafted somebody that only played, or picked somebody who'd only been a right guard or something.
Right.
Last year, Mike McDaniel in Miami, I asked because you used to work with him, and one of your former players, Dan Brunskill, played a lot of six though line tight end.
Do, do you study what your former colleagues do around the league?
As much as I can.
As much as I can.
People that are similar to us, it is fun to watch because I think I was talking to Kevin Stefanski once.
I was calling him to recommend somebody for a job in Cleveland and, and he said, "You know, it's always fun to see the, the people that leave, that whatever the system tree, all of a sudden Sean goes and does this, Matt does this, and then all these people that leave, Mike goes," and then you like to see kind of the road they go down and, and it does give you some ideas for things you could do differently.
What would you say are the qualities of your new tight ends coach, Cameron Collins?
Oh, Cam?
What about, what are his good qualities?
Cam's an excellent teacher.
He's a quality, quality person.
He's a really good He's, he's a really patient teacher, so he's really, really And Florida was the same way.
A very bright guy, very good teacher, good presenter, and, and he's out he's awesome that way.
He, he's a, he's a, he's a really, really fine guy.
To have guys like Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges who have been here for a while, does that help that transition as well?
It should, yeah.
I think it's gonna be a challenge though.
They'll all get to know each other this year.
It'll be good for them.
I remember the first year I went from the line room to the tight end room in Indianapolis, and I made the comment, I said, I thought I was I make this comment, I was one step ahead of them all year.
I think I was three steps behind and they pulled me along the first year.
And by year two, I was able to actually be a better tight end coach.
We've got so many people here that have run the system before that, that we have helpers that have been in the room and stuff like that.
So, Cam's gonna be great, but it is a, it is a transition that you should talk to him about the, not having been involved in the pass game.
It just takes a little time to catch up, you know, to be really proficient at it.
Where has McKivitz made his biggest jumps over the years?
Colton, Colton's, Colton's attempting to get He attempts in games to get better all the time.
He works really, really hard to, like when we say we're gonna fix something, he goes out to the game and does it.
And so that's what's the biggest jump.
When you're, when you're a younger player, you, you know, he, we, we were laughing about the other day, the jump from, you know, the meeting room, then you walk out the practice field and you go and drill work, then you go to a team period.
But then to make that jump into the stadium and do it for 65 plays every single Sunday against the best people in the world, and to trust your technique and not just, "I'm just gonna grab onto this guy and hang on and hope we get the ball out," or whatever happens.
He's trusting and then that allows you to get better.
'Cause the best reps are the reps you get on game day, and he's willing to take the chances that it takes some courage to say, "I don't mind getting beat.
I don't mind missing.
I don't mind doing these things."
It happens with Trent.
It's real easy for Trent to just go br- bear hug and it's over, as opposed to, "I'm gonna work to, to maintain my skills.
"Two great picks, from Washington where, where Jedd Fisch, your, your friend is the coach.
Yeah.
And I spoke to him a couple weeks ago, and he took me back all the way to the Baltimore days where, where you met him.
how often are you in touch with him?
And, I know one of the picks was an offensive lineman.
Yeah.
How much intel, that you probably normally wouldn't get were you able to glean about Carver Willis?
Yeah, I was just there.
I mean, so I But they, they fly I mean, they allowed to be go do clinics and stuff, and that's why I'd go visit Jedd as a friend.
But mostly they'd, they'd bring me up there to do clinic talks, and they were trying to install some more stuff with the offensive line play.
And so in coaching their line coach, I could then watch the tape with the line coach and just be, like, coaching him up and saying, "Hey, but, you know, Carver needs to do this.
This kid needs to do this, this kid needs to do that."
So And but Jedd and I used to be It's funny how things have happened.
We used to talk like weekly, and now with texting and everything, we, we maybe talk once a month.
But I was talked to him three times over the last week.
we'll talk a little bit more in the off-season.
We both get busy, but he's one of my best friends in, in, in, in co- in, in the world, in coaching in the world.
He's a, he's a really good friend.
As far as- And it did play, it did play a role, getting to know the kid and 'cause you get to know the character as well as everything else.
A lot of new faces in the receiver room.
Yeah.
How quick are they picking up the new playbook?
I know we're not too far into the offseason OTAs yet.
We are.
But how are they picking up the playbook?
You know, it, it's coming along.
it's not easy to pick up, pick it up quickly, you know.
But the guys have been, been doing a great job, putting in the extra work, doing whatever that takes to get ahead, you know, and, and, and testament to those guys, because we, we, we meet, we meet a lot, you know, when it comes to, you know, just the fine details of the offense.
And I pride myself on having the most detailed group on the field.
So, they've been working.
You know, I don't expect it to happen overnight, you know, but, you know, it's gonna come.
You know, that's why we have this time to set the foundation, and then we got training camp, you know, and then hopefully by week one, you know, it's all set in stone.
When you, when you made your, pre-draft cut up of, of Scribbling- Mm-hmm did you, purposely kind of, underscore the blocking?
Was that like a whole segment of your, of your film?
It stood out, you know, because of, right, we pride ourself as a nine in receiver, you pride yourself on blocking.
Setting the tone, you know, and, and, and, and having defenders on the other side being timid- Mm-hmm you know, when it comes to, you know, us blocking.
You know, and Scribbling as well.
Like, when you turn on the tape, right now he's wearing number fifteen, and it so much reminds me of Jauan.
Yeah.
You know, I turn on the tape right now and I'm like, "Man, how do Is Jauan still on the field for us right now?"
You know, and, and, and that stands out.
The first thing first, when I, anytime I evaluate, you know, a receiver, first thing first I looks at is the toughness.
You know, do you have that toughness mentality, not only in the running game, but in the passing game as well?
Because if you do so, now I don't have to teach you that.
I don't have to show you that, okay, this is how we get down, this is how we go out there and battle, this is how we set the tone.
You already have it.
So now I just gotta show you the fundamentals and the techniques, you know, and the details and how we do things.
You know, so with Scrib was already showcasing that, you know, throughout his college career.
You know, it made it easy for us, you know, to say, "Okay, if we select Scrib here, you know, we can He can fit in exactly, you know, where, you know, Jauan left off at, you know, in the entire room."
You've, you've been working with Kyle for, for a long time now, and you know what he wants in a receiver.
Is there a difference between the, the cut ups that you did when you first started working with him versus now?
I mean, do you have as many guys because you know that he's not gonna like certain guys, um- I would say that there's a difference, and not based off how I, create the cut up based off, just my work in itself.
You know, that's been I've been here now, this is my sixth year.
Yeah.
You know, and, every year I wanna say I've gotten better.
You know, because obviously, right, we have to get better in what we do.
If not, then he won't be here.
You know, so, the amount of guys doesn't change regardless of that, right?
Once we decide who we're attacking, who we're going after, then it's my job to, to say, "Okay, yes, this is why, we like the guy.
This is why I like the guy or not.
This is what he can do.
This is what he can't do.
This is what I see on tape, you know, and, I think he fits or I think he doesn't."
You know, so and then now once we all get together, we meet upon that and see, you know, if it does or if it doesn't, and then we go from there.
How much changes for you with the new title, the, the passing game coordinator?
You know what?
It, it, it's been great.
You know, it's my job always as a, as a, as a passing game coordinator or a receivers coach, it's my job to always assist, you know, and provide, you know, any type of help that I can.
You know, whether that's with, game planning, whether that's with practice, scheming up defenses, whether that's with route running, whether that Well, no matter what the case is.
You know, no matter what title you have, as an offensive coach, you always want, you know, to have some sort of input and say in certain things.
And sometimes we go over.
You know, we overly do it to where everything can't be inputted.
But, no matter what, nothing has changed.
I've been the same no matter, you know, the years I've been here.
You know, I- I'll always been the exact same guy who's gonna try to get different plays inputted, you know.
So, uh-Uh, it always been the same as that.
We now just come with a new title, and I'm very, you know, you know, appreciative of that from Cal, and you can see that my growth and development each year, you know, from year to year, my involvement have been more and, you know, it's been great.
I was gonna say, is, is it meaningful to you?
I mean, is that, is that something that you- Of course you aspire?
I mean- Of course.
Of course everyone wants to move up in their line of work.
E- everyone wants to be at the top of the field, you know, and the only way you can get that is recognized by some- someone, you know?
So for myself, you know, it, it, it, it makes you, right, understand and, and know that, right, you've taken a step in the right direction.
And for me, I'm always gonna, be in the moment, be on my feet, all right, do my job at a elite level, you know, and hopefully it is recognized, you know, and I think it is, so I'm, uh- It's, uh- I'm, I'm, I'm honored.
Is that important?
So obviously the path from wide receiver coach to offensive coordinator usually has, u- usually more the quarterback- Uh-huh.
Yeah head coach.
So- Yeah having the passing game coordinator- Tradition, yes yeah, does that sort of may- maybe show that you have those skills i- if eventually that's something you do wanna move on and do?
Well, again, I, I think, I think, God's taking a step in the right direction.
Yes, that's the- Mm-hmm traditional path, it's quarterbacks, you know, or I guess tight ends- Right.
Yeah to whatever other position, passing coordinator, offensive coordinator.
I think that the most important thing is relationships as well.
Mm-hmm.
You know, having that connection to, whether it's a head coach on the offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, you know, and then eventually work that as long as someone trusts you, you know, to do a, elite job, then you can always get put in position to, you know, take a step, you know?
So for myself, you know, like I say, I've been taking this step every single year, going from, '21, you know, as, the quality control receiving on offense to receivers coach, you know, to receive- receivers coach passing specialists, to receivers coach, you know, and passing coordinator.
Mm-hmm.
So every single year I've been taking a step and, and that's always gonna be, my goal, you know, my aspirations is to become an offensive coordinator.
So eventually, you know, I'll keep grinding, I'll keep working and we'll see how I can get there.
What's the difference for a wide receiver playing the slot and playing outside?
What is it about Scribbling's skill set that makes him a real good fit in the slot in addition to outside?
Personally, I don't think there's no difference, you know.
as a receiver, you know, no matter what, inside or outside, you still gotta get open.
You still gotta know the, the, the concept of the route tree and how to defeat certain defenses.
Obviously you do, you are gonna have more room whether you go inside or outside, but I don't think there's a difference.
When you have an understanding of how you play the position and how to get open, then, that's gonna allow you to be on the field and play more.
Scribbling, he's a big, big physical receiver who, has the speed to be a X receiver and run down the sideline past people.
He has the size to be able to catch it over the middle, you know?
And, he's been doing a phenomenal job, you know, in the short period of time of being here, you know, and I'm just excited to have him, you know, and to coach him up and, and to see where he can become.
You mentioned Scribbling, you- You talked about Oh, I'm sorry.
He's been, he's been complimented about his football IQ.
Yeah.
What have you seen from that, from him so far?
It's just that.
You know, he's been great.
You know, again, this offense is not easy, you know, whether it's the concepts, whether it's the details, and yes, being one yard inside the numbers, four yards outside the numbers, being in the alley, being two steps outside the hash, being on the hash.
We have a different kind of formations and motions, probably over 15 motions itself, you know, so just playing in this offense, it's not easy.
And him coming in, putting in the extra work, doing it every single day, learning it and getting comfortable, he's not there yet.
none of the guys, right?
It's my job to get him there, you know, whether that's him, whether that's, Wesley Bryant, Will Paulin, Christian Kirk, Mike Gavins, you know, every single year, that's guys that have been here for quite some time that still doesn't really have the foundation or the understanding, I would say, of everything that we do.
So for me, you know, as long as you have that, that player who is willing to come in extra, you know, and write down notes and take the time to ask questions, then he can always get there.
So he's been doing, he's been doing an awesome job.
You mentioned the run year three Ricky and Ricky from the first two years, how different?
You know what?
Year three is always the year, you know?
Even when I played back in the days, right, I didn't feel like I was actually a good player until this.
So for me it was 2023 OTAs, I mean, sorry, 2013 OTAs when, when my third, going into my third year.
You know, so for Ricky, you know, same thing.
He's very, he's comfortable in offense, he's comfortable in the techniques and the details that I'm teaching him.
He's comfortable with playing his plan speed, his releases, being more physical with the defenders, you know.
So now with him it's all about now staying out there, staying healthy and doing it, you know, for the entire year, you know?
So, Ricky has a bright future, you know, and, and I'm excited right now that, from now going to training camp, he's gonna take another step and I can't wait to see it come week one.
You mentioned the, the toughness and the blocking earlier- Yeah with Scribbling here.
When you went back and, and looked last year, the, the lack of explosives in the run game, did, were, were your guys at the level that you expect, that you normally get in terms of blocking on the- No, I, I don't even think we, we, we, How can I say this?
As a group- Yeah as a receiver group, you know, I think we took a step back when it came to bloc-Blocking.
You know, we didn't, we didn't quite finish enough.
We didn't quite get as many knockdowns.
We didn't quite sprain enough, you know what I'm saying?
But when you look at the totality of it when it comes to, longer runs, there's a lot of different variables when- Sure it comes to that happening.
It can be, you know, it can be a missed gap.
It can be, you know, the offensive line didn't get it can be us on the outside didn't block, it can be a tight end.
It can be the defense played it right.
You know, it's a lot of different variables that take into account when it comes to doing so, you know.
So as a coach, right?
This time of year is for us to, right?
focus on the area, right?
That we need to improve, which is us on the outside, is sustaining our blocks and being, physical enough to where we don't allow those guys to fall off and make a tackle, you know.
So we have to be better in that area, you know.
That way we can, do our parts and allow, whether it's Christian, you know, in the backfield, who- whomever in the backfield, you know, Jordan, you know, to do a great job in being able to, you know, get the long runs.
Kyle did talk about Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowling making that jump in their second year.
Mm-hmm.
Jacob really is a second-year.
What have you seen from those two so far?
Yeah.
Oh, man, I, I would say both of those guys, you know, they're taking, they're taking the step.
Jordan Watkins, you know, Jordan came in, right?
fourth round pick last year, you know.
And, and as a receiver, again, it's tough already playing this offense.
But you come in with the expectations of, you know, how you gonna do things, having the mindset of, "I'm gonna be the man."
And then reality hit because of, right?
You have a lot of learning to do, right?
Things that you have done in college that worked may not have worked here, you know.
So with Jordan this year, second time around, right?
He's playing faster.
He's coming off the ball, right?
He's making plays over the middle, you know.
He's, he, he's comfortable in the offense of, playing all three positioning and, and just not one.
That alone itself, right?
Allows you to go out there and be confident in what you're doing and play faster and make plays.
And same thing with Calvin.
Calvin last year around this time of the year was outstanding, you know.
And, and, and now having the year off and coming back because he didn't play throughout the season, so having a year off rehabbing and stuff and getting back to this point, every day he has been taking the step, whether that's playing faster, whether that's getting open, making plays.
And, and, and long as he continue, right?
He's gonna be in a good spot.
doing a great job.
When Mike Evans first put on a, 49er helmet and jersey at practice, what were your thoughts- Oh my goodness when you saw that actually occur?
You know what, man, just, just when it happened.
Yeah.
You know, any chance that you get to coach, you know, an elite player, elite, elite player like Mike, whole thing, resume like Mike, right?
It, it, it is, you know, obviously that's what we all want.
be able to, to, to sign a guy and have a guy that gives us a chance to win, you know, every week, you know.
And just having Mike do so, having him here, right?
that resume itself gonna, you know, threaten the defense.
He, he's been in the league long enough.
How much do you have to coach him up in the system to where he already knows what's, what's expected of him?
He knows a lot of ball.
Mike is smart.
He knows a lot of ball, you know.
But again, I think I done said it many times right now that this offense is challenging now.
You may have been in certain offenses where they don't care about certain things, you know, but here that's not the case.
We care about a lot, you know.
And the only way that we can win if we have all 11 guys on the same page at the same time, you know.
So, Mike has been a true professional.
Yeah.
You know, and he's receptive to everything that we, we, we taught, you know, that we've said, you know.
And, and once he fully get the understanding of it, right?
He's gonna be able to go out there without thinking, you know, and, and, and, and make even more plays.
Is the offense- Now let me ask this because you spend a lot of time with guys in your room.
You build those relationships.
With BA, you had years with him.
How did you make sense of just his exit?
Respectfully, you know, I gotta, I gotta decline all those answers.
You know, obviously we got, John and Kyle, they get the same answer.
So I leave all the BA, you know, stuff up to them.
Leonard, Grimes and, and, Pauling are two undrafted guys who really run fast, and both those guys had good college careers.
Mm-hmm.
What have they looked like to you in your early stages of- They've been working, you know.
They've been working, you know, like any of the other guys, you know.
With those guys, the mentality, right?
You gotta go out there and you gotta be, right?
I guess every single day you have to be on, you know.
And, and that's exactly what they have been doing.
I've been impressed with the mentality that they displayed, right?
Their work ethic, you know, and them just being here, right?
Those guys work together every single day.
They, they, they talk, they watching film before I After practice we go in and we watch film.
Before I even come in there, they already watching film together, you know.
So it's been, impressive to see.
You know, those guys, they all trying, they working at it and they're trying to get better fast, you know.
So it's been good from both of those gentlemen.
Is it true that Mike Evans has very low ego level?
He does, you know.
And, and it, it's good to see because sometimes, right?
You get around certain guys and, and every single day it's something different, you know.
But with Mike, you know exactly what you're gonna get from him.
You know, he comes in, he works his tail off.
He asks questions, you know, he write his notes.
He sit the very first seat in the room, you know.
And, and, and if he, if he doesn't understand something, he'll ask, you know.
And, you, you, "Hey Mike, I need you to do this."
"I got you, Coach."
You know, so, just being able to have that, you know, especially with a guy with the resume that he has, right?
It makes my job a lot easier.
