Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: What is the ramp up for today's first day of pads?

BRIAN DABOLL: Normal practice. We will work on first and second down. We will work on some backed-up situations. There will be some 1-on-1s with the offensive line, defensive and then some other group receiver, DB (defensive back), linebacker stuff. It will be good to get out there with some pads on.

Q: You've been incorporating some pre-snap motion in some of the periods. Can you just talk about how that helps the offense get the upper hand?

BRIAN DABOLL: It's training camp so you experiment with some things. We've used plays with motion, we've used plays with shifts, we've been stationary. That's what you do this time of year, work on plays, see how they look, keep developing it as it goes. Then as you get into training camp, try to get your identity of what you need to be and see how the guys pick it up and how fast they can do it. You try to put as much pressure defensively in a variety of ways, whether it's tempo, whether it's shifts, whether it's motions, whether it's different personnel groups, that's all we're trying to do.

Q: (Wide receiver Malik) Nabers said the other day that you let him call that play, the long completion, just how does that come about, you letting a rookie call a play?

BRIAN DABOLL: He was over by the water cooler, we were getting ready to do a call-it period, so I just walked over, I said, 'What do you want to run?' He said, 'Give me a go ball,' and I called a go ball.

Q: When you were looking at (quarterback) Drew Lock in the offseason, what were the things that drew you to him as a fit here?

BRIAN DABOLL: He's been to a couple different places. He's had some things early on in his career that he's had to learn from and grow from. He's got some good experiences. He did a good job backing up (quarterback) Geno (Smith) obviously at Seattle (Seahawks). Mature. Got some size and got enough athletic ability. He's not afraid to push it and throw it in some tight windows. We talked with him, thought he'd be a good fit for us, and he's done a good job since he's been here.

Q: You gave (guard Jake) Kubas, undrafted free agent, some first-team reps yesterday. What are you seeing from him, what do you like?

BRIAN DABOLL: He's got good qualities for an offensive lineman. He's tough and he's smart, let me just start there. He's got good enough movement skills and he had a good play style in college. He's got a long way to go, I think (assistant offensive line coach) James (Ferentz) and (offensive line coach) Carm (Carmen Bricillo) have done a good job with him. He's picked up our system. He's a good communicator for it being only out here his fourth day of practice, albeit OTAs. We'll try to keep developing him.

Q: You said (quarterback Drew) Lock is not afraid to push it and throw it into tight windows. Is that just a prerequisite to be a successful quarterback in the NFL?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, there's not many big windows. So, you got to play on time, can't have any fear, you got to be aggressive and not reckless, is what we say in the quarterback room. He's shown that on tape and we've watched him do some of that.

Q: As someone who has coached the receiver position over the years, what kind of jump do you expect (wide receiver) Jalin (Hyatt) to make from last year to this year?

BRIAN DABOLL: I would just say, in general, we've talked about this from year one to year two, there's so much you have to learn as a rookie. He's put a lot of effort and a lot of energy into it and he's done a nice job. He's here early, he meets with (Wide Receivers Coach Mike) Groh extra early. He's created a routine from his rookie season and they're continuing that now. He's playing faster, knows what to do and (we'll) just keep on growing him.

Q: It seems, just from dealing with him last year, it seems important to him. Like he would be down on himself if he knew he wasn't (improving), is that something you've noticed?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he's highly competitive. At receiver you have to be a mentally tough player. You could be open 10 times and not get the ball and it's the 11th time when you're… 'Man, I was open on these 10 times,' and then something either good or bad could happen. That's a growing process for any young receiver. It's one of the positions you can do everything right and not get as many touches as you want to get based on coverage, matchup, pressure in the pocket and whatever it may be, and that's something that he's grown with.

Q: Was (guard Jon) Runyan getting snaps at center because (center) JMS (John Michael Schmitz) was down and you had to spread the load?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.

Q: Or is that something you wanted to see?

BRIAN DABOLL: We'd like to just have the five (offensive lineman) guys out there, but the reality is they're not, so you have to make alternative plans. Getting center reps for (guard) Jon (Runyan), maybe not this early in camp, but we were going to do that at some point. It just so happens that (center) JMS (John Michael Schmitz) was out, so we sprinkled him in there a little bit.

Q: (Center) JMS (John Michael Schmitz), (safety Tyler) Nubin, any of those guys come back today?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, same setup as yesterday. (Outside linebacker Tomon) Fox, he had a hamstring yesterday, he won't go out. (Defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence), he's pretty sick this morning, so we'll probably hold him.

Q: There are times during camp where a quarterback goes back and he can't find somebody, so he runs. Is that something where you would rather see him force something in there?

BRIAN DABOLL: No.

Q: Because you get the throw, everybody gets work?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he needs to work running too. We try to play it like a game situation and if there's going to be an open crease and you can get 10, 8, 12 (yards), go ahead and do it.

Q: There was a play yesterday where (quarterback) Tommy DeVito was back, late in practice, and he dumped it off to somebody and you started waving your hands. Did he miss somebody open?

BRIAN DABOLL: No. We had a little wrinkle called that didn't get communicated, it probably would have been an 80-yard touchdown. But, he made a good decision because he had to adjust off of the play based on what we were doing. I was just watching the route that we checked to and we didn't get to that route. We like 80-yard touchdowns.

Q: Is today a fun day for you to see how far your running back group has come knowing that there is pads on now and it's a little different? Maybe you see more of the run game instead of it being just little dump-offs?

BRIAN DABOLL: We're going to try to do what we need to do in terms of the passing game, throw the ball where it's supposed to be thrown, whether it's a dump off or a rail route or whatever it may be. But, yeah, whenever you get pads on, there's some anxiety from guys I assume. One of our guys came in full pads to our team meeting today, (linebacker) Matty (Matthew Adams), so it's good to get out there and work your craft and really start the initial phase of training camp.

Q: Who was that?

BRIAN DABOLL: (Linebacker) Matt (Adams).

Q: Adams?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. He had his whole gear on, so I had him stand up.

Q: (Running back Tyrone) Tracy said yesterday that he's been hearing from the defensive guys, when they (the offense) break a long one, 'We would've stopped you there,' and 'We would've hit you there." He said him and (cornerback Nick) McCloud have been going back and forth. Do you kind of like that today?

BRIAN DABOLL: Sure.

Q: Do you want to see that competitive nature from these guys with pads on?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, at every practice. You hit a fourth down conversion, 'It would have been a sack, or we would've broke it up.' Or, you do something offensively, 'We would have double teamed this guy out of here.' But the right thing is to practice the right way. You have pads on, there should be a lot of energy. But, you have to get good at your craft. It's playing with good pad level, good feet, good hands, still taking care of one another. There's obviously an added element to the contact part of it, but we don't want to practice bad habits and, again, it's training camp. It's hot, it's competitive. There's always going to be some type of shoving and things like that, but we want to practice the right way, and carry those habits onto the field.

Q: Is the plan to do pads again tomorrow?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah

Q: Did you blow that play dead yesterday, when you guys were going to this endzone, because it looked like (outside linebacker Brian) Burns and (outside linebacker Kayvon) Thibs (Thibodeaux) both thought they had the sack but (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) dumped it off to (wide receiver Malik) Nabers inside the 10…

BRIAN DABOLL: That's the competitive part of it. Daniel (Jones) said, 'No chance.' Defensive linemen say, 'There is a chance.' So you let them play it out as long as there is not potential injury, that's the competitive part of it.

Cornerback Dru Phillips

Q: How did it feel getting out there with the pads?

DRU PHILLIPS: Oh, I love it. Anytime you can play football and put the pads on, it just clicks something different inside most people, like me. It just amplifies it a lot more. I had so much fun out there today.

Q: What do you think it says that you got so much run as the top slot during today's practice?

DRU PHILLIPS: So much run?

Q: Playing time…

DRU PHILLIPS: It's just another day of going out there and competing. I don't think of it as where I'm at, it's more the reps I do get, make them count the most. I don't really care what I run with, whatever makes this team better.

Q: Do you agree that you've made some plays early in camp?

DRU PHILLIPS: Yeah, I've made some plays. It shows the hard work I've put in and what I'm trying to get done. I've been making plays, but I feel like there's so much more I can still do.

Q: Even though you haven't played a game yet, do you feel like this game here is faster? Has is slowed down yet for you since you last played football?

DRU PHILLIPS: Definitely. It's been so fast, especially with the talent of guys, you're in a new level, and the efficiency and the attention to detail is so much higher. There's so much going on, especially with the nickel, at one time, it's like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, but in like two seconds. You've got to think, make a play, move on, and try also to be in the right spot to make a play. Yeah, it's faster, but it's going to slow down eventually. I'm just taking my time and learning everything.

Q: Who have you been leaning on?

DRU PHILLIPS: There are a lot of guys, in different aspects. But, from my position, you have guys like (cornerback) Nick McCloud and (safety/inside linebacker) Isaiah Simmons. Those two guys, they're older. They've been doing it, especially Nick. He teaches me so much. Anytime I have a question, I go ask him. He's been nothing but a great leader and role model for me.

Q: Have you ever seen a nickel as big as Isaiah Simmons?

DRU PHILLIPS: No (laughs). In the spring, I was looking at him and thinking, 'How is he going to do this?' He's just so big but you see him out there covering guys like (wide receiver) Wan'Dale Robinson and what not. It's surprising. But he's a freak of nature and he's blessed for the talents that he's got.

Q: How is it going against (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers)?

DRU PHILLIPS: That kid is a baller. I've been running some reps and just trying to emphasize the details. But you're going to go see a guy like Malik (Nabers) every week of the season. So, going against him in a practice is – now I know what to expect. They got him at No. 6 for a reason and he's proved that he's a baller. You kind of expect that every week of the season with different guys so it's great work every day.

Q: What are your impressions of (Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs) Coach Jerome Henderson?

DRU PHILLIPS: He's a great coach. When I came in, I haven't had a coach like him, I would say. He's so straightforward and he's so knowledgeable. Every day when I'm in there, I've just learned to shut up and listen to everything he says. There's some times where you are like, 'But…', but there is no 'buts' here. He knows what he's talking about so rely on him and listen to him. He's been a great coach.

Q: Do you find it hard to shut up?

DRU PHILLIPS: I'm one of those kids that likes to ask questions and I'm antsy. So, there's times where I'm like, 'But if I did this, this would be…' and it's like, 'No, our playbook is this and what we have.' If you do this and be in the right position, and I trust him, a play is going to come to me if I'm in the right spot.

Q: What skills does it take to be a good run-defender in the NFL?

DRU PHILLIPS: I think the main thing is wanting to. I'm glad we got pads on today because now you can actually go put your body on somebody. I feel like coming in here that's one of the main reasons why they got me here is my physicality. Today something just sparked in me. If I go shoot, I'm going to hit somebody. My first rep in the backfield coach was like, 'You didn't do enough.' I thought it was a little thud-up, so then the second one I kind of went too hard. I think the main thing is just really just the will, you want to go do it. If you have that mentality, it's going to happen every time.

Q: You talked about how things speed up for the nickel and how much you have to process in such a quick time. Does your mentality help in that situation that you're constantly thinking?

DRU PHILLIPS: Yeah, especially with the way I think. I want to be a perfectionist, but I'm always so fast, my mind is always moving every part of the day. When you get to something like that, it's the same thing that I do in my own time, which everything is just so fast and moving. You've got to be quick on everything. It kind of translates to how I am to the position I play. Then you've got guys in that back and that defense that, I've got to do better at some things, they make me be better. (Inside linebacker) Bobby (Okereke) and (safety) J-Pin (Jason Pinnock), every single play they are in my ear like, 'We need to hear you, you got to say this, you got to say that.' It's things I need to learn where eventually, they don't have to tell me, but I'm getting there and I'm just happy that each day is getting better.

Q: How do you balance the two and pull them together? Where you are overthinking but it's reactionary?

DRU PHILLIPS: I don't know (laughs). It is one of those things where it just happens. Most times out there, for example, yesterday I made a play on a screen. We have the play call and you're thinking so much about what could happen but at the end of the day, it's trusting your gut and if you feel like you can make a play, go make the play. It's things like that, that you just have to trust yourself where you may overthink, but just do it. If you're going to mess up or do something, do it at 100%. That's what I've been told so that's the mentality I have.

Quarterback Drew Lock

Q: How do you think camp has been going for you so far?

DREW LOCK: It's been going well. Like every camp, come back and get back into the swing of things. Calling plays in the huddle, getting back out there with the guys. There are little bumps, there's little good. It's NFL training camp for you. I like the strides that we're taking. I like the way I feel out there. I like how comfortable I feel. And each day keeps getting a little bit better. And that's the goal. That's the goal at the end of the day.

Q: What's your impression of the weapons they have here?

DREW LOCK: Yeah, fantastic. I've been very impressed with all the guys on this team. (Malik) Nabers has done a great job coming in and picking this system up. Slay (Darius Slayton), Wan'Dale (Robinson), Isaiah (Hodgins), all the Isaiahs. There are so many Isaiahs on this team. (laughs) Bryce (Ford-Wheaton). Being able to have a little bit of both. Work with the ones, the OTAs, and now the twos here. It's a deep skill room. It's a deep skill room at wide receiver. It's fun.

Q: How much of an adjustment is to go from the spring working with the ones and now to working all the time with the twos?

DREW LOCK: I wouldn't say it's too much of an adjustment really. Like I said, it's a deep skill room. I feel like everybody you've got around you, regardless of if you're in that one group or your two group, will go out there and get the job done for you. You're confident putting the ball up in the air. That's the way you want to feel back there. Let go of the ball. It's a 50-50 ball. You want to feel great, and that's what you feel when you're back in the pocket on this team. So, I wouldn't say like as far as O-line, obviously the center is different. You've got to work on that exchange, but it's felt similar.

Q: Does it kind of give you an advantage of being able to work kind of like with the whole roster on that side of the ball?

DREW LOCK: Yeah, I think so. Advantage and it's a challenge at the same time. You've got to get used to so many different people, but that's the role I'm filling in. That's the role that I'm playing right now, and it's challenging. It makes you better every single day, throwing to new guys, but it's fun. That's the role I signed up for, and I'm going to go out there and give everything I got daily.

Q: Is the sleeve something you put on after practice or something you wear all the time?

DREW LOCK: No, I wear it during practice. I have it since, I think, my sophomore year of college. It just kind of became a thing. And once I do something one time, I'll never go back. So, the first day I wore this, I've not worn it since.

Q: Does it do something functionally for you?

DREW LOCK: No. (laughs) I think my sophomore year, or it could have even been my freshman year of college training camp, I was just in there getting arm work done, and they were like, 'Have you ever worn a sleeve'? I was like, 'no'. They were like, 'Well, you play basketball, so you've never worn a sleeve in basketball either'? I was like, 'no'. Like, 'Maybe we put one on.' So, I did, and like I said, once I did it the first time, I will never go back.

Q: I assume you've seen or heard about this one. Maybe not, but in Hard Knocks, there was a scene where Dabs (Head Coach Brian Daboll) says his top choice for backup is to keep (Jets Quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor). Of course, that didn't end up working out for you. Do you know? Do you care? Is that something that you know of?

DREW LOCK: No, being my sixth year, you want to keep the quarterback, the room, the same, regardless of what's going on. That's what happened after my first year in Seattle. We wanted to keep that room the same and did it again. As a coach, if I go into quarterback coaching and we have a great room, guys get along, and I'd try to keep it the same. Why wouldn't you? If that quarterback room functions well and everybody meshes well, that's a very good sign for your team. So, I get it. I have no animosities or any feelings like that.

Q: Now that you've had an opportunity to digest the offense and try to execute it on the field, what do you like about Daboll's offense?

DREW LOCK: I think he does a great job of getting guys open in the spots where we can get the ball into playmakers' hands. If we can scheme things up to get the ball out, whether it's a quick game or a play-action pass downfield, he knows where to put guys. He knows where to put guys in the right spots, how to get them open, how to motion, how to shift, how to set defenses up. If you can get all that done before the ball is even snapped, with shifts and motions and tells, that makes it easy for us. I think he does a fantastic job of that. It's been fun to be in this offense. The NASCAR, playing up-tempo, up fast, reminds you of the college days a little bit. It's just been fun. It's been a blast to be in this offense. Like I said, he gets the ball in the guys' hands in great spots, and that's all you can ask for.

Q: You've seen (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) out there, if you had never known the guy's coming off that kind of injury, do you think you would have noticed? Have you even thought of that?

DREW LOCK: Absolutely not. He's done a fantastic job. I wasn't with him last year and through his rehab, but like you said, it's an easy answer for me. He comes out, works hard, and pushes me in the weight room. I couldn't believe it. Our first lift, he was in there. I'm like, 'this guy, he's getting after it in here.' I couldn't tell at all. So, that's a shout-out to him. It takes a lot to be able to bounce back the way he's done and come out and play the way he has been. It's been impressive. It's been cool to watch.

Q: You and Daniel were at the Senior Bowl together. Did you have a relationship with him before you signed?

DREW LOCK: Yeah, we did. I mentioned it before, but we were roommates at the Senior Bowl. Before the Senior Bowl, not really. But, that Senior Bowl, we got close roommates, playbook, and dealing with (Former NFL Coach) (John) Gruden. He was fantastic. It was a fun week. But picture living in that Gruden camp with the quarterbacks at that table. You've seen all the videos of it. We lived that every single day for about a week. So, it was fun. I was glad I got to be with him during that time, but we ended up crossing paths and getting back together.