Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: It's only been seven practices. Has anybody stood out to kind of surprise you?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say it's still early. We'll keep going through the process; that's what these days are for. They've all been working as hard as they could possibly work in the classroom and out on the field and that'll all sort itself out with time.

Q: Is there anyone not going today who went yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: We're going to back down on (wide receiver) (Darius Slayton) Slay a little bit. He's tight. Other than that, I think it's status quo.

Q: Same thing with the guys who were out there yesterday? Status quo?

BRIAN DABOLL: Same thing.

Q: (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt told us last year that in the middle of the season, he was coming to you for extra meetings, even more so than maybe a normal guy would do? How did that help him going into his second year? That extra time.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I just think he wants to be a good football player. So, he tries to do everything he can. And again, one of the conversations is you're out there, you're running 50-yard routes seven times a game and maybe you're not getting the ball, staying into it, locked in, being ready, being focused, because when your opportunity comes, it's not like you're throwing 20 50- yard passes in a game. But when you do and you're not getting any looks early on in the game, whether it be coverage, whatever it may be, to stay locked in. And it was more less technique stuff; (Wide Receivers Coach Mike) Groh's done a good job with that. There's some of it. I've obviously coached receivers for a while, but it's the relationship part that's important to me and I think important to Jalin.

Q: It seems like it's been intentional on your part, for the first team working with (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) that it's been those four receivers, instead of rotating guys in and out. Is that fair to say? And what's the reason behind that?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, absolutely. Those four guys, as much as he can throw to those guys. Obviously, (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) is new. Jalin played sparingly last year. Obviously, he has a good relationship with (wide receiver) (Darius Slayton) Slay, (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) is coming back fully healthy. So, the timing, the body language, there's a lot to the passing game to make it work. So, we're doing as much as we can, whether it's individual routes, whether it's certain plays we're trying to take a look at for those guys. But it's important to build that chemistry.

Q: What's Daniel shown you as he comes back from a torn ACL? What are you looking for in him?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he has the right mindset, right in the meetings. Seeing it well, letting it loose, improving every day. So, it's been good.

Q: When you evaluate him, do you consider the fact that he's coming off a big surgery and a long layoff?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, good question. You forget about it sometimes because he looks normal out there. But, for what he's done eight months, or eight and a half months, whatever it may be, and to come back and take every rep. He feels good. I've talked to him about different things. Hey, 'scrambling, make sure you feel comfortable out of the pocket, make sure you feel comfortable moving up in the pocket. Making plays with your feet'. He's been right on track. It's pretty impressive to me in terms of you have that injury, this is where he's at, this is what he's looked like physically. I'm proud of him.

Q: What would you think of him yesterday and the offense? Obviously, Tuesday, it was kind of a little bit of a struggle. And they come back. And you look at Daniel and you say, 'Okay, after the day off, he comes back and has a better day'. Do you think that those kinds of days maybe are beneficial to him?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, every day is beneficial. So, I maybe don't look at it the same way. It's training camp.

Q: I'm talking about the day off being beneficial to him.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, look, he has a good routine. He was in here and doing his rehab and doing the things that he does to help him. But that's what training camp is for too, is to get a routine on your off day, like the regular season to go ahead and make sure that it's practice. You're going to have some swings either way. But he's done everything we've asked him to do. And like I said, I'm proud of him.

Q: What's your comfort level in that corner spot opposite bangs? (wide receiver) (Cor'Dale) Flott's been the guy there.

BRIAN DABOLL: Sure, good competition. (cornerback) Nick's (McCloud) been out there. Flott's been out there. Again, these next three weeks will be important.

Q: Similar kind of question. What are you looking for and what have you seen from that spot next to (defensive lineman) Dexter Lawrence (II) where we were used to (Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle) Leonard Williams playing like 85% of the snaps?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think (defensive lineman) (Rakeem Nunez-Roches) Nacho has had a really good camp. He stood out to me in individual drills, some pass rush stuff. Excellent leader for us. And then you have a bunch of young players, a couple older players but mostly young players that are competing. They got size, they got length. I think Dre (Defensive Line Coach Andre Patterson) and (Assistant Defensive Line Coach Bryan) Cox do a fabulous job of developing those guys. And these preseason games will be important. The padded days will be important for the whole evaluation process. But they're young and hungry.

Q: Did (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) show up in better shape for camp?

BRIAN DABOLL: He looks like Kayvon to me. He's a pro. But these last couple of days, I said something Chuck (Outside Linebackers Coach Charlie Bullen) that these have been two pretty good days for Kayvon. Both in the run and in the pass. But you can see some of his pass rush really develop here, I'd say, from OTAs and these first few days of camp. I think Charlie Bullen is an outstanding coach that has really helped him with fundamentals and technique. And Kayvon is a pro, he wants to be good. Then you add (outside linebacker Brian) Burns to it, who can give him some information. They can talk back. He's had a good camp so far in terms of putting pressure on the quarterback, some of the new pass rush moves he's working on and just overall development in his defense.

Q: After missing a few days, how well is (tight end) Theo Johnson picking things up?

BRIAN DABOLL: He picks it up well. Smart.

Q: Satisfied with the work he's done on the field so far?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, the three rookies, I'd say on offense, (running back Tyrone) Tracy, Theo, and (wide receiver Malik) Nabers. I told you before we put a high premium on intelligent players, knowing what to do, why it's important. The added benefit of a player that you can't always evaluate is instincts. If he's here, it's not just running lines on paper or adjusting on a run scheme. I'd say those three things, his intelligence, their effort, and then you add the instincts to it for those three young players. That's unique. Now we'll see if they can carry it forward. We add stuff every day and a lot of information just to see how they process it, if they can react quick. Do we need to pull back? Can we add more? So far, they've done a good job of picking it up.

Q: I know you have confidence on other guys too. But when a guy like Nabers makes explosive plays, do you show up the next day even more excited about what you can do?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I get excited if we just are moving the ball in the right direction, whether it's a five-yard play. Obviously, you love big plays, they're huge in terms of helping you score points. So, the more we can hit those, the better off it is. Obviously, hitting a big play gives a lot of juice to everybody or making a big play. We worked a lot of third and long situations yesterday, try to put the offense in kind of a predicament relative to what you're getting defensively, knowing it's a pass situation. But yeah, big plays always help whether it's through the air, whether it's through the quarterback's legs, running back's legs. That's an area that we have to be better at. Make no mistake about it.

Q: Is Daniel taking on more of a vocal leadership role, do you sense?

BRIAN DABOLL: I think he has his way to lead. He does a good job in the huddle. Outside, you may not see it, but he's a good communicator in the huddle. He's locked in. There's a lot of things that go on in order to play quarterback. So, everyone that I've been around has been a little bit different. And I don't want them to change who they are relative to how they lead. They have to process so much information in such a short time. But he's done a good job with the receivers, the communication aspect of it, with the offensive line. I'm glad we added those pieces to the offensive line. I think he's in the right mind space right now.

Q: Yesterday, (President and Chief Executive Officer) John Mara said he was kind of disappointed that (Philadelphia Eagles running back) Saquon (Barkley) left. But you and (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) had a conviction there. He lets you guys make those decisions, because that's what he hired you to do. I'm wondering, as a coach and working with Joe, what does that mean to have that sort of confidence in the owner that he's letting you shape the team?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I've said this before, we have a lot of conversations. John, (Chairman and Executive Vice President) Steve (Tisch), rest of the Mara family, rest of the Tisch family, Joe, myself. There's a lot of good collaboration. We bounce ideas off, and ultimately, we're going to do what we think is best for our football team. There's a lot of good communication going on, I've said this since I've gotten here. And that's what I really appreciate.

Defensive Lineman Dexter Lawrence

Q: How are you feeling? Sickness-wise, you all good?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Yeah, I'm still healing from it. Just like a bad cold or something like that. A little virus I caught, but it's all good now.

Q: When you've reached the level of player that you're at now, dominating games, how do you find ways to get better each year?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I think that comes from within and watching yourself and seeing things that you can improve on. Never a perfect player out there, so I'm hard on myself. Every day I come out here and I mess up on a little thing, and I write it down, and I correct it the next day, just so I'm making a new mistake everyday type of thing. That's kind of my thought process.

Q: Give us one example of something you wrote down that you messed up.

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Not necessarily messed up, it's more of a technique thing, like getting in a good stance, and running off the ball, mentally having that in my head a lot because that's what makes me successful.

Q: How much do you think over the last couple years, with seeing the NFL Top 100 all these lists, that you've earned the respect of your peers and the people around you?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: You've got to keep earning that respect, and I think that's what legends do. At this point, I want to keep earning those respects, and keep having people feel my dominance and see the type of player I am.

Q: We watched Hard Knocks, I don't know if you knew you were going to be part of Hard Knocks, but you were part of Hard Knocks in terms of (Senior Vice President and General Manager Joe) Schoen saying you called him about (Raiders defensive lineman) Christian Wilkins. Christian Wilkins was obviously part of their plans before the (outside linebacker) Brian Burns trade. From your end of that, what was it? Were you trying to recruit him?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Yeah, he's just my best friend.

Q: Were you in his ear saying, 'You should come here?'

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I didn't think he was serious about it. He's where he's supposed to be, happy for him. I'm happy for him.

Q: Your team needs the O-line to get better to go where you guys want to go. How do you intend to make them better? How are you trying to make them better?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Just going out there and competing, not taking a day off. When I'm on the field or when I have plays out there, just attacking them and letting them feel what it feels like to give a block against a great player. I think that's my role on this team, is to push everybody. I don't want to be at the Pro Bowl by myself. That's what I've been telling everybody. I wear some of my stuff, but I don't want to be there by myself. I think the mindset for me is just to push everybody. If I'm on the field, run, push them. Just work hard and it translates to everybody.

Q: Have you ever sat down with JMS (center John Michael Schmitz) and said 'Here's how I attack centers, giving pointers of that nature?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Yeah.

Q: Is he receptive to that?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Yeah, he's receptive. I wish he could get out here and practice some more, but obviously he can't. He asked me, did I miss him? And I said, yeah (laughs).

Q: What have you learned about your defense so far from the early part of training camp? Obviously you are running your scheme, there's a lot of new stuff.

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I think the mindset, we're not letting bad plays build. We have a bad play, we handle it quick on the field. On to the next play. Make the next play. I think that mindset for us has been huge.

Q: I don't know how much you've thought about this at all, but there's no more (Eagles running back) Saquon (Barkley), there's no more (Buccaneers wide receiver) Sterling Sheppard, there's no more (Packers safety) Xavier McKinney. You're probably the player fans maybe are buying the jersey of, probably the guy that is most popular, you're the guy we're coming to all the time. How much responsibility is that for you, that you could be the face of the franchise?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Funny thing is, I was in college, and I didn't really know what it meant, but I always said I wanted to be a household name in college. You get what you ask for, and I take that with pride. I'd rather be this way than the other way. That's why I try to set the example. I'm not a real verbal guy, but I lead by actions. That's just my biggest thing.

Q: You've had a lot of opportunity up front with guys playing with you. Your teammates have talked about what that means, getting to play with Dexter Lawrence. A couple of them said it's like a lottery ticket getting to play next to you. What have you thought about that competition for guys around you?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I compete like I'm not a top player. I think I compete like I was the seventh rounder. I compete like I didn't get paid. That's just my mindset, and I think that's where the respect comes from. They can see that, and they can see how hard I work. I think that's the biggest thing for everyone.

Q: I asked you about (Raiders defensive lineman Christian) Wilkins. On the other side of that is that they didn't have to go with him because you got (outside linebacker Brian) Burns. What does Burns add to your defense?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: Just a lot of knowledge up front. He helps us all learn how to rush together and how to just be a dominant defense, really. He brings a mindset I didn't think that he really had (laughs) to the defense. It's this aggressive, attacking mindset. He's flashy. He's Spider-Man. I love this addition, and he's going to be special.

Q: What do you mean, 'I didn't think he had that mindset.'?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: He's a little flashy. I've known him for a while, but you don't know somebody until they get in front (of you). You don't know if you're going to be a vocal guy, or you don't know if he's going to be in the shadows, but he's really vocal, so that surprised me.

Q: Prior to last season, you said, 'I'm done building. It's time to go do it.' How do you feel about this team's chances of ding that, and what are your expectations?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I think the way we compete against each other out here is different. I think we've got a lot of good guys on this team that know how to play some football, and that's the biggest thing.

Q: In years past, people would say defensive tackle, everybody would say, 'Aaron Donald'. With him retiring, do you sit there and think, 'They should be saying my name.'?

DEXTER LAWRENCE: I wish I thought like that. I'm more of a 'I got to do what I got to do' and then whatever I do is going to prove whether it's worth it or not.

Wide Receiver Jalin Hyatt

Q: You made a couple of nice catches with your footwork on the sideline, toe tapping and whatnot. I think in the back of the endzone. Where does that come from? How much do you work on that, the toe tapping?

JALIN HYATT: Yeah, just the offseason. Being prepared. Doing your job, catching the ball when you need to catch the ball. When it hits your hands, we need to catch it. It's our standard here. So, just making the play.

Q: What does the difference feel like now that you're not brand new?

JALIN HYATT: Knowing my assignment, knowing what I've got to do. Feeling confident in myself.

When I'm out there on the field, knowing the offense, knowing where the ball is going, in and out the huddle quicker, seeing defenses, knowing their coverages. A lot of things that I've worked on that I still need to improve on. But we're getting there.

Q: Obviously, we've always talked about your speed. The group as a whole, can you feel the group's speed at receiver? Feels like you're getting down quicker.

JALIN HYATT: Yeah, you can definitely feel it. It's something we emphasize, working on our explosive plays. We didn't really connect on a lot last year. That's one of our biggest focuses that we need to work on. And we're still improving. We're getting there. But we need every day to keep working on that and getting better.

Q: But that feels like an emphasis?

JALIN HYATT: Yeah, definitely an emphasis.

Q: What have you seen from (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) that strikes you?

JALIN HYATT: Confident. Confident. He looks confident. Just to see him running, I'm just so proud of him. I've seen what he went through last year. All the injuries and what he's done this offseason. I'm just proud of what he has done and I can't wait to watch him play. We as receivers, we want to be confident for him so he can just throw it and we can just make plays. And that's what we try to do in that receiver room to give him that confidence. Every day, every day, just got to keep working. I'm proud of what he has done so far.

Q: What is it about (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) that he's able to get open so consistently? What do you when you see him run drills? What does he do well that helps him do that?

JALIN HYATT: He's confident, he's confident in his work. He has great hands, explosive, not only that, he can run routes. and he's big, physical. Run after catch. He can do all of it. What he has done is raise that receiver room. Proud that we got him in the draft. He's one of my best friends now. Just knowing him and only that he's a SEC guy. I played against him. I'm just proud of what he has done, we all need to keep working, keep doing what we have to do but proud that we got him.

Q: Obviously, he's a good player. Drafted sixth overall. But when he comes in, is there anything about him that surprised you? Have you been like, 'wow I didn't know he was that big and quick'?

JALIN HYATT: I think what surprised me with him, was really when I watched this film, he didn't really have any weaknesses. Watching him, he catches the ball, moves like a running back. He has great hands. Doesn't do a lot of body catches, great routes. He doesn't just do speed, speed speed. He works his releases, he's explosive. There's a lot of things that he's good at. The only thing with him is we just need to keep adding confidence to him. Get him to learn to plays, he's getting there. And once he gets all that down, the sky's the limit for him.

Q: You bring up the friendship aspect. What's the receiving room like now with you guys as friends? Because we see you guys celebrating after catches, not just Malik's catches, but yours, too…

JALIN HYATT: Yeah, we're competing. That's why I love this game. I competed everywhere I was at. When I was at Tennessee, when I was here. Just having everybody in that room, Malik, (wide receivers) (Darius Slayton) Slay, Wan'Dale (Robinson), Allen Robinson, (Isaiah Hodgins) Zay, it's a lot of those guys, we're all competing but at the same time it's making us better. And I think you just see our confidence out there when we're playing and we just got to keep taking it day by day.

Q: With (Buccaneers Wide Receiver) Sterling Shepard here, there was always a little bit of an attitude or a feistiness of you always let the defense know what you won a route. I'm wondering if you see a little of that in Wan'Dale Robinson...
JALIN HYATT: Yeah, I do. I love Wan'Dale. I love Wan'Dale. He's going to have a big year this year. He's healthy. He's playing faster, quicker, gotten bigger. He's our slot guy, and he's going to get a lot of catches this year. I'm just proud of what he has done. And not only that, he brings that fire to that receiver room that we need since Shep left. I'm proud of this receiver room. We're young, but we've got a lot to do and we got to be confident every day. That's how we get better.

Q: You mentioned Allen Robinson. What have you either learned or just observed about him?

JALIN HYATT: Robinson – me and him, we have meetings one-on-one every day. Just me and him and (Wide Receivers Coach Mike) Groh just about his releases, what he does, how he gets open, what he learned in the league. He's been in the league for a minute now. I think he's going on year 11, I'm pretty sure. So, he's seen it all. When you have a guy like that in that room, we have a young group, he helps in so many ways and I'm glad we got him. I'm proud of him so far.

Q: If I may, who had the idea of him kind of being in the room as a vocal?

JALIN HYATT: There's no idea. It's just one of those things we just, I don't know, we clicked on it.

Q: And it's you and him?

JALIN HYATT: It's just me and him and Groh. Just what he has done. If he was in there, what would he have done if I was there. Just a lot of things like that. He has helped me so far.