*On QB Jayden Daniels' growth from last season: *"Just very comfortable in the system. Checks, seeing different leverages, progressing through his reads really quickly. I like that he's treating every practice rep like a game rep. There's been a bunch of really good throwaways to keep us in manageable situations. Carrying out his fakes at a higher level. He's just really treating each practice rep as a game and that is showing up."
On what he's seen from WR Deebo Samuel:
"Incredibly competitive. Anything we ask him to do, whether we put him inside or outside, he's going to go at it a thousand miles per hour, has an ability to separate it. He's so strong. Running through can play at a high speed that guys have a hard time staying with him. Great addition for us. Just his mentality, how he's been since he got here, the competitive nature and every drill, every rep. He's the first one in line on all the receiver stuff. It's been awesome."
On player's reactions to him showing up early and put in extra work:
"None of them want to be coaches, so it's more player based. I think when they see Jayden who's up here, whatever hour he gets, but early, [LB] Bobby [Wagner], [TE] Zach [Ertz], I think that is more impactful for those guys because you see guys that have done it at a high-level hall of fame players. That's what it takes if you want to stay in this league 10, 11, 12 years, get a gold jacket, it's going to take everything. It's a lifestyle and when you can watch guys on your team doing it goes a long way."
On Samuel RB Jacory Croskey-Merrit "Bill" and being used in the backfield and helping the running game:
"I like the group we have; there's no doubt Bill's had some good flashes for a young guy. We'll see as we get into these competitive periods with other teams and preseason games. The Deebo, he, I remember being in Arizona just the matchup issue where you don't know what personnel group they're in because they had [WR Luke] McCaffrey and him and sometimes McCaffrey was wide out, he was running back and vice versa. It's just, you can do a lot of different things. That to me is the most exciting thing when it comes to game planning and finding ways to get him touches."
On McCaffrey's progress since last season:
"Yeah, that's been, if you're going to find Silver Linings, some of those other guys being asked to step into starting type roles and us as coaches figuring out, 'hey, worst case scenario, if these two guys [WR] Noah [Brown] and [WR] Terry [McLaurin] got hurt, what would this look like? How would we play personnel groups, what we need to do to maximize that group?'. We've been working through that, but Luke has really come a long way from last year this time to now just the confidence, we're playing him outside a lot for necessity. I think he can play inside as well, but he's made some plays. The young kids had his number on some plays, but it's been a good battle and he's definitely, night and day difference from what he was last year at this time."
On QB Sam Hartman's camp experience:
"I think it's been up and down. I think he has all the ability, smart, good footwork, solid arm, just a couple plays, got to take better care of the football, but you know, he didn't practice much in the spring. With his arm coming back off that shoulder surgery, he's still getting back in the rhythm, but I'm excited to watch him in preseason. I think he's the guy who's always on game day, the lights are on. He's always played his best, so I'm excited to see what he does."
On the running back room:
"A lot of guys that can play, I think there's probably six or seven guys that'll end up being on a roster this year out of that room, which is a credit to those guys and the job [Run Game Coordinator/Running Backs] Coach [Anthony] Lynn does with them. Bill for a young guy who loves football, competes, very explosive. He got ruled ineligible at Arizona and stayed and played scout team the whole year, which is like nobody would do that, so that tells you right there the type of passion he has for, and it shows up. That was an exciting kind of pick for us and what he's shown so far and then [RB] Austin Ecker looks as good as ever. We got [RB Brian] B-Rob [Robinson Jr.], we know what he is, [RB Chris] C-Rod [Rodriguez Jr.], [RB Jeremy] J-Mac [McNichols], [RB Kazmeir] Kaz [Allen], [RB Demetric] Felton's done good. I think there's six or seven guys that are going to make rosters and so it's been great competition in that room."
On areas of improvement for him coming into this season:
"Yeah, ball security. I think when you're playing the [Philadelphia] Eagles, I think we turned it over nine times against them the last few times we played them. We have to be better and give ourselves a chance to win. Then just really taking the next step. We got a lot of guys returning, so them understanding the offense in year two and really putting their own spin on it that really makes them more comfortable. And the quarterback being in total command, I think just taking the next step, not thinking as much and being able to execute at a high level."
On changing his coaching style this season:
"I'm pretty consistent with the coaching style. I think we have a great group of assistant coaches that we all work really well together, but just making sure that we know that last year was last year and this year is a whole new year and a new group and it's going to be a tough schedule and kind of keeping the standard of the standard, that's the biggest deal. Last year you didn't really know what you had, and it was, we were always the underdog, and we could just kind of take our shot at people and this year we got to be more consistent in how we do everything and I think that's the biggest message I'm preaching."
On having T Laremy Tunsil on the field:
"You feel really good letting him go one-on-one against most guys. A lot of times if you might've given some sort of chip or help there with a tight end, you can just let him eat, which definitely allows you to free release some backs, get some people out. It's for a play designer, what we do each and every week, it definitely makes it easier."
On T Josh Conerly Jr.:
"A guy who's super talented, I mean, has everything you want. He's made the adjustment from left to right tackle, and I think there's still some fundamental stuff that he's got to get used to playing over on the right side, which takes some time, but he's game, asks great questions, studies hard, works hard. He's pretty much right where we expect him to be."
On how things are different for him this year:
"It's a huge jump. I think last year, this time I don't think we'd even named a starting quarterback yet so to go from that to where we're at and understanding what a lot of these guys do well, like what their strengths are, how to motivate and then just to be able to expand our offense and really get to the next level of it is exciting. We got a bunch of really high IQ football guys that are back for a second year in this offense and, and so I expect us to continue to get better and really be more detailed."
On WR Jaylin Lane's performance:
"He's been very impressive. He's a coach's kid, been around the game his entire life and if you tell him how to do it one time, he usually nails it and then if he makes a mistake, he'll come back and get it corrected, but super, super talented, very fast. I've been really impressed. I don't think I could see some of those things at Virginia Tech, watching the film and getting him here in person and watching him run around and watching the coachability and the route tree that he can run. It's been really impressive."
On the depth of the wide receiver room:
"I think it's good competition. Like I said, if you were to lose Noah or Terry, you got to have some guys step up and I think we're starting to see kind of who's making plays when they're getting their opportunities and who's not. I like the depth, I think they can all play in this league. It's just we got to, if we got in this scenario, somebody had to step up and be kind of the, the bell cow and I think we're still working through that."
