Snead, McVay … 2/27 (transcripts)

Rams General Manager Les Snead – – July 27, 2017

(On if anyone will start camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list)

“There will be a few. We are working through that right now, so we will probably have more news on that closer to Friday. But we are working through some of those, there is always a few that do and some – let’s call it for legitimate injury reasons, some for not doing as well on the conditioning test.”

(On DT Aaron Donald’s contract situation)

“Like I said, he is still a priority, (DT) Aaron (Donald) for sure. That has been a priority for us then (offseason program), this summer and even as we head into camp.”

(On if he is confident a deal will get done before the seasons start)

“I think we are working to find the resolution. I don’t want to get into optimistic or pessimistic because it is a complicated situation and we respect Aaron and his group and we are working to try to find a win, win.”

(On if he expects Donald to report to camp tomorrow)

“The vets report tomorrow, so I don’t want to speculate on that.”

(On how concerned he is if not reaching an agreement with Donald will impact the locker room)

“I think that right now we are focused on trying to get an agreement done. Then we will get to that phase next if that weren’t the case, but I think we will just take it step-by-step and tackle the rock in front of us, and that is trying to come up with a resolution.”

(On if he certain that Donald will show up for camp)

“Yes, I am not certain. Veterans report tomorrow. We will not know until then.”

(On how concerned he is with that issue lingering)

“I think – like I said, these are delicate situations. I think you have to respect Aaron and his side in that business move. It is really at that point all about respect. And yes, we would love for him to be here, we hope he is here, it would help if he is here, but if he decides not to then it is a thing that you have to respect from their group.”

(On what areas he feels like the team has improved this offseason)

“That is a probably long question to ask, but I will start with (QB) Jared (Goff). Hey, right now if there are 32 quarterbacks right now penciled in at starter, he is the only one that is 22 years old. So, I do think the experience he got last year coming in with a new offense – I think I said it yesterday, he definitely didn’t spend time trying to get better at golf if you look at the (American Century Celebrity Golf Championship) Tahoe scores. He has spent a lot of time trying to improve his trade in football and I think you will see him progress, continue to progress. We did make some moves – some where you let players go, some where you bring some in. I do love, I would say probably better than like, the veteran presence of an (T) Andrew Whitworth, of a (OLB) Connor Barwin, even a (WR) Robert Woods even though he is a younger guy, in that we still have a young team and actually bring in some of those guys that have been there, done that into the locker room on both sides of the ball helps. I think that is a start and training camp is about to start and I think this is where you really improve.”

(On what ultimately happened with the Trumaine Johnson contract situation)

“I think that ultimately goes, if you take what we did in the offseason, bringing in some new players that we thought would help and then you have multiple guys who you have got to look at resigning in the future and it is a little bit of a juggling situation of how you budget and how you strategize and how much room you have and things like that. So, I think that at the end of the day, that is where we are at. We have some players coming up, we have prioritized them and we are trying to work through them. So I think that is where ‘Tru’ falls, but I think that in his situation, hey under the franchise tag, he is paid well, so I think that takes a little bit of the stress off of getting something done long term.

(On if that is something that can be revisited)

“No. The rules state that we can’t revisit this until after the season, so that is where we are at. He will play this year under the franchise tag.”

(On if he is looking to get some other defensive players locked up before the season starts)

“We do have a plan, it is just a few dominoes have to fall into place. But yes, it is a goal. Again, I am not going to get into optimistic or pessimistic, but that is what we are going to do this training camp.”

(On if this offseason was the first time he really started to feel that juggle of the roster of guys with contracts coming up)

“Yeah, that is a great point because we have been – again, the goal wasn’t necessarily to always be one of the younger teams in football, but it was to replenish and start over, develop your own and then as they become veterans, you have them in their prime and that is where we are getting to. We are getting to that point where you have to make some decisions based on your budget.”

(On if he feels that he has redirected his strategy on his long-term plans in this past year)

“Definitely. You are always adjusting. Again, I mentioned being one of the youngest teams, we did make an intentional choice to go, ‘Let’s go bring in some veterans who we still think can play and help us on the field, but can also provide some wisdom to the younger bunch in the locker room’. So, you are always adjusting your strategies as you go, based on what you think helps you both short term and long term.”

(On which veteran on the offensive side of the ball he thinks will step up and be a leader)

“You mention a young coaching staff, young players with draftees, but I will always go to ‘Big Whit’ (Andrew Whitworth) because he has been someone that has been in the league and played a long time, knows how to play a long time, has been a part of helping groom a young QB and helping groom a young set of skill players, even though he plays offensive line. But there’s also guys coming back like a (G) Roger Safffold, who has been around and is hungry to win. A subtle move in a (C) John Sullivan, he is still playing, he is still passionate about playing and he is a coach on the field. Even though he is young, Robert Woods knows how to play football, he has been doing it since high school. I think bringing him into a receiver room where we have some young guys and helping those guys’. And there are some other guys – let call it (RB) Todd Gurley who is only going into year three, but hungry and wants to take that step to be a leader. It is an interesting crowd there, but at some point and we are getting close to it where, hey, these guys guess what? Take the – not just take the lead from the coaching staff, but take the lead themselves and say, ‘Hey, this is us. This is where we are going to go.’”

(On if there is anything he has seen from Todd Gurley leading up to camp that makes him believe that he is one of those guys that is going to take the initiative)

“I don’t have a lot of social media, but I know my kids will show me his workouts on Instagram and I say that jokingly, but they are pretty impressive. But I do think and I do know that you know what? Ever since last year ended, he has committed himself to not only having a really good year this year, but helping the Rams improve in the standings and I think you can just see it and feel it.”

(On if he or Head Coach Sean McVay have had a chance to speak directly to Aaron Donald)

“We have communicated with him. I will keep those to ourselves. I know it is an interesting story, but I respect Aaron so much that I will keep the conversations in house.”

(On if anything came out of the quarterback workouts this morning)

“I did not. I was able to evaluate them, but obviously we signed (QB) Dan (Orlovsky), really we signed Dan probably in the last day or two officially – it broke that we agreed to terms. But he came in and got his physical and all of that. So, Dan will be our third and we will only go into camp with three

(On the workout this morning being them just kicking the tires on some guys)

“Yeah, so we had you know – those guys were going to come in and they were competing for that job. We chose Dan and obviously there is receivers working out and it was always called the, ‘Welcome back workout.’ Where you have got some holes, I say holes, but spots to fill and bring some guys in and see if we can fill some of those for camp.”

(On his thought process with reshaping the offensive line)

“Well, it was good to have new staff come in. (Offensive Line Coach) Aaron Kromer, well-respected to come in because the offensive line is still a young group when you take ‘Whit’ out. I remember going back and you are always trying to figure out in 2015, that same group of guys, hey, in terms of sacks-to-pass attempt ratio was number one in the league, or sacks they were number one in the league, sacks-to-attempt ratio were probably top five or three and probably a top five rushing team. You go to 2016 and you are ranked 30th in those categories and you are always trying to figure out, ‘What went wrong? Where do we need to improve?’ And all of that. So, it was nice to get an Aaron Kromer in and let, I call it like an independent counsel come in and go, ‘Okay, I think this is wrong, we think this is good.’ The nice thing about a lot of those guys is they are relatively young and take Saffold out of it and then the guys that we signed and Kromer had done them in college and there were some he liked coming out and all of that. So, we were able to sit down with him, come up with a plan, try to come up with a recipe and put those five in the best positions to obviously improve that unit, which in turn would help improve the offense, running game and passing game. So, I think that you will see in camp – there is a chance, you want to stabilize it pretty quickly, but both Sean (McVay) and Coach Kromer do think versatility and being able to play a lot of different spots is important because you never know when somebody is going to go down. So, you will see a lot of guys moving around and we will try to find that really good sweet spot of what that vibe is because it is more than just physical, it is chemistry as well.”

(On what his expectations are from Jared Goff after year one)

“It would be interesting if I could put it on a numbers scale because I don’t know if I have that scale. But you definitely expect progress because there is no doubt – you only learn from experience. You get better with experience, so you expect progress. I know he has worked extremely hard and I know that he is looking forward to it, but I think that OTAs were the first step, training camp and then we will go put on pads and then we will play preseason games and then you will go in the games. Each rep you take is extremely important. That is why I stress 22 (years old) sometimes is, ‘Hey, he could have stayed another year in college and he didn’t.’ He is still young, so when we made the decision with Jared, we knew it wasn’t necessarily a short-term fix, it was going to be a long-term decision for the franchise for all of the reasons we have discussed before, starting with the injuries to (QB) Sam Bradford a few years back.”

(On how the Chargers being in town now changes fan support and attention in the market)

“I don’t think so at all. The Chargers are in the AFC; we are in the NFC. I like to say that basically we need to be better than three teams. And those three are the San Francisco 49ers, the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks and the Chargers need to be better than their three teams. I don’t think we are competing against each other and I use the example, ‘Hey, they could finish with the 31st best record and we could finish with the 32nd. Hey, we finish with the first best record and they finish with the second. That is good for everyone. I think for us and the Chargers – I can’t speak for them, but for us, let’s focus on the NFC West. All you have to do in this league to get into the tournament is to be better than three teams.”

(On what he has learned so far about Head Coach Sean McVay)

“Boy, I could go for days on that. Interestingly, probably you know what? Passion for football, eats, sleeps, breaths football. He is all about football. We have joked that we have got no life skills, but we can do football and I think every decision he makes is all about how do you help the Rams. But what is interesting on Sean is, there is no doubt that he is a bright offensive mind, he proved that in Washington. But when you get to know him there are some big picture things like the leadership, how to develop his staff, how to challenge his staff – some of those qualities that you see in some great leaders, that often times might not come with just a coordinator, but he will talk about his Dad a lot being a leader and some of the mentors he has been around. So, not only has he learned and used his intelligence for X’s and O’s, but he has also learned to use his intelligence of how to get the right people in the building and put them in the right seats and then lead them and develop them and all of that. So it is pretty neat to see, especially for a young guy.”

(On if Coach McVay’s energy ever runs low)

“No. I haven’t seen that yet. So, I guess is that a youth thing? It might just be DNA, right?”

(On the list of executives the team announced will be joining the front office)

“With that, obviously we brought in (Senior Personnel Executive) Brian Xanders and I think that what we did in the offseason was, ‘Okay, let’s look at every department. Especially in football operations.’ I like to say it sometimes, personnel departments helping you make decisions, but with the athletic performance, the strength and conditioning, the nutritionists, the player engagement/development – all of those guys are helping you work to make the decisions work. We wanted to take the moment after last year because that is not acceptable at all and go, ‘Okay, this is a chance to recalibrate, a chance to learn and then especially apply what you learned’. And again, I mentioned before that as a general manager, one of your jobs is to get the right people in and also put the right people in the right seats and we did do some shifting according to strengths and weaknesses of the group and try to get them in a place so that they can help the Los Angeles Rams succeed.”

(On Brian Xanders)

“Going back, Brian and I worked together in Atlanta, but that was over a decade ago. He went on to Denver first and I think some of the draft picks they did, some of the moves they made were definitely fruitful for that organization and then he went on to Detroit as well. The one thing that I can say about Brian is he is extremely smart, has done it all in this league, has been salary cap, has been a college scout, a pro scout, has been defensive quality control. To be honest with you – I am not going to say nowadays I don’t know if he can work at Google, but was very technical. Again, we have to normalize that, us in football probably aren’t the most technical, but back in the day he was very instrumental in putting together new technologies for football and kind of on the cusp of analytics, so there are a lot of things Brian can bring to the table, projects we can give him to help us execute our strategy.”

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Rams Head Coach Sean McVay– – July 27, 2017

(On his level of excitement going into training camp)

“We’re very excited. Coaches got here on Tuesday, and really our first practice with the whole team won’t be until Saturday, but veterans reporting tomorrow. They can’t get here soon enough and I know myself and the coaches are all excited to get going and I feel like the players share that same feeling.”

(On his optimism that (DT) Aaron Donald is going to check into camp tomorrow)

“I think we’ve had good dialog. I’ve talked to (DT) Aaron (Donald) over the course of the offseason, you know, just kind of kept it between me and him. Ultimately tomorrow we’ll find out what exactly occurs, then we’ll be ready to react accordingly.”

(On how the team will be impacted if Aaron Donald doesn’t check into camp tomorrow)

“I think certainly Aaron’s a great player. He’s one of the best players in this league, especially at his position. It’s one of those deals with the NFL that, whether it’s guys not reporting, or injuries for whatever matter, guys have to be ready to step up, and we feel very confident in our defensive depth. We’re optimistic that Aaron will be here and be a part of what we’re trying to do this upcoming year. I think the defensive line is a spot we feel good about, and we’ll be ready to adjust accordingly if that’s something that does come up.”

(On the difficulty of being a first-year Head Coach dealing with the Aaron Donald situation)

“I think one of the things that you have to be ready for, especially when you’re fortunate enough to be in a leadership position like this, is be an example of the mental toughness that we talk about with our players. We’ve got to be ready to handle different situations and not flinch and if that’s something that’s something that we have to react to, we’ll move forward accordingly. However, things play out, whether it’s injuries, or some of these things that we’re talking about right now, September 10th is going to come quick, and the (Indianapolis) Colts won’t have any reservations about giving us their best shot.”

(On how the Aaron Donald situation has been different for him to handle now as a head coach)

“It’s been interesting. I think just growing up around the game, you kind of study some of the things that come up. People always told you, ‘Until you get into this role, you never really know what it’s like’ with the amount of things that come across your desk’. That’s certainly been the case in the last few months and we haven’t even had a preseason game or a game yet. It’s certainly been exciting, but I’ll always talk about this, you feel good about the staff and the support group you have around, so that you can kind of figure out the best way to navigate through these situations and come to solutions.”

(On his number one thing on his list that he wants to accomplish at training camp)

“I think any time that you start out at training camp, it’s all about developing a foundation and coming together as a team. That was really one of our main goals going throughout the offseason program. We felt like finishing up that Phase Three with the OTAs and minicamp, we were able to come together as a team. Now it’s picking up where we left off and you hear me say it over and over again, it’s about that daily improvement and that daily excellence where we’ve got our standard approach in our preparation. If we do that, we feel like we’ll make those incremental improvements every single day that will lead to good things when those games come around on Sundays.”

(On (WR) Michael Thomas’ suspension and how that changes his plan)

“It’s an unfortunate thing. It’s something that we’ll deal with. He won’t be available for those first four games, but we have confidence that Mike (Thomas) will work. I thought he did a great job this offseason demonstrating his ability he’s a guy that can go down the field and then also contribute in the intermediate game and underneath. When the ball is in his hands, good things happened this offseason. I thought his confidence grew, and this is something that we’ll navigate through together, but when he’s back we’ll be excited to have him.”

(On if he’s spoken to Thomas since the suspension)

“Yeah. I’ve spoken with Mike and it’s something that we’ll deal with and it’s something that we’ll keep those discussions internally. We’re going to support Mike, we’ll put our arm around him and we’ll embrace him when he comes back.”

(On if he’s focused on any specific position group coming into training camp)

“I think you want to be mindful of trying to evaluate every position group. That’s going to be the biggest transition. With OTAs you only really have three a week, so things are kind of spread out. It gives you the amount of time to pay attention to the offense and the defense. I think that’s one of the things that, figuring out your daily rhythm as a coach to make sure that you’re involved as far as understanding what’s going on on the defensive side of the ball, while you’re a little bit more involved, offensively with just the nature of some of the things that I’ll be doing. But I think you want to be mindful of everything, because it’s the ultimate team game, and having a pulse for the entire team will be very helpful and that’s kind of the goal as the head coach.”

(On how he spent the past six weeks)

“Fortunately (football) is something that I love. I did try to get away a little bit. I went on vacation with my family and with my girlfriend. It was good to get away, but sometimes you get that playbook out, or you get some of the things out that you want to going into the offseason program and my family or my girlfriend’s got to say, ‘Hey, put that away, why don’t you relax a little bit?’ But, it’s exciting to be able to be back and be around these players and this is what you love to do.”

(On his theme for training camp)

“I think the thing with training camp is like we’ve talked about – it’s really coming together as a team and figuring out a way for everybody to reach their highest potential, because ultimately as coaches, it’s our goal to try to help these players reach their highest potential and come together as a unit, whether that be offense, defense, or special teams. If we continue to do that, and have great practices against each other and when we’re also improving every single day, I think the opportunity against the (Los Angeles) Chargers, where we’ll get to practice against them twice will provide a great atmosphere experience for our team, and that’s really the goal of training camp.”

(On the importance of work/life balance)

“It was hard to unplug and it always will be, but fortunately you feel like you really enjoy what you’re doing. Football is a game I love; I’ve been around it my whole life. You’re doing it with people that you really enjoy being around, so I think it is good. The real challenge now will be to see figuring out that rhythm and then making sure that you’re finding a little bit of time to get some rest and not drive yourself crazy and be kind of able to shut down at the end of the day when you need that sleep.”

(On where he went on vacation)

“I actually went to Cabo (San Lucas) with my family, and then we went to Europe. We went to Barcelona (Spain) and Paris (France) with my girlfriend, so nice trips.”

(On if he wanted to change anything on the training camp schedule)

“That’s a good question, I think with our examples of having a lot of different coaches that have done it different ways and then being mindful of the great atmosphere we have set up here, it was kind of a collaboration. With (Offensive Coordinator) Matt’s (LeFleur’s) experience in Atlanta and the things they did under (Head) Coach (Dan) Quinn. Obviously with (Offensive Line) Coach (Aaron) Kromer, (Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers) Coach (Joe) Barry and I working together and (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Wade (Phillips). Then what (Special Teams Coordinator) John (Fassel) and those guys did here last year, so we’ve kind of all collaborated, figured out what the best schedule is and what we felt like just from a teaching progression. Then when there’s really not a whole lot of humidity, the morning walk-throughs and then the practices would be the best from a progression stand point and that’s kind of the way we set up the schedule the way that we did.”

(On his expectations with the Chargers in town just down the road and competing for fans)

“That’s funny, I was talking to (Chargers Head) Coach (Anthony) Lynn about that the other day when we’re just going through, setting up our practices that we’ll get with those guys later in training camp. I think last year’s first preseason game is a great example of, if there’s a good product to be had, fans are going to come. We’re not a division opponent. They’re playing in the AFC, so I wish nothing but the best for Coach Lynn and those guys and a lot of respect for their players and I think it’s ultimately about us putting out a good product. I think this fan base, there’s plenty of fans that support both teams.”

(On if there is competition to be the better NFL team in the city of Los Angeles)

“I think it’s about us trying to be the best football team that we can be. Certainly we always would love to have the fan base support our team, but I do feel like when you look at this city, 90,000 people coming to a preseason game last year, the atmosphere against Dallas, I remember being in Richmond, Virginia looking at that like, ‘Wow, what a great opportunity and situation that is. We’re optimistic that we’ll put a product out there that the fans can be proud of.”

(On QB Jared Goff’s improvement during the course of the offseason)

“Getting around him really all we had the chance to do was evaluate the seven games and then going back to his college tape. So much of the way the offseason program is set up, until you get out on the field with phase 2 and OTAs and mini-camps – it’s hard to really say. He did a nice job translating some of the above the neck information from the classroom to the grass. I thought throughout the course of the offseason program kind of just getting comfortable with some of the core things we want to embody as an offense and some of the things that will shape and establish our identity. The play-action game, I think we can continue to improve on. Some of the movement where we’re running our bootlegs off some of our wide zone actions. The drop-back game, you can see he’s comfortable and that’s going to be something constantly evaluated. Really the ultimate test for those quarterbacks are when they’re live in game action thinking how do I move and manipulate that pocket and stand in there with the face of the rush and keep my eyes down the field. I think he’s showing really encouraging things, when you just go back to college and evaluate some of his best throws that he’s made. Really it’s about doing it consistently down-in and down-out.”

(On RB Todd Gurley’s limited live play action during training camp last year and philosophy this year)

“You always want to be mindful with some of your special players that get a lot of work – of monitoring that workload. Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ted Rath and Director of Sports Medicine and Performance, Reggie Scott have done a great job with some of the tracking systems we have. But it’s just like any other player, Todd’s going to be in there. He’s one of our most important players and we have a plan in place down the road where if he’s getting a lot of work we might take a day where we pull off some of his reps just to make sure that by September 10 he’s at his best. But I think having him out there, getting that work – especially with some of the things we envision the way that we want to utilize him moving forward. He’s going to practice and he’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing. It’s not like he’s only going to practice half the time. That’s the goal and that’s the intent going into it.”

(On whether all players will be ready for practice)

“There’s a couple guys that we’re still going through and that’s something that we’ll get in at one o’clock –when it’s official. But for the most part we came out of the offseason program healthy and that’s what we anticipate going into it as far as training camp.”

(On FS Lamarcus Joyner playing slot-corner verse free safety)

“The nice thing about it is, when you have the luxury and the ability to be able to do both, it gives Coach Wade and the defense some flexibility. You don’t know if this guy is playing in the post or is he going to come down and cover a wide receiver. Those versatile players give us a little more flexibility about how we can get creative and utilize him. That’s why we get excited about Lamarcus. He’s shown that throughout the course of the offseason.”

(On WR Cooper Kupp being a projected starter)

“When you go through the depth chart we listed it with a three-wide deal. When you drafted Cooper you draft him with the intent of him playing that slot position. I’ve said it over and over again, guys are going to continue to compete and we’re evaluating every single day. That depth chart is a starting point, nothing is cemented in stone. What Cooper throughout the course of the offseason program, dictated being put in that role. Nothing was given to him, but he showed up day in and day out. He was a reliable and dependable option. And some of those things that we ask from that slot position in terms of reading coverages, the ability to work edges on people with a two-way go verses some of those man looks. He consistently delivered and now we’ll see if he can do that in preseason and going into the regular season.”

(On TE Gerald Everett’s comments regarding the Redskins tight end pair)

“What I’ll tell Gerald is I can appreciate your confidence, but when you talk about those types of players those guys are the standard for the positon. We haven’t even played a preseason snap yet, my man. We’re very confident in Gerald and I can appreciate his confidence. I’ll tell you this, if they are better than those guys we’ll be in good shape the year.”

(On if he thinks Everett’s game is more like Vernon Davis or Jordan Reed)

“He’s a little bit different, but a combination of both. Those are special players and those are guys that anytime that you’re fortunate enough to be in the role that I’m sitting here with you guys in – it’s because you’ve worked with great players. Jordan’s one of the most special player’s I’ve ever worked with. Vernon Davis is a guy, just having worked with him last year, the speed is rare. Nobody’s ever run like him at the position – where’s he’s running a 4.3 coming out of the combine. Those are some big shoes to fill. Tyler Higbee definitely had a great offseason and we’ll continue to see if Gerald can progress.”

(On using multiple tight-ends during the upcoming season)

“It’s something that you evaluate week-in and week-out with which personnel groups give you the best match-up versus the looks that the defense are presenting. You certainly want to find a way to get your best players on the field – fortunately in Washington there were a lot of those guys where you want to make sure you’re getting Jamison Crowder involved as well too. The down and distance dictates a different response as well. Being able to stay manageable where you’ve got your run pass options open and you can present any personnel group – is going to be key for us to try to avoid some of those bad second-and-longs and third-and-longs where really the defense can kind of tee off on you. With regards to the personnel groupings that something that’s to be determined every single week. We have a plan going into it, how we want to use guys and then the way the games unfolds you have to be ready to react accordingly.”

(On what he anticipates the first day of training camp to be like, when the whole team gets together for the first time)

“Everybody will report tomorrow, we’ll have a conditioning test, we’ll have a team meeting where we go through the nature of different things. Really six o’clock tomorrow will be the first team meeting where we set the foundation, how we’re practicing, some of the standard things that we need to go over and then talk about what we want to embody and what we want our tape to look like. And that’s something where we’re constantly trying to establish and maintain a culture. If we’re able to do that we feel like good things are to come.”

(On his first training camp speech being pre-written or organic with all the players together for the first time tomorrow)

“It’s a combination of both, it’s certainly something that’s been thought through. You talk through it with your coaching staff as far as our culture and how we want to articulate that, whether we want to communicate that through videos. I think it’s really important to involve the players too. You know ‘What does this mean to you?’ That ownership where it’s coaches and players driven is what allows you to sustain things over time. That’s what we’re striving to do here.”

(On his favorite non-football thing he’s done in L.A. thus far)

“Just being able to relax, I have a great location in Encino, got a great view – room for a pool. Being able to have some down time to relax with your friends and the restaurants and food have been great too. With the ESPYs, having the opportunity to go to something like that where I’m a coach but you’re also a fan where you respect a lot of these great athletes and some of the things that they’ve done and what they represent and they’re honoring other people who are influential in the sports community. Just being able to see some of those guys has been a pretty unique experience. It’s surreal almost where you spend some time with Peyton Manning. I ran into Chris Long – what a good guy he is. I could go on and on about it. That was definitely a unique experience.”

(On if there is a slogan or saying he wants players to keep in mind during training camp)

“When you talk about our culture, you all see it everywhere, it’s our ‘We not me.’ We’re always trying to embody a culture where it’s established through our character and communication. There’s something special about being a part of something bigger than yourself. When you have great teams that’s when it ends up becoming championship opportunities things like that. When you look at it around the sports environment you see a bunch of great individuals, but for some reason whether it is at the end of their career if they haven’t achieved it – they always want to be a part of a team. Because, there’s something different about being able to achieve things with your brothers with your family members. When you go through some of the adversity that we’re inevitably going to face and some of the good times – it’s about that journey. My grandfather’s influence has been really instrumental in appreciating some of the things they were able to do in his time at San Francisco and what does that look like in his ability to articulate that. We’re all a product of our experiences and the environments we’ve been in and that’s something we’ll definitely draw from.”