Head coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, running back Chase Edmonds and safety Jevon Holland all met with the media today as the team practiced before Sunday's game vs. Baltimore. Check out the top quotes from their media availabilities.
HEAD COACH MIKE McDANIEL
(On what speed can do for an offense)
"I think it's a wonderful tool and resource assuming that you can't just be a fast guy. When you're fast and you can play strong and you can have a diverse route tree; it's an issue (for the defense) because you can expand the field in the same amount of time more than other teams, so that puts stress on the defense. None of that stress even matters unless you have a group of guys working together so that you have time to throw the ball, you make the correct progression, coaches call the right plays to put players in successful situations and all that. So it's not by itself. But it was cool to see those guys running around and playing within the timing of our offense, which helped us on the success we did have."
(On who plays QB Lamar Jackson at practice this week)
"I do. (laughter) No, I mean, that's, again, that's part of the delegation process. You try to use a couple different people. But the bottom line is, you're not going to replicate it. That's part of the shock and awe on game day, when you are – he's the most dynamic athlete for sure, at that position. He's continued to develop his pass game skill set, which you guys saw a little on display in the second half of the Jets game. So regardless of who it is, I'm not going to put pressure on one person, put them on blast in the media. But we'll just say it's a collection of individuals because it takes a collection of individuals to stop him."
QB TUA TAGOVAILOA
(On his takeaways after reviewing the Week 1 film)
"I would say there's a lot of things that we wish we had back in the game. Obviously, the first play, we wish we had back. There's other plays that we wish we had back, too, but it was great to look at them and learn from and then move on to this week against the Ravens."
(On practicing in the rain today)
"Yeah, this was our first practice in the rain, and it started raining pretty good throughout practice, but I thought it was good. We worked on some wet ball drills, being able to throw it in the rain and I thought it was pretty good for us."
RB CHASE EDMONDS
(On facing the Ravens defense)
"They cause turnovers, especially in the secondary. Marlon Humphrey is probably the best person right now getting the ball out in the secondary in the NFL. They have playmakers everywhere. They have a lot of speed. (Odafe) Oweh coming off the edge, he loves to get – sack monster. I like Patrick Queen a lot, too, No. 6, the linebacker. He gets to the ball fast and he plays downhill. So we just have to be on our Q's man. Baltimore is one of those organizations that they're always going to be good. (Head Coach John) Harbaugh is always going to have them ready to play. Obviously, they have a spectacular quarterback in Lamar (Jackson). So we're up to the challenge this weekend to find a way to get a win."
(On practicing in the rain today)
"Coming from the desert, I'm not used to practicing in the rain. So that was my first time really practicing in a full monsoon type of thing. It was cool though. It actually – I always feel like rain practices can be a little sloppy, it wasn't as sloppy as (I thought). We had guys keeping their feet, catching the ball, so it was good for us to practice in it."
S JEVON HOLLAND
(On if it is possible to prepare for a guy like QB Lamar Jackson in practice)
"No, it's not. It's difficult. He's a very dynamic player – one of a kind. You try to replicate it as much as possible, but game speed and practice speed are completely different."
(On what impresses him about playing alongside S Brandon Jones)
"His game speed is crazy. He's like an energy bunny. He'll just be flying around 100 miles an hour and he's a great tackler. He always brings the juice. That's big."
