Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel's press conference on Aug 1, 2025.
Q: Do you like that they have – it's computerized now, I don't know what it's called – the first down marker?
"I think it makes sense. I can visualize the technology that could make that happen. I think it's good. Unfortunately are we going to have less players running into humans standing with metal sticks? (laughter) Because if that's the case I don't want any part of it."
Q: I wanted to go inside your brain a little this morning. I was curious about this – I know you said in the season-ending press conference last year that fining guys for tardiness did not work. You're such a nice person who has forged good relationships with players. How much thought did you give early this offseason to whether you needed to become more of a jerk? More of an SOB, more of a hard ass? Is that something that you thought about? Could you take us through your thinking with that and have you?
"You're damn right I thought about it. (laughter) I think you are in practice, if you're doing your job right, you're both assessing how you do things and how people receive things. I think it makes it pretty easy with the nucleus of the team spearheading a motivated locker room to be accountable to each other. For me it's easy to evolve into what's best for the players. That's kind of been the journey of life for me anyways. Is it hard for me to post in front of the team meeting people who got fined for doing something outside of what our standards are? No, at all. Absolutely not. It's very easy. I think there's a lot of scars with professional athletes and to gain their listening, you have to earn trust and it's been notable how I've attempted to earn trust with players, and that's not to be confused with setting out expectations and delivering on those. I think with time and putting together the right group of people, it's very easy for me to hold players accountable especially when they don't hear it wrong and know it's for their benefit."
Q: Was there any thought you gave then to becoming a yelling tyrant or did you immediately rule that out for all the reasons that you just stated in terms of your view…?
"So in the vein of an adult temper tantrum based on how people perceive me, no I would not be motivated by those things. I think I'm motivated by improving players and creating a winning football team. The ins and outs of that are the compass for how I adjust myself, but leaning into perception and perceive things not totally based on day-to-day fact – I am the best version of me and I am on a team with a bunch of coaches that mirror that and this team in 2025 through July has modeled that so we'll see what August has for us."
Q: DT Zach Sieler is a guy who could stage a hold-in but we haven't seen any signs of it. Seems like he's gone through every rep, 11-on-11, one-on-one. Have you thanked him for that or is that even necessary? How have you handled that with him?
"I think you define yourself by your actions, most of all in life. I'm very aware that all players have a choice in what they do on a day-to-day basis, specifically with Zach (Sieler), and his actions speak and I think his teammates very much recognize how Zach Sieler plays football and contributes to the building every day. And I think Zach has a vision of a team that I share and he understands as a leader, he's trying to show guys how he wants teammates to play football and I'm excited every time I see Zach Sieler."
Q: QB Tua Tagovailoa told us last week WR Tyreek Hill is still rebuilding his relationship with the team after how last season ended. How are you seeing that develop over the start of camp?
"I'm seeing the daily investment. I think it's a well-known fact that Tua (Tagovailoa) is the leader of our team and our locker room and is the franchise quarterback. And I think there's a lot to be said about a leader saying the hard things. I think there's a lot to be said about 'Reek' (Tyreek Hill) and how clear they've been towards each other so that you can say these things and call a spade a spade. I see that as grown man stuff like that – that is real – that relationships aren't created in a vacuum of dandelions and daisies. Relationships – real ones, ones that matter – you go through a process of earning and delivering on trust. What I've seen is it's important to the players on the team that they are connected to each other both on the football field and off and when you have people going in that direction and focused on that, there's only good things that can come from that. So far so good. I see guys delivering on their words with actions."
Q: CB Kendall Sheffield was not at practice on Wednesday. Can you provide an update on his status?
"Are you going to practice today? Well then, the secret will lie with – you'll see him at practice today. (laughter) He's working through some stuff. He's at practice today."
Q: How's RB Ollie Gordon II doing?
"I think we've had two days of pads and with the last one I think Ollie (Gordon II) took the opportunity to kind of introduce himself to the team. As a rookie running back in particular, a lot of guys are talented their whole careers and the best play is snap, hand him the ball, right? Well, in the NFL the position of running back expands a ton to get you the ball in numerous ways. And he is in the rookie process where he is learning by mistakes and so far he's responded in a great way. You have to do right by the length of the season with rookies and not overcook a successful day and wish them into taking the foot off the gas. I say that guarded only because so far, so good. He introduced himself to his teammates with some pad level and as training camp goes, the battles will continue and I think they know who he is today and we'll see how he responds to that."
Q: How is OL Bayron Matos doing? We know he's out of the hospital, but how's he doing?
"He's getting better and he is with his family and with the appropriate care so that was the only thing we cared about from the jump, was that the recovery continues to progress and it is."
Q: Any idea when we might see him?
"No timetable. Not concerned with a timetable, but I will let you know when one exists."
Q: RB Alexander Mattison has told us that you guys didn't kind of pigeonhole him or define him as a short-yardage back, that you enabled him to do a lot of things. It looks to us like he's showing quick feet. He's made some double-digit runs. Has that surprised you or that's what you thought?
"Seeing as every run that he's had in camp, you can hear me yelling, 'wait, this isn't short-yardage.' (laughter) That's the whole crew. All 90 – there's a version that people have defined them or put them in a box – I think 'Mad Dog' (Alexander Mattison) himself is a great example of 'no, here we allow your play to tell us who you are and how you adjust to coaching and how willing you are to invest in your game and your team.' So he's a great example as a veteran player who I'm hoping he knew that kind of box-in that he's had because that was the whole basis of my continued joke that I've been yelling at him. I think that's the great thing about football and being on a team in the National Football League, is a lot of people have a lot of opinions and collectively you can work together so that individually you can define yourself where perhaps in his case, in places that people around the country have limited him and said he couldn't do so I love that kind of stuff."
Q: T Patrick Paul has looked immovable in one-on-ones including putting LB Bradley Chubb on the ground a few times. What's it been like to watch his growth?
"Patrick Paul is having a very good camp and that's because he had a very good five-week training period of time on his own that followed a great eight-week program of offseason. I think he's been on a steady confidence climb and it was very helpful getting ingratiated into the NFL game and being able to play behind Terron Armstead – one of the best to do it – and he's operating every day like he knows the NFL regular season is coming and he wants to surprise people just like it sounds like you guys are by one-on-ones. Players on the team, he has earned respect being as intentional and deliberate as any player on the team. You have a gigantic player with an athletic skillset that is attacking what really matters, not, 'hey, I blocked him,' or 'hey, I didn't,' but angles of sets, how to keep your balance, how you drive off the ball, landmarks, all of those things, pad level. He's all in to his game and I think people are starting to see that on the practice field and we hope that turns into the game."
Q: When we talked to QB Tua Tagovailoa last week he said that early in his career he used to kind of judge and gauge his practices based on results. "I completed this many passes, I threw this many touchdowns, I didn't throw an interception." But recently he gauges it based on two or three goals he sets for himself each day. Is that something that has been coached into him or is that something you've seen as a natural development within him as he's grown as a player?
"That is a product of a lot of intentional, deliberate work, conversations, myself, Frank Smith, Darrell Bevell, Bobby Slowik; but most notably Tua (Tagovailoa) because the game in general but specifically for the quarterback is quite literally handling noise. And when you are able to go through a practice and focus on specific things to your game and not results, you are training kind of in sync with people that are great at stuff. It is a daily challenge. He is working on stuff that philosophically I believe is gigantic for mastering NFL quarterback play and that's the meat and potatoes of it. Working on identifying, working on something so you improve and sometimes the hardest thing in sports is adjusting to success or failure and when your motivation is not to do anything but get better, generally you get better. So I don't know about you, I'm fired up about him getting better. Are you fired up about him getting better?"
Q: When you have two guards in OL Jonah Savaiinaea and OL James Daniels that have primarily played at guard on the right side in their career before here, how do you decide who ends up at what spot, given maybe both their comfort zone?
"Coins, we just flip them. No, there's a lot of things. You have to have a reason. The starting point is a reason. Well, when you have people that have both played right, who should be the left? I know you want me to tell the world and I'm not going to, not just yet, but I think you have to spread reps out and get guys comfortable and to do that you need to make them uncomfortable at the beginning. So you throw them in there, see how they react but you don't try to all of a sudden make a rash decision. You think through, all right, can this get better, because the first time you do anything is going to be the first time and it's going to be its worst. So we mix it up, try to have a sound reason that we do things. For me, I wanted to get Jonah started at something. As a rookie you have to reframe your game anyway, so it's important to get him work at left. James (Daniels) has had work at left in his life and we'll see what comes of the reps that they're utilizing both in walkthroughs and in practice, but for a rookie, we'll start him out at one spot and once he knows the offense and what he's doing, if there's an appropriate reason we'll move him or we'll keep him there or we'll play him at tackle. Who knows."
Q: There's still a handful of marquee name cornerbacks available. Have you and General Manager Chris Grier decided to bring any into the building for visits in the coming days?
"We're always looking at improving the roster. I'm excited about the practice today and the way that players have been developing, I have more than enough to keep my attention, but we're always one day away from making a move at any position because we're constantly trying to improve the team and that's part of it."
