Read the full transcript from TE Ben Sims' media availability on August 3, 2026.
How does what Coach Hafley preaches and stresses align with your skill set?
Ben Sims: The first team meeting he talked about our three core values – trust, belief and toughness. I think that's something I've always kind of centered myself on. I think that's what I also believe in. So when he preaches that, it's pretty easy to buy into. There's a lot of guys on this team that buy into that and love that. In a lot of ways, we're trying to reinvent our culture here. So here to bring that and roll.
How big a difference does it make for a tight end to have pads on now?
Ben Sims: Pads, no pads, it's practice. I think pads, they add another element of the game, you have to play lower. It allows you to be more physical, be able to finish more blocks. It really kind of brings the game to life, one step further. Today is obviously the first day of pads. There's probably a million things offense, defense, special teams, we can work on, but I think today was a really good starting point for our team. It's up from here.
I think you're on the field for a pretty good Will Kacmarek block that I saw today where he kind of got a pancake block out there. Take us through that play from your perspective, if you can recall it?
Ben Sims: Yeah, I think it was the first play of practice, right? Open practice up with counter. Like I said it's one of our core values, toughness, and I saw that play on our script and I said, let's do it. Will (Kacmarek) is those values. He believes in that, so being able to do a counter on the first practice of pads speaks to what we want to be about.
I'm kind of curious how you feel like your game has changed the most since when you first came into the league?
Ben Sims: I mean, I went undrafted, starting from pretty much the very bottom. I restarted with fundamentals when I was a rookie, I had sloppy feet. Then I learned how to really block, and then I understood a playbook. Then all those things that have been building blocks to now, I feel like I really am starting to understand the game holistically. I understand what we're trying to get accomplished, and I think my fundamentals have increased.
I wanted to ask you about the red zone score you had the other day, that full extension grab. If you could just kind of take us through that, that play from your perspective?
Ben Sims: That was the man beater side, so we knew if we were going to get one-on-one coverage, it's a race to the front pylon. I knew that Malik (Willis) saw exactly what I saw pre-snap, so I ran the route to win. Again, use my fundamentals, use my skill and try to really use some of my speed to get to that front pylon. I knew the second my head snapped, the ball would be there just because that's where the ball is supposed to go.
Saw Seydou Traore had a couple of nice grabs today. What have you seen from him so far in early work?
Ben Sims: Very athletic. I mean as being a rookie, it's so hard to come in and just understand it all completely. So I give props to Will (Kacmarek) and Seydou (Traore) for really coming in and putting their head down and getting to work. They don't say a whole lot. They just work their tails off and I can respect that. Those two guys are going to be great players. I think they already are. But really, the sky's the limit and great players.
Your room has got a ton of versatility with kind of different skill sets. How fun is that to kind of be a part of that melting pot of guys that are athletic, guys that block, guys that , play in-line, guys that can flex out?
Ben Sims: I think it adds multiple layers to our room. Having someone that can do a little bit of everything is awesome, as far as contribution wise. It doesn't limit your playbook, it actually maximizes it. Having five different players with five different skill sets can be a huge strength, and I think we're using it that way right now. I think we're finding ways to maximize our strengths and put everybody in the right positions. I think Coach Slowik's doing a great job, Coach Middleton the same. Our coaches have just been really great up to this point.
