Bengals
Bengals LB coach Mike Hodges said the team is building a defense from scratch that revolves around his players’ strengths.
“We’re not going to be a carbon copy of anything that any one of us has done anywhere else. We’ve built this thing together,” Hodges said, via the team’s website.
Hodges said that he builds lasting relationships with his players and pointed out Eagles LB Zack Baun as one of those guys, who he coached in New Orleans.
“I think the easy story is to write that the Philadelphia Eagles created an inside linebacker,” Hodges said. “I mean, we’re watching tape here that’s from New Orleans at times, and you see Zack doing things. It’s like, wait a minute, and I’m like, you’ve got to understand. We had a really good room, and Zack got better. Zack’s been very kind in the sense that he’s been very complimentary about his experience with me. And look, I went to Pete Werner‘s wedding a couple of weeks ago. And of course, Zack and (wife) Ali are there. Hell, we hung out for a whole night. The relationship portion of this, I think I’ve told you before, is critical. Because if you don’t have that, you can still coach them, you can still get them better, but you can’t maximize it. And then also, I’d be lying if I omitted the fact that when I do lean into those guys and build those relationships, it comes back two-fold. I get a lot out of that. I feed off of that. I will do it with every player that comes through here. I would argue that it’s hard to find a linebacker somewhere that says, ‘Hodges treated me poorly.’ I won’t do that. Call it old school, call it new school, call it whatever. It’s just the way I want to do it because it’s who I am. Build a relationship. I’m going to coach them hard and I’m going to get them better.”
Hodges added that he won’t ask the team to draft a certain player based on need and will advocate for the best player available.
“I think when I get asked that question, I think it’s important to find the best player. You know what I mean? I think it’s dangerous to say, hey, we need a WILL or a MIKE or a SAM. or anything like that, because when you put that in there, you’re not necessarily finding the best player that fits your system. You’re just finding a position that fills a need. I think what we have to do is be able to find the best player and then adjust the scheme. Let’s not pigeonhole ourselves into our scheme by saying we have to have this kind of guy and miss out on a player that could be a really impact player. That would be my approach.”
Browns
The Browns brought back veteran QB Joe Flacco to a one-year deal and is in line to compete for the starting quarterback position after Deshaun Watson‘s Achilles injury. Flacco said there are currently no expectations for who will be Cleveland’s starter.
“I don’t think there’s any expectation of exactly who’s going to be the starting quarterback,” Flacco said, via NFL.com. “So, you know, I’m excited to get in that room and go show that I have a lot of football ahead of me and kind of become part of the team and do my best to prove all those things — just like you always would when you kind of come into a new situation and want to be the guy.”
Flacco thinks competition will help bring out the best version of players.
“I do think competition in that quarterback room, in general, kind of breeds the environment to learn and become the best version of yourself,” Flacco said.
Flacco still feels like he’s playing at a high level entering the 18th year of his career.
“I love football,” Flacco said. “I still feel like I can do it at a high level. … I don’t have regrets in my life. This is one of those things, like, if I still feel like I can do it and somebody else still feels like I can do it enough to [give me] a chance, well, this probably would be something I would regret not doing. And then also, I have five kids at home and I’ve got to get away from them, you know, a little bit.”
Ravens
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta was asked about the possibility of the team drafting a kicker, given the controversy surrounding K Justin Tucker.
“Sure, there have been some great kickers drafted,” DeCosta said, via Pro Football Talk. “We’ve drafted a couple punters, but it’s worth it if you have the right kicker. It just depends on the [draft] board. It depends on the player. It depends on who’s there. It depends on how your coaches see him. And also, it should be said that some of the greatest kickers of all time weren’t drafted, right? So, there’s no blueprint for finding a kicker, except you have to be able to evaluate the kicker. I think [senior special teams coach] Randy Brown does a phenomenal job of evaluating kickers, and we have a lot of other really good coaches who do a great job of evaluating talent along with our scouts. So, is it worth it? I think it probably is if the right guy is there. However, you don’t have to draft a kicker. You don’t have to draft a punter. You don’t have to draft a running back or a linebacker for those guys to be great players. We’ve seen that over and over again.”
“I never have any expectations, because you don’t know how the thing is going to unfold,” DeCosta continued. “Again, we’re going to be on the clock, and we’re going to draft the best available player every spot for us as a club. I never want to pigeonhole myself into doing this or that because when I do that, I usually end up being disappointed. You create a false expectation in your mind, and you start to think about needs and other things. I like to go into that draft like a wide-open highway with no cars on the road, and I could drive as fast as I want straight down the road unencumbered and not worry about [anything] but just driving, turn music up and just drafting and picking the best players.”
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