Ron Rivera Presser: We’ve discussed Benjamin St-Juste on the outside, but he’s played well in the slot too

Ron Rivera and Randy Jordan talk to the media

Ron Rivera

Injury report:

Nick Martin:

“Smart football player. He’s done a nice job of picking up what we do. He’s had over 60 starts in this league so there is no concern there. He understands the game. He is very athletic. Great hand placement and like I said, he’s picked up what we do very quickly.”

Martin vs the Cowboys DL:

“More so than anything else, just really getting the calls out and playing what they see.”

Players eligible to return from injury lists:

Chase Young:

“I do but I’m not the doctor. But he has looked really good, he really has. He’s done a lot of good things. I know that every time they talk about getting to a certain spot, he’s hit it every week. So, we are pretty excited about that but again, Dr. Andrews is the one that has the last say. He’s the one that’s doing the exams. He did examine him last week. It was a very positive report. He said though, ‘I do need to see a few things.’ One of the things that we are able to have a baseline as far as he needs to be in terms of his speed, his leg strength because we like most teams use all of the GPS data that we get and we break it down and understand it so, because of that we are able to create a baseline. I know for a fact that he is very close to it but again doc wants to see those results this week, next week, going forward and we will see how it goes.”

Logan Thomas:

“I think he’s still feeling his way through a little bit. Again, that’s just my personal assessment. We’ve tried to be where we try to build up each set of reps per game a little bit more. We got a little carried away in the first game, so we paired it back big time in games two and three. As he continues to work and you’ve see it in practice, there’s some things that you watch and just to let you know, one is like when he turns off of his, his left leg going the other way, from left to right because it was his right, I believe it was his right knee. Right. Yeah, you can see a little bit of he’s not quite sure of it yet. So, as he continues to progress and gets more and more out there, I think you’ll see, you’ll see more and more of the Logan that we know.”

Chase Roullier:

Benjamin St-Juste on the outside:

“It’s something we most certainly discuss but he has played well at the slot too. I mean that’s the biggest thing that he’s played very well at the slot for us. So, we just got to continue to go through the games, examine the games as coaches, break it down and then go from there.”

Coordinators being aggressive different from last year:

“Yes. It is different. I think it is one of the things that we’ve done some things during OTA’s, minicamp and training camp that have been aggressive and have actually done some good things for us. There are plays that you got to execute them to be successful and when we have a chance to execute them, they’ve been successful for us. We want to continue with that mindset. We want the guys to understand that we believe that they have the ability to do these types of things and we just got to better and better at them and keep working on it.”

“I think it’s understanding that the guys are a little more comfortable with what we are doing. For the most part with the defense, I know this, it’s definitely different from the first two seasons. With the players we have, with the athletes we have, you look at some of these guys and their athleticism and we have to capitalize on some of those things. By that I mean, when you watch Jamin runner as a linebacker, we got to make sure he’s going in the right direction and going down hill and using that speed. With the speed we have at safety and their athleticism, we have to make sure, first of all, that they are on the field. That’s why you see a lot of the Buffalo that we are doing, some of the big nickel stuff that we have done. It’s to get these types of players on the field and really get it loose and go.”

Fitting calls to the personnel:

“That is correct and that’s a big part. I mean, you look at the skillset we have with the wide receiver crew, there are some things that we need to take advantage of. As guys get healthy and get out there, tight end position, there are some things that we really want to start implementing to feature and use Logan like we did last year before he got hurt. When we get Brian Robinson back, there are some things that we can do that we want to feature his skillset and the skillset that not just he has but AG and J.D. . I mean, those three guys are all quality backs, and they all have their special abilities. Once you have the full compliment now you can just grow it even more.”

Calling out players in the media:

“There’s some guys that you try to put your arm around and talk to and just say, you know, get out there. They take things a little more to heart, a little more personal. Other guys, you know, for some guys that becomes the challenge when it gets publicly. And I think for Jamin he’s taken that as the challenge. And I know he put out a funny tweet that he didn’t want anybody to mistake, so he took it down, but he puts it out because that’s the personal challenge. And so that’s kind of the thing that we look at with him and so you say, you know what, this is a guy that if you want him to get it, you got to make sure he understands that’s the challenge. Let’s go get it, let’s go dude. So I think you do it based on the personality.”

High expectations for the offense with vet players:

“No, there are not a lot of young guys in that unit. I mean, between him and Cosmi, I think and John Bates, Antonio, and when Brian Robinson Jr. gets back out there. You would expect to be a little bit more. but the one thing that’s kind of a little disruptive, unfortunately has been we had the two guards didn’t have the kind of training camp you would love to and we’re now on our third center. So there’s a little bit of that kind of, they gotta develop that rapport a little bit. But I think because for the most part it is veteran group, we should feel that we should have a little bit more success and I think there’s an opportunity for us to take steps and go forward and do the things that we need to do and play better. I really do and I’m excited about the opportunities we have.”

Music at practice:

Randy Jordan

Brian Robinson:

“Well, I think the biggest thing is first of all, let me say this, is by the grace of God that he’s got another opportunity and he understands that. But, he’s doing everything that he can to get himself ready to play, and that’s in terms of all the things that the trainers are getting him to do in terms of just working out and just getting his legs back underneath him. I feel like he’s on track.”

What Robinson adds to the offense when he returns:

“I think the biggest thing is you guys saw early in his career here with us is that he’s got a really good feel in terms of being able to run the football. There’s some certain things you can’t teach, from the running back position in terms of feeling color and feeling where he needs to cut. He’s got really good body balance, he’s a little bit of a tweener when it comes to a thumper. And being able to set a guy and make a guy miss and be able to get that hidden yardage that we always talk about. Turning a negative gain blocked play into a plus-four where people don’t really look at it and say, ‘Oh man, that’s just a four-yard gain.’ But in our world, that’s pretty good significance when you can keep the offensive caller on track getting those efficient runs as we call it.”

Antonio Gibson:

“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is when you talk about Antonio is he’s a back that’s got size, he’s got speed. We’ve all seen it. You look at it in terms of speed against Buffalo, when he was able to get the ball on a screen and be able to take it 75-plus yards. But when you watch him this year, he’s doing exactly what we asked him to do in terms of his decision-making. You know, really when you look at it, the only run that he probably wants back is the one that he felt like he wanted to make a play and then got us in a negative situation down in the red zone. But everything else he’s been pretty good in terms of his reads and getting his pass down and finishing with violence that we talk about. And he’s also been used in some of those short yardage situations. So when you gotta go get one yard, and all of a sudden you look up and, per average, you really can’t add that up in terms of saying, ‘Oh, you have four or five opportunities to go get one yard when he’s got like 12 or 13 carries.’ So he’s doing a good job for us.”

Pass protection:

“Well, I think the biggest thing is we talk about being an extension of the offensive line. And when you’re not getting the football, what kind of player are you? Everybody sees the running back spot as a spot when you get the ball, you hand it off or you catch it. And I’m looking at all the play fakes. That’s one thing that we can do to help our line is when we do play-action, is doing a great job in terms of faking, so we can affect the second level, the linebackers so that we’ve got easier throws when they’re trying to stop the run. And then when you don’t have the football when you’re going through the line and Dallas leads the league in line stunts, and they’re gonna stunt on Sunday is where you don’t have the football and all of a sudden you see a guy looping or coming free, being able to chip, bang, to try to help in protection.”

Chip blocking:

“That’s a great question. I think the biggest thing is within the protection, when you really study, like if you’re going through the line of scrimmage and you have, some people call it a burst route, a sneak route or whatever the route is, you’re going through the line of scrimmage and you are not the main guy. You definitely can affect protection by looking, filling, color, chipping, guys that are possibly coming free. And then if you are not the main guy and you’re working on an edge right there, that’s where you can help your tackles out. So when you’re not the main guy, when the ball isn’t, you are not the number one priority, it’s just simply looking for work so that you can affect the game in so many different ways in terms of being a protector.”

Communicating with the offensive line:

“You must been in our meetings, man. No, seriously, it’s when you chip those tackles, it’s universal. They wanna know cuz some of their sets changes depending on if you got help. We try to alert them, ‘Hey, look on this particular one, Hey, I’m right here.’ Those guys know, I always tell ‘em, a protection isn’t on the quarterback. It’s not on the on the line. It’s not on the running backs, it’s on everybody in terms of knowing what to do and knowing how to do it. The ball’s gotta get out, all those different things. Everybody is involved with protection.”

Curtis Samuel:

“Let me say this about Curtis. I watch Curtis and when he carries a football, he’s a natural. There’s some things I told Drew [Terrell] the receiver coach in practice. He ran a wide zone play out of the gun. I said, ‘okay, alright, ain’t really much you can say about that.’ He has a natural feel. I made overlap with him on some things, with Drew. But for the most part Drew handles that and I’ll chime in whenever asked.”

Practice Updates

Players eligible to return next week

Injured offensive linemen