Q. You left Saint Vincent College a week ago and moved training camp to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. How has that transition gone in terms of the quality of the work – on the field, meetings, etc.?
A. Not much has changed in terms of what we're doing on the field. Obviously, the location has changed, and as you go through transition, people are getting settled back into their homes, or in some cases, new homes. And so there's certainly some distractions outside the workplace that don't exist in Latrobe, and that's why you appreciate a destination camp. It is a moment in time. It is not real world, and there's certainly real world obligations and distractions that go on in Pittsburgh, but such is life in the regular season, and so at some point you've got to get back to that. But I don't think that our work, or the nature of our work, or the quality of our work, was negatively affected by those realities as we transition back.
Q. Last year, the top two quarterbacks on the roster were Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. This year, it's Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph. In what ways do you consider that an upgrade?
A. Aaron. He has a unique resume, and not only a unique resume and experience, but those who have watched practice realize he still has very unique arm talent. There's not a throw that he can't make from any body position or from any angle. He's a unicorn. He's one-of-one. And so it makes it a totally different conversation.
Q. So how is he also an upgrade in terms of what you have referred to as the "above-the-neck" stuff?"
A. He's the best. He's the best in the world at the line of scrimmage – mannerisms and changes of pace and cadence and so forth. His intellectual game is just on the ceiling. His physical talents are unique, but his intellectual talents are just as rare.
Q. Tonight is the preseason finale against Carolina. What is the preseason finale used for when it comes to the team development process?
A. It is the last opportunity for people to state a case for themselves, and I don't want to understate that. There's real opportunity there. I always do a history of the series for this game to illustrate to the guys how important this opportunity is. I talked about, for example, 2018. We went into this game and Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph were essentially "two dogs/one bone," two young quarterbacks who were vying for the No. 3 spot on the roster. They both finished off a strong preseason with strong performances in that game (against Carolina), and Landry Jones ended up being the quarterback who was out. That's how significant this opportunity is. Now this opportunity isn't the end-all, be-all, but you do have an opportunity to put an exclamation point on your work. And that's just an example of how significant this is. I can go all the way back to 2009 when there was a 5-foot-6 returner named Stefan Logan. I didn't know what position he played. We'd go through pre-practice warmups, and he hung out with the specialists. He wasn't a running back, he wasn't a receiver, but every time we kicked the ball to him during that preseason, he made things happen. He returned the very first punt in that game 80-plus yards for a score, and ran his way onto the roster. And so those are just some historic examples of having an opportunity to put an exclamation point on your work in this game.
Q. Cut-down day is Tuesday, Aug. 26. How will you spend your time between the end of tonight's game and 4 p.m. next Tuesday?
A. Multitasking, business as usual. Not only in terms of creating a calendar that's functional for this group, but also looking ahead to some future opponents, seeing what has been going on in preseason with the Jets or Seattle or people like that. But none of that is unique. We're always multitasking this time of year in positions such as mine.
Q. Do you anticipate the process of getting down to 53 players being difficult, or is it largely cut-and-dried at that point?
A. You know, there's always some difficult decisions and conversations, and really, I've learned not to speculate until you get out of this stadium. There are injuries and things that could happen that could change the course of those discussions. I've been in hypothetical discussions at different times in my career leading up to this game. Some of them have been beneficial. Some of them have been worthless because of what transpires in this game. And so with that experience, I've learned to wait, to live in the moment, and to make all analysis and decisions on the other side of this game.
Q. You mentioned injuries. Besides that, what are some of the other factors that might complicate things?
A. The market. Somebody might call you and give you an offer you can't refuse for someone. What others' needs are and how urgent those are at times, impact decisions. As I mentioned, I was talking about 2018 with Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph. Well, in 2019 Jacksonville wanted Josh Dobbs, and so as we came out of that last preseason game, it altered some thought processes, for example. It's just business. There are layers to it. It's not checkers, it's chess. But certainly I enjoy it.
Q. The team has been very active throughout this offseason in bringing in veteran, top-of-the-depth-chart players via signings or trades. Is that pretty much over at this point of the process?
A. You never say never. As I mentioned, somebody could call with a high level of urgency and change those plans. And so I just learned through experience over the years to take things as they come. We've certainly had an active offseason, but all of these opportunities kind of came at us individually. I don't know that you could characterize it as a collective agenda. We were fortunate to get some of these things done and acquire some top-notch players. And I'm open to that continuing, if it presents itself and it presents itself in an appropriate way.
Q. Is timing of the essence, though, based on the proximity of the start of the regular season?
A. I just think that we all have gotten pretty comfortable with getting people on a moving train, if you will. It's just professional football. A few years back, T.J. was going through a contract negotiation with us, and he did very little during team development. He worked a couple of days prior to going to Buffalo, and we opened up in Buffalo, and he looked like the best player on the field. And so if it's significant, then chances are they're capable, and those capabilities are going to show and show rather quickly, regardless of what the process is.
Q. Is it fair to say that going into tonight's game the only starting job still undecided is at punter?
A. I hadn't really thought about it in that way to be quite honest with you. You tell me the (game) circumstances, and I will tell you who I want on the grass. Specialization is a component of our game today. We've got quality receivers, we've got quality tight ends, we've got quality runners. It might be a circumstance where you want Jalen Warren and Kenny Gainwell on the field (at the same time). It might be a circumstance where you want three tight ends on the field, and so "starters" in 2025 is a slippery slope. There's specialization in our game, and personnel is a component of strategy. It's the same thing on defense. We have "nickel," we have "penny," we have "dime," we have "rover." We have a variety of combinations and groups of people to best take advantage of our collective talent to play matchup football. And we've got versatile people like Jalen Ramsey, for example. It makes it even more difficult for those we compete against to get a bead on us. And so the starter component, the depth chart component, the things that used to be significant in our game are less so, because what's on paper is just on paper. You step into stadiums and people have varying agendas week in and week out, and a lot of it is personnel driven and specialization driven. And so you better be pliable. You better be willing to play different people. You better have guys capable of delivering. If somebody has a 3-receiver running game that's difficult to stop, you may play defense with 5 down linemen, 1 linebacker, and 5 DBs, for example. There's just a lot of that. Looking at Carolina's defense. If you run the ball well out of 3 wideouts, they counter by playing 5 down linemen, 1 linebacker, sub-package. There's just a lot of specialization in today's game that makes that starter discussion somewhat of a misnomer.
Q. Let's stick with the punters for a second. How will you utilize Cameron Johnston and Corliss Waitman tonight? And what will you be looking for in making that decision?
A. You know, it's been nip-and-tuck. I'm really respectful of the competitive spirit and talents of both guys. We traded punt-for-punt throughout (the preseason), and we'll continue to do that tonight. And then we'll have a difficult decision on the other side of it.
Q. With regard to special teams in terms of the roster cut-down. How are contributions in that phase factored into roster decisions?
A. On a case-by-case basis. Certainly, capabilities in that area help your cause as an individual, but it's really on a case-by-case basis. Some positions, special teams contributions are more significant than others. If you're a backup linebacker, it's paramount. If you're a backup offensive lineman, is less significant, for example. And so it's a positional thing, but it's essentially on a case-by-case basis in terms of the capability of the people. Not only in terms of what they do on special teams, but what they do on offense or defense as well.
Q. Can a player earn a spot on the roster for what he does on the coverage teams?
A. If it's special. Miles Killebrew is first-team All-Pro, and so what he does on special teams far outweighs what he does as a safety, for example.
Q. The team reported to Saint Vincent College on July 23. What have you come to like about this group during the time from the start of training camp until today?
A. I think they work at togetherness. Their willingness to work at togetherness, their willingness to spend informal time together to get to know one another on a personal level. I think it helps us capture that which we cannot measure, the camaraderie component. But again, that's one of the agendas that we have by going to a destination camp, to create an environment where that happens. But it still takes the men. It appears that we have a collective group that really like each other and really are working to get to know one another and help the young players, etc. It's a good vibe from that perspective.
Q. Looking at it from the outside, it also seems that this group has a little bit of an edge, maybe an attitude. Is that accurate?
A. I would agree with that, but I imagine our opponents do as well. It's easy to have an edge when you're undefeated, and everybody in the NFL is undefeated right now. I think the real edge and some of the things that you mentioned along those lines get revealed as we get into this journey and you start absorbing some of the adversity that comes with the journey. If that edge remains, then it's real. But I imagine that 32 groups are working with an edge right now.
