Mike LaFleur & Chris Shula On First Preseason Game, Working Around Injuries & Cowboys Joint Practice

I think our guys have just in general taken step in the right direction the last week I think the urgency and the energy has been up and and when you have that when you're out here having fun a lot of times good things can happen with that there's still going to be a lot to clean up um you know we didn't game plan these guys just like they didn't game plan us but they give us so many different looks that we don't get versus obviously our defense and so it's just so valuable to bank those reps and I thought the stuff that we didn't get that we cleaned up they did a good job with our players just so you're aware a ram spokesman told us about Matthew just precautionary with the with the tightness there so you're aware of that but getting Jimmy in with the ones and then ston with the backups uh what did you see out of them during those I thought they I thought they operated well you know I mean nine operates at at a world class level I mean it's it's poetry when he's in the Huddle and what he can do at the line and what he sees and and how calm he is but uh and we know that and every rep's going to be valuable for him no matter how many plays he's had but you know unfortunately unfortunately he had some tightness and it gives those other guys an opportunity Jimmy to get in there with the ones which obviously he doesn't get very often and then and then ston his well and really for Stetson just to build off of um you know what he did in the game um you know he did some good things in the game obviously we got to limit the turnovers no doubt but there was a lot of positives from it too and to be able to get out here and correct some of those was great what have you seen from Warren McLendon specifically when once he moved over to the left side yeah I mean the left side is uh I mean that's that's still early right so I mean we're we're still way early into this I think really just two practices um but he whether right side or left side he's just getting better and um I would say like a lot of these guys guys he's doesn't feel 100% with his body right now you know it's those Nicks and and and bruises from from training camp but uh he's battled every single day and he's continued to get better and and that's going to be big for us in a practice where you don't practice or where you don't tackle rather kyn it seems like he thinks he scores on every play uh what are you liking about him yeah I like I like all our guys with the ball in their hands they they all feel like that no one's going to tackle them you know and and what we keep preaching do them but we don't have to cuz it's how they're made is you know we haven't played tackle football yet particularly with our St and uh so it's a it's a whole different game when it comes to Sunday for our guys because of Jimmy's situation not being able to play the first two games how important as a kind of a side benefit is him being able to work with the ones in a situation like that yeah no it's again just anyone any position quarterback to our receivers to allo our line you know a lot of guys on the line uh we weren't anticipating to be with our ones that are are with our ones right now so anytime you get those those Ops particularly against a defense like this with all the players that they got is going to be valuable so I know again there's going to be a lot of things to clean up from from everyone across the board but I like the way he stepped in there and operated what did you think of the way Jordan play that first preseason yeah like a man you know again it was it was tackle football Jordan witon is a a guy that from from high school being a wildcat quarterback having just a million yards in in a state championship game to what he did in college with a really loaded roster uh and then to what we've seen since he's been here you know we knew uh we we felt pretty pretty confident that uh when when the pads got on and it was real football he was going to even be a bigger problem and I think that showed and he's got a long way to go U he's a he's a kid that's really confident and the teammates are pretty confident in him as well couple more guys when a young guy like that shows ostensibly that he can play at this level do you pull back as the preseason goes on with him if he's a guy that is going to be part of that receiver speaking of Whittington yeah yeah um that's that's still conversations we're going to have because again is is a value as the preseason is in those games when it's real and coaches are off the field um you know these practices are equally as important to us you know cuz we're trying some things more there's more movement and stuff like that uh that's you know uh more like our offense obviously so we all those discussions will always be fluid it can change dayto day it can change based on who's available who's not available so um you know we'll uh we'll keep it going from there what's a did you get a chance to say hello to Aon what's it like having him out here just for the the kind of the spirit of training camp he just puts a smile on your face right you're kind of hoping that like you know like the Stone Cold Steve awesome music would hit and he'd come out with his jersey and he said I'm back you know but uh no it's you're just happy to see him I know the the guys all of them not just the D line are and uh you know you say how you doing he says I'm healthy you just can't put you know it just puts such a smile on your face that's what you do it for what was it like for you seeing ad walking out here it's great to see him um and the cool thing was seeing him kind of give some tips to fist I'm just kind of standing there listening um so it was really good to see him great to have him out here any part of that wanted to walk up to him and say are you sure of course you know think about that every day and he's all over our cutup so we see him all the time uh you know but I know he's in a great spot and uh such a great career and he's earned the right to uh do whatever he wants right now so he's welcome back anytime any want time he wants to come coach and help out he knows the door is always open what did you see from your unit today that you liked and you I liked it felt like we were competitive um you know it was good Bounce It Back after last week and uh you know um I thought the guys is kind of the dog days of Camp so the guys that come out and have some energy and keep competing and there was a lot of plays today so obviously they're going to get a few things but it seemed like they bounced back and uh communicated well played hard Sean said yesterday you guys got some some good news back on Ernest I saw him obviously I was on this field most of the day but I saw him come out to practice and um his energy his presence uh for you as the as a play call or what's it like working with him yeah you're exactly right um You really feel there's things you can't just measure you just feel his his energy his leadership uh he gets guys running the ball I feel like um I can kind of give him a message through the helmet that he can kind of get to the whole defense and everyone when he talks everybody listens and uh there's some things you can't replicate so it was great to back have him back out there seems like uh Jared and Byron kind of have a pretty spirited group there on the edge now have you SE that seems that energy level seems to have come up yeah and that's you know one of the things we knew when we drafted Jared uh you know we had heard the reports about him and uh it's exactly what we wanted so U you know he's brought a great energy to that group and uh Byron's kind of coming out of his shell you know from last year having some success and uh obviously Mike Koy brings a great leadership and uh you know Hampton's like the Silent Assassin of the group so uh it's a it's a special group that's just growing dayto day and uh it's been fun to watch Tyler Davis's performance on Sunday and just what you've seen from him in practice overall just what did you make of it and what's he shown yeah he's been a consistent guy um really throughout OTAs throughout practice he's a guy that kind of shows up every day he's not going to say a whole lot but uh you know from his you know from his tape at Clemson starting from his freshman year on uh you know you see the um when he when he steps up and it's when it's 11on 11 football he finds a way to to make plays and uh and you know he's been had a really good camp so far um talk to j a little bit after the preseason game and one thing he kept saying especially in reference to how you guys came out back out for the sudden change stuff was that you felt the unit played clean everyone played really clean football uh what did you see from the group is that accurate and especially in that chaos of a sudden change situation and and you trying to orchestrate the group yeah it was I I would say that's definitely accurate um you know that's what we want to do we want to execute you know we talk about executing playing 11 is one everybody being on the same page it definitely wasn't perfect uh but it was great effort we tackled really well and uh you know we were connected on the back end you didn't see a bunch of guys running free and stuff and uh so when you do that and you make the offense work for it um hopefully you don't let him in the end zone what went into bringing Carlos Watkins no I just think some of the just depth at the position some of the injuries you know he's a veteran guy that's been around so excited to have him did uh again was on the offensive field today so just checking did everyone come through okay I you know he heard some whistles a lot but yeah verse went down scared us a little bit but uh yeah I think he's good he's okay yeah he's good can you give us any insight desan Johnson what's happening with him or what happened um I'll just let I'll let Sean handle all the injury all the injury stuff okay does would it be fair to say that figured in the decision to sign Watkins or not necessary I'm not sure you know I definitely think the merch the merch inury was kind of I would say the main thing okay awesome thank you guys