Mike LaFleur & Chris Shula Talk Positive Takeaways From Sunday’s Season Opener & Player Development

not much I mean guys are players are resilient you know and uh I would like to think coaches are too but but players are really resilient and it's it's next man up for them too you know so when one guy goes down another guy gets a step up you know and we have so much trust in in the guys and some guys got an opportunity to show why we why we do trust him why the teammates trust him so um you feel for puka you feel for anyone that gets injured but it's next man up all the time in this league pauka um handled so much of the workload last year took a lot of pride in that too now that he's going to have to be recovering for a little bit is this as much of a mental challenge for him as it as a a physical recover absolutely I think for any guy that's injured particularly guys that absolutely love it like he does you know in in the uh passion that he plays with and just like I said the love that he has for this game so yeah that's that's going to be the big thing but you know the cool part is we don't have to worry about that right he's going to do everything he can to get himself uh ready to play when his time is is up for him to be ready to play and um that's what's awesome about him Eric refer to Cooper as coach Cooper sure um what have you seen from him as a mentor in that room and how he's helped some of the other guys are you saying Cooper or yarbs yeah I mean he he is he's he's been um came into this league as a smart football player but obviously had to learn this game he picked it up pretty dang quickly obviously just from afar uh and now going into you know what is it year eight uh in this system um he he knows the ins and outs of it you know and uh so he can help these guys behind the scenes we we have to talk to a group as coaches and you try to have as much individual interaction as you can with these guys uh but Cooper gets to obviously be with these guys one-on-one quite often whether it be in the locker room or or walkthroughs or just even routes on air so all the little all the little nuances and details that he can give them um you know from a player perspective are huge so uh guys look up to him we learn from him as coaches and uh you know he's uh he's got the respect of a lot of people with Ys what are what are some of the things you noticed about the way he puts guys in that room succeed uh from preparation standpoint meetings whatever it may be yeah I mean again I've only been here two years but every year that he's been a receiver coach here you've always from afar respected this group one because they play hard and two in my opinion it's the most detailed uh receiver group in the in the league and it starts with him it starts with the standard he has guys buy into that um he's a good coach but he's a better human he's a better person and again players are going to respect that if they know that hey he's he he cares about me and he just wants me to be the best I can be so um I know I love yards and I know the guys do too what did you U seen from Tyler Johnson that gave you confidence he could step into that role and secondly why didn't uh like Corum get an opportunity to yeah I I'll answer the second one first I mean it's just kind of how the game fell a little bit you know so um it got out of uh you know with with some of the stuff that was happening with from a personel standpoint and then um just kind of some of the schematic adjustments we had to make being week one um it just kind of fell that way you know and it was it was a different kind of game it's hard to explain in in a short time but uh you know it's not going to be like that every week and uh and you know we're we're focused on this week and and how that rotation is going to go and then answer the first question with Tyler I mean he's played in this league you know and it was we got him obviously a year ago um not right away you know uh I can't remember the exact date but as he's just kind of grown in this system and the little nuances that we're talking about that happened in that receiver room uh he's on it he's on his details the game's not too big for him he's tough he's a big big physical dude uh and and he's got confidence I know uh most importantly Matthew and the guys have confidence in them so um you know again next man up and he's that man up first game is always kind of seems like this outlier because you don't have a lot and then fil study and then you combine that with the is there anything to gain from that yeah there's there's nothing more than game experience there's nothing more important than game experience and uh you know uh whether guys playing the preseason or not um obviously you got training camp and the competitive practice Rather Be The Joint practice but there's nothing like going in there on Sunday when all the coaches are on uh off to the side and you got 60 Minutes usually about 30 to 35 minutes of offensive ball to see you know um see what you've learned you know and and and how you adapt throughout a game so um they got the speed of it down after week one I mean there's a lot of things to clean up but there are a lot of awesome things too that happen with these guys that that we can continue to approve on but be proud of you know so uh that week one to week two is usually a big jump for every team I expect you know whatever defensive mistakes they may have made or may not have they're going to get corrected and they're going to be a better defense than they were even a week ago so uh it'll be a good one it'll be a good competitive battle the o line get shaken up that much in game how was a coach are you trying to triage in terms of what those guys can do having I don't know if that combination had ever worked together yeah and you know what next man up and no one cares you know and and that's the truth and uh so when it's happening in real time I thought Shawn did an awesome job as a leader uh just kind of having that kind of next man up mentality hey we're going to keep this thing moving and I thought uh Wendy and the group you know responded with it so again it's uh no one feels sorry for you injuries happened on their side too I don't know if anyone got injured in that game but I'm sure they did and uh and you just keep it moving Sean said Sean said that uh and I know this wasn't literal but basically ripping up the game plan that you guys came into the game with and then starting over um can you define or describe a little bit more of what your specific role is in a sudden change like that yeah I mean it's it's like it is today when we're on a walkthr it's it's communication at all times you know and you just try to um when you're the one that has to hold the button to talk to the quarterback I mean you only have so much time you know and so the communication between series and that's just not just me that's that's all of us right if there's something uh valuable to talk about we're going to talk about and Sean's as good as anyone I've been with that that that listens and and then you know it's going to take the information and then call the best game possible so um I thought he did a tremendous job given the circumstances with how quickly things can change through the injury how do you encourage or emplore your young players particularly uh Lake and and uh Jordan to just be prepared yeah I mean again um with the guys that uh on the depth chart in front of them um what a great standard they they show in terms of you know their preparation in the meeting room how it gets taken out here to a walkthrough setting and then you know how it follows through once we get into you know semi live bullets if you will in in practice so um I think each room has a has a pretty good veteran leader even though some of the younger guys that have played let's call them veterans because they've done good stuff with kir and stuff so you know those guys uh they got no choice but to to watch learn and and know if their numbers called to be prepared this off a lot of motion what is important to you about utilizing that and what information does that give you and Matthew yeah I mean there's a ton of information that gives Matthew in real time and and then obviously uh you know that um that it gives us we don't uh like to say we don't motion just to motion because it looks cool you know we're always trying to gather information whether it's leverages whether it's you know schematic whatever you know I mean again that's a great question CU you can sit here an hour and talk about motions you know but uh we don't just do it to do it you know we put some stress on our guys uh but they understand the why and because they understand the why they're willing to do it at the level that uh you know we're capable of thanks guys what's up guys Chris how Troy do the do did a great job um great command you know and uh communicated with the guys I thought he played really hard played tough and uh yeah he did a great job I know he's been around for a while he knows the defense he knows you super well with that communication element um has he improved to you from the summer until now from previous years when he was here he he's had a great camp and a great first game I I'll say that um I think he's always been a really good player um you know I think there's just been certain situations where other guys have been really good around him and but every time he's gone on the field he's produced you know that the Super Bowl year he had the he had the mic in the in the three playoff games before the Super Bowl so um and then wed had it in the Super Bowl so obviously an experienced guy and uh yeah he seems like he's at a great Camp he's moving great he's feeling really good so just got to keep him going Chris turn Tyler Ty Kyler Murray posted thank God curious what a your reaction is at and B how do you make sure the pressure still comes even though needs go yeah I don't I don't blame Kyler for saying that I think a lot of quarterbacks around the league were say would be saying that but uh you know hopefully we got some guys uh you know to come in and apply pressure and uh you know he's a great Challenge and we all know how much he can run around but he's also a great quarterback sees the field really well um gets the ball really good skill um good line so it's going to be a great challenge this week what you think they were excellent um you know verse on from the first play I think you felt his presence as far as how heavy is is on contact getting off blocks able to make plays Fisk he felt his sideline to sideline ability to chase the ball make tackles from the D tackle position so you know I think obviously there's room for improvement for both of them but uh good start for both what uh went into your decision to bring back John Johnson and what do you think he you know it was something Gary we always kind of had and and we're kind of talking about in the back of our minds and just kind of said just hey let's keep in touch and and and see you know before he signed anywhere and see you know he had a uh he had issue where he wasn't going to be healthy anyway um throughout OTAs and stuff and um so something we'd kind of been talking about you know kind of throughout OTAs and see and throughout the summer and uh you know we're certainly glad we did uh you know he's a great communicator great command on the field and I think you saw that on Sunday night the Cardinals have showed that they're very willing to play the style of football they play they ended last season with where they're kind of loading up more and trying to play keep away from out and so I guess particularly with the way overtime ended for for you guys this last week with the run defense um what what's the message this week with your guys as they continue to grow together and um understanding that this heavy load Personnel is probably coming out of yeah you're exactly right um you know they can run it a bunch of different ways the Cardinals do you know and where they can get in 11 and kind of spread you out and run it or they can get in bigger personnels a lot of tight ends and and uh and run it that way so you know it's going to be a great Challenge and uh you know we got to be ready we got to be sound and fitting the Run um we got to be ready to hit blocks we got to get off blocks and it really all starts with there just the simple fundamentals of that coach you guys did a a good job in uh coring Sam leor you know you guys didn't allow him to get off you guys face another huge challenge in TR McBride um what what's your message to the team in in terms of coral yeah you know he's definitely one of their key skilled guys and uh um I think he's one of the more underrated tight ends in the league I think since he came into the league couple years ago we've kind of been noticing him they love to give him the ball in space um they love to feature him so it's definitely a guy it's going to be a great challenge for us and it's just a credit to our guys um on Sunday night you know Quinton Lake John Johnson all those type of guys cam curl that were up to the challenge of lepto who I think is one of the best tight ends in the league and uh you know Trey MC Trey McBride doesn't you know is is certainly creates his own problems as well CHR Rose uh flying around on Sunday what does he kind of bring to that linebacker unit and how can he kind of help contain a guy like H yeah you said it why he he flies around you know he plays fast and he uh um that's kind of how he's always been when he when he played here and um you know when linebackers can play sideline to sideline that you know it's I think that's a good thing versus a guy like Kyler Murray cuz he can run around and I don't know if he could I don't know if anybody could Chase Kyler down but at least he could kind of close some space towards Tyler to help other guys make the tackle you know so you did a great job on Sunday night two part question if you don't mind some of the inside linebackers were gushing about cam girl really playing with him and feeling him not just when he's behind them but when he's coming downhill to help that them in their job um first what does it mean when another position is talking that way about a safety or when a linebackers talking that way about a safety and then second what have you seen from cam as you've gotten to know yeah I mean I would think you know you'd have to ask cam but I would think it means a lot to them I think you know the compliments from their teammates I would think would mean everything so uh and I and I could definitely see why they feel that way and uh you know I feel the exact same way I love him love him out there you know playing in the Deep part of the field he's got a great instincts great um plays calm and space he's a really good communicator and uh you know at the point of attack he's really good so really happy he's on our defense how how does the dynamic work with a guy like Kell Withers you guys don't resign him but then you have a need and you get back in and comes back in fold is that Aubrey that kind of has most of the contact with him or do you kind of address no it was definitely definitely Aubrey and Shawn really talked to him and really laid out the whole situation and uh you know being here last year and and playing all 17 games with us he obviously did a great job and and played great and and he deserves that and he deserves that exactly what we see H the plan is for him and the role and not that everything's going to be set in stone but this is how we see it right now not that it couldn't change and uh you know Aubrey and uh and Sean did a great job kind of laying it out for him yesterday morning so so he' feel good about uh coming back and joining us and we're definitely happy he is coach adversity shuck early in the game um what did you see from the defense particularly the front seven that allowed you all to get get back into the game and what encouraged you about what you saw against Detroit yeah I just I didn't see anybody flinching I didn't see anybody you know trying to blame Point any fingers blame anybody whether it's the other side of the ball or anything and just went out there and tried to do our job and play as hard as we can and uh that's all you can do you know the scoreboard doesn't really matter you're going out there and trying to execute the call um based off the game plan and and play hard and and hit blocks and pursuit of the ball and I think they did that for the most part is that especially impressive when you have such you know um young or not you know we we got to go out and play so it it doesn't matter um but uh you know I was happy with the effort that they gave and we definitely have a lot to improve on but uh definitely happy you know with the start um obviously we definitely would wanted to win though thank you appreciate it