Curtis Samuel: “Lead By Example” | Buffalo Bills

how did the expectations of playing with Josh Allen meet up with the reality what it's been like playing with Josh Allen is everything I thought it was going to be honestly um you know he's a great quarterback in this league and um you know my job is to go out there make sure I'm in tune with the Playbook make sure I know what I'm doing you know build that trust with him to know that when I'm out there um I understand what my assignment is you played running back in your life you carried the ball a lot in the NFL how much do you like doing that at this level oh was fun you know I mean anytime I get the ball in my hands I'm excited you know that's why I don't limit myself you know just playing outside you know whatever the case may be inside outside you know in the back field I don't limit myself one of those conversations like with Joe Brady who knows you very well from doing that obviously and you telling him what you like to do what don't and hey we should try something like this what are those conversations like um it's it's just a trust thing I um Joe me and Joe been together before and you know if you've seen how he used me there you know you kind of got an idea so I ain't going to give out the conversation but I just put all my trust in him to put me in the right spots in the right position uh to succeed in this offense well obviously you got the ball more in Carolina and uh you were used like you caught more downfield passes in Carolina than kind of Washington last year it was a little more offense was different or underneath stuff so uh you know uh how much did you like the idea of being a whole field versatile weapon with jump um I mean whatever system I'm in that's the system I'm in you know I'm not I can't critique you know the coach and whoever is calling the plays and whatever position they want to put me in um wherever they fit me at I got to make it work you know so I'm not going to complain or make excuse for anything you know wherever the coach want to put me at I just got to uh do my best at that spot faor though do you have like a favorite part to play um maybe but um I mean just anytime I can get the ball on my hands you know I'm excited the big question ail was how does the how do the Bills replace the confidence after he what gives you confidence that the group that's here together is capable of fing that for I you know he's a great player um it's just about a lot of guys everybody coming together everybody doing their job you know going out there to make things happen um I like I like the guys in our room I mean I feel like everybody compliment each other so well um I feel like everybody you know have a skill set that we that we utilize the best our ability and we going to things happen you know you can't key on nobody we going to go out there and play ball somebody ma Holland to somebody that's never met him or seen him how would you do it Mac yeah I'm going just say hey you know that guy that walk around with no shoes that's Mac how much how much of a leadership role uh either have you already taken or do you because of your experience and your history or do you envision yourself taking as time goes on um me I'm more of a guy Le by by example I'm not I'm not too vocal um you know if if if guys's asks you know I I give him my input but I try to just leave by example you know I say I'm still a young guy you know cuz I'm only 27 my birthday next month I'll be 28 but um I'm going on year eight so you know I've I've been playing this game for a little while so I just try to Le by example and show guys you know how to do how to do how do how to do things the right way talk to Keon for a little bit about his study habits and why he feels so comfortable with the Playbook what do you see out of Keon and meetings that you know leads to just his feeling so confident already Keon is locked in you know he be he be focused he be in his Playbook but the thing is I feel like we don't just put a lot of pressure on our guys you know in meeting rooms it's just about we got to enjoy ourselves to have fun we don't want to sit there and make it you know boring just sitting there looking at the board we try to interact you know coaches asking questions we ask each other questions to try to make it more interactive with each other so it's like you processing information rather than somebody just talking to you what do you see different in coach Brady than when he was in Carolina than here in baralo I mean confidence you know I mean he just he really going to put it in our hands you know that's the good thing about having a guy like Josh you know you could just call a play you got great guys around them you know all over the field that you could call a play and just trust in your guys to make it work because you can do so much uh Curtis do you think DBS and defenses in your life have underestimated your speed because you have straight line speed but you do so much around the field you're not always flying straight down feeli out I don't think they underestimate underestimate my speed cuz when I get the ball in my hands I think they feel the speed it's just just about am I going to run past them with my speed that's the thing that I feel like they probably you know question a little bit you know but so because you can do so much how much does that help you if you can set them up for different things that you can do like that with your speed when you're playing against anybody fast you got to understand that you know they could go anywhere on the field and I feel like the fact that I do hasp they understand that I feel like they don't they don't take too many chances you know trying to let me run past them Joe has talked so much uh this spring and summer about you know the quarterback being his best when he's able to go through his progressions and to Josh has even talked about it going you know player to player how's he done that to you especially here in the last couple days he's done a great job he's he's a phenomenal quarterback I mean honestly to be able to be out there playing with him and to actually see it you watch it on film he does a great job you know he gets everybody in position um you know he go through his keys he go through his reads and he just delivers the ball you had a nice start to Camp so far speaking of Josh Allen what what Hasen happen between you two through OTAs um the time you've been together to allow yourself to start camping the way that you have um you know we we've had time outside um you know before Camp you know we got together with a group of guys and we just went out there and just you know threw the ball around but it's just really about just building that know relationship with with each other it's just like it's not too serious with us all the time that guy he makes a lot of jokes and I make jokes as well so it's like we got a comfortable relationship where we can rely on each other you know have fun what were some the highlights the actual trip that you guys took together um um it just was good to go out there with the guys you know just not really have coaches around and be able to control you know um run a lot of routes try try a lot of different things out there as far as routes and you know have the quarterbacks out there coach us and help us and try to get us on the same page of different variations of personnel groupings right how how did you play that to your advantage what you mean by that as far as Personnel Group is finding to mismatch and making you operate in certain situations um it just really about trying to get me on different people I mean I just feel like if I'm in the backfield I feel like a lot of even DBS they don't even want to play that from the backfield they so comfortable being you know up in your face or even five yards away when I'm in a box and they they 10 yards away it get them a little mismatch just because I can go so many different ways so um just set me up in different positions you know getting different guys in there you know um forcing maybe linebackers that have to get a safety to come help him that just free up other guys on the outside so it's just about playing complimentary football the environment here and just getting you know a taste for the new team new fan base everything like that oh was great um day one they was out there going crazy so I was excited you know just to see everybody out there supporting supporting the team you hear about it so much no matter where you playing you hear about how how Buffalo how much buffalo fans love their team but when you out there you actually see it it's just a it's a it's a great feeling you know have fans and the coaching staff everybody dowed in everybody excited for this season back to Keon just have you seen him continue to get acclimated to the NFL as a rookie we watch him in O's mini camp and now here in training camp what excites you about his potential what he can provide for this offense this year um I really think is his radius you know it's just the thing is he got good speed he could get past you he got great moves at the line of scrimmage is the fact that you could throw the ball anywhere around him he's and he could get to the ball that's what makes it scary for DB cuz it's like when you got a guy that can catch the ball anywhere it makes it tough they don't know what to do