Commanders WR Coach Bobby Engram Talks Terry McLaurin and More!

Intro [Music] it is our pleasure to welcome to the show wide receivers coach for the Washington commanders Bobby Ingram Bobby uh Craig Hoffman here so good to talk to you appreciate the time today hey what's up Craig man appreciate being on absolutely absolutely it's great to have you um and i' I'd be remiss if I didn't ask because we had a little breaking news earlier uh involving your room before we get into everything else that we were planning on talking about uh what Insight can you give us on the decision to bring Byron back who you obviously had last year uh in Washington and and uh you know obviously I'm always hard to let go of players but uh Dax and the moves that you guys made a little bit earlier today yeah I just think this time of year for me as a former player in a coach now you build relationships with guys and we all understand the business side um so this is this is always tough when you see guys that you kind of connect with and you've coached and and that work really hard to make your team better you know Dax is certainly done that for this organization and Demir in his short time very professional so it's tough but you know always looking to uh you know upgrade their roster and and and and bring in different guys for what we need um but I've spoke to to uh deir I haven't had a chance to talk to Dax yet um but got nothing but respect for both of those guys yeah for sure so as I mentioned you obviously had uh Byron last year in in the room uh there in Washington and you were one of the the few guys that Dan ultimately deced decided to to keep on and retain and I one of the things that I've been thinking about a lot Bobby is for all of What has changed this year us in any job who our boss is is going to in or is going to impact how we do our jobs so what are some of the things that have changed for you this year working for DQ that are different than Ron and any other coach that you've worked for in the past um well I think right now just focused on like this present moment moving forward respect Ron and everything that he did I've known Ron since my playing days you know so respect everything that he did for this organization and his City but moving forward you know in the different leadership you know obviously DQ is the head coach but I think it's rare when you have Mr Harris you know you have a change in ownership you brought in a guy in Adam who's an unbelievable uh you know GM and what the success he's had and then they add DQ so just a complete you know change in leadership and just Direction and where we want to take the team and take the organization uh so I'm excited to be a part of that very fortunate and blessed to be uh to be one of the guys like you mentioned that was retain myself and T Pritchard who's doing a great job and and Ryan carrian who people know as a player and a coach so you know we're just really excited about what we're working on building here and what we want to be and how we want to look as a football team competing on the field moving forward Learning from DQ yeah for sure I I guess the thing that interests me is like we see as reporters and talk show hosts and whatever on the sidelines fans that come to practice we see some of the structural differences every team does different drills every team does this but when you kind of get into your stuff with your guys like are you are you running different individual drills is the way that practice is structured change the way that you do anything and I think the big thing that I'm so curious about Bobby is someone who does some coaching on the side myself is like DQ is is such a great teacher and put such an emphasis on teaching are there things that you've kind of picked up from him that have helped you as a coach as you go through your day-to-day uh under this new regime yeah I think the energy that he brings and how authentic he is is is is is contagious um and I think in terms of development like that's one of the biggest things that we are trying to do develop our players to maximize their ability and put them in the best position to compete and I think sometimes when you talk about development you think you look at it as a negative but I think every player can continue to grow and develop his skill set regardless of whether you're a first year guy or you've been to the Pro Bowl I've been fortunate enough the coach guys that have been to the Pro Bowl and played at a high level um but it's always trying to chase those one or two things that those guys can improve on that's going to help them perform better and compete at a high level to help us win and as far as the the offense does dictate some of the things that you work on in terms of routes uh techniques and depths and how you teach it but at the end of the day you know as a coach you want to make sure like fundamentally you're giving the guys the the skills that they need to improve like catching drills footwork drills understanding the routes uh blocking and just attacking each each uh guy and having a complete plan for those guys Bobby Ingram Trusting DQ receivers coach for the commanders with us here on the team 980 and Bobby I actually asked DQ uh yesterday about you in the press conference and I thought there was a part of his answer that was really really cool and interesting which is that well yeah he appreciates everything you do with receivers one of the things he really values uh for his entire staff as their kind of global look at the team and for you specifically because you are a guy who has a file on anybody that was here last year he's been able to talk to you about some of those players what's it mean to you to have a head coach that trusts you not just with your own group but with opinions and and I don't say takes because that's what we do we just we're just out here saying stuff what you say actually has consequences uh but you know the your opinions and and your evaluations I guess is the best word on everybody on the roster that you have an extended familiarity with yeah I mean it means a lot obviously when you have people in leadership positions um that trust the information that you're giv him because he knows uh that it's it's for the best interest of the team and I I was fortunate to be here last year and I think philosophically we see a lot of things the same way I I love getting to know the players building genuine authentic relationships and understanding who they are what's their why and and and and to me with old school talk about team chemistry right but you build a culture where where people genuinely like working together they want to work hard to do their very best to help each guy on this team and to help this team to put ourselves in position to have success yeah no doubt about it one more Offensive Coordinator big picture question for you then I want to ask you about a couple of your guys you were the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin a couple years ago what did being an OC teach you about the game and that role that's different than being a player and a position coach um good question I think just the the the organization and the preparation that it takes to prepare to call a game um and you really uh can can like positionally right understanding where you're strong and where you're weak whether that's due to roster or due to injury you know you have to account for the big pitcher if an old lineman's not right you may want to give a little more Chi help uh you know if a back gets hot you want to may want to feature some more runs in the Run game you know those types of things where you know as a receivers coach I see it but I'm not responsible for it you right you know I'm responsible for making sure that the receivers are prepared and obviously I'm communicating with Cliff I'm communicating with the other coaches and we're talking about uh guys and what they can do I'm giving my input in in that way but it really helped me to just look at the big picture and how you put it together throughout the whole week and how you put your guys in position to suced on game day yeah for sure I'm kind Special Person of smirking Bobby because I just also Imagine like hey uh hey Cliff Terry wants the ball again I know I told you that last time but uh by by the way Jan does too I I know they're receivers I know that's how that works uh speaking of those two guys um I've had the pleasure of covering Terry for a long time I was still on the beat when he got drafted uh his rookie year and getting the chance to interview him and talk to him over the years he's just a special person what's something that beyond that as a whether it's a player or the way he is as a leader something that we can't see from the outside that you really appreciate about Terry McLaren man uh I think you said it uh in your first statement he's a special person you know as a man um first he's a man of integrity right so the way he comes to work every day and the way he goes about his business nothing but the utmost respect for that um but what I really am excited about now is the how he's grown in his leadership role how he's found another voice um and not just leading by example because he's always done that but just finding that voice where he knows that guys respect him because of the way he works and because of the type of player he is so that's been pretty cool to see and the last guy Bryson Trahan I'll ask about real quick Bobby is Bryson Tain uh we just did our roster projection and I was he was one of the the names I was like I don't care how I have to make this math work Bryson Chaine deserves to be on this team the way he's practiced so far I know there's a long way to go and you you guys are going to have the ongoing evaluation but what have you seen from Bryson last year and the work he put in on the practice squad throughout That season and then how it's paid off for him so far that he's been so involved and really been able to make some plays and and we know what he can do on special teams all that kind of stuff but how what have you seen from Bryson termaine in the spring and so far in this early part of training camp Oh I think it starts with with Bryson with just his work ethic um you know he's the same guy for a young guy to come in and work that hard every day that really gives you a chance and that's what's helped him grow from last year when we signed him as an undrafted fre agent until now if you remember back last year in training camp he had a little bit of a hamstring it slowed him a little bit but he came on strong like the last week and a half two weeks then he really showed up in the preseason games and what I respect about Bryson and what I like is that his work ethic his work ethic never wavered throughout that whole season so he was very intentional took the co coing working on the scout team asking questions even to the defensive guys about how can he continue to get better so excited about him and just the competition in our room and on our team man it's it's an intense uh battle across the position boards and that's what we want that's what this league is about and that's going to keep everybody's level of play you know being elevated so you know he's done a good job up until now but like he said there's a lot of good competition in that room and that I'm excited about you know uh how it's all going going play out for for our team yeah man I know ultimately it's Adam's job to put together that 53 and and you are doing a heck of a job based off what we're seeing from your room of making that as difficult as possible you feel like you got everybody in that room who could make the team which is exactly I'm sure what you want as a position coach Bobby really appreciate the time look forward to chat and hopefully again down the road really enjoy this and have a have a great rest of Camp if we don't connect I appreciate that Craig thanks for having me on man and just for the record all great receivers are a little bit selfish never noticed to the detriment of the team man they gotta want the ball I want guys that want the ball but at the end of the day like guys that understand like this is the ultimate team sport and I'm not just saying that everybody's got to do their job to help us go win games and and and a big part of ours is catching the ball but also being a blocker and doing everything that we need to do to put our team in position to have success yeah no absolutely one thing that I've always thought about great receivers is they want to win so bad and they want the ball because they think it's going to help the team win and they know they're awesome and most of them are probably correct on that sometimes they just want to get some touches man there's that too yeah I think that's the mentality where you want a guy like hey I I want to be the guy I want to touch the ball I know I can help us win for sure Bobby really appreciate the time man thanks so much all right Craig take it easy man that is Bobby Ingram everybody with us on the Hoffman show this is the Hoffman show on the team 980 in The Odyssey app