G Wyatt Teller (8.11.21)

On Pro Football Focus ranking him the best G in the NFL and how he avoids letting that go to his head:

“Exactly that. I do not really listen to it. I try not to listen to the good or the bad. I feel like anybody who works in media understands this and knows that a lot of the media is overreaction. You do something good, and you are the best in the world. You do something bad, and you are the worst in the world. You kind of have to take it with a grain of salt. It is a nice thing, but at the end of the day, I have not played a single snap yet. I have to keep going and do better this year, stay healthy and a lot of things that I have to work on.”

On personal challenges he has given to himself this season to improve:

“I have a really good offensive line coach who is on my butt all the time. He definitely makes it easy to keep on working. I have my work cut out for me. There are a lot of things that I did well last year, but there were a lot of times I did not do it, even if it was something I was good at. Sometimes I would make a mistake or misstep. Find that consistency. Pass pro is somewhere where I have always been good at pass pro, but then last year was kind of a step back. I feel that with the way that Coach teaches it, it can be done on the line of scrimmage and that is the key to it – do not give them more space, cut it out, sit on the line and create the firmness of the pocket.”

On who is the toughest guy on the team besides himself:

“Apparently our Madden ratings, (G) Joel (Bitonio) had it over me – it was crazy (laughter). No, I think there are a lot of tough guys. At a certain level, you are tough. There are guys who can play through a lot of stuff and there are guys who – not me, I am a player and I am an offensive lineman – from a medical standpoint, it is kind of like, ‘Oh, hey, we kind of have to get him back in the rotation and get them back into playing.’ That is one thing that if you have the right mindset of no matter what the outcome is or no matter how bad it hurts, you are going to push through it and do whatever it takes. I think that we have a lot of guys on the team who do that. A tough guy, (T) Jack (Conklin). Jack has been banged up and bruised his entire career, and he is still out there busting his butt. I think that there are a lot of guys out here who are tough, and they show it every day.”

On if QB Baker Mayfield is more composed, more mature and more of a leader this year than earlier in his career:

“Yeah. I feel like just the other day we were not having a great day and he was like, ‘I am not going to stand for that.’ He got us all together and got us a little camaraderie and got us talking. He is doing well. Of course, I am young so my opinion does not truly matter, but I think that he is a great leader. He is a great friend and is someone you love to have on your team. I feel like we have a lot of that on this team. That is why it is a special team to play for.”

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