Head Coach Todd Monken (8.3.26)
What do you aim to accomplish on the first day in pads?
“First day of gap schemes. So, we’ll definitely get a chance to see movement at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, defensively, we’re going to wrap and release, so tackling-wise there’s not really touching off, per se. Obviously, O-line-wise is the biggest thing. O-line, D-line, in the trenches, where we’re at from a physicality standpoint.”
Todd, the other day, we saw our first fight at camp the other day. I don’t know if it was a real fight or not. Do you have a policy on that, or a message to the team when that stuff happens?
“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever been through a camp where there hasn’t been a scuffle. We’ve got prideful guys, guys that love to compete, love to practice, and that’s going to happen. I mean, it’s a physical sport. You’re going to have those pop up every now and then.”
You mentioned the O-line and D-line, how does the evaluation change for those two groups once the pads come on, and what are you looking for?
“Without the pads, you’re talking about footwork, communication, are you in the right spot, and certainly hand placement. But then when you put the pads on, now it’s finished, now it’s our ability, defensively, to shed and get off blocks, point of contact and physicality. So, we’re looking forward to that. And our tight ends, that’s a big part of it, and our fullbacks. Actually, all eleven.”
We talked to Quincy Williams earlier today. What have you learned most about him since you guys have been together?
“He is so much fun to be around; let’s start with that. Never had a bad day, not around me he hasn’t. Loves football, loves his teammates. That’s what I see every day. He’s a special individual. People that are wired that way, when you talk about energy, attitude and body language; you look those up, I don’t even know if that’s in the dictionary, but if you looked it up, Quincy Williams’ picture is right next to it, because that’s who he is.”
You’ve talked about the first eight days being install. How much does the format of practice change once you get past Thursday, that eighth day? Do you sort of alter…because it seems like there’s been a standard routine?
“It’ll be similar. What’ll change is when we’re drilling down to what we’re really going to run, what we plan on focusing on. Certainly, you’re going to dive into more situational football because you’re done with your main installs, that’ll come into play. But ultimately, we’ll continue to build off of our installs and the things we’re going to do as we move forward.”
You were with Mike Evans – was it his rookie year?
“I was with Mike Evans in Tampa. I was with Mike, if I have it right, I had him in his third, fourth and fifth years. I think he had been there a year and then they drafted Jameis (Winston), and then I got him three, four and five, I think.”
Is it fair to compare (Denzel) Boston to him this early in his career?
“We’re back on that Carson (Schwesinger) and (Luke) Kuechly thing here. We’re comparing a little early to compare to Mike Evans, who’s an absolute stud. Not only from his size, catch radius, ability to bend and get in and out of breaks, has an unbelievable competitive spirit to want to win. When I was with him, he never complained about balls coming his way. He knew they would come his way. I loved coaching Mike Evans. He’s an absolute stud and fun to be around. Denzel has some of those attributes in terms of catch radius. I haven’t seen it yet, the edge that Mike plays with yet, but he’s still a rookie, so I wasn’t there for his (Mike’s) first two years. But I think the catch radius and the ability to throw it up to him, you do see certain aspects of Mike’s game in him.”
I know we’ve talked to you a little bit about Dillon Gabriel, but each day keeps stacking consistent days. Is it maybe a little unfortunate that he hasn’t been able to show or do more with the first or second team based on the situation you’re in?
“Yeah, at some point, when you start in the spring or the fall, you have to set some form of a depth chart in terms of reps, that’s just the way it goes. I said it the other day, everybody’s competing, but you’re not guaranteed the same amount of reps. So, it’s up to the player to take advantage and maximize those reps, which I feel like Dillon has done. So, we’ll see as we move forward, if that continues, we’ll continue to up his reps. He’s earned that. That’s what every player should expect, right? If they play well, you have to up the reps, or what’s the purpose of playing well?”
Todd, beyond the scuffle, it feels like the offense and defense have been pretty chippy with each other, pushing each other hard. Do you appreciate that level of intensity between the two groups, like the cliché of iron sharpens iron? Are you seeing that out there?
“Sure, I think it’s a lot of fun to be around, as long as it stays within, it’s us against the world, us against an opponent. Not us against us, from offense against defense. And I have not seen that. I’ve seen the fun side of it. I don’t think the scuffle had much to do with the back and forth. What I do see is our coaches and players having fun in a very tough sport where you have to stack days. And it only gets tougher from here once you put the pads on every day.”
Denzel has talked about maybe having a chip on his shoulder after the draft and wanting to prove people wrong. For you as a coach, how have you seen that drive show up in him so far?
“Well, at some point, I don’t know how long that goes. I think at some point in practice you’re not thinking, ‘boy I got drafted, where I got drafted’, at some point it doesn’t matter. At that point, what pick was he?”
39th.
“Holy cow, you’re the 39th-best player in the draft, that’s pretty damn good. I don’t know what to tell you, but I don’t see it as that. I see it as there are a lot of really good football players out there, and you go with the 39th pick, that’s pretty special. So, if he feels that internally, I’m fine with that, if that’s what fuels him. But at this point, it’s about being the best player you can be, fighting like hell to get to your second contract when it really matters at that point.”
Mostly on Denzel, he mentioned that between the walk through and the meetings, it’s two three-hour sessions a day.
“What did he say?”
He said it’s two three-hour blocks of meetings in the morning and at night.
“We meet at eight and walk through is at 11, but there are breaks in there, he’s taking it to an extreme. Taking that to a whole different level. There are some breaks there. And then after practice – we only get them for eleven hours total, we do get the full time. So, if they lift at seven, they have to be gone by six; if they start at eight, they can be gone by seven. So somewhere in there is lift, if we lift that day, meetings, walk [through], lunch, prep for practice, practice and meet. I don’t know exactly where all that falls, but that’s a normal camp calendar.”
So my questions is, do you have to guard against information overload with all that meeting time?
“That’s what the meeting time is for, it’s not really to overload them, it’s to help them. Do I think it’s difficult for our young guys, all of us, to sit there the whole time? We give them breaks, they can bring in snacks, help them take notes, we have video, we try to change our voice a little bit to keep them excited about it. That’s up to them to be a pro. If they start falling asleep, stand up, you’ve got to get the information. It is different than college. There’s a lot of information there, and we expect them to be pros.”
With Mason (Graham), what did you see from him last year early in camp, and how important is he to what you’re trying to do defensively?
“Well, I mean, talk about ball get off — what I didn’t know is I always saw him as maybe an undersized inside guy with great ball get off, that’s disruptive. What he is, is that, but I think — not going Luke Kuechly here — but in terms of the D-line, in terms of calls and anticipation of what he’s going to see, communication, quarterback, verbal, O-line, in terms of the calls, I see it every day. He’s not only that, but he’s more, because he really understands football and he anticipates what offenses are trying to do to him. And that I didn’t know — Jesse Minter told me that, the head of Michigan told me that at the owners meetings. He said he’s much more than just a guy that gets off the ball. He’s fun to watch. It’s hard as an offensive head coach — every now and then you can be a little bit whiny when they’re disruptive, but it’s awesome for us.”
A couple days ago, I saw a play in which Quinshon Judkins lit up Mike Hall a little bit. I’m just wondering, is that the kind of thing that you’re cool with?
“Well, no. In the heat of the moment, what happened on the practice field — I’ve met with Quinshon about it. There’s a certain amount of regret at the moment when it happens, but we’re all human and we do make mistakes. That’s what I always tell our team — you’ve got to fight to not get hijacked emotionally in a highly emotional game, or all of us, where it’s in our work, or emotional or our personal lives. Try not to get hijacked emotionally. But, to me, where you go from here is, we are human, I said this the other day, we’re going to fall short — are you going to own it, and then are we going to fix it? That’s just a speed bump. That’s all it is. It was a mistake.”
Is Carson Schwesinger back today?
“He will not be back. He’s dealing with a little minor injury, so he will not be back today.”
Any update on Royer?
“I do not, no.”
This is maybe kind of a big picture for you. You’ve probably taken a lot of different directions, but off the top of your head, maybe the main way you think the coaching profession has changed, and the way it stayed over the course of your career?
“Wow that’s the last one. How the coaching profession has changed, and how it has stayed the same?
And instead of going back to the beginning of your coaching career, and you can start in the NFL. Almost 20 years now for you.
“Well, first off, the staffs have gotten so much bigger, hell, we’ve got 28 coaches, for God’s sakes. Back then, I’ll just talk college, back then, when I first started, you only had these coaches, you didn’t even have the support staff. You’d be coaching running backs and you’d have travel. You’d be planning Shoney’s breakfast and at the Holiday Inn Express. You had one guy handle academics, hell, you’d see one coach taping and s***, lining the fields. That’s what my dad did when I was little. That’s what you did. Now you’ve got so much support staff, and you have a big coaching staff, and it allows you to really focus on certain aspects of the job. Certain guys don’t have to draw cards anymore — you have guys to do that. From a game-planning standpoint, preparation standpoint, the money that now goes into staffing, I love, because it allows you to really drill down into certain things you want to focus on. Where it’s changed the most, I’d say, is — First of all, what is hard. Everything’s always hard, it’s just a matter of what you compare it to. The old three-a-days and two-a-days, then one-a-days, and then a day off of what it used to be. Obviously, the training these days, in terms of where our players’ bodies are, but certainly in terms training camp has changed in terms of getting them for eleven hours and then they’re out of here, which I think makes it a lot more manageable. I like the time with the players, but that’s certainly changed in terms of the amount of time you get with the guys — also in the offseason, the amount of time you get with the guys. Staffs have changed, the sizes have changed, and the amount of time you get with the players has changed.”
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