RG Wyatt Teller (10.23.23)
Hey, Wyatt. Past couple of weeks, the team has had some really fun designed plays, some runs, some end around, some of them not executed the way you guys wanted them to, but looked like they were blocked well. I’m just wondering, how fun is it for you guys up front to be a part of those plays that get to set those blocks and get to open up the game in creative ways?
“Yeah, it’s a lot more fun than dropping back 70 times a game. So we’ll take any design runs we can get (joking). All jokes, but at the end of the day, it makes the defense have to execute their eye candy. At the same time, we have guys coming out of the backfield, we have different looks. It’s a lot of fun. It kind of keeps them on their toes. And if you execute those plays, they’re usually pretty big.”
Hey, Wyatt, just can you kind of talk about that last series and what’s going through your mind as an offensive line and finally deciding to run there at the end and Kareem getting that score?
“Coach always talks about shared situational awareness. I don’t know how much was shared. Obviously, when we’re going out there, we were like, let’s run the ball on the first play and score a touchdown. But if you look at it, how much time we had, coach did it the exact right way. We have to kind of take care of those couple of 20 seconds. If we can take that off the clock, it gives them less time to make a play. So it was kind of one of those moments we were all like, what do we do? Let’s run the ball. And then all of a sudden, we’re like, okay, that’s why they’re paid the money and we’re not a coach. Because obviously he’s thinking, he’s playing chess, while we’re like, oh, it’s just checkers. You just go right here and hit them, and we score, right? But that being said, to run the ball on that fourth down, it shows that he had faith in the offensive line. It was a little closer than I’d like, but if you execute those plays, those are the ones you remember.”
I mean, just how confident were you guys as a line that you’re going to be able to pull that off there at the end with that last run?
“Yeah, well, that call was for both the looks that they give when they get inside, kind of that three-yard line, two-yard line, they kind of get to that six-one look. So we’re kind of hunting up the six-one or the five-three, whatever they were going to run, and they were in the six-one. So blast worked perfectly against it.”
Back to the begging coach to run the football there at the end. He finally listened to you. How good did it feel, though, to see Kareem (Hunt) be able to push that across the goal line and your pleas to Kevin (Stefanski) you know pay dividends? Who ran over to the sideline and yelled at him I told you so?
“I know, I ran over there. Even though he had the same mindset as me, he was like, we’re going to run 13 blast. Don’t worry, or whatever, don’t worry Wyatt. We’ll pull you. We’ll get your hit. Don’t worry. But at the same time, it looks risky. But at the same time, P.J. (Walker) was making smart throws. He had two or three times where it’s right there, right on the about the score and we didn’t. But then we got into that goal line run and Kareem (Hunt), who usually leaves his feet to jump across the goal, know, stayed down, stayed low, you know and tried to plug himself for an extra yard. So I appreciate that.”
And we’re back to a day-to-day situation here. Now with Deshaun (Watson) being hurt, could you touch on just the challenges of having to continue to deal with this as an offense and your thoughts on how P.J. Walker has handled things being put in a tough spot to have to play at a moment’s notice here?
“I know that injuries are tough. I don’t throw the ball, nor would I ever want to in the NFL. I like to play right guard. But it’s difficult. He’s a leader. I mean, he’s a great player. He’s QB1 so we want him back. But day to day again, I don’t really pay attention. I’m not walking in and talking to Joe Sheehan, hey, who’s injured? I need to know everything. But there’s stuff that goes on and we all got to handle it and be able to deal with it. And that goes for P.J. P.J., he’s a gamer. He’s a dog. And I have all the faith in him. But whoever that quarterback is, we just got to be able to execute and win. And if that’s four, that’s great, and if it’s ten, it’s great. If it’s 17, I’m excited. You know what I mean? It’s just we got to be able to execute and play.”
Hey, Wyatt, that hole for Jerome Ford on the third play of the game looked pretty big. I wondered the adjustment in the post Nick Chubb portion of this season, is it complete or is it still going on?
“I think that losing a player like Nick, it’s going to be a constant battle trying to run that ball. Nick, I’ve called him this before talking to you guys, but he’s the human eraser. You can miss a block and he’s going to make you right. And obviously with Rome and with Pierre (Strong), all the guys that we got to run the ball. It’s hard, man. That’s why Nick Chubb is as good as he is. It’s not easy, but you know if we can make a hole that’s four yards wide, hopefully anybody can run through. But, yeah, that was a good play you know. I felt like I got a good push, but Po (Ethan Pocic) stayed square, got on that backside linebacker, and really helped make that play spring. I don’t even think Jerome was touched the entire play, which says something about the hole and something about him, how fast he is. But if we execute, if we give him an extra yard, if we push just a little bit more, I believe that we can get the run game going.”
And you did touch on the (Deshaun) Watson question, but it seems the whole Watson situation is driving fans and media crazy. Why doesn’t it drive the offensive line crazy?
“Because that’s our brother. You know what I mean? It’d be like, my baby’s crying. He has an earache. Am I going to hate him? No, it’s life, man. We all got to deal with it. We all got to roll with the punches. At the end of the day, four is different. He’s a great player, and he can really ignite our offense, so I have all the faith in him. And the same with ten (P.J. Walker). I mean, ten is making great throws. He’s a field general out there. He’s doing what he needs to do. And in the NFL, it’s next man up. So as much as a family and a brotherhood, it is. You got to be able to execute with who’s ready to go.”
Myles (Garrett) was talking about how he did the hurdle in practice, and you might have been asked about this yesterday after the game, but I didn’t have a chance to run into you. So I was just wondering, did you get hurdled over, by any chance, in practice? And have you ever had that happen before? And just what do you think of that? From Myles?
“Myles is an absolute freak. I mean, he has 70-inch vertical, so his ability to jump over the guard, especially a guard that plays low in practice, I think when we were going over it, I was like, how low should I be? He goes, just don’t pop up. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, just don’t pop up. You don’t have to be too low to the ground, because it’s got to be like a game-like situation. It was executed perfectly. He hit square, palm that ball. I mean, that’s amazing. But yeah, no, I mean, 95 is the real deal.”
And a quick follow up, if you don’t mind. I’m sure you’ve been watching the Tush Push, just wondering, what do you think of that play, and do you guys think you have it in you to execute it?
“When it comes to any play we have, if we look at a certain play—it’s offense, defense, special teams. And I kind of made this joke earlier that shared situational awareness. If I was smarter than our coach, if I was smarter than the guys calling the plays, I’d be the first player-coach, and I’m not. So I play right guard, and I got to focus on my job. But whatever the play is called, whatever it is, if it’s a trick play, if it’s a simple run right play, we got to execute it. So when it comes to how our defense plays, they play with their ears pinned back, getting off the ball, and lack of a better term, messing stuff up. It’s imperative that they execute. We execute. And if we play complementary football, it’s a hard team to beat.”
Hey Wyatt, you talked about how you guys are dealing with kind of that quarterback uncertainty. Did you see it taking a toll on Deshaun (Watson), though, not being out there with you guys and then kind of the start and stop of that return yesterday?
“I think that every player you’d be crazy not to want to be out there. We’re paid a lot of money one. And two, we have an obligation to our brothers to be out there and be at our best. And if you’re not at your best, Sometimes I feel like even last year I was playing through an injury that I felt like I could have waited one more week and maybe I would have felt better. But that’s hindsight, right? Hindsight is always 20-20. You got to be able to take care of your body and be able to play in November and December, and those are when it matters. You like to get wins whenever you can. It really helps you out in the later part of the season. But at the end of the day, we got to be able to make that stretch. And whenever that is, November, or December, if we have all eleven guys healthy, that’s obviously two are gone. So nine out of the eleven healthy, then we’ll be all right. But if we’re fighting through injuries all year long and it’s starting to show its ugly head, then that didn’t help the team. So we got to be able to take care of ourselves. And I think that at the end of the day, it’s the nature of the game. Football is a very rough sport. If you guys ever want to play right guard, I’ll let you go out there for a play and see what it’s like to go against Jordan Elliot in practice, but I promise it’s not fun. So I’m out there and I’m not passing the ball so I could have any opinion. But at the end of the day, I’m focused on my job and focused on right guard.”
Did you see a little more juice out of 75 (Joel Bitonio) because he had missed a game?
“Yeah, I know. We made a joke that he was running down the field, and he I was like, how are you running so fast? He was like, fresh legs. I said, yeah, it’s pretty impressive. He’s a tough guy. Same with Po (Ethan Pocic). Po came off a couple of stuff past the bye and just shows you how tough those guys are.”
Yeah Wyatt, P.J. (Walker) was talking about after the game, just how his comfortability level has increased, and I was just curious with you guys as an offensive line, like, how you play a role in that with helping him feel comfortable out on the field, kind of commanding the offense?
“Yeah, there’s a couple of times where you’ll get pushed. I mean, you pass the ball 20 times, there’s a percentage that someone’s going to miss a hand or they’re going to swipe. Those guys are pretty dang good, too. So to be able to sit in that pocket, not be afraid of the hit, make those throws, it shows you that he’s confident with us, which we’re thankful for, but also he’s willing to take the hit to get the ball out, and that’s putting your body on the line, and it’s hard to play like that. Obviously, as an offensive lineman, we don’t get really any love unless if it’s a bad thing, and then it’s usually hate. But if we do get some love, that’s a good thing. But we’re always trying to, the unsung heroes, we’re always trying to run around, hit people, and make just an extra inch hole for whoever’s running the ball or passing the ball. So it’s the same thing at quarterback. You have a little bit more eyes on you, I guess, but you got to execute, and you got to play at a high level, and PJ has been doing that.”
Have you had personal conversations, I guess, with him, of just being like, hey, I’m here to talk through things if you need it, as he’s gone through these adjustments at all?
“I think that it’s kind of unwritten. I guess I could go up to him and talk to him about that, but I think that he knows that I’m going to put my body on the line for him, and I guess you do kind of take that for granted, but we’re all going to go out there. We’re all going to make sure that we have the right scheme. I know that he looks across practice and sees the offensive line absolutely drenched in sweat on a Friday, two days away from a game, and knows that we’re going to be doing whatever it takes to make sure that he’s clean at the end of the day.”
What’s it like to play in a game that’s got eight lead changes that just feels like it’s constantly hanging in the balance?
“How did it feel for you? It’s about ten times worse for us.”
Not as nervous as it was for you.
“My brother, he said, gosh, that was a roller coaster. I said, yeah, it was a roller coaster for you. You were on the kitty ride. I was on the big ride. Trust me, we’re all going through it. We’re all dealing with emotions and stress and stuff like that. And that’s why this game isn’t easy. You can have someone who has all the tangibles, but that intangible kind of keeping your hand to the plow and focusing on everything that’s going on, but also at the same time keeping that focus on execution and focus on the play—the snap count. The fans are going crazy. You can’t hear anything. You just got to be able to lock in and execute, play at a high level.”
Just one quick one. From what you saw yesterday, was there anything that surprised you from Indianapolis’s defensive line, the way they tried to break you guys down?
“Yeah. No, they did a good job. Those linebackers are legit D-ends and D-tackles. They’ve got a really good front but went against a really good front last week and we go against a really good front every single day in practice. I don’t think we’re going to go against many teams that aren’t going to play their hardest ball. Everybody we go against once we start winning games, it’s just a target on our back. It’s just a bullseye that everybody’s trying to hit. So the more success you have, the more people are ready each game. That being said, our work is cut out for us. We have great players, but we’re going against a lot of good teams and we just got to be able to go out there and beat whatever looks they put out, whatever they think they’re going to be doing. We got to be able to handle it and capitalize on their mistakes. And I know our defense does it.”
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