Read the full transcript from Mike McDaniel's press conference on October 23, 2024.
Q: So besides QB Tua Tagovailoa, will anyone else be designated to return this week? And if not, are any of the eligible guys – WR River Cracraft, OL Isaiah Wynn, LB Cameron Goode, LB Bradley Chubb, S Patrick McMorris – are any of them close to where we might see them in a game in early to mid-November? That is a lot, but I had to pack in five names. There are five names eligible
"Yeah, there are. It's not out of the complete question, but I don't foresee – this week wasn't really where my timeline was. I'm looking at each day and I can't at least forecast it this week, but beyond that, I don't anticipate anything this week. And as far as November, I think if I'm worried about November right now, everyone would be pissed."
Q: There were two things related to QB Tua Tagovailoa that I'm trying to straighten out, maybe you can help me. Obviously, he went on injured reserve, so he missed four games and there was a bye week, so there was five weeks to recover from the concussion. And yet the other day, he said that the very next day after the hit he was symptom-free, so how do those two things go together?
"I think the most important thing is to understand the nature of which the decision is made and however people define symptoms – did he elaborate on that based upon – it's pretty simple. We maximize the amount of experts that their expertise is in the brain and the head, and then we do everything we can to make sure that all of those things are available. Our training staff works with players 100 percent of the time to do right by them, and so as you're acquiring the information and as you're working through it, it's pretty simple when the medical experts are advising you to do one thing. The whole issue was that it needed time to rest for that injury. And so then that makes it pretty cut and dry when I'm not going to enter into anything outside of – especially with people's careers and with the organization, we're trying to do right. Then you're trying to establish a timeframe, you don't know how things are going to look whenever so you make that decision based upon the medical experts. So I would attribute that to maybe what symptom-free, what does that – so does that mean… I don't know, I'm not a medical expert in terms of what does that even mean, and relative to the science, why is it important to have rest; these are things that I think it would be incredibly irresponsible if I made a decision based upon, however many weeks removed, a casual statement of symptom-free. I can't explain any more concrete, with no BS, very simple – experts tell me. We handle business with these human beings that are not just whatever, they are human beings that we have relationships with. You do right by people and the organization by not anything other than seeking the expert medical advice and moving forward with that."
Q: I asked you on Monday and you said you needed more information – do you know now QB Tyler Huntley's availability? You brought in QB C.J. Beathard, so who's your backup this week?
"That'll be dependent upon – I just want to see how guys play this week. 'Snoop' (Tyler Huntley), I don't think is going to be available this week, so based upon how I see Skylar (Thompson) operate and how I see Tim (Boyle), how I see C.J. (Beathard), we'll make a decision based upon that. So in our current situation, there's not any predetermined 'I have the right answer.' I'll watch and adjust, but right now, we're assessing, and we'll do that on the practice field today."
Q: Obviously, QB Tua Tagovailoa has had five weeks of rust not being able to practice or throw with his teammates. Do you go back into your expansive playbook and say, "OK, everything is the status quo, let's do motions and shifts and things of that nature as we were doing five weeks ago?"
"Yes – no, just kidding. (laughter) No, I think you're looking more for the yes or no. I think you have to – it's like anything else; every decision of every play, which to break it down where everyone's aligned relative to the field position, who's in, what direction, what type of play, all those things, every single thing that has to do with any portion of a play is an intentional decision. So as you can imagine, I don't even try to – I'm not forecasting to be right all the time, that's not the objective. You're trying to look through, 'OK, well how can I get Tua to be best part of the team in the way he needs to be,' which is he needs to be the captain, he needs to be the leader of this team, and he needs to feel complete ownership of his game. So knowing all of that, staying in literally daily conversations for the last five weeks and staying into gameplans, being able to share with him why we're doing one thing here and adjust this a little from the way we do it from when you're quarterback and doing various things – a lot of schematic football conversations that you don't always have time to have based upon him being an available resource and me being available to him and talking through those things. You're trying to build on what the team is doing right now and then utilize his strengths because the objective is that everyone is playing their most comfortable for the first time since Week 1. So it changes your progression, that's much of what the NFL season is, is you are, for us, half of the stuff that we've built towards or evolved in our offense is coming from, 'All right, this idea comes from this issue that this defense presented,' or, 'Yeah, when we try to execute this ball handling or this type of play fake, it was really hard for you to see.' OK, well I'd prefer you're able to see, let's change this, that or the other. So I wouldn't say it's a way different set of circumstances, and I think you don't just go absolute with any individual; you try to meet everyone in the middle because it's not about what he's comfortable with, it's about winning a football game and how any and every decision is based upon that. It would probably be – maybe my younger years but I'm a seasoned vet, so I don't assume that he is – I mean, you don't go and ride the Tour de France on the first time you've picked the bike back up, you know? So that's kind of the way we're approaching it and excited to see him start the process."
Q: You found a lot of success the last couple of weeks power running – 40plus carries each of the last two weeks. I wouldn't imagine we'd see that when you have QB1 back, but is the identity of the team maybe changed and wide-open stuff that we saw last year and you tried earlier in the year maybe get away from that a bit?
"You try to have a football team that is able to do whatever it takes to win the game. Now we have some very good players involved in the pass game, some of the best players in the league. So you get them involved, but does that change your ratio of things? Not if – the one thing I'm not going to do is do something that isn't motivated by winning the football game. The important thing is that what we have in the midst of something that nobody is fired up about, which is losing three out of four and being at 2-4. Nobody wants that, that sucks. However, seasons aren't defined by whatever week we're in but the seventh game. Trivia question – what is the percentage of teams that are 2-4 and end up having the same ratio of wins and losses at the end of the season? I'm going to quickly say I have no idea because no one does. It's a billion-dollar business that people care about stuff, and I've learned one thing in life – when you have no control and you care, you're either going to be really pumped or you're going to be really pissed. The bottom line is we have found the ability to run the ball with the way we kind of forecasted our evolution into Year 3. That's hugely important when you're talking about down the stretch, matchups and when you have a game that it's win or go home, which invariably everyone does. You don't get to pick, 'Well we like passing the ball.' Is your advantage running it? Well you better be able to run the ball that game because their pass rushers are unbelievable and if you put yourself in known passing situations, you're going to have four turnovers. To me, you need your team to be able to do whatever it takes to win and the silver lining is finding the pieces of growth in the midst of us not getting the desired results and losing. In that, two things can be true; you can lose and you can develop. At some point, that development has to turn into wins or it can't be real development. That piece, there is several positivities within the team that what were unknowns could appear to be strengths, and I think that only helps us and we'll do whatever to win a game. I think the good news is the thirst for winning is never stronger and players and coaches alike are never more all for doing what it takes to win than when you lose."
Q: Can you talk about the boost to the moral of this team it'll provide to just have QB Tua Tagovailoa out there on the practice field for the first time?
"I think it will be a big deal considering he's the captain and leader of this franchise. The franchise QB that without question when the players are voting for the captains, he has the most votes. That to me is the best way to establish an indicator of who they feel is their leader. He had tremendous growth each year, particularly this year, in terms of that and being a leader and what that means and growing into that. I think during this stretch where he hasn't been on the field, he's at even a more powerful place with the team just based upon his feet on the ground and not just saying but showing his love for the team and his teammates is stronger than his individual circumstance. He signed up to play, not coach on the sidelines in the white. I think that overall the team will be very excited to have their quarterback back."
Q: What did you guys like about QB C.J. Beathard?
"C.J. (Beathard) was a third-round draft pick in the first year I was in San Francisco as an assistant coach. I was the run game coordinator and then offensive coordinator there. I worked pretty hands on with him, so I know a lot about C.J. What I like about him is his competitive drive, his arm talent and his toughness. I think he's a competitor through and through, and somebody we're excited to have the opportunity. I reached out to him right after he had his injury settlement with Jacksonville. He let us know when he was fully healthy, and excited that we had the opportunity to add him."
Q: What was the process of letting QB Tua Tagovailoa know that he would be returning to practice this week? Is this something that over the weekend you just said, "Hey, you're coming back," or how long has he known?
"I can't remember the exact day, but I had to wait to make sure there was nothing – you don't undermine these information sessions and these meetings he has with medical experts. Once we got through maybe the end of last week, I talked to him about it. I can't remember the exact time, but there was a lot of things that had to be done before I could just stamp that. One thing I don't want to do is tell him something and then be like, 'Oh yeah. Well I just talked to the medical experts and I'm going to have to pull back,' so waited through that. I'm old school, so I kept it real and communicated it with my words to his face and we talked about it. I think he's known the whole time there is nobody that wants him out there more than I do, but none of us were going to shortchange the incredible responsibility we have to everyone, him included, and just go rouge and start setting up timelines of what we're going to do before that time came. I feel very good about how he attacked this whole process and how he came out of it to this day. You hope for a couple of days of good work so then you have no blips and you're cleared to play. You control what you can control, and you have the injury, you get an absolute flooding of the best information possible and Tua is allowed to have conversations and decide what he wants to do with his career always. That's every player. Just excited that he's getting to do what he loves to do today on the grass."
