Bills
Bills LB Von Miller first tore his ACL in December 2013 and returned in 269 days for the 2014 season opener, so he knows what to expect with recovery this time around.
“I have good information from my doctor, and my knee is all healed up,” Miller said, via NFL.com. “It’s all about me and how confident I can be (over) the next three months. You kind of know what to expect. You kind of realize the weight of what’s going on. You’re not thinking about how tough s— is. You’re anticipating what’s going to happen next [and saying], ‘I know I’m supposed to be here at three months, here at four months, and here at six months,’ and I just focus on where I’m at, and the emotional part of it and the mental part of it because those are the things I can control.”
“If they feel I can play, I will,” Miller added. “If they don’t, I won’t. It’s all good. Now I have to start working on my conditioning and position-specific drills and need to start transitioning back into a football player and not just a guy who is rehabbing and getting my leg strong. Hopefully, I can do that for the next two months and I’ll be ready on the third month I’m going to work as hard as I can. Whether I’m ready to go in Week 1 or not, I’m at peace because I know I’m doing everything I can to have success.”
Dolphins
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel spoke about his methods of getting wide receivers to block on certain plays, something he learned during his time with former NFL HC Mike Shanahan in Denver.
“This seed was planted in 2005, my first year as a coaching intern in defense, and shout out to Mike Shanahan because he set the whole vision,” McDaniel said during an appearance on Pardon My Take. “Wide receiver position is tricky in general because you get compensated for the pass game. Typically, good football players have pride and try to do it, but the bottom line is it’s not like ‘Let’s go pay this guy ’cause he’s got sick blocks.’ So, how do you incentive guys to participate in something that’s less dividend-paying directly as catching a pass? What coach Shanahan would do is he would watch Thursday’s practice, the team run period, which everybody does around the league in some way, shape or form. He would watch that portion of practice as an entire offense on Friday with the thinking that the best way to motivate receivers to take pride and detail in the run game, the best way to really emphasize that it takes all 11 players on the field to run the ball well, is to have them all watch that together. It’s the peer pressure from the locker room, guys saying ‘Dude, you’re just gonna loaf and let me get tattooed by a strong safety?’”
“That was his kind of way of really emphasizing and really getting that done, and every place we’ve been we’ve really kind of taken that,” McDaniel added. “It’s something that you can’t relent on. Your offensive coordinator has to be fully committed to it. The receiver coach has to be willing to drive it home. Unbeknownst to most people, Wes Welker is a low-key run-game guy. He just loves receiver blocks more than anything. For it to look different, you have to approach it differently. You get what you emphasize.”
Patriots
Patriots owner Robert Kraft applauded the moves the team made this offseason and is hoping that it transitions over to the field.
“I liked our draft this year and I hope that translates on the field,” Kraft said, via PFT. “I know the guys are working very hard. I think we have the most difficult division in the NFL, the best balance of teams — all the other three teams are good. So we’ll have our challenges. But I’m really hopeful about this team.”
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