Jaylen Warren: “I think the play calling and the talent I’ve seen when we practiced. Obviously all NFL teams have a lot of talent. But we started building a brotherhood during OTAs – as time goes on I’m excited to work with those guys more. One thing I need to work on – something the running back coach talked to me about at OTAs – was to press the line more. That means that when I get the ball in the backfield, even if I see a hole, that I shouldn’t hit it right away. Instead they want me to press the line and be patient. If I hit it too quickly that makes it easier for the linebackers. If I am patient that may get the linebackers out of position and gives the offensive line a chance to latch on to them more.”
Sammie Coates: “One fun one was in my first OTAs. Ben came out and tells me to run a go. He launches it 75 yards, then turned to the coaches and said “I thought you said this guy was fast!” That was a funny moment, him messing with me there.”
Cam Heyward: “My first two years were rough! I wasn’t sure he even Coach Mitchell wanted me – I was like, “Why did you draft me?” I remember the first time I met him, this was after the lockout so we didn’t have OTAs or camp – so I was meeting everyone for the first time in the meeting room.”
Duck Hodges: “It was an adjustment but I picked it up pretty quick. I’m still working on it – but we worked on the shotgun a lot to at rookie camp and OTAs. It’s all an adjustment but I’m picking it up. The coaches gave me a good list of things I need to work on.”
Canaan Severin: “Coach Mann always stressed keeping things light. Especially during OTAs. We’d go to Dave & Busters, bowling…. we’d compete at everything – even those basketball machines. It was a fun time and what you end up missing most. One memory that stands out in my rookie year was during OTAs. I was supposed to graduate from the University of Virginia on Saturday, and I was just this timid undrafted free agent. But I asked Tomlin if I could go. Before I could finish the sentence Coach Tomlin told me that he had wanted to go to UVA, and that if I didn’t go back there and walk the lawn, as they call it, I’d be a fool! “What are you doing here now! Go!” he told me! That says a lot about him.”
John Lott: “Now they are all scattered – often they don’t see each other until OTA’s. Don’t get me wrong, they may get together and throw the ball around, but it’s not the same. Now they don’t see each other until OTAs and sometimes now even then as they aren’t even mandatory. So it’s not the same from that standpoint – they aren’t together as much and I think that hurts teams.”
Kris Brown: “There was a period of time in my third year there when me, Josh and Mike were talking. The rest of the team were in meetings – I think it was during OTAs in June. We were talking about 40 yard dash times and I told them my time in Nebraska and they didn’t believe me. I guaranteed I could still run that time and of course you know Josh, he made a big deal of it. It went to Jerome who got the whole locker room involved. Friendly wagers were placed on whether or not I could run that time. We all went out and I ran in front of everyone. Three guys had stop watches on me and a lot of guys bet against me. Needless to say, I won. Jerome later admitted he bet against me -he said he didn’t think I could do it. I think Bill was maybe a bit concerned that his placekicker was running the 40 and could pull a muscle, but that didn’t happen!”
Dan Liburd: “The importance that was placed on comradely and consistency. At OTAs the players kind of ran those. I don’t man that disparagingly – it just showed how on point everyone was. They weren’t there installing the scheme – everyone knew that to expect already. They were already into the nitty gritty.”
Drew Butler: “Kapinos hurt his back on the first day of camp. We started our battle in OTAs – and I say battle lightly because there’s not much special teams work then. But he hurt his back on the first day of camp and I was shocked. I know he wanted the job as badly as I did.”
Crezdon Butler: “I spoke with Ray Horton too. We didn’t talk much about my role until OTAs. They brought in Bryant McFadden from Arizona. It was a veteran group so I knew my role early on was on special teams.”
Deshea Townsend: “On the coaching side too, the biggest thing that helped me was learning to be consistent. Having consistent messages from OTAs to camp to the playoffs. We had some not great seasons where we went 6-10 and 8-8, but the messages were still the same. We didn’t panic. When you see guys do it like that you learn that’s how you have to do it. You can’t just blow like a leaf in the wind. You have to trust what you’re doing.”
Grant Mason: “When I got back from the NFL Europe we all had missed OTA’s and the offseason stuff. When I got back I had one meeting with Tomlin at the end of OTAs and that was it before camp. When I got to camp I had a lot to catch up on. I sat in meetings next to guys like Clark and Troy and had to learn on the fly.”
Delontae Scott: “T.A. was there before and Flores just came in. He’s a great coach – big on the fundamentals. I think we all fell back into the basics. We worked a lot on the fundamentals in camp and OTAs – worked on the basics to make sure we all understood what was expected of us.”
Nate Gilliam: “In my rookie year I was just learning how things worked – where the meeting rooms were and things like that. Now in my third year I’m really looking to show the team who I am. Especially being new to the team still. Consistency is the biggest thing in life and football and that’s what I am expecting from myself and to show the coaches. I’m expecting more from myself and I think I showed well in the OTAs. I was happy with what I learned – getting a new playbook down and new offensive linemen to learn to gel with.”
Shamarko Thomas: “They showed me the way. I watched them. The same routines every day. Working hard. Cam, Ben, Harrison…all the guys just showed a lot of confidence in themselves. Even in OTAs – I was shocked at how hard they worked even then.”
Antwaan Randel El: “During OTAs, I’d practice, do film study, ice up then get back and sleep by 3:00. I’d wake up at 10:00 though and couldn’t get back to sleep until 3:30 am – then I’d oversleep through my alarm the next morning and be late for practice. I remember Coach Mularkey telling me he was late for practice only one time in his career, but I was late four times already in my rookie season!”
James Pierre: “I got to meet some of the coaching staff – Terry Cousins spoke to us and had us all laughing the other day, just telling us what to do – how to go about things. It’s like college – like an information session.”
Ricardo Colclough: “Speed – definitely the speed of the game. When I first got there, in OTAs and mini-camp, it was a big adjustment. Especially coming from a smaller school, we didn’t have that a lot. It was just a mindset for me – the more reps I got the more comfortable I got with it.”
Kerrith Whyte: “It takes time to build chemistry. I’m learning how they block and they are understanding more about where I’m going on returns. Having a full season with OTAs and training camp will make a big difference – we can use that time to really learn each other.”
Brian Allen: “The biggest thing is getting used to the speed of the game. The tempo – it slows down when you huddle but when it’s live, the speed is way different than college. The terminology is different too. But the OTAs were great – minicamp was great too. Getting to work with the older guys helped a lot.”