Head Coach John Harbaugh

JOHN HARBAUGH: Thanks for coming out. First of all, before we get started, a very important weekend this weekend. Wouldn't you all agree? What is this weekend? Mother's Day. Mother's Day. Heard you had a good Mother's Day interview. Rumor has it. Greatest mom ever.

To my mom, Happy Mother's Day. To my wife, Happy Mother's Day. To all the mothers out there, we appreciate you very much. Thanks for what you do, and have a great day.

What questions do you have?

Q. You had your draft picks out there participating, which some coaches don't do. Why is that important to you that they're in and not concerned about injuries and what not?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, well, we've always done that. I feel like rookie mini camp is a chance to prepare these guys, all the guys, for what's next. We've got phase two version of practice on Monday that they'll be a part of, so a chance to see how it's all put together, whole part whole. Run the plays, see how they fit in, and glad they get something out of it. We've always done it that way.

Q. What's your goal for this week, with rookie mini camp in general? What are you trying to specifically accomplish with the players and everybody?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, goal for rookie mini camp, great question. There's probably different levels because you've got to meet every person in a different place. You know, there's a lot of range of where guys are at.

You have anywhere from your first two round picks, top 10 picks. That's one extreme. The guys who are here on a try out basis are trying to earn a shot.

So you try to accomplish all those things. You try to orientate the guys who are going to be here next week and you know are going to be here to where you're going so they can be the most they can be and make the most out of next week moving forward. Then you try to see if you can find a couple of guys, too.

With that, you need to have enough guys here to have a real practice. You want to be able to run some team periods and do a two minute so we can see the guys move around like in a real kind of the football not real football, but simulated real football.

It was a great practice. You saw it out there. What did you think? Did you enjoy it? It's fun to watch, right?

Q. How do you get those guys mentally focused on the task at hand and not to look too far in the future?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I think it's probably maybe they've learned that already. We didn't talk too much about that. We just talked about what they had to do in these last two days.

The first thing is to learn the responsibilities. Make sure you understand the play, offense, defense, special teams, and execute it. Try to make sure they understand this is not a competitive camp. It's not a camp you're trying to go out there and make plays.

There really are no plays to be made. It's a rehearsal type of a camp. It's called fast rehearsal when you do the team period, so we're going to go fast. We're going to try to execute fast. We're going to try to be on point with great technique. We're going to rehearse. We're going to kind of do the dance, so to speak, of football. We're not actually competing against one another.

You don't see violent, physical type of battles out there. It was more kind of competing against yourself and you're learning to execute the play.

Q. How do you go from the rehearsal stage to the competitive stage in the offseason workout? Does that start in training camp, or when does that shift for you?

JOHN HARBAUGH: So it probably goes competitive through training camp. I mean, not even when training camp starts, because even when you go into pads for the first time, it's not completely competitive.

It is competitive from a blocking standpoint. It's much more combative, but we're not taking guys to the ground for the most part. True competition comes in the preseason games. That's when you can say it's the most competitive. I'd say it's kind of a ramp up to that.

Q. Since we last talked to you, you guys made some moves at defensive tackle. DJ, Shelby, Pickens. What do you think of what you guys have done there since the draft?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I'm very happy about it. I felt like it was part of our process. It's not that we wouldn't have drafted a defensive tackle or signed one sooner if they had become available or kept Dexter if that was something we could do. Those were all things that were on the table.

But as it went, I thought we did a good job of kind of responding to the situation as it unfolded, and now we feel really good about our group in there. It looks good to me. I'm excited about it. I think we have the guys we need.

Q. What did you say to the offense in the huddle at the end of the two minute drill when you stepped in?

JOHN HARBAUGH: We were talking about the situation. All of our practices will have, like, situational elements. Like every play is a situation in football, but sometimes you may take a minute to just kind of say, okay, let's put this in perspective right now.

We're in two minute period. We've got no time outs. We're at the 50 yard line. We need to get in range here. We can't afford to have a penalty, you know? If we catch the ball short, we're going to get as much as we can. Get down quick, get the ball back and do what? Get on the ball. We're going to clock it.

So just kind of explain the circumstance that we were practicing in.

Q. One of the guys you have here, a quarterback, is Sluka. Kind of a zigzag path to get here. What have you seen from him? What did you know about him coming?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, he was a guy that we got a call from Coach (Bob) Chesney, great friends with Bobby, and he's at UCLA now. He said, hey, would you take a look at this quarterback that we had at Holy Cross? Went to James Madison and did a really great job.

Of course, he sent a highlight tape. He looked great, but turns out, he's a really good player and had a great camp. That was how that happened.

Q. Bringing in Zvada gives you have three kickers. What's your plan to manage that competition?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, it's going to be a competition, for sure, right out of the gate. It's already started. You saw Zvada. That was his first iteration of that competition.

We're coming next week. We'll be kicking field goals. We go to OTAs, we'll kick field goals I think every other practice, but we may be kicking them every practice because we have three guys to kick. We'll just see how it shakes out.

Q. What did you like about him?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Really talented. He's big, tall, rangy kind of guy. Big for a kicker, you would say, and really strong leg. More than anything, it's the consistency. He has a vertical swing pattern, we call it. He does a nice job of getting downfield through the kick. Because of that, he tends to kick a ball straight consistently. If you do that, you probably have a chance.

It's like your drive, right? When you hit it straight down the middle consistently, you have a good round.

Q. With Arvell Reese, just curious, you are obviously excited about him, what he brings, but now that you got to see him on the field and got to talk to him a little bit and see what you can do, what are you impressed about how versatile he can be just seeing him on the field versus just imaging what you he can do on the field?

JOHN HARBAUGH: You saw it on tape or you saw it at the workout at Ohio State. When you see it in person in your kind of setting, it's more.

I thought he moved well. You know, he is 6'4" plus, 240 some pounds. Yet, he moves like a smaller guy. He moves his feet. He can flip his hips. Very natural looking mover off the ball, which was something we saw on tape. We thought we saw, but now we saw it on the practice field, so we feel better about it, you know.

Picks things up really quick. Very serious minded. Very diligent about the assignments. I don't think he's got one assignment wrong throughout the two days, which is great to see.

Q. How do you manage a guy with Reese's versatility? Do you want him to focus on just the WIL position right now? When do you start introducing maybe some of the other things he can do?

JOHN HARBAUGH: The way we're built is the WIL position lines up in all those spots, so you are going to see him lined up with what looks like the defensive end position, but it's actually the WIL by call. That's where he goes based on the way the defense was organized.

I don't know if we're cheating or not, but you'll see him playing over the guard sometimes just by virtue of the call.

Q. We've asked a lot of questions about how you and Joe Schoen work together. You worked with Brandon Brown too for the first time. What have you learned about him?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Brandon, gosh, he's been great. Really on point. He's very knowledgeable. You ask a question, and he knows what he's talking about, and he's very thorough in his explanation.

I was just thinking about how he is to be around. He's great to be around. He's high energy, very smart, knows the league inside and out. Very impressed. I thought as a team everybody was very really good.

Q. Sisi Mauigoa and Malachi Fields, your other top draft choices. You saw them on the field out there. What were your impressions of them?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Great, great. I mean, Sisi was just fantastic. He took pretty much every rep. Looked like a natural at guard. Sometimes things happen a little quicker. You got to get out of your stance a little quicker. We'll see when the pads come on. That will be another thing for him. To see him playing at guard for the first time, I thought he did really good (indiscernible).

(Colton) Hood, loved him in press. He was at press corner. He was playing press out there with the other corners. He looked really good. You saw him make a couple of plays. How about the interception in two minute? That was a nice play. He was good. He was good and diligent the whole time.

Malachi, a bunch of plays. Did you see him on the slants today? He made every catch yesterday. Made one high catch over the top of the corner one time. Happy with all those guys.

Q. With Malachi, talk about his size as a weapon downfield, but you flip on the highlight tape of Jeremiyah Love during the process, and you see No. 0 kind of out in front making a lot of blocks, a lot of plays in the run offense. Did you see the same?

JOHN HARBAUGH: You're a run game guy, I see. You ask about wide receivers blocking, and he was. He was a blocker. I mean, look at him. He better be. He's got no excuse not to be.

He was at Notre Dame, and that's how Coach does it there. Marcus (Freeman) has got those guys playing physical.

How about on the slants today? You saw him cross the corner's face on three or four slants today. Real strong. So it's a good start for him.

Q. Have you been following the New York Knicks at all? Have you been to the Garden at all?

JOHN HARBAUGH: We were there once a while back. My wife is on me. She wants to get there for a playoff game. Where are they standing at right now?

Q. 3-0.

JOHN HARBAUGH: 3-0, counting on another series.

Q. You mentioned the wide receiver position. I'm wondering where you are with that as a whole and obviously the Odell Beckham thing, you worked him out. Where do you stand on that at the moment?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I talked to Odell probably three, four times in the last week and where he's at, where we're at. He's in Arizona right now training and spending time with his son. I think the goal for right now is for him to train and get as ready as he can be, and then we'll see where we're at at that time.

For Odell, this is the conversation that we had. We had just such an honest conversation. It's got to be right for both parties. You know, Odell wants to be the kind of player that can make a difference.

I'm pretty sure that he can make a team in the National Football League right now, but can he make a difference? It's something he wants to do. Is his body going to hold up in the way he wants it to, and all those things are questions that need to get answered for anybody at that age.

You know Odell. He's confident, man. He's confident. He's working hard. He believes in himself. I think we'll just play it out over the next month and into training camp and see where we're at.

Assistant General Manager Brandon Brown

Q. You guys didn't bring a lot of guys in for this rookie camp. Was there a reason why?

BRANDON BROWN: Yeah, just the biggest thing when we brought these guys in for the rookie minicamp was the instruction. You're not getting a lot of competitive periods out here. It's who can take to the coaching, what's the attention to detail, and just focus on the core group of guys, because we're going to be integrating them with the varsity coming up very soon.

Q. You always have a pretty good background on how you scouted a guy, what you came across in the fall. (Linebacker) Arvell Reese, what was the surprise level there? I guess it's a good thing you had done your homework, because most people told you it wasn't going to be there at five.

BRANDON BROWN: With Arvell, it was preparing for every situation. You never know how the top 5 is going to shake out, but with Arvell it was knowing, hey, how are we going to maximize him, really talking to Harbs' (Head Coach John Harbaugh) vision, how (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) saw the fit, and really (defensive coordinator) Dennard Wilson talking about wanting to create chaos, be violent, be multiple. That's part of it with Arvell.

Yeah, I know some people saw him as an edge rusher. We see him as a stand-up WILL. You've seen the past couple of days his ability to command the huddle. That's part of the, call it the attention to detail, the presence part of rookie minicamp.

And knowing what he can do. Now you're looking at our second level. You have two guys that are 6'4" plus with him and (inside linebacker) Tremaine (Edmunds). Talking about defending the pass, you have a rim protector, would you say. It's hard where you are going to have to layer those throws.

Also being multiple, where we can affect the passer. Talking about blitz and coverage. You want to marry the rush with the coverage. He can do it from multiple alignments. You look at what we did with (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) in a vacuum last year. Abdul can do it from multiple alignments.

So, you talk about getting your NASCAR package out there and deploying the rush. He gives us versatility, allows us to create chaos, and just create matchups that are in our favor from the defensive standpoint.

Q. Brandon, you guys, it's such a long curve when you start to evaluate college prospects. How much -- when Coach Harbaugh comes in here, how much does that process change? How much does it change the type of player that you might be looking for?

BRANDON BROWN: The process has been phenomenal with Harbs. I say why it's phenomenal was just the clarity of the vision and the identity that he wants to build.

You talk about building the bully, all of our players from different positions, they have that mentality. Pit bull mentality, as you will, where they may not all be in the trenches, but they bring something that's different.

Whether you're talking about in the trenches from Sisi (offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa), off the ball with Arvell, and then even (cornerback) Colton (Hood) in the secondary. Colton, if you look at the beginning of the year, he wasn't a guy that was coming into this college season with a lot of hype, and a big credit to him is the work that our on college department did with him, starting with (national scout) Jeremy Breit, (college area scout) Pat Hanscomb. You know, you're going into the season that Kickoff Classic weekend, we were down in Atlanta. (Assistant director of player personnel) Dennis Hickey and myself, see him play against Syracuse, right? He is a guy that's not really on the map going into that game.

Our college scouts, Jeremy and Pat, they outline, hey, this guy is a double transfer. He's coming from Auburn, Colorado. He's got an excellent baseball background. He's a three-time Allstate centerfielder in the state of Georgia. This guy has really good ball skills. He can run. Be aware of him game one.

We see him game one. He becomes SEC defensive player of the week that week. Now we come back in the office and tell Joe. Joe already has a feel for him. You get to Senior Bowl. (Director of player personnel) Tim McDonnell sees him live. Coach sees him; Coach likes him; Coach has experience with his uncle, Rod Hood, and there's a familiarity there.

We're not even getting into April meetings yet, and we already know who this guy is. I think from the clarity of the vision that Harbs has painted and us executing the vision and taking the big ocean of players and narrowing it down in that funnel to the guys who fit us. Not what plays for the league, but what it's going to be for us and lend to our identity.

Q. Brandon, along those lines, how has NIL kind of affected how you guys go about scouting and the guys that you are able to bring in?

BRANDON BROWN: I think we've been able to get probably really ahead of the curve from the NIL perspective just knowing the landscape. When I say the landscape is the normal one-school transfer; now you're talking about multiple two- or three-year program guys.

Even a Colton Hood, for example; he was at three different institutions. When they're at each of these institutions they may not be there for a year or two years and their current staff may not know them that well.

We've maximized our touchpoints. Whether it's on school campus visits, multiple visits, All-Star game exposure, the 30 visits, but as well as a credit to our young guys.

We've hired some scouting assistants that come from the college landscape, and they know how these guys work during the portal process. When they actually have to negotiate portal deals, how are they with money before they get to us? We kind of have a beat on who they are, their love of football, what drives them, what are their motivators.

And we're not waiting until they're New York Giants. We know exactly how money is going to affect them. We know how they're going to show up every day. With NIL too it affects really the quality of the draft. You are talking to our trade coming up and getting (wide receiver) Malachi (Fields), we're knowing what traditionally is in the fourth or fifth round. It's a little bit different because some of those guys are going back to school and wanting to maximize their value for the next year, while also getting paid a good amount.

So we're just not adjusting our approach but knowing that multiple touchpoints has been part of the success plan for us and understanding and knowing who the kid, what drives them, and how do we best support them once they're wearing Giants blue.

Q. You talked about double transfers. You mentioned Malachi. Give us a little insight into your journey with Malachi and how you guys came about really liking what he brought to the table?

BRANDON BROWN: With Malachi, you knew when you went to go see him at Notre Dame, we call it our book of business. Multi-year evaluation. You knew that he was a high school quarterback. You do a two-, three-year study. You watch him at Virginia. He has steady production.

You actually get to see him from multiple wide receiver alignments. Whether he's in the big slot, a different route tree on the perimeter, what he can do in terms of the top of the route, seeing for a big man, talk about working around the clock. We talk about playing above the rim. We saw all that this year at Notre Dame.

You go back into two years prior at Virginia. He's working at call it 6:00, 4:00, reaching down, adjusting his body, for a guy who is 6'4" plus and really 215 to 220. With Malachi, we knew the kind of person we were getting. He was the same guy at Virginia, the same worker at Notre Dame. There was consistency in the person, consistency in the approach. Then he shows up at Senior Bowl and does it again.

So just seeing high-level of consistency in different arenas over multiple years, it gives you comfort of knowing what you are going to get year one, that it's going to be low start-up costs in terms of getting the player on the field and contributing for us.

Q. There's a new regime that comes in, and there's always the idea that after the draft there's going to be big changes to the front office. We're two weeks after the draft, and it seems like all your scouts and all your guys are still in place. What does that say about the process going forward?

BRANDON BROWN: Unified operation. It's been really a great environment to be a part of. When I say unified operation, Coach said something in one of his first meetings that has stuck with me, and he called it mission over men. The mission for us is winning football games. Low ego, put your pride aside from the coaching staff, having high-level operators, great teachers to the personnel department, respecting opinions, the ego being low, finding out what's best for us in terms of finding the right players that are going to help us on Sunday or whenever game day is.

It's a vision alignment. It's what is our identity going to be, what we're going to do from year one to year two. How are we going to build it? There have been multiple perspectives on it, and Coach has been great in terms of the platform between everyone involved, low and high, of if you feel somebody, bring force of evidence and show me where you see him doing it, and what did it lend to the identity that we want to be?

There's been ultimate clarity with that, and it's about an a great collaborative environment. Not just that. Just not that, the alignment has been really strong.

Q. You were in Philly a while before you came here and saw an up-close view of how they manage the cap. I'm curious, how are they able to do it so aggressively, and why have you not adopted some of the practices they do?

BRANDON BROWN: Every club is different. Certain clubs try to mimic other clubs. One, I want to give my hats off to (senior vice president of football operations and strategy) Dawn (Aponte) coming inside here and really the balance of patience and aggressiveness that she's had. I think the biggest thing she's allowed us to leverage our currency. When I say leverage currency, it's your players, your picks, and your cash.

And really doing that while preserving our ability to accumulate comp picks and doing that is just being really -- forecasting from one to two years, and really part of being able to use some of those mechanisms, like option bonuses and void years; you got to stay healthy.

We're on our way to doing that. You have to stay healthy and be able to keep rewarding those guys that are playing at a high level and staying healthy over a long duration.

Q. I know that you guys on the road, you still pay attention to the Senior and Shrine. You're always in waves at these smaller All-Star games, like Gridiron Showcase or Hula Bowl and Tropical Bowl, stuff like that. Why is that important? Because a lot of these guys end up out here for you guys or can.

BRANDON BROWN: Again, it's a touch point. Like the touch points are invaluable. You don't get them back. Who is going to show up on a different stage? It's nice when you can perform in the comfort of your own stadium, your own conference.

When you're placed into a different arena and the pressure is coming high, do you rise to it? Do you meet a benchmark? You mentioned that. Hula Bowl, (defensive tackle) Bobby was there. Jamison-Travis was there. You see him at Auburn. Can he show up against different competition, getting different coaching, and in a small window what does he do? Does he show up every day? Does he sulk after bad reps? Does he rise to the occasion and correct himself and string together good reps after having poor play?

Some of the flashes you saw at Auburn, do they become more consistent when maybe he's learning a different technique? And just seeing him, even (offensive lineman Ryan) Schernecke at the Hula Bowl. Like Hula Bowl, American Bowl, maybe not be the forefront bowls of East/West or Senior Bowl, but there's talent there.

We're negligent if we don't unturn every stone. Maybe we find a player; maybe we don't. We're not going to have any dialogue or see a player playing on Sunday or somewhere else without having information on what he can do for us in the building, what can he do for us on the field, and how do we help him grow to be part of what we are?

If he's not for us, we've already checked that box and know, hey, we're getting our guys, but we're going through the whole inventory of players.

Q. Obviously with that kind of stuff there's a big human touch, right? Joe has mentioned using AI as part of the process as well. I'm wondering where does that have a space in what you guys do in regards to the scouting side of it?

BRANDON BROWN: AI is a tool. It's no different than when you look at maybe whether it's AI, Consensus, mocks, any other supplemental deals. They're all a part of the comparison part. Whether you're using AI to synthesize information, because that's the big part that people don't talk about it. If you are using AI to synthesize information of players that have certain traits, and then now you're trying to extrapolate what makes them similar, what makes them different, it's part of the process that you can streamline certain pieces.

We're not using it to base your evaluations. We're always going to trust our eyes. Our eyes, our exposures are going to be paramount to any other supplemental tools. If there's something different, if there's something that's an outlier, we're going to use that.

No different than with Malachi. When he ran 4.62 to 4.64, whatever watch you're on at the combine, through AI, we having an E40, which our analytics department introduced in terms of extrapolating the game film. We knew this was a guy that was almost 220 pounds that his game speed was in the 4.4 range. We could leverage that data to help us make predictive and encouraging decisions that may stray from what the human numbers tells us, right?

The human number told us 4.62 to 4.64, and we knew there was an opportunity point, because if everyone had that data, everyone may not have our other data points. We leverage that and use that to our advantage.

There's multiple examples of that where obviously we'll keep in-house. That's part of our competitive advantage, but we use that to make educated decisions and really to poke holes in our process. It's just all confirmation and figuring out what's the best tools for us to use at the end of the day. We fine-tune it throughout the process.

Q. I can't imagine there's a parade of scouts in Cookstown every year. You mentioned obviously the Hula Bowl and how he shows up, but what was your journey in terms of finding Ryan?

BRANDON BROWN: With Ryan, hats off again to our area scouts. You look at (college area scout) Brendan Prophett, other area scouts that were at the Hula Bowl, and those that went into Kutztown and did the work. It's understanding that a guy with his length, can he develop into being a potential depth swing tackle, right?

It's a right tackle that doesn't have a lot of exposure on the left side. Can the tools from his foot quicks, his set depth, working his hands in unison in terms of the punch timing with our coaching and working with (offensive line coach Mike) Bloom (Bloomgren) and (assistant offensive line coach) Grant (Newsome), can that be something that can be more, I call it, consistent in terms of set lines and his punch timing, Using his lines just to ride the pocket and set the width of the pocket.

Just because he's a small-school guy doesn't take him out of the fold. It's actually using those extra touchpoints like the Hula Bowl as a platform to see him against better competition.

Again, for some guy they just smooth out the inconsistencies in their tape. For others guys seeing them play against better competition. That's where Ryan fell.

Q. Why do you think Travis was a guy that wasn't on a lot of radars? You talked about guys that fit you, guys that were Giants per se? What was it about him that attracted you guys?

BRANDON BROWN: With Bobby, one, he's a guy that has gone the long way, the long way. When I say really long, he's gone from junior college. He had his time at Auburn, and he's a guy that came on the scene a little bit later even though he's an older prospect. You have to understand him as a person.

I say more than anything, Bobby is a great father, and that lends to who he is. He's a young man with three kids under the age of 5 and a loving wife. That's what he performs for. That's what drives him. That's his fuel.

Knowing that he comes from a large family in Minneapolis, he's overcome adversity, but what you have seen in his game is strength in knock-back. In the trenches his hands don't always work in unison, but that's coaching. When you look at BJ watching his tape, when you look at our area scouts, whether it's (college area scout) Scott Hamel, (national scout) Marcus Cooper, going down and saying, hey, this guy is a little bit off the radar, but he has power in his hands, and he can eat double-teams. He doesn't get moved by side anchor, and he can create knock-back in a way that when we get into our meetings with Harbs and Joe, hey, we want to be thick in the middle. We want to be able to re-establish the line of scrimmage. Create knock-back at the nose. He's not a pass rusher, but what he can do is eat two blocks and he can be firm.

You saw the flashes. He goes to the Hula Bowl, and he does it a little bit more consistently. Then we bring him on a 30 visit and have another touch point with him and you understand the person and what drives him and motivates him and can we keep untapping and sharpening his tools in terms of making him a consistent player before we took him. Really getting to understand him is to understand that, yes, he's a guy that we drafted later, but we're just as excited about him as guys that went higher in the draft.

We just knew the opportunity for us was later on because of maybe some of the perceived warts from university, but for us we're excited Bobby is here and excited to keep grooming him.

Q. With Arvell and Abdul, you mentioned both of them have versatility. How much of that is a priority with looking for defensive guys who not only have just, say, great skill set but can do so many different things on the field?

BRANDON BROWN: It's really being multiple, and it's understanding what's going to play in this scheme as a premium. I previously worked with Dennard Wilson before, and the defense is really going to take in a lot of his personality. It's going to be aggressive. It's going to be multiple. You're going to feel pressure from different alignments.

When you have guys that can fit different hats, you don't got to take them off the field. We can go from base to sub and move guys around, and you are going to have to identify where pressure is coming from, and you may not know.

You may think that, hey, Arvell is a threat as an interior rusher, and then he's lining up on the edge. Or, you know, he's dropping in the hook area or you are looking at (outside linebacker Brian) Burns or Abdul. They can all do the same thing.

It's us finding the best matchup week to week, having multiple guys that can do multiple roles, allow us to expose whatever that weak point will be in that weekly matchup, and it fits Dennard's style. It's a guy that we've loved from day one. Didn't think he would be there when we took him, but to get to know him, he's a guy that you want next to you in the thick of the fight.

One thing that stuck out for me that he said in a first interaction was when all else fails, speed and violence is my game. I know with him he's a sponge. He's a guy that's overcome a lot of adversity. It's going to be cool for you guys to understand and learn his story the more you get around him, but he's a survivor, and he's a guy that does it in the most humblest way. He's going to embrace a new environment, but at the same time he's ready for the new occasion. He's ready for the big stage.

Anything that comes his way, you know, as he matriculates and gets back into the film with the varsity, he's going to take it head-on, and he's going to be a sponge and excited to keep working with him.

Linebacker Arvell Reese

Q. How did it feel to be running around in the NFL for the first time?

ARVELL REESE: It felt good. It was everything I ever dreamed of. It felt good.

Q. What are your first impressions of John Harbaugh?

ARVELL REESE: My first impressions of John Harbaugh as a coach, I feel like he's a great coach, he relates to his players. I feel like he's one of those coaches who takes the time to get to know his players, and I feel like that's real important when you want to build a team that's a real brotherhood. I feel like Coach Harbaugh is a great coach so far.

Q. Coach Harbaugh just mentioned the idea of playing the WIL and that the WIL will line up in a lot of different spots and it kind of fits what you did in college. When you start looking at the plays they're giving you in the playbook, do you like the versatility? You talked about on draft night you want to be an elite player in this defense. Now that you're out here, is that fun for you? Does it get you more engaged right off the bat, knowing where you're going to be, different things?

ARVELL REESE: Yeah, it's always fun to me, especially when I think about all those different roles I could play. Right now we're only two days in. I've only been introduced a little bit to the defense. I'm looking forward to that though.

Q. Harbaugh just came out and said he doesn't think you missed an assignment in two days. What do you credit that to? Is that studying? Does it feel natural? Why were you able to slide in and not miss an assignment as a rookie your first two days on the field?

ARVELL REESE: Just studying, and credit to Coach (Frank) Bush, he spent a lot of time with me and Jack (Kelly) pouring the playbook into us, and Coach (Matt) Pees as well. Just studying and the coaches for sure.

Q. Playing for Matt Patricia at Ohio State, I'm curious how did that kind of help you?

ARVELL REESE: For one, he put me in those roles, you know, and it was on me to pick it up and learn those roles. And then, just being with us every day. Defensive coordinator, he's with us every day. He teaching me stuff specifically. Pretty much everything I did on the field is from what he instilled in me or sparked in me in a way.

Q. Did it feel kind of like a pro education in a way?

ARVELL REESE: No.

Q. Arvell, what did you think of Colton Hood's play there at the end of the two minute, ripping the ball out and taking it to the house?

ARVELL REESE: Great play. It's a great play by Colton. Great play.

Q. Is that like what you've seen from him on the field the past two days, that physicality?

ARVELL REESE: Yeah, physical, communicate, play with an edge. That's what I've seen the last couple days for sure.

Q. Before you came to camp, did you talk to Coach Ted Ginn at your high school? Did he give you any advice or head's up what this experience might be like? I know he was a big influence in your life.

ARVELL REESE: Before I came to camp right after the draft, Coach Ginn was actually with me when they flew me out the next day. Coach Ginn, he already prepared me for moments like this, I'm going to be honest. Since high school, he's seen me in this position since high school. He told me this is how it was going to be.

Everything he said to me since high school pretty much prepared me for this moment in a way.

Q. What has his support meant to you?

ARVELL REESE: It means everything. He came to me at a time at the lowest point in my life, and he poured into me. He saw something in me that I didn't see in myself at the time. Every time he's talking, I'm all ears. I know he's not going to tell me nothing wrong. He always wants the best for me.

Like I said, he came to me when I was at my lowest, when I needed someone like him. So he means a lot to me.

Q. Did you pick the 52, or was it given to you? Is there any meaning behind it?

ARVELL REESE: No meaning behind it, just in it.

Q. The last time we talked to you was the day after the draft. Since then, have you had any notable interactions with any of your veteran teammates like Edmunds, Burns, any of those guys been in your corner so far?

ARVELL REESE: Just texting back and forth. Didn't really bump into a lot of them, but just texting back and forth, letting me know they hear from me, those type of things. I haven't really bumped into them so far since I've been here.

Q. How much are you looking forward to next week when the veterans are back here and you get to work with them?

ARVELL REESE: I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to get on the field, communicate, running around.

Q. What do you want to show them right away?

ARVELL REESE: I want to show them -- I want to show the team right away that I'm one of those guys that would rather be seen and not heard. Especially as a rookie, that's what you've got to do. You've got to know what you're doing on the field before you say what you're about.

Just get on the field, minimize mistakes, and just show I'm one of those guys that can get better every day.

Q. Early impressions of Malachi Fields from what you saw today?

ARVELL REESE: Early impressions. I feel like he's a great receiver, lengthy receiver. I feel like he can go up and grab balls out of the air. Yeah.

Q. How about Sisi Mauigoa?

ARVELL REESE: I already know Sisi. I played against him, so I already know what he's about. He plays hard, plays with an edge, and gets after it. So I already know what he's about.

Offensive Lineman Francis "Sisi" Mauigoa

Q. Coach said you look like a natural at guard. Is that good to hear already?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Oh, yeah. For me, I'm going to work my butt off to the standard, and hopefully uplift that standard.

Q. Sisi, we always hear from linemen that the job doesn't really start until the pads come on, so how do you see improvement in yourself and progress when you know that part of the job is yet to come?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah, we're all focused on -- like today we didn't have pads on, but we focused on fundamentals and techniques. We're still full speed, no hitting, but you've still got to focus on improving yourself mentally and physically within your techniques.

Q. What is the biggest thing you think you have to adjust to playing inside?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: That I don't have that much space to work with. Playing at tackle, you have all the space, where a guard everything happens so fast. It's not something I really need to work on, it's something that I need to get used to.

I know a lot over there with (Univ. of Miami offensive line coach) Coach (Alex) Mirabal teaching us jump set and everything, some stuff will work on the NFL level and some won't. It's a lot of tools in the belt.

Q. You've had a lot of veteran, former NFL players serve as mentors for you. Can you talk about some of the advice they've given you especially as you're facing a transition?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yes, with my brother at the New York Jets, talked a little bit about what to expect and what not. Jalen Rivers, he was my left tackle at Miami, and he's playing guard for the Bengals.

So I'm kind of in the same shoes of him. I reached out to him earlier yesterday and kind of asked for his opinion, like how does it go, what to expect and what not.

It was pretty smooth. He told me just be myself and keep working on the little stuff and also be professional about everything.

Q. You mentioned that you practiced at guard down in Miami. Was that last year? How long? How long did you do it?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Practiced in some practices in the spring ball, fall -- summer workouts. I was practicing in guard. Then when it comes to game weeks or in season, now I've got to focus on tackle. I've pretty much practiced every year from freshman, sophomore, junior.

Q. Why did you do that when you're starting at right tackle? What made you get that guard work in?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Coach Mirabal believed in knowing all the positions. It makes sense. If you play all the positions, you make yourself valuable. Also, if you play right tackle, right guard, center, you know everything, you know everybody's job, and it makes it easier for you versus playing at one position.

It makes it easier for you to know what you're doing and what the other players, your teammates, what they're doing.

Q. Did you play practice at center, rather?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah, I practiced at center. Got a little stuff to work on at center, but for right now I'm really focused on playing guard.

Q. Sisi, did you hear from -- have you bumped into or met or heard from any of the other starting offensive linemen here?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah, I met Jerome (Eluemunor), what was it, yesterday? Two days ago when I got in. We were doing physicals and I met him at the stadium.

He's a cool guy. We're excited about each other. Can't wait to move people.

Q. What are your early impressions of your head coach?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: He's an old school type of coach. He loves the hard work, but he keeps everything safe. He keeps everything professional. He's the type of coach that I want to play for. Yeah, he loves people that work hard.

Q. We saw the phone call. Who was more excited, you or Mike Bloomgren?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: I don't know about Bloomgren, but I was excited. I'm not an emotional type of guy, but internally I was pumped. Miami was a big city. New York is a big city. And also the programs, two of the major top programs. So I'm super excited for it.

Q. I don't know if you could tell on the other end of the line, have you seen his reaction when he called you?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: I haven't seen it yet. I don't like looking at that kind of stuff, especially when it involves me. I'll go check it out after this.

Q. Playing in a big city, you mentioned playing in a big city. How did IMG Academy get you in the right mind frame so this is not so overwhelming?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: IMG Academy is one of the top programs, but whenever we travel to play games out of state or play away games, the stadium is always packed. So all the games, when it comes to noises, the fan noises, it don't affect me at much, and it prepared me in a way to handle adversities when adversity hits.

Q. You obviously played at the University of Miami. How interested, did you get a feeling, the Dolphins were interested in you before the draft pick?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: I don't know. There's always expectations, but I'm here, so ain't nothing they can do about it.

Q. It looks like they might have tried to trade up. That's why I ask.

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Well, first dibs.

Q. Is 65 permanent or temporary?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Don't know. This is the number they gave me. I'm just rocking it. So I don't know.

Q. Have numbers meant something to you in the past? Is that something that you came in looking for one?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Not really. 61 has been my number because the coach at San Bernardino St. Thomas Aquinas gave that to me, and that's been my number ever since. So now coming here, a new beginning, 65 will be it.

Q. You worked with Jon Feliciano this past off-season. Did he give you any advice that really stuck with you as you get here?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah. Jon Feliciano is one of those coaches that were pretty fun to have around and to work around with. He's very smart at what he does. Jon has put a lot of knowledge of the game into me.

One of the things he said to me that stood out to me is the game goes fast. There's just level speed to each level. High school, there's level speed, college is different level speed, and NFL will be top level speed. Every day you've got to elevate your speed.

Q. Sorry I missed this, but Sisi, the nickname, what's behind that? And the spelling of it too.

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: My name is Francis Mauigoa. In Samoa, my name is Falagisisi. short for that was Sisi. Everybody back at home, family, friends, they call me Sisi.

When I got to Miami, it became my second home, and everybody started calling me Sisi. Through Coach Joe (Salave'a), Coach Joe is now at Arizona, U of A, and he just went around and told everybody that me and my brother -- my brother's name is Francisco, and our names are Kiko and Sisi, which is our Samoan names.

Q. Why do you think Arvell is going to be a problem?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Oh, yeah. I saw this guy's film when we were preparing for them. He's one of the hardest workers, as you can see on the field. He's always around kicking the ball, and sometimes I slip in some comments to him. He's definitely going to be one of the top impact on defense.

Q. Slip in what kind of comments?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: About the game.

Q. Trash talk?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah (laughter). Yeah, you know, we're cool. We're buddies. We left the past in the past. I'm the type of player to chase guys. So I chase him down and slip him a comment like, you remember this? And I'm just chasing him down. We were just laughing about it.

Q. From college, you mean?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yes.

Q. They had a couple moments when they did a video package from the draft night when you guys were here in the locker room. They had you and Arvell for your photo shoot. And one moment where he looked like he was mean mugging and you were kind of enjoying it, and you just kind of told him smile. You guys are kind of bonded together. How have your personalities meshed? Do you kind of look at each other and say, you know what, we're kind of the front guys for the next generation?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah, I am who I am. He is who he is. We're teammates. We're teammates. We've got to be there for each other and look out for each other. Those type of things, it's just humor. Just trying to bond and be the best teammates that we can be because we came in here together with the mindset to win. If we're going to do that, we've got to have a strong bond.

Cornerback Colton Hood

Q. Take us through that play where you got the interception there?

COLTON HOOD: Yeah, we were just in cover 2. My guy went in and went short. I had the running back to my flat. I just broke on the ball and made a play.

Q. How did it end up in your hands?

COLTON HOOD: I took it from him. (Laughter)

Q. Is that more physical than it need to be for a camp like this?

COLTON HOOD: No, I got to get paid too. (Laughter).

Q. No celebration until the coaches urged you to do it?

COLTON HOOD: It's practice. I'm not really going to celebrate on my teammates. It's definitely going to come out when the season starts for sure.

Q. It seems to have picked up a lot of steam. If the coaches are like they're all over it, coming up in the interviews and stuff. What do you think of that?

COLTON HOOD: It's really cool. I didn't expect it to get this big. I've seen other players from different teams use it, but it really isn't the same because their last name is not Hood.

It's been really cool just to see it pick up like that. I'm going to keep doing it the rest of my career.

Q. Is there a name for that or no?

COLTON HOOD: Just The Hood, I guess.

Q. What are your early impressions of (Head) Coach (John) Harbaugh today?

COLTON HOOD: Great coach. He coaches hard. He wants his guys to be great. He gives good feedback too when you do good and do the right thing. He's a great coach, and I'm really enjoying being here for sure.

Q. Did he say anything to you after the play you made?

COLTON HOOD: I didn't speak to him, but I probably will later.

Q. Which coach asked to you do The Hood there?

COLTON HOOD: It was (Defensive Backs) Coach Addison Lynch, the corners coach.

Q. When you were in Tennessee, did you primarily play left cornerback or right cornerback, or did you travel?

COLTON HOOD: Yeah, I was usually traveling to whoever the best guy was. That's what I did.

Q. Were you on the left side, though?

COLTON HOOD: I played both sides. It just depended where they lined up.

Q. What are your early impressions of (wide receiver) Malachi Fields?

COLTON HOOD: Big, strong, physical, catches everything. You always need a guy like that on the other side of the ball so you can stretch the field. Got good speed too, sneaky speed. I'm excited to continue to compete with him in practice and get better.

Q. Was it any different than what your uncle told you to expect from Coach Harbaugh?

COLTON HOOD: No, it wasn't. My uncle told me what to expect, and it was everything that I expected.

Q. What did he say, just old school, hard-nosed?

COLTON HOOD: Yes, just hard-nosed coach, old school, but he loves his players. He wants them to be great, so it's that tough love kind of thing for sure.

Q. Colton, there are all these videos that come out from draft night, your situation, what happened. But when (linebacker) Arvell (Reese) got picked, he kind of had a couple guys greet him, and you were one of them. I don't know if you were friendly beforehand, but it's kind of ironic the next day. Do you remember that moment? Was that important for you to kind of engage with other guys?

COLTON HOOD: Yeah, it definitely was, especially Arvell. We trained together in Tampa for the combine. We signed to the same agency. He's one of my good friends. I want to see all my friends win. When he got picked, I was excited. It ended up we were both on the same team.

Q. One thing I notice about the game is you're not shy with the ball coming your way. Some DBs panic when they see the football coming. Where did that calm come from, and why did most DBs panic?

COLTON HOOD: I think a lot of DBs panic just because they're not great at tracking the ball. I played baseball, played center field, so tracking a football is 10,000 times easier than tracking a baseball. I wouldn't say it's easy, but it's something that I've been doing my whole life. So, it comes natural to me.

Q. Why will Arvell be a problem?

COLTON HOOD: Shoot. I mean, you see how big he is. He came up here and probably looked like The Hulk, you know what I'm saying? Just his physical abilities, and not just that, but he's a smart football player. He knows football. That's why he's going to be a problem for sure.

Q. Colton, you were pretty good against the run in Tennessee. What does it take to play the run as a small -- not that you're a small guy, but you know.

COLTON HOOD: Tackling is a mentality. Just having that mentality to want to go out there and dominate in every facet of the game definitely helped me. It's really just my mentality.

Q. I know you've been on the defense for like two days now, but what stands out from what they're going to ask corners to do?

COLTON HOOD: They want us to be up in guys' faces. That's what I like to do. Just being able to be cerebral. It's not very hard, but you can see how complex it is together. So how I can effect offenses and have them to be tripping up, you know what I'm saying, when the play comes. I'm really excited to continue to learn and do what I need to do.

Q. When the veterans are all in here next week and you guys kind of get to mesh finally in the locker room, what is it about your personality or your approach that you think will make it an easy transition?

COLTON HOOD: I think I'm a kindhearted person, lighthearted, you know what I'm saying? I am other not too serious, but I'm about my business at the same time. When it's time to get on the field, I'm going to be about my business.

When it's time for them, I'm going to be quiet at first. I'm not going to talk too much, you know what I'm sayin'? I'm just going to let my play show. When it comes time for me to start speaking, then I'll speak.

Q. (Inaudible)

COLTON HOOD: Yeah, that's my thing. I've got to count my steps.

Q. Have you gotten a Cane Corso yet?

COLTON HOOD: No, I don't even got a house yet. I've got to get that first.

Wide Receiver Malachi Fields

Q. How was your day on the field?

MALACHI FIELDS: It was a good day. Feels good to be back playing football.

Q. What are your early impressions of your new head coach?

MALACHI FIELDS: I love him. He's a great dude. He's all about teaching the guys that are coming in. The tempo of the league is a little different. Everything got to stay up. Got to be able to fly around at full speed, but you've got to be under control. It's been a cool learning experience.

Q. What about (cornerback) Colton Hood? Your thoughts on that play he made? What did you think?

MALACHI FIELDS: Man, honestly, I was on the other side. I look back and see the ball's thrown, and I finished running the route, and I look back again, and he's got the ball going the other way. I'm like what happened? I've got to go back on film and see the whole thing play out.

Q. Coach kept talking about, when he was out here, he was talking about you on a lot of those slant routes across the middle. I'm just curious what's the key to that route for you? Is that one that you really like?

MALACHI FIELDS: I think just beating the guy in front of you, first of all, and having the confidence to come through the middle knowing sometimes it's going to be a hit. It's about the ball, I think. Just securing the catch and then getting what you can get.

Q. You got to see (linebacker) Arvell (Reese) a little bit. What are your early impressions of him?

MALACHI FIELDS: Man, that dude is the dude for sure. It's cool. He tries to elevate the guys around him as well. He's a great dude to be around. Him on the field is just a guy to watch out for.

Q. It seems like you got to know (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) a little bit. Have you met him? What have you learned about him so far?

MALACHI FIELDS: I met him in the locker room real quick, a little pass through, got to talk to him a little bit. It was kind of like a welcome in, something like that. He was doing his rehab and stuff. So, we didn't get to spend too much time together.

Q. You played in an offense where you knew the running back was getting involved, a lot of people would stand around and watch. You weren't one of those guys. How important is it to make sure you have a role in a run offense? Some receivers don't really want to do that. Somewhere along the line did that click with you? Or have you always been somebody who wanted to be a part of it?

MALACHI FIELDS: I definitely think I was someone who always wanted to be a part of going and getting a block, covering up a guy in the backfield. Those dudes do the same thing in pass protection. They pick up the blitzing linebackers and stick their nose in there. I can only return the favor when they have the ball in their hands.

Q. Getting back to Colton Hood for a second, what impresses you about him?

MALACHI FIELDS: He's just a sound guy. He does well not moving, not biting on your moves, your release and just being patient and then just playing the ball down the field as well. It's going to be good going against him and just sharpening each other.