Head Coach Brian Daboll

DABOLL: Before you ask, we'll decide after practice today.

Q: Does the fact that (Buffalo, Buffalo Bill's head coach Sean) McDermott said he's going to play his starters except for (quarterback) Josh (Allen), does that impact what you do at all?

DABOLL: No.

Q: How important is it for you to see (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) in game action?

DABOLL: It's important to see all the guys in game action.

Q: For a rookie quarterback, I'm talking about, who probably isn't going to play at the start of the season.

DABOLL: It's important. It's important for all the young guys to get out there and experience live action in NFL games. It's their first one. It's something they'll always remember, too, these young players. We'll give them as many reps as we can give them. And we'll see how he does.

Q: How's (offensive lineman) James Hudson III doing?

DABOLL: He's doing good.

Q: Will he be out there today?

DABOLL: He will be.

Q: Was there any talk of doing joint practices with the Bills? Because I went back and looked and you always say you need to have a working relationship with the coach, trust each other, and obviously you and Buffalo go way back.

DABOLL: Yeah, I talked about this the other day. That's okay, I think you were late (laughs). The NFL does a lot of research, practices before the first game, practices before the second game, third game, so on and so forth. And the reason why we didn't do it the first game is there's a higher rate of injury with the studies that they've done and given us. So that's why we did it. We're going to practice the second week.

Q: How's (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers)? He didn't participate in the second half of the practice yesterday. He'll be out there today?

DABOLL: Again, with injuries, whoever's out there will be out there. And the guys that aren't, won't.

Q: Will he be out there today?

DABOLL: You know I don't get any injuries right now.

Q: Do you want to play him on Saturday? Is he a guy who you want to see in game action?

DABOLL: Yeah, so the guys that can play will play. And we'll decide that after practice today.

Q: You say 'can' play. So, you're saying you're planning to play the healthy players, though?

DABOLL: Yeah, we'll make all those decisions after practice.

Q: What usually goes into those kinds of decisions? I know you've said before you have a plan, but for you, how do you try to figure out how to balance out who needs reps, who gets reps, who you want to be careful with?

DABOLL: Yeah, we just do what we think is best for the team. We have meetings like we do after every Friday. I know today's a Thursday. Talk with the coaches, talk with the medical staff, and then decide off the information that we get.

Q: So, there's no change from regular season, is what you're saying? No difference?

DABOLL: We're just focused on this week right here, this game.

Q: How much do you see Malik's toe or hear about Malik's toe affecting him when he's on the field?

DABOLL: Again, that's an injury question. So the guys that are out there are going to participate and do everything they can do.

Q: You just mentioned a little while ago it's important for young guys to play. So for the rookies who have absolutely no idea what it's like to be in an NFL game, what do you tell them to kind of even out their nerves and their stomach?

DABOLL: Yeah, I had a meeting with those guys two days ago and had a number of vets talk to them about their first game that they played in. A variety of people - maybe a guy in the second year, a guy that's played a long time, they gave them good messaging. Again, football is football. But I think it's important for those guys to hear from the guys that have actually went out there and played and remember their first game. Usually you remember your first game, even though it's a preseason game. And they all delivered good messages to the players that talked to them.

Q: I know you're going to do what's best for the team and you're going to decide after practice today. But with a guy like Jaxson, who isn't in line to start the season as a first line player, is there any downside to playing him as much as possible in the preseason? You know what I'm saying? Is there too much? Do you want to see him in a smaller sample size?

DABOLL: Yeah, I think as much as he can play, it's good for all these young players to play. Again, we'll do what we think is best relative to all the quarterbacks and every position. Have an idea of how long he'll play this game. But again, we'll have practice here and then we'll sit down and finalize it.

Q: Relative to the position battles, and obviously right guard and cornerback two are the ones that come to mind, do the preseason reps get judged? How do those three preseason games, or two if they only play two, get weighed against like, whatever it is, 20 practices?

DABOLL: Everything gets evaluated. But when you're playing in a live game where you can tackle, you can get hit, you see real live football. Out here (at practice), was it a sack? Was it not a sack? Was it a long run? You don't really know. So they're important, obviously.

Q: Is it critical for your starting offense with a starting quarterback to get significant game experience in the preseason?

DABOLL: I spent a lot of time on this looking at a variety of teams, a variety of coaches, how they've handled the preseason, if it had any direct impact on how they started the season. Obviously, we haven't had a very good start the last couple years, so I've done a lot of research on that. Probably inconclusive. So, I think the best thing to do after talking to some guys is do what you think your team needs. So how many reps? Is there a sweet spot of reps? I've looked at that too. These starters on this team played on average 32 plays in the preseason the last three years. These starters only played six. So I think the most important thing for us is to do what we think is best for the team and the best for each individual player.

Q: What do you think the team needs?

DABOLL: We'll talk about that tonight.

Q: Hypothetically speaking, if Jaxson were to play on Saturday...

DABOLL: He's playing. There you go. Tweet that out.

Q: Are there specific scenarios like situations that you want to see him in that you maybe haven't seen in practice?

DABOLL: Just live action. We've put him in a lot of different situations. There's times in the preseason that you can manufacture that for quarterbacks as well. So maybe he doesn't get put in this situation necessarily by the time, but you can orchestrate where you put him in that situation even though the time really doesn't matter. Tempo of the game. Give him a variety of checks. It's pretty basic in the preseason. The biggest thing is for him to get out there and just get the operation going. Get the call. Get in there. Give the call. Make sure things are set before he snaps the ball. All the things that you need to do to be an effective quarterback are the procedural things, first and foremost. That'll be important for him.

Q: (Quarterback) Russ (Wilson) appears to be, at least from speaking to him, a big proponent of playing in the preseason. How much input do you take from him? Ask him about that part of it?

DABOLL: We're going to do, coaching staff wise, what we think is best for the guys. Their job is to play. If they're ready to play and we decide we're going to play them, we think that's the best and that's what we're going to do.

Q: Jaxson's had some good days, some learning days. When he holds the ball too much, why is he doing that? Is that a concern at this stage? Or is that just a teach tape for him?

DABOLL: Can you give me any examples?

Q: It just seems like some of the plays when they break down for him, he's not getting rid of the ball at all.

DABOLL: Some of it's pretty good what he's doing. Some of it is pretty good. Again, is he sacked? Is he not sacked? There's plenty of plays where he's holding it and making a good amount of loose plays, which are hard to defend in this league. You always talk about defending the first play and then when you have mobile quarterbacks or guys that can do stuff with their legs and their arm, that's the second play, which is really God given talent for a lot of these guys in this league. A lot of the good ones are able to do that. I don't discourage that one bit. Are there times where you drop back and you're in the pocket and you're holding and here comes the rush and you got to make a quick decision on whether to throw it away, use an outlet, scramble. I think there's been a lot, a number of times throughout camp. It'll be important in the preseason to see how it unfolds, where he's buying time because he's able to buy time or he's able to scramble out of the pocket and keep the play alive and hold onto it a little bit longer. Usually a lot of times what happens when you can do that is you can generate some big plays that way too. You also risk having some negative plays, but it's when the pocket collapses and you got to make a decision. You know the guy is on you right now. There are definitely some learning experiences with that that'll be important in the preseason, but there's also a lot of good things that come from that relative to scramble rules, loose plays, big plays down the field that he's pretty good at.

Q: So you want him to use his instincts basically?

DABOLL: Absolutely.

Q: Anyone else not going to be up?

DABOLL: I was waiting for that (laughs). There'll be a few.

Q: Any of these guys like (running back, Cam) Skattebo, (wide receiver, Darius) Slayton, guys that we don't see, are they any long term concern issues?

DABOLL: No.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart

Q: Where are your emotions heading into your first NFL action?

DART: I'm excited. This is just the start of a dream of mine so I'm excited to take that next step, be out there, compete at the highest level. My family's going to be there so I'm super excited to have them a part of this journey with me and yeah, I think that's really it. I'm just stoked for the opportunity.

Q: What have the coaches told you about how much you'll play and that sort of thing?

DART: I think they're going to make more decisions in these next few hours and whatnot, but I'm definitely going to be playing out there so (I'm) just going to take advantage of my reps and my opportunity.

Q: (Linebacker) Abdul (Carter) told us that some of the vets talked to you guys about what playing in preseason will be like – that first game. What did you take from that?

DART: The main point was football is football. Obviously, you're taking a next step so it's a little bit more advanced and just little details and schematics and whatnot. At the end of the day, it's the same game you were playing when you were a kid so just enjoy that. Compete, don't leave any regrets out there on the field and don't ever take this moment lightly and there's no light that's too bright to play in.

Q: How do you think you've grown since the start of camp?

DART: I feel like I've grown a lot. My understanding of the game, my understanding of just this offense specifically, but I've been able to take big steps and I'm feeling more and more confident each and every day in this offense and kind of what they're asking me to do. I'm just happy to have that process of when I make mistakes, being able to fix it quickly and I have great players around me, great leadership around me who helps develop me each and every day.

Q: There have been vets that come in here and say the offense is complicated to learn. What to you makes it complicated?

DART: This is the only NFL offense I can really compare it to so it's all that I know of at this moment. You hear people say that, but I think that when you're kind of able to get the base fundamentals of it down, then you're able to just obviously grow your knowledge and what not. There's been long nights of just studying and sitting in my room and just trying to get it down. I'm excited for the future.

Q: Are there any situations in this preseason game coming up that you hope you find yourself in to get experience playing in?

DART: I hope I can get every situation, just to get those reps, be on that stage and do it at a high level but I'm just excited for this. I mean, this is just a dream of mine since I was a kid.

Q: (Quarterback) Russ (Wilson)'s moon ball is famous for how high it gets. When you're standing behind watching it, what do you think of that moon ball and how does it compare to your deep ball or other guys deep balls?

DART: Every guy throws it differently. Obviously, Russ, you could put him up there as one of the best deep ball throwers of all time, so it's definitely crazy to watch it when you're standing behind and just watching the ball turn over and fall perfectly in guys laps and what not. That's part of his game and what he's done at such a high level. It's been good to just talk to him about that, pick his mind on just the techniques that he uses. It's elite for sure.

Q: What do you recall about your first game action at Ole Miss?

DART: We played against Troy. Troy was actually a really good team that year. It was competitive. It was back and forth and it was kind of – going into that game, I didn't have a ton of reps in the offense. There was three other guys that I was competing with when I first got to Ole Miss, so there was a lot of learning stages that I got from that game. I think any time you're able to play the game that you love, you're having a blast out there on the field.

Q: Will you have butterflies on Saturday?

DART: Maybe when I run out. Once I get between those lines, everything kind of zones out for me. I'm in my zone.

Q: You said there's no light too bright to play in. Do you crave that as a player?

DART: Absolutely. I don't think that you can be an elite competitor if that's not you're mindset, if that's not how you approach everything and as a kid, you watch the stars on the biggest stages and that's what people remember forever. I think that's always been something that I've looked up to and want to make my own lane in that such.

Q: You might play in the next three games and then not play for a month, two months, three months. That's kind of unique. Is there a sense of you have to maximize your preseason opportunities?

DART: I'm just focused on being prepared. Obviously, I'm going to go out there on the field and compete at my highest level and I'm going to play as hard as I can and I'm going to do good things and I'm going to make mistakes too and I understand that. I'm not going to be perfect when I step out there on that field but I think my mindset is just competing at the highest level, doing what I can to make this offense operate at the highest level and get these chances for the coaches to learn how I play the game, because obviously, we're out at practice, we can't get tackled, it's a little different so it'll be good to get these live-action reps and earn that trust.

Q: (Bills quarterback) Josh Allen has been coached by (head coach Brian) Daboll and turned out pretty well. Do you have a relationship with him and have you been in touch with him since you got paired up with Daboll?

DART: I talked to Josh a few days after I got drafted and he's been somebody who I've really looked up to and since coming here, just watching a ton of his tape and how he was able to operate Coach Dabs system. It's going to be kind of a surreal feeling to be on the same field as him.

Q: What's been his advice to you about working with Daboll and this offense?

DART: I think the biggest thing as the quarterback – he talked a lot about leadership. That was kind of like his main thing and then trying to be the best teammate for the guys around you because as a quarterback, you have to raise the standards of everybody. Obviously, schematics, I think that what shows up on Coach Dabs' record is being able to coach many different quarterbacks who have different skill sets and kind of molding offenses around what they're good at, so kind of just hone in on the key details of Coach Dabs' offense and really trust it. I think at times, maybe quarterbacks will predetermine things and not really trust the system, but the special thing about Coach Dabs is he gives us a ton of freedom so there's answers to everything that you can really think of.

Q: Does the current unofficial depth chart mean anything to you? Do you take any motivation from being listed as the third quarterback?

DART: I don't look at it that way. I'm just coming to work every single day just trying to compete and you never know when your number is going to be called on. We have a great quarterback room and any guy can go out there and go win games and play at an extremely high level and they've all shown that. We have a unique room with us being so close and just the conversations that we have. At the end of the day, we come here and we just want to win as a team so that's kind of been our motto.

Q: Has (quarterback Tommy) DeVito given you any advice?

DART: Absolutely. I think I've hit on this many times – Tommy's probably been the one, when I first got here, I kind of learned the most from.

Q: I mean as far as your first preseason game?

DART: He just told me to go out there and have fun. He's kind of just shared his experience from when he was out there and him being really successful when he was out there on the field when his time came. Honestly, when you come into these games, you can hear a lot about the advice but at the end of the day it's just football so you got to go out there and play your game and the real good players are the ones who show up for it.

Q: You talked about not being afraid to make mistakes. Does that help you prepare for this game because whatever happens you're not going to worry about it and have the mindset of if you make a mistake, learn from it, keep going?

DART: Yeah, I'm not scared. When I go out there, I'm going to play the game that I know how to play and the offense here, they don't give me restrictions on what I can and can't do so there's obviously going to be things where I'm learning when I can do something, when I can't do something. I think if you're going to play scared as a quarterback, you shouldn't be out there.

Q: Is there anything specifically that you want to prove that you can handle in your first game?

DART: I don't feel like I need to go out there and think to myself, 'I need to prove this. I need to prove that.' I want to kind of just be in my game. I want to be in my own space. I want to be able to encourage others, help raise the play of the guys around me and I just want to win so whatever that takes for me to do when I'm out there on the field, that's my mind set. It's not really about, 'Oh, I'm going to prove this.' Or, 'I'm going to prove that.' How am I going to put our team in the best situation to win?

Outside Linebacker Brian Daboll

Q: What are your thoughts for your first NFL game? And I know it doesn't count, but you'll be on an NFL field for the first time.

CARTER: Yeah, I'm excited for sure. Definitely a good opportunity for me to get my routine down, like coming into a football game. My last game was, shoot, six months ago, something like that. So, it's cool to come out here, get a routine down, play football again. I'm excited.

Q: What excites you the most, maybe?

CARTER: Football, just want to play football, that's all.

Q: What have you learned the most in your first two weeks of camp here?

CARTER: I would definitely say just the detail of all the things that we're doing on the field. Obviously, college is detail, but I feel like at the NFL, just a higher level of detail I have got to be focused on. So, I'd probably say that's the biggest difference.

Q: Has it been a little more complicated in some ways than you expected, maybe?

CARTER: No, nothing too complicated, just focusing on all the little details.

Q: Have you asked any of the vets, kind of like what to expect that first preseason game, kind of just get your mind ready and prepare a little bit?

CARTER: Yeah, they all came in and talked to all the rookies, just telling them about their preseason experience, what they went through, things that they did to help them out. So, we just took from them and tried to apply it to our preseason.

Q: That was this week?

CARTER: Yeah.

Q: Who was there talking to you guys?

CARTER: (Outside linebacker) Brian Burns, (defensive lineman) Dexter Lawrence, (wide receiver) Malik Nabers, (quarterback) Russell Wilson, they all came in and just talked to the young guys.

Q: Are you disappointed (Bills quarterback) Josh Allen's not playing?

CARTER: It doesn't matter who's playing for me.

Q: Do you have to, like coaches worry about showing too much in the preseason, will you go out there and play your normal game? Or do you like, hey, I might not want to show this move kind of thing and put it on film for the regular game?

CARTER: No, I'm putting it all on film. I'm going out there, I'm playing, I'm doing what I do best. I'm also doing what my coach asked me to do, but at the same time, just play my game.

Q: You talk a lot about your versatility. How much did you actually play like three techniques in college, or if at all?

CARTER: Yeah, I've been playing that since my freshman year. Just moving around all around the line, just over the center, over the guard, lined up on the edge. I've been doing it all for a long time.

Q: How much different is it when you're rushing though inside with your hand in the dirt versus when you're on the edge or even off the ball?

CARTER: It's definitely different. Probably on the edge, you have more space to work with, obviously. Inside it is more constricted, but at the same time, you just have to find different ways to win.

Q: To build off that, you have to find different ways to win. It seems like speed would be a way you can win quite a bit. On the inside, it's less, I would think there's less opportunity for your speed on the inside. So what do you have to combat? Is that just you have to go power on power at that point?

CARTER: Yeah, you got speed, but you also got quickness on the inside, just misdirection. I got power too, so I like to mix it up.

Q: What do you make of this offensive line since you're going against them every day?

CARTER: We compete. I feel like it's iron sharp iron. I feel like they get a bad reputation sometimes. Whenever I see something online, it's always, the o-line this, o-line that. But I feel like for every bad clip they got, they got a good one that people don't see it or people don't post. But I feel like they're going to be a strong point for us this year.

Q: What makes you, from a player perspective, kind of counter, think that they get a bad reputation beyond just what's posted online?

CARTER: That's just from what I see. But like I said, out here when we working, they have their plays, they make their plays, and they look good to me.

Q: Something we've heard from a bunch of the leaders on the defense is when we ask them about the pass rush, they're like, hey, we haven't done anything yet. It's all on paper. How much is that the message that they're relaying to you as well?

CARTER: Yeah, I feel like that's important. Obviously, you don't want to buy into all the hype, all the things that people are saying. So, I feel like once we go out there and prove it, that's when we can say, all right, we're the best unit.

Q: What's your vision just for that first big hit, first sack? Because obviously, you haven't been able to hit guys that hard yet.

CARTER: Yeah, that's going to be fun, just playing in the preseason and get to take guys to the ground, actually sack the quarterback. So, I look forward to that.

Q: I know your focus is on Buffalo, but next week you'll have joint practices with the Jets. And they have a rookie who was picked in the top ten too, who was a right tackle who you'll go up against (New York Jets' tackle) Armand Membou. Did you guys cross paths at all in the draft process or anything?

CARTER: I don't think I crossed paths with him, but I do know (New York Jets' tackle) Olu (Fashanu). He went to Penn State, I played with him. So, I do look forward to seeing him, for sure.

Q: Did you guys have battles in practice?

CARTER: Yeah, for sure, absolutely.

Q: Is that an iron sharpens iron situation?

CARTER: Yeah, for sure, but we focus on Buffalo right now. We'll get there next week.

Q: Who's been your maybe favorite match to go against from the o-line?

CARTER: So I wouldn't say I have a favorite. It gets to a point where we get into practice, they start to learn all your moves and stuff like that. So, I feel like it's good for us to go against a new opponent this week.

Q: If a player knows your moves so much since you're up against them every day, what do you do in response?

CARTER: I feel like you can still work the moves that you use. It's really getting to a point where you're mastering your moves, even though they know just getting to a point where you can do it without thinking.

Q: Why is everybody's focus so much on what this front seven can do, what this D-line can do. But what do you see behind you? Because like, it feels like the Giants have a chance to have a pretty good secondary too with (safety Jevón) Holland in here, (cornerback Paulson) Adebo in here, both got paid. And then, you know, (safety Tyler) Nubin's a high pick, (cornerback Deonte) Banks is a high pick. What do you see behind you? What do you expect that identity of that secondary to be?

CARTER: Yeah, I can't see behind me, but I feel like those guys got paid for a reason. Whoever's here, they were picked for a reason. So, I feel like they're going to come in, they're going to do what they're supposed to do.