Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton

CHRIS HORTON: Good to see everyone. Hope everyone's doing well today. We're excited, it's Week One. Our guys have put in a lot of work this offseason and we're continuing to put in work up until this point, all the way up until Sunday night. Questions?

Q: You caused suspense with the kicking competition, but we haven't talked to you since you went with (kicker Dominic) Zvada. What did he show you?

CHRIS HORTON: Dom just showed consistency from the day he walked in. There's just been a lot of consistency, and going out there, and kicks being made, right? We started with the process. Again, we broke down everything, how he kicked, how he wanted the ball. We talked to (punter) Jordan (Stout) a lot about, like, let's fine-tune these things to help him, to give him the best chance. Really, to give both guys the best opportunity, but since he's walked in this building, he's been very consistent.

Q: How different is it kicking in practice, kicking in preseason games, and then kicking on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys?

CHRIS HORTON: I don't think it's any different. There's a process. I think kicking and everything you do, it's about a process – snap, hold, ball. Same foot to ball, same contact. Those uprights are going to be the same uprights. They're not going to move. As long as we put that ball down the middle of those uprights, we're going to be okay.

Q: Do you have to do anything different for a rookie making his first NFL start and in primetime?

CHRIS HORTON: Do you have to do anything differently? I don't think you have to do anything differently. I mean, this guy's played a lot of football. He played at Michigan. There's a lot of fans, a lot of people there. He's played in big-time games. So, when I talk about process, these are things that these guys have been through over and over and over again. The game doesn't change. None of that stuff changes. He's getting out there. He's going through his daily routine. Kick a straight ball, ball goes in. He'll be fine.

Q: You just had a rookie kicker last year. Is there anything you can draw from that experience that's helped you with kind of mentoring Dom?

CHRIS HORTON: Of course. Just patience, talking to them, just making sure, a lot of times it's easy for young guys to (be like), I need to do this, I need to do that. And you really don't, you've just got to trust in yourself, trust in your ability, trust in what really got you there. And that's making kicks and that's being consistent and trusting the guys that are snapping the ball, holding the ball for you, knowing that that ball is going to be exactly where it's supposed to be and give you the best opportunity to make the kick.

Q: Does he just need those NFL reps on the big stage in a big pressure situation?

CHRIS HORTON: I mean, the pressure is like – we talk about pressure, right? The only time you truly feel pressure, I believe, is if you're not prepared for the moment. He's prepared for the moment. We put him in these situations every day. And, again, it's practice. He goes out there, he's kicked in the stadium. He's done well this preseason. We allow him to go out there and be himself and just go kick and don't worry about anything. Go be you.

Q: You have a history with (inside linebacker) Malik Harrison. What does he bring?

CHRIS HORTON: Malik Harrison, just an all-around football player. Physical. The things that we talk about and the things that we see in the players that we want playing for us. The effort, the fundamentals, the execution, those things you know you're going to get. So that's why he's here, right? You just get him out there, you let him play. And he's a good football player, he's a really good football player.

Q: With your kickers, how do you come up with a range? How do you come up with the line where you want to get to kick?

CHRIS HORTON: It's just practice. It's pregame warm-up. It's what's the wind in the stadium? What are those things? How are those things going? But it's all practice. We go out before the game, and we talk about those things. And then we say, okay, here's the distance, and we just roll with it.

Q: Can it change throughout the game?

CHRIS HORTON: It can definitely change throughout the game. And those things will continue to change throughout the game. Again, what's the weather in the stadium? If it's a nice day, if it's like this, and it's a nice day, he's got leg strength.

Q: Have you ever had a kicker talk you into something further than you were willing to do?

CHRIS HORTON: (Laughter) I've been around some guys. I don't think we let guys talk us into anything. I think situationally those things will come into play. But I don't think we get talked into anything. I think it's more of a situational thing.

Q: I think (defensive back Nic) Jones is a guy who probably made the roster based on what he did in your phase of the game. What have you learned about him this summer?

CHRIS HORTON: Nic Jones. A player that has popped up on the radar. You've seen his tape. You've watched him from other places. And then when you see him in person and you realize how fast he is, how physical he plays, again, the things that we look for, the effort he plays with, the leadership that he brings, those are the things that you get excited about as a coach when you see those things in the player. And then when they go out on Sundays and they go out in the games and they play well and they do the things that you ask them to do, that's all you're looking for.

Q: Is Jordan consistent as a consistent guy every day?

CHRIS HORTON: Jordan is very consistent. Jordan has done a good job. Over the course of his career, you watch him continue to grow and grow and grow and get better and better and better, and that's all you can ask for from these players.

Q: Is he a leader?

CHRIS HORTON: He is a leader. He is a leader. And, again, everyone leads in their own different ways.

He might not be the vocal leader. We have other guys that will do that. But we do have guys that lead in other ways, bringing guys together, just talking to guys, pulling guys to the side, and then performance leaders, guys that go out and they perform. The way they go out there and practice is exactly the way they go out there and play.

Q: How much of a challenge is (Cowboys wide receiver KaVontae) Turpin?

CHRIS HORTON: A really good player. I mean, you can't take anything away from that guy. With Turpin for us, we respect him. We respect him. But at the end of the day, this game is about us. It's about what we do. It's about our fundamentals, our execution. If we execute the right way, the guys will play well. And we'll do what we need to do. This game comes down to those things. How hard are we playing? What's that execution look like? And then we let everything else take care of itself.

Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy

MATT NAGY: It's here, almost. All right, go ahead and fire away.

Q: How has (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) been looking to you on the field?

MATT NAGY: He's looked good, he's done a good job. It's been good to see the way he's playing. I think that the biggest thing, we go back from, for us as a team and as an offense, you get to see what he's been doing out here. He's playing hard. We're doing a lot for these guys and playing fast, so it's exciting.

Q: You only have four receivers, but I think part of that is how much creativity in formation does (tight end) Isaiah Likely give you?

MATT NAGY: He does. The four receiver thing, for us, we have a lot of confidence in those guys. I'll start there with the wide receivers, and they've done a great job. I think, collectively, when you look at who we are as an offense, we do several different personnels, which is no secret. People know that. So, I think that's one of the strengths that we'll have, is being able to be multiple in personnels. And that's always been something that all of us have done. So, what we've done is we've challenged these receivers, these tight ends, the fullbacks, to know everything. And so, as a coach, what that does is it allows you to be multiple, and then it's our job on game day to be able to really just make adjustments to what we see and let these guys play fast.

Q: Matt, when you go into a game and you're game-planning now for a week, what's your approach in terms of setting things up? Is it a typical script? I know, I'm going to think back to the spring, we talked about you waiting for this opportunity as a game-planner to call plays.

MATT NAGY: That's really some of the best times for us as coaches, is to put together what we've seen from the whole way back to OTA's with these guys, to now really doing a lot in training camp to see what they can digest and see what we're good at. And we honestly don't know yet, we'll know after Sunday night where we stand as an offense. And that's the exciting part, is you hear a lot of these coaches talk about whether it's in college, they don't have preseason games, so they go out and they don't know who they are. We at least have preseason games to get an idea of what we think we can be. But then you're going in week one, you're going against, again, we're going against a defensive coordinator that is the first time calling plays for him and putting together his scheme. And so, we don't know what we'll see. And just like them, they don't know what they'll see with us. So, it's a little bit of creativity throughout the game plan but then also being able to, I think the greatest thing for us is make sure that we can make adjustments within. That's really valuable for us and I think that can be one of our strengths as an offensive staff in general.

Q: What's that like? How do you prepare for a guy who's never been a coordinator before?

MATT NAGY: Yeah, there's a lot of ways to approach it. And sometimes what can happen is you can get caught in paralysis by analysis because you think the things that you're looking at, you might end up seeing. So, in the end, I think it's best for us to worry about us and make sure that we do what we do well and then we adjust within. So, every year there's always unscouted looks. There's things that they do, these opponents early on until you get more tape. You just got to adjust. And part of our job as coaches is to make sure that we are somewhat psychiatrists and psychologists with these guys and making sure mentally they understand that, okay, if a play didn't work, how are we going to adjust to it? So, all week I just give a lot of credit to our coaching staff because they've spent a lot of time to kind of put this whole thing together. And now the fun part is just trying to play fast on Sunday night.

Q: Matt, you're going to be up in the box during the game?

MATT NAGY: I am, yeah. I'm going to be up in the box.

Q: What's your thought process on why?

MATT NAGY: I'm excited about it. I think that I've always been down on the field. When I was a quality control coach, I was up in the box for one year. So, I wanted to experiment with that in the preseason, and I was able to do that. I really liked it. You can see a lot more from up there. Now, it takes away a little bit of the on the field element of being able to communicate and talk all the time, but there's a calm in the box. And for me, first time in this role as a play caller, OC being up in that box, I just feel like I can see things a lot better and then have the ultimate trust in the staff and being able to see things so that they can communicate to me what they're seeing. And we've got the telephone too so I can always jump on the phone with (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) if I need to. But I'm excited about that opportunity.

Q: Matt, with your scheme over the years, when you started in your career and your time with (Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach) Andy (Reid), how it's evolved to Chicago, as it's where you are now, how much on a year to year basis do you try to reinvent yourself and be different? Or do you subscribe more to the whole (former NFL Head Coach Vince) Lombardi adage of, this is our system, this is our scheme. We're going to perfect it. We don't care if you know what's coming, we're going to do better than you.

MATT NAGY: So, what I would say to that is, we talk about, Coach Harbs (Head Coach John Harbaugh) talks about principles and methods and what that means and you can relay that to an offense is, I learned this game through Andy Reid, (former NFL coach) Marty Morningweg when I was in Philadelphia. And I learned that foundation of this offense and that offense for me. Took it to Kansas City, took it to Chicago, and now here I am. And again, this opportunity that I have is a first for me. So, being here to be able to take some of the things that we do as a staff and make it ours, that's been some of the times for me selfishly, it's been fun just putting this thing together. So, I'm excited to see how this thing goes this year, because I think you're going to see it's our offense. It's no other offense from prior history. You know, it's ours.

Q: What are we going to see from Jaxson? What do you want to see? What do you think will come out?

MATT NAGY: We want Jaxson to be able to play fast. We want him to be himself. He's a special talent. And it's our job as coaches to take all this time that we've had to do it. And that's what we've put together is a game plan that we think is to his strengths. But at the same point in time too, we got to make sure that there's going to be times in the game where we just got to let him cut it loose and continue to build every week. This isn't, there's going to be good plays, there's going to be bad plays, but how does he keep that up? It's going to be an emotional time. Sunday night football against the Cowboys, a lot of emotions going on. He's a competitor. So, I want him to stay calm, extremely confident, play fast and execute and just be a complete leader, but also just be himself, man. Cut it loose and have fun.

Q: Do you think quarterbacks can set a tone for the year in the first game?

MATT NAGY: I do. I think they can. I think it lets everybody know where we're at. They're our leaders.

It's the hardest position in all the sports. So, that's a big burden, but at the same time, it's a team sport. So, he's a leader and he's learning. This is year two for him and this is a new offense for him. So, in some ways he's a rookie again, but that's no excuse for him and no excuse for us. We are very excited about where we stand. I can't express how much time these guys have put in overtime in trying to get this thing down. And that it's just, as a coach, you take so much pride in that. You just believe in your guys. And I just, Jaxson has done so well in this time and every day he's getting a little bit better, but none of that matters unless we're doing it on game day. He's got to do it on game day.

Q: What is the biggest growth you've seen from him (Dart) just from when you got here, and first on the field to now?

MATT NAGY: Probably just the confidence and understanding of the concepts that we're doing, both run and pass. There was probably some frustration early on because sometimes you don't know, it's the first time you're running a play, you don't really know the play. And now when we're out here, he knows the play, he has multiple reps. And so, we can build off of that. We can teach off of that. Now we've got to transfer it to the game and some unscouted looks. And so, I think for him, again, his growth, and he's so mature for being 23 years old and having limited experience in the NFL, super mature, very calm, but he's really good. So, we got to make sure we use his strengths.

Q: We somehow made it this far without asking you about (wide receiver) Odell (Beckham Jr.). How have you seen him embrace kind of the new Odell, which is not the number 100 target receiver that Malik (Nabers) is going to be, his new role? How have you seen him embrace that?

MATT NAGY: He hasn't brought that up at all as far as that part of it, which is probably hard. Odell has come to me at times and we've had some good conversations where he'll almost come to me like I'm the conduit between him and Jaxson because he wants to be careful and gentle with how much he gets in Jaxson's ear, with how he, he's played a lot of football. He's seen a lot of things. And so, what I can do is I can balance some of the questions he has and filter it to Jaxson. And then the other times he goes to Jaxson. But what I find really professional about Odell is that he doesn't want to put too much on Jaxson's plate mentally. And I think he's in a good spot too. You guys see what he can do. He can do a lot of good things, but we also have a lot in this offense and there's details. So, every now and then, if he screws up an assignment, the biggest thing we say is don't do it again. And he's done a good job with that.

Q: I probably should have looked this up, but where were you coaching when he made the catch? Did you see it?

MATT NAGY: I did see it and I have four boys and now one of them's a receiver at Kansas right now. And I know for the past like six years in the offseason, they're over here always trying in the offseason, trying to do one hand catches. So, I think I was with Kansas City at the time and I've just always had so much respect. I coached Odell when we were in the Pro Bowl and I got to see him when he was in his prime then and just had a ton of respect for him. And to see him now with where he's at in this part of the career, I think what you do is you really start to appreciate where you're at and now it's the team part and he's embraced that. And the other younger receivers and guys that we have on the staff have seen that and they really love that about him.

Q: How has Malik (Nabers) been catching up with you as far as him being behind?

MATT NAGY: Yeah, same thing. He's done a great job of coming up and making sure that we meet, we get together and talk. I've had a lot of one-on-one with Malik, a ton of it. And I think that's important for them to understand. He has to understand because when he's coming in to kind of understand, okay, the nuances to the certain plays, it's my job to make sure he truly understands why the play is in and then us also using his strengths and he's been phenomenal. It's not easy coming off of an injury mentally and trying to get back to who you are as a receiver when you are Malik. So, I think for him, it's been great being able to see him get through that process and it's exciting.

Q: What do you recall about the rookie Malik (Nabers)?

MATT NAGY: The rookie Malik, well, he was, again, I just remember him, I was on another team, but just seeing how special he was at LSU and then being here in New York, he's special. Great player and he can do a lot of things. It's like having two wide receivers out there when he's out there. So, it's been good.

Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson

Q: For the fans who might not have tuned in to the preseason – or preseason's obviously kind of vanilla, how would you describe what they're going to see from your defense?

DENNARD WILSON: Just like I said when I first got here, we're going to be unapologetic on how we play. We're going to be decisive in what we do. We're going to play with an edge. We're going to play with toughness. We're going to bring violence. That's how we're going to play. That's our MO. That's how the guys have been going out, doing their work every day, their daily business. And that's how we're going to play.

Q: The numbers say – I'm not asking what you're going to play on Sunday, but the numbers say you play a lot of press coverage, you believe in press coverage. Why is that your style?

DENNARD WILSON: Well, I believe in no free access, no easy completions. You know, as a quarterback, drop back and try to decipher what coverage you're in. That's just how I've been raised in this game, and that's what I believe in.

Q: You have a couple of players on that defensive front, whether it's (outside linebacker) Brian (Burns) specifically, (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) kind of has an ability to rush from the outside, but also make a real difference if he comes through the middle. Where do you stand on, or what are the benefits, negatives potentially, of having a guy that says, look, you're outside, you're rushing the edge every single play, compared to, Okay, sometimes edge, sometimes middle, sometimes edge?

DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, some guys are just more comfortable being outside. Some guys – I've been around guys that have been more comfortable playing on the left or the right side. But our guys, they are versatile. They can move around. They like the matchups when they get inside, so we'll see what we do on Sunday. But we have the ability to move everybody around.

Q: What makes the Cowboys' passing game so potent?

DENNARD WILSON: Well, first of all, a lot of respect for (Cowboys quarterback) Dak Prescott. He's a top quarterback in the National Football League. He's seen it all. He's very decisive with where he's going with the ball, he gets the ball out of his hands quick. They have elite receivers in (Cowboys wide receiver) CeeDee (Lamb) and (Cowboys wide receiver George) Pickens, and their tight ends are good. So, they have weapons, both on the outside and inside. And you have a quarterback that knows where he's going, has seen it all a little bit. He gets the ball, and he's decisive where he's going.

Q: Pickens has always been productive, but what did you see last year that he took that leap?

DENNARD WILSON: When I saw him when I was in Baltimore, it was the same player. He's a big guy, big target, good hands. He's a matchup problem one-on-one. He can catch the contested football down the air. So, he's always been a really good player.

Q: You got most of your defensive starters at least a handful of reps in the preseason games. (Inside linebacker) Tremaine (Edmunds) didn't get any. Does that concern you, since he's such an integral part of…

DENNARD WILSON: No, this is his ninth year in the National Football League. He's played enough football, enough meaningful games. Him not playing in the preseason isn't going to affect the way he plays come Sunday night.

Q: Even with his communication?

DENNARD WILSON: We've been getting a lot of reps since OTAs and training camp. He's communicated at a high clip every day, even today. So, I don't have any problems where he's going to be in terms of communication.

Q: At the end of this season, what do you hope people say about your defense?

DENNARD WILSON: I'm just worried about today. I'm not worried about the end of the season.

Q: What do you want your identity to be?

DENNARD WILSON: I want us to be tough, physical. I want us to attack the ball with violence. And I want us to be smothering. That's what I want to see from this defense.

Q: What do you recall about the rookie (wide receiver) Malik Nabers?

DENNARD WILSON: For me, I didn't go against Malik, because we didn't face the Giants while I wasn't here. So, I looked at him from afar. Didn't see too much tape on him in person. But Malik is an explosive player. I remember him coming out. He's an explosive player. When he gets the ball in his hands he can make things happen. He's a matchup problem. And then once he catches the ball, he can get north and south fast. So, Malik's a dynamic player, and I'm glad he's on our team.

Q: What did Tae Banks (cornerback Deonte Banks) show you this camp?

DENNARD WILSON: Consistency. Tae's a guy that has size. He can run. He showed tenacity. He was physical this offseason. He tried to do everything that his DB coaches were teaching him to do. He was technically sound. And we just hope it just carries over into the games when it matters the most.

Q: (Cornerback Greg) Newsome (II) is a player who had his ups and downs, I think, to begin his career. Probably somebody that other people had written off as a bust or whatever, he's not going to play. You guys seem to really like him. He seems like he's really starting to thrive in your scheme. What is it about what you ask those guys to do that seems to be bringing out the best in him?

DENNARD WILSON: Well, the first thing I love about him is he loves to compete. He's a glue guy. It's like the guys in the room, they gravitate to him. His attention to detail in terms of his technique, assignments and understanding where his help is, what he can do within the framework of the defense is top notch. I love just the person. And then he's a tough player. He comes to work every day. He tries to prove it every day. And he has a chip on his shoulder. He's trying to prove to not only himself, but to every other team around the National Football League that he was worthy of the first-round pick and he's worthy of a big contract.

Q: We've seen it from – probably the most publicized with the quarterbacks – where it takes some guys, whether it was (Buccaneers quarterback) Baker (Mayfield), whether it was (Jets quarterback) Geno (Smith), (Seahawks quarterback) Sam (Darnold), that it takes a couple of years, and then maybe on their second or third time it all clicks for them and they have immense success. Can that happen with corners as well?

DENNARD WILSON: I think so. Sometimes it's about timing. Sometimes it's just the maturation process. Sometimes it's about being in the right scheme for them as a player. So yeah, I think all players can do that. I think that, as long as they keep striving to be the best version of themself and they keep chasing it and keep chasing, they attack every day with a chip on the shoulder, you'll end up finding success.

Q: How do you feel about the state of your defensive tackle room, and what does (defensive lineman) C.J. (Okoye) add to that?

DENNARD WILSON: I like it. Obviously, we have (defensive lineman) DJ (Reader) and (defensive lineman) Shelby (Harris) who are vets. We went and got C.J. He's a big man, powerful. It's hard to move him. He can hold the point. So, he just brings that big body that we need to get vertical knockback to cover up our linebackers that can run.

Q: What do you expect from (inside linebacker) Arvell (Reese) this season? What's the key to his success in your mind?

DENNARD WILSON: Arvell is just going – all I want him to do is just be himself. I'm not putting a high expectation on him. The guy shows up every day. He does what he's asked to do. He runs and hits. He can catch the ball when it comes to him. He understands the defense. He's a quick learner. And I think that as he keeps playing football and keeps playing games, he's just going to get better and better. So, he'll stack days, and at the end of the day, we'll see where he's at. But he's just trying to be the best today, get better tomorrow and keep growing. And that's all we expect from him.

Wide Receiver Malik Nabers

Q: Malik, how excited is that opening game is finally here?

MALIK NABERS: Very excited, very excited. I'm happy it's finally football time.

Q: How do you feel right now? How's your body?

MALIK NABERS: Feeling good, feeling good.

Q: You're not going to tell us if you're going to play or start or any of that stuff?

MALIK NABERS: It's a little hard to say.

Q: Do you feel ready to play week one?

MALIK NABERS: I'm just focusing on today. I had a really good day at practice. It's moving well, trending in the right direction.

Q: Malik, it seems like from talking to (Head Coach) John (Harbaugh) that there's what the doctors say, there's what they think, but a lot of this is you, and whether you feel personally like you can go out there and play. At what point do you think you'll know the answer to that question?

MALIK NABERS: I'll let God tell me. I'll let God tell me, keeping my faith, and he'll let me know and I'll know when it's time.

Q: Will you ask him before kickoff on Sunday?

MALIK NABERS: I've been asking him a long time. We've got a plan. He's got the plan. I'm just following in his footsteps that he wants me to take and lead me in the right direction.

Q: What was that like taking some, obviously not being tackled to the ground, but taking some contact out here at practice?

MALIK NABERS: It's always good to get a little contact, but the game speed is different. Adrenaline is flowing, bullets are flying. You make split decisions on what you want to do with your body, and we'll see what happens.

Q: You were full yesterday, full today, probably going to be full tomorrow. Is there a world in which you could go full three days and then not play?

MALIK NABERS: That's a possibility. Like Harbs (Harbaugh) said, they're leaving the decision up on me. Whatever I feel and whatever I come to the conclusion of, we'll make that decision.

Q: Malik, what kind of hard work and focus did it take to get to this point to have an opportunity to rejoin your teammates?

MALIK NABERS: I mean, I grinded my (butt) off. Excuse my language, but I grinded, prayed hard, put in a consistent amount of work early nights, I mean early mornings, late nights. So, I put in the work, and I did everything that I can to be in this position right now and be able to make the decision to play or to not play. If I am out there, I put in a great amount of work to know that I'm able to play and I'm able to do exactly what I know I can do and will do. So, just having that faith and taking it over.

Q: How exciting is it to get to this point?

MALIK NABERS: Very exciting, very exciting.

Q: Malik, would you be able to play in this game if they said, hey, you're on a pitch count, you're ready to play, but 30 snaps? Would you be willing to do that, kind of like half one toe in, one toe out type thing?

MALIK NABERS: Yeah, like I said, if that's the case, then they're not letting the decision be on me. I would come to them and tell them I want to be on the pitch count. I wouldn't want anyone to tell me I'm going to be on the pitch count because at the end of the day, it's my career and it's my body. So, if a pitch count is in the conversation, then I will lead that conversation. That decision would be on me.

Q: Malik, you've taken contact. You've done the full practice now at this point. You started slow, you made it through West Virginia to now. What is left for you to do for yourself to let you know if you're good or not?

MALIK NABERS: Overall, just feel the confidence on going out there. My confidence is high, but you have different confidence with a game. You can go out and practice and be able to perform, make plays.

Plays are designed for you to make. But in the game, you never know what you're going to see. You never know what you're going to get. So, just having the confidence on 100 percent, I can go out there for sure and do what I want to do, do what I can do, and do what I will do. So, I just think that's going to, for me, it's having the confidence and making sure I'm not being rushed, making sure the decision is really mine.

Q: If you didn't think you were ready, would you really be able to not play in this game? I mean, there's got to be a part of you, too, that's – obviously, you want to go out, help the team win, not let the guys down. So, would you really be able to do that?

MALIK NABERS: The decision is the decision. Everyone has to understand that, at the end of the day, it's my career. It's my body. I know when I'm able to play, and I know when I'm able to do what I want to do. So, everybody's got to live with the decision on what I want to do with my career.

Q: Do you feel like this decision at this point is fully yours and you're not getting pressure to go one way or the other?

MALIK NABERS: Do I feel like that?

Q: Yeah.

MALIK NABERS: Yeah.

Q: (Quarterback Jaxson) Dart to Nabers, Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys, would that have a nice ring to it?

MALIK NABERS: That has a nice ring to it, for sure.

Q: How have you found that balance of just accepting that it's your decision? I guess coming to terms with your body and that desire to want to play as you've gone through this process, if that makes sense. Just coming to terms with accepting where your body's at versus wanting to play. How has the approach, process changed for you?

MALIK NABERS: Yeah, I mean, I've been wanting to play after I got hurt. So, it's just I've been wanting to play for so long now, but at the end of the day, I can't put my career at risk. I've got to take that into account. There's a lot of football that I still have left to play. So, making a split decision on when do I think I'm able to go out there and perform rather than just going out there, I think the coaches know that and I know that, that I have a lot more football to play. So, just being conscious on making sure I'm at the right standpoint to go on back out there.

Q: Malik, where would you say your confidence level, when you're on the field, is with the knee at this point? Are you confident that you can do everything that you want to on it, the feel of it when you're playing?

MALIK NABERS: Yeah, I'm very confident on my ability to move. So, I'm very confident. Like I said, I've put in great work, and I've tested it well. I've done tremendous testing. So, overall, I'm good. It's just – my confidence is there, it's just when do I want to put that on display?

Q: Will you confide in anyone, Malik – I know it's your decision – but family, friends, anyone like that that you'll look to, to help make the decision?

MALIK NABERS: They're not in this position. This position is mine. I'm in these shoes. I put on the cleats. I put on the helmet. So, I can't really ask someone else to make a decision for me. It's me. It's my life. It's my career.

Q: Is any part of this the fact that you guys want to keep the Cowboys guessing until 8:20 kickoff, or are you genuinely still deciding whether or not you should play this game?

MALIK NABERS: By the look on my face, you feel like that's what it is? I don't care who I play. I don't have (fear of anybody.) I'll let them know I'm playing if I'm playing. I'll let them not know if I'm playing. So, if you see me out there, you see me out there. If not, you don't.