Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel's press conference on December 24, 2025.
Q: Of course we saw WR Theo Wease Jr. last week. Is there anyone else on the practice squad that's really made an impression on the coaches that you're giving thought to giving time to in the next couple of weeks?
"Well I think we've had the fortune of having both younger and a little more experienced players on the practice squad. I really emphasize the players that are really outfitted to get the team prepared. You know I have practice squad players of the week and there's several guys that are up for consideration, but I'm really looking forward to this practice. Coach (Jon) Embree spoke to the team yesterday about really taking advantage of every opportunity and how special each practice is, and how many we have left. I wouldn't be surprised if there was another, or two. But you'll probably be getting wind of that when you see the camouflage jerseys on the Friday practice for the practice squad players of the week and how they're trending. There's some battles on the practice field and that means we have a competitive practice squad where we have some extra roster possibilities if they choose to seize the opportunity."
Q: I think a lot of fans and people in this room were intrigues by what LB Derrick McClendon showed in August. Is he under consideration and what about his skillset intrigues you?
"Absolutely. I think it's his relentless commitment to the task at hand. He's always developing his game; he got a lot more comfortable with his hand in the ground. This past offseason you saw some productivity, relentless motor and he doesn't waste a day on this team. He's one of the guys that we rely upon to bring the juice; he always delivers. So yes, he would be in that pocket of consideration for sure."
Q: You guys are facing two more elite receivers on Sunday, Buccaneers WR Mike Evans and WR Emeka Egbuka. Obviously they are different than Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase and WR Tee Higgins, but what were some things that worked well on last Sunday that you can take into this Sunday?
"One of the things that people shortchange with receivers, especially a combination of talented receivers or a good receiving core, is how the team's success defensively against those threats is across the board in all three levels. When you're playing good receivers you have to, at times, be able to insulate the field which means your front seven has to have some really good gap integrity, your backers have to be able to two gap, you have to be able to stop the run in those shells or play coverage and get home rushing the passer with four. To me I think the things that worked well is when we got hands on and rerouted when it was our responsibility to and then rushed with conviction and either got home or moved a guy off the spot. Then run plays that you're underneath four yards with a two-shell defense, those are important to execute on when you utilize them, and then you can keep them off balance by changing your timing of blitz calls, single safety zone call, all of the different elements that make our defense go. Our strength is being strong in a numerous amount of concepts. Whether it's rush patterns of coverage, they all play together but it takes really a unit of defense so that you can execute both when your numbers are strong, and it's a run and it's an eight-man front or they are light. You have to execute so you can get those called and defend against a strength of theirs for sure."
Q: What do you want to see from QB Quinn Ewers' second week getting reps given that now there is a previous week's sample of it, of his process and that there's a game's worth of film on it?
"I want to see growth and that comes in a numerous amount of ways. I saw some yesterday with how he was quarterbacking the group. He took a step forward in terms of his confidence, his disposition. Remember, it comes down to a simple thing where you're in a huddle with a bunch of guys and you're calling a play and you can draw belief into the play by how you communicate to your teammates, how you're executing the motions and doing all those things. I thought he was good, but I saw a step forward and I want to see that in the game. Then it's just the continued progression of his command of the position. I thought he played relaxed. He was seeing the defense and making decisions – not necessarily you're worried about a rookie guessing and he didn't guess. He took advantage of pockets when appropriate and I want to see a continuation of that but growth in some of the decisions he makes as well. There was one in particular where whether it was too aggressive of a play call or too aggressive of a decision, that interception that he threw when he was targeting (Jaylen) Waddle, you want to see learned information from that experience and still want to see him rip aggressive plays like he did in other times in the game. The growth is the biggest thing. You want that to be his least polished entry into a football game, it being his first, and just excited to see him build confidence and play his game as he got comfortable pretty quick in his first one."
Q: Senior Passing Game Coordinator Bobby Slowik mentioned that QB Tua Tagovailoa is exceptional at the command of the huddle of the offense, the pre-snap stuff. Obviously it's never going to be perfect for a first-time starter. How close do you feel QB Quinn Ewers was in that regard?
"I was pleasantly surprised in that I've learned over the years that don't have your expectations shaped directly by practice and in that particular regard. He was doing a very good job getting everyone aligned, going play to play and having command, but you expect kind of a downshift in the game, and I didn't see that. That speaks to him being a natural at the position, being ready. That's one of the more impressive parts of his outing, was that it was very much like it was on the practice field which is the way you play the position well."
Q: I know everything is about winning these last two games. That's the priority. If you can get evaluations of younger guys that's kind of an extra bonus. With OL Andrew Meyer, was the play in August enough that it would intrigue you to maybe give him time the next couple of weeks or do you want to just finish the year out, health provided, with this group of offensive line starters?
"I think all the decisions that we made, it wasn't like we were just going into the bucket and grabbing a young guy and saying, 'let's shoot our shot.' It was more about the young guys developing and being ready for the opportunity. Young guys that we thought highly enough of to invest because if you have a young player on your practice squad from the beginning of the year that and he's not ready by the end of the season, you just have an opportunity cost with somebody else that could have been. So I think it's more the guys that we believed in have haven't taken the year off. They've really diligently worked and Andrew Meyer I think has a promising – he put together some impressive things in the preseason – and he is deserving of playing in the National Football League and if the opportunity presents itself by way of injury, I'm going to be confident in his play based upon just coaching him over time. But realistically, every player, these games are so, so finite and I say it time and time again, but I really mean it – it is a National Football League game. There's paid tickets, it's on your local broadcast and these games, as you end the season, are the lasting impression that you have with your team, with the organization and with the 31 other teams, so the best players, I play, and as the season progresses, who the best players are sometimes change. Then when you can identify that because of the growth of the (players), you make the move. You're hoping for competitive practices, competition and when you have competition and people grow in their game, they're rewarded with doing right by the team which is playing the best players."
Q: We've seen his work at center – his upside in your mind as a guard? Does he have the skillset to be an effective NFL guard down the road, do you think?
"I think he's an effective blocker. I think his strength with his skillset and his quickness – there's a center art of you're the closest to the ball and that you have it, so then contact happens the fastest a lot of times especially when you're covered with a nose and the hand-to-hand combat and who can get one's hand on the other guy's chest is real. That quickness that he possesses is a skill that for centers you can really take advantage of and for teams you can set the line of scrimmage in run and pass in the most vulnerable gap which is the A gap. It's not because of shortcomings; it's more because of skillset particular to the center position. I think his future is strongest there, but he'll have the versatility to play the inside three for sure but really pointing to center."
Q: I wanted to ask you about the development of two young players – TE Greg Dulcich and DT Zeek Biggers – what did they do in particular, obviously there was a need with the tight end, but what did they do in particular to elevate their status on the team and then playing time more periodicly?
"It's almost like this is scripted, but – they both were multiple nominations – but they won practice squad player of the week early in the season. How do you do that? You're competing, giving a look of the opponent but really stressing out the opposite side. The old fashioned way, they showed up and made some plays on scout team and then we started getting them in the reps of the big boys and once that success continued in those phases, then it was just a natural execution of, hey, we're going to have you up and then you keep giving guys opportunities and they continue to make plays. Zeek (Biggers), him and the young guys, but he had some of his best play in that ugly fourth quarter last game. It was those types of things he was doing in practice where he was trying to make a place for himself on the team. I think Greg (Dulcich) is an unassuming guy who didn't come here with notoriety, but it didn't take long and we were kind of light – there was an opportunity for him based on some injuries and I think it was that Baltimore game that he got a couple opps and took advantage of them like it was backyard football or Pee Wee or high school. You could tell the game wasn't too big for him so just kept giving opportunities. There was a lot of guys that were trying to learn his last name and pronounce it right during the season. Fortunately, he's the lone shareholder of the name 'Greg' so everybody on the team knows Greg. I'm not sure where the percentage is for how to pronounce 'Greg D' but Greg is just fine. He's made a name for himself and can stand on the first name in that locker room."
Q: And the flipside of that conversation, I think it was Baltimore you gave WR Tahj Washington some opportunities, some plays. He fumbles his first catch, we kind of haven't seen him since. How does a player work their way out of that hole?
"What's interesting is not just – I don't really have dog houses. Overtime, I've also learned, too, there's ebbs and flows early in a young player's career and my belief has never wavered in him. His opportunity came early in a big time moment and a lot of times a player gets better from that and with the confidence of his teammates that think, 'All right so we're going to let you sit and watch for a game or two, see how long that plays out but you'll get your opportunity again and be ready.' In that process, you gain confidence from all of your teammates including the quarterback, on who that player is and their capability while they work in the shadows. I think Tahj has responded very well behind the scenes and as a result, he'll get his opportunity if not this game then probably the next because he has been toeing the line to be active. That's because how do you respond to things that happened poorly, the same way you need guys to respond when things happen good, is you need them to continue to work to chase growth. In this league it makes a man out of you, and he's continued to chase growth so as a result I know his teammates are confident in him and he'll get his opportunity again if not this week the next."
Q: Will you have a chance on Wednesday or Friday or whenever to visit with QB Quinn Ewers and talk about which plays he feels most confident in? Is that something that you think?
"That's a steady process that you go through the week, so his first start you're kind of taking educated guesses based upon meetings through the whole year. Every night before the game, I meet with the quarterbacks and go through the top third down calls and we talk about first and second down calls, so I get a vibe of the types of plays players like and then I have eyes, so I watch them execute certain things at a high percentage. That occurs and then he was up here on our game plan day meeting with (Senior Pass Game Coordinator) Bobby Slowik and Coach Bevell (Quarterbacks/Pass Game Coordinator Darrell Bevell) talking about last week's game, they showed him some stuff and it's just ongoing communication, because ultimately you want plays that are good against how they defend. There's a lot of plays that are good, but you can kind of focus in on what you actually want to do if you catch wind of a hair of conviction or confidence in something. I think this game plan was a lot easier than last in terms of – the way I like to do it is feature people, their skill sets and where they are confident because you want convicted players playing convicted. I think there was a lot of information gained in that first week, so we're hoping to create more confidence and conviction in play, and one of the ways is communicating through plays which it doesn't stop. We just continually talk about it all week."
Q: Pro Bowl rosters were announced yesterday. What are your thoughts on RB De'Von Achane getting honored which I'm sure you believe is well-deserved and maybe some of the snubs like a lot of us feel OL Aaron Brewer and LB Jordyn Brooks are?
"A lot of you guys feel that? Agreed. 'Von,' (De'Von Achane) I knew that it was coming, it was not if but when. Primary ball carriers and people that are fantasy football favorites, generally, they don't miss his level of play. I think it's very, very deserving and I know an honor to him but not a surprise of expectation. He's always visualized himself in that regard so I think his production is definitely – he's highlighted but if you asked him, it wouldn't take him but a millisecond to talk about Aaron Brewer. You want to talk about a guy that's deserving of an honor like that? I've coached in this system for a long time and we're able to do things with him as a blocker that other teams, nor have I, been able to do. He's in space, a lot of times a primary blocker for 'Von.' I'm sure he'll get the votes he was missing, along with Jordyn Brooks, they'll probably both get the votes they're missing after the season when coaches and scouts are combing the tapes of the whole season and they see a little bit more of what they've done. Jordyn Brooks has been the leading tackler since like Week 4 in the National Football League. We rely a ton on him and he makes plays in the run and pass game. He's a difference maker and definitely played at a Pro Bowl level. It was disappointing to hear that they didn't get what you think they are deserving of, but you also understand as a team, you need to have more success for those guys to get glorified a lot of times. We'll keep pushing and utilizing that competitive venom."
Q: The Bucs are a team very much still in the hunt. How much do you think playing spoiler can be a motivating factor?
"What I like about them being in the hunt is that you know what that means for what type of team. The Bucs are going to be very on it, it's going to be important to them. From a competitive standpoint, that's what our team needs to go against and beat, is somebody that needs the win. From our vantage point, I like the competition of it. As far as their journey and trying to play spoiler, I'm more of we need to finish the season. Albeit whatever expectations weren't met for each and every coach and player, that's erroneous. You have to be able to handle a lot of situations in the National Football League, and as football players and coach, I want to see the best form of our football in these last two weeks. That's what I've been focusing on, getting our football clean and competitive and convicted because we owe it to ourselves regardless of expectations met or not to finish off and leave a lasting impression the appropriate way, so that's what we're focused on."
