Sottie Montgomery Camp Day 8 Presser

WR coach Scottie Montgomery took his turn at the podium this morning

Scotty Montgomery Press Event Transcript

• Opening Statement Good morning, guys. Feels like we're right back in the saddle for the regular season, but not quite yet. We got a lot of work to do until then. Um, you know, just this has been uh for us coming off of what we came off of last year. Um, accepting it, acknowledging it. Uh, it feels it feels really gritty out there right now. There's a lot of competition uh between groups, inside of the groups, offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball. Um, from a personnel standpoint, I think we've taken some huge steps and getting us to where we need to be. But all in all, man, it's been a good start to camp. We've had a lot of reps. It's been physical. Um, you know, the pads came on, so we're really excited to see that. And this week in general, the second week of camp is when we start to see the separation. Um, not just between, you know, skill, but it's also the mental separation that starts to happen. you some guys start not feeling quite as well as others and then now we can really see when the physicality comes into it who you know who are the guys that are going to separate themselves from schematical standpoint, physical standpoint, mental standpoint, and we're starting to see that unfold. So, it's been a great start to camp. We're really, really excited about where we are, but we know we have a long way to go to get to where we need to be.

• Can we uh can we start with Jah? Obviously, he got his extension. I don't know if it's officially signed yet, but he's back. who's back on the field yesterday. You were in the room with him, you know, for a couple years. Maybe you can speak to the progress he's made as a player, what this means, you know, to get him under contract just, you know, on a personal level to see him, you know, reap some rewards. Yeah. Not it's a really big deal. There is a movie and some of you guys are not going to get this. Um and some people will get this. Uh there's a movie and the movie original movie was Friday, but there was an uncle and his name was Elroy and he won the lottery, right? And his other bro brother Willie probably worked harder, did everything right, and was really upset with Elroy because he didn't get the lottery. You know, he didn't he didn't we didn't win it and Elroy won it and he moved to the suburbs and it was all great. So there's always this like if you don't earn something between brothers or family members, it's always like he's lucky he didn't this is one of those situations that since he you know he got here uh he earned it. So the feeling that we have you know for him uh is one of those feelings where we're happy for you know of course our organization, we're happy for the city, we're also happy for him. uh he has came in from day one and did everything we asked him to do. Uh he is what a pro should be having to be put in that position in the spotlight from day one. The expectations, you know, some people might have thought that uh he was drafted uh in haste uh and now uh him having to deal with that and listen to that. Sometimes they can have a real effect on the mental for those some of those guys. But with him, man, he is the exact opposite of Uncle Elroy. if I did have a little brother, I would be really happy to be a part of his family and I am now and to see where he's, you know, when he's been able to come from and just the protection, um, the route running. Uh, everybody know he's an unbelievable ball carrier. Um, but the mental part that goes in with all of it and handling his business as a professional. Uh, I hope a lot of kids, a lot of people are watching uh the way that he went about the process and going from year one to year two to year three and continually to getting better, but still having that same chip on his shoulder. Uh, coming from Georgia Tech to Alabama and to where we are now of not being quite good enough. And then now he has to, you know, remind himself and we have to do a good job as coaches to make sure that he understands that, you know, nothing's changed. you know, just, you know, his financial situation has changed, but the person what it's going to take uh for us to get to where we need to get to. None of that has changed. So, we got to make sure that, you know, he's aware of that. And we we're all aware of that. And it just feels really good that the right brother uh won and did things the right way and is getting rewarded for what he's been able to put together.

• He's going to be a bell cow for you this year. I mean, I think we all saw the workload. Do you have any concerns about, you know, the uptick in workload if there is one for him and what that means for his body and his ability to handle that? Yeah, we're always concerned, you know, physically for all of our players. You know, I got a concern about Saint going to hit safeties and so all of us have, you know, a lot on our plate, but that's up to us to manage it. You know, we'll do a good job of managing the way, you know, he touches it and a bail cow in some situations. You know, you hear bail cow in 2001, 2002, 2003, that means 40 carries. But when you got a guy like J, you can be a bail cow and touch it 10 times and have 200 total yards, and that's still a bell cow. Uh so there's different ways to look at that. We just need him to be impactful with and without the football. Uh we'll maintain everything else. Coach has a good plan uh for that. But, you know, he's earned it. He's earned the right to run out first. he's earned the right to um carry the ball in in in certain situations and then to be able to make plays in third down situations. So, uh if you do have a bell cow, a lot of people think about that just turn around and handing the ball to that player, but this is a player that can be a bail cow on third down without turning around and handing it to him. He can go play at the receiver position. He can play at the wing position. He can play at the back.

• So, there's a lot that he can do. several months into this and now kind of into the heart of fitting scheme to personnel. What have you enjoyed about working with with Drew? Wow. Just u the overall collective that you know none of us are as smart as all of us. Uh really he has done a really good job of coming in um and understanding that we are uh extremely talented. Uh we have uh whether that be on the player side or the coaching side. and he also understands his talents coming in. So, uh his ability to spread the ball out evenly to start this camp. Uh we've seen growth in certain players uh that we really we needed to see. And then we've seen guys that we really didn't know much about uh be able to flourish a little bit in this not only in the environment but also in this offense. And it has a lot to do with a lot of the rooms that we have and the way we put it together. But man, he does a fantastic job in the installation schedule when we're installing with our guys, making sure that everybody feels that they're a part of this install. Uh he is u a great communicator. Uh he can articulate an idea and make it, you know, to a point of where it may be 10 15 people in the room, but you got to reach all 15. You can't just reach one or two or three or four. uh and he's doing a really good job of reaching not only the players but the coaches and using the expertise of different coaches and just shining it up and he's doing a really good job.

• Any observations of Jared and Alman Ra um given the consistency given the relationship um about how they are basically the most consistent tandem you know five years running anything you know that stands out to you about how they keep doing it? Yeah, routine. Their routine. If you watch, you know, Omar at the uh if you're watching Saint in the beginning of practice, there's a routine that goes through it. Like his catching routine. If you watch JG, there's a throwing routine. If you watch us in RVAs, there is a throwing routine. These guys, their timing is correct, but they're also their off the- field relationship also gives us an opportunity uh that a lot of people don't have. uh the communication between the two of them is probably what makes them as consistent as they are. There's certain things and there's nonverbal communication that happen between them now because of where we are in the offense where they are in their relationship away from the building. There's things that I'm like who's who said that? Who who's doing that? And it's in the middle of the play and they're both on the same page. The ball's on the outside shoulder or slowing outside protecting from an interior player when we hadn't even talked about that. But they both know through experience and routine uh and making sure that they're doing everything exactly the same way. We're trying to make everything we do look exactly the same until it's not. And they do a good job of that.

• How remarkable is that to have the unspoken uh communication click so often? And I think it's very important and mostly, you know, when you come to slots, you know, when you get slot receivers and you get he can play inside and out. So, but when you're when he's in that slot role, the timing is so critical. Uh the detail is so critical. The spaces are so tight, you can't have a false step. You know, JG can't hit his back foot and hitch twice. If he needs to hitch once and get it out, that's what he has to do. And in that in that role, when we're in those situations, those criticals, they get it right. You know, outside receivers, there's a little bit of a release time. There's a little bit of things that can go on out there on the edge and he's reading, but when you're in a slot, man, the decisions have to be made so quick. There's so many options that go on with the route running that happens there. JG absolutely has to know everything that he's doing. And it is very remarkable for them to be able to complete like some of the passes that they're doing right now.

• Jameson is uh shown a big kind of leap in contestant catchability. Can you just give us your perspective on what kind of work went in behind the scenes to make that happen? Yeah, we left the season, man. We were um you know, our mind was made up. Uh we do have action plans that are given to each player. Uh he came to me, you know, and we talked about the different things. Uh you may hear me saying checkpoint uh on the field and checkpoint A, B, and C are just different checkpoints and where we're catching the football. We've really worked on the checkpoint that is A, which is way out in front. Uh once it gets to B, you know, that's when we start talking about the 50/50 and then once it gets all the way into the body, there is no extra chance to catch the ball. So, what we've tried to do is extend his checkpoint and you see him probably snatching a lot more balls right now out away from his body. But what it does is when you get to checkpoint A and you can see it, it makes some of those checkpoint C catches uh a little bit easier to make. Uh if you catch it late, now your eyes are working and your hands are working a little bit better. But we've really tried to work those checkpoints. Uh and then the other part that we've tried to make him understand is that listen, separation is one thing, but when we get in really tight areas, the separation is going to be reduced because we can't run away from everybody, right? We can't always be the quickest guy to get out of our breaks like some of the slots, but what we can do is get our checkpoints and our catches and our body positioning. He's really did a good job um not only since we started in the spring, but even before of changing some of his body positions and closing his back shoulder on some catches, maybe pushing back on receivers down the field throws in 23 and 24. One of the things I watched about him is that once his, you know, once his speed and, you know, momentum got moving, he was very, we didn't get enough PIs because we were running through the catch instead of jumping back into the catch. And now with his body being stronger and he's done a good job physically, he's able to create a little bit more contact and the catch or at least contact to where we will get hopefully a few more PIs than we've received in the last um couple years. And I'm going to let that go.

• Hey Scotty, Tesla's action plan and where do you see his growth? Yeah, so you know, we're really still working. Uh there's no doubt about that. Separation was one of the deals. But when some people hear separation, they think that it's all quickness and movement. Yes, that's a part of it. But when you're 6'3, 200, whatever pounds, the other part that you're able to separate on is the physicality and route running. So now we've tried to build both of those together so that his change up is one thing one day and then his fast ball is another day. So if we can continue to build that, uh his catch points are crazy though. He makes plays with the ball. Now, as the number three where he's working in this role to try to become this great player in that three role, one of the things he has to understand is we're going to see a lot of 77 double, excuse me. We're going to see a lot of double uh J Mo, double Saint or double LaPorta, double Gibby. And now you're going to be on a three-um corner uh third corner and you have to create separation whether that be with size or whether that be with quickness. So, a lot of those situations are going to happen for him. We're looking forward to see where he's going to go.

• Scott, you've been on the staff for a few years now, but last year it was your first one taking over the wide receivers. Have familiarity with those guys, but how much stronger would you say the bond is between you and the guys in that room now heading into this season? Oh, man. You know, I I think that, you know, when I first came into the room, I had a great relationship with him, uh, from a football standpoint. Now, it's personal, right? Now, it's, you know, I know the children. I know the mothers, I know uh the fiances, I know a lot of the other people that are connected to it. So, it makes a big deal. Uh we also, you know, had a chance to go play golf. So, there's things in there that, you know, when you're building those relationships and those just the competitive nature that you get to see from different guys. Saint hates to lose, okay? He absolutely hates to lose. So, all these things that you get to see when we go into the meeting room, we're looking at each other eye to eye a little bit different. They know that I have absolutely their best uh professional interest, which they knew that last year. Now they know that I also have their best personal interest. So, it is it has been it's been a great deal. I'm glad that I'm in a room. I I do miss our backs. Um you know, the ones that are still, you know, here that I had the ability to coach. So, you know, that's always tough, but the personal part of it has been became really special this off season for me with the W outs.

• Jahmyr, back to Jahmyr real fast. you've had a front row seat to his development here and you've played a big part in it yourself on the field. Where have you seen his game grow the most since he entered the NFL in 2023? Okay, so let me let me back up. Let me attack something that you said. I have seen his development, and I've been a major part of it. I don't know that part to be true. I will say his genetics um his family um if you give me a player like that, I can get that player better, right? So that's what happened with that. But what I've really seen in him, his first year coming in, you have to realize when you're in college football, um, protections are probably the least of worries in college football. You got spacing, right? You if you pressure guys in college with the hashes and different things, you can get balls out hot. You don't want to let him get in space. Well, in this league, you got backers that can actually cover. You got safeties that can actually cover the speed type. So, when you add the protection piece into it, um it's critical. Like we came into I believe the first um uh training camp practice, I think we were between 12 and 14 protections. Um for a back 12 to 14 protections and understanding all the rules, whether it's plus one, minus one, plus two on the front side. I'm on the back side. I got four and five. Uh with this the front side safety, backside safety. Usually for backs that comes in year two, three when they get it all. He was pretty good at that in year one. Now we're in year three, year four. The installation for him. He's just looking at it like, "Oh, okay. I got it." No, no, no. I'm front side of this. Oh, no. I'm back coach. And he's coaching the other players finally, right? He We all looked at him like he's still I don't even know. He's Wait, he's 23 years old. What is he right now? 22 23 somewhere in there. He's young. 24. Um that's crazy. He just I'm just thinking about that now. He's coaching our guys that a lot of them are older than him. I mean, he's in the room with some guys that are older than him that haven't played quite as much. So, I think that's the part that we're really, really excited about his growth as a leader. So, now it's time for him to take that step that we saw Saint take a few years back. Um, you know, you know, we've seen Jack Campbell take that step defensively. Now it's time for us to see that next step of leadership which we believe that he can

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