May 15, 2025 • 11 mins
Dave Canales speaks with the media following the release of the 2025 NFL schedule.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ho pun for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Around this time last year, when the schedule came out,
you mentioned that you have to earn those prime time
games because there wasn't any on the schedule last year.
You look at the schedule for this coming year and
you do have a prime time game in Monday night football.
What do you think that says about this team where
you are now, maybe where you were a year ago.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, I just I just love the opportunities to be
able to play those types of games. You know, there's
a couple of extra cameras, you know, and you get
to play under the lights, playing against a great opponent,
and those are the types of games that we need,
you know, to become who we are and the challenges
to go on the road, you know, go across the
country and uh, you know, really feel the high stakes games,
(00:43):
you know, as we build this and we compete to
win the division. You know, you the hope is that
we are working ourselves into that that the mentality of
like this is another game. We go about our preparation
and our work the same way so that we can
go out there and just play our best.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And then a couple of the guys have joked the
past few weeks that you know, they really just wanted
to see where that Green Bay game lands to make
sure it wasn't in December. What what is your initial
takeaways when you look at a schedule in May, Like,
what are you looking for?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
For me?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Honestly, I don't look really far out. I want to
know where in the bye week is so we can
kind of you know, plan out and just kind of
think about when it hits. You know, this this year
and this season, you know, coming with uh having the
bye week and then four games left, you know, I
think is a really cool opportunity for us to kind
of see where we're at, regroup and finish. You know,
if you if you can kind of break up the
season when it was sixteen games, you could just talk
(01:35):
about it in terms of quarters. You have your first quarter,
second quarter, you got the halfway point, you know, your
third quarter, your fourth quarter finish, you know. So I
love that the by comes and then you got those
four games to finish, you know, and we always talk
about that with our mentality. So just looking at that,
you know, trying to figure out, you know, the where
the divisional games fall in, you know, right in the
(01:56):
middle of there, we have about a stretch of six
non division games row, and that just allows us to
kind of see some different teams work on our craft,
you know, see different play styles defensively and offensively. You know,
that'll all be good learning lessons as we go.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Awesome, thank you, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Hey Dave, good afternoon. So Mike, Hey, you guys start
off on the road three of your first four games,
and then, as you mentioned, have the late by I
think onlookers would naturally have like a negative inclination to
all that. What was your takeaway when you saw, you know,
(02:37):
how the season started, but also the way your season ended.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I mean, I just always look at road games as
an opportunity for us to grow. I think the thing
that people miss that happens when you do travel is
you become closer as a team. You know, you're all
in the hotel. We're not going to our our own beds,
you know at night, kind of leading into the game,
and so you travel together, You're the hotel together, the meetings,
(03:02):
the in betweens, guys will go find dinner, you know,
right before our night meetings. And so you know, just
I've always seen those opportunities as a chance for us
to bond and kind of grow closer. The fact that
it happens early in the season is a good thing.
You know, as we figure out who we are, we're
gonna have the core of what we're doing from an
x's and O standpoint, but we're gonna see our team emerge,
you know, and to go and play in somebody else's stadium.
(03:24):
You know, we talked to the guys like, hey, where
all we got? Where all we need? This is our
group right here, and you got to stay together. The
energy has to come from our bench for the guys
playing and to support each other that way, you know.
And then of course, on the flip side of it
is you got a lot of road games early on.
That means that we're going to have more home games
as the as the season goes on, and that's where
(03:45):
we can you know, bring our show home and and
really show who we are to our fan base and
and get them excited about what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
You brought up the last four games. Obviously you've got
a lot of connections to your last three games, and
you know, you had kind of the highs and lows
with the Falcons and the Buccaneers throughout with the NFC
battles or their specific matchups that you kind of say, Wow,
that's kind of cool. This is gonna be a moment
I'm gonna remember.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I honestly, I love ever game and so I just
think there's such great, you know, teachable moments from each game.
So and my message to the team, which is going
to be consistent, is like, no game is bigger than
the other one, and if we can make them all
big games, they all matter. This is all gonna create
our team. These are all the best opportunities that we have,
(04:34):
you know, as a team and then individually as players,
Like this is the best game you have, This is
the greatest practice that you have. So you know, to
like I'm talking about the preseason games that way, and
the opportunity to figure out who's gonna make our team,
you know, who's who are the guys that are gonna
emerge and make plays for us that we can count on.
So hopefully I can create high stakes for all the games.
(04:54):
And you know, just but again, I love seeing the teams.
I love seeing Buffalo, you know, coming in here, and
I love seeing the teams that have played really well
so that we can see who we are against the best,
you know, and it's certainly end of the season, you know,
when when it comes down to crunch time, you know,
playing the Bucks a couple of times right there, the
quality controlling me kind of sees that and goes, okay, well,
(05:16):
I won't have a lot to break down when we
play them the next time, you know, And you know,
as a play caller, it's like, shoot, what plays didn't
we call in the first one? Start with those and
then we'll add a couple more. So it does help
the preparation in that regard, but it does make a
challenging because you know that they have the same advantage
on the other side when you play each other that
closely together.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Thanks Mike, all right, we will go to David followed
by Jeff.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Hey coach. One of the struggles of this organization the
last six or so years has been struggling coming out
of the gate. I think only one year they've had
guys have had a winning record at you know, after
six or seven games. How important just looking at the schedule,
the way it's set up based with the road games
(06:03):
that Mike was talking about, how important is for you
guys would get out of the gate fast. This year
versus what's happened in the past.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
You're gonna hate this answer. Every game is important, you know.
We're gonna approach that first one just like we will
the rest of them, you know, And uh, I wasn't
here for the history of it. This is a new team.
Every year is a different team. Guys are different, you know,
the guys that were rookies last year, they come in
with a different mindset into this offseason.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So I really don't know what our team is, who
our team is, you know, but we have an opportunity,
you know, especially early on, to kind of figure that out,
you know, some on the road. And so for me,
you know, it's I don't try to make any assumptions.
I am open to as far as we want to
take this thing. It's gonna take everybody. It's gonna take
all the players, the belief in in our style, the
belief in our systems, and uh, just to kind of
(06:50):
build off of the foundation that's been set about how
we play football and the selection of plays, you know,
which we call our core. So we're gonna lean on that.
We're gonna we're gonna take every game one at a time,
and we certainly are going to be excited to you know,
go down to Jacksonville and and to see what we
have then. But you know, it's it's it's a long
way from now, and you know, of course our focus
right now is to just like stat great practices knowing.
(07:14):
But I will say this though, David, it does when
the schedule does come out, there is an excitement. There
is an anticipation that makes it more real and you
start to kind of, you know, set your sights on
like how the season builds and all that. So I'll
I'll definitely admit that part of it, you know, but
it's my job, you know, to to make every day
important and uh, and we'll certainly approach that early.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
On, right I kind of expected that, answered I. But
I but when we look at the schedule, we'll see
a stretch of games like, Wow, that's a real tough
stretch of games. What jumped out at you is, hey,
this is a real tough stretch of games.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I don't look I look at things as opportunity, you know,
And so I thought, to me what stood out was
six non division games in a row and to be
able to see some different opponents, you know, to see
you know, there's new coordinators around the league, you know,
to get familiar with different styles of defense and the
things that will be thrown at us from divisions that
we're not really familiar with, you know, So I love
(08:08):
I look at those things. Is those are kind of
like the teaching points of like while they try to
attack us with this a different way, or you know,
to kind of take those learning lessons and stack those
things as we kind of settle into seeing a lot
of divisional opponents, you know, after that six game stretch,
you know, to finish. So I just kind of look
at what are the opportunities that I have as the
(08:28):
head coach to be able to present to the guys
as as challenges and opportunities for growth.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Thanks, yep, heyda. Good to see Charlotte has a Bowl
game obviously every year. Is you and any conversations like
is it you're understanding you guys might have to go
on the road every year in week eighteen or where
does where does that stand? Hey?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
To me? I know just kind of historically, like if
you want to be a great team, you got to
be able to win on the road. That's certainly in
the regular scene in setting yourself up, but then also
in the postseason, you know you're gonna have to travel,
you know. So you know, we ended up with Green
Bay early in November. You know, the weather can go
either way, right, but if it was December and you're
having to deal with the weather and elements like you
(09:16):
you're faced with those challenges at times, you know, and
you may have to go somewhere in whatever round, you
may have to go play in the cold, you know.
And so I just kind of look at all of
these things as championship opportunities that prepare us for the
challenges that may come up, you know. So you know,
that was kind of just one of the one of
the games that I was looking at is like, you know,
the not necessarily like worrying about where that is, but
(09:39):
seeing what challenge it might present that will teach us
something about how to play, how to handle weather, how
to do these different things. And and for the whole
organization of course, you know, you know, uh Don Toner,
you know, and getting all the equipment ready for a
cold game and all that stuff. So all those things
are exciting to me. It's all part of the league
and part of you know, building a team.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And two more quick things started to Brown it's going
to be your only joint practice, and then what's spare
the Brown's timeline?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, Derek, we're just kind of weak to week, you know,
just seeing where he's at with his you know, confidence level,
conditioning level and all that, and so we'll kind of
just play that by ear. We have on the books
right now. We do plan on practicing with the Browns
before that first game, and uh, you know we've uh
Kevin Stefanski and I have you know, worked back and
forth kind of sending each other practice plans to make
(10:29):
sure that it's an appropriate practice for where we're at
in training camp in terms of what we can manage
and uh, the load that we can handle, you know.
And then you know, we're reaching out to Houston and
Pittsburgh as well to kind of see, you know, what
the level of interest for those guys are. Think about
you know, having a joint practice with Houston in that heat,
you know, and getting the acclamation. It'll be hot here,
you know, but I know I was in Tampa for
(10:51):
a year. I've heard Houston is very similar. So just
being able to get some acclamation again just another great
way to just challenge the guys to maintain folks. It's
in a different type of environment, so we're open to,
you know, those things with the with the Texans and
the stealers.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Mhmm
Ho pun for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Around this time last year, when the schedule came out,
you mentioned that you have to earn those prime time
games because there wasn't any on the schedule last year.
You look at the schedule for this coming year and
you do have a prime time game in Monday night football.
What do you think that says about this team where
you are now, maybe where you were a year ago.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, I just I just love the opportunities to be
able to play those types of games. You know, there's
a couple of extra cameras, you know, and you get
to play under the lights, playing against a great opponent,
and those are the types of games that we need,
you know, to become who we are and the challenges
to go on the road, you know, go across the
country and uh, you know, really feel the high stakes games,
(00:43):
you know, as we build this and we compete to
win the division. You know, you the hope is that
we are working ourselves into that that the mentality of
like this is another game. We go about our preparation
and our work the same way so that we can
go out there and just play our best.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And then a couple of the guys have joked the
past few weeks that you know, they really just wanted
to see where that Green Bay game lands to make
sure it wasn't in December. What what is your initial
takeaways when you look at a schedule in May, Like,
what are you looking for?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
For me?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Honestly, I don't look really far out. I want to
know where in the bye week is so we can
kind of you know, plan out and just kind of
think about when it hits. You know, this this year
and this season, you know, coming with uh having the
bye week and then four games left, you know, I
think is a really cool opportunity for us to kind
of see where we're at, regroup and finish. You know,
if you if you can kind of break up the
season when it was sixteen games, you could just talk
(01:35):
about it in terms of quarters. You have your first quarter,
second quarter, you got the halfway point, you know, your
third quarter, your fourth quarter finish, you know. So I
love that the by comes and then you got those
four games to finish, you know, and we always talk
about that with our mentality. So just looking at that,
you know, trying to figure out, you know, the where
the divisional games fall in, you know, right in the
(01:56):
middle of there, we have about a stretch of six
non division games row, and that just allows us to
kind of see some different teams work on our craft,
you know, see different play styles defensively and offensively. You know,
that'll all be good learning lessons as we go.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Awesome, thank you, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Hey Dave, good afternoon. So Mike, Hey, you guys start
off on the road three of your first four games,
and then, as you mentioned, have the late by I
think onlookers would naturally have like a negative inclination to
all that. What was your takeaway when you saw, you know,
(02:37):
how the season started, but also the way your season ended.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I mean, I just always look at road games as
an opportunity for us to grow. I think the thing
that people miss that happens when you do travel is
you become closer as a team. You know, you're all
in the hotel. We're not going to our our own beds,
you know at night, kind of leading into the game,
and so you travel together, You're the hotel together, the meetings,
(03:02):
the in betweens, guys will go find dinner, you know,
right before our night meetings. And so you know, just
I've always seen those opportunities as a chance for us
to bond and kind of grow closer. The fact that
it happens early in the season is a good thing.
You know, as we figure out who we are, we're
gonna have the core of what we're doing from an
x's and O standpoint, but we're gonna see our team emerge,
you know, and to go and play in somebody else's stadium.
(03:24):
You know, we talked to the guys like, hey, where
all we got? Where all we need? This is our
group right here, and you got to stay together. The
energy has to come from our bench for the guys
playing and to support each other that way, you know.
And then of course, on the flip side of it
is you got a lot of road games early on.
That means that we're going to have more home games
as the as the season goes on, and that's where
(03:45):
we can you know, bring our show home and and
really show who we are to our fan base and
and get them excited about what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
You brought up the last four games. Obviously you've got
a lot of connections to your last three games, and
you know, you had kind of the highs and lows
with the Falcons and the Buccaneers throughout with the NFC
battles or their specific matchups that you kind of say, Wow,
that's kind of cool. This is gonna be a moment
I'm gonna remember.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I honestly, I love ever game and so I just
think there's such great, you know, teachable moments from each game.
So and my message to the team, which is going
to be consistent, is like, no game is bigger than
the other one, and if we can make them all
big games, they all matter. This is all gonna create
our team. These are all the best opportunities that we have,
(04:34):
you know, as a team and then individually as players,
Like this is the best game you have, This is
the greatest practice that you have. So you know, to
like I'm talking about the preseason games that way, and
the opportunity to figure out who's gonna make our team,
you know, who's who are the guys that are gonna
emerge and make plays for us that we can count on.
So hopefully I can create high stakes for all the games.
(04:54):
And you know, just but again, I love seeing the teams.
I love seeing Buffalo, you know, coming in here, and
I love seeing the teams that have played really well
so that we can see who we are against the best,
you know, and it's certainly end of the season, you know,
when when it comes down to crunch time, you know,
playing the Bucks a couple of times right there, the
quality controlling me kind of sees that and goes, okay, well,
(05:16):
I won't have a lot to break down when we
play them the next time, you know, And you know,
as a play caller, it's like, shoot, what plays didn't
we call in the first one? Start with those and
then we'll add a couple more. So it does help
the preparation in that regard, but it does make a
challenging because you know that they have the same advantage
on the other side when you play each other that
closely together.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Thanks Mike, all right, we will go to David followed
by Jeff.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Hey coach. One of the struggles of this organization the
last six or so years has been struggling coming out
of the gate. I think only one year they've had
guys have had a winning record at you know, after
six or seven games. How important just looking at the schedule,
the way it's set up based with the road games
(06:03):
that Mike was talking about, how important is for you
guys would get out of the gate fast. This year
versus what's happened in the past.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
You're gonna hate this answer. Every game is important, you know.
We're gonna approach that first one just like we will
the rest of them, you know, And uh, I wasn't
here for the history of it. This is a new team.
Every year is a different team. Guys are different, you know,
the guys that were rookies last year, they come in
with a different mindset into this offseason.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So I really don't know what our team is, who
our team is, you know, but we have an opportunity,
you know, especially early on, to kind of figure that out,
you know, some on the road. And so for me,
you know, it's I don't try to make any assumptions.
I am open to as far as we want to
take this thing. It's gonna take everybody. It's gonna take
all the players, the belief in in our style, the
belief in our systems, and uh, just to kind of
(06:50):
build off of the foundation that's been set about how
we play football and the selection of plays, you know,
which we call our core. So we're gonna lean on that.
We're gonna we're gonna take every game one at a time,
and we certainly are going to be excited to you know,
go down to Jacksonville and and to see what we
have then. But you know, it's it's it's a long
way from now, and you know, of course our focus
right now is to just like stat great practices knowing.
(07:14):
But I will say this though, David, it does when
the schedule does come out, there is an excitement. There
is an anticipation that makes it more real and you
start to kind of, you know, set your sights on
like how the season builds and all that. So I'll
I'll definitely admit that part of it, you know, but
it's my job, you know, to to make every day
important and uh, and we'll certainly approach that early.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
On, right I kind of expected that, answered I. But
I but when we look at the schedule, we'll see
a stretch of games like, Wow, that's a real tough
stretch of games. What jumped out at you is, hey,
this is a real tough stretch of games.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I don't look I look at things as opportunity, you know,
And so I thought, to me what stood out was
six non division games in a row and to be
able to see some different opponents, you know, to see
you know, there's new coordinators around the league, you know,
to get familiar with different styles of defense and the
things that will be thrown at us from divisions that
we're not really familiar with, you know, So I love
(08:08):
I look at those things. Is those are kind of
like the teaching points of like while they try to
attack us with this a different way, or you know,
to kind of take those learning lessons and stack those
things as we kind of settle into seeing a lot
of divisional opponents, you know, after that six game stretch,
you know, to finish. So I just kind of look
at what are the opportunities that I have as the
(08:28):
head coach to be able to present to the guys
as as challenges and opportunities for growth.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Thanks, yep, heyda. Good to see Charlotte has a Bowl
game obviously every year. Is you and any conversations like
is it you're understanding you guys might have to go
on the road every year in week eighteen or where
does where does that stand? Hey?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
To me? I know just kind of historically, like if
you want to be a great team, you got to
be able to win on the road. That's certainly in
the regular scene in setting yourself up, but then also
in the postseason, you know you're gonna have to travel,
you know. So you know, we ended up with Green
Bay early in November. You know, the weather can go
either way, right, but if it was December and you're
having to deal with the weather and elements like you
(09:16):
you're faced with those challenges at times, you know, and
you may have to go somewhere in whatever round, you
may have to go play in the cold, you know.
And so I just kind of look at all of
these things as championship opportunities that prepare us for the
challenges that may come up, you know. So you know,
that was kind of just one of the one of
the games that I was looking at is like, you know,
the not necessarily like worrying about where that is, but
(09:39):
seeing what challenge it might present that will teach us
something about how to play, how to handle weather, how
to do these different things. And and for the whole
organization of course, you know, you know, uh Don Toner,
you know, and getting all the equipment ready for a
cold game and all that stuff. So all those things
are exciting to me. It's all part of the league
and part of you know, building a team.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And two more quick things started to Brown it's going
to be your only joint practice, and then what's spare
the Brown's timeline?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, Derek, we're just kind of weak to week, you know,
just seeing where he's at with his you know, confidence level,
conditioning level and all that, and so we'll kind of
just play that by ear. We have on the books
right now. We do plan on practicing with the Browns
before that first game, and uh, you know we've uh
Kevin Stefanski and I have you know, worked back and
forth kind of sending each other practice plans to make
(10:29):
sure that it's an appropriate practice for where we're at
in training camp in terms of what we can manage
and uh, the load that we can handle, you know.
And then you know, we're reaching out to Houston and
Pittsburgh as well to kind of see, you know, what
the level of interest for those guys are. Think about
you know, having a joint practice with Houston in that heat,
you know, and getting the acclamation. It'll be hot here,
you know, but I know I was in Tampa for
(10:51):
a year. I've heard Houston is very similar. So just
being able to get some acclamation again just another great
way to just challenge the guys to maintain folks. It's
in a different type of environment, so we're open to,
you know, those things with the with the Texans and
the stealers.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Mhmm
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.