QB Marcus Mariota | November 12, 2025 | Press Pass | Washington Commanders | NFL

QB Marcus Mariota speaks to the media in Madrid, Spain.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, so let's let's go again. First of all,
two part what do you think of facility and just
being here? But also Dan had talked about being away,
how beneficial that was last year. What can be accomplished
this week in that regard.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, first and foremost, thank you to Real Madrid for
having us. This is an incredible facility to be here,
to be a part of this, to be the inaugural
game here in Madrid is very special moment, I think
for all of us. With that being said, as a team,
I think getting away, having an opportunity to really kind
of hunker down together, it's been important and it's been great.

(00:38):
I think guys going to dinner, just a little things
like that, connecting especially with where we are in the season.
I think it's important just to kind of step away,
and I think it's been good for us, not at all, honestly,

(01:05):
And that's a credit to him, cause I think as
a head coach now that you're taking some of those
play calling duties over, you would think kind of firsthand
that maybe he would, you know, things would be a
little different, But it's been very much the same, and
it's a credit to Dan and the and the defensive
staff to allow that to happen, and for us as

(01:26):
an offense, we just kind of spend status quo and
continue to work and build, and I think we're we're
excited to get things going and and practice.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Ay Marcus, just just the kind of the team overall atmosphere,
being able to be part of a historic moment for
the league, but also obviously having to focus on your
task in hand.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yes, it's definitely you gotta find the happy medium, right,
you know, you wanna be able to one really enjoy
the moment, enjoy being in Madrid, have have opportunities to
experience this beautiful city. Also, we are here on business
and we have a job at hand. And I think
what's been cool for us is we have a lot
of veteran leadership guys that have played in London, that

(02:09):
have done the overseas trip, so we understand that there's
opportunities to take some time away and take experience what
Madrid has to offer. But also we have guys that understand, like, hey,
there's times a hunker down and let's get things rolling
and making sure that we're ready to roll. What do
you feel that you've learned through the adversity of the
last few weeks about your team as the leader of

(02:29):
the offense. Now, well, I think for us, it's learning
that details, little things always matter, regardless of the situation
circumstance in the game. Understanding that maybe a third down
play halfway through the third quarter might not feel like
a big moment, but it is. And I think helping

(02:51):
our young guys understand that the margins in the NFL
are so slim and every play matters so much. So
the more that we can help these young guys understand that,
I think, bring them along, it'll help us out.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
How difficult for a quarterback is that when you've you're
going to huddle and it's one set of receivers and
then the next time it's not like you had trailing
there for a game. Now he's gone for you, just
in the rhythm of a game.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
What kind of problems is that?

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Is it?

Speaker 4 (03:23):
Well?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
I think what we do such a good job of
here is create reps for everybody, whether that's mental reps,
through walkthroughs, practice reps. So regardless who's coming in, I
trust every single one of those guys. A lot of
those guys have stepped up and made huge plays. So
the more that we just continue to function as an offense,

(03:47):
eliminate some of the negative stuff, whether it's pre snap turnovers,
our guys outside will find ways to make plays. And
I believe in those.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Guys got from fe Neue services. What means to you
put your name on the history of this is for
us one of the two quarterbacks that will be in
the in the main in the mean team in the
first match of the histor official match of the history
in Spain.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Thank you, very very honored. And I don't take that
very lightly. And for us really like tourin myself, like
we grew up in the Middle Pacific, far away from here,
and the fact of the matter is that we get
a chance to be a part of this game is
very special and I don't I don't take that for

(04:34):
granted at all. I do enjoy the experience. I do
enjoy being away from the country, and we're going to
do our best to put out a great product and
a great show and I'm excited for the challenge on Sunday.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Hey, Marcus on this sad right here. Just to piggyback
off that question, I was asking Sam and Tyler as well,
just about the attenth of the NFL to globalize right
giant strikes over the last couple of years. For you,
what does it mean? And also you think you kind
of answer that question right now, But when you were younger,
did you ever imagine being, you know, in the middle
of the Pacific to be playing across the world the

(05:10):
game of football and two going to have a Sam
said that he's researching TikTok for restaurants and to eating
in Spain. Have you done the same?

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, I think, first and foremost never in my wildest
dreams that I've imagined I'd be sitting here today and
my parents are here with my brother, and we were
just sitting down having dinner, and we were just like,
this is wild. And you know, my dad was just like,
it's unbelievable that football. I'm sorry, okay, no, I just yeah.

(05:49):
My dad just was like, it's unbelievable that we're sitting
here today and you're playing football and this game has
brought us here. It's really awesome to see how the
NFL is globalizing football and creating opportunities in flag football
as well, and just allowing more and more people across

(06:10):
the world to experience this beautiful game that we love.
So it's a very cool moment and I'm excited to
be a part of it. And yeah, i' would just
kind of take a moment by moment, Marcus.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
I wanted to circle back on something you said after
the game. It was something to the effect of, I
don't think we are who we think we are or something.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Could you unpack that for us?

Speaker 4 (06:35):
What did you mean by that?

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, when it comes down to it, when you're not
playing to the standard that we establish back in camp,
it's important that guys hold that standard and hold the
rest of the team up to that standard. And I
I mean, yeah, we're three and seven and that's not
anywhere near where we want to be. And so looking

(06:59):
back on it, it's not from a lack of effort.
I do think that there's opportunities for us to grow
in little things, little details. But we talked about it
on Monday as an offense, like, guys are playing hard
and when you're sitting at three and seven, that's not
always the case across the league, and so I think

(07:21):
what that shows is that our guys care and they
want to make this right. And at the end of
the day, how we do that is just finding ways
to execute better, communicating maybe some of the game plan
things that we don't like or things that we do like,
and trying to put our best foot forward so that
in the end we win. Thank you guys, have a

(07:43):
good one