**Q: You've previously mentioned that J.J. McCarthy's maturity amazes you. Can you elaborate?**
**A:** Fans just see the player and they can see how he talks during interviews. Obviously, he does the little things extremely well, and I think that carries over in the locker room, but what people don't see is his ability and understanding that it's not just the offense he has to connect with. It's the training staff, it's the equipment staff, it's the defense, it's the PR people – everybody who makes up the organization. When you have a true quarterback, a true leader, I think he understands at a young age what that does for the team; he's that franchise guy. When you start to look at his daily routine of what he does and who he talks to it's not just the guys who directly impact his career. It's everybody. I think that goes a long way for the whole organization. And then certainly, he's got a deep, deep love for the guys up front. Whether it's golfing or going out to dinners and stuff like that, he has always been amazing. He came to an on-line dinner in Nashville for the preseason when he could have been with family. He makes the sacrifices and understands the concrete you build carries and pays big dividends in the long run.
**Q: Not to age you or anything, but being 10 years older than J.J., what is some advice you've shared?**
**A:** It's just little nuggets along the way. Whether it's a 3x1 formation and I'm telling him, 'In my experience, this is how coordinators think in 3x1 versus 2x2' – things like that, that involve on-field stuff – or if it's the way you command the huddle. In a play call, the only person that needs to know everything for the most part is the quarterback. At some point, the offensive line doesn't need to know the route; wide receivers don't need to know the protection. Everybody's got a piece of this long huddle call. And the way that he pronounces it and looks everybody in the eye at different times gives everybody in the huddle the assurance that this is the best play. This is the touchdown play. This is the next one. I've been around great quarterbacks, I've been around a lot of them, and I think those guys have the ability to speak to each person without looking each one in the eye, right? It's the way to tell them with the inflection in your voice that this is gonna be the best play we got. That's such a special thing. So small things like that, and he's gonna be a father soon, so some dad stuff along the way, too.
**Q:** **What are the little 'dad nuggets' you have passed to him?**
**A:** I told him, 'Man, everybody thinks that at some point they'll be ready.' That's the biggest myth in life: 'I'll be ready to get married. I'll be ready to have a kid or two kids or three kids.' No one's ready for that. There's not a handbook for how to be a dad. You just learn how to be adaptable in your life because there's things that you can't control that are gonna happen. Whether it's professionally, being a father, being a husband. And I think it makes you a better football player, how you're able to adjust, because you do it every day. I think the game means more when you become a father. You appreciate things differently. There's the diaper questions and all those, too, but he's got to figure that out on his own.