FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Trey McBride likes how the team has come out of the gate. After a bit of a rocky start, with a sloppy opening practice, the Rams have responded well according to the veteran tight end.
“I think the last couple days, we’ve been a lot better,” McBride told DNVR.
He continued, explaining that guys were a little rusty in the beginning. “It was just sloppy,” McBride said. But over the last couple of days the Rams have put together a solid run of quality practices. It’s early, so things are far from perfect. According to McBride, though, the Rams have been excellent recently.
“It’s been very competitive. Guys are working hard, guys are physical,” McBride said.
While the practices have been physically demanding, McBride added that one of the things that he’s really appreciated about Steve Addazio and the coaching staff is that they don’t make him or other veterans take unnecessary reps.
“You know, he’s, he’s real big on taking some reps off,” McBride said. “Guys that don’t need to take reps, and I’m one of those guys where if I don’t need to take a rep, he won’t put me in there.”
McBride added that while he is on the field, he’s expected to go 100 miles per hour and give all of his effort. But the truth is that his competitiveness makes it hard for him to draw back in certain situations or even take plays off. Because of that recognition of his extreme competitive nature, McBride appreciates that the staff monitors the situation and keeps him from running himself thin.
“Sometimes I don’t want to come out,” McBride said. “I yell at him and get mad at him. I want to keep going.”
“He’ll take me out of the fun periods,” McBride continued, with a smirk. “But you know, I’m just excited. I’m lucky that I have a coach like that, that’s willing to pull back and stuff like that. Obviously he wants us to be tough and physical, but at the same time, you want to be smart.”
According to McBride, Addazio’s coaching style is intense, direct and consistent. When they’re on the football field, it’s all business all the time. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a third string player, the starting quarterback, or a future NFL draft pick like McBride, if you mess up you’re going to be held accountable.
“He’s going to rip into you,” McBride said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. You’re gonna hear it if you did something wrong.”
The important thing for McBride is that off the field, the coaches care about the players just as passionately. McBride said that he feels comfortable calling coach (Steve) Addazio in his office to discuss anything and that he’s a total player’s coach.
“He will take care of all of his guys,” McBride said. “He loves his guys.”
The two things that Addazio consistently preaches to the team are love and trust. As McBride explained, Addazio will coach them hard but love them just as much. It’s that consistent approach, as well as a standard of accountability that have really won McBride over the last year and a half.
“He set the standard, and he’s holding everyone to that standard,” McBride said. “Coach Addazio has made the standard high. And he’s not backing down or shying away from that. He wants to ensure that guys are focused, locked in, ready to go and tough. That’s a lot of his values. But he does a great job. The guys are accountable and you can depend on them.”
