Q: Matt, the last time we spoke you said the offense wasn't exactly where you wanted it to be, was it more comfortable today?
Flynn: Last time, we had one kind of day that wasn't as sharp as we'd like, but the last two days of practice last week, we really took some strides in the passing game and as an offense in general, and I think we continued that today. We're doing some good things out there. We're getting more comfortable with each other and comfortable with being out on the field and playing. As an offense, I think we're making a lot of strides. We still have a lot of things to clean up and that's going to come with time and repetitions. But so far, I feel good about where we're at and where we're going.
Q: In the limited amount of time we had to watch you guys practice, it seemed with the offense there's a lot of safe ball control passes. Do you think as time goes on, we're going to see more deeper things mixed in?
Flynn: The way this kind of offense works, we're doing a lot of motions and trying to get favorable matchups, but right now we're working a lot of situations where it's third and short and stuff like that. There's always deep options but right now we're trying to get some completions, not force anything down the field and really kind of take what they're giving us. We've completed some balls down the field a little bit but the way this defense plays and the styles and a lot of the concepts that they do defensively, a lot of the stuff's underneath and over the middle.
Q: How well did you know Rich Gannon in your time in Green Bay?
Flynn: I know him pretty well. He always did our TV stuff in preseason out there and he was just around the facility. He came and talked to us a few times and was hanging around and doing the XM stuff and stuff like that. I got to know him pretty well and I had a good amount of talks with him. So, I got to know him well and talk some ball with him.
Q: In terms of leadership style, when he came here he was pretty much told by Jon Gruden 'Hey look, you got to take this team over, if that means you have to be a jerk than you gotta be a jerk.' He'd put away the pool balls so then players would watch film. Did you guys talk about leadership at all and what it takes to be a quarterback?
Flynn: I think if you take a look at guys who are leaders on the team and quarterbacks around the league, everybody has a different leadership style. Some guys are vocal, some guys are laid back, but there's a different style. But if you're going to become a leader, you have to find that niche, how you fit into the system, how you fit in with the guys in the locker room and kind of just go accordingly. You just have to feel out as you kind of work with guys and you're around them.
Q: So you're still developing that then?
Flynn: Yeah, absolutely. That's something that's not going to come overnight. It's something, I think I've said before, it starts coming when you start getting live bullets out there and you start getting into the 'dog days' and things like that.
Q: Matt, you've got Darren McFadden behind you. Quarterbacks love guys like that. What do you see how he fits into the offense?
Flynn: He's a great player for one. Not only is he a good athlete and has great vision, he's very intelligent when it comes to the game of football and he sees blitzes, he sees pressures and understands the game. There's a difference between knowing what you're doing and knowing why you're doing it, and he understands the 'why' of the game, why defenses are doing something. So, it's good to have him back there and it's going to be good to hand the ball and see him go.
Q: Matt, when you went to Seattle, everyone thought you'd be the guy and a rookie beating you out we all saw with [Russell] Wilson. Another [Tyler] Wilson here, are you making sure that doesn't happen again? This is your team; you're the guy here.
Flynn: All I'm doing is playing the best I can and I'm trying to prepare. It's obviously my goal to be the starter. And I'm going out, doing the best I can to get myself better, put myself into a position to be the starter and to be the leader of this team, and really help this offense because once we start going I think there's a lot of special aspects in this offense, a lot of special guys, athletically and talent-wise. And I think once we get that going, it's going to help us win games.
