Q:Looking forward to a couple days off?
DM: Yeah, it will be good to get some time off, hopefully get our bodies feeling a little bit better. This time of the year, everyone has some type of aches and stuff. It will be good to [have] the time off. I guess really the only difference is we don't have to prepare for a certain team. It's all about trying to do some things to better our football team.
Q:I asked Tom Brady about rest, because he's always talking about getting rest. Are you at a point where you're concerned about rest?
DM: No, I'm still young. I'm not Tom's age yet, so I'm still young. No, it's important to still be smart. We don't want to be doing a whole bunch of things. [You're] using this week to get ahead in some things in your personal life of course, but also giving your body some rest. No matter young or old, you still want to let that body rest. Nobody's body is really meant to go through what we go through each week playing football, so you definitely want to rest up a little bit.
Q:No one has played more snaps than you when you combine defense and special teams. How does your body feel knowing that? Is it safe to say the switch to safety has paid off for you so far?
DM: Yeah, it feels alright. I guess it could be worse if I was playing offense too. It's not too bad. Like everyone, some aches and pains. But it's been good so far. Holding up and doing different things off the field to make sure I can stay ahead of keeping my body feeling good. So that's paid off a little bit. The switch to safety has been good so far. I think the huge part about us in the secondary is just the ability to be able t play together and to know what each guy is doing out there. I think that's paid off big for us. having guys all throughout OTAs. I missed some of those, but throughout training camp, guys just playing together. I think it's paid off. Guys have really worked hard and prepared each week for each opponent that we've faced.
Q:If Steve Gregory is out for a few weeks, is that more responsibility for you? Are you in better position to handle that now compared to last year?
DM: I don't know. If he isn't, we'll have to see. I feel I'm prepared. When he went down, I think Duron [Harmon] did a good job of stepping in and picking up his play and being ready to, not just in the role of filling in but being a guy out there. With any injury on the team, like how he went out, guys have to step up, it's not just me. But yeah, I feel I'm ready to do whatever the team needs for us to do to win and to play good as a defense.
Q:Do you recall a year when you've played so many different roles?
DM: A little bit but I think that comes with experience. I'm a guy that's played a lot of football here. It's all about having some versatility and the more you can do, the better it helps the football team out. Think that's been huge. Not just myself, but a lot of guys have been in on defense, being able to fill different roles and help our defense get through games if a guy goes down or if we have to make some changes, just to be able to alter those things and do what you need to do to win the game.
