PHILADELPHIA — As part of a season-long Inside The Birds “Rookie Diary” series, I’ll be checking in with Mac McWilliams every week, learning more about the first-year cornerback and chronicling his rookie campaign.
On Thursday, we chatted for our third installment.
GETTY IMAGES: Rookie CB Mac McWilliams is slowly but surely adjusting to life in the NFL.
Andrew: First off, how did you spend the flight [to Kansas City]?
Mac: I went through my playbook for a little bit, like 5-10 minutes, then I put on a Netflix show that I wanted to watch, called “Untamed.” It’s new. So, I put that on then I fell asleep.
Andrew: What’s your review on it?
Mac: I love it. Actually, it’s No. 1 on Netflix and right now.
Andrew: You don’t strike me as someone who watches a lot of T.V.
Mac: I don’t. But, like, if it’s a good movie, and I hear about it and things like that, I’m definitely gonna go watch it.
Andrew: What’s in your wheelhouse? Comedies, action …
Mac: I’m a horror movie type guy. I like horror movies. I watch ‘em in the morning time. That’s when I watch it best. I don’t know why — everybody calls me weird for not watching ‘em at nighttime — but I feel like it’s better in the morning.
Andrew: Have you seen Weapons?
Mac: I’ve never seen Weapons. Now you just put me on something. It’s on Netflix?
Andrew: It’s in the theaters. It’s been out maybe three weeks.
Andrew: What’d you make of the atmosphere at Arrowhead [Stadium]?
Mac: It was everything I’d heard of. It was loud, obnoxious. Fans were crazy, yelling at us the whole time on the sideline. But it was a great experience; the guys came out here and did what we expected to do, and that was win.”
Andrew: Did you stick with your normal pregame routine?
Mac: Oh, yeah. Always. You know, you gotta stay with your daily habits, man. If you go away from your daily habits, you not gonna be the man that you wanna be.
Andrew: How have you been devoting your time during the week? Special teams, nickel, corner?
Mac: It’s a mixture of all of them. Like I say, you got that daily routine. Some days, I focus more on special teams. And then other days, I focus more on nickel. But it’s all together in one day. I do all of them in one day. But it’s mainly just focusing on one position, with special teams and where I’m at, nickel. That’s the only thing I play … well, I play a little bit corner as well, but focusing on nickel is the main thing.
Andrew: Now everyone is different, but how do you compartmentalize all that you’re learning?
Mac: It’s really just about being to yourself. I make sure I keep a notepad with me everywhere I go. And I got my little columns where I go one page for special teams, one page for nickel.
Andrew: Two games into your career, what have you learned about the NFL and about yourself through the process?
Mac: Taking everything one day at a time. Not getting too big, not getting too low. Focusing on the main things. I’ve got a lot of guys out here, and I’m glad that I’ve got guys on my team that’s very capable of coming up to me and talking to me about how they go about their daily lives. So, I’ll just take little things from them, the older guys that’s in the room, and just apply it to my game.
Andrew: You got to see the Kansas City offense and your fellow DBs out there. What were those conversations like on the sideline?
Mac: Mainly just telling them what I saw on the sideline. It’s better, because those guys are out there playing, so they’re not seeing everything. So, when they got to the sideline, just chopping it up with them about what I saw and things like that. Just the ins and outs.
Andrew: You said Fish is coming out to the game Sunday. Has he ever been to Philadelphia?
Mac: Nah, he’s never been.
Andrew: Have you been talking to him? Is he getting excited?
Mac: I talked to him last week about it. He said he was gonna try to make it. I’m not putting no hopes on it. I ain’t gonna say he’s guaranteed to come, because he’s got his own thing going on right now. But he definitely wants to come out, and I told him that, ‘I got you, bro, You straight. So, just come down here if you wanna come, but if you got something to do, handle your business.
Andrew: Who else from your family is making the trip?
Mac: My mom, my grandma and my granddad.
Andrew: I understand you were Quentin Lake, No. 37, in practice this week?
Mac: Yeah.
Andrew: How does that process work? Do you watch tape on him to pick up on tendencies to give a certain look?
Mac: I don’t, because he’s a defensive guy. So, if anything, I’m focusing more on what I got to do, instead of focusing on what he does, because they play a way [different] style defense that we play. So, just putting on the jersey and doing what the coach says.
Andrew: What stands out to you about the Rams offense?
Mac: The quarterback. That’s the main thing. Like I said last week. He’s gonna make the plays for them.
Andrew: How about from a passing game perspective?
Mac: It’s a lot of play action that they do. They get the linebackers going up one way, and they try to slip it backside, or try to get the intermediate routes coming across the middle, just because they got the linebacker up on boot game or something like that.
Andrew: I don’t think I’ve asked you this before … do you have a celebration in mind for when you get the first NFL interception?
Mac: I don’t right now, but eventually I’ll have it. But it’ll really, probably, come up in my head whenever I do do it. Come up on the fly.
Andrew: You’re used to playing, but how have you gone about processing or adapting to taking on a different role so far?
Mac: I’m just letting the main thing be the main thing. Whenever my time comes, I’m gonna do what I need to do, try to impress the coaches to let me stay out there on the field. I’m just taking everything one day at a time right now.
Andrew: Where does that patience come from?
Mac: From when I was little. I’ve always been a patient type guy. I never was just so eager to go out and do something. Once you get that patience, everything’s gonna fall into place.
Andrew: What’s one thing you’re working on this week?
Mac: I’d probably say getting all the MA’s out. I be having little miscues whenever I’m trying to focusing on one play, one call, or another call. So, just focusing on the main thing, getting the calls right and making sure I’m playing the right technique.
Andrew: One big thing with playing defensive back is that you have to have a short memory. Is that something that you’ve mastered?
Mac: You gotta master that as a DB. You know, they get paid just like we do. Things gonna happen, it ain’t gonna go as you want to all the time. Like I said, keeping that same mindset and letting everything come to you.
— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com
