When the schedule is loaded with tough games at the start of the schedule, it sends a message to the team that it must be ready to compete hard as the season gets

So it would have been reasonable for outside observers to cringe at Sam Darnold's wild flip of the ball toward running back Aaron Jones Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, not only because it threatened to turn a busted play into a massive turnover,

"When you're playing for the guy next to you, you just have a little extra chip on your shoulder and a little more gas in the tank. We've gotten a lot of players that have been overlooked in their life,