Can we please give some love to Lunda Wells, our tight ends coach? Getting two rookies (one undrafted) ready to play is no small feat, coupled with Dalton Schultz fighting an injury. Lunda seems to fly under the radar when it comes to dishing out kudos for the team, but he really deserves a ton of praise. – A.J. Narasimhan/San Marcos, CA
Nick: Honestly, I think he's getting plenty of love. He's not someone who is getting overlooked because you're right, he's done a great job with those young players. I remember him telling us about Hendershot back in training camp as someone who can be a difference-maker. To that point, I didn't even project him on the roster. But he saw something in him that we didn't see right away and that's his athleticism to stretch the field. He's also done a good job of managing what could potentially be an awkward situation with veteran Dalton Schultz on the franchise tag and his future is up in the air. Then you've got two young guys playing well and potentially stealing away some precious targets for a guy in his contract year. Yet, we see Schultz getting "hogtied" by his teammates in a celebration of a play that wasn't even his touchdown. That says to me that guys like Lunda Wells have created a great tight end room where they're all rooting for each other to succeed.
Mickey: You are correct, Lunda Wells has done an amazing job getting rookie tight ends Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot ready to not only contribute this season but make an impact, too. Wells is one of the guys who stood on the table for Henderson, thinking he was good enough to be drafted. Talked about him early in training camp, saying Hendershot was going to be a surprising sleeper in the rookie class. And he sure has. These two guys will only get better the more they play. Also, think about the job he's done with previous practice squadder Sean McKeon, keeping him involved to the point of becoming a reliable fourth tight end on game day especially with Dalton Schultz fighting through his knee sprain, and now has been added to the 53-man roster.
