**
Q: Take me through the one-handed catch. That was a big play by you, do you feel like you're getting way more comfortable now in the offense?**
Thompkins:"I'm still trying to put it all together, but it was a great throw by Derek [Carr]. I just reacted to the ball, stuck my hand out and it stuck to it."
Q: He [Carr] likes to go back shoulder, so you have to kind of have to be ready for things like that, don't you?
Thompkins:"Over here, we run every route to win at the wide receiver position, so that's what I did. I was kind of trying to take the top off, and I looked back and he put it on my back shoulder, and like I said, I stuck my hand out and I made a play."
**
Q: It was pretty tight coverage too, that was almost the only spot where you're going to be able to [catch it]…**
Thompkins:"Yeah, Joe Haden is a tremendous athlete. I think he does a good job at what he does and it was tight coverage, but I came down with the catch."
Q: He [Carr] likes to throw to that back shoulder a lot too, and the really good quarterbacks in the league are good at that too. Can you just talk about that?
Thompkins:"It's something that we work on in practice every day. Every time we get an opportunity, the DBs put certain leverage on us, the quarterback's job is to actually put it in a space that a wide receiver can make a play on it, and I think Derek did a good job of that."
Q: Most guys have an offseason program, a training camp, and four preseason games to build chemistry with a quarterback, sometimes over several years. You get several weeks and then they want you to go play 30 snaps. What has that experience been like? Has it been difficult? Harder than you expected? What has it been like building chemistry with Derek?
Thompkins:"It's been good. It's been good. We spend a lot of time in practice, even after practice we'll get a couple of throws in, just trying to get a feel for each other and trying to get on the same page, and hopefully we can execute by being on the same page, and I think we're doing a good job with that and we're just trying to string together good days and put it all together on Sunday."
Q: He was talking about you yesterday, saying that you're putting in a lot of extra time with Coach [Ted] Gilmore and really trying to absorb as fast as possible. Is that something you kind of just set out to do because you have such a short time to get right?
Thompkins:"I think it's part of my preparation. It's something that I always did. It's something that I always do. I try to spend as much time with the coaching staff and the quarterbacks as possible. I think Coach G is doing a great job with actually getting me caught up to things and getting me caught up to speed and learning the whole terminology and how they do things over here."
Q: Playing with Tom Brady, what similar traits do you see in Derek?
Thompkins:"They're both tremendous athletes. Tom is one of the best. Tom and I are still great friends. We still talk over text, but Derek is a young guy, tremendous arm, so we'll see where his future takes him."
Q: How is his command of the huddle, even through these tough games, toss losses?
Thompkins:"I think it has been good. I think he definitely controls the huddle. He does a good job of that. It all comes with consistency, and I think he's doing a good job of it, week in and week out."
Q: Is that really what you need to show? He seems to go to guys that he knows; is that something you want to show him? Just that, 'Hey every practice, every play, I'm going to run the right route and do the right thing and just be reliable.'
Thompkins:"Yeah, I think that's pretty much a lot of the guy's job, actually be consistent and be accountable and I think that's what we're all trying to do. We're all trying to be accountable. We're all trying to make sure that we're doing the things we need to do, and just to build that trust. When you have that trust, it does a lot of good things when you have trust in one another. The quarterback can count on you to be where you need to be and you can trust the quarterback to put the ball where it needs to be, so I think trust and accountability is a big thing."
