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Senior Moments: These guys are good · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Idea little something you may remember from the good old day.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I feel so old. The Senior Moment's crew with you
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: here for another edition of our Sterling podcast. Brian Sexton,
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  Speaker 1: John Oz, you're Joe Fortunato. Week one, Week two, but
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: first full week of camp about to conclude with the
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  Speaker 1: big family night practice. It's not really a scrimmage anymore,
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  Speaker 1: scrimage practice something like that, but folks are gonna come
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  Speaker 1: out and there's fireworks and autographs and all of that stuff,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: but they're gonna come out because they've been hearing that
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  Speaker 1: their team is pretty good. Have you been seeing that
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  Speaker 1: on the practice field this week? And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: we should mind people. They're in the middle of a
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  Speaker 1: grind right now. Last year, this was the grind. This year,
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  Speaker 1: five straight days of padded practice, you know, watching them
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  Speaker 1: today Thursday, I was really struck by a couple of things.
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  Speaker 1: One is, I guess a cumulative effect of watching O. T. A.
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  Speaker 1: S the first seven days of this of how much
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  Speaker 1: more in sync both sides of the ball seemed to be.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe it was sparked this thought by A. J.
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  Speaker 1: Boyer yesterday talking about last year this time he was new,
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  Speaker 1: just trying to figure it out. Claius Campbell was new,
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  Speaker 1: Bury Church was new, and all these new guys. It
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  Speaker 1: felt like, we're really pleased when you talk to him
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  Speaker 1: last year about how well it was going considering how
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  Speaker 1: new everybody was. But this year, it just feels like
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  Speaker 1: these guys know who they are, they know what they are. Offensively,
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  Speaker 1: I wrote this morning and our quick thoughts that we
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  Speaker 1: do Brian, how the offense knows what it is, it
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  Speaker 1: knows what it's supposed to be. It's comfortable with what
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  Speaker 1: it wants to be. Like Bordles looks that and everybody
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  Speaker 1: on this team, it just feels like we know what
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  Speaker 1: we are, we know what we do, we we know
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  Speaker 1: we need to do to be good. We feel like
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  Speaker 1: we are good, and we feel like we're on a mission.
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  Speaker 1: And I think every team wants to feel that way
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  Speaker 1: during training camp. Every team is going to tell you
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  Speaker 1: it feels good about training camp. But to me, this
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  Speaker 1: looks like an unbelievable combination of a maturing team that
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  Speaker 1: feels like it's getting close to its peak or team
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  Speaker 1: on the rise, and yet there's also these young guys
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  Speaker 1: who are giving you the feeling that they might add
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  Speaker 1: something special to what we saw last year. It's an
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  Speaker 1: unbelievably potent mix. And you just want to sit there
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  Speaker 1: and watch of And your question is will it all
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  Speaker 1: come together and be as good as you think it is? Well,
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  Speaker 1: there are a couple of different kinds of teams to
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  Speaker 1: watch in the playoffs here and above right, you've got
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  Speaker 1: the the steady team. You know, the Bengals who were
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  Speaker 1: there every year, didn't necessarily win if that they didn't win. Um.
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  Speaker 1: And then you've got you know, you've got a team
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  Speaker 1: like the Patriots, it's there every year, the Colts when
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  Speaker 1: you were there, there every year. Um, and then you
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  Speaker 1: get that team. I should include the Steelers because they're
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  Speaker 1: there every year. The team on the rise, right, Jaguars
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  Speaker 1: last year we're probably a year early and got there
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  Speaker 1: on the strength of their defense. But this is a
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  Speaker 1: team on the Comma team that you can see was
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  Speaker 1: good has gotten better now they know what they are
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  Speaker 1: as you mentioned, and you here's a fact. Last year,
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  Speaker 1: they didn't have this entire team on the practice field
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  Speaker 1: during training camp. The secondary was ever together until no
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  Speaker 1: they were because I remember asking the question of these guys,
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  Speaker 1: and in fact, Jaileen gave me his trademark sneer when
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't like a question. How long will it take
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  Speaker 1: for you guys who didn't get to practice together to
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  Speaker 1: play together? Because what do you mean we can play
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  Speaker 1: together this week? Well, okay, they're there, and now with
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  Speaker 1: his return in particular, the defense looks sensational. How about
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  Speaker 1: how about Marcel Darius. He wasn't hear until late October
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  Speaker 1: last year, didn't get here to the second half of
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  Speaker 1: the season. All of a sudden, he looks really good
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  Speaker 1: because he's been here through the off season. He knows
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  Speaker 1: the scheme and it's not anymore just you know, reacting
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  Speaker 1: to what the guy across him is doing. I think
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  Speaker 1: he might go to the Pro Bowl this year. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he's to me, looks like that guy. Now probo voting,
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  Speaker 1: we get all that. Maybe people won't think that he
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  Speaker 1: can be the same players in Buffalo here skill wise,
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  Speaker 1: I said, I said to somebody in practice the day
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  Speaker 1: may have been you, this guy might be the best offense,
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  Speaker 1: the best defensive linement on the team. Well, the first
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  Speaker 1: third pick in the draft. The first thought of that
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  Speaker 1: is you scoff and say, well you got Malik and
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  Speaker 1: Fowler and and uh In got Way and Campbell, but
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  Speaker 1: he was the third overall pick in the draft, has
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  Speaker 1: been at all pro. He's played at a level where
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  Speaker 1: he is the best in the NFL, a million dollar contract,
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  Speaker 1: and I guess the point is watching practice this week,
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  Speaker 1: you can see what you saw why in fly ashes
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  Speaker 1: last year. You see why every day this year. Here's
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  Speaker 1: what I like in this team too. Right now, you
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  Speaker 1: sort of mentioned a little bit. It feels like the
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  Speaker 1: guy and it's probably terrible analogy, but it feels like
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  Speaker 1: the guy who's been working out all summer and flexing
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  Speaker 1: in the mayor who can't wait to go to the
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  Speaker 1: beach and flex. This team can't wait to get out
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  Speaker 1: on the field week one, whenever it is and show
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  Speaker 1: people how good they are because they really believe they're good. Now,
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  Speaker 1: people listening might say, well, that can blow up in
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  Speaker 1: their face, John, Well, sure it can't. I don't see it.
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  Speaker 1: That's the vibe you get from this team. They have
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  Speaker 1: to go do it. But you know I started off
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  Speaker 1: this camp thinking they were good. Yet you sort of
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  Speaker 1: when you think a team is good, you look for
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  Speaker 1: something that's going to blow up. And I just see
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  Speaker 1: this team. The more it practices together, I think the more.
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  Speaker 1: It tells them again how good they are. They're proving
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  Speaker 1: to themselves again each day in practice. Hey, this might
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  Speaker 1: be we thought, I'll tell you what. Last year we
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  Speaker 1: talked at the defense and Leonard for Neat. Well, you
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  Speaker 1: know this year, one of the reasons why I think
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  Speaker 1: this team may be better than I even expected was
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  Speaker 1: the play on practice a couple of the offensive linemen
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  Speaker 1: I think looks sensation. Jeremy Parnell has had a terrific
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  Speaker 1: camp A J Cann who was the guy that we
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  Speaker 1: all pointed to it and said, Okay, you know you
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  Speaker 1: think Cam Robinson's coming and Parnell can still play, and
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  Speaker 1: you've got lender that they paid eleven million and they
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  Speaker 1: went out and grabbed the guard. But you gotta figure
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  Speaker 1: out the weak spot there. That's camp. We Cam has
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  Speaker 1: been anything about the weak spot. In the very first
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  Speaker 1: night of practice and pads, he was putting guys on
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  Speaker 1: their back. I think he's been incredibly consistent. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: working against Darius in some of the one on one
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  Speaker 1: pass rushing, he has held his own. You can do
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  Speaker 1: that against Marcel. You're doing against the best. I was
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  Speaker 1: gonna say, you just heard the effusive praise that we
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  Speaker 1: put on Marcell's shoulders and Can was beating him. Now Norwell, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: Lenda Norwell, I think has been very, very good, and
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  Speaker 1: Can's getting you know. I mean, look, Cam has his
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  Speaker 1: hands full because he gets lay us every time, he
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  Speaker 1: gets unique every time. He's got a ways to go,
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  Speaker 1: but he looks like he's gotten bigger and stronger. That
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  Speaker 1: was kind of a knock on him. Interesting that it's
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  Speaker 1: clear this defense is really good, you know, really really
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  Speaker 1: really good. I would be you never know where a
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  Speaker 1: team is going to rank, but I think this defense,
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  Speaker 1: even if it has just an okay year for it,
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  Speaker 1: it's clearly a top ten defense, you know, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: even if it doesn't fulfill his expectations, it's good. If
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  Speaker 1: they're healthy. I don't see any way in the world
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  Speaker 1: they're not really good on defense. Last year, because we
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  Speaker 1: didn't have a frame of reference for this team, we
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  Speaker 1: thought the offense was really bad in training camp, and
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  Speaker 1: as it turned out, it was shaky, probably because more
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  Speaker 1: of youth and playing against a really really good defense,
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  Speaker 1: And once it all shook out, you could look back
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  Speaker 1: and say, Okay, we missed that a little bit. I
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  Speaker 1: think his defense is really good. And I haven't seen
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  Speaker 1: a day yet where I walked off the field and
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  Speaker 1: thought the defensive destroy the offense today, you know, and
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  Speaker 1: that's significant because this offense is able to make plays
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  Speaker 1: d J trts making plays against the secondary. Guys are
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  Speaker 1: making plays against the secondary. Uh, They're able to move
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  Speaker 1: the ball. It's not a situation where you've got the
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  Speaker 1: first team offense running three plays off the field, run
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  Speaker 1: three players off the field every time. It was that
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  Speaker 1: case Sun last year. So if the offense to me
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  Speaker 1: looks like it knows what it's doing, looks like it
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  Speaker 1: can be efficient against these guys. Look out if Leonard
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  Speaker 1: for Net, who looks terrific and has had a very
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  Speaker 1: nice start to camp. Although the running game you got
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  Speaker 1: to see it working against the Saints next week to
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  Speaker 1: get a fuel for it. But if he can run
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  Speaker 1: the ball, he said today, I want to be great. Okay, Well,
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  Speaker 1: if he's great this year, you could see a Ravens
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  Speaker 1: like performance from this defense. Because remember that great. And
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  Speaker 1: I know people are going whoa, whoa, whoa, but start
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  Speaker 1: matching up names now and talent. The Ravens and Jamal Lewis,
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  Speaker 1: who ran for two thousand yards, kept them fresh helped
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  Speaker 1: them set the tempo. If you have a wrong running game,
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  Speaker 1: a really strong running game, you could see a chart
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  Speaker 1: topping sort of season from this talent with the group.
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  Speaker 1: Because the corners are better than those Ravens corners, and
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  Speaker 1: and and Telvin Smith and Miles Jack have a chance
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  Speaker 1: to be really impactful. I'm not saying Ray lewis, but really, really,
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  Speaker 1: really good. And I think the front is better than
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  Speaker 1: that front with Rob Burnette and Michael McCurry outside and
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  Speaker 1: Tony Saragosa and Sam Adams inside. Now again, people, it
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  Speaker 1: was a really good front. It was really good if
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  Speaker 1: you can get to a but they were made by
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  Speaker 1: the running game. This feels like a similar defense in
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  Speaker 1: the sense that that Ravens defense didn't maybe didn't have
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  Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame pass rusher, but it had waves,
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  Speaker 1: it had strength that had men in there, and it
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  Speaker 1: could go deep. It just kept coming and uh as
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  Speaker 1: Tony bosellis some time at Michael McCray, I have you know,
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  Speaker 1: So it feels a little bit like that I'm writing
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  Speaker 1: today or tomorrow. If Leonard Fernet is, if his plan wore,
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  Speaker 1: meaning he clearly wanted to get lighter, wanted to get quicker.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't really say it today, but you would hope
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  Speaker 1: that the lighter means a more missible player, which I
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  Speaker 1: thought sometimes last year the missibility thing making guys miss
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  Speaker 1: was the one thing that you didn't see from that.
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  Speaker 1: You hoped if his plan works and he's really good,
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  Speaker 1: which he was good last year, I said, that's not
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  Speaker 1: a fair thing. But if he's great, look out because
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  Speaker 1: there were as good as he was and as impactful
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  Speaker 1: as Leonard was last year, and I don't think they
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  Speaker 1: make the playoffs without him last year. But whenever you
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  Speaker 1: talked about for Net last year, there was always a
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  Speaker 1: little bit of a butt. The injuries didn't quite you know,
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  Speaker 1: he had two or three really great games, and then
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  Speaker 1: a lot of games were after the after the game
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  Speaker 1: was over with, he had yards. If he's explosive and
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  Speaker 1: is doing once every three games what he did once
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  Speaker 1: every five last year, it's the most intriguing unknown about
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  Speaker 1: the team going into me, even more so than Blake Board.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: I don't have an idea what Blake's gonna be. But
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  Speaker 1: if for Nett is elite boy. If he is, then
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  Speaker 1: like I said, this team makes a run at a
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  Speaker 1: Ravens like year, because remember the Ravens have one Hall
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  Speaker 1: of Famer on that defense. It was it's Ray Lewis.
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  Speaker 1: You've got that one incredible impact player. It looks like
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  Speaker 1: it was everyd wasn't there um in Jalen? And then
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  Speaker 1: you know unique, you got Dante Fowler. Hopefully he comes
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  Speaker 1: back and gives you another eight sack kind of season,
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  Speaker 1: which is what Bullware gave them off the edge. Calais
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  Speaker 1: I think matches up favorably with the Rob Burnett Malik
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  Speaker 1: inside with Marcel if he plays at a pro Bowl level,
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  Speaker 1: If you have the running game, if for Net is
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  Speaker 1: as special as you think he could be, I'm with you.
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  Speaker 1: Watch here's what it really does. Even beyond reality, a
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  Speaker 1: running game will help the perception of this defense. Following
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  Speaker 1: reason if if you can't stay off the field late,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: a great running game will keep if you're up by ten,
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  Speaker 1: A great running game keeps the other team from getting
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of bs passing yards that often heard a
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  Speaker 1: team stats. A great running game and you're draining clock
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  Speaker 1: for the last seven minutes you're going to this group
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  Speaker 1: keeps those stats way way down, and it puts you
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  Speaker 1: into that elite conversation you run the ball in the
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  Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter in New England, you're in the
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl. You're walking away, You're walking away from the
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  Speaker 1: Patriots game, saying we were a lot better than they
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  Speaker 1: war instead of having tightness at the end and a loss.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely and that does it. Um. I just I see
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  Speaker 1: a team the other thing that just just finish it off.
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  Speaker 1: They have this belief, they truly want to be great.
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  Speaker 1: You can see the competitiveness. Jalen mentioned it. He said,
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  Speaker 1: if they're open, it's because they pushed off right and
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  Speaker 1: boy and and he does it brash to the boy,
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  Speaker 1: looks you in the eye with the big eyes and
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  Speaker 1: says that's absolutely correct. The way that they practice against
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  Speaker 1: their own team, The way that they keep them out
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  Speaker 1: of the end zone, you know in goal line gels.
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  Speaker 1: The competitiveness of this team and the desire to be great,
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  Speaker 1: I think is the X factor to this whole equation.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. I worried the first couple of
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: weeks after the Patriots lost. I wrote it, said it,
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  Speaker 1: we talked about it. I worried about a hangover effect.
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  Speaker 1: I really did, because what a gut punch, and you wondered,
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  Speaker 1: can you really come back from that, you know, the
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  Speaker 1: monumental heavy lift mountain climb it takes to get even
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  Speaker 1: as close as they were last year, and then the
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  Speaker 1: emotional letdown when it doesn't happen. And I wondered even
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: talking to Doug Moron afterward and talking to players. Boy,
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  Speaker 1: this is tough to come back from. And you can
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: see why teams that lose Super Bowls have trouble coming back.
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  Speaker 1: I get zero feel that that's going to have any
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  Speaker 1: effect at all, and it could have, but I don't
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: get the feeling it's got an effect. Has been sentenced
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  Speaker 1: the first to the offseason program. Forget last year. We're
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: starting from the bottom. It's harder to do than saying
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  Speaker 1: into it. Yeah, good, all right, John, thanks so much.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Al Right, buddy, John ow Is your ladies and gentlemen.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: That'll do it. Senior Moments complete right now, thanks to
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Joe Fortunato. Talk to you next week.