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Mike Macdonald: "We Are Right Where We Want To Be" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, got everybody, Okay, what do you got? Good
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: to see you coach? Wherever thing's staying healthy?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: What are your goals for it's got successful first reseason.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: There, Oh, we'd like to win the game. You know
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: you're you play with a purpose. But like we told
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the guys say, it's it's an opportunity we want. We
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: want to give the guys the best opportunity to show
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: their best football and then it's awesome opportunity to see
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to evaluate where we're at as a football team. Where
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: do you think you're at right now? You just finished
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: up the first phase of training camp, now the preseasons rolling.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: How do you feel about the way things are going? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: we're in it. We're in it. I think the guys
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: spirits are right where they should be. They're battling through it.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: They're optimistic. Uh, we're attacking it. You know the you know,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: times ticking. So there's a sense of urgency on you know,
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  Speaker 1: some decisions that we're gonna have to make pretty soon,
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  Speaker 1: but right right where we want to be.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: In terms of like starters, I guess you have a
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: cotederal philosophy on what you want to do with that.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know a couple of things driving the
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: decision is one the science of, you know, getting the exposure. Obviously,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: with new systems, new schemes, guys wanted to you know,
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  Speaker 1: knock the rust off sort of speak, make sure we're
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: sharp going into week one. So there's two things going on.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: It's one, yeah, we want to get the starters out there,
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  Speaker 1: and then also some individual decisions on certain positions that guys,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: you know, we might hold back or you know, maybe
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: you know, don't put them out there maybe until week three,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: after the Tennessee practice, things like that. So I think defensively,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: you probably see a good amount of starters out there
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: to start the game. We'll see how long that lasts.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And then offensively, as of right now, I don't believe
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  Speaker 1: Geno is gonna go. A couple other starters aren't going
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to go as well. Is all good, you know, but
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: then we'll sharpen it out. Guys have a great showing,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and we'll see what we're at and move forward. I
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  Speaker 1: don't think sothing, no, sir much. We expect to see
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  Speaker 1: Byron Murphy out there. He'll be out there, he'll be
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  Speaker 1: rolling with defense in particular, or just a lot of tackling.
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  Speaker 1: Now are those reps? Yeah, it's huge. I mean it
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: goes it goes back to how how well you can
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  Speaker 1: orchestrate practice and execute, you know, making sure you're taking
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  Speaker 1: the right angles things like that, uh thuddon guys up
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: in square view, making sure you're taking good angles on
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  Speaker 1: side view things, you know, things that how we're touching
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  Speaker 1: the fundamentals of it. Getting some live reps of the
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: threes at the stadium is another opportunity to kind of
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  Speaker 1: hone the tackling. But absolutely, the you know how we
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  Speaker 1: tackle will be uh, definitely the top of the list
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: of you know things we're evaluating. Jail go back over
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  Speaker 1: the injuries and the actions seamlessly. You know, he's out there,
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  Speaker 1: he's he's rolling, It looks good, looks sharp. Excited about
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  Speaker 1: where you know, where we're at as an offense. Uh
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  Speaker 1: and yeah, we're right, We're right there. You know. I
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  Speaker 1: think I think that the practice against Tennessee will be
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  Speaker 1: the kind of the next biggest evaluation stage of where
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  Speaker 1: we're at. We're both back out there today. Are those
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  Speaker 1: guys trending towards being able to practice next week? I
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: believe so. Jacks Vaers, some student Mike Jack, I couldn't
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: give you an exact timeline. Uh DT is probably along
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the lines of h of Noah and Draymont. You have
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  Speaker 1: any more of this action no no, I means everything's
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: as uh as advertised, But no update on on on
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Baked being to go for you the preseason years start. Obviously,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: he Reskin's developed getting as one beaker, so how you've
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: kind of seen him press. Yeah, those those are those
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: are valuable reps. I mean you saw it in the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: spring with the other backups, guys like Radigan Patio, and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: my message is them has take advantage of them because
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: you're not You're not guaranteed, and this is some high
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: quality stuff that they're able to be exposed to. And
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: it's it's nice to be able to evaluate him on
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  Speaker 1: on where he's at and his development and then hopefully
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  Speaker 1: you'll see him make a bunch of plays on Saturday.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Coach DK Metcalf that he spoke to the team at
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  Speaker 2: the end of yesterday's meeting.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a DK is a leader on this team.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, and we looked at him and as he
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: goes and we're gonna go, you know, for the for
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of where we want to go as a
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: football team. So as expected, had a great message. The
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  Speaker 1: guys are in me. We had a great practice yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: I think, like I said, we're right there on the edge,
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  Speaker 1: you know, disappointing camp. I mean, we're we're tired of
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: going against one another. So, uh, there's some there's an
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  Speaker 1: edge to us, which is good to a degree. And
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  Speaker 1: then we just have to make sure that we keep
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  Speaker 1: our poise in certain situations because at the end of
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  Speaker 1: the day, you know, we want to take care of
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: one another. And and we're all under the we're all
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: we're in the same helmet between.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: The fight day and the pacing of practices and when
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  Speaker 2: to back off and when not to. What leadership experiences
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  Speaker 2: have you learned here in these three weeks and what
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  Speaker 2: if what's worked, maybe what hasn't.
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  Speaker 1: Bigger picture philosops big since day one, we said, it's
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  Speaker 1: about the team. The team. The team, that's that's the focus,
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  Speaker 1: and what's best for the team in that given moment,
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  Speaker 1: That's what I'm shooting for. And then you have a
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  Speaker 1: big picture of you know, where we need to be
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  Speaker 1: at certain you know landmarks and uh that those are
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: those are the things that are driving your decision making. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: the guys know that We've been very clear with them.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we did a CT today. Uh, and uh
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  Speaker 1: that's how we'll operate, you know, moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: How much are you I might say this, are you?
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  Speaker 2: Are you learning to deviate from a plan or you're
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  Speaker 2: not sticking to a strip if we need to do this.
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  Speaker 1: On this day, on this day. You know the answer
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  Speaker 1: to that, I mean, yeah, you have to. They make
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  Speaker 1: fun of me about saying, we say, Stan Frosty, you know,
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  Speaker 1: just sometimes you got to be able to adjust. But
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  Speaker 1: around here we say, you know, principles are set in
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  Speaker 1: stone and methods are adjustable. So uh, we we're gonna
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna do things the right way on how we
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  Speaker 1: want to how we want to be as a football team,
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  Speaker 1: but how we get it done. You know, those things
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  Speaker 1: are uh, those things are I wouldn't say up for debate,
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  Speaker 1: but those things are talking points for sure. And you
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  Speaker 1: have to you have to stay flexible, especially in this
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  Speaker 1: league how competitive it is. I have to adjust from
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  Speaker 1: play to play, drive to drive throughout a season. So
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  Speaker 1: hopefully the guys are learning that, Hey, sometimes you got
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  Speaker 1: to move and share in order to you know, see
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: what's best for the football team. Do you think your game,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: big creepy routine will change now they are ahead? Coach.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not much of a political political guy out there,
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  Speaker 1: so I'm not shaking a bunch of hands to start with.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: But it's gonna be about the same. I'm game planning
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: all the way through. I mean, there's no game planning
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: going into preseason, but you know there's things you have
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to handle as the head coach, making sure we're in
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  Speaker 1: the right spot pregame wise. But I don't expect a
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  Speaker 1: huge deviation from what I've done years past.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: There.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the first time I met coach Doungee,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: him and Coach Fraser go way back. I was, I was,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: I was. It was awesome to me to meet coach Done.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: It's uh, he's a hero of mine. He's he's the
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  Speaker 1: reason I'm talking to you guys today. There's a longer
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: story behind that, so I shared him that story and
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: just such a such an appreciation and respect for who
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: he is a human, as a leader, as a coach,
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  Speaker 1: as a man. It's so just to have him here
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: and want to be part of this, and his relationship
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  Speaker 1: with Leslie just means the world. And then to see
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: the look on the guy's face when they realized that
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  Speaker 1: he was here was really cool. I thought they appreciated it.
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  Speaker 1: So thanks to coach Dungee for having a couple of
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  Speaker 1: words for the guys and just him being here means
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  Speaker 1: a lot.
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  Speaker 3: Is that a thing?
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  Speaker 1: That's somehow we called it in Baltimore. It's called the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: alignment communication and technique. So don't tell the guys, but
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: it means walk through. We're just looking. We're looking for
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: a little bit more of an intense walkthrough. What are
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you looking to see it from? Sam and pjam sire there.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: I want to see him operate at our offense, do
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: the things that they do that we love about him.
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  Speaker 1: So go out and go sling it and make some
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: great decisions and let's rock and wrong. A report about
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Connor Williams set to sign with the team.
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  Speaker 3: You're anticipating that he's going to be here next week
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  Speaker 3: and do you think that he's going to be able
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: to participate early on after signing it.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, my understanding is he's coming in this weekend and
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: then in terms of plan to get him rolling, we're
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: working through that right now. This is the guy that
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: you have some good things happened in the early career
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and some ups and downs, and you know, value him
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  Speaker 1: bringing to you. What do you like about him as
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: a player that's a different cast. I feel like, I
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: say versatility a lot. I mean, the first thing I'm
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: thinking about is in the return game when the balls
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: in his hands. Uh, he can do a lot of
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: cool things. So he's right in it. It's going to
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: be a great battle for the you know, the kind
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  Speaker 1: of the second half of our wide receiver room. But
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: he's right in the thick of it. He's doing a
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  Speaker 1: great job. Just you know, keep on rolling, go make
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  Speaker 1: some plays in preseason and chips will fall right right
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: in place. I know you said earlier punter waves center
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  Speaker 1: like that, still still being the player, that's the thought
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  Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, I believe. So, Yeah, he's dealing with
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: some things, but I think he's a I mean he did,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: I think he was. He did some act today, so
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: he's he's right there. I believe he had a high ankle.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Is that somebody who at that position you need some noses?
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Is that?
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's we have some we don't need like an
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: absolute nose per se, but you know, getting a guy
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: like hank U and here is going to help our
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: rotation up front, especially on early downs. But you know
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: there's ways around it as well.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Might just why did you go about setting the tone?
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  Speaker 3: You said the tone, I mean, you said the principles.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: How did you go about setting that principles early with
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  Speaker 3: this group?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, it's fun. I mean, you know, you have
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: all these opportunities to talk to the guys and uh
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: and you you're learning that you can't assume anything with
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the guys because those those are the first interactions that
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: you're having with them. So trying to be as clear
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: as you can on how we want our football the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: football team to be, getting input from them on how
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: that you know, it's their team at the end of
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the day, you know the things they want their team
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  Speaker 1: to be about. And I think when you start having
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: those conversations, you kind of you see the shared vision
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: that we have and now you're just starting words behind it.
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  Speaker 1: And then at the end of those still just words
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  Speaker 1: on a page. You know you're got to make them
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  Speaker 1: come to life. But at some point, you know you
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: have to make making decisions on how you want to
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: message things. And that's that's how we went about it.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: You know since since February in.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: That process, how important is it for them to see
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: that the overall goal, So any deviation be able to say, hey,
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: you're deviating away from our goal.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Well, it's a lot easier when you have consensus on
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: things and then you're not hitting the mark. You said, hey,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: we all agreed, we wanted to look like this, it's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: not this isn't it? And then I think you get
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: better buy in that way. That's just our style and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: how we do it. But that's that's that's how we roll.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: You mentioned addressed the team. What was the logistic port
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I'll leave that. I mean it was it was just
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: trust me, it is a great message, is what we
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: needed to hear. But I'll leave that to the guys.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: You called them together yesterday after the helmet swing and
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: you said enough enough. What how did you approach that?
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: How was what was the talking point? Yeah? It was positive.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Just hey, guys, let's reminder you know what we're trying
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: to achieve. Here, take a deep breath, and let's make
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: sure we close out practice the right way. And to
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: the guy's credit, I thought we did that the kickoff.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Kind of curious to see that live with tackling and everything. Yeah,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: that'd be a lot of fun. That'd be a lot
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: of fun. Not really sure what's gonna happ and so
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I'll be I'll be watching as closely as you guys.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: What's going on with that WAKEM. With Lance, I'm not,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: honestly like he's just he's uh, I'm not sure right now. Honestly,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: he's not long term though everything else. Thank you, Okay, thanks,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: thank you.