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Head Coach Mike Macdonald On The 20-3 Win vs. Chiefs On Sunday Night Football · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Man, really proud of our team. The message this week
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: really was trying to double down on 12-1, trying to
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  Speaker 1: stack plays, finding plays, all three phases picking each other up,
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  Speaker 1: which I think we really, the guys did a great
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  Speaker 1: job of just kind of doubling down on our core philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: It was a great environment, so shout out to the 12s.
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  Speaker 1: And just really proud of our team to stand steadfast
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  Speaker 1: and and some adversity. And, uh, that's what we do.
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  Speaker 1: We find solutions. We move forward and have each other's backs.
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  Speaker 1: And it was great to see that, you know, come
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  Speaker 1: to light today. So, uh, with that said, I mean, uh, there's,
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  Speaker 1: there's so much more opportunity for us to improve and that,
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  Speaker 1: which is exciting. It's still within our control, just some
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  Speaker 1: procedure things, you know, red zone. I mean, you, you guys,
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  Speaker 1: you guys know the things, um, which is, uh, which
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  Speaker 1: is great. It's a, it's a great opportunity for us to,
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  Speaker 1: to move forward and get better. So, uh, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: really proud of our team. Just, uh, really proud of
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  Speaker 1: the attitude, the, the, cause everybody, people being great teammates,
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  Speaker 1: having each other's backs, um, pushing each other. And I
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  Speaker 1: think we got better. So, um, it's a great opportunity,
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  Speaker 1: but the opportunity, but like, there's a sense of urgency
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  Speaker 1: now to, to really take another step as a football team.
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  Speaker 1: So it'll be fun next couple of days and we'll
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  Speaker 1: get to work on, uh, on Chicago.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. What can you say about the way your defense played?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Our guys played great, man. They're just a bunch of warriors.
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  Speaker 1: We had some guys that were banged up that played
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  Speaker 1: through some things that went into the game. You watch
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  Speaker 1: really the effort of our football team, but really over
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the last few weeks, the effort that they've played with,
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  Speaker 1: the physicality, going into the short week, playing the way
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  Speaker 1: they did against Denver, and then coming back and putting
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  Speaker 1: themselves in position to play the way they did today.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, how do you... How do you not just
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  Speaker 1: tip your cap to those guys? So we love our group.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: We have a great group. And I think to a man,
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  Speaker 1: if you ask them, you know, they're proud of the effort,
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  Speaker 1: but they also know that maybe we could be better.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: So it really starts when there's some things. I put
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  Speaker 1: us in a couple tough spots that they built me
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  Speaker 1: out of today. So that was 12 is one right there,
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  Speaker 1: and that was pretty cool.
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  Speaker 2: When you say that they're great teammates, what were you
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  Speaker 2: thinking about when you said that?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I just think, you know, there's, you know, all
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  Speaker 1: the conversation we had throughout the week of where we
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  Speaker 1: wanted to get better. and really everybody's just been steadfast
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  Speaker 1: in having each other's backs, trusting the people in the operation,
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  Speaker 1: and knowing that, you know, we're going to take a
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  Speaker 1: step as a team. But you lose, you know, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know, what was it, three or four or something?
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  Speaker 1: You know, there's probably as much noise as they've heard
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  Speaker 1: in a while. So, you know, but it didn't affect them.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it didn't really affect our operation, which, you know,
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  Speaker 1: as a coach and just, like, understanding their process and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the spirit of the team throughout the week,
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  Speaker 1: you're just really proud of that. Yeah, how about that?
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  Speaker 1: It's pretty cool. Yeah, we didn't want to put the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: ball in jeopardy there on the fourth down, so we
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  Speaker 1: were going to go for it regardless. But inside a yard,
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  Speaker 1: we felt like give it to A.J. How much did your.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Down conversion enable you to stay on the field?
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  Speaker 1: How big was that for your offense today? Yeah, third
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  Speaker 1: down has been a point of emphasis over the last
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  Speaker 1: few weeks, especially this week. And I think defense, I
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  Speaker 1: think they're good stats. I think we can be better
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  Speaker 1: in operationally and how we're rushing. Offensively, I'm really proud
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  Speaker 1: of the process that we've had. The guys went to work,
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  Speaker 1: and it was a great team effort. Brian led the charge,
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  Speaker 1: and I thought we came up with some really great
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  Speaker 1: ideas and solutions. And then with Rasheed going down, being
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  Speaker 1: able to kind of evolve and pivot and get to
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  Speaker 1: some other answers as the game started to clear. So
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: some really good stuff by our offensive staff. Yeah, well,
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  Speaker 1: that's one of the areas we can be better is
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  Speaker 1: being more efficient, creating some shorter third downs. But, you know,
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  Speaker 1: that third down and medium to long area is something
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  Speaker 1: we took a good hard look at. And I thought
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  Speaker 1: we protected Sam well. We got the ball out on
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  Speaker 1: time and some great after the catch plays. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: we talk about, you know, eat as a football team. But,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, there's great examples all over the tape. I'm
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  Speaker 1: thinking of George Helani on the sideline, A.J. Barner on
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  Speaker 1: the sideline. Charles Cross after the interception. Every yard matters
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  Speaker 1: in that situation. We needed it going into that field
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  Speaker 1: goal attempt to get the guy to cut back so
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  Speaker 1: George could tackle him. That's 12-1 football, man. That's just
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  Speaker 1: really proud to see our guys play like that. He's
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: pretty good.
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  Speaker 2: How big was that to your game, his speed alone? Well,
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  Speaker 2: I think as coaches, to me, we bear the responsibility of.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: trying to have him and really our best players affect
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  Speaker 1: the game the best we can without overloading him. And
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  Speaker 1: so that's kind of a burden that we carry every
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: week of how can we best utilize his skill set
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  Speaker 1: and get him ready to play while he's still the
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  Speaker 1: best version of himself. You know, it's something that we're
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  Speaker 1: always chasing. But we've got several guys like that, like Murph, Leo,
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  Speaker 1: our edge guys, you know, Spoons, a guy like that.
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  Speaker 1: You're always thinking through that lens. I mean, there's a
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  Speaker 1: lot of guys who are thinking through that lens throughout
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  Speaker 1: every week. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Jackson obviously does this kind of thing every week, and
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  Speaker 2: you know how good the defenses are in this league,
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  Speaker 2: so what does it say that he could be this
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  Speaker 2: consistent week in and week out?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's... I don't know. I mean, he's just... He's tremendous.
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  Speaker 1: He's tremendous. I don't know how else to describe him,
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  Speaker 1: but he's just... He's been... He's had some adversity this week.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just going to leave it like that, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: just really proud of him as a person. He's just
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  Speaker 1: a Person, competitor, teammate. How do you not just have
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  Speaker 1: the most respect for the guy and love him for
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  Speaker 1: how he operates? On the touchdown, do you see the
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  Speaker 1: way he's being covered? Just think right away, okay, it's
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  Speaker 1: going there.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be a good play.
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  Speaker 1: I have pretty good confidence that if we're throwing him
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  Speaker 1: the ball, he's going to come down with it. But
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  Speaker 1: when you see him singled like that, and based off
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  Speaker 1: that play call, I knew that's where Sam was going
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  Speaker 1: to go with the ball.
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  Speaker 2: We have to play in waves.
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  Speaker 1: He's still going to break tackles. I'm sure he broke
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  Speaker 1: a host of tackles. That's what he does. We had
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  Speaker 1: to get people to the football and um, that gave
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  Speaker 1: us the best chance. And I felt, I felt the
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  Speaker 1: guys play like that. You know, I felt we played
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  Speaker 1: great team defense today.
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  Speaker 2: More than 200 yards, more than any other receiver in
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  Speaker 2: the NFL right now. He's coming off offensive player of
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  Speaker 2: the year. Anyway, it's not like he's surprising anybody out
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  Speaker 2: there to do what he's doing right now.
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  Speaker 1: It seems pretty remarkable to do it.
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  Speaker 2: Just how, how big he's been for you guys throughout
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  Speaker 2: the first half of the season here.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah. He's, uh, like, I mean, I'd love to brag
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  Speaker 1: on him more, you know, but, uh, he's, he's tremendous. And, and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I think we, we felt the ball get dispersed,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: you know, get distributed a little bit more today, which
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  Speaker 1: is great. Um, but you know, you'd be crazy not
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  Speaker 1: to try to make him the primary on as many,
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  Speaker 1: many concepts as you can, or maybe sometimes he's on
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  Speaker 1: the backside of a concept and we can get to him. So, um, yeah, let's,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: let's keep it going. Uh, no, obviously we're able to
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  Speaker 1: finish the game. I think, um, I just don't have
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the information. I think Charles has got an ankle. Sheet,
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  Speaker 1: I think, is his knee. Sam got hit only twice
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: and no sacks tonight. I guess what was the difference there,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: both in him and in him? Well, I thought we
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: ran the ball more effectively. There's some procedural things, especially early,
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  Speaker 1: that I felt like we can attack and be cleaner
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  Speaker 1: on that front so we can, you know, Staying on
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  Speaker 1: the attack offensively, which I felt that today. This was
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  Speaker 1: just cleaner football. I thought our protection plan was great. Obviously,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the third down stuff, we talked about that earlier, but
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  Speaker 1: definitely felt more like how we want to play the game.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like you have to be Bradford out
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  Speaker 2: there tonight in the first game back?
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I think so. I think so. I can't wait to
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: watch the tape. I know he got through the game well,
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  Speaker 1: so it's great to have him back.
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  Speaker 2: What do you think of Sam, the way he played,
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  Speaker 2: just the way he handled it? There's obviously a lot
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  Speaker 2: of conversation about his play the.
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  Speaker 1: Last few weeks. Yeah, that's Sam. I mean, you guys
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  Speaker 1: know him as good as anybody. Don't expect anything more
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  Speaker 1: or less from him. He's just a ball player, man.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's what he does. He just keeps pushing through.
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  Speaker 1: I'm proud of the way he handled it. Again, he's
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: part of the solution on how we play. So I'm
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  Speaker 1: proud of him. He's done a great job. Yeah, sure.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good point. We're definitely chasing.
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  Speaker 1: I think this game shows us... It reminds the guys
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  Speaker 1: what we're capable of. It's also, like I said earlier,
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  Speaker 1: I think our guys understand that there's more levels to
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  Speaker 1: where we can go. I hope they feel the sense
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  Speaker 1: of urgency that we can get there because it is
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: stuff that we can control. I'm talking about procedural stuff,
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  Speaker 1: red zone stuff, negative plays. how we rush, our red
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: zone defense, all those things we've been attacking. But, of course,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, the guy's been working so hard, you know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: and so you want that for him. You want them
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  Speaker 1: to feel what it feels like to play our brand
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  Speaker 1: of ball again. And you want our fans to feel it, too,
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  Speaker 1: you know. like it's great for them. I think that
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: they can feel that, you know, we still have the,
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  Speaker 1: we have the, you know, we're still a championship caliber
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  Speaker 1: team and that's what we're chasing.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: How big was the drive to start the second half?
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Just kind of the way the first half ended, you know,
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  Speaker 2: you maybe could have gone up.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the guys are great at the second half. I mean,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: we know we missed an opportunity there, but there's, We
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: were just focusing on how we wanted to open the
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: second half, and I thought our guys executed well. It
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: would have been great to finish the drive in the
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: end zone, which is going to be something we'll look at.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: But that was a great job. Took a ton of
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: time off the clock. Ball was never in jeopardy, so
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: that was good. What was driving AJ's partner.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: As the energizer of your offense? Obviously, the two coaches
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: just come up situationally, but was there a plan to
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: want to get him more involved.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Outside of that? Well, AJ's always within the plan. We're
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: always trying to get him in. Believe it or not,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: you know, we are trying to get him the ball.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: But I thought we had some great stuff for him today.
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  Speaker 1: And then, obviously, you can feel what happens when he's
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: a tough guy to bring down once he gets the
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: ball in his hands.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: What's the key to getting a sustainable game going tonight?
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Because I think we kind of hit a miss and
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: tonight was really a huge part of it. Yeah, I
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: think our staff and our players did a great job
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: this week of really identifying where we can improve. And
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: I think when we watched our self-scout tape, like I
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: said earlier in the week, you know, I left– those
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: meetings more enthused with our, with our ability to be
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: able to run the ball. It's just, we had to
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: be able to fix some certain things that we needed
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: to improve on. And so I think, uh, I think
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: you saw a result of that, of us taking a step,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: but every game is kind of like an independent, every
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: week's like an independent observation. You know, you have to
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: go back to work. You got to, um, put a
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: great plan in place. You got to have, you know,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: you got to have answers, things like that. And the
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: guy's got to be able to execute it. So, um,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I thought we did a great job this week. I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: think it shows a better little blueprint for how we
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: want to move forward. It's a week to week. I'm
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: hitting you with a bunch of cliches here. We've got
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: to reprove it again next week and we have an
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: opportunity to get even better.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Drew Locke, he was inactive for the game.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: He's working through that elbow. Not sure on the severity
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: or how long it's going to be. It was best
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: for us right now to kind of try to calm
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: it down the best we can so Jalen was ready
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: to go if he needed to be it with the
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: number two.