Latest / Seahawks Press Pass / Leonard Williams: "We Had A Bend Don't Break Type Mentality"

Transcript

Leonard Williams: "We Had A Bend Don't Break Type Mentality" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, what's up? Good, how are you all? Good. Now
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: that you've had a chance.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: To look at the film and kind of evaluate, what
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: stands out most from the overall defensive effort and execution
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: last week?
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: From our defense? Just a bend, don't break type of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: mentality throughout the whole team, I would say. I actually
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: talked about it a lot amongst my friends and family.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: about how rare that is. I've been in the league
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: for 12 years. You start to see things not go
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: our way, like our quarterback go down in the first
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: drive and us being down most of the game. You
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: usually start to see guys pointing fingers, blaming certain guys,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: blaming certain sides of the ball, finding pretty much reasons
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and excuses why we should lose. And I don't think
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I've seen a single person. I looked every person in
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the eyes throughout that game and at halftime and Not
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: a single person thought we were going to lose that game.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Now there's some people that look at that and say
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: you were the best defense in the league last year.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: It should have been even more obvious that you were dominant.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Why is bend but don't break still the good.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Philosophy for week one? I think it's just a great
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: philosophy to have throughout the league, throughout the season in general,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: because you see a lot of these games, oftentimes they
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: come down to the last two minutes. I feel like
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: regardless of what's happening throughout the course of a game,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: You know, teams can be up by a large margin
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: or whatever. It could be a battle throughout the game,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: but oftentimes it comes down to those last two minutes.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: You mentioned when Sam got hurt and Drew had to
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: go in, and then obviously Drew played well the rest
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: of the way and all that. What is kind of
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: the team's confidence level at Drew and all that with
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: him starting this week?
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, even outside of our mentality as a team
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: of the bend, don't break and just kind of supporting
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: the next guy up. I think we all have faith
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: in Drew because I think we believe that he's the best,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you know, second string quarterback in the league. You know,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I feel like since I've been here before he went
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: to the Giants, he stepped up big time. You know,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: I remember that Eagles game a few years back where
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: he stepped up and won us the game. And, you know,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: he's done it and shown it multiple times now. So,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I think that has just instilled a lot of trust
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in his teammates and in his team.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: How much when you're scouting for your next opponent, are
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: you focusing on the players you're going to go against versus.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: The schemes and plays that they call?
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Really both. You know, the scheme does seem familiar. You know,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: we see a lot of familiarities with the Rams and,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: you know, the scheme that they run. But there's obviously
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: personnel things that play a big part in it, too.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: They like to go to certain guys. their running back
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: that they just drafted is, you know, he's really talented.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: He's very athletic. And, you know, you use both.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: Are there certain, like, downs and distances where you're more
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: focused on, okay, I know I'm going to go against
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: this guy. I've got to beat him in a one-on-one versus, like,
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: I'm trying to detect what play they're going to run?
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's down and distance. It's personnel. It's
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: what type of, you know, is the tight end and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: tight to the core. Is he, you know, flexed out?
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Is the running back kind of in a child alignment,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: or is he tight? Is he behind the quarterback or
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: in front of the quarterback? There's honestly so many different tells.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: You have to pretty much diagnose in a second sometimes.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Before I put my hand in the dirt, I'm seeing
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: the down and distance. I'm seeing what formation they're in.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing all of those things. Even where they're at
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: on the field can play a part. Sometimes teams do
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a certain thing when they're on the logo. They do
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: a certain thing when they're in the red zone, black zone.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: So you really have to be dialed into all of it.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: With Drew, what do you.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Notice about his demeanor when he's playing?
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, there's clips out there where it seems like
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: there's a little bit of swagger to him.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: What do you notice about his demeanor?
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I think what you just said, he has a little
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: bit of swagger to him. He's confident. I think he's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: ready for the moment. You know, when it's time for
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: him to be called up, there's no lag. There's no hesitation.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: He's ready for it. And it's cool to see because,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine what it's like to be in that
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: position as a backup quarterback where you may not see
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the field all season, but at any moment you have
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: to be ready to go in there and operate and
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: lead the offense. I think he does a great job
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: of that, not skipping a beat.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Your edge guys, it's like a really physical kind of
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: violent group in terms of law and challenge. Have you
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: been around a group of guys that obviously they can
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: work faster, but played that physical in the run game
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: and are just that violent? And what does that do
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: for the defense when you have that collection?
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's definitely unique to this place to have
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: edge guys like that and also have rotation. You know,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: it's not just one or two guys on the edge
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: that can do it. It's like we have a rotation
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: of guys on the edge that are doing it. And,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: you know, it allows me to be confident in what
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I'm doing when I know guys outside of me are
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: doing their job, guys next to me are doing their job. And,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: you know, the physicality that they play with, you know,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: definitely represents, the style of football that we want to
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: be and put on film as Seahawks.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: You mentioned the familiarity aspect that it looks like the Rams,
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: obviously Mike LaFleur coming from Sean McVay's staff, but you
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: also know a lot of the players that are playing
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: for Arizona. You've played them in a different scheme. What
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: does that balancing act like for you, especially when you
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: only have the one game to go off of with
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: Mike LaFleur's offense, what it looks like with this collection
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: of players?
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like you said, we only have one game tape
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: to go off of. So, you know, a lot of
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: it is we're going off of who we already have
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: played against in Arizona. So we're looking at certain guys
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: like McBride, you know, some of their playmakers. And then
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: also we're looking at, you know, some of LaFleur's offensive
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: scheme and things like that. And so we're really watching
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: tape of, you know, both. We're watching teams. We're watching
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: tape on teams. last year's Cardinals and also last year's Rams.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: So we're trying to diagnose and put it all together.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: You mentioned not.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Being able to imagine what it's like to be Drew
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Locke in that situation. So what's the most pressure-packed situation
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: you can imagine being in? Because it happened to you.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Is there anything that... Like the pressure that when it's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: put on me?
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like a last-minute, like unexpectedly, something like that.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Can you think of a moment where it would ratchet
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: up that intensity?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's tough because he's such an individual position,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: I would say. All eyes are on him as an
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: offensive quarterback. For me, I'm trying to imagine putting myself
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: in that situation and when is the most pressure put
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: on me. And I think it's situations like two-minute, four-minute
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: when you know the offense is driving down the field
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: and they have to pass the ball. So it's like
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: as a defensive line, we know drive killers are sacks.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: So it's like if we get a sack in this
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: situation in a two-minute drill, in a two-minute period– we
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: could really end the game or end the half. But
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: at the same time, there's four or five of us
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: sometimes pass rushing, so you're not paying attention to just
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: one guy sometimes. It really is a collective, whereas like
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: a position, like a quarterback, it's like all pressure is
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: on him. It's a little different.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: You've talked about in the past how sometimes you pick
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: up something from somebody's pass set that you use in
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: a pass rush plan. Because you play all over the line,
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: does it increase the amount of studying you have to
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: do about what people's tells are?
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it increases the amount of studying I have to
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: do with the playbook. I have to learn what the
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: inside guys are doing. I have to learn what the
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: outside guys are doing. And then it also increases my
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: study of the other team. I have to pay attention
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: to the guards and the tackles, even the center sometimes. So,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: you know, luckily I've been in the league long enough.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: I can find tendencies and things like that a little
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: bit quicker sometimes. It takes me, you know, maybe two
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: or three games to watch and I pick up someone's
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: tendencies versus, you know, when I was younger, sometimes I'd
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: probably have to watch 10 games on a guy before
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: I could figure out his tendencies. So I think knowing
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: what I'm looking for and knowing how to study has
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: definitely helped me adjust to all the studying I have
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: to do now.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: Having to know different positions, does that ever get weird
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: or confusing in the moment where maybe they're going fast
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: and you're playing different positions?
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Honestly, I think it helps me. It helps me play faster,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: I think, because it helps me understand the overall defense
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: instead of just my position. And By doing that, it's
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: like I know if this guy's dropping, I have to
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: get to contain faster and things like that. There's small
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: little details within the defense that I've learned better by
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: knowing more positions.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: There's been a lot of talk around the league this
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: week about A lot of a lot of teams didn't
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: play their veterans and that led to some missed tackles
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: or some games around the league where there's a lot
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: of missed tackles. You guys didn't really play and had
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: very few missed tackles. Do you think you guys do
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: you think that really matter? It matters a whole lot that,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: you know, if you played in the preseason to not
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: miss tackles and stuff like that week one or did
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: you guys just kind of.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I will say it makes a difference. I think we
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: do a great job of here, you know, doing tackling
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: drills and and working on like angles and all of
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: those type of things. But at the same time, you
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: can't really, you know, simulate it in practice. We're not
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: taking guys to the ground. And I think it does
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: make a difference. You know, like there was a few
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: times where, you know, I even wrapped a guy up
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: and kind of just let my feet go instead of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: like running through the tackle. And I think there's like
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: small details like that that you get more comfortable with
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: and used to throughout the course of a season.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: What kind of boost would it be to get Nicky
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: Manwari back this week?
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think it would be huge. I mean,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: he's a Swiss Army knife. He's, you know, he's one
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: of those guys I always talk about. Even in practice,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: he's doing individual snaps with every position group on defense.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: He's physical, he's long, and he's a big playmaker for us.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Anything else? Thank you, Leo. Thank you.