Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Gardeck & Abdullah on Defensive Identity, Coen's Approach & Practicing Strong

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Press Pass | Gardeck & Abdullah on Defensive Identity, Coen's Approach & Practicing Strong · Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You guys are back on number one in rush defense
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: after being second last week. What has been the key
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: this year to repeating that kind of efficiency that you
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: had last year?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just in the detail. It's part of our
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: identity as a defense. So it's something every time we
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: take the field that we're planning on doing. And the
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: way you kind of bake that into your identity is
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: doing it in practice, talking about it in meetings. finding
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: different ways to attack the blocks or to key, have
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: your eyes on the right spot. And at the end
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: of the day, it's about us imposing our will on
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: the other team.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: The second one for me, you played a lot of
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: special teams in this league. What kind of, what could
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that kick return that led to the win? What can
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: that do for a team's momentum going into the next
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. That's huge. I've been on both sides of
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: that play.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: And it did it did kind of feel like they
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: felt like they had it in the bag or they
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: just weren't trying not to screw it up. And that's
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: the wrong way to play football. You're out here to
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: win and taking the advantage of every opportunity, regardless of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: what's on the clock or what the situation is. And
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: really proud to be a part of a unit that
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: does that.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Dennis.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: We'll go, John, then Gary.
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: Hey, Dennis.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Thanks for doing this.
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: You guys have found a couple different ways to win
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: this season.
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  Speaker 3: Just what does that.
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: Say about kind of the maturity of the team and
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: how you guys have grown, just finding different ways to
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: get it done, whatever it looks like?
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: The kind of phrase that no flinch comes to mind,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: that just whatever it takes to get the job done
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: in that moment, it's fun to be a part of.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: I think It leads.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: To a team win, offense complementing defense, special teams tying
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: it all together. It's fun to be a part of
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: a team that's so connected in terms of the phases.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: One more for me. What can you say overall about
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: the impact and influence that Coach Camp has had on
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: you since you joined the team last year, just from
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: his philosophy, whatever.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: It is, his energy? Just what kind of impact has
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: he had on you?
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  Speaker 2: He definitely rejuvenated and I think revived my career, my
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: love for the game, the way he approaches it, just
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: his philosophy and mindset is more aligned with everything I
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: thought the NFL was going to be as a young
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: kid growing up and, you know.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: Aspiring to be it. I think he's just carried.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: That into, you know, a lot of times, kind of
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: start taking deviations and you call it growing up or
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: whatever it is, but, um, just to, to keep the
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: game of football, what it is, uh, at its core
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: and to acknowledge what it is and, and find ways to, um,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: bake in that physicality, the, the, the mentality and mindset
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: that we're going after whoever's lined up against us at
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: the end of the day, it's about 11 people winning
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: their one-on-one matchup. Um, I think that does put a
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: little bit more pressure on players. It allows for a
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: lot more accountability as opposed to just doing a technique
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: that I was told to do.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: It's a player going and making a play.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: And I think that leads to a better outcome.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: And it's been awesome to be a part of.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: One thing about you on the pass rush and the
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: way you're being used, why has the simulated pass rush
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: been so effective for this team this year where you're
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: dropping edge rushers and blitz of linebackers and even safeties?
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I think it comes down to understanding that the way
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: teams protect and it's a very difficult.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Pattern to pick up and especially.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Because we do such a good job in the secondary
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of holding disguises and the.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: Intestinal fortitude that.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: That kind of takes to hey i know my job
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: is way over here but it's really important for me
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: to to lock in and look like i'm working and
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: i have something going on over here so our linebackers
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: and safeties and whole secondary do such a great job
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  Speaker 2: at holding looks that i think it's been a problem.
• 4:41
  Speaker 6: This year the uh the penalties in last few games uh.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: And tough on the defensive side, is.
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: There a danger that you could lose your aggressiveness and
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: worry about getting called for stuff in future games?
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, or you can just commit to playing cleaner football,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: which I think is definitely the Campanelli approach, and that's
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: the way our guys approach it.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: Let's not have to be passive.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Let's not have to– pull punches because we're afraid, let's
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: dial in our technique and let's be clean, I think
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: is the right way to approach it.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: Liam talked about taking a while to decompress from that
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: game on Sunday. Is that a feeling that players share?
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: Is that a tough one to come down from?
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  Speaker 3: I think absolutely. From the opening kickoff, that you could
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: tell it was going to be the team that was.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Committed and more focused on winning the game, that was
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: going to win the game just because there was a
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: whole bunch of stuff going on and a lot of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: things fighting to pull your attention away from each snap,
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  Speaker 2: your responsibility on each snap and your keys. So it
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: was kind of a let's grit our teeth, let's stay
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: focused on our job, let's not try to overreach and
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: extend and make.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: Up for something. Let's stay within ourselves.
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  Speaker 2: And I think because you do have to hammer down
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: and lock in for so long that sometimes after games
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: when your mind can go, it's hard to stop it
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: again because you've kind of been doing that for the
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: last four hours.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: Hey, Amir.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: Thanks for doing this.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: Just what can you say, you know, from all the
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: teams you've been on and coaches you've played for, what
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: kind of sets Liam part and his approach and kind
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: of how he connects with you guys as players.
• 6:41
  Speaker 7: Uh he's a straight shooter you know he tells you
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  Speaker 7: how it is when it's good and when it's bad
• 6:46
  Speaker 7: so uh the expectation is always the same for players
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: so it's kind of like a good foundation for us
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: to understand that we're going to get what we earn
• 6:55
  Speaker 7: and i think as a player that's been around like
• 6:57
  Speaker 7: you said in this league for a while that's all
• 6:59
  Speaker 7: you can ask for is an opportunity to earn your
• 7:03
  Speaker 7: keeps and to earn your opportunities and he stays true
• 7:07
  Speaker 7: to that.
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: So I think that's what sets him apart from a
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: lot of coaches.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: And then when it comes to your return at the
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: end of the game, what can you say about how,
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: you know, the kick return team and the blocks kind of.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Helped set that up?
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: It looked like a couple guys had, you know, key blocks.
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: For sure.
• 7:23
  Speaker 7: I mean, it starts with, you know, we make our
• 7:26
  Speaker 7: practice habits game reality. You know, the things that we
• 7:29
  Speaker 7: do to put ourselves in the closest as we can
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: game reality in practice. really were on display in the
• 7:37
  Speaker 7: moment where we needed the most.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: One block I.
• 7:39
  Speaker 6: Can think about in particular is Quentin Morris. He's a
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: guy that's always going to be selfless.
• 7:43
  Speaker 7: He's always going to put himself in situations to spring
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  Speaker 7: the big play. And he trusts me, you know, anytime
• 7:49
  Speaker 7: before we take the field, he's always saying, set me
• 7:51
  Speaker 7: up to when he set me up. He understands we
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: have kind of a telepathy going on right now where
• 7:56
  Speaker 7: our time has been on and we've been able to
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: gash a few teams early this year and We're just
• 8:01
  Speaker 7: glad that we were able to do it when.
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: It counted the most.
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  Speaker 1: A couple for you. When you watched the all 22
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: of the kick return from sideline and end zone, besides
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Quinton's block, what else stood out about the way the
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: guys strained on that play?
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah, for one, the double team.
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: I think in the double team, it might have been
• 8:19
  Speaker 7: Dennis Gardeck and Chris Rodriguez, guys who were playing a
• 8:24
  Speaker 7: lot of snaps defensively and offensively. And like you said,
• 8:28
  Speaker 7: their strain was incredible. you know, for those guys to,
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: you know, suck it up in the moment where we
• 8:34
  Speaker 7: needed the most.
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: And that really set up the spacing and timing that
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: we needed.
• 8:38
  Speaker 7: If we can anchor that double team, then we can
• 8:41
  Speaker 7: get the flow of, you know, my stem of the
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: actual return in unison with Quinn and with Brinson.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: And also with Josh Cameron coming from the off for Turner.
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: So I would say it really started with that double team.
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  Speaker 6: That was pretty much the nucleus of that play.
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: And they set the tone, and from there we were
• 8:59
  Speaker 7: able to get some nice gaps and.
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: Get right on the kicker.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And I'm glad you mentioned Josh. He's being asked to
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: do a ton as a rookie on special teams. How
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: impressed have you been with the way he's handled that
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: workload on teams and on offense?
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: Man, so impressed.
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  Speaker 7: He is a lot of years ahead of where I
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: was when I was a rookie. His maturity, his stewardship,
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  Speaker 7: the way he just shows up every single day. The
• 9:23
  Speaker 7: same person, no matter if he's scoring touchdowns that week
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: or if he's digging out push-crack blocks on the duo
• 9:29
  Speaker 7: schemes on offense.
• 9:30
  Speaker 6: He's doing it all, man. It's a shame that his
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: kickoff return got called.
• 9:34
  Speaker 7: Back early in the game because that would have been
• 9:36
  Speaker 7: huge for our momentum, but it just shows that he's
• 9:38
  Speaker 7: capable of affecting the game in a multitude of ways.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: Did you have some kind of an internal clock that
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: let you know how much further you could run and
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: still leave a second or two.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: On the clock?
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: No, but I had a physical one.
• 9:56
  Speaker 7: I had one I could see and it was, actually
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: kind of funny because when I broke through, I felt,
• 10:04
  Speaker 7: I think it was Jones kind of retracing.
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: And I was trying to get ourselves, our team in.
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: A situation where we knew Cam could have like a
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: legitimate shot or an attempt at, you know, a long
• 10:16
  Speaker 7: field goal, which he's done so many times throughout his career.
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: And I just so happened to be able to meet
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: my eyes with the clock.
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: And I saw it was just ticked from three seconds
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: to two seconds.
• 10:27
  Speaker 6: And at that time, you know, I just wanted to
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: cover the ball, get down.
• 10:30
  Speaker 7: And luckily we were touched down, you know, because I
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: don't even know how that would have played out if
• 10:34
  Speaker 7: I would have tried to just go down on my own,
• 10:36
  Speaker 7: how the clock would have ran out. I don't know
• 10:38
  Speaker 7: the rules on that in terms of like what the
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: referees are.
• 10:44
  Speaker 6: Designating as giving yourself up, you know, on the run.
• 10:48
  Speaker 7: But I'm glad that that defendant was there when I
• 10:50
  Speaker 7: decided to finally go down, seeing that clock up in there,
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: you know, on the scoreboard and 57 yarder for Cam,
• 10:57
  Speaker 7: you know, that was light work, obviously.