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Rylie Mills: "I'm Fully Back To Who I Was Before The Injury" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: What's going on? How much better does it feel being healthy?
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This season? Way more fun? Yeah, it's a lot more
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: fun when you can, uh you're not just standing behind
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: everybody just mentally going through drills. What was it would
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: be able to have the sack of the Super Bowl
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and kind of the reaction to that. What I guess
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: with looking back on that, where's that kind of been?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: You were able to have that ball, but despite what
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: happened to you differ not being able to play most
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of the year. Yeah, you know, looking back at it,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, my takeaways, it kind of
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: just felt the end of like a long chapter. Like
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: in my career. I felt like from the like the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: start of the injury and the rehab process, like you
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: go through so many different phases, and uh, you know,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the ultimate goal is get back and get back to
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: who I was, you know, before the injury. And so
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I think just that moment, like, you know, I think
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: a couple of days thinking after, I was like, man,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that really was like a storybook kind of ending on it.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: But I feel I closed that chapter and I'm ready
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to to get going and for this next chapter to start.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: How beneficial was it? Right? They just didn't put you
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: on injured reserve and and you've got the opportunity to
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: stay to be paid off. Yeah. I mean, I think
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: it's a shout to the staff for having that kind
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: of belief in me, and you know, the guys upstairs
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: and you know, our coaches. I think, you know, that
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: means the world to me that they have that confidence,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and you know, I know it's tough to take a
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: guy that you know towards ACL a couple you know,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: months ago before the draft, and you know, I think
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: it just shows the kind of program we have here
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: where it's like guys can come in and you know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: you put your all into it, and especially with CJ
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and Strict and those guys with the rehab process. You know,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I never felt like coming out there that I wasn't ready,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: so I had full confidence and you know see that
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: from the other side is Yeah, it means the world
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: to me today. How close do you feel like you
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: are where you working for the year. Yeah, I feel
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: hundred percent. I feel great. You know, it's been nice
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: having you know, that off season just to kind of
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: get back to working out and get my body back.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: But it feels great. I feel like a whole different
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: player than I was, you know when I first came back.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: How many times do you feel like this is your
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: rookie year or how do you get treated by the guys?
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Are you still a rookie? I feel like it's been
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: nice because I'm kind of like treating like a second
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: year guy. But I think I'm trying to take the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: rookie approach. Is like I don't know everything, you know,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: so I'm definitely I have stuff to learn all the time.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: But I luckily I'm you know, not having to do
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: any rookie dues. They're singing any any more songs. How
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: many times have you gone back and watched that second
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I watched a couple of days. Maybe more than a couple.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I've seen a few times. It was cool, it was
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: it was just awesome. And it's funny cause don't remember
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the play at all. I kind of just blacked out
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: and went and you know, just remembered after the play celebrating.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: But it's cool to I look back and like, man,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: that worked out, you know perfect. I saw a lot
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: of the clips of its teammates on the bench kind
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: of seeing it and celebrating and everything. What was that
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: kind of like we'll go back and see their reaction
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and being pretty hype for you in that moment. To
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: be able to get a part of that, Yeah, I
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: think that's the coolest thing of all time. Like just
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: seeing my teammates hyped up for me like that always
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: gets me going. Just seeing the guys hyped up. When
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I came to the sideline, I was like, you have
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: everyone smacking your helmet and hyping you up, Like that's
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the coolest thing ever. I think EJ even even knocked
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: me over after the play trying to celebrate. But it
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: was awesome to see that kind of support. And you know,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: they've watched me do all the rehab process and try
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: to be locked in, so it was great to see that.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Like you said, last year, year goal was just to
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: get back all the way and get all the way
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: back healthy. What's been the driving force behind your off
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: season normal off season now getting into your pseudos roopny
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: season here, what's been your driving force? Yeah? I think
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: for me, it's just you know, taking this opportunity and
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: trying to run with it, you know, coming back from
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the injury. I feel like now I'm fully back to
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: myself and fall back to who I was before the injury.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: So you know, I want to step in that role
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and you know, be a player that gets better every day.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: You know, for me, it's just about that improvement. And
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: you know, I know not everything's to be perfect, but
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: you know, I want to get better each and every
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: day that I'm out Here is the way they want
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: to use you. Here is how you were used it,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame and all of that. Or is there gonna
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: be any kind of differences at all? Reason, Yeah, it's
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: pretty smilar I think there's a little more. End. I
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: think there's you know, the thing that's interesting about me
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: is I get to play kind of all different positions
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: down the line. So and I love that because it
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: kind of gives me an opportunity at you know, any spot,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: because that's how you know, it kind of goes in
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the season. So I've made to learn a ton and
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: you know, learn from Ad and Hines. I feel like
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I've I've really grown my game a lot and been
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: learned a lot. You've been getting the line up next
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: to Iron Murphy a fair amount during practice. What kind
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: of damage you thick you guys can do? I mean,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: you guys have already seen what Murph does like that.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Dude's a freak. So it's great because every time I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: play next to him, I know something crazy is gonna happen.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: So you know, I could play off him, and you know,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I think we make a great group inside. And he's
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: been a guy that's spoken up a ton this offseason,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: so he's been a really good leader, and you know,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I just try to follow him. He leads by example
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: in a rookie season that you were rehabbing a lot
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: of year, it's how valuble or having venters like Jerry
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: or you know, just learned. It was super helpful because
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: when I came to the NFL, like you know, everything
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: in college is in the gun, and you know, here
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: everything was under center. So I had a lot to learn.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: And you know, I think the bright side you know,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: of being in that injury spots, I have to sit
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: there and you know, I could watch the plays on
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: offense and kind of get some of the looks and
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: then I could ask Leo or Jay Reid or you
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: know lot any of the older guys you know kind
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: of about them and you know what I'm seeing. So
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I had to learn a ton and you know, they're
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: a great help and I couldn't, you know, say thanks more.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: But he didn't have a training gamp. Obviously, those first
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: couple of games back kind of where you're training camp
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: in your preseason and what were the biggest lessons that
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: you learned those first couple of games kind of getting
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: thrown in them in a playoff race, they ran whim
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the first play, Like, I was like ready to fire
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: off the ball and they ran whim and I was like,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: oh my god. So I think keep your head and swivel. No,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I got to learn a ton, I think. You know, definitely,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: it's different when you go from starting a week fifteen
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: practice to a live game. But I kind of I
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: feel like I learned best kind of getting thrown in
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: the fire, and you know, it ended up working out great.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But yeah, definitely a bit of an adjustment. What's it
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: like practicing this time of the year and it seems
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: like having to kind of deal yourself back at times,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: trying to keep everything within the rules and all that.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: It's it's it's been good. It's adjustment. I like to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: use my power, so I feel like here you kind
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: of you can't use your power. You got to use
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: other things. So it's actually it's forced me to grow
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: in other areas. But there's definitely times where like I'll
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: get mad and just try to go to power and
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: you know, eighties you gotta be like, hey, chill out,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: just work your hands. So it's been a bit of adjustment.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: What did you learn about yourself grow up and rehab
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: process as you are working on your way to get
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: back to what I learned about myself. I just think
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I'm mentally tougher than I thought, and I think I
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: was prepared for it. And you know, I think going
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: through the process, I think a lot of people would
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: have broke. I think it would have been a tough
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: thing to deal with, you know, having an ACL injury
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: like to what mine was, and I think a lot
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: of people would have quit or not seen the light
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: at the end of the tunnel. And so I think
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: one thing I learned is that no matter the uh,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the obstacle or the challenge, is just one day at
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: a time, and you know, the opportunity may not come
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: tomorrow or the next day, but eventually, when it comes,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you're gonna be ready for it. You're not opportunity