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Leonard Williams: "I Can't Wait To Hear The 12s Out There" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: So I perceived challenge of playing the same team back to.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Back game or is it a che I mean, I
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: think it's definitely a challenge. We're in the playoffs, Like
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: every team is good at this point. They've clearly showed
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: that they have a good offense. But at the same time,
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: you know, I trust our team. That's the last team
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: we played. We had a bye week, we had multiple
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: weeks to study them, and we're still trying to find
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: even more nuggets to uh to play faster.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: The line on your shirt is at a reference to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: what DeMarcus Lawrence said.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, I couldn't put the rest of it on there.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: What difference does it make with Trump Will's back in
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the lineup for them?
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: I think it makes a big difference. He's a big
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: presence on their team. He's the leader, you know, one
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: of the leaders of their offense. You know, I know
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: he's a little bit banged up right now, but just
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: having his presence on the field goes a long way
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: You've had some moments in the past few year where
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: you lined up over Trent Williams on the outside.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: What kind of matchup has that been for you?
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting I think even on other teams with
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: different coordinators, a lot of times when I've faced against
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Trent Williams, they like to put me out there against him.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: I think just having a bigger body, bigger presence on
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: him kind of helps eliminate some of the run game.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: You know, the ball likes to run behind him, the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: ball likes to go to the sea gap, So I
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: think just having a bigger body on him kind of
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: helps with that.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: We talked about the Twelves before, mentioned to Mike McDonald.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: You guys been playing for this all year. How exciting
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: is it to finally have that stadium?
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: It's really exciting. I mean that's something we've been putting
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: emphasis on all year. From the start of camp. We
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: knew it was something that we, you know, didn't do
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: a good job of last year, winning at home, and
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: I think we did a better job of that this year.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And the stadium has been on fire lately, and I'm
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing it even more on fire this Saturday.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I can't wait to hear the Twelves out.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: There on the field. How real is that factor to
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: an opposing offense.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: It's real, I mean, especially when they're getting loud, you
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: know during their huddle. I think that's when it's most effective.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: You know, if they're getting loud after the huddle breaks,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: I think they kind of already know what's what's going on.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: It kind of helps with their checks and stuff like that.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: But you know, when they're specifically loud while they're hudling,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: it makes it extremely hard for the offense. Sometimes it's
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: even harder for us on defense to communicate. But I
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: think we you know, we've been playing home, it's been
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: loud all season, so we found ways to communicate non
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: verbally on defense, and uh, you know, we want them
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: to be as loud as possible this Saturday. What do
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: you think?
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: What do you think you guys did to play a
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: little better at home this year to have.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: The record be better. Honestly, I think it's just, uh,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: the way we prep every week, treating every week the same,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: whether we're on the road, whether we're at home, whether
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: we're in the playoffs, whether it's week one, whether it's
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: a preseason game. I think we prep the same every week,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: and I think it's a it's been showing up at
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: home this year, and uh, like I said, it feels
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: great to bring that home and bring it to the twelves.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: What does it tend to be a bigger deal for
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the offense to try to hear the offensive play call
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: in their huddle compared to the defense hearing the defensive
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: play call when you're all doing it in the same levels.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Sorry, can you repeat that one? Like you were just
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: saying that.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: You know, it's sometimes hard for you guys to hear the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: defensive play call when you're playing at home and a noise,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: but it always seems to be more difficult on the offense.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: What do you think that is?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: I think the offense just has a lot longer play call.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes our defensive guys will start laughing when
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: we hear Sam make a.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Call in the huddle. We're just like WHOA, Like that's
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: a lot. You know.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Sometimes on defense we we seeball getball. We play more
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: reactionary football, you know, we have quick to the point call.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we have you know, switch up calls and things
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: like that. But you know, we're used to playing at
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: home now, we're used to playing in a loud environment,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and like I said, we found ways to communicate nonverbally
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: get get to our checks easier. It just it's really
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: hard on the offense when the quarterback has to have
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: a cadence and the rest. You know, a receiver out
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: there may not even be able to hear the quarterback
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: because it's so loud in there, and you know, he's
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: getting off the ball a little bit slower. You know,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: offensive linemans are having false starts and stuff like that
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: because of the crowd noise.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Leonard correct me. I think this is your first home
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: playoff game that you've had, right, Yeah, what are you
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: looking forward to out of that experience? And how different
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: do you think it'll.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Be from a couple of road games you've seen before
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs situation. I mean, it means a lot
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: for me to be in the situation. I've addressed it,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: talked about it before to the press, I talked about
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: it to my teammates. You know, it's it's rare to
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: be in a situation like this. And you know the
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: best part about our team is we're treating it the
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: same every week, and I think that's what's gotten us
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: to this point. We can't make this moment bigger than
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: you know, Week eighteen, Week one, it's just another week
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: for us. It's week nineteen, and you know, it's definitely
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: special for me to have a home home playoff game.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: Is that easier said.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Than done to just like make this just like any
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: other week.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I think it is easier said than done. But I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: think because we've been living that life for so long,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: it's it's like already ingrained in us. I think if
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: you are now getting to this point and now saying that,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: it's gonna be hard to be like, Okay, it's just
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: another week when we haven't treated all season like that.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: But I think we've done a good job of being
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: that way through camp, you know, all the way up
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: into this moment. So for us, it's not just lip
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: service anymore. It's like we actually live this life.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: You started putting down some roots to your family. And
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: can you feel the community anticipation for the playoffs?
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah? For sure.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: I mean I love Seattle. I feel blessed every day
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: that I'm here. I joke around with Schneider and some
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: of those guys like me and Julian like make you know,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: we're always like saying thank you to those guys for
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: bringing us over here. The community is special. I mean
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I noticed it my very first game here. We had
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: a road game against the Ravens and we got bleue
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: out like forty something to like ten.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Mike was over there and glad he's over here now.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: But I remember like getting home a super late because
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: it was a late East Coast game. I'm driving home
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: from the facility at like three am, and there's literally
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: like fans lined about out there and like cheering us on,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: and I'm just like, it's three am and we just lost,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: and these people are taking their time to steal cheer
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: for us, and I'm not used to that. Like I've
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: been in stadiums where we're losing at halftime and our
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: own fans are booing us and leaving the stadium. So
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: this is a special community and it feels good to
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: bring it to them.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: When Mike talks about twelve is one, what does that
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: mean you on defense?
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: To me, it means like the crowd. Having the crowd
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: on our side is a big part of it. Just
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: overwhelming presence, where like it feels like there's more than
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: just eleven players on the field, And a part of
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: that is our play style on defense as well. You
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: know a lot of times we see the ball carrier
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: on the ground. Pause the film to see how many
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Blue helmets are in the picture. Majority of the time,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: it's nine plus players standing over the ball carrier, and
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: over time that's just overwhelming and intimidating to offenses. When
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: the offensive guy's getting off the ground and he's seeing
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: you know, ten seahawks around him, after a while, it's
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: like they're getting hit by so many of us, They're
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: getting sworn by so many of us. Like it just
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: feels like there's more than just eleven guys on the field.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: When you first met was your impression here.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: I just thought he had little Man syndrome or something
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: because for a small guy, I mean that guy, he's chirping,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: he's talking, he's he's on fire. He plays with his
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: like he plays with his head cut off and like
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: just like on fire. And to me, I just love
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: it because I'm in the trenches and you know a
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: lot of times I see you know, guys getting slammed
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: by by d Lineman, like big guys. But I'm seeing
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Witherspoon flying down the field, you know, making TfL was
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: like slamming running backs way more than him. And uh,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: you know, I think him bringing that passionate energy to
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: the defense just kind of lights everyone else up.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: To him during your game.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: I definitely hear him communicating on the back end a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: few times, but the only time I really hear him
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: most of the time is like I'm running to the ball,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I see him fly down make a tackle and he
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: gets up just talking a lot, you know. Uh, And
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: that's another one of those intimidating factors on offenses sometimes,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: like you see like you see it in small ways,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: like when I'm out of my peripheral seeing, you know,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: my seahawks just swarming and also talking, and I'm looking
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: at our opponent and they're walking back to the huddle
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: with their head down.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: It's almost like that Mike Tyson interview where he, you know,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: he talks about how he feels like he has his
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: opponent be already when when his opponents are dropping their
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: eyes here anywhere, I would say Dexter Lawrence. But I
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: also played alongside of him, so it's a lot easier
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: for me to hear him. But he had some interesting
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: smack talk, for sure, because he would say some stuff
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: where I'll kind of question it, but uh, it worked.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: It worked.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: How early was the sea ball get ball mentality adopted
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: by the defense.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: He had to be like training camp. Yeah, adopted.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: I would say it started up during Ota Is. Honestly,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: I think that was around the time we talked about running.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: To the ball.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: We talked about how our identity on defense is just
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: just like a high motor, you know, type of defense,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: type of play style, and you could see it immediately,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: like when a new guy come in, we would see
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: on film how he kind of played at a different
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: level than us, but then within a few days he
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: he fits in with the rest of the defense playing
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: at that same level. And you know, I think it's
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: definitely unique and special here the way we attack the
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: ball and you know, the way we run to the ball,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: and I think we adopted it pretty quickly.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: What is it?
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: What or who is the dark side?
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: What would you say?
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, the dark side is our defense. You know,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: I think the laws said it. You know, he said
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: it good at one point where he's he wants to
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: turn the offensive lights off. And you know, there's been
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: times this year where we've shut offenses completely off, you know,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: like no touchdowns, no points at all sometimes, And I
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: think that's what that's what it feels like when the
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: dark side is playing against you. It's just it's hard
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: to get the ball moving. It feels like cutting your
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: lights off, feels like you're playing against twelve people anything. Yep, Yeah,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: it means a lot for sure. You know, I feel
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: like I had a great season last year. I feel
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: like I've had great seasons throughout my career, honestly, and
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: there's been times where, you know, I was snubbed from
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Pro Bowls and All Pros and things like that, you know,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: and I'm sure a lot of players in the league
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: have felt that way as well. I'm not the only one.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, to get that recognition from
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: your peers, it means a lot. Do you find out.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I was enjoying my downtime over this bye week we
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: had and coach Mike hit me up and said congrats,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: and I had to like be like, what are you
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: talking about? And then I found out. So it meant
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: a lot to get that recognition, for sure.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: It wasn't at six am on Saturday when when it
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: came out.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: No, it was around like eight am. You know.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Coach Mike was already up thinking about football, so he was.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: On it, working together, even helping him out since OTA's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: training camp, and he got some all pro vokes what's
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: your relationship in like has that developed over the season.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think he's definitely gonna be an All
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Pro player once at some point in his career, sooner
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: than later, honestly, And a part of that reason why
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: is because he has the ability and the knowledge, but
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: also he's just a sponge like he wants to soak
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: up as much knowledge as possible. He doesn't. He didn't
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: come into this league as a first rounder thinking that
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: he knows it all. He came in wanted to learn from,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: you know, guys like like Charles and guys even on
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: the other side of the ball. Even now week nineteen,
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: he's still coming up to me after drives and practice
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: and like being like, hey, did you notice this? Like
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: what do you think I can do on this? And
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: how would you react if I set you like this?
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: And things like that. So he's just one of those
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: guys that's constantly trying to learn, and I think that's
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: his edge.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: What role has played in success on AD.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I would say he's just one of the best coaches
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I played for. And it's just the way he motivates me,
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: the way he allows me to play my style of football,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: makes me play comfortable, makes me and you know after
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: after a while, he just he just brings so much
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: life into you that it just makes you feel confident
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: as a player, makes you trust yourself, makes you trust
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: your teammates, makes you trust your your coaches. And I
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: think just that energy that he brings his passion to
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: the game is just big for you know, all the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: guys on defense and especially the D line, Thank
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: You, thank you.