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Leonard Williams: "We Love To See These Types Of Challenges" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You've been talking a lot about Quentin Nelson already this week.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: You've seen him in practice. What can you say about
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: your new teammate?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think he's a great player. I think
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: it was a great decision to bring him over here.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: I feel like he's, you know, going to help us
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: win games. And, you know, shout out to A.B. I
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: feel like he's a great player as well. He's also
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: coming off of a great game. But, you know, I
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: try to talk to both of those guys about just
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  Speaker 2: the business of it all. I've been through it on
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  Speaker 2: both sides, I feel like. You know, I've been in A.B.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: 's situation. I've been in Quentin's situation. And I think
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  Speaker 2: as a vet, I'm trying to just share my wisdom
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  Speaker 2: with both of those guys, telling Q, you know, the
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: differences around here and, like, what it means to, like,
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  Speaker 2: come into a new organization. And same with, you know,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: AB and stuff like that.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: What do you tell Anthony Bradford in a.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Situation like this? I just tell him to control what
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  Speaker 2: he can. You know, there's so many times in this
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  Speaker 2: league and this business that, you know, there's things happening
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  Speaker 2: outside of your control, outside of your realm. The more
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  Speaker 2: you focus on those things, the more it takes away
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: you know, what you can do. And in these situations,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: all you can do is just focus on yourself, focus
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: on things that you can control, which is like your attitude, mindset,
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  Speaker 2: work ethic, like all those type of things. And a
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: lot of times you could turn a situation that may
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: look not so great in your favor, you could turn
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  Speaker 2: it into something special.
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  Speaker 3: When did you learn that?
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  Speaker 2: I think I learned it through my first trade, actually.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: When I was going from the Jets to the Giants,
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  Speaker 2: I felt like it was because the Jets didn't want
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  Speaker 2: me anymore. I was a young guy. It was my
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  Speaker 2: first time going through, like, what the business meant in
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  Speaker 2: this league. And, you know, I had to quickly learn
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  Speaker 2: to not beat myself up, not take it personal, not
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  Speaker 2: get too low, like, mindset-wise, and just realize, you know,
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  Speaker 2: there's a new opportunity ahead of me now going to
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  Speaker 2: the Giants. And let's make the most of that situation,
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  Speaker 2: turn this new situation into something special. When you got
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: traded here, how did it take you to feel like
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: this was home, like you knew the shortcuts for the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: freeway to get here. They know where to park and
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: where to live. Where did you really feel like this
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: was your place? Honestly, I didn't feel it until I
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: signed back after that season. I was living in the
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: hotel for like the first three or four weeks I
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: was here, which was tough. I mean, it's a beautiful
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: hotel on the lake and all that type of stuff.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Living out of suitcases and things like that on a
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  Speaker 2: new team, trying to learn everybody's names, trying to see
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  Speaker 2: what it's like in the building. the way people go
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  Speaker 2: about their business. I feel like it's a challenging and
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  Speaker 2: humbling experience. I feel like regardless of what caliber player
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: you are, I think Quentin is a high caliber player.
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  Speaker 2: He's been pro bowl every year he's been in the league,
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  Speaker 2: but you have to go through a humbling process sometimes
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: when you are new to a team and just trying
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to get everyone familiar with everyone.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: When you got traded here, were you under the understanding
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  Speaker 4: that the Seahawks were going to try to resign you
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: and you already were thinking that way?
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  Speaker 2: Not at all. That's another one of those situations where
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  Speaker 2: I had to go back on what I stand on,
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: just controlling what you can control. I had to move
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  Speaker 2: across the country, furthest away as possible from New York,
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  Speaker 2: and learn a whole new team, learn a whole new defense.
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  Speaker 2: So in that situation, I was just seriously taking it
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  Speaker 2: day by day, play by play, which sometimes if you
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  Speaker 2: can control your mindset in that way, it almost makes
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  Speaker 2: you thrive, in my opinion, because it's like the most
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  Speaker 2: locked in I've I've been sometimes when I'm in those moments,
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  Speaker 2: just high pressure, focus on yourself and the controllables. And
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  Speaker 2: I ended up playing well and, you know, finished with
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  Speaker 2: a contract, but I wasn't thinking about that future at all.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: How have you done the times you've played against Quentin
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  Speaker 1: and what do you really remember about those matchups?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, what I remember about Quentin is just his, like, effort,
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  Speaker 2: also his technique. I feel like, you know, there's high
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  Speaker 2: caliber talent, athletes and humans in this league. But the
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  Speaker 2: guys who can put their talent, match with their technique
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  Speaker 2: and effort, are the ones who are, like, in that higher,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: you know, caliber of player. And I think that's what
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: I think about Quinn.
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  Speaker 4: You guys just played the league's leading rusher in Ken Walker.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: Now you play the top team rushing attack. What about
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  Speaker 4: the Bears' run game impresses you when you.
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  Speaker 2: Look at that? I think what impresses me is it's
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  Speaker 2: a full team effort. You know, it's not just one
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  Speaker 2: guy getting it done in the run game. It's not
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  Speaker 2: just one running back. They have two. two great running backs.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: It's not just one old lineman you got to worry about,
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  Speaker 2: it's their scheme and everything. So, you know, it was
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  Speaker 2: definitely a challenge and it's something that as a great
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  Speaker 2: run defense, as a D lineman, we'd love to see
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  Speaker 2: those types of challenges. I remember last year, like the
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  Speaker 2: Colts were number one Russian team and you know, our
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  Speaker 2: defense took that as a challenge and it's the same
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  Speaker 2: this week.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: The Bears run more plays than any team in the league.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: I think they're averaging 72 a game. What are you
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  Speaker 1: seeing in their ability to stay on the field?
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, they do a lot of pre-snap things. They're moving
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  Speaker 2: the tight ends around a lot. They're shifting motions. A
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  Speaker 2: lot of quick plays, attack plays. Just a lot of lights.
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  Speaker 2: Just like scheme stuff. They move at a fast pace
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  Speaker 2: as an offense. I think that's the biggest challenge. I
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  Speaker 2: got to take you back like three questions ago.
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  Speaker 3: Controlling the controllables. at least one thing a person's mind said,
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  Speaker 3: how important is the culture of the team in that?
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  Speaker 2: That's a good question. I think that's a huge part
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  Speaker 2: as well. I think, you know, coming in, trying to
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  Speaker 2: control what I can control, but also coming into a
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  Speaker 2: place like this that's very family-oriented. I feel like everyone
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  Speaker 2: took me in with open arms, you know, embraced me,
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  Speaker 2: embraced my role on the team. I think that helped me, like,
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  Speaker 2: thrive in those situations. You know, it would be hard
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: to go to an organization that doesn't feel like they
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: accept you or it takes you a while to understand
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: the way of business in the building. I didn't feel
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: that way here. I feel like I quickly adapted to
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the way of life here, and it worked out.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: Leonard, they traded for you midseason. Since then, it's been Ernest, Rasheed,
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: now Quinton. What does it kind of prove to you
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: guys about John's desire to continue tweaking to make you
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: guys better as the seasons progress and to try to
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: chase another title?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, one of our biggest slogans here is chasing edges.
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  Speaker 2: And it's cool to see. I always talk about, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's great to be coached by coaches who you also
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: see chasing edges. And you see that even in John.
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  Speaker 2: So from the top down, it's like that's just the
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  Speaker 2: way this organization is. So a lot of respect to John.
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  Speaker 2: It just shows me that, you know, he's about winning. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, he's going to do what it takes to
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  Speaker 2: get the best people in the building. And in my opinion,
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  Speaker 2: he's not also getting great talent. He's also getting great
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  Speaker 2: people that know how to work together, understand work ethic,
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  Speaker 2: and all of those type of things. Like Quentin is already,
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  Speaker 2: I can tell he's a great teammate, also a great player.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that's the type of guys that John
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  Speaker 2: likes to bring in here.
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  Speaker 3: You talked about the type of people. John's kind of
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  Speaker 3: known as a GM that will talk to anybody. And
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Mike has kind of an open-door policy. You kind of
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: talk about leading, talking to anybody. Is that different here,
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  Speaker 3: that there's not as much of a hierarchy of who's
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  Speaker 3: in charge is above everybody else?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it is different. I feel like everybody
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  Speaker 2: understands their roles, but at the same time, everyone is
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: on the same level to have conversation. It's like, I'm
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  Speaker 2: not going to only have a conversation with the starters.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have a conversation with the practice squad guys,
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: the guys who are injured, every single person on this
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: team has a way to contribute in some way. And
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: I think everyone has embraced that culture here. And I
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  Speaker 2: think it starts with John. Like I said, it starts
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  Speaker 2: from the top down. Him and his wife, they do
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  Speaker 2: a great job of treating it like a family business.
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  Speaker 2: And you also see them at the longevity of people
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: who work here, which I think also helps create a culture.
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  Speaker 2: I've been places where you're changing head coaches and people
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  Speaker 2: frequently in and out of the door. And it's hard
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  Speaker 2: to build something of substance when there's always a new
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  Speaker 2: culture being adapted every two years. And you see like here,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: it's like people have longevity here. And I think that
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  Speaker 2: helps create something long-term.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: These are two of the best third down defenses in
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  Speaker 1: the league square enough. We talked so much about your
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: dedication to stopping the run. What is the mentality and
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  Speaker 1: the mantra on third down for this defense?
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  Speaker 2: For our defense? The mantra is just earn the right
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  Speaker 2: to rush. So the reason why we want to be
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  Speaker 2: great on first and second down is so that we
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  Speaker 2: can get to third downs. Um, third downs is we
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  Speaker 2: call them money downs. It's like the downs where every
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: defense wants to be in like a third and long, uh, situation. And, uh,
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  Speaker 2: to get to those, you have to, you know, go
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  Speaker 2: through the pain and the hardship of, of winning on
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  Speaker 2: first and second down. It's not easy to win on
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  Speaker 2: first and second down. Um, you know, get them behind
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  Speaker 2: the sticks, get them backed up, get them off motion
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  Speaker 2: and things like that. And, um, You know, we have
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  Speaker 2: to earn the right to get to third down, and
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  Speaker 2: that's when the blitzes come alive. That's when we can
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  Speaker 2: pass rush and get sacks and all those type of things.
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  Speaker 2: Anything else? Thank you.