Latest / Seahawks Press Pass / Ernest Jones IV On Lumen Field's Home-Field Advantage "It's A Weapon For Us"

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Ernest Jones IV On Lumen Field's Home-Field Advantage "It's A Weapon For Us" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello. Curious.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: You guys play, obviously, a lot of light boxes, and
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: that asks a lot of the linebackers to be able
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  Speaker 2: to handle the run fits and handle RPO and all
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. How much does, like, intelligence, football
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  Speaker 2: IQ factor into being a great linebacker in this versus
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  Speaker 2: any other defense?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you got to have some smarts to you,
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  Speaker 3: especially when you're playing in this system. And I think,
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: you know, multiple systems around the league, you got to,
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  Speaker 3: you know, be intelligent, be able to kind of weed
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  Speaker 3: out problems before, you know, the play snaps and just
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  Speaker 3: be able to process things quick.
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  Speaker 4: Someone asked you, you know, why are the Seahawks good
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  Speaker 4: at run defense? What would you say? I think it's
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  Speaker 4: our mentality.
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  Speaker 3: I think, you know, we got to, mentality is one thing,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I think is, you know, you're just not
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  Speaker 3: going to run the ball on us. And then I think,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we got players up front, players behind them,
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  Speaker 3: and then, DBs who aren't scared to tackle when it
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: comes time for that and safeties who fit the run well.
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  Speaker 3: So I think we just, you know, we got the mentality, one,
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  Speaker 3: that we want to stop the run, but two, the
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  Speaker 3: players there that we're able to do the things that
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  Speaker 3: we're able to do.
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  Speaker 5: Ernest, with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, they like to
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  Speaker 5: run RPOs as much as any team in the league.
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  Speaker 5: At the linebacker position, especially when you're playing a team
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  Speaker 5: that's now got Ken Walker in the backfield and you
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  Speaker 5: have to take the run game serious, How much strain
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  Speaker 5: does that put on you guys in the middle of
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  Speaker 5: the defense when you're playing an offense that has those
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  Speaker 5: kind of weapons, and is that effective at those RPOs?
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  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing is just not getting greedy,
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  Speaker 3: not trying to sell out for the pass, and then
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  Speaker 3: they run the ball. You just got to stay disciplined
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  Speaker 3: when you're playing teams like that who's running the RPO
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  Speaker 3: as well as they do. So I think for us
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  Speaker 3: the strain is just staying disciplined throughout the game. Your
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  Speaker 3: moments are going to come in the run game. Your
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  Speaker 3: moments are going to come in the pass game, but
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  Speaker 3: just allow it to happen. Don't try to force it.
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  Speaker 1: Ernest, when it comes to your guys' success at stopping
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  Speaker 1: the run, the guys that are in front of you,
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  Speaker 1: the defensive front, what do they do from your vantage
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  Speaker 1: point exceptionally well that make things, I guess, easier for you?
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  Speaker 3: I think staying square, getting knocked back. They define a
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  Speaker 3: lot of gaps on where I need to fit. They're
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  Speaker 3: not getting moved around too much, so it makes everything
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  Speaker 3: a clear picture for me. I just, at that point,
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  Speaker 3: got to go track the ball carrier and make tackles.
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  Speaker 6: Playing decisive is There's a mantra of you guys' defense.
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  Speaker 6: What goes into that, and are you guys decisive whether
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  Speaker 6: it's the run or.
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  Speaker 4: Whether it's the pass defense?
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  Speaker 3: Preparation, just being prepared so that you can play faster.
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  Speaker 3: I think decisiveness is a speed, in a sense, and
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  Speaker 3: a speed in which you make decisions and a speed
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  Speaker 3: in which you.
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  Speaker 4: Make plays, make tackles.
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  Speaker 3: However you do it, it's just how fast you do it.
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  Speaker 3: So I think preparation is big on that and just...
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  Speaker 3: I think we do a great job here. Coaches, you know,
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  Speaker 3: getting us ready for looks to expect and what we're
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  Speaker 3: about to, you know, how teams are going to try
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  Speaker 3: to attack us so we can play fast and decisive.
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  Speaker 2: When there's a chance to play a former teammate, you've
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  Speaker 2: had that before with other games. Is that fun when
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: you make a play against that guy or is there
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  Speaker 2: a little more talking that goes on?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, me and K-9 have been playing each
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  Speaker 3: other since, I mean, he's gotten the league. When I
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  Speaker 3: was with L.A., we played each other, I believe, two
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  Speaker 3: years before I came over here, so we've had a
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  Speaker 3: lot of battles. It's going to be fun. Get back
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  Speaker 3: to old times, how it used to be. We're still
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  Speaker 3: good friends and stuff. But, of course, on Sunday I'll
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  Speaker 3: be trying to get after him, and he'll be trying
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  Speaker 3: to run for a lot of yards.
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  Speaker 4: When it comes to Mahomes, what.
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  Speaker 1: Is it about his decision-making that makes it tough to
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  Speaker 1: stay kind of where you want to be discipline-wise?
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  Speaker 4: He's seen it all.
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  Speaker 3: He's seen looks and how you're going to try to
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  Speaker 3: disguise things to get to him. Really intelligent quarterback, just
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  Speaker 3: knowing where to go with the ball. Been in that
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  Speaker 3: system for quite a while now, so that's his. He
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  Speaker 3: knows it like the back of his hand. I think
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  Speaker 3: when you're dealing with a guy also that can make
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  Speaker 3: all the throws, can run, we got a hell of
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  Speaker 3: a guy coming into our house on Sunday. Just got
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  Speaker 3: to go out there, play disciplined football, eliminate one portion
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  Speaker 3: of the game so that we can focus in on
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  Speaker 3: getting after Patrick Mahomes and whatever the case may be.
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  Speaker 7: Terrence, you've been a very vocal supporter of your quarterback
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  Speaker 7: in the past. Obviously, it hasn't been the best stretch
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  Speaker 7: for him.
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  Speaker 1: What about his game, his approach gives you confidence he's
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  Speaker 1: going to come back strong?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, we've seen him fix it before.
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  Speaker 3: We've seen him go through this in certain ways or
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  Speaker 3: not play as well as he would like. So we've
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  Speaker 3: seen him battle back from there. This is nothing new
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  Speaker 3: for us. We've been in this situation before. I'm just
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  Speaker 3: excited about, you know, the guys that he has around us.
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  Speaker 3: You got a bunch of fighters, a bunch of guys
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  Speaker 3: that we know, like, we're going to fix this thing.
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  Speaker 4: We're going to turn it around. And when we do,
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  Speaker 4: the story will be different.
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  Speaker 7: Mike talked about honest conversations that were kind of had
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  Speaker 7: in the mini-bye following all that. From a defensive standpoint,
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  Speaker 7: was there anything, you know, that really stood out to
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  Speaker 7: you or that you guys kind of feel like is
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  Speaker 7: something looking back at what's happened so far with it?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, we, we just talked about how we
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  Speaker 3: were getting attacked, how, you know, how, how we've played.
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  Speaker 3: And I mean, you can look at all the good things.
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  Speaker 3: You can look at what we've done in certain spots,
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  Speaker 3: but truth of the matter is we've given up points
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  Speaker 3: in areas that we shouldn't have, haven't played really good
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  Speaker 3: in the red zone. So, I mean, we still got
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  Speaker 3: stuff to fix. We're not just smoking hot right now.
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  Speaker 3: Like we got stuff to fix on our own too.
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  Speaker 3: So it was, you know, good meetings. We, you know, we,
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  Speaker 3: heighten some of the things that we've got to get
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  Speaker 3: better at, and we're working towards that.
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  Speaker 4: What is it about, especially, I mean, Lumen.
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  Speaker 6: Always has the energy, right, but especially in prime time
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  Speaker 6: under the lights and all that, what is it about
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  Speaker 6: that place in prime time settings that might just give
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  Speaker 6: you a little extra juice Sunday night?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, it's a weapon for us, man. We truly
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  Speaker 4: believe that.
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  Speaker 3: We truly believe our, we get an edge from our fans.
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  Speaker 4: They come out there, they support. They're loud. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: it's extremely loud.
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  Speaker 3: Honestly, defensively, we're That's our main worries this week is
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  Speaker 3: how we're going to communicate because we know how loud
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  Speaker 3: it can get.
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  Speaker 4: So I think it's a weapon for us. We use it.
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  Speaker 3: It puts opposing offenses at a disadvantage with counts and
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  Speaker 3: stuff like that.
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  Speaker 4: So it's a big advantage for us. Does Patrick look
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  Speaker 4: like Patrick? Yeah, he's good as ever. Yeah, balling.
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  Speaker 3: Now that he's several years into his career, what stands
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  Speaker 3: out most to him about the player he is now?
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  Speaker 4: And the way he does things and still gets it done?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's just consistency. I mean, you play in
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  Speaker 3: this league for as long as he has. It's kind
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  Speaker 3: of hard to stay that consistent, and he's done it.
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  Speaker 3: We're all humans, and we all kind of fall back
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  Speaker 3: to our just normal things, but he stayed consistent. He stayed,
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  Speaker 3: you know, at his craft, and even with the injury,
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  Speaker 3: he's came back, and he looks like he hasn't missed
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  Speaker 3: a step.
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  Speaker 1: What did you see from Tyrese Knight on Thursday?
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  Speaker 7: What do you feel like is the strength of his game?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Tyrese is, I think Tyrese can do
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  Speaker 3: it all well. I think Tyrese can, you know, walk
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  Speaker 3: out there and cover.
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  Speaker 4: And do that part of his job.
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  Speaker 3: But what he does in the run game, how he's
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  Speaker 3: able to, you know, mimic running backs and just mirror what,
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  Speaker 3: you know, what's going on in the run game, I
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  Speaker 3: think that's something that not too many, you know, linebackers
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  Speaker 3: in the league can do, and I think he's one
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  Speaker 3: of them. And I just seen him go out there
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  Speaker 3: and ball like he's been doing when he's given his opportunity.
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  Speaker 4: He goes out there and he makes plays, so.
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  Speaker 7: You don't usually get to rush a passer much, but
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  Speaker 7: you got a little sack streak going.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, like three. It's crazy.
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  Speaker 7: Are you advocating for more chances to get after the quarterback?
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  Speaker 3: Man, I've been blessed, man. The quarterback's just running out
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  Speaker 3: of bounds. His last one, I was blessed with a sack. Honestly,
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  Speaker 3: I'll take it. If they want to do that a
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  Speaker 3: couple more times, sign me up. I'll be there for sure.
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  Speaker 5: You look like you were on your way to another one, and.
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  Speaker 4: Then it was a screen pass. Yeah, I noticed that, too.
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  Speaker 4: So what is the key to– what gives it away?
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  Speaker 4: That's probably, I'm going to be honest with you.
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  Speaker 3: That's one moment in my career where I'm running at
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  Speaker 3: the quarterback and I'm like, what are you doing?
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  Speaker 4: Like I could tell it was a screen, but it
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  Speaker 4: puts you in a weird spot.
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  Speaker 3: Cause if you chase and just turn around and quarterback
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  Speaker 3: just runs the other way, now you look stupid.
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  Speaker 4: So it was a weird moment right there. I'll be
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  Speaker 4: honest with you.
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  Speaker 3: I could feel the screen, but I guess in a
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  Speaker 3: moment like that, we just got to turn and run.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's all I got on that one. What gave
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  Speaker 4: it away, that it was a screen?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not Lawrence Taylor, so if I'm running through
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  Speaker 3: that clean, something's up. And something was definitely up then.
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  Speaker 3: So that's what gave it away is, like, I just
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  Speaker 3: got here free. Like, they're not doing that.
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  Speaker 6: When you're playing, how much do you rely.
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  Speaker 4: On the field? Say that one more time, I'm sorry.
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  Speaker 6: How much do you rely on the feel, your feeling
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  Speaker 6: out there when you're playing, just keeping this conversation?
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, it's 90% of that, probably 95% of just
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  Speaker 3: my game is instincts.
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  Speaker 4: And just feel.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, I take whatever I can from the
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  Speaker 3: coaches throughout the week. But for me, it's a flow
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  Speaker 3: that the game gets to. And then I kind of
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  Speaker 3: understand that. And then I'm able to kind of go
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  Speaker 3: from there.
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  Speaker 7: Appreciate y'all.