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The O-Zone Podcast | Arik Armstead on Playing DT vs. DE, New Defensive Scheme · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast with Jaguars senior writer John Osher.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: All Right, welcome into this week's Ozone podcast. And I'm
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: excited about this. I think a lot of people will be.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: It's a chance to catch up after a long first
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: year as a team with Jaguars defensive tackle Eric Armstead.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: And Eric, first of all, I appreciate you doing this,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: and tell me about the mood of the team right now.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I've talked to some younger players about it. You're a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: guy who's been in the league ten years now, tell
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: me about what you're seeing for this franchise right now.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: I think we have a great vibe going around the building.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: It feels very refreshing. It feels great to be honest,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: to be a part of it and entering OTAs and
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: getting back into football. I think we're on the you know,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the forefront of a promising season. There's a lot of newness,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: which I think is great. A lot of first timers,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you know, first time head coach, first time decordinator, first
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: time GM. And I think with the first timers, they
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: bring a sense of refreshed energy and.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: You know that they want.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: To get it right and they're doing everything they can
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: to make sure that you know we're headed in the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: right direction that we need to be, and so it's
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: it's great to be a part of it. Energy has
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: been great out at practice in the building, and it's
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: been a lot of fun to be a part of.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: How again, you've seen a lot of coaches and a
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: lot of different situations in the NFL. I know you
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: don't deal with the GM that much as a player.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: You deal with your coaches, But do you get a
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: vibe from William Cohen and James Gladstone and Tony BISSELLI
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: just I guess how important is it for a group
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: like that to be working together? And do players feel
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: that when the structure is new and moving forward and
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: has the energy that they did?
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: I think I think you definitely feel that.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: You can always feel when leadership and and people in
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: certain positions are on one accord and.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: It's and it's cohesive.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: I was a part of a lot of coaching change
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: throughout my career, but I was also there for when
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch came in together. You can
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: feel it, and you can always feel that from the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: very jump, like they were in this together.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: It was cohesive.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: And they were going to make decisions as a united front,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: and so coming in together and especially like I said,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: being new and first timers for them and and having
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: kind of that those running mates to go through it
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: with you, I think is going to bond them.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Even closer together.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: And you know they're they're taking those next steps to
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: to build the organization. You know how they bestee fit
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: and it's a lot of exciting times now.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Without getting into specific details or the weirdness of last season,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: there's always weirdness when things go bad as a team.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Had you ever been through a situation quite as it
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: just kind of felt like a lost year for everybody.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was definitely not a whole lot went well.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: And especially I think that when you look coming into
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the season and you know, me coming here and looking
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: at our roster and and how promising we thought it
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: all could be, it just never never was really right.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And it's how hard it can be.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Right shows how hard it can be. And you know,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: been in this league a long time. When you're winning,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: it solves a lot of problems. Your life is better,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: your kids or your wife is happier, and you go
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: home and uh, it feels feels.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: A lot better.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: Everything is much sweeter. Life, life is a lot better.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: But when you're losing in the NFL, life can be
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: can can be sour, and especially when you're when you're
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: dealing with the pressures of you know, coaching and everyone,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: you know, we all have a job to do, and
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: then you're dealing with, you know, letting the fans down
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: and not giving them a product to be proud of,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: and and what comes with that as well too. So
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: it's something that I've been a part of, unfortunately, and
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: I've been a part of the other side, where you're
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: you're dominating people every weekend. Things are very fun and
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: life is great. So that's where we're trying to get to.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Gotcha. And then at the end of that year, it
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: was such an odd year, probably for you in a way,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: because at the end of that year you get an award,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: an unbelievably well deserved award that is a career defining
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: award in the way, the NFL Man of the Year. Uh,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: tell me what that meant to you and take me
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: that moment, and again, I guess just what that means
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: to you considering how you've approached your career.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: It's a huge honor.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Really, you know it, it just doesn't you know, the
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: winning in a world like that just isn't about me.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: You know, I think about all the people that have
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: had impact in my life, from my family to you
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: know where I grew up in Sacramento, and coaches and
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: guys and players that I've played with, and other great
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: men that I've been able to learn from, and you
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: know those everybody who shaped Yeah, everyone who's shaped me
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: and got and helped guide me to the point where
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: I'm at in my life now. And you know I am,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: you know, just a testament of of that of other people,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: of God's blessings him, you know, guiding me throughout my life.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: So I think about it from that sense of the
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: goodness that I get to represent from everyone that has
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: had a huge impact on my life and the opportunity
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: that I have with the platform, with the award to
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: serve more and more people and have bigger and bigger impact.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: And you know, I've always had the mindset of you know,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: we never know how long we're going to live on
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: this earth, but you know, from my time on this earth,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: I want I want to leave this earth making it
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: a better place and making other people's lives better and
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: those are the things I think about. And with an
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: award like this, the platform, the doors that will open
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: to serve more and more people and impact people, and
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: the platform that comes with it to shape people's lives
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: is immense, and I'm excited to do the work.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, there's some excitement there because
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: for you, I mean, realistically, you're closer to the end
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: of your career than the beginning, but you're not closer
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: to the end of your off field work than your
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: at the beginning. That's a lifetime thing. And this is
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: very much a stepping sown a foundation for that right.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: One hundred when I started, you know, our organization, and
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: and I got with my wife and we founded our organization,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: and you know, that was the number one goal is
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: to make something that's sustainable. You know, I just didn't
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: want it to be something that we did while I
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: was playing. I wanted it to be long lasting, have
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: long impact, and be sustainable and have and shape and
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: help and you know, bridge the gap for years to
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: come for people. And in a war like this, you know,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: brings that more into reality. It validates the work that
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: we're doing and also opens up doors to truly ensure
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: that it is sustainable and that we're continuing to to
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: serve at a high level long after you know, I'm
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: done playing the game of football. That was always the
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: goal when when we started it. And I like the
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: trajectory that we're on, but there's a lot more work
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Got you now, I'm gonna get back into foot a
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: little bit. A million dollar question everybody watching this is
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: wondering defensive end. Last year natural defensive tackle. There was
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the storyline, the narrative out there was that you wanted
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to play defensive end. You came in. How much can
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: you tell me about sort of why you were playing,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: where you were, what went into that?
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we can. We could talk about it. Yeah, we
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: could talk about it openly because.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: You're smiling because that's something that you know, every fan
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: had their thought. But a lot of times those thoughts
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: aren't real.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of time narratives get created. But you know,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: the rele of it is this.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: I was being pursued by multiple teams in free agency
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: and the number one question for me was how how
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: will I be utilized When I'm speaking to all these
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: teams and I played defensive tackle for like the past
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: three or four years of my career, and you know,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: was playing at a Pro Bowl elite level.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: And so it.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Was by surprise to me when I asked, you know,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: how they wanted me to be utilized, that they wanted
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: me to play defensive end, and they wanted me to
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: rush inside on third down, but primarily play defensive end.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: And it was a little bit of a surprise to
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: me knowing that you know, I've played detackle, you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: for the past a few years and have been pretty successful,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: and but they wanted a big body at defensive end, uh,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: a guy who could rotate with with Trayvon and Josh,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: And you know, when they presented the plan to me,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: I was like, okay, let's let's do it if if
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: that's you know, the best plan that you guys see fit.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: And then shortly into the season when we were in London,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: I went to them and I said, you know, I
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: don't think it's necessarily working out. You know, I feel
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: like I can have bigger impact on the team if
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I'm playing more inside, where I'm you know, a better
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: pass rusher and I'm on the field, you know, with
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Josh and Trayvon and the rest of the guys, and
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: at that time, looking at the roster, it didn't happen.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Even though I expressed that that's something that I wanted
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: to do and I thought that would be better for
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: the team, it didn't happen. But when you look at
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: the roster, I don't you know that kind of could
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: have went into that because when you look at the roster,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: we had four defensive ends. So you move and we
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: had seven defensive tackles. So if you move me to detackle,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: who spells and who gives Josh and Trayvon a break?
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: You know, So it could have been in one of
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: those situations. But I did express it, and you know,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: sometimes you get into things and there's adversity. There's a
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: lot of things going on. But I believe everything has
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: happens for a reason. I'm really excited about this season
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: and this opportunity that I have. It's not something that
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: I haven't been through in my career.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I think, kind of smile, you've been You've seen it before.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: I've been through a lot of situations throughout my career,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: having success, having failures, going through adversity, things not working
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: out my way, and I've always overcame them. I've always
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: been able to you know, I think people have seen
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: and been able to show the type of the player
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: that I am and have earned a lot of respect
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: in this league. So I'm excited to have the opportunity
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: to do the same thing.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: I liked your perspective there, because sometimes when something like
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: that happens, it's easy to say, well, they were just stubborn,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: but there were there were positional issues, and once you
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: get into an NFL season, I think people sometimes don't
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: realize how fast things move and it's tough to make
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: changes once you're sort of down a roads. So it
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: can it's a strange league for issues for some issues
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: like that. Sometimes, yeah, it can be.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: It can be a strange league. And you know, that's
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: last year it happened. You know, it's it's part of
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: my career, I guess is part of my journey.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: But you learn after eleven years, the situations come.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Around, Situations happen, people talk, people say things, and you
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: have an opportunity to You'll always have opportunity to show
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: myself and show who I am, the type of player
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: that I am.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: So and sort of on that front, how much more
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I hate the word comfortable, but I guess it applies here. Comfortable, confident,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: just playing inside make you And do you feel like
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: in this scheme that you're starting to learn, do you
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: feel like it's coming together on that front, like it's
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: going to be a good fit.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I think the main thing is just being out
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: there really.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: You know, when you look at last year, I probably
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: was only playing like twenty five maybe thirty snaps some games,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: and you know I'm used to being a starter playing
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: fifty five sixty snaps. So you know, just being out
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: there more, I'm going to be more productive. I think
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: that's the main thing. And then when I look at
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: you know, playing inside, in which I've played both throughout
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: my career, have had success at both, I think just interiorly,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: I'm an that's where I'm best. I'm the can have
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: the biggest effect on the quarterback playing rushing against guards
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: and centers, and that's what that's what I do best.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: And so playing inside more because when people think about pastors,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: they just think about oh, third down or but they
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: throw the ball on the first and second down too as well.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: So when I'm.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Playing de tackle full time now I have more opportunities
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: to affect the game on first, second, third down, I'll
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: have more opportunities to have a big impact on the
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: game and be be more productive just being rhythm. You know.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Last year was the first I've never came off the bench,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: you know, so that was a little bit unique and
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: different for me, like not having a rhythm or a
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: full Yeah, I've never been like a spot player, Like
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I've never came in and like played a couple of
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: players and then was out and then in and out,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: so like that and now I have, having going through
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: that experience, I have a lot of respect for guys
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: who who have that's like their role. Situational guys, Yeah,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: situational guys, because it's like that's tough to come in,
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: not be in a rhythm and be expected to you know,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: play at a high level and then come out and
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: then in and out. And so I gained a lot
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: of going through this experience. I gained a lot of
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: ton of respect for you know, situational players. But I
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: don't feel that I am that, and you know, to
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: to be myself, I need to be out there. And
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: I think that's what everybody you know wants, and that's
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: what I've been paid to do. You know, they're not
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: paying me as a situational player, so I need to
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: be able to you know, do my job at a
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: high level.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: And that's what's gonna happen this year.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: It sounds funny asking you this because your career speaks
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: for itself, But is there something to prove for you?
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: There's always something to prove as long as you're in
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: the NFL, It's always something to prove each year. There's
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: always something to prove there always.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: If there's not, you may as well get out right.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no one, you know, the last year is
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: last year, good or bad. You know, if you had
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: a if you had an All Pro season the year before,
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: you know, great, But that's not going to help you
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: in Week three when you're playing against whoever you're playing against,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: you know, and people are going to expect you to
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: have the same type of performances and.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: Play at a high level.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: So, you know what, you can look back and gain
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: a lot of experience and confidence. But if something to
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: prove every years, something to prove every year, and it's
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: a lot more to prove for me, you know. The
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: things that I think about as well too, is like
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: this being my first time being around this organization, my teammates,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: these fans, and they don't they don't really know me, sure,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: you know, like I haven't.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: I haven't, you know, had a huge.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: It was a hard year to get to know you
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: last year because there was weird.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Well, they don't know me as a player, that would
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: know me as a person and I have we don't,
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: we don't have any what's the word I'm looking for,
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: like vested equity, built, equity builds up, you know, like
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: coming from a place where I was, I made plays,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I helped us win games. You know, I was a
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: big time player in big games, Like I don't have
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: any of that equity built up, So people don't really
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: know me. So I'm excited to have an opportunity to
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: build that up.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: That's cool. It's and I assume you feel like you've
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: got a lot left. I mean in year eleven twelve,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: that's when those questions start happening.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: But all those questions don't happen for me. I got
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: like a good five years left in me. I feel
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: like I'm yeah, I got a lot. I got a
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: lot to prove, a lot to do, a lot to
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: accomplish I'm not I'm not stopping anytime soon.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: I still feel great.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I know I could play at a high level, and
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: you know, until until that day comes where I feel
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: like I can't play at a high level, then then
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: I'll shut it down. But I don't see that happening
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: anytime soon, because.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Once you get those double digits by your experience, that's
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: when those questions start coming around.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: You know, Yeah, for.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Sure, But I think I think, uh, I think I
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: came into the league early. I left college my junior year,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: you know, So you know, there's there's guys that even
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: though I'm mentoring year eleven, there's guys in year eight
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: and nine that are.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: Older than me. Sure, you know. So those are some
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: of the things I think about.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: But no, I got I got a lot, a lot
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: to prove, a lot more in store, a lot to
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: do left in this league, and I'm excited about this
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: opportunity to do it with this special group of men
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: that we have on this team here.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: What's the first thing that comes to mind when I
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: mentioned your defensive coordinator Campan Uh, it's a piece of.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: Work, right, Italian.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: I've been been around, you know, been fortunate enough to
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: be coached by some Italian coaches and they they bring
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: that energy and they bring that juice and camp. You know,
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: before he got here, you know, I'm asking around for
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: you know, players that that uh played for him, Like, man,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: what's heking? I didn't get not one bad review. Everyone
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: I talked to loved him, told me that I would
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: love playing for him, and you know, me being around
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: him for a couple of months now, everything that everyone
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: said has been one hundred percent true. You know, he's
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: he's up front, forward, honest, bring energy every day and
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: want what's best for.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: You and once the same that's what was saying the
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: other day.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: And wants to get the most out of you, and
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: you know you can live with that. I think as
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: players being around, being around and coached by a lot
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: of different people throughout the years, I think as players,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: all we want to know is, you know, does a
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: coach care about me? Does a does a coach have
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: the best? You know, uh, does you want the best
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: for me? And if we know that, guys will will
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: do anything to make sure that you know you're successful,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: but also that coach has success as well too, and
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: go out on that field and sacrifice everything because we know,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: we got a coach that has our back in that
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: and that loves us.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Does scheme matter enough for me to ask you? Do
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: you like this scheme? I mean, sometimes for for defensive
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: line and it's whatever scheme they're playing, But do you
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: like this scheme and does it matter to you?
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: I think I think it would be. It's gonna be
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: much improved. You know, we're we're getting into it, and
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: I'm I'm enjoying. I'm enjoying it.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Up front, it's it's only so much you can really
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: you know, really do.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: Or really line up.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: You know, at some point, you know, the techniques kind
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: of become you know, yeah, yeah, pretty pretty similar. You know,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: a shade is a shade of two eyes and two
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: eyes four eyes of four eye. You know, a three
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: tech is a three tech and so it kind of
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: kind of can become like that at times for D
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: line play.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: But I'm really excited.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: About holistically, how our defense is gelling together and and
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: tying in rush and coverage. You know, our back end,
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: you know, in this short period of time of OTAs
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: has been playing extremely sticky in coverage and for us
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: up front, we're just licking our chops because we know
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: all we need is a little bit of an extra
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: hitch and that cohesiveness, that synergy that you build, that's
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: the most important piece. You know a lot of times
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: and you know, communicating effectively, keeping it simple for us
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: to be able to play fast and then you know,
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: letting us be, letting us be playmakers and show our
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: abilities and doing it all together. And once it all
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: comes together, I think it's gonna be pretty special.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Well, the same question I probably I see in this
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: form last year, But there was such an energy when
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: they signed you. It was like, man, you put him
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: with Trayvon, with Josh, that's three big time and there's
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: more guys, but those are the three veterans. I guess
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: because of last year that's sort of got lost. Do
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: you guys feel that sort of energy and optimism about
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: what the three of you can accomplish and knowing that
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: there's more people involved with.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: It, And I think people are going to see, you know,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: when the season starts. Right now, it's it's it's cool.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: You know, we're working work in the shadows and right
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: and work on our game and get us to the
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: spot we need to be to dominate during the season
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: and you know, all that work that we're going to
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: put in, it's going to be on display. So you know,
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: really not much, not much to be said, you know,
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: if people want to people want to hype it or not.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: You know, it's we're going to see when it when
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: the season starts.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: You're a good place. Yeah, I feel gree I mean, okay,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: it's good. I guess this is the time of year
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: to be in a good place. But you're optimistic and
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: you like what's going on.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: I feel great. Like I said, you know, it's it's
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: an honor to be in this league. I don't take
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: it for granted, and I don't take it lightly. I've
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: earned my right to be in this league as well too.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: But it's it's it's special and I love I love
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the game of football. I love being around my teammates,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: and I love the journey of going out there and
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: trying to achieve greatness and be a dominant defense first
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: obviously because I play defense, but a dominant.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: Team as a whole.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: And there's really nothing like it, you know, And I
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: know a lot of people might aren't going to be
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: able to experience what we experience, but it's it's truly special,
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: and I don't take it for granted, and and I
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: cherish it. So I love I love doing what I do.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: We're gonna finish up with the Zone five. Some new
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: questions since you were nice enough to do this within
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: uh twice in the last year. Your best podcast guest
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: you ever had?
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Best podcast guest I've had.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: I've only had my teammates or guys that I played with,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: So I don't know if I can rank. They're all
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: They're all my all, my homies. I don't know if
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: I can rank them, But I think the conversations kind
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: of all went a little bit of different directions, you know.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: I think.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Two that really stick out to me that were extremely
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: funny were my episode with Trent Williams and my episode
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: with Christian Wilkins. Those guys, like it just turned into
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: like a very funny podcast.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: And then you know, other conversations like the.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Second question is best Jaguars podcast guests, So okay, well.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: I've only I've only had I've only had I've only
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: had josh.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: On thus far.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the winner, but expect a lot more uh
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: this upcoming season where we're getting back into the fold.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Who would be the best aside from yourself, who would
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: be the best podcast host among your teammates.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Oh, that's a great question. I think Uh, I think Ross.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: I think Ross would be a good I think Ross
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: would you know, bring a good energy. Yeah, we'll go
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Ross like he's he's funny, he has a good vibe
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: about him. I think he would naturally like bring a
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: lot out of out of people, if that makes sense,
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: through through conver through conversation.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: So I think Ross would be a good one. We
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: do we do do we would have?
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: We would have like a do we would have a
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: good non sports podcast?
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Though?
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: He do? We we do? We We can talk about
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: some conspiracy theories.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: And in some in some in some difference.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I've told him that's his post NFL career. Uh. Your
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: favorite NFL player growing up?
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: My favorite favorite NFL player ever all time Sean Taylor,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: hands down. He made me love the game of football
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: the way he played. I grew up a basketball player,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: but Sean Taylor like made me like like football. His swag, fingertap,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: rainbow visors, hitting people, picking the ball out the air,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: returning it for touchdowns six three two thirty, hitting the
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Bowl what hitting punters the Pro Bowl, His sticking people
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: like hands down, he made me love football.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: And I'll give you another one.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Julius Peppers just looked up to him a little more
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: like for for me, sure.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Played basketball in college football.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: You know, I think one of the goats, goat D
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: linemen of all time when you look at his career.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe he underrated among the great ones.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: Super underrated, but up there, you know, I put him
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: up there with with the great so him. I definitely
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: looked up to him because of his journey in his
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: career playing D line, playing basketball as well to growing
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: up being a two sport athlete. And just his longevity,
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: you know, like at one point he had he had
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: eight and a half sacks. He had eight and a
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: half plus sacks for fifteen years.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Straight him forever.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Just just the longevity and just who he was, like
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: big freaking nature.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, your most influential teammate, Like the teammate you had
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: that you looked up to the most. Maybe when you
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: were a young player with the Niners. Anybody shape you.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna name a few names
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: my rookie year, the whole defensive line, Glenn Dorsey, Ian Williams,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Quentin Dial, Tony Gerard Eddie, Mike Purcell, guys that when
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: I got into the league, when you're trying to figure
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: it out, had some really good vets who taught me
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: how to be a pro, taught me how to watch film,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: taught me, you know, how to how to approach.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Things, and you know, that was really.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Great and foundational for my career and a great launching
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: board to just figuring out how I wanted to do
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: things and how I wanted to go about my career.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: So those guys definitely helped me a lot.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: My rookie year.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Got you, Eric Armstead, I could talk to you forever
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: about football. I really enjoy this. Thank you for joining
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: the ozone podcast season.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: Appreciate you having me on.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you.
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: Bud