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Head Coach Mike Macdonald On Sam Darnold's Status, Preparing For Week 2 vs. AZ. · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All right. Great to be back in the team room.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Great to see everybody. Excited for this week. Excited to
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: be back to full day's work. So looking forward to
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: a great practice today.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: Mike, what can you tell us about Sam and any
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: new information on him?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Not really sure what's out there right now. Yeah, so
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Sam's going to be out this game. Drew will start
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: for us. Don't anticipate putting him on high or anything
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: like that, but we'll just kind of reevaluate every day
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and reevaluate next week, and we'll go from there, but
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: he won't play this week.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Are you guys cool with rolling with two quarterbacks, or.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Do you have plans that you may need to boost
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the position? We're going to roll with Drew and Jalen.
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: What did you see from Jalen in the preseason?
• 0:53
  Speaker 5: Obviously, you played all the Kansas City game.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw the same things you guys saw.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Jalen's been, he's worked incredibly hard, and I think there's
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: been returns for his efforts, which is great. You love
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: to see that pay off for a guy with that
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: type of work ethic. I mean, these guys have been
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: preparing like they're going to play for the last two years,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: so really nothing changes much on that end in terms
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: of mentality.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Obviously, he's going to get more reps this week, and.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: We want Drew to play the whole game, obviously, but
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: we learned last week that, you know, really it's a
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: great message for the whole team of, Hey, we're all
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: kind of one or two plays away from being ready. And, um,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: you know, preparation is key no matter my role. And
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  Speaker 2: then when I get my opportunity, you know, um, let's
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: go take advantage of it.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: How much do you think it helps to have drew
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: already know that he's going to start on Sunday as
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: early as Wednesday today, just in terms of his preparation,
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: obviously knows the playbook, but get that kind of head start. Yeah.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: He'll get all the reps.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: He's, he's, he's our starter this week and, We'll operate accordingly,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: but Drew's going to start here for a while. I'm
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing him practice today, just like I
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: am Sam when he's playing. We've had some episodes in
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: our history here, especially the latter parts of last year.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, where we
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: felt like Drew was about to go play for us,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: and really nothing changes, so.
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: I would expect nothing to change with Drew's demeanor or
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: the way he approaches his work, but have you seen
• 2:31
  Speaker 6: anything different, a spring to step, an enthusiasm.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: A joy, anything?
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's Drew. That's the way Drew is every day.
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  Speaker 2: Drew's a joyful guy. He's a great guy. He's got
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  Speaker 2: his own personality, which we love. He's got his style
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: of playing quarterback, which is what we want here. Obviously,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: we want to be within the scheme and how we're
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: training our guys, but You got to be yourself, too,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: and George is definitely that, and we're looking forward to it.
• 2:59
  Speaker 7: Mike, do you have more clarity on what the injury
• 3:01
  Speaker 7: is that Sam's dealing with?
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: It's a glute, to my knowledge, right? Glute, yeah, glute.
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: So the muscle as opposed to the tendon?
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Glute's a tendon? I thought a glute was a muscle.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Well, I think there was a report that it was
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: a glute tendon.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: You're right. I'm an untrodden water shearer.
• 3:21
  Speaker 7: I think we all are.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: Game planning for an opponent, how much of it is
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: about players versus plays?
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: It's a tricky one because there's a balance there.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: We talked about today in our team meeting, everyone says, hey,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: it's about us. But what does that mean about how
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: we focus?
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Well, we have to.
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  Speaker 2: Focus on being our best versions of ourselves, getting our bodies,
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  Speaker 2: minds focused, spirits ready to play our best football every day,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: especially game day.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Coaching-wise, I.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Think we have to keep it in our wheelhouse at
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  Speaker 2: all times. I think if we're scattered in what we're
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: asking our players to do, I think that the players
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: will play scattered. However, I also think that part of
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  Speaker 2: our ethos here and things that we believe in is
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: we want to stay aggressive and we want to attack
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: things that we see on tape and especially structurally in
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: match-ups and things like that. So it's definitely a balance.
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  Speaker 2: And it's a delicate balance. And I feel like we've
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: hit the mark a lot of times here. And sometimes
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  Speaker 2: we've fallen short as coaches of maybe I think any
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  Speaker 2: time we regret it is we put the emphasis too
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: much on the other team. However, I think we owe
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: it to our players as well to stay aggressive and
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  Speaker 2: try to give them as much of an advantage as possible.
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  Speaker 2: That's something that we spend a lot of time on,
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  Speaker 2: we take a lot of pride in, and you feel
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  Speaker 2: a pretty heavy responsibility to do it the right way.
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  Speaker 5: You talked about schematics there. How much do you look
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: into individual player matchups? Like this guy has done well
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: against this individual player versus this is the scheme they
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  Speaker 5: play and we know that we're going to do well
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  Speaker 5: against that scheme.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's the same answer.
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  Speaker 2: But when you say players versus plays, I think that's
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  Speaker 2: the lens of what you're looking at it through.
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  Speaker 6: You've seen Mike LaFleur's offense the last few years with
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: the Rams. When you took a look at what Arizona
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  Speaker 6: did on Sunday, how much of that translates from what
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  Speaker 6: you've seen the last few years?
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  Speaker 1: It's tough. It's a small sample size.
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  Speaker 2: Not much has changed from our conversation last week to
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  Speaker 2: our conversation this week. You kind of have to be
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  Speaker 2: ready for everything. You can anticipate some of the things
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  Speaker 2: of of which you feel like they might attack you,
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  Speaker 2: where their core competencies, which they played a really sound
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  Speaker 2: football game that won a big time football game.
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  Speaker 1: So we respect that.
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  Speaker 2: But it's still, we're only a 50 to 60 play
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  Speaker 2: sample past a zero play sample, if that makes sense.
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  Speaker 5: Is there any benefit in the fact that they played
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  Speaker 5: a team that runs some similar scheme defensively to see
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  Speaker 5: how they attacked it?
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I mean, if they played, like, Minnesota,
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  Speaker 1: that would be, like, not as good.
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: Mike, obviously Drew's got a lot of experience playing, backing
• 6:32
  Speaker 7: up in the league. Jalen doesn't. So do you have
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  Speaker 7: to adjust your plan for him as a backup this
• 6:38
  Speaker 7: week and how you would handle that as opposed to
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: Drew with the reps you try to give him? Or
• 6:42
  Speaker 7: how do you kind of manage that now that he's
• 6:43
  Speaker 7: kind of in the backup seat for this week?
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure we'll tweak some part of the process in
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  Speaker 2: terms of numbers.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. Jalen's not going to get no reps,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: let's put it that way.
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  Speaker 3: When you first took over– When you first took over
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: as head coach, what priority was it to have an
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: experienced backup quarterback who had started in the league? That's
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: the way your team has been here for the last
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: nine years or.
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  Speaker 4: So, but that wasn't always the case.
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  Speaker 2: I don't specifically have in that exact conversation with John
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  Speaker 2: on what our approach was. I think we were just
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: trying to get the best players we could possibly get.
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: How are you feeling about Nicky Manwari and Torrey Horton
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: and their potential availability this week?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, those guys are doing great.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: They're going to practice today and we'll go from there.
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  Speaker 8: When it comes to Drew, obviously what he was able
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  Speaker 8: to do against the Patriots and then a few years
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  Speaker 8: before he got here, he had that big Monday nighter
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  Speaker 8: against the Eagles that time in 23. What is it
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  Speaker 8: about him that he's in this backup role that his
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  Speaker 8: numbers call that he always seems to have these great
• 7:57
  Speaker 8: performances and relief like that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think I think it's my same answer from earlier.
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  Speaker 2: Drew's a proven really good player in this league. And
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: when he started, he's played really good football. And then
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  Speaker 2: when he's been on our team since I've seen him
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  Speaker 2: play in person, he's a heck of a player here.
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  Speaker 2: So it's a heck of a guy, a heck of
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  Speaker 2: a teammate. He's got a great balance about him of
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  Speaker 2: being a true professional, but also He's a loose and
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  Speaker 2: focused guy. He's a warrior in the garden. All the
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: things that we want from our players, he's that at
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  Speaker 2: the quarterback position.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Defensively, they actually have the same coordinator as what they
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: had on the previous staff, so you guys have a
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: little bit more to work on there.
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  Speaker 9: What did you see in that first game for them?
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  Speaker 3: Did it look like you saw a lot of similarities
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: to what they've done in the past?
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's as simple because they have some
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: turnover on their defensive staff, but they played really great football.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: What was that, Sunday?
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  Speaker 2: Affected the ball, affected the quarterback, played great situational football.
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  Speaker 2: They're a team that has known that they don't just
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: run the same defense every day or every game, even
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: from game to game within the division. So you have
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: to be ready for kind of the full gamut of
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: fronts and coverages and pressures that they can dial up,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: which they do a really good job of that.
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  Speaker 9: Mike, all three of your linebackers had a good training
• 9:29
  Speaker 9: camp had a good first game. When they continue to excel,
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  Speaker 9: what does that do for your defense?
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  Speaker 5: I mean, naive comments.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's just an example of, I mean, let's
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: not count. Let's just do a great job. Let's play
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  Speaker 2: great football. Make the most of the opportunities that you
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: have and be ready to go. And if need be,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: we'll figure out a way to get you out there
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  Speaker 2: if that's the best for the team. Chaz and Patio
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: are really good players too. I think we've got a
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: really cool inside linebacker room.
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: Does Ty Okada have a chance to play this week?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Ty Okada has a chance to play this week.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Last year when you guys played down there, there was
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: an interception and it ended up being fumbled back to
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: the team. There was a couple times last year where
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: you guys had a turnover and then turned it back over.
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  Speaker 5: Was that something that you guys emphasized, getting as much
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: back on the returns as possible? How did you guys
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: kind of talk that through in those situations?
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Well, that's why we do e-drills every day.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: And we have our offensive coaches coaching our defensive guys
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: on how to carry the ball. We have our defensive
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: guys coaching our offensive guys how to knock the ball out.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: But we definitely learn from those plays. But if we
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: catch interceptions, we're trying to score. I mean, we're not
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: afraid to tell anybody that.
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: Did you get any more of a clarification on the
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: play where they called you guys.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Offsides on that fourth down? We got some clarification on it, yeah. Yeah,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: we were offsides.
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  Speaker 3: Do you agree with the clarification? What's the coaching point there?
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Don't be offsides.
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  Speaker 3: One of the linemen told me after the game that
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: the line officials came up to them and said, we've
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: been told to really stress that this year on the
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: offensive part of push-push plays and not give any lay-ins.
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  Speaker 3: Although the NFL officials, when they met with us this summer,
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: said they weren't doing that. Do you understand that it
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: is tougher on the offense?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: I think it's fair that they call penalties by the
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: letter of the law. I think that's perfectly fair. So
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: what would you expect?
• 11:44
  Speaker 9: Mike, energy seems to be obviously important to your defense,
• 11:47
  Speaker 9: among other things. How have your players been able to
• 11:51
  Speaker 9: manifest that on the road and have it lead to
• 11:55
  Speaker 9: your success on the road?
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: I think it's an example of we try not to
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: let circumstance affect how we operate. So I expect our
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: team to be as energetic as they were in the
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: walkthrough to our Wednesday practice to a home game to
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: an away game. you start trying to come up with
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: reasons to get energized or reasons to be yourself or
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: reasons to meet the standard. Eventually you're going to run
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: out of reasons. Really our reason is just we're trying
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: to be us. We're trying to create a better version
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: of what we do every day and see where that
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: takes us.
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: Any updates on Ernest Jones for this week? I don't
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: think we saw him at practice on Monday.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was sick on Monday. He's good to go.
• 12:43
  Speaker 7: Mike, what would you think of Nehemiah Pritchett overall in
• 12:46
  Speaker 7: the game? Obviously, I think most he's played in his
• 12:49
  Speaker 7: three years to kind of hop in there and hold
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: up the way he did in all areas.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he did a tremendous job. Played a great football game.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Ball finds energy.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: There you go. Played a great game. Tips and overthrows.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Got to get those.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: But it's another– I feel like I said the same thing.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: It's like you go in, you work your tail off,
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: you put a great offseason together, you attack all the things,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: you earn the opportunity to play, and then when you
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: go out there, go rip it. And it feels like if,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: you know, we have the evidence to prove it, like
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: when guys take that approach, you know, they play really
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: great football. So he should be proud of himself, but
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: it is one week as well, as goes for our
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: whole team. Like, you know, we have to, like the
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: message of the team right now is we need to
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: stack plays. We need to stack performances. We need to
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: stack practices. You know, we got to, Not that we're not,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: but there's an urgency of taking our game and our
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: team and our individual performances to another level, and that's
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: what we're trying to do today.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: Back with Sam Donald. Can he do anything, or is
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: he totally shut down, rehab, training.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Anything like that?
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: He's killing it on his rehab. He's doing a great job.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: He's doing a lot right now. He's just not going
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: to be able to play this week.
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: Anything else?
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: All right, thank you.