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Grey Zabel: "There's Going To Be Growth Every Week" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Good afternoon. Hello.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: What was the biggest challenge or the biggest difference for
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: you last week and flipping sides?
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think obviously it was challenging, but just the hands,
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: the feet. Kind of who you're playing next to all
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: that stuff, I mean, it was a deal is a
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: challenge opportunity for me to grow, get outside my comfort
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: zone and ultimately become a better player. So at the
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: end of the day, there was a lot of stuff
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I need to clean up, but that's what practice is for.
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  Speaker 3: That's what our coaches are for. And we got some
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: unbelievable coaches and we'll do just that.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: What's the biggest thing that got solidified? Just getting those
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: snaps in there. Cause Abe had talked about the relationship
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: between you and he needs to build that.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: That takes time. What's the immediate thing you can put? Yeah.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: I think Abe, was kind of right on point, just
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: kind of our play styles of certain situations, how we're
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: going to play certain techniques, certain fronts, all that stuff.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, there's places that
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: I need to become better at on the right side,
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: especially hand usage and getting my sets in correctly. But
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: that just comes with, with practice, with time. And at
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: the end of the day, you don't have much of
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: that in the NFL. So we got to have a
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: kind of, jump from last week to this week and
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: just get better.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Was the switch a bigger deal than you thought it
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: might be?
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I knew it was going to be challenging.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: At the end of the day, it's taking kind of
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: one side of your body and just completely flipping it.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: So best way I had to try to describe it
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: to my parents is you're right and left handed for
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: a year and a half. And then you got to
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: go right, right handed in a matter.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Of a week.
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  Speaker 3: So it might not be pretty, but we're going to
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  Speaker 3: do our best. And at, At the end of the day,
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  Speaker 3: you're a competitor.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: You want to win. Go out and try and.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Do the best you possibly can for your team, for
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: the guys next to you, for the O-line, and ultimately
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: your quarterback to keep them clean.
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  Speaker 1: Given that, how much do you expect week over week.
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  Speaker 3: For the improvement to be pretty dramatic.
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  Speaker 1: As you go forward here?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's just a matter of practice, repetition, doing
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  Speaker 3: the best you can in the situation and opportunity that
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: you have.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Obviously, there's going to be growth every single week.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: Um, but at the end of the day, it's like
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  Speaker 3: say a little speed bump in the road that you.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Just kind of got, got a hit. And then, um, uh,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: just ultimately just prepare and go out and execute. You
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: talk about like the left-handed right-handed.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: So how much of a transition is it just the
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: different assignments or is it, I mean, is it essentially
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: just mirrored? Is that part nearly as difficult as the
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  Speaker 2: mechanical side of it?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, it's mirrored, but you just got to flip
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  Speaker 1: everything in your mind.
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  Speaker 3: Um, you hear a certain play and you think you're
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: doing something, then you remember you're on the back side
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: of it or you're on the front side. So the playbook, schematically,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: all that stuff wasn't as hard to do just because
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: you have that time of hearing the play and getting
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: up to the line of scrimmage. But there's just no
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: excuse in the National Football League, though. You've got to
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: go out and perform week after week.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: You obviously are not someone who makes excuses, but to
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: go from one side to the other in five days,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: play next to somebody that you haven't– played next to
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: and go against Jeffrey Simmons is that was that like
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the biggest challenge you've had as a football player.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah I mean uh.
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  Speaker 3: We're I won't downplay how good Jeffrey Simmons was um
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: and I'm not going to downplay uh how bad I
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: was against him so um at the end of the
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  Speaker 3: day it was a challenge that they presented me with
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  Speaker 3: to go out and and kind of do my best
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  Speaker 3: but At the end of the day, I didn't succeed
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: blocking one of the best defensive tackles in the league.
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  Speaker 3: You've got to learn from that. You've got to wear
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: a few to the chin. I always say it's a
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: chapter in the book of this one we're trying to write.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: When you guys went back and looked at the film,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: what did it look like seeing Quentin Nelson out there
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and what can he bring to you guys.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Now that you've seen a little glimpse.
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  Speaker 3: Of him in a Seahawks uniform? It was cool to
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: see him in a Seahawks uniform, but I saw a
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  Speaker 3: guy that's been doing the National Football League and playing
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: football at an extremely high level for his entire career.
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  Speaker 3: It was so cool to kind of see him come in,
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  Speaker 3: how he handled his business, how he practiced, how he
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  Speaker 3: prepared to go out and execute like he did. I mean,
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: he played an unbelievable game, being here for four or
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  Speaker 3: five days, learning our playbook and going out there and
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: executing every single play. But I've watched him my entire
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: NFL career, into my college career.
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  Speaker 1: I knew what he was going to do.
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  Speaker 3: I knew the player he was, and it's now cool
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  Speaker 3: to have him on my team to ask questions and
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  Speaker 3: learn from him and grow from him.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Well, obviously you're going to focus on just, Oh, it's
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: as simple as switching from one side to the other,
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: but you've got the footwork, you've got the run plays,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: you've got pass protection, you've got stunts and shifts and.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: All the communication with the players.
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  Speaker 2: How do you compartmentalize and prioritize of all the things
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  Speaker 2: you got to work on? How do you pick where
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  Speaker 2: to start?
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Um, That's a great question.
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  Speaker 3: I think you prioritize one, being the best player and
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: teammate you can for the guys on the O-line. Playing
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: to everybody's strengths and understanding who you're playing next.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: To, who you're playing with.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Two, I'd say keeping your quarterback clean, keeping them upright
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: in the pocket. And then three, it's being able to
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: execute in the run game and run blocks and stuff
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: like that. There's not really a one, two, three. It's
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: more of like a 1A, 1B, and 1C of things
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: that you got to prioritize. But it's a challenge. We're
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: excited to continue to work on it and grow from it.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Did you guys know Sam was kind of as banged
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: up as he was throughout the game?
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: And what did it say about, you know, that he
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: was able to kind of finish it the way he did?
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you could see that something wasn't right.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: But the dude's just– the competitor, the– He's just for
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: the guys. He's one of one. He's a dude that, like,
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: it hurts. It's a scar on the soul to see
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: him get sacked or take a hit and stuff like that.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: So when you have a guy back there that's just
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: fighting through stuff and just being an absolute gem of
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: a quarterback and leading the offense, how is it, like,
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: one of those deals you just want to play for
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: him and play your absolute best and be the best
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: you can for him?
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: You obviously want Sam out there, but what kind of
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: luxury is it to be able to go to a
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: guy like Drew that has already played at such a
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: high level this season that you know can take over
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: and do what he can do?
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of confidence.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: To have anyone in our quarterback room go out there
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  Speaker 3: and take snaps is a luxury because we have the
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  Speaker 3: utmost confidence of whoever's back there. Drew, especially being the
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  Speaker 3: guy that he is, the competitor, the athlete, the gunslinger, like,
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  Speaker 3: love everything about the swagger and the moxie that he has,
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  Speaker 3: and it's not going to change anything in our offense.
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  Speaker 1: He's a guy that's going.
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  Speaker 3: To fill in and excel in his role and be
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: the best quarterback, teammate, and person he can be.
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  Speaker 2: You kind of hinted to it there, but how much
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  Speaker 2: was it really similar or really constant when he slid
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: in for Sam there those few games there earlier in
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  Speaker 2: the year?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was very similar and a constant kind of
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: flow of things back there, and it As an offensive lineman,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: it's truly great to have a guy that can slide
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  Speaker 3: in there and you don't notice a drop-off or you
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: don't notice anything back there. He's just the same guy,
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: same human being. But it brings a lot of confidence
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  Speaker 3: and poise to everyone on offense that we've got a
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  Speaker 3: guy like that.
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  Speaker 2: On wide zone, Gray, which is the more challenging task,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: the frontside or the backside seal block?
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Ha-ha.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: Just completely depends on the defense, the strategy, the type
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: of front that they're playing, if that's a penetrating front,
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: a read front, if they're blitzing, if they're reading something.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: On the O-line, everything's kind of an art form and
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: everything's got to flow together for it to work. So
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I can't say the front side's easier than the back
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: side or the back side's easier than the front side
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: because Everyone's job is extremely challenging and important. And if
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: one guy is off, you notice it pretty blatantly. But
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: if all five guys are working together, there tends to
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: be extremely good run plays happening.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: There was a noticeable uptick in the amount of pressure
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: that the quarterback's been under this year compared to last year.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: But a lot of the same guys have been on
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: the offensive line. Not all the same, but a lot
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: of the same. What do you think is going on?
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  Speaker 2: Do you have points of view on why that might
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: be happening?
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: I just try and block the three tech and keep
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: my quarterback clean. At the end of the day, we
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: just leave that to the great coaches that we have
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  Speaker 3: to put us in the best possible fits and plays
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: and schemes. They're doing a hell of a job doing it.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: We just got to go out and execute and be
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: the best offensive line we possibly can be moving forward.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: When you have a game When you have a game,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: you mentioned that you didn't feel like you played your best.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: What do you do?
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  Speaker 2: Where do you start to get back to center? Is
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: there a person you talk to or a thing that
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: you do?
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you just start at ground one at
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: the base level. You go back through your process. You
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: go back and watch practice and how that translates to
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: the game. You go back through and you watch the good,
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: the bad, the ugly, and just kind of watch from
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: an outside view with no emotions or no reasonings of,
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: blame or should.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Have done this, could have done that.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: It's one of those deals you've got to understand that
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: this is a business.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: And you've got to be your best self every single week.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks, guys.