Latest / Unicorn Football Talk / Reaction: Hard Knocks Ep 5
Transcript
- Emily: We are back and we are here to talk about the fifth and final episode of Hard Knocks. Hilary: Hey Emily, we're wrapping up the Hard Knocks series. What do you think? Emily: Well, I enjoyed this one. I think what stood out to me the most was they made a effort to show why the Seahawks are such a special organization and why John Schneider and Coach McDonald are so special. Or at least that that was my big takeaway and I've got lots of examples of that. What did you what did you think? Hilary: I agree on that. There was a lot of focus, not only in this episode of it, but throughout this series about Seahawks and Seattle culture and just the way they treat people and talk to people and treat everybody really with respect. There's not a lot of negative vibes in the building, it seems like. I know you've got some examples, so what stood out this week? Emily: I think they started with Coach McDonald talking to the room of coaches and staff. And his exact quote, I think, was we love we love them up. Like we when he's talking about developing the team. Cause we're heading into for this week, we were heading into the cut down of the roster, which is a tough time, Hilary: Right. Emily: right? Where you've got 90 players, you gotta get to 53 plus the 17 practice squad. And so it's kind of a hard time for a lot of the players. And he was talking about just I think coaching his coaches on how to talk to the players and just talk to them about how it's a journey, this is a development. they're all on different timelines, you know, maybe this is the beginning, not the end kind of thing. And so I think it's just nice how they focus on thinking through how the players might be feeling. Hilary: Yeah, I had some takeaways from that coach's meeting at the opening scene too, where he was reflecting, I think, on the kind of disastrous weekend for the Seahawks back in Nashville, where we had some injuries. They didn't play so great. And just trying to kind of get, hey, this is a new week. This is a new start. Let's get some positive vibes going in the building. And hey, coaching staff, that starts with you and how you bring yourself. to the players as we start this new week. And I thought that was really good. I I appreciated that from the coach. Emily: Yeah, and I think we saw that trickle down into position coach meetings later in the episode. I really think that message carried through. the other thing that was woven throughout the entire episode was the focus on the practice squad being a really important part of the team as a whole. It's not separate, it's part of the seventy man roster. Hilary: I love that they don't call it a practice squad. I think that's great. Again, fitting Emily: Yep, they Hilary: in with a culture that we need everybody. Emily: Yeah, they call it the Ready Squad. And they really make it clear we need you. You are part of the team. And I don't know that every team does that. So that was woven throughout the entire episode for sure. And and then you sort of move on and th maybe I'm jumping to the end, but But just another example of how they treat their players when they met with each player individually who was cut or put on the practice squad and just the words of encouragement, the hugs, you're doing great, keep going, we believe in you. and I felt like he meant it and they weren't just words. Hilary: I feel like coach meant it as well. I didn't have a chance to cross check every single one, but I think at the end there, the players coming into his office, they all made the practice squad. You had Trevon Diggs in there, you had Uso in there, I think you had Ricky White in there and some of the other guys, who came back on the I shouldn't call it the practice squad, who came back on the ready squad as part of the s the total 70. Emily: I didn't cross-check either. I assumed some of them didn't make it, but maybe you're right. You were you're probably more dialed into the practice squad players than I am. ready squad. Hilary: Re ready, squad. Ready. Emily: We have to change our terminology. Hilary: It's a term I like. I'm gonna work on it because I think it's very apt for the way that the Seahawks operate as an organization. Emily: Yeah, I think words matter and they changed it intentionally to make people understand how important they are to the team. another moment that stood out to me was the coach talking to Nick Eamon Wari, our injured star safety. Keep going, just encouraging him. but my big takeaway is I don't think Eamon Wari will be playing on opening night. He did not seem close. So that made me feel kind of bad, but he'll be back at some point this season. Hilary: I agree he did not seem confident there in the coach's office that he was ready to go. Emily: No, he wasn't. But the coach wasn't McDonald wasn't putting like a ton of pressure on him. He was just kind of encouraging him and going, Like, We trust you, we know you're working hard, keep doing what you're doing. it didn't feel like he was putting more on Nick Eamonwari than Nick was putting on himself, which was kind of cool. Hilary: Yeah, we're all our own worst critic, right? So I think it again, coaching coaching up, hey, we're meeting you where we're at. Let's get y get ready. And hopefully that's soon. We need him. I'm hoping it's soon. Emily: I hope it's soon too, but probably not day one. I will be pleasantly surprised if he seats up for the Patriots. So Hilary: Right. Emily: moving on though, again, to me that was the focus of the episode. We saw lots of examples throughout, and we'll probably think of more as we go. But they did, of course, as they do, some focus on specific players. And Uso again was covered. We got to see him make the ready squad. and talk one on one with his defensive line coach and he talked about how much he's progressed in the last three or four months. This is like an he said something like this is another level of understanding, like he's really learning the game. Hilary: I think that's great. he's shown a lot of progress and I liked how he was a part of the goal line stand at the of end of the Kansas City game where they were saying, Hey, they are not gonna score, they are not gonna score and those second and third string defensive guys held the line, which I thought was great. Emily: Yeah, they were really intense. They were playing it like a real game for sure. And then one of the things, I don't know if you noticed this, but when Uso was going into the locker room, I think it was at halftime, somebody was yelling, I love you on hard knocks, like one of the fans in the stadium. Which so he's become famous. Hilary: Love that. Probably a result of the talent show last week, right? It's great. Emily: Probably. Yeah, he was great. So we also spent anything else on Uso? Hilary: I don't think so for now. I'm excited to watch his development as the season progresses. I think Emily: Yeah. Hilary: he's gonna be called up at least once during during the season. Emily: Ooh, there's a prediction for you. Hilary: There is a prediction, yeah, I think so. Emily: I don't know. We'll see. I hope not, Hilary: Well see. Emily: because that could mean that one of number ones are injured. But anyway, he'll be a fun one to watch in the years to come. the other player that they focused on was Milro, our quarterback that we drafted last year. And it's nice to see him a little bit more. I think we are all wondering in Seattle what he can become. And it was nice to see him start a full game in Kansas City. It was a good opportunity for him. Hilary: I agree. And it was nice to see him have the entire game to get his rhythm going and to balance between his run plays and actually show off some of his arm strength and the ability to read the defense and do some check downs and some of his throws were not to his first look, you know, or to his first out. So I think that's great. And at this point, any chance he gets to play is developmental for him. I don't think anyone has any illusion that he's close to taking the second. position from Drew Locke. So it's all developmental at this point for him. Emily: Yeah, not this year, but Drew Locke's contract is ending at the end of this year. So Milro better be ready for number two next year unless we sign Locke again. but there was another comment this week, like we saw previous episodes about him using his legs. And I think they said something like it's time to take the Ferrari out, or I I don't know if I heard that right. Hilary: yeah, I s I heard that comment too. And I was gonna say the other comment I had about Milro and going back to our thoughts on how the Seattle culture just coaches everybody up. There was a really nice scene in this episode about Milro and A meeting with the quarterback's coach kind of one on one, getting him ready for that game and the idea that he was gonna play the entire thing. That was fun. Emily: Yeah, and you just reminded me, I don't want to bounce all over the place, but you reminded when you're talking about good conversations. and if I go back to the original topic of Seattle culture, it was cool seeing Cup, and I'm sorry for just coming out of left field, Cup talking about how Cut Day is happening and it's a little bit different in Seattle. I don't know if you remember that conversation, but it was just again, the culture is strong in Seattle for sure. Hilary: I do remember that and I think that just all wraps up into that underlying theme that we've been talking about through all of these episodes is we do things a little bit different here and the expectations of how you're gonna handle your business and how you're gonna handle yourself as a person are really high standards and that's part of being on the team. If you if you can't do that, then you're not a good fit here. Emily: Okay, three other quick hit players that I can think of that that they highlighted. Leonard Williams signed an extension last week and they showed him. I really enjoyed seeing Julian Love and him chatting on the sideline. I love those two. They were talking about how they played together for almost 10 years. and they talked about retiring together. It was just it I loved it. Hilary: I did not realize they had that long of a history that they actually have that cumulative playing a time together. That's really cool. Emily: It is cool. but yeah, Leonard Williams loves it here. So we love people that love it here. So we love him. I don't think there's anything else on him specifically, but it was just nice seeing him get the love from people about his new contract. Hilary: Yeah, well deserved. Well deserved. Emily: they also spent a little time on our new cornerback, Trayvon Diggs. but also L O L, Coach McDonald closing the door. like last week, they're forgetting they're on hard knocks. When he comes into the office, he shuts the door, he's looking out there. I'm like, You're on hard knocks. You don't need to close the door. but they it was, you know, nice to see him a little bit. He's not ready for the fifty three man roster. He makes the practice squad, he got an interception, Hilary: Yeah, I looked him up. I don't know very much about him. Do you know he's an former Alabama player Did you know that? Okay. Emily: I do know that. I won't hold that against him. Hilary: Okay. And I also I didn't know when he was recruited to go to Alabama, he was recruited as a wide receiver. And he made Emily: Yeah. Hilary: the transition to corner, I think maybe a sophomore year, but he also did time as their special teams punt and kickoff return guy and stuff. So It doesn't surprise me he's got the hands for the interceptions and that kind of stuff. And they touched on that a little bit when he I think was in a meeting there when they were reviewing film about how he thinks they're throwing the ball to him, which I thought was kind of funny. Emily: Yeah, I'm excited to see what he can do for us. but he will not be starting week one. he needs to get into the system. I think they asked him how long Coach McDonald said how long will it take you? And he's like a few more weeks. So we'll see. Hilary: Okay. I guess that's just learning the system, right? A and spending more time with Emily: Yeah. Yeah. Hilary: the defense. Yeah. Emily: and then the last player I was gonna call out is Foster, who they have featured week after week after week. he made the team and we see him calling his parents. I thought the parents would actually be on hard knocks, but they weren't, but we saw them on the phone. Hilary: Yeah, that was great. That was a n that was a very nice scene for him acknowledging his dad in particular, of never wavering in his faith that it would be worth the effort to keep pushing and keep trying. Emily: Okay, non player specific stuff. They showed briefly the owner's meeting in Atlanta. Lots of power in that room. Just like they're flashing around the room and it's like, there's Jerry Jones. there's and I don't remember all their names. I saw the Colts owner and the Patriots owner. Why am I blanking? Totally blanking on the names. I think what was more interesting about that, because I had watched the press conference of our new owner, Vinod Kosala already. But what was interesting was watching Mike McDonald and John Schneider watching it from Seattle. And he's easy. Yeah. Hilary: It's easy, right? Just repeat. Just get another Super Bowl. Yeah. Emily: Vinod's like, yeah, the task is pretty simple. We're just gonna win in another Super Bowl. I'm pretty encouraged, by him saying in that opening press conference, which they did not show, saying he has a lot to learn. So he's not coming in here thinking that he knows everything and he's just gonna take over. he knows he's got a winning team here. I don't think he wants to mess it up. Hilary: Yeah, and obviously, you know, I don't know going way back in history, but it's I have to think this is one of the first times that an owner has purchased a team at the top of the game, post Super Bowl I think when a lot of the other teams have been purchased, they have been maybe middling at best. Emily: Yeah, it's my understanding that that has not happened before. It's a very rare, rare situation. So we should expect that he won't come in and shake things up like other teams. Hilary: Right. Emily: Like if he had brought the bought the Browns, for example. Sorry, I always have to like get my digs in on the Browns. all right. a couple more things I was gonna point out was preseason game. They showed in Kansas City. I thought it was a very nice nod to Dolly Parton. They played nine to five when they were boarding the plane and in the air. thought that was very nice. there was a comment by Mike McDonald, this is the sloppiest game I've I've I've ever seen in my life at any level, and Cooper Cup, pointing out that he was exaggerating was funny to me. Hilary: Cooper Cup is amazingly everywhere. I the the guy Emily: He's everywhere. He is. Hilary: is everywhere. Emily: That's good point. He is everywhere. Or they just think he's got a lot to on camera that's worth showing. two of the things about the preseason game I was going to point out. One, the electronic measurement. Everybody's like, What's going on? Why are we waiting for this? And I was actually watching the preseason game and I'm like, Boy, this is taking a while. And the players are grumbling about it. They're like, I like the chains. and Travis Kelsey was playing a few snaps and they're like, Even Kelsey doesn't like it. So it'll be interesting to see how much they use it in the upcoming coming season. Hilary: I think there's a few kinks to work out before they get it to be totally dependable. And in a real season game, you can't waste that much time off the the non playing clock because you've got a time schedule to keep to in the game. So they're gonna have to figure it out. Emily: Other thing I will mention is that there was a total lack of mention of our kicker problems the entire time, all five episodes, and in the Kansas City game, he missed an extra point and a field goal. We're all talking in Seattle about whether we have a kicker problem, but you don't want to say that out loud because kickers are weird, right? Like it gets in their head. So I was just thinking about whether. Hard Knox wanted to put that on camera, but I know the Seahawks have like final editing say and whether they asked them to remove it. Hilary: I don't know either, but I am concerned, you know, special teams is something I really follow and I have strong feelings about our kicker and our punter and how awesome they are and how intrinsic they are to the success of the Seahawks. So if things are out of balance for our kicker, I'm concerned. Emily: I am too. We shall see. Well, before we wrap up I want to just shout out to Dino's Bar and Grill. it's a bar that I go to weekly that is right near the Seahawks facility. And that was the one day I didn't go where they shot, and my family is in the background the entire time. So Hilary: I saw that I saw that I didn't know if you were gonna bring it up, but I was like, my gosh, there they are. Emily: that is the table we sit in every week and there they were in the background. Could have been me, but I was busy that evening. but anyway, nice to see Dino's get a shout out. Maybe they'll get some more more business out of this. Hilary: I bet when you go next week the tables are all full. Emily: it has been fun jumping on, talking about hard knocks. But I'm telling you what, I am glad this is over. Let's go real season. Hilary: This has been a really fun five episode journey with you, Emily, and I'm looking forward to whatever topics we choose to discuss in the coming weeks. Okay, and Mike McDonald's gonna shut his office door for real this time. Emily: For real. All right, Hillary, catch you soon. Hilary: Catch you soon, Emily.