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Press Pass | Mike Caldwell: "We're going to coach them up the best we can, they're going to play like Jags." · Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: Douglas. We alluded several times in the past few weeks
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  Speaker 1: to the culture and about how now this has become
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  Speaker 1: a program where people want to be here, whether it's
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  Speaker 1: free agents or whether it's veterans who want to resign.
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  Speaker 1: And Roy Robertson Herris looks like an example of that
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  Speaker 1: and everything. What does what does it say about what
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  Speaker 1: you guys have been trying to build that guys like
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  Speaker 1: him want to come back? And then what does Roy
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  Speaker 1: bring to this team that maybe goes beyond stats?
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  Speaker 2: I think really what goes beyond stats is he's a
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  Speaker 2: guy that wants to be here. He does it the
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  Speaker 2: right way, and he's a leader. He's a guy that
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  Speaker 2: you watch on the film. He's running to the ball,
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  Speaker 2: he plays physical, he plays big for us. He helped
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  Speaker 2: us out and pass rest of last year was the
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  Speaker 2: end of the year. And he's this guy that's loved
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  Speaker 2: to play ball and that's just spread amongst the team.
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  Speaker 3: I'm gonna see a lot of you.
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  Speaker 4: I'm going the growth have you seen from Devin Lloyd
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  Speaker 4: as he gets ready for the second year. I know
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  Speaker 4: last year he was kind of splashed and then slowed down.
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  Speaker 4: Hit that kind of rookie wall.
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  Speaker 2: He's in a good spot. He really is mentally physically,
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  Speaker 2: and you can just see he's playing faster, he recognizes things,
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  Speaker 2: and from a first year linebacker to a second year linebacker,
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  Speaker 2: you can see the progression he's making. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited for him. He's excited to ready to get
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  Speaker 2: this thing going and you know, looking for big things
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  Speaker 2: from him.
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  Speaker 4: Talked about potentially using Devin as a pass rusher this season.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, how much of that have you guys actually
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  Speaker 3: implemented and you know, how would he fare in that area?
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  Speaker 2: I guess, well, really, Devin, Devin's the inside linebacker, and
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  Speaker 2: inside linebackers typically blitz, so when you line him up
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  Speaker 2: on the end of the line, which we have, we've
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  Speaker 2: lined him up there, that's really not there, Forte, you
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  Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. But we need to give him
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  Speaker 2: more opportunities to blitz, which he did last year, and
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  Speaker 2: we'll just continue to do that. He has a unique
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  Speaker 2: skill set where he can rust the quarterback, but it's
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  Speaker 2: typically against running backs, possibly a tight end, but that's
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  Speaker 2: the type of matchups we want to get him in too.
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  Speaker 2: But offensive linemen, you know, that's other people there is
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  Speaker 2: how much.
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  Speaker 3: Straight on Walker improved his hot st rush technique.
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  Speaker 2: You can see their growth last year was I know
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  Speaker 2: you heard this. Last year was a learning year for him,
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  Speaker 2: learned how to pass for us. Now he's to the
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  Speaker 2: point where he understands what he likes to do. I
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  Speaker 2: call it his superpower, you know, And I tell him
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  Speaker 2: all the time, use your superpower, and he has it
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  Speaker 2: and he's working on doing that. And you know, he's
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  Speaker 2: a guy that's always going to work hard and he's
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  Speaker 2: always gonna give you what you asked of him, and
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  Speaker 2: were just excited for.
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  Speaker 3: Him this year. Just talking about Trayvon and Devin a
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  Speaker 3: little bit. How much do you think people talk about
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  Speaker 3: and you obviously know if I'm playing in the league,
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  Speaker 3: they talk about the rookie year being the longest year
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  Speaker 3: of your life. How you know, you're playing in a
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  Speaker 3: Bowl game, then you're going to draft prop and then
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  Speaker 3: all of a sudden you have to play a sixteen
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  Speaker 3: eighteen game slate. How much do you think for those
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  Speaker 3: two it was maybe they hit a rookie wall of
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  Speaker 3: swords versus there was so much going on it.
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  Speaker 2: Really, there is ricky wall. You can't say there's not,
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  Speaker 2: but I think coach Peterson did a good job of
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  Speaker 2: maintaining a schedule where the guys got as much rest
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  Speaker 2: as they could. But after a while, it's mentally like
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  Speaker 2: you're you're doing the same thing every Wednesday for the
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  Speaker 2: next sixteen weeks, same meeting Saveness. So you try to
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  Speaker 2: keep it fresh for the guys and it's hard to do.
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  Speaker 2: But they just talking. Talking to those two especially, they
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  Speaker 2: understand how to get away from the game now as
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  Speaker 2: far as weekends, go home, get away from it, then
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  Speaker 2: get on the iPad doing different things to be able
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  Speaker 2: to stay fresh throughout the season. And they've been through
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  Speaker 2: it one time and next time they should be more
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  Speaker 2: prepared for it.
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  Speaker 4: You've seen a lot of linebackers. What is it about
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  Speaker 4: Ventro Miller that you guys really wanted him here in Jacksonville.
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  Speaker 2: It was that room. I think there's a there's a
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  Speaker 2: coach down at Florida that I coached in the league,
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  Speaker 2: and I talked to him and he was he gave
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  Speaker 2: me the insights what type of player he was, and
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  Speaker 2: we're excited to have him here. Now he's in a
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  Speaker 2: room that's stacked. So it's like coach said, there's gonna
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  Speaker 2: be a lot of competition in that room. A lot
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  Speaker 2: of depth was built and you know, the best guys
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  Speaker 2: they're gonna go out there and play. So he has
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  Speaker 2: to work his way. Special teams will be you know,
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  Speaker 2: key for him this year, but you know he's another
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  Speaker 2: guy that adds depth to the team.
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  Speaker 3: Talked about the depth and the secondary. You guys resigned Dewey,
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  Speaker 3: but then you also drove d Antonio. How much of
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  Speaker 3: that do you think is also when I know Doug
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  Speaker 3: talked about this a lot last year, just the natural
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  Speaker 3: progression of the NFL to more of I don't want
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  Speaker 3: to use the term seven on seven, but knowing it's
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  Speaker 3: a passing league, knowing you need to have as many
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  Speaker 3: possible options to defend the.
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  Speaker 2: Pass, that's right. You have to have cornerbacks, you have
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  Speaker 2: to have pass rushers, and safeties are an important role
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  Speaker 2: because they can do so many things and are also
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  Speaker 2: the quarterback of the defense at times, so they're able
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  Speaker 2: to handle situations. We have a bunch of guys that
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  Speaker 2: are smart back there. That room, second to the linebacker
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  Speaker 2: is probably the deepest room.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 2: There's a bunch of death back there. So we're just
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  Speaker 2: able to take those guys in. It's tough on us
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  Speaker 2: to find a way to get everyone on the field,
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  Speaker 2: But that's a good problem to have. Could we have
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  Speaker 2: guys back there that can make plays? Cisco, Jink, Dewey
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  Speaker 2: Dt and now Antonio. You know, we got a bunch
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  Speaker 2: of guys that are able to make plays, So we'll
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  Speaker 2: just line them up and let them go.
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  Speaker 3: As a linebacker, is it sad to see the rise
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  Speaker 3: of the DV And you know, like you said, the
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  Speaker 3: linebacker room is deep, but this focal point league wide
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  Speaker 3: on the secondary.
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  Speaker 2: And it's really not sad when you look at it.
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  Speaker 2: It's like the quarterback. They're the guy there that everyone trusts.
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  Speaker 2: The guys will look to a safety, but everyone trusts
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  Speaker 2: a linebacker. So we have a few that we have
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  Speaker 2: one that has a strong voice and a really really
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  Speaker 2: good player, But then we have other guys that their
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  Speaker 2: voice are starting to come and guys will start to
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  Speaker 2: trust those guys. Also, Mike, how much did you grow
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  Speaker 2: as a coach last year and your first year as
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  Speaker 2: a coordinator, And you know, what are some things that
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  Speaker 2: you took away from that experience as you go into
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  Speaker 2: year or two.
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  Speaker 4: Calling the defense?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the coach. You go back and you look at everything.
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  Speaker 2: You go back and you self scout. I looked at
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  Speaker 2: some of the stuff we did early, then the middle season,
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  Speaker 2: then the end of the season, and you can see,
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  Speaker 2: really I liked what we did as we I guess
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  Speaker 2: progress towards the end of the season. Now this year
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  Speaker 2: is time to see what I want to take from
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  Speaker 2: the beginning and add to the end and just piece
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  Speaker 2: it together. But I think the main thing, it's not
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  Speaker 2: really me. It's the way the players were comfortable. They
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  Speaker 2: got used to doing certain things and they did those well,
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  Speaker 2: and we continue to let them do it, and that's
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  Speaker 2: the way it goes. So each year we'll go out
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  Speaker 2: there and we'll try some new things, put guys in
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  Speaker 2: different positions, do different coverages. But at the end of
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  Speaker 2: the day, we'll have identity and we'll build that. You know,
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  Speaker 2: every year is of a new year.
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  Speaker 5: Why do you think, why do you think the pass
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  Speaker 5: rush made strides toward toward the end of the season.
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  Speaker 5: How much of it was maybe playing with a lead
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  Speaker 5: a little bit more often than you had then in
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  Speaker 5: the first half of the year, And how much of
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  Speaker 5: it was just guys getting better or just playing better
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  Speaker 5: in the moment.
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  Speaker 2: I think that helps playing with the lead, but also
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  Speaker 2: what helps the pass for us is a coverage and
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  Speaker 2: I think like towards the end of the season, Trey Herndon,
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  Speaker 2: he doesn't get a lot of credit, but towards the
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  Speaker 2: end of the season he kind of settled us down.
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  Speaker 2: He played a nickel role and certain games you didn't
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  Speaker 2: hear his name called, and we don't hear the guy's
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  Speaker 2: name called. That's a good thing at the DV. Now
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  Speaker 2: you might give up the pass here a past there,
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  Speaker 2: but when you don't hear his name, that allows the
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  Speaker 2: other ten guys to really excel. And I think that
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  Speaker 2: helped and then our pass for us started to pick up.
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  Speaker 2: And then you didn't hear any his name in the
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  Speaker 2: back end, so it goes hand in hand.
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  Speaker 4: What's the competition like at that Nickels spot? Is anybody
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  Speaker 4: there pushing trade?
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  Speaker 2: Well, everybody is right now. Everybody has a clean slate
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  Speaker 2: and we're gonna go at it. And the best guy
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  Speaker 2: to get out there, the young guy's brought in here.
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  Speaker 2: We have some talent there. They're still learning their way
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  Speaker 2: and we'll throw them out there, get them as many
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  Speaker 2: reps as we can. And training camp and OTA's and
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  Speaker 2: the mandatory mini camp. And once we get to you know,
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  Speaker 2: that first preseason game, we'll have an idea and throw
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  Speaker 2: them out there again. See what sticks, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: put the best guy out there.
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  Speaker 1: You see looking skill set, just how unique it is
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  Speaker 1: actually be kind of an advantage for him against tackles
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  Speaker 1: aren't used to playing against a player like him.
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  Speaker 2: I think when you look at you see her, it's
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  Speaker 2: he's been that size all his life, and he does
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  Speaker 2: it a different way. You see guys around the league.
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  Speaker 2: Typically you go and everybody wants a six ' five,
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  Speaker 2: two hundred sixty five pounds outside linebacker. That doesn't work
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  Speaker 2: for everybody, right, Some guys are six two two thirty six.
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  Speaker 2: See you guy playing in the super Bowl. That's that size.
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  Speaker 2: So there's multiple ways to do it. And once you
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  Speaker 2: get used to doing it, so you can play the run.
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  Speaker 2: You're tough getting the run game, and then you're slipper
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  Speaker 2: in a run game also, and then you can use
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  Speaker 2: your speed to get on the edge. There's a place
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  Speaker 2: for that.
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  Speaker 3: If you could take us kind of behind the curtain
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  Speaker 3: your Seers recruitment, if you met going through the draft process,
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  Speaker 3: see a guy you identified or was there another coach
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  Speaker 3: who identified him and also identified the need for that
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  Speaker 3: different change of pace as a rusher.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing. As a staff, we get together
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  Speaker 2: and we kind of self scout each other and we
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  Speaker 2: kind of looked at it. What do we need? And
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  Speaker 2: you hear it all the time of change of pace.
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  Speaker 2: So we have Trayvon, we had Josh kay Levon, we
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  Speaker 2: have last year, we had a key, we had smooth,
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  Speaker 2: we had bigger rushers. So I was always harping on,
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  Speaker 2: let's get somebody fastball, fastball, and you see, here's that
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  Speaker 2: guy that can get around edge along with Klebon and
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  Speaker 2: put pressure but also be stopping the run game. So
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  Speaker 2: you're not giving up anything in a run game, but
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  Speaker 2: you're also just throwing a different pitch to the offense.
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  Speaker 4: You didn't get much of a look at George Smith
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  Speaker 4: before he got hurt. No, ta's last year. What if
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  Speaker 4: you thought about him on the field this.
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  Speaker 2: Year with Jordan right now, he's another one that position
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  Speaker 2: had a bunch of depth. Coach Shuey, Coach Buckner there
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  Speaker 2: molding those guys into what we want. And Jordan's another one.
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  Speaker 2: He's tall, he's long, he's athletic, so we just want
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  Speaker 2: him to get back healthy and see what he can
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  Speaker 2: do out there.
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  Speaker 4: When you look at some of those young guys and
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  Speaker 4: you kind of see some of the tools start to
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  Speaker 4: come together. When people keep suggesting maybe the Jags go
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  Speaker 4: after a veteran pass rusher, do you look at it
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  Speaker 4: and say, well, if we do that, then we take
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  Speaker 4: away this opportunity from some of these young players who
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  Speaker 4: could grow to be really good players.
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  Speaker 2: You always want to have options, and the more guys
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  Speaker 2: we have, the more options we have, the better chance
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  Speaker 2: we have to put the best guys out there. And
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  Speaker 2: whether it's an old guy, a new guy, whoever's here,
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  Speaker 2: we're gonna get him in here. We're gonna coach him
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  Speaker 2: up the best we can and roll them out there.
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  Speaker 2: They're gonna play like Jags. And that's that's how we
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  Speaker 2: do it.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: If we go get a veteran guy, fine, if we
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  Speaker 2: don't find whatever we have here, that's what we're gonna
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  Speaker 2: work with.
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  Speaker 3: You have you had any contact with Josh Allen? Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, talk to Josh, text back and forth. But
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  Speaker 2: Josh is in a good place. He's working hard. He
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  Speaker 2: talks to coach shoe. He talks to myself, coach Buckner,
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  Speaker 2: so we understand where he's at now. We'd love him
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  Speaker 2: to be here, but again it's voluntary and Josh is
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  Speaker 2: a good worker, so we know he's putting in the work.
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  Speaker 4: Cool.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, appreciate, thank you,