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Press Pass | Rodriguez & Murray on Mindset Before Bye Week, Creating More Explosive Plays · Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What areas of the run game do you feel like
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: you guys have been able to excel at through six games,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and where do you feel like you need to improve?
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, first off, I hope you're doing well also.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: I feel like.
• 0:15
  Speaker 4: For us, we've got to improve on just setting up
• 0:17
  Speaker 4: our blocks. For me, I would say, I can't speak
• 0:20
  Speaker 4: for everybody else, but I think for me it's just
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: setting up plays, and I feel like watching myself, I feel...
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: I like look kind of stiff and uptight. I think
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: if I like loosen up, um, I can kind of help,
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: help out, uh, all around. And then, uh, what was your,
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: what was the other, the other part of your question?
• 0:40
  Speaker 5: Well, just, just in terms of, of what do you
• 0:43
  Speaker 5: feel like you guys can improve at?
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Just what have you excelled at though?
• 0:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: Uh, what have we excelled at? I feel like is, uh,
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: honestly is a new line of scrimmage. You know, we
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: say that from the old lineman standpoint, um, you know,
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: the best runs is when you can, get those guys
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: off the ball, and create a second line of scrimmage.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: And I feel like we've done a pretty good job
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: of that. And for me, I just say running downhill,
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: trying to get back into a rhythm and flow of
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: being who I am and being who got me.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Here, essentially.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: And last thing for me, just, and, and Liam talked
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: about this yesterday, wanting to get more explosives out of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: the run game, 15, 20 yard gains. How do you
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: feel like you guys can, can get there? And do
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: you feel like it's close?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Oh man, it's there. I mean, you just watch the film.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Like it's there.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: There's been plenty of times where, you know, me and
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: Basil have talked and we're like, man, if we just,
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: you know, slowed down a little bit or had a
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: bit more patience, or if we would have, read it
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: out all the way through the, you know, through the
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: guy and not just reading our first read, but our
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: second read, man, we'll have so many explosive. And we
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: talked about it today, man. There's so many yards that
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: we left out there in this past game.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And, you know, it's, it's over. We can't get them back,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: but the only thing we can do is learn from it.
• 2:01
  Speaker 6: Move on.
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: I appreciate you.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you.
• 2:09
  Speaker 7: Hey, Chris, thanks for doing this. Just at, It seems
• 2:12
  Speaker 7: like the run game has been, you know, efficient, you know,
• 2:14
  Speaker 7: since the season started. What was kind of the mindset
• 2:17
  Speaker 7: this whole training camp offseason on, you know, the run
• 2:20
  Speaker 7: game and kind of picking it up? I know you
• 2:22
  Speaker 7: weren't here last year, but it was a big emphasis
• 2:23
  Speaker 7: for the team improving it. Just what do you think
• 2:26
  Speaker 7: has made you guys, you know, so efficient and so
• 2:28
  Speaker 7: much improved at running the ball this year?
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: Well, first off, I think it starts up front, you know,
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: with those guys up there getting the right points. And
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: then it just kind of, you know, just got to
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: get our reads as a running back. I think going
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: through camp, uh, it was also a big emphasis on like,
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: you know, we, we know we have the guys coming back, um, Parker, BT, uh,
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Jacoby strange and all those guys and Trevor. Um, and
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: you know, I feel like last year, like you saw
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: like kind of like a little spark of tuning and, uh,
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: you know, I feel like he, he kind of wanted
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: to just, you know, make a name for himself this year,
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: which he has, and he's done a great job of it. Um,
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: I feel like as a running back group, we could
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: be so much better. I think just going into this
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: bye week, we're going to have to just try to
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: focus on a few things, myself included. There's a bunch
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: of things I need to focus on, but just picking
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: a few. At the end of the day, man, we've
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: been successful because of those guys up front. I pride
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: myself in getting what's blocked first and then whatever happens
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: after that happens.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Chris.
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: We'll go D-Rock and then Justin.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: D-Rock.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Hey, Chris. How are you?
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Hey, doing good. How you doing?
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: Pretty good.
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: When you were with Liam at Kentucky, did you guys
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: run a lot of screens? Did he call a lot
• 4:02
  Speaker 6: of screens then?
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: If I remember, yes, he did.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: He had a few of them that were more so
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: for the receivers. But we did run a few of
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: them while I was there.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: We also had a dude. I don't want to say
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: a dude.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: We also had a player who was the second running
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: back who did most of the screens.
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: What's the biggest thing? that has to happen on a
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: screen for it to work. I mean, is it, is
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: it as simple as timing? Um, it's just been a
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: struggle the last year and a half, uh, screen wise here.
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: And I'm just trying to figure out what, what could
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: potentially be one of the things that's holding it back
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: from being really successful.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: Um, yeah.
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: So I don't know what it was like last year,
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: this year, um, from a running back perspective. Um, yeah,
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: it's about timing, but, uh, there's more that goes into it. Uh,
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: It's a great sale by everyone on the offense. I
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: know for me, it's about being a great actor, especially
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: if the screen is to me. It's about being a
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: great actor and getting out to your landmark, of course.
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: And then, like you said, it's timing. Other than that,
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, you just got to get it rolling.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: What's maybe the biggest difference personality-wise in Liam that you've noticed?
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: since the last time you were with him, or is
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: there anything?
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: There's nothing different about Liam.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: He's still going to, you know, tell you when you're wrong. And,
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: you know, me and him have had a conversation plenty
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: of times about, you know, what he expects out of me. And,
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: you know, he's one of those dudes who, I mean,
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: he's known me for a long time now, and he's
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: always kept it real with me.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Is that.
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: I don't want to say rare, but I'm sure you've
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: probably been around coaches where it's maybe not as honest
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: face to face as it is with Liam.
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: Uh, I mean, I've only had what I guess two
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: other head coaches now in the league. Um, none that
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: I've known since I was, well, I guess I was
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: like 19 years old. Uh, but you know, I think
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: just having that, you know, Liam is, um, He's an
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: offensive guy, so it makes it that much easier, especially,
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: like I said, I had him at Kentucky.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Thanks.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: What's going on, Chris?
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Thank you for doing this.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 6:56
  Speaker 8: I just wanted to know, you know, you've had six
• 6:57
  Speaker 8: games here and then the whole offseason. Just kind of
• 7:00
  Speaker 8: how has it been being in Jacksonville and kind of
• 7:03
  Speaker 8: being back with Liam for you?
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, man, being in Jacksonville is nice, man. I love
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: it here, you know, and I plan on staying here
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: as long as I can. You know, it's a different
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: type of vibe, man. I like it here, you know
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: what I'm saying? But, you know, being back with Liam, man,
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: it's a good feeling, especially, like I said, being with
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: him in Kentucky, you know, we have that mutual connection,
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: you know, we can talk crap about Kentucky football or
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: whatever it is. And, um, you know, uh, it's just,
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: it's just great. You know, I know him and I know, uh,
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: what he expects as a coach. And, um, he's just
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: one of those guys, again, like he can sit there
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: and basically me and just, you know, tell me like, yo,
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: you supposed to be doing this like this. And I
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: expect you to do it like this. Um, And I
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: won't take it to heart, you know, because I know
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: the type of guy he is and the type of
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: coach he is. And at the end of the day,
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: he doesn't mean any bad intention behind it. He just
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: wants what's best for us.
• 8:16
  Speaker 8: And then how has it been playing with Trevor? Yesterday,
• 8:20
  Speaker 8: he had a good game. Liam brought up several times
• 8:23
  Speaker 8: during this press conference just how dialed in he is
• 8:27
  Speaker 8: right now.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Dialed. Man, Trevor, honestly, man.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: Having him as a quarterback, man, it's honestly like it's
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: a blessing, honestly. You know, not too often you have
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: a quarterback who, I mean, the whole team is, you know,
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: basically riding on his back and he's locked in, laser
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: focused the whole time. You know, he can have a
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: bad play and he'll come up and he'll admit it.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: He'll be the first to admit it and be like, hey,
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: we got to go back out there.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: We got to score.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: And, you know, having a guy like that where he's
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: on his stuff all the time, every game, every practice,
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: every walkthrough. Um, you know, it makes it easy to
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: go out there and play, you know, at your fullest
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: because you see him giving it all he's got.
• 9:15
  Speaker 8: And then last thing for me, what was the celebration
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: that you guys did? I didn't know what it was.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Uh, shout out to my shout out to Amir.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: Uh, I had no idea until I think Friday, what
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: that video was.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Um, Amir showed us.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: We were actually out to dinner with the running backs,
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: and we were in the Uber back to the hotel,
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: and Amir showed me and Basial.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: There's a video.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: It's from the movie Rumpelstiltskin, and basically he does that,
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: and somebody made an edit over it where they put
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: the tip toeing in my jaw that little thing so
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: Amir was like man we gotta do it he was
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: like man if either one of us score we all
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: gonna run out there and do it so kind of
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: caught me by surprise hence why I'm in the back
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: of the group we were supposed to be like in
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: a line but caught me by surprise Amir ran out
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: I don't even know if it's legal to run out
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: on the field after somebody scores but when I saw
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: Amir run out all.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Right, all right, this is happening. So we all ran out,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: did the celebration and, uh, and honestly it was pretty funny.
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it was a good one.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Thank you, man.
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Hey, Eric, appreciate you doing this. Um, just in terms
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: of the, um, in the secondary, what, what in your
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: opinion have been some of the issues you guys have,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: have had?
• 10:41
  Speaker 9: Uh, I would say like the biggest thing would be communication. Um,
• 10:46
  Speaker 9: just in terms of a lot of moving parts, um,
• 10:50
  Speaker 9: with the people that's playing. Sometimes, you know, lack of
• 10:53
  Speaker 9: time on task with certain people, it can get.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: The best of you.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: And then just in terms of how Travis Hunter has
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: progressed since you have been here, since he had been
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: here last year, what have you seen in terms of
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the growth? What maybe is he doing this year that
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: maybe he wasn't necessarily doing last year?
• 11:11
  Speaker 9: He's just comfortable with whatever role that they've given him.
• 11:14
  Speaker 9: I think in the beginning, it was a lot of
• 11:17
  Speaker 9: uncertainty on what position he would play, right? So giving
• 11:20
  Speaker 9: him a little bit more certainty on defense and with
• 11:23
  Speaker 9: a sprinkle of offense, you just seeing him be who
• 11:25
  Speaker 9: he's always been.
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: So, yeah.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: Appreciate it. We'll go DRock and then Justin.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: Hey, Eric, how do you take stock of where the
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: defense is right now heading into the bye?
• 11:50
  Speaker 9: I thought, you know, just in terms of the games
• 11:52
  Speaker 9: we played, we strung together some good performances. I think
• 11:57
  Speaker 9: the biggest thing going forward is just hitting on consistency
• 12:00
  Speaker 9: and just getting back to what we do at a
• 12:01
  Speaker 9: more consistent basis. Not necessarily, you know, putting ourselves in
• 12:06
  Speaker 9: bad positions to where, you know, we can't make plays
• 12:08
  Speaker 9: and going off of that, but just being more consistent.
• 12:12
  Speaker 9: I mean, we 4-2 at Dubai. There's nothing to, you know,
• 12:15
  Speaker 9: be crazy about. It's just lock in and keep going.
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: Was that kind of Liam's message before, you know, whatever
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: day you guys got back Monday, yesterday? I'm not even
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: sure what day it is.
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: I got back yesterday.
• 12:29
  Speaker 9: That's just the overall thing going forward. I mean, it's
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: a football season for a reason. So there's going to
• 12:34
  Speaker 9: be a lot of ups and downs. And, you know,
• 12:36
  Speaker 9: you can't get too caught up on, oh, we wanted
• 12:38
  Speaker 9: to win like this or we wanted to do it
• 12:40
  Speaker 9: this way.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: It's, you know, just do it and execute better.
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 12:52
  Speaker 8: What's going on, Eric? How are you doing? What have
• 12:56
  Speaker 8: you seen out of Antonio this year? It seems like
• 12:58
  Speaker 8: he's making plays everywhere, and he's really kind of in
• 13:01
  Speaker 8: this year two in camp defense really taking to his role.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Antonio's a big rangy guy.
• 13:07
  Speaker 9: I think, you know, just in year two, like being
• 13:10
  Speaker 9: the second year as a full-time starter in the role
• 13:13
  Speaker 9: that he was entering, it's just really helped, you know,
• 13:17
  Speaker 9: continue his growth.
• 13:18
  Speaker 6: I mean.
• 13:19
  Speaker 9: Um, he started off really well last year and, uh,
• 13:21
  Speaker 9: it's just continuous trajectory.
• 13:25
  Speaker 8: What's your favorite thing about camp's defense?
• 13:28
  Speaker 9: Uh, the versatility and, uh, the communication. I think, you know,
• 13:31
  Speaker 9: when we all out there and we all communicating at
• 13:33
  Speaker 9: a high level, um, you know, we're really potent defense
• 13:36
  Speaker 9: in this league and it's hard for, you know, offense
• 13:38
  Speaker 9: to move the ball. Um, and then on the inverse,
• 13:41
  Speaker 9: a lot of the times, like when we don't communicate well, you.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Get games like how we had. So, um, I love it. Uh,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: it's a love and hate relationship, but it's, it's good overall.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: Cause I know how we're going to respond.
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: So.
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: Oh, you kind of mentioned it. You guys are four
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: and two. There's nothing to get crazy about with those
• 14:00
  Speaker 8: two games. Kind of just how, how can you shift
• 14:03
  Speaker 8: the mindset knowing that you left kind of meat on
• 14:07
  Speaker 8: the bone, so to speak?
• 14:09
  Speaker 9: Um, I mean, it's just a lot of football left.
• 14:10
  Speaker 9: I mean, that's exactly what you said. Like it's, it's
• 14:13
  Speaker 9: tons of football left. Um, how can we get better
• 14:16
  Speaker 9: at those reps and how can we get better at
• 14:18
  Speaker 9: our techniques going forward? So the things that showed up
• 14:21
  Speaker 9: in those two games don't continue to show up throughout
• 14:24
  Speaker 9: the course of the season.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: Thank you, Matt. Enjoy the pod.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: Thank you. We'll go John and then D-Rock.
• 14:40
  Speaker 7: Hey, Eric. Thanks for doing this. You mentioned the communication
• 14:44
  Speaker 7: in the second, Eric. How is that something you guys
• 14:46
  Speaker 7: can continue to work on throughout the week, even during
• 14:49
  Speaker 7: the bye week? Is it just something as simple as
• 14:51
  Speaker 7: just being on the field together, time on task, like
• 14:53
  Speaker 7: you said?
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 14:54
  Speaker 9: Yeah, just being on the field together, watching more tape together,
• 14:58
  Speaker 9: you know, simplifying the acts that we're being asked to
• 15:01
  Speaker 9: do during the week so, you know, those reps are
• 15:04
  Speaker 9: more intentional and more concentrated and those looks are more
• 15:07
  Speaker 9: dialed in.
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: So, yeah.
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Eric. Mm-hmm.
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: Eric, what's your favorite saying from camp?
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: What's your favorite thing that he says?
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 15:27
  Speaker 9: I probably would say probably one of the boxing quotes
• 15:36
  Speaker 9: he would probably put up there. And just in terms
• 15:38
  Speaker 9: of like, you know, it may be a 17-round fight or,
• 15:42
  Speaker 9: you know, something like that in terms of if you're
• 15:44
  Speaker 9: putting that into the context of a football season, right?
• 15:47
  Speaker 9: And during the boxing match, you take a lot of hits.
• 15:49
  Speaker 9: You give a lot of hits, right? So I probably
• 15:52
  Speaker 9: would say that's the favorite thing about him is those
• 15:55
  Speaker 9: analogies and just to keep on persevering through, you know, punches.
• 15:58
  Speaker 9: And a lot of people don't have, you know, the
• 16:01
  Speaker 9: mental fortitude to when they get punched in the face
• 16:03
  Speaker 9: or something like that to keep going forward.
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: I mean.
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: I'm assuming when you were in high school and stuff,
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: you played some offense too. Most of you guys were
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: two-way stars, right? So you've been around some offensive coaches.
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: Is it just really the defensive coaches that seem to
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: really load up on those sayings and stuff like that
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: in your experience?
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, defense and special teams, for sure. Those are those
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: type guys.
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: Why do you think it's just limited to those two
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: or maybe mostly those two?
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: I think on defense you've got to hit people.
• 16:34
  Speaker 9: And then in terms of special teams, a lot of
• 16:37
  Speaker 9: the times you're going against people who may be 20
• 16:40
  Speaker 9: pounds more than you, 15 pounds more than you. It's
• 16:44
  Speaker 9: been times where I've been on special teams and I've
• 16:46
  Speaker 9: got to block an end or I've got to block
• 16:48
  Speaker 9: a linebacker. So those are those type of heavyweight hits
• 16:52
  Speaker 9: that you're taking throughout the course of a year. that
• 16:55
  Speaker 9: you just got to keep on swinging. You might not
• 16:57
  Speaker 9: win every rep, but you got to take every punch
• 16:59
  Speaker 9: for sure.