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Drake Thomas: "We Picked Up Right Where We Left Off" · Seahawks Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: Very small sample size, but this defense appears to have
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  Speaker 1: picked up where it left off last year. When you
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  Speaker 1: look at the effort from the first two weeks, what
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  Speaker 1: impresses you most about the way the guys are playing?
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  Speaker 2: The play style, probably.
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  Speaker 3: There's really been, like you said it yourself, picked up
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  Speaker 3: right where we left off, and that just goes to
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  Speaker 3: show our standard that we hold. The team, the defense,
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  Speaker 3: position rooms, it doesn't change no matter what, no matter
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  Speaker 3: what we're doing. We attack everything the same, and, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think that shows on the field.
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  Speaker 4: Can you take us through the tackle for the loss
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  Speaker 4: you had? Mike told us after the game that you
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  Speaker 4: kind of helped fix the defensive front there as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so, yeah, the call, I'm trying not to get
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  Speaker 3: too much into depth, but, yeah, the front was not
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  Speaker 3: really matched, like, right with the call and, like, how
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  Speaker 3: they were aligned was kind of wrong. So I was
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  Speaker 3: supposed to be down on the ball on that call
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  Speaker 3: And basically the D linemen, they were aligned where I
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  Speaker 3: was supposed to align. And I just tried to make
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  Speaker 3: it right. I called a stunt for Jay Reed to
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  Speaker 3: went inside and for me to shoot the gap and
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  Speaker 3: it opened up and it worked.
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  Speaker 4: Is that a situation where the play call itself comes
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  Speaker 4: in a little bit off or is it just like
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  Speaker 4: it doesn't marry up with what they're.
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  Speaker 2: Doing in that moment?
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  Speaker 3: I think it was more so the play call was
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  Speaker 3: a little bit off. Based off personnel we were in,
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  Speaker 3: we got a lot of people subbing in and out
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  Speaker 3: a lot and different calls to go with each personnel.
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  Speaker 3: Out of that specific personnel, it was a little bit off.
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  Speaker 4: You guys practice sudden change all the time. What pride
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  Speaker 4: did you take in that particular sequence of the offense
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  Speaker 4: turning the ball over at midfield, tie game, and you.
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  Speaker 2: Guys three and out? We say it in the defensive room.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't really matter how it happens or what the
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  Speaker 3: circumstance is, it's our job to keep them out of
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  Speaker 3: the end zone.
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  Speaker 2: So if they don't score, they can't win. No matter
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  Speaker 2: where they are on.
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  Speaker 3: The field, what yard line they get the ball, we're
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  Speaker 3: going out there with the mentality to get a stop.
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  Speaker 4: Adam Durdy said that you're one of the guys that
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  Speaker 4: can come up and suggest things for the game plan
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  Speaker 4: during the week, mention other guys on the defense. How
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  Speaker 4: often does that happen, and what triggers you to approach
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  Speaker 4: the coaching staff with maybe.
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  Speaker 2: Some thoughts to add? I always have questions and stuff weekly.
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  Speaker 3: I try to get as much information I can about
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  Speaker 3: the why behind what we're doing. I don't know how
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  Speaker 3: often I would say that I give direct input, but
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  Speaker 3: if I feel like there's something that we could add
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  Speaker 3: or do something differently that would alleviate stress or help
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  Speaker 3: us make a play, our coaches have created an environment
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  Speaker 3: to where all the players feel comfortable enough to bring
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  Speaker 3: that up and talk about it.
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  Speaker 2: So it's really cool.
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  Speaker 4: The way the guys have stopped explosives so far this year,
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  Speaker 4: Arizona didn't have a play over 10 yards until that
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  Speaker 4: final drive in the final seconds there. I don't think
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  Speaker 4: you have a play over 20 yards in either game.
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  Speaker 4: What's the key to that as a defense to keep
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  Speaker 4: those big plays down?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's more like play style thing than it
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  Speaker 3: is anything. Obviously you want to limit explosives by playing
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  Speaker 3: your scheme correctly.
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  Speaker 2: But after that, like, The checkdowns, the runs.
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  Speaker 3: You just swarm into the football and tackling and playing together.
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  Speaker 3: And that's something that our defense, I think, really does
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  Speaker 3: a good job of.
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  Speaker 4: It also shows up.
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  Speaker 1: In the tackles for loss. There's at least 10 of
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  Speaker 1: you with a TFL through the first two weeks. Would
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  Speaker 1: you say that that's more about just unrelenting effort or
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  Speaker 1: the degree to which everybody knows the defense and their assignments?
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  Speaker 2: I think it can be a mixture of a lot
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  Speaker 2: of things.
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  Speaker 3: I think it can be people playing ahead of snaps
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  Speaker 3: and anticipating, like you said, and knowing the scheme and
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  Speaker 3: knowing what they're doing. It can be effort. It could
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  Speaker 3: also be a play call that is like perfect timing.
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  Speaker 3: So there's a lot of things that go into that. But,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we'll take any of them that we can get.
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  Speaker 4: Mike, and some of the players mentioned after the game,
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  Speaker 4: some adjustments made at halftime defensively. Halftime's only like 12
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  Speaker 4: minutes long, so I guess from the outside it's always like,
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  Speaker 4: how much can you guys really do at halftime? But
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  Speaker 4: it sounds like you guys are able to, that's enough
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  Speaker 4: time to do some things from time to time?
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  Speaker 2: For sure.
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  Speaker 3: There's definitely conversations at halftime, and we're able to make
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  Speaker 3: the adjustments that we need to going into the second half.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, how in-depth or detailed can those kind of things.
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  Speaker 2: Be in that short of time? They're usually small little
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  Speaker 2: tweaks here and there. Nothing major.
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  Speaker 3: It's not like you're changing your scheme, but just little
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  Speaker 3: nuances within the scheme that can help us out.
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  Speaker 4: What do you do at halftime?
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  Speaker 2: Do you change? Some guys shower?
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  Speaker 3: No, I just sit and wait for the adjustments that
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  Speaker 3: we're about to go over.
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  Speaker 2: We talk about it, kind of like talk.
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  Speaker 3: Through what we've been seeing and what we think they're
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  Speaker 3: going to come back to and this and that. So
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  Speaker 3: I don't do anything crazy like that.
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  Speaker 4: The team has allowed three total points in the second
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  Speaker 4: half of games this year, three against the Patriots, obviously
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  Speaker 4: shutting out the Cardinals.
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  Speaker 2: What does it say about this team that whatever those
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  Speaker 2: adjustments may.
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  Speaker 1: Be, clearly they're working?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's cool that guys are definitely really,
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  Speaker 3: really locked in on the details. And when we make
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  Speaker 3: a switch like that, we can go out there and
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  Speaker 3: execute it on the fly. I think that goes to
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  Speaker 3: show everyone how well we know our scheme to be
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  Speaker 3: able to adjust like that in such a small amount
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  Speaker 3: of time.
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  Speaker 4: Are you guys going to lobby for Chaz Suraj to
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  Speaker 4: get some carries after the skill you showed?
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  Speaker 2: It was a pretty good run. I mean, that's a
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  Speaker 2: heads-up play right there. I'm glad he was able to
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  Speaker 2: do that.
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  Speaker 4: Drake, what's stood out to you about the way Rodney's
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  Speaker 4: played behind you in these two games?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, he just steps in and it's like nothing changes.
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  Speaker 3: You know, he's one of the 70, right? So, but
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  Speaker 3: it's not like a surprise or anything. He's prepared. He
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  Speaker 3: went through training camp. He played well. And we've seen
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  Speaker 3: it over and over again, like, over the past year
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  Speaker 3: to two years, whatever, guys.
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  Speaker 2: Stepping up and being ready for their opportunity. Good. Thanks, Jerry.
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  Speaker 2: Appreciate you guys. Thank you.