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Leonard Williams: "It Was One Of The Best Games Of My Career" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Soup. Everybody good? Yeah, sweet little Japanese art on. Oh.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: These cleats are with a group called Water Mission that
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I met through PAO during the off season, and uh
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  Speaker 1: you know, their mission is pretty much to travel the
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  Speaker 1: world and help you know, countries or regions and places
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: that don't have access to fresh water, whether that's showering, cleaning, eating,
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  Speaker 1: or drinking or whatever, and help them I dig away
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: and get access to fresh water. And I'm planning on
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: going on a trip with them sometime soon.
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  Speaker 2: That was a trip around before you signed here, right
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  Speaker 2: or right where it came from.
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  Speaker 1: Uh No, that was actually a different trip to Africa
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: with a Biblica I went with Matt Forte, which I
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  Speaker 1: met on the jets and he's been a good mentor
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  Speaker 1: for me throughout my career since I met him. And
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: you know, going through PO and finding my faith and
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: kind of it's still kind of a new thing to
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  Speaker 1: me and I'm still discovering it. But going on that
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  Speaker 1: trip and being able to do some mission work was
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  Speaker 1: a big deal for me.
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  Speaker 3: What's the trip you're hoping to do with them coming up?
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  Speaker 1: We haven't got scheduled on one yet, but I have
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: been in talks with them. We're trying to figure out
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: when it's a good time to do it. I'm pretty
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: sure they do it four times a year, like once
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: each season, and we're just trying to figure out which
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  Speaker 1: one's a good time to go. What's PO PO was
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a Player's Outreach Association, I mean something like that, and
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it's pretty much like a Christian conference for professional sports.
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  Speaker 1: It's like mostly football players that go. And I got
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  Speaker 1: sponsored to go by Nate Soldier at the Giants. He
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  Speaker 1: sponsored me to go, and at the time, I would
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: just I have I've probably been to church maybe a
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: handful of times my whole life, and you know, definitely
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  Speaker 1: had like my walls up around religion and faith and
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  Speaker 1: things like that. But he sponsored me to go. I
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  Speaker 1: was in Florida already, so I was like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: why not go? And uh, it's been like a big turning.
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  Speaker 1: It was a big pivotal moment in my life.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: I would say, you mentioned you met Gino back in
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  Speaker 4: your what your rookie year when you first got to
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  Speaker 4: the Jets. How have you seen over the years or
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: he played with them early in his career and now
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  Speaker 4: you're with him now, have you seen him kind of
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  Speaker 4: progress as a player.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it was tough because my first year meeting
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  Speaker 1: him was when I got drafted as a rookie. There
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  Speaker 1: was like obviously a lot going on for me, so
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  Speaker 1: I didn't even know how to pay attention to other
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  Speaker 1: people at the time. Also, he like was going through
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  Speaker 1: some stuff at the time and didn't play that much
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  Speaker 1: when I was first there, so it was hard for
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  Speaker 1: me to see. But I remember, like when I first
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  Speaker 1: got here and met him, I was like, he seemed
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  Speaker 1: like almost completely different person in my opinion. I was
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  Speaker 1: also younger, so you know, we we both were younger
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  Speaker 1: at the Jets and now we're a lot older, so
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  Speaker 1: you know, but seeing him now, he's flourish into a
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  Speaker 1: great player and a great leader. Leader most importantly, when
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  Speaker 1: you say going through.
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  Speaker 5: He was going through some stuff in twenty fifteen, that's
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  Speaker 5: to say the least.
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  Speaker 2: What did you notice about him then? What how did
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  Speaker 2: he deal with that? How was he with the rest of.
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  Speaker 1: The team then, Like I said, it was hard for
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  Speaker 1: me to like pay attention to that stuff as a
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  Speaker 1: rookie just because I had a lot of stuff going
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: on myself, like trying to figure out, you know, how
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: to be better and how to adapt to the NFL. So,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: to be honest, it was so long ago, it's kind
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  Speaker 1: of hard for me to remember.
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  Speaker 3: What are what are your thoughts on going back to
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  Speaker 3: that was sixteen, but go back to the stadium kind
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  Speaker 3: of a year after you're dead.
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  Speaker 2: What are your thoughts?
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  Speaker 3: I guess on that.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm excited about you know, it's just another
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  Speaker 1: game for me. Playing against the Jets is just another game.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: I got drafted there, So I have a lot of
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  Speaker 1: appreciation for the organization for you know, giving me the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to play in the NFL. But at the same time,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I feel so far removed from that organization and that
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  Speaker 1: team that it does even feel like it's like a
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  Speaker 1: revenge game or homecoming game or whatever. You know, people
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  Speaker 1: want to make it seem like it feels like just
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  Speaker 1: a regular game to me.
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  Speaker 4: You mentioned the term road warriors at the end of
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  Speaker 4: the day.
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  Speaker 2: Talk about you guys road success.
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  Speaker 4: What do you think is allowed to you guys? I mean,
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  Speaker 4: it's tough to travel from here, A lot of long
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  Speaker 4: trips and early kick offs all that. What do you
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  Speaker 4: think is allowed to you.
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  Speaker 1: Guys to succeed? I mean to me. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: like when you're going into enemy environment territory, It's like
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  Speaker 1: we have no one but each other to lean on,
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  Speaker 1: and I think in those moments it just brings us
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  Speaker 1: closer as a team. We have our own energy to
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  Speaker 1: rely on, so we have to bring our own juice,
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  Speaker 1: motivate each other and hype each other up and stuff
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  Speaker 1: like that, versus like at home, it's like we have
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  Speaker 1: all these other aspects that we can rely on to
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  Speaker 1: like get our juice going, versus like these long road games,
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  Speaker 1: it's like all we have is each other.
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  Speaker 2: You real, like travel routine and everything. What about that
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  Speaker 2: has Mike change from what you guys did last year.
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  Speaker 1: I think the biggest difference is just not sleeping the
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  Speaker 1: whole flight, so we're able to like actually sleep when
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  Speaker 1: we get in town on those long East Coast travel days.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when I was younger, I would probably sleep
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  Speaker 1: the whole five hour flight, and then when I land,
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  Speaker 1: it's like I'd be up all night. So then it's
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  Speaker 1: like it kind of sets you back those next to
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  Speaker 1: two days leading up to the game Saturday and Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: So now I think guys a little more locked in
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  Speaker 1: on like their routine of like staying awake on the flight,
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  Speaker 1: doing normal type boots and like you know, also working
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  Speaker 1: on their bodies even on the flight.
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  Speaker 2: How do they enforce that? How do they make sure
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: no one's sleeping?
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  Speaker 1: I think it's more player and for us, like we
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: like kind of mess with each other sometimes if like
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  Speaker 1: someone's sleeping too long, we'll like wake each other up
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  Speaker 1: and stuff like that, which, like some guys get annoyed,
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  Speaker 1: but it is what it is.
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  Speaker 4: When you look at brestall on TA he's listed as
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  Speaker 4: a running back.
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  Speaker 3: He's got just many yards almost right out of the
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  Speaker 3: back or as a as a pass catcher.
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  Speaker 2: What's the challenge and slow in him?
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  Speaker 5: Now?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I think he's a great player, and like
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  Speaker 1: you said, he's listed as a running back, but I
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  Speaker 1: feel like he's one of those duel threat guys that
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  Speaker 1: can do it all. You know, He's one of those
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  Speaker 1: players that you always have to account for, uh screenplays
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  Speaker 1: in the backfield, whether he's lined up, wherever he's at.
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  Speaker 1: He's one of those weapons on their team that they
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  Speaker 1: really love to utilize. And uh, we're gonna have to
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  Speaker 1: stop him count. I mean, in my opinion, you know,
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  Speaker 1: he's the best hat of for a reason, he might
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  Speaker 1: get a few guys. Uh, it is what it is.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, just next play mentality keep going or
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  Speaker 1: if he does get you to jump off sides, also
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  Speaker 1: don't stop because that's their opportunity to try to take
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  Speaker 1: a shot.
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  Speaker 3: Uh.
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  Speaker 1: You see it on films sometimes he'll a defensive end
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  Speaker 1: willd like jump off sides and then stop and then
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  Speaker 1: now they throw like a touchdown pass when if that
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  Speaker 1: guy would have just kept going, he probably would have
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  Speaker 1: stopped the play. But then you know, as a guy
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  Speaker 1: that plays up front, it's just key your man. That's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: pretty much it. Don't listen, don't listen to anything else,
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  Speaker 1: just see your man.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Why do you think more quarterbacks don't try.
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  Speaker 3: To do that?
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure. Maybe not everybody has the the voice,
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  Speaker 1: or the cadence or the acting skills or whatever it is.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like Roger's pretty good at it.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: So happy for Kobe Bryant or do you feel like
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  Speaker 4: you got robbed?
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  Speaker 1: Sensitive subject? I mean, I'm obviously happy for Kobe. He's
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  Speaker 1: my locker mate. He's a young guy. I love to
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  Speaker 1: see young guys flourishing. You know, he stepped up in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the season, got his opportunity, and he
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  Speaker 1: hasn't let it go since, So you know, I got
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  Speaker 1: a much appreciation of love for the guy. But at
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  Speaker 1: the same time, it's like we talked about how as
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  Speaker 1: a defense last Sunday we were competing with each other,
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  Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So as a friendly competition,
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I should have won it, But as
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  Speaker 1: a teammate and a VET, it's like, I'm obviously happy
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  Speaker 1: for him.
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  Speaker 3: When you look at the game, didn't look as good
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  Speaker 3: on film as you kind of seemed like you felt
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  Speaker 3: like right after.
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  Speaker 1: The game, it was Yeah, it looked as good on
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  Speaker 1: film as I thought it was, which was like interesting
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  Speaker 1: because like sometimes we talk about film like never being
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  Speaker 1: as good or as bad as you think. There's times
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  Speaker 1: where you have a game when you're like, oh, like
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  Speaker 1: I messed up a lot, and then you watch film
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  Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, it wasn't that bad. And then
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  Speaker 1: there's times where you watch and you're like, oh, I
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  Speaker 1: went crazy, And then you watch film and you get
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  Speaker 1: a little more humbled and you're like, oh, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I could have did better. But this was definitely, I
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  Speaker 1: think one of my best games in my career. I
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  Speaker 1: felt like I was, you know, dominant in that game,
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  Speaker 1: and I feel like the stats, even though I had
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  Speaker 1: the stats, don't even tell the full story. I feel
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  Speaker 1: like I played a great game.
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  Speaker 3: Do you think you would have had that game for
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  Speaker 3: any team or do you feel like some of the
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  Speaker 3: players around you and the scheme you're in is helping
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  Speaker 3: you play some of your best ball.
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  Speaker 1: I definitely think the scheme around me and the players
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  Speaker 1: around me are helping me play some of my best ball.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: We have a highly competitive defensive line room, and uh,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: you know, there's there's never a chance where I can
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  Speaker 1: take a playoff because I know the next guy is
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  Speaker 1: hungry to get in there on third down, first down,
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  Speaker 1: second down, regardless of the down. We're competing to be
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: out there on that field, and we're competing against each other.
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  Speaker 1: And uh, I think that's when you have a great
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  Speaker 1: team and a great defense is when you know we're
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  Speaker 1: not only trying to stop the offense, but we're having
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  Speaker 1: like friendly competitions against each other. And you know, even
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  Speaker 1: one of my sacks that I got when I was
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  Speaker 1: on the edge, I gave a huge credit to you know,
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  Speaker 1: Dre and those other guys were you know, I remember
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: coming off the edge, and I seen him about to
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  Speaker 1: step up and pass the ball, but then Dre made
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  Speaker 1: him stop and back up, And it's like, that's a
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  Speaker 1: credit to Russian as one, you know what I mean,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: all four or five Russian as one.
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  Speaker 5: The stemming and moving at the snap of some of
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  Speaker 5: the thing you did the other day, how much does
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  Speaker 5: that help you? What advantage does that give you? What's
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  Speaker 5: that stemming and moving? You did it right before the
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  Speaker 5: snap along the line? What advantage does that give you.
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  Speaker 2: When you do it?
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  Speaker 1: To me, there's a few times I stem just because
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  Speaker 1: I kind of int pitt at a certain player or
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: something like that. But there's also a lot of times
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  Speaker 1: we stem or move around just to to throw off
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the offense. You know, there's times where we'll be in
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: a load front and the center has to like look
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: through his legs to snap the ball, and then by
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: the time he looks up, I'm like on the other
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: side of him. So sometimes like messes up the protection
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: calls and stuff like that, and you know it's hard
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: for our offense to like id protection or who's coming
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: and things like that.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Commonly, have you stemmed in your career? Jets Giants here.
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  Speaker 1: I would say most of my career I've been a
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: type of guy that's kind of played all along the line.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: With the Giants, I played about just as much defensive
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: end as I've been playing here. But yeah, I think
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  Speaker 1: the last two teams I've played a lot of defensive
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: end and defensive tackle.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: But the stem in and moving at the at the
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  Speaker 2: snap is that rare in your career? Is that you've
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  Speaker 2: been done?
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  Speaker 1: I think that is a little more rare. That's part
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: of you know, Mike's schemes and the way he likes
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: the blitz and disguise and uh, you know, we have
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: this mentality of like we hold the pen last type
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: of idea. You know, offense like to skiing, offense like
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: to shift in motion and do all those type of
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: things to throw off the defense. And we have like
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: plays within a play too, you know, always check to
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: something based off what the offense has given us, and
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: that gives us like a hold the pen last mentality.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: You obviously looked very healthy on Sunday, but as the
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: foot injury, been hard to play through it all.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's been hard to prepare during the week.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: I think Luckily I have a lot of experience under
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: my belt. So by the time Sunday comes around, there's
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: not too many blocks that I'm gonna see that I
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: haven't seen already, you know what I mean. But I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: think throughout the week I have had to shift in
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: learning how to be prepared on Sunday. And that's like
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: staying conditioning, staying in the weight room, staying on the
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: film and things like that, because you know, not practicing
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: all week, does you know taking effect on Sunday? If
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: you're not getting the looks full speed during the week
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: that you're gonna get on Sunday.
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: What do you think is a lot of the defenses
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: take us step forward last few weeks.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Hm, that's a good question. I mean, I think the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: biggest part of stopping the run, being able to stop
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the run is you know, giving Mike freedom to call
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the defensive plays the way he wants to and you know,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: getting them and get back on track, backed up situations
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: and been allowing us to to rush the passer, being
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: allowing us to affect the quarterback. Uh. So to me,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: it's all about stopping them on first first down and
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: uh stopping the run. And uh, I think that just
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: came down to, like a mindset. I feel like we
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: harped on it so much. Uh. We put a lot
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of emphasis on stopping the run, and uh, I feel
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  Speaker 1: like we're finally coming together and stopping it as one.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: How do you look back on this sort of the
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: whole bit about thirteen months. I guess as you were
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: traded coming to Seattle, then the Seattle you immediately have
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: changed too with the change of the coaching staff and
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: stuff like that, but then you resigned. I guess that
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: that kind of whole journey of coming here and you.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Know, yeah, I mean it has been a lot. I mean,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: you know, even in the middle of the season last year,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: coming here all the way from the East Coast and
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. Sometimes it's like so much of a
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: storm going on that it, in my opinion, it makes
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: me better sometimes because there's so much chaos going on
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: that like the only thing I can focus on is
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: like what I can control. And uh, in times like that,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: it almost makes me a better player person to just
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: like lock in on my things, you know what I mean.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: I can't pay attention to what's going on outside of me.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: I can only focus on what's in front of me
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and what I can control. So in times like that,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I think it makes me better. Thank you