Yeah, got a new haircut. Yeah, appreciate it, thank you, thank you. What's that Yeah, that's it. Uh yeah, I think so. I got some family friends, so I gotta look look clean because you know, it's the.
First time you're going home and playing is a forty nine or star.
Yeah, I'm excited, you know, to sort of just have I guess, my family, my friends, just people in my life growing up man to you know, just be there. So it should be fun balance.
You know, you've done such a great job with everything that's been thrust upon you, but it's a little bit different when you're playing family and friends. You still want to I would.
Imagine, yeah, most definitely. But I mean I feel like it's sort of been like that already. You know, every game, I feel like there's family and friends that either come to games or are tuned in watching on TV and stuff. So, uh, nothing changes.
You know.
Once we line up, it's eleven or eleven football, and I gotta do my assignments and play for play quarterback, and and that's about it.
So our estimate of how many people you have the.
Game, I'm not really sure the whole number, but I'm only doing tickets just for my family just because there's a lot of people, you know, so but I know that there's a lot of people that have bought tickets and they'll be their supporting So very thankful for that.
Walk us through your.
Thought process on Christian's long run.
You're what you're looking for as you.
Spread down there.
Yeah, I saw him, you know, sort of just make his cut early on, and you know, I only saw a couple of guys downfield and Ba running. So I was all right, you know, I'm gonna just try to get down there, and if Christian ends up cutting back, I want to hopefully be able to get in front of a guy or make a block for him. And uh so Christian started pulling away and I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna get there, and then he made his cutback and I was like, dang it,
I should have done it. I should have just kept going. So that was my mindset though I saw Ba, you know, doing his thing block and for him, and if he made any kind of cutback, I just wanted to be there. So you really want to sign the hardheads that you're saying, Yeah, one hundred percent, I want to be a part of that club.
Before the game, Jerry Rice came by and kind of adapted yet a little bit and had some words.
What can can you share what Jerry.
Said to you?
And how cool is that the greatest receiver of all time touching base.
With you before the game.
Yeah, it was cool. You know. I sort of just got a pat in the back and and I looked over and it was Jerry, and you know, just tapped him up and he just said ball out today, you know, sort of just kept it simple and uh. But the fact that he did that and came over as I was warming up, But that was pretty cool. You know. Obviously he's a he's a idle to many and a legend here as a forty nine er. To be able to play them in the same organization as him is really special. So that was cool.
Joe or Steve.
When they've come to games, I've talked to him in person a little bit, but not not in terms of you know, calling or anything. So yeah, I.
Was talking yesterday about how a lot of times the communications with the players, he will FaceTime them or they'll usually tech it's back with him. How do you usually deal with Kyle and how has that relationship kind of spawned over the last year and where you.
Guys are matched so well, now, yeah, I mean he'll just shoot me a text every once in a while if he wants wants me to come in and meet. We like meeting, you know, more in person than anything. And you know, after a game or something on my drive home, he used to just shoot me a call and go over some things how we're thinking our initial thoughts and stuff. So he does a good job with with just all the guys you know in general in terms of keeping in touch and making sure everyone's good.
But you know where we're at and how we can be better, So he does a great job with that. But yeah, over the last year, definitely obviously has you know, we've we've talked a lot more and stuff. We have to be on the same page, you know, we're trying to obviously accomplish the same goals and stuff. So it's been cool, you know to sort of see our I guess relationship evolve over over the last year and stuff. So yeah, we have a.
Question about the game plan in the middle of the night that comes to your mind when you text Brian Greasy instead or right to Kyle.
I'll probably wait till the morning. You know, I'm trying to get my sleep, and I know they are too, But if some ever did come to mind, they wouldn't mind if I shot him attacks at all, So either one of them would be ready to answer.
Well, the last time you were in the Cardinals stadium when you got your Gay Player of the Year award or.
Have you been there since I played in the festival in twenty twenty against Oregon there in that stadium, yep, that was the last time I was there.
In the game, you mentioned that Jamal Adams was flat, but it was something that you noticed.
Do you remember when you, like in your quarterback career, when you started noticing different tels and players and how you did take advantage of that.
I mean you could say film studying and all that kind of stuff, which is true to an extent for me in that play, it wasn't necessarily just Jamal. It was like whoever's playing that safety position? You know, with our play call and where we were at in the game when we had called that play, you know, the first thing was to identify what the safety structure looked like,
and then Jamal happened to be playing safety there. I just just looking at him with a couple of steps that I was taking in my drop, I saw that he was flat footed and that kind of thing. But I mean, there are some things that you can see on film with guys and they show some tells and whatnot. But you know, for me, at the end of the day, stuff have to catch the ball, drop back and react and obviously anticipate things, which is great in which you
can learn from film study. But you know, for me in the moments, being able to see the safety structure post snap, the rotation and things like that, and then react and hit guys that are open. So I like to sort of somewhat keep it simple. But you know in that play that I watch film a million times on Jamal Adams and say, I'm gonna get this to be honest now, So yeah, where.
You're processing got slower or felt slower, so you can feel like you can make or see more before you actually throw them all.
I mean a little bit, yeah, I mean, just playing within this offense and in this system with the guys up front blocking and then trusting and the guys running the concepts that we've run you know over games and since camp and stuff. All that has helped me, and it has sort of has helped me just process things, help slow things down a little bit. But the game is still fast and it's not like I've mastered it
at all. I feel like it'll always be a challenge every game, every snap, but you know, there, it sort of has, you know, gotten I've gotten more familiar with what we're trying to do, so it has helped.
Can you consider yourself a game manager?
I don't know, man, I don't want to comment on that. You know, I'm, like I said, I'm playing quarterback, trying to win games, and we'll see at the end of all of it.
So deep passes is the highest that I've found on record. Is this the most comfortable you've been throwing the deep ball, not just in your NFL career, but going back to college in high school?
Yeah, I'd say so. I forgot who I was talking to earlier this week, just in terms of I feel like I've always been efficient with the quick game, the intermediate game, all that kind of stuff, but when it comes to pushing the ball down field, sort of just understanding what we're trying to do as an offense. And once we get those kinds of opportunities being aggressive and
letting it rip. And I feel like right now, probably, you know, out of all the years I've been playing football, this has probably been the best in terms of, you know, pushing the ball downfield and being efficient in that area, not just throwing it up in hopes for someone to grab it, but being efficient when I take my shots. And and I feel like it is probably probably the best that I've been throwing the d ball right now.
Just looking back at the course of this season. I remember Week two against the Rams, you missed a couple. Since then, it's gotten better and better. Was there some kind of just physical knocking off of the rust that that's happened over the course of this year as it relates specifically.
To beat passes. I mean maybe, you know, obviously I was hard on myself after that Rams game, you know, missing those couple deep shots, and then just being real with myself, you know, I practice and stuff and working on just mechanics and little things and timing with the receivers and being on the same page with them. And I think all those little things have helped and they've paid off. But I feel like there's still some areas where I can get better at with it, and and
that's that. But yeah, I feel good with where I'm at right now.
Left hnded dropbacks design and.
How do you feel? Do you feel comfortable with the dropping back as the left you flipping your hips?
The feelings?
What would be the purpose of that?
Yeah, it's just another way, you know, for us to move the pocket sort of just get some movement within you know, our our system, our play calls. In a sense, it's a it's another way of play action, but you know, to be able to roll left and flip our hips and and and still get the ball where it needs to wherever at on the field. Some we've been working
on since Camp. I feel like it's somewhat of a just a new thing teams are doing nowadays, you know, in the shotgun rolling left a little bit and then flipping the hips and and then being able to deliver. I've never done anything like that, you know, growing up or college or high school or anything. So but after you know, last year of installing those kinds of play is I feel I like it a lot. I like how we do it, So yeah, I'm down for it.
Was said that when he was a coordinator he's He's had a couple of quarterbacks where go over a chunk of ten plays and eight of them were right and two of them were wrong, and he would spend all of his time going over the two that were wrong. In the quarter I could go, hey, what about these other eight and help them. He did those right, Let's just fix the ones that are wrong. Do you do you that kind of teaching resonate with you.
Yeah, one hundred percent. I feel like we need it, you know, I love I love that kind of coaching. Honestly. You know, at the end of the day, you have a standard for yourself. For yourself, you want to be consistent as best as possible as a quarterback in the NFL, Like there's a little room, you know, to mess up. And so I think if you're in the NFL and your quarterback, you gotta be somewhat of a perfectionist. You want those two plays back, You want to learn from
them and grow from them. If they're just telling you how great you are and stuff, you know, there's gonna be a time throughout the season at some point where you probably get exposed with maybe those little those little things like that. So Kyle does a great job obviously all the all of the years of coaching and experience that he has of pointing those things out and harping on him, not just to you know, down, down, you out or anything, but to be real and help you.
And we're all trying to win, and that's what it takes. And so he does a good job with that.
Your elbow in the community did all the exercises you did, it may actually be stronger if you wanted to continue to do this exercises because of that. Was that discussed like pre surgery, like this could happen, like your elbow could be stronger, or was that even not just a topic? Was it just like let's get it back to our lives?
A little bit of both. I think the main emphasis was let's get back to normal first, you know, let's get cleared, let's get healthy, let's compete again, let's you know, and then if everything goes as well, like obviously, stick to the plan of of whatever I was doing for my arm to get it stronger. And I feel like, regardless of getting hurt or not, like that's something that as a professional athlete, you always want to find the
little things to help you get better. And I mean if we're being real, like my rookie year coming out of college, I feel like there's so many areas I could have got better, like physically, you know, as a thrower. And so this whole last year I've still been, you know, trying to mold into the quarterback that I want to be, the thrower I want to be, and obviously I want to continue to do the things that I've learned throughout rehabbing stuff to to you know, become who I want
to be. So but I think at the time it was more about getting healthy and getting back for Game one more than anything. Moments, I want to say, somewhat after the season, you know, I was figuring out, you know, surgery, who I was going to go to in terms of a surgeon, and and sort of just what the whole process looked like. And it's not that I was freaking out or anything, but I just wanted to talk to a guy who had been through it. And so a bunch of the guys here had recommended Nick. They said
he's a great guy. So I shot him a text and then he called me right away, and he was awesome, just told me what he went through, what he felt, you know, right after how long it sort of took until he got back to normal and sort of what to expect. So he was awesome and I always remember that conversation, and honestly, if the things that I've been through so far have been to a t of what he said, so it's great advice from him. Thanks guys,