Really marveling at your workout after the bye week, deadlifting and doing box jobs.
So, uh, j ques that he was impressed. Is that your normal routine?
Yeah, that's my normal that day. So you know, I know a lot of people think I just sit here and just chill and drink gator Ada, But I actually try to use that day to get a little better.
Be sure. And I was just asking Christian and uh, the confusion that he traded, uh brings defensively. I think three of the four sacks that they had on Sunday, the pass rusher went untouched. Is that a reflection of kind of that confusion that they can cause?
Uh yeah, I mean some of those wasn't even confusion, it was just challenging the weakness of of the protection. So yeah, they they mix it up. They're not afraid to bring six and not afraid to bring seven. I think bringing five is a norm for them, you know, So that that's what keeps the confused. And they bring
guys and they drop guys out. They'd drop a a s a big guy out, bring a small oh god, So you know, and that's just it's up to us not to play into their hands and not be behind the chains and getting the third and long a lot, you know less you're.
Talking about how hard it is to kind of climb them mountain every year and keep getting to this point over and over again. How much urgency. I know you're always urgent, but how much urgency does it add to you know, after being there multiple times and coming up short to break through and get to that next moment.
Honestly, man, if you if you're urgency in No. Level ten, if it wasn't No Level ten last year, if it wasn't No Level ten a year before, it's probably not gonna be on level ten this year. So I think there nobody needs any extra motivation. Were talking about Championship week, We talk about four teams out of thirty two being left to prove there the best. I don't think I think the urgency is a given, you know what I'm saying.
And now it's just about going out there and taking advantage of the opportunity and trying to play mistake free football, because ultimately that's gonna be the difference. All these teams are good at this point. It's about who makes the less mistakes.
Like that that urgency, he notices it showing up even in the offseason. I'm wondering how it's affected you in terms of, you know, when it's you want to do that little extra workout or whatever. And as a team, you see guys putting in more like, hey, we need to do everything we can because that client is so so different.
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, so if you've been there, you know what it takes to get back there, right, So yeah, we've been there obviously last two years. So starting in OTAs you kind of know, and then you gotta you kind of gotta have control too, because you want to get it all back in one day, right, You want to you want to win a championship first day at OTA, So you know, you gotta have patients to understand this is a marathon, it's not a sprint,
and you know you need a little luck. But for the most part, it's all about focus and being able to set a standard and being able to get to that standard every Sunday.
Like when the opposing defense brings an extra rusher to try to stop your pass name.
Uh yeah, because that means that the more rushes you bring, the less you have in coverage. And I like our guys when they can get the ball in their hands with only one guy in their vicinity, or if they only got to beat one guy in a lot of open space. So you know, it's it's one of those things where you can live by you can die by it. For us, you know, it's a challenge and we welcome the challenges, and you know it's it's why you gotta
be on it. It's why you can't play into their hands and get behind the chains, because they can make it like hard.
It's probably gonna get Hutchinson, I would imagine in this game a lot, and that means you're probably gonna get Pascal and Kaminsky on your side.
What do they look like on film?
What do they what stands out about their game to you?
About all of them are just Pascal and commencement. Oh, well, they're more so what we would call three four ends. So they they're more so interior guys, and they kick out, you know, depending on the formation of the defense. So seventy nine or ninety three eight they be playing playing and four I three tech majority of the game, and then some books that kick out the end. So they're just bigger. They're bigger guys. They can press the pocket. All of them play like their Harris on fire. Nobody
takes a playoff. You know, they're a great compliment to ninety seven on the other side, because he often gets pressure and and kind of flushes the quarterback right to those guys that's compressing the pocket, so they have a good rush plan.
Man.
You know, obviously Colton I'll probably see him too, I'm sure. But you know, anytime any plays ninety seven lines up, you got your work cutout for you. You know, he doesn't stop, so he's a great player. So you know, we definitely gotta be you gotta be locked in.
How do you enjoy the moments, the small moments like walking out of the tunnel with Deepo, the music blauring before a big game like you're gonna have on Sunday.
Yeah, I enjoy all of it. Man, At this point in my career, you know, I just I don't take it for granted. Any chance I can go out there and play you know, any any any game with this team. You know, I'm grateful for thank God all the time, just for this opportunity in itself. So yeah, I'm it's It's the best feeling in the world, man, coming out to this, to this stadium, see a Red fans just going crazy. You know, It's It's one of those things
when you lay down at night. It's kind of thing you kind of go through your head when you're thinking about, you know, all the things that just happened.
You're twenty ten, you're dropped. You have a young offensive cardin. What's your first like, what's your earliest memory of him or you know, meeting him and what can you say about the relationship.
You've had for decades though, you know it's crazy. The thing that stands out to me was it was it swag. Obviously at twenty ten, you ain't meet too many thirty year old coordinators, so him walking in with Jordan Shorts and Jordan's on it was a shock to me. So that stood out to me, and I've always thought about it over the years, but you know, just seeing he always was a brilliant mind. Anytime he spoke football, anybody would listen. Everybody listen. You know, he knew what he
was talking about. But just seeing him mature and seeing him add different fastest, fastest to the offense and kind of take his dad's offense. That was world renowned and kind of make it his own and and you know, just seeing how he coaches the team, how he leads, and how he prepares his team week in and week out. You know, I mean we're super close. But I couldn't be any more proud of him. I couldn't. You asked me fourteen years ago, I probably would have never seen
this coming. But you know, I just think it's so it's so dope that he's one of the best coaches in the league and he literally, you know, hand picked me in twenty ten. And you know we've been Obviously I didn't played for him every year, but every year I've been in the league, I've been in touch with him, and we've always kept in touch, always kept a great relationship.
Game and just a success.
Yeah, he's one of my favorite, one of my favorite guys to watch. You know, he reminds me a lot of myself. He emulates a lot of things that I do, which is impresses me because you know, we never even really work together personally. So you know, that means he watches film, it means he's intelligent, he knows when to bring certain things out. So you know, he's always been one of my favorites ever since he was in Oregon.
Then seeing his maturation from year one to year two and to now, you know, I just think he's taking giant leaps and I think he's you know, he's one of the better right tackles. You're fine, not just in the league today, but you know in recent memory. Honestly, how is do you goo today?
A practice?
And then how does him being on the field with Christian? Can you feel how it affects the defense when you're out there?
Yeah, I can, just for the simple fact when you see them guys get the ball and you see what they do with it. But you know, I don't know how the defense approaches any different. You know, I'm in a box and looking at the d n or de tacle twenty four to seven. So you know, but having d bow having I mean like saying, you want one play makers of two play makers, and you know it's anytime you got two out there, you're gonna you're gonna reap the benefits of having two, and you know, have three.
Luckily for us we got three or four so we can keep them, keep them fresh. But you know, those guys are create They just presents such challenges for the defense. Because you gotta know where everybody's at. You know, normally you gotta know one guy at maybe two. You know, on this offense, you gotta know where three or four guys are at it at all times. And it's hard.
And just talk about how enjoyable is to run behind you. How enjoyable is it for you to block for him?
Oh man, it's voga for the best running back in the league. I mean, it's it makes our job so much easier. You know, like even the game winning touchdown, that guy is unblocked in the hole and you know, obviously that could have been the first down. He would have still been cheering. But you know, for him to make that guy miss and we say that's yours, we
might can't block all eleven. You gotta leave one. And we tell the running back all the time that's you know, you gotta take care of one, and nine percent of the time he's gonna take care of his. So you know, if you can hold on to your guy for that split second, let him get through the line, he's gonna carry happy. ALRIGHTY appreciate you all.