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Speaker 1: Dad mine in this stage with what you've seen from

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Speaker 1: Tyren Smith, are you optimistic? But he'll be able to

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Speaker 1: go this Sunday? Um, you know, I've had a bunch

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Speaker 1: of things going on this morning, I having a chance

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Speaker 1: to visiting him personally. But I mean, he'll go through

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Speaker 1: the mock game today. The goal, as I stayed on Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: was for him to get three days of practicing U

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Speaker 1: and that was kind of a threshold we want to

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Speaker 1: get past. So if he goes to mar hopeful that

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Speaker 1: he'll go on Sunday. So far it looks good. No,

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Speaker 1: I mean he felt good. I spoke to Mark right

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Speaker 1: after practice. You know, he felt good about his work,

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Speaker 1: his workload yesterday. With another game coming so quickly after this,

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Speaker 1: does that factor in at all? Or is it just

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Speaker 1: if you can go this Sunday, you go and he'll

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Speaker 1: go for I mean we've had those conversations, but I

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Speaker 1: think it's, like anything, you can be too strategic when

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Speaker 1: it comes to these I just think when players are

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Speaker 1: healthy and you know, especially you know, tiring, He's been

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Speaker 1: doing us a long time. No one knows his body

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Speaker 1: better than he does, so and that's all part of

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Speaker 1: the decision making. Process, but the last couple of years

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Speaker 1: of being around him. But were you were your impressions

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Speaker 1: of a Mari before he got here and when of

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Speaker 1: you learned about him since she's been here? Well, I

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Speaker 1: mean you always respected you know, Mari from when he

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Speaker 1: when he came out. I mean he's a prototype receiver

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Speaker 1: that can you know, he can play any position. You know,

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Speaker 1: he can play the speed game. His his latteral quicknesses.

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Speaker 1: Him and Davante Adams are Joe Horn or the guys

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Speaker 1: that I think they're you know, exceptional. You know, his

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Speaker 1: ability to at the line of scrimmages his top notch.

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Speaker 1: So you know then he has the finishing speed. You know,

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Speaker 1: his a size, he has a strength. So, I mean

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Speaker 1: he has all the attributes you're looking forward in the receiver.

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Speaker 1: He was talking going to camp about wanting to lose

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Speaker 1: weight going into this year and emphasizing that part of

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Speaker 1: his game. Can you talk about the transition from where

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Speaker 1: he was las year to where he is now? Do

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Speaker 1: you believe he's been meditation? Um? I think two things.

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Speaker 1: Number One, I think as players get more and more

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Speaker 1: comfortable in their career, they you know, they find a

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Speaker 1: better wait, you know, uh, you know where they are different,

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Speaker 1: you know, you know, different parts of their career and

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Speaker 1: I think he's you know, probably recognized that. And also

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Speaker 1: I think we've got to be realistic. You know, the

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Speaker 1: pandemic you know last year was you know, it was

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Speaker 1: my first experience being around him, so um but he's

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Speaker 1: you know, clearly lighter than he was last year, and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think it's helped him a bunch. You

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Speaker 1: look at making a change left guard this week, well

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Speaker 1: I'll just say this, you know, starting lineups, we'll deal

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Speaker 1: with that. But both connors will play in the game

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Speaker 1: difficult just because you because the crowd noise that you're

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Speaker 1: keep me that's part of that. That's a good point.

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Speaker 1: It's part of the conversations. You know, we talked about

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Speaker 1: continuity in here a lot, you know, but also you

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Speaker 1: got to you gotta recognize, you know, performance, and you know,

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Speaker 1: you know, Connor McGovern has not done some really good things,

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Speaker 1: and you know, Connor Rolnes has also done a lot

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Speaker 1: of good things. With the penalties has been a challenge

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know, the you know, they're watching them. Frankly,

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Speaker 1: I mean it seems like he's being officiated a little

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Speaker 1: tighter than than than you just you know, he's he's

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Speaker 1: had too many penalties. Mike, when you say Connor both

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Speaker 1: kinds of playing the game, kind of a government will

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Speaker 1: play wide receiver, tight end, wide receiver, whatever. But boy,

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Speaker 1: you're saying that that you could use two guys at

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Speaker 1: left guard. We can, yeah, we can. We could play

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Speaker 1: as many different ways as possible. So Knor Williams reprised

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Speaker 1: Connor mcgovernment role as fullback. And I'm not you're going

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Speaker 1: you're asking scheme questions. I really want to get into that.

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Speaker 1: Thank you well. Time to take a break next week.

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Speaker 1: Kind of the tragedy able losing Marcus and things like that,

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Speaker 1: hope her strength. Coaches carried on his legacy thinking how

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Speaker 1: poortant are those guys to your team? Oh, I mean

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Speaker 1: they're extremely important. I mean you know, you look at

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Speaker 1: your staying, conditioning staff, your trainers, you in your equipment staff.

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Speaker 1: They they touched the football team more than anybody. So

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Speaker 1: Marcus Paul had a very close relationship with a lot

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Speaker 1: of our players. You know, it was a big part

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Speaker 1: of you know, the direction, uh you know of change

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Speaker 1: that was brought here last year. So, I mean his

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Speaker 1: presence is still felt I mean it's uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: we have a we have a daily GPS meeting Harold,

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Speaker 1: Harold Nash and Britt, Brian and I and enters. You know,

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Speaker 1: there's not too many days to go by where you know,

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Speaker 1: Marcus's name isn't isn't mentioned, and so yeah, it's I'm

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Speaker 1: sure Tuesday will be fresh on everybody's mind, understanding that

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Speaker 1: that day wasn't about you, but but you're at the

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Speaker 1: top of the organization. Was that one of the more

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Speaker 1: difficult days you've gone through as a head coach and

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Speaker 1: knowing what to do? How do I interact? What do

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Speaker 1: I do here? Do I talk to them? Do I

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Speaker 1: let them go? Do? I mean? Just where did that stand? Yeah? Definitely,

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Speaker 1: I mean I I hope no one has to go

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Speaker 1: through another day, you know, a day like that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that that's uh. You know I walked in in the

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Speaker 1: door that morning with Marcus, you know, about ten after six,

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Speaker 1: and we had checked in at the front desk, you know,

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Speaker 1: with our with our COVID protocol together, and he'd he'd

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Speaker 1: forgot his phone and his in his truck. So and

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Speaker 1: then you know, then it then it happened shortly after seven.

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Speaker 1: So um, yeah, that was you know, a day of

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Speaker 1: it is just you know, you trust your your instincts

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Speaker 1: and and it's and it's, um, it was very difficult,

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Speaker 1: and so I think as far as decision making and

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Speaker 1: what to do and how to do it, you know,

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Speaker 1: we just we just kept the focus of everybody, particularly

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Speaker 1: firstly his family, and UM, like I said, it was

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Speaker 1: a very difficult day. I guess in that situation when

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Speaker 1: you're it's just especially like that where forty minutes later

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Speaker 1: you're dealing with something you'd had no idea. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you just there's in some ways there's no right or

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Speaker 1: wrong in that situation, right, you just have to react

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Speaker 1: and let everyone kind of well, I think so, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I you know, I think Britt Brown and

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Speaker 1: Jim Mauer and just you know, the way it was handled,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think everybody did everything they possibly you could.

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Speaker 1: And um, so yeah, it was yeah, decision making wise,

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Speaker 1: I think we did the best we couldn't obviously playbook,

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Speaker 1: but he had a similar situation someone else when another

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Speaker 1: player passed away. How did you do that? Yeah? No,

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Speaker 1: I you know that wash you know, very difficult, you know,

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Speaker 1: back there in two thousand and five, you know, in Denver,

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Speaker 1: in the in the locker room. So um yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: those are experiences that you know, you'll never forget. I mean,

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Speaker 1: they definitely leave an impact on on you as a

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Speaker 1: and everybody involved. So I just think, like anything, you

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Speaker 1: just stay true to what's the most important, you know,

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Speaker 1: part of that that situation, it's the individual and that's

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Speaker 1: really all you can focus on at that moment. Coaches

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Speaker 1: and players are always compartmentalizing. I mean that seems like

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Speaker 1: the ultimate example of of having to do that. I mean,

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Speaker 1: having a game coming up so quickly, an you wanting

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Speaker 1: to honor someone fully, But could you really honor fully

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Speaker 1: in that moment? And well, I think the biggest thing is,

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Speaker 1: you know, you go from Tuesday to Thursday, it's you know,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't about the game. You know, everything, everything involving

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Speaker 1: Marcus was so much bigger than the game, and you know,

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Speaker 1: and particularly the you know, the day of the game, Thanksgiving,

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Speaker 1: and you know, the motions that that were wrapped into that.

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Speaker 1: Um and and I think you saw just the way

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Speaker 1: the game was played. You know, I think our players

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Speaker 1: came out there and what tremendous you know, energy and

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Speaker 1: intent and um, you know, and then, you know, if

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Speaker 1: it faded away from us. So, but yeah, it's uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's an experience that will always

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Speaker 1: be with me, you know. So um, and I hope

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Speaker 1: I don't ever have to draw from that experience again.

151
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Speaker 1: Will you recognize it in any way with the players

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Speaker 1: next week or you would just let everyone? Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: think we should talk about that next week, you know,

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind. Okay, thank you,