Speaker 1: When it comes to trying to diagnose when the lines
Speaker 1: are going to be bringing pressure.
Speaker 2: What kind of.
Speaker 1: Distinguishes them how they do it as opposed to some
Speaker 1: other teams.
Speaker 2: You might face.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they do a good job, but I think of
Speaker 3: you know, sort of holding it and disguising it.
Speaker 2: You know, there's there's a lot of looks.
Speaker 3: Where it looks like it's just a base coverage and
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, they're bringing guys from you know,
Speaker 3: different different directions and stuff when they do blitz Like,
Speaker 3: you know, they have certain coverages that are behind they're blitzes.
Speaker 3: But like I said, they do a good job with
Speaker 3: bringing different guys and you know, sort of holding their
Speaker 3: water and not showing it. So I think that's the
Speaker 3: difference really, you know, across the year, other teams will
Speaker 3: sort of have some tips and includes and stuff, but
Speaker 3: I think these guys do a pretty good job of
Speaker 3: you know, sort of switching it up and making it
Speaker 3: hard for the quarterback to recognize it.
Speaker 2: So it would be a good challenge.
Speaker 4: Why do you feel you and the offense have done
Speaker 4: well against the blitzes.
Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, we usually go into it
Speaker 3: having a good plan and so the minute they do it,
Speaker 3: and if we're on it, you know, it's I think
Speaker 3: it's sort of like a high risk, high reward kind
Speaker 3: of thing for both sides. You know, if we're ready
Speaker 3: and have a good plan for it, you know, all
Speaker 3: it takes is like a five yard throw or something,
Speaker 3: and then we get turned into a big game. You know,
Speaker 3: the couple got short. So we've gone into games where
Speaker 3: you know, defenses that blits a lot.
Speaker 2: We usually have a good plan for it.
Speaker 3: So but that's just the receivers and myself, you know,
Speaker 3: being on top of it, and when they give us
Speaker 3: those opportunities, we've got to be ready for it. And
Speaker 3: if we're not ready for it, then we can get exposed.
Speaker 5: So this is your first year as starter. You'll let
Speaker 5: this team to an NFC Championship games. You're planal least
Speaker 5: for the m VP. What does I tell you about yourself?
Speaker 3: Man, I've just been taking it one day at a time,
Speaker 3: you know, since last year once I stepped into the role.
Speaker 3: You know, for me, it's never been about all the
Speaker 3: hype and the glory and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: It's been about how can I help this team win?
Speaker 3: And you know, I have a really good squad around me,
Speaker 3: and they've helped me get to where I'm at with
Speaker 3: my game and helped me get better. And so so
Speaker 3: you know, here we are, second year in the row
Speaker 3: in the NFC Championship. Very thankful for it, but obviously
Speaker 3: we have a bigger goal of mine and we have
Speaker 3: to handle business this Sunday. So that's where my mind
Speaker 3: is at with that.
Speaker 5: What kind of emotional boost does it get the team
Speaker 5: that depot is.
Speaker 6: Good to help.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's huge for us. You know, Deebot is a
Speaker 3: game changer. You know, he's one of the best in
Speaker 3: the NFL at what he does. So obviously for him
Speaker 3: to be able to play, all of us are like,
Speaker 3: all right, you know, Deebo brings some juice and energy
Speaker 3: and we got his back and and so obviously seeing
Speaker 3: him run around a practice and look good for us.
Speaker 2: It's all right. You know, it's on, So we're excited
Speaker 2: for him.
Speaker 4: Emotions or confidence did you get from rewatching the film
Speaker 4: of the last drive?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, like I said before, you know, the
Speaker 3: season sort of it's on the line, you know this
Speaker 3: that was probably our last drive that we were gonna
Speaker 3: have in that game, and so all of us. Like
Speaker 3: when you're watching the film, you can just tell like
Speaker 3: everyone's on top of their stuff. Everyone's detailed in every
Speaker 3: move from the O line in their past sets to
Speaker 3: the receivers running to their landmarks and getting to where
Speaker 3: they need to be and then obviously making smart decisions
Speaker 3: and not forcing anything.
Speaker 2: So you could just.
Speaker 3: Tell there was a lot on the line and I
Speaker 3: think we really we played our best ball in that moment.
Speaker 3: So it's a it was encouraging watching for all of us,
Speaker 3: and it's got to keep building and you know, carry
Speaker 3: that into this game.
Speaker 1: How did how did you know you talked about on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: maybe you know, not getting to the checkdowns the way
Speaker 1: you wanted to early in that game and then in
Speaker 1: that last stripe you did what caused that kind of
Speaker 1: realization or you know for you to actually execute that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like, you know, there's times in the
Speaker 3: game where it's like you're aggressive and you can think
Speaker 3: that there's a window there and make a play where in.
Speaker 2: That moment it was okay.
Speaker 3: You know, obviously every decision is on the line here,
Speaker 3: so obviously just go through what the coaches have top
Speaker 3: taught all the quarterbacks and and you know, be smart,
Speaker 3: not that you're going to be timid and conservative, but
Speaker 3: if the defense isn't you know, running what we're looking for,
Speaker 3: then you know, obviously take the checkdown. And I feel
Speaker 3: like during the game it was like, you know, sort
Speaker 3: of looking for a big play periodically. So definitely was
Speaker 3: playing with some conviction on that last drive and and
Speaker 3: I think, you know, it obviously went well if I
Speaker 3: had that same mindset. So some the some the that
Speaker 3: I looked at in the film and learned from it,
Speaker 3: so it was good.
Speaker 1: Did you learn anything about yourself on that last drive
Speaker 1: or self correcting in the game like that?
Speaker 3: I think, you know, just obviously in the in that moment,
Speaker 3: it's you know, everyone makes it a big deal, like, okay,
Speaker 3: this could be it. But for me, it was like, man,
Speaker 3: it's football. It's eleven on eleven. I got dudes around
Speaker 3: me that are really good. They're gonna do their job. Well,
Speaker 3: I got to do my job and let's go execute
Speaker 3: put a drive together.
Speaker 2: So keeping it simple in the senses is what I
Speaker 2: took away from it. What of the next forty eight
Speaker 2: hours look like for you?
Speaker 3: I mean the same as really this whole year, just
Speaker 3: in terms of going through my process on a Friday night,
Speaker 3: Saturday morning, come for come here for a walk through Saturday,
Speaker 3: and continue to study the plays and everything and and
Speaker 3: uh but at the same time, you know, keep it simple.
Speaker 3: You know, all year, I've had a process how I
Speaker 3: handle my stuff and how you're ready for a game,
Speaker 3: and I try not to overcomplicate things and and so
Speaker 3: you know, other than that, you know, I'm gonna just
Speaker 3: go into this game just like have all year.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited for it. Superstitious at all.
Speaker 5: Do you eat the same food every Friday or anything
Speaker 5: like that?
Speaker 2: Uh, I have a routine, but I wouldn't say I'm suspicious.
Speaker 6: So yeah, hearing he talked about like making those decisions
Speaker 6: in the moment, you could kind of say the same
Speaker 6: about the play calling and like what that is. Like
Speaker 6: do you ever talk with coach about that, the similarities
Speaker 6: between him calling plays and making those decisions and you know,
Speaker 6: trying to stay you know, use this preparation. Do you
Speaker 6: talk about like that, the similarities between coaching and quarterbacking in.
Speaker 5: That way at all?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: You know, I think throughout the week he does a
Speaker 3: really good job with with just explaining why he's calling plays.
Speaker 3: What we're trying to attack, you know, sort of, you know,
Speaker 3: how we feel about plays. He always asks us like
Speaker 3: how we're feeling about it and if we're confident in
Speaker 3: running it.
Speaker 2: So he does a good job with that.
Speaker 3: And then and honestly, when he asked me, like what
Speaker 3: I'm thinking in certain situations and stuff, I tell him
Speaker 3: and I tell him exactly what I was thinking in
Speaker 3: the game and moving forward, you know how I'm how
Speaker 3: I'm feeling about stuff. So we're on the same page
Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of the times about a
Speaker 3: lot of things. And you know, for him, like he
Speaker 3: does a good job, like I said, with you know,
Speaker 3: making sure that we're all comfortable with running what he's
Speaker 3: calling all of us, not just the quarterbacks but players
Speaker 3: in general, so we all want to play. For me,
Speaker 3: he does a great job with staying on the same
Speaker 3: level as us and explaining and explaining what we're attacking
Speaker 3: and what we're trying to do. So he's done a
Speaker 3: good job with that. I think he's one of the
Speaker 3: best in the league of doing it. And we've seen
Speaker 3: it for a while.
Speaker 4: So how much do you think your experience in college
Speaker 4: playing four years and some big games on the road
Speaker 4: be asked to carry it off as prepared you for
Speaker 4: coming into this and playing in games and circumstances like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know it was. It was good
Speaker 3: man to be to play four years of college ball
Speaker 3: and like you said, go and play in different environments
Speaker 3: and and stages and levels of you know, the games
Speaker 3: being on a higher level. So for me, I took
Speaker 3: a lot away from those kind of games. I think
Speaker 3: it helped sort of build me into who I am,
Speaker 3: just in terms of, you know, finding out what I
Speaker 3: do good and what I don't and how it can
Speaker 3: be better. So I definitely remember a lot of games
Speaker 3: where I feel like it was a high state game
Speaker 3: and and how I performed and and so I can
Speaker 3: sort of go back to those experiences and remember, like, man,
Speaker 3: I should have done this better, or I remember I
Speaker 3: did do that well. So for this game NFC Championship,
Speaker 3: you know, I want to keep it simple, not blowing
Speaker 3: it out of proportion in my mind or anything, but
Speaker 3: you know, at the same time, sort of have some
Speaker 3: juice because like, man, this is a this could be
Speaker 3: a once in a lifetime opportunity, So got to be
Speaker 3: excited about that more than anything too.
Speaker 1: Can you feel or do you know how much confidence
Speaker 1: your teammates haven you?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I feel like all all year, you know,
Speaker 3: they've been the same guys in the locker room. They've
Speaker 3: they've believed in me since I've stepped in, since last
Speaker 3: year and throughout the year, I feel like.
Speaker 2: I've grown and we've all grown together.
Speaker 3: So definitely blessed to have these guys in the in
Speaker 3: the locker room with me, and and they definitely have
Speaker 3: my back and through the good and the bad. We've
Speaker 3: been through some stuff this year, and it hasn't all
Speaker 3: been pretty. There's been some good times, there's been some
Speaker 3: tough times, but through it all, man, these guys have
Speaker 3: have continued to have my back and show show love
Speaker 3: and and you know we go to war together.
Speaker 2: So very thankful for him.
Speaker 4: What do you remember from David Montgomery back in college
Speaker 4: and did you give any input to the defense at all?
Speaker 2: But what kind of guy he is?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, David was one of the hardest workers
Speaker 3: I've ever been around. You know, that's the kind of
Speaker 3: guy that just doesn't go down easy. He's always moving
Speaker 3: his feet, explosive, great quick cuts. And this week I
Speaker 3: haven't really been able to talk to my defense about that.
Speaker 3: I mean, they've seen him, I think a lot, just
Speaker 3: the last couple of years when he was in Chicago,
Speaker 3: so they know who he is. But yeah, I have
Speaker 3: nothing but love and respect for David what he's done.
Speaker 3: And and it's a tough dude to to get to
Speaker 3: like he's he's only strong, he's tough physical, and yeah,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be a good challenge to go up against
Speaker 3: him again.
Speaker 2: Thanks guys, mm hmm.