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Speaker 1: Welcome to playmakers everyone. I'm your host, Haley Elbot. It

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Speaker 1: is Week four and the Los Angeles Chargers will begin

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Speaker 1: a two game road stretch, which starts this week against

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Speaker 1: the Houston Texans. So joining me to talk about this

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Speaker 1: one and preview The Bolts opponent is dps DO of

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Speaker 1: Houston Texans dot Com DP. How are you. I'm good, Hayley.

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Speaker 1: Nice to see you again. We met towards the end

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Speaker 1: of last year and here we are again. Some things

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Speaker 1: have changed and some things remain the same. But you know,

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Speaker 1: the Texans are really excited to be back at home.

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Speaker 1: They just finished a two game road stretch as well,

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Speaker 1: so looking forward to this matchup on Sunday absolutely. So

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Speaker 1: yeah for the Chargers, this is sort of a return

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Speaker 1: to a house of horrors, if you will. I know

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Speaker 1: Chargers fans don't want to go back to that Week

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Speaker 1: sixteen game last year, but you get it early in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. So they're back on the road. The

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Speaker 1: Texans are O two and one, but to me, they're

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Speaker 1: a frisky team. Their losses have been by one score,

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Speaker 1: They've come so close. What is the mindset of the

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Speaker 1: team right now? It's frustrated I mean, you hit the

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Speaker 1: nail on the head. They've been close losses. This team

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Speaker 1: has been either in the lead or tied heading into

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter of all three of these games, which

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Speaker 1: have been so winnable, and yet they have been outscored

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Speaker 1: thirty to nothing in the fourth quarter. So it's been frustrating,

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Speaker 1: to say the least. But the good thing is it's

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Speaker 1: early in the season. Levy Smith keeps saying there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of football left ahead, so it is encouraging that

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Speaker 1: they are doing things right through the first three quarters

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Speaker 1: of the games. They just haven't been able to finish games.

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Speaker 1: So there certainly are some weaknesses both on offense and defense,

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Speaker 1: but there have been some strengths too. So you know,

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Speaker 1: they had two interceptions that they had against the Bears

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Speaker 1: last week, couldn't convert them into points. The offense stalled

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Speaker 1: several times, four times in fact, on third and one

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Speaker 1: they couldn't convert those to extend the drives. And then

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Speaker 1: throwing an interception, you know when you're driving deep into

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Speaker 1: your end zone. So there's so many opportunities for this

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Speaker 1: team to have scored and to have won these games,

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Speaker 1: and it has been frustrating, but they just feel like

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Speaker 1: they're so close and if they can just turn things around,

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Speaker 1: make some small changes, that the Bowl will eventually tip

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Speaker 1: their way. As a Chargers, as someone who's covered the

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Speaker 1: Chargers now for so many years, that has been the

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Speaker 1: story of some of these Chargers teams of years past.

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Speaker 1: It's so familiar to hear it, and eventually you hope that, yeah,

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Speaker 1: they will get over that hump. But in speaking to

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Speaker 1: quarterback Davis Mills, I made reference to it. The Chargers

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Speaker 1: saw him last year, how has he maybe evolved a

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Speaker 1: little bit now in year two? You know, I think

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Speaker 1: there were a lot of really high expectations for Davis,

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Speaker 1: especially with how he closed out last season. You know,

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Speaker 1: his touchdown interception ratio was really high. We saw what

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Speaker 1: he was able to do against the Chargers last year.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this offense put up the offense and defense

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Speaker 1: combined put up forty one point. So he had an

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Speaker 1: entire offseason to be the starter last year. Was Tyrod Taylor,

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Speaker 1: a guy that you guys are very familiar with, who

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Speaker 1: was named a starter heading into Week one. He got injured,

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Speaker 1: then Davis came in, then Tyrod came off ir and

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Speaker 1: then Davis was back up again, and then you know,

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Speaker 1: when Tyrod struggled, it was Davis back in the mix again.

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Speaker 1: So he wasn't really the starter. He wasn't getting first

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Speaker 1: team reps throughout OTAs and throughout training camp the way

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Speaker 1: he did this offseason and this offseason he really worked

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Speaker 1: closely with the receivers, guys like Brandon Cooks, Nico Collins,

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Speaker 1: his tight ends. You know, he took them out to

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Speaker 1: Atlanta where he played high school. They had throwing sessions there.

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Speaker 1: They also met up in Oregon about a week before

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Speaker 1: camp started. Brandon Cooks organized that. So everyone really felt

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Speaker 1: like the chemistry that they had seen clicking towards the

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Speaker 1: end of twenty twenty one would just be better and

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Speaker 1: better this year. But it hasn't really been that case

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Speaker 1: through these first three games, Hayley. I mean, they have

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Speaker 1: been dropped passes, they haven't been able to convert on

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Speaker 1: third down. They were three of twenty five on third

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Speaker 1: down last week against the Bears. It's been a struggle,

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Speaker 1: and part of that falls on the quarterback, part of

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Speaker 1: that falls on the receivers. You know, maybe some of

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Speaker 1: that is a fact that it's a brand new offensive

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Speaker 1: scheme and there's just some growing pains with going through that,

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Speaker 1: but it hasn't been as smooth and the expectations haven't

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Speaker 1: been met for what everyone expected Davis Mills or wanted

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Speaker 1: Davis Mills to do here making that year one to

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Speaker 1: year two jumps. So there have been flashes of what

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Speaker 1: he can do. They've certainly done some things well early

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Speaker 1: on in games. They've moved the ball. He's made some nice,

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Speaker 1: big chunk plays in equal Collins. We have a nice

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Speaker 1: young running back in Damian Pierce. The run game has

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Speaker 1: certainly improved from last year. That's helped open up the

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Speaker 1: pass game a little bit more so the offensive line.

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Speaker 1: You know, you've got the interior of the line that's

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Speaker 1: been beefed up a little bit. He hasn't really taken

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Speaker 1: a lot of sacks. He only took one sack against

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Speaker 1: the Bear. So where there have been improvements, there have

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Speaker 1: definitely been improvements, but the expectation is still there to

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Speaker 1: see him really put up some points, and that's where

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Speaker 1: they've really struggled. Just the inability to score in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter against the Broncos, against Russell Wilson, that game

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Speaker 1: was certainly in hand, couldn't score a touchdown. They just

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Speaker 1: settled for field goals, so I think there is still

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Speaker 1: a lot more room for growth. They have to work

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Speaker 1: on that chemistry with the receivers, and you know, maybe

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Speaker 1: he just needs more weapons. But whatever the case is,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's certainly a lot of room for improvement

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Speaker 1: here for Davis Mills heading into the season. You mentioned

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Speaker 1: Tyrod Taylor, and it's kind of funny these two teams

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Speaker 1: have a lot of crossover because we're going to get

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Speaker 1: to one of those guys, and that's Pep Hamilton, who

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Speaker 1: was the quarterbacks coach. He's now the OC of the Texans.

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Speaker 1: He was with the Chargers in twenty twenty and had

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Speaker 1: a huge influence on Justin Herbert and his rookie season.

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Speaker 1: Now with the Reins as the OC, what is the

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Speaker 1: vibe there? I mean, I know you mentioned it's a

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Speaker 1: little different, but how has that been going? And maybe

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Speaker 1: with his sort of veteran presence in all the years

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Speaker 1: that he's had coaching in the NFL and in college,

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Speaker 1: how can he be a good influence and resource for

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Speaker 1: Davis Mills as well? I mean, yeah, certainly last year

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Speaker 1: he was quarterbacks coach, he was the passing game coordinator,

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Speaker 1: So you know, he really was a big help to

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Speaker 1: Davis Mills in his rookie campaign. I mean he was

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Speaker 1: working closely with Davis last year, especially in those games

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Speaker 1: where Davis wasn't the starter, where he was coming off

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Speaker 1: the bench. So you know, Pet Hamilton heading into this offseason,

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Speaker 1: got to implement his own offensive scheme, his own system,

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Speaker 1: but he knew what he was working with. You know,

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Speaker 1: most times you fire a coaching staff, you bring in

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Speaker 1: a new coaching staff. They got to watch film, they

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Speaker 1: got to get to know the players. They've got to see,

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Speaker 1: you know, what they've what they need to do well,

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Speaker 1: what the players strengths are, what their weaknesses are. That

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Speaker 1: hasn't been the case with Pep. I mean he got

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Speaker 1: to see firsthand what Davis Mills brought to this passing game.

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Speaker 1: And you know, both of them being Stanford alums, you know,

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Speaker 1: they have a lot of similarities in the systems they

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Speaker 1: do like to run. So in that sense, it's been

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Speaker 1: really good. I think the transition. Davis Mills has been

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Speaker 1: very pleased with working with Pep Hamilton because there's been

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Speaker 1: some continuity. Even though it's been a new coaching staff,

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Speaker 1: it hasn't really felt so new. To Davis Mills. So

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Speaker 1: that's been good. As far as the play calling with Pep,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think he's still going through some growing

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Speaker 1: pains with this offense and some new pieces in plays

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Speaker 1: and getting the run game going. I think in week

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Speaker 1: one they ran the ball, but not as much as

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Speaker 1: they would have wanted with Damien Pierce. The rookie was

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Speaker 1: more Rex burkhead less Damien Pierce. Next week they tried

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Speaker 1: to run it more with Damien Pierce. He came out

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Speaker 1: of the game a little bit early. This last week,

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Speaker 1: they were determined to keep Damien Pierce in the game.

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Speaker 1: He fumbled twice. The second fumble they took him out

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Speaker 1: of the game, and then the final drive they just

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Speaker 1: weren't able to get any points. So it's been growing

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Speaker 1: pains for both of them. But I think as far

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Speaker 1: as Davis Mills's concerned, it has been an asset to

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Speaker 1: have a guy that was with him during his rookie

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Speaker 1: campaign and has helped him through his development to really

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Speaker 1: help aid him in that year or two jump. So

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Speaker 1: another tie between these two teams is a former Charger.

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Speaker 1: Jacques Saesare is the Texans defensive line coach. What has

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Speaker 1: it been like getting to know him and the influence

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Speaker 1: he's had on that unit. Yeah, I had a chance

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Speaker 1: to talk with Jacques in training camp, and you know,

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Speaker 1: he obviously spent some time with the Chargers, he spent

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Speaker 1: some time with the Bills, and the Texans signed two

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Speaker 1: former Bills to this defensive line squad, Mario Addison, who's

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Speaker 1: currently on IR but also Jerry Hughes, who's been the

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Speaker 1: sack leader for this team. He's got four sacks through

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Speaker 1: three games. And I think cesare just brings this sort

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Speaker 1: of attitude to the line. You know, Levy Smith has

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Speaker 1: always said that the d line is the engine of

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Speaker 1: this defense, and I think Jacques implements it. He executes

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Speaker 1: it the attitude that he wants them to have to

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Speaker 1: really get after the quarterback. He feels like the attitude

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Speaker 1: of the entire defense starts up front with his guys,

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Speaker 1: and so he's got a heavy rotation of guys he's

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Speaker 1: got to get through, and you know, all those guys

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Speaker 1: take a lot of pride in what they're able to

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Speaker 1: do with the pass rush. The pass rush has been

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Speaker 1: actually one of the strengths of this defense. They just

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Speaker 1: haven't been able to stop the run, so you know,

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Speaker 1: what they're able to do as far as getting after

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Speaker 1: the quarterbacks, I think it starts with Jacques is air

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Speaker 1: and I think the familiarity that some of his former

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Speaker 1: players had had with them, they bring that attitude and

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Speaker 1: they can really bring it to the d line group.

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Speaker 1: And he's got guys that are that are rookies, that

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Speaker 1: are vets. I mean, Addison and Hughes bring twenty five

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Speaker 1: years of experience. He's got Jean Grenard who's in his

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Speaker 1: third year, and you know, everyone really expects to see

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Speaker 1: him do some good things. He was a sack leader

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Speaker 1: for the Texans last year, Roy Lopez in his second year.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think Jacques has a really interesting mix

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Speaker 1: of player, some free agents a sign as well, and

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Speaker 1: you know, he's got a lot to work with and

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Speaker 1: it really helps that when Lovey Smith's defense, you know,

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Speaker 1: they're sort of on the same page with what they

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Speaker 1: want to see and they have a lot of expectations

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Speaker 1: for the defensive linement up front. But it's been a

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Speaker 1: pleasure getting no Jack. He's actually really good friends and

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Speaker 1: former teammates with a former Charger, Travis Johnson, who was

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Speaker 1: a former Texan as well. And Travis does a lot

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Speaker 1: of radio and TV for us, and so I had

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Speaker 1: a chance to ask Jacque about Travis, and he said

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Speaker 1: that he's saving all of his good stories about Travis

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Speaker 1: Johnson for his book later on, so I'll be looking

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Speaker 1: for that whenever that comes out. He's hilarious. He's such

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Speaker 1: a fun guy. And one of my favorite Offield story

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Speaker 1: was he obviously didn't play when I started working for

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Speaker 1: the Chargers, but he still was in San Diego at

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Speaker 1: the time, and I was working at a dance studio

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Speaker 1: and for a junior recital, we always had a father

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Speaker 1: daughter dance, and I had no idea that his daughter

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Speaker 1: was taking classes at the studio and I'm going through

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Speaker 1: the recital program and I'm like, oh, Jacks is there,

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Speaker 1: And he got up on stage he did the father

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Speaker 1: daughter dance. It was awesome, it was incredible, and it's

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Speaker 1: just so much fun to see when it was someone

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Speaker 1: you know, you obviously like watch growing up on television

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Speaker 1: do his thing on Sundays, and then you're like, huh,

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Speaker 1: that's cool. Not too big for him, He's not too

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Speaker 1: big time to get into the father daughter dance. These

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Speaker 1: players players are people too, coaches or people too so

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Speaker 1: you know, they're getting after it with their family, are

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Speaker 1: getting after it on the field, and they you know,

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Speaker 1: he's definitely one of those guys that shows his personality

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Speaker 1: to one hundred percent. So in sticking with the defensive theme,

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Speaker 1: rookie dB Jalen Peatree, he had a big game. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned those two picks, they came courtesy of him. He

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Speaker 1: had a sack against Chicago. Why is he someone the

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Speaker 1: Chargers should have their eye on this week? I mean,

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Speaker 1: Jalen Petrie, I mean you talk about bright spots for

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Speaker 1: this defense. Second round pick for the Texans, he went

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Speaker 1: to Baylor. He was Big twelve Conference defensive player of

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Speaker 1: the Year last year in twenty twenty twenty group about

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Speaker 1: twenty minutes from the stadium here in Stafford, Texas. And

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Speaker 1: you know, this is a team that drafted Derek Stanley

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Speaker 1: number three overall. So they were a lot of expectations

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Speaker 1: of Derek Stanley and then quietly Jalen Peatree throughout the

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Speaker 1: OTAs and the off season, and we knew right away

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Speaker 1: that he was going to be a starter. Like he

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Speaker 1: made an impact from the jump. He's a five year

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Speaker 1: player out of Baylor. He's super smart, he's got his

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Speaker 1: graduate degree, and he sort of carries himself like that too.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't carry himself like a rookie, and I think

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Speaker 1: he's really picked up on a lot of things, and

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Speaker 1: he brings a versatility that I think you don't expect

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Speaker 1: from a lot of rookies. I mean, obviously he plays safety,

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Speaker 1: but you know, he can blitz, he can cover, he

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Speaker 1: can pretty much do anything. He can play anywhere on

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Speaker 1: that field, and they've certainly used him as such, so

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Speaker 1: he's all over the field. He really seems to have

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Speaker 1: a nose for the ball. We saw him get his

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Speaker 1: first two career interceptions. He got his first one, then

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Speaker 1: he got a second one, and then he got his

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Speaker 1: first career sack last week against the Chicago Bears, and

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Speaker 1: it obviously or it didn't come as a surprise. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think he was coming very very close every single week,

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Speaker 1: and we saw what he was doing in practice. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I think there was one point in OTAs where Lovey

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Speaker 1: Smith said, he's getting a pick every day in practice.

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Speaker 1: But you know it's ota so there's no pads. He

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Speaker 1: can't read too much into it. But I think what

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Speaker 1: we've seen throughout the offseason has really translated on the

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Speaker 1: field for Jalen Petrie. And this is a secondary where,

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Speaker 1: you know, we were really worried what was going to

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Speaker 1: happen in the safety position. Justin Reid departed in free agency.

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Speaker 1: You have a whole new secondary back there. And he's

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Speaker 1: starting next to Jonathan Owens, who was a guy that

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Speaker 1: came in on the practice squad in twenty nineteen and

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Speaker 1: worked his way up to starter. He got his first

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Speaker 1: career interception last year against the Chargers, and now he's

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Speaker 1: starting in that safety spot next to Jaleen Petrie. And

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Speaker 1: he was saying that, you know, it's funny because Petrie

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Speaker 1: will call him at night and say, hey, I was

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Speaker 1: just watching this play and what do you think of this?

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Speaker 1: And what do you think of that? And he said,

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Speaker 1: then I'll have to get my iPad back out because

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Speaker 1: he's asking me all these questions. So, you know, he

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Speaker 1: just really loves football and I think he's just become

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Speaker 1: a sponge. But what we've seen from him on the

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Speaker 1: field and just the way I mean, we interview players

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Speaker 1: all the time, right just you can sort of tell

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Speaker 1: the rookies from the vets. I mean, I'll tell you

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Speaker 1: Haley when he answers questions and you ask him about

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Speaker 1: a game. His presence doesn't even feel like a rookie

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Speaker 1: the way he just answers questions and just he just

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Speaker 1: gets it. He is one of those guys that really

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Speaker 1: gets it and he's willing to learn. He wants to learn.

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Speaker 1: And you know, as much as these coaches don't want

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Speaker 1: to put too much on a rookie's plate or give

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Speaker 1: them too much praise, Lovey Smith. I mean, he couldn't

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Speaker 1: even hide it, like he really liked this guy from

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Speaker 1: the jump, and he knew that jail and Petrie was

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Speaker 1: gonna be He got first team defensive snaps throughout the

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Speaker 1: throughout the offseason, through OTAs, throughout training camp, and so

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Speaker 1: he definitely is a guy that you're gonna have to

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Speaker 1: watch for because he's only getting better and better with

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Speaker 1: each week. I love that iPad story, Like the kids

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Speaker 1: just at home. Yeah, but that is They're like, I've

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Speaker 1: already done my homework and I'm gonna pull it back

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Speaker 1: out again. Yeah. No, that's great. That is so great

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Speaker 1: to hear. And then final question, The Chargers are obviously

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Speaker 1: dealing with some injuries on their end, but from your perspective,

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Speaker 1: what is a factor or maybe factors in terms of

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Speaker 1: how you see this game shaking out. You know, I

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Speaker 1: think it's going to be a big day for the

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Speaker 1: past rush because, like you mentioned, Justin Herbert is a

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Speaker 1: guy that likes to get these big plays. We saw

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Speaker 1: some of the passes he made even with his injured

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Speaker 1: ribs last week against Jacksonville, So I think just making

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Speaker 1: him even more comfortable. I know that the Chargers have

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Speaker 1: struggled against the run and the Texans have the defense

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Speaker 1: has really struggled against the run as well, So if

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Speaker 1: it's not a big running day, they're just gonna have

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Speaker 1: to get up front, make him uncomfortable and just keep

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Speaker 1: him off the field. I think the best way to

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Speaker 1: limit Justin Herbart is just to keep him off the field,

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Speaker 1: injured or not. He's you know, he's a real threat

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Speaker 1: in that passing game, and he does have mobility as well,

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Speaker 1: so he's able to make some plays even outside the pocket.

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Speaker 1: So I think the offense for the Texans is going

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Speaker 1: to have to convert some of these third downs. They

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Speaker 1: were three of twenty five, They were twenty five percent

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Speaker 1: three of twelve on third down, and you know that's

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Speaker 1: something that they've really struggled with in recent weeks. So

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Speaker 1: they're gonna have to get better on third down. They're

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Speaker 1: gonna have to convert some of these third and longs

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Speaker 1: and third and ones, third and shorts and stay on

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Speaker 1: the field and keep their defense off of it. But

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Speaker 1: when the defense is on the field, they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: to get that pass rush going against Justin Herbert, and

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Speaker 1: I think the game is really going to come down

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Speaker 1: to that, especially if it's not one of those ground

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Speaker 1: and pound games which the Texans dealt with last week.

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Speaker 1: I know the Chargers dealt with it against the Jaguars.

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Speaker 1: It might be a game played through air. So it's

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Speaker 1: going to just have to be that defensive front against

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Speaker 1: this old line that we know for the Chargers is

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Speaker 1: really banged up, and hopefully the Texans can come out

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Speaker 1: with their first win. Yeah, when you mentioned keeping the

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Speaker 1: defense on the field, that certainly was the case last

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Speaker 1: week with the Jags and the Chargers. The Jags held

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Speaker 1: the ball for like thirty six or thirty eight minutes,

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Speaker 1: which was incredible just to keep it away from Justin Herbert.

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Speaker 1: If you will, Dpe, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: We look forward to the game and thanks for coming on.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Hailey, appreciate it. Can't wait to be Sunday