Speaker 1: Welcome into the Ravens Press Past podcast. It is Monday,
Speaker 1: April twenty first, and the Ravens kicked off their voluntary
Speaker 1: off season conditioning program today. This is the start of
Speaker 1: the team's off season calendar. It's the first team activity
Speaker 1: since last season ended, and this is a chance for
Speaker 1: the Ravens to really build a foundation for the upcoming season.
Speaker 1: Today we had a chance to hear from some of
Speaker 1: the team leaders. Let's kick things off with Strength and
Speaker 1: Conditioning coordinator Scott Elliott.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys for coming out and allowing us to
Speaker 2: talk a little bit about this phase a year. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think it should go without saying maybe the look
Speaker 2: on my face. We look forward to this time all
Speaker 2: year long, especially through February and March. We had a
Speaker 2: great session today, day one of week one. I was
Speaker 2: able to talk to the guys as a group. Defense
Speaker 2: was first, while the offense met and then we had
Speaker 2: offense second. But in talking to the guys before we
Speaker 2: got started, three points of discussion or notes with them.
Speaker 2: One was an appreciation for them being here during the
Speaker 2: voluntary period.
Speaker 3: How much we take that to.
Speaker 2: Heart and how excited we are to progress the work
Speaker 2: that they've done on their own during the dead period
Speaker 2: while wherever they were, whether it was in sunny climates
Speaker 2: or close by, but we looked to build on that
Speaker 2: going into Phase two and Phase three get into OTA's
Speaker 2: and Mini Camp. The second part of it was just
Speaker 2: talking to him about how the schedule lays out so
Speaker 2: phase to phase and then really broke it down into
Speaker 2: the weekly and day schedule. So we had some new
Speaker 2: guys here that haven't been a part of this process yet,
Speaker 2: so just broke that down for them to kind of
Speaker 2: give them a lay of the land to understand how
Speaker 2: we devise the workouts and the runs, just high level
Speaker 2: stuff of two days a week, we focused on acceleration, deceleration,
Speaker 2: change the direction, top end speed. The other two days
Speaker 2: of the running sessions were worked and we're focusing more
Speaker 2: on conditioning, so on how those two will compliment each
Speaker 2: other and we'll progress some week over week getting into
Speaker 2: Mini camp, you know, to culminate it in June. And
Speaker 2: then the same thing, just talked about how the lifts
Speaker 2: will start the foundation phase in the weight room, how
Speaker 2: we'll progress those in two separate phases to get to
Speaker 2: the end of June. And then the third thing I'd
Speaker 2: talked to him about to finish it out before we
Speaker 2: got moving today was what our mind frame was in
Speaker 2: here when we ran in the weight room, and then
Speaker 2: to carry it throughout the building was earn the right.
Speaker 2: So we've got a big screen as you enter the
Speaker 2: weight room and each year I try to put a
Speaker 2: message on there and this year what's stuck with all
Speaker 2: of us as the strength staff was earn the right.
Speaker 2: We've been fortunate, but the Ravens to earn a lot
Speaker 2: along the way and this year it's all about earn
Speaker 2: the right, so.
Speaker 3: And it's up to them to decide what that right is.
Speaker 2: So it is it earned the right to start fast,
Speaker 2: to finish games, to play winning football, to earn the
Speaker 2: right for one more rep, one more set, whatever that is.
Speaker 2: So we're taking in that as kind of our stance
Speaker 2: from a mental and perspective standpoint to start this Phase
Speaker 2: one and hopefully grow it, get into a training camp
Speaker 2: and then a successful twenty twenty five campaign. So if
Speaker 2: that'll open up to questions.
Speaker 4: Anything different this year that you've kind of added, especially
Speaker 4: in Phase one, based off of anything from last year
Speaker 4: that you.
Speaker 5: Know you decided to change out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, foundationally the phase from last year and then the
Speaker 2: year prior. It's it is the same in what we're
Speaker 2: working on now. Tools and toys that we've added along
Speaker 2: the way we have we have done that. There's a
Speaker 2: cool down the way here in the way in the
Speaker 2: indoor as a cool OHM machine. It's an isokinetic machine
Speaker 2: that allows us to get real time data on their
Speaker 2: force output, whether they're doing heavy work or speed work.
Speaker 3: So that's a tool we've put into play in the
Speaker 3: weight room.
Speaker 2: We integrated it last year, being more comprehensive with it
Speaker 2: this year with a perch system that will measure the
Speaker 2: bar speed and again it's all in the notion of
Speaker 2: giving the athlete real time feedback for whatever we're trying
Speaker 2: to do in that day.
Speaker 3: If they need to move the bar faster, we've got
Speaker 3: it on the iPad. If they're moving it too fast for.
Speaker 2: Whatever strength quality we're trying to get out of them,
Speaker 2: we know that we can add more weight and slow
Speaker 2: it down and talk to them about the why. So
Speaker 2: it's kind of exciting to add those new toys, you know,
Speaker 2: in here and in the weight room, but still keep
Speaker 2: the foundations the same.
Speaker 6: Can you use that kind of technology during the pre
Speaker 6: draft process that I don't know how involved you are,
Speaker 6: but like your team's bringing guys in and maybe getting
Speaker 6: a sense a better sense for where they are strength wise,
Speaker 6: at the athletic wise.
Speaker 3: Absolutely in our scouting department.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm a biased opinion up here standing in
Speaker 2: front of you, guys is the best in the business.
Speaker 2: And so what they'll do is we'll bring in top
Speaker 2: thirty guys. We'll sit and visit with them. We won't
Speaker 2: put them through any of the assessments in here. During
Speaker 2: that time, we'll take a lot of their data from
Speaker 2: their pro days and combine numbers and then utilize that
Speaker 2: as we if they're UDFA, if they're a draft pick.
Speaker 3: And then we'll be able to implement that with our
Speaker 3: system when they come in.
Speaker 7: When they bring in.
Speaker 8: Free agents, do they ever inquire about the weight training
Speaker 8: that you have here?
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, Yeah, that's been a big thing over the
Speaker 2: last i'd say five five plus years.
Speaker 3: Is when you're getting free agents.
Speaker 2: Now they're looking at the whole picture of the building, right,
Speaker 2: It's not just contracts a huge part of it, but
Speaker 2: they're looking at your training room, your weight room, how
Speaker 2: you operate in those rooms. Because they're looking at the
Speaker 2: entirety of the package as they're in that free agent process,
Speaker 2: and that's been big, let's say, over the last three years.
Speaker 2: It's really coming to play when we bring in free agents,
Speaker 2: you know, prior to signing they're on the visit, we'll
Speaker 2: talk to them about how we train you know, historically,
Speaker 2: who we've worked with that may be similar to them,
Speaker 2: maybe it's at that point in their career position wise,
Speaker 2: but that we've become much more comprehensive in that regard.
Speaker 9: And now year one, the year two is often seen
Speaker 9: as a critical year for body kind of transformations, these
Speaker 9: guys getting acclimated to the NFL, specifically to Nate Wiggins.
Speaker 9: You know, what did you see from him in the
Speaker 9: weight room this past season, and then what hopes do
Speaker 9: you have for this.
Speaker 2: Offsson hope, my hope for Nate is to continue the trajectory,
Speaker 2: the vertical trajectory of the kids already on.
Speaker 3: You got to see it on the field.
Speaker 2: He is a physical freak in his ability to go
Speaker 2: display his attributes out on the field and all year
Speaker 2: last year Nate did not just everything that we had
Speaker 2: asked of him, but did it to the to the
Speaker 2: fullest degree. And I think you saw that as a
Speaker 2: young kid coming in you know, young body, right, young mind,
Speaker 2: and you saw how he was able to play all
Speaker 2: seventeen games and in the playoffs and play at a
Speaker 2: high level. So I'm excited for Nick that as we
Speaker 2: go onto year two, you'll see even more physical maturation.
Speaker 3: Especially coming out of year one.
Speaker 2: You have a lot of draft prep, so you have
Speaker 2: a lot of you know, in that process.
Speaker 3: You know, in the February and the March, they're doing
Speaker 3: a lot of.
Speaker 2: Really their drills and their their training sessions are really
Speaker 2: centered around what they're going to do in Indianapolis, right,
Speaker 2: So what we're now and then that's to your point, Ryan,
Speaker 2: is when we've worked through the season last year and
Speaker 2: we get into now this offseason, moving to this year,
Speaker 2: now we can work more specifically to his game and
Speaker 2: playing you know, playing football. So I'm looking forward to
Speaker 2: his step he'll make from a physical standpoint, he's seen.
Speaker 6: How have you seen the program overall?
Speaker 1: It's evolve in your time being here and taking over
Speaker 1: the leadership, How has this program evolved?
Speaker 2: Fortunately, truly truly blessed to see the evolution over the
Speaker 2: last couple of years. Of you've got this time of
Speaker 2: the year, then you've got training camp, you've got in season,
Speaker 2: and the buy in that the players have allowed us
Speaker 2: to have and their you know, daily routine and let
Speaker 2: us truly kind of step into their world and say,
Speaker 2: what we're trying to do in here, whether it's in
Speaker 2: the indoor or in that weight room, is to help
Speaker 2: you be the best version of yourself. So when we've evolved,
Speaker 2: that's allowed us to get more detailed with the guys
Speaker 2: because as we're working, you know, in training camp, we
Speaker 2: got ninety so you know, we divide and conquer. Fortunately,
Speaker 2: I'm very, very blessed to have a great staff in
Speaker 2: that regard, just to you know now that I'm talking
Speaker 2: about and I'll come back to your point. Ron Shrift,
Speaker 2: Kevin Hartman, Kaylen Busky, Anthony Watson have been with me
Speaker 2: the whole time, and so with that buy in, we're.
Speaker 3: Able to get more detailed.
Speaker 2: Now We've i brought up the fun tools and toys,
Speaker 2: but now we've got the dialogue that each year, I
Speaker 2: feel like we've gotten even better and we still have
Speaker 2: room to grow in helping individualize their program to progress them. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the spring is huge, but in training camp and throughout
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 10: It's got related to that, but more specifically, injury prevention
Speaker 10: is so massive for NFL success. The team had a
Speaker 10: very healthy season last year, but you know, over the
Speaker 10: last few years, because I mean that was a major
Speaker 10: topic a few.
Speaker 5: Years back with injuries.
Speaker 10: Where do you think as an organization from a strengthen
Speaker 10: conditioning standpoint, that you've made strong that maybe have meshed
Speaker 10: with seeing fewer injuries, you know, whether it's ramping up
Speaker 10: more slowly, whatever it might be.
Speaker 4: Where do you guys think that.
Speaker 10: You've made some progress that that that you've seen that
Speaker 10: kind of you know, yeah, the decrease in injuries.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a that's a great question. And we have
Speaker 2: been fortunate in that regard. And I always remind you know,
Speaker 2: anybody that that allows me to talk and we get
Speaker 2: on this this subject is you know, you got to
Speaker 2: have great preparation and whatever you know, each team or
Speaker 2: each weight rooms preparation is you've got a great preparation
Speaker 2: and that's got to be matched with great luck. And
Speaker 2: I truly believe, you know, over the last couple of years,
Speaker 2: we've seen both of those come together.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, it's a very physical game.
Speaker 2: You know, things do happen that are outside of your control,
Speaker 2: and we've been fortunate to avoid those and if we haven't,
Speaker 2: you know, incurred those situations, they've been more on the
Speaker 2: short term side of things.
Speaker 3: We've returned guys to play.
Speaker 2: But I think it comes back to, uh, just the
Speaker 2: point prior to this with the buy in of the players,
Speaker 2: and we're able to individualize kind of there their structure
Speaker 2: of either their lift or their run.
Speaker 3: That's part of the preparation process.
Speaker 2: And then I think we've had a great turnout over
Speaker 2: the past couple of years and this year included of
Speaker 2: this phase. And I truly believe this phase is the
Speaker 2: foundation of which training camp the whole year is predicated on.
Speaker 2: So I think those are those are kind of two
Speaker 2: things that I I hang my hat on that that
Speaker 2: that's allowed success. And obviously you got to pray for
Speaker 2: the best with the rest.
Speaker 9: Derek Hennery here last year, and did you adopt anything
Speaker 9: from what he does and you know, incorporated into work.
Speaker 7: You guys see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Actually, so having Derek in is incredible and I'd
Speaker 2: say the most fun was Derek. He stayed around after
Speaker 2: the season for a couple of weeks before heading back
Speaker 2: down to Dallas and talking to him even more at length.
Speaker 2: You know, through the season, as you guys probably saw
Speaker 2: Derek's appro he comes in, he does his work, he goes,
Speaker 2: you know, goes about his business. He's out and getting
Speaker 2: to know Derek and getting to dive in even more
Speaker 2: about you know, what he does. And Die tells, it's incredible,
Speaker 2: and yeah, there's some things that we've taken in.
Speaker 3: And I'll say this about Derek.
Speaker 2: It was, you know, this time last year we were
Speaker 2: talking and I kind of asked him that question, and
Speaker 2: I'll ask you know, vets that have been around, and
Speaker 2: I know they have a real detailed off season program.
Speaker 2: A lot of times I'll talk to the trainer strength
Speaker 2: coach that they work with, and I said, what do
Speaker 2: you want to what do you want to include from
Speaker 2: you know, what you do in Texas back here, and
Speaker 2: they said, give me everything he got. He said, I'm
Speaker 2: a clean sat give me everything he got. So and
Speaker 2: I think about that that period in the off season
Speaker 2: when he stuck around for heading back to his family,
Speaker 2: he brought up there was a workout that he had
Speaker 2: asked me to write before going on break last year
Speaker 2: between mini camp and training camp, and by the end
Speaker 2: of it, long story short, he had his brother doing it,
Speaker 2: everybody in the weight room doing it, and so there
Speaker 2: was this this nice connection between what he does in
Speaker 2: Dallas and what we do up here. And as you
Speaker 2: can see, you saw what he did last year on
Speaker 2: the field, and it's working for the guy.
Speaker 6: I don't think we got a chance to ask you
Speaker 6: last year about Lamar losing his weight remaking this by
Speaker 6: what was the emphasis for him?
Speaker 3: And I guess is it the same kind of emphasis
Speaker 3: this year with Lamar?
Speaker 2: It's is to take what he did last year and
Speaker 2: continue that that process. As you guys saw, he was
Speaker 2: in great shape at this point last year. He is
Speaker 2: again this year. And then we wanted to just lay
Speaker 2: down some lean muscle tissue as we got into the season,
Speaker 2: and you saw that as you know we got into
Speaker 2: the season, he was up a few pounds and then
Speaker 2: played at that MVP caliber level. You know, obviously, if
Speaker 2: I had a vote, I know what I would have voted.
Speaker 2: But that's a plan for this year as well.
Speaker 11: Are there any general benchmarks that you look to hit
Speaker 11: this early on.
Speaker 3: In the process in terms of what I.
Speaker 11: Mean just each fathe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, of course, yeah, yeah, so benchmarks. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So in the weight room, what we're looking to do
Speaker 2: is is this is called our general preparation phase. So
Speaker 2: we'll break it up in two four week blocks and
Speaker 2: it'll progress and in each four week block week over week.
Speaker 2: But this first phase is first four weeks we're looking
Speaker 2: for immetry, so no matter what they have done or
Speaker 2: not done, you know, the last couple of months on
Speaker 2: their on their free time, we're looking to bounce out
Speaker 2: right to left, front to back, so quad to hamstring,
Speaker 2: right leg, left leg, so we're looking to kind of
Speaker 2: rebounce everything out, essentially pour the foundation. Then as we
Speaker 2: get into that that next four weeks we get into
Speaker 2: OTAs in a mini camp, that's when we'll get into
Speaker 2: our power phase, so the movements will become a lot
Speaker 2: more explosive, and then we'll it'll it'll shift from unilateral
Speaker 2: focus into bilateral so two hands, two arms or sorry
Speaker 2: to two legs barbed on the back, so much more
Speaker 2: compound explosive lifts.
Speaker 3: So that's how it progress.
Speaker 2: Going through the spring with a break and then essentially
Speaker 2: we'll do a similar notion once we start training camp
Speaker 2: kind of rebounce the tires on these ferraris and and
Speaker 2: trucks and then build the speed, build the power, and
Speaker 2: we just kind of we undulate through that throughout the
Speaker 2: entire year.
Speaker 7: Scott.
Speaker 6: Obviously, Daniel Pilotly is a big ball of clay. Has
Speaker 6: the programming for him changed going from a tackle into.
Speaker 2: Inside Yeah, yes, And the program is for him is, Yes,
Speaker 2: it's evolved, but it's it's always been the same. Daniel
Speaker 2: is such a big, strong and mobile guy. So as
Speaker 2: we've worked with Big Dan, it's it's to get him
Speaker 2: to unlock that that next level that he's got into
Speaker 2: dominating every time he steps out on the field. And
Speaker 2: what you guys saw it this year, having the opportunity
Speaker 2: to start and play you know, all every every offensive
Speaker 2: series of every every game this year, you saw how
Speaker 2: much better he got so in the way when we're
Speaker 2: tailing his ability to do that from a physiological standpoint.
Speaker 1: Next up, we heard from veteran linebacker Rokwan Smith.
Speaker 4: At this state your career, what are you taking from
Speaker 4: when you come back phase one of all seas and workouts,
Speaker 4: What's what's.
Speaker 5: Kind of your big takeaway from the States.
Speaker 12: Yeah, honestly, I think first and foremost just like being
Speaker 12: around the guys, guys who you truly care about, being
Speaker 12: being back around the game that you truly love, and
Speaker 12: obviously knowing that you know, things didn't go the way
Speaker 12: you wanted to go the last out and so it's
Speaker 12: about improving on that. And then you know, also coming
Speaker 12: in and getting great work from.
Speaker 5: Scott and his staff.
Speaker 12: You know, normally follow their plan anyway throughout the off season,
Speaker 12: but it's pretty cool when you been able to get
Speaker 12: to work with the guys also out on the field.
Speaker 12: So it's just something that I enjoy to.
Speaker 10: Help your off seasons evolved from you know, maybe your
Speaker 10: first couple of years in the league too. Now, I mean,
Speaker 10: do you feel like you just have a much better
Speaker 10: idea of what you need to get done to be.
Speaker 4: Ready to play?
Speaker 5: Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 12: I think experience is the best teacher in life, and
Speaker 12: I think, yeah, at this point in my career now
Speaker 12: it's kind of crazy, like thinking back, I still remember
Speaker 12: my first ota just a wide our rookie.
Speaker 5: In a sense, and you're just like saying, oh, what
Speaker 5: do I expect?
Speaker 12: How good of a shape should I be in in
Speaker 12: April may like and things like that. But like now
Speaker 12: It's kind of like you've been through the fire, been
Speaker 12: through the ringer.
Speaker 5: You've gone through it.
Speaker 12: So now it's just about Okay, making sure I got
Speaker 12: a great foundation, uh, and then just building on that
Speaker 12: foundation throughout the off season and then making sure you're
Speaker 12: ready to roll come training camp, but also knowing that
Speaker 12: that's a ramp up period as well before the season,
Speaker 12: because it's a long season.
Speaker 1: Bro, what what do you look to accomplish during this
Speaker 1: time that like along your kind of what you're you're
Speaker 1: talking about that, like, what do you want to accomplish
Speaker 1: during this time of calendar?
Speaker 12: I think there's a lot of things you can accomplish
Speaker 12: throughout this time and for myself personally throughout like this
Speaker 12: eight week program. Uh, you know, get stronger, getting better shape,
Speaker 12: create a better.
Speaker 5: Bond with my guys.
Speaker 12: Uh, just enjoy Maryland for what it's worth, and just
Speaker 12: be around the people, be around the building. Uh, enjoy
Speaker 12: all the free food uh stuff like that. So I
Speaker 12: would say a lot of those things and just happy
Speaker 12: to be here.
Speaker 8: Oh cool, And you talked about trying to work on
Speaker 8: getting that bad taste out of your mouth. How long
Speaker 8: does it take to kind of turn the page from
Speaker 8: how last year ended to move and looking forward to
Speaker 8: what's next.
Speaker 12: Yeah, absolutely, I think you just have to use the
Speaker 12: letdowns in a sense as a motivation and few for
Speaker 12: your fire. And I think, honestly it's different for each
Speaker 12: and every person, But for myself, I would say, you know,
Speaker 12: there's a sour taste in your mouth until you're able
Speaker 12: to actually play another game, and like because you can
Speaker 12: go against your guys and things like that, but it's
Speaker 12: different when you're actually trying to unleash on someone else
Speaker 12: in a sense. So I think it'll always be there
Speaker 12: and you just got to use it as fuel until
Speaker 12: we're able to line it up and scrap it up
Speaker 12: later in the year.
Speaker 13: How do you assess your season individually? Individually last year?
Speaker 13: What do you need to want to take from that? Say,
Speaker 13: all right, this is where I need to improve or
Speaker 13: that was that was great?
Speaker 14: What did you take away?
Speaker 12: Yeah, a lot of ups and down last season, first
Speaker 12: and foremost from the defense perspective. Didn't start the season
Speaker 12: the way we wanted to start, including myself, like with
Speaker 12: certain games and things of that nature. So like just
Speaker 12: having that motivation and knowing that you don't want the
Speaker 12: season something you're able to control to start out this way,
Speaker 12: and that's something that we all can control and build
Speaker 12: on right now in this moment. So it's about like
Speaker 12: doing that, making sure we're in the best possible shape,
Speaker 12: but also making we're making sure that we're mentally there
Speaker 12: and ready to go through the ring or whatever the
Speaker 12: case may be.
Speaker 5: And just having a tighter bond.
Speaker 12: Even though it was really tight despite the adversity that
Speaker 12: we face throughout the season last year, not a single
Speaker 12: person you know, drop their head looked for a way out.
Speaker 12: So just like building building on that and just hitting
Speaker 12: hitting the ground running and for myself, just like you know,
Speaker 12: improving just being better, Like yeah, all pros this that,
Speaker 12: all that stuff is fine, but it's about like you know,
Speaker 12: getting hardware and like that's something you accomplished as a team.
Speaker 12: So that's more of like what I want, like because
Speaker 12: all the individual accolades that stuff will come once you're
Speaker 12: successful as a team.
Speaker 11: How important is this time period in building chemistry and
Speaker 11: just be connecting.
Speaker 12: Yeah, no, I think this time period is amazing for
Speaker 12: like actually in a better relationship with the guys and
Speaker 12: you know, going through the different workouts and things like that.
Speaker 12: You know when you see your guys tired next to you,
Speaker 12: and you know you're tired as well. But it's about
Speaker 12: that's how you create that thick bond amongst each other,
Speaker 12: just knowing, you know, we're going through the ringer together
Speaker 12: and it's not just a one sided thing, and it's
Speaker 12: about like, okay, if we're gonna truly be a brotherhood,
Speaker 12: it's about fighting through it together and overcoming it as well.
Speaker 15: It's just what message you think that sends that you
Speaker 15: being a VET and someone that's you know, far along.
Speaker 5: Into your career.
Speaker 15: That you're here during this optional period to get to
Speaker 15: work in with the guys what do you think that
Speaker 15: says to everybody here?
Speaker 12: Yeah, I'm not quite sure what that says to people.
Speaker 12: I just know it's more so about like how I
Speaker 12: feel and how I do my thing, and how I
Speaker 12: enjoy being here, enjoy working with the screen staff here,
Speaker 12: how I enjoy being around the guys here, and like
Speaker 12: just being able to blessed enough to be on a
Speaker 12: team to be able to do something that I truly
Speaker 12: love and like, when I think about it from that perspective,
Speaker 12: that's more than enough like motivation for me to get
Speaker 12: my butt up and come up here. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 12: I can be doing a lot of different things, but
Speaker 12: at the end of the day, I still will be training.
Speaker 12: Like it's awesome to be able to train here with
Speaker 12: like great people. So I would say that we're a couple.
Speaker 9: Of linebackers left in free agency again this off season,
Speaker 9: another one to Pittsburgh, just with Trenton Simpson. You know,
Speaker 9: he'll get another crack at that certain job next to you.
Speaker 9: What are your expectations for him as he enters year three.
Speaker 12: Yeah, first and foremost for those guys that are that's left.
Speaker 5: You know, very happy for those guys.
Speaker 12: They got them some a nice little payday as well,
Speaker 12: so like, you know, happy to see those guys do that.
Speaker 12: CB very happy for him the leak and all of
Speaker 12: those guys. But yeah, Trent Man, I got a great
Speaker 12: deal of respect for him, got some good sessions in
Speaker 12: with him this offseason as well, and just trying to
Speaker 12: build on our bond with each other as well, knowing
Speaker 12: what he's thinking a certain situation and also like just
Speaker 12: knowing what I'm thinking as well, and just getting out
Speaker 12: and doing more things to create a tighter bond. But
Speaker 12: I think like the guy has all the athletic ability
Speaker 12: in the world, everything you want, and like I got
Speaker 12: great faith that he's gonna be able to put it,
Speaker 12: put it all together, and with the addition of all coach,
Speaker 12: I'm very excited about that as well. Trend is so
Speaker 12: it's gonna be awesome and we're excited to get to
Speaker 12: work and you know what's gonna happen is gonna happen,
Speaker 12: but we know we're gonna prepare like every day is
Speaker 12: our last day. So that's the mindset and I'm very
Speaker 12: excited for him in his future though.
Speaker 8: This weekend it is said to be a very talented
Speaker 8: on the defensive side of the ball. Do you give
Speaker 8: your take your opinions on what you would like to
Speaker 8: see the organization do do they even asks your ideas.
Speaker 12: Like, you know, you'll see some guys, maybe some guys
Speaker 12: from Georgia or you know, some guys that I may know.
Speaker 12: But if I'm being completely honest, like when I first
Speaker 12: came into the league, I was more so in tune
Speaker 12: with the draft and everything like that. But like if
Speaker 12: I'm being honest, like right now, like probably the top guys,
Speaker 12: but like with no disrespect to anyone, I probably can't
Speaker 12: I probably can't tell you the backers how many backers
Speaker 12: like inside backers that are coming out this year if
Speaker 12: I'm being perfectly honest, because like I don't really you know,
Speaker 12: during my I'll try to get away from the game
Speaker 12: in a sense I love the game, but it's also
Speaker 12: about getting away and then you know, when the guys
Speaker 12: get here, that'll be my focus. Then then I'll like
Speaker 12: do my research and see what guy, what each and
Speaker 12: every guy's about.
Speaker 6: I think you were on the sideline for a couple
Speaker 6: of Georgia games this past year. One of those guys
Speaker 6: who's been linked to the Ravens is Malachi Stars. Did
Speaker 6: you get a sense for what he meant the culture
Speaker 6: there and stood to meet him or anything like that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I met him, topped him up and
Speaker 5: everything like that.
Speaker 12: But you know, when those guys are, you know, right
Speaker 12: before going to going into a game and stuff, those
Speaker 12: guys are focused on what they're focused on, and that's
Speaker 12: like getting a w SO got a great deal of
Speaker 12: respect for him. I heard a lot of great things
Speaker 12: about him, like Georgia guy, like really really mature for
Speaker 12: his age, really good player. Also, I know Kirby Schuman,
Speaker 12: all those guys have a great respect for him in
Speaker 12: the way he played a game of football, But like,
Speaker 12: I don't really know him personally. I've watched the games
Speaker 12: and stuff, how he always shows up on film. But yeah,
Speaker 12: so if he HEP does comes here, that'll be a
Speaker 12: great addition for us. But like you know, DC and
Speaker 12: those guys up there, man, they they know what they're doing,
Speaker 12: so I'm sure they're going to get the best possible
Speaker 12: fit for the team as well as person So yeah.
Speaker 1: Next up is safety Kyle Hamilton.
Speaker 4: So what was the best thing you've done from you know,
Speaker 4: the end of the season to coming back to that.
Speaker 16: Went on a golf trip with me and three of
Speaker 16: my high school buddies. Went out to Pebble Beach, played
Speaker 16: Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Spanish Bay. He was able to play
Speaker 16: Cyprus past that. That was probably the best thing I've
Speaker 16: done so far.
Speaker 7: The goals?
Speaker 15: Is that the thing you didn't say that you're mar
Speaker 15: Oh yeah.
Speaker 16: I mean I just went to i Guessa for the
Speaker 16: Masters too. I went on Friday and Sunday and that
Speaker 16: was my first time going, so it was pretty cool experience.
Speaker 13: Did Rory hitting it into the creek inspired maybe I
Speaker 13: couldn't do this too.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I was actually sitting on twelve when him and
Speaker 16: Bryson came up. So he saw Bryson go in the
Speaker 16: water on eleven and I was walking on thirteen and
Speaker 16: then saw Rory go in the water and that was
Speaker 16: I think that's the crazy part about golf, Like the
Speaker 16: leader sets the pace for everybody. So I mean once
Speaker 16: he came back to the field, then they got really
Speaker 16: really interesting after that. But you know, he got it done.
Speaker 16: Career Grand Slam is pretty cool. What does Marlin have
Speaker 16: to do to get there? Marlean's got to have a
Speaker 16: talk with God or something to get there. He you know,
Speaker 16: he's gotten better. He's always blowing up our group chat
Speaker 16: about his golf swing and like how he can get
Speaker 16: better and asking me for tips. I was like, I
Speaker 16: don't know why you're asking me, Like I'm not the
Speaker 16: person you should be asking.
Speaker 7: But he has gotten better.
Speaker 16: He said he just broke one hundred for first time
Speaker 16: ninety nine, So I was like, you're one step close
Speaker 16: to the tour.
Speaker 6: Like defense with the second chattings are a golf cup chat.
Speaker 16: It's a Marlin, Tony Jefferson, Gino Stone group chat. So
Speaker 16: you know we were once Ravens, but we all got
Speaker 16: scattered all over the place.
Speaker 7: But Tony's got the.
Speaker 16: Golf bug right now too, and Gino has been golfing
Speaker 16: for a while, so we just talk about it from
Speaker 16: time to time.
Speaker 4: Kyle, there's been a lot of talk about possible contract
Speaker 4: extension for you. How much do you know about it?
Speaker 4: Do you think it's something that could happen and you know,
Speaker 4: over the course in the next few months.
Speaker 16: What do you kind of know about a contract EXTENTI yeah,
Speaker 16: I mean obviously would be my first one, so not
Speaker 16: too much. But I haven't had too many talks about it,
Speaker 16: to be honest. You know, they're busy draft stuff and
Speaker 16: all that stuff going on. I'm not in a big rush.
Speaker 16: So if it happens, it happens, cool. And if it
Speaker 16: happens to off season, cool too. But I'm not in
Speaker 16: a rush too get it done necessarily.
Speaker 15: Is that something you whatever happens, like, is that something
Speaker 15: you want to have kind of resolved one way or
Speaker 15: the other, like before you get into the end of
Speaker 15: the season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I would, I would like to.
Speaker 16: I just I don't really like worry about outside stuff
Speaker 16: during the season. That's been since high school honestly, whatever
Speaker 16: it may be, and this is obviously a different beast,
Speaker 16: but yeah, I kind of just want to be able
Speaker 16: to play football and focus on that, and you know,
Speaker 16: if that stuff is going on during the season, then
Speaker 16: that's what I have agent's for, so they'll do a
Speaker 16: good job with that. But you know, that's such a
Speaker 16: hypothetical at this point that I'll just cross that bridge
Speaker 16: when I get there.
Speaker 14: How do you approach the off season now compared to
Speaker 14: maybe year one year to established you know you've had
Speaker 14: success in the league.
Speaker 10: How do you view this time of year now compared
Speaker 10: to being a rookie year, second year.
Speaker 16: Sold Yeah, I don't think too much has changed. I mean,
Speaker 16: rookie year, I went back to school, so that was different.
Speaker 16: But you know, it's definitely poor to take some time
Speaker 16: off and kind of let your mind and body decompressed
Speaker 16: from the season, kind of just black out for six
Speaker 16: months there from July till January February, so you kind
Speaker 16: of gotta chill a lot. I think that's a big
Speaker 16: thing for me, just be able to see people that
Speaker 16: I've grown up with and kind of connect with family
Speaker 16: and friends and stuff like that. It's huge for me
Speaker 16: mentally be able to golf a little bit. But then
Speaker 16: you know, you for me, you're kind of sitting on
Speaker 16: the couch one day and you're getting that itch. You're
Speaker 16: getting to go start working out and start getting back
Speaker 16: into it. And for me, that happened earlier this year.
Speaker 16: I just felt like I was more excited to get
Speaker 16: back to work, so didn't take too much time off
Speaker 16: after the Bills game. But the philosophy I feel like
Speaker 16: has been the same and we'll stay the same in
Speaker 16: the future. I feel like it's kind of the same
Speaker 16: for a lot of people in the league, just you know,
Speaker 16: find your family again and just talk to people that
Speaker 16: you haven't had time to during the season.
Speaker 13: Election of the way the season ended, wanting to get
Speaker 13: back at back there sooner.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I think a little bit that a little bit
Speaker 16: of me maturing. You know, at this point in my career,
Speaker 16: I've had three years in now, and you know, every
Speaker 16: off season, I feel like I've been more and more
Speaker 16: wanting to get back to it, and I feel like
Speaker 16: I've started working out more quickly after the season has
Speaker 16: ended each year. So who know, its maybe like year ten,
Speaker 16: we'll start working out the day after seasons over. But
Speaker 16: but yeah, I feel like it's a little bit of that,
Speaker 16: a little bit of sour tays, a little bit of just,
Speaker 16: you know, want to get back into it.
Speaker 7: How soon did you get back into it though? How soon?
Speaker 16: Yeah, I'd probably say it was like two three weeks,
Speaker 16: And I mean it wasn't going crazy hard, but just
Speaker 16: getting my body back moving, thrown some weight around, stuff
Speaker 16: like that.
Speaker 11: Performanshing, you know, the rough starts to last season.
Speaker 4: Have you guys this secondary.
Speaker 11: Or see if you group you talked about how to
Speaker 11: come back to start faster this year.
Speaker 16: Yeah, it's funny you say that talking about golf. I
Speaker 16: was literally just thinking about this randomly. But I don't
Speaker 16: know if you followed the Masters this year or golf
Speaker 16: in general, but the past two tournaments, if you guys
Speaker 16: are want to listen to my soapbucks the Masters, Rory
Speaker 16: didn't have a great finish on Thursday, first day of
Speaker 16: the tournament, and then had a really good Friday Saturday,
Speaker 16: put himself in the lead and kind of set the
Speaker 16: pace for Sunday. And you know, for him, obviously he's
Speaker 16: one of the best players ever. But I feel like
Speaker 16: it's kind of synonymous with our sport. You know, you
Speaker 16: don't really want to compare yourself to others, but when
Speaker 16: you put yourself behind the eight ball, and now you
Speaker 16: got to kind of seehere everybody else is at and
Speaker 16: know what you have to do to get get in
Speaker 16: the playoffs and ultimately win Super Bowl. And this past tournament,
Speaker 16: Justin Thomas came out and tied the course record and
Speaker 16: didn't play amazing the final three days, but ended up
Speaker 16: winning the tournament. So you kind of put yourself in
Speaker 16: an advantage if you start off hot, because I mean,
Speaker 16: those games count for the same amount of wins and
Speaker 16: losses at the end of the season. So last year
Speaker 16: didn't get off to a great start. It's kind of
Speaker 16: behind the eight ball, but you know, we found our
Speaker 16: way at the end of the season. But who knows
Speaker 16: if we Uh, Tyler's telling me to hurry up, So
Speaker 16: who knows if we started off well, we would have
Speaker 16: a chance with the one seed and stuff like that.
Speaker 16: So it's important for us this year to kind of,
Speaker 16: you know, I think it's important that we've gone through
Speaker 16: that and understand how hard it is to climb out
Speaker 16: of that hole and how would change that this year.
Speaker 11: Both coming up your name came up quite a bit
Speaker 11: at the combine among the safety groups as someone that
Speaker 11: they emulated their game after someone that they watched. What
Speaker 11: does it feel like knowing that you're pretty much becoming
Speaker 11: a prototype for guys coming behind you.
Speaker 7: It's kind of weird, honestly.
Speaker 16: I saw like a couple of clips of some guys
Speaker 16: at the combine saying that, and it's flattering. One and two,
Speaker 16: I feel like it's happened so fast because I feel
Speaker 16: like I'm rookie. Year was yesterday and for tap people
Speaker 16: saying that they whatever, maybe emulate their game or try
Speaker 16: to pick my game. Apart to that, to their it's
Speaker 16: it's it's pretty cool to hear, and you know, just
Speaker 16: hopefully try to continue that trend, and not only just
Speaker 16: football wise, but as a person too.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the drafts with either talk about it with
Speaker 1: one of those safeties of the alongside next year, do
Speaker 1: you plan to watch the draft with your thought on adding,
Speaker 1: you know, another safety to play alongside you.
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 7: I don't.
Speaker 16: I don't plan on watching every pick. It will probably
Speaker 16: be on I'm not gonna be like actively watching. Maybe
Speaker 16: I'll watching the Ravens pick, but uh, I don't really
Speaker 16: have a huge preference on who they pick or where.
Speaker 16: You know, they have done a great job before I
Speaker 16: was even born. So I'm gonna let them handle that
Speaker 16: and I'm gonna play football and do my job. Uh
Speaker 16: probably be with my friend Nick Jackson who plays for
Speaker 16: or played for Iowa. Howe had a really good protest,
Speaker 16: so he'll probably be with him around that weekend. But yeah,
Speaker 16: I'm not gonna be uh up tweeting about it. Probably
Speaker 16: I would be a preference.
Speaker 10: I mean, we all made a big deal out how
Speaker 10: you know your role shifted midway through the season.
Speaker 14: If you weren't, you know you took it as no
Speaker 14: big deal.
Speaker 10: You played plenty of deep safety before.
Speaker 14: But all things being each year, do you have a
Speaker 14: preferences whether you stay in that kind of a role
Speaker 14: or going back to much more of the hybrid play,
Speaker 14: more nickel play, you know, much more of a Swiss
Speaker 14: army knife stories.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I mean I've gotten that question a lot, and
Speaker 16: my answer has been the same every time. I really
Speaker 16: don't care, like at all, whether it's game to game
Speaker 16: or drive to drive, play to play, whatever it needs
Speaker 16: to be, I'm more than happy to do it. And
Speaker 16: I feel like I'm more than capable of getting the
Speaker 16: job done. So I appreciate the coaches and the staff
Speaker 16: for and trust me with all that responsibility and try
Speaker 16: to do my best with it and do as well
Speaker 16: as I can at all those positions. But it really
Speaker 16: doesn't make a difference to me, and I'm just trying
Speaker 16: to go out there and make football plays.
Speaker 1: Next up is center Tyler Linderbaum.
Speaker 4: So for this all season, do you feel like it
Speaker 4: went faster slower than last year? Just comparatively, you know,
Speaker 4: from last game to hear how do you think the
Speaker 4: off season went for you?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I feel like it flew by. I trained here
Speaker 7: this off season, so yeah, before you know it, now
Speaker 7: we're starting off season. So I'm excited. It's always fun
Speaker 7: getting back, you know, seeing all the guys got to
Speaker 7: go work out in today. So it's got to keep
Speaker 7: stacking build off for next season.
Speaker 10: Tyler, after last offseason, there's so many changes on the
Speaker 10: offensive line, How happy even if McCarry left, but to
Speaker 10: keep Ronnie Stanley, you know, knowing how important he is
Speaker 10: a left.
Speaker 14: Tackle, How how good was that for you to see that,
Speaker 14: knowing it wasn't gonna be another off season where it
Speaker 14: was so much turnings.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean it's awesome to have a a Ronnie Back,
Speaker 7: you know, a player his caliber, you know, playing at
Speaker 7: a really high level. He helps our team out tremendously.
Speaker 7: So you know, excited hav him back, you know obviously
Speaker 7: you know Pat going on to Jacksonville. Excited for him
Speaker 7: his opportunity there. You know, the more more people you
Speaker 7: can get back, I feel like, the better it's going
Speaker 7: to be. Obviously the be pieces that we add, but
Speaker 7: you know, we have the foundation. I just got to
Speaker 7: keep building off of that. If you had.
Speaker 6: Any conversation with the front office about your fifth year option,
Speaker 6: which is deadline's coming along with the potential contract extension.
Speaker 7: Yeah, no conversations yet, and you know, let my agent
Speaker 7: handle that. And I'm just focused on just getting becoming
Speaker 7: as good of a football player as I can be
Speaker 7: for this team, Just coming in here every day and
Speaker 7: put my best foot forward and let all the other
Speaker 7: things take care of itself. Did you take note of
Speaker 7: the Jurgens deal that was signed today, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 7: I was. I was just made aware of that. You know,
Speaker 7: he's obviously one of the best centers in the league,
Speaker 7: a really high caliber player, so excite for him.
Speaker 15: Is that something you'd like to have whatever whatever happens,
Speaker 15: didn't happen, et cetera, have some you know, clarity before
Speaker 15: the start of the season, just seeking put it out
Speaker 15: of line.
Speaker 7: I guess honest, I'm really not even focus on that
Speaker 7: right now. No, That's that's why we have agents agents,
Speaker 7: you know, Neil Cornwich will handle that all for me.
Speaker 7: And like I said, I'm giving my all to the
Speaker 7: team right now and that's my focus and that's how
Speaker 7: it should be.
Speaker 13: You guys have been close throughout your time here, not
Speaker 13: quite any of the hump where you want to get
Speaker 13: to in the Super Bowls. After some reflection, what do
Speaker 13: you Is there anything your pinpoint? You're like, that's what's
Speaker 13: keeping us from getting where.
Speaker 7: We want to go? Yeah, I mean, you know there's
Speaker 7: a there's a lot of things though that we can
Speaker 7: get better as a team collectively. At the end of
Speaker 7: the day, when it comes down to it and we're
Speaker 7: in these big games in those situations, you know, we
Speaker 7: got to be playing our best football. You and obviously
Speaker 7: I don't. I don't think we did that against against
Speaker 7: the Bills, just you know, costly turnovers. But at the
Speaker 7: end of the at the end of the day. You know,
Speaker 7: we're right there towards the end of the game to
Speaker 7: where we have a chance. So you just got to
Speaker 7: build off of that, you know, get over that hump
Speaker 7: and you know, confident with the group that we have,
Speaker 7: the guys that we have on this team, and I'm
Speaker 7: excited to build off of that.
Speaker 5: Is it emotional for you a little bit and knowing
Speaker 5: how close you've become when Patrick signed elsewhere and you
Speaker 5: realize who's no longer going to be back in your
Speaker 5: locker mate?
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I'm excited for him. Obviously, it's gonna
Speaker 7: be a little different without him. He's helped me tremendously,
Speaker 7: uh you know, my first three years. But I know
Speaker 7: he's going to kill it down there. So super happy
Speaker 7: for him.
Speaker 6: You know, I know most off at the line and
Speaker 6: by nature are pretty humble, but is there any kind
Speaker 6: of new pride to seeing how many teams want to
Speaker 6: do what you guys have done with the Eagles have
Speaker 6: done in his best offensive lines, that you kind of
Speaker 6: have that foundation for the championship level offense defense?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I think you know, games are one
Speaker 7: in the trenches. I think no defense and offensive side
Speaker 7: of ball. You have have to have really good players
Speaker 7: and you have to play at a high level. You know,
Speaker 7: So in the Super Bowl, two really good old lines
Speaker 7: and D Line's going at it. At the end of
Speaker 7: the day, it's a it's a it's a tough position.
Speaker 7: You gotta do everything possible to be elite at that position.
Speaker 7: You gotta be obsessed, obsessed with getting better, and that's
Speaker 7: what makes a position so fun. So you know, I
Speaker 7: think it's it's not an easy position. It's something that
Speaker 7: has to be worked on. And you know, there the
Speaker 7: lead players that you can have a position, I think,
Speaker 7: the better your team's going to be the key parts
Speaker 7: of fresh Have you in.
Speaker 8: The other linement been following the debate at all season?
Speaker 7: Is there a debate or some people are trying to honest?
Speaker 7: I mean I love the I love the play. I'm
Speaker 7: sure defenses don't. But you know, anytime you know you
Speaker 7: can excel and have a high percentage on short yardage
Speaker 7: and if that's the play that you go to, then
Speaker 7: you know, I enjoy the play.
Speaker 8: So you guys were last offseason, you guys had to
Speaker 8: replace three starters along the offensive line. This year, it
Speaker 8: seems like only one What's how important is that continuity
Speaker 8: along the offensive line to be able to stick with
Speaker 8: the same five guys.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think it's big. I think whoever's in there
Speaker 7: has to play, you know, no matter what, we're expecting
Speaker 7: to play at a high level. You know. Obviously, having
Speaker 7: Roger step in and you know, play at a high
Speaker 7: level like he did last year was was super big
Speaker 7: for us, especially being a rookie. That's not an easy
Speaker 7: thing to do, especially the guys in our division. I'm
Speaker 7: super proud of him. And you know, obviously those guys
Speaker 7: who you know, played their first year, we got to
Speaker 7: expect another big jump. And the guys you know who
Speaker 7: have been playing have to take another step. You know,
Speaker 7: anytime you can get more reps together, I think the more,
Speaker 7: the better you better off you're going to be. But
Speaker 7: at the end of the day, the five guys that
Speaker 7: are out there have to be playing at a high
Speaker 7: level to you know, make make things to go.
Speaker 15: Speaking of you know, guys taking steps, what did you
Speaker 15: see from injury before he's last year and uh out
Speaker 15: injury early and then in a hat stepped in. What
Speaker 15: did you see from him last year and what are
Speaker 15: the conversations been in turns of him, you know, you know,
Speaker 15: being in that mix to start there next to.
Speaker 7: You and left that. Yeah, you know, Andrew's a starting
Speaker 7: caliber player. Obviously. The thing with him just obviously coming
Speaker 7: off the knee injury. I think OTA's last year was
Speaker 7: the first reps he's gotten in like two years, so
Speaker 7: he's just making jumps and jumps each and every day.
Speaker 7: I thought he played at a high level for the
Speaker 7: games that he was in, and then obviously doing with
Speaker 7: the ankle injury was unfortunate. I know, he's another guy
Speaker 7: that you know, have ut most confidence and when he
Speaker 7: steps in there that he's going to play at a
Speaker 7: high level.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It's a
Speaker 1: busy week for the Ravens. The players are back in
Speaker 1: the building this week for the voluntary conditioning program, and
Speaker 1: of course, the NFL Draft is coming up starting Thursday
Speaker 1: night and extending through Saturday evening. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of fun over the course of this week, so
Speaker 1: make sure that you were tuned in across all of
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Speaker 1: There we're gonna be breaking down everything related to these
Speaker 1: offseason workouts and of course, the draft later this week.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. We'll talk with you
Speaker 1: again on Thursday, after the first round the NFL Draft.