Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. Fifth
Speaker 1: round draft pick Derek Forrest was mainly a special team's
Speaker 1: player during his rookie season in twenty twenty one, but
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two he was given an opportunity to
Speaker 1: play more of the safety position and had a massive
Speaker 1: impact on the defense all season. He was a turnover machine,
Speaker 1: leading a team in interceptions with four and forcing two
Speaker 1: fumbles as well, but perhaps his most crowning achievement was
Speaker 1: joining the Players Club to have an end of season
Speaker 1: conversation London, Fletcher and Santana Bus thanks for coming on
Speaker 1: with us, Man Washington this year, Man was I can
Speaker 1: say a bit of a surprise. We heard some good
Speaker 1: things about you last year. Didn't get a chance to
Speaker 1: see you go out there stretch of stuff. But man,
Speaker 1: you give us a chance now going into this offseason.
Speaker 1: That's saying that we have a guy that we kind
Speaker 1: of could say, okay, we're sure about opposidden. You know,
Speaker 1: Nick cam Um, how do you feel about what you
Speaker 1: did this year and what are your thoughts going into
Speaker 1: the off season. How are you gonna try to make
Speaker 1: sure that you come in a little better than what
Speaker 1: you displayed, I definitely feel like when out there and
Speaker 1: I bought this year, um, And that was my goal
Speaker 1: in the statement, and it was just to show the
Speaker 1: league the alcomore because you know, it's all about respect.
Speaker 1: In that respect come with confidence, you know. Um, definitely,
Speaker 1: you know it's a blessing, man, and uh, I definitely
Speaker 1: never take it for granted. Um. But going into off season, man,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely just going watch watch film break it down,
Speaker 1: and I really want to improve on everything that I
Speaker 1: really messed up on, anything that was a game changing mistake,
Speaker 1: you know, and I wanted to correct those, man, so
Speaker 1: I can come back and be consistent this year. You know,
Speaker 1: from the from the very first game of the season,
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville game. At that point in time, he wasn't
Speaker 1: the starter, but you made a tremendous impact on that game,
Speaker 1: made a lot of players end up getting the game
Speaker 1: selling an interception asked for you lead the team and
Speaker 1: interceptions interceptions. When you think about the season that you
Speaker 1: had and your role involving, did it surprise you at all?
Speaker 1: Um Illo KEI did, man, because that opportunity came to
Speaker 1: that first game and I was just like I was
Speaker 1: on edge man, because it was like I knew deep
Speaker 1: down inside I had it in me, but I just
Speaker 1: ain't had the shot yet. Man. When I got out there,
Speaker 1: it was everything deep down fueling me, burning deep inside
Speaker 1: that came out and it was like, Man, I'm really
Speaker 1: a reckingforce. Man. But I gotta keep I gotta keep growing,
Speaker 1: you know, I keep developing. You know, can't get complacent, man,
Speaker 1: can't worry about them stats and numbers and all that.
Speaker 1: One of the things we know that that's probably said
Speaker 1: a lot in your room, because I've heard a couple
Speaker 1: of times that they want to say these to be flexible,
Speaker 1: to be able to play, because we know we have that.
Speaker 1: You know the package where a lot of you guys
Speaker 1: want to feel at one time. Is there something that
Speaker 1: you just stated that you want to work on sometain
Speaker 1: things in the off season. Are there positions or at
Speaker 1: times you was on the field this year where you
Speaker 1: kind of forgot you was playing one or the other.
Speaker 1: And that's something that's gonna be pivotal in your off
Speaker 1: season training this year, definitely, because in that the package
Speaker 1: you're talking about the PACEO. Man, you know, we had
Speaker 1: like five six dbs and you know they'll rotate us,
Speaker 1: you know from deep. They'll put me down in the box,
Speaker 1: you know, let me play, you know, playing the box.
Speaker 1: So that's definitely something that I'm gonna have to get
Speaker 1: more comfortable with. Like they wanted me to play the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Nickel spot last year and it was like I
Speaker 1: was rotating there, but I really wouldn't. I never really
Speaker 1: got comfortable with there, man. So definitely repetition, you know,
Speaker 1: becoming muscle memory for me, and wants to become a
Speaker 1: muscle memory, you know, it becoming easier for you. So
Speaker 1: it's all about getting those reps, man. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: defensive defensive background, the wide receivers in the dB room y'all.
Speaker 1: The two flatboy kind of most personalities. You know, we
Speaker 1: had Cam on he's real laid back chill. You kind
Speaker 1: of laid back at chill. What what's that defensive back room? Like, Man,
Speaker 1: it's really crazy. Joke each other, it really is, man,
Speaker 1: and be like when we're not being serious and you know,
Speaker 1: like on the field, were having fun lots y'all. You
Speaker 1: see it, man, Like they in the pregame video this
Speaker 1: week were always just dancing, you know, and they were
Speaker 1: just recording us dancing throughout the season and we didn't
Speaker 1: you know they was required as man. But that's just
Speaker 1: how it is, Like we really love each other in
Speaker 1: that DV room. Who's the funniest guy in that room?
Speaker 1: Funniest guy? It's tough, man, because everybody funny in different ways.
Speaker 1: Like some guys are just like you know, they're practical guys.
Speaker 1: You know they'd be funny, and then some guy's just
Speaker 1: dead serious and you just like, bro, just dude, it's
Speaker 1: a clown like for real dudes comedy. So man, I'm
Speaker 1: glad I'm around great guys. Man, you know that, Let
Speaker 1: have fun, let the game. For all your commander's news
Speaker 1: and analysis, be sure to tune into Command Center weeknights
Speaker 1: at five and ten pm on NBC Sports Washington. You
Speaker 1: can also stream on YouTube and Commanders dot Com two