WEBVTT - Player's Lounge: How Voluntary is Voluntary? 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.600 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:21.960 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This is the Player's Lounge, 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:27.360 broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters at the Star. No. 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:32.400 Your hosts, Barry Church, Danny McCray, and New He scrugs, 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:37.159 all right, everybody, it is that time Players Lounge on 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.720 a Friday. Danny McCray three three in a row. Wow, 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.320 it's like we've been doing the show for how many years? 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:52.920 I missed? I missed a few shows listening and Church 0:00:53.000 --> 0:01:01.280 probably and you can't pair New Week were brought because 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:04.720 mine was consecutive. Church has been all sporadic, but they 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:12.479 ain't come. Yeah, I don't have to, but it's close enough. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.280 It's close enough for you to not really be sure. 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:17.600 No matter where I'm at, if I'm not, if I'm here, 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.800 I'm doing the show. Why if I'm a judge, I 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:22.640 would say I would have to look at the wreck. 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:26.040 Mister mc craig, could you produce a record because we 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:30.920 need there have been absences a couple here, there a 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:35.680 sporadic and then I'll say this, Okay, when Danny was 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:37.920 at we knew it. It didn't have to sit to 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:42.920 twenty minutes before the show. That's how that's how y'all 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:48.600 gonna move you today? The night before why hotel dot 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:53.840 com that's where I got my away hotels dot com. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:55.720 So hotels dot com knew he wasn't gonna be on 0:01:55.760 --> 0:02:08.200 the show with Thery, but but anyway, good to see it. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.160 It's it's a it's a better show when you're here, Okay, 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.239 that's our way of showing you love. It's a better 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:16.519 Bury Church. And I like you here, So I'm so 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.360 glad to be back. Man, I'm I'm happy. I'm here 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:21.079 three weeks in a row, and we're gonna continue this 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.200 trend of me being here for absolutely. I used up 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.520 out my pto, all right, all my pto is gone, 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:30.720 so I'll be here until until it go over again. 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.359 In two cowboys are practicing right now. So it is 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.920 the final day of the OTAs or is Darren hambrig 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:43.079 once said, what do voluntary means? Voluntary mini camps? So 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.519 you don't have to be here, but they say, but 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:53.120 you need to be here. Oh yeah. And I have 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.839 a lot of respect for the guys who come out 0:02:55.960 --> 0:03:01.600 here because fans don't understand they're a lot of guys. Now, 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:03.320 Dallas is a different place, but a lot of guys 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.320 who don't live in the towns they play. So when 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.240 you come in to do a voluntary m ota, you're 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.440 having to a lot of times come back into the 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.760 place where you are m spend time away from your family, 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:17.960 and you're not getting paid for. It's what you were 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.839 for free. Warren Moon spoke about that was one reason 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.320 why he decided to retire. He was playing his final 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.799 days in Kansas City and he's you know, I was 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:26.239 away from my family, so in order me to do 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.120 the voluntaries, and they wanted you there for the voluntaries, 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.239 you had to spend time away from your family. It 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.520 was voluntaries, Like I knew the offense, but but it's 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:35.600 what you had to do. So I don't think fans 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.080 always understand guys. Not a lot of guys always live 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:42.000 where they play full time, and when people are asking 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:46.000 you to come in for these voluntary, voluntary mini camps, 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.200 and sometimes it costs some of these guys money. And 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.400 we're talking about not the big numb not not the 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:55.280 Dacks of the world, but for guys who are you know, minimums, 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.880 minimum veteran guys or rookies. You know, these are things 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.920 that you these are expenses you can say you're investing 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.560 in yourself. But I think sometimes people lose sight of that. 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:06.240 Oh yeah, and you know, I was one of those guys. 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.600 I was able to well, I came, I lived in Dallas, 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:10.960 but I played out in Jacksonville, and I hate it. 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:13.920 I hated going back because I felt like, you know, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:15.960 the offseason was just kicking off. Me and my wife 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:17.880 probably just got back from vacation. We're like, all right, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:19.400 let's you know, let's hang out on Dallas, have a 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.160 good time. Well, those weeks ticked by fast. Next thing 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:23.400 you know, I got to take a flight back to 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.080 Jacksonville and all we're gonna do is sit there and 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.839 go over the defense that I already knew going into 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.040 the next season. So I just didn't like, you know, 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.560 going back and forth like that. Lucky for me, though, 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:34.920 my kids they weren't old enough to be in school, 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:36.480 so I didn't have to, you know, yank him out 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.160 of school or put them in school in Jacksonville and 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:39.880 take them out and put them somewhere in Dallas, so 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:41.720 they were able to just hop on with me. So 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.240 that was a lucky part, but overall, I just I 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:45.720 hate it going back and forth. If you were able 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.799 to stick with one organization, you know, for your entirety 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:50.320 of your career, you're lucky because there's only a few 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.520 of them that are able to do that. Because going 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.080 back and forth that that ain't it. That ain't it, 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:55.800 And I just didn't have a good time with it. Yeah, 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.760 the same here. I mean, when you think about Chicago 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:01.080 and you think about being able to go back and 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.920 enjoy what Chicago has to offer, Chicago practice is in 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.479 Lake Forest, Illinois. They don't practice in the actual city 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.360 of Chicago. Right, So not only are you having to 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.120 leave where I was at Houston at the time and 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.160 fly to Chicago, leave leave my now wife in family, 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.480 I would have to go to Lake Forest, which is 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.120 essentially a retirement community. So it's nothing out there. There's 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.320 a grocery store out there. I think it's a I 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:27.880 want to even say twin Peaks. I think it's like 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.400 a I don't know what. It's nothing out there for 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.320 you to do. So having to make that flight every 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.080 time every time, it sucked every time. But once you 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.040 get out there, of course it's football. But yeah, then 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:40.720 it calls you a pretty penny, right, because you got 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.560 to cass those flights and if the if the wife 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:43.960 want to come see you, or the family want to 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:45.560 come see you, now you gotta spend the extra dome. 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.520 It's it puts a lot on you. And that's one 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.279 reason why we do the players line right here, brought 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.840 to you by hotels dot Com. You guys give a 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.400 perspective to fans that they don't normally see a lot 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:56.480 of people just thinking, you know, Okay, yeah, you're a cowboy, 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.320 you live here. No, that's not the case. For special 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.440 Ken emphasize it up, especially the young guys. You know, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.440 we always want to think everyone thinks, oh, everybody's making 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.760 all these millions of ducks. You look at the Decks 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:09.599 and the Zekes and the Tyrant Smiths of the world, 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.320 and you believe that's how everybody is working and everybody's 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.640 making it. In the National Football League, that's just not 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.960 true at all. So final day of OTAs are actually 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.320 going on right now behind as they we're warming up, 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.680 as we're getting ready to start the show. The mandatory 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:25.960 mini camp is next week. Head coach Mike McCarthy says 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:30.640 it's gonna be Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday. So mandatory. So these OTAs, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.160 these organized team activities, these were voluntary, got to be 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.720 there next week or you face a fun so church, 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:39.880 I'll start with you. What is it you get out 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.840 of a mandatory mini camp that you're not getting out 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:45.680 of the OTA? To me, I think the biggest difference 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.560 is basically just time, because in the OTAs, you're on 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:50.240 a strict schedule, because I think you only get You're 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.000 only there for maybe you know, two hours. You got 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:53.599 a couple of hours to or a couple of minutes 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.080 to meet and everything like that before practice. But when 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.400 you get to those mandatory mini camps, it is basically 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.720 like a training camp practice. You're up early in the morning, 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:02.600 you come in, you have your special teams meeting, you 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.720 have breakfast first, maybe get a lift in. Then you 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.560 have your special teams meetings. Then you go and those 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.560 special teams meetings are long, they're about forty five two 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.320 an hour. Then you go and do your team, your defense, 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.120 on your offense. You guys meet as a group, you 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.120 do that, then you break off an individual. It's just 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.280 meetings on top of meetings on top of meetings, and 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.360 then you go out there in practice, and the practices 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:20.760 are longer as well. I think they're about two and 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.360 a half hours, so they're a little bit longer than 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:24.880 your regular OTA practice. So you got all that and 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.480 then usually when you're done with OTAs, you might go 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.040 get a lift in or you might just go home. 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.120 After that, it's over OTAs. It's a rap. After that, 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:32.880 you might get a hot tub in or a sauna 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:34.640 or something like that to get your body right, but 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.240 it's over. But mandatory mini camp oh no, no, no, 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.120 you get got you got your lunch break right there. 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:42.240 Then you're coming back. They through some more meetings. Now 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.840 you'll either watch the tape from practice or you'll go 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.400 break down something else. But you're watching meetings with either 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.080 your position group or as a whole defense or as 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.920 a whole offense. So that time it gets a lot 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.000 longer when you're going through your mandatory mini camps as 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.160 opposed to your OTAs, because you gotta be there and 0:07:58.240 --> 0:07:59.600 a team can find you if you're not there. So 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.000 to meet biggest difference, it's just that time because you're 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.040 there for a much longer time. It's like your regular 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.680 season practice, like your training camp practice. Yeah, in the 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.600 piggyback off what Church said. I think it's I want 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:11.960 to call it a dress rehearsal for for how training 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.560 camp is going to go. But when you have guys 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:16.320 that have come from other teams or you have young 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.960 guys coming in, they actually get a visual and an 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.360 example of what training camp is going to be like, 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:27.000 because essentially this mandatory mini camp is the last time 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.560 that they will see you before you actually go step 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.360 on to the fielding Oxen RD and have to know 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:34.160 this schedule and know that you're going to be busy 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.120 from seven am to ten thirty pm. So it's really 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.720 them letting you know, like this is what to expect 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:41.959 the next time we see you, So go ahead and 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:43.920 get ready. The days are going to be long, they're 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.560 gonna be full, and it's gonna be football twenty four 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:47.959 hours a day and you and then it practices like 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.000 you're going you get all the period, you get to 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.360 seven on sevens, the teams, the team runs, the team passes, 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.439 the two minute drills, and usually in OTAs, you know, 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.000 one day you'll do a team team drill here, the 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:00.720 next day you might do a set on seven here, 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:02.320 and you might do a two minute drill the last 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.760 day of that week for OTAs, but for Mini camp, 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.440 each day you're doing the full experience. Everything that's gonna 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.000 happen in training camp you're gonna see in mini camps. So, 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.000 like like Danny said, you know, the rookies are gonna 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.520 get a lot. They're gonna get introduced to how the 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.040 speed of the game really is when you get to 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.320 training camp. Players Lounge brought to you by Hotels dot 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.880 Com and our SWBC Mortgage studios here at the store 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.679 in Frisco. So Dan Mike McCarthy said yesterday to the 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:25.079 media they've been working on installs and he'll finish the 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.800 installs next week. So explain to our fan base what 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:34.839 install means for offense, defense and special teams. Yeah, so, 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:36.959 so I'll just speak to it from defense because that's 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.360 where I came from, and special teams is kind of 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.760 the same. So each year is kind of like wash, 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.320 rent and repeat, right, So, because you have new people 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.760 coming in, you have new stuff that you want to 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.160 put in your playbook, or you might have new coaches 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.760 that need to figure out how this stuff is gonna work. 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.880 So each year you come in and you start with 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.520 the very basics of your of your defense and you 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.319 put that in cover one, Cover two, Cover three, and 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.160 you and you hammer at home just to make sure 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:03.679 that everybody has that, because if you aren't able to 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.000 run those type of defenses, as we saw last year, 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.880 then you aren't able to put in your blitzzes or 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.319 your zero coverages. You aren't able to add on to 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.840 what you what you want to do. So you start 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.160 with the basis one, cover two, Cover three, and every 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.160 day you add on something else. So when you're installing, 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.440 you're going football one on one, next day football one 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:24.880 h two, next day football one h three. And the 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.439 plan is that once you're done with training camp, you 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.559 have everything installed, so you have so many things that 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.679 you could pick from when when the game actually comes on, Yeah, 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:35.679 and it's like and like you said, you know from 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:37.760 the first day's day, it's just Cover one. This is 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.520 your simple rules. You got this, dude, man and man. 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:41.800 Cover three. Let's go over your basic rules for Cover three. 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.760 Strong safety you got curl flat, the other the safeties 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:46.079 in the middle of the field, corners you got the 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.400 deep third. But as the as the days go on 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.440 in camp, like you said, you put a little variable 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.040 on each one. You know, if the offense comes out 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:53.679 in two by two, we're gonna check to this. If 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.280 they come out in three by one, we want you 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.400 to check to this. And that's basically how you go 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.199 about your installs. Like Danny said, each day it's just 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.000 a little bit different variable to that main defense that 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:05.880 cover one, Cover two or cover three. Each day after 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:07.439 that's just a little bit different, a little bit of 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:09.560 tweak here and there in adjustments to what the offense 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.679 and tell and then by the end of it, you're 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.480 calling the defense and then you're you're able to adjust 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.680 it on the fly, right because because the players are 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:18.120 all on the same page and they know so they 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:19.800 can look at the coach and the coach throws up 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.000 a sign and now you know exactly what to do. 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.560 But before that happens, you're not able to do that. Okay, 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.320 So you're a free agent out of LSU, you're free 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.720 agent out of Toledo. What was different about the Cowboys 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:32.560 defense for you and what you had to learn going 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.520 through your OTA and your mini camp before you got 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.520 to your first training camp day? Man, for me, it 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.480 was everything was different because I played under Bopolini and 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.559 we ran a lot of Cover four, a lot of zone. 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:45.640 And then when I got here in Waye Phillips, here 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.040 we were running man to man and we were passing 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.600 off stuff. We were figuring out, figuring out a little 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.360 bit of zone. But it was nothing like we did 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:55.320 in college. So for me, it was like learning something 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.920 entirely different. And then I was playing dime at that time, 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:00.760 so now I was trying to figure out how to 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.319 line up in the linebacker position, you know, fiel the 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.920 A gap and feel the D gap and also cover 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.000 the tight end. So it was totally totally new for me. Yeah, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.040 and for me it was basically like the same with you. Man, 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:12.880 it was because in Toledo it was just like, all right, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.080 you're playing man to man. Here's there's cover three. There's 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.520 no there's no little variant. So there's no fire zone. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.560 Blitz is where you're blitzing usually if you blitzing your 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:22.840 man the man behind it. But in the league and NFL, 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.120 there's like fire zones where you're blitzing, but you're playing 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.520 zone behind it. So like it's just like a Matt 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:29.880 zone concept. And it was just very very hard as 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.600 a safety because you gotta know your job but as well, 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.400 you gotta be the quarterback back there, and you gotta 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:35.800 show that the coaches that you know, you know what 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:37.480 you're doing. You know how to check things here and there, 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.520 you know how to play defenses. And as a rookie, 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.240 when you're going out there with other bunch of rookies, 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.559 I mean, it's like you know, you know, you know 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:45.640 what hits the fan because you know the offense is 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.840 commotion in here and motioning there, and as a rookie, 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:49.640 your head spinning because you're trying to figure out, all right, 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:51.079 this is what I gotta do. I gotta make sure 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.079 my job is hit at one hundred percent in order 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.240 to make this team. But if your other partners ain't 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.160 doing their job, you're all gonna look crazy. So you 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:00.400 gotta be as a rookie safety especially out to be 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.160 in tune of that playbook and in tune with what 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.199 your jobs as well as everybody else is, or you 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:05.760 guys are all going to look crazy out there. So 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:07.679 that was a hard part as a rookie, just knowing 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:09.480 the playbook and being able to be a quarterback back. 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:11.560 But at safety too, you gotta remember, like you said, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:13.880 that one motion if you know So if you know 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.480 your job pre snap, right, you see the formation they 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.560 come out in three by one, this is my job. 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:21.920 Now number three motions across and you have to switch 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.000 jobs with the linebacker. So now you don't know the 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.520 linebacker's job, then you have no idea what's going on. 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.200 So just one person moving on the field can change 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.040 everything for a defense. So that's why you see a 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.680 lot of miscommunications sometimes or you see blong coverages because 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:38.800 one person may be off, they may not understand what 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:40.480 they're doing or they're not on the same page with 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:42.920 a simple motion or a check, and then you get 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.120 somebody you know running behind the defense for a touchdown. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.320 And as a safety, you also got to know because 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:48.920 like you said, they're gonna move you down to dime 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:50.880 because that's where the league is going now. It's going 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:52.800 to a pass offense. So they're gonna bring as many 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.040 skilled players or cover players as they can on the field. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.320 And with dime, you know, that's just a one linebacker 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.600 and you got about five dbs out there, so it's 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:01.800 a safe the you're not the only got to worry about. 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.439 You know. What you got is your responsibility on the 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.560 deep end. But when you come to down. You're a linebacker, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.520 so you got the run. The run fits and that 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:09.920 that's what blew my mind as a safety, wasn't It 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.000 wasn't really like calling plays back there. It was the 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.000 run fits. Like if this guard pulls here, you got 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.400 to be able to check one gap over to make 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.760 sure that guy over, that linebacker on a strong side 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.240 is gonna hammer them. So you got to be next 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.360 in line. The hammer. It's just wild. It's a lot 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.720 because if you miss one hammer or you spill which 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.000 meaning you spilled up, you know, the running back goes 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.120 further outside, or if you hammer making them go inside. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:33.600 If you mess that up, you can mess the whole 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.040 integrity of the defense up. And then that and on 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.440 Baronelli and all his you know, all his defensive film 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:41.080 you can see and like, that's that's what happened to 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:42.880 the defense. That's who mess it up. So it's a 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:44.640 lot of pressure for a young cat out there. For sure. 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.360 This is educational, man. That's why I love asking you 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.000 guys a questions about this because these are the things 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.160 that I want the folks who tune in to the 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.160 show to have a little bit better understanding of. Because 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.760 we talk about so much about just the the overall things, 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.480 but there's these little little things doesn't matter. And my 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.880 next question is when you're confused, because obviously say, hey, 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.080 I don't know this. Who do you go to? Do 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.520 you go to your position coach? If you're a linebacker, 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.880 do you tapp into somebody like Kean O'Neil, you know, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:14.920 if you're safety you go and you're tapp into somebody 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.320 like Kazy who knows? Where do you go? If you're 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.880 Michael Parsons, Jail Coxon, where do you go? That's tough 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:22.720 now for Michael Parsons because are we talking about like 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:24.560 right after the play are we talking about like man 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.040 throughout the practice? You know, practice is done, you know 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.320 you've soaked it all in, and then that other part 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.720 of the guy like Parsons. You you know, I would 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.480 say you'd ask Neil, But these are people's jobs you're 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.200 trying to take. Well, yeah, if it's Parsons, you know, 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.720 usually you go ask Sean Lee um. So, so they 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.360 have to figure out who that person is, if it's 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.600 going to be l v or Jaylen Smith. But I 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.920 would start with asking one of the veterans to show 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.200 me how they study take man, how they remember. And 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:51.840 then if that doesn't work, then you got to go 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.280 to your position coach because he has to know that 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.200 you're not picking it up as fast as you can, 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.680 so he's not putting you in situations that he thinks 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:01.880 you that you should be successful in and you're not 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.080 because he has no idea you you're not picking up 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.560 on what he's trying to teach. So you gotta let 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:08.360 everybody know so they can all help you. If you 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:10.760 don't like say you you know, that's your job on 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.000 the line. So and that's the that's the biggest thing 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.280 that the the young rookies makes a mistake is they 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.400 go out there thinking if if, if, if I don't 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.120 know what I'm doing. You know, in the coaches they 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.080 see they don't know what I'm doing. Man, it's a struggle. 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:22.840 It's going to be a whole bust. But you don't 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:24.720 want to go and tell your coach because then you think, oh, man, 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.800 he's gonna think I'm not you know, not studying, I'm 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.120 not in my playbook like that. And then like you said, 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.040 the veterans out here, I mean they're fighting for their 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:32.840 jobs as well. So I mean you're gonna tell them 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:34.080 how to go, But are you gonna give them all 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.080 the ins and out to the situation. I don't know. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.240 I mean, as me as a veteran, I wouldn't. But 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:42.600 that's just me. That's crazy. Church has some great veterans 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.680 that he was able to learn from that didn't take it. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:47.160 They were like, hey man, listen, if you want to 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:48.840 know how to do it, then we'll teach you how 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.680 to do it. And if you mess it up and 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.640 we think that the play call is wrong, we're gonna 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.000 have your back forward. But see, I know why they 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.360 did that because they didn't think I wasn't like you. 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:09.960 You know, I'm still gonna get drill sense the ball 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.920 he's created because he helped me out more than more 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:14.760 than he ever would know. And I'm not sure if 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:16.000 he had the same thing with Church, but as far 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.440 as he'll being a leader in that dB locker room, 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:20.640 he did as much as he could to make sure 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.760 that we were team building that was and he had 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:26.960 our backs when when he thought something was wrong, he 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:28.639 would step up and lets the coaches know, hey man, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:30.320 that's not right. You're not putting them in a reposition 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.359 to be successful. Great Tar Hills to man, that's a 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.359