Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess Rock, You're you're private l against the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: And I know it's obviously a team sport and stuff,
Speaker 1: but I mean, how much pride do you take in
Speaker 1: having beaten a division rival that well?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I mean they're they're a great organization,
Speaker 2: great team. I got really good players, and so it's
Speaker 2: never easy. I'll tell you that it's not. You know,
Speaker 2: I think we've had some success going against them, but
Speaker 2: it's it's always been a dog fight and it's never
Speaker 2: just been given to us or anything. So and we
Speaker 2: know that we feel like that's the case with you know,
Speaker 2: our whole division, especially this year. So great team, and
Speaker 2: there's never a moment where we walk into this game
Speaker 2: going you know, it's going to be given to us
Speaker 2: or anything. Like we know the history of the forty
Speaker 2: nine ers and the Seahawks and and you have to
Speaker 2: have the right mindset going into this game or else
Speaker 2: you know, you can get exposed.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, you're four.
Speaker 4: And oh this year, when you don't fumble the ball
Speaker 4: or throw an interception, I think you're sixteen and o's
Speaker 4: that you've been here in those situations when you hear
Speaker 4: those numbers, what's the first thing that comes to mind.
Speaker 2: I mean, it makes sense. You know, if you win
Speaker 2: the turnover battle, I forgot what the stat is, but
Speaker 2: it's you know, like it's almost an automatic win. And
Speaker 2: so for me, that's my job and I take pride
Speaker 2: in that and those games where you know, you know,
Speaker 2: turn the ball over anything like that, and you're protecting
Speaker 2: the team, you're protecting offense, and your defense can then
Speaker 2: go out and create turnovers and you can feed off
Speaker 2: each other. So like that that's a huge part of
Speaker 2: the game. And so it makes sense, and that's probably
Speaker 2: the case with a lot of teams around the league.
Speaker 2: You know, the quarterbacks that play smart and do their
Speaker 2: job and put up points without turning the ball over,
Speaker 2: you're gonna have a really really high chance of winning.
Speaker 3: So that's the goal. Every week a.
Speaker 5: New regime they brought in, you've played them one time
Speaker 5: and then you played the other regime before. Was it
Speaker 5: like preparing for an entirely new defense or is it
Speaker 5: was there some carryover?
Speaker 2: I mean it was the scheme was different, for sure,
Speaker 2: but like going against the players and stuff, we sort
Speaker 2: of knew how some guys were. But you know, in
Speaker 2: the NFL, man this game is a really big deal
Speaker 2: with you know, how they play certain coverages, leverages, you know,
Speaker 2: how they're you know, their run defenses and how they're
Speaker 2: filling in the gaps like all that stuff is slightly different.
Speaker 2: So that was, you know, a new challenge for us
Speaker 2: and in studying them and trying to scheme up them
Speaker 2: compared to the years past. But you know, going back
Speaker 2: and watching some stuff in Baltimore and stuff like sort
Speaker 2: of just trying.
Speaker 3: To put it all together.
Speaker 2: And then obviously all the games that they've played this
Speaker 2: year so far, we have some good tape on them
Speaker 2: and everything. So but it was a challenge, especially going
Speaker 2: on a Thursday night game. But you know, this time around,
Speaker 2: you know, hopefully we can you know, just build off
Speaker 2: of the game plan from last time and and have
Speaker 2: a feel for him. But I mean it's our second
Speaker 2: time going against some in this scheme, so you know,
Speaker 2: it's still a challenge for us.
Speaker 3: As always, the red zone.
Speaker 6: Production hasn't been where you want to, but Georgia has
Speaker 6: kind of been a constant for you this year, and
Speaker 6: even when you took over, he scored a lot more
Speaker 6: touchdowns than he did previously. How were you, guys able
Speaker 6: to kind of develop that you know, connection that you
Speaker 6: have and where is your trust level in terms of
Speaker 6: you know, George specifically.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, uh, you know, when you go down there, man,
Speaker 2: just the tight end, his frame and everything, and how
Speaker 2: explosive he is his hands. You know, he's a he's
Speaker 2: a really good matchup against guys down there, especially when
Speaker 2: it's you know, tighter and in the red zone.
Speaker 3: You don't have a lot of room for air or anything.
Speaker 2: And so when you have a guy that is a
Speaker 2: good mismatch as a quarterback, it makes you comfortable and
Speaker 2: like knowing that, right I have an outlet with you know, Kittle,
Speaker 2: And so it's been you know, really just going through
Speaker 2: my progressions and trusting in Kyle and trying to get
Speaker 2: George in the right matchups and and getting them the
Speaker 2: ball and giving him an opportunity. He's come down with
Speaker 2: some crazy catches and and so for me it's it's
Speaker 2: almost like, you know, I have my my tight end,
Speaker 2: has my checkdown down there, you know, knowing that George
Speaker 2: is gonna find a way and and give me a chance.
Speaker 2: And so it's obviously really nice and hopefully we can
Speaker 2: continue our connection and growth together.
Speaker 6: You see toe taps. A lot of receivers you don't
Speaker 6: necessarily see tight ends. How unusual is it to have
Speaker 6: somebody who is making clays like that in those situations?
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, for a tight end for how you know,
Speaker 2: big he is and the run blocking and all the
Speaker 2: stuff you have to do as a gritty tight end
Speaker 2: to then go and toe tap you know, on the
Speaker 2: sidelines and jump up and make acrobatic catches and stuff
Speaker 2: like that's unheard of, dude, And uh, you know he
Speaker 2: does that on a weekly basis, it seems like. And
Speaker 2: so you know, George is a future Hall of Famer man.
Speaker 2: So I'm very thankful to be playing with him. And
Speaker 2: and you know, like I said, I hope I can
Speaker 2: continue to feed him and and and continue to grow together.
Speaker 7: Change your wow.
Speaker 3: Silly?
Speaker 7: He is silly, right, There has to be.
Speaker 4: A serious side.
Speaker 6: What have you learn from him? Whether it's just the
Speaker 6: business of the NFL or.
Speaker 4: You know, just the wisdom he's been able to partant
Speaker 4: to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he's uh, he's done a lot sort
Speaker 2: of just taking me under his wing, be like a
Speaker 2: you know, older brother, and just sort of give me
Speaker 2: the the layout of everything of of what this business
Speaker 2: is and what it looks like, and obviously how to
Speaker 2: treat people, what to do, what not to do off
Speaker 2: the field stuff and how to handle just the spotlight
Speaker 2: and everything and what he does that helps him, you know,
Speaker 2: center back in to what matters most with his family,
Speaker 2: friends and football. Like, he's given me some really good
Speaker 2: advice and continues to It's not it wasn't just a
Speaker 2: one time thing when I was a rookie. Like, he
Speaker 2: continues to do that, and I'm very appreciative of that.
Speaker 2: And and you know, obviously he's got the fun, you know,
Speaker 2: charismatic you know personality.
Speaker 3: Which we all love.
Speaker 2: But he also knows what it takes to be great
Speaker 2: at this level and he does what's best for obviously
Speaker 2: the team and himself and his family. And so I
Speaker 2: respect you know, how he goes about what he does.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously the treatment on his body, studying, performing
Speaker 2: all of it.
Speaker 3: Man, you see it.
Speaker 2: And so I'm extremely blessed to you know, be a
Speaker 2: teammate of his and for him to you know, teach
Speaker 2: me the ropes.
Speaker 6: Back at practice now for a second week.
Speaker 8: Do you see a difference in what it does for
Speaker 8: everybody else?
Speaker 4: Does it elevate everybody else.
Speaker 6: What does that bring just to every practice day?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he goes hard, you know, every rep,
Speaker 2: does everything right. You know, he doesn't mess up or anything.
Speaker 2: And so when we see, you know, the standard that
Speaker 2: he's playing at for all of us, we're like, all right, man, Like,
Speaker 2: you know, Christian's back and we just got to do
Speaker 2: our job really well.
Speaker 3: And when we get.
Speaker 2: Him the ball, let's you know, make sure the block
Speaker 2: blocking is right for me. It's how can I give him?
Speaker 2: Give him a accurate ball and transition so that he
Speaker 2: can get the most yak as possible. Is it's like
Speaker 2: all those little things that you sort of start to
Speaker 2: see everybody elevate their game with. And so it's crazy
Speaker 2: what uh, you know, when a person comes back like
Speaker 2: of his caliber, what it does to our team man,
Speaker 2: and and and everybody elevating their game. So obviously, Exhume,
Speaker 2: we happy to have him back for everything that he
Speaker 2: does for us. But more than anything, we've got so
Speaker 2: much respect for you know, how he goes about his
Speaker 2: business and being such a great teammate that he is.
Speaker 4: When you and your wives and George went on a
Speaker 4: vacation during the bye week, did was there any football?
Speaker 4: Did you guys throw by patterns or or talk ball
Speaker 4: or did you kind of agree ahead of time we're
Speaker 4: gonna we're not doing that.
Speaker 2: We both brought a football, like without telling each other.
Speaker 2: He was like, I brought a football, and I was like,
Speaker 2: so did I and so just in case, but we
Speaker 2: flew in together.
Speaker 3: We golfed together one day. But outside of that, we were.
Speaker 2: You know, just a way away just with our wives
Speaker 2: on our own and and just getting away from football.
Speaker 2: But you know, we obviously just brought a football to
Speaker 2: to hold in touch and not forget what it feels like.
Speaker 3: But uh, that that was about it. We didn't throw
Speaker 3: or anything, so we got away.
Speaker 8: Chemistry with Christian McCaffrey. That throw to the right sideline
Speaker 8: that you kind of arped over, he said that it
Speaker 8: was you know, it was halfway there before he looked
Speaker 8: when he looked back to catch it. Is it just
Speaker 8: your trust in him that you've already had built up
Speaker 8: from the past that you knew he was going to
Speaker 8: be there.
Speaker 3: For sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we've ran that route, you know, so
Speaker 2: many times from camp to games in the past, and
Speaker 2: obviously it just goes to you know, a testament to
Speaker 2: you know, his detail, Like I know where he's going
Speaker 2: to be because every time he runs that practice on
Speaker 2: air against a defender, like he just he gives me
Speaker 2: an indicator like there's like subtle movements because he does
Speaker 2: it constantly. And so for me in that moment, it
Speaker 2: was just all about trust because I knew where he
Speaker 2: was supposed to be and how he runs the route,
Speaker 2: and you know, that's the kind of guy he is.
Speaker 2: So he's he you know, has set those kinds of
Speaker 2: plays up for me. So if it is off schedule
Speaker 2: or anything, I know where he's supposed to be. And
Speaker 2: so that's just the chemistry and trust that we've built,
Speaker 2: and you know, hopefully we can continue to have that
Speaker 2: going forward.
Speaker 1: Last week because he obviously hasn't practiced much in the
Speaker 1: last couple of months.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'd we'd ran it last week at practice, but
Speaker 2: going back to you know, watching last year and then
Speaker 2: the reps that he did have at camp early on,
Speaker 2: like uh, those were all those are all.
Speaker 3: Reps that we've gotten together.
Speaker 2: So once he came back, we're like, all right, this
Speaker 2: plays back up and we're like all right, sweet.
Speaker 7: So a little bit at his faith and like how
Speaker 7: certain things have happened to him since the shooting or
Speaker 7: with the shooting that like he just doesn't think our coincidences.
Speaker 8: I don't know.
Speaker 7: Does he talk to you about that at all or
Speaker 7: if not, Like, do you like kind of feel the
Speaker 7: same way when you look at his story.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's talked about it to me, and I totally
Speaker 2: agree with him, man, And obviously I'm a believer in God,
Speaker 2: and and uh, you know, to see him go through
Speaker 2: that and then to get back and just the story
Speaker 2: that he has, like I'm not like, there's no way
Speaker 2: that's just a coincidence. Like that's just my firm belief.
Speaker 2: And I know he's told me that, and he told
Speaker 2: all the guys that, and to see him back playing
Speaker 2: and in his story, man, it's it's something bigger than football.
Speaker 2: It's bigger than you know, what we're doing here right now.
Speaker 2: It's it's way bigger than that. We're still sort of
Speaker 2: trying to figure it out and we'll see what happens
Speaker 2: with it all. But uh, yeah, if you ask us
Speaker 2: if it was God, so thank God