Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The
Speaker 1: Commanders secured their defensive deal upfront after signing defensive tackle
Speaker 1: Duran Payne to a four year deal. Payne total to
Speaker 1: season high eleven and a half sacks and sixty four
Speaker 1: tackles in his first Pro Bowl season. I sat down
Speaker 1: with former first round pick out of Alabama to get
Speaker 1: his reaction to staying in Washington, and of course we
Speaker 1: begin this show with nothing other than the big man,
Speaker 1: Duran Payne finally getting this deal done. Duran, congratulations, thank you?
Speaker 1: When does this think it? Because I don't know that
Speaker 1: we were really anticipating or expecting this to be the
Speaker 1: result when they tagged you. I don't know. I thought
Speaker 1: I was talking to my agent. He was like, as
Speaker 1: it sucking yet I was like, nah, maybe I just
Speaker 1: think you when I actually see you. So, you know,
Speaker 1: when they tagged you, I think we kind of said, okay,
Speaker 1: this is just the circumstances that this offseason is going
Speaker 1: to have for you. How did the conversations and when
Speaker 1: those come about to say, no, wait a second, were
Speaker 1: making sure that your future is right here and making
Speaker 1: you the second highest paid at your position. I mean
Speaker 1: the whole time, Coach Ron told me that they was
Speaker 1: gonna get the job done for me, that they might
Speaker 1: have to tag me, but they still was gonna do it.
Speaker 1: So I'm just happy that we was able to get
Speaker 1: it done quick and not can just think about football. Yeah,
Speaker 1: go out there, train hard and get ready to put
Speaker 1: on another good season. I feel like it was kind
Speaker 1: of like the big elephant in the room all last season,
Speaker 1: especially as those sack numbers kind of kept adding up.
Speaker 1: How much of this has been on your mind throughout
Speaker 1: last year? I mean last year, I was really just
Speaker 1: focused on playing good ball, and everything just started playing
Speaker 1: playing to itself. So I just like, you know, I
Speaker 1: might as well just have fun making plays, and it
Speaker 1: all just played up. Coach said that you set the
Speaker 1: example no, certainly with your play, but also that you
Speaker 1: stuck to your word. What was your word? I just
Speaker 1: told them. I know they didn't want to. I was
Speaker 1: kind of upset because they didn't want to do a
Speaker 1: contract and they didn't offer me, So I just told
Speaker 1: them that I showed them. I showed them why why
Speaker 1: I deserve to be here, and that's what I did.
Speaker 1: How much of that actually impacted what you did on
Speaker 1: the field, then, I mean I just took it into
Speaker 1: the off season and users as motivation, like train hard
Speaker 1: and I know, like when I'm planning play harder. You
Speaker 1: first came in here fourteen and a half sacks to
Speaker 1: start out, and then all of a sudden, here you
Speaker 1: go this last year with eleven and a half setting
Speaker 1: the record since what try and Kerrigan did it back
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. Um? What and when did things really
Speaker 1: change for you when it comes to being able to
Speaker 1: kind of like up the game and get to the quarterback.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it really started in like that
Speaker 1: last bit of OTA's Like, I don't know, I just
Speaker 1: felt like I was gonna have a good year, Like
Speaker 1: I was moving good, felt good. Then when we got
Speaker 1: the training camp bills, like dang, I didn't do a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of things. So that's when it really started
Speaker 1: to take off. You talk about finishing, So what was
Speaker 1: the difference in finishing getting the quarterback to the ground
Speaker 1: and not running faster? Nah, My first couple of years,
Speaker 1: I always used to like I used to get back there,
Speaker 1: but I might WHI on the tackle run past a quarterback.
Speaker 1: He might put a move on me. But this year,
Speaker 1: I was able to get him well, last year, I
Speaker 1: was able to get him in. Just capitalize one all
Speaker 1: my good stuff your coaches, Ryan Kerrigan joins the realm.
Speaker 1: I'm quite familiar with him as his teammate. But then
Speaker 1: also Coachy. How much did they kind of help you
Speaker 1: this past year? A whole bunch, man. I always just
Speaker 1: look to Coachy. He always works with me every day
Speaker 1: to work on like different moves and different techniques. And
Speaker 1: then I always got you know, Ryan, he's real quiet,
Speaker 1: So he might just be in the back of the
Speaker 1: room just smiling looking at him like, yeah, he's doing
Speaker 1: doing your thing, or he might just give me some
Speaker 1: tips on how to counter or do a little different things.
Speaker 1: But it's just good having a bit like Ryan in
Speaker 1: the room. Eleven and a half sacks. The expectation now
Speaker 1: that of course you do have this long term deal,
Speaker 1: is that, okay, what's how do you follow that up
Speaker 1: to try to do it again and go back out
Speaker 1: here this offseason, train a little bit harder, come back
Speaker 1: in with the right mindset, and then and just try
Speaker 1: to go out there and make plays. If I talk
Speaker 1: to some of the coaches around here and they taught
Speaker 1: me about your game. They said, there's still another level
Speaker 1: to what you're capable of doing. I hope, So, I hope,
Speaker 1: So I know, I know. I definitely don't feel like
Speaker 1: i've him my stri yet. I feel I got room
Speaker 1: to grow, room to improve a lot of things that
Speaker 1: I can work on this offseason to become a better player.
Speaker 1: I feel like that's why I like playing in the NFL,
Speaker 1: because it's like you're not always like you're not always done.
Speaker 1: You get another week to be better, and that's what
Speaker 1: I try to do every week to be better than
Speaker 1: I was this last year. You got to go to
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl for your play as well. When we
Speaker 1: were talking out there, you're commenting that you were the
Speaker 1: strongest player out there. Where do you think your game
Speaker 1: is in ranks amongst your position? I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: up there. I'm up there with the best of them.
Speaker 1: My flight can go to any NFL team and play
Speaker 1: with play with anybody. That's what it is. You're playing
Speaker 1: alongside John Allen as well, and of course you have
Speaker 1: Chased and montesas they're on the outside. Um, what can
Speaker 1: you say about this D line and how important it
Speaker 1: was for them to try and keep you guys together.
Speaker 1: Me and Jay, we've been playing together so long and
Speaker 1: we just like I know, I was just looking at
Speaker 1: some highlight tapes. It's like he knows when I'm about
Speaker 1: to make a move and he'll work off me. And
Speaker 1: I know what kind of moves he liked to make.
Speaker 1: So it's like we've been we'd already put in so
Speaker 1: much work together. We already know each other. We can
Speaker 1: just play fast off each other. And I know before
Speaker 1: every game he always telled me, let's go make all
Speaker 1: the players and then we ain't got to worry about nothing.
Speaker 1: So that's what we try to do. And the other
Speaker 1: guys months and chase them. Boys, they really special and
Speaker 1: like it's just a bunch of fun being able to
Speaker 1: play with them. All right. I do not want to
Speaker 1: be a quarterback having to face you guys this upcoming season,
Speaker 1: knowing that especially the D line is solidified for quite
Speaker 1: a few years, and especially with John Allen going forward.
Speaker 1: How are we celebrating? Ooh, I haven't gotten that far yet.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm the I'm gonna find something to do.
Speaker 1: I might say my family on vacation. Someone wish there
Speaker 1: you go. That's a good one. Share it with the family. Congratulations,
Speaker 1: well observed. We're excited to keep you here in DC. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Thank A quick programming note. At the end of the
Speaker 1: month Command Center, we'll be leaving NBC Sports Washington, but
Speaker 1: don't worry. That does not mean the show is coming
Speaker 1: to an end. We will continue to deliver you fans
Speaker 1: the best content involving your favorite team. You can watch
Speaker 1: new episodes at Command Center each week on the team's
Speaker 1: website and YouTube channel.