Speaker 1: He's had a touchdown catch call back. We've seen what
Speaker 1: he can do as a ballcarrier.
Speaker 2: What kind of potential does he have as a receiver.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's got just good skills with seeing
Speaker 3: the defense and a good feel. So when he's running
Speaker 3: these you know, choice routes and stuff from the backfield,
Speaker 3: he understands where the quarterback needs to put the ball
Speaker 3: and then from there he's able to make plays.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: Obviously, he's he's great with shedding tackles and making plays
Speaker 3: after the catch and the yak that comes with it,
Speaker 3: and so he's got a lot of potential with it.
Speaker 3: We's got to continue to grow in that area together
Speaker 3: and and give him some opportunities. But from what we've
Speaker 3: done so far, even dating back to last year, he's
Speaker 3: made you know, some catches and stuff last year out
Speaker 3: of the backfield as well, and so I'm really happy
Speaker 3: for him, and I know that, you know, we still
Speaker 3: have to continue to get better together.
Speaker 4: The process, you and the running back being on the
Speaker 4: same page as far as those choice routes and just
Speaker 4: you know, having an understanding of.
Speaker 2: Where he's going to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, like you can drop a play on paper,
Speaker 3: but when everything is live and it's going full speed
Speaker 3: against another defense and stuff. There's another component of understanding
Speaker 3: where you need to be and how you need to
Speaker 3: run your route based off of leverage and all those
Speaker 3: kinds of things, and especially as a running back coming
Speaker 3: out of the backfield, that's such a big thing. Obviously,
Speaker 3: Christian is probably the best in the league to do it,
Speaker 3: and so for JP to jump in those shoes and
Speaker 3: try it out and feel it out, he's done a
Speaker 3: great job. And it's not easy. You know. We've seen
Speaker 3: some running backs where you really can't do that kind
Speaker 3: of stuff because we've seen that practice and stuff, because
Speaker 3: it's it's hard for them to read defenses and and
Speaker 3: all that. But JP's got a great feel. He's a natural,
Speaker 3: and he's got great hands. You have to be able
Speaker 3: to catch the ball smoothly in transition, and he does
Speaker 3: that really well. So I'm excited to see what we
Speaker 3: can do with them.
Speaker 1: If you guys, an offense still had a lot of
Speaker 1: success abouly, but maybe it looks a little different than
Speaker 1: it has in the past in terms of pushing the
Speaker 1: ball down the field more. Maybe if you're more tight
Speaker 1: those what are you seeing from defenses that maybe is
Speaker 1: kind of changing the way you have to go about
Speaker 1: getting that. And is that something that you think pertains
Speaker 1: to you guys specifically or is it just kind of
Speaker 1: team specific and the defenses they are facing.
Speaker 3: I would say it's more team specific. You know, everyone
Speaker 3: everybody sort of has a style of how they play.
Speaker 3: You know, Minnesota did their their zone coverages and everything
Speaker 3: like that were brought all out. You know, last week
Speaker 3: against the Patriots, they did a good job of playing
Speaker 3: man and funneling everything to the middle. So like there's
Speaker 3: different themes every week. You know, obviously they're gonna scheme
Speaker 3: us up and try to do what's best for them
Speaker 3: and stopping us with the playmakers that we have. But
Speaker 3: at the same time, I do feel like there may
Speaker 3: be a theme of you know, man coverage and and
Speaker 3: try to play one on one football. We got that
Speaker 3: from the Rams, we got that last week with the Patriots,
Speaker 3: So like we we do see it more and more
Speaker 3: to get man and so for us, what does that mean?
Speaker 3: We just got to beat the guy in front of us.
Speaker 3: And then for me as a quarterback, I got to
Speaker 3: be accurate with the ball and we got to execute
Speaker 3: you know, that's It's just that's football at its finest,
Speaker 3: and so I feel like we we may see that
Speaker 3: a little bit more, But at the same time, you
Speaker 3: never know, because every defense has their different style. So
Speaker 3: hopeful defenses.
Speaker 1: Are purposely like bucking up the middle of the field
Speaker 1: a little bit more in terms of trying to take
Speaker 1: away some of the intermediate crossers and things that you've
Speaker 1: kind of been a living off.
Speaker 3: Of for s couple of years.
Speaker 4: No, I.
Speaker 3: Agree that they are. You know, I feel like my
Speaker 3: rookie year and uh that twenty twenty two season, even
Speaker 3: with Jimmy Man, we hit a lot of stuff over
Speaker 3: the middle, and we had a lot of explosives like
Speaker 3: that and cross courting plays and getting the ball in
Speaker 3: the in the like Debo and Ba's hands and then
Speaker 3: you know, they break it one tackle and they're gone.
Speaker 3: And so I feel like we do see a lot
Speaker 3: more help and stuff in the middle of the field,
Speaker 3: for sure, But at the same time that opens up
Speaker 3: other things and avenues and areas for us to get
Speaker 3: better and attack. And so some defenses do that, some don't,
Speaker 3: And so I guess that's something that we've seen over
Speaker 3: the last year or so. But we have to adjust. Man,
Speaker 3: that's football.
Speaker 4: You guys have a twenty five career regular season starts. Now,
Speaker 4: where have you seen or recognize the biggest growth that
Speaker 4: you've made during that time? And then what's the next
Speaker 4: step for you to take it into you higher level?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, over the last year, so
Speaker 3: it's it's been about getting in and executing and doing
Speaker 3: my job well. And I feel like when I first
Speaker 3: got in, it was, you know, all right, how can
Speaker 3: I handle this offense as a whole, just mentally with
Speaker 3: how Kyle calls it and the language that it is.
Speaker 3: That's it's tough, man, and you got to study. You
Speaker 3: got to be on top of your stuff. And I
Speaker 3: feel like I've grown in that area for sure. And
Speaker 3: then I think, just for myself, the challenge for me
Speaker 3: now is, man, how can I continue to have that
Speaker 3: mentality of having the chip on my shoulder and competing
Speaker 3: every every down in the game for four quarters. I
Speaker 3: feel like when I first got in my rookie year,
Speaker 3: there was this this energy of hey, I'm a young
Speaker 3: guy getting thrown in. Man, I'm gonna just show my
Speaker 3: guys that I can compete and bring it and bring
Speaker 3: it every down in every play and give our team
Speaker 3: a chance. And sometimes you know, like when you play
Speaker 3: for a long time, you can sort of lose that
Speaker 3: and get into the mental part of the game of
Speaker 3: I just I need to do this in the game
Speaker 3: or that in the game. But what it boils down
Speaker 3: to is, for four quarters man, how can can you
Speaker 3: compete and bring and elevate everybody else's game around you
Speaker 3: by doing what it takes to win and that simplicity
Speaker 3: of it. So I feel like that's still an area
Speaker 3: that I can learn from and grow and be reminded
Speaker 3: that that's what football is.
Speaker 5: So question your teammates.
Speaker 2: They believe in you is clear when they're asked about
Speaker 2: you and your abilities. But there's this crowd of people
Speaker 2: that they still.
Speaker 4: Want you to make a believer at or make you
Speaker 4: want you to make them a believer that you can
Speaker 4: do what it is that you can do.
Speaker 5: Do you ever listen to that kind of stuff and
Speaker 5: go out in a game and say, huh, like watch
Speaker 5: this or do you just block it all that?
Speaker 3: Yeah? No, I don't you know, buy into really what
Speaker 3: people say about me or what they believe about me.
Speaker 3: Like like I said before, all that matters is for
Speaker 3: me to come in, do my job really well, allow
Speaker 3: this offense to move and be the machine that it is,
Speaker 3: and go out and and win, find a way to win.
Speaker 3: And so if we're doing that, I mean, people can
Speaker 3: say all that they want, but if I I'm performing
Speaker 3: for my guys in the locker room and the coaches
Speaker 3: and the organization, that's all it matters. And so I
Speaker 3: continue to hang my hat on that. And and that's
Speaker 3: that's my mindset every game as I'm playing for these
Speaker 3: guys right here, no one else, like obviously are faithful
Speaker 3: in the fans and everything, but more than anything, man,
Speaker 3: the guys in the locker room that we go to
Speaker 3: work for work with every single day. And so you
Speaker 3: know that's my mindset. And then obviously if you watch
Speaker 3: the film and the games, then you see what you see.
Speaker 5: So early in the game, you hit Brandon on a
Speaker 5: crosser is kind of a deep cross. It's like fifth
Speaker 5: play and it's the route combination seemed really to make
Speaker 5: him wide open. What did you anticipate when you when
Speaker 5: you were going through that play the night before and
Speaker 5: did it shake out the way you thought it would?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I Mean they had two safeties split deep. They
Speaker 3: played cover two. Uh we had a guy on the
Speaker 3: outside running running off a corner and a safety and
Speaker 3: then all BA had to do was clear this Mike
Speaker 3: linebacker going deep in the middle of the field. And
Speaker 3: so as I'm dropping back going through my read, I'm like,
Speaker 3: all right, we got this. If I can get the
Speaker 3: ball out in front and bacross that linebacker, we should
Speaker 3: be good. And so, you know, the night before, we
Speaker 3: have our set of plays that we're going to try
Speaker 3: to run in the beginning of the game, and and
Speaker 3: I just try to go through every scenario with coverages
Speaker 3: and stuff of what's my answer if I get this
Speaker 3: coverage or that, And so with Cover two on that play,
Speaker 3: I was like, all right, if we get this, I
Speaker 3: just got to get enough time for bea to crossfield
Speaker 3: and it should be there, and sure enough it was.
Speaker 3: So that's just giving him this season. I mean, I
Speaker 3: feel like he's definitely a guy that you know, when
Speaker 3: defenses are scheming up our offense there they got a
Speaker 3: circle eleven and know that if you leave him one
Speaker 3: on one, you know there he's going to be a
Speaker 3: target at some point in the game. And so they
Speaker 3: do their best of you know, clouding putting his safety
Speaker 3: over the top and double teaming him and all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. But you know, for us, that's that's football.
Speaker 3: We still have plenty of opportunities for us to be
Speaker 3: able to get him the ball and stuff, and that's
Speaker 3: something that you know, throughout the game plans and stuff
Speaker 3: throughout the week, we still find a way to make
Speaker 3: it work. So I know we're gonna get in plenty
Speaker 3: of targets and plays coming, so we're excited about it.
Speaker 2: You kick more short field goals than you probably wanted
Speaker 2: to see in the first four games. I think you're
Speaker 2: fifty percent in the red zone and last year was
Speaker 2: like sixty eight. The obvious answer is the best red
Speaker 2: zone back in the league is not playing. But what
Speaker 2: other things do you see that you guys can get
Speaker 2: in the end zone the kind of frequency you did
Speaker 2: last year.
Speaker 3: Man, I mean, I know it sounds pretty cliche, but
Speaker 3: I think just the simple executing your job, you know,
Speaker 3: and everybody doing their part. There's there's been everybody sort
Speaker 3: of had their moments in the red zone, including myself
Speaker 3: with the reads protection guys picking up certain guys, and
Speaker 3: that's what it comes down to.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: It takes eleven guys to do their job really well
Speaker 3: and then for us to be on point when it
Speaker 3: comes to the throw and catch, and so that's what
Speaker 3: it comes down to. Obviously, I think being able to
Speaker 3: run the ball in is a huge thing, and so
Speaker 3: when it comes down to third down and stuff, we
Speaker 3: just have to execute better in the red zone. And
Speaker 3: that's that's what it comes down to. And that's why,
Speaker 3: you know, we haven't executed the way we've wanted to
Speaker 3: at our standard, and that's why we've had to kick
Speaker 3: so many field goals. But you know, everybody just has
Speaker 3: to do their job. You learn early throughout the season
Speaker 3: of what it takes and it's not just given to
Speaker 3: you down there. Especially down there, everything's tighter. So we
Speaker 3: just got to be on point and uh and learn
Speaker 3: from mistakes and push each other in that area.
Speaker 1: So maybe more so than most is really obsessed with
Speaker 1: like what he puts in his body and health and
Speaker 1: all that is that. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Maybe you can speak to as far as every notice
Speaker 3: that and those guys like him and Kittle and Christian,
Speaker 3: have they influenced you as far as you know what
Speaker 3: it takes to save this game for I mean, you
Speaker 3: see the longevity of you know, you check and for
Speaker 3: how old he is, because he's extremely old. Uh just yeah,
Speaker 3: for how long he's been playing seriously at a high
Speaker 3: level and he still looks great and feels great and
Speaker 3: he's there at every practice and every game and every moment. Man,
Speaker 3: he's there. Juice is there and so so obviously the
Speaker 3: way he prepares and what he puts into his body
Speaker 3: is real. Same with George Christian fred Bosa, like all
Speaker 3: these guys, man, the best of the best. Every little
Speaker 3: thing matters sleep, hydration, nutrition, Those are things that they
Speaker 3: hone on and we see it literally every day in
Speaker 3: the cafeteria of what they put into their body and
Speaker 3: how some things can make your body inflamed and not
Speaker 3: recover fast as fast and that's why they're eating so
Speaker 3: clean and stuff. So they're a testament to that. I've
Speaker 3: definitely learned from them. Obviously I want to continue to
Speaker 3: get better in that area and as my career goes on.
Speaker 3: But he's a testament to it. So he's the best
Speaker 3: to do it.
Speaker 5: You said to.
Speaker 2: Debo after that play that you could have led him
Speaker 2: a little bit more. What did you see from that
Speaker 2: play when you were in it, and then afterwards watching the.
Speaker 3: Film, Yeah, I still believe that. You know, if I
Speaker 3: would have just let him in and tried, I think
Speaker 3: that's a touchdown. But obviously the safety that was in
Speaker 3: the middle of the field wasn't getting deep and we
Speaker 3: had a post on which in which Debo ran really well.
Speaker 3: And you know, for me, I I saw him so
Speaker 3: open that I didn't want to overthrow them. I did
Speaker 3: that last year against the Rams. There's some plays where
Speaker 3: I've underthrown them too, and so I was just trying
Speaker 3: to get a completion. But in hindsight, man, it's like, man,
Speaker 3: I got to be aggressive. I got to lead him
Speaker 3: and stride and trust him more than anything for him
Speaker 3: to go and make that play. And so that's what
Speaker 3: I meant by it. So I just I wish I
Speaker 3: would have let him and I would have been a touchdown,
Speaker 3: but JP finished it either way.
Speaker 5: So and you've confirmed it after you watch the.
Speaker 3: Film, correct, Yeah, So.
Speaker 2: One more rocket after its best started in almost twenty
Speaker 2: five years.
Speaker 4: Care to comment on the unbeaten Iowa state cyclone?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah? Uh? Man? Just what coach Campbell's done over there,
Speaker 3: what he believes in all the guys that he's got
Speaker 3: rallied going. They got really good players, they got a
Speaker 3: good team, good culture. I'm pumped for him. So I
Speaker 3: just hope they keep going. I know they will. They're
Speaker 3: going to compete every every Saturday and bring their best
Speaker 3: and uh man, am I proud to be a cyclone
Speaker 3: and see them have their success. So thanks God,