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Speaker 1: Good morning, Mike. How are you, sir doing well? How

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Speaker 1: are you both doing? We're doing okay. Coach Jalen said

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Speaker 1: that it was just unacceptable that you had to address

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Speaker 1: the team and talk about their effort. Uh. He said

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Speaker 1: that yesterday. How disappointing is is that the most disappointing

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Speaker 1: thing for a coach to have to bring up effort?

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Speaker 1: You can talk about scheme or not making a play,

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Speaker 1: but is effort not being there the most disappointing thing

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Speaker 1: for a coach to bring up? Well, I mean, I'm

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Speaker 1: not totally in tune with with Jalen's conversation or or

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Speaker 1: the quoteure you're referring to, wow, But as you do

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Speaker 1: every time you talk to your team after a game,

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Speaker 1: you go through the specifics of the performance. And then

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Speaker 1: one of the things that we've been inconsistent with, UM

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Speaker 1: is our finish. So UM, you know, I you know,

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Speaker 1: effort and finish not I don't want to get into

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Speaker 1: word battles here, but you know, the finish, particularly at

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Speaker 1: the end of the game, it wasn't where clearly where

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Speaker 1: it needed to be. But you know, it's no one

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Speaker 1: likes where we are, um clearly. But I mean I

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Speaker 1: think It's like all components of the game of football.

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Speaker 1: You're always you're always evaluating, grading, and you're always pushing

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Speaker 1: your team to be better. And that's definitely an area

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Speaker 1: we need to improve in. Speaking of effort, finish, is

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Speaker 1: that something that you know, all teams may go through

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Speaker 1: at some point, at some point in the year. You

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Speaker 1: may not be happy with the effort that they put

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Speaker 1: forth that game. You may not be happy with the finish.

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Speaker 1: Not just an isolated incident here. Well, to me, it's

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Speaker 1: a coordinated it's the coordinated finish, you know, the coordinated effort.

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Speaker 1: It's you know, you know, because I think it's the evaluation.

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Speaker 1: And I clearly understand your responsibility and as far as

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Speaker 1: your questions and your approaches and which which which you

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Speaker 1: need to do. But just when you start throwing words

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Speaker 1: like energy and and and you know, finish and effort

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Speaker 1: in on a whole defense, I mean that that's not

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Speaker 1: going assistant and that's not accurate. So I think you

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Speaker 1: have to look at it how it pertains that the game,

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Speaker 1: particularly segments of the game, situations of the game. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, really our issues on defense, we're really our

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Speaker 1: first two situation calls is really where the first two

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Speaker 1: big plays come out. So I think it's important to

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Speaker 1: stay in tune with the reality of what went on,

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Speaker 1: you know, because there's there's things that go on during

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Speaker 1: the course of the game. They are not always evident

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Speaker 1: on film or or to the people outside of the

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Speaker 1: team structure. So, um, you know, I always looked at

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Speaker 1: Finnish pursuit the defense and your coverage units on special

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Speaker 1: teams for suit and finish, and cover it is for

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Speaker 1: the offense covering the football and the return units and finish.

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Speaker 1: It's we we we classified it as one of the

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Speaker 1: one of the fundamentals of footballs. So you're always working

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Speaker 1: to prove your fundamentals. And we're three and nine football team,

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Speaker 1: and you know, it's definitely a focus for US. Coach.

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Speaker 1: You told us, I think it was in week three. Look,

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Speaker 1: we've we've simplified the defense, You've obviously changed personnel. What

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Speaker 1: what are some of the overall reasons that the defense

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Speaker 1: continues to struggle in your mind besides coordinated finish? Is

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Speaker 1: it is it still scheme or guys still confused or

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Speaker 1: do you maybe just don't have the right personnel in

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Speaker 1: certain spots. Well, I think it's like anything. We've had

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Speaker 1: a lot of change. Um, you know, we've had a

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Speaker 1: lot of change on offense, and you know, we've had

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Speaker 1: a lot of change on defense. You know, we've the

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Speaker 1: interior line has gone through you know, a lot of

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Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of change. Our secondaries is changing,

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Speaker 1: you know, with the challenges of injuries and so forth,

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Speaker 1: and and so to be coordinated, um schematically, fundamentally, and

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Speaker 1: you know, that's that's why you practice. That's why all

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Speaker 1: season programs are so important. You know, in my opinion

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Speaker 1: that really since twenty eleven, I mean this is this

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Speaker 1: is been a bigger challenge in our league. And that's

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Speaker 1: why the offseason program and training camp is so important

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Speaker 1: because hell, everybody can get your first twenty two guys

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Speaker 1: ready to play with you know, it's it's really you know,

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Speaker 1: from twenty two to fifty three in this case, twenty

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Speaker 1: two to seventy the men that you have in your building.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's the group you have to make sure

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Speaker 1: that you know they're ready, because it's always been an

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Speaker 1: approach of mine, started back in oh six. You know,

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Speaker 1: you're when you're a young football team, you got to

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Speaker 1: make sure you have your structure and your program set

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Speaker 1: up for rookies because there are guys that are going

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Speaker 1: to be playing in December. You know, football and these

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Speaker 1: are the most important games. So you know, we're we

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Speaker 1: have some experience at different spots and it's it's just

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Speaker 1: getting it all coordinated together. Mike McCarthy was Shawn and

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Speaker 1: RJ right here on the fan. Coach. You know that

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Speaker 1: everything is under fire at three and nine, including your

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. And there's a narrative that Mike Nolan is

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Speaker 1: still here because he hired you in San fran you

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Speaker 1: return the favor buddy buddy system, whatever you want to

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Speaker 1: call it. What do you say to that narrative with

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Speaker 1: Mike Nolan still your your defensive coordinator, it's because you

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Speaker 1: guys are really good friends. UM, I don't. I don't

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Speaker 1: look at that as I mean, there's a professional responsibility

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Speaker 1: that that. I would think all coaches that here too.

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Speaker 1: I know I do. UM. When you're giving an opportunity,

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Speaker 1: especially the opportunity to be the head coach at Dallas Cowboys,

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Speaker 1: you know there's there's a hiring process. You're you're putting

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Speaker 1: together a staff upon fifth you know, I went with

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Speaker 1: a different approach this year as I did in prior years. Um,

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Speaker 1: I went with newer people. Um, you know, I was

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Speaker 1: as at one place for a long time. I felt

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Speaker 1: that I needed some you know, fresh new experiences and

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Speaker 1: and took that approach not only in scheme design and

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Speaker 1: some of the other things that we're trying to still

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Speaker 1: implement program wise, but also is the case in the

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Speaker 1: in the hiring of the staff. Um, I obviously didn't notice,

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Speaker 1: and we have a pandemic coming after the after the

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Speaker 1: you know, staff hiring process. But yeah, I wouldn't. I

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Speaker 1: would not say that's an accurate Um, I don't agree

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Speaker 1: with the opinion coach. Why why do you feel that

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Speaker 1: he still is the right coach of the job. Well,

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Speaker 1: I think our staff as a whole is not where

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Speaker 1: we need to be. And that's ultimately my responsibility. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's you know, um, we're going through things for the

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Speaker 1: first time, and as all first year staff do, but

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Speaker 1: there there is not a lot of continuity between coaches

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Speaker 1: because most of us have not worked together before. So

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Speaker 1: and so when you talk about development, it doesn't just

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Speaker 1: it doesn't just stop at young players development. You're you're

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Speaker 1: developing a program, a system, you know, coordinating things that

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Speaker 1: that have been here in the past. I mean, have

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Speaker 1: a training staff, it's been together a long time. But

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Speaker 1: you know, we're not doing things exactly how they were

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Speaker 1: done for the last twenty years. I mean you're trying

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Speaker 1: to coordinate and that put it all together. That's that's

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Speaker 1: you know, that's part of building a program. So and

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Speaker 1: that's that's It's no different in all phases, especially with

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Speaker 1: the coaching staff. Mike. We know you're not an excuse guy,

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Speaker 1: but like you said, you didn't know a freaking pandemic

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Speaker 1: was coming, and there's no way to predict how the season.

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Speaker 1: God has some of the has some of the pandemic

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Speaker 1: factors been more or bigger issue than you even could

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Speaker 1: have anticipated before the season when you were going through

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Speaker 1: the off season stuff and the virtual and the zoom meetings. Uh,

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Speaker 1: how much of a surprise factor has the pandemic been

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Speaker 1: during the season with how much it hinders you? I think,

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Speaker 1: you know we're all going through this, you know, throughout

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Speaker 1: the throughout the league, and I think it's I don't

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Speaker 1: think people were talking about it publicly, but it's it's

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Speaker 1: a it's a huge challenge on on a number of

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Speaker 1: different fronts. Number One, the landscape has continue to change.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the protocols have consistently changed throughout the season.

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Speaker 1: So you're you know, you're always you know, just in

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Speaker 1: this and just in that. And you know, some teams

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Speaker 1: have been virtual earlier than this process and so forth,

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Speaker 1: and some teams have handled all it better. I mean fact,

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Speaker 1: I think our biggest challenge has been the combination of

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Speaker 1: the pandemic and any injuries. You know, it's just, um,

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Speaker 1: we we've we've really struggled to build any consistency throughout

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Speaker 1: our football team. Um, the most consistent unit on our

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Speaker 1: team as our special teams, and and if you look

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Speaker 1: at look at the group, it's the group that has

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Speaker 1: played the most together. You know, it's practiced the most together.

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Speaker 1: So that's been our biggest challenge, um in my perspective.

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Speaker 1: But the pandemic has it's created a lot of a

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Speaker 1: lot of issues because you know, it's new, it's it's

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Speaker 1: something that's never we've never been before, you know, through before,

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Speaker 1: you know, not only as a society, especially as as

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Speaker 1: a football operations. So it's a it's an energy vampire

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Speaker 1: on a lot of different fronts, and and and it

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Speaker 1: comes at you from angles you you probably wouldn't even

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Speaker 1: think of. And that's you know, that's the battle of

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Speaker 1: of having a professional you know, um football game for

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Speaker 1: you know, football season fighting through this. But like I said,

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Speaker 1: everybody's going through it, and and uh, some teams were

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Speaker 1: handling bet Oran others Mike McCarthy, Jonas here one oh

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Speaker 1: five through the fan coach, take us through the decision

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Speaker 1: to put Cheeto on the COVID list. He hadn't tested

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Speaker 1: positive at the time. Uh, what was the why why

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Speaker 1: did you guys decide to do that? Well, I mean

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Speaker 1: we all understand this is all regulated by the league

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Speaker 1: and in the in the medical um you know, the

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Speaker 1: coordination with the medical people from the league office. So

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is a decision that was made based

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Speaker 1: on the acts of you know, of Tito. It was

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Speaker 1: it was was exposed and UM, you know, I don't

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Speaker 1: we don't make that decision based on who goes on

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Speaker 1: the list and who comes off the list. That's that's

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Speaker 1: all regulated by the league office. Is he out for Sunday?

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Speaker 1: It's um, it hasn't been confirmed, but there's a chance

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Speaker 1: he will be out for Sunday. Coach. You know, the

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Speaker 1: the the testing procedure. It looks the way I read

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Speaker 1: the report over the weekend or yesterday, I should say

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Speaker 1: is that the players are tested game day morning, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes you don't get the test results in time for

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Speaker 1: the game that day. Is that how it works. I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna get into specifics of the protocol I'm not

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Speaker 1: that's not my round one of responsibility. So I don't

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Speaker 1: know what report you're reading, but it's uh, like I was,

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Speaker 1: I canna tell you, is that the protocols um have

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Speaker 1: have have adjusted throughout the season. Um. I think Terry

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Speaker 1: has done exceptional job here, you know, locally she you know,

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Speaker 1: living the families, Um, you know, testing the families every

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Speaker 1: day and just trying to create a safer, you know,

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Speaker 1: as safe as environment as possible. What worries you about

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati on Sunday, Well, it's you know, it's a talent

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Speaker 1: football team. I'm gonna do young in spots, but you know,

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Speaker 1: it's it's it's a challenge. You look at the matchups

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Speaker 1: and you know, I'm more focused Friday, so I'm more

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Speaker 1: good into you know, what we're doing and make sure

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Speaker 1: we need to have this really be our first realistic

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Speaker 1: practice today. You know, We've been in walk through mode yesterday,

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Speaker 1: so I mean, we can't go super long because coming

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Speaker 1: off of the Tuesday night game, So I'm more focused

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Speaker 1: on the you know, conceptionally what we're doing, and make

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Speaker 1: sure we have a good day of practice and get

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Speaker 1: it cleaned up and because obviously we'll be traveling tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Last one, coach, it's a big deal around here as

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Speaker 1: America's team to not be in the spotlight. You guys

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Speaker 1: got flexed with San Francisco out of the week fifteen game. Uh,

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Speaker 1: do you have any comment or react to the league

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Speaker 1: making that decision and having you guys play at noon

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Speaker 1: instead because of the way the season is gone. No,

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Speaker 1: I don't have any comment on that. Obviously, I don't

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Speaker 1: like it, none of us like it, but it's it's

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Speaker 1: a product for where we are currently as a football team. Coach,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much. We appreciate your time and honesty.

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Speaker 1: As always, have a good day and good luck on

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Speaker 1: Sunday and since all right,