Chargers Weekly: Denzel Perryman Talks Trevor Lawrence & Jaguars

On this episode of Chargers Weekly, Bolts radio play-by-play announcer Matt “Money” Smith and host Chris Hayre recap the latest news involving LA and the entire NFL. The hosts are joined by linebacker Denzel Perryman, who talks about his impressive performance on defense vs the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10, his mindset as a veteran role model for rookie teammates including safety RJ Mickens and cornerback Nikko Reed, and his expectations for facing quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday. Presented by Splitero.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Late fifteen to ten touchdown. Such what's up, guys, Welcome
into a brand new episode of Chargers Weekly. We are
presented by SPLITTERO as always, joined by the voice of
the Chargers, Matt Muney Smith. The Chargers headed to duvall

(00:21):
on Sunday but four and O now on primetime they
beat the Steelers twenty five to ten, improved to seven
and three, six and one in the AFC, and money
four to oh in primetime.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Number one, it would have been professional to me to
take that sip of water before we hit the air,
but that's just kind of the way I operate. It's okay,
number two, I believe you mispronounced duvall IV. There you go.
That is where we are headed, and it's a big one.
Obviously we're gonna preview it and get into it, but
I think I'll open with this by giving credit where

(00:52):
it is due. Aaron Schatz, who you should follow on
all social media channels, says this game is the highest
combine leverage playoff odds we have seen this year. Jaguars
fifty seven percent with a win, nineteen percent making the
playoffs with a loss. Chargers a win puts them at
ninety one percent versus fifty eight percent with a loss,

(01:16):
you're talking about a thirty almost thirty five percent spread
from win to loss for the Chargers, essentially punching your
ticket versus ooh, that's a tiebreaker. Got some work to do,
a little bit of a tough schedule ahead of them.
So same thing we said against the Steelers, right like,
it felt like a playoff game with the tiebreaker implications,
and they came out and throttled them, And hopefully we

(01:38):
see more of that on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Everything's falling right as far as the AFC standings are concerned.
For the Chargers. You start the season three and zero.
You beat teams like the Steelers, you beat the Jags,
you proved to eight and three. Two of the three
losses have come in the NFC to teams who are
coincidentally not playing so well. One of them fired their
coach this week with the Giants. So Chargers are sitting
pretty And by the way, Denzel Perriman's gonna join us

(02:02):
in a little bit awesome interview with Denzil So glad
to have him back in the lineup and playing at
a high level. But Mady, let's just kind of rewind
a little bit talk about that game on Sunday. I
think Charger fans has just taken it in the last
four days. The defense has really been the story the
last three weeks, and they just throttled their rodgers.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, I mean, and that's think about where we were,
you know, well I know where we were in this room,
but you know what we were talking about after the
loss to the Colts, where it was their third and
four games, the way Washington ran over them, the way
the Colts just seemingly got whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.
And you know, as we were doing that podcast in

(02:43):
this room downstairs, you had Khalil Mack in a press
conference essentially, you know, bringing out some lumber and saying,
this is how I'm going to operate, and neither of
these guys are gonna follow me, and they're gonna go
out there and they're going to be willing to sacrifice
everything on that field or I'll do it and they'll
have to drag me off the field. And from that
moment forward, his defense has just flipped a switch, you know,

(03:06):
and they've done it against a Vikings team that had
scored some points the week before. You know, obviously a
Tennessee team that only got six points against that defense,
fourteen from special teams in a pick six, and then
it was a Steelers team that had been operating pretty
efficiently and they completely shut him down three points essentially.
I don't count that garbage time touchdown. So I think

(03:27):
that's sort of what we hear from from coach Harbaugh,
from other players about how important Khalil Mack is to
this team, that that's the guy that had to say it,
that's the guy that had to put it out there.
You saw what happened to his arm, you know, in
that Raiders game, and what he's willing to go through
to get back out on that field, and how he
intends to play for the remainder of this season, what
it means to him, and I think everybody just kind

(03:48):
of got in line, and that's what we're seeing twenty
six points allowed in their last three games.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
He says it, but he also says, I don't want
to say it. I want to show you, and he did.
He started with the safety on Aaron Rodgers and nine.
The Seals were zero for nine on third down up
until like the very end of that fourth quarter, where
they got some garbage time third down conversion, so that
what they've been doing on third down getting after the quarterback.
I tell you what, losing a LOOHI Gilman. No one

(04:16):
want to see a Lowhi leave. But that trade has
been a win win for both Baltimore and for the
Charge to get a dafe away in here who had
two sacks against the Titans. Tully we talk about him
setting up people, but he has eight sacks this year
that trio and even Bud Bud got in the mix
with his first sax, so that that that edge. I
guess quartet, I guess you will if you will. They

(04:37):
played awesome on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, always been great. It's been a huge acquisition by
you know, Georgis and his staff and Chad Alexander and everyone,
and obviously familiarity with him former first round pick, a
guy that had double digit sacks, you know, a year
ago or it was a last year or the year before.
I think it was last year, And obviously that's a
premium position. And when you look at whatever was going

(04:59):
on with this team and the lack of pass rush,
lack of pressures, it was really Tully and obviously without Khalil,
nobody else, and all of a sudden, Khalil comes back.
They acquire Oway, and like you said with Bud, now
you have that rotation where you can keep guys fresh.
And you know when you get that, as we like
to call it the NASCAR package out there with Oway

(05:21):
and Tuley and Tier Tart and Khalil Mack, all guys
that can get upfield beat you with a variety of moves, power, rips, spins,
you name it. Man, it's it's really turned into something special.
And then go back to that game against Pittsburgh, Chris
and it was Toshawan Hand. I mean, the return of
desha Han DeShawn Hand cannot be overstated. Like those two sets,

(05:41):
the sack from Tully, the sack from Bud, it's Aaron
Rodgers climbing to get away from that immediate quick pressure
from Hand that led to those And so I think
there's something. I think Coach said it right that there's
just something about it being contagious and once they start
showing up, they just it starts snowballing a little bit.
And I feel like that's where we're at with this

(06:03):
front right now. And sacks.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
We talk about the Russian cover working together and a
couple of interceptions on air Rodgers Dante Jackson, his former team.
He gets a pick, but you know RJ Mickens back
to back primetime games with an interception, and it kind
of goes into that Adafe trade. You knew r J
Mickens was gonna get some more run. I believe, Coach
Harball said, Toty Jefferson a healthy scratch. RJ playing really

(06:26):
good ball on the back end.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, And I think you know, the way coach put
it was, you never have to tell him something twice
that if he makes a mistake, and we think about
that angle he took that first game after the trade Miami, right, yes,
against Miami against j chan And and that's it. I mean,
that's really the only time I can remember saying, Okay, Ricky,
you got to figure it out, you know, and sort
some things out. And since then he's been solid. Man.

(06:49):
You know, he takes good angles, keeps the top on
the defense, comes up and catches the ball, you know,
in a tip drill or when it's airmailed and it's
available for him, which is something that a lot of
defensive backs can't do. You know, they might be able
to cover, but they just don't have the hands. It's
why they're playing defensive back and out wide receiver. And
Mickens has proven man, if he's in the area, he's
gonna secure that thing and and give you a little

(07:10):
bit of a return as well. So that's that goes
a long way. And I think at this point going
into the week eleven, you know that's sort of I
remember coach saying it last year about tar Heeed Still
and Cam Hard. He's like, these guys aren't rookies anymore. Man.
You know that after about week five, you just kind
of realize, Yeah, this is what I do. I'm a
professional football player. And I think that's safe to say.

(07:32):
All the way up front and all the way in
the back, Jamari Caldwell feels like a ten year vet
up there.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Man.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
The way he makes plays and how he takes on
double teams and how he stacks and sheds like he
is just so good. It's it's crazy to think that
he's a rookie. And same thing I think with Mickens
and where these guys are at a Nico Reid with
the past with the PBu of the year, I was.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Gonna say I talked to Jamari in the locker after
the game, and we talked about, you know, r JD goes, Hey,
don't forget my guy, don't forget my Oregon duck. Yeah right,
timmate that that PBu was awesome, And Okay, those are
the flashes we saw in training camp in preseason come
to life on a big stage.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, I'm not going to see I'm going to be professional.
The like the thing with that Nico pass breakup on
the right sideline, it's a downfield throw. So and we know,
you know, why wasn't Nico drafted. One he's undersized a
little bit, and two he didn't run real well on
his Pro Day. And so when you think about defensive backs,
some teams have a rule, we're not drafting a guy

(08:28):
under six foot. Other teams have a rule, we're not
drafting a guy that's not in the four to four.
So now you're Nico and you're under six foot and
you're Pro Day, you're posting, you know, a bit of
a high time that a lot of people don't think
was indicative from what they saw on tape. But for
whatever reason, just at the worst time, it didn't go
right for him. And when you have a player like
that and it's a downfield throw and a guy's got
to step on you, how often do we see them

(08:50):
just put their head down and just try to catch
up And next thing you know, the guy stops short.
It's a PI and it's a forty yard penalty, and
or it's a completion because you don't know where the
ball is. Man as soon as he saw caut when
Austin's head start to turn, he turns that head and
he still got the burst to close and knock it down.
I mean, that's a that's a five year vet move
on that pass breakup, just having no panic. This is

(09:15):
what I do. Here's my fundamentals. His head's turning, I
got to turn my head, locate the ball, swat it down,
and it was. It was as impressive as is any
play we've seen from a corner this season.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, shout out to Nico in the defense. He flipped
the offense money. This was ug This is three to two,
then five to three felt like a baseball score.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
And then now it was Dodger Day. Tommy were in
the house, Tommy was in the Mark Walter so putting
on a show.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Tommy was rocking his his Philip Rivers jersey, which was
pretty cool. But Justin and Company got it rolling justin
twenty for thirty three, two hundred twenty yards in a touchdown,
Lad four for one oh seven, including that fifty eight
yarder and that first touchdown untouched sixteen yards out. That
kind of got things rolling. But I think Mickens Mickens
pick set that up.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, the pick set it up. And also everything that
Greg Roman had scripted set it up. Everything was going
to the outside. And you know, DJ is just he's
a he's a football profit. It's stupid. And I think
he might have said two plays before that, he's like,
hey man, they've been jabbing this team with those outside routes.
You watch, They're gonna bust them on a double move
inside and it will be wide open. And sure enough,

(10:23):
you know, Eccles had no chance. Yeah, I mean, lads
set it up perfectly. His feet got stuck in the
mud and there's Lad flashing open to score that touchdown.
And I think that's something to remember. You know, when
you're watching a game and you're like, oh, you know,
why why are they not completing these passes? Or can't
we fight it's like, yeah, it's it's a sixty minute production.
It's not a sprint. There's there's a reason why you

(10:44):
set some of these things up, just like running the ball.
And I thought the run pass balance was great in
this game. Camani ran fantastic in this game. Car Yeah,
and don't forget you know. I brought this up at
the end of the game because of you know what,
we were watching those final two series of just you're
up twenty five to three, so you're just going to
run the clock out, take four minutes off and call

(11:05):
it a day and not get anybody hurt or turn
the ball over. So it was twenty for ninety five,
it was. It was not you know, twenty five for
ninety five. So twenty for ninety five is almost five
per and I think, you know, you look at it
and it's three seven and you're like, oh, it wasn't
quite four per carry. No, it was. It was about
four to six a carry and a couple big runs

(11:27):
in there, elevens and twelves that really set the tone.
Not to mention, I don't know who was it the
I wish I could remember the guy's name that he
took out because I don't know if he had a tackle,
but man, you're talking about a guy in Yeah. See,
I don't have it on here because he didn't make
a tackle, but it's the goal line carry and I

(11:48):
want to get it right because not to put him
on blast or anything, but I just want to make
because it was such an odd name, and I remember
saying it as I was looking up. I was looking
up his name and it is oh see, I think
he might even be on the practice squad and was
a call up. So it's not even on here. But
the couy was three hundred and thirty pounds, a three
hundred and thirty pound defensive tackle that met him at

(12:10):
the one yard line and Keimani knocked him out, I
mean knocked him back three four yards.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Between Keimannie's pass protection and just being able to be
kind of that bell cow, we were not expecting Kimani
Videll to be one of the unsung heroes of this season,
having Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton in the fold from
the beginning of the year and now hopefully after the
buye you get Amarion back to pair him with Ki.
Kimani has proven.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Like looks like A one.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
We were talking about bringing another back in here a
month ago. That's not the case anymore. Number thirty has
earned his keep here in Powder Blue, and it was
really cool to see. And he's gonna go down to Jacksonville,
very close to his hometown in Georgia. I'm sure I'll
have a lot of family.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, he told us when he was here. I'm trying
to find this guy's name. I think they cut him.
I'm not kidding him. They cut him.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
He's not based on this play.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yes, he's not on any of the rosters, and I'm like, wow,
I think he he might. Yeah, they caught him, Uh yeah,
yeah they did.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
They do it to make room for Zon because it's Sey.
Yeah yeah, because they came in.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Black is who it was or yahweh Black I think
was his name, and I.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Bet it's not. Samuel took his bottle of the practice clay.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think so man, because he ain't on here anymore.
And so because I just wanted to get his weight,
that's all I was doing. I wasn't trying to put
him on blast. I was like, how because I think
he was listed at three thirty. I'm like, that guy
looks like he's three fifty and KIMMANI knocked him into tomorrow.
But yeah, look when you get when you think about
losing Nachi and losing Amari and Hampton, and you're like, okay,
how are we going to do this? And everyone's complaining

(13:41):
about Rocket Sanders and all that crud. Who's got like
one carry for negative three yards in Cleveland right now?
And and Kimani has just said, I got it, man,
It's all good. Yeah, We're we're good. And and I
think he's shown if you block it up, he's going
to get you what it's blocked for, you know, if
not maybe a tiny bit more. And then he's also
when we think about that one he bumped outside for

(14:02):
in your touchdown a couple of weeks ago against the Vikings,
and you know what he was able to do with
that touchdown run, He's also gonna get you a little
bit more. And that goes a long way. And I
think it's not a coincidence. The coach continually points out
how good he's been in past protection, that that that's
a big reason why he's getting twenty five carries and
Jared Patterson's only getting one because they can leave him
out there. You know, they trust him to protect Justin

(14:24):
and that way you can just stay on the field.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Another one hundred yard game for lead Q, five for
forty two, stiff arm in a stiff arm. He's just
he's had a really solid year. I know he had
that he had that one game where he wasn't target
I think it was Minnesota, But after that he bounced
back last week and then five for forty two this
past Sunday.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
And I'd love to see more of that, you know,
with with no Joe Alt, with the tackles and all
the help that you've got to kind of keep to
try to you know, keep your edges sound indeculous. And
Pipkins just those quick hitters, man, they were working quick hitters,
to tray quick hitters, to queue quick hitters to lad,
you know, keep it going. Just if teams are gonna,

(15:06):
you know, if teams are going to play the way
that the Steelers wanted to play and just pin their
ears back and come after you because they're you know,
Justin is on an historic rate for being pressured. I mean,
he very well could end this season as the most
pressured quarterback in NFL history. That's how rough it's been
and teams want to take advantage of that. So if
they're going to when you're coming up field, well here
you go. We'll take these five and these six and

(15:26):
these seven yarders, and you know every now and then
Q's going to bust one for fifteen. And that's how
you just get that defense to allow your offense to
breathe a little bit.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
Before we get to this Denzel Perriman interview, the cherry
on top was Keenan breaking the record. What was the
lake in the booth was to call that and just
to see his teammates. Everybody's so excited be.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
In Yeah, as they should be. You know, he's one
of the all time great chargers. And you had a
packed house. You're in prime time. You know there's eights,
is there? Yeah, exactly, there's no exactly gates is there.
There's there's families in the stands, there's no other game
on TV. Everybody's watching, And I thought DJ put it best.
He's like, you know, think about all the tough catches

(16:08):
this guy has made, you know, all the third downs,
the third and forever's and here it is the record
and it's just a quick shovel pass, a nice little
easy way to celebrate. You know, you don't have to
work too hard, don't worry about it. Let's just kind
of get it squared away. And I think you saw
the reaction from his teammates from both sides of the ball,
from Justin, from you know, all the people in the

(16:30):
stands who stuck around, and I think because they Charger
fans are smart, they knew, you know, they knew that
was going to happen, and they wanted to be part
of that celebration. And I thought it was certainly earned.
I mean, he's he's a no brainer Chargers Hall of Famer,
and I think it's it's going to be very very
hard to keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
Just the you know what do they call third down

(16:51):
the money down? And started knowing and made more money
for his quarterback than Keenan Allen when it comes to
catching the pass, you know, catching passes on third down.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Before the game, Lil was in the studio and we
were talking about twenty eighteen. I know, you remember this
game in Pittsburgh. Keenan was targeted nineteen times in that game,
fourteen catches for one hundred and forty eight yards at a touchdown,
and it just it speaks to his longevity and his consistency.
Antonio Gates was playing in that game, you know, so

(17:19):
he you know, he people forget he played with Gates
for all those years.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
And you know when he goes to Chicago, you're just
you're not thinking that this is even in the conversation.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah. Uh.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
And for him, it wasn't.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
And there's no I mean, Mike Williams retired, it wasn't
even in the conversation.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
It was. It was at the very end of training camp. Yeah,
is when number thirteen comes back and you know, three
touchdowns in as many games to start the year, and
the you talked about the third and Keenan the third
and lad but for him to celebrate it just it
just felt right to be back in powder Blue and
get that record.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah. And again it's just funny. Look, football is such
a game of circumstance because there's so many moving parts
that to question someone success or failure, you know, depends
on so many different things. Coaching, offensive line, other wide receivers,
does your quarterback feel comfortable target like, There's just so
many things that go into it. And in the case

(18:11):
of Keenan, it's like, you know, they move on from him.
They tried not to, you know, remember, they try to
negotiate something to keep him around. He opts to keep
all his money, which is perfectly defensible, and they draft
lad who essentially becomes the new Keenan, and he puts
together a rookie season for the Ages, breaks all of
Keenan's records. Should have been a pro bowler, I thought,

(18:32):
And you know, puts up two hundred yards in a
playoff game, so you go get Mike Williams for that
X receiver. He goes down and you're like, okay, well,
Mary Cooper's sitting right there, just go ahead and grab
him and you're good to go. He retired, Yeah, and
he ended up retiring later. But I think, just to
credit Joe or Tease and his staff, like, no, we
can make this work. Good players are good players. And

(18:54):
even though you may think, you know Keenan and Ladder
repetitive in what they do, we don't feel that way.
And I remember Greg Roman saying it, He's like, we
think either of these guys can play on the outside,
and we are. We are excited to have a good
football player back. And he's been better than good. He's
been great this season.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
He's fitting perfectly. And you know, the the chemistry that
Justin has with him that was on display from the
very first game that Justin played. But now you have
a Ronde lad Q, you're sprinkling Keenan. Now Trey Harris
who listen, got weapons the stats for Trey Harris before

(19:33):
we get to Denzel. They don't necessarily show up every week.
But like him was a blocker, him just being a pro,
it's been it's been cool to see him really contribute
and know that, hey, I may not get the ball,
but I am going to block and I'm going to
find a way to stay in the football game.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, I think I don't think there's any question, you know,
whatever his role is this year, I would assume next
year it will be greatly increased because everything he touches
is great. And I don't think there's any and for
someone to not be a squeaky wheel about targets or
yards or receptions or touchdowns or all those things that
are gonna measure whether or not you have a successful

(20:09):
you know, freshman year, rookie season that I think it
just goes to show you what type of football player
he is, because look, you get drafted in the second round.
Lad was drafted in the second round last year. You know,
when you think about the numbers that he put up
and the numbers that Jalen Polk put up in the
second round, and you're like, oh, you're a bust, You're
a second round and I think you go through the
box score and that may be what you think. But

(20:30):
like you said, you know, the coaches, the front office,
his teammates know what a great season he's happened already.
And it won't surprise me if Trey Harris ends up
having a one hundred yard touchdown, you know, one hundred
and twenty yard two touchdown game, it will not surprise
me in the least. He has plenty good enough to
put up those kind of numbers already.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
We're gonna preview the Jacksonville Jaguars, but first, our interview
with Denzel Perriman. Chargers Weekly is presented by Splittero, helping
homeowners access their home equity with no money fleet payments.
Splitterio offers home equity investments a better way to access
the cash you need from your home without getting to
go through a bank. Get a lump sum of cash

(21:09):
in exchange for a share of your home's future value.
Payoff debt, renovate your home, and better your life. Get
your free cash estimate at splittero dot com. Slash Chargers
all rightest promise. Denzel Perriman joins us on a Chargers
Weekly and Dens I have to say, Man, in the
last three weeks, you come back for the Colts game,
and then right after that Colts game, I don't think

(21:30):
this defense or I don't think any of defense in
the NFL's played as well as you guys.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
I've been hearing that.

Speaker 4 (21:36):
I've been hearing that I really haven't been paying attention,
you know to all of that stuff, but just hearing
you know, after the Coach game, you know, we kind
of turned it on and you know, really click, you
know as a unit.

Speaker 2 (21:46):
Burst of the ball. It's kind of what we hear
a lot of it seems like it's something that really
fits your game. Just kind of take us through if
there are some pillars of the defense, sort of what
it is that you guys have to do to make
a foundation for what is success.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
Uh yeah, so we the burst to the ball, that's BTV. Uh,
you know, that's something that we built, you know, in practice,
and you know we try to instill you know, those
same you know pillis foundation was like what block destruction,
you know, tackling, you know, effort and angles to the ball,
ball disruption and uh like communication. I can may say,
you know, that's the simple foundation. And you know, uh,

(22:23):
all week every day, you know, we we preached you know,
BTV and uh, you know, I like to tell the
defense like that's not BTV in practice, Like that's BTV
in the game. So uh yeah, you know, so you
know we try to carry that over man and uh,
you know it's been sewing, you know, the last past
three weeks.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
You know, I remember last year. I think we talked
about a couple of weeks ago that that that two
point conversion stop you had in Denver, that that goal
line stand uh in Tennessee. Kind of these moments that
really could change the complexion of a game. You seem
to be right in the middle of it. What has
it been like this year, just especially coming back on

(22:59):
the on the back after that injury, to be able
to contribute in the way you have.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
As a linebacker next day, being able to contribute man
first and foremost, in this business has just been great,
especially coming off the injury and being around the ball.
I think, you know, we get down in that situation.
I like to flip my mind.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
In college.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
In college, we had to saying, you know, you flip
the switch, like it doesn't matter how they got down there, Like,
you know, we keep my the end zone. So that's
my mentality when I'm down there. You know, I try
to get the guys, you know, to have that same mentality,
like all right, you know, don't matter how they got
down here, but like, let's flip the switch. Let's keep
my end zone. Let's try to you know, keep them
no points in general. So when those plays you know,
come around, you know what, we got to make a stop.
You know, just buckle down and bite down on that instrupt.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Give some other stuff, man, Give some other stuff from
the you?

Speaker 3 (23:45):
What else? What else?

Speaker 2 (23:47):
What else did they teach you with the you? That
did you flip back to?

Speaker 3 (23:51):
I mean just the way that I play in general. Man,
you know, you got to create a legacy.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Whould you play with it? To you.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Defense?

Speaker 4 (23:58):
I played with well when I first got in there.
Sean Spence, Marcus Forrest and uh like blond telomag Uh
who else? Anthony chick Alow played with some guys. I
played with some guys. It's a couple guys. But you know,
you just learned a lot and he just learned, you know,
just how to play football, honestly, how to play football.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
Just keep that, you know, keep that edge on you.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
Is it hard to look at nothing against the acc
or you know it was acc when you were there. Yeah,
so it's it's not like they're not grown ass man.
They can they can inflict some damage. But the NFL
is a little bit of a jump your brand of football.
Just how physical you played. Did you feel that when
you first got in the league that like, Okay, I'm
I'm bringing my hammer, but these guys kind of got

(24:41):
a hammer too. The other guys maybe had.

Speaker 4 (24:44):
So uh my mindset going into the league, and it's
probably still the same thing now. Like I'm not feeling
like nobody punk me. You know, like I know, I've
been playing against grown man and my dad instilled to
me at a young age. You know, I got to college,
like you know, you planned, you know, the best of
the best. You know, this guy was all city, all
state where he come from. This guy's automatical whe he
come from. So it's like, you know, you're playing with
the best of the best, and I know everybody works

(25:05):
out and you know, all that good stuff like that.
But again my mindset, I refuse to be punk, like
I got people watching.

Speaker 5 (25:11):
So I remember doing this podcast like twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
and you're sitting next to Casey Hayward, and I remember
it was like, I think PADS had just come on,
and Casey was joking around, like when pads come on
and Denzel's hitting it.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
It's a problem the fact that it's twenty twenty five
and you still have that same physicality. How are you
able to sustain the way you play over such a
long period of time.

Speaker 4 (25:34):
Uh, just my mentality, I will say, and working out, Uh,
you know, I gotta keep you.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Know, I gotta I gotta make sure you ran.

Speaker 4 (25:40):
Yeah, exactly exactly. Gotta stay locked and ready. But you know,
I changed up my whole diet plan. I really didn't
have a diet. I would say, I just eat, you know,
everything that I wanted to eat. But now you know
it's a little more strict. Uh, things that you know
benefit the body, you know, getting older, can't eat everything
that you want to eat, don't burn it off as
fast as you would like. And uh, you know, just

(26:02):
the workout routine, you know, try to stay you know,
consistent in that.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
So what what were you eating? What are you and
what do you eat on your cheat days? Because we
all got to have a cheat day, right.

Speaker 4 (26:12):
Okay, So cheating wise, I mean fast food, you know McDonald's, Wendy's,
wing stop, you name it in and our fave guys
eating everything.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (26:24):
Now it's just more of a you know, steaking, you know,
steaking potatoes, chicken, rice, cleaning little veggies. Every now and then, Uh,
sometimes I'll probably just have a smooth and be okay
with that.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
What about you cheat or no ah.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Every now and then I probably say maybe two days
out the week, I just kind of eat whatever and
yes I'll run it off like the next day.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
In practice.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
There we go.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
This uh this defense man, Uh, describe what it's like
compared to you know, when you were a gust or
you were you know at the Raiders, Like what is
Jesse mentored doing that is maybe a little bit different
from what you've been a part of in the past.

Speaker 4 (27:05):
I would say just allowing you know, everybody just to
go out there and play. You know, he sees, you know,
what we have on defense, and you know, I think
you know, we play the calls that you know everybody can. Yeah,
just play freely. You know, we don't have to think
too much about anything. Uh, you know, we make one adjustment.
Everybody know, we just you know, it's thirty like that.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
You know, it's just simple, simple, and just being a
defensive player. Been a defense systems.

Speaker 4 (27:29):
Over the years, being able to just play fast and
I really have to think, like, you know, we get
maybe one of two calls, you know if it's a
check call, but out of those, one of the two calls.

Speaker 3 (27:38):
Like all right, I know I got this. We go
to this, I know I have this.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
I posted the two tackles on Jalen one and people
were quite excited about those, but I posted I was
talking with Lorenzo Neil and I brought, this is gonna
be kind of long, so I hope you don't get
bored to someth telling it, but I'll never forget. I
was working with Maurice Jones Drew and he told me
the story went in R Robinson got to Jacksonville. He
said look, there's gonna be a moment when you think

(28:01):
you see light in that hole, and you're gonna put
your head down and you're gonna get God and you
will never forget it. He goes, So whatever you do,
don't ever forget that you might see light, but it's
not there. And I said, and that's exactly what that
moment reminded me of. In the first half with Warren
as a boy, be's getting washed down by Washington and
you can just see him hit the burst and I
mean you stopped him dead in his track. So question

(28:23):
for you is, do you remember one of those in
particular when someone thought they saw daylight and Denzel Peramut
was there?

Speaker 3 (28:29):
I remember multiple hit okay, real mut.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
So if you can share a couple of those with us,
you don't have to share names if you don't want to,
or you can if you want. We saw Jalen Warren
on Sunday, so exactly.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
I mean, I can date back to college. You know,
one of my former teammates that were here. You know,
we've had a couple of run ins and spring games
to where you know he thought he saw daylight. But uh,
just you know, in the league since I've been I
have a couple of hits. You know, a lot of
guys thought they saw daylight. But uh, you know, I
used to complain about my height, and I think that's
why I have the advantage, because a lot of guys

(29:01):
can't see me.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
And I used to.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
Play running back, you know, Bay, Yeah, so back of
my prop one of days. I used to play you know, uh,
full back and all that other good stuff like that.
And like you said, you think you see daylight, but
you know those guys see the same opening that you see.
And you know that's my mindset. I like to think
like a running back when I'm you know, on the
opposite side of the ball.

Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
Lorenzo Neil was like, oh, I remember love yesterday it
was like conference semifinal. State thought this, he said, I
was playing linebacker. I thought I had this guy lined
up and next thing, you know, full back.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
Just yeah, well my moment like that would have been
in high school.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
You know.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
We were actually just doing like a little inside run
and you know, just joking around thinking that the running back,
the running back, the linebacker wouldn't see me.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
He was a senior.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
I was a freshman at the time, and they ain't
gonna lie like he wiped me out. And after that,
I was like, yeah, no, it's never never happened again.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
I'm gonna go play linebacker now.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
I mean I was playing, you know, I was just
giving a look and I'm like, oh, okay, this this
would you know, this would have feel like you do it.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's been cool, man. It's just seeing the relationship between
you and Dayon since he got here. You know, the
fact that he's a captain now and every time we
talk to him, he talks about you and what an
influential person you are in his life with on and
off the field. What's it been like to see Deayon's
progression in the league from rookie to now captain and

(30:23):
one of the leaders of this team as.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
A proud big brother moment, you know.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
To shoot Since the first day I met him, I
feel like, you know, I took on, like, you know,
a big brother role. You know, He's absolutely told me that,
you know, I'm like a big brother to him, and
I just, you know, try to give him all the
little nuggets the knowledge that I have. You know, we
have a viral bowman in the room, and that's somebody
I used to look up too. So you know, I
feel like for him, you know you got Navarral Bowman.

(30:50):
You know you got me, you know somebody that you
know he did, you know, watching all that good stuff
like growing up, so watching him become the player that
he is now the captain and you know him still
you know, being you know, the best version you know
that he can be, you know, regardless of everything going on.
Man like that, that that just makes me proud. It
makes me happy. I'm not going to tear up and

(31:11):
get emotional here, but like, like seriously, that that really
makes me happy. Man just shows like how strong of
a player, of a person, of a human that he is.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
But just you know, your influence though, Like did you
envision that type of role when you were a rookie
first second year guy? Because it feels like you're playing
at a high level, but you're also you mean so
much to that room.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Ah did I ever see this?

Speaker 1 (31:35):
No?

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Have I probably said it.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
I probably said it before, Like you know, I want
to be you know, as just as a motivation to somebody,
you know, as they were to me. So I guess,
you know, taking a step back now, you know, hearing
you say it, I mean, I heard people say it before,
but you know, I guess you really don't you know,
see it? And realizing you know that, you take a
step back and you know see it.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
We always hear like complimentary football from the Three Faces,
but complimentary football so important on defense just kind of
how long does it take to get it? Does it
matter who's playing? And you have to figure out how
what style they're playing in front of you, that the
big bodies in front of you to make sure no
one's climbing up to get you, Like, what's what goes
into that? How quickly can you can you figure it out?
Because man, it seems like this team plays such good

(32:17):
complimentary football on the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
I would say the companiment of football that starts in practice,
Like you say, you know, how does this person play?
How does this person play?

Speaker 3 (32:25):
Well?

Speaker 4 (32:26):
Just an example. I'm not saying this does happen, but
like I might have tiera Tart and a Kwan, Like
a Kwan, you know, might just take the gap, you know,
Tier Tart might two gap, you know what I'm saying.
But I just have to play off of those guys,
and I feel like, you know, that's what you know
that just comes in, like you said, the complimentary football,
And I feel like as far as defense go, like

(32:46):
it doesn't matter like who's out there. You know, it's
like next man up in tally. And I've heard somebody
say that in the wise where it's like it's next
man up in tally. But when you become that next
man up, like you are a man. So uh, we
just honestly, like we just go out there with that mentality.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
You've you've done it. You've had them all so if
you you know, and I don't know if you want
to rank them, they're all great, right, but force fumble,
interception like sack on a third down that forces a punt.
But what do you what do you like having You're
turning the ball over every which way?

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (33:18):
As a linebacker, who that's that's tough. I'm not gonna
put interceptions up there because I don't drop.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
Two back to back week.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been working on I've been
working on it, so, uh, interceptions gonna go last on
that list for me right now, I'll probably say force fumble, sack,
inter whate was.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
Coming in hot there, like you barely turned down.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
It was like the first one. All right, let me
let me.

Speaker 4 (33:42):
I gotta, I gotta, I gotta say my part here.
The first one vikings game. Where's my single?

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (33:47):
The first one vikings game. I ran to the receiver
as he broke out. As soon as I turned my head,
like literally, how close this mic is.

Speaker 3 (33:54):
That's how coast the ball was. Could put my hands up. Now.
Titans week, that was a little different.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
You know.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
I'm like, okay, just sitting on the sidelines before, you know,
watching third down, I'm like, A right, A lot of passes,
you know, keep going to the middle, and I remember
they were like in a bunch formation. I'm like, all right,
somebody's about to break across the middle. I broke across
the middle. I couldn't see the quarterback, but literally I
just saw the ball and I'm like, oh, you know,
and by the time I can think about how I

(34:21):
wanted to catch, the ball hit me in the face,
and I'm just like that's why I just stood there,
like you know what that was supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
It all evens out. You know, we talk about all
the veterans on this team, yourself, Khalil Durwin dayon now,
but we saw some of these rookies on on Saturday,
football man from RJ. Mickens to Nico Reid to Jamari called, well,
what has it been like seeing some of these rookies
not become rookies anymore and really meaningfully contribute down the stretch?

Speaker 4 (34:51):
I like to tell them like they're not rookies. I mean,
I like they are rookies, but you know you're not rookies.
Like when you're out there, it's like, don't make the
stage bigger than what it is.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
You know, do what you do.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
They got you here, you know, like obviously you hit
for a reason, like Joe picked literally single hand, he
picked everybody and hit for a reason. So just go
out there and play football like it's the same game
we've been playing since you know we're kids. Obviously you
know it's on the higher, you know level, But just
go out there and play does ball out But you know,
just see them just make plays and not you know,

(35:21):
be rookies. I mean, I feel like that's why you
know we're as great as well as the defense.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
The just to the game on Sunday and what you
guys have have put out there now when you know,
anybody that wants to take it in can see it
just through these ten games. One of the best red
zone defenses, the best, you know, one of the best
third down defenses. Your past defense, exceptional run defense is
certainly starting to skyrocket. And now we're sorting to see
starting to see the stuff that we saw in twenty
twenty four. Just kind of what do the Jaguars present,

(35:49):
you know, from a challenge standpoint, what if you guys
found these last three weeks that that you're averaging I
think it's under nine points per game a lot to
these offenses.

Speaker 3 (35:58):
Wow, he can news to me.

Speaker 4 (36:01):
But when it comes to the Jaguars, you know, starting
with the quarterback, you know, Trevor Lawrence, he can make
plays with his arm and his feet. So we're gonna
have to you know, rush the couple. We have to
work together in that aspect. They have some great running
backs back there, you know, getting north and south like
real quick, great vision, goody looseness, and you know, got
receivers and tight ends you know that can make plays. Also,

(36:22):
So for me as a defensive player, I always said,
you know, I got to make a one dimensional you know,
we got to stop the run. We gotta stop the
pass like we got to shut something down, you know,
to make them one dimensional and just trusting each other
and doing what we're doing all week.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Last one for me, you know, this is the last
game before the bye too, and you guys get a
week to kind of get ready for the for the
home stretch. How important is it just to finish the
right way before the bye, knowing that the schedule doesn't
get any easier. I mean you have the Raiders coming
out of it and then kind of a gauntlet to
get to January.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
Well, you know, we got a break coming up. I
don't think anybody's paying attention towards the break. I think
more at the task at hand, which is you know, finishing.
You know, whether we got to break this week, next week,
the following week, just to finish and continue doing what
we've been doing, be consistent and honestly probably playing for
our freedom as in you know, getting the whole by
week off, so freedom exactly. So there's there's no taking

(37:19):
this game lightly, you know, Like I said, whether the
bode week was the week after like the week before,
it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Fight for our lot. Yeah, we'll finish with this one.
Then everybody that that follows our great social media team
knows the deep Stay Hydrated. So, uh, is The Water
Boy your favorite film because of the Stay Hydrated? And if not,
what is your favorite for.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
Man, I'm not gonna lie to you that that's one
of my favorite like movies. Not even gonna lot to
you water Boy. Uh, I'm not gonna say that's where
the State Hydrated came from. But uh, just thinking about it.
Bobbie Bouchet, you know he did preach you know, drinking
hot quality H two, So I would say The water Boy. Uh,
the Little Giants and remember the Titans are kind of
like my favorite football movies.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
We and facing the Giants. I got to throw that then.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
That's I wish we could do that. I wish we
could had with like a.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Permanent He's the best, you know, I mean, I'm downstairs,
all right.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Get appreciate your time.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
I appreciate you guys having me head to.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
San Francisco and experience the Super Bowl with on Location,
the official hospitality provider of the NFL and proud partner
of the Los Angeles Chargers. Secure Packaging is that bundle
verified tickets with exclusive access to pregame parties featuring renowned
entertainment and top of the line food and drinks, plus
immersive postgame field celebrations on location delivers unforgettable experiences so

(38:34):
you can create memories that will last a lifetime. Visit
on location. Exp dot com slash s b lx are
called eight seven seven three seven three five zero six
two to secure your ticket package today. So, Maddy, it's
it's hard to believe the Denzil is still playing at
this level in twenty twenty five, one of the original

(38:55):
San Diego Chargers still doing it.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
Yeah, and you know, we kind of alluded to it.
But now that I'm sitting in front of my computer
and I have everything kind of laid out in front
of me, you're talking about a defense last week or
on Sunday that allowed a single reception for twenty or
more yards, that allowed seventy three rush yards, that had
Aaron Rodgers at a fifteen point nine passer rating the

(39:18):
worst number of his career before that garbage time touchdown.
I mean they did only one penalty on defense, a
four percent convinced zero for nine on third down, you know,
before that garbage time touchdown. Like that's how dominant they were.
And the one thing going into this week is since

(39:41):
twenty twenty four, they are thirteen and zho against bottom
ten offenses. And remember last year that was kind of
the narrative of all the quarterbacks you had to play
the way to schedule late out that won the games
they had to win. Coming up against Jacksonville. As we
shift to looking forward, twenty eighth ranked offense league, and
I think we're just starting to see, you know, with

(40:02):
Denzel as I look over to where he was sitting,
but he's not anymore one of the leaders of like, yeah,
this this defense is back to looking like they looked
last year.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, Jacksonville coming off really a catastrophic loss, get out
scored twenty six to zero in the fourth quarter to
Davis Mills and the Texans. This is a game where listen,
they know that there you read those stats off at
the beginning, that they know what this means to their
playoff odds. Yeah, But at the same time, like I
go back to Tennessee and you know the punt return

(40:33):
for a touchdown that the Chargers gave up and the
pick six, and just what the defense was able to
do outside of that. The Jags had a punt return
for a touchdown in this game. You mentioned the Jags
offense hasn't been the best. Brian Thomas Juniors a question
mark coming into this game. So this is just another
one on the roads. You got to take care of business.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Yeah, and look you mentioned it. They had a plumb
return last It's a second time Parker Washington's return of
punt for a touchdown and boy talk about bouncing back
right after upon return for a td. How well del
Sean Phillips played, How well JK Scott played, you know,
with that sidewind and punt that he had that ended
up getting muffed that Phillips recovered, you know, Phillips with
three special teams tackles. I know Dean Leonard was out

(41:14):
there in place of John Taylor, but you know Josh
and Josh Harris was great, you know, And I think
that's you look at the the mechanics of the field
goal attempts were not seeing JK. Scott having it, dig
balls out of the dirt and you know, grab him
over his shoulder. So I think having him back and

(41:34):
he's also really good at getting down, you know, because
you can't block the long snapper. So when you have
an athlete at that position that can at least get
down on the coverage. On punt coverage, it helps a
lot because you can at least dictate terms of which
way they're going to go and try to funnel them
to coverage. And I thought, you know, that was something
that we saw as well. But I also just it

(41:56):
just felt like the defense after the Colts game, the
way the special teams operated was very reminiscent of that, Like, Yeah,
what you saw against the Titans is not what we're about.
We're better than that. And look, even though Cam missed
a field goal, it was a doink hit a fifty
nine yard of those, yeah, and it was a fifty
five yarder, right, I think that he missed.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
So he kicked it out of balance to start the game,
though here was a few times.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
There was that, yeah, and he knows that's got to
get cleaned up. I mean. The funny thing about that too,
is you know, you're talking about five yards, right. It
seems like it's such an insane starting field position, Right,
you're just ten yards from midfield, but if you boot
it out of the back of the end zone, they're
at the thirty five. So I kind of understand the
idea of trying to place that thing perfectly inside the

(42:42):
five yard line in one of the corners, so you
can really gain a yardage advantage and get these guys
shy of the twenty five because now you're talking about
a ten to twelve yard advantage for the coverage team.
So it's not ideal start at forty, you know, but
the defense showed up, you know, and forced that three
and out. So to me, that was sort of you know,

(43:04):
we said we were done talking about the Steelers game,
but I think it's just kind of flipping it forward.
I think that's something when you look at the Jags,
and I'm looking at all their rankings right now, special teams,
they're punts seventh punt returns, second punt returns allowed, second
kickoff returns eighth kickoff returns allowed is the only place
where they're leaky. So it's a team that's very good

(43:26):
in that particular facet. And so you got to be
sound in all three phases because they've shown they can
make teams pay, you know, with Cam Little in his
sixty eight yard field goal, you know, that's kind of
where you got to to make sure you're you're kind
of sharp.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Yeah, they have a weapon in the kicking game, just
like the Chargers do.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
You know.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
One of the things that I think we talked about
last week was the fact that the Steelers forced six
turnovers the week before. Yeah, the Colts and the Chargers
win the turnof a battle three zero against Pittsburgh. The
Jags come into week eleven plus eight turnover differentials, which
is second in the NFL. So it really is almost

(44:04):
like a blueprint from last week. Just don't turn the
football over, don't put them in situations to where they
can beat you both in the kicking game, and also
you know by just giving the ball away.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
Yeah, I mean, the thing is is that, you know,
Trevor Lawrence has given it away a little bit. He's
thrown seven picks, you know, and they've lost two fumbles,
so there's nine out there. The differences, Like you said,
they're taking it away. They've got twelve interceptions, they've secured
five of the seven fumbles that have hit the ground.
So I think you're right, it's a similar situation the differences. Man,

(44:35):
this team has not been able to rush the passer
at all like they've been which is wild when you
think about Trayvon Walker, and in fact he was drafting
ahead of you know, Aiden Hutchinson, and you've got josh
hinz Allen out there, one of the better pass rushers.
And yet I'm trying to think I had it pulled up.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
They did not get to Davis Mills.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Yeah, they are one of the lowest sack and pressure
rate fronts out there, and I don't have it in
front of me, but I know it's bottom three in
terms of pressure rate. So you would think that benefits
you know, you'd like to think, even though they have
the struggles on the offensive line, that there's a way
for them to kind of give justin some time. Let's

(45:15):
not get him hit, you know, at such an alarming
rate and another five sacks, even though he's willing to
eat it because he doesn't want to turn the ball over.
I'd love to see him get a breather back there
for a game, because, man, even though he's a horse,
it just feels like he's taking a lot of hits
right now.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
It's still not sustainable. And I guess we didn't talk
about the offensive line as it related to the Pittsburgh game,
but I think it's a nice segue into this game.
You mentioned Jackson will struggle with getting after the quarterback.
What is the offensive line going to look like this week?
Because I know coach Harpball talked about Trevor Penning kind
of working that left Bobby Hart returning to practice. So
I'll be interested to see if Trevor Penning maybe gets

(45:50):
the night of left tackle this Sunday or if it's
something they do after the Bible.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yeah. Look, I think that he's been upfront about all
of it, that it's a competition every single week. I
thought we might see Jamari out there at left tackle,
you know, but maybe Deculus was just a little bit
better in practice and that's why he got the call.
He ended up, you know, they gave him a lot
of help. Yet there was still I think six pressures
over there and a couple of sacks that were allowed
from the left side. Trey I thought played pretty well

(46:15):
on the right side. Becton, it was he did not
look like himself. It was probably I think his his
roughest game out there, and you just wonder if the
knee wasn't quite ready, but he toughed it out, you know,
to try to just get out there, and he played
the whole game. So I credit him for that, but
it was a bit of a rough go for him.
Zion played well, so if you can get Hopefully it's
another week and Makai's not on the injury I don't

(46:36):
think he's on the injury report. I don't remember seeing him.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
I don't know. I mean, I know he practiced. It
was not a DNP if it was anything.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
Yeah, so here we go, pull it up. I had
it from yesterday. Yeah, Makai's not on there. So the
hope is that that knee is now good and we'll
see him look like he looked, you know, in those
first few games of the season when he was really
dominant and playing really good football. So I guess, yeah, Penny,
maybe that's enough time to take him set. Look, one
thing we know about Trevor's Yeah, it's been some there.
There were some issues in the past blocking, but for

(47:05):
a while there's a really good run blocker, and we
know how important to just keep this thing balanced. And hey,
you don't want Justin to get hit, well, make sure
it doesn't have the ball, give it the Kimani and
and let him get hit. Yeah, the sorry q mo Oni.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
The quick passes that Greg Roman implemented as a as
a game plan for the Pittsburgh game was awesome, But uh,
I think the last seven eight games of the year,
especially if you can get the next two and get
the nine and three again, we can look ahead. These
guys have have the focus on Jacksonville, but just figuring
out the offensive line down the stretch, like find the

(47:37):
best five as you get to January and hopefully you
get to the playoffs. But this will be a very
important stretch for that unit specifically, because that's the unit
that I think is going to tell you whether or
not you're gonna win football games in the postseason.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
Yeah, I think I would just you know, I'd wrap
with this, and it's that, you know, this team is
very reminiscent of what we saw last next year. And
it's not just because they were playing the Steelers that
it looked like Steelers football. And that's what we have
to do to win this game. I just think that's
what you're gonna see because the defense is playing at
such a high level right now. You can't throw against

(48:12):
this team. I mean the way the Corners are playing
the way a lot now with Elijah Molden back, we
hadn't even mentioned.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Him by target may be coming back.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah, So, but like I just think with the physicality
in the middle of the spine of that defense, the
way I mean Elijah had some pops in that game,
and when you start bringing that back and you could
start to see that Steelers offense like twenty five to three,
I mean, I think we're pretty good, right guys, We're
like this is so I think you're starting to see that.
And that's where you know it comes into play where

(48:41):
you can with ten back there, you can overcome all
these pressures, all these sacks. Just don't give them any freebies.
And if you don't do that, they're gonna make mistakes.
The defense is gonna give you some short fields or
they're gonna flip the field and you're gonna get the
ball right near midfield on a punt after a three
and out, and that's how you're gonna win games like
they did last year. I think whereas it they are

(49:02):
now twenty I might have it on my board instead
of here, but I want to say when they score
twenty seven points, they are now eleven and zero since
last year.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
So it's a defense that's been given up some points
down there, and it's a defense for the Chargers that
hasn't given up any points. Just a couple more quickly,
like point nine touchdown passes per game is what they're
allowing best in the NFL, and the Jags are scoring
one point one twenty ninth in the NFL. So that
matches up real nice. And I think it'll be another

(49:34):
rock fight, you know, like we saw with the Steelers, like, hey,
we're not We're just not going to give you anything.
You're gonna have to earn it, and we don't think
you can earn it against this defense.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
The Minnesota game was one thing, and then Tennessee was
another because they're one of the worst teams in football.
But to do it on that stage against the Steelers.
I know Aaron Rodgers is older, but it almost kind
of solidified to me money, which you kind of just
alluded to. I think the defense is going to be
the unit to carry the day down the stretch get
to you know, you look at Denver. Denver's got a

(50:02):
super Bowl caliber defense. They have some questions on offense. Yeah,
the Chiefs. We know the Chiefs have a really good
defense too, but you just you go down the AFC
like I'd put the chargers up with defensively, no question,
with anybody Ques and from the quarterback position, no question.
It's like, okay, can we protect that quarterback? Can we
get a mari and Hampton back? Because the a good

(50:23):
running game is going to be even better for the defense.
So I think there's a lot of things that we're
going to see on the back half of this buy
that will maybe paint a better picture as far as
January's concerned.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
Yeah, I know Joe Ortiz doesn't want to hear me
say it, but you know he's he's not TJ Watt,
He's not you know, take your pick of pass rusher,
Brian Burns, He's not you know, one of these household names,
Nick Benito. But Tooley's tied for fourth. I think in sacks,
Tooley's top five in pressures, Like he is a legitimate

(50:55):
star on the defensive line, not to mention how good
he is at helping other guys out and taken on
double teams and then you kick him inside and that.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
How many do you think he has? Then I'd have
to we have to tally it up.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
So I think when you know, even though it sounds like, oh,
it's kind of a no name. You can't be a
no name defense when Derwin James is out there. But
you think about the secondary and how well cam Hart
is playing, and you know, like Dante Jackson with the interception,
like they're not necessarily it's not Sauce Gardener, you know,
or or Stingley, but these are They're great players that

(51:28):
fit the scheme and the scheme is executing, and that's
I think it's to your point, you know, I think
it's a better defense than the Chiefs defense. Broncos defense
is sensational. But I think when you're talking about the
top of the AFC and the Patriots and the Colts
and the Broncos, and I don't have any question that
when you factor in the yeah, yeah, how dominant this

(51:50):
you know, since that issue they had against the Colts
when they seem to have figured this thing out and
you know, Khalil was back and healthy, I think you're
absolutely right that this defense can carry you into the
postseason and win you games in the tournament.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Just real quick, I just want to get your thought
before we get out of here on the running game
and getting Amarian back, yeah, to pair with Kimani and
how how much that will help the offensive line immeasurably.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
Immeasurably, Amarian was humming man. He was looking like one
of the best three running backs in the league. I'm
talking about like just that burst man in that Giants game.
When you saw it and trucking guys and carrying three
defenders for eighteen yards and then blowing one down the
right sideline for fifty It's like, Yeah, that's who this
guy is. He's going to run over you between the

(52:37):
tackles and he's gonna run past you. You know if
he's even he's leaving. It's like, that's a Marian. And
now you don't get a relief with this belief pardon
the rhyming that Kimani has. And now you've got another
one two punch like they envisioned with Najia Harrison and Amaran.

Speaker 1 (52:54):
Yeah, the coaching deserves a lot of credit.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
It's been great.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
When you don't have all you don't have Slater, all
the guys that went down on defense, Amarian goes down,
Nausey goes down. Yet you're you're seven and three and
six of one in the AFC with an opportunity to
I mean, you read off those odds at the beginning
of the year, man like or the beginning of the
show ninety to make the playoffs. If you win this game, Yeah,

(53:17):
it's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
I mean, and again, you look at at Herberty's second
in the league in yards, He's what sixth in yards
per game, he is third in touchdowns, and yet he
is taking He's taken thirty three sacks, you know, behind
that offensive line, and that's the level that he's operating at,
you know, a top five quarterback and MVP candidate in

(53:39):
this league. And so a lot of that goes to him.
His toughness, his ability to keep his nose in there
and deliver passes, and the coaching staff to scheme this
thing up and get these guys open downfield. So there's
a payoff for him taking this punishment.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
How do you say, duval douval? Or do you go Duval?

Speaker 2 (53:56):
Oh? No, I definitely don't do that. That was creepy.
He did, Man, it was super creepy. I don't say,
I just I guess. I just say I think of
Robert Duvall, you know, I just think of my concillieri,
you know, I just think of Daval. Dude.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
I wanted to mention this really really quickly. I know
we keep saying last thing, last thing, but Liam Cohen
was the OC of the Bucks. Yes, they put up
five hundred yards of offense on the Chargers last last year.
Worst game of the year for that Jesse Menster.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
Yeah, it was the only game that looked like that,
So don't forget about that. Yeah, and you know, Etn
is a legit number one back. I know it seemed
like they were trying to run him out of town,
but he's he's an issue. There's talent on that team.
I mean, they traded for Jacobe Myers. We know how
good he is, and he has he finds a way
to get open. Brian Thomas has just been it's been weird.

(54:43):
He's had sixty targets and thirty receptions he's got I
think he's second in the league in drops. So the
talent's there is just not executing. So should we just
be like, yeah, well why would they? You know, I
think there's part of that that you could take that approach,
or you could say, is it just doesn't really make sense.
It's a decent offensive line. Yeah, so just show up.

(55:03):
You can travel, you know, you can pack a defense
and I'm the Charger. You gonna pack it, so I'm
excited about this opportunity.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
I remember all the Charger fans there for that playoff game,
so I'm sure he'll be compatable in the house.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
I wish you hadn't mentioned that, but hey whatever, you.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Know, it's okay. It's redemption. Yeah, exactly, Redemption Sunday. All
right for buddy. I'm Chris. This has been Chargers Weekly.
We'll see you next week.