December 10, 2025 • 13 mins
Dave Canales spoke to the media following Wednesday's practice.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hoon for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
First, just want to start off, I'm talking about the
Joy to Carolina's event last night.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We had over sixty players.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Really proud, I'm really proud to say that our guys
showed up with great energy and we're just loving on
a bunch of people that showed up. There was almost
a thousand kids there, staff included family members and just
to have all hands on deck. The Teppers do an
amazing job, particularly Nicole, organizing this event and just just
an amazing way to connect it and to show the
(00:33):
guys the bigger picture of what's happening. And you know, yes,
we're playing football and we're blessed to be able to
do this job. But any chance we have to extend
with the Panthers, who the Panthers are, to just spread
some love during the holiday season is an amazing opportunity.
So I just wanted to start off by saying that.
And you know, the players again, you know, you show
(00:54):
up to these events and you don't know what to
expect from the players, but they were so into it
and they were all just smiles and whether it was
you know, passing out food or you know, toys, shoes,
different things like that they were just it was a
real blessing to be a part of that.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I don't know if we've talked to you since it happened,
but Austin Corbett, nav and Walter Payton Man of the Year.
Why was he or guys' choice for that award?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, just as involvement in the community and commitment, and
the cool part was I don't know if you all
saw the video, but Metallica was able to you know,
present the award to him. It was a big deal
for us to show that in the team room and
just a leader, a guy to point to, to show
some of the younger players, you know, the type of
impact you can have playing this role. Understanding you have
a job to do, but knowing that you have a
(01:36):
bigger platform to be able to affect people.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Being backed is see the right guard.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yes, so we'll go in there.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Cato play center, Austin will play guard, you know, which
he basically spent about six or seven years of his
career playing and so feel really confident about those guys
going out there.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, you are Claude and jac.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Sturing the prototeam.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
They are still in the protocol. They're doing great, They're
making strides, they're clearing all the things we need them
to and so we have one more day to get
out there now in pads to be able to do
some more movement and making sure we do the right
thing for them, getting all the information we can from
them and their movement. But they were able to participate
in a limited fashion today and we'll ramp it up
a little bit more to see if we can get
(02:16):
them out there.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I wanted to ask you when Bryce is going good
from a passing perspective, is there something we're seeing mechanically
that maybe he's not doing as consistently in some of
the games when.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
We've seen the struggles.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Really it's been a group thing, and it starts up front.
You know, when the protection is right and the guys
are where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to
be there, and he's on time, the thing works. And
I've seen that chemistry continue to grow throughout this season,
and we haven't had the consistency that I would like
to see from the entire group, and you know, certainly
Bryce is a part of that. And that's the challenge
that we have in front of us, and that's what
we've been attacking you know, for weeks now to find that.
(02:52):
And you know, we had some really critical downs last
week against the Rams and we were able to come
through because they.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Were all on the same page.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And that's what I see for this group, and I
hope we take another step this week related.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
To that you were talking about on Monday, finding your
identity and trying to be balanced off pensively.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Are there ever benchmarks yardage wise that you're trying to
hit ors It all just about the game flow.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Absolutely, it's the game flow. It's the defense that we're playing.
It's what they're giving us and how they're trying to
attack us. Starting up front with the structures facing the
run game and whatever their plan.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Might be that day.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's for the coaches our job to kind of figure
that part out and find the run game that fits
what they're doing. We have an idea for what they
should be and for the most part, defense to stay
within their identity. Certainly, you know, we've worked so hard
in the different schemes that we have, but they may
pick one over the other and that's where we have
to make those adjustments. And then, of course, in the
past game, where are the matchups and where are the voids?
(03:44):
And that's all communication that happens live and then we
try to make those adjustments. But you know, for me,
it's a win is a win. Yards are yards and
that's what we want to come away from. But I
do know I want to be able to run the
ball in some way, shape or form because I understand
and who we are as a team. Panthers football should
look a certain way, and I want to make sure
(04:05):
we come out of it playing the run WELLND defense,
and then on offense, making sure that we have Rico
and Chuba have an opportunity to affect the game with the.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
Buy As Ladys was, was there any sort of like
load management conversations getting to the bye week and in
terms of practice or things like that, And is it
with a lot of folks healthy now and the bye week?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Is it people? Are you able to do anything differently? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
And this is where I can give Josh Hinks and
Denny Callenton a lot of credit for the conversations we've
had coming into the season knowing when the bye week
was going to be. We didn't have any Thursday games
where you kind of get a pseudo buy after some
of those and you have to take care of the
guys going into the game, but we had to be
smart about that. We had to see what team we
were working with. And we've had some bumps and bruises
(04:48):
along the way, some longer term injuries that affect that
part of it. But we had to modify. We had
to make adjustments. You know, every day going into practice,
what's the group that we have available. If we scale
this back, who can we get out out there to
get those reps. He may not be able to handle
two full periods of full speed reps, but if we
bring it down on this period, can we get them
out there for reps and things like that. We just
(05:09):
had to make sure that we are connected with the guys,
and that's what Josh and Denny allowed us to do,
making sure we had enough in the tank to finish
the way that we've finished. And I've been really pleased
with how we've played at the end of games in
fourth quarters consistently for the season, and that was because
of the hard work of doing all the region that
we do, going into practice, doing all the recovery that
(05:29):
we do, and then you know, making sure we dose
the guys the right way so they're still ready to
play on game day, but they're also fresh night.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Brady Christiansen, Pat Jones, Jonathan Brooks, David Moore, We're all
involved in kind of the celebration and everything, but they're
also pretty readily available in the locker room. They're around,
Rob Hunts around. Why is it so important to keep
those guys focused on what the team is doing, even
when they're injured or sideline or maybe done for the season.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, the team evolves and we become something and we
start to see different concepts in all of our phases offense, defense,
and special teams. We start to become an identity of something,
and it's so important for those guys to be around
that as we continue to grow and build our team
and find an identity of who we're going to be.
And so I've seen it happen both ways. I've seen
where guys, you know, have chosen in ir situations where
(06:19):
they're not in the building as much and they're really
focused on the rehab. And I understand and respect that,
but I really respect the guys that have been here
doing the rehab in house. We have a great staff.
They trust the staff that's first and foremost, you know,
if you have great care, then there's really no better
place to be than here. So you can be a
part of those meetings, be a part of those conversations,
and continue to grow with us so that if we
(06:41):
get these guys back, they're hitting the ground running. From
a mental standpoint, you make those coach receivers for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, going into a season with such a young group
across the board, how do you sort of manage the
ebbs and flows of those guys over seventeen eighteen leagues.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, there is a toll on rookies from a physical
stand point, certainly with the longer season, the speed of
the game and the amount of effort that is required
of them. And then of course there's a mental and
emotional strain of the game. Plans that go into it.
The nuances of what you're seeing from a receiver standpoint,
(07:16):
at least.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
The disguises they take a step.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Up when you get to the NFL, and obviously the
size and speed of the players that they're playing against.
It requires you to continue to evolve your game from
a technical standpoint, and there's a lot of patients that's
involved with that, and I think it's really important also
to celebrate the successes and to make sure even when
the ball may not go your way and you end
up with two targets, let's look at what you look
(07:40):
like away from the ball here though, right, And that
was always our mantra and Seattle was when I was
coaching receivers is bottom line, guys put wins on film
because the more you do that, the more the quarterback
sees what you're doing and trust that, the more your
teammates respect the work you're putting out there, and then
the wins will come and the ball will come. So
there's a big patience game involved in that, and there's
also urgency, right, So it's like, can you.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Have great urgency?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
We need you to be great right now and also
have that patience to know it's going to come. Keep
at it, hard work works, and just kind of reinforcing
some of those principles making the.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Saints, I mean, they're going on three games, but yet
they won two big games within the division, and you
chalk that up to you know, how hard it is
to win in the division and yourself familiar routeams or
what do you kind of make of their season?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Absolutely, if you look at the totality of their body
of work. This is a defense that's been playing really
good football for a long time. They've found an identity offensively,
you know, And you look back to our game, they
had some big wins and some third down situations, but
if you look at their run game to finish the game,
they had variety. They sustained long drives, and they've really
found a way to play, a way to play really
(08:46):
good football. And so I respect that and I understand that.
And you know, when you look at some of the
margins of some of their losses, you know that there
was a couple of big ones, but for the most part,
they're battling. They're battling, and then a team will make
a player too, you know. And you know, I think
about us. You know, we have three walk off field goals,
you know, and how close this the NFL is in general,
you know, and how hard it is to win. So
I know what we're facing on Sunday. I know we're
(09:07):
going up against and I respect this team, and I
know our players they understand as well. You know, the
challenge we have in front of us in the division,
with an opponent who knows us and is playing really
tough football.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Right now, we're gonna take two more.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
They're following up on the Saints question and the way
that they played. You guys here what and you got
a big on learning. Yeah, you know, tell the truth Monday.
So what are the lessons learned from that first meeting
to apply to this one?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, first and foremost, you know, you start off with
our run game, you know, and it's it was about
blocking to the second level to Mario Davis, Pete Werner,
these are guys that I really respect. Making sure we
get a hat on their best tacklers, you know, in
the different phases. I didn't think we did a great
job of that. And from a physical standpoint, you know,
just we couldn't run the ball, and then they ran
the ball on us eventually, you know, and they played
(09:56):
they beat us at our own game. We want to
play a physical style of football, and they did a
great job.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And that's the challenge in front of us.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Much with so much writing on these next four weeks,
do you approach these games?
Speaker 6 (10:08):
It's kind of like an early playoff.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All of them, every single one, from the beginning of
the season. You know, I understand how important every single
game is. As you get to this point in the season,
and so you really can't look past any game. Every
game is a championship opportunity, just like the one we
have in front of us, and we have to maintain
that heightened focus and awareness of how important they are.
You know, there's nothing worse than over the years, you
(10:32):
get through a season and you look back, maybe you
squeak in in a wild card berth or maybe you
win the division, but you didn't get the seeding that
you could have because of a game that got away
from you earlier in the season.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
It's why it's it's easy for me to.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Sell that to the group, to say, hey, every game
is a championship opportunity, and we have one right in
front of us on the road against a familiar opponent's.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Fourteen one square games. You're ten and four in those,
it's almost halfier year tenure. Why do you think you've
been so successful during the crunch time and kind of
converting in those into wins.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Commitment to fundamentals, Finish, We talk about finish. We look
for opportunities to preach finish, and you know, in different
ways as we look at a season, you try to
break the season up into quarters, as well, so that
we have something to kind of sink our teeth into
and wrap our mind around as much as we have.
This is a one game approach right here. We look
for finish opportunities every Friday. Focus Friday is a finish
(11:31):
opportunity to wrap up the game plan. Then we have
that walk through on Saturday. So I just keep trying
to look for a finish line, to have a habit
of bursting through the finish doing whatever it takes for
as long as it takes. And I believe that that's
what shows up for us late in games is our
guys are used to having finish opportunities or you have
to refocus.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
At the right time. And then we also talk about
do right longer.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
You don't have to do anything special, you don't have
to do anything different, and if you want to be
a great team, it's fundamental execution all the way through
the game, regardless if it's a first play of the
game or the last play of the game on a
fourth down. We're just asking for that focus and that
basic execution.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's what's unique about the way Joe Gilbert's kept us
lying together and through all injuries and everything.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That's yeah, it's really it's a really you know, the
the tag team is really Joe and Goodie. And to
have two experienced coaches like these guys and who've got
a ton of experience with the different sets of lines,
different types of run game, different types and styles of
quarterbacks to connect with and communicate. But I think at
the center of it is a great process. And I've
(12:40):
said this a bunch of times, but I'll say it again.
They're always working. Whenever you come out to practice, whatever
period it is during the practice, whether it's kickoff return,
you're gonna see the offensive line working on stunts, working
on pressures. You'll see Cuba and Rico down there talking
with the group. It could be another special teams. They're
working on stunts and different front variations for.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
The run game.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
If you're looking in the building, they're taking care of
all these little windows by having the group talk together,
wrapping the day up at the end. So it's this
constant communication and this work ethic that they just bring
where they want to be covered. They want to go
through all the what IFFs and make sure our guys
feel really prepared so they can play fast. And you know,
just from a fundamental standpoint, you know, it's all the
drill work and the details that go into it, so
(13:25):
I'm really blessed to have those guys.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Having my back on this staff. All right, thank you
Hoon for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
First, just want to start off, I'm talking about the
Joy to Carolina's event last night.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We had over sixty players.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Really proud, I'm really proud to say that our guys
showed up with great energy and we're just loving on
a bunch of people that showed up. There was almost
a thousand kids there, staff included family members and just
to have all hands on deck. The Teppers do an
amazing job, particularly Nicole, organizing this event and just just
an amazing way to connect it and to show the
(00:33):
guys the bigger picture of what's happening. And you know, yes,
we're playing football and we're blessed to be able to
do this job. But any chance we have to extend
with the Panthers, who the Panthers are, to just spread
some love during the holiday season is an amazing opportunity.
So I just wanted to start off by saying that.
And you know, the players again, you know, you show
(00:54):
up to these events and you don't know what to
expect from the players, but they were so into it
and they were all just smiles and whether it was
you know, passing out food or you know, toys, shoes,
different things like that they were just it was a
real blessing to be a part of that.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I don't know if we've talked to you since it happened,
but Austin Corbett, nav and Walter Payton Man of the Year.
Why was he or guys' choice for that award?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, just as involvement in the community and commitment, and
the cool part was I don't know if you all
saw the video, but Metallica was able to you know,
present the award to him. It was a big deal
for us to show that in the team room and
just a leader, a guy to point to, to show
some of the younger players, you know, the type of
impact you can have playing this role. Understanding you have
a job to do, but knowing that you have a
(01:36):
bigger platform to be able to affect people.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Being backed is see the right guard.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yes, so we'll go in there.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Cato play center, Austin will play guard, you know, which
he basically spent about six or seven years of his
career playing and so feel really confident about those guys
going out there.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, you are Claude and jac.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Sturing the prototeam.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
They are still in the protocol. They're doing great, They're
making strides, they're clearing all the things we need them
to and so we have one more day to get
out there now in pads to be able to do
some more movement and making sure we do the right
thing for them, getting all the information we can from
them and their movement. But they were able to participate
in a limited fashion today and we'll ramp it up
a little bit more to see if we can get
(02:16):
them out there.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I wanted to ask you when Bryce is going good
from a passing perspective, is there something we're seeing mechanically
that maybe he's not doing as consistently in some of
the games when.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
We've seen the struggles.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Really it's been a group thing, and it starts up front.
You know, when the protection is right and the guys
are where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to
be there, and he's on time, the thing works. And
I've seen that chemistry continue to grow throughout this season,
and we haven't had the consistency that I would like
to see from the entire group, and you know, certainly
Bryce is a part of that. And that's the challenge
that we have in front of us, and that's what
we've been attacking you know, for weeks now to find that.
(02:52):
And you know, we had some really critical downs last
week against the Rams and we were able to come
through because they.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Were all on the same page.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And that's what I see for this group, and I
hope we take another step this week related.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
To that you were talking about on Monday, finding your
identity and trying to be balanced off pensively.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Are there ever benchmarks yardage wise that you're trying to
hit ors It all just about the game flow.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Absolutely, it's the game flow. It's the defense that we're playing.
It's what they're giving us and how they're trying to
attack us. Starting up front with the structures facing the
run game and whatever their plan.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Might be that day.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's for the coaches our job to kind of figure
that part out and find the run game that fits
what they're doing. We have an idea for what they
should be and for the most part, defense to stay
within their identity. Certainly, you know, we've worked so hard
in the different schemes that we have, but they may
pick one over the other and that's where we have
to make those adjustments. And then, of course, in the
past game, where are the matchups and where are the voids?
(03:44):
And that's all communication that happens live and then we
try to make those adjustments. But you know, for me,
it's a win is a win. Yards are yards and
that's what we want to come away from. But I
do know I want to be able to run the
ball in some way, shape or form because I understand
and who we are as a team. Panthers football should
look a certain way, and I want to make sure
(04:05):
we come out of it playing the run WELLND defense,
and then on offense, making sure that we have Rico
and Chuba have an opportunity to affect the game with the.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
Buy As Ladys was, was there any sort of like
load management conversations getting to the bye week and in
terms of practice or things like that, And is it
with a lot of folks healthy now and the bye week?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Is it people? Are you able to do anything differently? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
And this is where I can give Josh Hinks and
Denny Callenton a lot of credit for the conversations we've
had coming into the season knowing when the bye week
was going to be. We didn't have any Thursday games
where you kind of get a pseudo buy after some
of those and you have to take care of the
guys going into the game, but we had to be
smart about that. We had to see what team we
were working with. And we've had some bumps and bruises
(04:48):
along the way, some longer term injuries that affect that
part of it. But we had to modify. We had
to make adjustments. You know, every day going into practice,
what's the group that we have available. If we scale
this back, who can we get out out there to
get those reps. He may not be able to handle
two full periods of full speed reps, but if we
bring it down on this period, can we get them
out there for reps and things like that. We just
(05:09):
had to make sure that we are connected with the guys,
and that's what Josh and Denny allowed us to do,
making sure we had enough in the tank to finish
the way that we've finished. And I've been really pleased
with how we've played at the end of games in
fourth quarters consistently for the season, and that was because
of the hard work of doing all the region that
we do, going into practice, doing all the recovery that
(05:29):
we do, and then you know, making sure we dose
the guys the right way so they're still ready to
play on game day, but they're also fresh night.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Brady Christiansen, Pat Jones, Jonathan Brooks, David Moore, We're all
involved in kind of the celebration and everything, but they're
also pretty readily available in the locker room. They're around,
Rob Hunts around. Why is it so important to keep
those guys focused on what the team is doing, even
when they're injured or sideline or maybe done for the season.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, the team evolves and we become something and we
start to see different concepts in all of our phases offense, defense,
and special teams. We start to become an identity of something,
and it's so important for those guys to be around
that as we continue to grow and build our team
and find an identity of who we're going to be.
And so I've seen it happen both ways. I've seen
where guys, you know, have chosen in ir situations where
(06:19):
they're not in the building as much and they're really
focused on the rehab. And I understand and respect that,
but I really respect the guys that have been here
doing the rehab in house. We have a great staff.
They trust the staff that's first and foremost, you know,
if you have great care, then there's really no better
place to be than here. So you can be a
part of those meetings, be a part of those conversations,
and continue to grow with us so that if we
(06:41):
get these guys back, they're hitting the ground running. From
a mental standpoint, you make those coach receivers for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, going into a season with such a young group
across the board, how do you sort of manage the
ebbs and flows of those guys over seventeen eighteen leagues.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, there is a toll on rookies from a physical
stand point, certainly with the longer season, the speed of
the game and the amount of effort that is required
of them. And then of course there's a mental and
emotional strain of the game. Plans that go into it.
The nuances of what you're seeing from a receiver standpoint,
(07:16):
at least.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
The disguises they take a step.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Up when you get to the NFL, and obviously the
size and speed of the players that they're playing against.
It requires you to continue to evolve your game from
a technical standpoint, and there's a lot of patients that's
involved with that, and I think it's really important also
to celebrate the successes and to make sure even when
the ball may not go your way and you end
up with two targets, let's look at what you look
(07:40):
like away from the ball here though, right, And that
was always our mantra and Seattle was when I was
coaching receivers is bottom line, guys put wins on film
because the more you do that, the more the quarterback
sees what you're doing and trust that, the more your
teammates respect the work you're putting out there, and then
the wins will come and the ball will come. So
there's a big patience game involved in that, and there's
also urgency, right, So it's like, can you.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Have great urgency?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
We need you to be great right now and also
have that patience to know it's going to come. Keep
at it, hard work works, and just kind of reinforcing
some of those principles making the.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Saints, I mean, they're going on three games, but yet
they won two big games within the division, and you
chalk that up to you know, how hard it is
to win in the division and yourself familiar routeams or
what do you kind of make of their season?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Absolutely, if you look at the totality of their body
of work. This is a defense that's been playing really
good football for a long time. They've found an identity offensively,
you know, And you look back to our game, they
had some big wins and some third down situations, but
if you look at their run game to finish the game,
they had variety. They sustained long drives, and they've really
found a way to play, a way to play really
(08:46):
good football. And so I respect that and I understand that.
And you know, when you look at some of the
margins of some of their losses, you know that there
was a couple of big ones, but for the most part,
they're battling. They're battling, and then a team will make
a player too, you know. And you know, I think
about us. You know, we have three walk off field goals,
you know, and how close this the NFL is in general,
you know, and how hard it is to win. So
I know what we're facing on Sunday. I know we're
(09:07):
going up against and I respect this team, and I
know our players they understand as well. You know, the
challenge we have in front of us in the division,
with an opponent who knows us and is playing really
tough football.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Right now, we're gonna take two more.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
They're following up on the Saints question and the way
that they played. You guys here what and you got
a big on learning. Yeah, you know, tell the truth Monday.
So what are the lessons learned from that first meeting
to apply to this one?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, first and foremost, you know, you start off with
our run game, you know, and it's it was about
blocking to the second level to Mario Davis, Pete Werner,
these are guys that I really respect. Making sure we
get a hat on their best tacklers, you know, in
the different phases. I didn't think we did a great
job of that. And from a physical standpoint, you know,
just we couldn't run the ball, and then they ran
the ball on us eventually, you know, and they played
(09:56):
they beat us at our own game. We want to
play a physical style of football, and they did a
great job.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And that's the challenge in front of us.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Much with so much writing on these next four weeks,
do you approach these games?
Speaker 6 (10:08):
It's kind of like an early playoff.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All of them, every single one, from the beginning of
the season. You know, I understand how important every single
game is. As you get to this point in the season,
and so you really can't look past any game. Every
game is a championship opportunity, just like the one we
have in front of us, and we have to maintain
that heightened focus and awareness of how important they are.
You know, there's nothing worse than over the years, you
(10:32):
get through a season and you look back, maybe you
squeak in in a wild card berth or maybe you
win the division, but you didn't get the seeding that
you could have because of a game that got away
from you earlier in the season.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
It's why it's it's easy for me to.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Sell that to the group, to say, hey, every game
is a championship opportunity, and we have one right in
front of us on the road against a familiar opponent's.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Fourteen one square games. You're ten and four in those,
it's almost halfier year tenure. Why do you think you've
been so successful during the crunch time and kind of
converting in those into wins.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Commitment to fundamentals, Finish, We talk about finish. We look
for opportunities to preach finish, and you know, in different
ways as we look at a season, you try to
break the season up into quarters, as well, so that
we have something to kind of sink our teeth into
and wrap our mind around as much as we have.
This is a one game approach right here. We look
for finish opportunities every Friday. Focus Friday is a finish
(11:31):
opportunity to wrap up the game plan. Then we have
that walk through on Saturday. So I just keep trying
to look for a finish line, to have a habit
of bursting through the finish doing whatever it takes for
as long as it takes. And I believe that that's
what shows up for us late in games is our
guys are used to having finish opportunities or you have
to refocus.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
At the right time. And then we also talk about
do right longer.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
You don't have to do anything special, you don't have
to do anything different, and if you want to be
a great team, it's fundamental execution all the way through
the game, regardless if it's a first play of the
game or the last play of the game on a
fourth down. We're just asking for that focus and that
basic execution.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's what's unique about the way Joe Gilbert's kept us
lying together and through all injuries and everything.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That's yeah, it's really it's a really you know, the
the tag team is really Joe and Goodie. And to
have two experienced coaches like these guys and who've got
a ton of experience with the different sets of lines,
different types of run game, different types and styles of
quarterbacks to connect with and communicate. But I think at
the center of it is a great process. And I've
(12:40):
said this a bunch of times, but I'll say it again.
They're always working. Whenever you come out to practice, whatever
period it is during the practice, whether it's kickoff return,
you're gonna see the offensive line working on stunts, working
on pressures. You'll see Cuba and Rico down there talking
with the group. It could be another special teams. They're
working on stunts and different front variations for.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
The run game.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
If you're looking in the building, they're taking care of
all these little windows by having the group talk together,
wrapping the day up at the end. So it's this
constant communication and this work ethic that they just bring
where they want to be covered. They want to go
through all the what IFFs and make sure our guys
feel really prepared so they can play fast. And you know,
just from a fundamental standpoint, you know, it's all the
drill work and the details that go into it, so
(13:25):
I'm really blessed to have those guys.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Having my back on this staff. All right, thank you
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