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00:00 >> Good, how are you doing?
00:01 >> Good, you got your feet wet last week.
00:04 >> How are you?
00:05 >> I'm doing good, man, feeling good.
00:07 Ready, getting back ready, I'm good.
00:10 >> Was it difficult to sit out a few practices?
00:12 >> Yeah, absolutely, especially the fifth year, you don't wanna do that.
00:15 But feeling better, right on track, Coach Novak has me doing things,
00:19 not getting a full practice, so Coach Novak has me on the right track.
00:23 Conditioning, working on my line stuff, so I'm right on track to where I wanna be.
00:27 >> Coach Tucker talked a lot on Monday about getting the horses to the race.
00:33 What post are you lining up in that race?
00:36 >> [LAUGH] Yeah, of course I'm a horse,
00:40 I like to think he wants to get to the race.
00:42 So I'm definitely just trying to get my body back where it needs to be and
00:47 be in the best condition possible and ready basically to go to war this year.
00:51 That's what it's gonna be.
00:52 >> You hear that a lot in that film camp about veteran guys,
00:55 that they'll be able to set up practices that they've been through,
00:59 they've been through all wars.
01:00 Do you feel like that helps you?
01:02 >> Absolutely, taking some time definitely helps recover the body,
01:06 fall camps and extensive things, so definitely helps to take some time.
01:10 >> A lot of talk of the chemistry of the guys up front,
01:12 even though you're trying to play more than five guys.
01:15 How much does the fact that you've been in this long enough benefit you that
01:19 you can miss some time and still things will be okay while other guys get some
01:23 reps as well?
01:23 >> Absolutely, I think you saw that in the 2021 season where we had basically
01:27 an interior that was fully rotatable.
01:29 So we're playing the second and fourth quarter of the single game.
01:32 So having those guys, all our guys that were younger are now developing.
01:36 And so I'm seeing guys,
01:37 seeing patient guys this fall that I didn't even see in the spring that are doing
01:40 better and you got JD now taking center snaps which is gonna help him in the long
01:44 run in his NFL career one day.
01:47 Gino's taking center snaps, Wade in Dallas obviously has been taking center snaps.
01:50 So that chemistry is getting good between everybody.
01:54 >> What do you think about the scrimmage?
01:55 I know you may not have been out there watching from the sidelines or
01:58 whatever, how do you think the offensive line played in the scrimmage?
02:01 >> Yeah, I think it's kind of just goes back to what I usually always say,
02:04 it's just the little details.
02:06 I think we're getting more cohesive in the line.
02:09 It's of course, we have a bunch of rotations right now, so
02:11 everyone's getting used to playing next to each other in different lineups.
02:14 So I think we're doing good.
02:16 Obviously a lot of things to fix and clean up, but
02:18 that's what Paul campus for, practice meets perfect.
02:21 >> What have you seen in Vandermark?
02:22 He played a little bit next to you at the end of the season last year,
02:24 now he's coming back a little more experienced.
02:26 >> Yeah, call him the big ragu, the big Italian ragu.
02:29 So that's my guy, man.
02:33 He's doing good.
02:34 He's developed a lot, he's matured a lot over this last year and
02:37 that's helped him the whole time.
02:38 He's the maturity aspect from the mental standpoint.
02:41 Obviously physically he's growing every single day.
02:43 So I try to help him coach him up anytime I can.
02:45 He's at center, in the guard, and other things I know there.
02:48 So I think he's coming along really good.
02:50 >> Mel was the other day emphasizing the importance of running the ball well, but
02:54 also saying it's not always on the offensive line.
02:57 It's easy to just be like, if you don't run the ball well,
02:59 the offensive line stinks, right?
03:00 >> Yeah.
03:01 >> Talking about all the other aspects it takes to run well.
03:03 But I gotta imagine you guys still though, kind of carry that as the badge
03:07 around, we're gonna run the ball, we gotta be the guys that do it, right?
03:11 >> Yeah, absolutely.
03:12 I mean, obviously in our run game, you see we have tight ends out there.
03:15 And obviously up to the running backs to hit the right holes,
03:18 make the right reads, set us up for a good block too.
03:20 But of course, we hold that badge of honor.
03:22 We take a lot of that dignity in that run game, cuz it starts with us.
03:27 The whole team starts with us, making that impact early on in the game.
03:31 So definitely hold that little high standard.
03:35 >> You had, obviously two years ago, you got a guy like Kenneth Walker and
03:37 everything seems great.
03:39 Last year it's not like, how much of that is a motivation this year,
03:43 you guys to say, hey, it's not.
03:45 We're more of the team that we saw two years ago as opposed to what it ended up
03:49 being last year.
03:50 >> Absolutely, Ken was a guy that he's one in a million.
03:54 He's gonna be a Hall of Fame running back in the NFL one day.
03:56 So we have great backs in the back, we're running out of great cohesion in the O-line
03:59 room, so yeah, we're ready to, like I said, go to war.
04:02 And make this a statement this year for us.
04:05 >> Nick, I'm not gonna ask you to get too much into detail, but
04:06 I'm just wondering what your situation was, was it spring or off season back?
04:10 >> Yeah, it was a little off season thing, just a little upper body thing I'm
04:13 dealing with.
04:14 So I'm right on track to where I wanna be though, and
04:16 everything's coming together just how I wanna feel.
04:19 >> I only asked because you were out in practice one, I was like nothing's happening.
04:21 It sounds like you slip on the floor.
04:22 >> Yeah, it was easy to know that.
04:24 Yeah, it's an off season thing.
04:26 >> Sure.
04:26 Kishon, is he the guy that's more equipped, do you think, this camp versus
04:32 what you saw him on the spring block, is getting that, the rest of that?
04:35 >> Yeah, for sure, I think he's got quick feet and he's really good.
04:37 So I think he just keeps coming along, he transferred in this January.
04:41 So continuing to, I think his playbook's pretty much getting close to that second
04:46 nature aspect for him.
04:48 But if he can just continue mentally to grow, I think it's gonna help him a lot.
04:51 He's quick, he's got the attributes to be a great offensive lineman.
04:55 That mental piece is gonna be the thing that sets him apart from everybody else.
04:58 >> Is there any part of you that, as a veteran guy,
05:00 we were talking about the NFL veterans getting into the race.
05:03 Is there any part of you that's like, man,
05:05 I'm kinda saving my body right now a little bit from some snaps and
05:08 hits where I can be fresher when I am back.
05:10 And then, is there a little bit of you that's like, this is kinda nice.
05:12 >> Yeah, I don't want that to be a notion though, cuz it's, of course,
05:16 fall camp's hard, but I'm not gonna lie, even not being in the first scrimmage,
05:21 that part of that stings a little bit.
05:23 It's my fifth year, I'm here to compete, win, and hit.
05:26 I love hitting, if you've seen my film, I love getting in open space and
05:29 just knocking people over.
05:30 So, I'm not really like, this is a great thing.
05:35 Of course, it helps the body, but I wanna hit people and be out there.
05:39 >> Is it a strength to be, you just have to watch it?
05:42 I mean, how do you wrap that stage?
05:45 >> It's not frustration, it's more of me working on my mental part of the game,
05:49 taking mental reps, and also my leadership, helping the younger guys.
05:52 Staying locked in, not getting complacent where I'm at, but
05:55 helping those guys who are gonna be out there with me battling every single day.
05:58 >> Being able to choose JD, be his coach a little bit, right?
06:01 >> Yeah, as much as he listens to me, we're both pretty hard headed sometimes,
06:09 cuz we're competing back and forth.
06:11 Not who knows more, but we're both pretty good football IQs.
06:15 So, he listens to me, I listen to him, so we coach each other up a lot.
06:18 >> This is your sixth year, right?
06:19 >> This is my fifth year.
06:20 >> Fifth year, JD's sixth year?
06:21 >> Fifth year, yeah, he's an old man.
06:23 >> [LAUGH] You played a lot as a true freshman,
06:29 then the 2020 didn't count, right?
06:30 So, it's a fifth year player.
06:32 >> Yeah, I lost my register my freshman year.
06:34 I played in, I think, seven or eight games, and
06:37 then the COVID year gave me another one.
06:39 >> Because of the COVID year, you're a rare player that can get five letters.
06:42 >> Yeah. >> And basically start in five
06:44 different years.
06:44 >> Yeah.
06:45 >> Are you glad that that 2/20 wafer happened?
06:48 >> Absolutely, that gave me a chance to come back and
06:51 show what I'm about one more time, cuz I know I'm good enough to get where I wanna go.
06:55 So, I just gotta prove that one more year.
06:57 >> What are you about when you think about what you're doing and what you can't do?
07:02 >> I think I'm a guy that just needs to let it loose a little bit more.
07:06 So, I think I know what I'm doing.
07:07 I'm physical enough to do what I wanna do.
07:09 Now, I just gotta do that every single snap.
07:12 And you see guys that go to the NFL, there's a lot of great players in college
07:15 football, but it's the consistency aspect that sets them apart from everybody else.
07:19 So, I wanna be consistent on a consistent basis where I'm knocking people over, but
07:24 I'm also being mentally smart in everything I do.
07:26 >> What percent of the time are you there and what percent of the time?
07:31 >> Yeah, I think I can speak for everyone.
07:34 The mental part of it gets hard when you're tired,
07:36 especially late in the drive in the fourth quarter.
07:38 So, in those moments, I wanna turn it up even harder and go harder for
07:41 my guys and set that example so they go harder for me.
07:44 >> So, we heard from the D-line guys last week that with more depth,
07:48 I'm not gonna have to play quite as many snaps.
07:50 I know everybody wants to be out there all the time, but
07:52 if you play fewer snaps, are you better in the first quarter?
07:55 >> Yeah, absolutely.
07:55 That helped us in 2021 with our line rotation.
07:58 I think I was fresher.
08:00 Sometimes it's hard.
08:00 You gotta make sure you're staying loose in the sideline, though.
08:02 You can't just stand there and get cold.
08:03 You gotta make sure you're warming up a little bit.
08:05 But as far as the D-line goes, we got a lot of depth there, and
08:08 that's helping our line get better.
08:09 Cuz we're seeing great players all around,
08:12 no matter who we're going against is a great player.