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00:00 Philip, this is training camp number 16 for you.
00:02 How do you feel being out there, being back out here?
00:05 What does the season look like?
00:07 Good.
00:07 Feels good to be back.
00:09 Shoot, it's nice to have that break after OTA's mini camp.
00:12 But it's good to be back out here and get going.
00:14 And as we know, it's still one of those--
00:18 you've got a ways away from the opener,
00:20 but it'll be here before you know it at the same time.
00:23 It's just little by little, day by day,
00:25 we've got to recreate the camaraderie,
00:29 recreate the whole deal that we had last year,
00:33 and then be even better.
00:34 And that just doesn't happen.
00:36 We have to do that and got that whole thing started today.
00:39 You've been one of the few guys that
00:41 have been through that, a two-week period
00:43 off a successful season.
00:45 Is that-- do you lead by example?
00:47 Are you saying that you've kind of achieved--
00:49 Yeah, I mean, shoot, we have a lot of veteran players
00:52 mixed in different groups.
00:55 We have a young team for the most part.
00:56 We do have enough veterans sprinkled
00:58 into each position group that I think
01:00 it's been well expressed just how hard it is to get there.
01:05 I think-- and Coach Lynn's done a heck of a job-- how hard it
01:07 is to--
01:09 because I think you look up and you go, oh, yeah, we'll just
01:11 go win 12 games again.
01:12 And that doesn't happen.
01:14 That doesn't just happen.
01:16 We also know how hard it was to win those 12.
01:18 There's a handful that could have gone either way,
01:21 that we found a way to do that.
01:22 So I think our guys know.
01:24 I think we have the right attitude.
01:25 Guys are hungry.
01:27 We also know how we felt leaving that locker room in New England
01:31 coming up short.
01:32 So that also kind of adds some fuel to the whole deal, too.
01:36 So I think we're in a good frame of mind.
01:40 So what did Anthony say to you guys about the Melbourne
01:42 Gordon situation?
01:43 And how are you guys handling it?
01:45 He didn't say anything.
01:46 And I think a lot of guys are close with Melbourne
01:50 and we hope to see him soon.
01:55 You talk about recreating camaraderie without New Year.
01:58 Is it more challenging?
02:00 No.
02:01 I mean, shoot, there's 89 or 90 others.
02:04 So it's a little by little deal.
02:12 Training camp, you build it.
02:13 Meeting rooms, you build it.
02:14 Locker room, you build it.
02:15 You build it starting in the preseason games,
02:17 going against the Rams in practice,
02:18 going against the Saints in practice.
02:20 All those things.
02:21 You build it as the year goes.
02:22 I think that trust and love and togetherness
02:26 is something that goes.
02:27 It doesn't just stop.
02:29 How do you get it filled up in training camp?
02:31 And good luck to you.
02:32 I think that kind of carries, as we saw, all through the season.
02:36 It's just a matter of going and doing it.
02:37 How do you feel Justin Jackson and Eckler
02:39 have done with Melbourne not being here?
02:41 And obviously, there's going to be more of an onus on those guys
02:44 getting work.
02:44 Yeah, they're going to get a lot more work.
02:46 And obviously, Eckler, obviously, a handful--
02:51 been here a little bit longer than Justin.
02:53 But you saw what he did last year in games.
02:55 He obviously had a heck of an off season.
02:57 He made some huge plays for us last year in games.
03:00 Deetrez Newsom stepped in there and made some big plays for us
03:02 and filled in last year in some games.
03:05 So it certainly is a deep position for us.
03:08 And those guys all love to play and work hard.
03:11 So like I said, we love Melbourne.
03:16 But we're going to go with what we got.
03:19 And it's a pretty dang good group.
03:22 So how much of a scary situation was it
03:24 with Russell down the off season when he got his kind of descent?
03:29 Yeah, I mean, I know Russell put out something.
03:31 So I really like to let Russell speak on it in specifics.
03:35 But it was.
03:36 I mean, I think just once realizing how serious it was.
03:39 I think all injuries are serious.
03:41 But we're used to the--
03:42 sorry, we're used to the ankles and knees and all those things
03:45 that they are tough to deal with.
03:47 And some guys are out a year.
03:49 Some guys miss seasons.
03:50 And those things are tough.
03:51 But this is even-- it's one of those silent and deadly deals.
03:56 So thankfully, again, as I think he said,
04:00 he's getting the treatment.
04:01 He caught it soon enough.
04:02 And he seems to be in great spirit.
04:04 He seems-- he's here in meetings and all out there with us
04:07 today.
04:07 Jersey on right there behind the action.
04:09 So when he's healthy, which is most important,
04:11 we'll get him back out there.
04:13 Phil, I saw you connecting Hunter today.
04:15 Just to have him back as a road blocker,
04:17 as a case in point, there's a big piece of this off.
04:20 And it's time to change this.
04:21 Yeah, it's great.
04:22 It's great to have Hunter back.
04:23 It's a little bit of a weird deal.
04:25 Because I think for most everyone on the outside,
04:27 it's like, wow, they're getting Hunter back.
04:29 For us, although he didn't necessarily
04:33 play a ton in that New England game,
04:35 we felt like we've had him back for some time now.
04:37 Getting him back that week of practice
04:39 and then really having him all offseason.
04:40 It feels like he's been healthy for a long time.
04:45 But certainly having him back and in the fold,
04:47 down in and down out, in there with Virgil.
04:51 I mean, he's just such a playmaker.
04:52 He's just kind of that complete tight end, as you've all seen.
04:55 But having not seen it for a year,
04:59 it makes him that much more exciting.
05:01 [INAUDIBLE]
05:04 Yeah, it just so happened.
05:06 It wasn't anything really orchestrated.
05:07 It just so happened.
05:08 Because he was having a family vacation about 15 minutes
05:12 from where I spend the summer.
05:14 So he and I threw a couple of days and ran.
05:16 And his brothers came along.
05:19 He's got two brothers that are at Arkansas.
05:21 So that was fun to spontaneously hook up with him
05:24 and throw a little bit.
05:25 I don't throw much during that break.
05:27 But when you got your tight end, it's that close.
05:31 You make an exception and throw a little bit.
05:33 So it was good to get out and get a little work in.
05:36 Anything new with you on point of emphasis for your game
05:41 personally or fitness?
05:43 I mean, I think it's just, again,
05:44 I think it's just that those tiny margins,
05:48 these small ways you can improve that
05:51 are the difference in getting to a second and three instead
05:55 of a second and five.
05:56 Because you throw what is accurate as it needed to be.
05:59 I mean, all these those little tiny minuscule things
06:01 that are the difference, as we know.
06:03 And I think for me, it's just that knowing
06:07 it's that every single day, be there for everybody
06:14 throughout the whole training camp and every little attention
06:16 to detail.
06:17 And again, those reminders, without making it
06:19 a big speech, it's those little reminders
06:21 of not letting little things slide and relax about anything
06:25 just because we had some success.
06:27 Because again, we got to find a way to recreate it.
06:30 We got a long way to go.