From Raiders Training Camp: LB Divine Deablo
The 2023 NFL Training Camp for the Las Vegas Raiders is progressing, and today LB Divine Deablo spoke, and we have his entire comments for you.
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00:00 (air whooshing)
00:02 - D-Lion, when we talked to you in the spring,
00:09 you were kind of trying to figure out that sweet spot
00:12 for you in terms of your weight,
00:13 and being able to cover,
00:15 and be able to stand up against the run.
00:16 Do you feel like you've found that?
00:19 - Yes, I feel like I lost a little weight from the spring.
00:22 I felt I was a little too big,
00:23 but now I feel comfortable where I'm at.
00:28 - I knew a lot of new faces on D-Lion,
00:30 but we've seen the fact that's behind those guys,
00:32 what's the impression so far of the new guys on D-Lion?
00:36 - I think they're doing a great job,
00:37 especially of taking on double teams,
00:40 keeping the linemen off of us.
00:41 So we're free to the ball.
00:42 So I think those guys are doing great.
00:44 - You were getting your hands on a lot of balls today,
00:46 defensively, there were some interceptions
00:48 that you guys came up with, some tip balls.
00:50 How important is that to grow as a unit
00:53 in terms of making plays,
00:54 not just doing your job, but making plays?
00:56 - It's very important to us.
00:57 We challenge each other every day.
00:59 Sometimes we put pushup competitions on the board,
01:03 whoever gets the most picks doesn't have to do pushups,
01:06 stuff like that.
01:07 So yeah, it's very important to us.
01:08 - Who's usually winning those competitions?
01:13 (laughs)
01:14 - I would say right now the corners are winning.
01:17 LBs, we catching up right now.
01:19 I think we had two balls today.
01:21 - What's that linebacker room like now
01:23 with Robert Spillane there?
01:25 - Robert Spillane's great, man.
01:26 He's a smart guy.
01:27 He's teaching me things.
01:28 I feel like he's a very experienced linebacker.
01:30 He's a hard hitter.
01:31 He comes to work, he puts energy into me,
01:34 and that's really hard to do.
01:35 So I'm surprised and I'm grateful to have him here.
01:40 - But everybody's different, Max and Robert, vocal guys.
01:43 You're not the most vocal guy in the world,
01:45 but you are intense.
01:46 Will you talk about how the dynamics of all that
01:49 mixes different personalities, please?
01:52 - I feel like we all just speed off of each other.
01:54 If Robert's, I help Rob out, he helps me out.
01:57 It's just like a team thing.
01:59 It's a team and I see a lot of chemistry out there
02:01 and I'm proud of us.
02:03 Just got to keep it up.
02:04 - I'm sorry, coming in, obviously you were safety
02:06 to linebacker transition, and then obviously
02:08 you have Luke and Amari who are kind of in the same boat.
02:11 How have you been able to help those guys
02:13 kind of transition after having that experience at safety?
02:16 And how much do you think that benefits your game
02:18 as a linebacker with that previous experience?
02:20 - I think where the game is at today,
02:21 I think it's a lot of passion.
02:24 I think it helped benefits in that case scenario.
02:26 As far as running game, we do have to put on a little weight
02:30 so to take on these linemen.
02:31 But as far as Bernie and Luke, whenever they ask me,
02:35 I just help them out, give them a little tips.
02:37 Obviously I'm only like a year ahead of Luke
02:39 and then two ahead of Bernie,
02:41 but in whatever way possible, we help each other out.
02:44 - What did you learn from your first off season
02:47 that you carried into your second?
02:49 Like, did you learn how to do things better
02:50 in terms of when you start training, that kind of thing?
02:53 - Actually, yes.
02:53 My first, my rookie off season, it took a little while.
02:58 I wanted to take a break from football.
03:01 This past off season, I went to work as soon as possible.
03:04 Put on more weight, study more film,
03:07 and I feel like it's helped me a lot.
03:09 - What did you learn watching more film about you?
03:12 - About me?
03:12 I waste, I do a lot of wasted steps.
03:16 I shouldn't move too fast to the right or to the left.
03:18 I should, you know, just bounce my feet,
03:19 be patient, see what's going on and then attack.
03:21 'Cause I feel like I'm fast enough to react.
03:24 I just got to be patient.
03:25 - Did you find it, I guess, difficult maybe
03:27 to find a balance when you, if you go to work
03:29 and just grind through the whole off season,
03:31 like, do you have to find a balance?
03:32 Is that something you were concerned about?
03:35 - I was a little concerned about it.
03:36 I still found some weekends to take time to myself,
03:39 get a massage, go somewhere.
03:41 I went to Disneyland with my girlfriend.
03:43 Just small things, but outside of that,
03:46 football is really important to me this year.
03:49 - Are you sensing a different mindset
03:51 on the defense this year compared to last year?
03:54 - I am.
03:56 I don't really like to talk about last year,
03:57 but this year I know we're hungry.
04:00 We're all going after balls.
04:01 We're all running to the ball.
04:02 And we're just trying to keep that mindset,
04:03 keep building it.
04:04 - We've seen you make some plays
04:06 on the ball and coverage earlier in camp.
04:09 I know that's always kind of been a strength
04:11 of your game that you're able to do both,
04:12 but do you feel a little more comfortable
04:14 in the pass game going into your third year?
04:16 - Yes, I feel a lot more comfortable going in.
04:18 I'm getting, I'm understanding what the offense
04:21 is trying to do to us now.
04:22 I understand my responsibility as well
04:24 as everybody around me.
04:25 So I try to use that to my strength.
04:27 - When do you think that clicked
04:28 when you started kind of understanding
04:30 more of what the offense was trying to do?
04:31 - I think me really finally getting to the scheme
04:34 for a second year.
04:35 My first year was a different scheme.
04:36 Second year was a different scheme.
04:37 So me already knowing the playbook,
04:39 just trying to expand from that, it helped out a lot.
04:41 - While we're talking to Brandon,
04:44 I faced him about last week and asked him
04:47 two years at Virginia Tech, how cool was it
04:48 to kind of go in 2021 to both evolving
04:51 into the roles that you had going into this season now?
04:54 - Be fair, that's my boy, man.
04:56 I'm happy to see him here.
04:58 It just brings back memories from Virginia Tech
05:01 and we just got to represent.
05:02 It pushes me even more 'cause I want to represent
05:04 the Hokies as well while I'm here.
05:06 So yeah, I'm glad to have him here.
05:08 - Could you give us your analysis on Drake Thomas
05:11 and Amari Burney, two rookie linebackers,
05:13 just what you see from them, what you like?
05:15 - I like that they're both very hungry.
05:17 They know what to do.
05:18 They really don't have any mental errors.
05:21 They're always in the classroom.
05:23 Shoot, they're teaching me things sometimes.
05:24 So they take football very seriously
05:27 and I appreciate them for that.
05:29 - The word we've heard a lot is disruption,
05:31 be disruptive on defense.
05:32 And you've talked about getting, you know,
05:33 not deflecting balls, things like that.
05:35 How do you balance trying to do that,
05:37 but also staying disciplined, you know,
05:39 taking care of your responsibility,
05:40 but also wanting to go out to the ball?
05:44 - It's just a mindset is what our coach said.
05:46 Obviously you got to do your job first,
05:48 but once you did your job, just go after the ball.
05:51 And that's how we become a better defense.
05:54 - All right, you guys all good?
05:56 - Thanks, man. - Appreciate y'all.
05:57 - Thank you. - Thank you, buddy.