00:00morning robert good morning guys how are you we are great welcome back it's been a while
00:06and i am i'm guessing that you're that you're feeling tip top a plus hundred percent ready to
00:13go no doubt i'm fired up to get out there and i'll be back with the boys on the field
00:19have you by the way just side note have you been invited over to the maze we were just listening
00:23to will campbell talk about how he hangs out at the maze house all the time have you been invited
00:28over for dinner or anything yeah i think those two definitely have uh created a special bond this
00:33year um yeah we love drake and his wife uh and michael so yeah we've been watching her bake miss
00:43my wife and i her bake miss tiktoks all all year so okay so i said no i'm being invited over for
00:50dinner is what you're saying uh yeah drake he he hosted a christmas party for the whole team so
00:57oh that's cool it's fantastic um if you were to be hooked up this morning to a lie detector i wanted
01:04to ask you you signed your deal here in march went through camp what was heading into week one
01:11what was your and remember lie detector attached what was your expectation for where this team
01:17would be at the end of the season yeah i try not to make predictions or guesses or anything i knew
01:24um we were going to win a lot of games and i i go that i go into every year with that mindset that
01:32you're going in there to win games there's no other reason to play the games if you're going to win
01:37them honestly kick rocks move along but uh we play to win and i think our team has really just came
01:44together all year and looked at every weekend as a chance to go out there and win a game
01:49robbie we talk about this being a young team with guys that don't have a lot of playoff experience
01:55you have a couple games under your belt does that help you out in any way um when you do have some
02:03playoff experience or is it just like you know what the playoffs are the playoffs and until you get there
02:08you don't kind of know what to expect no it definitely helps it definitely helps having guys that have been
02:15there done that even if those are losses i'm 0-2 in the playoffs so i've only taste defeat but at the
02:22same time that's only raised the level of urgency for me and the level of focus going into the playoffs
02:28i know what i want this weekend to um to be and just trying to relay that message to young guys or
02:36maybe guys that haven't been in the playoffs that and continue to do what you're doing trust yourself
02:40trust your abilities that have made you players all year just tighten it up a little bit just be a
02:45little bit more focused this week and uh good things will happen on sunday robert that guy that
02:50you're going to see on the other side uh justin herbert is somebody that drake may was compared to
02:55a lot when he when he was in the draft what similarities now when you're breaking down tape do you see
03:01between drake and justin yeah i don't really break down drake's tape anymore i used to do that
03:07during otas when we were going up against him every day now i just get to sit more as a fan from
03:13the sideline watching him do what he does distribute the ball to anyone that's on the field with an
03:19eligible number and um yeah i think justin does a great job of doing that as well obviously tall
03:25stature guys that can both move around the pocket and scramble for yards get up the field and also
03:32make all the throws whether it's a five yard out or a 50 yard bomb i think both drake and justin have
03:39the ability to do that and do it with great consistency and accuracy so it's going to be a
03:45great challenge for us going up against such an elite quarterback and i think we're all looking
03:50forward to it robert i know you don't pay attention to the noise but the uh the thoughts outside of new
03:55mainland are that the patriots need a win this weekend to validate the season because you only
04:01beat one winning record opponent what do you think about that and do you think you need to win this
04:06weekend to validate what you guys did i don't i don't care what what they think or what you guys think
04:12uh all due respect i care about what the men in this building think um and we're going to go out
04:18there and battle and put it all on the field or i don't give a i'm about to start swearing so i'll just
04:25take a deep breath go ahead um because at the end of the day i we know the type of work that we put
04:33in and the type of focus and effort and passion that we've had all year and we're we're going to
04:37continue to stick to our identity robert going into the playoffs you try to look for advantages to
04:43to take advantage of teams maybe weaknesses when you look at a team like the charges they've struggled
04:48up front you know they've dealt with some injuries how important is it for you as a defense
04:53to make sure when the opportunities present themselves to be able to get to justin herbert
04:58and maybe take advantage of some sacks or moving them off the spot how important is that for your
05:04defense to know we have to take advantage of an offensive line that might have struggled all year
05:08long i mean you look across the league third and 10 plus is just not a great down for offenses it gives
05:17chances of making plays on the ball and both interceptions forced fumbles great things happen
05:22when you force these teams into must pass situations it lets your rushers rush it lets the cover people
05:28cover um we need to force a lot of these must uh throw circumstances and that means winning first
05:36and second down football um yes they love a power style run game on first and 10 but how can we get
05:43them to second and 12 how can we make that second and 12 third and 12 and uh that's the goal for us
05:50this week we've had an ongoing debate with uh with wiggy over here uh with rob nikovich with guys who
05:58who played the game like you is are you somebody who believes that home field and gillette stadium
06:05on sunday is a legit advantage no doubt we we get to sleep at home we get to be around
06:13our family we don't have to travel it's a huge advantage we get the crowd um they have to work
06:19off a silent count we get to use cadence of course it's a huge advantage robert been hearing from you
06:25guys on defense over the last couple weeks about this emphasis on creating takeaways and it's
06:30definitely something that you have been able to do and you personally have been able to do as an
06:35individual how much more important does that become in the playoffs with you know the margin of
06:40error getting smaller and smaller any chance you get at the ball is a chance to not only change the
06:49game but change your life and your future and these opportunities present themselves you got to go out
06:56there and make the play um it's easier said than done but when given a chance at the ball you got to
07:02make it uh and playoffs only like i said intensifies that so your focus just needs to be a little bit
07:07higher your precision just needs to be a little bit more on tune and that's why we had all year to
07:13prepare for this moment robert you talked about being in the playoffs before what would you say
07:19would be the message to maybe guys that haven't been there before that you would give them like
07:24you know this might be one of the most important things that we have to do in the game from your
07:30perspective yeah come out fired up come out flying around great energy um expect to get punched in
07:39the face expect to smile in the face of adversity because things are going to go our way and things
07:45are not going to go our way and it's going to be a 60 minute four-quarter battle and keep smiling in
07:50the face of it is what i would say like they're going to make their plays we're going to make our plays
07:57know that the game is going to be 60 minutes you can't it can't be won or lost in the first quarter
08:01so just continue to fight i love it message i love it well we know you have work to do
08:07and that is more important than this so we appreciate you taking the time this morning
08:12we are delighted that you're back and we cannot wait for sunday night robert's plane
08:17it's it's going to be a great one we're very fired up here at the facility so thank you guys
08:24all right stay fired up that is robert splain and
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