00:00What advice would you give to the rookies that are coming in now that you've gone through it now once?
00:07Get your mind right.
00:09It's going to be, like I just said, it's going to be the longest year of your life.
00:12You don't have any break.
00:14You don't have an offseason.
00:15You're going straight into it from pre-draft, playoffs, like your last college game,
00:20and you're going right into it, joining us now.
00:22So I would say just get your mind right.
00:23Just get ready to play 22, 23 games.
00:30I think that's how many games it is, Super Bowl.
00:33So get ready to play 23 games or however long it takes and just come ready to work.
00:37This league, it doesn't matter when you get drafted, what round.
00:41It doesn't matter if you just go undrafted.
00:43Once you're in the building, that's all you need is an opportunity.
00:46So just come in with the right mindset, just get to work, and just try to stack days.
00:50None of those guys that they drafted or the guys they signed in free agency play your position.
00:54How big of a vote of confidence did that feel to you?
00:58It feels great.
00:59I know that they trust what we have in this building.
01:02They trust me, D-Night, OB, Joe, all the guys, Shaka.
01:06So it means the world, and it still has a lot of confidence to me.
01:09So I'm just ready to just keep working, keep stacking days, bring a championship back to Cincinnati.
01:13Why do you think it is, Eric, that they constantly and continually give you that vote of confidence, whether it's
01:20Zach, whether it's Al Golden, whether it's Duke Tobin?
01:23Why do you think, what is it that they see in you and Demetrius?
01:27Yeah, I would say it didn't happen overnight.
01:29There was a lot of work that went into it.
01:32Definitely came in and made mistakes, but that's a part of the process.
01:36So I would say just building that trust and just trying to stack days and show.
01:39So, sorry, Shaka was making a funny face back there, but it definitely did not happen overnight.
01:46You know, we definitely worked our asses off to get to this point and still to what we're trying to
01:51achieve in the future.
01:52So nowhere near satisfied.
01:54You know, we have to show each other, show the world why they have this confidence in us.
01:59So definitely instills a lot, but ready to just go to work and bring the shit back to Cincinnati.
02:05Like anything, defense is a team game to see the improvements they made in front of you and behind you.
02:11How much do you think that's going to help the linebacking unit overall?
02:14So, yeah, it excites me a lot.
02:17You know, I told him, I told someone when I saw we got Dex and Jonathan and all these guys,
02:21like I literally, I screamed.
02:23I was on the pickleball court and I screamed my ass off just because I didn't think, you never know
02:28endlessly like what could happen and what trades can pull off and all that.
02:32So when I saw that that happened, it just sent so much joy and excitement to my heart.
02:37So I'm just, it's been great going to work with those guys and I'm excited to hit the field with
02:42them and make a lot of plays.
02:44And, you know, win a lot of games.
02:46So it excites me a lot.
02:47Can you describe what it is about Demetrius tonight?
02:50You know, he can be a big-time player in this league.
02:51I'm what?
02:52What it is about Demetrius that can make him a big-time player in this league?
02:55I would say number one is his brain.
02:57He's so smart and he prepares his ass off.
02:59Like, I get to see it firsthand, us coming in together and, you know, me trying to learn from him
03:05and vice versa.
03:06Like, I definitely take a lot of what he does within his process and try to add it to mine
03:10and, you know, find what works for me.
03:11But I would say that's number one.
03:13He prepares his ass off.
03:14Like, there's not a scheme.
03:16There's not an offensive formation that he does not know what's about to happen or what's going on.
03:20So, you know, obviously his athleticness, you know, speaks for itself.
03:24But the man works his ass off and prepares his ass off.
03:27So, I would say that's what's going to make him successful.
03:30That's what's going to carry him so far in this league.
03:32When you look back at last year, why was it so tough for you and Demetrius to kind of feel
03:36good?
03:36You had to spend more time to kind of digest the season.
03:38What made it such a challenge for him?
03:40I would say is that, you know, we were both in the fire together, if that makes sense.
03:45You know, usually if you have a rookie out there, you're with a vet or you're playing alongside a vet.
03:50But we were both really just trying to, like, we were, like, learning at the same time.
03:53Like, I can speak for the both of us.
03:56Like, we never saw a fullback.
03:58We never saw a QB under center.
03:59Like, in college, that's just not where the game is right now.
04:02So, you know, coming to the league, you see that so frequently.
04:05So, I think we were both just trying to lean on each other with that and just try to get
04:09in the film room
04:10and, you know, try to get ahead of anything we possibly can to give us the edge come Sunday.
04:15So, I'll say it's just what we were exposed to and the lack of what we were exposed to coming
04:20up, playing football.
04:21But, you know, doing a lot of film studies from this past year, like, well, whatever we're going to see
04:25this year,
04:26like, we're going to be prepared for it because we've seen it in the past.
04:28And we're going to prepare accordingly to make sure that those same mistakes actually don't happen this year.
04:33What gives you the biggest confidence that y'all can be better available at last year?
04:36And you two specifically?
04:37I think just having the year under our belt.
04:39Like I said, like, seeing stuff this year that we've seen before.
04:43And then last year, we couldn't say that same thing.
04:46So, I'll say just seeing stuff that we haven't seen and knowing how to prepare for it
04:50and knowing, like, what to do and what not to do and how to go about the week
04:53in order to set us up on Sundays for success.
04:55So, I'll say those things.
04:57Were you caught in between sometimes trying to read things?
04:59Obviously, you're always, as a linebacker in your position, especially trying to read.
05:04Were there moments where you're like, it could be this, it could be that?
05:08Absolutely.
05:09Yeah, I mean, I was – I feel like I did a good job preparing throughout the week.
05:14But at the same time, like, until it's game time, like, you're not going to know,
05:17like, what you're going to see or what you're going to get.
05:19So, there's a lot of times, like, I was hesitant because I didn't know if it was going to be
05:23this or that.
05:24You know, it made me be a step late sometimes.
05:27So, I definitely saw myself, you know, doing a lot of that last year.
05:31But, you know, definitely got to eliminate that this year.
05:33Dexter told us that he was going to talk to you guys when he got here about making your job
05:38easier.
05:38Have you had that conversation?
05:39And what have your kind of initial reactions been in your conversations with us?
05:43Yeah, you know, Dex, he came in day one and said, like, let's get to work.
05:47He said he's not here for anything but winning a Super Bowl.
05:49So, that sends a lot of excitement to us.
05:51But I met him before.
05:53And, you know, I remember the first time I met him at Clemson, I was like, Jesus Christ, that's a
05:58large man.
05:59But the fact that I get to, you know, play behind him and, you know, play alongside him, it means
06:04the world to me.
06:05And I remember growing up watching him when I was about to go to Clemson.
06:08So, it's really a full circle moment that I get to play alongside him.
06:12But I'm excited to just get to work with all those guys, Dex, all the free agents that we signed,
06:17all the new draft picks that we signed.
06:18So, it's going to be fun this year, a lot of plays we made for sure.
06:22In your mind, what is the biggest way that your job is easier because of him?
06:26What was making you scream on the pickleball court?
06:30I mean, when you bring in an all-pro, when you bring in a – I mean, I don't want
06:35to jinx or anything, but I think he's a gold jacket caliber type of player.
06:39When you bring in a guy like that to the locker room and not even who he is as a
06:41player, like who he is as a person, you're not going to find a better guy than that.
06:45So, you bring in a guy like that, he's going to bring a lot of positivity, a lot of joy
06:50to this locker room, and a lot of plays we made in this locker room.
06:52So, it makes me happy.
06:54It makes all of us in here happy, and we're just ready to just keep getting to work and just
06:59make a lot of plays with him.
07:00I've heard some people say, even in these workouts, they can't believe how well he moves.
07:04Does that stand out to you?
07:06Yeah, for sure.
07:07I saw it a little bit at Clemson, just watching old tape from there.
07:10But when you see it up front, when you see it, you would not think he's however many pounds he
07:17is.
07:18So, like I said, I'm excited to play behind him and play alongside him, but there's going to be a
07:23lot of plays this year for sure.
Comments