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Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter joins the show fresh off the practice field to discuss training camp, the defense, and expectations for the upcoming season.
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00:00We're sitting down with a Pro Bowl cornerback, one of the ones that you love, number three in your program,
00:04number one in your hearts.
00:05His name is Kamari Lassner. Kamari, what's happening, man?
00:08What's good? How y'all doing?
00:09Man, we're doing well.
00:10Honestly, I was doing great on Saturday when I'm sitting over there and I see you going up with Nico
00:14Collins and you're just perfectly hand fighting with him.
00:17Nico doesn't even have an opportunity to look up at the ball.
00:20And it made me think, and after that, you also, like, you showed it, man.
00:23You showed that you were having a good time.
00:24Yes, sir.
00:25Are you a talker on the field?
00:26It depends.
00:26I never realized that.
00:27It depends. I don't talk a lot on the field unless somebody starts on with me.
00:32But, like, I go out there, I play with confidence, I make a lot of noise, I turn my guys
00:35up, they turn me up.
00:36So, yeah, I'll probably say I talk.
00:37It shows up. Who's the biggest talker that you play against?
00:40That I played against? I don't know.
00:43A lot of people really don't talk out there. Like, not receivers. Receivers really don't talk for them.
00:46Really? See, this is one of those things.
00:48You think about that as, like, a diva position necessarily, at least historically, and everybody's just out there doing their
00:53work, huh?
00:54Yeah, I would think, most of the time, the only time I really hear a receiver talk is, like, whenever
00:57they're not getting the ball.
00:58Like, that's the only time.
00:59Yeah, yeah.
01:00Like, I want the ball.
01:01So, let's talk about what you guys are doing out here, because I've talked so much about this defense, and
01:05we know what you did last year.
01:06And you're starting all over, and it's hard to just dial it right back up.
01:10I know you've talked about it a little bit in the offseason, but today you guys just seem to, you
01:14know, full pads, seem to dial it back up.
01:17How has that been in terms of, you know, implementing you guys, Blankenship, and other cornerbacks, and being able to
01:23just pick up where you left off?
01:25It feels really good.
01:26You know, any time we get on the football field, it's a blessing.
01:28We don't take that lightly.
01:30So, I mean, any time that we're on that field, you can tell.
01:32Like, we play with a lot of intent, a lot of aggression, a lot of detail.
01:35And the new guys, they come in, they've came in, and they've just meshed really well.
01:38You know, we get along really great, and we're just out there trying to, you know, get to the common
01:41goal.
01:42One of the things that I'm always real interested in is you sliding in.
01:48I saw you doing that a little bit today.
01:50Like, what challenges come with sliding inside like that as opposed to being outside and, you know, being able to
01:54have that outside sideline as an additional defender?
01:58I feel like the biggest challenge with sliding on the inside and the slot is just, like, there's a lot
02:02more moving parts.
02:02You know, you're closer to the line.
02:04You're closer.
02:05There's more space, you know, both ways.
02:07And there's just more communication.
02:09So, I feel like other than that, it's just going out there and playing ball.
02:11And I think that ties in because it feels like this offseason, you said that one of the things you
02:15wanted to get better at was being a leader.
02:17And I'm not going to lie.
02:18I heard that and I was like, damn, how many more leaders can y'all have on this team?
02:21And honestly, it makes me curious because you do have a particular brand of leadership in Will and Aziz.
02:26How do you take, like, have you been able to find how to take whatever leadership that you're building into
02:31and fit it into whatever everybody else is bringing and read Blankenship and Aziz and Will?
02:35I mean, yeah, I feel like, you know, I just lead, you know, my own way.
02:38I just do things, you know, the way that, you know, I'm wired.
02:41I go out there.
02:41I play ball.
02:42I play really hard.
02:43You know, I focus in.
02:45And, you know, if people see me, they understand that I'm working hard.
02:50So, you know, they probably work just as hard themselves.
02:52And, you know, guys have different ways of leadership, whether that's vocal, whether that's, you know, by example.
02:56And I feel like I'm a little bit of both.
02:58You know, I don't talk a whole bunch.
02:59But, like, when I do, it's important.
03:01I feel like I talk about important things.
03:02So that's just kind of my style.
03:04How much of it is you just blossoming as a person?
03:06I remember talking to you over there your first year, and everything's coming at you, you know.
03:12And you were a little more low-key than you are now.
03:14You were pretty much straightforward.
03:15Do you feel like you're just sort of becoming more of yourself as the years pass and you're being able
03:20to fit that role more?
03:21I definitely think so.
03:22So, you know, with time, you know, going by and around, you know, the same people, and they're all really
03:25good people with, you know, the same principles, the same morals.
03:28You know, you're able to, you know, kind of open up a little bit and be more of yourself.
03:31You know, when I first came in, I didn't know anybody.
03:32So I was just like, all right, you know, let me just do my thing.
03:36And, you know, this is my team.
03:37But, you know, these are my teammates.
03:38But, you know, I still got to get to learn them.
03:40You know, now I know everybody.
03:41Everyone knows me.
03:42So we all just kind of know each other.
03:43It's a really good feeling.
03:45How about when, you know, Derek Stingley comes in.
03:47He's got his hoodie on.
03:48He's kind of quiet.
03:49It just came to himself.
03:50Do you kind of feel like as the other cornerback you kind of need to maybe get him up, get
03:54the secondary up a little bit more?
03:56Because he's going to be a stud no matter what.
03:58But he is kind of just his own.
04:00He hasn't gotten a lot louder, so to speak.
04:03No.
04:04I mean, from the moment I've met Sting, Sting has been, you know, a really good friend of me.
04:08You know what I'm saying?
04:08So I know Sting.
04:10Sting is not a talkative person, but we talk all the time.
04:13He talks all the time to us, to the guys.
04:15So it's just like, you know, I don't think that I have to do too much anything.
04:18You know, we all, in the corner room especially, like we're all super close-knit.
04:22You know, we all know each other.
04:23We get along with the really great.
04:24We're all good friends, you know, inside and outside of the building.
04:27So I feel like I don't have to do too much.
04:28Is it the corner group chat?
04:30Because we saw Kalen Bullock step to the podium, and he was telling us that in the offseason, y'all
04:34are like trading, you know, trading film and stuff and talking about some of the stuff.
04:37Is that the corner group chat, or is that just you two that are firing back and forth, trying to
04:41get better that way?
04:44Me and CB shoot, film with each other all the time.
04:46Like, sometimes he might text me, like, in the middle of the night, or I might text him in the
04:50middle of the night, and he'll be like, how do you see this?
04:52And I'm like, brrrr, and then the other way around.
04:54And then, you know, in a corner group chat, we talk about all kinds of stuff.
04:57It's not just football.
04:58You know what I mean?
04:58We make jokes.
04:58We crack on each other.
05:00It's all, you know, it's just about, you know, getting to know each other.
05:03Is Sting the guy who's just hitting the little button reply, or is he actually giving you a message?
05:08Thumbs up.
05:08He's giving you a thumbs up.
05:09Sting is sometimes an instigator in a group chat.
05:12Really?
05:13Yeah, I'd be surprised.
05:14Sting is funny.
05:15Oh.
05:15Sting is funny, man.
05:16He's really funny.
05:17All right, so help me out on this.
05:18I've been telling some people for these young players, like, hey, I'm from Georgia.
05:22I'm from Alabama.
05:24It gets hot down there, and I tell them, no, no, no, you don't understand.
05:28Houston is different.
05:29Is that true?
05:30Yeah, I mean, I'm from the South.
05:32I come from heat.
05:33But, like, it's hot in Georgia.
05:34It's hot, you know, but Houston is hot and it's humid at the same time.
05:38So it's, like, it's added on heat.
05:40And if you're not used to that, like, it could creep up on you.
05:42Yeah, for sure.
05:44I want to talk about your position, Coach.
05:46Dino Vasso is a dude that, I mean, people might know a name, but I don't think that we know
05:50a little bit about or enough about as an actual coach.
05:53Like, what has he meant to helping you become the player that you've been to this point?
05:58Dino is great.
06:01I feel like Dino is a huge part of my game, you know, especially when he's taught me so many
06:05different things about the game.
06:07And, like, every day I just learn something new from Dino.
06:09You know, like, I feel like that's one of the greatest coaches I've ever had, you know, in football.
06:13You know, I just, I'm super grateful for him.
06:14You know, every day it's, like, it's easy for me to go into the position room because I know that
06:19he would never tell me or coach me to do anything that he didn't believe was right.
06:23But, you know, whether that's inside of football, outside of football, I mean, he's there, whether it's football related or
06:29not.
06:29I mean, he's a really good coach, and he's been really instrumental in, like, my growth as a football player,
06:34also as a man, too.
06:35So I'm grateful for Dino.
06:37How is it that, you know, well, let me put it this way.
06:41We talk about, I'm not putting words in your mouth.
06:43We talk about this could be an all-time great defense.
06:47It really could.
06:48That's our opinion, not yours.
06:50But that's got to be back there somewhere.
06:52Like, we are good.
06:52We know we're good.
06:53How much better can we get?
06:55Yeah.
06:56That's really the whole mentality is, like, how can, Will was just saying it today.
07:00He was, like, how can we keep leveling up, you know?
07:01And I feel like the all-time great defenses, they focus on that.
07:05They don't focus on how good they are or how good they can be.
07:08They just focus on just getting better individually, whether that's stacking days or that's stacking plays.
07:14Like, if you can get better every play, then eventually, by the time you get to the end of the
07:17game, you're going to be playing at your best.
07:18Like, you know, and I just feel like whenever you have 11 guys or 22 guys or 20 guys on
07:25the defense that are all focusing on that, that's how you become great.
07:27How about this?
07:28Not only are you guys a good defense, we know that, you look up and you've got Jadavion Clowney coming
07:33in.
07:33You look up and you've got Mario Edwards coming back.
07:35What does that do for you?
07:37It just adds more.
07:38It adds fuel to the fire.
07:39It adds more dogs in the pack, you know what I'm saying?
07:42You can never have two players.
07:44You can never have too many dogs.
07:45I feel like just adding those two guys, and we already know what they bring to the table, it's just
07:49going to help us level up more.
07:51Yeah.
07:51And you weren't, are you very familiar with Clowney?
07:53I mean, I'm, yeah.
07:54Other than watching him, yeah.
07:56We're all familiar with him.
07:57He wasn't saying you're not a baller.
08:00That came out bad.
08:01But, I mean, have you ever had any interaction?
08:03Do you know?
08:03No, I've never met him before.
08:04Well, I saw him in the building today, but I have never had the chance to meet him before.
08:08Can I ask you this, because it feels like, from our side looking in, your week one opponent, the Bills,
08:16y'all seen them a lot recently, and it feels like the secondary, I mean the defensive line as well,
08:20have their number.
08:21Can you explain, like, what contributes to a particular dominance against a team like the Bills?
08:28It's not even worrying about dominating.
08:29It's just really going out there and refusing to lose.
08:32Like, we go out there, we don't want to lose a rep.
08:34So, if you don't want to lose a rep, you're trying, I mean, it's going to correlate in an entire
08:38game.
08:38Like, you're not losing a rep, then you're not going to lose the game, because if they don't score, they
08:41don't win.
08:42I just feel like you go out there with that mentality, you focus on the details, you make the plays
08:45that come to you, you play for your brothers, everything just flows and it comes full circle.
08:49You guys had a good day today, from where I was sitting.
08:52The defense had a really good day, and yet you want and need that offense, you know?
08:57And D'Amico was talking not long ago about, hey, maybe we're going to have to kind of call off
09:01the dogs a little bit, you know, that kind of thing.
09:03But you don't want that, I'm guessing.
09:05Just make them better with what you do?
09:07They're making us better, too.
09:08I feel like it was a really back-and-forth day.
09:09We had to meet as a defense today because we were like, that wasn't it, you know what I'm saying?
09:14So, I feel like it's always going to be back-and-forth day.
09:17We've got a really good offense.
09:18They've got a lot of really good players over there.
09:20So, we're just going to continue to battle until we get each other better, and it's going to be really
09:25nice.
09:26I'm curious.
09:27I mean, you sound like a seven-year vet.
09:29Somebody said it on the text line here.
09:30What do you see from yourself, from your perspective, that's different for you right now versus when you came into
09:36the league?
09:36I just feel like, you know, time's passed.
09:38Like, I understand the game more.
09:40The game is starting to come at a slower pace.
09:43You know, players are starting to move slower.
09:44I just feel like things are just flowing in the right direction, and I'm just, you know, just trying to
09:49focus on it right now.
09:51Like, whenever you focus on where you're at right now, then you don't have to worry about it later.
09:55Like, you know, it's going to come naturally.
09:57How big was it last year finally getting your accolades?
10:00Because the first, you know, couple of years, it's like, hey, Derek Stingley, Derek Stingley, we're over here going, hey,
10:04look at number, you know, look at Kamari.
10:07Finally getting that.
10:07Like, it is two cornerbacks they talk about now.
10:10I mean, yeah, but I don't even look at that.
10:12Like, I think of it like I go out there and I ball because I love the game.
10:16I like playing with my teammates.
10:18Like, you know, I like the organization that I'm in.
10:19I love the organization.
10:20I just feel like whenever you focus on that, like, all the other stuff is going to come.
10:24And if it doesn't, it will, like, you know, so I just keep balling and I just try and, you
10:28know, play the game.
10:30I mean, you're playing opposite Stingley and knowing that he has that, people looked over and like, all right, the
10:35other cornerback is going to get picked on.
10:36Do you feel like that shifted at all or do you feel like people still don't recognize that you're over
10:41here balling on this side of the field?
10:42I mean, I don't care.
10:45It can be good.
10:47It can be good.
10:48I mean, I'd rather them try and pick on me.
10:50I mean, that's more beneficial to me.
10:51I mean, that's more plays that I get to make.
10:53That's more opportunities that come my way.
10:54And, I mean, I don't look at it any kind of way.
10:56Like, I mean, you want to throw it my way?
10:59Bring it on.
10:59You want to throw it his way?
11:00Bring it on.
11:01We just going to see about it.
11:03Go ahead.
11:04Good point.
11:04Always curious for, again, inside versus outside.
11:07We can talk about it from the outside, but there's things that you understand.
11:10What do you, I mean, and I know you locked in, but what do you think that people outside of
11:14the football fraternity get most wrong about it?
11:17About me?
11:18About you or just about the football itself from what you can tell?
11:21Well, I feel like people on the outside of football don't understand this, like this part.
11:30Training camp, like people just see the games.
11:32Like, unless you come to training camp, you don't really understand football.
11:35You just think that it happens overnight.
11:37Like, you just think that whatever they showcase on the field, that's just whatever.
11:41Like, nah, it takes a lot.
11:42It's day in, day out.
11:43It's a super hard grind.
11:44Like, making plays on the field, it doesn't happen overnight.
11:46It doesn't happen over a week.
11:48It takes a long time.
11:49It takes a lot of, you know, a lot of stress.
11:52It takes a lot of, you know, outside to do it.
11:54And it takes a lot of pain.
11:55You know, it's a lot.
11:56It's a lot.
11:57So, in the locker rooms, and we've both been in enough locker rooms, a lot of times players like to
12:01talk mess with each other, just in fun.
12:04Do you give that defensive line any trouble in terms of, like, hey, man, that was a coverage sack.
12:09That was a coverage sack.
12:11We should get half of that sack.
12:13I joke around with Will all the time.
12:15I just like to pick at him, I mean, because we all know Will's great.
12:18And I just like to pick at him.
12:19And, yeah, I get on his nerves.
12:22He gets on my nerves all the time.
12:24I randomly will be in practice, and I randomly yell his name, and he'll randomly yell my name and be
12:28like, you ain't making no noise.
12:29And I'm like, check the film.
12:31And I catch him whenever he's sitting down in the break, and I be like, you ain't making no noise.
12:33He'll be like, all right, check the film.
12:35So, we're just a little back and forth.
12:37But, you know, that's good.
12:39One more.
12:40Go ahead.
12:40No, go ahead.
12:41You got it.
12:41All right, so on this defense, when we talk about the best players on this defense, you can go to
12:46the whole roster.
12:47What is the goal?
12:49Forget the team goal, the Super Bowl and all that stuff.
12:51When you have individuals this good, you want everybody to eat.
12:55You talk about giving them a hard time.
12:57For sure.
12:57Where do you think this defense is best?
13:01Because it's so good everywhere.
13:03What do you think makes it the best?
13:05I feel like what makes our defense the best.
13:10You know what I mean?
13:11Because you can talk about defensive line, secondary, linebackers, Aziz, leadership, sacks, pressure, you know, forcing field goals.
13:18What do you think makes this the best?
13:20The reason that it makes us, like, the best or that we can be the best is that there's no
13:24drop-off.
13:24Like, there's no drop-off from the front seven to the back end or the back end to the front
13:30seven.
13:30Like, there's no drop-off anywhere.
13:32Like, I don't think that there's any weak link on our defense, you know.
13:34And there's not one specific place that you can just really try and pick on or attack.
13:39Because after a while, even if a couple plays happen as football, we're playing against professionals, we're all professionals.
13:45Even after a while, plays are going to start being made by us.
13:48So, I just feel like there's no drop-off anywhere.
13:50There's no weak link.
13:50Good stuff, man.
13:51Yes, sir.
13:52Absolutely.
13:52We appreciate you giving us a little of your time.
13:54And just the thing is, I know that you're about to go and lift.
13:56You're about to go get right back into the work to make sure that when they do try you, that
14:01you're going to take it away from me.
14:02We appreciate you.
14:02It's K3.
14:03Kamari Lassen will join us here in Loop on Sports Radio 610.
14:06Appreciate you.
14:06Appreciate it, man.
14:07Thanks.
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