00:00So we head out to the wise heart, right? We make it right. Call Kyle Ryan hotline and welcome on
00:03Browns linebacker Quincy Williams. Quincy, welcome back to the show. What's good? What's
00:08good? Well, I got to give you a lot of credit here. One, as always, love the energy, but that
00:15Jets game, you were on fire. As somebody who you've clearly had a lot of great games in your
00:22career, do you consider that your best individual performance of your career? Yeah, yeah. I'm glad
00:28it happened there in midlife, and I'm glad they're having to give that team. That was
00:31my biggest thing going into the week, not letting the game get bigger than the game, just showing
00:36the things I've learned, the things that are taking care of my body and stuff, and just
00:40putting it on performance for my old team. That's funny. Let my play talk for me. I feel
00:45like we always have that convo of like, well, how much more could they possibly give in any
00:49given week? But like that performance against your former team, it does kind of showcase
00:52how, I guess everyone always has a little bit extra that you can give and leave on the
00:56field, huh? Yeah, for sure. All right, well, I guess we also have to ask, how's the neck?
01:01Is this like a new thing you've been dealing with, or is this something you've been working
01:06through for a while now? No, it's a new thing. I'm good, though. I practice a day, full
01:10practice a day, so I feel good. Excellent, excellent. So we talk a lot about this Titans
01:15game, and it doesn't seem like anyone can agree how to kind of, whether it's the Browns
01:21side or the Titans side, how to kind of set this matchup up. A lot of people have
01:26called this a trap game. As a player, like, do you guys ever talk about individual games
01:31as like a trap game? Is that maybe how you view this Titans game? You've got to explain
01:34what's a trap game, Tim. That's new to me. So a trap game is a game that like, you're
01:38the better team, you've got the better record, people expect you to win, and maybe similar
01:44to like the Jets game, you know, if you fail, people will say, oh, you weren't up for that
01:49game. Oh, man, what's the question to that now? Because I did my first time hearing them,
01:55but now I know what you're talking about. So do you, do you guys view this as a trap
01:58game? No, I feel like this is one of those shutout games. I ain't gonna lie to you when
02:03all three phases put it together, special team, offense, defense, we all hitting on all cylinders
02:09going on the road too. So, you know, pack our run game, pack our physicality on all other
02:16phases. So a shutout game, that's what we call it, not really no trap. Do you guys hear
02:22the doubters? Like when people say the four and two record isn't real, because I hear
02:27them and it upsets me, and I don't put on that jersey every Sunday. So you guys hear
02:31it? Yeah, no, we'll be too busy, you know, putting in the work, making sure our preparation
02:36good throughout the week, and then making sure our body good throughout the week. I don't
02:40even get on social media like that. I know the other guys haven't been talking about it
02:44or nothing like that. They've just been talking about going 1-0 this week and keeping it
02:48number one spot. So obviously you're battling through some things as far as injuries and
02:52everything like that, and you sound like you're ready to go on Sunday, though. But Schwessinger
02:56was clearly injured and had one of the biggest plays of the game and continues to shine. What
03:02do you see? I know you've been kind of mentoring, Carson, throughout his very young NFL career,
03:06but what do you see with someone like that that is just playing through injury, playing
03:09hurt, and making an incredible place? He's like a superhero. He'd be limping in between
03:15the play, but as soon as the ball hikes, he'd be ready to run around. So I like that, though.
03:19So it also helped me, too, though. Like, guys, I got something going on. It ain't that bad.
03:23You know that it ain't that bad. Making it a mind over matter type thing. So yeah, like
03:28I said, he be limping, or he'll sit on the ground for a little minute, and everything,
03:32you know, the ball, say hi, he running full speed, calling everything out. I ain't missed
03:37a beat. So I gotta say, watching you guys play together is so much fun. And in this common
03:44era of NFL, sometimes I feel like linebackers get forgotten a little bit. And, you know,
03:50I just love, it's like Spider-Man, that Spider-Man versus Spider-Man meme. So just as kind of
03:56like a callback, like, what's the secret sauce? Like, how have you guys, who have never played
04:01together before, you know, three months ago, how have you guys come together so far, are
04:06so quickly, and form such a dominant tandem?
04:10It's that connection, for real, off the field. Big thing is connection off the field. So,
04:16I mean, we do, he do some stuff he like, he do stuff I like, talk to family members and
04:21stuff, connect off the field. And then when we get there on the field, you know, brothers
04:25type mindset. And then also in meetings, we talk a lot as far as like what we see, what he
04:30see. And then on the field, it's more like a trust thing. So like, you might have some
04:35pointers, I might have some pointers, but it starts at practice, us giving out those
04:38pointers. So when we get in the game, we're actually confident and playing off each other
04:42and on the same page.
04:43Quincy, I want to ask you about Mike Rutenberg. After week one, it felt like a lot of people
04:47looking around, and I know this is your guy, but looking around being like, what is this
04:51guy doing? How bad are we going to miss Jim Schwartz? And now you fast forward six weeks
04:54in, and everyone's like, Jim Schwartz who? How happy are you that not only obviously the
04:59defense is looking really good, but your guy Rutenberg in particular seems like a genius
05:03right now.
05:05Man, I'm very excited. I'm very excited to watch them grow. From a GA in Jacksonville,
05:10we was together at GA in Jacksonville all the way up to right now in D.C. So I'm really
05:15excited about it. I tell them every time I'm proud of them. But the most biggest things
05:19is that confidence, the confidence in calling the players, the confidence in trusting the
05:22defense to do what they're going to do and not just trying to make sure you're in the
05:26right call at the right time and stuff. So just the confidence how he's grown.
05:31Man, I got to tell you, I feel like we're getting that confidence too. I mean, you know,
05:34we had Jim Schwartz here for three or four years, utmost confidence. We didn't know anything
05:39about Rudy. And I mean, what you guys have done these last couple of weeks is phenomenal.
05:43Is there another gear for this defense? And if so, what is that next gear?
05:48The communication part, the trusting part, figuring out where you fit in defense and then going
05:53to get that ball, taking our shots. So right now it'd be going to be more than what I want
05:58to level up to is taking our shots, figuring out what play is going to be your play to make.
06:04That was it. Other than just playing within the scheme, playing within your rule, your role,
06:08like what shots you're going to take.
06:09I do got to ask you, did you end up going to Deshaun Watson's party? That has been well
06:14talked about. You did. You were there.
06:16Yeah, that's done with jumper. I ain't gonna lie to you. He did a good job setting it up. Good
06:20food
06:20trucks. He got the good food trucks in the city. I don't even like the restaurants no more. I'm
06:24gonna just start calling food trucks to pull up to the house. Okay. That's good to hear. Now,
06:29how much does that do for the camaraderie of the team? It seems like all the time you guys are,
06:33you guys are hanging out together. I'm watching TikToks of you guys being in each other's houses,
06:37apartments. Like this team seems particularly close. That's the difference. That's the difference.
06:41It was really like, uh, that's what Rudy had taught us though. The biggest thing is like,
06:45your why learning your teammate why? So you know how to push them harder past their limit
06:49or the limit that they're showing them. Like if you know, they, why they reason behind
06:53everything, you know, how they living, where they stand at, you know, when times get hard
06:58on that field, you know, how to talk to your brother, you know, how you like to be coached.
07:02You're, uh, you're easier to accept criticism for your boys. Cause you know, for a fact,
07:07he got your back and he part of your wellbeing and stuff. And then on top of that, my cheat
07:12days
07:12be victory Mondays, you know? So that way I'll be playing hard to get that victory Monday
07:17so I can get me some food trucks. All right. So I know the defensive line has their,
07:22their own kind of hang away from the, the things we heard, I think it was Jared
07:26verse talk about that. I've heard other positions. Do you, do the linebackers have
07:31their own weekly hang? And if so, like what's the typical, where do you guys go?
07:36Or what kind of food do you guys like? I'm a foodie. So right now we're trying out
07:40different restaurants and stuff. I'm new here. So I'll be having them pick it.
07:43I don't be mind paying for it cause it's all camaraderie and stuff. But, uh, I can't
07:48wait to the rookie dinner to figure out where we're going to do that. But, uh, other than
07:52that camaraderie, man, that's the biggest thing. Having conversations, trying to figure out
07:57each other's loved ones and wives and stuff. You still, you like the rookie dinner? You
08:01wait, you, you, some teams they've gotten rid of the rookie dinner yet. We ain't got
08:04that. Oh no, you don't, you don't have nobody getting rid of that. That's the best food
08:10you're going to eat. And it ain't your dollar family. Did, did it get back to you? Uh, the
08:18broadcast a couple of weeks ago in that jets game, they were like, Oh, he's got, uh, he's
08:22got the green hair. I'm young at the TV. I'm like, cause it's a joker, joker. And you
08:25got the green hair. Everybody got to get on it though. Everybody think my greenhouse from
08:29the jet. They think it's from the jets. That's what they were saying on the TV. And so I was
08:33like, it's, that's, it's obviously not true. Uh, but if it were true, if you were to do
08:38like the team, would you ever consider going orange hair or no? No, I wouldn't go
08:41orange. Okay. I ain't going to lie to you. I wouldn't go orange. Okay. It's just a joke.
08:45It's just a joker thing. It's just, it's just coincidence. Okay. The Cheeto man.
08:50Oh, all right. Well, Quincy, we do have Halloween coming up. I'm assuming you'll be the joker.
08:57Uh, but so, so with, is there a joker that you prefer the most, whether it's comic book
09:03or Hollywood? He's ledger. That's best one. Still to this day. I want that coming. I want
09:10his, uh, diary though. Anytime. If it go on auction, I'm going to get it. Oh, that's cool.
09:15Is that, is that going up for auction? Are you just saying if it ever does go up, you
09:18want to ever go up for auction, I'm going to get it. Do you have any really nice, like
09:23Hollywood memorabilia or anything? Oh yes. I got a suit made.
09:27From, uh, I got the actual suit made from Joker one. And then, uh, I wore them for Halloween
09:33last year. And then, um, what else? Comic book. I got a couple of comic books. That's
09:39kind of like golden and stuff. That's worth a lot. I did get the bid on those. So happy
09:43about that. And some statues. Oh, what, what statues? Just, uh, the Joker in Gotham city
09:51when he beats the Joker and standing over them. All right. All right. That's pretty cool.
09:56So I was, uh, in kind of doing research for this, uh, I know we've talked to you, you've
10:01talked about communication. You've talked about the brotherhood and all this stuff, but
10:05I, I, I was reading an article that talked about your leadership and I, I love this stuff
10:09because one, uh, it's cool to see how everyone leads differently. And two, you've got such a
10:15great energy and such a great charisma to you. So now that you are where you are in your career,
10:21you've been in the NFL for a couple of years. Now, what is being a leader mean to you?
10:26Being a leader is being able to connect with your teammate, but being able to chair them
10:32when they're right or wrong. So my biggest thing is, yeah, I mean, I'm your boy. Now I
10:38want to be your equal and all, but we got some work to do.
10:42All right. That was Brown's linebacker, Quincy Williams of the wise heart, right? We make it
10:45right. Call Kyle Ryan hotline.
