#Seahawks CB Riq Woolen shares peek in Mike Macdonald's system

now uh you are listening to the Huddle and uh reek we're really really happy to have you let me just say this is not going to be a surprise to you cuz you're going to say of course but you've had a very great preseason you've looked really really Stellar did it feel good to get out there and kind of just show that like I know who I am and I know what I've got like did you feel satisfied with your preseason oh yeah no I was happy for real but um I was just ready for the season start honestly I'm sure the preseason felt like it took a long time but it went far fast though I just happy that I was out there be to be able to get reps and stuff and it was a lot of fun yeah so uh you you're one of the guys they trust to to kind of lock a guy down and uh you know them putting that that kind of uh faith in you has to kind of build you up a little bit right I mean how how how good does that feel to know that they just know hey reck's going to be on that guy he can take him away uh honestly it feels amazing just because I know that I'm helping my team out but also you know uh when you consider yourself one of the best in the game you got to do the St that that uh how can I say that claims that you are those one of those guys but um I just take it as a fun challenge to me and Sho uh it's another step in my career and I see it as a stepping stone for real because you know for for you know a whole defensive staff to trust in a guy to take care of a impact player on somebody else's team you know especially in the game of football that's a key thing to do so you know I I appreciate their trust in me and you know my work has been speaking for itself for them to be able to trust in me Rick you one of the more interesting players when you got drafted because you look at just your history and how you got to where you are in the position so then to see the jumps you've made in your techniques been crazy to me I was watching um I can only get stuff on Instagram when y'all was in in Tennessee and I'm a receiver and I'm watching this clip with my son and I go re just ran that route for him my son's like what you mean I go when a DB is running the route for you that means he's picking up on all your keys and everything that you're doing what did you you focus on when it when it comes to technique this off season to get you where you are right now uh shoot just trusting my technique uh just trying to be more consistent in my technique and um just understanding that uh my abilities as a corner you know I know I'm fast I know I'm tall and I can make up a lot of ground so just being able to just trust being patient and Trust in your eyes and stuff like that you know uh every corner you're probably going to say eyes and stuff like that but it's just different whenever you when a whenever you're able to you know consistently you know focus and lock in with your eyes especially when you're your cornerback just because some plays you might get bored you know plays may not come your way so you just got to be able to just lock in and have great focus on with your eyes and technique what's Mike McDonald like as a head coach what feels different uh honestly you know he he a great coach but uh I feel like what what makes it feel much different is that you know in the atmosphere you can just feel that you know it's becoming more of like a how can I say like a real real team for real like it's starting to become like a NFL like type atmosphere I'm not saying it wasn't before but you just can feel you know a difference for real and the shift of culture and um you know he he's a mastermind for real and it's just different when you have a coach that you know understands the players and and how the players are playing in certain positions on the field you know it's clips of coaches going out there getting reps at the spots the players to be out a coach be at a Nick coach be at Corner Spot you know and it's crazy cuz I ain't never seen that before you know cuz some people they just coach the game and Coach the game but it's different when you coach the game and you able to relate to your players based off the the speeds that they are playing at because you put your coaches and yourself in those positions to work out a scheme and see how it's going to work for your team so uh just different things like that you know uh it feels great to have him as a head coach you know and I feel like he's going to lead us you know to the right direction and I feel like so far you know week one is going to be uh the step we take as a team and we going to see where we at even more tell us about uh coach dirty do do you pick up on his accent is it okay it's cool now you understand him uh oh yeah no it was it was pretty easy when he first came in I feel like the hard part is is trying not to laugh that probably the the the first thing for real cuz you know especially in a business like this you know there not many coaches going to have an accent for real so it was just one of those things that you had to pick up on and uh over time you just get used to it yeah well the I'm sorry real quick just the communication we were just talking about that like what does um you know uh how much does that has that changed from last year for you as far as you know just everybody it looks like everybody on the sidelines everybody on defense is yelling things out and you guys are communicating a lot better have you noticed that is that markedly different than last year uh yeah just the bit just because I feel like we focused a lot on you know using a lot of communication especially you know as a defense and as a secondary you got something you got to master and I feel like uh since we do play in one of the best stadiums in the league shumin gets pretty loud you guys know so whenever it's time to communicate we got to be on point and we we know how it's going to be like in a game atmosphere so at practice we got to treat it as much as a game as much as possible so I feel like that's why our communication has been getting better and better and um you know we still got stff to work on but as long as we taking a step each day then we'll be good when I was in college they used to surprise us with uh uniform changes and they let us know like two days before so we get our fits right so when y'all found out you're wearing the Throwbacks did you do y'all still get excited that you're wearing Throwbacks or is it just just another day for y'all a little bit kind of excited but I mean hey we already when you already WN one time and uh well a couple times you get used to it for real but I'm always happy to put on a throwback uniform just you know it is is one of the best uniforms but you know it's a lot of tradition in those uniforms for real and for us to be able to wear them now and you know put on a great show for the fans in those uniforms it's pretty cool for real it's going to be very fun to see you guys out there especially week one at home in those throw bats Throwbacks uh reek thank you so much for joining us man we really appreciate it you are listening to the Huddle a preview of next season coming up next Seattle sports your home