Warren McClendon Jr. & John Johnson III Recap Sunday's Season Opener Against The Lions

okay if you guys want to raise your hands we can get started Adam hey Warren how are you doing I'm good how about you I'm good congratulations on your first career start um what were if at all like were the nerves at all different going into that game than other games you've played in in your career uh nerves were there for like the first couple plays I mean that's how it always is yeah you know the first couple plays you got the nerves but once you get that first drive out the way you know you calm down and you're ready to go what was it like for you you know so many moving parts around the line yesterday just due to all the circumstances like what what were the conversations like on the sidelines as you guys were trying to adjust to the Personnel uh I mean it was just kind of the next man up mentality you know in practice we do a lot of moving around so it wasn't too much new to us you know coach he plugs Us in here and there you know in the line so it wasn't that bad you know just trying to figure out what they were doing and then figure out what we could do and uh you know we may not you know we don't know what Joe's status is yet and maybe Rob is able to come back just what would your comfort like level be you know switching sides of the line um going into this next week you know in the offseason I played left tackle and uh in Camp so you know just depending on what coach wants you know I I play left you know in Camp so I'll be comfortable going over there thanks Warren Jordan hey Warren have you guys had a chance to do your re rewatch yet this morning or is that still to come today that's still to come you know we just finished doing a little uh workout and treatment sessions and stuff like that so still got to watch film a little later okay well and just in your um without before even getting to that obviously what what are some things that stuck out to you about your day yesterday or your night last night um some things that you learned on the Fly and in live action like that um but also some things that sort of started to settle for you as the game went on you know just uh practice habits have to have better practice habits cuz you know once you get tired late game you kind of lose your Technique so just having better practice habits so I technique doesn't fall off towards the end of the game and then um Matthew Stafford was speaking giving you guys a lot of praise for how calm you all stayed in the Huddle um you know hookah goes out and Joe and Steve and you know Bo comes in and AJ and um and you know I wonder how much you think of that also reflects on him and how he conducts himself in the Huddle and and how does he act with you guys in the Huddle oh yeah he was very you know calm and collected in the Huddle you know made sure everybody was paying attention and was very clear with the play call so I think seeing that helped everybody you know calm down and then also having people on the side like Rob he was there you know talking to everybody making sure they were calm and higgy you know even though they're not playing they were still you know out there you know talking to everybody it looks like Higg has spent a lot of time not just with the tight ends but with you guys as well on the offensive line is is that accurate to say so he's always stopping in and saying what's up um I think I lost you on the first part of that I'm sorry the sound cut out I was just saying you know his room the tight end room is pretty close to ours so he's always stopping in and you know saying what's up to us and just talking to us awesome thank you Warren I appreciate it Ste hey Warren what was the value of just all the Reps you were able to get um whether it was right tackle left tackle um in between you know training camp practices and obviously some of those joint practices throughout the preseason leading into this week wait can you repeat that I'm sorry yeah sure so just all the Reps that you got um you know right tackle and even and obviously left tackle and training camp in the preseason uh what was the value in terms of just confidence and preparation for um you know starting last night oh yeah you know getting all those reps you know uh early in Camp you know with Rob kind of getting hurt so definitely gave me the confidence you know with the joint practices and going against the Chargers and the you know the Cowboys definitely gave me a lot of confidence going in the last night and and I guess what did you learn from those opportunities especially I mean some of those pass press that you were able to go up against as well and and how did that help you yeah going against you know those pass rushers and those joint practices and then last night you know technique you got to you know during practice working your technique cuz once you get tired you know you kind of fall off but just working on my technique thank you couple more guys and then we'll wrap up with Gary hi Warren thanks for doing this no problem um so have had you ever been involved in a game where that many offensive linemen are going down and shifting around different positions uh I don't think so I think at my time at Georgia I think maybe one person went down and we shifted or two but not not like nah probably not like last night and I I imagine you're out you're out there playing you know kind of on the right side that how do you kind of just stay focused on doing your job and not being you know concerned with everything else that might be going on on throughout the line you know that was just kind of coaches what he's preaching to us you know you don't have to be a superhero you know just go out there and control what you can control and do what you do you know be the best you and that's all you can do and finally uh for me what's it like playing next to H Kevin doson in terms what what does he kind of bring to the table for you as a young player helps me a lot you know he's always communicating to me and you know last night in pass Pro a couple times getting bull rushed a little bit you know was hopping and he just comes clean out the pocket you know just having that presence there you know really helps helps out thanks very much awesome thank you guys thank you all right we have John Johnson if you guys want to raise your hand Jordan sorry I couldn't find the the actual button on it so I just started raising my hand in real time hey JJ thanks for doing this no problem how are you good how are you I'm all right um could be better yeah um you know Sean took us a little bit through your play your interception um obviously such a bang bang situation um what do you what do you remember about it and um how significant was that for you guys in that moment yeah it was huge uh fourth uh fourth quarter they were driving you know they had momentum um if they score you know that game is pretty much out of reach uh uh won't say Out Of Reach but I think they might have went up by 10 so you know our backs were against the wall you know even saving the field goal would have been you know big so the play was you know I was on my side you know I got a uh we call it like a nonvertical route so I could push like to the front side and I think Jared was just going through his progressions he went you know to the flat he went to the spot route tried to hit the Dig late coming back to my side and you know I I had my eyes on him and I didn't even know where St Brown was so I took a little Peak and I knew it was gonna be like a bang bang you know like a collision but just a I don't know how I got underneath it when I when I caught I I was looking up at Troy rer I was like did I catch it did I catch it was like yeah I think you did I think you did so I didn't want to celebrate too much but you know the replay show you know I I clearly got under it so it was just like a crucial Point um you know just trying to be right place right time and do my job I wanted to ask you about yourself and and Quenton Lake and cam curl specifically um it's a lot of three safety looks um and Chris schula obviously has such a fingerprint on that position group in general but um using you guys in those rotations and those sub packages um and really leading on you does how does it feel when all three of you are on the field at once with with Quenton and the star and and you and cam out there and and is there like a a freeness that comes with um it's all three of you guys in one position room who are sort of collaborating in that way yeah I think it it works out well like you said we're all safeties we all have you know talked with Coach beak and uh Aubrey we all talk together we're all on the same page uh pretty much it starts with Q Lake though you know he's really the guy that makes it all work you know in basee Downs he's at safety different uh nickel situations he moves all around and I think you know his versatility has helped us out a lot but Cam being a vet and you know myself I think you know our communication skills you know he's we're all articulate we all can you know say what we see and U get our points across and you know just put everyone else in advantageous position so I think it's been huge and I think me not being here for OTAs kind of I want to say set it back but I think we could have been even in an even better spot than we are now but I think you know last night was a pretty good uh indicator of you know what we can do and I think we play you know pretty good for the most part um I think it's a lot to grow on but just you know that Core group of guys I think you know disguise limit and then um flipping for a perspective on the other side of the ball if you could um with with Matthew and how he handles himself um even when he's going through like six different types of you know pain or injury or adversity on the field with position groups what do you notice what kind of a a switch flips in him during that time yeah he's Stone Cold um nothing can really knock him off you know his pivot like he's kind of just he's just poised you know even just going to Detroit all the Fanfare and all the distractions just with that in itself you know I didn't see anything he doesn't Flinch doesn't blink um you know he goes through physical things the old line has been just a a revolving door you know he doesn't you know make excuses or anything and he you know stays in the pocket delivers makes big throws and he was just a a warrior out there so you know I tip my hat off to him I wouldn't want anybody else you know leading the team thank you very much Adam hey John how you doing I'm doing well how are you I'm good thanks um I know you've been through a lot of games with Chris schula in the past but I'm curious like what stood out to you first regular season game how he conducted himself as coordinator for the first time oh it was it was awesome it was uh it was pretty clean he made the game plan real easy real basic you know we didn't try to trick our own s you know he made everyone calm uh his calls got in on time you know he didn't put us in a lot of he didn't put us in really any you know messed up situations but we had to you know bail him out that happens sometimes and for whatever reason it may be you know it's a chess match um so I didn't really have any moments in the game where I was like God damn sh like it never really had that um it was it was awesome and like I said I think the game plan was real simple um and real easy it was stuff that we practice a lot stuff that we rep a lot you know just so we can play fast and not have to think too much and U for the most part it was great I think there on their side they did a lot of unscripted things uncharacteristic like things and they it was kind of like okay you can have one or two plays that are kind of little wrinkles but most of their game plan was like you know things that you can't really prepare for so I think coach schula's approach to the game really helped us cuz if we tried to do some stuff that we weren't really ready for against the stuff that they were presenting us with we would have looked like trash out there and I think we held our own pretty good so it's a testament to you know how he prepared us this week yeah it felt like the defense really kept the team in the game as the offense was figuring out all the injuries and the new personnel and stuff like that I'm curious like what is the message to the young guys who may be feeling some disappointment given how overtime went still trying to keep everything that went well and perspective yeah I mean it's the NFL like those guys get paid too they were in the um our conferences championship game last year you know they got a a lot of returners good coaching good organization um so I mean I think you just it's it's the NFL you know they get paid to and um just keep fighting we fought it to the end uh we gave ourselves a chance to win you know overtime time uh I didn't see that game going in overtime but you know they ended up getting ball first and it was kind of you know run run run heavy big personnels Montgomery was fresh so uh I think it's just you just tell them you know that's the that's the NFL you know you have some games like that but you got to find a way to respond you know you got six to seven days to turn it around and get ready for another game so you can't really dwell on it thanks John and then we'll wrap with Stu and Gary hey JJ I know Jordan you about the safeties earlier but just when you look at the secondaries whole yesterday you guys obviously had a few new pieces in there how' you guys how did you feel like you did uh collectively as a group U for your first game yeah I mean like I said it was good like I uh I think you know if I was here for OTAs it would have been like even better but I think it was pretty good like first game you know you got some Jitters you know you got some you know small mistakes but we didn't really have too many explosives you know most of the explosives were in The Run game or like short passes you know running catch it wasn't really like coverage bus or anything like that so that's good communication was good tackling was okay besides me getting thrown out of bounds early in the game uh uh so yeah I think you know everybody talking cam kitens got his feet wet early you know uh in a dime situation I think he might get a FedEx in the mail from uh that that penalty but you know he got his feet wet I think he'll be a good player in this league for a long time so I think communication tackling um knowing your assignments getting lined up was all great for week one so it it's just good foundation to build on thank you Gary hey John um what do you think of the NFL's regular season overtime you know structure how that works where you know the if the team that wins the toss if they score it's over how do you feel about that I mean honestly it's hard to complain cuz it used to be a field goal wins it and and it's over so at least you have to force him to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown and you know if they get a field goal then we get a opportunity so I think you got to get a stop I think it's fair I think it's you know it's it's that's the you can't really ask for more because if they score then we get a chance that could go on for you know forever or you know end up in a lot more ties so I think it's pretty fair you know I can't complain about it and how uh how did uh if I'm not mistaken so reader handled the defensive signal calling you you have some experience doing that too just curious what your how you would assess how he did how he handled that yeah he did a good job he he has experience he uh you know he runs the show he knows the defense just as well as anybody you know all positions in and out you know the fronts everything um he makes sure everyone gets you know he even hold schula accountable hey look I need the calls faster like we gotta get these guys lined up so I think he did a hell of a job there was no hiccups with that and um you know he's a guy that's well trusted you know he was here for a long time and played a lot of good football you know earned their stripes on special team so he's a well-respected guy so I think you know it was it was great uh and and finally uh you know Jared uh pretty much a pocket passer can get out once in a while but this week you guys are playing you know uh Kyler what what's the difference in terms of challenges besides the obvious ones for you guys uh as a as a safety group when you said that I just thought of uh Aaron Donald chasing him down and throwing him on the ground you know we don't have that anymore but you know we got some good edges and they did a great job of we call it assault assaulting the pocket they were collapsing the pocket down on Jared they did a great job and that's what they got to do um I think you just got to stay you know true to your Rush Lanes you got to have good Rush Integrity but on the back end you know it's one of those games like we've been talking about it for years you know where Kyler and going back to like Russell Wilson you got to play that play an extra couple seconds in the down like you never know when it's over you got to wait till the whistle is blown you can't really look back at the quarterback just keep your eyes on your luggage and um you know I don't I don't know if they still do a lot of you know designed quarterback run game but that's a whole different animal but in the passing game definitely just the Snaps are a little longer the Downs are a little longer and um we know that we'll practice it um Stetson will probably do a great job at that I can I can see that so we'll be ready for it thanks very much okay one more from Jordan thank you I'm so glad you mentioned the calls talking to a coach about getting a call in faster because we've heard you know about Matthew sometimes with Sean and getting the call is there as a player is there like an art form or like a delicate way in which you go about doing that or talking to a coach about what you need from the call from from your perspective as a player uh yeah I think so well offensive Play Just By Nature they're longer so it will take longer to get them in but on defense uh I mean I think it's just a collective thing you know if all 11 are like hey the Call's not getting there fast enough like you know they listen the coaches do a great job we we say there are no enemies when you run back to the sideline there are no enemies we're all on the same team we're all you know trying to reach the same goal so I think whatever input you have you know they'll listen and whatever they can do to make our job easier whatever we can do to make their job easier you know we'll do at all cost so I don't I think it's just everybody coming together the culture that we build here is like holding people accountable in order to do that you know you got to speak up and you know ask for it thanks appreciate it yep awesome thank guys thank you