Jessie Bates III, Bijan Robinson and more share their excitement ahead of Week 1 | Press Conferences

Jessie Bates III yeah hey Jesse just uh you know um I forgot when you w of the captains yeah was an honor to be selected as one of the captains here yeah uh it's it's a a super honor like you said um to just be voted you know by you know my peers my teammates that you know we've been building you know relationships with and uh for them to you know vote me as a captain I think that's something that you don't take lightly um but with that comes with you know responsibilities of um you know being a leader and uh there's there's could there could have been you know 10 other people that could have been voted as Captain on this team and um just making sure that you know I'm on my stuff every single day and then um also leading other guys and telling them to be captains in their own way and um I think you you lead yourself and then you lead others and then you become a servant leader and uh that's what you know one of my goals was this offseason was to become you know a captain and uh be a leader um on this team so like I said a a huge honor for me and uh something I won't take lightly um what do you see in front of you this year is uh the units coming together and you know probably you probably don't get to 133 tackles year yeah a lot of business back there yeah that's a good thing that's always a good thing if you know your safeties ain't leading uh The Tackle column um but yeah you I mean you look up there you got you know Eddie you got Grady you got David you know you got Jew and then you got zo you know that's only the you know the first you know starting uh group and then you got other guys like big root you know um you know B you got all types of guys that you know that can come in and contribute um so you know as a DB you you start to smile a little bit um you know we'll probably be in a little bit more past um you know situations when you got a front like that so um just super excited to um to go out there and play with those guys and um like I said I know what they bring to the table and I can't wait to do the same how has the practice been with uh Justin Simmons um coach said he's full goal and uh trying to you know get you all got to get fitted in back there yeah Justin Justin is a super smart player um you know never have to really worry about him understanding what coverage we're in or um you know how offense is trying to attack us it's more so just getting them caught up with some of the you know lingo um you know how do we play you know quarters or how do we play you know a certain coverage um I think that's the biggest thing is just getting them CAU up from when we first start started installing in the summer through you know OTAs um through training camp and just getting them up to speed um but like I said he's a smart player um you know smart person and it's pretty easy for him so far so I'm excited to go play with him for sure the follow up on that you know Justin comes in and now getting more and more reps with the team and and with you but what does the work with you guys specifically look like off of the field and getting on the same page and having them those those conversations cuz I know you both are kind of leaders in your own right and that's the nature of the position itself but kind of can you talk me through what that communication is like from a day-to-day standpoint yeah um like you said I mean we're we're both leaders um he's been a captain multiple times over there in Denver um played on some really good defenses so just asking them questions and um you know everything that we talk about on the field you know that's not the only thing that's going on obviously uh you know we watch film with Kirk a couple times we watch film together um with just getting ahead on stuff and just trying to be leaders of that that secondary so uh yeah there's there's a lot of film study that goes into it a lot of uh you know text you know throughout the night like hey what do you think about this what do you think about that uh sending each other videos and just no pause on that but um just you know just going through different uh different game plan adjustments and stuff like that he's uh a super smart guy and something that I can learn from through the year so super excited sorry do you when you're kind of having these conversations with him and I know something he said right when he first got here and I think we've asked you this before so I apologize but like he said he wants to compliment your game yeah how do you see that now that he's able to be full go no no limitations or anything like that how do you see that benefiting you as you get closer and closer to to game day yeah um you know there's you know there's been times where I haven't had a safety um um you know where he can play that side and I play this side or you know I'm always to the nickel he's always to the nickel or whatever it was um you know it's it's cool to bounce off somebody like that you know he's played to the nickel he's played away from the nickel you know he's played in the box so it's just that type of stuff that we both were like hey I want to compliment you know he's like no I want to compliment you so it's uh it's a good thing to have like I said um he's a really you know smart player I think when I was coming into the league that was my comparison was Justin Simmons so I've always kind of um kept up with him and stuff like that so yeah it's just you know just having a guy that's been there and you know had success for a very long time it just puts you out of peace of mind I think to go and play faster um you know not saying that you know know safeties weren't capable of that but uh just the communication the experience I think definitely shows out for sure is this the first time in your NFL career that you've been a captain uh this my third time yeah third time how many were you in high school to in college uh yeah not in college I only played two years in college and uh in high school yes for sure I mean I know it's not like a obviously a popularity contest but how's it mean like was it mean when you had your like own teammates voting for you yeah it hits it hits a lot different um rather than you know coaches picking you know captains um you know the guys I think ra said this you know from day one he wants the guys in the seats to make this team and uh for guys to you know point out me you know next to Brady and Kirk and Jake guys that's been doing it for 10 plus years all those guys been doing it for 10 plus years and for me to be voted like I said it's not something I take lightly and just shows that you know the work that I put in all the preparation that I put in it it pays off and it feels good when you're you know one of those guys that got to see on their chest and uh like I said it's something that comes with a lot of responsibility as well so um just understanding that and embracing it and then just talking about uh Sunday's game you know obviously there's a lot of talk about Arthur Smith does that bring any extra juice for you guys and also you have some familiarity with CP vanerson does that help you at all as a defense yeah um you know it's always nice to you know um you know have have an offense that you played all last year throughout practice and um I know what art is about you know he's a great coach um he he talks about being physical all the time so I know what type of Team um that's coming in here on Sunday and being from the AFC North uh I've played against Mike timel about 10 plus times uh so I know I have a lot of respect for him um and just how he does his business I mean he's been a head coach at the Steelers for that long for for a reason and having winning you know seasons for a reason so uh just a lot of respect um you know the first week kind of present some challenges of like uh we can't watch van we can't watch you know Pickins we can't watch Russ all in the one screen but um just you know game planning and you know going back to you know when art was here like I said and uh some stuff that you know Tomlin likes as well so um yeah that's that's how it works you know the first couple weeks you're like ah what are we watching but uh you just got to you got to see the bigger picture what do you watch I guess you can't watch them right now yeah I can't give out all the sauce I'm sure I'm sure arts arts watching our interviews um but yeah you know just watching you know maybe go back to practice you know we still got access to that stuff and uh and then some of the preseason games as well so going off of that do you have any I know the little overlap you have with art do you have any stories that you could share that like one that sticks out that just encompasses kind of who he is that maybe we didn't get to see oh man it's a there's a bunch of stories uh there's a bunch of sound effects and stuff that he just makes all the time uh just talking about just being a tough dude um and that's one thing that I like I said always got a lot of respect for you know art he has a big he had a big role for for me being here um and I have you know nothing but respect for him but yeah there's a bunch of jokes you know that he always talking about um you know some stuff I can't say so uh we'll keep that between us um when you look at the Steelers offense specifically the quarterback position it's interesting because you have art who's getting a fresh start same with Russ same with Justin Fields how do you dissect that room and what you expect to see from Russ kind of with this new team with how things ended in Denver yeah you try to you know try to see where you know Russ came from and then you try to see what you know Fields you know all those guys have has their strengths um you know Arts a really good player of of putting his guys in position to be successful so um you know you go back and watch some some Denver film you go back and watch some bears film and you know see how you know Russ is looking at the defense how he's reading the post safety um and then you got Fields you know he's more more of a dynamic Runner um but is more capable of throwing it as well so just going back and you know the history I I know it's the first time they're playing for the Steelers but the history of them playing football is still out there for you to go watch so um that's the biggest thing just going back um going going back from the Seahawks to the Broncos and just watch Russ and how he you know how he what he how he operates and stuff like that so uh that's the biggest thing interesting when you're kind of like talking about all this stuff is like you're pulling from different eras and different time periods to to kind of piece together what you think it could look like even in that how do you make it to where it's like not too much input and you're kind of just like you know at the end of the day like we are who we are and we have to go and play our game how much do you balance that in your own head yeah you can you can start to overthink a lot of stuff like oh we don't have any film like I said of those guys running this offense um but at the end of the day you got to go back to your rules um and that's what we've been grinding throughout OTAs throughout training camp to to trust each other and and and make calls and just be all on the same page they may come out in something completely different that we've never seen But if we play rules ball and and just go by our rules it'll it'll work out just fine for us so that's what um you know these first couple weeks like I said you're not going to be getting a lot of film that you can watch on these guys but um if you go back and watch our film from training camp and see what you know what hurt us or what we're not good at that's something that we need to focus on so uh this is going to be you know who who can execute you know their offense their defense at a higher level um that's what this this game will be couple more guys uh is there ever any concerned because you guys haven't played in the preseason really a lot of the starters does week one kind of feel like a preseason and how do you make it I guess not look like yeah um you better not make it look like a preseason game uh I I think that you know a lot of guys um that that's played in this league for a very long time they didn't play they didn't play at all throughout preseason some guys did play in that first game um so yeah it's just we try to simulate as much as you can throughout practice like hey this is our game this is where we need to turn it up a little bit um but honestly you just go out there hey and just trust it um you know you've been playing this game since you were you know a little kid and it's it's no different you just go out there and play football um you know the first hit might hurt a little bit more um but at the end of the day it's it's it's still just playing ball and um using the rules that we've you know using the rules and the trust that we've you know created throughout OTAs and training camp rahee said something about that the players will determine getting back to what you just said about guys haven't played in games the players will determine now moving forward what the identity of our team is going to be I have my ideas we'll we'll just see what happens what do you envision your identity of your team to be yeah um I think on you know I can speak more on on the defensive side right now um and us taking taking control of that part and then it lead leading to the offense leading to special teams but um I think we have a a great group of leaders like I said that that can identify what that looks like um on the defensive side and then you got Kirk and Jake that can identify that on the offensive side um but yeah I just think that I just want our team to be you know the most hungry and the most tough mentally you know physically toughest team um in this division in this league um because at some point we're going to go through you know some type of adversity some type of storm and the toughest teams that I've been a part of the most connected teams those are teams that come out um good and that's what I think that we're kind of getting to like I said I keep talking about trust and you know getting to know guys and you know doing this doing that at the end of the day the most connected team the most physical team and the most team that can play free and fast I think that's the team that'll be more successful so as a team to Kirk can you feel his energy and excitement about getting back out there for I mean first time in months yeah um you know we like I said we've watched some film with Kirk and just I walked in his uh his oh not not his office his uh quarterback's room and you can just see he I mean this is last week before we went on breaking he has you know the Steelers you know 39's right here you got 25 over here so you can see you know he may not show it um but I know he'll be prepared and that's how every every leader on this team should be all right so uh just you know first week obviously Bijan Robinson you're going up against a familiar coach we was talking about with Jesse does that bring any like extra juice or anything going into the opening game um you know for me I think it's just like obviously playing another game uh yeah it's the hype of like Co Smith and and the Falcons but you know for me I have so much respect for Co Smith and you know he brought me here um and gave me a shot so like but obviously like you you have excitement to you know be able to get to play each other again and and see each other uh but yeah I think it's going to be a fun matchup obviously with him and his new offense and then all that we have here uh but yeah I'm excited to to get to go out there and play against him again how is it to know where you guys are as a team when a majority of you didn't even plan in preseason like where does that confidence come from is it practice is it the training camp yes it's definitely uh definitely practice um we we were in offensive meeting the other day and and we were saying like how many reps we got all together and it was like over 2,000 uh all a camp so like we we we are obviously comfortable with each other and you know we all know you know where we're supposed to be the Playbook the spots um we've tried to to implement practice like physically uh so we can get physically tired and drained just how we know how a game will be um so I think like coach coach Morris has been you know done a really good job of like keeping practice as as it is like a game and making sure that we're all the way conditioned so we'll you'll be ready to go for for Sunday is there kind of an excitement to sort of like no one's like open the gift and show everybody kind of what you guys are on offense now yeah I mean like obviously we haven't shown anything um we have a lot of stuff you know that we have in our in our Arsenal but you know I think for us it's like that was for a reason but obviously every single day we're working on you know what we have to come uh on Sundays and you know I think that coach you know coach Rob Robinson you know he's doing just an awesome job of like keeping us ready keeping us intact and making sure that we're always going over like the little things in the Playbook uh so we'll be you know 100% for for Sunday but um yeah I'm excited to show it I'm excited to you know to obviously show everybody what we've been working on cuz we've been doing it for so long so now we get to like just go out there and just have fun with it youan last year you talked about you know the film you watch and how you would watch Dante Adams and his releases and what yeah I'm curious with you're under your belt now what are you watching now to maybe add anything to your game or change things same stuff same thing um you know I watch different receivers now and different running backs and you know I'm I'm a big believer in doing that just because like you can always take something from somebody else's game and obviously like they say this is like a copycat league but I I just look at it just trying to get better and you know a guy that I've been watching a lot of now is like um like almond raw uh at receiver like doing those little things with his get offs and how he even you know runs with the ball after the catch um and the same running backs that I've been always looking at but yeah I think it's always good to you know study other guys and try to pick things from their game because it's only going to just help help me out help the team out speaking of helping when did you know that her cousins just genuinely wants to help you guys get better uh from day one from day one you know he obviously came in and that's the first thing he kind of said was like I'm here to help you you know as obviously we're all to help each other and you know obviously Kirk being a quarterback like he needs to be the you know the the guy that does everything kind of for the offense but you know I think with the with the threats that he has with with him and around him like it's obviously going to just make him that much better as a quarterback and obviously he's came from like uh Justin Jefferson and so many great players so now he has you know a lot of young guys here that are you know super talented so I I think I'm you know I'm I'm really excited for him and for Sunday and obviously coming off the injury like I can't wait to see what he can do and obviously we're all around him to to make him better I know it's a different feeling when you're a rookie just heading into the league there's a different kind of excitement when you start the season but what is it like for you right now what's this feeling heading into the leek one um just just extremely confident like last year obviously there's confidence but there's still like the I I what if or like I got to do this or I got to try to perfect this and there you're just always thinking like especially this time last year like my head was like spinning just cuz like I'm I'm trying to be the best that I can be but I'm trying to like not forget anything from The Playbook and obviously remember everything from training camp but now like I'm I'm 100% ready to go like I'm just super locked in super confident um obviously had a year under my belt so I kind of know what to expect out there um but yeah I'm excited what you learn in your rookie season where I don't need to be doing all that uh you know just just a lot of like extra extra little things that I really kind of didn't need need to do um but especially like you know trying to you know get prepared but still not sure um and I was trying to do more than I was supposed to and now like just seeing myself then and and now it's like a it's day and night complete difference but I think that's always like for a year one even for me from freshman year of college to to sophomore year like it was obviously a jump um but that's just all from from your confidence to follow up on what Maria was asking about Kirk uh you know you talk about him coming back from injury and everything like that but how do you what do you seeing his demeanor this week the fact that he's been away from live game action for so long and and leeting you guys what's that demeanor like I mean he's locked in um you know I never really saw how his demeanor was like you know game week prior to where he was at but like me seeing him now um you know he he's focused in he's making sure everybody around him is is locked in like and obviously like we help him with that in the Huddle um but I mean he like you if you make a mistake like you better like explain it right cuz like you know he's really trying to make sure that everybody is is comfortable and and ready to go um on Sunday but I mean that's what you got to do when you're a leader um and even like for me trying to be you know learning how to be a leader too like you know I'm trying to make sure we're all just really confident for Sunday and and we're not hesitant and area is there something specific there is Jesse said like he walked in the quarterback room and he was like he had like the numbers of the other guys like on the Steelers is there anything specific that you noticed that makes him like extra lock in now that's game we uh just just in the Huddle like from from Camp like he's he's more like getting like you know ready but in the Huddle this week he's more just like like staring and I'm like all right y I like to see um but yeah it obviously when you when you see him like that you know it makes every it makes all of us to um you know really be in that same mindset cuz you know we're not trying to make a make a mistake or mess up on Sunday so we're trying to just you know do all of that all of that now in practice you said talking about trying to be a leader is that being a captain one day something that you hope to be maybe yeah most definitely um you know I I every single day I try to get the respect you know from the teammates um on the field and off the field so like you know I think the captains now are you know they're their leaders they vets like those are guys that's been in the league for a long time so yeah hopefully one day I can you know definitely be a captain of the team and you know lead these guys to you know great Seasons too oh yeah coach Zac Robinson um what's your sense of where everything's at it yall put it all together it's time to go play yeah no like you said it's time to go time for these guys to just go cut it Loose we've got a ton of reps banked from OTAs to training camp had good scrimmage opportunities we're seeing a lot of good stuff against our defense all Camp so feel good with where we're at overall um the guys are confident they're kind of ready to just at this point go play somebody else and go hit somebody else so uh feel good where we're at and obviously a lot of work to go this week to get the plan ready to roll but uh the guys are definitely going to be ready to roll he could you discuss Kirk and where he's at as as he's getting ready to you know return to the field himself yeah Kirk looks like Kirk to me you know from just a movement standpoint the way the ball's coming out of his hand the way he's throwing it the way he's operating uh looks like what you guys know Kirk Cousins to be and so uh I know it'll be you know some some Jitters early on I'm sure first time playing since since last season so we'll try to get him into a rhythm and and let him just go play but in terms of the health and what he looks like Kirk looks uh he looks good I thought it was really interesting I was asking some of the guys like how is Kurt Cousins different like game week and like Jessie be said like the the quarterback room is like all crazy and then and ban said that he was more serious in the Huddle like he made like very more so have you noticed any difference just with Kirk Kirk is a pretty serious guy in General on the field now he has he has fun but um you definitely want him to loosen up sometimes but I didn't notice much difference today he he always gets the play call and he's locked in and loaded so um it it didn't seem too much different to me but the guys in the Huddle would actually know more than more than we would was in here earlier he talked about KY pits kind of being a little bit limited due to the hamstring injury how much was he able to practice today is everything yeah it seems like it's good I'd leave it up to the you know medical people to give a you know where he's at but uh he was moving around good and had no real limitations today how important is a healthy Kyle Pitts to to this it's his speed uh how fast he can play with his size and the things that he can do in the pass game and in the Run game is going to be a huge value for us uh but absolutely he's going to have a big role and in whether it's as a blocker as as a receiver all those things that he's able to do he brings a ton of Versatility so him being full go and and and being full speed will be a big deal how are you feeling entering like a week one game where you know you're going to be calling the shots under the big lights no excited you know you're so wrapped up in like every day and every minute of the day and and you're process that you don't even allow your mind to to go to that situation so I'm sure as the week builds we'll we'll have a good plan and there's been great collaboration with all the coaches and players uh to lead up to this point so we'll just continue to trust the process that we've had this whole time and uh be ready to roll on Sunday did you try out different methods maybe during the preseason a couple things here and there it was so I mean as you guys know our preseason was so different and how a lot of teams handle it so uh we tried some some different things um whether it's on the call sheet or what you're looking at the communication I thought was really clean with the coaches all preseason which was good to iron out um so that was that was probably the most important thing is seeing those young guys play and then just our communication which ended up being really clean to follow up on that uh there's a lot made about obviously whether to play starters in the preseason vets all that kind of stuff and y'all chose not to do that and now going into week one it's like first time really getting to see these guys go 120% but Johan said made a comment earlier today that he was like I think we had upwards of over like 2,000 Semite team reps over the course of training camp and preseason is that something that y'all presented to them and be like look like y'all are ready to go and play that was kind of the message early in the week was hey you know you looked at the training camp reps those guys are banked like said over 2,000 reps walk through practice jog throughs so they they're in those situations now it's just there's nothing different you just now you're just playing under the lights and and you get to cut it loose so uh dating back to even OTAs it's almost 5,000 reps collectively that everybody's had so um those guys um you know without me even saying that those guys would do it but I I do feel like sometimes that gets overstated it never happened in La where it felt like week one you know gosh I wish we would have played the starters in preseason last year we played Seattle and you know played a really good clean game on a on a Sunday at Seattle so um hopefully those guys have gotten enough of they practice so hard you know our guys I know you guys see it but they practice like they're going to play uh so that was kind of the message early in the week just curious whose task with that job of counting that was Rob didona that was not mine I asked him and he he was like right away he he he count counted it up they have all that stuff logged so it was it was good you've been around good quarterbacks you were a quarterback how confident are you guys with K cous going into this game and you know some Prime Time games coming out but you know him as as the guy very confident wouldn't want anybody uh else leading our team um Kirk is who he is every single day he's an unbelievable leader with the guys in the locker room which is awesome as a you know first time guy coming in and the experience that he has his leadership principles all those things he stands for just as a person is going to go a long way and obviously we know the player so um really confident with where with where Kirk's at uh excited to see him just go cut it loose and play again I know he'll be excited so uh we feel great about it I know the rest of the team the o line their bond uh the rest of the skill guys uh the rest of the defense those guys all love him and so I know they'll be all excited for him to play yeah coach how do you see um Pittsburgh uh you know winning that battle up front with Hayward Smith Watt and get Queen from bottom yeah no they it's going to be a great challenge those guys have been good for a long time um you know have played them two times 2019 and then we played them last year and you know what you're getting with Pittsburgh it's a tough football football team very well coached uh since coach tomlin's been there um and and even before then it's a great storyed franchise obviously so we know what we're getting uh with those guys uh they're going to play tough they're going to play physical so we definitely got to match that and uh know we got our hands full got a lot lot of uh work to do with preparation just to get ready for that but know the guys will be uh will be ready to go forgive me if I miss this are you calling from upstairs or going to call from upstairs um did that in the preseason so I think that that worked out with our Rhythm so yeah that'll be the plan will be uh to go upstairs what are the advantages and disadvantages be yeah no it's a good question it's you know you get to see everything up there you kind of got everything out in front of you if you want to um you know just organizationally it's pretty clean you do miss being on the field with the guys feeling the flow of you know what that feels like like in practice and you know when to go Tempo sometimes so um you miss out on some of that but um you know just the organization that you have up there and just the kind of steadiness that the booth brings I thought was uh was a pretty good deal game days in La were you on the field or in the Box always on the field first time I was in the box I was calling it so I was interesting to see that perspective you feel like you're thousand miles away but um but no it's it's it's good there a good setup at the at the Ben so uh it's it's good did you have to get new binoculars I did not there was times I was looking down there that you're like who's on the field defensively but we have good communication with the with the rest of the coaches that kind of fill you in on some of that obviously K's going to be ready to go and and excited to get back in a game type setting but how much do you get that sense of excitement that he is just ready for a game CU he hasn't seen game action in a while no I know he's very excited to just go play football again all these guys like these guys are at the end of the day they're entertainers they love to play the game that's why they play practice is one thing you got to practice in order to prepare yourself to play but um at the end of the day these guys want to play with the lights on and that's exactly what we'll get on Sunday going back to positioning and where you want to call it when you were up there for the first time what was it that kind of sold you was it just being able to see the whole field yeah seeing the whole field I think um no knowing how much trust we have the coaches that are down on the field to get the things communicated that we need to get uh communicated that's obviously a huge deal so um yeah kind of a lot of things involved being able to see it organizationally uh everything is just pretty clean so should be good do with's experience on both sides of the ball I'm curious how you've seen um that be an advantage for you guys like in LA and then now with him as the head coach it's huge Raheem is basically an offensive coach now he don't let it fo you know he's a defensive guy he loves offense he loves the defensive side of the ball but there are so many things that he helps me with he helps the rest of our staff with on offense like hey this is a great way to attack these guys I'm seeing this he's got a great global perspective of of the entire game so um that's been awesome from the time in in La when his office was right across her mind and we'd share thoughts on offense and defense and I've learned a ton from him you know in LA and then over the last 6 months you know even more so that's been uh Amplified so um he brings a ton of great value for us on offense have you ever been around a guy like that who's like you know defensive coordinator but like has that much knowledge um no not really you know as far as a defensive coordinator Shawn was similar knowing both sides of the football really well but a guy that actually had called defense but had also worked on offense and Coach receivers um that was the R's the first and only one I've ever been around um I feel great and I'm ready to Justin Simmons go my numbers called and and ready to execute at a high level how much are the communication that goes on between safeties is universal so that it travels with you to any team and how much of it is specific to you and Jesse en Richie and Etc have to learn each other yeah um yeah there's a there's a big learning component um you know and anytime you're in a you're in a defensive uh you know set formation there's there's a lot of communication that goes on right and it's not just what's being taught but it's how we all see it um how we see it is going to be different than how it's taught on paper right and so um there's a lot of those uh communication points that um obviously I have to catch up on um not being here in OTAs and training camp and things like that but um you know secondary has been absolutely amazing um there's a lot of things that transfer over from defenses I played in Prior um Jesse's been awesome Rich um you know D all the guys AJ Mike so um it's been a seamless transition and U looking forward to that showing on Sunday and your experience is there a timetable for how this goes like by week four we'll be clicking everything will be rolling as it should or by week two or do you expect that Sunday when you roll out there no I expect that Sunday when I'm out there yeah I uh now I know how important each game is right and um you know this is our first game at home there's a lot of excitement right now and um you know a bunch of guys that said in interviews prior that you know we have to we have to earn the privilege of having people be excited about um you know the Falcons playing really good football and so um that's going to start not in week four but week one right the preparation's already been laid the foundation's been laid and um you know it's my job as as a as a veteran coming in late to catch up to what's been established here and I'm going to get that done does your carryover with Russ give either one of you any sort of Advantage this week um I I don't think so I think there's uh I mean I'm sure you know people might run with that but um I said uh I think it was yesterday or the day before you know Russ is a is a heck of a competitor um you know a proven success story in this league um and you know in my opinion a Hall of Fame quarterback and so he uh you know he's going to have he's going to have his things out there and he's going to make his plays and we're going to make our plays and um obviously it helps you know being in the in the Inner Circle with them with you know the last two years in Denver but um it's going to be completely different you know him and him and Pittsburgh so um looking forward to getting their best and they're going to get our best are you excited to go up against him not in a practice setting actually in a game in a different uniform yeah for sure I haven't uh I think you know the only other time I played against him would have been my second year in the league um then other than that yeah just been teammates in practice and it was fun learning from him right um like I said all the accolades I gave him earlier but uh yeah I'm looking forward to competing against him again in like a you know realtime setting where wins and losses count it has been a quick transition for you what have you noticed just about the hunger and the desire for this team to win yeah that's uh you know I mentioned it and it was you know one of the main reasons it's not the biggest reason I'm wanting to be here um you know want to be part of a organization like this and one that's yearning to go win and win at the highest level right and I think you can see with all the moves that have been made in the offseason um the extensions the people that were already here and have kind of established them as younger players I think this all around from top to bottom this is uh top class and um you know it's my job to make that right right I'm being brought in here um solely to just come in and win football games and so um you I'm hoping that um that will come to fruition and like I said not in week four not in week five but starting on Sunday I know that you had a relationship with Jesse prior to coming here you guys had talked just a little bit but how much has he helped you just in these few short weeks to get you ready to go yeah yeah Jesse's been awesome um yeah he's helped me a lot and I'm really smart and so you know there's things that are new here for me that you know he can easily correlate to defenses I played in in the past and um not just Jess but the whole secondary right like my communication with AJ with Mike um with Rich uh it has to be solid all across the board with d and so um they all been great and I'm I'm really thankful for them man we put in extra hours of film um you know extra time after walkthroughs before after and uh like I said you know it's got to correlate on Sunday for it to mean something how has Jesse handled helping you get adjusted like did he come to you and be like I'm here for you or did you have to go to him yeah no no he he came to me he's a he's a man he's a great dude and um you know I think just obviously with everything you know call Wise defensively a lot of things like in the in the building but things outside too right like neighborhoods um places to live you know all those things right Jesse's been awesome and there's a bunch of people here that have been awesome you know not just Jesse so I'm thankful like I said top to bottom top class and uh super thankful for the guys here and and everyone involved um extremely Troy Andersen excited uh you obviously have those those nerves that I think everybody in the soccer room feels just being the first game of the season um but yeah it's been a long long camp and we're all we're all ready to get out there play some football how ready do you genuinely feel heading into game yeah I think I think extremely ready you know we've been uh detailing the game plan watching lots of film had a long camp and um yeah I think we're we're all ready and I'm I'm I'm right there with them looking over across the sideline there'll be a offense coordinator who you guys all know pretty well what's it going to be like playing against uh Arthur Smith yeah I think it'll be it'll be fun um obviously he's a he's a tremendous play caller and a great coach um yeah and so we've been kind of trying to watch watch all sorts of stuff you know he's uh present some challenges and it'll be it'll be fun to see him again yeah as you kind of study as best you can his offense do you find yourself seeing like old Falcons tape on there because that's the most recent example yeah I mean you you kind of assume that he's going to run some sort of that um probably some new wrinkles new stuff for us um yes we've been watching some some Falcons tape guess apparently Mike tomin was on a podcast he said hey Raheem just FY we're going to run Justin Fields out there I have a package for them I mean how do you look at that that quarterback situation that they have over there yeah I mean they have they have two extremely talented guys obviously Fields present some challenges in the Run game um just being Dynamic and a good runner as he is and then I mean Russ is mobile as well so we have to be have to be ready for for both of them to to use their feet on us week one is always going to be a ton of UNS scouted looks I know that's part of it every week for you guys but how do you go into a game new quarterback new offensive coordinator new everything how does that affect you guys yeah I think it honestly it kind of simplifies it cuz we just play by our rules you know it's a we're calling it a rules ball game um you know whatever they they present we're just going to you know play by the rules that we've you know come to know throughout camp and through the offseason um and and you know whatever happens happens but hopefully good things as long as we you know play sound defense there were a couple new quarterbacks here as well so how much does that help you going into new quarterbacks here in practice and then new quarterbacks on Sunday yeah I mean uh playing playing against Mike and Kirk every single day right there I know they're uh they're doing a good job of preparing us especially Mike with his his feet for the you know the fields and and rust look um yeah they've been they've been awesome to play against and have definitely challenged our defense and made us a lot better as somebody who's you know been been working towards this moment getting back on the field for a long time is there one moment whether it's the running out of the smoke or the anthem or your first big hit whatever is there one moment that you've kind of had like circled for a long time yeah I'd say probably the first hit first tackle um kind of make it make it real again so definitely looking forward to that is that nerves or excitement I think it's a little bit of both and I think that that's kind of how you want it if you're not nervous means you maybe don't care enough and but you're definitely excited for that how are you feeling after an entire training camp and now going back into full swing yeah feel great feel great ready to go um you know body feels good healthy uh mentally ready and uh yeah looking forward to this weekend it's been a while since you felt a game week where you knew you were playing on Sunday does it feel good just to get back into that rhythm of things yeah for sure trying to find that find that routine again um get into the get into the mod you know watching film and mentally preparing to go go play on Sunday um yeah it definitely feels good to to be back in that mode what's it been like having Matthew judon around oh awesome he's a he's a great guy funny personality um but then a tremendous player tremendous competitor uh lucky he's on our side now and it's been it's been fun to have him out of practice what was it like seeing JD's growth just in training camp alone yeah JD's JD's been fun to get to know as well he's uh extremely smart extremely talented uh works hard so it's been it's been a lot of fun playing sorry was it impressive to see him run with you during the scrimmage specifically cuz I know Kaden and Nate weren't participating yeah I mean we've we've kind of all been rotating in JD's J's awesome to play with obviously smart player like I said um you know you don't have to don't have to tell him what to do he he knows what he's doing which is which is a good thing and he's yeah talented player Kirk has talked a lot Kyle Pitts about time on task these all of these new guys we've got to work together we've got to make it look like we've been together for three or four years how far along is that process do you think I think we we put in some good time in camping before Camp to you know get the Reps in so that you know our relationship grows as offense is it reasonable to expect it to look smooth right out of the gate or do you expect that there are going to be some growing pains and some bumps in the road I mean obviously that's what we strive for to look as good as we can and just take it playby play play on Arthur Sunday does that matter I mean is that a factor at all Arthur's on offense so not for me now you won't no how confident are you guys in in Kirk as far as you know going into these big games early in the season very confident he's confident and if he's confident we're just playing off for his energy and just trying to like I said put you know put these Drives together and play [Music] together how has fr's experience with both offense and defense kind of help you guys have you seen that play out at all the training camp yeah just seeing uh him bounce back and forth to offense and defense uh he has his you know different stes and different tools he can help you win and just listening to him you know he's seen a lot of ball how much do you feel like you've learned from Kirk Cousins and just how much does he want to help you guys in terms of the offense as a whole I I learned a lot from him um Miss continual uh he's like a another coach I say and just hearing him out there you know trying to help you play faster and be more knowledgeable at the game is is is pretty good when did you realize that he genuinely wants to help you guys get better when he first got here uh just you know hearing how he likes his you know the offense to be ran and you know what he expects and and how everybody can just play off of him I know you have high expectations for yourself heading into this year so how much does that excite you that you have a quarterback that just wants you to get better pretty good uh it just kind of makes me you know more more inclined to just you know being right spot the right time and just knowing that you know everything will be dispersed correct what's the feeling like just around the locker room now the countdown's on you guys looking ahead to Sunday it's different in pre-practice uh open locker room that's the first thing that's true but uh but um I would just say it's pretty cool everybody's it's it's a great camaraderie and you know we're just all you know pretty cool and just you know excited for game one you might have got asked about this s so sorry if you did but what's it Dee Alford going to be like uh playing a game against your former head coach a guy who played a big role in Arthur Smith in the start of year your career yeah it going to be it going going to be you know a very good game going to mean a lot you know he gave me an opportunity to be in the league so you know shouts out to coach Smith but you know pretty much you already know the type of guy he going to be man like he was a good coach so he going to come in trying to you know run the ball and he's he love running the ball so just me being a nickel I got to have my mindset on getting ready to get in run fits and you know stopp in the run but going to a pretty good game man going against you know my old coach who who gave me an opportunity to be in the lead you also know how competitive he is do you think he'll have an extra chip on his shoulder to to see his whole team oh yeah most definitely I'm pretty sure he telling his guys like hey man this we don't win any other game we want to win this one so he a very competitive coach Raheem said that Mike Tomlin tipped him off said oh yeah we're preparing a package for Justin field just give him a little give him a little Intel how do you guys look at the the quarterback situation they got going over there I mean they got two good quarterbacks you know Russell Wilson you know great quarterback you know Justin Fields obviously a great quarterback more of a Scrambler so they got a good quarterback Duo over there so we just got to be prepared you know to play both of them I know it's part of the deal with any first game of the season right but you got a new offensive coordinator two new quarterbacks whole new system so how do you guys prepare for that when there's so much unknown I mean just just playing Rules Football just doing what we do uh whatever you know all defensive coordinator call we dial it up and you know execute all game plan and you know just like I said just play Rules Football no matter what they throw at us just read all keys correctly and just play fast that's actually the the same phrase that Raheem used with us so what does Rules Football mean to you as a player is it just focusing on your stuff even more than you pretty much pretty much just knowing uh if we call c 3 knowing what I got in cover three and whatever they do I know what I got to do and you just execute like you know the play call what's just the the feeling like now for you guys in the locker room you got a you know countdowns on to a to the season opener hey it's a lot of energy man I'm hey we ready to you know unleash that uh game day uh you know obviously we a play Play Over the uh the preseason so we just ready to show everyone you know what uh what our identity would be you know as a as a f so we just ready kind of a dream come JD Bertrand true for you and just the reality of this week just tell me all about it most definitely it's definitely an exciting time and I mean I think for me I've just put my mind towards the NFL my whole life and be able to actually be here and be where my feet are and I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and just live in the present and be able to take it one day at a time how do you think Camp win and got you ready for this I think it a productive Camp I think I showed my ability to make plays and I think no matter what my job is and going forward I'm just going to be able to take it one day at a time and be able to try to be as prepared as I can what do you think the big difference was from you know college Pros yeah I think the biggest thing is everyone's good I think the quarterbacks throw a lot better balls the offensive line is just a lot better and I would say those two are probably the biggest to me like the offensive line can just get up to you so much faster but they also are so good with their hand placement so just between those two I'd say the probably the biggest difference what is just the week going to be like for you I know you said you were excited but when will it hit you when do you think that moment will hit you I'm not sure yeah honestly I think Sunday I think from right now like there's a lot of preparation that goes into it and there's a lot of things I got to make sure I do until then and so that'll keep my mind focused on there but then as Sunday rolls around like the preparation will be done and I'll probably start to feel a little bit more excitement a little bit more ready to go has anybody on defense kind of said to you hey this is what they could do with Arthur kind of being here last year yeah I mean I think we've kind of looked at various places that from last year's film to preseason just kind of across the board and so we're obviously trying to prepare but first games there's always going to be some questions you've uh sought a lot of advice from like veteran guys in the league I'm curious like what they've told you uh heading into this this first game funny thing was I got my schedule for last week I got my schedule for this week and college usually booked booked booked and done by 7:00 p.m. and there's only so much time you got ever since now it's like we're done by 3 p.m. so I actually kind of shot Shan Lee just like hey a text saying like Hey we're done at 300 p.m. like what would you do and so we hopped on the phone for about 45 minutes and kind of just talk through like how he would handle that how he would go about each of those days and so kind of got a good feel what he would do and kind of how I what I wanted to do based off what he said you feel like your routine is coming together or is it like ever changing in your rookie year or is it like does it feel pretty solid so far I think it always be changing but I think even me as this week like yesterday I was changing some stuff that I did yesterday that I liked and didn't like and but I it kind of gives me a good basis and Baseline of like hey after practice I'm going to touch on this I'm how I'm going to go about my flow of my day yeah how do you have like a lot of ticket requests who's handling that for you are you handling parents are mainly handl and I think they're kind of like trying to shut down a lot of tiger quests and just kind of leave it a little bit less of a load on me yeah obviously like there was that preseason game played there but what do you think it's going to be like you know playing for your hometown team in the regular season I don't even know if I have words for it yet I mean I think after the game I have some better words I mean I'm just excited I can't be couldn't be more excited