Green Light with Chris Long - Will Anderson Jr, Sheldon Rankins & Azeez Al-Shaair | Houston Texans Defense

Episode Date: September 4, 2026

Azeez Al-Shaair, Will Anderson Jr and Sheldon Rankins, fresh out of a joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders, sit down with Chris and talk all things Houston Texans. Azeez details his journey from homelessness to NFL star. He went to the Super Bowl as a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers but was listed as inactive for the game. That decision shaped his mentality as an NFLer, promising to show coaches that they will never feel that they can take him off the field again. Will Anderson and Sheldon Rankins then join Chris to go in-depth on d-line talk. Chris gives Will his flowers as a pass rusher (and Sheldon his flowers for his help in Will's development), and they discuss the Texans' defensive line mindset and their 'show up and fight' mentality. (00:00) - Intro (01:05) - Azeez Al-Shaair (01:25) - Training Camp Joint Practices (04:30) - Texans OLine (09:50) - Rookie Season in San Francisco (15:35) - Azeez Al-Shaair's Journey to the NFL (22:00) - Texans' Defensive Cohesiveness (29:10) - Will Anderson Jr & Sheldon Rankins (32:55) - Will Anderson's Bull Rush (34:30) - Texans Team Identity: 'We're Gonna Fight' (37:50) - Reading Opposing Offenses (42:05) - Training with Myles Garrett & Meeting LeBron James (44:37) - Sheldon Rankins Play Style (49:00) - Azeez Al-Shaair's Mentorship (52:20) - CJ Stroud (54:00) - Texans DLine Meetings (56:15) - Kane Footwear Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline presented by Zone Nicotine and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open: ‪[phone]‬ With the return of the Layup Line, make sure to check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=YP1-ffQ3T_yUDRnJRhDtOw Check out Green Light's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dude, I got to say, and this is with all honesty, I knew you were going to be good, but I had no idea that you could be, like, you're one of the best 20 players in game. Just to tell you that, dude. I'm really impressed. Thank you, man. And I know he deserves a lot of credit. Belton deserves bringing you along. But, yeah.

And so I remember, like, whatever it was, I'm like, I'm going to leave no doubt that I need to be on the field. I need to be dressed up. I don't care if it's for five plays. You need to have me in the field. I think we've done a good job of cultivating that identity, cultivating that, just that culture of like, we're going to fight. We show up to play the game, but we're also here to fight. You know, we all become comfortable in some capacity.

So, of course, I haven't been homeless, you know, for so long. But if you don't constantly draw back to those moments, whether it's through remembering what you went through or even doing one better when you do make it out of those situations, pouring back into someone else. Because when I see the kids that I help, But it's in the U.S. somewhere else in the world, I see myself. I'm here at Houston, Texan's practice,

and I would consider this guy the heartbeat of the defense. He might not get as much hype as everybody else, but he's Aziz Al Shire. One of my favorite players in the league, man. Fun to watch you play, man. Appreciate Jesse. I honor the privilege, man, to be here for you to say that, dog. I appreciate that.

You jump off the film. Thank you. You play at a different speed. What's joint practice like, man? What do you still want out of these? joint practices. I remember as a rusher, it was good to get a different pass set. You've been going against the same guys as the whole camp. You as a second level player, what do you look to get out of these deals when the Raiders come to town or whoever it is? Yeah, I mean, it's the same mentality,

you know, regardless of what position you are on the field. But for me as a linebacker, you know, you're seeing the game, you're going against our offense, you know, now going on two years of the same offensive scheme. They developed a lot of different stuff. But, you know, it's been, whatever, three weeks now, same guys, hitting each other, talking crap to each other. You're like, all right, man, this is getting, like, monotonous. Yeah. And I think it just breaks that up a little bit, and you get, like, almost like a kind of engine check to see, like, where you're at, especially when you go against somebody else.

And there's not really a lot of game planning that goes into it. I mean, you might look at some stuff that they did in the first preseason game, the day before the practice, and then you just go out there and practice. but it was just good just to go against a different guy, different officer line, different backs, receivers tied in. So you just get to really just see where your technique is. That's what I really like about it. Anybody impress you that, you know, you hadn't seen up close

or somebody you played against today that you were like, oh, that guy's better than I thought. That was Brock Bowers, by the way. Yeah, I mean, I think everybody that I saw, I would just say it was kind of as advertised. Yeah. You know, whether it was Gentie, you know, I think he's just as good as he's as he's been. And I think he did good when he played this last year as well.

But Brock Bauer's saying, you know, he obviously tore up the league over the last couple years. And I think he still is, you know, that good of a player. A lot of the sets that they're even in, like 22 personnel, but they're using him like 11, you know, with him as a receiver. I mean, he had 100-some catches last year. So I think they probably still see him in that same light. So I definitely think it was just good competition And those guys are the same guys that you would expect

It definitely looked like good competition I set the fights I set the over under at three And I think y'all hit it like as far as scuffles The first hour It's hot man And dudes are just like you're moody this time You know you're with camp

And I was interesting you are doing one day Because I always say if it goes more than one day You're definitely gonna get a scrap dude You definitely get a scrap dude It's so funny because like From my rookie year back in 2019 to now, it's like the joint practices, like you said, it's gone from now the two days that you would normally have.

But now, like, it's like, we're only going to do one day of joint practice instead of two. Because I feel like, like you said, that second day that joint practice, my rookie year, I remember we were joint practicing with the Broncos when I was in San Francisco. And the first day, it was a lot of chirping back and forth. That second day, everybody's like that.

Exactly. You go back to the hotel and you're thinking about your get back. 100%. You go to the tape. You're like, damn. Somebody then crack back, blocked yourself. Yeah, okay, I got something for you. If somebody violates you here and you see it on tape, they're on the plane home already.

Exactly. For sure. And this kid, Kenyon Rutledge, he's been, you'll fight somebody else, dude. I hear he's like, he's picking the best players on the team and trying to scuffle with him. What's going on with this young Kenyon Rutledge kid? It's crazy because I don't even see it like that. You know, I really think it's similar to like how I see myself playing the game. And it's like, bro, I told him as offense alignment, the offensive line that you hate to go against, even for you.

Think about it. Yeah. Is the guy that you might have beat him clean. Yes. And then you think, oh, I got this tackle. I got this play. And then you just feel like a knack. Yes.

What was that? And you just, somebody nudges you off just enough to you end up making a square clean tackle. And now you arm tackle because he pushed you by it. Yeah. And he ran by you or whatever the case may be. So I think what I've seen from him is just. He's trying to finish every play. Yeah.

So I'm not, you know. Do you love that? Exactly. Because I get them, like, that's the same defensive. You're like, I'm trying to finish every play. So it just really challenges you to be where you need to be and like, make sure you win the rep because, you know, you go against the guys that even told him. I think the guys I think about even in our division, um, quitting Nelson. Yeah.

He's one of those guys. And I remember my first year playing against, uh, quitting us, I'm like, dude. This dude, like, and he'll do that. And it's not, again, he's not trying to be. He's trying. He's going to be there. To the very end. Like, I didn't beat him and got off the block

and I'm about to make a tackle. And I'm making the tackle. And he's pushing me as I'm grabbing the running back. And it's like, I'm telling him, like, the best office linemen that I ever played against or played with either had the size speed, all of that. And then the guys that didn't, they just had the mindset.

Yeah. Mindset is the thing that it's hard to teach, especially for a grown man. Like, I don't know. I just feel like either you're wired that way or you're not. Belcro. Definitely. He's like Velcro.

You know who used to be like that was Yonda? Have you ever played Yonda? No. He was the type of guy that like, yeah, because he was a little older. Yeah. But, man, like, he was like your shadow. Mm-hmm. And he was always just like, he'd get the last shove.

He tried to get that last shove. And it makes you, takes your mind off your game a little bit. 100%. Because now you're like, where's this guy at? Yeah. I know, I know he's coming back. He's coming. He's definitely going to try.

Like, I caught myself even the times where he's climbing up. I've caught myself because I've always been really good at tea in the back. I'm not worried about this line. I'm trying to go find the back. That's my job. Hit the back with the guy with the football. And I caught myself a couple of times in the camp. Like, I see the back.

I see where he's going. I'm like, let me watch Red. That's a compliment. Because you know you got to use your hands and get off the block completely. You can't just punch him and then go try to find the ball because he's trying to, even if you beat him at the beginning, he's trying to finish the play. So, I think that that's something that you want in all your players, regardless of the position. And obviously as a rookie, you know, you just,

trying to make a name for yourself. People don't know who you are and all that stuff. And it doesn't matter how you get here, what you did before you got here. So he's just working. I appreciate that. I mean, that's that any group could use that. But it's got to be exciting to see Wyatt Teller come over, Smith come over, who was a really good player in Indy, Wyatt's been in the league a long time.

Have you seen the kind of personality? We just talked about it with Rutledge, but just as a group kind of change a little bit with those guys. Yeah, you definitely have. And obviously, you just named two guys who played in the league a long time. been really good in this league. So I think it definitely helps with the development of the guys that we already have. And then bringing in our rookies just because it allows them to kind of like jail together

and just, you know, kind of encourage the mentality that they already have. Because I feel like Braden and Wyatt are two of those guys that already carry that same mentality, playing against him, Wyatt, when he was with the Browns and Braden and Indy as well. And Mixing was such a big part of the plan and not having him really, you know, I felt like it knocked the balance out of the offense last year and having Dimo probably just restores that whole thing. 100%. I think Joe, you know, when you look at that season that we had last year,

Joe was like, he was like the mental, like the tone setter. Yeah. And so obviously, like losing him unexpectedly, you know, not really knowing like what was not happened or whatever. Like I think Woody and all other guys, Joar, They tried to step up in Nick Chubb, obviously, with his last season with us. And they tried to make the plays, too. But I think, you know, that's why, you know, he is who he is.

Yeah, no question. So obviously losing him, losing his mentality, definitely hurt because he was that guy, I think, for the offense. Because, you know, Nico Collins, his tape speaks for itself. But, I mean, you talk about just the physicality, the mindset of the offense. I think Joe Mixing was a huge part of what we missed. so to have, you know, now a more developed woody marks to have Demo to like work with him and like be that lead back and compliment him as well. Again, similar to like the offensive line where I feel like you bring in a really, really, really good veteran player with a younger player to kind of help him but set the standard and set that new standard again. So, you know, obviously I played against Demo, known since we were rookies.

and he is that same type of back as Joe. So I think that definitely is going to help our offense. Talk about having good vets. Who were your vets in San Francisco? Because I know you and Greenlaw are tight and you guys came in together and everything, but who were the vets in that room at that time? Well, so the vets for me, you know, me and Dre

were the rookies that came in. Pretty good rookie class, dude. DeMico, he definitely gave it, like, bro, he, like, talked crazy to us all the other. Really? Because he would push us hard. Yeah. Because he just wanted to actually reach to the point to where we are now.

But at the time, you're like, this guy won't stay off my back. That's fucking crazy. Yeah, like, dude. But, I mean, he just was pushing us. You know, Fred was in year two. So it was like he was a year older than us, but it was exactly. So it's literally like he's not even the vet. What a room, though.

You know what I'm saying? Like, so I remember my rookie year, Kwan Alexander just signed the big contract. Malcolm Smith was there. He already had signed the contract the year prior, two years prior maybe. And we had a whole bunch of David Mayo. It was just a really solid vet. Mark and Zacha, who was another vet that they signed, Elijah Lee, another vet. So it was a lot of guys.

There was 10 linebackers in the room. And I remember going in the camp, you know, rookie year, I'm the undrafted free agent coming off the Tour NACL. I'm literally, it's Mike Samwell, Mike Samwell, Mike Samwell, Aziz. I'm a 10th lineback on the dead chart. And I'm looking at that. I'm like, you guys, Super Bowl. MVP here you got you know a young fred you know you got quana Alexander just signed all this money

you got all these other guys you know veterans in his team i'm like i don't know how i'm gonna do about i'm i'm gonna like this team yeah and um you know so just i remember those guys like malcolm uh smith you know mark nzacha uh kwan alexander um all those guys helped me and it's crazy because it wasn't even i was willing to learn from anybody who's willing to help me yeah so it was you know uh guys who didn't to play my position who are vets on a team who helped me out a lot. You know, I think Kyle Eustach is probably somebody who I owe so much more to. Really? Just because I remember team ends, we sat next to each other.

And, you know, it's like undrafted rookie linebacker. He don't have to, you know, Kyle's freaking whatever 10-time pro bowler, best foolback, all this stuff. He didn't have to talk to me or say anything to me, you know, like, but he poured into me every single chance he got every day checking him. me talking to me trying to help me um so just even from him you know like that's somebody i think like he always you know he means the world to me so even like um the top 100 and he was the first person on the video talking about me for the top 100 oh that had to be cool it was just so surreal for me

because i was a guy who when i was a rookie would like literally poor like speak life into me all the time and tell me that he believed in me and you know he thinks i could be a really great lineback and all this stuff um so yeah that was a cool thing but i would say like not even just Kwan and Malcolm, you know, those guys poured into me a lot. But even guys who didn't play my position, Eric Armstead was another guy as well. Great, great guy. Just a whole bunch of guys that, honestly,

that team in San Francisco was awesome. Well, you got to see what, like, a great team look like off the bat. And, you know, I know you didn't get to play in the Super Bowl. And somebody was telling me that story earlier. I didn't even know. And D'Amico's the one that's got to tell you, hey, man, you're inactive for this game. Like, what was that like feeling like you were so close?

but not being able to really be on the grass for that thing. Yeah, I mean, it's honestly, like, I always had the chip on my shoulder. But I think, like, they're all human. So it's like anything that bed that you have, the shoes that you like, when you get comfortable in whatever situation you're in. And I remember that morning, it's 30 minutes away. The Super Bowl was like 30 minutes away from my dorm room where I went to college and I went to Florida Atlantic and Super Bowl was in Miami.

I remember like my family's there, all my people are there, and Meeks calling me in the morning, and I'm just like, hey, what's up? I could just tell her his voice, like, hey, it don't sound. Like, I didn't know what happened, but I'm like, hey, what's up, Coach? I didn't miss curfew. You know what I'm like, what did I do? Yeah. But I could just tell it was like kind of off.

He was like, yeah, man, like, you could tell you didn't want to tell me, but he's like, man, you know, you're going to be enacted for the game, blah, and I just played golf. I'm like, no, I understand, coach, it's all good. Dude, I'm talking about I cried. I cried for about two hours. I guess it's early in the morning. And I'm crying.

And I just remember, like, being out there, still trying to, like, cheer the guys on. Obviously, we end up losing. Yeah. And I just remember that whole offseason. I just told myself, I will never, ever let the team that I'm on feel like in any moment that they can do without me being suited up. Because that's what it comes down to.

It was like, for whatever reason, you know, realistically, truthfully, it was because I couldn't play punt team. I could not block. I couldn't block. I was terrible. I was terrible. I couldn't block to save my life. I was, I would go down on the kickoffs and hit people. I had a whole bunch of tackles on kickoff.

I couldn't block on a punt. And so I remember like, whatever it was, I'm like, I'm going to leave no doubt that I need to be on the field. I need to be dressed up. I don't care if it's for five plays. Like, you need to have me on the field. So definitely put a chip on my shoulder because it's like, you know, the biggest game. of the year, it's like, ah, sorry, we don't, we don't need you. And again, that's not, that's not on anybody but me. Like, in my mind, like, that was my fault, because I let them believe that

now we can do without you for whatever reason. And so I just took it as a challenge to myself to like, you got to do more. That's what I tried to do. It's an amazing story. I mean, your story is incredible. I, you know, I saw the miced up thing. The rumors you don't like being mic'd up. I didn't like being miced up either I just told them don't mic me up because I didn't want people to Yeah I didn't want anybody to think I was fake Yeah so that's why I know

You see somebody get miced up I'm like that's not how you act 100% You instantly know When somebody's miced up Because it's like the guy who Never says a word Is all the sudden

And then now he's giving you like a You know Ray Lewis speech Yeah In the middle of the water break You're like You're like okay I get it I got you know

We used to warn each other See, for me, I'd literally tell them if I'm miced up, do not tell me. Like, I gave them the green light, just do the, put the thing in my pads or whatever. Oh. I don't want to see it. I don't want to, like, don't tell me. So I won't know at all. And then at the end of the game is when they tell me.

Like, even with that, it was funny because people are like, oh, hell, no, he had to know he's mic'd be. I'm like, bro, ask anybody who I've ever played again. That's great. You got the cover. That's just literally how I always am. The one thing I will say, though, now I got like three kids and my boys are getting older and they think it's cool what I used to do.

And they say sometimes, Dad, I forget you play football, which is what I want. I don't want to leave with that my whole life. But I do wish I had more footage. You know, and so I'd just say, you're a hell of a football player, you're a real dude. So the mic on every once in a while, because one day you're going to want to have that stuff. But I think the one thing that I saw, the first time I ever heard you talk, was you were mic'd up and Mike Evans walks by you, your young player. And you said, man, I'm paraphrasing, but hey, I'm big fan of yours, you know, I was homeless here.

Yeah. And I stayed under the bridge or something. Like, I was blown away by that whole thing. And you've talked about it a lot. But I guess my question you would be, do you ever forget how it feels? You know what I'm saying? Because I think any time somebody's uncomfortable and you were uncomfortable all the time in that situation. But like, things go back to normal and you get comfortable again.

like for somebody like me it takes a day or two right um you say i'm i'm never going to take for granted the shoes on my feet or the roof over my head or my bed and then a week later my my selfish ass is back to my normal ways but like for you having lived it are you able to remember that feeling and and draw from that on a regular basis and do you wake up in the morning and pinch yourself and say like look where i am now bro like today literally today and we're in the team period. We just finished the first team period. And I am cooked.

Like my legs are fried. We've been going, obviously, all camp, taking every rep, done everything. And now, like, when there's joint practice, and I'm like, dang, like, I slept like crap the night before. Now I'm like, okay, obviously I'm still a leader. I got to do all this stuff. And I could easily, you know, my coach is sitting there like,

hey, man, you don't got to be out there. You don't got to. And 100%, I'm feeling like, I really don't got to take these reps. that serious? I mean, but like that's exactly what I draw back to. And it's crazy because the way that I'm able to draw back to it is different

because the more I've been able to travel and help other people and doing a lot more humanitarian work whether it's in the U.S. or you know, abroad. I went to Jamaica Memorial weekend for those four days and worked with the same organization I work with called

Human Development Fund. But going out there and helping like all these different families and orphans who stand this orphanage, they have nothing. These people live, they're on this beautiful island and everybody goes to visit. And they don't own any of it. They can't even go to the beach half of the time.

The local people who live there, and it's just like right past the beautiful resort is this terrible, terrible area people are living in. Literally like they have zinc as their roof and it's like tarps. And then I also went overseas to Jordan. I heard about the Jordan trip.

That trip was in the middle of the desert on the border of Syria. There was a long war in Syria. I think it just ended, I want to say. But between Syrian refugees and refugees from Gaza, these people are living in the middle of the desert, in tents, with not even bathrooms. Yeah.

And so I said that to say, it's similar to you, we're all human. So if you, we all become comfortable in some capacity. So, of course, I haven't been homeless, you know, for so long. But if you don't constantly draw back to those moments, whether it's through remembering what you went through

or even doing one better when you do make it out of those situations pouring back into someone else because when I see the kids that I help whether it's in the U.S., somewhere else in the world, I see myself. And that's what allows me to reflect. So I don't think necessarily even about me anymore.

I remember the kids' faces. I remember their names. And I write it on my tape to remind myself because that was me. And the biggest blessing I had was being able to grow up in the U.S. I think sometimes people who live in the United States, we crap on like being here. I remember even for myself, like, man, U.S. is a terrible place. They got this going on. We got that going on. And we might have done a lot of terrible things. But the opportunity

that you get living here versus somebody else. The floor is so much lower somewhere else. Exactly. And when you see that when you travel, you're like, holy shit. And that's the biggest thing. And what you just said, like really resonated with me because when we do our water, work in East Africa. There's so much money there, dude. There's so many people coming in doing safari, doing Kilimanjaro. And, you know, like we went to school doing water work. And I'm like, this is on, I cannot believe these kids are drinking from this water source in five miles down the road. People come and go all the time. And that's it. It's the, you know, and I want to talk to you about a lot of football, but you just, you nailed it. I mean, you know, it's, it's cool to watch

you do this work off the field and your perspective. very interesting. I mean, it's just that you're able to draw from that and it's been now how long since you were homeless. I mean, since I was, it's over 10 years old. It's over 10 years, yeah. It's literally 12 years ago. Yeah, well, I mean, keep up the great work off the field, man. I mean, yeah, shit. How do I go back to football here? I was going to ask about the Houston divot. Two of the guys just walked in, Will and, and, and, right, just walked in. They're trying to crash. Yeah, they're trying to crash the party. But my question to you is, you got such a great attack in front.

Is it bad if guys get on different levels? Does it become harder to read? Like there's a flip side to everybody attacking and resetting the line of scrimmage. But if one guy's not resetting the line of scrimmage, is there any downside to having those guys up front? Not that it would be nitpicky. Yeah, man.

I mean, to be honest, I really can't stand playing with... It's got to suck. Like, he's... One of those things where it's like, if he's not, you know... Yeah. He just doesn't really get a job done how you... Yeah. Yeah.

I'm trolling. Honestly, man, it makes my life easy. Like my job, like I told you earlier, I'm trying to find a guy with the football. So I let them, they like the big brothers that just, you call it. Hey, he picking on me. Yeah. So they just beat up on the linemen, set edges, air stuff up. And now I'm just there to be like, oh, okay, there goes the ball.

Yeah. So that's the nuance of the scheme itself. It's tough as a linebacker, if you're jumping downhill. Because when you're in attack front, the second level needs to be patient. When you have a reading front, that's when the second level has to attack. So it's that give and take. So, of course, there's plays that can come up. Our teams like to run trap on us, like to run whamms on us.

Exactly. Those are the type of things where when you start to create some different vertical lanes and stuff like that and they try to capture the edge a different way. But these guys, I mean, they play for so long and played in the scheme together all of us now. So, you know, it's not just, you know, attack. They always talked about running through a dark room, but now it's, like running through a dark room with a flashlight. It's like the analogy that they say now.

That's a good one. And it was so funny. I'm like, where the hell y'all get that from? So it's just like that little bit of awareness. You say, okay, obviously we get off,

we get off, we get off, but now having awareness, when you see the tight end is, is motioning back in. What the hell is he doing over here? Like, he's not in a chip position.

He's coming back in. Take a picture. Exactly. So now you know, you know, WAM is coming. Yep. I mean,

they rank is the, is the Wham killer. The WAM killer. Ain't nobody running and wear them on rank. Hadn't fold them yet. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, obviously,

you talk about the guys we have on the edge. You know, they set the edge on any other runs and they're going to close every single time. So it makes me life easy. Oh, yeah. But your job's not that easy because you guys play, cover four is tough for a backer, right? You got a lot of ground to cover and you can cover it.

But, like, you guys are matching patterns and stuff. Like, talk me through how that's pretty difficult for a guy. I mean, it's definitely different. And because in a lot of other schemes where they, They run this type of coverage. The linebackers aren't asked to do nearly as much. And I think people always, like I was laughing because I looked at a thing where the executives or whatever ranked the top linebackers. If I see, oh, his least is ranked like six or whatever.

And I'm reading the stuff and we're all humans. You know, people are, no, I didn't see nothing. I didn't read that stuff. No, I saw it. But reading, yeah, I was laughing because it says he's a little limited by scheme. but, you know, whatever, but, like, the limited by scheme, I laugh because the scheme that we run, the linebacker, especially in the cover force system, this game,

you might as well be playing man coverage. Yes. If it's whoever number three is, that's basically what it is. Like, so you have an extremely challenging job. When you look at guys who play in this scheme, somebody like Fred, there's not many guys who can own the middle in that way and have to cover and be able to play the run. That's right.

So you have to be extremely athletic. you have to be physical still and when you look at other schemes they're not asking the mics to run with anybody you know you're really just kind of just that low hole guy just you know making tackles in between the hashes and stuff like that where with our scheme

you basically like a glorified safety you know so and it's funny the coaches say hey don't read any negative stay off the message boards but the first day camp there always got some fucking bullet board material like they were on the like yeah no That would piss me off too because your job's not.

I think some people look at the scheme and say, oh, it's on the simpler side. So they conflate that with being easier. Exactly. But to run a simple scheme like this, you've got to have great players. That's the challenge because when you have a scheme where, is it easier to line up knowing like,

hey, I know exactly what coverage this guy is in? Yeah. And has it got to be in them or is it easier to be like, okay, they got 15 different coverages. I need to know which one it is right now. So for us, defensively, We were like, hey, we're going to do what we do regardless of who we're going against,

and we're just going to perfect. It's like a thousand punches one time versus one punch a thousand times. But with that, 100%, but with that, it's like you have to be on it because people are going to start scheming you up. And, you know, that's why Burke and D'Amico do a good job of different changeups and stuff like that. You can't just literally line up and do the same thing every play. But there's a lot of games where we line up and called the one play the entire game. I mean, even in some of the biggest games of the year,

playing Pittsburgh in the playoff game. We played the same coverage almost the entire, literally the entire game. Well, you play Pittsburgh, you got corners that can tackle in the flat, like it's gonna be a long day. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's another thing, so. Dude, I mean, there's some games where literally

we have all this stuff on the call sheet and we might call one or two plays. And on third down, you might get a rush and that's about it. But, I mean, that's the beauty of being able to, you know, be in a scheme like this and have the players that we have and coach and staff.

Well, you got some great players, man, but you're definitely one of the best ones. And so we love watching you play. Appreciate you. You know, probably talked to you for an hour, but we'll catch up another time, man. You're super interesting guy. Great player. Appreciate you. Yeah, thanks, dude.

We're out here on our training camp tour. We've been giving out the canes here to some of the individuals on the defensive line. And everybody's really excited when they get some free canes. I know I am when I get my new canes. I got a couple pairs. they're great for these guys when they get off the field they really are good support for your your feet like it feels like actually better than wearing a pair of sneakers and they're soft at the same time and breathable and the whole thing so they're perfect for walking around a locker room which i don't do much anymore so i'm walking around the house i'm chasing my kids i'm on the river uh they got little holes in them so you know the water rushes through and they're nice and comfortable they're perfect on the boat they're perfect uh land air sea i don't know what do you want? The cane's got it all.

And these football players love them. So it's great to see other players share a passion for Kane's footwear. I certainly do. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical underage sale prohibited. If you've ever played sports, you know the competition get pretty heated. Same goes for all-new flavor of zone nicotine pouches. Introducing jalapeno lime.

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This is, this is cool. All my interviews are great, but this is, this is really good. I have both these guys on before. Shelton Rankins, Will Anderson, Jr. These guys need no introduction. Part of the best defensive line in football right up there. You and the Rams, if we're just talking about, about if Aeron Donald comes back.

Yeah. So, welcome to the show again. I'm glad to be here. Always a pleasure. How y'all holding up? Holding up. Holden up, man. That's a true 11-year bet.

Yeah, holding up. That's an 11-year bet answer. I'm doing just fine. Yeah. That would have been my answer. We were just talking about joint practices. What do you guys like getting out of those? Because I remember as a player, you get so bored,

playing against the same guys, same sets. Same thing. what do you guys get out of you've been seeing the Raiders for a day? I mean, just a different scheme too. I think, obviously with Kubiak, you know, that wide zone stuff, you know, just a little switch up. I mean, you know, against us, it's, you know, double teams, double teams, double teams, all camp, especially inside of, I mean, he's getting, you know,

two, three tight ends on him at a time. You guys run a lot of big sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think just getting that switch up. And then, like you said, just going to get somebody new, somebody that hasn't been literally studying you every day for the past two, three weeks. Just some new bloods. It's kind of fun.

That's awesome, man. Yeah, for sure. I think it's like what you said is like sometimes you can get a little boring when you keep going to get the same guys. You know, the moves you're going to do. You know what set they're going to give you. You know what players come in. So now, like, now, like, your level of awareness heightens when you go against another team because you really don't know what to expect.

So now you get to play real football for real. Has anybody been able to anchor on your Bullrush? I was just watching some tape late last night. Sheldon, I got to say because you're like his vet. Yeah. I'll speak for him. So go ahead. No, I, yeah, you're like his agent.

Right, right, right. Hey, dude, I got to say, and this is with all honesty. I knew you were going to be good. But I had no idea that you could be the, like, and I, you made what, top 100, 46. No way. You're way better. Like, you're one of the best 20 players in the game. I just was so impressed with your tape.

Just watching it back last night. just to tell you that, dude. I'm fucking really impressed. Thank you, man. And I know he deserves a lot of credit. Shelton deserves bringing you along. But yeah. Yeah, what can you do to elevate from here?

Yeah, I think going into this camp and going to the offseason, you know, I really take pride in, you know, my craft. And a lot of times, just like you said, power, a lot of guys expect power. So this whole camp in this off season, I've been working nothing. But, like, that was my program, like working on dipping and working on turning the corner. And this off season, I think that's why my confidence has been so high because I've been using so many different moves that I didn't even know I could use. And he used to always tell him, he was like, you got the bag to do it.

Like you got the skill to do it. You just don't be scared to go do it. And man, like, I've been using jab swipes. I've been using my inside move. I've been using stab clubs, like a whole bunch of different moves. I did a spin yesterday in 101 for the first time before. So it's like- Really? Yeah.

So just like, man, just open up the repertoire of like building that confidence. You know what I'm saying? But like, also having the guys around me that believe in me that, man, that's pushing me to do it and not like keeping me in a box that can elevate my game and take my game to another level. Yeah, that spin feels good when you hit it. Yeah, I always smell like a child. He was laughing like a little kid. Oh, it's like that. Hey, word to the wise, because they're paying attention to you. Don't save it for a good moment because you're going to hit it clean and the ball's going to be gone. You're going to be like, did anybody see that? You're going to be in the D-Line room on

Monday. Did anybody see that? Man, that's awesome. So we're increasing the bag a little bit. Well, I feel like you're better than a lot of guys at this. Like, you run your feet on contact. Like, when you bulrush somebody, I feel like one thing that makes you really uniquely good is that your feet speed up. Yeah. And I don't, as a player, I struggle with that. Like, I had great power rush and everything. But, like, watching you do it, is that something you drill or how do you explain that?

So it really all started two things. I give credit to all my D-Lincoach that I've had and D-Hunt. We worked a lot of that stuff in college with Salus and Sari, bull rushing and stuff like that, grabbing the arms, grabbing the ribs, forklifting and stuff like that. And then when I got here, a couple of my first rushers,

I used to stop my feet all the time. And then when DeHunt got here, DeHunt was like, man, you're getting caught in the fish net. Like, don't get caught in the fish net. Like, whatever you do, always keep your feet moving. And then also having a rank on the side of me, too, is like, bro, like, go shoot your shot.

You know what I'm saying? Like, even if you hit your bull, like, have something off of it, like, be ready to counter off of it. And that's something that, like, I've been able to, like, progress in my game, like, when I bull somebody, because they're actually going to fly back because they're, they see my size and I think that's in a lot of things.

Like, they don't expect my bull to come with so much power so it kind of catches them off guard. And so that time, they're taking a step back. I'm still moving my feet, just punching, lifting hands, whatever, but really just not getting a caught in the fish net to continue to keep stabbing or continue to, like, get off of it and bulls slip. Because that's really been my thing. I like that caught in the fish net. Man, you don't get caught in that fish net.

Hey, a lot of new faces on the offensive line. You guys getting to know them pretty well. I thought Smith was a real good player in Indy and Tellers obviously had a great career. But I really wanted to start with this, this, what's the name, Rutledge? Are you guys going to get control of this guy? What's going on out here, dude?

Every day I read a blog about Rutledge is trying to fight another all pro. Yeah, man, he's a wild pit bull, man. He's a pit bull. He's a wild pit bull off the leash, man. But I think for it, team that has the identity that we have, like, that's what you want on that side of the ball. And I think, you know, I think we've done a good job of cultivating that identity, cultivating

that, just that culture of like, we're going to fight. Like, that's just, like, that's what we're like, we show up to play the game, but we're also here to fight, you know, so I think to add that guy into that room and for him to not back down from anybody, like, you know, as, as he's doing, it does nothing but, but aid in their development over there. And he's a pretty good player too. He has a hit list. I think he has a hit list. He probably does. I thought he had a group of guys. He might he got drafted. He said, I want to go.

But man, like, it earned a lot of our respect though for real, honestly, because like, rings it, like, that's what type of ball we play. That's our brand of ball. You know, obviously being smart, but like nasty, gritty, like putting it on tape, like, I want to finish you to the ground. Like, that's what you need as an old lineman. And that's what he presents, like, he wants to finish blocks. He wants to get the pancake blocks. Like, he wants to show his dominance in his position. Like, he wants to be the best.

I mean, that's the type of attitude you have to have as a delimit, especially going against us. Like, obviously, a lot of teams don't run the tack. But, like, we're going. Like, it's not going to be a play where we're going to let up. Right. So, like, it's either you get on board with our program. Yeah.

Or we're just going to run over you. And, like, he's really like, no, like, all ain't going to run over me, man. But it's, it's feeding the whole O'Lond, though. It's bleeding to that room over there. Dude, that's what you need. And me and Z's were just talking about this, like, guys like, guys like that are like Velcro. Yeah.

And they take you off your game because you're thinking about them, laying it down. You're trying to pursue the football and you're kind of like taking a, looking over your shoulder. Is he running next to me? Is he about to? Yeah. Egg a lot. I was brushing him like, is he over there?

Yeah, 100%. So he's trying to pick y'all off too. Yeah, absolutely. DeHunt, Aziz, B. He got into it with Max. I was like, I know. He has a hit list. I was like, he has a hit list.

I was like, he has a hit list of guys. He probably looks at Daraches. He probably looks at Daraches. Who's the all pros? Yeah, those guys. He causes his parents at night and said, yeah, I fucked up. Max Crosby, babe. I fought, I fought, Neil Hunter.

For sure, absolutely. Man, but the O-line looks, file accounts, really good. Having Dimo back there just changes, though. I mean, mixing was so important to y'all and great player, but Dimo probably, you know, kind of completes that identity shift a little bit. Absolutely. I've always been a fan of Dimo, even when he was in Chicago. I always thought he ran hard.

Oh, true three-down guy. So when I saw we got them, I was like, oh, that's perfect. Yeah. That's perfect. How about the rookie tight end? Klein, Klein really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Big body, yeah.

Takes up a lot of space. It's going to be really good for us, man. Yeah, yeah. And you guys like having those tight downs on the field, it seems like those big 12 and 13. Absolutely, yeah. I mean, like, D'Amico's an old school guy. Yeah. He wants to establish the run, the violence, the dominance.

So, yeah, so he's going to put big bodies on the field and we're going to run right that guy. Well, that seems to be. be like a trend in the NFL now, you know, like, take his tight ends or easier, more affordable to have on your roster. And then, and then, you know, teams that don't have these studs in the second level, they get in the binds with personnel. So how do you guys feel when you play a team that's kind of staying heavy? Does that kind of slow you down?

And I don't know if we talked about this before, well, but as an edge, when you get those stacks and, you know, the big wings, what's the key to not slowing down, getting that good tilt and and attacking. Yeah, I feel like this is the perfect front for it. Yeah. Because when I was at Alabama and they used to go heavy, it's like you're doing so much reading and it gives them time.

But it's like, man, I get in a wide nine and you got to come deal with me. You know what I'm saying? Like I get to just tee off on you now. And it helps so much the way we run it. It's like I get in this wide nine and I get my one, two, in the ground so quick, it's cutting back.

I mean, who we were just talking about that. He was like, bro, I don't even, they run the ball to us. It's like, we ex off. We can't even make the play because we're knocking it back. They're getting a heavy personnel. they're trying to block us with two people, but we're knocking it back so good.

It's cutting it back to the backside. The end. So, I mean, like, I don't mind it. I think we're in the perfect front. Like, we don't all, like, I think the great thing about our front, too, is like we don't have to go heavy personnel all the time. We can stay four down, line up, and go play ball.

So, yeah. What about the rookie you were just talking about Caden McDonald? Oh, he's a big kid. He's big, huh? He's huge. So that's the first thing at everybody's mouth. Yeah. I didn't see him.

He must be like D-Bah. Like, is he just... He's a big kid. He don't say much. He's kind of funny, though. He should be trying to sneak little jokes in there, but he's a good kid, man. I think the one thing that you immediately see

when he gets hands on people, they stop moving. Like, he's one of those guys, and he doesn't even know what he's doing yet. That's the battle right now. He's got his hands, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think, you know, he's never played in a front that allowed him to get off the ball.

In college, he was pretty much zero nose. Get your hands on the center. Like, destroy that guy, get him out the way, going to make the play. Here, having him get off the ball a little bit more. It's a little different. So just being able to work on pairing his hands up with the get-off. That's the biggest struggle for people who've never done it, right?

Like you focus so much on getting off that you leave your hands behind. We used to put the guys in the, you know, the band you put around here. Yeah, the little band. And just, hey, when do I take this off when I fucking tell you? Like maybe halfway there. Yeah, 100%. But it helps. It does.

It helps. It does. I mean, that's the hardest thing. You guys play with your hands so well. People take it for granted, but not everybody's taught that way. Who was the best offensive line y'all played against last year, in your opinion? Great question. Who all you play?

You're a great question. Who did we play? You get the Eagles this year. We do. I'm excited about that. That's going to be a nice battle. Because you haven't played the Eagles yet. Have you ever, ever you?

Yeah, first time. That would be a great, man. You against those tackles? I'm so excited, man. Just good on good. Yeah. You had the Rams early. We did.

I was going to say, they're pretty good overall. Yeah. We kind of got after them, though. We did. Yeah. If there's no answer. Oh, yeah, yeah, there you go.

What we got? Rams, Tampa. Tampa went healthy. They're pretty, they're pretty stout. Jacksonville, Tennessee, Baltimore,

Seattle. Can I tell you something about that Seattle game? And I didn't know who Seattle was when, like that they were going to be that. You know, I picked them to win the division.

Thank you very much. But, but I didn't know they were going to be that good and y'all played respectfully as a team not well that game yeah and you almost beat them a lot of our games almost like that though but early on yeah yeah yeah yeah just how much y'all grew up through the year last year so san francisco

denver Denver Denver's pretty good Denver Denver you think Denver's yeah but they're I think they're so smart I think Sean Payton does a really good job and he'll tell you they know we're a really great front so the scheme that they used to go against us limited a lot of stuff that we did going quick game and moving the pocket that's frustrating when you play a guy like that well you get Josh Allen

right off the bat this year yeah and you guys have done a good job against Josh but how hard is it to get that dude on the ground I saw a play last year he sacked him twice twice in his hair play essentially yeah yeah he is he is yeah I mean Kansas City India but I'll take I'll take Denver is probably I'll take Denver the answer yeah yeah Denver what what was it like training with Miles Garrett this off season? It was good.

You got a hell of an off season, by the way. Hanging out with LeBron. They said you helped him up at the game. He did. When that happened, I text him. I'll text him. I said, help him pops up, huh? No, I was really, like, he did that. He was so strategic because, like,

I was sitting there, and I really wasn't going to do it at first, but he started adjusting his band. You're like, son? You're going to help me? up. So I was like, you know what? And then I already knew the means were coming in and it made the worst.

He was, he called me his son. But I was telling him, I was like, you know what? I would never let another grown man call me his son. But if it was a wrong. I was like, I was, sure.

Now, that was, so this is my second off-season training with him and with Mows. And man, this year, we just went to another level with it. Yeah. The competition every day, him just working with me, though,

teaching me a whole lot of stuff. But just see how he operates. as a human and just as a player taking care of his body. What is he doing? Man, I learned a lot from him. And, like, these last two years have been the best shape. My body's been in, dropped a lot of body fat. I went from 14, 13% body fat to I'm at 11% body fat now.

So, like, man, just really getting my body in the best possible, you know, shape to come out here and perform my best. And it's been great, man. It's been fun. Hanging out with him. It's been good, dog. He's a really great person. He's a great dude. Very chill.

He's chill, man. Pokemon. That's all he wants to do is open Pokemon cards all over the. table, man. I didn't get the Pokemon itch. I haven't gotten that itch in my life, but maybe that's the key. What did you learn from him?

Did you see? Was there anything you saw him doing over the last couple years that you've been like, man, I want to put that in my bag. I don't know if, you know. So right now, me and him really were talking about angles a lot. Engels. So that's kind of been like a lot of stuff that I've been working on throughout camp, taking different angles, switching my feet up a little bit.

More so, I think one thing I really should have dove a little deeper to with him with chips. Because, you know, like, that's kind of dog. But just angles in, like, different ways to beat tackles and stuff like that has been really good, like, upfield sometimes, going right at them sometimes, and just, like, stepping on toes. That's something that we really talked about a lot. It's, like, really gaining the ground and taking big steps.

Yeah. The worst chip, I always felt like the most annoying chip was the, was the tight end that would make you pick. You got to widen way out. That was what I was good today. It was making it be so. He was so upset. It's so irritated.

He's so upset. It is. But I love having someone like rank playing beside, like I remember my, my second year. Man, he wasn't here, man. And I remember like that whole year, like the guys in the side. They were great. Like, don't get me wrong. But I miss having that presence of having somebody that, like, who knew me and knew my mindset is like, you're going to be good, dog.

But also can help me out because, like, I know how he plays too. Like, I was still learning those guys. But like, I knew rank off the back of my hand. Like, we and him played together. I know when rank was going to take his shot. I know when he was going to like, hey, go cook. But having him back here is been really big for me, so it's been cool. That takes a lot, you know, like having somebody rushing next to you that really just,

you don't even have to talk about it. They don't even talk about a lot of things. Literally. And, you know, like for me, Fletcher Cox was, I mean, not just a great kind of rush next to because he's going to keep you getting paid and the whole thing. I mean, I owe him a lot. But also, he's just an unselfish play, you know, and he's predictable in that, like, he's going to hit it and get it.

And if I see color flash, like, I'm coming under. And, yeah. So, I mean, just having those guys next to you, man. And last year, man, you had two touchdowns, huh? Yeah, man, listen. How about... You know, I always tell people it's like, it's a race to get to the quarterback, but it's also like, I can give the most perfect rush and he'll still beat me.

That's the hard part, dude. He'll still beat me. Like, people always go back to the, like, the Pittsburgh play, and I'm like, I'm like, I was cooking. I was a great rush. I sat a grown man down. No, I know. I know quicker than, you know, and he still be on the line.

So now I was like, I guess I should just pick the ball up and go score. So I did that, you know. It looked great doing it. Yeah, yeah, man, you know, whatever I can do. Like, you know, him and D Hunt probably going to beat me there most of the time. It's cool. Just knock the ball out so I can go school. That's the thing about when great players start showing up on your defense.

Everybody thinks it gets easier for you individually. I'm like, well, they're paying more attention now. The ball's going to be out. 100%. And every time I win. 100%. You know how many times I got the best? best seat in the house watching Robert Quinn

to go chop club and just beat you right to the punch, man. I've had some amazing and I'm like, cooking. You just want to be acknowledged on Monday. And I'm just like, good job, Will. Good job, Will.

Great rush. Can I get an out of boy? Great rush, Will. Great rush. What's the most selfish thing a defensive lineman can do? Oh, wow. That's a great question. Not running a game. when you post you run a game. Oh, not run a game for sure.

Oh, that's bad. That's, yeah. Popping out of games. Or if I got, or if I got, tell you like, yo, I'm about to take this shot. And you're like, so you just kind of give up your rush. And then he don't do it. You know, oh.

So, yeah, I'd honestly say that, especially for how we play. Like, I mean, we're big on four equals one. Every rusher has to kind of work together to kind of make it work. Again, especially with Will and Danil on that. Just like, you know, there are a lot of times where I feel like, yeah, I could really go cook this guy, but we'll go in. Go in. Just go in.

And I'll make you right. But that's what I love about our room, though. So when you say stuff like that is like, the last four years that I've been here, going into my fourth year, we've had no selfish guys in the room. Especially I want to say my second year going up until now, it's like, bro, like anytime they add anybody even old vets to the room that's old school, it's like everybody buys you into the system. coach that we built in that room and he's just like hey, Rank, what you need, DeNico, when he was, DeNico, you need, hey, Dee Hunt. Like, what you, I can bring high, you go low, like,

everybody want to see each other eat. Like, I tell Rank all this, I'm like, hey, go to, hey, right, just as much as he told me to go take my shop, like, hey, rank, go cook, like, go take the Bigot whenever you want. But, like, that's what makes our room so fun, man, because we want to see everybody make plays. You want to see everybody get sacks, get paid, whatever, get pressures, like, and that's why we thrive

so good because it's like, bro, I know my brother next to me, he's just as good as me. If you want to go get a set, you can go get that mug. And I'm going to go let them do it. So it's fun, man, having a bunch of guys who can rush in the room. I will tell you that when the damn breaks in the game and you can really, and everybody starts getting home and it starts to be a two, three score game, everybody wants their reps.

Oh, 100% percent. I need these reps. 100%. I need these reps. I need those rush hops. Don't take me off the field. That's the one time. Don't take me off the field.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah, 100%. So what's the most hostile place to play? playing the AFC South in y'all's opinion. Where AFC South? It's honestly, I guess for us, it's probably Jacksonville. Every time.

Because, you know, Aziz. Aziz did it. He created it. What a nice guy. Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, great dude. Hey, I could talk about. You all walked in and I was like, man, I could talk to this dude for another 30 minutes. Great, bro.

Me and Aziz talk every Sunday before the game. And, you know, I always like, I, I, I, I, never, especially as a man, like I never mind it telling people about the men in my life that helped me, especially at such a young, young player. And Rankin Aziz have been those two players for me. Like, me and Aziz talk all the time. I'm like, bro, Aziz, you don't understand, like talking to you every day before the game dog and just hearing your mindset and just the wisdom and knowledge that you have, bro. It really helps me out a lot, man. And he's just such a great dude. And I'm like, bro, this play doesn't even define who you are. Like people saying all this stuff.

I'm like, but I don't even know you. Like, that's not even you. You know what I'm saying, bro. Like you're totally opposite of what people are trying to portray you to be, man. And he's an awesome human being. I got to know him more who he was after that play. Yeah. Like I'd never heard him talk really. You know, I love the way he played. And also, when you're a little bit late, like he was, just a touch.

Yeah. And you're that powerful. Like, if I was a little late, nobody's going to notice. Like, it would be like, look at him jumping on the pile. But what Aziz does, it's like, oh, man, he killed a guy. Yeah. That guy's so powerful. He's so powerful.

Yeah. You got to watch a friendly fire with y'all's group. Oh. If you really watch our tape, you'll be like, how are you? He caught me last year. He caught me last year. I made again. I was like, oh, I was like, oh, that wasn't too bad.

I got to the side. I'm like, yo. Those are the ones that are the worst. They're worse. You're getting out the stack. You might be liable. I mean, you got JP coming down. You got Henry firing around.

You got Kamari flying around. You got his Eve. You got Tommy. Tommy is a sneaky. Yeah. Tommy is a sneaky one. Tommy is a sneaky one, dog. Tommy is a sneaky one, dog.

Tell me getting up that stack, bro. Yeah. Freaking Petrie. And then Petrie puts on an even bigger helmet. 100%. I'm like, hey, D. Just to go run into people, even crazier. Just to go run into people.

Hey, I wanted to highlight something. Ninth duo ever Hunter and Anderson, Jr. here. Ninth duo ever to have 15 plus sacks, both of them, in a season, which is insane. I haven't looked at the list. Do you have the list? I was trying to guess who else has done that? James Harrison and Lamar Woodley, Clyde Simmons and Reggie White. Clyde Simmons was my old D-Line coach.

Really? Yeah. Derek Thomas and Neil Smith. Eric Thomas, I knew it was coming. Chris Dolman. You ever watch Chris Dolman tape? I assume Chris Dolman was on there. You got to watch his tape.

I need to watch more edge rush shirts. Well, I need to learn because Malice had someone at the crib, and I was like, I don't know who he's got. He had some throwbacks? Yeah, he had some throwbacks. Go watch Chris Dolman. Unbelievable. Keith Millard, he was a great player, coaching the league. Lawrence Taylor, Leonard, Marshall, Jacob Green, Jeff Bryan.

We're getting a little old for me. Fred Dene. and Dwayne board. I have no idea, but that's a great list, man. But the season didn't end the way y'all wanted to. I think you look around in today's NFL, you got as good a chance to anybody to go to the bowl, man. It's, it's, you guys have what it took last year. The ball didn't bounce your way. But after that game, I know CJ was, people were on CJ a little bit. What have you guys done as a defense to kind of breathe some life into him? And I know he's a resilient guy on his own, but, you know, anytime a player has a rough stretch,

I know it's good to have teammates to have your back. Yeah, I think we've always seen the best in him. Yeah. And we've seen him at his best. So, um, and we've, we all understand like playing in this league, like you're going to have bad moments.

You're going to have bad games. You're going to have bad moments at times where you shouldn't have them. Right. So we understand that's what comes with it. He just happens to be at the position where everything is magnified. Um, you know, to the nth degree. So just continuing to breathe confidence in them,

talk to them, have real conversations with them that aren't even about football, just making sure he's in a good space. Because like any of us, you know, when you're in a good space, you can come here, you can go to where you can put your best foot forward and put your best stuff on tape. So just making sure he's good overall, the person.

Because the player will take care of itself. Yeah. Because he has the ability. He has a talent. He's shown it in this league numerous times. So just making sure the person is okay. So he can go do what he needs to be. I thought he showed it last year at times.

That Kansas City game on the road, bro, like some of the, game with that. Yeah, some of the throws he made over the middle of field. Like I was like, oh, yeah, they're cooking now. I know it didn't end the right way. But guy comes in with a new haircut. You know he means business, bro, right? 100%.

You see somebody that cut their hair or their beard. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. D-line meetings in. What time are you guys getting let out? Because I don't know if anybody runs a simpler scheme than y'all. And we used to be the same way where we late at night in these camp meetings and coach,

we're watching the same fucking cut up here. Yeah, yeah. And you know what they'll say? You know what they always do? They go, I don't know if you guys do this, but they go, y'all just be quiet. Way out. Go that way. Go to back way.

Go to back way. Yeah, yeah. Make sure. Make it right. Make it right. Make it right. Where are you going? Yeah.

Make it right. For people at home, the D-Line coaches don't want to get yelled at by the other. 100%. Why you let you guys out so early? You got to understand we are done. Like, there's nothing new I could learn about what happened at practice after 8 o'clock. I learned it all the way already in the field. Absolutely.

So what time are you guys done at night? We're, honestly, we're probably the first group out every now. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, our coach is good about, like, getting through the tape and not just, like, not overcoaching. Yeah. They were former players too. Yeah, so it's like, yeah, like, yeah, fix your step. Yeah, you know that.

Oh, big Frank. Yeah, yeah. Big Frank. I know Big Frank. Yeah, yeah. So it's. Big Frank. Big Frank, dude.

Big Frank. Yeah. I think we came in the same year. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, it's, so, yeah, we're honestly probably the first group out because, I mean, obviously,

we got a lot of guys that's played a lot of ball. So, um, and then just like I said, it's just, why are we beating a dead horse? You know you step bad. Yeah. Don't step like that. You always say. He always be like, when we watch it, it's going to be something I told you already. It's going to be something that you knew you didn't do.

Absolutely. You said it, coach. Yeah, for sure. We already know. Well, hey, I'm so excited for you guys, man. I appreciate that you. You got a great team, obviously. And it's just fun to watch you guys.

And I hope you do it this year, man. I really do. I appreciate it. Be pulling for you guys. Hey, man, if you want to come get some rushes, man. Hey, man, like I said, if you got the tour at all, And I can rush near Will Anderson. Can't fucking call me, man.

I mean, hey, but best of luck. And I appreciate you guys coming on the show. You guys are regulars now. Yeah. Man, listen, half was back by now. I love this one right here. Yeah. Well, I appreciate it.

No problem. This is like a D-line room here, man. Uh-huh. Yeah, we got some canes. Appreciate it. Thank you. Make sure I get the 13. Okay.

Give them to 50. 15? Yeah. Hard to find shoes. Yeah, it is. These are sweet, though. Yeah. I just partner with them, actually.

Yeah, I heard you're like, Big time, girl, big time. Well, dude, I'd be, he'd be my pitch man. His lockers right next to my. Yeah. Rocks suck. Who's the Crocs guy? Is it you?

I heard it's you. The back support. You do not feel like you? But so the thing is, the crocs for me are, they're my work shoes. Yeah, they're strictly his work shoes. They are, they are like the most light, light blue color.

But everybody knows me when I put on there. He put him in four-wheel drive? No, no, no, no. Oh, I'm taking my time wherever I'm going. It's so crazy because when he got back for, when he first got back, I didn't, I seen the crocs before I seen him. Yeah, he did. He only took a picture of the cross.

Does he have the little giblets on them? No, no, no. They're playing. I promise. They are. They are literally just there for me to walk the meeting. Yeah. And walk to get some.

food. These will be there for you too. Oh, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Yeah, yeah. I definitely give you a trial run. Absolutely. Yeah.

Appreciate you. All right, man.