On his first start back from injury:
"It felt good. It's been five games, so getting back out there, moving around, and getting back to game speed felt good. A couple times, I came out to regain my breath. But it felt good. Today, I feel a little sorer than usual, but that's all a part of getting back."
On his role on the edge:
"It went well. I feel like there are things I can do to be better. As we're going throughout the game, I kept talking to my coach [Defensive Line/OLBs], saying, 'Man, I see this. I can shoot it here; I can be better here to make more impact plays.' But it went well. That plan started to develop as I started to come back and get healthier. Just talking about giving me more of a role on the edge, and also playing inside backer as well, which I feel is good. I like that role because it allows me to be multiple and show my versatility. I feel like that's something I'm capable of doing — being able to bounce back from the edge to inside linebacker. Just playing a bunch of different things. That's really where it came from, and I feel like I handled it pretty well yesterday."
On how his role on the edge impacts the scheme:
"Being on the edge is simple. A majority of the time, I'm either outside defender or I'm playing the run. There aren't as many responsibilities as it is at inside backer. It's being able to see a bunch of different things. I feel like being on the edge allowed me to get to the quarterback more, which is something I want to do more. It allowed me to be more disruptive and cause havoc. That's what I want to do; whether it's at inside linebacker or at the edge position — just being able to come in and cause havoc."
On the defense:
"We have some stuff to clean up. We didn't play to the extent that we want to play to. We want to be elite; we want to be able to close out games and get the ball back to our offense. I feel like we weren't able to do that in those critical moments yesterday. It just comes down to us homing in on our jobs and getting better at that — executing better. It was a tough day in the office. Giving up long third downs isn't something you want to do. We're going to have to look at ourselves and be accountable, ready to work next week."
On his dual role in the scheme:
"That was the whole plan from the jump — going out there, working half of my drills with the edge, and then going back to inside linebacker. I talked to the coaches, and that was their plan from the jump for me to play edge and also inside backer. This week, it was making sure I got comfortable in the first day and getting back to what I know at inside backer the rest of the week. I feel comfortable. It's something I've been doing; I did in college."
On readjusting to the defense coming back from injury:
"Being out hurt me because I'm a football guy. I live, eat, sleep, and breathe football. It's really the first time in my career I've ever missed a game, so being out, being injured, and missing five games was something that was a challenge for me. It was a challenge, and that's how I looked at it. I just tried to find ways to continue to get better. Whether that was being here early in the morning, watching film with my coach, or continuing to work in rehab. Doing everything I can to be able to get back. And also, when I get back, being able to see things clearer. Just trying to continue to get better, in spite of being out. That's the only thing I can control, and, in that moment, it was just get better."
On his preference to edge or inside linebacker:
"Both allow me to be disruptive, it just depends on what kind of play is being ran at us, and what I'm seeing. I feel like it doesn't matter. Being on the edge, I can be disruptive by coming off the edge, or I can be disruptive playing a run off the edge. And I feel like at inside backer, I can be disruptive depending on what I see and knowing when I can shoot my shot and when I can't shoot my shot. I really do feel comfortable in both positions because it's been something I've done pretty much my whole career. At Oklahoma, I played some edge snaps and some inside backer snaps. Being versatile isn't something I struggle with."
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