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Christian Wilkins – December 27, 2021 (Postgame)

Monday, December 27, 2021
Postgame – New Orleans

 DT Christian Wilkins

(I know you guys still have two more regular season games left, but knowing that you started 1-7, seven straight wins and you’ve got an opportunity to control your own playoff destiny I guess what do you want the overarching message to be when people look at your team and kind of talk about this team and what you guys have overcome and accomplished?) – “Really we just stayed the course throughout the whole season. We didn’t grow weary. We just stuck with the program, stuck with what we knew and even when things were tough we just took it one day at a time, one game at a time and that’s what we’ll continue to do the rest of the season. That seems to be the right mindset and that’s the approach we’ll take. That’s the approach we have taken; that’s the approach we will continue to take.”

(And when you guys woke up this morning were you personally aware of kind of how the outcomes of Sunday’s game affected your trajectory? Were you aware that you guys were in a win and you’re in situation?) – “You hear rumbles here and there, but I don’t pay too much attention to it. All I know is that we’ve just got to control what we can control and then the rest will take care of itself.”

(Got to ask you about stripping Saints RB Alvin Kamara of his towel. Was that something that you planned you were going to do? Was that just a spur-of-the-moment decision to get into his head? Kind of what was going through your mind?) – “I’m not going to really get too much into that, but like a lot of things I do throughout the course of the game are all just in good fun. I don’t mean any harm by anything. It’s just I’m a big kid out there. I have a lot of fun. Little gamesmanship, but I definitely don’t ever want to cost my team anything so in certain situations I’ve got to be smarter, but like I said it’s always in just good fun and just a little gamesmanship.”

(Obviously you guys have rushed the passer really well in this stretch. Great coverage. But as far as stopping the run that’s obviously been something you all have done very well in these straight wins. Can you talk a little bit about the factors contributing to that whether it’s your play, DT Zach Sieler, DT Raekwon Davis being back, your linebacker play – what would you point to as reasons why you all are doing well against the run?) – “Really it’s just a collective effort. I feel like the biggest mindset is just everyone is focusing on their job. No one is trying to do too much. No one is trying to be heroes and the good thing about this defense is we’ve got a lot of guys who can get it done and do a good job and so you never know who it’s going to be. Who has a big game or makes a lot of plays or whatever, but we’ve got a lot of guys who focus on doing their job and try to do it well and just playing off each other. We’ve got a lot of guys who have now played together for two and three years so there’s good chemistry built and just good confidence in each other. You know, ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) says something; I’m shutting up, I’m listening. If I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m thinking about doing this, whatever’ you can kind of just play off each other and you kind of know what each other’s strengths and weaknesses and it just all helps.”

(Head Coach Brian Flores mentioned the character of this team and you guys being together throughout the ups and downs of the season. How would you describe what you see from your teammates now that you’ve been able to win seven games, close to the playoffs? What do you see from your teammates day-in and day-out?) – “Really just a group of guys who are about each other, who love playing together, love the game of football. Bunch of guys who just take it one day at a time. Bunch of guys who want to be their best each and every time they walk into the facility, they walk onto that field. And that’s just the mindset we have.”

(Outstanding performance by the defense. Eight total sacks. How were you all able to give Saints QB Ian Book different looks and what will it take for you all next week to continue this effort?) – “Yeah, we were able to do some good stuff today as a defense. Happy about the way we fought. We just competed. We came out here and did a pretty good job. It was a solid performance. There’s always things we can improve on to get better at and that’s just it. We’re going to have to find what we didn’t do so well and improve on that and continue to do things we did do well. It’s all about getting better. You’re never a finished product and you’ve just got to have that one-day-at-a-time mindset.”

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