Christian Wilkins – October 5, 2020
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Monday, October 5, 2020
DT Christian Wilkins
(Can you share some of the message you’ve taken away from Head Coach Brian Flores either in postgame or I don’t know if you’ve met as a team yet this morning; but what are some of the things that he’s saying that resonates with you?) – “The biggest thing that we feel as a team is that – a few things are that we just got to be better in all three areas of the game, first and foremost. We’re not far off. It’s just a few things here and there. We’ve really got to hone in and take ownership, everyone individually. Then in your segments, in your positions, and on your side of the ball and as a team. You’ve really just got to take ownership of all of that and just work like crazy to improve on that. I feel like we will, because we have a lot of guys who care, who work hard. If we just keep hammering away and work on things that we are not doing so great, I think we’ll improve each week.”
(I looked at your box score yesterday. You were credited with a tackle and I think you had 44 snaps. Were they doubling you a bunch? What were they doing to kind of neutralize you yesterday?) – “Really, sometimes in a game, you just play and things come your way and things don’t come your way. With that many snaps, I do have to make more plays. I take ownership in that. I’ve got to do more than just do my job. It’s not just enough for me to just do my job. I’ll be the first to say when plays come my way and things happen, I’ve got to be more productive.”
(You guys have lost by 10 points, 3 points and 8 points in the three losses this season. That has to be equal parts discouraging and also encouraging for you guys. What are some things you guys can do to potentially play better and finish moving forward?) – “Typically if you look at it, most NFL games are within seven points or so, or one-score games. Like I said, it means that we’re close; but there is another level we can go to and I know we can go to it because we’ve got the right kind of guys in the locker room, the right kind of coaches, really everyone involved. We’ve got the right people around, so I think we’ll make that jump when we make those improvements, for sure.”
(On that same note of being resilient and getting through adversity, that is a big part of what every team has to do in this league. I’m curious, since you’re one of the guys that was here last year and been a part of this program for two years now, how can you compare what you guys were able to do last year to overcome some of those adversities and how you might be able to apply them this season?) – “Really, last year I just feel like we had guys who are still buying in and sticking with it. We know what we ultimately wanted at the end of the day, so we just kept working for it and kept making improvements each week. That’s pretty much what we need to do each week. Every day, every minute we’re in this facility, every minute we’re away, just keep doing things, keep being all about ball and finding ways to improve.”
(You’ve got a guy on the outside in CB Noah Igbinoghene, who has had some struggles in past weeks. You as a former first-round pick, is there something you can say to him about maybe being in that role, in that position, and how to deal with that?) – “I feel like as a defense, we all have a lot of faith in Noah and his abilities and what he can do. We’re not too super worried or anything. We know he’s going to make jumps and improvements because he’s a good player, he works hard and he comes every day with the right mindset. We’re all behind him, we’re all for him and we all think he’ll make the necessary improvements, like we all need to do.”
(I wanted to ask you about the contrast of this season versus last season. I know last season is in the past, but is it encouraging that you guys have played four close games except for Jacksonville as opposed to last year’s early blowouts? Or do you not look at that as sort of a moral victory?) – “Yeah, there are no moral victories. You want to win. That’s what we’re here for. That’s why you put so much work in. You want to improve each week, and you want to win each week, really. There are no moral victories. I don’t really look at that. We didn’t get the results we want at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter if it was by one point or by 100 points we lost by, you want to win at the end of the day.”
(South Florida wants to know what your Clemson vs. Miami prediction is?) – “Y’all trying to get me. (laughter) I’m rolling with my alma mater, of course. It’s a Clemson win, for sure. That’s how I’m rolling.”
(I’m doing a story on the development of QB Tua Tagovailoa. What have you seen at practice from him? We haven’t seen him obviously for a month since they shutdown practice for us. How has he looked at practice?) – “I think Tua is a great player. He works really hard. That’s all you want in a young guy in his position, just see the work ethic and the competitiveness and that’s all you see from him day in and day out. Whether it’s in the meeting room or on the field, this guy works hard.”
(QB Jimmy Garoppolo is dealing with an ankle injury and the 49ers played two QBs last night. What’s the challenge that you guys could face preparing for three QBs instead of one or two?) – “Just more guys you’ve got to be ready for. You don’t know what you’re going to get. I just feel – typically it’s a schematic thing. Once you know what they like to do from a scheme standpoint, you can kind of just play ball from there.”
