Andrew Van Ginkel – May 20, 2021
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Thursday, May 20, 2021
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
(I wanted to ask you a little bit – I saw on social media that you and your wife are expecting a child in July and I wanted to ask you a little bit about that. Is that your first child, what’s your emotions right now and what kind of dad are you going to be?) – “Yeah, it’s going to be my first child. I’m super stoked. It’s just under two months away, so the time’s kind of pressing and I’m super excited for him to finally arrive.”
(I have a 1-year-old – she turns 1 tomorrow. The first three months is pretty rough, but it gets great after that so lots to look forward to for you there.) – “Right, I heard you learn fast. (laughter)”
(You do. My football question for you is this: last year you talked about the goal of getting stronger in the offseason and your coaches talked about that. You talked about it throughout the season. I’m wondering what your goal is this offseason and how you’re working to achieve that goal?) – “It’s kind of the same goal. Keep adding strength and get faster, and then just have a better knowledge of the playbook. This being my third year in it, to be able to be more assertive with my calls and adjustments. I think that’s a huge part that I’m trying to improve on my game.”
(I wanted to ask about T Austin Jackson. You went against him in practice obviously last year. You probably – I don’t know if you have seen his development this offseason. Have you? And what do you expect out of him in Year 2?) – “I think just the way that he comes into work on a daily basis. He’s competitive, he’s tough and he’s going to do exactly what the coaches ask of him, so I expect him to make a big jump in his second year and just to continue to improve and get better. I’m looking forward to seeing how he progresses this year.”
(Two months from now – training camp. How are you going to balance the new baby and training camp? That’s my first question and secondly, I’m wondering with more chances – more reps basically this year – do you see an opening for yourself for higher productivity?) – “First off with the baby, it’s going to be tough trying to be a father and then a husband and then just trying to raise a kid. It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to do everything I can to be ready for training camp, so when I go home I can just relax and let all the stresses free. And then about productivity, it’s just doing everything that the coaches ask me to do – be in the right spot, do the right jobs, communicating and helping other guys get aligned and so they can play fast. That ultimately is going to bring us to achieve our goals as a defense and as a team.”
(Going back to the productivity question I saw last year you led the team in special teams snaps. Is that something that you definitely took pride in and do you think that maybe playing some less special teams snaps would allow you to have some more productivity like you’re hoping for on defense?) – “(Head Coach Brian) Flores prides himself and his team on special teams, so obviously hearing that from him and just (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny Crossman and how important special teams are, I really took that to heart and just made the most out of my opportunities. I’ll continue to work hard and whatever my role is, I’m going to try to excel at it.”
(My question is what are your early impressions of LB Jaelan Phillips? Obviously he’ll be a guy that’s around you and within the same position group a lot of your days. What’s it been like getting to know him and what are your impressions of Jaelan?) – “It’s awesome. Just seeing him come in and he’s trying to take everything in, soak it up and just be the best version of himself. He’s here to compete and it’s going to be a good training camp just to work with him.”
(I believe I read there’s about 70 guys at camp right now for these offseason workouts. What has the mood been like? Has it been any different from the previous seasons that you have been here coming in?) – “The mood’s been great. Any time you can get around the guys and just catch up and spend quality time with them and build friendships and relationships, it’s a blast. The energy is always up on the first few days and whenever you’re around each other, so it’s been good and just being able to soak everything in as well – just the coaching and trying to get a better understanding of the playbook. It’s been a blast.”
(If I could follow up real quick, has Head Coach Brian Flores been the same coming into these offseason workouts than previously when you came in?) – “Yeah, for sure. He’s hard-nosed and he’s going to make everything competitive and he’s going to push you to be the best you can be and come out there prepared. So yeah, I’d say he’s been the same.”
(I wanted to ask you, you’re one of the guys who made that huge second-year jump. Guys who had ok rookie seasons and I know you were healthy, but what do you attribute to the increased role, the increased productivity that you had last year?) – “I think it’s just keeping my head down and going to work. I’m not a big ‘rah-rah’ guy, but just doing all the little things right, doing everything that coaches ask of me and to not sit here and complain, but to really take it to heart and build off of each and every day.”
(Going back to last season, I know you talked a lot about Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile and Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark helping you with different aspects of the game. A little bit of shuffling this year with Clark going to the d-line, Campanile still at linebackers and then Robbie Leonard obviously your outside linebackers coach. My question is how does the collaboration of how all those guys kind of come together to get the best out of you? Like what’s the process for I guess how you’re coached by that trio of coaches?) – “I’d say they all do such a great job in their position groups and on this defense, you’ve got to be versatile because you can play any different role, so just being able to learn different outputs from each coach really helps improve your game and just getting their understanding of the game as well, ultimately is going to make you into a better player – hearing it from three instead of just the same thing from one coach over and over again. So I think just having all of them there has really honestly helped benefit my game and hopefully this year, I can take it to another level.”
(What do you want to improve this offseason? And I know you’re going to want to say everything, but if you could be a little bit specific about what you want to address and make sure that it’s better come the season?) – “I’d say continue to work on my pass rush. Whenever I can get my win percentage or be able to beat a tackle cleaner or whatever the case may be – quicker and faster is the biggest thing. Just being able to explode off the line and be able to bend the edge or get stronger and counter inside. I’d say that’s the biggest part of my game that I would like to improve on.”
(Talking about the second-year jump that you had and the production that you had – obviously what you were doing was working to an extent. What is that feeling like, knowing that you saw some results last season and how excited are you to put in the work to possibly see more?) – “Each year I come in and train as hard as I can to put me in the best position to succeed and I think the coaches will put me in the right spot to help me succeed and help develop me as a player. I’m looking forward to going out there and just use that relentless effort and try to help this team win.”
(I wanted to ask you about the jump that the defense made in general last year. I believe you were No. 6 in scoring. What did Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer do in his first year as coordinator that made things come together as well as they did?) – “I think it’s everybody believing in his coaching and everybody buying in. Everybody was doing their specific job and nobody was trying to do anything extra. If you take care of your business and make sure your grass is green, everything will be fine. You don’t need to be worrying about your neighbor’s grass. Just take care of your grass and everything will take care of itself, and as a defense, you’ll come together and you’ll be a darn good defense for sure.”
