Christian Wilkins – August 6, 2022
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Saturday, August 6, 2022
DT Christian Wilkins
(How much pressure do players – not just you because I know you take it seriously – put on themselves when they are the playlist guy?) – “I think it’s a lot of pressure because you’ve got to set the tone for the day. But you’ve also got to show yourself. You’ve got to be yourself a little bit too because guys are always hitting up other guys, ‘Oh, what should I do? Is this a good one? Is that a good one?’ So I think guys take it a little more serious.”
(So there’s conversation?) – “Yeah, there’s a little bit of that. Everyone listens to something different. You’ve got to be yourself with it but also I’m a man of the people so I like to give people what they want.”
(I didn’t hear anything for DT Zach Sieler today.) – “Nah, Zach got it last time. (laughter)”
(It was important for you to start with Public Service Announcement.) – “Yeah, that was good. And that was actually – I can’t take the credit for that. That was ‘Big Jenk’ (John Jenkins). He sent that to me. I feel like he’s been having a heck of a camp. He hasn’t had the orange jersey yet but he’s been more than worthy of it, especially this last week or so. So I was like, ‘Jenk’ give me a hit and he chose a good song to start it off with.”
(There was a prediction yesterday right at this podium from T Terron Armstead who said I know DT Christian Wilkins is already a really good player and statistically he’s going to explode. Terron may not have known that your 89 tackles were most among defensive tackles last year. He probably was talking about more sacks, tackles for loss. Is that something he’s mentioned to you, and is that a priority for you – tackles for loss, sacks?) – “Just really playing within the scheme and then making plays when they come to me. I’m always trying to be a dominant player on the field, but also do it within the scheme and do it within the realm of things. It means a lot from ‘Big T’ (Terron Armstead) because he’s a heck of a player and has done it for so long in this league. I got a lot of respect for him and he’s a great vet to have on the team. I’ve got a lot of respect. He’s helping those offensive linemen get better and he’s helping us get better too. He brings it as well when he practices. Just talking to him, what do you see here or just different things. Just chopping it up and talking a little bit. It’s good to have him around.”
(You were busting the moves too while practicing at the same time.) – “Absolutely. This was my day.”
(Is there any doubt you’re the best dancer on the team?) – “Ok, I can vibe. I can jiggle a little bit. I can do my little thing.”
(OL Robert Hunt? We saw the worm to start off practice.) – “I’d like to say I’m the most fun dancer. There’s probably guys, legit dancers, who can really do it. But I’m the most fun. I’m going to enjoy myself. I’m going to have a good time. And other people are going to enjoy it too.”
(Something that impressed me today was the lateral speed the defensive line showed. You have WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle running end-arounds and getting to that edge. Is that a strength for the defense you think?) – “That’s the standard really. That’s been a point of emphasis for us. We set the tone with that on the d-line, just running to the ball. As d-linemen, if you set the tone running down the field on a big play, no one else has an excuse. That’s the standard. That’s how we play around here. Pursue the ball always, and good things will happen.”
(What’s it like trying to chase WR Tyreek Hill on an end-around?) – “Those dudes are fast. They are fast, but it’s good. I’m humbled running after them, but I also feel – it’s a little embarrassing because he’s always going to pull away. But I still think I‘m decently fast for what it’s worth.”
(Do you guys defensively sit around and compare what you’re practicing against this year and compare it to last year? The speed this year compared to last year seems like it’s night and day.) – “We’ve got good schemes and we’ve got good players. We bring it every day. It’s fun to compete against each other. The different things we do offensively, the one-on-one matchups we may have, whether it’s at receiver and corner, in the trenches or wherever. We got a lot of good matchups. There are good, fun competitive practices.”
(I love watching you re-trace your rush man. It’s like sometimes they throw the ball away and you’re running 30 yards down field to get the football. Do you exaggerate that for any reason or is that just what you do?) – “That’s just kind of what I do. That’s the way you’ve got to stress yourself and restrain yourself so you can get your conditioning up so the game is easy. That’s what practice is for. You’ve got to harp on those little things and that’s how I play in the game. When the ball is away, I’m trying to go get it. That’s my standard and how I do it. It’s a tone-setting thing and no one else has an excuse if one of the bigger guys on the defense is doing it.”
(You’re a man of the people. How does it feel when you hear the DT Christian Wilkins chant?) – “It’s all love. I appreciate the love and support from the fans and everything, and I have a good time with it. It’s all love. I enjoy it all.”
(Do your teammates give you a hard time for how you reciprocate it?) – “Not really. They’ve learned to expect the unexpected with me. It’s kind of, ‘Yeah, that’s Christian. He’s going to do what he does. It is what it is,’ kind of thing.”
(From a defensive standpoint, obviously the first week you guys were vanilla. There were no pads and the offense was getting off. Then you start to put in some of these blitzes and exotic looks and the tide kind of changed. When do you know that you guys are ready defensively?) – “It’s really a day-by-day thing. You’re never like a fully finished product. You’ve always got to bring it every day and that’s kind of our mindset. The leaders lead and everyone else follows. We just have to bring it. There are always wrinkles and things we might adjust or whatever. Really, it starts with the leaders and just bringing it and having that mindset that you’re never really complete as a defense. You’re always looking to improve.”
(Have you noticed anything different out of Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer this year?) – “He’s the same guy. Josh is a heck of a coach and it means a lot to him. He brings it and has a high standard for us defensively. We all follow his lead there.”
(LB Jaelan Phillips mentioned how this team scheme offensively really tests your eye discipline with the reads. I’m curious your thoughts on that as someone who plays on the inside.) – “They do a lot of good stuff on offense. It’s good for us. It makes practices fun, competitive and you always got to be ready for it all.”
(There’s obviously a job to be won with DL Adam Butler unfortunately no longer here. You’ve got big DT John Jenkins and you have others. What has DL Ben Stille shown you?) – “Ben is a good young talent. He has a good mindset, he loves the game, he brings it and he is smart. He really understands what we’re trying to do. He still young and trying to figure it out, but he’s been pretty solid definitely so far as a young guy. It’s been good to see.”
(Did you see DL Ben Stille do the worm?) – “I did and it was a little stiff. It wasn’t quite like I could do. He stole my move. But I’ll give him some props. He tried his best. But it ain’t touching my worm. It’s all good. I’ll give him credit.”
(Did he steal it or was it an homage to you?) – “I don’t know. He didn’t give me a shout out or nothing like that so I have to talk to him about that. (laughter)”
(Are you excited for joint practices next week?) – “That’s going to be a lot of fun. Obviously you know what kind of team Tampa has been in the past and the type of players they have. It’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it definitely. Being at this point in my career, four years in, I have a little bit of a different mindset when I go into the joint practices. As a young guy, you’re still like trying to figure it out. ‘Am I good enough? Am I not?’ Now you just have a different mindset and different things you want to attack and work on when you go to those joint practices. I’m definitely looking forward to that challenge.”
(Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark told us earlier this week that you and DT Zach Sieler, the way you guys see a play that doesn’t go right, you come off and make the corrections ahead of time. I’m curious your perspective on that evolution of your game in Year Four?) – “I definitely work hard on my craft and try to understand what it is I have to do and what our offense is trying to do and things like that. Zach has been so big for me in my career. That’s my guy. That’s my best friend on the team. He’s a smart player. We see thing really similarly. Kind of things he may miss, I can pick up for him and vice-versa. He’s been great for my development as a player and we bounce things off of each other and talk about schemes. We are at that point where we know if we mess up, we’re like ‘Ok, this is what happened.’ It’s not as much of we’re coming over and like, ‘What was this? What was that?’ We can correct ourselves and we take a lot of pride in that.”
