Christian Wilkins – December 19, 2022
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Monday, December 19, 2022
DT Christian Wilkins
(I see you have a throwback logo on today. What are the odds that you’ll play in throwback jerseys this week? I know it’s after a three-game losing streak.) – “What are the odds? I mean I just wear what I wear on game day. I don’t know the odds. I don’t know what it’s looking like or what goes into that. I just show up and play on Sundays. It’s cool when you get to wear the throwbacks because of what they mean. It’s cool to have a little switch up and things like that, and the history that we have as an organization and stuff. It’s cool and fun to wear the throwbacks, but I just show up on Sunday. What we’re wearing is what we’re wearing. That’s how I roll.”
(Do you value the throwback uniforms when it is a switch up? Because a lot of fans want it to be permanent.) – “I think it’s a treat and those games are a little more special. It’s a little more exciting. I know the fans enjoy it. I know the players on the team enjoy it a little bit more. I think it’s nicer when it’s more of a treat than when it’s a permanent thing.”
(T Terron Armstead mentioned your technique is the first thing that stands out about your game and watching you play through players and play around them, whatever the case may be – one gap, two gap – it seems like it’s all kind of coming together for you. Now that you’re in Year 4, do you feel it slowing down for you? Do you feel that technique take hold stronger?) – “Well, it never really fully slows down. It’s a fast game. And the way offenses try to attack defenses and specific players nowadays, it’s never really slow. But I just try to work hard to slow the game down as much as I possibly can and make sure my technique is as sharp as it can be. It really just starts in practice. Players holding each other accountable in our d-line room – (Defensive Line Coach Austin) Clark and (Assistant Defensive Line Coach) Derek (LeBlanc) holding us to the highest standard and really on us and coaching us hard. That’s where it starts and then to be able to do it on Sunday. I hold myself to a high standard to try to get things right because I know that’s what I need to do not only for myself but for the team.”
(Kind of along those lines, S Jevon Holland was saying that you’re the most scheduled-based and process-based player on the team. Tell me about that. You’ve found a process that works and things? Tell me about that.) – “Yeah, I’ve always been a very routine-oriented person, but I’ve kind of taken it to another level each year, just as I learn my body, understand what works for me, what doesn’t for me, my sleep schedule, my workout schedule, things like that. You pretty much know where to find me any day at any point based off my routine, because it doesn’t really change. There’s times where you might need a little wrinkle if there’s burnout or if it’s getting too tedious. But for the most part, just so I know that I’m a sharp as I need to be and everything all the work gets done that I need to get done week-in and week-out, the schedule, the routine pretty much remains the same.”
(What degree do you take that? Are there times that you’re doing something and you’re almost laughing like, “Well, I’m doing this because I’ve always done it?”) – “No, I’m pretty intentional and, a Mike (McDaniel) word, deliberate with my routine It’s not just a checking the box thing. I’m really intentional about it. I’m that way too so nothing throws me off from getting my work done – not family coming in town for our holiday, not, ‘Hey, Christian, we’re doing this. Come hang.’ No, I need to do my work. That’s what it is.”
(How do you describe the season that you’re having? When I say the season, I mean, individually, because it looks to us like, would you say it’s your best year?) – “I guess, but you’re just never really satisfied as a player. It’s just funny, because people might say it’s my best year, but there’s a lot I feel like I leave out there. I always feel like a play I can make or something I can do, win lose draw, if it’s the best game of my career or the worst game, I always look at myself and I’m a pretty harsh judge trying to figure out what I can do. But also with that having a little bit of perspective. I definitely feel like I’ve gotten better each year and understanding that. But yeah, I don’t really try to think about stats. I don’t try to think about things. I just try to worry about getting better each time I touch the field, whether it’s in practice, a walkthrough or a game.”
(I know that you said before, you’re a guy who treats every game the same. You guys are getting down to some games that could get you into the playoffs and excitement is building among the fans. How do you balance that?) – “Playoffs? Playoffs? (laughter) Well, no – we’re just trying to try to win the game. No, we just take it week by week and go from there. I try to – again, because of my routine and how I am in my process, I try to treat every game like it’s the Super Bowl so that way when you’re playing a random game in October, to people it might not matter but they all matter, you know what I mean? Because when you lose games, you figure out how important they are. You might not think things are important or December has more meaningful football, but to me, they’re all important. They’re all meaningful, because they all help you in the end, in the long run, to get to your ultimate goal and get better each week. So that’s how I look at it.”
(This is the second three-game losing streak that you guys have had this season. What are some good habits that you all learned from the first one that you can compare to this one? And the bad habits, have you identified those?) – “Well, the biggest thing is I feel like the first time, there was like a decision amongst leaders in the locker room, the team, the coaches like, ‘Alright, we’re going to get out of this.’ And it was just like, this happens. There’s ebb and flows throughout the course of a season, but we all just kind of looked at each other, like, ‘Alright, well, we’re just going to practice harder. We’re going to do things better. We’re going to try to do things in a better way,’ to where that we can kind of shake the losses off or get out of the losing streak. And right now, it’s no different. You always want to be on a trajectory where you’re rising and going in the right direction, but now it’s like just finding ways to strain a little bit, more sacrifice a little bit more for yourself and each other.”
(What are your feelings right now toward coming back home after these three road losses?) – “It’s definitely good to always get back home in front of the home crowd, in front of the home fans. I love playing in that stadium. I think we’ve got the best stadium in all of the league. It’s just fun to play there and everything like that, so it’ll be good to switch it back up and be back home. It’ll be nice, especially it being the holiday and everything, just to hopefully take care of business and then enjoy the holiday at home.”
(Will it mean something to you to play on Christmas Day? I know that’s a big thing in the NBA.) – “Absolutely. Absolutely, it means a lot because I grew up watching NFL football. When I was younger, too, that was it – it would be snowing outside. You go outside, you play like a football game with the neighborhood kids on Christmas kind of thing like that. So to me, I’m kind of having that kid excitement a little bit, getting to play a game on the holiday and everything like that. So I’m looking forward to it. I try to take most things like – I always try to have good perspective, and it’s definitely a blessing to be able to play at the highest level and on Christmas Day with everyone watching.”
(I know you’re looking ahead to Green Bay, but now that the sting of the loss Saturday has passed, you have good perspective on things. You’ve been here obviously, for lopsided losses against the Bills. Do you feel good about collectively where your team is now where you can go toe to toe with a team that’s been the leader in the division?) – “I mean, there’s no moral victories or anything like that. We did beat that team before, and to your point, we were close to doing it again up at their place. We know we’re a good team. We approach things the right way around here, but there are no moral victories. You want to win every game you play in and that’s as simple as that goes. It’s not like – at least to me, I don’t look at it as like, ‘Oh, we were so close guys.’ It’s just like be our best, do the most you can each week to make sure we get the result that we want to get.”
(Two-parter for you on LB Jaelan Phillips. You mentioned your routine and your process, it seems like he’s pretty on that same track as well. Is that something you’d agree with? And then he’s made a big jump in kind of the second half of the season? What has kind of attributed to that for him do you think?) – “Yeah, Jaelan (Phillips), he’s like me in a lot of ways. He has his process down, he has his routine, and he has a way of going about his business that works for him. It’s good to see because he’s always looking to me or asking me questions on how to improve things and whatnot, and I’ll help him in any way I can. But I think that’s part of it, just his progress as a player and just him doing the things he’s been able to do this year. It’s just that he loves the game. He cares about the game a lot and puts a lot into it and that’s pretty evident – just how emotional he plays and how much he buys in each week to try to be the best that he can be.”
(What did you think of the shirtless warmups that LB Jaelan Phillips went through?) – “Hey, I mess with it. I feel like because of that, he was nice and warm and ready for the game. The weather didn’t affect him too much, but more power to him.”
