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Akeem Spence – August 12, 2018 Download PDF version

Sunday, August 12, 2018

DT Akeem Spence

(How is your camp going so far?) – “I’m just picking up where I left off just football-wise from last season. I’m just working on my technique, trying to get better, trying to bring the younger d-tackles in line and just get them to kind of learn what (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) wants from his d-tackles inside. I just keep pressing and getting better every week, and just keep grinding.”

(How do you feel like you’ve been playing the last week or so, including the game?) – “I felt like in the game we were a little slow. We’ve still got some things to work on so we definitely want to come out this week and play how we’re used to playing – that attack mentality, raising hell in the backfield and doing what we do. We just have to get back to that and that’s what this practice was about today.”

(Where are you in terms of confidence that your unit is playing the way that Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek wants you to play?) – “I’m pretty high on our guys. We were just a little lackadaisical that first game. We’re pros, so we’ll watch the tape and know that we have to come out and fix it. (We have to) fix it this week and then get this thing running.”

(How critical were you guys in terms of the criticism of the first game?) – “As pros, we’re hard on ourselves. We always want to be at our best and that wasn’t our best. We know that, so we just have to fix it (and) get it fixed this week. That’s what we came out here and did today. We played hard, ran to the ball and guys were on their aiming points and everything .”

(What did it feel like to be a leader of the unit?) – “It really doesn’t feel like anything. I’m doing what I usually do. I’m just trying to help these guys come along because they’ve never been in that type of scheme before, just kind of showing them what (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) is talking about and showing them what it looks like. They go out, emulate the same things and work on things that they need to work on.”

(What is it supposed to look like?) – “When you turn on the film, you’re supposed to see four defensive linemen flying off of the tape in the backfield, raising hell. When the ball is thrown, you see four d-linemen trying to plant and just getting out of the stack and trying to get to the ball carrier. Whatever it takes, that’s the mentality that we have in our room, and that’s what we have to have on that field on Sundays. Whatever it takes to get the ball carrier down or the QB down.”

(It does seem like we’ve seen a lot of that the last few weeks overall out here. You guys have looked pretty dominant as a unit. What’s the confidence level right now across the board on the defensive line?) ­– “The confidence is high. It’s just going out and doing it under the big lights. Like I said, we were a little flat the first week. That’s something we focused on, we got the tape cleaned up, came out here and showed what we’re about; but we just have to show it when we have another opponent in front of us.”

(As a veteran, what do you get the most out of training camp?) – “Just working your technique and just trying to work on something better. Every day it’s something new. In football, you’re never going to be perfect, so if it’s hands, or technique or just getting in better condition.”

(Was Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek upset after the first game with the group?) – “I wouldn’t say upset, just disappointed. Guys saw the tape for themselves and they were disappointed in themselves. Obviously we all want to play better, so we came out and practiced. That was our mentality – go hard, get our tails to the ball and that’s how it’s supposed to look on Sundays. I keep wanting to say Sundays, but whenever we have another opponent in front of us. (laughter)”

(When you want to rotate guys and keep guys fresh, is it hard to get a unit out there and get everybody together on the same page when you rotate?) – “No. When the offense is going fast, then you know that you’re not going to get that rotation. If we’re on our details as a defense, we’re three-and-out and the next group is in when we start the next series. Or ‘Hey, we know they’ve got us on a long series. Okay, we’ll go four or five plays and put the next group in at the next ball stoppage.’ It’s just something that we have to keep working on. That’s what training camp is for. We just have to keep getting better.”

(I don’t know if you know a lot about last season, but DT Davon Godchaux said they didn’t really attack much. How different is it going to look?) – “You just have to keep watching the tape and keep coming after practice. This week, we definitely want to go out and show that attack mentality, not just me but the whole d-line as a unit, and we’ll show you what it looks like.”

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