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Andrew Van Ginkel – December 18, 2023 Download PDF version

Monday, December 18, 2023

LB Andrew Van Ginkel

(Your head coach set you up because he asked if we’d seen you because you broke your nose, and we hadn’t today, but you look a lot better than we thought you would.) – “Yeah, it’s not too bad. I didn’t even know it was broken until this morning when they did the CT scan on it.”

(Do you have to go into protocol if you get a broken nose?) – “No. They’ll ask you how you’re feeling, if you’re lightheaded and stuff like that. They ask questions to make sure that you’re not, and if you need to see a doctor. But they don’t automatically put you in it.”

(How does one continue playing as if nothing happened if you have a broken nose? How do you pull that off?) – “Honestly, I’m just a football player. It’s the nature of the beast. It’s what we do and that’s what makes us who we are.”

(Do you know how it happened?) – “Yeah. I was pass rushing and I took a fist to the face. It kind of went through my facemask and I felt it instantly. Blood started gushing everywhere. I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought I had a bloody nose. I got back to the sideline and blood is just pouring out of both nostrils. It took a few minutes for it to settle down.”

(How about the game LB Bradley Chubb had on the other side?) – “Unbelievable. That’s just a testament to who he is. He’s been playing like that all year, but the quarterbacks have been getting the ball out a split second before he gets there. He’s been playing lights out all year. It’s so great to see it’s finally paying off and all the fruits of his labor is working.”

(Just to clarify, the fist to the face part, do you have any suspicion as to if it was inadvertent?) – “It’s football. That stuff happens all the time. I can’t tell you if it happened on purpose or not. I would be lying if I said I haven’t accidentally done that. It just happens. You move in different directions and stuff happens so fast out there. I personally don’t think it was on purpose.”

(In the first half yesterday, you guys had sacked the quarterback more than they had total yards – five sacks versus four yards. What was going right for you yesterday?) – “Everything was clicking on all cylinders. (Bradley) Chubb started the game hot, getting two sacks in the first couple of series. We just had the momentum and I think we just went from there. When you have somebody making big momentum plays like that, it gets you going and gets everybody fired up.”

(Did you and your wife host the holiday gingerbread…) – “Yeah, (my wife) might have.”

(How was that?) – “Yeah, just a few of our friends and all of our wives just got together and had a little friendly competition, spending some time together around the holidays. Just soaking it all in. Something cool like that, it doesn’t happen all the time. When you have good friends on this team and guys that want to get to know you, it’s special. Obviously with Calvin Munson being back, it was good to see him so I think we wanted to get together with him and his wife and spend some time with them.”

(Who won?) – “I don’t want to brag. I think it was me. Me and my wife did a good job, I thought. Alec (Ingold) did a good job as well. They all did. Calvin is funny. He tried to put a smiley face with licorice and obviously it’s hard to make a smiley face. It just goes to more of a straight face.” (laughter)

(How do you think this defense has handled life after LB Jaelan Phillips this year? How do you think you guys have filled that void?) – “I don’t think you can. He’s a special player. He’s a unique player. He brings all the energy to this defense. When you see a guy like that go down, it’s tough. You need guys to step up. I’m doing my best to be able to step into that role and obviously we got (Emmanuel) Ogbah, and ‘JPP’ (Jason Pierre Paul). Cam (Goode) played well in the game as well this past Sunday. Just seeing guys like that take advantage of their opportunity and make the most of it.”

(Does LB Jaelan Phillips come around?) – “Yeah. We see him all the time. He still texts me before games. He’s my No. 1 fan. I love that man. We’ve been here for three years now together. We’re like brothers. It’s special.”

(All the games you have left on the schedule are teams that will probably be bound for the playoffs. What do you think of the intensity of the remaining slate?) – “We just got to take it one game at a time. I know that’s coach talk, but it’s the truth. You can’t get to the next game without playing the team in front of you. We’ve got to focus on the Cowboys. They are the next opponent in our way, and if we want to get to where we want to go, it starts with the Cowboys. That’s what our team should be focused on, and what our mentality should be.”

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