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Andrew Van Ginkel – November 15, 2020 (Postgame) Download PDF version

Sunday, November 15, 2020
Postgame – L.A. Chargers

LB Andrew Van Ginkel

(So blocked punt or a touchdown, which one felt better?) – “Man, they both felt good. But touchdown is unbeatable. You’re putting points on the board, so that’s hard to beat, so I’ll definitely say touchdown.”

(I got to admit I didn’t watch enough of you in college to know the answer, but did you have a blocked punt in college or high school?) – “I had a couple in high school, but no, I never got one in college.”

(Can you just kind of explain what was the key to putting, to being in position to make that play and what had to happen for it to work?) – “There’s a lot of different parts to it. (Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Danny) Crossman does a good job of putting us in a position where we can make plays and then all 11 guys have to execute. And it’s one of those things that we have had in there since training camp and we finally got an opportunity to call it and it came home. So just want to give props to Coach Crossman on dialing that up.”

(I’ll ask the first non-special teams question: What is it about Head Coach Brian Flores and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer, these five straight victories, it seems like you guys are applying a lot of pressure on quarterbacks, forcing them into bad decisions, and it’s multiple guys getting the job done?) – “Right. That’s what we take pride in is being aggressive and getting to the quarterback. When you have DBs back there that can cover, it makes it a lot easier to do that. That’s what this defense has taken its pride in and it’s something that we’re going to continue to do.”

(They came out and had a nice drive they put together to open the second half. What was going wrong for your defense at that point? And then how big of a lift was it when you came back out again right after that and CB Xavien Howard had that big interception?) – “(Kalen) Ballage was just hitting it downhill hard and he was hitting the hole hard so props to him. He really came out to play. It’s just something that they got us, but it’s something that we need to fix and to continue to improve on. When they’re gaining 8 yards on first down that’s going to be tough to stop, especially when it’s second-and-short and they have the playbook open. It’s something that we need to do a better job on first down, stopping the runs, for sure.”

(Last year this team only won five games. Now this team is on a five-win, five-game winning streak and very much in the playoff hunt. What does it mean to be a part of this team this season? What can you say about the turnaround and just what’s the feeling in the locker room after weeks like this?) – “Just knowing all the hard work that we put in, that this was bound to happen, and this doesn’t just happen by chance. You see all of us, all 53 guys on the roster, and then even the practice squad players who are coming into work each and every day and I think that’s gotten us to this point and it’s something that we need to continue to do to really take it to the next step because we’re not perfect at all and there’s a lot to improve on. Just taking it day by day.”

(DT Christian Wilkins is obviously a big part of this defense. What were you guys able to do to overcome the loss of him being in the lineup this week?) – “Man, he’s the heart of the defense right there in the middle, but I think that we had a couple young guys like Benito (Jones) and (Jason) Strowbridge and Raekwon (Davis) step up and accept their role this week and come in and do the best that they could do and fill his role. Obviously, when you lose a star player like that, it’s tough, but it’s next-man-up mentality.”

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