Bradley Chubb – August 23, 2023
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Wednesday, August 23, 2023
LB Bradley Chubb
(How close is the defense to being regular season ready right now?) – “I feel like you don’t know that until we get there. But from what I’ve seen, we’ve taken the mistakes we have made in the past and corrected them. We’re growing as a unit, as a d-line, I know for sure, because we’re communicating a lot more, figuring out different intricacies of the defense where we could take our shots. I know the DBs are doing the same thing as well, so it’s coming along real well. I don’t know, like you said, if we’re game ready, but I feel like we are and when it comes to that time, we just have to go out there and prove it.”
(Kind of piggybacking off of that question, you’ve been in this defense before. Where do you feel like everyone’s comfort with the scheme is at this stage?) – “I feel like everybody is pretty comfortable. Like I said, now it’s just about mastering the scheme. Everybody knows what to do. Now it’s about, ‘OK, when this happens and this happens, how can I react to that?’ Just trying to take it to that next level, and I feel like everybody is on – out of 10, I’d say everybody is on level seven, six or seven, right now. We still have some time to get it to ten, but I know when we get to 10, it’s going to look real good.”
(This is the second time you’ve been part of a Vic Fangio install for the first time in the system. How would you grade his ability to make it happen quickly? Because we often see new systems take some time to gel. How does he make it expedited?) – “That’s a good question, because I don’t know what he does to make it do that, but I feel like everywhere I’ve been, he gets it in pretty quick. I think it’s a complicated defense in terms of scheme and how the offense sees it, but for us, it’s kind of easy to learn. Especially the outside linebackers, we don’t have too much verbiage and stuff like that that we have to go through. So it’s easier for us, but I know those guys on the backend, they work together, they study together, they do all those things to make sure they get it. That’s a good question. I’m not sure what makes it click like that so easily, but whatever it is, he’s got it, for sure.”
(Is this week a bit of a change of pace going from training camp style practices to more like looking at it like a game week?) – “Yes, for sure. It’s a great change of pace, getting a chance to kind of hone-in your craft (and) better yourself. I mean the last two weeks we were doing that as well, but it was against other competition and all that. You kind of sacrifice the – I wouldn’t say the fundamentals just to win, but the competitive edge comes over. Now it’s a good changeup just to really better yourself, better everybody around you and take it into Saturday full steam ahead.”
(Speaking of other competition, what was T Laremy Tunsil like to go up against?) – “It was dope. It was dope to go against one of the better tackles in the league, get a full week of work with him. He got his, I got mine, and at the end of the day, we made each other better. That’s all you can ask for out of those joint practices. That’s one of those guys that last year I went against him twice. The first game to the second game, I felt like I was a better player. It was kind of cool to see that translate over again in the joint practices, too. So it was a good experience, man. I’m glad we did it.”
(RB De’Von Achane got slammed to the ground twice last week. He’s 188 pounds. As a defensive player, do you think, not that you’re going to hurt anybody, but do you think, “Alright, I’m going to get a good shot in on this guy?” Or is every guy like RB Derrick Henry?) – “Everybody is the same, but it’s actually crazy you said that because I thought it was illegal to pick somebody up and slam them. We didn’t really get a flag on that, so hopefully they take a look at that. When it comes to hitting people, everybody is the same. You’ve got to understand how to tackle people. They have different ways to avoid, making defenders miss and stuff like that. So you have to know how to approach it, but when it comes down to the force, everybody is the same.”
(I know a lot of times, vets will use camp to kind of work on something they want to improve in their game. Is this the week where you transition from that mindset to let’s get ready for the season?) – “Yeah, for sure, man. I’ve been doing it the past two days when it comes, in terms of just rushes and stuff, trying different stuff out because throughout camp I was working on what worked for me. ‘OK, I like this. This is my go-to. I’m going to do this.’ Now it’s kind of more of a, ‘I know what my go-tos are, what could be my change up?’ If it’s third down and the team needs a play but I’m tired? ‘OK, let me see if I can do this, how this works and stuff like that.’ It’s just kind of – the next couple practices, like I said, are a good change of pace because you can work on yourself, work on being a better version of you instead of just competing 24/7.”
(I don’t know if you’re aware, but QB Tua Tagovailoa takes a lot of criticism externally. A lot of it is unfair. Do you protect the guy? What do you do when you hear someone taking shots at your quarterback?) – “I mean, it’s a little bit of both, because you know at the end of the day, he wants to hold that on his head, as the leader of this team, he wants it all to be on him. But at the end of the day, man, you try not to listen to the noise. You try not to listen to the distractions and just love him up as a person. It’s more than just, ‘Oh, he’s the quarterback.’ He’s my teammate. He’s somebody I go to work with every day. He is a person I’ve grown to love and know as a person. When it comes to the criticism and stuff, it’s crazy because when I first got here, I was like, ‘Bro, why is everybody always talking about you?’ He just laughed it off, ‘Uce, man, I don’t know.’ It doesn’t phase him, so as long as we’re being the people each and every day, I feel like it’s going to be good for him.”
(I know S Brandon Jones is a close friend of yours. What sense have you gotten from him in terms of patience, frustration, as he works his way back from somethings?) – “Brandon is a maniac when it comes to working out. He’s like 24/7 always on, always on, always on. I kind of went through the same process in 2020 – going into 2020 from my ACL. Just kind of giving him the knowledge I had from that point of view and telling him all the experiences I had. You’re not going to be 100 percent when you get back on the field. Stuff is going to act up. Your knee has been surgically repaired. They cut open to where your bone has been sawed into. You’re not going to be who you think you can be those first couple of games, first couple of practices. I would just tell him to stay patient. Yeah, you want to work hard and do all of this, but you can’t push it balls to the walls every day because your body doesn’t know how to react to that just yet. Just having those conversations, and he’s getting it. You see him maturing as a player, as a person, each and every day so it’s been dope to see. Every time he’s out there, I give him those words of encouragement because like I said, I’ve been there. I know what it feels like to be feeling like you’re away from the team and then when you’re back, you’re not yourself. Whatever is going through his head, I’ve been there and try to give him those words of encouragement.”
(Along those lines, we saw DT Zach Sieler get treatment for a knee ailment or whatever it was and he went back in there. As a player, where do you draw the line between I know the regular season is coming, or I need to get some work? How do you decide when you should come out?) – “I feel like we’re professionals and we’ve been doing it for a while and you just know your body. If you feel like you could work through something, then ok try to go out there. But at the end of the day, like you said, the regular season is coming up, so everybody has been pretty smart when it comes to things that they are feeling. It’s just about knowing yourself, knowing your body and understanding that the big time is coming up now. For him to be back out there, you know it’s not that serious. It’s something that he’s going to take care of throughout the rest of this day and tomorrow. He’s been a pro since he’s been here, it’s just finding that balance.”
(You were talking about your relationship with S Brandon Jones a little bit ago. I know you got here midseason last year. How is your bond with the other guys in your group?) – “In my group, especially it’s been amazing. It was amazing even last year coming in and having those guys take me under their wings in a sense from the team perspective. I just saw the love and all of that, that they poured into me. So I’m just pouring that same thing into them, and pouring that same thing into the rookies as they come in, and the new guys. I feel that’s how you build that team bond, how you build that camaraderie. It’s just talking to guys, being cool with guys, and understanding that this is more than just football. Caring about guys off the field. It’s been getting there. It’s been fun to see where I was day one and week one last year versus now, so it’s cool.”
(I know there has been a lot of talk and you probably don’t listen to it. But you and LB Jaelen Phillips could be a really good duo together. I’m curious how you guys work. I know you have different personalities, but maybe it’s off to the side, or how you talk through things, can you give me a view of how you guys feed off of each other?) – “Just those little things like talking in between plays. One day I might not be feeling it, but he might be feeling it. ‘Hey, do your thing man. I’m going to do what you need me to do, but do your thing. Go out there.’ And vice versa. He may not be feeling it and I’m feeling great. I’m running around and giving him the energy trying to pick him up. We just try to feed off of each other, because at the end of the day, those two positions are going to make or break the defense. Not to put pressure on it or make us think we got to do the unthinkable, but we’ve got to go out there and set the tone for the defense, and make sure we’re holding up our end of the bargain.”
(You said when you first came here, you asked QB Tua Tagovailoa why is everybody basically on you all the time? He did say today, that if he needs to get scrappy, he’ll get scrappy. Have you seen that?) – “Yeah. I’ve seen it for sure. At first, the outside looking in, you don’t see it. But you see the dude walking around and see how he responds to things. You see how he navigates through it. He’s not going to give anything attention unless it needs attention. That kind of just trickles down to the whole team. Nobody is worried about the small distractions. Ok, yeah it’s going to come, but if you’re talking a little too much then we’re going to have to stand on our name too, at the end of the day.”
(What’s the skill with LB Garrett Nelson that stands out to you?) – “His ability to learn, and to not make the same mistake twice. As a rookie, you’re going to mess up. You’re going to forget the call, you’re going to do the wrong thing every now and then. But he never did the same thing twice in terms of bad stuff. He’s been getting better each and every week of practice. You see it one day. ‘You could’ve ripped a little bit better,’ and then that next day he’s out before practice working on that rip, working on that rip. Then the team period comes and the rip just set him free for a sack. It’s been dope to see his progression, how he takes stuff and how he takes those losses and turns them to lessons.”
