Bradley Chubb – December 27, 2023
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Wednesday, December 27, 2023
LB Bradley Chubb
(You play football your entire life to play in games like this. How special is it?) – “This is what it’s all about. Just being in a big moment with two great teams that are going at it. This is what you live for. This is what you work so hard in the offseason for. At the end of the day, this is not the end goal. We still have a lot to do and a lot to prove. This is just one step in the right direction.”
(You talked about how this team comes together. You guys seem pretty close. What’s the secret sauce with this team versus other teams you’ve played on?) – “I can’t really put my finger on it. Guys just buying in with one another and just that brotherhood. I don’t know how it is built, but it’s organic here. Guys love each other, guys play for one another, and I feel like that’s what caused some of the success. That’s part of it. You play 10 times harder for a guy because you know what he has off the field. It makes you grow closer as a team, and that’s what we need this time of the year.”
(Can you talk about how difficult it is going up against a quarterback like Lamar Jackson?) – “It’s real difficult. He can do pretty much anything. He escapes a lot of trouble with his feet, with is arm now. He’s done a lot of great things with his arm this year. Just to be able to corral him upfront, that’s going to be our main goal, to try to make him as uncomfortable as possible so those guys on the back end can cover up. They’ve got dynamic receivers, dynamic running backs, so it’s going to be a challenge for us as a whole defense. We’re excited about it. At the end of the day, these are those games you live for, those games you play for. I know they’re going to bring it and we’re going to bring it as well.”
(The last game of 2023. How important is it to end on a good note?) – “End the year on a good note, the calendar year, for sure. Going into 2024 with everything we want right in front of us. It starts by doing it day by day, and that’s what we’re focused on is today, which is Wednesday, finishing it off strong, and be back at it tomorrow.”
(Day by day, game by game, but it’s hard not to get those late December feels with so much on the line. How do you guys balance that out? You got to be excited just for the feel.) – “Yes, for sure. You understand the magnitude of things. But at the end of the day it’s like, that’s what makes this job so hard. The physical part, everybody is good physically. It’s that mental part of locking in on what you have to do because this is a Wednesday on December 27th. There are so many things ahead of you, but you’ve got to focus on what’s in front of you right now. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, and that’s what’s been working out for us.”
(You’ve got a couple of guys on the defense that are former Ravens – S DeShon Elliott, DT Zach Sieler. Any tips they’ve given you on stuff to look for?) – “Not necessarily tidbits, but those guys are playing with an extra little bit of motivation because that’s where they started their careers. I had the same thing when we played Denver. Alec (Ingold) had the same thing when we played the Vegas. You always got that fire under you from where you started, but I know those guys are going to do exactly what we need them to do – not anything outside of the ordinary, just be ballers like they are. I know they are living up for the moment and it’s going to be a good moment for this whole team.”
(I know you guys don’t talk about this stuff and don’t think about it, but you guys are the leading sack unit in franchise history with two more games to play. How big is that accomplishment for this collective group?) – “It’s dope, just knowing the guys in the room, and seeing how we’ve started to get cohesive together. Early in the year, we could tell we were good, but we didn’t know how good we were going to be. Guys just started buying in, playing with each other, rushing off of each other, letting it just happen organically. You’re so honed-in on the process that you forget to look up sometimes and see the things you have done. It’s cool to have that accomplishment, but we know we’re not finished yet, and we want to set that mark even higher.”
(How much is the coverage an assist to you guys?) – “I tell those guys all the time it’s a huge assist. Having all of those guys back there, intimidating names, faces, bodies all of that. Just seeing the quarterback having to double pump and step up a little bit. You’ve got guys to push up the middle and it just makes our job so much easier. Working together, I know those guys want the picks and stuff like that and all of that, but it’s going to come. I feel like it’s one of those things where we’re hot right now, but when we really need them, those guys are going to get hot as well when it comes to those types of things. Working together has been dope for sure.”
(That split second before making a tackle on QB Lamar Jackson what is going through your head about how to make sure you corral him and get him down when he’s so slippery?) – “You got to focus big time on finishing. That’s been the thing on my year. It’s the thing I’ve been trying to work on and not get frustrated with. I just got to go out there and the next opportunity I get and finish. That’s the main thing this week – for myself, and this defense – it’s going to be the word finish.”
