Cameron Wake – August 23, 2016
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Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Defensive End Cameron Wake
(On if it is likely that he’ll play and if he feels like he needs to play on Thursday night) – “We’ll see what happens Thursday. It’ll be a game-time decision and we’ll take it from there.”
(On if he feels like he needs the work on Thursday) – “I always need work. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. Then you need to retire.”
(On if he is getting antsy to play) – “I’ve been playing since (training camp opened on) July 27th. This is not really a new thing for me. I’ve been down this road a few times. I think (that) more (is) made of it than it really is, actually. It’s kind of funny.”
(On the physical versus the mental challenge for him returning from injury) – “Football is a mental and physical game. I’ve spoken about this before; the physical thing is not really new. Building muscle, running, playing football is not a new part. Just getting to the point where you’re comfortable out there and not thinking about it, that’s the only thing you’ve got to really worry about.”
(On if he trusts his Achilles now) – “I’ll trust it when I need to trust it.”
(On if he needs to trust the Achilles now) – “I’m not necessarily worried about it, to be honest.”
(On if he is bothered that age is usually brought up every time his name is mentioned) – “No, not at all. I’ve been old for five years now. (laughter) I just laugh at that comment. Eventually I guess they’ll be right.”
(On what he wants to see out of the first-team defensive line on Thursday night) – “I want to see guys play to their potential – me included, if I play. Going out there and just being the aggressive, fast, dominant front that we should be. I think anything less than that, to me, is not acceptable.”
(On playing with DT Ndamukong Suh and DE Mario Williams and if there is a sense of urgency for them to play together in a game) – “Well, if we were all a bunch of rookies, I think that would be one thing. But we all have a couple of grays – I guess I’ve got the most. But we’ve all been down this road. We’ve all played football – a lot of snaps. We’ve all had a lot of success. We’ve been playing together for quite a few snaps here in the past month or however long it’s been. I think we’ve come together quite nicely and I think when the real games start happening, that’s when those questions will get answered.”
(On if he wants to play and the coaches are telling him to take it easy or if it’s the other way around) – “We’re all working together. It’s not me and them. It’s us. We’re all on the same side working together to do what’s best for everybody involved.”
(On the biggest challenge of playing in a Wide 9 defense) – “I think it’s great. I don’t know what challenges there would be. There are plenty of techniques … It’s not any different than playing a six or a four or a three or a shade (technique) – it’s doing your job. Your job changes as far as what each guy does depending on where they’re lined up; but at the end of the day, you have to do your job as it fits into the defense. It’s not any more challenging than if I were in a six (technique) or the big guys down there in shades and three (techniques). It’s just using your job whenever the defense is called.”
(On if it is any more challenging to set the edge when the defensive ends are so wide) – “It is football. It’s not challenging. I would assume the laws of physics would probably help when you’re a nine (technique) to set the edge – you’re out there already. It plays to the strengths of some guys (and) some guys it (doesn’t). You’ve got to adapt to the situation and again, do your job.”
(On if the Wide 9 works when you don’t have the lead) – “What does work when you don’t have the lead? You have to win – period. I think that’s splitting hairs at that point.”
(On if you need a lead to force teams to pass) – “I wouldn’t say that. I think you can be successful from that position regardless of the game situation. Run, pass, draw, screen, whatever – it’s all about the mentality of the guy who is lined up there. We’ve seen it have great success when you do it right and obviously if you don’t do it right – I don’t care where you’re lined up – you’re not going to have success. I don’t think that’s necessarily predicated on where you line up. It’s whether you are doing your job correctly or not.”
(On the importance of getting penetration to help the run defense) – “I think that kind of speaks for itself and is kind of obvious. I don’t care what position you’re playing, as a run stopper, you have to get penetration. You have to set edges. You have to get into the backfield from the big guys. You have to come downhill as a linebacker. Stalemates don’t work. Sideways doesn’t work. You have to go and you have to impose your will on whoever it is – nine (technique), six (technique), four (technique), shade, linebacker – it doesn’t matter. In order to stop the run, you have to have a mentality of aggressiveness and aggressiveness is obviously moving forward, which to your point is penetration.”
