Cameron Wake – October 13, 2017
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Friday, October 13, 2017
Defensive End Cameron Wake
(Does it feel like as you guys are 2-2 right now?) – “Sure. We have a short memory but we know we let a couple of games slip through our fingers. We had a good win last week, but in reality all that stuff is over. I can guarantee the Falcons don’t care whether we’re 4-0, 2-2, 0-4, blah, blah, blah. It’s going to be a nail-biter.”
(Speaking of the Falcons, obviously their offense is very prolific with what they have. What do you guys have to do to slow that down?) – “Just play consistently. That’s the way defense is set up. As an offense, you’re going to have a few bad series and have two good ones and everything kind of evens itself out. Obviously the converse is true for defense. If you have a couple of series and then you let your guard down for a minute, in this league, they have lots of players – whether they be running backs, quarterbacks, receivers, whoever it is, tight ends – that can kind of change the course of the game in one play. You can’t ever let your guard down. You have to (be) locked and cocked every play, and that’s the only way to get it done.”
(A couple of your defensive linemen teammates have said that run defense was a big emphasis in the offseason. We saw that through draft, through free agent acquisitions, but what around here? I mean were there signs in the defensive room or did you spend more time in OTAs?) – “Yes. Well, signs don’t make you a better football player or change your defensive output in any capacity. It’s time, hours, blood, sweat, tears, the age-old mantra. It’s going out on the field and repetitions over and over. It’s being wrong. It’s making mistakes. It’s all the things that we’ve done from April until now and again, I think it’s also, I guess a sense of accountability to know that this is my gap, this is my job – whatever the scenario is – and I have to do this or else the entire team suffers. So all of those things combined I think is what it is. It’d be great to just make some signs and some t-shirts and then all of a sudden your defense changes, but unfortunately that doesn’t work or else I’m sure a lot of stores would be sold out.”
(Speaking of t-shirts. The significance of yours?) – “It that a rhetorical question?”
(Those in Vegas think you are underdogs this week. I think 13 is the line?) – “I don’t concern myself with Vegas.”
(Was it a conscious choice to wear the t-shirt with the particular message on it?) – “Sure. Every shirt I buy is a conscious choice. They all get worn at some point.”
(Are you speaking for yourself or the team there?) – “You all have great ideas, it could be any and all.”
(Nice kicks.) – “Yes, of course. The same classics. You know my story and you know the team’s story. It’s a badge of honor for me. I’ve always been counted out – every opportunity to be counted out, I’ve been counted out, and every opportunity I just keep putting my head down and working. I don’t think the team would be any different. I don’t think the defense would be any different. I’m sure a lot of other people will agree. So, whatever.”
(Is that the kind of feel you have this week, that you are underdogs going up there?) – “No. I just like the shirt. It matches my shoes.”
(Football is a team sport. Guys always talk about offense, defense and special teams. How can the defense help the offense pick up their flow?) – “I think it starts with repetition. It starts on the practice field. Even if it’s getting with a coach or a player, or maybe even the head coach – whatever it may be – offering wisdom. More repetition. ‘Hey listen, let me show you what you didn’t do right on this play.’ Or ‘If I was a player going against you, this is what I see, and what I would try to exploit.’ The same thing on their side. Doing the repetition and losing, and making mistakes and learning from those things. Again, it’s a conscious effort from everybody involved. It’s not just offense. The defense has to help as well because on Sunday there is no, ‘The defense won, the offense lost.’ The Miami Dolphins, either win or lose and you win or lose together. It’s going to take every man. That’s kind of the way to approach it.”
(But even within that, are there times where the defense would get frustrated at the offense or even vice versa? The offense. Do units get frustrated with each other at any point?) – “For me, and I think I can speak for most guys, when you sign up to play defense, you sign up to say it’s a whenever, wherever type of mentality. There’s no real script. I know you probably know this about offense, they come in and they have a play list of things (they’re going to run). ‘My first 15 plays, whatever we’re going to run.’ Defense doesn’t really work that way. The second play of the guy, it could be a turnover and you got the ball on the 6-yard line, goal line. ‘Get out there.’ You’ve got to stop them. You’ve got to get an interception. There’s no predetermined amount of plays or area on the field. It’s ‘here’s the situation, ready, go.’ If you don’t have the mindset that I don’t care where the ball is, I don’t care what you’re doing, I don’t care what happened two plays ago, I’m going to go in here and we’re going to stop the bleeding, we’re going to end the play, we’re going to get a touchdown. How about that? We’re going to score. We’re going to take it to you. If you don’t have that mindset then to me, not only have you already lost but I wouldn’t want you on my side of the ball at all. So to me, there’s no frustration. I accept the minute the ball is put down on the field that I’m going to be victorious, regardless of the situation.”
