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Christian Wilkins – November 27, 2020 Download PDF version

Friday, November 27, 2020

DT Christian Wilkins

(You missed two games on the COVID list. Are you willing to share with us if you had any symptoms and how you felt through the process?) – “The only symptom I got was ‘lack of football-itis.’ That was tough missing two games. I’ve never had to miss a game for anything in my football career. That was unfortunate for me, but now I’m more excited to be back than ever. I’m just happy to be back with the guys.”

(We’re in this pandemic and everybody is dealing with it. How was your mindset during that time when you were away? Obviously you wanted to get back on the field, but you’re dealing with some health stuff as well?) – “I was just getting a little antsy because I wanted to be back out there with my guys. Missing ball is not something I’m used to. I was able to just shift my mindset a little bit, think a lot about just life, more about football and how blessed I am to play this game. I just took time to do that and pick up a few more extra hobbies to keep me busy in my lots of free time.”

(We spoke to CB Byron Jones in the past and he talked about the same thing you did, not missing any games. But he said that was a chance for him to learn how to prepare more mentally for the game. Did you have a chance to step back and look at more film side of things and get yourself more mentally prepared?) – “Yeah, even though I knew I wasn’t going to play or anything, or with the potential of not being able to play, I still studied and tried to prepare each week like I was playing, just to stay sharp. Then just like I said, I just had more time to think about the game, and about the great opportunity I have to play the game every day.”

(Earlier at practice during stretch, what did  QB Ryan Fitzpatrick tell you when the soundtrack came on?) – “That was our thing. I’ll keep that between me and ‘Fitz.’ That’s a little bit of an inside joke but ‘Fitz’ also, he’s not quite as an intense Hamilton fan as me. He knows the songs a little bit, we’ll talk about it a little bit; but I’ll keep that between me and ‘Fitz.’”

(Earlier you mentioned hobbies. Can you elaborate on what they might be? And secondly, social media was speculating whether your celebration had anything to do with WR Preston Williams’ injury. What can you tell us about that? Are we maybe going to see you dial back your celebrations or are you still going to be the same electric guy you’ve always been?) – “To answer your first question, I’m not going to share exactly what those hobbies are. Just stay tuned because when I share it with the world, I’m sure you’ll – I’ve got to perfect my craft. But when I share it with the world, that’s when you guys will all see it. I’ll keep that kind of to myself for a little bit. But it’s good. It’s good. It’s definitely a good hobby – a way to challenge my mind. But I’ll share that maybe at a later date once I get a little better. Then also, to answer your second question, I’m still going to bring the same energy each and every day on the field, play with the same excitement, play with the same joy and get as excited as I do for my teammates because I love this game. Maybe I can be a little smarter about it. It’s just the speculation. I don’t know. I’m probably going to be even more energetic because I’ve got to make up for two weeks of energy and excitement. We’ll see how it goes.”

(Last year you developed and grew in your own way. What’s it like working alongside and seeing DT Raekwon Davis? He’s popped up here on film the past couple of weeks. He’s had some good performances.) – “It’s been definitely good to kind of see him grow and develop. I feel like every rookie goes through those growing pains. It’s an adjustment from college to the pros, regardless of how good you are or how highly drafted you are. It’s an adjustment for everybody. Luckily for him, he’s been able to improve each day in practice and each week. He’s learning how to become more of a pro, so that’s good to see and it’s good to play – now that I’m getting back, it’s going to be fun to play around him. Just seeing him improve, hopefully I’ll keep being a leader and a mentor for him.”   

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