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Matt Skura – August 3, 2021 Download PDF version

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

C Matt Skura

(When you signed here, obviously because you’ve been an accomplished NFL center, we all kind of assumed you’d be starting and I know C/G Michael Dieter has been with the first group primarily. Are you surprised by this turn of events; do you still hope to win the starting job?) – “It’s always about competition. That’s one of the reasons why I signed here. Nothing is just going to be given to you. Even when I’ve started a bunch in Baltimore, like every season you wipe the slate clean. You’ve got to earn your keep. That’s what’s been a fun part of this whole training camp; continuing to compete, holding myself accountable and holding everyone else accountable too.”

(How do you feel like you have performed so far early?) – “I feel like pretty good, but there’s always things that you can improve on. I’m just very critical on myself, nitpicking on footwork, hand placement, pad leverage, assignment, communication and all those things. I feel like every day it’s been getting more and more comfortable, getting to know the new playbook and all that stuff. Every day just take one step forward.”

(Has Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre told you if you will get a chance with the ones eventually? Obviously, it’s been all C/G Michael Deiter at this point.) – “Yeah, I’m just going to keep that between Lem and I. But it’s been fun competing.”

(What was it like the first day in pads?) – “It was a lot of fun. The energy was great. It’s always fun getting to compete against the d-line, especially in the goal line and backed-up periods when the defense makes a play, so they’re all riled up and the very next play the offense scores or has a big play. It’s always cool to have that energy. It kind of makes it fun again like little league football. I thought it was great and tomorrow we get to do it again.”

(When you’re an offensive lineman and they stop you at the goal line and they celebrate like they just scored a touchdown, what does that make you feel?) – ”Well, at first you get a little ticked off but I think it motivates you that much more. Like, ‘alright we really have to punch it in this time. Last time was a fluke. We’ve just got to score.’ You just give it that much more effort and it drives up your intensity a little bit.”

(The snapping issues last year should not tarnish your NFL career. You’ve been a fine NFL center. With that being said, is that something you’ve worked on this offseason? Have you felt it was still an issue lingering from last year and have you spent a lot of time on it? How’s it going?) – “I would say probably a week after our last game at Baltimore against the Bills, I was back home snapping. I wiped the slate clean. Go back to the most basic fundamentals of my stance, technique. It’s kind of like a golf swing, just going back to the very basics. Pretty much since January, almost every day, I’m trying to get snaps just because yeah, it was an issue last year. I felt like going into this camp, I’ve definitely been able to turn that corner and now I can just focus on playing football and having fun. It’s definitely been something I’ve been working on and something that I just want to continue to be consistent with.”

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