Zach Sieler – August 26, 2024
Download PDF version
Monday, August 26, 2024
DT Zach Sieler
(I don’t think you took a day off during training camp, am I missing something?) – “Not to my knowledge, no. That’s – the one thing my mom and dad always raised me to (do), work as hard as you can. There’s guys that need those days, and I’m blessed enough I haven’t needed that yet in my career. So the point where I’m at, I wanted to make sure that I was out there taking the reps, taking charge, making sure I’m always right up front, working with those guys and building that camaraderie in the d-line room. It’s been great, it’s been a blessing this camp to be able to get through healthy. I’ll be excited to see what the season has in store.”
(What have you learned about this defense in the last month?) – “It’s exciting. I love the multiplicity of it. I love how we can work off of each other very well. It’s awesome seeing guys fly around, working together, seeing how we’re just intertwined as a front seven and backend and making sure we’re combining the rush and coverage of the defense.”
(Have you talked to some of the younger players that could be cut today? You were once that guy on the backend of a roster and the team tried to sneak you on the practice squad, and you got poached. What do you say to a guy today?) – “It’s obviously a tough day. The worst time of year in football; everyone knows it. Wednesday is one of the hardest days because you see the defense in the team. You know who’s here and who’s not here. You congratulate the ones who are here, and I always try to make sure I reach out and give support to those who aren’t here. I tell them that there is a plan. You can put your head down and keep working and work through it. There’s a lot of guys on this team that have gone through that and they have made it in the NFL – Raheem Mostert, Jordan Poyer, myself. There’s guys that get cut left and right, and it take three, four, five, six times before you find a home and find where you fit in a defense or with a coach that you figure it out with him. I just tell the guys to keep their head up and just keep working. There is nothing to mope about. The fact of the matter is you got to the NFL – period. You were in a whole camp, you were in an NFL jersey, you did preseason games, that alone is hard enough. I think the stat is like .02% of all high school football players make it to the NFL or even get a shot at the NFL. So that in itself is a huge accomplishment, and that’s why you make sure those guys know that.”
(What was your breakthrough?) – “I think the biggest thing for me was after getting cut the second time up in Baltimore and coming down here was just put it all on the line. Coming down here, there was three weeks left in the season. I didn’t know the defense; I didn’t know what was going on. I just said, ‘You know what? Let’s just go out there and play. Don’t overthink, just go play ball.’ In those few games, I was able to play and make enough plays that they wanted to keep me for another year. Then that offseason they brought down (Defensive Line Coach) Austin Clark, and I was able to work with him and Marion Hobby, the two d-line coaches here, to help get my technique right and learn how to mesh in this defense that we had prior. Just slowly learned from there and I think it (helped) me grow as a player on the field, my technique and my knowledge to be able to work off any defense. Obviously, we’ve got a couple in here, and I’m really excited for this season.”
(Now that you’ve been through a whole training camp with Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver’s system, what’s one thing you’ve learned that really excites you?) – “What’s really exciting about it is how we can be multiple in all of our different packages and options, and how we can change what we are doing to affect offenses and set the tempo how we want to set it and make them adjust to us.”
(What’s it been like to have DT Calais Campbell around for a camp now?) – “It’s awesome. To have that kind of experience, it’s such a blessing to be able to bounce off of him. ‘Hey, what are you seeing? How’d you play this? What are you doing here?’ I don’t think there is anyone on the defensive side of the football in the NFL period that has seen more defense than he has. I think it’s an accomplishment to him and a testament to his training and keeping his body right to have played this long, as well as it’s just his straight up grit. It’s awesome. It’s been awesome to play off of him and help me learn as a play on and off the field. He’s taught me a lot. We sit down and talk a lot about leadership and how to affect the young guys off the field. He knows where he’s at, and he knows where I’m at. He’s like, ‘Look, it’s your time to work.’ I’m trying to make sure I do that and make sure to be more vocal and help the guys make the adjustments and learn on the field, whether it’s here or not here. These next 24 to 48 hours, a lot can happen and a lot of things can shake up. It’s exciting to work with him.”
(I’m doing something on your depth. It’s obviously been a key for you guys the last couple of years, helping you get to the playoffs. You know all the injuries you guys have had. As a reserve, tell me about the mindset that you have to have because you usually come in in a stressful situation, the starter is out. Maybe other guys are in the huddle are like, “Can he do it?? What’s that mentality like?) – “I think the biggest part of that is – and it’s tough – stressing those game-like scenarios at practice. It’s putting yourself in the hardest situations, hardest looks during practice so the game is easy. Then making sure not to slouch in your technique or whatever, because it is very easy for a guy that’s a reserve or whatever to just kind of go through the motions. Give looks to the offense and do your job, ‘OK, good job,’ and then move on to the next week. I think the biggest part is staying ready and studying the tape. It’s tough to sit there and watch the tape and study the guys knowing, ‘Hey look, I might only get five or six plays, or no plays,’ but making sure you’re ready. That first year I came down here after those three games. That first game I was like, ‘Hey you’ll probably going to be down this week. You’re not going to be dressed.’ Saturday morning, it’s like, ‘Hey look. Someone went down, you’re going to be up. Here you go.’ I got five plays. It was goal line situations. It’s make or break it; it’s a seven-point play right there. It’s being ready in those situations, and then from there it’s like five, ten, fifteen plays each week kind of built up. That’s the biggest thing I tell guys, is to be ready and stay ready no matter what.”
(With LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cameron Goode starting the season on PUP, Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us today, young guys like LB Chop Robinson and LB Mohamed Kamara, what opportunity does this present them?) – “It’s great. Those guys, it’s been awesome to work with them all camp. Usually rookies coming in, they kind of rotate here and there, but those guys have been in every play. So it’s been awesome to work with them and play off of them and learn how to take their game to the next level. It will be really exciting to work with them this season and these weeks coming up while (Bradley) Chubb is down to get them right, to stay right and to get ready to play in those big games.”
(We’ve asked you a couple of times this offseason about those guys filling in for DT Christian Wilkins. I’m curious have you found the energy that Christian brought?) – “Obviously Christian is a huge energy on a field and in everything he does. We’ve talked about it as a d-line; Look, people are gone, new people are here, some people are still here from last year. I think as a unit, the goal was we need to step up and bring that energy as a unit. Not one guy to bring the energy, but all of us bring it every day, and I think we did a great job of doing that this camp.”
(What growth have you seen from DT Da’Shawn Hand?) – “It’s been awesome. He’s just worked on his craft, worked on his technique all offseason, all last year and then all camp. Man, he’s been super impressive. I don’t know if there’s a stronger guy out there. Seeing some of the plays he makes, that man is – he’s a load. He’s done a great job at learning how to work off each other, play off each other and kind of play freely, as in making the defense work for you and learning how to make those plays that would to come to you and not to stress – not that he was doing this, but not stress plays that weren’t coming your way. That’s an issue sometimes with guys is trying to work or force a play when there doesn’t need to be. The calls will dictate what time is your time and what time is not. It’s been great to see guys grow and especially Da’Shawn (Hand) growing his game.”
(How much have you taken it upon yourself to be an energy guy like Christian Wilkins was previously?) – “Obviously I was always a quieter, put my head down guy, but as the years have gone on, I’ve tried to be more vocal. When you’ve got a guy like Christian (Wilkins), you don’t really need to be. (laughter) But learning from that and learning from other guys and talking with Calais (Campbell) and just, like I said, the whole room trying to be more vocal and outspoken so we can be more dominant unit upfront.”
(With DT Benito Jones being sort of sidelined by injury, are you able or capable of filling that nose position? I’ve seen DT Calais Campbell in there for a little bit and I’m like, he’s kind of big for a nose.) – “Double question – I definitely think Calais can play nose. He’s got all the size for it, all the strength for it. I’ve played down there. Truthfully, a guy like (Brandon) Pili who has worked his way through the ranks the last two years, he’s done an amazing job this camp growing his game and bringing it to the next level. So has Da’Shawn Hand – like I said, he’s one of the strongest guys I’ve seen. Both of those guys I think can do a great job filling in for Benito (Jones) while he’s down, taking those reps and working off of each other. It’s part of this defense, too, is just being able to be multiple where anyone can play anywhere. I played a ton of nose last year as well. So I think we’ve got depth there to make that work. Obviously, Benito is a great player and it’s hard to fill those shoes, but we can make it work.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa made some headlines last week when he made comments about his relationship with Brian Flores. Was that a topic in the locker room? Did anybody say anything, “I’m glad you spoke up,” or anything like that?) – “I haven’t heard it. I think everyone has their own feelings, and that was his feelings. Everyone is completely right in whatever feelings they have. That’s your feelings, you own your feelings and that’s how you are. I didn’t read the article; you see headlines, I don’t know exactly what was said. I think everyone has moved on; everyone is on their own way. Hopefully everyone can become a better person from good or bad experiences in their life, and I think that’s the way to take any experience you have.”
