Obviously, being able to go in there and set the tone early, how did it feel and what did you see on that play?
Definitely felt great. Just to come out and be able to do something that we've been harping on for the past couple of weeks, obviously we haven't been getting home these past couple games, but coming into this game I basically did the same thing I did every other week but just put a little more preparation into it, a little extra, and it paid off.
That kind of got the ball rolling on defense. How did you see the defense play today? Four turnovers.
The defense, we definitely stepped up to the challenge. We knew we had to come in and play great ball, wanted to give our offense good field position. So that was one of the main things that we were all harping on all week. Just come in, work hard, give it your all, have the juice, and then we're going to be that defense that you've seen flashes from early in the season.
Was it much of a sigh of relief for you, a little bit? I mean, you've been plugging along, grinding, but it hasn't gone probably the way you want it to a lot, even early you jumped offsides. But you make that play, and then is it like, alright, here we go, I've been waiting for it.
Most definitely. Once I had jumped offsides, I started telling our guys, 'I've got y'all's back.' And all the guys were just like, 'Don't slow up, don't slow up. Just continue being you.' Once I got that from my guys, it just kept my confidence growing and I just kept playing.
Has it been a challenge to keep your confidence up during this stretch of your rookie year?
I wouldn't say it's been a challenge to keep my confidence, but it's been a challenge to keep myself from pressing to make plays. Once I start pressing make plays, then sometimes things just don't go as I want them to go. So I just focus in and try to make the plays that I'm supposed to make.
