 So Marcus, how was practice today? How do you feel things are headed into the first exhibition game? I thought practice went well. We competed, guys went back and forth. You know, it's tough. You're in like the dog days of camp. And for guys that come out with the energy that we did, I think says a lot about this team. Be given that, where are you all at, getting ready to not play a game game, but to see somebody else. Right. No, I'm excited. I'm excited. And for me personally, it'll be fun. Just to get back out there, call plays, feel game-like situations again. Now I'm looking forward to seeing some of these young guys go out there and make plays. And it'll be a great opportunity for us. You throw a ball and move us to Hodge. That was really, really different. Do you think that's maybe the best pass you throw? I don't know. That's hard to say. I leave that up to you guys. You guys can decide on those types of things. I'm really just trying to focus on one play at a time. And I try not to dwell on things that happened previously. And I try not to get anxious or anything like that about plays that are coming up. Art talks about it a lot. If we can stay in the moment, we can gradually improve and get better. And I think for me, that's when I play my best. I was just wondering whether it was like, oh, wow, man, maybe getting more comfortable and getting more safe. Like, I play like that and tell you that and so forth. Or if I'm making too much business, it's just fun. I mean, I think for us, it's showing that you're in the second week of camp. The timing is getting down. The chemistry is getting down. I trust these guys. I think we've got a great group of young receivers. And it's fun because they're all competing. And when they're getting in the right spots and they're making plays, I think that really gets our offense going. Knowing you're going to start, how many snaps do you think you need in the first season to get ready? I'll play as much as you let me play. I just love playing ball. So whatever they decide, whatever the game plan is, I'm going to go out there and just have fun playing. Do you have a minimum number of possessions or whatever thing you'd like to play? Not necessarily. I don't have a pitch count, snap count, any of that. I really just, I'm just more excited just to get it out there and play. There will be other things. I was just seeing like the team was doing a lot of situational stuff here this week, kind of getting ready for the game. How do you feel like the team is prepared on that front just to get into some of those situations? Well, I think the coaching staff has a great job of explaining situations, especially for a lot of these young guys. We are a young team. There are different situations that come up instead of like what's going on in college. So for our young guys, they understand so that when those things do come up, they're comfortable in those situations. I think it's key and they do a great job of explaining those things for us. When it comes to the rotation of Matt and Andrew Dolman, for you, kind of how do you see that playing out? Is there a time period where you're like, I would like a decision at some point or are you just kind of like, you know, whoever wins wins? Yeah, I think I'm more along the lines of that. And I credit to them because, you know, it seems pretty seamless. You know, I've been in situations, I've been in places where when you're rotating centers, it's tough, but these guys have done a great job. They're communicating well with everybody. On the exchanges have been great. So I think ultimately that that is going to play itself out well, and I think it really helps that entire one. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And I think because they are switching in and out, they have to communicate. They have to set kind of a standard. So I think really for both guys, they've done a great job in that sense. And I like the relationship. You know, the quarterback center exchange is such a pivotal part of the offense, but both guys are great at it and they really seemless in their rotation. How much communication do you have with the backs, tight end, receivers, any practice when they're constant or did like, you know, if something goes wrong, how much communication do you have with both guys? You know, I really believe in trying to like, if things go wrong, just kind of snap it real quick. You know, you got to go up there, you got to communicate, be able to talk through certain situations, talk through the scenario, what happened, what you saw, what we can get better at. So I really believe in kind of constant communication. And at the same time, you know what? I think it's just, it's a little bit of encouragement as well. I think sometimes guys get a little down to not getting the ball. You know, I think they understand that it is a competition, but if you put out great routes and you go out there and you play any practice hard, you know, that's all that we were asking for me. As you all go through camp and you see the situations, you know, how are you all forming the identity of what the offense is going to be? And what do y'all like to show? No, you don't want to show everything Friday. What do y'all want to come out and say, hey, this is what we do. This is what we're about on the offensive side. Well, it comes down to just focusing on taking care of business one play at a time. You know, I think we're going to be very versatile and do a lot of different things. And that's going to be going to play to our advantage. And when we're out there and we're all communicating, everybody's on the same page, guys are lining up in the right spots, ending up in the right spots, I'm putting the ball where it's supposed to be. I think this offense can hunt. Marcus, this kind of goes up the answer you just gave. What defines success for you on Friday? Is it, you know, points? Is it a win at the time you're out there? Or is it kind of like what you were just talking about? No, I'm not so focused on the results. You know, I really just want to try to get better as a unit. You know, like I've been saying constantly, this is a young team, it's a young offense. And for us as vets, we try to help these young guys come along so that when we roll the ball out for the first game of the season, you know, these guys are ready to go. So I'm not driven on scoring or, you know, first downs or however that may be. I really just want to go out there and play, execute it one play at a time and let the results just kind of happen for themselves. Are there tangible things that you'll be able to point to to say, okay, we're seeing it on Friday? I mean, is it mental errors or avoiding penalties? Like are there tangible things you'll be able to point to? No doubt. I think just taking care of things that you can control, right? You know, taking care of the ball, taking care of pre-snap penalties, you know, mental errors, mis-assignments, those types of things. So especially when you get in these game situations, you know, guys get excited, guys get juiced. Just being able to control your emotions and you know, if we're able to do that, I think we'll be just fine. Yeah, I think it's very important. You know, because at the end of the day, if you're not going to beat yourself, you give yourself an opportunity to go win games. You know, I think some of the better teams in this league, you know, they let teams beat themselves. And if we can focus on taking care of the things that we can control, we'll make the plays. We got the talent, we got guys that can do that. So like you said, just a clean game, execution good, and you know, everyone comes out healthy. You mentioned their timing and chemistry. Where do you think your timing and chemistry is at with Kyle Pitts going into this game? That's great. And he makes it easy, man. You know, it's fun throwing to a guy like that. You don't have to be perfect. You just got to give him an opportunity to catch the ball. When you do that and he can go out and make plays, he makes the entire offense look really good. And where's Drake at? You know, he looked great before the pads come on. Has he been able to continue that during the padded practices? Yes, I think so. And I think when you go against a guy like AJ, day in and day out, it's going to make you that much better. So I'm excited for Drake. I think he's come a long way. He's going to continue to improve. And you know, he'll be a pitiful part of this offense. Speaking of Kyle, did you see his golf? I heard about it. I didn't watch it just yet. I know you're a big golf guy too. So like I'm waiting for the duo. Oh, I know it happens all the time. We play a bunch. So yeah, we'll make sure that happens so that I can get a little bit of bargain rights because he thinks he's maybe a little better than he is. How do you and the team between now and the backpacks? I understand you've done that for a long time and in a different place. What's the story behind that? Is there a significance of backpacks? Well, first of all, thank you for the plug. I appreciate that. Yeah, my motivate foundation has been in existence now for about seven years. We do a lot of work. And one of the things we really like to do is back to school backpacks. We've done it in Nashville. We did it in Vegas. And this time we did it here in Atlanta. And really just comes down to just providing resources. I know it's tough coming out of COVID and all that. Some of these kids don't even get opportunity to get backpacks. So to be able to put a backpack together, whether it's school supplies, you get notebooks, you get pens, you get pencils, so that they don't have to worry about those types of things. So we're very happy we were able to do that. It's something that we try to constantly do year in and year out. And proud of what this foundation has done. And I'm excited to see what continues in the future. Call me for workouts and stuff. And then the Falcons called me and said they wanted to sign me. So I was happy. My wife was happy. My family was happy. But I was also focused up because I know it was ready to get to work. I know that they were already 10 days in. I think 10, 11 days in. So I was going to come and I had to pick up from behind the eight ball. You said you've been flashing the last couple of days. How do you maintain that and stay on that radar? Stacking days up. My first coach coming out in Chicago Bears, Jay Rogers used to say, you stack days. You do two good things one day. Next day, you might not do nothing, but the next day you have to come out and do something. Show your face, get a sack, get a tackle, play good technique, have good hands, and being consistent. That's the biggest thing I learned coming from college and coming through the league to each team is consistency. What should we know about your journey that's not on your wiki page? You have a profile by reference coming from Bucknell. Not on my wiki page, I'm a married man. I love my wife. I got a great support system. And like I said, being around a lot of players, I was telling young man right here, I'm trying to be a mentor to these young guys because I was undrafted guy and trying to give them advice about how to be undrafted, how to walk into the building, how to do extra work after practice, and how to present yourself to make this team. What is that advice? How do you kind of walk into this situation? Everyone's kind of comfortable, you know, three weeks in or whatever. So like the biggest thing like the young guys are asking me about like, no problem. The young guys are asking me about like, you know, how do you know if you're on this position on the depth chart, how do you know, you know, if you're doing good, I'm like, look, if you worry too much, and all of a sudden you're gonna start messing up. Focus on you, watch as much film as possible, and every day do something better. So yesterday your footwork wasn't good. Next day you need to perfect that. And then maybe that day your hands weren't good, okay? Next day perfect that. Every day you find something a little small and every day you stack up days and make a player for a single day. That's the biggest thing you can do. And, you know, all the outside stuff, dealing with family, dealing with friends. This is the time to lock in, which we're trying to win a Super Bowl. Sometimes you gotta put that phone on, do not disturb, and tell your wife, tell your girlfriend, hey, I'm focused up, I need to watch film, I need to do all this stuff. So kind of mentor stuff like that, you know, and get them ready for, because the NFL is for big leagues. So you gotta come out here ready, especially if you're gonna be a young guy playing in the league. What's kind of your approach, you know, if someone is coming from the outside, I feel like you have an interesting perspective on where this team is at right now. What do you kind of see coming in? I see a camaraderie. So my first year on the Chicago Bears when we had that great run, 2018 run, I feel that same energy here. That big brother, little brother relationship throughout the D-line room, having Grady being the leader. Kind of looking to see what he does. He's given us advice and all around team, and also the coach being a great leader and giving us great advice, making sure we're on top of our stuff, on top of our film, on top of our playmaking. When we make a stick, he gets on us, and when we're doing good, he praises us. I think that's a good combination, you know? Do you feel comfortable going into that first preseason game because you are kind of like coming in later into the training camp? Oh yeah, I feel comfortable. I'm a bookworm, so first, you should have saw my first day when I was, they got signed, I was like, you got a playbook? They're like, yeah. So I was in the playbook all night before that first day went out and we had that walkthrough day. So I'm gonna feel comfortable and I'm gonna go out there, let it rip and do what I do. So you've got the guy in the meeting room now that's like, oh, actually, you know, I saw this and they're like, you just got right. Yep, I'm asking questions. I'm checking everything, and I'm staying on top of my game because like I said, I'm coming behind A-ball. These guys been out here for 10 more, 11 more days than me, and they're out here doing great. I see some great things out here from the young guys and from the old guys. So it's a lot of competition in the room and all I could do is do my best and try to compete with them. So, you know, week three or whatever it is in training camp, I mean, how have things changed now that you guys are in the prep for a game here? I mean, not so much. I feel like we kind of jumped into it from week one. We were kind of rolling and kind of on the game playing kind of style. So I think it really hasn't changed much. Now the more focus is on Detroit and kind of focusing on them and their defense and kind of game planning for them. Do you approach the preseason with like, okay, I'm trying to get this out of this or I'm trying to show this? I think I approach it the same way I approach any game, you know, I'm going out there to play. You know, just work on my technique and kind of, you know, sharpen the skills a little bit before it's actual live action in the record counts, you know, so I think that's what it's used for. We were just talking to Drew about how communication he feels like is better than this time last year with the offensive line. Where do you feel like that's at? Well, I think it's better. It's kind of difficult. We're rotating centers and, you know, they're kind of the ones who set the table and, you know, let us know where we're going. But, you know, it's been pretty, pretty even on both sides of it. And I think we've been doing a good job staying on the same page. It's funny you mentioned the rotating centers because he was talking about how it's not really a big deal for him to come in and out, but as someone who's like, you said, listening to them and trying to comfort them, how hard is that knowing different styles? It's a little different. Both of them have their own different style of play, but, you know, the calls are the calls. They both make them. So, you know, you just got to listen up, focus in, and, you know, pay attention who's in there and listen to what they're saying. In that same vein, when, you know, in the preseason, especially if they're kind of rotating people to see what maybe the best combination of people is, is it hard to kind of, all right, I got to adjust this because this person's next to me? No, I think I just, I mean, me, I just play it how I normally would, you know, it's not really adjusting for anybody differently. Everybody knows the technique and we're all playing and trying to be on the same page. So, I don't think I have to adjust even for anybody. How do you feel like, you know, your progress has happened through training camp at this point? I mean, you're obviously vying for that spot. How do you feel like you're doing in that battle? You know, I don't know how I'm doing, but, you know, I just kind of work every day of just trying to get better every day, work on something every single day to try and get better at, to try and keep going in an upward fashion, you know? I think that's kind of been what I've been focusing on. Is this the point at camp where you're kind of turning a page like, all right, we're like really in camp now. It's like that initial excitement has kind of faded and now you're like that initial like energy burst is gone. And I, all right, now we got to dig deep and really figure this out. Yeah, the initial burst is gone, you know, everybody's trying to get their bodies back, you know, ever since from the first day of training camp until now, you know, your body is never going to feel the same as it did, you know, coming from the spring to now. So you just got to get used to it, you know, keep up with your treatment and just stay focused. And usually, you know, when you're a pro, you have a plan, you know, you have a process of how you get ready for each day, how you cool down from each day, you know, and that kind of gets you in the swing of things and, you know, get you ready for that week to week, you know, action. What's it been like with Marcus and Desmond? I know it's, you know, getting used to two different styles or maybe they're pretty similar, but just a different one from before, right? Yeah, definitely a different style than I'm used to. But, you know, Marcus has been great, you know, keeping us all on the same page and the snap counts have been great. And I think it's just been good to have like a better presence, you know, in there for us. So I think that's been great. Ritter's also been great too. You know, young guy, it takes a minute, you know, when you're a rookie, you got to take your woes, you know, that's how it happens. And, you know, you just got to work through them and get better from them, you know, so, and I think he's doing that. Well, that's what I've got. Just the environment that they have here at training camp, it's like, you know, all the families and everything, there was the video that they posted of you with your daughter every day. How cool is it to kind of share that with your family? It's cool. A lot of my family is in Philadelphia and Florida, so not really too close. So, you know, my wife and my daughter, they come every day or most days. And, you know, it's cool because like, I don't get to go home most of the time until when she's sleeping. So when she sees and she's like, oh, da, da, da, da, you know, so she's so excited. So I think that's pretty cool, pretty cool to see. I like how they involve the family in it. Do you ever like look over and see her like during practice or anything and be like? No, we're, there's so much going on and we're all into it. So I can't even, there's so many people over here. I can't even find them like through everybody. You're taking too long to scan it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just guessing if you ever see her like, oh, that makes me like, you know, I'm gonna go harder on this rep for hours. No, you gotta go hard on everyone. You gotta go hard on everyone, that's for sure. But coming off the practice, especially when it's like high. Oh yeah, it's definitely, it's a breath of fresh air. Like a long practice, say two hours, 15 minutes or whatever and hot day, you know, you're coming over and you see her, you're like, okay, let me, let me take my pads off and get some water, like, you know. So I think it's a breath of fresh air. So I think we talked to you last week. I mean, how has everything kind of been ramping up in the last week or so now that you're kind of in that next chapter of training camp player? We're in the grind, we're getting comfortable. Yeah, it's been good. I mean, operationally, it's been a lot more the same. Introducing a little bit of stuff for Detroit, but really kind of the same old formal player perspective. Show up, we're practicing hard, doing the same things, getting better, so. We talked to Jaylin, he talked about communication is much better, he feels like, just so far, compared to this point last year, do you feel like that's been a big thing for you guys? Yeah, I think, I mean, especially because we were both workies last year, like there's a lot of things flying in and out. So I think this year for both of us, it's much nicer, we're more comfortable, so like that communication comes a little easier. So I think that's definitely a big factor. I know that's a big thing for you. I mean, last time we talked to you, you talked about how that's a big part of, you know, where you want to be at, is being a clear communicator at that center of the line. I mean, is that something that you've also been really trying to work on? Yeah, definitely. And just like learning from the other guys, like learning from Hennessy, Jay, guys that have played a lot of snaps, just like the things that are really important that you got to get out before the ball snaps. So that's, they've been incredibly helpful, and then obviously the coaches as well have been really clear with what needs to get said, and so it's kind of about stoning it. How much different is this week now that you're kind of preparing for a game week and an actual opponent in a couple days? Not too different. I mean, we're focusing a little bit. I think nothing, I don't know. We're still doing team the same. We're still practicing the same, so it's not too different. Is it exciting though to know, hey, we're going up against a different color jersey on Friday? It definitely is, yeah. I think psychologically it's fun to have a little carrot at the end of it, so you can kind of chase, and I think it would be on the team's excited as well, just to get back out there and play. What's your approach for the pre-season? I mean, you'll probably play a bit, and what were you trying to get out of the pre-season? Anything that you're trying to work on specifically? Yeah, I mean, obviously like personal, like technical things that I've been kind of working on all training camp. But yeah, just like get out there in a real game setting, operate as an online unit efficiently, communicate clearly, all that kind of stuff. So just like begin to check the boxes on what we need to do each week, and kind of just, almost like a dry run for all that stuff. Do you feel like there's going to be a little bit of mixing and matching, kind of seeing in a game situation who's going to gel the best, what situation might be the best, with as far as personnel on the line? Honestly, I have no idea. I think we're all just going to be ready to go, play as much as we're going to, and kind of just let them decide how all that stuff works. Is it hard though when you're in a game and they're kind of rotating people to see, you know, maybe who's going to be the best fit? Is that hard to be like, all right, now I got to adjust to this, or this person? I don't know, everybody's like a little different to play next to, but we all train with the same philosophy. We know the players the same, we've got the same coaches. So like the goals are still the same, so you kind of expect the same from each player. So it's not a big deal.