 You're mid-practice, I guess, daily into the fans. Is that something new for you this year? Did you do that other sports? What? I think it's the first. I think it's the first. I don't know, man. I'm getting old. I can't really remember a lot of stuff. I mean, did you clear that before you go do it? Or is that spontaneous? And you're just like, well, I'm an old guy. What are they really going to say? I got a contract. I don't know what they're going to say. Nah, it's just, I mean, I'm not doing nothing doing that period. So it's like, you can sit down and get stiff. I can go out there and just walk around and sign autographs. So I choose to sign autographs and stay loose. See, how have you seen your coach change from year one to year two since he's such a young head coach? Say it again? How have you seen Arthur Smith change from year one to year two? Is he more comfortable? And what does it appear like from a player who's like that? It's the same to me. I mean, Arthur is Arthur. He's a great guy, man. He's one of the coolest coaches I've been around. You know, I just appreciate him. You know, everything you do for us, man. You see, at practice, man, you take care of a lot of guys around here. And that's something I'm not used to. And so I just appreciate Arthur for that. He's the coolest coaches. Can you like compare? I don't want you to compare him to a coach. But just how can a coach be that? He's just Arthur. I mean, I don't know. It's just something about him. That's it. We can have through. There's one guy, offensively, defensively, that has stood out. He's starting to bring it with him. Honestly, man, the whole defense, you know, yesterday they walked down a little bit, you know, and the first day of pass, and they got it after us. And today, you know, the whole offensive line, they just been working it. You know, they've been working it all year, man. You know, coming back, seeing the good of shape the offensive line is, and how hard they done worked the whole offseason. Now they coming together, like for the first time what pass on this stuff is, it feels great to see those guys working like that. There's a lot of time left before we kick it off with Rio, but what are your expectations of his team? As long as we do better than 2-15, man, we'll be good. So that's all the expectation is saying we're going to be a 2-15, get the first overall pick. So if we do better than that, we did our job. Hang it up somewhere inside. Yeah, in my head. You know what's happening? He said, bro, actually talking to the competition along with you guys. If you're really raring about that, man, then we're raring about their own thing. We're football players, and we're going to go out and compete each and every week. We're not really raring about what the outside is to say, man, of course we hear it, but I mean, we can even believe it, believe we're a 2-15 team, or we can go out and just try to make it run for the playoffs. Spout on your... Oh, yeah. That's my guy, man. That's my guy. He's great. He's one of the best receivers I've ever seen in person, you know, play. So there's a lot of receivers out there, but I actually got to play with him. There's a lot of games out there, but his route running, his ability to get open and catch the ball is amazing, man. Of course, I want him back out here, much as everybody in that locker room now. You know, I tweeted it out. I know I probably got a lot of hate for it, but I really don't give a... That's my teammate. I want him to play. And I stand on all my teammates, and I just want him to be out here. You know, I know he missed football. You know, he loved it. I know he beat himself to death each and every day. So I don't want, you know... Just don't want anything, you know, just stupid to happen. You know, so I'm always showing my support, you know, to that guy, every chance I can. How about you talk to him? Can you talk to him at all? You got to let some people just have this space, you know, and, you know... Can't always talk about ball, you know. Like I said, I know he missed it a lot, so I don't even want to text him, I'm just talking about how much we missed him, because if I don't bring him sadness to him or anything, so just try to stay away. What's Marcus Marriott's leadership style like? It's good, man. It's different, you know. How so? I don't know. It's just different, man, you know. Coming from a quarterback like Matt to Marcus, you know, it's different. They're different quarterbacks, man. It's just different. How was Matt different from Marcus then? He's just different. He's just different. You got to ask those two guys how they... It's just different. Any particular reason you broke out the Christmas cleats today, just to cool it off a little bit? Yeah. Every day is Christmas for me, you know. So I had to put my cleats on and just show it. How has your leadership role changed about the years? Like, I don't want to take you all the way back to when you were a rookie, but certainly things have changed for you from the leadership perspective where you used to listen to guys and now you're the guy speaking out. How has that role changed for you? Uh... It ain't changed much, you know. I'm a guy. I don't really talk as much. I mean, if somebody talked to me, you know, I'd talk back and they'd need my help on anything. You know, I'd give all my help, you know. Like I said, I'm just older now. Guys around the locker room call me uncle and stuff now. So that's the first. And I still got to get used to that. This is the first year that's happened? First year. Is that just a 10-year when you get the 10-year milestone? You told me all the way. You said you want now since you get 10, so some stuff I got to just get used to. Being called uncle around here. How has everything been? A lot of people have been talking about how to do this as practice. Have you kind of felt that? Yeah, absolutely, man. We got people out here competing. I love it. We got a team full of dogs. We got guys that's fearless, ain't scared of nothing. And we're definitely making each other better. And, you know, you're one of the few guys that played here last year. What have you seen from the young guys? Anything that stand out? And how have you kind of been helping them kind of get acquainted with being in the lane? Man, I really think it's their determination to get better and their competitiveness. You know, you're really seeing them really grow and get better every day. All of the rookies. And you're also seeing their competitiveness and starting to see, you know, like we bringing in the right people in here to shape this, you know, organization. So, you know, I feel like we got a really good group of guys, you know, that's really just competing every day. And running back room, you got a lot of Tyler in there. What have you seen from the new guy in Tyler and kind of how you guys been competing with each other there? Yeah, Tyler's physical. He's a physical runner. We just had this conversation in the room the other day. All of us, man, we all got, we all big backs. And we even threw Avery in there. But, man, we got a room for the backs, man. That's, you know, 220 pounds plus. And that's where we are. And we take pride in that and we embrace that. And he's doing a great job. Have you guys done anything different in terms of like building up the season to take advantage of that big back room? No, I think that's, even when Art came here, that's the identity, you know what I'm saying, that he wanted to bring to Atlanta. And I think he wants that to be our identity moving forward. But also having that positionless, you know what I'm saying, like C.P. is a big back, but he can catch out the back field. You know what I'm saying? I'm a bigger back. I feel like I can do everything as well. We all versatile. And that's what makes it a really good room. With C.P. lining up about why it's so much, have you tried to kind of ball your game? Absolutely. You can never stop working. You can never stop getting better. You know what I'm saying? The more you can do, that's what we say around this building. The more you can do, the more you give yourself the best chance to be on the field. Are there any specific teams and offices that you really wanted to hold on to? Probably like short air quickness, really having that short air quickness and burst. I've always been a bigger, stronger guy, but having that quickness to add to that is something that I worked on for sure. Appreciate it. What's going to be the keys to getting that running game going on top of Keith yesterday? He was happy to be back. Yeah. Man, you need all 11. Really, you need all 11 to run game. And that's something that we preach in the offensive room. If you got all 11, receivers, tight ends, backs, and obviously the offensive line, and even the quarterbacks now, that's really what it is. Everybody doing their job every single play. Any personal goals or expectations for yourself? Help the team win. Anywhere I can. Help the team win. Every single week. Be a part of something special, for sure. I know you're not with them when they're training in your own groups, but have you seen anything from the O-line? I know it's got a lot of positions. Yeah, our offensive line is doing great, you know what I'm saying? When you got guys on the other side, you know, guys like Grady, guys like Lorenzo, Adé, they're just making those guys better. And it's back and forth, and that's what you like to see. You really like to see that back and forth action, and you know, guys just getting better. Appreciate it. Nah, I think I'm still here. Okay, great. All right, great. I'll ask you a couple more questions that Victor's probably already asked you. Okay, first and foremost, obviously the competition is evident between everybody all over the field. What are you like as a player right now on this team? You know, one thing we say around the building is iron sharpens iron, and that's what it is. You know, we all making each other better. We're all competitors. We all want to win. We all want to play. And you know, if you're pushing your brother to the limit, you're making him better. So we're all, you know, we push each other all across the entire team, which is what I love about this camp is that man, it's a lot of competition. It's a lot of people pushing each other. You guys are all pushing each other. But how do you push yourself? How do you get better in your next year? Honestly, I got to challenge myself. You know, for me, you know, I've been here three years going into my fourth year, and I haven't, you know, been the player that I've wanted to be, that, you know, that Atlanta wanted me to be. And, you know, but no, all seriousness though. Yeah, like for me, it hasn't been good enough. So that's my motivation. That's how I push myself every day. It's how can I be the best player, the best version of myself. What's good enough for you? Helping this team win every week, anywhere I can help a team win. Why can the Falcons be sneaky this year? Why can you guys be a good football team? Because I feel like a lot of people sleep on us. You know, we're not front runners, but we got a team for the dogs. And one thing that we pride ourselves on is playing hard every single play. So, you know, at the end of that fourth quarter, fifth quarter, overtime, whatever it is, you know, people don't know that they played the Falcons. And that's something that we hang our head on. You're one of the few guys that's been here for a little bit, more than a year really. Does it feel like you're a Wiley veteran on this team? Yeah, kind of. Especially when you got people coming in, I was like, I'm not that old. But like, we got like Tyler born in like the 2000s. And like, even Kyle was like born in 2000. So it's like that kind of mess with me a little bit. Like, dang, that kind of. But I'm no where near as old, you know, I'm a year forward. But I do feel like a veteran. Okay, are you feeding off the energy of some of these younger guys then? Absolutely, absolutely. They're making me feel younger. That's what they say. You keeping those young people around you, you'll stay young. Second day of pads here. I mean, what's kind of the intensity increase when you put those pads on? Oh, yeah, everybody, the intensity has to raise just because we've been running around in T-shirts and shorts where Lord knows too long. But now it's time for real football to start. It's time for the preparation that's really going to help us through the season. So we just got to keep stacking and getting better. As someone who's come into this from, you know, another team, I mean, what is it like to see all the kind of competitive drills that they have? How's that compared to maybe other teams you've been on? All the everyone watching all those one-on-ones and stuff. Yeah, it's extremely competitive, man. It's good to have that within the team, especially when offense is going back and forth with the defense, it's punching, counter punching. I mean, I wouldn't expect it any other way. Defense, with the upper hand today, offense? Oh, yeah, I mean, coming from me, defense always, defense always on top. But you got to respect offense because they always come back and have their player too, but we got to say defense. How do you kind of show your physicality in that side of your game when you do put on those pads? Because obviously that's what the coaches are looking for, trying to find those dogs out there that are going to be that guy. Yeah, just like I said, it's football. Once the pads come on, that's nothing you can do but play football. Everything's going to be exposed. So if you're not prepared or if you're running around guessing, then with those pads, magnify everything. What up? Thank you. I'll try. Exactly, man. You're good, man. It's good to see you. You represent the dogs. It's just kind of surreal that the year you signed with the Falcons, they win it all. Yeah, man. I knew it was coming. So I can't say it's surreal, but it's good to be home with a championship at home working on a good one here. What's it going to take for this team to get to that next line? It's going to take hard work. And I think we got the guys for it. Nobody's backing down from challenges. The coaches are challenging us every day. And the players are stepping up. We're pushing each other. We might win one day, defense might win one day, but offense, they're not laying down. They're coming right back at us. And you're debuting the national football team. Yeah, it goes fast. Me and my strip coach, we were talking to AK Arnold and just letting them know it's fast. The blink of an eye, it'll happen. So you just got to cherish every moment and take advantage of the day. So what do you tell the rookies now that we're in your shoes some five years ago about taking advantage of the opportunity both on and off the field, get their body right, get their mind right. This is a business. It's go time. Yeah, pretty much like you said, that's one thing rookies, they think they know coming from college, but it's a whole different game. This is a business right now, so treat it as such. I was talking to your head coach. He expects you to be the leader in this lineback and locker room. You're a veteran in there. Do you lead by example, by your words a little bit above? A little bit above. It depends on what the guys need. I let the DVs do their chirping. Let them talk a lot, but when it comes down to it, if I got to get in somebody or get it going, I do it. What excites you about this defense? It's a business. Everybody's ready. Everybody's competing. Nobody's really just sitting back waiting. Everything is go and make it happen. The best D&P story so far is? Ooh, D&P. We got Courtney Upsall here working with us. We got a few stories about Courtney. He's a little scrappy guy, so we got a few about him, but Lilito is in the locker room. He's old school, man, right? He tells you how it was back in the day when he formed, like it was Lawrence Taylor bringing it and getting that quarterback. You kind of feed off that knowledge and what he's meant to this league and what he brings to you guys? Oh yeah, for sure. He has the film to back up what he's saying, so we can see it done the right way and when we do it the right way, the results happen. So I'm trying to change that film from old film to falcon film. How hard is it? How are things coming together to catch up to you guys? Yeah, it's easy for defense. We get to be aggressive, we get to play fast and Coach Pease makes it easy for us, so I mean, that adjustment for us is just making sure we're playing fast and making sure we're doing the right things to cover each other, but C.P. can talk with you talk. I know they're going to make their plays too. They got us a few times, but don't let them sugarcoat it. In your experience, how long does it take you to kind of get an attacking mentality, start slow and then build into it or is it something now? Nah, we can't start slow. That's what gets you beat and what gets you losing games early and those games count, so our coach has done a good job making sure we work on those fundamentals. You don't have to have pads on being in the right position to tackle, so being in the right position is the majority of the battle and once you do that and once you're good at that, making that play and tapping them to the ground will be up there. Maybe. My off day has been asleep, so we'll see.