 How was the pumpkin patch? Yeah, pumpkin patch was good. It was good. Good family time. Yeah, so how do you feel, you know, having a little time as a self-scout, five games in, where do you feel the offense is, and where's some room to grow? Yeah, I think, you know, we've been getting better as the year's gone on, which is good. I think everybody's getting more comfortable. I think when you look through five weeks, there's a lot to clean up. A lot of things we can do better. And that's encouraging, you know, and I think we'll make those corrections as we move forward. But all in all, you know, five games in, there's been, you know, some good and some that needs to be cleaned up. And, you know, that's our task this week is to try and improve and get better during practice this week. So we play our best game of the year this Sunday. What's the running game last where you all at? You know, again, I think improving. I think at certain times in games, we've done a nice job running the football. We're striving for more consistency. You know, I think, like we are in all parts of our game, but I thought our last time out, we ran the football efficiently and effectively. And, you know, that's gonna be something that, if we wanna be a really good football team moving forward, we're gonna have to do that well. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the Dawkins, we're able to watch them on Sunday, a lot of movement on the defensive side of the ball there. How do y'all prepare for that? You know, they're sitting in the gap, jumping in and jumping out of the middle of the field on the objective of their... Yeah, they do a nice job of creating confusion, giving you tough looks and, you know, testing all of your rules, whether it be in the run game or the pass game. So we certainly gotta be prepared for a number of different looks and we have to have solutions and answers for those looks when we get out there. Is there anything that maybe can be an advantage for them? Well, I think both teams are, you know, there's an evolution as the year goes on and your team changes from sometimes what you think it might be during training camp to what it becomes. I think you take away, you know, from it, is that they play hard, you know, and they play with really good effort and they're tough and physical and so, you know, we're gonna have to have our, you know, mind and energy right for Sunday. But as far as scheme stuff, there's also five games worth of tape out there, too. So I think some of the things you saw in training camp will be similar and they probably are doing a few things, you know, to, you know, probably a little bit different than what we saw in training camp because of just game plan specific things that they've done against different teams. Do you know all those things, do you like save that for like pre-game Sunday, post-game Sunday? Post-game, yeah, post-game Sunday. I mean, I always wish Brian the best. You know, obviously, I've known him for a long time and, you know, I'm proud of what he's done and accomplished and, you know, I wish him the best, but he also knows we're both trying to accomplish the same thing this week and that's get a win. What's your favorite, like from that three year when you were big, because you guys basically were wind up against each other every day. What was that, is there like a moment that stands out for you, a story that stands out for you from that? I just remember getting my ass kicked most days. That's the, you know, those are one of the years you want to like delete from your memory, right? It's a scout team getting, you know, pushed around, 18 year old kid, probably 190 pounds at that time, you know, getting tossed around. So I just, you know, honestly, just remember he was just tough, you know, tough football player. You knew he always wanted to kind of go into that coaching side or personnel side. He was kind of a football, you know, it was in his blood and, you know, you could tell that even from a young age. He was a guy that was serious about what he did and he's done a great job. Just with the run game and the threes and the fours and the fives and then you get in the top. What's the key to getting the top with some regularity? Well, I mean, everybody would love to be getting those explosives with regularity. I think it's, you know, it's difficult in this league. I think the way you do it is, you know, it takes all 11 guys being on the same page consistently for four quarters because you never know which is the one that's gonna pop, right? And so, you know, everybody has to be doing their job, doing their assignment and playing with great effort, you know, consistently for four quarters. I think if we can do a better job of that, you know, you talk about getting some of those runs to come out the, out the back end of a defense a little bit more consistently. Those aren't easy yards, but if you can get an extra 20 that you didn't maybe think you were gonna get. That's huge. I mean, it makes everybody's life, you know, a little bit easier and it certainly, you know, makes a defense reconsider, you know, some of how they're trying to fit the run game. And so, you know, if we can get that going, that'd be huge. Matt, just as far as going into preparation, you prepare for teams like going, like how do you gauge like teams that show certain phone coverage don't come against other teams versus saying, okay, we're gonna do this, this will do versus like, oh, we're gonna make a big adjustment, like when we get ready to go against them now, like how did you gauge in your game, like from a, okay, this might work against this particular team, but it might not work against this particular team. Yeah, you know, I think there's, it's a good balance of looking at similar type teams to what you do, like opponents when you're, you know, going against, you know, a defense that you may have played somebody that does similar things. I think those things help. I think, you know, making sure that you're, you're watching, you know, the cut-ups of the personnel groupings that we emphasize. There's a lot of time you can waste. If teams are playing in different personnel groupings than we feature, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of hours that have been spent in my life early in my career that, you know, you can't get back and there's ways to be more efficient. So I think I've done a good job of that. You know, and then you also have to, you know, put that part of it to bed too and get back on your side of the ball and make sure that, you know, the two or three things you get that might be unexpected, you know what to do. And, you know, you know the outlets, you know the rules, you know your odds, and I've learned throughout my career to kind of head in that direction when it comes to preparation. You know, as far as, like you and I was meant, you know, sure y'all got to report that y'all just had that non-verbal communication and you knew where you were going to be and you knew what protection you might follow and everything from pre-staff to that point. Like how would you and Matt's indices of relationship being so far just kind of looking back, you know, the first five years? Yeah, I think it's been getting better, you know, and that's what you want when you're playing with guys for the first, you know, real extended amount of time. I think, you know, you want to see consistent improvement and Matt's done a great job. I mean, he works extremely hard, had a great mentor to learn from in Alex and to see, you know, how to do it the right way. And, you know, I think Matt's been, he's been doing everything he can to get himself ready to go and he's done a nice job for us. And for a team and how, what it might be in training camp versus what it actually ends up becoming. I mean, I was just curious kind of like, I know it's only five games in at this point, but the five weeks is a good time to kind of reflect on that. I mean, what kind of was your vision in training camp versus kind of what you'd like to all are becoming next? Yeah, I think, you know, your vision early is to just be this dominant football team that goes and road grades everybody, you know, every week and that's not always, it's just not always the case. I think, you know, you're finding out a lot about guys like CP and Mike Davis, guys you're playing with for the first time. Kyle Pitts turning into what he's gonna become as a player, you know, how you thought maybe he would, you know, how you thought teams would defend maybe how he is on the field and what they would do and now maybe it's a little bit different so we're utilizing him in different ways. I think all those things, you know, play a factor and I think when you talk about your offensive line, we had a lot of unknowns in that department too and you know, what run plays and what kind of runs are we gonna feature as we get going and you know, what's gonna be our protections. You have this kind of, you know, really massive playbook and you know, it kind of tends to shrink itself as the year goes on and you figure out the things that you do well that fit your guys and fit the opponents you're going against and so I think, you know, we still got a long way to go. It's still early but I think, you know, you're starting to see us trend in certain directions. At least I feel that way. Yeah and the opposite is true of that as well. You know, there's teams I've been on, you're going with high expectations and it doesn't shake out the way you might think and then there's years you go into it with the high expectations and they do, you know, they do come to fruition and so I've been a part of both and you know, sometimes there's no rhyme or reason for it. You know, it's just the way things shake out but I always go back to the good football teams that I've been on throughout my career are the ones that expected a lot of themselves and put in the work, you know, and didn't take anything for granted and you know, I do see that from this team. I think there's guys that work hard and are on that, you know, quest to get better every day. Good, you know, I thought he practiced well for us. Was out there flying around which has always been the case for him. I mean, he comes out and he plays with unbelievable energy and great speed and I thought he looked great. Yeah, I mean, it's always tough when guys go down. There's no question about that and you always like to have the full complement of players because they're such talented guys but I'm, you know, proud of the way the guys, the other wide receivers stepped up and filled that void, you know, they played tough. It's a really good group that we have, you know, an unselfish group of guys that all pull for each other and you know, that's the case with guys being out like Calvin and Ross. They're pulling for guys like OZ or Tajay to step up and play well and you know, it's cool to see as a teammate. You know, that's what you want. You want a bond of guys that, you know, are encouraging others and you know, also want to do well for themselves. Do you think the receivers have learned, you know, being, of course being now with Dr. Rand guys going into games but being able to show up in the morning? Well, it should create, you know, confidence and belief. You know, that when their time comes, you know, they're ready to go. They've proven that, you know, over and over throughout the season, even when those guys were up, you know, at different times in games, I think back for like Tajay and OZ in New York, playing against the Giants, both those guys came up with huge plays for us in critical situations. So, I would only imagine, you know, it helps to build their confidence as they're moving forward. And when you look back to you, when you look at the defense and some problems they come forward? Well, they're aggressive, you know, in terms of pressuring, sending guys at you, trying to create problems in your protection. They play tight man-to-man coverage, you know, which forces you guys to be really good on the outside, getting releases and winning one-on-one matchups, but they also know how to get out of that and give you certain looks that you think you might be getting pressure and get out to zone type looks and same with giving you man-to-man looks in the secondary but then playing, you know, zone type of coverages. So, they try and stress you in a lot of different ways. Rest, you know, recovery, that's probably the biggest thing, you know, you come back, I feel a lot better going to Wednesday practice than normal, you know, it's, so it gives you an opportunity to get, you know, really good work. And I thought we did that Monday, you know, I thought it was a good practice for us Monday and that's the same for this week too, just feeling fresh and ready to go this coming Sunday. Well, being massive, how much in a year do you know how much you know 100% of it, or do you say, okay, I have 70% and if there's this or that, I feel Laura Matt real quick to speak, but how does that process go? Well, there's new things, you know, new things that come up throughout the season, but of the stuff we installed in training camp, if I don't know 100% of it, it's probably not good, you know, and so I feel like I've got a pretty good command of everything we sit down in the office and talk about as we're going through it, but there are certain things that come up through the course of the year where we might say, I know we haven't done this up until this point, but you know, I think we might need to add it. Justin? Kind of following up on what Empany asked you about actually, I think you said in your press conference in London that your message to the team after it was, you know, it's a five week rest, but also use it to improve. Did you check with guys, you know, what were you doing, how did you improve and what did you hear talking to people about how they use this time off? Yeah, I mean, I thought it was good work we got during the bi-week too on Tuesday and Wednesday, getting back here in the building, getting some of our developmental guys on the field to go out there and get work and I watched a little bit of it as I was kind of getting some of my body work done and I thought they, you know, put in good effort. I think, you know, one of the things you can, you know, look at in terms of improvement is your own daily schedules and what you've been doing, you know, in your routine for the first five weeks, what might have worked, you know, what are areas you might wanna, you know, cut out and that's one of the things I've talked about with some of our different guys is, you know, just making sure as we get into this, you know, long haul stretch of the season, we're in a really good spot of week to week knowing what our preparation looks like and how we can hit those spots because I really believe that's, you know, one of the ultimate ways that helps you play better. And on a slightly different topic, it's a 14-year, then a resident, we saw the picture of Blooper, the brave, the confidence to put out, are you living and dying with this right now or are you staying up and watching? It hurt last night, it hurt last night. I felt like everybody else, a good pitch too, but just a great swing on a high fastball that kind of, that blew that game open. So, yeah, I'm pulling for him. Tonight will probably be, they're eight o'clock tonight? Or they're eight? That's a little too late for me. I might cast for maybe the first two or three. The games are going forever too. They've been long games, but I watched every pitch last night and was bummed for the guys, but they're up to one, you know? And they're playing great, so I'm pulling for them. Have you been doing this for a while, obviously? So do you prefer or do you even tell when you know the body's early and see this? You don't get a choice, you know? You like the one you get. I think every year is just so different of when your team needs it. Sometimes it comes at a good time where a bunch of guys are injured and you've got to get people back. That could be early or late. I don't think it's beneficial one way or the other depending on the year. I think it just depends on the team and the year you're going through. I mean, yeah, you know when guys aren't out there, but when you're playing, you're there with the guys you're with. And because it changes, it's so different from other sports where personnel changes every play, right? And so you're in that huddle and four new guys come in almost every other snap. And when you're out there operating, you operate with the guys that are out there. So, I mean, yeah, you know the guys aren't there, like a Russ, like a Calvin, but when you're on the field, you operate with the guys that you have. From your perspective, we've seen a lot of safeties come through and get the belts here. We've had the old guys, the lawyer and the air, coming with the cool and more. What do you see from Rich Granite? You're going back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Institutional now. What do you see from a team like Rich Granite, he's at the early stage of this, got a little action last week, helping all the special teams, like you learn that spot over there? I think you nailed it. I think the key is to play really good on special teams and it gives you an opportunity to be up on the roster as frequently as you can be, because experience playing, it just can't be replicated. I think when you talk about comparisons to other guys, it's hard, everybody's, the scheme's different than what those guys were playing with Mike Smith and at different times with Dan Quinn. But the constants of good players is the same. It's hard work, it's being passionate about what you do. It's really caring, like genuinely caring. And Rich, he shows that day in and day out, he practices with great energy positivity. He's fun, he's fun to be around, but he knows how to get to work when it's time. And I think that's gonna serve him well. Thank you guys. Appreciate it.