 I was great. I know everything I know what disease about you know what I'm about and we from at San Fran just the culture that was built there we're gonna bring it over here just with the energy the culture just coaching being locked in on different details we're gonna bring that here in Tennessee given how you entered the year you had a lot of options what was it about coming here to the Titans why why that decision hey you see that D-line I mean big Jeff the Negro Archie here in Landry coming back on the edge I mean it was self-explanatory there just being with those guys and being playing against Tennessee it was always Tennessee D-line was bullies like that's how they played everything was a bully we're gonna bully the offensive line and that's the type of play I play with I'm a bully on the football field and I feel like I feel right in with these guys definitely definitely the since I've been a lead I've been a third down guy having really had the opportunity to come out and play a lot of first and second down or even having the opportunity to start so being here I had that opportunity to come in and start and show my talent what is that like playing for them last year not walking in this building with all the type of love goes I mean it's different and I've been I played a San Fran been with Jacksonville been with the Raiders I mean different team different helmet it doesn't matter to me I'm it matters where I'm at on the football field and what I do on that football field I do great we're gonna get to the quarterback they passed us over here we're going you had and kind of going through the free agent process how much easier did it make the negotiations and stuff knowing ran and having a relationship with him from the past oh it was easy but I mean I don't really talk the money talk I let I leave that up to my agent and that's why I hired him so I let him do the money talk and he handled it position and it's been known to get involved on the practice field is that something that's been attracted to you oh yeah definitely I mean he's a players coach and that's the that's something he prized itself on being a players coach he been doing that when I came out and 15 well 18 he was doing that so it's not a surprise I came here on the 30 for 30 visit so our conversations seeing some of the familiar faces I mean it's good to me three down guy was that something you feel like you were capable of four five years and just weren't getting the opportunity or there's something you need to do more of the first three years that I wasn't ready for it the first three years on coming in learning process on especially my rookie year I played my second year only play six games got hurt and then coming out the injury for my third year so I know I wasn't ready for that then same friend came in and lit it up but being around guys like Nick Bolster Eric Arstead Samson Ebucon all those guys it grew me into the player that I am today and when I got the Jacksonville I felt like I could start and obviously didn't do that so now we're here at Tennessee wanted and how much you want to maybe prove these guys right for bringing in here early oh it's always good to be wanted on anyway you're always gonna go where you love then you wanted wanted the most um it's gonna be amazing cuz you you come into a to a situation where like I said you are wanted you are love so you want to exceed the expectation that's been put on you by coaches gyms or whatever the case may be but for me anybody that put in put any expectations on miss nothing cuz I got the biggest expectation of myself so I'm the hardest critic on myself so yeah racing McMath reach out to you about either before you came here or when you signed here I reached out to them so I reached out to Christian Kevin Byer Jeffrey Simmons Patrick Patrick on Callaway and I think I think that was it they was just telling me things I asked questions about Mike Mike how was he as a head coach and the energy and the vibe that's going on in the town in the locker room that's going on right now do the team believe that they can win do the do the team believe that they they can run the South and a lot of answers was hell yeah solid player obviously but four teams and what six years now what why do you think that is why what teams let you go I'm in so with me and Sam Fran they told me straight up we don't we can't we can't offer you on anything if we offer you something to be disrespectful to you so go test the market out and see um with Jacksonville it was a shock to me I ain't gonna lie um after the year I thought I was gonna be a Jacksonville Jaguar but I felt disrespected because I came in came over there turned to build up the culture brought a whole lot of energy changed the city changed the town and I felt like I was in my right right for mine I was gonna be a Jacksonville Jaguar but that didn't happen um I still love the player love love the teammate love the city love the fans but yeah we got to see them twice turn up the culture you're you're you got that energy in the locker room like what kind of a teammate are you like are you guys you're the one running the the tunes like what oh yeah I mean I'm doing everything I'm I'm a jack-o'-lantern but I'm just me at the at the end of the day like I am I am an energizer bunny when I wake up six in the morning you gonna hit my mouth before I go to sleep you gonna hit my mouth when I'm going to sleep when I while I'm sleeping you gonna hit my mouth cuz I snore so so it's just I am a big energy guy and I love to win and being at San Fran it they taught me the ropes on what it looked like to win so everywhere I go I try to match that formula to anywhere I go because I mean that's a track record that is hard not to follow it's clear you know you're passionate about the game what is it that you love so much about football the camaraderie with teammates with my teammates and then get into a quarterback I love hitting quarterbacks I love disrupting the game even if I'm not hitting the quarterback if I'm in the quarterback face and my guy get a pick that gets me going it's just but most of all it's the team it's been around those guys each and every day going out and working and having fun whether it's on the football field or it's not on the football field just being with that team and that camaraderie I mean you can't beat it on this team not advancing last year were those two of your better games last year and how much joy does you take oh yeah oh yeah yeah yeah so being in the league that November November December that's where you want to play that's where the level play has to increase because you're going into playoff football everything counts then you can start off hot we all seen it team start off hot and then come in at the end and don't make the playoffs or being that team that's one game away from the playoff but I know that in November December you have to play your best ball so if you look of course on the last my last two years my football career that's why I show up November December when we need to get to the playoffs and we talk of playoff football that's why I'm gonna show up being an energizer bunny competitive athlete sounds like you also have a lot of confidence in yourself where does that confidence come from work simple work I put in the work and then it's God give a talent to my guy God bless me with some incredible talent that I know some people can do some people can do it I know it's certain certain things I can't do and other people can do so it's just the talent guy gave me and the work after that I put in and I love the game of football I love I love particularly pass rush I love getting to the quarterback I love beating my man to hit the quarterback and that's what a confidence come in there thank y'all thank y'all I guess first off this word about what do you think about the opportunity here and maybe would rain and tell you when you talk to you initially no I think it's a great opportunity you know I'm grateful to to be here to be a Titan obviously you know linebacker right now is a position of need so I'm grateful to be able to come in here and show everybody you know what I'm about and where I'm gonna bring to the table talking around you know that's like family so knowing him in San Francisco getting to be around him for the four years I was there I think it was just a really good relationship that we had and going into we knew that would be a good opportunity for me being here so I'm just excited for it upside is there for them given the crowd you were dealing with I guess it's in San Francisco I think it's just it's a situation in San Francisco where I was a part of you know one of the best defenses of football for a long period of time you know for those four years I was there we were top five you know I don't want to say almost every year so when you get that type of depth you have that type of bond with everybody it definitely makes it hard when you got to leave by the same time you know just for the development of my career and know where my career is going it's the best thing for me to just part ways with them and like I said I'm excited I think I have so much to bring to the team as a football player but also just as a person you know as a leader so I'm excited to you know share that with the guys. How well around do you consider your game in terms of being maybe the three-down linebacker that stays on the field in the Nicklin dime packages? I mean that's what I do you know I think in San Francisco like we running we hit like the entire time I was there all the linebackers there to be able to play in that defense you know with D'Amico Rines when he was the deco coordinator at Schemes even with Sala it requires a lot on the linebackers so there's a situation where you gotta be able to cover receivers you know I'm saying you gotta be able to take on office alignment and you gotta be physical so those are things that I feel like I thrive at in all phases and I'm excited like I said just for the opportunity to take control of it. You mentioned running and hitting and watching your film like one of the things you seem to arrive at the ball before everyone else is that film study instincts how did you develop like that ability to read a diagnosis like that? You know that's just a blessing I've always had you know I've always had a high motor but it's definitely something that you know wasn't still just throughout my football career and even throughout San Francisco like that linebacker group that we had you know we felt like we ran the show at the end of the day like the defense is gonna play good if the linebackers play good and you know that's the type of mentality I'm trying to still hear as well is that if the linebackers are playing good then everybody else is gonna eat so I just feel like you know that running that hitting that whole mentality that you got to bring it's got to be like that you know you got to set the tone you got to make sure everybody knows you know it's not gonna be a push over it's not gonna be an easy game so. Relationship start or did it come from what makes it such a strong bond? Man I think when you build relationships over years like you just talk to somebody you don't know you know what somebody does I'm a rookie I'm just coming into the building I have no clue who ran is you know I'm just trying to figure out my way around the locker room and the NFL so I think when you just start to just say you know speak to everybody and you know just see with how somebody's days going and what somebody got going on and then you start to slowly talk to them more and more and more and you just end up like I said four years go by and you've built this such as close relationship with so many different people and ran was one of those people you know I'm saying somebody watch film with will break down my game like with talk crap to me even if I had a great game I might have missed one tackle and he's over there just waiting to talk crap to me out there to let me know about myself so it's a relationship you know it's a good one and like I said you know I got the most respect for him and you know I'm excited for for the future excited for the future in the direction that he's gonna take this team and that to be a part of that as well so I have the word leadership you want to bring more to this team than just play and you feel like you're that type of guy why is that and what do you hope in terms of leadership to bring what kind of leadership well you know for me it's been like that for me just throughout my life throughout my career from college high school now I've always been somebody that first led by example doing the right things on the field off the field but also just the way I carry myself the things I've been through in my life and then even getting in the NFL you know knowing the linebacker room is a pretty young group you know I've been able to study the last couple days some of the guys and you know being formally undrafted myself having to work your way up up the food chain to get to the point where I am now it took a lot and I learned a lot you know guys like Juan Alexander Malcolm Smith guys who I was with when I was a rookie and they taught me so much and even growing with the group of guys I had in San Fran for the last four years like you just learned so much Johnny Holland who's my linebacker coach just they taught me so much so I'm just very anxious you know excited to to just pour that out um into the team and pour that out to my to you know just the whole organization really do you want to be heavier and how much heavier could you be while retaining your speed do I want to be heavier well hopefully I could be heavy but just not like you I was flat no I'll give you a hard time now honestly I feel pretty comfortable I feel I feel pretty comfortable about where I am you know I'm playing around like 227-225 you know I prefer to to be up probably two maybe two pounds two or three pounds at most but I feel like you know my fighting weight I should say my perfect weight for me is like 228 so my goal is to try to be like 230 going into training camp so you know you usually shed a couple so be like 228 during the season you probably about uh I'm gonna say 210 something like that come on 185 yeah it's that midsection man he holding all his weight he holding all his weight in the wrong spot you're part of I guess a free-agent group of a couple guys you played with before what's that like coming aboard and what can you tell us about those two guys it just makes us the transition for me a lot smoother obviously you're going to a place where you don't know many people and even though me like I said no ran but at the same time you got to gel with the players and that's gonna take time and you know that's not something you could like fake or rush but knowing Arden already like we played in 2021 together in San Francisco and you know just the type of guy he is y'all ain't meeting yet I don't think but when you do you'll you'll know what I'm saying like he'll speak for himself as far as Daniel Brunskill like true pro you know he was undrafted as well so when I came in he was already you know in the league but being an undrafted guy you know he did everything the right way you know I'm saying he was somebody I modeled myself after not on the field but just as a pro in general like how he carried himself like was about his business you know showed up to work doesn't say much but he's a good dude great energy but like just gets his job done so now was those are the type of things that I could say about uh those two guys for sure he identified with what this team wanted to be all about playing football is it the same for you uh yeah honestly I feel like you know you you get to see different teams throughout the season when you're playing you know you're cross cross referencing through film study stuff like that and even I think in 2021 playing against Tennessee when we were we came down here I think the Thursday night game and it was like the crowd was crazy it was honestly like a crazy atmosphere but you see like the mindset and what people are trying to bring when you feel like dang I know if I was in that situation with those guys I could really help just mold and fit right into what they're trying to do and also like help amplify that and so it's definitely something that I said talking to my agent and looking at the different situations it was like okay I think if I can come here and really make and we can make it work then I think it'll be a really good situation man starts with the D line honestly obviously you know the guys in interior that they have and even some of the guys that are coming back you know from injury Harold Landry you know you just see the same type of things that I saw with San Francisco you know in San Francisco when we had our best D linemen and we had our best years when we had a really good D line so at the same time not only with the D line but the secondary you know I'm saying some of the guys that they have in the secondary I think it's just like you see all the pieces kind of in play that can set you up for something really successful and I just see like I said seeing myself mold into that it's like okay if I'm in that defense with those pieces I know I could thrive so that's that's the go I'm just curious about the inscription maybe on the one behind and you talk about your journey to get here I didn't tell me about that yes sir so right here on this pendant this is uh it's two it's double sided so that's two different things on it but one side is a quote that my mother used to tell me it's from the crime but basically to sum it up it was that which is for you should not pass you by and that which passes you by is not for you and I remember when I first started playing football I was crying like a little baby because my grandfather signed me up lied to the coach told him I was super fast had hands like Jerry Rice and went out there the first day put me with the oldest group of kids because of what he said and I remember with their Oklahoma drill and I got rocked and I remember I literally went home and I cried to my mother and I just told her like you know what a football didn't work out for me like what was I gonna do and I remember she just told me all you could do is work as hard as you can trust in God and everything will take care of yourself she that's when she told me that quote and then on the other side I have is um a poem called Invictus that my grandfather used to always tell me and uh I remember he used to tell me if I could remember the poem he'd give me five dollars when I was a kid and I swear to God I might still not know the full poem but it was the things that always stuck with me was the last two lines and it's I'm the master of my faith I'm the captain of my soul so um you know realistically for me I think it just kind of fit into my whole life you know because everything that was happening throughout my life being homeless you know I'm saying struggling getting to the point where I was you know a top player in college and then tearing my ACL having to go through that being undrafted you know but just not letting anybody control my story and you know just believing in myself and just staying staying the course so another story of of of your family sharing one motel room and just sleeping on the floor in the hour bus ride to school and the fire and all of that did you ever imagine at that stage you'd sign a contract for for what you're you're making now and and how have you had time to kind of think about the journey oh yeah I mean I definitely have different moments to reflect I try to reflect often uh because it is a blessing I think at every stage even to get in the NFL I think you know I remember one of the most like disappointing moments for me was being undrafted because I was sitting there had this whole picture in my head of how I was going to play out and I remember I used to close my eyes when I was a child we were standing at motel and I would watch the draft and every time somebody would get up and say with there's something picking NFL draft they select and I would just close my eyes and say my name so I think my whole life I always thought that that's what was going to be you know for me and so when I ended up going undrafted it was like like how could this happen like I had so I was disappointed in myself because I I realized for that moment like my whole life I wanted to play in the NFL and God was giving me my opportunity but I was so ungrateful because it wasn't happening how I wanted it to happen so you know at the end of the day I can't write a better story than God could have for me or for anybody so and I always say it's God's timing because at the end of the day like it's going to happen when it's supposed to happen and I wouldn't change anything that's happened for me up until this point because I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and honestly I couldn't I couldn't write it any better so man I definitely hope so I know right look my followers about to go down like no problem no problem sorry I just walked upstairs what I guess what was your thought process maybe when free agency started and maybe how did this end up being being in place for you um I kind of got contacted uh you know my agent he's you know Tennessee really likes you and I just it felt like a good fit from the get-go and you know I knew I wanted a fresh start after my four years with the Eagles and you know it feels like they really believe in me here and I believe in myself and my abilities and that this is a place where I can really you know come help the team and you know grow as a player in a person is there other interest to sort through uh yeah there's a little bit other interest to sort through but ultimately you know Titans felt like it could really be the next step for me you know there were circumstances there that that kind of kept you out of the lineup you look at the great offensive line coach are coming out from under um how much did he set you up to come somewhere and and maybe take off yeah so I was very fortunate to be playing under Jeff Stoutland and we even ended up calling at Stout University because he was you know such a great influence and all the players that have you know come and gone through him have you know grown tremendously whether it's as a person as a player you know all of it and uh I have them to thank for a lot that I have learned over these last four years so he definitely prepared me and everybody else for the next step in their careers experience at a couple of different spots but do you consider yourself primarily a left tackle and is that what they have told you that they would like you to be uh in the running for uh left tackle is definitely uh what I have my eyes set on that's my goal it's you know I'm gonna compete and give everything I have to get that spot but obviously um you know I'm willing to do whatever is best for the team at the end of the day but left tackle is definitely what I have my my sights set on an entirely new unit for this team do you look to take a leadership role in that as a veteran and has a left tackle yeah I'm you know I'm certainly willing to like I said do whatever is good for the team you know I'm not uh known as much of a raw raw guy but I've definitely have been in leadership roles before in the past and you know it's not something that I would you know avoid so you say the beginning again sorry with this team maybe how they play and maybe just how you like to fit into that um what I know most so far about the team is just uh kind of the culture around the building that's what I asked a lot about initially when trying to find a new home it's just you know what's the culture like was the camaraderie excuse me what's the camaraderie like you know around the building between relationships between players and coaches you know players players coaches coaches and that whole thing so that really means a lot to me and I I can definitely tell just by who I've met so far today that it's a really good atmosphere to you know come to work every day and put the work in with everybody around you. When you look back at the affiliate experience if you can maybe undo one one piece of it to get back on track and and to have panned out the way you'd like a first-round pick to pan out like what would you retract to have to bend the guy that they wanted when they drive well I mean it's interesting I never thought about that at all like once so I try not to think about oh what if you know what I could have showed a type things you know I definitely know that uh my injury kind of derailed things but like everything kind of happens for a reason I believe that you know and I think that everything has excuse me everything that has happened up to this point um you know has built me into what I am right now so I don't think I would you know change anything. Who's some of the guys that have reached out to you on the O-line perhaps and just some of the guys you were able to meet here? Really all the O-line coaches you know Haas and the you know Jonesy and them and the assistance so I got to sit down and talk to them for a bit it was really cool I think I've seen a couple players around here but uh I'm going to talk to them all pretty soon so I'm excited for that. I have a fresh start do you think here and now in your career you can truly show your full potential of what you can be in I 100% you know firstly beyond grateful for this entire opportunity you know it the the emotions I felt pretty much well surpassed what I felt when my name was called at the draft um sorry but yeah it was a very emotional time for me and um what was that speaking of the draft because you were here Audrey we're on that red carpet you know I remember speaking to you at former Coug and that was such an emotional time for you so is it surreal now to be in this spot and why? Yeah it's it's still kind of sinking in even right now I have all the this tight and stuff around me and it's still just it's interesting that I remember the next day after I got the call my mom was already decked out and tight and so I don't even know how she got the stuff Amazon like next day shipping or something but I thought it was pretty funny and but yeah I this is definitely um a good place for me I feel and I know that I'm fully confident in myself and my abilities to you know take everything that I've learned over these last four years and you know use that as a starting point like a clean slate for here and I'm just beyond excited for what's to come here. Generally rated as a better pass protector than run blocker is that fair and and what's the method to layering the run blocking on on top of the pass protector? Well I mean yeah it's fair I mean everybody's got kind of like what they're they kind of specialize in and you know other things that improvement and so I came from Washington state which at the time was primarily just pass the ball every play but so I got pretty good at that and I really after getting to stout with the Eagles I've practiced a whole lot you know different technique stuff and over those you know four years I've steadily been improving in the run game too and I think this most recent year has been the like the better of all of it for me so far so I'm still going up in that. What did you learn about yourself through recovery and did you have to reinvent yourself at all afterwards or was it kind of just coming back to normal? It was it was pretty hard nothing like that had ever happened to me before and so I really had to kind of take some time to look in a word and you know figure some things out and you do learn about yourself through experiences like that especially when it takes you out of doing what you have to do for such a long time but it really taught me to you know just really put your nose down and dedicate everything about yourself to to what you really want you know and so I wanted nothing more than to come back and compete for that spot and you know things obviously happen how they happen but it really built me in a way you know it I wouldn't change anything like I said because it's what helped me grow to be how I am now. My guys on that line looking at each other for the first time how big of a challenge is that going to be to bring that unit together by September? You know I think a big part of it is just becoming really good friends and at the end of the day because at the Eagles you know we were all really close with each other we'd always go out to eat we'd always just go do fun things and hang out each other's houses whatever you know hang out after practice play ping-pong pool and stuff like that just you know get together with the guys and you know pick each other's brain learn how everybody ticks you know get the different personalities to you know build that chemistry together and you know just when you're in here it's time to work and build each other up. I understand you do some impressions is that correct and it's so uh impressions oh jeez well uh we got one of stout you know we call him the Tasmanian devil sometimes so as soon as we walk into the old line room he kind of trips over his words sometimes but yeah he we we like to make impressions of stout sometimes it's pretty fun oh i guess mulatto maybe it's like i don't know i don't do a great you know boy mate man that sounded more british didn't it good day what's that you sing with all the rest of no there was a reason i wasn't picked for the album yeah definitely what did brandon maybe some of the coaches tell you about how they wanted this off into line rebuild um you know just if it was you know they wanted athletic guys that can get out in space and they thought i was a good candidate for that and just some gritty tough dudes that can work well together you too thank you how you guys doing today good good glad to be here came here that this might be a spot for you uh definitely i mean going into free agency knowing that uh there's nine or guys going out to other places definitely think of it as probably your first option to go to so i'd say that's you know definitely true line was there any particular area like right guard left guard center that they talked to you specifically about uh no we haven't really gotten into the specifics on what position or anything like that um at the end of the day it's just how do we get on the field and how do we play that's kind of where i want to be at and then i got starts at all five and i don't mind playing any position just whatever position gets you on the field as far as the scheme is concerned was there anything that really you know stood out to you about this organization the scheme to make you come here they like to run the damn ball so i like running the ball being difficult to flip you've obviously been able to do that yeah seemingly with ease what what's been the key to your ability i think uh it's definitely hard i wouldn't say with ease on on stuff there it definitely takes some time to kind of get used to each side so i feel for the guys that have to make those switches um but it's definitely possible and you'll go out there i remember when i was going out at left guard you know you feel a little uncomfortable after doing right guard for so long for a little while then you go out there at left side you know it feels uncomfortable at first but then at the end of the day once you start playing ball you kind of start settling down and you you know it just becomes football and the instincts take over so um takes a little getting used to at first but once you get like some good practice quality time at that you can pretty much do whatever position what do i tell you if i could do this process i guess when you side or when you agree to terms with maybe what you told me since you've been in the building um i mean he's just excited he's just excited to kind of help grow the culture here and then uh just kind of get to play in football we haven't talked too much specifics on that part um just uh excited to be here and uh to be a tighten your skill set you consider yourself to be more of a technician a guy that can be used to pull do things like that are you more of a brawler um uh i i mean i i would say uh i like to say i'm physical but at the same time uh i mean a technician technician um for me uh i just know a lot about football i mean i'm a i'm a smart guy um not trying to to boast about that but uh i mean i think for me it's knowledge of the game being able to apply what i've learned throughout the my time and all my experience to be able to put myself in the best situation to go against the guy um but uh i mean i'm also not afraid to hit anybody in the mouth and and you know to go out there and just play football and that's part of the game and that's part of why i love this game so uh i'd say a little bit of both you mentioned your iq and your toughness is that what you think what drew the Titans to you for the most part um yeah i would hope so like uh i think uh for me the versatility was the the big thing to be able to take advantage of that uh i know that's one thing that they brought up um but uh yeah that's i mean i got to play with an organization that that that's an amazing football team for four years and uh we were able to accomplish a lot of good things i wish we would have gone farther than we did no that's probably the most uh hurtful thing about that time there is not being able to finish what we started but um i love those guys over there and and i think this team has that and you can tell the way they run the ball to the well that tell where the way they play um however ables out there um you can tell the genuine love for the game and all that and uh i can't wait to to get started with those guys on that and to be able to um take what i learned from the Niners and help these guys and i mean at the end of the day i want to win football games restart daniel i'm on the offensive line here and there's going to be a lot of new faces how much leadership do you feel like you could bring to to the group as it looks to gel and shorter i mean i think i can bring uh leadership at the end of the day it's kind of just how guys mess in the room and uh it's just building chemistry uh i think anybody in that room could be a leader whether you're a young guy or whether you're an older guy you can learn a lot from everybody there i'd like to to be able to breathe that uh that veteran figure for some of those guys that want to learn some things be able to help those guys develop in their career um but uh i mean at the end of the day like it's more of just kind of more of a brotherhood if everybody can you know work together and that's one thing of the Niners like when we got in groups like whether new guys were coming in or not being able to mesh together that's when you notice the the best things like in nineteen we had a lot older crew um uh those guys uh taught somebody so like me in school um so much stuff and uh to be able to learn from those guys it was awesome and then as my you know career went on you start getting a younger room in there and it's still kind of the same thing um but just kind of just meshing together as a group that's the the biggest thing yes i did i played tight in college so what was that transition like were you resisting to it or were you excited uh no i wasn't resisting to it um they uh came to me my senior year um for the second summer session said one of the guys he had a blood clot went down wasn't going to be able to be our our tackle they needed a guy and they thought i could be the best position our best guy to do that position at the time um so i was excited to do that and uh i played at uh i think like 270 and was able to do fine um and so you know at the end of the day like i said i want to win football games how does our football team win games what position do i gotta be to win games that's that's what i want to do i want to be on a winning football team and i i want to take that and uh i want to go win at the the highest level we can and you know i gotta get a super bowl that's big um i mean i i had some teams looking me at tight end i think that that could have been possible um at the end of the day you know the team that wanted me wanted me at online so i mean i would have done either one they wanted me to do so those guys obviously um when it comes to just the south how much did you know about it how much did you know about nashville and has there been anybody on the team that has reached out to you um with the the titans with players yeah from from the titans um i have not met anybody on the titans uh i don't know i mean throughout my career i think there was uh one guy um that was with the niers with me for a little bit that played for the titans but other than that i haven't met anybody um i mean of course walking through the building i've you know met some guys today but uh have not talked to anybody about that um with the niners though it there's a lot of guys actually in the national area that were former niners um we all know kiddo lives here uh he's got this compound in a colt uh he's got a bunch of guys working out there but i know some of the titan guys work out of there so i'd love to talk to those guys about that and then but i'm excited uh i spent my first two years on practice squad with atlanta so i've been to the south before and i kind of know how that is and um i mean i'm gonna i'm gonna love this city uh i've been here twice before not very long uh just kind of short visits and i'm uh i'm excited to to be in this city and to be able to experience it you've been reunited with aziz here as well and how exciting is that it might be with any player the titans getting to him yeah no me and aziz rode over to do our physicals together and to to sign so we were joking in the car and then also ardent key he played with the niners uh i know him very well when i signed uh he congratulated me uh messaged me and and we talked a little bit um so i'm excited to have those guys uh just be former players because i know what those guys can do the great players and and i'm excited to be playing with them again yeah would you do when you were here you know previously and what do you think about the city maybe as a whole one of my buddy's wedding uh um that's uh when i came out once before so i got to you know experience broadway a little bit um just a short little week and have a little fun uh with the guys so then got to do that and then before that i was actually driving my car back from Atlanta so then i i stopped by i got to experience a restaurant but didn't stay too long you played all over the line but do you have a position that's your favorite or what is your most comfortable with um i mean playing on the right side i played more at that so i'd say most comfortable in being honest it'd be right side whether it's right guard or right tackle um but uh at the end of the day like i said i just want to play football so whatever whatever position i can go out there and play on i'll i'll go play so i don't i don't mind playing left left guard left tackle center um any of those positions i i will enjoy and i just want to play football uh yeah i mean at the end of the day those guys are just great athletes and what they do on um run the ball and i'm excited for both um uh whether you make a guy miss or whether you run a guy over you're still doing something to get more yards so they're both the same in that way and they're both great running backs they both play hard and i'm excited to to be able to be on a team with you know that good over running back to be able to you know takes the takes the pressure off you a little bit um and it just makes you even more excited because if you can give that guy just any type of lane you know he can take it to the house and so that just kind of gets you a little bit more motivated knowing that you know if you give him just a little bit more space he can you know make some big big plays new guys together on the same unit like you guys will have what does it take to establish a culture together instead of time um just getting in the building getting together uh i think the more you spend time together with those guys you can learn about each other the more you guys talk out there i think communication is the biggest thing um the more we can all be on the same page and used to like you know how you block um how you run you know your wide zone and stuff like that so you're not stepping on each other you know you're working together in tandem like if a guy is an angle set guy or a vertical set guy kind of just knowing the guy next to you a little bit and being able to so that you know you can set in unison and then it makes it a lot easier you want to get those d-lime and give them less rush lanes less space to work with stuff like that so uh i think uh just working with these guys and and seeing that the the more you can get together i think otas will be huge just because you know you got a bunch of guys getting together learning you know learning a lot about each other and so then when better you can communicate on the field and you get you know exactly what the other guy's talking about when he's saying something because there's places you go to play and you can't hear a damn thing so being able to like if you hear barely what the guy said and know like what exactly what he means by it that's going to be huge so the more you can be in unison on that just the better it is no i haven't been to kiddos titan can i actually haven't been to his compound at all and i call it a compound in his house but uh um yeah yeah no he has a turf field he does have a golf course that he's building he's got a bunch of stuff but uh i've heard it's great he uh he reached out to me right away and uh he told me like come by uh i just know it's a little farther outside of nashville so i just gotta wait till i get my car here someone to take me out there because i don't want to pay the uber right out there but uh yeah no it's true yeah so but uh yeah no i just i told george i'm gonna as soon as i my i get out here and get settled in i'm definitely gonna stop by um he's a i love george he's a he's a great guy and uh i'd love to see what he's got going over there because i've heard a lot of good things about it yeah i'm super excited um you know i know that wherever i go my role is gonna be first to just dominate on special teams and then really just do whatever i can to help the team um hopefully whether that's a little bit of linebacker here in there or whatever they see see for me is is what i'll do so i'm excited about it for sure it was stated that you know the Dallas coaching staff felt that you had room to get more reps on defense that opportunity possibly here how much did that go into your decision to come here yeah for sure i i think it definitely did i could tell that they had value in me and thought a lot of me you know um and the opportunity to do more on defense is definitely something that i've wanted to do and i think is this is a good place for it um i think i kind of identify with with the organization and the way they play football so yeah this is a great opportunity for me discover your map for special teams is that something that developed over time or was it something you always yeah um it definitely developed over time uh i would say that i was probably one of those guys rookie year i knew was gonna be important for my career um but i didn't really pour myself into it here until probably my second or third year and really kind of uh discovered myself and and how to do it so um yeah you know it's it's a huge part of the game and um it's really important and i i found my way on special teams for sure when you were here for the december game and uh kind of kind of interesting how it kind of developed it now you're playing here yeah you know i at the time know um you kind of you never really look ahead or at least i didn't um so thinking back about it it's pretty cool you know i i knew national was a great city i've had some teammates that have played here and have loved it here so i'm super excited just to be here because i know how great of a city it is and the fans so yeah i've been a couple times um once for spring break in college and then um i actually was here and saw morgan wall in last spring so i'm a i'm a big country music guy you can't can't beat nashville when it comes to that so i i love it here having guys like tart and simons in front of you that's linebackers who really excel for sure yeah anytime you can play behind guys like that it's it's a it's a huge blessing for the for the backers um so yeah that's something that i'm really looking forward to is being behind those guys and working with them and getting to know everybody and um yeah that's it that's exciting for sure versatility was that one of the big things you felt the techniques were most attracted to you how would you describe your overall style of play yeah um i think so um you know even even from college i came in as a safety and kind of made my way all the way down played inside backer played basically rush in um so i've kind of done everything you know and i think that that will always be one of my strong suits and something that will help me i think i have the ability to play sam mic or will and um whatever it may be for the team i'll do it you know so however we can win games is what i'll do what does it take to be a specialty player on that unit well you know i think you have to be a really good football player to be good on special teams in my opinion i think there's just so much that goes into it whether it's blocking open field tackling for me i think the hardest thing for me was uh becoming a really good um return front line blocker i think that's one of the hardest things in the game and if you haven't done it you don't really know until you're out there i remember the first the first couple of games i played my rookie year i was like distraught because i hadn't figured it out yet you know and it took me some time but um i think that's one of the marks of a really good special teams players if you can block on the front line then you're a dude and uh so that's something that i've kind of taken pride in for sure dallas where everybody's looking to hear presumably nashville's the only place yeah um you know i think it'll take some time but it this is a really cool opportunity i think the city um is a great place you know if you we can win here i think that it would go a long ways and be a lot of fun um i'm from nebraska and played in nebraska so i kind of understand from a media standpoint i've been this is you know like i've kind of seen it when i got to dallas it was like it was just normal that's what i expected so um it's cool but uh it doesn't really matter you know whether you're whether there's a stadium full or there's no one out there we're still out there doing our jobs and doing what it takes to win games and that's the main main goal josh is my guy actually so uh i hit him up probably about a week before free agency started and i kind of just got the rundown from him and um he's had nothing but good things to say about it he loves it here and so um i know when i talked to coach brable um i didn't i i already knew what i was thinking you know so uh but yeah josh is my guy he's a great dude nebraska guy will compton this is exciting oh yeah willy yeah yeah if you heard from him the boy uh i haven't heard him since i've heard from him since i signed um he reached out to me but yeah he's a great dude i usually uh i ran into him at the spring game um at nebraska last spring so i usually try to try to talk to him here and there but he's a great dude for sure oh yeah i'm i'm a i'm a fan i don't know if you can say i'm tier one um i'm trying to be respectful of the tiers you know i don't want to just place myself as a tier one guy but if you go through my my uh podcast list most of them are listened to so i'm up there yeah yeah sorry willy uh i'm your your ten still out there for him i think he can figure it out yeah yeah yeah yeah no no shots at will i am not gonna be uh no shots no he's a black shirt so appreciate it guys thank you