DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa
October 1, 2015
A:…I feel good about my health.
Q: Is this the first week, is this different for you than the previous three weeks? The ideas of feeling like you have a shot to be out there on Sunday?
A: Oh yeah, those past three weeks I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play. They were trying to get me back right, get healthy and things like that. It’s different this week actually practicing, finishing every rep, and everything like that pain free. I’m very excited about how I’m progressing and where I’m going far.
Q: Have the last couple of weeks tested your patience a little bit? I would imagine you were pretty anxious to get out there Week 1.
A: I was super anxious. I just knew that eventually my foot was going to get better and I just had to be patient. I just had to keep reminding myself that I’m not the only one who has gone through this, I can’t let this situation negatively affect me, and to stay positive. That’s what I did, I stayed mentally in the game, studied, prepared as if I was going to play so that when I get back on the field, I don’t lose a beat with the team.
Q: What was the problem with the foot?
A: It was a muscle issue. It’s kind of like a hamstring or a calf, but it’s at the bottom of your foot. It’s kind of unusual how it happened to me but it was just something that was rare really. You haven’t really seen something like that before but at the end of the day it wasn’t anything to do with the bone. That was the first thought was, “oh, maybe it was something with the 5th…or something like that” but they saw that it wasn’t any of that. It was a muscle issue but it was at the weird part of your muscle where you stabilize and you’re moving, and you’re doing everything with that.
Q: Was that the plantar fasciitis or not the same?
A: It wasn’t even anything, to be honest, doctors had seen.
Q: The Odighizuwa muscle.
A: Yeah, my feet are super flat.
Q: In the preseason you showed an incredible motor, high energy, how do you believe you can spark the defensive rotation?
A: For me, I just have to be complete. Whatever situation they put me in, I have to play at a high level and I have to go in there and produce, that’s my goal personally. When I step on the field, I want to be productive for this team and what they need me to do, so whatever it is. If it’s pass rush situations, run situations, I really want to be effective and make plays for the team.
Q: Pass rushers haven’t had a lot of success for the Giants, if you can play and [Robert] Ayers may or may not make it, if you can play, do you feel like you can elevate that?
A: I’m confident. I’m confident that if the coaches put me out there to get after the quarterback, I’m confident that I can get it done. We just have to keep playing. Stats aren’t always the most telling thing, I’m sure you guys have heard from some of our guys, but at the end of the day, it’s what we want to do. We want to get after the quarterback, we want to get sacks, we want to get pressures, hits on the quarterback, and so if I’m fortunate enough to be in those situations, then I’m going to do everything I can to make those things happen.