Safety Landon Collins
Postgame vs. Eagles – November 6, 2016
Q: Your interception today, did you think you were going to take that one back to the house?
A: Yeah, that is my first mindset definitely. But I got tripped up. Once I tripped up, the offensive lineman got the chance to come and swallow me up.
Q: You guys had a chance to kill the clock on offense, Eli threw an interception. What was it like on those last four downs?
A: All our mindset is, is that defense wins championships. We were called upon again to make a play, make a stop and that is what we strive on.
Q: Landon, can you tell me what happened on those fourth down stops?
A: Just hungry. Just hungry for it. They tried us. If you are going to try us, we are going to bring everything to you and you are going to have to really fight for those yards. We are not just going to give it to you.
Q: Landon, you remember last year a bunch of fourth quarter leads this team blew, what’s the difference this year? You guys are making the fourth quarter stops now.
A: Everybody knows what they’re doing. Everybody knows the details, the concepts, where we need help at and where we need to be at on defense and making those plays. We’re playing fast and we are not thinking.
Q: Is that a pretty big confidence boost now seeing that you guys are getting it done?
A: Yeah, definitely. We did that in Dallas and it was like, ‘We have got the guys and we know that.’ All we have to do now is just finish and keep playing the way that we are playing.
Q: What can you say about the way Trevin Wade played?
A: That is our guy. We have trust in him, we love him and he is going to make plays. We put him in a bad situation, but he is going to make the good outcome for him and when his name is called upon, that is what great players do.
Q: What would you say you guys focused on coming out of the bye defensively?
A: Just working on what we been working on. Our biggest concern was third downs. Third downs, getting off the field on third downs. We got called upon to make fourth down stops, but get off the field on third downs and get the offense the ball as soon as possible.
Q: What kind of momentum on the sideline was happening when you guys had those two picks on the Eagles first two possessions and the offense was able to execute right away.
A: Just what you said, the offense was ready to execute. We got them the ball and they were hyped. You take a lot out of the opposing defense when you make a turnover. Some of them rise up to the challenge, some of them don’t and at that time they didn’t.
Q: With a 14-0 start, how do you make sure you just keep putting a team away?
A: We keep making plays on defense, getting third down stops and on offense we keep pushing the ball down the field and running the clock out and just scoring
Q: What was the kind of pressure today with the rookie quarterback coming in playing against you guys for the first time?
A: Oh man, he is a great guy, a great quarterback. He is going to be great in more years to come. Just knowing that all the weeks that we had on him in the film study, we knew what he liked to do, where his run reads were at and the concept wise of their offense was the quick game. It was more about getting the ball out of his hands very fast and we just had to be where he threw it at and make tackles and make plays.
Q: You had three different guys playing free safety. What is it like for you to play with all those different guys?
A: Just confidence. I know my guys know what they are doing. I have been with all those guys the past two years and they know what they are supposed to do, so I am not really worried about what they have to do or if they have a question, we can easily correct it on the field and understand what is going on. It is never a fight back there.
Q: After the last interception, were you guys just looking at each other going “oh no”?
A: No, we were just thinking that we have to do it again. You have got to get a stop and get back the ball back to the offense.
Q: Does Odell owe you anything for the outcome of last night’s Alabama-LSU game?
A: Definitely. We had a little wager on the game. We have to take this picture on Monday, so you will all have to wait on it.
Q: What do you say to Eli Apple when you know he had a tough game tonight?
A: I went through it last year. I just told him to talk to me. It is the way the game goes. You are going to have some great games; you are going to have some down games. You just have to be able to turn the page. We all have those games. We are always going to look back at Trevin Wade. Everyone is going to have these games and look at what he did today. Just keep your head up and keep pushing. We love you, regardless. You are our brother, regardless of what anyone says about you or people downing you, we will always protect you.
Q: Is this the first time this year you felt both offense and defense were making big plays in the game?
A: No, it has been ongoing. They don’t make all the big plays, but they make the big plays when we need it, so they do it when it counts and they did that today, definitely, and the same with the defense.
