Defensive Lineman Leonard Williams
Q: You watched football, right?
A: I wasn't a big football fan growing up that much, either. I still started watching football around like eighth grade, maybe.
Q: I guess you don't have any similarities in your game to (Chiefs Wide Receiver) Tyreek Hill?
A: No, no, no. I'm like three of him (laughs).
Q: When we talk about their speed, does that effect the defensive line as much? Their team speed, what does it do to your position?
A: I think it does affect us in some ways. They're a big screen team and for a defensive lineman, we're going to have to be able to read that and get out the stack and know the type of weapons that they have on offense.
Q: How important is it for you guys to generate a pass rush?
A: I think it's really important for our pass rush to affect the quarterback this week, as it is every week. The quarterback is always the leader of the offense and if you can make that guy flustered, it's going to affect their offense a lot. Also, just staying alive on the rush. He's the type of guy that he's never really fully down and you've just got to keep rushing and keep getting after him.
Q: Is that one of those differences now where you go into so many games where the quarterback is getting that ball out. (Chiefs Quarterback Patrick) Mahomes is kind of the opposite. He wants to hold it so things can develop down the field. For you guys, is there a switch that has to go off knowing that this play is never going to end?
A: Yeah, sometimes it's kind of hard going against a quarterback that's getting the ball out quick. It gets frustrating for a d-lineman. Sometimes you'll get a nice win and then the ball is out in one, two seconds. It's also frustrating going against a guy who can run around that much as well. We're going to have to stay rotating, make sure guys have fresh legs. Like I said, just keep playing until the play is over, until you hear that whistle. There are times where you'll see him on film, like a guy is completely wrapping him up and he's standing up just long enough to get that ball out. We just have to stay alive.
Q: What has impressed you about (Linebacker) Azeez (Ojulari) so far in his rookie year?
A: I think just his humble nature. He just came in knowing his position, knowing he's younger, knowing that he has guys ahead of him that he can learn from. I think he's definitely taken on that role. He's stepping into himself and he's getting more confident. Each week I just see him getting better and better. It's a testament to him and how hard he works and how humble he is and how hungry he is to learn the game.
Q: (Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator) Patrick Graham was telling us you really can't load the box against an offense like this, so how much is on a guy like you or (Defensive Lineman) Dexter (Lawrence II) to really control the line of scrimmage as far as the run defense?
A: As a prideful group, as a prideful defense and as a prideful defensive line room, we want to feel like the game is on our back every time. At the same time, like you said, we know that we're going to have to have guys in coverage this game and it's going to be on us four or us three or however many of us there is to get it done.
Q: Thinking back to training camp a little bit, you didn't line up or even practice against him every play, but what have you seen in a couple of years from (Tackle) Matt Peart? You make a living out of trying to beat those guys. What do you sense from him?
A: I think since he's been here, he's just a really big, physical human. He has giant hands, he has really long arms, he's powerful in the run game, he has a good punch in the passing game. You know, he's still developing, he's a little bit younger, and just like Azeez and a lot of those younger guys, they have to keep growing into themselves and building that confidence.
Q: Being the guy who makes his living beating guys like that, can you see him being a guy who one day will be tough for guys like you?
A: For sure. He has already been tough to go against in practice and even when he was a rookie last year, he was tough to go against. Some of the d-line, we even talk about how big and strong he is. Sometimes when he gets his hands on you and locks you up, it's hard to get off of him.
Q: Last week with the confidence that you guys maybe got putting it together and looking like the defense you were last year, how much is that something that you can carry over into this week into another game? Is it something that's transferrable?
A: Yeah, definitely. It was big for our defense to have that type of game, (and) our team to have that type of game. We definitely want to keep growing and building off of that and letting that confidence carry over. But at the same time, we want to be humble and respect our opponents, and go into the game knowing that they have weapons as well, but just build off of what we did last week.
Q: When you looked at it, to you did it look more like what you guys were last year than you have early this season?
A: I don't know, it's kind of hard to compare years all the time. Even if we have similar players, similar coaches, it's always a new team. That's kind of how I view being in the NFL, almost every year is a new team and I try not to compare this year to last year. But just overall, going off of this year, it definitely seems like the type of team I want to keep being a part of – what we did last week. If we continue to build off of that I think we're going in the right direction.
