Mm-hmm.

And, and listen, I know everybody wants it to happen fast, but, but these do, these things do take time.

It's a very detailed offense.

So just putting that, that out there.

And I thought, you know, when I watched their offense coming into this game, I really felt like they were farther along and doing better than either I would expect or a lot of people would expect.

I thought they were...

You know, they're not a great, great offense, but I thought they looked better and cleaner than you would expect in your first year.

Um, w- your thoughts on those final four plays on the goal line, what went wrong from the C- from, from the Cardinals' perspective from your vantage point?

But could you maybe talk about, with all the years of watching this, is there anything that you've seen compared to like a Lamar and a Derrick Henry? Because I've had a lot of people have talked about that duo, and it really is in rarefied air.

It is.

It's unique just because you're talking about really two of the most athletically – gifted humans that I've seen play in respect to their positions not only just physically but instinctively um and just their their their instinctual knowledge of the game um it's hard to really find those guys just in general to have both of those guys on the same team and and I know Derek's getting up there in years but I mean they look like they're in their prime quite honestly um Um, that is, that is significantly challenging.

And the way that Zay played for that, you know, half of a game, I was looking at their offense and I started thinking to myself, well, now you, you have three legitimate matchup guys that one-on-one you don't want to deal with.

in any way, shape, or form.

And Lamar can do it, of course, with his legs, but also with his arm.

You can't give Henry any one-on-one opportunities.

You know, does this have the feelings in your mind to be more of a higher-scoring game, or is there stuff on the Saints' defensive side that you think could be problematic?

But could you maybe talk about, with all the years of watching this, is there anything that you've seen compared to like a Lamar and a Derrick Henry? Because I've had a lot of people have talked about that duo, and it really is in rarefied air.

It is.

It's unique just because you're talking about really two of the most athletically – gifted humans that i've seen play in respect to their positions not only just physically but instinctively um and just their their their instinctual knowledge of the game um it's hard to really find those guys just in general to have both of those guys on the same team and and i know derrick's getting up there in years but i mean they look like they're in their prime quite honestly um Um, that is, that is significantly challenging.

And the way that Zay played for that, you know, half of a game, I was looking at their offense and I started thinking to myself, well, now you, you have three legitimate matchup guys that one-on-one you don't want to deal with.

in any way, shape, or form.

And Lamar can do it, of course, with his legs, but also with his arm.

You can't give Henry any one-on-one opportunities.

You know, does this have the feelings in your mind to be more of a higher-scoring game, or is there stuff on the Saints' defensive side that you think could be problematic?

... or throw it out of bounds, winds up getting intercepted and the Seahawks get the win.

Yeah.

Listen, it was a fascinating drive because, you know, I got a chance to, to, to, to watch this game, you know, in that fourth quarter.

And after he threw that second interception and then they got the ball back, I was curious to see how, how Josh was gonna call it.

A, how aggressive were they gonna be? And then how was, how was Drake gonna handle that last...

You know, after you throw two, two picks like that, you know, that can get you on the ropes a little bit, especially on the road and in that venue.

So that was really interesting to me.

How do you feel about these two teams coming into the season?

[laughs]

Thanks a lot, Ross.

Um, yeah, well listen, I knew, I knew at a young age that I was, I was going to play in the NFL.

Um, I just didn't have the body for it yet.

And, and back then, again, there wasn't really internet, so I, I read, you know, Muscle Media magazine and Flex, and I was just trying to read as much stuff, 'cause I knew that if I wanted to play ball, I had to get bigger, faster, and stronger.

And, and I just knew that I had to be different, and I just couldn't do what everybody else was doing.

And so I'll try and shorten this story, but it was the, uh, Christmas of my junior year in high school, and I ran, at that time, I ran, like, a 4.8 forty, so I wasn't fast enough.

No.

Isn't that exactly what Mike McDonald does better than everybody else?

Well, based on the way his players play, yes.

I would say that.

You know, I look at, you know, it's, I mean, we could talk about this stuff for hours.

And, you know, there's different philosophies on defense.

You know, some guys have a lot more volume.

Some guys are more simplistic.

That fair?

Isn't that exactly what Mike McDonald does better than everybody else?

Well, based on the way his players play, yes.

I would say that.

You know, I look at – you know, it's – I mean, we could talk about this stuff for hours.

And, you know, there's different philosophies on defense.

You know, some guys have a lot more volume.

Some guys are more simplistic.

That fair? Yeah.

18-year-old boy that wanted a fif- uh, a, a $50, you know, year-long subscription

subscriptionYeah, absolutely.

Um, you know, I knew, you know, I- it's kind of a gift and a curse, I think, in a, in a bit because I think I've...

If I, you know, I don't think I was born with any overly tremendous, you know, athletic ability.

There's certainly nothing that, that jumps off the charts.

Um, but, you know, what I think that, that, that I've been able to do is have this ability to just detach from any, any emotion whatsoever or any judgment about what's happening or my circumstance, and just look at things as problem-solving, and just, "Okay, what do I need to do? What is the best and most efficient way to accomplish this? Okay, what's next?" And so, you know, the draft process was, you know, I started finally getting some attention, uh, after my junior season, but there was still this, this idea that, "Hey, I've gotta move from linebacker to safety." And, and, and so maybe at the beginning of my senior season, it was like, okay, people can start seeing me as a, you know, 'cause of the projection, a, a mid, mid-round pick, right? Well, when you move to safety, um, the number one thing they need to know is can he actually run, right? We know the film looks good, but, but again, can he actually run? And so after that process my senior year, my senior year finished, and now, like, legitimately as a prospect, it's like, all right, this guy's really good.

You know, he's probably the best linebacker i-i-in, in college football, but he's 211 pounds, so he's gonna be a safety.

Mm-hmm.

I feel like that's exactly what Aikman is being paid to tell Steven Ross.

100%.

It may sound ridiculous to you, but this is what Troy Aikman probably said, "Man, where do you start?" Uh, you know, it is.

And, and, look, there's a lot of haves and there's a lot of have nots in the NFL, and, um, if you are saddled with a quarterback, uh, a hole at quarterback, and you're saddled with, with salary cap quarterback hell, then that is a really, really tough place to start.

Until you figure that out, um, then it's gonna be an uphill battle, for sure.

Shoot the gap.

Yeah, you go, you go after, you go after guys that have done it.

And you go after program builders and...