Do you feel like because this team, on defense in particular, Tyrell, had a lot of carryover from last season, does that make it easier to play faster and more violently when you, when you have sort of an understanding of what the guy next to you is gonna do out there, that chemistry?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Um, I remember last year when it was week one and we had a whole bunch of new faces in the building, and we were tryna, tryna figure out where everybody's gonna play and what our defense is gonna look like.

And we kinda obviously started off shaky, but we had a bye week, I think it was like week s- five or six, and we came back and kinda started to gel.

Guys started hanging out more.

We got more comfortable with each other.

And then when we came to camp this year, um, there was like -- It didn't feel like it was our first training camp together.

Does that change how you study quarterbacks now compared to how you did earlier in your career? Like, when you're looking for tendencies that might give you a chance at an interception, whatever the case is, do you find you study a little bit differently?

uh tell me about just the emphasis on trying to clean that up because i think at six only in the first uh five or six games

yeah i mean that's a good good way to lose games give it up explosion plays uh so we just gotta again a lot of the stuff too like was just mental bust i think maybe one of them uh i think phil paul made a nice catch but i mean the 50 50 balls i can live with that that's okay like that that's football that happens but again the mental side we gotta be better we can't be yeah

having a benefit of a practice week with the alignment you hope you're going into on saturday that how much does that benefit because you're you know getting some reps in together

uh yeah i mean obviously a couple new pieces um But it's guys that they've been rotating in and they've been getting reps.

So we just, I guess maybe they just got uncomfortable or maybe the lights were too bright or something.

I don't know.

But we just got to figure it out and make sure we're on the same page.

We got to talk before the plays.

Yeah.

So they can all kind of do everything, and so they're, they're hard to account for defensively, 'cause you just never know who's gonna line up where, who's gonna do what, what the, what their game plan is.

Um, and again, they're just -- s- like, even Jason Maas, the way he calls the game, he's unpredictable.

You never really know what he's thinking or what he's gonna do.

So it's a team that you kind of have to play true.

Uh, I wouldn't say you could really scheme particularly for anybody, because you just, you just never know.

You kind of got to go out there and just play your defense and believe in your, your system and the guys around you and just play football.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they can all kind of do everything.

And so they're, they're hard to account for defensively, 'cause you just never know who's gonna line up where, who's gonna do what, what the, what their game plan is.

Um, and again, they're just-- S- Like, even Jason Maas, the way he calls the game, he's unpredictable.

You never really know what he's thinking or what he's gonna do.

So it's a team that you kind of have to play true.

Uh, I wouldn't say you could really scheme particularly for anybody, because you just, you just never know.

Yeah.

So do you guys practice some of those things?

Yeah, absolutely not.

up to go try to help block and then I guess KJ was screaming his name so he looked back and pitched it but he pitched it to me and I kind of just caught it and kind of went from there.

But like all our plays and stuff are similar stuff we were doing last year.

We just have all the little details figured out and I think everybody's kind of just comfortable around each other now instead of new pieces being all over the place.

Everybody's in the same spot they were last year and it's just a pretty smooth transition.

What's it like playing in a constant rain game like like you did in those first two games?

Um, yeah, I'm not gonna, I was definitely, I feel like in my head a little bit.

What's the key to that, Tyrell? What do you think the growth point has been in those games? Look, tonight, I mean, the Alouettes got a lot of yards, a lot of points, whether it was ground, whether it was passing, but you found a way to, right at the end of the game, make the key plays to get the ball back to your offense and hold them to three.

Yeah, I think it just comes down to believing in the guys around you, trusting in our game plan, and just playing for each other.

When you look over, a couple guys were banged up.

A lot of the DBs were playing special teams, and people were cramping and stuff, but we found a way to push through and got the job done.

You guys seemed to really do a great job tonight.

Yeah, I think we're doing a good job of eliminating explosion plays.

If you look at their last couple games, they've had a lot of explosion plays.

So we knew if we could limit those, we could stay in the game, and we did enough to win.

What's the key to that, Tyrell? What do you think the growth point has been in those games where, look, tonight, I mean, the Alouettes got a lot of yards, a lot of points, you know, whether it was ground, whether it was passing, but you found a way to, you know, right at the end of the game, make the key plays to get the ball back to your offense and hold them to three.

Yeah, I think it just comes down to believing in the guys around you, trusting in our game plan, and just playing for each other.

When you look over, a couple guys were banged up.

A lot of the DBs were playing special teams, and people were cramping and stuff, but we found a way to push through and got the job done.

You guys seem to really do a great job tonight.

Yeah, I think we're doing a good job of eliminating explosion plays.

If you look at their last couple games, they've had a lot of explosion plays.

So we knew if we could limit those, we could stay in the game, and we did enough to win.

Would you agree with that assessment?

Um, I feel like my assessment for the NFL would definitely be flawed, 'cause I didn't, I was only there for camp, so, like, I didn't really...

Well, I was there for, like, the six months of off-season and whatever, whatever.

Um, and, like, there was, I guess there really wasn't, like, a stigma there, but they did put me ha- uh, like, nickel.

They were like, "You know what?" Like, "You're in the CFL.

You, you definitely play nickel," so they put me there.

Um, but I mean, it, it's definitely, like, coming to the CFL, it was, my first year was definitely, like, okay, like, yeah, you, you're good enough to play outside.

The game that you've played the majority of your life.