In the national team, many guys quit, did not want to play, and we had a really young team, and we changed the coach. Many things happened for us.
There are guys on different teams across the league who are bench guys, and guys who that - that's their role, to be on the bench encouraging guys to play hard and get good minutes.
We have three kinds of guys on our team. We have guys that get it; they play good; they understand how to play winning football. We have some guys that are trying to get it, and they are working hard every day? We are supporting them, and we want the guys that have it to support them. Then we have some guys that don't get it and don't know that they don't get it. We are trying to replace them. We only have a couple left.
It's a league that you really have to get used to. If you're coming from another one, it's a tough league. Getting the experience playing in a Premier League team and getting hopefully consistent games will be huge for me.
Defense is all about if you want to play or not, if you really take matchups personal. A lot of guys don't. Once again, that's the league that we're in. That's not the league that used to be.
You need young guys to come in and play like older guys, really help the team and produce.
There are a handful of guys that are really good at what they're doing from the receiver position, which is the easiest position in the NFL. There are a handful of guys that are good at it. There's not one particular guy that would concern me when I'm going into a game, but there are guys that you have to take notice of in the league.
Too many young guys on one team isn't good.
I'm definitely not one of those guys that's chirping the guys that dress super nice, because you know, there's guys out there in the league - and on my team in fact - that have great style. And I'm just like, 'go for it, man, you look good!'
A quarterback has got to take control and I feel like I've done a good job with that. Not just what we're doing offensively, but in the locker room getting to know guys and hanging out with guys. All of that is going to make you a better team.
You do what you can to help your team win, whether it's playing that many minutes or 24 or whatever is asked of you, you do. You prepare yourself to play as much as you're asked to play.
Obviously playing on a team like the Cavs in 2014, they were championship contenders, not allowing a ton of young guys to come in and play through mistakes. If you weren't helping the team have success you weren't really afforded a lot of different opportunities.
It's a league where guys are trying to play to the best of their ability, whether you're a superstar or trying to make the NBA.
Hey, the Clippers are a good NBA basketball school. Helps out all the young guys who come into the league. It's not a fast team, not like a real NBA team. All the players have to worry about is improving on their own. You are there for your first few years. They teach you a little bit about the game, and then they let you go.
I think as a veteran player, in general, you should feel that sense of responsibility to try to lead these guys to becoming good pros. You want the league to be in good hands, and you want these guys to become great NFL players and then pass it along to the next generation. You can only lead by example, and that's pretty much what I'm trying to do.
Have we become a cupcake league? We already have better helmets and gear. Wonder how the old school players feel about this. Not in the back of minds when talking about 18 game season so let's play football please... Even guys using shoulders to hit are getting flagged for helmet-to-helmet. Defense is getting sloppy because guys are avoiding fines and will get worse if suspending comes into play.