S Juan Thornhill (7.28.23)
Juan, when you were in Kansas City, you guys went away for training camp. How has Greenbrier sort of been like that? And what do you get out of stuff like that?
“I would say it’s very similar, but honestly, it’s better here. Because in Kansas City, you go away to a college. You’re staying in a dorm room and it’s like an hour away. But no one wants to be within those white walls. You just kind of feel like you’re in prison or something. I would definitely say it’s a lot better here just because you get to go back to a nice room, it’s a five-star resort. You have nice restaurants around you. You have plenty of activities going on when you’re not practicing. And I really enjoy it a lot.”
Coach (Kevin) Stefanski said because you have the extra week, the extra preseason game, that this whole week has been different, a slower ramp-up. Do you feel it? Is it kind of unique in that way to you?
“Definitely. Because I’m used to just getting out there, going full speed and then you can kind of feel that wear and tear on your body. You start to get super sore when you’re going, consistent days, hard back-to-back. But here, it is just more like you’re practicing hard and then you think you’re about to go again, and then it’s like a pull back a little bit, let your body recover. I really enjoy it, and I feel like it’s just going to help us out a lot and keep guys healthy and get us close to the season.”
You must be ready for tomorrow, though?
“Oh yeah, I’m always ready. I’m not backing down on hitting.”
When you get to this stage of training camp, when the pads come on, you’re getting ready to go. Offense versus defense. Is this the first time you can kind of really get a feel for what you have and how you guys are doing as a unit?
“Definitely. I mean, guys can make a lot of plays out there when you don’t have the shoulder pads on because you can’t be touched. I’m talking about the receivers. And then also some guys that you don’t think look as good at a DB spot is because they can’t get their hands on the receivers. But as soon as you put those pads on, they start to show up. So I think us putting our pads on is definitely going to show what we really have and we’ll get a good feel for it probably tomorrow.”
And yet in the competitive red zone periods prior to today, the defense has had a pretty good effort. Don’t you think?
“Definitely. We always take pride in that. One thing you do is eliminate points when they get down in the red zone. If you can get a third down stop and make them kick a field goal. You just save four points. You have to take pride in that and try to win each and every down.”
Do the players and the coaches think that those red zone areas are most relevant out here in training camp?
“Definitely. We all take pride in it. We even have it up on our board. We have a certain percentage that we’re trying to win each and every day. We don’t want to give up a red zone touchdown because it’s on you, know what I’m saying? Everyone’s going to see it, and that allows the offense to get points. What we’re going to do is just try to keep you out the end zone.”
What’s the percentage? Is it less than 50%.
“We want to stay at least a little less than 50%. 48%? 49%? We’re happy with it.”
Juan, you showed up here – you had Super Bowl rings? Not everyone does. What’s that like for the other guys, do they talk to you about that? What’s that do for you and your status there?
“I mean, they ask about what the Super Bowl is. You can kind of paint that picture for them so they can start visualizing where we’re trying to get to. With me being able to play in multiple Super Bowl games, I also know what it takes to get there, what type of work is going to take to get there. And I’m just here to push those guys and show them that we have the players and the pieces to get to that big game.”
How much have you seen the communication improve just in the time you – even going back to OTAs? Just in the time you guys have been working together?
“I mean, it’s improved tremendously. Honestly. When you first get out there in a new defense, you’re just trying to figure it out. Guys are really quiet, kind of timid, not knowing what to really say. It’s not that the defense is hard, it’s just the verbiage and things like that can be a little different. But it’s like day and night, honestly. Guys are communicating a lot louder. Guys are getting aligned much faster, and I just feel like we’re playing faster.”
Juan, with the Chiefs, did Andy (Reid) play you a lot preseason? Or not a lot? Or do you recall?
“We played a little bit. Probably , I would say the first game you might play a series. The second game, you play maybe a quarter, and then that last game, you’re kind of preparing for the season, so you might play a half a little bit longer game.”
So you play every game?
“Yeah, so you play every single game.”
In Kansas City, because you guys were often in that Thursday night opener, you guys started kind of leading with the extra week?
“Oh yeah, you started early. You could kind of get a week ahead of guys. That’s how we pretty much see it, just an extra week of work, but it isn’t nothing that you’re ducking out there.”
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