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Quick-Hit Thoughts and Notes Around the NFL:
The underdog mentality is alive and well in the locker room of a certain NFL team. Despite being the biggest underdogs of Week 4 with a 23% chance to win, the team is confident in their abilities. One veteran defensive tackle, who has been with the team for eight years, rejects the notion that they are underdogs. “The game still has to be played in between the lines,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what someone else says. It matters what the team believes in.”
This defensive tackle points to the team’s performance in Week 1, where they held their opponent to 70 rushing yards, and Week 2, where they narrowly lost in overtime. He believes the team is capable of producing similar results, despite a lackluster loss in Week 3. “We had a lot of missed tackles. Too many missed tackles. Uncharacteristic by us,” he says.
The team faces a challenging opponent in Week 4, a team that wants to get them to be undisciplined so they can hit the home run. “We just have to stay home, set the edge of the defense, make them cut the ball back. And when they cut it back, we have to make the tackle,” the defensive tackle says.
In other news, a certain coach discussed unexpected results across the league with players, putting things in perspective. “You have a team that’s picked to win the Super Bowl and gets blown out the next week. Right now it’s about who can get better the quickest,” the coach says.
Meanwhile, a rookie quarterback is making progress behind the scenes, getting 30% of the first-team repetitions in practice. The team has no plans to bring in a veteran quarterback, and the rookie’s work with the scout team has impressed coaches. “He has such a good understanding of different schemes, and what people are doing, it’s like he’s been around a long time and seen a lot of offenses and quarterbacks,” one coach says.
A second-year defensive lineman has a personal connection to the opponent’s running back, having played with him in college. “He’s always had the ability. It’s the opportunity,” the defensive lineman says.
A defensive lineman on injured reserve has been spending more time around the team, and has even been put in charge of “Friday Funny,” a 30-second or one-minute clip to get the guys laughing. “I think it’s important for him to be in the building. The idle mind, sitting at home all the time, that’s nothing but trouble,” the coach says.
Finally, a third-year offensive lineman is eligible to begin practicing next week, but it’s unclear if that will happen. Meanwhile, a reserve outside linebacker and core special-teamer was diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
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