Here’s what Christian Gonzalez had to say following Sunday’s Divisional Round win over the Texans:
On what this week was like for him coming back, and then Khyris Tonga said the other day, ‘I like us’ when it comes to the defense, and what did his guys do well on this one from start to finish:
Yeah, for sure. We had a plan. We executed, went out there, and we’re able to do what we do. I mean, of course, we like us as a defense, and we’ll go up against anybody. So it was good to get out there and show what we can do.”
On how does his game preparation change now with [Jarrett] Stidham as the quarterback next week, and the fact he’s got to turn right around after today’s victory and start planning for next week:
“As far as game planning, nothing really changes. We’re still, it’s the playoffs and Championship game, but as far as the schedule, it doesn’t really change. You just come in, and we can enjoy this one tonight, but they got a day on us, so we’ve got to get recovered, get ready, and be ready to start game planning and be ready to travel tomorrow.”
On the fact he was here for a couple of four-win seasons and how does he explain the consistency with this team, literally from day one, even after the 1-2 start, how was he able to, with so many new coaches, so many new players, that’s maybe as amazing as anything, how they’ve guys have been able to continuously, not every game’s look perfect, but consistency of effort, consistency of physicality. talk about that a little bit, where that comes from:
“Yeah, it just came in. Vrabel came in from the first meeting and told us about it and told us about our identity. I mean, you all see the identity that’s up there, and everybody bought in. It’s kind of a big thing that nobody believed in us, and nobody counted on us, counted on us being in any of these games. To us, we just come in to work every day. It’s such a grateful group. Everybody is always smiling around here. Everybody’s always laughing, have a good time. When you’re able to do that and lock in when you need to in meetings and things like that, you build that brotherhood. And we’ve built that, and it translates to Sundays.”
On if he’s trusted the process the entire way, going back to camps and going back to workouts in the preseason:
“For sure. It can be tough. You get a new coach, but everybody bought in. There was no like halfway, halfway. Everybody bought in. We bought in from OTAs, and we’ve been able to build this and continue to keep going.”
On a personal level, can he take us through the week a little bit, he was in concussion protocol, so obviously the red jersey on Wednesday, and then he got to go on Thursday, and what that’s been like for him and then to contribute with nine tackles tonight:
“I mean, sometimes it’s league-mandated. You have to get tested and things like that. So that happened, and I was able to pass and clear the test and get out there and practice. And once Tuesday and Wednesday rolled around, I knew I was good to go and just treat it like another week. I mean, game plan, watch my film, do what I do each week. That didn’t really have an effect on my week or anything. I was able to get my reps and do what I do on a normal week.”
On how good did it feel for Carl [Davis] get two picks today and also watch Marcus do what he does, return something for a touchdown again:
“It was awesome to see C.D. get two picks. That’s four picks in two years for him against the Texans, so, it was awesome to see that. He’s one of the hardest workers. We come in every day and we spend a lot of time in the film room together watching, breaking down receivers and offenses. Then once Marcus touches the ball, he can score from anywhere. I was trying to get him down to let me get a block for him, but he was able to get in, so that was good. But happy for him and happy for this team. We’ll enjoy it tonight and move on and be ready for Denver.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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