Christian Gonzalez, Kevin Byard III, Rhamondre Stevenson and Dre'Mont Jones | Player Media Availability 11/4

Dre'Mont Jones (0:00)

Good morning.

Christian Gonzalez (0:05)

Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_3 (0:08)

How pumped are you for a game like when you know that you're going up against such a pass heavy offense?

Christian Gonzalez (0:14)

Yeah, for sure. We love it.

Invite the challenge, like kind of talk about every week. But, you know, they got playmakers, they got a real good quarterback, and they got a real good offensive play caller. So, we'll have to be ready for it, and we invite the challenge.

SPEAKER_4 (0:31)

Jordan Lobb, is he someone who gets the ball out pretty quickly?

Christian Gonzalez (0:34)

Yeah, he's gotten out pretty quickly this year, but I mean, he also, they take a lot of shots and throw the ball down the field. So, we're going to have some plays that we'll have to make.

SPEAKER_3 (0:44)

Christian Gonzalez, guys like Ty Law, Stefan Gilmour, Rivas, they would say, when coach comes to them with a plan, he says, you got this guy, that they would get excited, hey, you're going to follow this player around the field. Are you in a similar kind of frame of mind if they come to you and say, you've got Watson Golden, whoever, and that's the guy you've got for most of the game?

Christian Gonzalez (1:03)

Yeah, I mean, I think any corner is like that. Yeah, whatever they want me to do, want the team to do, will do, so, yeah.

SPEAKER_4 (1:16)

Do you guys feel like as a defense, you have something to prove maybe after the last two weeks? Like, do you guys feel like you have some improvements to make maybe?

Christian Gonzalez (1:24)

I mean, improvements. We're not proving nothing to nobody besides us.

We're the ones that come in and work every day. So, trying to prove stuff to people that aren't putting in the work, that's not really what we're doing it for. We're doing it for us and what we got to do. I mean, there's definitely improvements. So, I feel like that's kind of two different things. I mean, yeah, there's improvement. You got to make improvement each week, each day, so there's definitely improvement to be made.

SPEAKER_3 (1:53)

Speaking of the challenge that you welcome, how much more of a challenge is it the fact that Lovitz kind of spreading the ball around? They're two receivers in the top ten, they're the receiver guards.

Christian Gonzalez (2:02)

Yeah, they're creative. They get the ball to their playmakers. So, in the secondary, we're just going to have to make our plays. You know, we know there's going to be a lot of opportunities, a lot of targets, so just make the play that comes your way.

SPEAKER_5 (2:16)

With us being more or less the halfway point of the season, how would you evaluate the defense so far?

Christian Gonzalez (2:22)

Yeah, I mean, there's definitely plays we've left out there that we want to make. You know, we get the ball off the offense more, get it back to Drake and them.

I mean, just continuing to build what we have done. Like, it's November now, so like, this is real, I mean, not real football that the first two months aren't, but, you know, I mean, it's bigger now. It's, you know, November, December, that's when stuff gets for real, for real. So just keep going, keep doing what we got to do, and keep getting better each week.

SPEAKER_6 (3:00)

Greg, Greg talked to us earlier this year about a conversation with you about turning some PBU's, more of those, into interceptions. How close do you feel like you've been and are to doing that in the second half of the year?

Christian Gonzalez (3:15)

Um, I don't really know. Like, I mean, it's just got to catch it when it comes to us. You get the opportunities being in the right spot and just capitalizing on it. Um, I mean, I feel like I'm always close, I guess, to answer your question.

Um, I don't really go into it thinking, oh, I'm closer. Like, ooh, I'm, maybe this game I'll get a pick. I mean, you can't really think like that. You just got to go in and make, like I always say, like, make the play that comes your way. I mean, that sign's kind of, like, I don't know how to describe it, but you just got to be able to make those plays.

SPEAKER_7 (3:57)

With the tournament coming up and you haven't been in this locker room for a couple of years now, have you learned anything about how to keep the focus on the game on Sunday when there's reports going around and I imagine chatter among guys?