Cooper Kupp: "All Three Phases Showed Growth"

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

You've been on teams that have traded players away and added players obviously in the season. What effect does that have on a locker room, especially if it's like adding a big talent?

Cooper Kupp (0:12)

Yeah, I mean, it's great. I mean, it definitely energizes things. There's also, I think there's maybe something that you don't expect, but it makes you have to over communicate because you're trying to bring something along. And so it creates this urgency to make sure that everyone knows what they're doing because there's someone that's going to be learning our stuff on a shortened timeline. And so that's an added bonus to it. It forces you to communicate at a higher level. And I mean, you get someone like Quenton. I mean, I've been watching him, you know, just brawl in the interior line for years now.

So it's really cool being able to, you know, team up with him and see him live and in person on the good side.

SPEAKER_3 (1:04)

What have you already learned from him in the conversations or watching him up close at the walkthrough meeting?

Cooper Kupp (1:09)

From him or about him?

SPEAKER_3 (1:11)

About the way he sees the game.

Cooper Kupp (1:13)

Yeah, well, I think there's some conversations he's having. He's obviously he's played a lot of football. And so there's an understanding in terms of what we're trying to get done, which is great to have. And you have someone's trying to learn this, you know, exactly what we do, like I said, on short notice.

But having a familiarity with just the combinations of the blocks, how we're trying to do things. He's seen a lot of football. And so he has that innate understanding on what the end goal of the play is. And that obviously goes a long way.

SPEAKER_3 (1:44)

Mike talked about the two hats that he wears and how he's got a responsibility to the guys in the locker room, for example, telling AB that he's not going to start at right guard. How would you have seen Mike approach those through, not around, personnel conversations?

Cooper Kupp (1:59)

Yeah, I mean, by going through and not around them. You know, just being direct, being honest. And the fact of the matter is, however it ends up shaking out for Monday, however it ends up shaking out, we're going to have the best sixth man coming off the bench. And so, you know, it is a champagne problem. It's a great problem to have and it's tough. And everyone wants to be out there on the field and playing. But the belief in all those guys to step in and play, I mean, you got guys who stepped in last week and played and did an unbelievable job. And so, you know, whatever it's going to be, whoever it is that's going to be up, you know, it's that 12 is one mindset when you break the huddle, you believe in the guy next to you.

And yeah, and but Mike's done an unbelievable, unbelievable job. I mean, you just what you're looking for is honesty. I just want anyone just wants to be told the truth. And you can handle what the truth is. It's harder to handle someone that's skirting around it.

SPEAKER_4 (2:54)

How much of what you guys talked about in the kind of mini-buy week showed up in this game on the field?

Cooper Kupp (3:01)

I think there was a ton of stuff. I mean, I think all three phases showed growth coming out of coming out of that little mini-buy. And there's this place where you create growth. There's all this. There's this direction change that happens, wherever it is, the details, the adjustments that are made. But there's also this expectation now, OK, well, that's the energy.

Now you have to fill that space with the energy to maintain that intention. And so there's no resting on anyone's laurels. I mean, this is about moving forward continuously and, you know, chasing edges as it continues. The journey continues and, you know, guys are taking that mindset.

SPEAKER_4 (3:42)

What does it do after, you know, a few weeks where maybe what you guys were planning didn't show up in the game to then have a game where what you wanted to see actually does?

Cooper Kupp (3:53)

Yeah, well, we talk about all the time. And I know Mike has said it, you know, it's about us, it's about how we play, it's about how we operate.

And it was, you know, we always wanted that to show up. Like, how does the Seahawks football show up on game day? And so to have that, to have, you know, like I said last week, there's been glimpses of that throughout this year. But to consistently show it, to be able to show it complimentary to each other. We don't have offense, defense and special teams all making plays off of each other and stringing together plays. And that's what we've been looking for. And we were able to do that last week. And that's the expectations that continue to grow off of that. It's a great foundation that's been built, but it's also, there's a lot of growth that has to be, continue to be built upon that.