Grey Zabel: "There's Going To Be Growth Every Week"

Grey Zabel (0:02)

Good afternoon.

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

Hello.

SPEAKER_3 (0:06)

Grey, what was the biggest challenge or the biggest difference for you last week in flipping sides?

Grey Zabel (0:13)

Yeah, I think, obviously, it was challenging, but just the hands, the feet, kind of who you're playing next to, all that stuff. I mean, it was a deal, it was a challenge, opportunity for me to grow, get outside my comfort zone, and ultimately become a better player. So, at the end of the day, there was a lot of stuff I need to clean up, but that's what practice is for, that's what our coaches are for, and we got some unbelievable coaches, and we'll do just that.

SPEAKER_3 (0:44)

What's the biggest thing that got solidified, just getting those snaps in there? Because Abe had talked about the relationship between you and he needs to build, but that takes time. What's the immediate thing you can put in to use?

Grey Zabel (0:54)

Yeah, I think Abe was kind of right on point, just kind of our play styles of certain situations, how we're going to play, certain techniques, certain fronts, all that stuff. But at the end of the day, there's places that I need to become better at on the right side, especially hand usage and getting my sets in correctly.

But that just comes with practice, with time. And at the end of the day, you don't have much of that in the NFL. So we got to have a kind of jump from last week to this week and just get better.

SPEAKER_4 (1:31)

Was the switch a bigger deal than you thought it might be?

Grey Zabel (1:34)

I knew it was going to be challenging. At the end of the day, it's taken kind of one side of your body and just completely flipping it. So best way I tried to describe it to my parents is you're right and left handed for a year and a half, and then you got to go right, right handed in a matter of a week. So it might not be pretty, but we're going to do our best. And at the end of the day, your competitor, you want to win and go out and try and do the best you possibly can for your team, for the guys next to you, for the old line, and ultimately your quarterback to keep them clean.

SPEAKER_5 (2:07)

Given that, how much do you expect, you know, week over week for the improvement to be pretty dramatic as you go forward here?

Grey Zabel (2:13)

Yeah, I think it's just like a matter of practice repetition, doing the best you can in the situation and opportunity that you have.

Obviously, there's going to be growth every single week. But at the end of the day, it's like say a little speed bump in the road that you just kind of got a hit, and then just ultimately just prepare and go out and execute.

SPEAKER_2 (2:36)

You're talking about like the left-handed, right-handed. How much of a transition is it just the different assignments or is it, I mean, is it essentially just mirrored? Is that part nearly as difficult as the mechanical side of it?

Grey Zabel (2:48)

Yeah, it's mirrored, but you just got to flip everything in your mind. You hear a certain play and you think you're doing something, then you remember you're on the backside of it or you're on the front side. So the playbook schematically, all that stuff wasn't as hard to do just because you have that time of hearing the play and getting up to a nice scrimmage. But there's just no excuse in the National Football League though. You got to go out and perform week after week.

SPEAKER_6 (3:13)

You obviously are not someone who makes excuses, but to go from one side to the other in five days, play next to somebody that you haven't played next to and go against Jeffrey Simmons. Is that, was that like the biggest challenge you've had as a football player?

Grey Zabel (3:29)

Yeah, I mean, I won't downplay how good Jeffrey Simmons was. And I'm not gonna downplay how bad I was against him. So at the end of the day, it was a challenge that they presented me with to go out and kind of do my best. But at the end of the day, I didn't succeed blocking one of the best defensive tackles in the league. So you got to learn from that. You got to wear a feudal chin.

And I always say it's just a chapter in the book of this one we're trying to write.

SPEAKER_5 (4:02)

When you guys went back and looked at the film, what did it look like seeing Quenton Nelson out there? And what can he bring to you guys now that you've seen him? A little glimpse of him in the Seahawks uniform.