ROSS BLACKLOCK: Yeah, I was, very encouraged to see everybody flying around making plays. Just everybody get an opportunity to show like what they can do when times are needed. I think the team played great, offense moved the ball, defense played hands down really well. So we just got to keep stacking and building from there.
Q. What's it like for you going back to Dallas?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: It's almost like home sweet home, like my second home. But it's straight business. It will be good to play there and just have some TCU crowd there. I'm sure they will be there rooting and cheering on for us. Man, we just going there to handle business and come back home with a W.
Q. How would you describe this camp --
ROSS BLACKLOCK: I could say the vibe and the energy is better. The culture here is a lot better. There's a lot of competition. There's a lot of good guys around here, great team. Coach Culley, Coach Lovie Smith has brought in a culture that's just all about the team. Each and every day is about team and I think guys are gravitating to it. We got the right guys in the locker room and make sure everybody is just one band, one sound, type thing.
Q. How much has all that affected the team in a positive way?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: Like I say, guys are just trusting each other, more respecting and understanding of each other and you'll see it together as we play. No guy is selfish on this team. Like I said everything is about team, team, team. We try to preach that every day and embed into ourselves every day and just go with that.
Q. What did you notice different about your game on Saturday?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: Yeah, I think I was just playing more faster, reacting more and just getting off the ball, and just like I said, just trusting my instinct and trusting my abilities and just going out there and just doing my best.
Q. How much have you worked on your hands in the off-season and early here in training camp in preseason?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: I just work on a lot with my hands, technique, just get offs, just to make myself a lot better in my position. You know, I was working out with a trainer, BT Jordan, a lot of guys know him on the D-Line, he gets their hands right, their feet right. Shout-out to my dog. That's about it, though.
Q. How much have you come to appreciate being at home more now?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: Oh, man, it's a blessing man, each and every day I just wake up and thank God. I could have sworn I was going to be somewhere cold like Green Bay or something that, would of sucked. It's a blessing to be able to walk out my house, knowing I'm home, playing for my city, playing for this team. As a kid, I grew up being a Texas fan, so I can't be more blessed. Couldn't be more happy,
Q. Do you think this culture is driven more by following the coaches' lead or who these guys are down in the locker room?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: It's more about, I would say both. Definitely the coaches, they start with the coaches because they got to set the tone of how they want this organization to be run and then second of all we have to be the guys that enforce it within the players and throughout the building.
So we have the perfect guys in here to bring that energy. It's been nothing but good energy. I don't think there's been one day where guys have fallen out or not been with the type of mantra we're trying to build. Each day it's getting better and better and that's what we want to see.
Q. Can you explain how much more comfortable you are getting out making plays now than you were last year, and part of that seems to be the coaches letting us play instinctively.
ROSS BLACKLOCK: The defense we have is more of an attack defense. There's not a lot of thinking. Of course it's preseason but the past game we ran base majority of the game but like a lot of our calls are not like real calls you've got to think on so hard, and like, if I got this, I got to do that and that. No. It's just okay, I got the call, boom, it's a one-deal thing, you know what I'm saying.
And it creates more natural stuff for the ends and tackles if y'all want to run gains or do certain stuff. As D-Linemen you're not supposed to think as much, just go. That's what I like about this defense.
Q. What, if anything, are you trying to correct or improve?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: Man I'm just trying to be a better version of myself every day, correct everything that -- anything from games, from Green Bay, from the next game, I know I'm not going to have a perfect game but nobody really has a perfect game. You know just trying to get better, better version of myself every day.
Q. Is it weird to get back all of a sudden being in front of a crowd again after last year?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: That was crazy. I had never played at Green Bay but it was a lot of energy. It was good to be around and have a real preseason game for once and get that feeling. You know, we didn't have that last year obviously. Just even having fans at practice, you know that, was pretty cool. I've never experienced that. You know, like I said I'm blessed to be able to be in this situation.
Q. Do you feel like you were robbed of a normal rookie experience?
ROSS BLACKLOCK: Definitely. Definitely. We missed a lot of reps, like OTAs and stuff, probably over 50 to more reps, probably way more, practices and everything. We kind of got thrown into the fire last year and rookies didn't really play that much. I kind of had to play because guys got hurt.
Like I said, it set me back a little bit I feel like personally but now that I got a full off-season, real training, OTAs and now like actual real camp, I think it's a lot more different than last year.
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