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ASHBURN, VA -- August 25, 2020 Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young speaks to the media after practice on Tuesday morning.
On being back out at practice:
“It feels good. Just slowly getting back into it. I’m not rushing anything, but it definitely feels really good.”
On what he observed from watching practice:
“Just looking at certain steps I would have to take, just being really mentally locked in. Even stepping through plays during install and things like that, just trying to be as mentally locked in as I can.”
On what he looks for when he watches film of other defensive ends:
“First step, how aggressive they are, their angle, their track to the quarterback. I mean, everything. How they play the game, their hand placement when they run fit, just everything across the board. I feel like it’s good just seeing it and having it always on your mind so there are certain things you’re always thinking about to try to be better at.”
On when he started to get into film study:
“I believe it was probably the end of the second half of the season of my sophomore season. Then my junior year, that’s when I was really in film twice a week with [Ohio State Associate Head Coach Larry Johnson] one-on-one. As you see, it definitely paid off.”
On working his way up in a new league:
“I’m a worker, I’m going to say that. I don’t have a problem with working. Adversity is always going to come, that’s life. Me, I’m just going to roll with the punches. My biggest thing right now is just getting my hip to 100 percent.”
On if his hip is back to 100 percent:
“It’s right there. You want to make sure it’s 110 percent and something I don’t have to think about when I’m out on the field.”
On if being sidelined at the beginning of training camp was frustrating:
“It’s definitely frustrating. But, you know I’ve got to roll with the punches. Right now my biggest focus is just doing everything in my power to get my hip back right. That’s what we’re doing every day. I’m doing my best on the field to do mental reps. As you see, I’m slowly getting out there in team and things like that. To start out is definitely frustrating, but it’s definitely going to be good.”
On what he can learn from DE Ryan Kerrigan:
“R.K., he’s a professional. He’s a pro. Just everything he does, how he walks around, just everything about him. He’s a pro, man. R.K., he’s one of those guys we call ‘the dude.’ He does everything right. So, he definitely gives me little tips on things here and there about the offense. There’s just a whole rack of stuff that we talk about. But, I’ve definitely picked up a lot of things from R.K. A lot of those things have to do with off-the-field, in terms of just rolling out, getting your body already activated and stretched out before practice and things like that. I did it myself, but there is even new stuff that he helped me with that I added on to my routine.”
On what it takes to be a ‘dude’:
“You have to be accountable. You have to always take care of your responsibilities, no issues off the field. Make plays and just be a good person. Being a dude I feel like stems from who you are as a person. Some people can act like a dude, you can talk and say that you are a dude, but the only thing that tells you if you really are a dude is by your actions.”
On what he wants to be involved in off the field:
“Because of the pandemic, a lot of those opportunities were taken away just to bounce around and do this and do that. You know the Draft, that was supposed to be in Vegas. It was going to be a good time for everybody. Because of the pandemic, a lot of stuff got pushed back. I’m not sure, to be honest with you.”
On getting drafted at home with family:
“It was definitely really cool at home with family. Vegas, it would have been really fun and exciting also, especially when you see everything that they had planned for us with the boat and the water and all that. Home was cool. I had everything I needed.”
On something that has surprised him about the league so far:
“This is very small, but in practice we have I guess less individual than in college. In college we had more time in practice with our coaches, individual time. In the league it’s a lot more 11-on-11 in practice, which I like. The only way to get better at football is to play. That’s what we do here in the league. That’s one thing that I do like that’s different.”
On working with defensive line coach Sam Mills III:
“Coach Mills, he’s big on details. Me myself, I try to stay locked in on all the small details. You start with small details and add up. I feel like those small things is what makes you a good player. So that’s what right now I’m just trying to be locked in on.”
On if he prefers playing on the left or right side of the line:
“I can play on both sides. Coach Johnson in college, he prepared us to play both sides so we were always flopping. Yesterday, in the goal-line period it felt pretty good. I guess with an injury like a hip flexor, you don’t want to do anything stupid. You don’t want to overwork it. At the end of the day, you just don’t want to feel –you just don’t want to be thinking about it. Right now we’re just playing it smart and just making sure it’s 100 percent healed because a hip flexor is an injury that can linger, and that’s what we don’t want it to do.”
On what led to his hip flexor injury:
“It was a drill. I think it was an agility drill. We had to touch a cone with the right hand and come back and touch it with the left. I was in an awkward position. It was competitive and I was competing. I was in an awkward position and I knew it, but I wanted to win so bad I didn’t really care because I thought I was going to be good. I finished a rep and I felt it pull a little bit or whatever it may be. That’s what happened, a little drill.”
On the little details Coach Mills is emphasizing:
“It’s really about certain plays, just what to be aware for during certain plays. Hand placement, feet, really detailed about staying on our track, how we’re in position.”
On if the offensive line rotation is challenging the defensive line:
“Definitely. This is the NFL. Everybody on that field is real. We’re always going back and forth.”
On social distancing after coming back to his hometown:
“One of the biggest things I try to do is really just stay out of the way. Even being up here in Virginia is kind of a relief because I think we’re about an hour from P.G. County, and that’s where I’m from. I’ve been really having it good. There isn’t much to do anyway. The only thing I do is go home, we get on Zoom meetings. Our schedule is pretty packed as it is. I really don’t do anything. I just go home and maybe watch some Netflix for 30 minutes and just chill.”