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ROSE BOWL GAME: OREGON v FLORIDA STATEDecember 30, 2014Mario Edwards, Jr.PASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. You know, a lot was made coming into this season about all the guys you lost on defense and who would step up and become leaders. It seemed like Jalen took a role as one of those guys, along with you and Eddie, but Jalen as a younger guy taking that role, how has he established himself as one of the leaders on this defense? MARIO EDWARDS: I mean, you become leader on the defense when you practice just how you play. He's one of those guys that what you get from him in the game is when you get from him in practice. All the energy you get from him in a game is what he has in practice. He's one of those guys always around the ball and always making a play. So he earned the respect from the older guys, being one of the younger guys that that came in, new system, learning the playbook just like us and actually going out there and making plays. But he established his role and he's one of those guys that knows he's good and he can be a leader and he accepts it. Q. He does so many things is it fair to equate him as being the Jameis equivalent of the defense because he's used in so many different rolls and he plays such a prominent role on the defense? MARIO EDWARDS: You could say he's the Jameis of the defense, every special teams he's on, he does so many things on defense, playing corner, blitzing off the edge, playing safety, he's one of the those guys you put 'em anywhere, he will be around the ball and make the play. Q. Do you mind playing a mobile quarterback or‑‑ MARIO EDWARDS: You have your pro's and con's about it. The good thing about playing a mobile quarterback, when you hit him, he won't be able to keep running for long if you get a good lick on him, but not playing a mobile quarterback, he's a sitting duck and you can tea off on him and call coverages, but with a mobile quarterback you're limited to what you can call because you don't want his athletic ability to hurt you. Q. So sometimes are you not trying to get after 'em, you're just trying to‑‑ MARIO EDWARDS: It just depends. Sometimes we will go after 'em, sometimes it's about keeping them contained but it depends on how the game is going and what exactly we're trying to do. Q. Did you say yesterday you lost weight over the last month or so? Is that because of this Oregon offense and the tempo they go at? MARIO EDWARDS: Not just necessarily for Oregon it's best for me. You know, I suffered some injuries as far as spraining my MCL, to a concussion in Clemson, so I couldn't keep myself in 100% shape because of my injuries, so when I finally got 100% and was able to that I dropped weight because it was best for me but of course we dropping down to 277, 278 range is going to help me with Oregon and being able to run and not get as fatigued as I was during the season. Q. How much did you play at during the year? MARIO EDWARDS: Beginning of the year I was 312 and when I came back to Louisville game I was 29 knife and I decreasing from there. Q. I saw you work out with your dad in the mornings, is that something you still do? MARIO EDWARDS: One of those things I've been doing since I was in high school, he stays in shape to be 38, 39 years old. He looks like he's in his twenties so he can go play so it's something we do since I was in high school. Q. What do you do? MARIO EDWARDS: During the season its conditioning, breaking a sweat, nothing too heavy because we're going to practice or lift that next day or following day but back in high school it was two a days, three a days, lifting, running, cone drills, but now its conditioning and lifting, things like that. Q. He was a corner back, what did he teach you about football, what have you taken off him even though your a different spot than he played? MARIO EDWARDS: Just the love for a game, him being a corner back he watched film and that's what he tells me, you got to know your opponent and just to be in shape, even if you don't know what you're doing, go 100 miles per hour doing it because at the end of the day they can't get mad at you if you're going 100 miles per hour. Q. In terms of health, freshness, legs, where are you now in terms of the defense, especially on the front seven, compared to at the end of the year dealing with Georgia Tech and so forth? MARIO EDWARDS: We definitely got, you know, three weeks to a month off to, you know, get our legs right and Coach has been smart with the practices and not killing us so everybody is going to be fresh come Thursday. Q. Is there any sense now you've gotten through the regular season, now you're where you wanted to be, is there a sense on the team that you've been building to this point and now it's time to turn it on or were you trying to turn it on all season or is there a different mind‑set where you're fighting each and every week to prove a point? MARIO EDWARDS: I feel like our motto in the beginning of the year was Dallas to Dallas and as the season went on we kept winning and now we know we're one game away from being to Dallas so that isn't our motto now, we're saying this is the second part of the season, it's a new season, so it's a two‑game season and in order to get to Dallas we have to win this game so there is no pressure as far as this is a playoff game, this is Oregon, we're going to treat it like all the other games we played. Q. Is it a new thing, does it feel like another really big game as opposed to being in a bowl game. Last year it was the National Championship, now is it like another really big nonconference game. MARIO EDWARDS: I guess you can put it like that, every game we played this year has been a big game because they gave us their A‑1 and they wanted to knock us off so every game is a big game, but to me or to us, as Florida State it's no bigger game than the first game or the third game of the soap, we're going out there and handling our business and doing what we supposed to do. Q. You guys last a lot of guys last year to the NFL, you're probably going to lose a lot of guys this year to the NFL. Why does Florida State keep coming back to this, given how many guys each year you're going to lose? MARIO EDWARDS: You can blame that on recruiting. That's with the coaches, they're working on classes now in the 2016 and then the players love, trust and believe in one another and believe in the coach and understand the process and how things are going to go. Q. (No microphone.) MARIO EDWARDS: Well, we got guys from Virginia and another one, and I don't know the offensive guys but I met Sweat when he came here and me and him got a good relationship. Q. On the roster now freshmen that we haven't seen a lot of, who would you expect to come in next year? MARIO EDWARDS: Definitely Nnadi, he's going to be a good player. He's so strong and physical from the ground and making contact, you know, really from the defensive line. Once next year‑‑ I like Jacob Pugh and Lorenzo Featherston, those guys are going to be big players next year. Q. (No microphone.) MARIO EDWARDS: He's going to be good, about 220, right now and he put on another 20 or 30 pounds he's going to be a monster, how athletic and limber he is, he can do all these type of moves at 6‑6, 6‑7 so when he gains weight and come be a pass rusher, he's going to be good! Q. How cool has it been to have your dad around for these three years? MARIO EDWARDS: It's been great, man, you know if I ever needed just a fatherly advise, he's there, if I needed a coach's advise he's there so I have the best of both world's, my father and a coach here on the staff so I've been able to talk to him about anything. He's not one of those Dad's or coaches that say you don't call me dad, you call me coach. He was my coach in high school as well so it was fun. Q. The way he is at practice, is that the way he is with you? MARIO EDWARDS: That's the way he is 24/7, he's one of those guys, he has a lot of energy to be his age and he likes to have fun and he loves the game of football so he tries to instill that in us and make us love the game of football and show 'em how it's done. Q. That's not your personality is it? MARIO EDWARDS: I'm more of a laid‑back type of guy, he's laid back, I guess you could say away from the field, depends what he's doing, but me I'm not really a rah‑rah guy, I'm more laid‑back. Q. Do you ever get tired of hearing him yelling? MARIO EDWARDS: I'm used to it man, I've been around him 20 years so I'm used to it. Q. What would it mean to get Nile back for this game, just knowing what he's gone through this season? MARIO EDWARDS: It's a big thing for Nile to come back for him personally and for us, man. Nile is great, him and‑‑ on the inside is going to be a great plus and asset for this year, this game. Nile suffered his shoulder injury but him coming back is definitely going to help the defensive line, pushing the pocket and containing Marcus Mariota, so I'm definitely excited to have him back. Q. He played that Clemson game with the pectoral muscle ripped off, right? MARIO EDWARDS: Right. Q. Was he talking about it during the game? MARIO EDWARDS: I didn't know he was hurting, honestly. Nile is one of those strong guys that all about the team, man. If he felt he could go even if he was injured he was going to do it because it was all about the team. Q. What's the most difficult part about the playing Marcus Mariota, because you got to play 8, 9, 10 seconds of a play versus a rushing passer 4 or 5? MARIO EDWARDS: I guess you could say that. The hardest thing about playing Marcus is trying to contain an athlete like him. He's great, he's got the ability to extend plays with his legs, throw passes down field and still make completions. That's what's dangerous about him. Not just he's just a strong quarterback and he can run and he's fast, but his ability to extend it and throw balls and those type of things, that's what really makes him dangerous that's the hard part. Q. What's your thought on their offense? MARIO EDWARDS: Of course some of the guys are better than others but as a unit they work great with each other. Of course, they're probably the most athletic and conditioned O line we will be going against this year because they do the hurry up so much, so definitely as a unit they work great with each other. Q. 75, Fisher, anybody else jump out? MARIO EDWARDS: He's an athletic guy. I've watched him and he's pretty good, you know, but I'm ready for the match‑up to go against him come Thursday. Q. What's impressed you about Eddie Goldman and his season so far? MARIO EDWARDS: What you get from the Eddie and what you guys are seeing, what's that we all knew Eddie could do, it was just Timmy was here and all the other guys were here, but what impresses me is how strong Eddie is. He's been able to chase the ball and he's got himself in good shape where he can play every play and teams know if you can't block Eddie then you're going to have a hard time stopping the defense and he's been taking that role of not being able to be blocked and that's helped us a lot. Q. How integral is his role and what he does for the scheme? MARIO EDWARDS: It's definitely big, Eddie is able to take out two guys, sometimes three because he's that strong. When you have one guy taking up two on three guys it leaves your backers free to make plays so that's definitely helped us this year. Q. What's Rod Johnson been like to go up against in practice? MARIO EDWARDS: Rod is a grown man; he's a freshman but he's a grown man. People don't realize he's an athletic tackle and really strong. If he gets his hands on you, you can pretty much cancel Christmas, if he gets his hands on you (Laughter.) He's athletic and he can run and block as well so he can do both. He's a good guy, probably one of the nicest guys you will meet off the field, on the field it's all about business. Q. Mario, of the many deficits you guys have been down this season, is there a point where you guys were like, oh, we're down a lot right now? MARIO EDWARDS: We realize that we get down then, you know, we know that it's not necessarily them that's beating us, it's us that's beating us. Getting out of our lanes or blowing cover average, something like that, we know that if we're able to go in at halftime and make adjustments we can come out and do good. Q. When you are in the midst of your come‑back and that momentum is building, do you have like you have everything going your way or do you feel like the other team folds or a little bit of both? MARIO EDWARDS: The way that Coach Jimbo says it is he talks about Michael Jordan and he would say Michael Jordan, said people asked him in the third or fourth quarter, what changed, and he would say his opponent changed, he never changed. And I feel like our opponents aren't used to being down and coming back and we face adversity so much that whenever we are down you never see our guys looking at each other like, we lost that game. We also know that we can come back until the clock says zero. Q. Some of your teammates say you don't make major adjustments at halftime. You stick to the script. MARIO EDWARDS: I wouldn't say it's major adjustments, like you here, you there, it's not necessarily that. It's going in there and saying what we running and we build each other up in the locker room, okay, listen, I'm counting on you, you do your job, and it's going to force them to do this, that and the other, and once we talk to each other and we realize this is what we need to do, we go out there and accomplish it. Q. You guys got more points and yards than last year and when you had to you made the play. What has allowed this defense to do that? What flips at the end of the game when you need that one stop in the middle of the fourth quarter? MARIO EDWARDS: I just think Coach Jimbo has been telling us all, we love, trust and believe in one another. That's a motto we go by. We love each other, we're a brotherhood and we know that. We count on each other. If we doesn't do his job, the one piece that doesn't do his job‑‑ ten guys can be doing the right thing, but the one guy does wrong it affects the whole defense. So we love, trust and believe in each other that all eleven guys are going to do the right thing and we end up doing it. Q. What's the mind‑set like when get on the field and you're up there, and now you've just got to win the game, five minutes to go, how different is that from the beginning of the game when you fall behind, you know? MARIO EDWARDS: We definitely know what we have at stake. We knew that we didn't want to lose this seen. We wanted to go undefeated and go Dallas‑to‑Dallas, so when we're in those moments, where it's 3 or 5 minutes left, and the we're up by 3, we aren't going to let each other down, we're going to hold each other accountable.  We're gonna work and make sure they don't score. We always say on defense, if offense scores 7, and they don't score, we win. We don't have to win by 14 or 21, we can win by 3 or by 2, as long as we keep 'em to the score that they're at now, if the offense scores again, we always win. Q. You guys have done this with two first‑year defensive coordinators. Why has that transition worked so well, to be in this position? MARIO EDWARDS: It's the coaching, man! You know, the coaches, even though it's the first year being a D coordinator or a coordinator here, it's just the coaching, you know, the system they put us in and us as athletes buying into the system and making the system work but ultimately it's the system, you know, the coaches know‑‑ they have been around a long time before us, before we were playing for them and they understand if you do this system, it works this way and that way. Q. Is it literally the same scheme, terminology, like you get to spring practice and it's the same thing that you did‑‑ MARIO EDWARDS: We have a few things that are different. Last year was the first time us being here so we definitely made some adjustments and we did a few things a little different but ultimately we we're pretty much doing the same thing. Q. Mario, you are National Champions. You have run the table, but your team gets knocked a lot, the games are close, you're barely getting through them, you're dodging bullets, which knock bugs you the most? MARIO EDWARDS: I mean, I guess just us not getting the respect everybody would think we would get. But we try not to worry about that, man, because that's how they view us, but we always have a chance on Saturday or in this case on Thursday to go out there and prove 'em wrong. Q. You kept winning but falling in the rankings, did that anger you all? MARIO EDWARDS: It was weird but, you know, we just focused on us. We know that we weren't‑‑ we weren't worried about where we failed, as long as we knew we finished in the top four and made it to the playoffs that's all that mattered, whether we were 4 or 1 as long as we were in the top playoffs we knew we would be okay. Q. (No microphone.) MARIO EDWARDS: Uh‑huh. Q. It's worked out well for you. How close were you to going somewhere else? Was it close? MARIO EDWARDS: I was very close. Originally it was Oklahoma, Texas, LSU and FSU. Last second I almost went to LSU but I had made a commitment to Florida State to come here and I'm glad I did. In the recruiting my dad said, we get this class, you guys will win a National Championship within two years, and you guys will be great and bring Florida State back to what it was and he was right. Q. That was part of it, who else was coming? MARIO EDWARDS: Uh‑huh. Q. Kind of like Lebron and those guys when they get together? MARIO EDWARDS: Yeah, it was like that. Q. There was a time in practice when you first realized Dalvin had some special to him? MARIO EDWARDS: I knew Dalvin had something special to him when I watched him in theAnn Arbor game. Dalvin is just one of those guys that ‑‑ he's similar to Mario Pender in my book, just able to make a cut and get back up to top speed within two or three steps. His ability, he's a lot stronger than what you think he is. Even though he's a small back he has a lot of power. I know if he hits a hole and makes one or two cuts, it's going 30 or 40 or even for a touchdown. Q. As a defensive player, when you see him kind of ‑‑ he kind of creates holes that aren't there, when you see that, do you sort of shake your head at what he's able to do? MARIO EDWARDS: We practice against him every day, and sometimes you think you have him, and then the next thing you know, he makes a cut and he's gone and it's a foot race and not too many people are going to catch him. Q. Put that in perspective with Marcus Mariota. You're responsible for containing him. What kind of adjustments have you made to ensure that someone like Mariota can't do what Dalvin does to everyone else? MARIO EDWARDS: It's in the scheme of defense. I wouldn't say what we have planned and what we do, but one of those things where like I told people, he's compared to Nick Marshall but the difference between his speed and Marshall's speed is Nick Marshall can go 0 to 60 in two steps, and Mariota is more of a build‑up speed guy. I know he's a fast guy, but once he gets started you aren't going to catch him, so if we can keep him from getting started that will help us. Q. Some of the guys were saying last year that this was Lamarcus Joyner's team, this was Telvin Smith's team and the guys were saying this year it's Jameis Winston's team, it's Rashad Greene's team. How does that change things when the guys, the biggest leadership for the team is on the other side of the ball for you guys, how has it been different? MARIO EDWARDS: We don't really‑‑ we don't get into that or pay too much attention to that. We love each other and trust each other, man, we know that if we all work together on both sides of the ball we're going to come out victorious, so whether they want to say it's Jameis' team or Dalvin's team or Rashad's team, doesn't matter at the end of the day as long as we get a W. Q. You guys are putting players in the NFL with the best of them. What are the challenges with that? I know at the beginning of the season we talked about joiner and those guys went to Wake Forest and lost games like that. What's been the challenge for you guys this season and Jalen Ramsey has started more on that defense and he's never lost a game. MARIO EDWARDS: My challenge was this year was those guys that went on to the league they instilled what Florida State was about and our challenge was we never wanted to let them down, we always wanted to play Florida State football, go out there and dominate and love, trust and believe in one another and we didn't want to lose each other, we weren't so focused on winning, we were focused on doing our job and making sure that as long as we did our job we were going to come out victorious. Q. What's the biggest difference with Coach Pruitt compared to Coach Kelly this year? MARIO EDWARDS: They're definitely two different type of guys. Coach Kelly is a fun guy, joking and cracking jokes and sometimes I go in the defensive meeting room and he's listening to "old school" music, but he's a fun guy to be around. Coach Pruitt is more of a business guy, straight to the point and get it. Things like that. There is really no difference besides difference of the person, similar defense, different calls but I like playing for Coach Kelly. Q. What do you think has been the biggest difference with the calls and the schematics this year? MARIO EDWARDS: I don't think there has been a big difference. We still have pretty much similar calls; it's just different names for them because over a period of time people pick up on your calls and know what you're doing so we have different names for the same calls. Q. Between being a young defense and a defense that's had a lot of injuries throughout the season, how much better do you guys feel lining you are right now than maybe you were a few months ago, couple months ago? MARIO EDWARDS: I feel like we're better, we're getting players back that have been injured and Nile coming back is a plus, having him and Eddie on the inside, closing the pocket is going to be great. I think that we really started clicking the closer we see that we were getting to being Dallas‑to‑Dallas, I feel like we started clicking a little bit more and the defense started playing harder and playing better. Q. How difficult was it‑‑ you had a stretch in the season where you were ‑‑ preparing for Georgia Tech isn't an easy task, and you guys are having to adjust to having whoever is healthy is on the field. How challenging was it to maintain that winning streak and finding ways even though you weren't healthy? MARIO EDWARDS: It was a little challenging, but Jimbo always tells us, when we are practicing, 2, when you are on the field you are now a 1.  We gonna need you young guys to step up because this is a long season and people are going to get banged up and bruised up, and we are gonna lose some people. When you are practicing, you need to practice like you are a 1, even though you may be a 2 or a 3 and when you are on the field, you're classified as a 1 now so we definitely practice 1's, 2's and 3's has hard as we practice the 1's, and the 2's and 3's got similar reps just like the 1's so when we suffer injuries those guys are ready to play. Q. Why do you think people around the country don't like you guys? MARIO EDWARDS: Everybody don't like everybody that's doin' something good. Obviously ‑‑ the oldest thing, if you doin' something‑‑ if my name is in your mouth I'm obviously doing something right, I guess they don't like good guys. Q. So you think it's all about the winning, that's why you guys have the negative image? MARIO EDWARDS: That's what I think it is. We're winning games and maybe we're beating some of their favorite teams, and it hurts them a little bit, but ultimately I don't know. Q. Does it bother you ‑‑ the team in general‑‑ seems like a lot of people have gotten e‑mails and friends saying I hope Oregon wins, and it's not like they stepped foot on the campus or been to Oregon or know where it is they just say I don't want Florida State to win. MARIO EDWARDS: Those are just outside people who probably never played football, they just don't like the fact that Florida State is winning and in any book it's going to be winning for a long time now so I don't understand why they don't like us. It doesn't bother us, it's cool that they don't like us, we prove 'em wrong every Saturday or in this case every Thursday. Q. What do you think they don't know or understand about you guys on and off the field. MARIO EDWARDS: We're really good guys off the field, we play hard but off the field we're fun to go around, we like chillin' and hanging with each other and going out and doing things with each other, and we really enjoy the game of football. Q. Similarly would Jameis‑‑ do you think he's gotten a bad rap? Do you think his image is unjust? What are your thoughts? MARIO EDWARDS: Definitely he's gotten a bad rep for the things he's done in the past and people are going to put a magnifying glass on him because you are the starting quarterback for a Florida State team that is undefeated so everything he does is blown up, 10 times bigger than if he was just a student, but they don't know Jameis off the field is a great guy, an A and B student, if you need something he will take the shirt off his back and give it to you, they don't understand he's that type of guy, they only know what the media and the news blows him up negatively. Q. Some think his goofiness is going to catch up to him in the NFL that he would be a risk at the next level. Obviously I know you don't play in the NFL but what are your thoughts? MARIO EDWARDS: I don't think so. He's just a goofy guy but you can be goofy, just like you see him, Florida State is going to do it, they're going to do it big, he's goofy like that, but when it's time to play, he goes and plays. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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