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00:00 Jalen Thornton. Questions for Jalen?
00:02 This is Jalen.
00:04 Just, you know, defensive play.
00:05 We'll get into you in a little bit.
00:07 Defensive play overall, obviously, highs and lows.
00:10 Give me the best moments and the worst moments
00:12 where you guys need to improve.
00:14 We haven't started fast in most of our games this year.
00:18 I think we've picked it up in the second quarter,
00:19 third quarter, that middle eight portion
00:21 where you have to be great.
00:24 But last game wasn't good enough.
00:26 Everybody knows that.
00:27 And we just got to be better.
00:30 We got to be more consistent.
00:32 And we got to be self-aware of the situation
00:34 that's going on in the moment.
00:35 We got to stop trying to do too much,
00:37 myself included, trying to think about
00:39 what everyone else's job is before my own.
00:43 But we just - big thing is we got to start faster,
00:45 and we just got to play better.
00:46 Mm-hmm.
00:48 You guys have been better.
00:51 I mean, there have been games where you guys
00:52 have played well defensively.
00:54 Is there a difference in that when you guys have played well?
00:57 Where have you done well?
00:59 I don't really think there's a difference
01:02 in what we're doing schematically.
01:06 But I think it's just having that every play mindset
01:09 that regardless of what happens before or after that one play,
01:14 just playing hard and just playing with energy and tenacity.
01:18 That's what people do on good defenses.
01:20 And just not over-complicating things.
01:24 And just playing with an edge.
01:28 Damon, what's the best advice your dad ever gave you?
01:32 Just have fun. Just have fun.
01:34 Just have fun. Just have fun?
01:35 Yeah. He's -
01:37 Has it been hard following your footsteps?
01:42 I mean, you know, he left a big legacy here.
01:45 Yeah, he did. Yeah.
01:46 He's everywhere in the hallway, in the position room.
01:49 He's right behind me.
01:52 But I made it way too hard on myself
01:53 in the beginning of my career.
01:55 And it took a long time for me to get past that.
01:59 And now that I'm just being the best version of myself,
02:03 that's pretty good, you know.
02:05 So I appreciate everything that he's done for me,
02:08 my family, for the state of West Virginia, for this program.
02:12 Football is what he and I bond over,
02:14 and that's what brings us closer together.
02:16 And I'm really appreciative of that.
02:19 Is he your agent?
02:21 Maybe I could be one of his agents.
02:24 But we'll see. We'll see about that.
02:27 You know, I'm just trying to live in the moment right now.
02:29 And playing with this team has been great,
02:32 especially the guys in that D-line room.
02:34 I've been a part of some really good D-line groups
02:37 in my time here.
02:40 But, yeah, no, those guys resurrected my career.
02:45 And, you know, I love each and every one of them.
02:49 Has it been hard to wait your chance
02:52 to finally get some work done and get out there?
02:55 Yeah, no, it's been awesome, you know.
02:57 A lot of guys have come along, too, along with me.
02:59 Eddie Vee's been a really good example for me,
03:01 being the one above me.
03:03 I think he and I feed off each other,
03:05 being able to split snaps and also get Asani in there
03:08 to learn from us, too.
03:11 You know, Hammond Russell, another guy that's young
03:13 and is coming along, and he's played really well.
03:15 And Tommy, you know, we have a lot of good guys in this group
03:19 that are really feeding off each other.
03:21 And you can tell, like, you can see on the field
03:23 that, you know, we love playing with one another.
03:27 Now we got to play better.
03:29 You know, last game wasn't our best game by any means.
03:34 But, you know, you can see that this group is special.
03:37 And, you know, we'll wait until the end of the season
03:39 to reflect on that.
03:42 But, yeah, no, this group is -
03:45 we've brought the best out of each other,
03:46 and I'm excited to see what we continue to do.
03:48 You mentioned you made it too hard on yourself.
03:50 You know, what did you mean by that?
03:52 Just trying to be my dad, you know,
03:54 just trying to be something I'm not.
03:57 And I've watched him for a really long time.
03:59 You know, he's brought me to games here when I was younger,
04:02 and I've watched old film of him
04:04 and some of the good players that he played with.
04:06 Javon Kurst was one.
04:08 And - but at the same time, that's just not me, you know.
04:14 And that's a big thing Coach Jackson told me.
04:15 He's like, you don't have to be your dad.
04:18 You don't have to be, you know,
04:20 some of the other good players that you play with,
04:22 like Dante, Keem, like whoever it may be.
04:25 Like, you just have to be the best version of you.
04:28 You just have to be the best Jalen Thornton that you can be.
04:31 And, you know, it's been working out.
04:35 Jalen, can you put your finger on why the defense
04:39 has been good at times and struggled at times
04:42 and really hasn't kind of smoothed it out
04:44 and been consistent all throughout the season?
04:46 Well, I think it's a mindset,
04:48 mentality thing more than anything.
04:50 Playing defense, you got to be a little selfish at times.
04:57 You got to be greedy.
04:59 That's a term we always use.
05:00 Term we always use, greedy gang.
05:02 But, you know, you got to be in sync.
05:05 You got to do your one-eleventh.
05:07 We can't have one guy jumping in and out of gaps,
05:10 other guys not doing their job.
05:13 It's just we collectively at times we've been amazing,
05:17 and that's usually when we're all doing our job.
05:20 But the times that we're not,
05:22 one or two guys may not do their job,
05:25 then that's where we fall apart.
05:27 Now, there were things that we did wrong,
05:28 and we'll get that fixed.
05:30 You know, the coaches, they've done a tremendous job
05:32 of putting us in positions to make plays,
05:34 but we just didn't - we didn't respond to adversity.
05:38 And that's where we have to be better
05:41 this weekend against Cincinnati.
05:44 Will more meaning play in Cincinnati?
05:46 Absolutely. Yeah.
05:48 When you think of UC, what do you think of?
05:53 You know, it's weird -
05:55 Not necessarily football,
05:56 just the University of Cincinnati in general?
05:59 Yeah, no, I have respect for everything they've done.
06:01 Coach Fickle was there at the time,
06:03 and he gave me an opportunity to go there.
06:05 And, you know, this was my home, too.
06:08 You know, both places,
06:11 they hold a special place in my heart.
06:16 So, that would be a surreal moment for me,
06:19 especially because it could be my final game here.
06:21 But, yeah, I'll have to reflect on that down the road.
06:26 But I'm excited to play that one for sure.
06:29 I apologize if you already went over this,
06:31 but Coach Brown talked after the game
06:34 about he felt he was kind of surprised by the poor play,
06:39 I guess, because you had such a great week of practice
06:42 where in the past he kind of said,
06:43 "Okay, practice maybe wasn't that great.
06:45 I expected it."
06:46 What do you think maybe happened,
06:49 and do you agree that the week of practice was great?
06:51 Like, what do you think maybe happened
06:52 since that was the case?
06:53 Yeah, everything was great going into the game.
06:56 I can't really wrap my head around it.
07:02 It just seemed more surprising to you?
07:03 Yeah, no, I think we were all surprised.
07:06 I went into that game expecting to win.
07:08 I think everybody did, too.
07:10 And we knew coming into the game
07:12 that their backs were against the wall.
07:13 They were on a two-game losing streak.
07:15 We were on a two-game win streak,
07:17 hoping to carry along the momentum.
07:18 But, you know, the film don't lie.
07:23 The film don't lie, and that's myself included.
07:25 There were plays in the beginning
07:26 where I was getting beat.
07:28 And, you know, you just got to own that,
07:31 and I think that's the biggest thing for us
07:34 going into this next weekend is, you know,
07:37 we can say whatever we want.
07:38 They beat us, like, easily.
07:43 So, and that's the beautiful thing about this game,
07:46 you know.
07:48 It's the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows,
07:50 and you can't lie about it.
07:52 That is one thing my dad's told me,
07:53 "The eye in the sky don't lie."
07:56 So, I think it was good for us to get here yesterday,
07:59 watch the film, own it, and just flush it down the toilet.
08:04 We move on.
08:05 You mentioned this might be your final home game.
08:07 Do you have an additional year,
08:09 and what's your thought process there?
08:10 I do. So, this is my fifth year,
08:12 and this technically counts as my redshirt year.
08:17 And then the COVID year after that.
08:19 And, you know, we'll see what happens down the road.
08:24 But just for me, last year, getting hurt
08:26 and not knowing what was going to happen after that,
08:29 and talking to my dad, like, you know, you may be done.
08:35 And at first, I was like, okay, you know, like,
08:38 that's just the way it's supposed to be.
08:42 You know, I wasn't --
08:43 maybe I wasn't meant to be a good football player,
08:45 and that's fine.
08:47 But going into this last season,
08:50 I really just put my all into it,
08:52 saying regardless of what happens,
08:54 I'm going to leave it all out there and put my faith in God
08:56 that no matter what happens, you know, instead of saying,
09:00 "Why me? Why is this happening to me?"
09:03 This is what's supposed to happen,
09:05 and this is all part of His plan for me.
09:08 And, yeah, no, I'll take time to reflect on that as well.
09:11 I just really want to finish this the right way.
09:15 You remember being in NFL locker rooms with your dad?
09:18 Mm-hmm.
09:19 You were very young, but do you remember that?
09:20 Yeah.
09:21 Did you appreciate it at the time?
09:23 As a kid, you probably didn't realize how special that was.
09:26 Yeah, I thought it was normal, really.
09:28 So I think it was 2006 or '07.
09:32 Mm-hmm.
09:35 I'm in the locker room.
09:36 I see Carson Palmer, his brother at the time,
09:39 who was his backup, and then Chad Ochocinco comes out to me,
09:44 along with TJ Hujmezada, and they're like,
09:46 "What up, little man?"
09:48 I'm like, "What is going on?
09:51 This is insane."
09:53 I didn't appreciate it as much then as I do now,
09:59 but just moments like that that I've been able to share
10:01 with my dad and my family, that means everything to me,
10:06 and that's what the game will bring you.
10:10 I know you're just getting into Cincinnati, the Bearcats,
10:12 and you'll probably get into them more as the week goes on,
10:14 obviously, but what's it going to take
10:16 to kind of flip the performance last week
10:18 and get a win against the Bearcats on Saturday,
10:21 in your opinion?
10:22 It's great. It's great.
10:23 You've seen that Cincinnati's come along,
10:26 and they're going to be a good team again.
10:28 They've started to pick it up at the end of the season.
10:30 They went into Houston, and they got a win,
10:32 and that's something we weren't able to do,
10:36 and especially in this time in November,
10:38 teams really start to show who they really are.
10:41 They start to turn the tide, and they start to get it rolling,
10:44 so I'm not even thinking about their record.
10:49 They're a good team.
10:52 You knew your dad's legacy when you signed here, obviously.
10:55 Has it been what you thought?
10:57 You talked a little bit about that,
10:59 playing with his legacy hanging over your head
11:02 and trying to live up to him.
11:03 Has it been what you thought, harder, easier?
11:07 Way harder. Way harder, for sure,
11:11 but I appreciate that it went that way,
11:15 that it went the way that it has for me
11:18 because I took so much more than personal accolades,
11:24 having a chance at the NFL, being a starter.
11:27 I thought all those things mattered,
11:29 but it really doesn't,
11:32 and the lessons that I've learned from this game
11:35 that I'm going to take with me in my career path,
11:39 whatever it may be, those are the things
11:41 I'm going to look back on.
11:42 I'm happy it went that way because it's easy to be
11:46 satisfied and have a great time when you're winning
11:51 and everything's going your way,
11:53 but your true character shows when nothing's
11:57 really going your way.
12:00 What is your career path?
12:02 What do you do after football? Do you do business?
12:05 I would like to stay in athletics,
12:07 variety of things, scouting.
12:10 I love watching film.
12:11 That's something that I've thought about
12:14 because after the game, I have to watch the film.
12:16 I'll come back in here and just watch all of it.
12:20 Same thing with practice, too.
12:23 And then the agency thing.
12:25 Maybe my dad needs another agent on the side,
12:27 so I'll talk to him about that, too.
12:30 Do you need an agency to scout at?
12:33 Yeah, no, I've got to pick one or the other,
12:34 so I'm still trying to figure that out.
12:37 Real quick, you mentioned Chambers Elite,
12:39 just that experience and what you went through there
12:41 with that. That was pretty cool.
12:43 Yeah. Yeah.
12:44 Just your thoughts on that and how it's going to help you.
12:47 Well, shout-out to John Chambers for funding the whole thing.
12:50 It's amazing. He and his wife have been great to us.
12:53 But just being able to meet new people
12:56 and create connections and relationships
12:57 that you never know.
12:59 Those may help you down the road.
13:01 And that's another thing that my dad's harped on,
13:04 is just be a good person, be kind to people.
13:07 Like, if you're mean to one person here
13:11 and you meet them down the road,
13:12 they're not going to want to hire you then.
13:15 Or whatever they write about you then,
13:17 like all these scouts or all these people,
13:18 like one person they go to and they're like,
13:20 "How was Jalen Thornton?" "Oh, he was a bad person."
13:22 Then that's just the mark you leave.
13:25 And people remember the bad more than the good.
13:28 So, and that's all I've really wanted to do,
13:32 is just be a good person, be a good teammate,
13:36 be a good friend,
13:38 and just represent the state of West Virginia the right way.
13:41 And, you know, this team and Chambers
13:44 and everybody involved
13:46 has given me the opportunity to do that.
13:48 Kind of maximize your opportunities?
13:50 Yeah, yeah. Exactly that. Yes.
13:54 Best food you ate in Germany?
13:56 Sorry, what? Best food you ate in Germany?
13:58 The pork knuckle was amazing. It was awesome.
14:02 Yeah. I had that probably like four or five times.
14:07 Yeah. And that was really good.
14:10 And their coffee is really good, too.
14:11 Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you.