Hjalte Froholdt Press Conference – 9.15 | AZ Cardinals

Hjalte Froholdt Press Conference – 9.15 | AZ Cardinals

lot made yesterday about how while you guys won, hey, we even JG was saying I I didn’t want to take their joy away, but there’s a lot we need to do. Kind of what are the emotions the day after something like that? You know, we have high expectations of ourselves. So, you know, I think uh some parts of the game we did really well, some parts we didn’t do as well. So, I think uh you know, our expectations are that we need to put it away quicker. Um got to take our hats off to you know, Carolina. They did a good job. they stayed in the game and we had several changes to do it and we just need to execute a little bit better. But, uh, a lot of good stuff to learn from, man, you know, and, um, yeah, I just want to give a shout out to to the freaking fans, honestly. I mean, that last drive place was rocking. So, I mean, everyone sideline, I was trying to get everybody hyped up. I didn’t even need to do anything because they were they’re screaming their tails off out there. So, it was uh that had an effect on the game. So, I mean, I was just stoked that, you know, defense did their job or the fans were involved and, uh, I mean, that’s why we need them there for. So, uh, but yeah, definitely a lot of things to get better at. What’s going through your mind when you are on the sidelines and the defense is back out on the field? I know last week everyone’s talking about how you wanted to beat the guys on the field to finish. What is it like being on the sidelines once again? Well, I mean, luckily we got some dogs on defense, you know. I mean, um, you know, they went out there. I mean, Kas, he finished a drive off like that. You know, we had a couple guys get banged up and guys stepped up in big time situations and made plays. So, um, you know, it’s easy to to, you know, lose your mind when it’s like it it gets really close when it feels like it shouldn’t have, but um, man, I’m proud of the defense. I mean, they’re out there for 90 plays and they they they kept going at it, man. And guys are making plays. So, I’m stoked that, you know, they they got put up for a challenge and they’ve been up for a challenge past two weeks and and they they’ve stepped up. So, I think we just need to do a little bit better offensively and there’s a couple small things that we can do better. So, uh yeah, it’s always hard. It feels a little weird when you’re not really on the field the last like eight minutes of a game and the first 10 minutes of a game. So, it’s kind of like a funky feeling. Um but uh but yeah, man, we got away with a dub and looking to go through. I know when it’s 27 to3 you’re not like all right time to relax you know and everything but obviously for some reason holding leads has been a struggle through these first two games. Um I’m just wondering you know JG talks a lot about having to finish games and things like that. Is that a a player thing do you think? Is that something that you guys kind of or is that something a top down game planning scheme type thing? What what do you think? I mean it is the ultimate team sport. I think everybody is involved. So, um, players can be better, maybe some coaching can be better. There’s a lot of different things. I mean, everybody’s taking accountability. So, there’s no there’s no pointing fingers today. You know, everybody’s being like, “Hey, I could be better.” There’s a couple plays I could be better. I mean, I we had a big drive and I pulled a penalty and that was bad. It was bad ball. I didn’t stick to my technique and I need to be better and I will. And a couple other guys made some different They didn’t make some plays and then they also made some plays. I mean, it’s just it’s it’s a game of football and then that that’s also just goes down. you’re never out of it and they’re never out of it. So, you just got to continue to perform and then sometimes the ball just don’t roll your way, man. And u couple mistakes here and there and then it it feels like you kind of in a little bit of a panic mode, but where you just need to take a big breath, just get back to what you know, and then just keep doing what you’re doing. Like we were looking at the like they made some great plays, but there a couple times where we also hurt ourselves. So, I think some of that stuff it’s it’s a whole team thing, man. Like I mean the whole O line needs to play well. the quarterback, the receivers, the defense, everybody needs to do their job. So, um, but yeah, I think it’s it is funny because it is an interesting feeling right now. Everybody’s like, “Oh, no.” And whatever. But, I mean, we’re we’re two and0, so I’m I’m pretty I’m pretty stoked about it. And we’re heading into divisional right now. So, I think it’s it’s it’s an amazing place to be. So, uh, yeah, it’s awesome. Every year is a fresh start, but this offense last year was one of the best in the league, especially in averaging yards per carry. How do you get the run game going more consistently early in the season? I don’t know. I think, you know, I think it it the same stuff, small details, man. I mean, they had a good game plan against us and and they did some stuff we didn’t expect and, you know, and and you got to make adjustments and I think that uh I think we played hard and we just just a couple small things. I mean, that’s that’s the marginalss in a game like that. You know, I feel like we moved the B moved the ball really well and the run game didn’t seem as efficient as we would like it to be. And uh um but yeah, it’s a couple small things that we need to pick up and, you know, take it upon yourself to get better. Like there’s a couple stuff that I’m like, I need to do that better and I wrote it down in my notes and I’m going to take it into this week and I’m going to harp on it Wednesday, Thursday, Friday so I can go into the game on Sunday and be like, I feel comfortable with this and I know exactly what it is I need to do better. And I have a feeling that that’s I mean I know that that’s what everybody’s planning on doing. So uh yeah, take it one game at a time and hopefully we get a boatload more rushing yards this upcoming game. What does the notebook look like after a game? Couple small things, man. You know, I think it’s it’s easy to be like it’s easy to be like I need to do that that that that better. Sometimes you just get outplayed. I mean, we played against some pretty good defensive linemen this past game, and sometimes they make a play and they just outplay you. But I think just the small stuff of like, okay, where do I want to put my hands in order to give me a better chance to win? I didn’t have very good hand placement on my penalty. I need to do better. So, I don’t have my hands in his face. And I was like, okay, well, it’s a good player. He made a good play. He ripped across my face. I wasn’t ready for the reaction. That’s something I need to do better. Small note, trust your technique. put your hands where they need to be. It doesn’t need to be all right on every back block you need to look at this and this and this and this and this and this. It’s just a small take your step, trust your technique, do what you need to do. And I think that’s all we need to do. That’s it’s it’s just know what your fundamentals are, follow it, and then trust that you can do it and then know where your help is. So that’s all that’s all I need to do. You mentioned uh you’re going into divisional play. I know it’s everybody’s always very much one game at a time, but you are playing backto-back division games here. So, does anything change mentally? Are you just making note of it because you happen to know you’re going to go play division things or is there something to knowing that you’re going to play them? Uh, I try not to really think about it. I’m not really going to think about do we have a Thursday night after? Like, I mean, we know it’s a schedule, but I mean, I can’t think about that in the current week. It’s not going to change anything. our our tempo, our scheduling stays the exact same this week as it would be any other Sunday. And then, you know, next week’s going to change because we play Thursday, but the focus is the Niners. That’s the only focus. It’s really hard to play there. Uh that’s a really good and quality team with a lot of good quality players. So, that’s the focus. Thursday night is not the focus. Sunday is. So, I think that’s that’s what we need to do. We need to do what can we learn from this game and what can we carry it to the next game, not what we can carry to two games, three games from now. Take it one game truly at a time. This team has been number two in yards per carry the last two years. Are you seeing different defensive approaches, you know, two games in into this year? Have you seen adjustments from opponents? Yeah, I mean guys know we’re going to run the ball. So, you know, I mean, I I’m sure that, you know, like I’m sure the defenses are like they’re going to get after you, so you better get off the ball and put your hands on them and, you know, shred blocks and do what you need to do. And then we know we’re going to run it. They know we’re going to run it. Who can do it better? So, I think, you know, defense is definitely I mean, I assume that they’re going to be like, “Hey, that they’re gonna they’re going to try to get after us and we need to get after them.” So, it’s just going to be hard. It’s hard ball, man. It’s fun ball. Uh it’s it’s what football is, man. Running the ball really hard and then doing a boatload of stuff off of it. Seems like regardless of the personnel San Francisco has on either side of the ball, they are a tough team to go against. What do you consistently see from their defense twice a year regardless of who you’re lining up against from the NerS? Um, good coaching and good vets. I think that’s a good thing that, you know, kind of keeps teams, you know, it’s good to have youth and young and, you know, a lot of energy from the young guys around. But I think, uh, Niners, they’re coached really well. They know exactly what they need to do and they’re very strict in their rules. So, I think that’s something that, you know, when you head into this game, it’s like, well, we know that they’re a very well coached and a vetted team. Um, I mean, and it goes all the way through. The front seven is good, the back is good, you know, the backers are really good, the edges, like, so there’s there’s these things. It’s like when you when new players go on a team like that, you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. And I think that’s something that we’re trying to build as well. And I think that’s something that we’re at now where it’s like, hey, it doesn’t look as good as we want it to be and we need to be better even though we won. And I think that’s something that we know we need to do. And I think that’s also speaks volumes cuz like yeah, we’re sitting here like the world’s on fire. I mean, we’re 2 and 0 and hey, it came down to the last couple seconds, man. But guys got to make plays. So I think that’s I mean I’m more optimistic about it than anything because everybody’s taking on themselves like, hey, no, we need to win and that’s the expectation. So, uh, that’s the standard that we’re setting and, uh, you know, we we want to win properly and we want to do we want to do it right. So, I think that’s, uh, that’s something that we’re focusing on. You had Jacobe come in for that one snap on fourth and one from a center perspective. How different is it when you have a new quarterback come in and it’s kind of the value of the one yard. Just how difficult is that sort of play? Just it’s as difficult as any other play, you know? I mean, you get put in some different situations and that one is a very particular one. So, uh, we practice it and we make sure we’re good at it and then, uh, yeah, just go up and execute. I think that’s what it comes down to. One side of the ball is really banged up like the defense might be now. Does the other side of the ball sort of consciously say, “All right, guess what? We we got to try and raise our game a little bit just to, you know.” Yeah. It’s always interesting to me like we got to raise our game. Does that mean we haven’t risen it before? So, I think we just got to keep doing what we know how to do it. You know, we’ve seen a lot of success before. We got to harp on that, man. We got to continue to know what are we good at. Stay good at it. Keep your prep the same. You don’t need to do anything extra spectacular just because of a certain situation. Whenever people start feeling like they need to do way more, then they tend to like get away from just doing what they need to do and doing that really well. I don’t need to block three people. I just need to block my one guy really well. And if I block my one guy really well, then there’s a bigger chance of a positive play. Not, oh, I need to block him and what if he flies down? I got to block him and I got to stretch out. And then it’s like, well, I’m not really I’m blocking nobody. So, for me, it’s just I got to get down and get my points right, got to get my blocking right, got to get my hands right, get my foot right, and just focus on what I need to do. And I think that’s what everybody needs to do. And then a couple guys need to step up. Um, and I mean, they sure did this past game. So, I’m excited for what we got. More positive kind of tact. You guys didn’t look like you could have produced the end of the first half, beginning of the second half much better than you did. Obviously, you have a very tight time window and you’re able to get a touchdown at the end of the first half, then you go on this excellent touchdown drive in the I mean, a lot of coaches talk about the those two time frames and if you can really sandwich those together, you’re going to be really successful. Did it feel like that was as high level as you guys could play as is th that little sequence in there, those two things? Yeah, I mean getting two two touchdowns on two possessions is probably as as good as it can be. So, uh yeah, I mean Dor set up a great return. We got in there and we executed it well in our two-minute drive. There were 0 seconds left on the clock or whatever they had to take a knee or whatever, but I mean and then we come right back out. We go down the drive. We even have some adversity. We overcome it and go score. I mean, that’s as good as it can be. So, I mean, we’re showing we can do it. So, I mean like that was extremely explosive doing that double dip is is extremely valuable and it I mean it turned the game I mean it’s a huge swing. Um and then it was just like I think cuz that was such a crazy swing and then we didn’t really produce much then it all goes crazy. Uh but I mean I’m optimistic man. We got a we got so much talent on our team. I’m so excited. I’m just stoked to be able to go out there another week and balling with the boys. When Will Hernandez is ready and healthy, what what does he potentially add? I don’t know, man. We’ll see. I mean, he’s he’s chugging along really well. He’s getting back out there at practice, moving well around. So, uh I’m not exactly sure where his rehab and everything is going, but just excited to see him back on the field.

OL Hjalte Froholdt joins the media from Dignity Health Training Center.

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