NC State outside linebacker Da’Kaari Nelson met with the media to discuss his first start, staying ready for his opportunity, maintaining defensive intensity, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
What was the opportunity like this past weekend to finally get on the field and get that start? You played 35 snaps.
It was a great opportunity. Our strength coach speaks a lot about God. When some guys go out, everybody’s like, “We need somebody to step up.” He coaches a lot on stepping in instead of stepping up. With the depth in our room, anything can happen at any time. I knew that, so stay ready and consistent. Same plan, same routine, day in and day out. It was a blessing to get the opportunity.
How much did it help to have consistent snaps to look back on and film to learn from?
It was amazing. It was definitely a confidence booster. I was like, “All right, Coach trusts me. We’re out here two, three, four drives in a row. All right, let’s do it then.” That’s how I felt going into that game, drive in and drive out.
What did you feel like you proved about yourself in Saturday’s game?
I would say my reliability and consistency. Coming from my last school, I didn’t get many snaps last year, so what can you do? What can’t you do? To have the opportunity to show, “He’s a reliable guy. He can do this play after play,” that was amazing.
What was it like for you the first three games when you weren’t getting as many defensive snaps as you might have hoped?
It was frustrating, but I had the mindset that it could be any play. For example, when AJ got hurt, nobody thought that would happen. It was like, “All right, stay ready because you never know what’s going to happen.” I didn’t learn I was starting until last Friday, so it was like, “All right, my turn now. Let’s do it.”
Coach talked about needing to keep your foot on the gas defensively. That’s been a challenge the last couple of weeks. Has there been anything different in practice to encourage that? What are you doing personally to maintain that focus and intensity?
We definitely have changed practice a little bit. We usually do all the good-on-good, ones versus ones, at the beginning of practice. Now it’s at different times throughout practice. I had the mindset, “All right, we’ve got to stay ready.” It could be period one or period 18. You never know. That was the main thing we did to try to stay consistent with, “All right, we’ve got to finish.”
Is there anything you have to do yourself to encourage that?
Me personally, nah. It’s mainly my job to help my teammates. Some guys get a break and think, “All right, let me breathe.” But you’ve got to remind them, “Hey, it’s only halftime or the end of a quarter or a TV timeout.” You’ve got to keep the mindset, “All right, let’s keep it rolling and keep our foot on the gas.”
Coach talked about eye discipline being a major issue late in the game and leading to some blown coverages. How important is it to learn from this past weekend, especially going into a game where you could face a running quarterback who can throw off platform?
Yeah, that definitely was a major problem, mainly for me. Going into the week, I mainly go over plays where it’s like, “All right, I’ve got something to do on this side.” It’s mainly understanding coverages and understanding run fits with those coverages. What’s going on, not just with me but with other people, allows me to understand that I don’t have to play so fast to this side when my coverage is over here. It’s just going over plays where I feel like I struggled during the game, seeing where I messed up, where my eyes were, and where I can do better.
Is this a test of how well you can play linebacker, given how often their running backs can carry the ball?
Yeah, I wouldn’t even say just a good linebacker game. It’s a test of the defense. As you said, they’ve got two good running backs, a great quarterback, and a great receiver. It’s going to really test the defense in general because they have great skill.
