Read the full transcript fromDL Zach Sieler's postgame media availability on September 23, 2026.
How do you convince them, as your head coach would say, it's still a process right now, to work through these growing pains?
Zach Sieler: I mean, do you love the game? That's what it is. The game's tough. There are a lot of good teams. NFL is probably the most competitive sport, major league sport, what is it, 90-something, 80-something percent of the games end within a one score game. It just shows how highly competitive it is, and any team can win. You start doing the right things and start getting on a roll, that's all we need.
I know you guys have to put in the work here and the learning curve is there, but does it being the home opener, does that give any type of extra layer to kind of give people, the young ones especially, a boost to maybe perform even better?
Zach Sieler: Yeah, it's a home game. I mean, it's awesome. Home fan base, everyone's out there cheering, going crazy. A nice 1 o'clock game in Miami, I'm excited. It's always fun playing at home. We got a great fan base, pulling in, seeing all the tailgates and all that going crazy, so I'm excited.
What are some of the things that maybe the common viewer doesn't see that you were really, really encouraged by over those first two games?
Zach Sieler: Just the guys' willingness to make the adjustments on the fly from week to week and understand what needs to happen. It's the practicing, it's the meetings, it's the extra meetings. It's trying to accelerate that growth as much as possible, and the guys are doing it.
Your head coach says he embraces the challenge of not only facing the Chiefs with his defense going against Patrick Mahomes.
Zach Sieler: Absolutely. They're a great team. Obviously, everyone knows what they've done over the last few years, five, six years. They got a lot of good players on the offense and defense. Obviously, for me, I know offensively, they got some good guys back there, and it's going to be exciting to go against them and hopefully do our thing.
You obviously had a lot of self-motivating energy within you through your career to keep growing and becoming more significant. Are you able to instill any of that? I mean, everyone's got their own traits, but can you instill that as a leader into them to believe that things can get better?
Zach Sieler: Oh yeah, we got the right guys. They brought the right guys in, Sully, Haf, all these guys, the scouting department. I think they did a great job this year with the team and how they're building it. Like what we've talked about, we're young and it's not an excuse. Guys want to learn, they want to grow as much as they can, do any extra meetings and have that energy out there. It's exciting. I'm excited to keep seeing each step each week.
