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+---- Thread: *Thoroughfare to Glory (TTG) #18 (/showthread.php?tid=18151)
*Thoroughfare to Glory (TTG) #18 - Opera_Phantom - 02-07-2020
Ladies and gentleman, welcome again to ESPNSFL. My name is Zerin Nandrews and this is episode number 18 of our “Thoroughfare to Glory” (TTG) saga, bringing you the life of Season 18 QB, the “Portuguese Phenom”, Jay “Football” Cue.
The last time we talked to our star, the Arizona Outlaws were on cloud nine: 3-0, with Cue getting a great start that nobody expected. But since that time, Arizona is 1-5, suffering extremely heavy defeats versus the New Orleans Second Line and the Orange County Otters. They now sit last in the ASFC, with a 4-5 record. Even though they still can reach the post season, that tasks looks pretty darn complicated. Let us see how Jay feels about the teams chances.
Dirk - So Jay, after getting a 3-0 start, things are now pretty different. What do you feel it changed that made the Outlaws get into a 1-5 period?
Jay - Hey Dirk. I do not feel like anything really out of the ordinary happened, teams just adjusted to our game i guess, and managed to stop us. We knew coming into this season that it would be a rebuild year, so expectations were a little bit low. Maybe the other teams under estimated us for the first week and were surprised by our start of the season and that allowed us to sneak some unexpected wins. Can't complain about that to be honest, but we keep on track and on par to what we expected.
Dirk - Still, 4-5 is exactly the same record as the 3rd placed team in the ASFC. Do you guys feel like you still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs?
Jay - We just play one game at a time Dirk. 4 games left, 1 of those against a division rival with the same record as ours, that can make or break our playoff push. We just gonna use our strategy like we always do and hope we manage to come out on top. On a good day we can beat any team on the league, we already showed what we can do if things go the way we want them to go.
Dirk - What about your performances Jay? You are pretty much emulating the Outlaws season, started very well but then things kind of got stale.
Jay - Teams adjust Dirk, and it is no surprise that on the first games the defenses had troubles in stopping my game. The only video they had was from the NSFL, so there is no way they could prepare effectively to try and contain me. I just used that to the teams advantage. But numbers wise i am still pretty happy with the ones i have been putting on, i mean, a rookie QB being second in Passing Yards, 4th in TD passes and 3rd on QB Rating is nothing to be ashamed of. And i am not even on my final form.
Dirk - Any part of your game that you are disappointed in?
Jay - We lost a couple of one possession games, against the Copperheads and NOLA, and as one of the leaders of the team, you always get that sour taste in your mouth and the voice in your head that says that you could have done something differently and get a couple more points in the scoreboard. Especially against Austin, where i had 1 INT. But these things happen, they are part of the job of being a QB.
Dirk - What do you feel you really need to improve on your game to get even better numbers?
Jay - Like last year, i am really focusing in reducing turnovers. I am really not happy to have 7 picks in 9 games. And my running game is still a bit rusty, still getting to the confidence levels i want before i take off with the ball Cam Newton style. But we will get there. Zona is building something very good for the future.
Dirk - Speaking of the future, the team just recently changed GMs. How do you feel about it?
Jay - SwagSloth was the GM that took a risk with me, even rejected an approach from other team very interested in having me after i was picked by Zona. They trusted in me to take this franchise forward and i intend to repay their confidence with wins. The new GM was picked by a series of players, we had a bunch of extremely capable candidates (shows how the future is really exciting for us, with people wanting to GM here) but we eventually had to choose one. Things changed slightly, as expected, but the foundations were already set and we just need to keep on building and going upwards. Young and active players, we really have something good here.
Dirk - So does that mean that, even with your contract ending shortly, there is no way that you would leave Arizona and travel elsewhere?
Jay - This is a business Dirk, and you never know what might happen.I feel good now, but sometimes things change when you least expect them to and we need to try and go find happiness somewhere else. And that can happen from my part, but Arizona can also reach the conclusion that i am not what they need going forward. We will talk after the season is over and see if we have the some objectives for the future.
Dirk - Well thanks again for having us Jay, good luck for tonight's games, hopefully you can return to your winning ways and fight for a playoff spot.
Jay - Thanks Jay, we are excited for tonight, hopefully we can get 2 wins.
And this is all the time we have for today, stay tuned for more interviews and information on our TTG. This was Zerin Nandrews, for ESPNSFL at the Arizona Outlaws training facility, goodbye, see you next time.