Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 560

Chapter 560: 559 Grappling Skills Chapter 560: 559 Grappling Skills “`

“Why?”

Although embarrassed, ashamed, and frustrated, Jones still managed to control himself, regain his focus, temporarily set aside his dignity and pride, and return to the game of football.

He knew that Li Wei always generously offered help; moreover, whether it was the offensive group or the defensive group, Li Wei was always learning new things.

Not only the rookies who had just entered the league but also veterans like Houston, Johnson, and Berry, who had been in the league for many years, occasionally found themselves at a loss for words when Li Wei asked them questions.

“Why are you always able to break free from tackles?”

Pausing for a moment, Jones rephrased his question.

“Why are my tackles always broken?”

Ah, I see.

Li Wei suddenly realized that in a football team with numerous members, everyone had their own worries and dilemmas, their own challenges and breakthroughs; but the most brutal part of competitive sports is that sometimes, neither talent alone nor effort alone can break through the bottlenecks that still abound.

This year was Jones’ junior year; if he still couldn’t find his place in the team, they all knew what was likely to happen next.

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It might not even be necessary to wait for the end of the rookie’s four-year contract; during next year’s offseason, the team might consider looking for other potential paths for Jones.

To many, the defensive line is just a bunch of brainless meat mountains that rely on physical confrontation, and their game seems to consist of collision, collision, and more collision.

It is precisely for this reason that the great achievements of Los Angeles Rams Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald and Houston Texans Defensive End JJ Watt come from their strong bodies and outstanding talents; both spend a considerable amount of time in the gym lifting weights, which seems to support such a mindset.

Of course, this is partially correct; a strong body is crucial for the defensive line and forms the basis of their game.

But in reality, the technical content of the defensive line is much higher than one might think; they don’t just blindly ram into others in pure confrontation, they also need skills—

Fundamentally, it is about lowering the center of gravity, maintaining balance, countering force, and using twisting postures to take down the opponent, thus breaking into the pocket to tackle or hit the quarterback.

All these details are technical, similar to wrestling or sumo.

They appear to be sheer strength; but in the clash of top experts, techniques beyond strength occupy an important place.

Besides, there is a critical technical action in tackling, and that is observation; the defensive line needs to observe the opponent’s center of gravity, accurately grab the opponent’s waist or thighs, avoiding confusion from feints, and also avoiding being thrown off by the shift of the center of gravity.

Things are definitely not that simple.

Thus, in a game, it is often seen that a tackle that has been supposedly completed can still be escaped.

For Jones, from a technical standpoint, Li Wei, a running back, is not in a position to give pointers on the tackling techniques of professional defensive linemen.

Last season, Jones’ recurring problem of missing tackles or having his tackles evaded remained unresolved.

Despite increasing his playing time, surpassing his rookie season’s performance, and achieving 6.5 sacks; his inability to complete tackles at critical moments was also exposed, which is why he was unable to secure a starting position.

In Li Wei’s view, there should be room for improvement on a technical level, which should be addressed by the defensive line coach; the perspective he could offer comes from that of a running back.

Or rather, the perspective of someone being tackled.

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“The eyes,” Li Wei said.

Jones: ???

“Is this a comic?

So is the next step to talk about ‘fighting spirit’?”

“Ha ha.” Li Wei laughed out loud, rarely seeing this other side of Jones, “What I mean is, your gaze gives you away; your judgment is inaccurate, or you are uncertain about my next move.”

“In daily training, when we practice tackles against sponge pads or wooden posts, and even with teammates who don’t go all out, our brains aren’t working at high speed.”

“But in an official match, opponents won’t just wait around to be tackled.

We observe, we anticipate, we strategize, and we will do everything we can to escape the tackle,”

“So, either you come up with your own plan, ready to take the initiative and execute the tackle, or you need to calmly observe—the feet, knees, hips, shoulders, etc.—look at the balance and weight distribution, mentally rehearse what could happen next, adjust your tackling technique, and prepare for the encounter.”

“The first lesson Coach Burns taught me when I began playing football was to think.

I had to learn to think, to be patient and calm.

The mental demands of football are higher than one might imagine.”

In Li Wei’s view, Jones still wasn’t accustomed to the professional playing field, even though it would be his junior year soon.

In college, relying on his physique to engage in confrontations, he often took the lead, attempting to dominate with sheer strength.

Upon entering the Professional League, when he found that same approach increasingly failing to overpower, he would become bewildered.

Of course, the coaches would instruct on this too, but players vary in aptitude, with some being slow to warm up.

Add in the large number of players, and it becomes difficult for the coaches to monitor each player’s progress precisely, naturally widening the gap between them.

Jones paused, his thoughts churning in his mind.

Finally, he looked at Li Wei with a blank expression, making one wonder if his brain had crashed, but he eventually spoke up, “What you mean is…”

A pause.

“Observation and thought?”

Li Wei nodded, “Why not give it a try in practice?

Before each start and tackle, more precisely, before the kickoff, give yourself some space.”

Jones didn’t respond, just stood there stunned, lost in his thoughts.

When Mahomes arrived at the training facility, this was the scene he walked into.

He was greeted by Li Wei’s smile, and the two fist-bumped.

“Didn’t you say you were adjusting your biological clock today?” Li Wei asked.

Mahomes shook his head, “When the time came, I woke up automatically.

I should ramp up the training today, then tonight, when it’s time, fight the urge to sleep and keep going through the playbook, forcing myself to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning, and spend the evening at your place?”

Li Wei, “Sure.”

Mahomes sneaked a glance at Jones and said, “How did you manage to crash his system?”

Li Wei, “If you like, I can make you crash too.”

Mahomes struggled mightily to stifle his laughter, almost bursting into it.

Though they had arrived at the training field early, to their surprise, other players were also showing up one after the other, displaying commendable enthusiasm—

Especially for the defending champions.

Then, Kelsey appeared.

Seeing Li Wei and Mahomes, Kelsey yawned incessantly, continuously waving his hand, “Damn that JJ.”

At that moment, far away in Houston, Watt, who was lifting weights, suddenly sneezed, looked around in confusion, and then continued pumping iron, the clanging sounds like a symphony.

When Reed arrived at the training base, there were still thirty minutes before the report time, but more than half of the team had already shown up, demonstrating a spirit worthy of praise, which made the coaches quite elated.

Defending the title, that was a whole new challenge.

Unintentionally, Li Wei spotted a familiar figure up ahead, mouth agape, face full of astonishment, making no attempt to hide his surprise.