5 Minutes with Roob: Najee Goode says Eagles special teams will ‘dominate' in 2017

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In today's "Five Minutes with Roob," Reuben Frank chats with Eagles linebacker Najee Goode:

Roob: Tell me what the key is to being a great special teamer.

Goode: Main thing is mindset. You gotta play fast. You gotta play to win every snap. Every snap you come out there to take you gotta get to the ball or you gotta make something big happen.

Roob: Did it take you a while in your career before you kind of accepted that, 'Hey, if I can't start at backer, which I want to do, I can really have a nice career as a special teamer,'? Is that a lesson that takes a while for a young guy to learn?

Goode: I mean it's really a lesson that you pick up as you start to roll into the season. Some young guys do pick it up. Me, in my case, I kind of went here and there, went from starting and back and forth. As of right now, I've definitely embraced it full on and being able to be versatile on defense and play any linebacker position is something that I take pride in, along with being a great special teamer. 

Roob: And that gives you a lot of value. I would guess you're probably better suited to outside (linebacker), but you can go to inside if you have to, right?

Goode: Yes sir. Me personally, I think I'm better suited to be inside. If I had to be anything instead of a jack of trades it'd be an ace of spades on the inside. 

Roob: Tell me about this special teams group because (Dave) Fipp's always got a top-five special teams unit. What makes him such a great coach and makes his unit so good every year?

Goode: He's a dynamic coach with an electric personality and that's something that a lot of people don't talk about. But we feed off of him and then we feed off of each other. And we got leaders like myself and Chris Maragos and Trey Burton, guys that can help out and push that. It's one thing to hear it from the coaches, but when we're out there on the field in the game time we just take our training and put it out on the field.

Roob: You've been under a lot of different coaches, as far as giving time to special teams and understanding the importance of it, it seems like you guys are doing a lot of drills out there. When training camp is open we saw you guys doing a lot of special teams work. Is that unique among you guys? 

Goode: Yeah, it's very (unique). Like you said, I was with another team and we worked on it, we embraced it. But here, it's something that we've proven that it can win games and we have the best special teams returner in the league with (Darren) Sproles. That's something that can give us points and it can take points right away. We did it against New England when (Maragos) blocked a punt and scored a touchdown. (Former Eagle Bryan Braman) blocked one in Green Bay a couple years ago and (Burton) blocked one in San Fransisco. So we know how pivotal it is to the game and how much it can change it.

Roob: Yeah, there was that one game where you guys had like three touchdowns or something on special teams. It's crazy. As a player though, tell me about what drives you as far as wanting to be a starter and still accepting your role as a special teamer. It's kind of like a two-pronged thing.

Goode: The main thing is being able to help the team. Wanting to win. Just come out and here and be able play special teams. There's not that many people that are actually great at accepting the role. There's a lot of good players, but being great, being (on) a Pro Bowl ballot, being a guy that's been nominated for things like that and playing with great players is something that always boosts your self-esteem and morale. Then when it comes to playing on defense, you gotta be a playmaker. Being able to come out and make plays is something that everyone wants to be able to do.

Roob: What's the most fun unit to be on? Is it punt coverage? You guys were like the best I've ever seen covering punts last year.

Goode: I'm actually going to have to say kickoff. Kickoff is like a bunch of human kamikazes getting the one ball and I feel bad for the returner every time he takes the field. 

Roob: What's your level of excitement? You've been through a few regular season openers. You guys are going down to Washington Sunday. What do you like about this team and how excited are you for Sunday?

Goode: The best thing I like about this team is that it's one of the most athletic. Every year we keep adding different pieces and parts. Me, Kamu (Grugier-Hill), (Maragos), (Burton), we got guys that are athletic on this team and guys that can make big plays at any given time. The fact that we're fast and the fact that we're strong, while we're being fast. (Special teams is) something I think that we're going to dominate this year."

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