Hey, it's going good. For the second week in a row I forced a fumble and recovered it on the same play. I ripped it out of the running back's hands and I was kind of like 'I can't believe I got the ball.' As soon as I hit the ground I heard my teammates yelling at me to get up and as soon as I got up the quarterback was standing right there but I wish I had the split second back to make a move on him. It led to a score to put us up 20-3 at the time, so it was a big play in the game.
I'm proud of how the defense played. I always say that turnovers create opportunities for your offense and we've created a lot of turnovers. We lead NFL Europe with 22 takeaways. That's going to create a lot of opportunities for your offense and get the defense off the field. Last game we were fortunate to take advantage of some of those situations.
We're very proud as a defense, coming over and accomplishing a lot as a unit. Unfortunately we couldn't get it done as a team but we still have two games left and we're very capable of winning both of them.
A couple of weeks ago I bruised my shoulder. I sat out one day of practice because it was a little tender but I feel good now. It didn't look like I was hurt did it? It was just a freak thing that happened but I feel good now and the couple days off gave me some time to rest and I'm excited to go back out and play this week.
I think I have been able to accomplish a lot over here. I just took the mentality that I'm over here and I needed to make the most of my experience as far as progress on the football field and I think I did that. When I first started off, I was a little rusty but it was good to get on the field and do what I'm used to doing.
On the final tackle of the game I think my emotions took over. I really don't talk on the field but I had some good hits last game. It felt good to make some nice tackles. I got the quarterback really good one time. He was falling back at the goal line and I came up and popped him. I don't know how that guy got up. I was really surprised that he got up because I hit him hard. I saw his face when he got up and he looked like he was in pain. I did get him pretty good though.
When they started coming back it went through my mind for a second that 'here we go again' but then I told myself there was no way that we're going to lose this game. That's probably why I showed so much emotion on the final play. It was nice to end the game on a positive note for a change.I'm excited to be coming home in a week and a half for mini-camp and to see everyone. I really feel good physically. I've been lifting pretty hard and when I come back I'll be ready to go. My body feels good though. I don't feel worn down or anything. It doesn't feel like I've played nine games. I'm glad I was able to come over and get into football shape. That's an important thing, especially being in the NFL. It's a different feeling when you get on the field and start getting tired. You just have to stay focused and fight through those sorts of things.
We play Berlin at home this week. We're 3-5 and we have two games left against Berlin and Rhein. If we can win those games and finish .500, that's an opportunity to end on a positive note and take another thing good away from this experience.
I want to end the season with some big plays. I need a pick and another forced fumble. I have three forced fumbles, so I lead the league in those and maybe I'll get another big hit too this week.
As told by Ray "Bubba" Ventrone to Patriots Football Weekly's Tom Casale.
