WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Quentin Lake is a creature of habit. Having been in the same defensive system for three years now, the safety has kept the same routine in that span. While he may tweak it if, for example, he feels like he needs to work on his body and incorporate more stretching through mobility and flexibility work, it otherwise remains the same.
When he first arrived as a sixth-round rookie draft pick in 2022, his first OTAs was about learning the defense. After that, his approach evolved into an ongoing self-study process in the springtime.
"I like to do a self-study," Lake explained Monday as players returned to the building for the start of the team's offseason voluntary workout program. "A self-study of the things that I can do better with the things that I did well and grade yourself. A lot of times you're looking at the opponent or you're looking at different schemes that they try to attack you with but in the offseason, it's really good to put together... whether it's a cut up or a whole season's worth of plays of just you so you understand how teams were attacking me specifically, how were teams trying to do certain things against our coverage contours on defense. I think now knowing that, you take a dive and understand (that) these are the ways teams like to attack you or this is kind of the footwork that you need to work on or I didn't like the way I blitzed during this play. The more information that you study over time, it allows you to really have a lot of information and notes on things that you can improve on going into this season."
That meticulous preparation has served Lake well. He was voted a team captain last season, and remained a trusted starter throughout the regular season (16 of 17 games) and playoffs (both games). He turned in a career-high 111 total tackles, and his five passes defensed were one shy of matching his single-season career best set in 2023.
This spring and summer, Lake has four clear individual goals in mind: To teach, perspective, calculated risks and being more demanding.
Teaching is simply being a resource for teammates who want to understand playing different positions and learning the playbook. Perspective comes from learning other positions himself so the secondary can be on the same page communication-wise. Calculated risks is trusting his film study to have the confidence to take them. Demanding is "demand more of myself, demand more of the defense, hold guys accountable if it comes to that point," since they have the culture on defense to do so.
"Those are really the four things going into this season that I want to improve on," Lake said. "It will not only help my game, but help the guys around me as well."
Lake will be juggling all of that as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, but he said those circumstances don't change anything about the way he will approach this offseason.
The routine stays the same.
"The steps that (brought) me here are the steps that I'm going to keep continuing to do throughout my whole career," Lake said. "I'll answer your question in three parts. I can only focus on what I can control and those three things are my attitude, my effort and my preparation. Each day having the same attitude, smiling, interacting with my teammates and having a great time getting these guys ready throughout the offseason into training camp and the season."
