| October 1, 2020 Opening statement: “OK, good morning everybody, hope everybody is well. Obviously just grinding through the week here. We have a great team that we’re playing here with the Saints and very well-coached by Sean Payton and his staff. So a lot of respect for him and his staff and what they’ve been able to do through the years down there. Practice for us today – Calvin (Moore) will still be out there, not doing much, and Ty Johnson – I’m not sure how much he’s going to do today either. He’ll show up on the injury report here. So those will be the two main guys, everybody else is still working through, and we’re getting better from that standpoint, which is good. We’ll see how it goes through the course of the week as the rest of these guys progress through practice. Other than that, we’ll just jump right into questions and we’ll go from there.” On how CB Desmond Trufant looked in practice and how valuable it is to have him this week with his experience playing the Saints: “He has some great knowledge of this team. It’s been fun to talk to him about this offense and some of the players that they have, certainly that’s been a big help so far. We’re day-by-day as far as him and his health. It was good for him to get out there a little bit yesterday and do some stuff. We’ll evaluate him again today and see what it looks like as we get closer to the weekend. Certainly great to be able to talk about this offense with him, obviously with all of his experience that he’s had against it. He definitely has a lot of really good knowledge which is awesome.” On WR Marvin Jones Jr.’s blocking ability and how to evaluate a wide receiver as a blocker: “Great conversation. I really think all those guys actually block really well or at least the effort is there. They are trying to do everything they can to help their guys downfield. Kenny (Golladay) he did a great job too in the game, he had a couple big blocks. Danny (Amendola) – he does a lot of dirty work in there. I mena, he might even be on the defensive end sometimes when you really take a look at the film. He’s doing a lot of different things down in there. I think ‘RP’ (Robert Prince, wide receivers coach) does a great job of coaching those guys in that area and putting a point of emphasis on it. I think it’s like a lot of things – if you emphasize it as a coach, you usually see it on the field. I think that’s something that happens with those guys. I think they do a great job on understanding that wide receiver blocks may be a little bit different than offensive linemen blocks. They’re not going to be so much drive blocks or in-line. A lot of times it’s different angles; it’s, ‘How do we take a good leverage approach and make sure that we put ourselves in position based on the designed run that we’re going to be able to allow the back to cut off of us, or get downfield, use our feet to cover a guy up if it’s a catch-and-run-type of scenario with another skill player.’ I think those guys understand all those intricacies of what those look like when you get into open space and that blocking that’s required. Certainly the biggest thing for us there is penalties. That’s the one thing we really make sure we emphasize on is good technique, hand placement, making sure that we’re not doing anything that’s already hurting usually what is a big play – you know, downfield already and taken away with a penalty or something like that.” On if he sees anything different with Saints QB Drew Brees and their offense: “No, I would say absolutely not. I think you always look at the quarterbacks that have been in the League for a long time. Is there anything that shows up that’s different: arm strength, mobility, what they’re doing from a communication at the line of scrimmage standpoint – guys that are established like that. I’ve played against Drew Brees for a long time. I have the utmost respect for him, and his arm talent and his arm strength is still phenomenal. I don’t really read in to all that stuff. Again, same as what we say about anything, we’re three weeks into the season, coming up on four weeks in to the season, all those stats and all those numbers are going to change by the time we get to Week 14 (and) 15, and everything is going to look different. So for us, we have to make sure that we just do a good job of trying to defend all the things that they do well which is a lot. So he certainly is the point-man for all that, and he does a great job. He’s going to be able to sling that thing downfield, there’s no doubt. He’s really smart. I don’t think anyone is going to argue with throwing the ball down to (Alvin) Kamara for a 52-yard touchdown. I mean, the ball may have gone behind the line of scrimmage – it doesn’t matter; it’s still 52 yards. That’s a smart play by smart player. So I don’t really know how you criticize that.” On how much it means to the defense and what he’s trying to implement when two veterans come up with interceptions early in a game: “Obviously turnovers is a huge part of the game and the turnover ratio is critical to all the game stats that go into it, extra possessions for either side of the ball depending on which way it goes. That’s something that our players know. That’s something that we coach. Certainly we make a lot of points of emphasis on tackling and turnovers. We work on it every single day and sometimes they come in the form of interceptions. Early last year I think we were one of the best teams in turning the ball over with fumbles. I think that there’s always a point on that stuff that we are trying to coach and teach all of it, and sometimes it comes in bunches which is great. Trying to use it as a contagious motivation is always good, too. You want to carry that from week to week. I also think that sometimes when you go out there and you turn the ball over or you get a lot of turnovers in a particular week, I think that’s a probably big point of emphasis for the opponent’s offense at that point. Like, ‘Hey, we have to do a great job with the ball,’ so they probably coach that a little bit harder during the course of the week. That’s just how it goes. For us, obviously I thought that was great last week. I thought we needed it. I thought those guys stepped up really big in those situations and got it rolling. Certainly it was great to see some of our better players make those plays in those situations, and that’s really what you hope happens is those guys that have that confidence, those guys that have done it before so many times over and over and over, and they step up and they make another one. That’s what it is to be a great player in this league. So we certainly want to see more of it and hope we do.” On if a roster decision needs to be made for S Jayron Kearse by the Saturday deadline: “Yup. We’ll have to make a roster decision here this week. Yup.” On the importance of continuing to run the ball through the course of the game: “I think really, the score doesn’t even matter with that stuff too. You can still kind of put those runs in there. Obviously keep the defense off-set there a little bit with the balance of an offense. Certainly as a defensive coach, you know those games that you get into where the offense just abandons the run and now becomes a complete pass game. You’re dialing up different pressures and looks and fronts and coverages, and you’re just really making – you kind of open up the playbook at that point and can kind of go after a couple different things. When a team continues to run the ball, it does put you in a little bit of a bind with some of those pass defenses that you want to call in those situations because you do have to have gap integrity and you have to be able to have the right personnel on the field to stop those situations. You certainly don’t want to get hit with something that’s a big play out of the run game, too. I think even all the way through the course of the game, and a lot of games here especially early in the season, the run game is critically important. It’s a big part of what keeps an offense balanced and keeps a defense trying to stay in between defending both. That’s really important. The Saints – they obviously have a phenomenal front here. They have some guys there that play the run extremely well, transition to the pass extremely well. Obviously (Cameron) Jordan and (Marcus) Davenport, (David) Onyemata and certainly Malcom Brown, who I know really well too, they od a great job of plugging that up inside. They play a lot of five-down looks. They’re not going to let you run the ball. They’re going to play stout up front. They want to make you one dimensional because that’s when they can release that whole pass rush and get into their exotic blitzes and pressures and all the stuff that they do. That’s a big challenge for us.” On if there’s an advantage of playing quarterbacks in consecutive weeks that are both under six-feet tall: “Obviously different styles, I would say, from a quarterback perspective, and I think both of them, obviously, very efficient. I don’t think the height part of it really matters. I think they’ve obviously been playing football for a long time and whatever those measurements are, they are, and they have been. So, I think those guys are obviously both great players. Drew Brees is, I mean – the way that he can see and get his eyes downfield and his vision, along with his accuracy and the efficiency in which he throws the ball, it’s phenomenal. I mean he’s a tremendous player. He’s a great competitor, and he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the League. So, we’ve got a huge challenge from that standpoint for us, and he works the pocket really well, too. So, I think that in regards to the question that you asked, I think he does a great job of moving around the things that are happening with the pass rush and with his offensive linemen. I think they block in a certain way that gives him that mobility, and he makes the most out of all of it. Just a really efficient player.” On preparing for Saints QB Taysom Hill: “Yeah, no doubt, and I think Sean (Payton has) done a great job of mixing that concept into the offense. It’s not just something where he’s the only quarterback on the field. He’ll be on the field in a bunch of different personnels. He’s lined up all over the place. I mean this guy, his knowledge of the offense is pretty extensive, let alone special teams. Wait until you see this guy on special teams. He’s running down coverage units. I mean, he’s just a football player. It’s fun to watch when you’re not playing him. I think that’s enjoyable. But right now, this week, it’s not so fun. We’re trying to figure out what to do with him and where he’s going to be and what alignments and how to stop him.” On how CB Amani Oruwariye has played so far: “I think Amani came into camp coming off of the end of last year where I thought he made a couple plays and had some confidence about being out there. He came into camp with that confidence and just went to work and competed at a high level. I really think he did a great job of coming in in shape and (being) ready to go. Certainly, competition is what it’s all about. We play a lot of corners, we play a lot of defensive packages, so he’s had those opportunities. I think that through the first couple of games, he’s had some tough coverage assignments and some tough situations that some of them have been really good. There are others that we’ve got to work on and keep improving, but that’s like everybody out on the field. He had a really big play at the end of the game when the backup situation on kind of the out-routes there. I thought he made a great read and drove on the ball. He’s got great length; he’s got great speed. The more I think he plays, the more confidence he gets in all of that, and I think you see him make those plays. I think those things are just on the horizon, which is great.” On rookie TE Hunter Bryant fitting into the mix when he returns: “Obviously, I think what he did in training camp, what we saw in his skillset, was something that we really liked, and something that we think can help us win. I think he was getting better as he was going through camp. Certainly, we’ve wanted to have him out there and we haven’t, but he’s working his way back and we’ll progress that as much as we can through safely returning him to play, from that standpoint, and get back to that skillset of what he was showing us before he got hurt because that was really good. We’ve still got to work on some things and improve some things. There’s a big jump from college to the NFL, but I really liked where he was progressing too, and I think that he’s a guy that gives us a tight end position that can do a lot of things. When you get – especially the tight end position with some multiplicity and variability behind it – it puts a lot of stress on the defense. I think that’d be great for us.” On WR Kenny Golladay moving forward from injury: “No doubt. Obviously, we’re not going to put anybody out on the field that’s not healthy enough to play. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I don’t want anybody to be in a situation where an injury might put them out or have them into setbacks. I think it was good for us to get that under our belt and feel that he’s ready to go. We know that there’s some things that we’ve got to continue to work on so he can improve, and (he) hasn’t played football in a little bit, so the conditioning part of it was important for us to see and evaluate, and that was great. He was able to get through the game and hopefully we just keep building from there this week and going forward.” On how he goes through picking between CB Desmond Trufant, CB Amani Oruwariye and CB Jeff Okudah for his top two cornerbacks: “Well, I think for us, just in general terms, competition is what you want on your team every single week, and that’s something that we thrive on. Guys got to go out and they’ve got to work, and they’ve got to compete. So, from that standpoint, we’re going to play and put guys in position, whoever’s going to help us win, every single week. That is what it is. I think the good thing for us as far as the secondary’s concerned – we play a lot of DBs. I mean, again, the number one package on most NFL teams right now is sub, which is three corners. So, all of those guys are out there playing and we’re going to have to use all that stuff and go forward. We just take it day-by-day with the competition out there. Certainly, Trufant’s a great player. He’s played in this league for a long time. So, there’s a little bit of that that goes along with it, and we’ll just compete and go and hopefully everybody’s ready to go. You want to be at your strongest when you play on Sunday, and if that means that good players are pushing good players, that means that you can get better, so that’s OK.” On if he’d feel comfortable if CB Desmond Trufant, CB Amani Oruwariye and CB Jeff Okudah had to play in the slot: “Yeah, I mean I think it depends on the week, too. Darryl Roberts, I think, has done a good job in there, too. So, sometimes the slot position’s a little bit more complicated week-in and week-out. Sometimes, it’s not. Sometimes it’s pretty basic, sometimes it’s matchup-based, sometimes it depends on who’s in there, too. So, we keep that all moving. We keep it fluid from that standpoint and just let those guys go compete.” On how much the game changes depending on Saints WR Michael Thomas’ game status: “Any information you’ve got in that category would be great for me. You can forward to me, that would be good. I think that he’s – I have the utmost respect for Michael Thomas and what he can do on the field. I think that his ability to line up in those different positions, inside, outside, certainly a go-to player for Drew Brees in certain situations. He’s just proven over and over and over his ability to make those plays on third down, red area, big plays down field. He’s just a great player. I think that, again, the offense, Coach (Sean) Payton has done a great job with Drew and making sure that the ball is put out there, and they have a lot of skill players. (Alvin) Kamara, obviously, is phenomenal to get the ball to, and certainly Emmanuel Sanders is another outstanding player, and (Jared) Cook. So, I don’t really see any slow down with the offense when he’s not on the field from that standpoint. Obviously, it just adds another dimension of a dynamic playmaker when he is on the field. Certainly, from an offensive perspective, you can see the growth that this offense has gone through and will go through and traditionally, they do. It just continues to get better as the season goes. When he gets added into the mix, it just really kind of makes things harder for the defense all the way across the board.” |
