HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Friday, September 17
(On not making plays in the secondary even when in position to do so) “We’ve had a couple of those this year. We just have to [make those plays] and I have all the confidence in the world they will because I see them do it in practice. [Texans QB] Tyrod [Taylor] launched it down the field on three different occasions. They were 50-50 balls; we didn’t come down with it. That’s something that we have to improve and we worked hard at. But, like you said, there was no coverage blown. It’s just making a play on the ball. They’re good players out there that should and will make them down the road.”
(On making corrections and create a routine in practice this week) “It’s good. The week before we had a Monday [off], but with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it’s not that much different than [what] I’m used to. Our players have been great. Today’s a day before a day before we call it, ‘fast Fridays.’ But yeah, I like our routine.”
(On CB Tre Herndon’s status) “He’s [looking at] next week. We’re hoping next week. He won’t play this week.”
(On the Broncos passing game) “He’s a good player, the guy that dropped it, #1 [Broncos WR KJ Hamler]. We played against him when he was at Penn State, [he’s] fast. [Broncos WR Jerry] Jeudy is a dynamic player, but they have good players all over the field. [Broncos QB] Teddy Bridgewater did a very nice job last week against the Giants. We just have to improve our backend of our defense and play against a good team.”
(On using TE Chris Manhertz as more of a receiving tight end rather than a blocking tight end) “See, we thought he would be. We thought he’s a guy that didn’t actually play college, didn’t play high school, which is an amazing story, but he’s a grinder, a worker. He has good hands, he’s a former basketball player, he’s an elite blocker, but we think he can be a very functional wide receiver.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence throwing his first touchdown pass to TE Chris Manhertz) “[I’m] just glad he threw his first touchdown pass.”
(On his perfect ratio of run versus pass plays) “I’ve always been a 50-50 person. That’s our goal. Sitting in 20 years of defensive meetings [I’ve learned] that you can stop the pass, you can stop the run, it’s hard to stop both. If you look at our best teams over the years, our goal was always 250/250. We had a few teams that were 250/250 and those usually won every game.
(On Assistant Head Coach and Inside Linebackers Coach Charlie Strong’s insight on Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater) “We talked about him a little bit and he shared some thoughts with the defensive staff, mostly just respect of the player that he is, things that he likes, maybe things he doesn’t like, but there’s a lot of respect for [Broncos QB] Teddy [Bridgewater]. Obviously, he won a lot of games for [Assistant
Head Coach and Inside Linebackers Coach] Charlie [Strong] now, a lot. And they’re still very close, obviously.”
(On DE/LB K’Lavon Chaisson’s progress and expectations) “From my understanding, he’s one of the most improved guys. He’s a first round draft pick that works his butt off. I really get and appreciate him. He’s not where he needs to be, but you get there through one way and that’s working. I have a lot of respect for the way he’s going about his business.”
(On if he’ll create nicknames for opponents like he did in college) “I’m still learning a little bit about this division. There are some good teams in this division, but I love that kind of stuff. We’re not there yet, we’re just trying to win a game.”
(On if he might create nicknames down the road) “So that’s a yes? I’m sure you would, that’s a nice story.”
(On the holding calls in last weekend’s game against the Texans) “Heartbreaking. Obviously that’s something you work through in practice. I’m never going to challenge the officials publicly, but we took a close look at the one on [OL Brandon] Linder. That was acceleration feet. We don’t coach him much different than what he did. But holding penalties, that’s the second-worst penalty in football, first being a hold or a block in the back on KOR [kickoff return]. The holds just knock you out of rhythm. It’s just something we’re addressing. We watch it closely. We turned it into the league, and we got our results back and coach through it. It’s going to be a challenge this week with those two ends.”
(On if he has sensed any desperation) “No. I can’t let that happen and we can’t let that happen. When I made the decision to come here, I just really liked the core players. I really do. They deserve an opportunity to go win and we’re working their you-know-whats off to do that. Then we brought in some good free agents, and we drafted some good players. No, we’re not going to fall into that trap.”
(On the challenge for the offensive line this week) “[It’s] about as big as there is [with] those two edge players [Broncos OLBs Bradley Chubb and Von Miller]. They don’t pressure a lot because they want to let the dogs eat. They can eat and then the inside guys are decent too, good defensive front.”
