DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANTHONY CAMPANILE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2025
(On how to get the defense preforming like they did earlier in the season) “Yeah, there’s
definitely a way to do that. But it’s collective, it’s myself obviously putting guys in the best
situation and execution. So yeah, there’s absolutely a way to do that.”
(On the pass rush) “I think some of the things that we’re doing is always—all game plans
are different, but we’ve got to find a way to get better there. And I always put that on myself,
you’re coordinating the unit, we’ve got to be better there. That’s the way I look at it. So,
we’ve got to have a good plan to do that this week because the guy we’re playing is elusive
in the pocket, has done a great job with his feet his whole career and certainly this year. So
we’ve got to be locked in, be disciplined in the rush and try to affect him here on Sunday.”
(On his confidence in CB Jarrian Jones) “Yeah, I think Jarrian came up with a huge play
early, and to me that was a really detailed, disciplined rep within what we were asking him
to do on the snap. And just the majority of the game, I felt like he did a really good job for us.
I thought he had a good summer for us. I think he’s grown a lot. Like you said, we played
him inside, outside, so he does multiple things for us and I think he’s done a good job since
he’s been in there so far.”
(On DE Travon Walker off the field) “Great dude. He’s a team first guy, works his off every
day, but a great human being. He’s a hard guy not to love and he’s got such a team first
mentality. He’s played through injury, as you guys know, and he’s done a great job for us,
top to bottom. I know he was in on a few the other day, so I think that’s coming for him. And
yeah, he’s a great dude.”
(On how Walker’s hand injury has impacted him) “I think it probably impacts him more than
he would tell you, here and there, but I think he’s done a good job with it. I’ve seen a couple
other guys deal with a similar injury and I think Tra’s done as good a job as anybody I’ve
been around with that type of injury, which is hard when you’re playing D-Line. But
I think he’s going out there giving us a great effort, 100 percent effort and making some
plays for us through the injury.”
(On DL Danny Striggow) “Tough kid. He’s on tilt 100 percent of the time [laughs], so he’s
running around all the time. He’s a tough physical kid. I think he comes from that, he’s got a
family full of wrestlers there, so he’s no stranger to hard work and he’s done a really good
job for us. I’m happy for him. He does a good job for us when he is out there.”
(On the defensive performances in the fourth quarter) “Yeah, that’s something we’ve looked
at, I’ve looked at personally. What we’re doing in those situations, what we’re calling, just
making sure that we’re in the best possible situation. That’s something that we’ve got to be
better there, obviously stating the obvious. We’ve got to be in better situations, and we’ve
got to be able to finish those games in the fourth quarter because we’re right there. And
obviously losing that one the other day, nobody’s happy about that. So, we’ve got to be
better in the fourth quarter for sure.”
(On coaching players within the rules) “Yeah, it is just part of the game. We’re always trying
to show them a strike zone tape, and all that stuff. And some things are out of your control.
it’s bang-bang and you just play the situation as it plays out. Defensively as coaches and
players, we try and do the best job we can, just getting them in position, where you’re going
to make a legal hit, make legal contact on somebody which, like I said, it’s bang-bang, not
easy to do, but yeah, we’re always trying to coach it.”
(On if it is getting more difficult to coach within the rules) “I think you’re just trying to coach
within the rules of it, honestly. You’ve really got to coach keeping your head out of it, staying
in the strike zone. For the health of the players and everything, so it’s just all part of
coaching it honestly. Every day we’ve got to make sure that we’re hitting that and like I said,
trying to show tapes of that stuff every week too.”
(On why teams have utilized quick passes against the defense) “I think part of it is we’ve
done a pretty good job in a run game so you see a little bit more first down pass when that’s
the case. Been through that before, but yeah, I think it probably has something to do with
that. And then, obviously coverages getting called in that situation, so you’re always looking
at that, self-scouting that and evaluating that for sure. That’s part of it.”
(On how to prepare the rush against Chargers QB Justin Herbert) “Yeah, you’ve got to have
a great rush plan against guys like that. It’s similar to like when you’re playing against Pat
Mahomes [Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes], guys like that who are really elusive in the pocket.
You have to have a good rush plan and not be behind the quarterback and giving them B-
gap step ups, that whole deal. And you’ve got to do a good job in the interior as well, that’s
not just the edge. And really trying to make sure that everybody’s square in front of the QB
and you’re running stuff that gets guys an opportunity to pressure the passer and all the
while keeping him in the pocket. You’ve got to be on point with a guy like this because he is,
as you said, he is legit and he has done a great job with his feet the whole year.”
(On game planning with new starting personnel on the defense) “I think our guys have done
a really good job with, like you said, just different guys going in like in terms of trying to
execute everything we’re asking them to do. But when you’re in those situations, you’ve got
to keep it moving, mixing coverages and stuff like that. But they’ve done a good job learning
and we have some, like you said, different guys in there. I love the guys we got, to me, I ride
with these guys. I’m excited to get going on Sunday. There’s only one way to fix things and
that’s work your ass off. That’s what I know. There isn’t any other way to go about it. There’s
no other answer. And they’ve been doing that, and our coaches have been doing that and
that’s what’s the most important thing is that we come in here and grind every day, find a
way to get better and work to get a W on Sunday.”
(On the challenge of trying to manufacture pressure) “Yeah, we’ve done some different
things over the course of the season and then even in the game the other day, some
different stuff, that resulted in some good stuff for us as well. And going through that in my
career, just different stops and stuff, you always pick up things that you feel can help that
way. But it’s also, it’s rush and coverage together. So, it’s not giving them access on throws
so the ball can come out quick enough so the four-man can get there. It’s mixing it up from
my perspective. Changing the picture for the quarterback and the opposing coordinator so
that they don’t have access to get the ball out as quick too. So that’s part of it. But yeah, it’s
definitely a myriad of things and that’s always the challenge I think every Sunday, but we got
to do a great job of that this week. I know that.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR GRANT UDINSKI
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2025
(On his conversations with QB Trevor Lawrence about ‘letting it rip’ when a throw is open)
“Our conversation’s been very similar. I think Liam [Head Coach Liam Coen], I and Trevor
were all aligned in that he has all the ability in the world. He knows the system; he’s got a
lot of reps at it. He’ll continue to improve as we get better, but we want to let him go out
there and play fast, play free and there are opportunities out there that we need to do a
better job of probably creating those or giving him the mindset and the confidence and the
understanding that he can play fast and play free in those opportunities. So, I look forward
to the opportunity for him to do that this weekend but absolutely have all the confidence in
the world in him. So, hope he feels the same to go out there and play fast and free, just like
coach said.”
(On WR Jakobi Meyers being able to pick up the offense on a short week) “It’s a testament
to his work, his intelligence to be able to go out there and even line up. I don’t think I’d be
able to break the huddle if I tried to show up in a week and then go out there and play in a
game. Really, really impressive for him to do that. To go out there and not only play but to do
it at a high level. Knew what he was doing. Didn’t have to ask guys all the time, ‘Where am I
lining up? What am I doing? Where am I trying to go? Who am I blocking here?,’ so super
impressive from a mental standpoint. And then the physical standpoint too. I don’t think
people realize how tough it is to hop on a plane. All of a sudden you’re moving in the middle
of the night and then you’re doing a physical early in the morning, you’re getting everything
together. People are trying to take all your time, you’re short on sleep, probably short on
nutrition, and then you’ve got to go out there and play in a totally foreign environment, so
really impressive all around.”
(On the offensive line) “There’s a lot of things that go into it. I think as coaches we always
want to start with trying to evaluate how we can put them in better positions for success.
And whether that’s the protections that we’re in, the run calls that we’re in, the formations
we’re in, or how many times we’re doing different things, how can we continue to find the
things they do best and continue to do those in new or different ways or ways that are
designed to attack that defense that specific week. So, we’re always going to reflect on how
we can build things for the offense for those guys specifically that put them in better
situations. I think they’ve played at a high level before, and we’ve seen it, and they played at
high levels in times of those games. Just like all the positions. I think every position during
that game had points of the game where they wanted to improve or wish they had
performed better and had points to the games that they wish they could have back and do
over again. And the O-line is no different. I have confidence that group of guys will rally
together, continue to play together and continue to build upon the things that we’ve worked
on all through the offseason, all through training camp, and continue to protect and run
block like they’ve done earlier in the year, like they did at times during that game.”
(On the offensive line facing quality defensive fronts) “It’s a mix of everything. I wish I could
sit here and say it’s this one thing and if we just fix this one thing, this one pass set or our
cadence or we stop doing this protection, that would solve all of our problems.
Unfortunately, that’s not the reality. There’s so much that goes into it. Whether it’s, like I
said, the calls that work, the game plan and the scheme we’re putting together for them,
certain routes, the timing, are they coming open on the right time? Are we getting the ball
out on the right time? Are we hitting the right spots in the run game? Is it a different front?
We’ve played some great defenses, like you said, we embrace that challenge. We enjoy the
opportunity to go against some of those top defenses, really some of the best fronts in the
league we’ve had the opportunity to go against. So, it’s a great test for those guys, but it’s
something we’ve got to embrace, not necessarily use as an excuse. Not to say that we’re
saying that or you were saying that it’d be an excuse, but certainly something we would
embrace but recognize, hey, we’re playing the best of the best. We embrace that challenge
and we’ll continue to go attack whoever they put across from us.”
(On the challenges of the Chargers defense) “It’s a lot in a couple different ways. They do a
great job with their scheme, very tied together with the rush and coverage, coordinated
super well. You can tell those guys when they’re on the same page, they’re playing at a
really high level and you’ve probably seen over the last couple weeks, them continue to
ascend, which makes it a great challenge for us. They’ve gotten guys back healthy, and the
guys are really playing at a high level in that scheme within their roles. They’ve got guys at
the first level, really good rushers outside and inside really, linebackers playing at high level
and then the defensive backs, they’ve had some turnover there, but the guys they’ve got in
there now are playing at a really high level and coordinated really well in the back end. They
provide some different looks that really, the defenses we played earlier in the year haven’t
shown from a coverage standpoint. The way they play certain coverages and really the way
they even play certain fronts and run fits. That’ll be different for us to go against that, but it’s
a great challenge, a new opportunity for the guys. Then third down, you’re kind of going to
say the same thing, different pressures, different blitz packages. So, it’s a unique defense
to go against for the guys and they do a really great job of executing it.”
(On how TE Brenton Strange opens up the offense) “Strange is a huge part of our offense
and you see probably, unfortunately, it took his absence a little bit to really see how much
he impacts opening things up, not just in the pass game. He’s a great target for Trevor and I
think they seem to have a connection when things break down. Trevor seems to find him,
he’s an explosive athlete, so even when he’s looking to him first in the progression, you get
matchup issues with Brenton Strange matched up on linebackers or even safeties at times
because he can run away from guys. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical, he wins running
routes on corners sometimes, which is super impressive. But in the run game it’s a huge
deal. All the different things he can do. So, when you say open it up, he quite literally can
open up defenses sometimes by coming across, splitting defenses, inserting gaps, pulling
around, and then at the point of attack, he can block defensive ends, bigger guys at times.
So, it really creates a lot of opportunities. When he’s taking a defensive end, now you got
another offensive lineman on a linebacker. So, it creates mismatches for us, having him is a
huge part of our offense.”
(On the challenges of the turnover at WR this season) “There’s certainly a challenge to it
and would love to have Travis [WR/DB Travis Hunter] back healthy too and you lose him just
right as he was starting to really hit his stride there in the L.A. game in London. But it’s the
challenge we all signed up for, I think back to that moment at the end of the game where
[WR] Tim Jones is running across the field against Vegas, and it makes that big catch and
it’s a route that he never really got to practice with Trevor. He had never thrown and caught
that route with Trevor and he goes out there, Trammell’s [WR Austin Trammell] in there
winning on that play. [WR] Tim Patrick is in there winning on different routes where he
hasn’t got the opportunity to run those routes. So those guys are facing really a tremendous
challenge to go out there and execute at the highest level, against the best of the best
without having the opportunity in practice to do some of those things. Now it’s our job to try
to limit the amount of newness and try to make sure that what we put on their plate is stuff
that they can go out and execute. But it’s been a lot of fun to see them embrace the
challenge. Something we’re going to have to continue to do as guys go in and out of the
lineup. That’s the nature of the beast. We knew going into the year, very rarely do you make
it throughout the year with all 11 starters playing every single snap of every single game for
the whole year. So, you knew it was something that was going to come up. Unfortunately,
it’s probably been a little more than anybody would like, but those guys have really been
doing a great job of not flinching when the opportunity comes, just stepping up, doing
what’s asked them and trying to embrace it.”
(On the challenge of facing the Chargers pass rush) “Yeah, that’s the tough challenge of it.
And when you play these great fronts, like these guys, it was a similar issue last week in
Houston. There’s only so many guys you can help. If you double team everybody, you’ve got
nobody running a route. So, you’re certainly trading off every time you try to find a solution,
every time you say I’m going to fix this issue, you’re causing a problem somewhere else. So,
it’s a delicate balance of choosing those issues wisely and then trying to mix and match,
helping a little bit here, a little bit there throughout the game so they can’t get a beat on
we’re always helping this way, we’re always protecting this way, we’re always protecting a
certain way, we’re always trying to set up formations and protections in a certain way. So,
you’ve got to mix and match to keep them on their toes but also mix and match to balance
out the help as it’s spread around. That way guys have plays where they know I’ve got help
on this down. Unfortunately, there’s going to be the flip side of that for those guys where
there’s going to be a couple plays where you say, ‘Alright, you’re one-on-one, we need you
here to come through in this moment.’ And that’s the nature of the beast and that’s when
those guys are really called to step up for the team and for the other 10 guys on the field.”
