HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025
(On what OL Robert Hainsey has meant to the team) “Yeah Rob, I thought he played really
well last week, especially. He’s had some games where he’s played at a really high level
and then he’s had some games—but his drop off is not—he’s just so consistent. And then
when he is freaking running around who has the energy and buzzing around, like on the
pulling and playing physical and feisty, he’s played really consistent for us all year. And just
the leadership obviously, and the ownership of not just the run game, but the protections,
the continuity and chemistry in the room. Just the way that those guys have played kind of,
at a lot of times this year, at a high level for us. And you looked at last night, a pretty darn
good team had eight sacks, and I think our guys are battling their tails off up front and really
doing a nice job and it’s led by him.”
(On DT DaVon Hamilton’s importance to the defense) “Unsung hero in a lot of ways.
Obviously had a huge moment against the Raiders that he got the credit that he deserves
for, but he’s been again so consistent. He’s a huge reason why we’ve been able to stop the
run upfront, massive reason. He helps others, obviously he makes plays on his own, but he
helps others in so many ways that when you really talk about a group effort of stopping the
run and flat wall defense and playing square and using your hands and shedding blocks
and making the plays that come your way. DaVon’s been so consistent that way and he’s
just a pro’s pro as well. The guy just goes about his business, does it at a high level week in
and week out and that’s his standard and expectation.”
(On DT Arik Armstead) “I saw a stat that he’s leading the interior DL in sacks throughout the
NFL right now, I think it was. Armstead the last, I would say really going back since the Bye,
has practiced on obviously the Thursdays when we go padded specifically, out of his mind.
Out of his mind. Every single rep he’s in the backfield in practice every single time. And
getting to know Arik more and more, we talk a lot about our time separate in terms of L.A.
[Rams], San Fran [cisco 49ers] and what that was like for him coming up and that in a new
system with new first year coaches and GMs, we’ve talked a lot about that culturally. And to
see him disrupting as much as he has, it’s showing up in practice though. That’s where he’s
doing it every single day. It’s not like he’s a 13-year vet that’s just kind of hanging out on the
sidelines during practice and then going out in the games and doing it. He’s doing it every
single day in practice. He’s trying to set an example as to what we’re looking for from that
penetration and getting vertical, and I’ve been really pleased with Arik and the kind of guy
that he’s been. He’s been so consistent, and I’ve appreciated that from him as well.”
(On the importance of collaboration between the running backs and offensive line
coaches) “Yeah, they’re together a lot. It starts early in the week with the initial run game
plan with all those guys being in there together, get back together in the afternoons to kind
of re-review and then they’re again, back together for the protection meetings and being
locked in and on the same page with the calls, the things we’re seeing, how we can get on
the same page as much as possible. And I think that they’ve all taken it pretty personally
when it comes to the communication, collaboration, understanding of what we’re trying to
get accomplished in the run game, first and foremost, what schemes might be best this
week against that opponent and being on the same page about how we want to maybe
attack those front structures. And then you look at the pass protection, obviously with [RB]
LeQuint Allen [Jr.] so much of the time being in there in third down. The pride that he takes,
the continuity that they have with those guys, he’s in there passing off stunts with them, like
he’s an offensive lineman, so you can tell there’s a lot of time that goes into it. When our
offense is not on the grass in practice, whether it be via defense or special teams, they’re
doing something for the most part, they are walking through the runs, walking through the
blitz protections, as much repetition as we can get those guys collaborating together, the
better off your run game and protection’s going to be.”
(On the plans for the defensive line with DE Travon Walker’s status up in the air) “Absolutely,
that would be some of the plans there. If Travon can’t go, we have a lot of confidence in
those guys that are able to continue to play and elevate their play. And Smoot’s [DE
Dawuane Smoot] been a huge asset in terms of just his versatility to be able to – maybe not
always show up in every stat but – how much he can help us in terms of going inside, going
outside, being able to be involved in either the games, the stunt, the pressure, the four-man
and helping try to stop the run. I’ve appreciated that from him, especially because he isn’t a
big, huge body that can jump in at three technique or four-eye but he does it. He does it and
he doesn’t say anything about it, he goes and does it. And I’ve appreciated that from him.
And then we obviously saw B.J. [DL B.J. Green II] and Danny [DL Danny Striggow] make
some plays over the last few weeks, but a guy like Smoot that’s been doing it all season and
doesn’t, again get a ton of recognition for that. We’re going to need those guys again this
week to continue to elevate and step up and just go be creative, go be yourselves because
we see it all the time. Every day at practice with B.J. and Danny on the show team. We see it
every single day. And so, really looking forward to them taking another step in their
development and obviously with that whole crew, it’s going to be a huge mix. Like last week
when we rushed it and we covered it better, that together. It’s not ever just one group or the
other to defend the pass. They have to be in coordination, when it’s connected whoever’s
up there rushing, usually it’s going to be good for you.”
(On LB Dennis Gardeck) “Another pivotal piece to where in base defense, he is on the edge,
being able to do what he does against tight ends or in the run game shedding blocks.
Dennis is a very smart football player, and you can put him in multiple different spots,
whether it be on the edge to rush in sub defenses or in obviously standup inside being able
to work the games and work some of the straight rushes on whomever they deem is a good
matchup for these guys, right. And so, Dennis and I have talked obviously a lot this week
knowing that him being in that defensive structure for a few years, and I know he wants this
one pretty bad.”
(On the success of the spilt zone blocks with TEs) “Man, I don’t know. Split zone in itself, I
think, always causes a defense a little bit of a problem because you’re just violating A.)
their eyes, B.) their gap responsibilities by creating a new gap that they have to fall back
into. And also with the ball being able to hit either front side or the ability to kind of bend
and cut up, if you will, off of that split zone kickout block and our tight ends are athletic
enough to be able to adjust, I think, on that block a lot. Because yeah, oftentimes the
defensive end is there and you’re trying to go kick him out, but then if he moves or squeezes
down, you have to be able to adjust and react accordingly. And I think our guys have done a
nice job of understanding the play and what goes into it, what are the issues with it and I
think the backs have a good feel for the ability to hit it either front side or what we call
backside.”
(On RB Bhayshul Tuten’s growth in pass protection) “Man, he had a great step up the other
day. He’s taking it very seriously. I think, like I’ve mentioned about Chad [RBs Coach Chad
Morton], I think he’s one of the best I’ve ever been around and if not the. The way that he
can break down past protection for guys to really put it in buckets and try to simplify as
much as possible the calls, because there are a lot of calls that go into it based on what the
front structure is and the look. So, it’s easily the most challenging thing for any rookie
running back to get down, but Tuten, has done a phenomenal job of being up here every
Tuesday with Chad and being up here and getting extra work. He’s taken pride in getting
better at it and improving because I think every back wants to be in as much as they can
and to be able to not have to move pieces around, to not make a tell especially, so been
pleased with the way he’s been able to run and I think he’s close to breaking some of those
to create more explosives there. I think I want to see him in the open field like that and see
what that could look like, but I’ve been proud of the way he is been able to pick up the pass
protection.”
(On WR Jakobi Meyers) “I think like if you’re a receiver and you understand leverage and
zones and where people may be, then you can set up your route accordingly. And I think
Jakobi does a nice job of giving the quarterback indicators as to where he may go based on
his body language, and also just his soft feel. Just yesterday we had an ‘Mamba’third down,
another great example of him kind of hooking up in the middle of the field, just finding a soft
zone behind Foye [LB Foye Oluokun]. Foye is pretty close to him and Trevor [QB Trevor
Lawrence] just rips in the middle and it’s bang-bang first down. Just has a feel for the game.
And his body language as a receiver I think is very quarterback friendly, you just know when
he’s going to be breaking in or out or sitting down. He doesn’t make these quick herky-jerk
movements that can spook a quarterback. It’s all pretty fluid and deliberate is I guess what I
would say. And so anyway, he has good hands, so that allows the quarterback to even if
he’s maybe off a little bit, know that he will still be able to adjust and make some of those
plays. So yeah, you’ve seen some chemistry from them early on, which is nice.”
(On if it takes years in the league to develop Meyers skillset) “A lot of feel, man. He was a
quarterback too, which I think helps some of his savviness and feel for the game. I
definitely can see where that can come into play, and he has seen a lot of ball. He’s had a
lot of snaps, he’s run a lot of routes, seen a lot of coverages, and when you accumulate
those and also have some general natural football IQ and feel, I think that’s kind of what
you’re seeing.”
(On if a player has to practice during the week to be available on Sunday) “It’s definitely a
challenge for sure. Jarrian [CB Jarrian Jones] and I and a couple guys were talking about it
yesterday. It’s just the nature of the National Football League at this time is very difficult to
get a ton of meaningful ops and reps in practice. I’m talking about full speed. You can do as
much jog through as possible and that’s kind of where you have to go a little bit towards the
end of the season with the bodies and the injuries being what they are. The goal is to get
them to Sunday, but there is a different challenge of preparing as a pro with very limited
full-speed snaps in a game, especially as a younger player. That’s just part of this though,
so many guys have had to do it. I do believe you can do it because of the jog through,
because of the walkthrough. We didn’t do any full speed on Wednesday anyway, so you’re
talking about a couple periods on Thursday, a couple periods on Friday. The jog through,
walkthrough reps are so valuable that you have to take advantage of every one. And you the
amount that you have to be locked into the plan and taking reps when others are, taking
mental reps has got to be key and critical to our players that are having to take some limited
opportunities this week and are expected to go play on Sunday. We can’t miss those ops,
so it’s doable. It’s just definitely harder.”
