DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR RYAN NIELSEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2024
(On DT Esezi Otomewo earning a roster spot and what he’d seen from him throughout
training camp and preseason) “Yeah, he made a lot of plays. I mean, he was all over the
place. There was a play last game, he was outside one hash, made the play all the way
outside the other number. Athletic player, plays really good fundamentals, technique, really
bought into what we’re doing. He’s done a really good job. Good pass rusher. So, a good
combination. Still a young player and there’s a lot of upside to him, but his body of work,
and we talked about this, the body of work over the time training camp and even in OTAs
was pretty impressive. Really happy that he made the team.”
(On balancing reps and play time for players such as DE Myles Cole to get the extra
development they need) “Well, part of the thing with having the cut-downs is that there is
more time for the guys that are left over that do make the team. Even though time is cut
down a little bit, there’s less guys and so he’ll still get the same amount of reps and things
like that in practice, make sure he’s ready to go on Sunday.”
(On where he plans to play DE Arik Armstead) “Plan to play him all over. Yeah, all over. All
the positions. Smart player, he can do it all in the run and the pass game. So, he’s going to
be all over the place.”
(On keeping seven interior defensive linemen on the initial roster) “Sure. I think it’s a
combination of everything. We’ve got some good, really interior players, but then some
guys that can flex out and play out on the end. Different personnel groups and packages
and things like that. So, it allows you the flexibility of maybe getting a little bit bigger in
times when we need it. I think overall the group has done a good job and those guys are
deserving of being here and they’ve earned the spot. Now it’s just, let’s take the next step
and get into the game week next week and see how it goes.”
(On how excited he is for DE Josh Hines-Allen and DE Travon Walker to play in his system
together) “Very excited. Really good players. We’ve done a really good job. Last preseason
game was awesome to have them out together. You add Arik back in this, some of the D-
tackles, we’ve got a good group. That group’s got to play. They’ve got to play hard and
they’ve got to play tough. Those two guys, they’ve got to do really good job on the edges of
crushing the edge and be able to provide some pass rush. You don’t always want to
pressure in the league and good defenses have four-man rushes. Those guys, they can play
with finesse, they can play with power, they’ve done a good job in the run game, playing on
the edge, coming out of a three-point stance, things like that. So yeah, it’s exciting. Good
players, great people. They’re awesome guys to be around and they come out to practice.
The thing about them that makes them the next level and the next step is they practice
every day. There’s not a day off. They come out there, they’re working every day to get
better. That’s what you appreciate as a coach. You see their body of work and it’s very
impressive.”
(On how good the talent on the defensive line is) “Well, we’ll see. I think the season will tell
us, right? Talent is one thing, but the production and what we do and things like that, those
are the things that we’ll be judged on, right? How many plays we make, how many games
we win. So yeah, you’d like to think everybody will say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a talented group,’ and
things like that. Let’s get into the season and then let’s talk about that midway or three-
quarters of the way at the end of the season and then we’ll have a good evaluation.”
(On his impressions of S Darnell Savage in a game setting on Friday) “Speed, he can run. I
mean, he’s an eraser. He can close quickly, and he’s on them. Physical tackler. It was really
good to see. He had a couple of tackles on the sideline that were impressive, threw himself
around in the run game. I’m sure everybody saw it. He was in the box, and he was trying to
do his job to the best of his ability. Just that combination of run and pass, but coverage
skills were really impressive.”
(On how LB Yasir Abdullah is adjusting to being a 4-3 linebacker) “I don’t see a big
difference because he’s still playing on the edge, he’s still rushing, things like that. The thing
that, give him a lot of credit, is his coverage, his zone coverage in space. Been very
impressed with what he’s done with that. Just learning, Matt [Inside Linebackers Coach
Matt House] has done a great job coaching, teaching him, getting him in space and his
match route matches and things like that. But you saw him pass rush. It’s the other stuff,
he’s grown his game. He’s improved a lot, so it’s really cool. When we get here and you kind
of work it out and you start visiting with the coaches where you kind of see these guys, and
he’s in the right role. He’s in the right spot and he’s done a really good job. It’s his role, Chad
[LB Chad Muma], that’s a unique role in our defense and those guys have done a really
good job. They’ve made some plays now. In coverage-wise, that’s pretty good.”
(On if Armstead’s presence is similar to what it was like coaching Falcons DT Calais
Campbell) “A little bit, a little bit. Arik’s a very good person as well as Calais. They’re
awesome people and really looked forward to seeing Calais after the game because he is a
good person. Awesome guy. It was really fun to be around him last year. Arik provides the
veteran leadership. He’s a coach. You hear him in the meeting rooms and, ‘Hey, I see it like
this,’ and him talking and it helps the younger guys. So, it’s a similar role. We’re going to play
them maybe a little bit similar, but then differences too now because they’re two different
players. But there are some similarities to them, but can’t say enough about the people.
Really great, great guys, fantastic men.”
(On DT Maason Smith’s development) “We’re getting there. We’re getting there. I mean, it’s
a work in progress. I mean, it’s going to be the same answer throughout the season. Every
day, what you want them to do is just take a little step, Game 1 to Game 2 will be the
biggest jump. That will be the big one. Preseason Game 1 to Preseason Game 2, that was a
jump. Game 1, when he’s playing, to Game 2, that’ll be a jump. Then we’ll just keep working
him one day at a time, just getting better. He’s done a really good job in fundamentals and
technique, playing tough. He can rush the passer now, you see that. We’ve just got to finish
on the quarterback and so we can help him with that.”
(On if the rotating defensive line is what he has envisioned) “Sure. It’s kind of what—we
want to keep them fresh, right? And keep them on a rotation where the guys are fresh into
the fourth quarter. When you do that, it’s instead of playing their 40th play, maybe they’re at
their 20th play. So, now they’re ready to go in the fourth. That’s when the game’s on the line,
you’ve got to win it. So, yeah, we want to rotate. It’s going to be the same as. But there’s
some of that, when we rotate, who’s got the hot hand and all that stuff kind of fits in the
personnel groupings and packages that we have. That also fits in there too. But we’ve got a
good group and they’ll order to—some guys can, and we talked a little bit earlier, flex
positions, things like that, and keep them fresh into the fourth quarter.”
(On having numbers and versatility on the defensive line) “You have to. And we have them.
Our guys, coming here and getting here with this group of guys, and a lot of these guys who
have made the team… We have a good collection of talent in that position. That matters.”
(On what he’s seen from S Antonion Johnson going into year two) “I’ll say this, he’s really
learned how to be a pro. You see him around the building, you see him doing the extra
things, the extra meetings, coming in, the right questions, things like that. Not just, ‘I show
up at this time and I leave at this time.’ He’s really grown into that. Kris [Defensive Backs
Coach Kris Richard] and Cory [Defensive Assistant/Cornerbacks Coach Cory Robinson]
have done a great job kind of nurturing that and helping him along the way, ‘Hey, try it like
this, do it like this,’ coaching and fundamentals and technique like this but, ‘Hey, spend a
little extra time watching this cut-up.’ That’s helped him mature and grow and things like
that. So now the process is get on your routine. They’ve talked to him, get on your routine in
the season. What’s your Mondays? All the Mondays look the same, and the Tuesdays and
the Wednesdays, and work all the way up until Sunday, until game day. So that’s been the
biggest thing. It’s been cool to see the maturity. He just continues to mature and get better.
I think that’s what you’re seeing on the field.”
(On why having a weekly routine is important) “Treat every day like it’s Sunday so Sunday is
not different. We want to wear the same gear, same—look, that’s easy to say, right? But if
you can take that approach and the mindset that when Sunday comes, I’m ready to go. The
indecision and things like that create kind of uneasiness for the player. We want everything
to look and sound and everything to be as close as we can to Sunday, so the player shows
up, he knows his alignments and assignments and he goes and plays a million miles an
hour and plays fast and executes. That’s really important. In this league, you have to
execute. Execute, play fast, play hard, play tough, violent, those things like that. We want to
do that every single day, so it’s not different on Sunday.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2024
(On RB Tank Bigsby’s play, especially his ball security) “Yeah, he’s done a good job and
Tank’s a guy that, even last year, it’s very, very important to him. I mean, there’s not a lot of
guys that care more than Tank cares. Like we mentioned before, there were kind of some
unfortunate things that happened to him early last year when he just got started as a
rookie. But to watch him throughout the course of last season as well and then attack the
offseason program, attack training camp, he just continues to take the steps that you hope
to see from a young player, especially somebody that we do believe we’ll be able to count
on. He’s shown that, he’s earned that, and we’re excited about what’s ahead for Tank.”
(On if Bigsby has gotten quicker and more decisive as he gains familiarity with the offense)
“Yeah, I think that’s part of it. I think just understanding what we’re asking within each
concept, understanding just time on task. Two years of running a lot of these concepts,
seeing what the blocks look like, what the timing looks like. He’s done a good job just taking
coaching. Coach Mack [Running Backs Coach Jerry Mack] has done a great job just being
very detailed, very thorough with those guys and what we’re looking for, what the
expectation is, what your footwork is, and then holding them accountable with ball security
as well.”
(On if he was surprised at how WR Christian Kirk stepped up his physicality during training
camp practices) “No, I don’t think so. Well, I think just that’s who Christian is. It was more—
I don’t think that was the level of physicality we were looking for in that instance with just
Jags-on-Jags, basically, was how it was going. I think Christian as a veteran understands
that. Honestly, I know a lot of people didn’t see it, so they wouldn’t know, but that was as
good of a camp scuffle as you can have. I mean, it was Christian came up, pushed
somebody in the back, and from there it was more just people pulling people out of a pile.
There were no cheap shots, there was nothing out-of-the-ordinary from that standpoint.
Nobody did anything dirty. It was more, I think a message was kind of sent, that’s not what
we do and then from there it was a very clean scuffle, as you put it. So, I applauded
Christian for Christian’s leadership in that moment. The coolest thing, and I told the
offense this the very next day when we met was, I stayed in there after practice, kind of
watching guys finish practice. I watched Christian go grab Buster Brown [CB Montaric
Brown], talk to Buster Brown, man-to-man, have a conversation, ‘That’s not the
expectations.’ Nothing spilled into the locker room. I think from that standpoint, that part of
the leadership is what makes it even better. More than he was there for his guy, he was the
first one to respond, that type of thing, but then handles it the right way with maturity,
leadership, a conversation with Buster, and it never spilled into anything beyond that. So, I
think that was just a great move of leadership by Christian Kirk.”
(On if the skirmish emulated a “baseball fight”) “I don’t watch baseball, but I assume it was
a baseball fight, yeah.”
(On if he’s liked being on the sideline instead of the booth) “Yeah.”
(On if he will consider moving back the booth) “I will do whatever Coach [Head Coach Doug
Pederson) wants me to do as far as it goes moving forward. I did enjoy being on the sideline.
It was fun to just interact with the guys and players from drive-to-drive, be right there with
coaches. Coach Rauscher [Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Phil Rauscher]
and I go stand off to the side, hit the next runs for the next thing, which has always
happened through the headset, but it is a little different to just go stand side-by-side with
somebody, talk through it, look everybody in the eye as they come off, things like that. Now,
obviously preseason is a different level of intensity within a game, but yeah, I enjoyed it
down there. It’s good. It’s good just working through communication on the headset for
coaches of who’s going to do down and distance. We switched that up as games went
along. We switched it up within a game of who’s identifying defense personnel, things like
that. I thought it was a smooth operation through the headset.”
(On QB Trevor Lawerence’s growing comfort with playing under center and what the
advantages of the style are) “Well, I think just in terms of an offensive approach, it limits
your tendencies. It limits the tells that you’re giving to a defense. But a lot of that comes
from being able to stay in those first and second-down situations. Being under center on
2nd-and-15 and some empty set possibly, that’s not going to do as much for you. So, we’re
just not going under to go under. We’re going under to eliminate any tells, tendencies. It
allows you to get from play to play without moving people around. I think if you’re great with
the ball handling aspect of it, you can hide the ball from the defense a little bit longer,
which I think helps manipulate eyes of second-level players, third-level players, even slows
the pass rush a little bit as they’re trying to decipher run or pass before they transition into a
pass rush on play-action movements. I think that’s something he’s very good at. He’s a
really good athlete. It just kind of helps him the second he snaps around and faces the
defense of being able to see and dictate and determine what’s going on.”
(On Lawrence’s growth playing under center having not used the style in college football)
“Yeah, I don’t think he ever went under center. We were talking about that the other day of
just kind of all of us sharing our experiences as quarterbacks. I don’t think he’d ever really
played under center. He’s never really dropped back under center. I think we’ve probably
had less than 10 since we’ve been here in our time. But that’s something again, just
because he hasn’t done much of it doesn’t mean he’s not really good at it. He wants to
continue to work it, and we’ll continue to introduce that and utilize it when we think it’s an
advantage for our offense.”
(On how much he played under center as a quarterback) “I didn’t play much. I was telling
those guys—I didn’t take a shotgun. I’m sorry, I did play. I didn’t play in shotgun. I didn’t play
in shotgun until my junior year of college, probably. So, I mean, I’m not much older than the
guys, but I’m old enough to where, yeah, the gun and air raid and the seven-on-seven
summer stuff wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up. I mean, we were in high school. I
ran the same offense they won the state championship with in 1992, and we did the same
thing. Little kid would run and bring the play and 3rd-and-8, we’re going to boot and roll half
the field because it was easier to see half the field. That’s how it was explained to me. So, it
was easier to cover half the field. We had good players.”
(On what message Lawrence playing through injuries last year sends to the other guys) “I
don’t think anybody questions Trevor’s toughness at all of being able to take hits, respond. I
mean, there were plenty of times—there were probably two or three instances last year, we
probably didn’t know until 24 hours before the game, if he would play and guys knew that.
So then to see him continue to step up and rise to the challenge, play hurt, play banged up.
That says a lot. It’s different for quarterbacks—a lot of guys are dealing with a lot of things
and obviously his is a little bit more public right there. But missing practice and then us not
really knowing if he was going to go or not, or guys not really knowing if he was going to go or
not, I think it says a lot for the way he stepped up. I think back to the New Orleans game, it
was truly a pregame decision of how he felt, how he looked. Then to go out and play the
way he did early in that game was impressive for a number of different reasons. I don’t think
anybody questions Trevor’s toughness, at least in that locker room.”
(On if it’s easier to miss a week of practice as the quarterback in year three or four) “Yeah, I
think from an understanding. But I don’t think there’s any—you can never duplicate the
time on task with guys of even throwing a certain route that’s in the game plan that week of
just, here’s what it’s going to look like, feel like as you go. If you miss those live practice
opportunities, even days that we have walkthrough Wednesdays later in the year, we’re
getting those throws on Thursday. We may come back and get full-speed throws with some
of the guys that highlight some different areas or different timing-type throws that we need
to get. Nothing will ever take the place of those on-field live reps, even if it’s just a receiver
and a quarterback throwing together. You can never really duplicate that.”
(On if Lawrence is headed towards his “jump year”) “I think so. I think he was on track for
that last year. I think the first half of the season, he was playing as good as anybody. I don’t
know if he was getting credit for that outside the building. I have no clue. But we were very
happy with how he was playing, how he was running the offense, managing games, winning
games for us. So, yeah, I think Trevor just continues to grow every single year within the
offense, just within playing quarterback, leading this team, being the face of the franchise.
It’s been super impressive since the day I got here, just working with him and to see him
grow and step into what I think he would feel is naturally ahead for him, has been really
cool to see. I think he’s just going to continue to get better every single day.”
