| September 24, 2020 Opening Statement: “I hope everybody can hear me OK. Obviously glad to have everyone from Arizona on the call too. We’re just excited to go out there and get ready to go today. As far as practice is concerned for us, two guys for practice just a note – (Desmond) Trufant won’t do much today at practice and Hunter Bryant, we’ll see what that looks like but maybe not too much today. Other than that, everyone is still pushing through. We’ll see how we came off of yesterday. We had a good, physical practice yesterday – be a little bit shorter on and off the field today – obviously a big part of the game between third down and two-minute. Guys are working hard, guys are ready to go and focused, and really been paying attention and ready to get out on the football field and go. It’s been a good morning so far. So what do we got?” On if the mistakes are more correctable if there’s good practices leading up to a poor game performance: “I think there’s obviously many different elements to – if we have issues that come up during the game – certainly I would say at practice yesterday was not perfect. We had some mistakes that came up that we say all the time, ‘Practice execution becomes game reality.’ I think there were some things yesterday that showed up again at practice that we’ve seen in the games that we just have to keep working to correct. But I thought the competition level was very high yesterday. I thought the players’ energy was really good, I think we were moving from drill to drill. Like I said, it was a physical practice which is what we needed. From that standpoint, I do agree though with what you said – if practice is good during the week and then you have those mistakes in the game, sometimes for us it’s about just transferring that practice to game situation and making sure we stay in the moment and just play that one particular play, just like what we did in practice as opposed to try to let the entirety of the game compound a situation and cause mistakes.” On how he’s teaching the technique of scheme: “Great question. I think when you work fundamentals, just in general, I think you really try to master the basics first. One of the reasons we want to do that is when the game goes on and the body wears down, the mind gets tired, you want to revert to that muscle memory. For us, when we get to (the) muscle memory point in the game, our technique is usually where you rely on and where you go to from that standpoint and when you are tired. Certainly you’ll find in games where there’s just poor technique or poor fundamentals that cause teams to lose. That’s the part of it – we always want to have that base to go back to. But certainly we can’t just sit in that one space, and we have to work to master that first, but also move forward at the same time. So we’ll work on different techniques on top of that and understand that these are maybe counters or change-ups to some of the techniques that we use and how we’re trying to play a particular week from a technique standpoint. But you always want to have those fundamentals first. I think it’s really good for us too as we go, and we watch a lot of other teams as we go through the season – certainly watching Arizona and some of the things that they do defensively are the same that we do. You see guys in a different color uniform doing the same technique that we’re trying to do, maybe that kind of resonates with everybody too, as far as some of the blocks we’re trying to do from a defensive standpoint or offensive standpoint, some of the looks that we’re trying to get. I just think it’s that continual study and learning that we master the basics but on top of that we do have to push forward with some of the other stuff we do also.” On how QB Kyler Murray can stress a defense: “You know what’s amazing – we just went through with the team, and I showed them this morning, there’s a great clip, I think it’s third-and-17. There’s not many calls on your call sheet as an offensive coordinator where you’re sitting there going, ‘Third-and-17 is a good situation for you to go and convert.’ You watch him go back, the receivers go vertical, the coverage goes with him, and then the pass rush goes by him, it goes past, you have a couple guys behind the quarterback, and then he just takes off. It is a first down in about less than a second because he just has that ability to go vertical, be able to cut sideways, go vertical, change pace, change direction, and the quarterback ran the ball, got an easy first down 25-yards later on third-and-17. When you have that ability on your call sheet because the players that are on the field, that is a whole other level of difficulty that you have to try and defend against. I mean, third-and-17, you’re thinking you’re walking off the field and making them punt, but not with him. He’s too dangerous. Then on top of it I think what he’s done, to your point, he’s able to get out of the pocket. He’s able to extend those plays and then find his receivers, like (DeAndre) Hopkins, like (Larry) Fitzgerald, and get that ball up in the air. His arm, his quickness on his release and his arm accuracy and strength is outstanding. So now he has that threat to put the ball downfield. Very interesting to watch the receivers, especially like speed guys like (Christian) Kirk that when he gets out, they go vertical. He’s just going to launch it and get past all the coverage and have a big completion downfield which turns into another explosive play. Those are really what becomes so difficult.” On if there’s another quarterback he can compare Cardinals QB Kyler Murray to and if there’s anyone on the team who can mimic Murray in practice: “Great question. Obviously I’ve seen great mobile quarterbacks through my years in the League. I think the thing about him is the way he gets to top end speed – you know, some mobile quarterbacks are maybe long striders, they cover a lot of space, cover a lot of ground, they can get out, they can move. But his explosive speed is really – it’s quite exceptional. It’s really along the lines of like a punt returner, someone who can just get the ball and get vertical right now. From that end of it, those are always really hard guys to duplicate in practice and certainly at game speed is very difficult. For him, we have to use a couple different guys in different situations to help us simulate some of those looks.” On why the Cardinals defense is executing at a high level to start the season: “I mean obviously it’s another year of (Defensive Coordinator) Vance Joseph in the system and teaching and coaching and being able to handle the defense for them. So I think that continuity is really good for them. I would say that defensively they’ve done an outstanding job in the games that they’ve played to play at a high level. They have some great players on their side of the ball, certainly, and those guys make plays. Chandler Jones and the problems that he brings is a major issue for offenses to defend against, and his ability to turn the ball over in the pocket is phenomenal, obviously he’s at the top of the League every year. Budda Baker is playing at a high level. I think one of the additions is an outstanding gift for them is Jordan Phillips. He’s a guy that I really like and think that he’s big and long and can get separation and come off the ball and you have to deal with him when he’s on the field. I think that’s an outstanding addition to their front too, that makes them difficult. (Jordan) Hicks is a really good player. He’s going to fly around and make a lot of tackles. He’s another guy that turns the ball over. I think they’re doing a good job of that. This defense is turning the ball over really well. They’re playing at a high level. It’s really good football.” On rookie G Jonah Jackson’s seamless transition into the NFL: “I think as a young player, as a rookie, I think Jonah has a little bit of a different path through college, transferring from Rutgers and going to Ohio State. That’s a different deal for most college kids when you’ve got to walk into a new environment and try to reestablish yourself or earn a starting job and compete and do those sort of things that you have to do when you walk into a new environment. I think he’s been through that before, so entering into our organization, our building, I think he’s taken that same approach, and I think he’s really understood the transition to this level. I think he’s learned the techniques and obviously he’s very aggressive and just a good football player. I feel that he also has some good players around him. Frank (Ragnow) sits there right next to him and is able to help him and kind of go, and certainly ‘Big V’ (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) when he was out there and (Tyrell) Crosby. When you’re anchoring the offensive line as a young player with two veteran guys around you, or a couple veteran guys around you, that does help with some of the communication and understanding of what’s going on. And then I just physically think he’s done a good job of really playing with some good technique and he’s starting to expand some of that, and you see that in the changeup of his play. I would say, really, the biggest thing, like I mentioned, I think his experience of changing schools and walking into a new building and having to go compete to earn a job, he’s in a similar situation. I think he handled that really well.” On the reports that DE Jabaal Sheard is working out with the team and his impressions of the player: “Jabaal, obviously I coached him and loved working with him. I thought he was outstanding. A really dynamic guy at the time and (I) just really enjoyed being around him. He’s a great guy, he works really hard (and) is disruptive in the pass rush and all that stuff too. Not really going to comment on any workouts or anything like that, obviously. I can just speak on when I had him before.” On where quarterback pressure fits into his scheme and how the team can correct it at this point: “I even go back to a couple of years ago when I got here and that was a big topic of conversation in my first year, was quarterback pressure and generating that and how are we going to do that. We were able to do, I think, some really good things scheme-wise that year. I think we were able to get some pressure and do some stuff there where kind of the same conversation went away after a while. Obviously, we’re not good enough right now in the pass rush, and we need to do a better job of getting pressure on the quarterback. Certainly, trying to manufacture pass rush is something that we know we need to do and mixing in different schemes and alignments and pressures and blitz packages and all that stuff, we’re certainly trying to do that and we’re trying to do it in a way that is smart, too. I think I mentioned before, especially this week with Kyler Murray, you get upfield and look, there’s some great examples on tape with just going back to the 49ers – they have a phenomenal pass rush. They have some great players that get off the ball, but you get out of your lane, and he’s gone and it’s 25 yards later. So, it’s part of the process of who you play against and how disciplined you need to be in certain situations. For us, we’re always trying to create pass rush in any way that we can and do the best job of it we can with the guys that we got, and they work really hard at it too. They’re trying to do a good job with that certainly, with the different schemes that we run.” On if he has a policy on injured players regaining their starting job once they return: “I mean, I guess it’s probably case-by-case, to be honest with you, from that situation. I think we always kid about Wally Pipp, right? Isn’t that the famed story? But I think there’s a lot of situations where guys are established starters or (have) established roles with the team and we get them back healthy and we get them back into their role and we go from there. But it’s probably all individual based, I’d say, just from a philosophical standpoint.” On why the team released current Cardinals LB Devon Kennard this offseason: “I mean obviously just with Kennard, I have a very special relationship with him, and I’m going to talk to him and really enjoy him. I enjoyed coaching him, I enjoy him as a person, love his family. So, really got nothing but great things to say about him and especially what he did when he got here and how much he helped this team in his role and how great he was in his role. There’s changes every year on rosters and that’s part of football. Certainly, we’re always trying to do everything we can to try to move the team in a direction that we think it needs to go, whether it’s by position or maybe the overall look of the team and what that looks like. But Devon Kennard is outstanding. He’s a great player, he’s a great person and really, it was great. I loved coaching him.” On if the team released current Cardinals LB Devon Kennard in order to sign LB Jamie Collins Sr.: “I think for me, I’m not really going to get into the ins and outs of some of the moves that we make and obviously, we’re always trying to do stuff to help our team get better. That’s just part of football, that happens every year.” On how WR Kenny Golladay looked yesterday at practice: “Out there. Really, we had a good plan for him, and I thought there was some good individual technique work that he did, and that was all positive. So, we’ll see what it looks like again today after some work yesterday.” On if he ever feels like the team has a bad week of practice and if a coach would ever admit that: “Great question. I would say there’s a lot of sayings in coaching – I’ll give you a couple. Sometimes, you may walk off the practice field and you’re completely angry and you thought the practice was horrible, and you walk in and you look at the tape and go, ‘Huh, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.’ Right? That happens all the time. Or you might walk off the practice field and you’re live and you’re in the moment and you’re like, ‘Wow, that was a really good practice.’ Then you get the tape and you’re like, ‘This was brutal. It wasn’t very good.’ So, that happens all the time. What’s great too about the week – certainly I’ve had weeks where I’m like, ‘This is the best week of practice we’ve ever had,’ and you got out to the game and you don’t play very well. Then we’ve had weeks of practice where you’re like, ‘This is the worst, we have no chance,’ and then you go out and you win. So, it’s the game. That’s why you play the game. That’s why you go out and do it. But certainly, from our standpoint, our standard, you want to make sure that you’re doing everything at the top level to go prepare to give yourself a chance to win. I think we all think that being consistent in that approach is what really gives us the best chance every Sunday. It does go all different directions, that’s absolutely true.” |
