Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(What do you think is the strength of the Chargers special teams?) – “I think they got a really good physical group. And they play really, really hard. So in every single phase, they got some matchup guys that are tough. They play at a super high level. And then (DeAndre) Carter’s really having a really nice year both offensively and in the kicking game as a returner and as a wide receiver. He’s become a real weapon for them.”
(What makes WR DeAndre Carter dangerous?) – “Well, he’s got great speed. He’s fearless. He plays with the edge that you need as a return player. But I think the biggest thing, just from a physical standpoint, he’s got outstanding speed.”
(What are some of the things you’re finding in your coverage?) – “I think the biggest thing for us is number one, we got to tackle better. The same thing we talked about a little bit last week. We’re missing too many tackles. Guys are doing, as we refer to it, the hard stuff. They’re getting down the field and getting into position but now we got to finish the play and make those tackles. We’ve missed too many tackles the last two weeks. But I think with this week, we’ve got to do a great job with protection first because these guys do a nice job of rushing. And then we got to transition out to coverage and our gunners got to do a good job when they’re in singles.”
(How is WR Cedrick Wilson Sr. in returning punts?) – “It’s exciting. He’s had such limited opportunities before he got here and he’s worked his butt off. I feel very comfortable with Ced back there. He’s going to make good decisions. He’s physical. He is going to run the ball hard. So I’m really happy with how he’s progressed as a returner.”
(On K Jason Sanders.) – “Two years ago, it was every week because he never missed. That’s just the nature of the beast. As I’ve said all along, I feel very, very confident in Jason. I don’t have a worry in the world. It’s good to see him have the results in the game that we see day in and day out on the practice field and in situations. So it’s good to see that show up and show up on Sunday. And hopefully Saturdays too going forward.”
(We’ve seen the consistency that we’ve known from him ever since the bye week. Was there anything that you noticed differently in K Jason Sanders? A change in routine?) – “No. And I think that’s the key. He stayed true to what he’s done for the four years that I’ve been with him and he’s had a lot of success. And you guys and gals that are involved in any kind of sport, you know if the smallest little thing doesn’t go the way you want – it’s why the greatest golfers in the world are going to hit the ball in the water. Sometimes you’re a little bit off and negative things happen. But he stayed tried and true to what he believes in and again, it’s just good to see the results.”
(On P Thomas Morstead) – “He’s a different guy. I mean, in terms of taking care of himself and the things he does in terms of stretching and being loose and running, it really is amazing for a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has. But at the same time when you talk to Thomas, he’ll tell you that’s the reason he’s been able to stay in the league as long as he has. He’s just been great with the guys. A true pro and happy we have him.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(LB Melvin Ingram is obviously recording some sacks, which was good to see. At this stage of his career, how would you identify this strengths?) – “I think one, he’s played a lot of football, so he has a lot of experience. And I think, I would say just over the course of my career, and probably everybody’s, I think your goal is, when you come into it, even if a guy’s had success in the league, you try to get the best season out of them possible. I can always reference 2014. I’m coaching a Hall of Fame corner in Darrelle Revis and your goal is to make sure that he has the best season possible. And I think it’s the same thing with Melvin. Obviously, we were very excited when we got him. And there’s going to be things that he does and knows and understands that, really, you don’t coach. But what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to help him, trying to put him in the best position to succeed. And he’s been a great teammate. He’s been a true professional. And he’s been productive for us when we’ve had him in there. We’re looking for that to continue and for it to continue to improve.”
(What do you think of the prospects of him, LB Bradley Chubb, and LB Jaelan Phillips as a trio becoming a game-changing type of unit together?) – “Yeah, I mean, I think anytime that we design something, obviously when we get those guys out there in a situation, it’s usually an obvious pass situation, or predominantly pass situation. And then again, all those guys in different ways affect the quarterback. And I think the more they play together, the more they work off of each other, and then obviously as a staff, we’re getting better at figuring out what they do well together, and try to put them in position to succeed.”
(What are you seeing out of QB Justin Herbert on tape and how does it compare to the first go round against him?) – “The first time that we played him, he was throwing the ball quite a bit before we saw him, and I think they took a little bit more conservative approach, I would say. These guys are throwing the ball quite a bit. He’s definitely getting the ball down the field. He has an extremely strong arm. I mean, he really can put the ball with pretty good accuracy on the receivers at all three levels. He makes quick decisions. (Austin) Ekeler is a phenomenal player. He’s probably, in my opinion, a guy that doesn’t get talked about enough. Obviously he’s up there in the league stats as far as yards after catch. They targeted him a lot in the pass game. They use him a lot in the run game. He’s got great contact balance. He does a phenomenal job. He’s going to fight for yards and he’s elusive in space. So we’re going to have our hands full. And back to Herbert, he does a good job with their guys down the field. And if there’s space with Ekeler, that becomes a problem too. So we’re going to have our hands full defending all short, intermediate and deep parts of the field this week.”
(You mentioned RB Austin Ekeler. What are some of the things you’re looking at specifically with linebackers in coverage and…) – “I think part of it is sometimes you got to credit the opponents. They make plays. And I’d say the thing from looking from the tape of last week, obviously our guys played with great physicality, great effort, and you really got to credit San Francisco. They made more plays than we did. And then obviously, there’s things that you look at that you can coach and you can drill and you can technique a little bit better and put guys maybe in more situations when those things come up. We feel very good about our coverage situation at the linebacker position. I think it’s a continuation of trying to improve week in and week out and we haven’t had – I would say we’re going on a stretch run here where we’re going to have to cover the backs quite a bit, and we’ve probably had a stretch run where that wasn’t as big of a deal. We’ll get tested on that for sure. We feel very confident in the guys that we have doing that, and as coaches, we’re going to drill and technique the best we can to put them in position to succeed.”
(You’ve bene doing a lot of different things with the safeties as it relates to S Verone McKinley and S Jevon Holland. Is the chemistry from college allowing them to do a lot of the things they are doing in the secondary?) – “And I would say their friendship probably starts more off the field. Those guys are extremely tight. Both of them are extremely intelligent. Both of them are extremely hard, diligent workers, and they put in a lot of time and effort. They’ve got an opportunity to play together a little bit more than obviously we had in the early part of the season. I think both guys are progressing. And again, even though we’re here in December in the season, our goal is to try to not so much result based, but make sure that we’re improving steadily. And there’s things that we can build on that are good that we’re doing. And there’s things that we may need to put a little bit more time and effort and work into to make sure that we’re where we want to be going down the stretch.”
(The pass rush, what are the things you look for in terms of determining whether you were successful or not? Is it stats that you value, some over others or just generally?) – “I think the stats – I mean, you can make the stats whatever you want to make the stats. I think the thing is, one collectively as a group, are we getting done what we need to get done? Are we forcing the quarterback and the o-line, are we putting pressure on them? I think that’s what we look at. And then are we getting production from it, whether it’d be downfield production or sack production, tip balls? I mean, there’s numerous things that you kind of look at. I would say week to week it’s different based on who you’re trying to get where and what you’re trying to attack. So I think that that’s a real all-encompassing thing. I think the thing is, again, it goes back to regardless of what you’re talking about, the things that you’re doing well, you try to build upon and the things that you think you can do better, either you eliminate those things or you technique or drill them a different way.”
(What else do you see out of QB Justin Herbert in terms of how difficult he is to bring down? I think LB Jaelan Phillips made a reference yesterday to how he’s about as big as he is.) – “He’s obviously a big guy. He’s got a strong arm. He can feel and see the pocket when rush lanes aren’t what they need to be. And sometimes he’ll scramble to run. He’s doing, I would say, he’s taking less hits when he runs. He’s getting down when somebody gets in the area. But he’s very good at reading. Like, if you’re rush lanes are egregious, he’s going to make you pay on them, for sure.”
(You mentioned their ability to make deep, short, intermediate passes. If theoretically defensively as a play unfolds, the window shrinks, but because of his arm strength, because of the damage RB Austin Ekeler can do, does that keep that window open? How do you approach that? How do you coach your guys to be disciplined enough to slow that down?) – “I think you have to you have to tie it into rush and coverage from the pass game perspective. And then when you’re in man coverage, then obviously you condense that space and you just have to win your one-on-one matchups. When you’re in zone coverage, what you need to do is you really need to break – again, get the quarterback to throw the ball on time and you got to get everybody – okay, when his back foot sets, and his hand comes off the ball, then our feet got to be set. We got to break on the ball and we got to get everybody to the ball.”
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(On the 49ers game and if the corners, linebackers, inside linebackers got a lot of depth on routes.) – “I mean overall, the drops and what they do; it’s part of their system. Whether or not they’re a couple yards deeper or not, it really doesn’t affect what we’re trying to do. We’re obviously trying to – when they’re in zone coverage, you attack the space in between the zones. Man to man, you’re beating the man over you. So overall there wasn’t really anything that we would say that we’re looking at as far as going ‘oh, they did this.’ It’s more of just our execution on each play. Alright, where we can be in the timing and the rhythm for the quarterback. That’s kind of more of where we look at, not necessarily how deep and where they go. It’s just understanding zone or man and where the area’s locations we’re trying to hit.”
(Y’all were 0-for-7 on third down. Time of possession battle, losing it most of the game, it was similar to the Buffalo game earlier. What are some of the keys to preventing…?) – “Yeah, I think just overall for us, it was a great environment for us to go out there and really, it felt like a playoff-type environment. For us to go in there and learn from things, especially areas where we know we can improve – they did a good job obviously with the execution of their plan. We felt like there’s areas that we could really clean up on. I think ultimately some of that results in the third-down stuff. But again, when you get faced with those opportunities in games and those situations, and it doesn’t go the way you want it to go, it gives you a great opportunity to come back and go to work with your teammates or as a staff and make sure we tune up on the things that we need to do for this week.”
(How does it feel to be back in LA and are there things you can contribute to the defensive game plan from being with this team just last year?) – “Yeah, I love LA, man. I loved living here in Newport Beach, California. It was awesome. I was fortunate enough – Brandon (Staley) is a good friend, so is Joe (Lombardi). Very fortunate for my time there. As far as my input on stuff, I may have familiarity with the scheme and stuff like that but there’s a lot of new players. So I don’t know as far as my impact. It’s just certain conversations I’m going to have. But overall, what we were doing last year and what they’re doing this year, obviously there’s some differences. So, ultimately we just have to line up and play and execute our fundamentals and techniques.”
(What stood out to you when you looked at the tape of QB Tua Tagovailoa’s performance against the 49ers – some of the overthrows and things like that – what stood out as far as things you have to correct or was it just one of those days for him?) – “Again, when you look at the environment and all that, it’s like – we have such a competitive team – guys want to make plays and it’s just not like, at times – were we pressing, were we not? Were we trying to be perfect as opposed to let the game come to you? Those environments, those things are stuff that obviously that we have discussions on afterwards, but ultimately, it’s like, hey, in the course of a football season in general, there’s going to be a game or two or a couple that you’re just like, ‘Oh, that wasn’t our best, but what do we learn from it?’ And I think that’s ultimately from that environment, I think that’s the challenge of a football season. Is that some games where you feel like you had excellent execution and another game where you feel like there’s room for improvement? I think that’s really the story of the season and how you improve from that will be obviously how we’re measured in this next game on Sunday night.”
(How did T Eric Fisher look yesterday in his first day?) – “Great. It was it was awesome to have him out there. He’s a sharp guy and we were really excited with the opportunity presented to get him here.”
(The first play of the game against San Francisco, it looked like the 49ers S Talanoa Hufanga followed WR Tyreek Hill because he motioned outside and it opened up that area of the field for WR Trent Sherfield. I don’t know if it was… But what kind of pride do you see from Tyreek being able to impact the defense and open things up for teammates like that?) – “Yeah, it was kind of they were running a pressure. So in that, that’s where he’s going to match for his leverage. So really, it was a combination of things and really, I think it comes down to trying to just really – he hit the right spot at the right time and he executed excellent fundamentals. I think that was a great example of all 11 executing and at that time, they pressured, so there was a hole in their zone that they normally wouldn’t have when they’re just playing a four-man rush. So overall, I think that him being in the right spot to make sure they keep their leverage, braking at the right time in or hitting the ball right on rhythm; I think all of it factors into that explosive play that we had.”
(Going back to T Eric Fisher for a second. He hasn’t played a down in almost a year now.) – “Yeah, he’s very fresh. (laughter)”
(I was going to ask. Are there signs of rust or does it look like a guy who’s been working out day and night?) – “I have WD 40 in my backpack, so we’re good to go. No rust. (laughter) No, it’s really I think ultimately for him, he has such a wealth of experience. Playoff battle-tested lineman. Especially a guy older in his career, I don’t think there’s rust. It’ll be for him just our techniques, our fundamentals, just learning that it’s different from Kansas City or at Indianapolis to what we’re doing. So I think that’s really for him. It’s just getting up to speed with that and then getting in football shape ready to play. But no, he moved around, you can see he’s very talented athlete and he’s a big guy who moves well, so we’re really excited to have him. We’re glad it really worked out.”
(He’s played his whole career on the left side. Can he play on the right? Is that something that’s crossed your mind?) – “I think he does have experience on the other side as well. Both sides. So for us ultimately, we look at guys with position flex so obviously he did have some experience on the other side, but ultimately, the goal is that if he’s called upon to play, it’s just obviously helping us with wherever we need to and he’s been awesome so far with his contributions mentally. And now looking forward to a physical next two days.”
(Realistically, can T Eric Fisher play this week or you don’t foresee that?) – “I mean, realistically, he could. We’ll obviously, the next two days, just get him up to speed with everything we’ve asked him to do. But pleased with what we’ve seen so far, that’s for sure.”
(The time that you were around Chargers QB Justin Herbert, what’s something that surprised you about him?) – “Man, what surprised me about Justin? How competitive he is. So he’s extremely competitive. He’s one of those guys that I think whatever you do, he’s trying to win because he’s kind of – I wouldn’t say quiet but he listens very well. So when his competitive side comes out, that was something really cool to be a part of. You get to see like when the game is on the line and how he focuses and how he’s really trying to compete with his teammates. That was awesome. But what a great guy. Just fortunate to spend a year and really get to know him.”
(On a quarterback’s environment having an effect on success) – “Yeah, absolutely. My first job in the NFL was with the Saints and then you look at – that was Drew Brees right after we won the Super Bowl, but if you remember beforehand, they let him out of San Diego. And hindsight is 20/20 as they’re saying, ‘Hey, we can’t win a Super Bowl with this guy. We need to go draft Philip (Rivers).’ Put him in the Saints system and now he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. So I think ultimately, and I think it even is beyond quarterback – all positions – you put guys in the right scheme, in the right environment, around the right teammates, and that’s when they flourish. So I think sometimes if you don’t have those situations, those are where the challenges arise. And I think in reality it’s probably all environments, even all businesses. I’m sure you guys, too, have had places you worked where you’re just kind of like, ‘alright, this kind of sucks.’ But it’s kind of like ultimately, I think that’s just what every player is looking for: a system that makes sense to him that they can own and they can master, they can put their stamp on it. And then have a staff that works with them, a staff that communicates well together, guys who really enjoy coming to work every day because the pro season is so long. When you have a system that you believe in, players that you love working with, a staff you love communicating and working with, that’s when you get great situations. And I think ultimately, hopefully that’s the environment we’re creating here where players love to come to work every day.”
(You mentioned QB Justin Herbert’s competitiveness. Is there a specific example that comes to mind?) – “Oh, just, I mean, when I raced him one time, he had to beat me. (laughter) No, I’m not racing him. He’s fast. No, it’s just overall like with him, just you can see his attention to detail in a walkthrough. When we were in two-minute drills, you could see he wanted to always be on it because he’s always trying to learn. Just everything with him. And I heard with his teammates, he’s extremely competitive, too. Just overall, he has that focus. You could just see it in his eyes when he’s in that moment and that’s what I enjoyed about him. But I mean, the great thing is, is that Tua has that same competitiveness, Drew (Brees) had that same competitiveness, so it’s like you look at these great quarterbacks; you’d say that’s kind of a common trait of them all because they just don’t want to win. They want to be on all their details and make sure they can play their best all the time. I think that transcends into the rest of their life and they play cards and are trying to win.”
(Obviously from the outside, I think people are obviously comparing Chargers QB Justin Herbert and QB Tua Tagovailoa just by the nature of where they were taken in the draft. Would you say that that’s going to be something that’s really similar?) – “Yeah, I think that they both have that drive. I think that their personalities are very different, but when it comes to them wanting to win, doing what it takes to win, both are extremely similar in that capacity. They have different skill sets, but yes, I think like that intangible of the competitiveness is one thing that definitely they would be comparable for.”
