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October 22, 2015
Redskins Park
Head Coach Jay Gruden
Opening statement:
“[Chris] Culliver did not participate. DeAngelo Hall did not participate with his toe. Limited was Jason Hatcher. Did not participate was DeSean [Jackson]. Kory [Lichtensteiger] did not [participate]. Limited was Keenan Robinson with his heel. Did not [participate] was Chris Thompson. Limited was [Stephen] Paea, Jordan Reed, Trent Williams. And then full was Bashaud Breeland, Matt Jones, Ty Nsekhe, Trenton Robinson and Andre Roberts, with his thumb, was full.”
On when he will know if T Trent Williams and TE Jordan Reed will be available Sunday:
“I’m hoping this evening or tomorrow morning. That’d be great for us to know.”
On if he feels optimistic about Williams and Reed:
“They look good out here, but you never know, so I don’t even begin to guess on this concussion protocol thing. You know, they have their own way of doing things, which is good. I’m not a doctor so I’m not even going to begin to challenge what they’re doing with him. So they have certain tests they have to go through and if they pass them, they’ll be good. If not, we’ll have to wait another week or two.”
On if he plans to add a third running back to the roster if Chris Thompson is unable to play Sunday:
“Yeah, it’s a thought. We’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow. I think the swelling has gone down a little bit but there is still significant swelling in his back. We’ll see how much of that gets out of there tomorrow and if not, we have obviously Trey [Williams] on our practice squad which is an option for us. We signed Mack Brown [to the practice squad]. So we’ll make a decision probably tomorrow after practice.”
On how they plan to disrupt Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston:
“I think any quarterback you want to obviously get pressure on him, force him into being one dimensional. When they have the two-headed — you know the quick games, the screens and play-actions and obviously Doug Martin going at a high level, man, they’re tough to stop and he’s in his comfort zone. If we can make them one dimensional — third-down-and-eights — and if we can get a lead on them, force them to throw the ball and get some pressure, then obviously any quarterback will struggle. But, you know, that’s easier said than done because you know Doug is running the ball really well right now, and they have got the play-actions and all the screens that [Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator] Dirk Koetter has done over the years, they’re very effective.”
On how the team will approach the third quarter:
“I think the big thing is awareness. I think awareness is letting them know that this is what the last six games have been like in the third quarter. We’ve had the lead five of six times and here are the stats and we have to do something about it. I don’t think we stop practice in the middle of practice, go to the locker room and come back out and pretend it’s halftime, but the issue is there and it’s been talked about. When we get to halftime against Tampa Bay, hopefully it’ll be with a lead and we’ll make some, hopefully, some positive adjustments and guys will come out ready to play.”
On if the coaching staff will have a different approach at halftime this Sunday:
“You know, not really. Each game plan is different. There might be something, it depends on what’s going on in the game in the first half, so we’ll have to wait and see what’s going on, what they’re doing defensively, what they’re doing offensively to us depending on the adjustments. Mainly, it’s going to be a mentality of how we come out. We’ve got to stay in attack mode. You come out the first half and we feel pretty good about our attack, our execution, our focus. Then for whatever reason in the third quarter, we might lose some of that edge and we’ve got to maintain that edge through the beginning of the third quarter throughout the game.”
On how hard it is to be patient on runs that result in short yardage in order to open up the playbook:
“Yeah, it’s hard. I think the big thing in the running game, it’s OK to get one or two years every now and then. We’re not going to hit all our runs, but it’s important for us to get some hits – some 15-yarders, some 20-yarders – which we haven’t had. We haven’t had any long runs. I don’t know what our longest run is the last couple of weeks but it hasn’t been very long. It’d be nice to get a couple of those which opens up your play-action. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t worked out for us and credit the defenses we’ve played — Atlanta and obviously the Jets — it’s something we have to continue to work on, develop our running game, come up with some new runs or stick with what we’ve been doing but do them better. ”
On if the team needs long completions to run the offense it wants to run:
“We need to. I made that point. We need to try to get some chunk yards somewhere, whether it’s breaking a long run or maybe it’s a short pass and it’s a receiver breaking a table or maybe it’s taking a shot deep and somebody making a play. But, you know, those are important elements of our offense that aren’t there. When we’re doing well on offense, we’re mixing it up pretty good with the play-actions, the deep ball, obviously DeSean [Jackson] had I think 15 40-plus gains last year. We miss those, but somebody else has to make them. It doesn’t have to be a 45-yard pass in the air. It can be a 10-yard pass and a guy breaking two or three tackles. So we just have to figure out a way to get them out.”
On if having Reed available would help add that element back to the playbook:
“It’ll come back in with Jordan, no question. He’s a great player and he provides us with mismatches on the opposing defense. We don’t feel like there’s a safety or linebacker that matches up well against him. There are some that are better than others. Tampa’s got some good ones, but hopefully that’ll provide us with a little bit of spark but the other receivers I think can win, too. We’ve just got to get them the ball and get them some opportunities.”
On how they plan to improve the run defense:
“Just being sound — I think everybody hitting their gaps and everybody doing their jobs. Like I said before, sometimes it’s the linebacker, sometimes it’s the 3-technique or maybe a corner. I think everybody’s got to be on the same page and then we’ve got to wrap up. We’ve got to wrap up and we’ve got to bring everybody, everybody else has got to hustle and get to the ball. I think we have a pretty good defense as far as everybody hustling and running to the ball. It’s just sometimes we get out of gaps and we’ve got to do a better job offensively to keep them fresh. We had a couple three-and-outs and the defense is right back on the field and they get a little gassed and holes develop. The Jets had a nice lead so their whole playbook was open. We’re playing the pass, Brandon Marshall, we’re playing this, we’re playing play-action. Like I said, it’s going to be important for us to get a lead and try and force the Buccaneers to be one-dimensional. That’s always your intent as a defense, but it’s just a matter of everybody doing their jobs and playing their gaps and wrapping up.”
On if he sees the players using last year’s game against Tampa Bay as extra motivation:
“I don’t think we need that as extra motivation. Anytime a team comes in here and beats you like Tampa Bay beat us last year, hopefully they remember that — the guys that were here. We have a lot of new guys that weren’t here. I think the situation that we’re in, we have plenty motivation to play well. We’re 2-4, obviously last place in our division and backed against a wall, so we have to come out and play well. Whether it’s a team we beat last year, lost to last year, got killed by last year, it doesn’t matter. It’s an important game for us and we have to play well.”
On if there is anything the coaches can use from last year’s game against Tampa Bay:
“Yeah, we can, especially offensively going against their defense. [Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach] Lovie [Smith] was there, similar style obviously, watching Gerald McCoy disrupt us and [Lavonte] David. They have some good players on defense that really run around to the football and they mix their coverages pretty well, so you can take a little bit from it but we have a lot of new players on offense – Morgan [Moses] at right tackle, [Brandon] Scherff at right guard, obviously our center is brand new, I think left guard… A lot of them are brand new guys for us [laughter] – quarterback. You can take a little bit scheme-wise, but it’s just a matter of going out and playing.”
On if missed tackles by linebackers are being caused by injury or missed assignments:
"Yeah, a little bit of both. They are both very athletic guys and sometimes they get to the hole so fast that they don't wrap up. But, I think they've played pretty well so far. I think sometimes they might try to cover too much for a defensive linemen who might be out of his gap sometimes. I feel good where Keenan [Robinson] and Perry [Riley, Jr.] both are and obviously [Will] Compton played well in Perry's absence. So those guys are excellent players. We’ve just got to all play together on defense. That's what it's all about."
On if DE Jason Hatcher’s knee injury is affecting his explosiveness:
"Yeah, a little bit. I think he's been sore. A little bit of it is wear and tear. He's played a lot of football in his day, and we try to rest him on certain days of week to make sure he's fresh on game day. But it's just becoming a little bit of a nagging-type deal for him and we've rested pretty him well yesterday and today. Hopefully he'll feel a lot better come game day."
On if Hatcher’s injury is related to knee scope last season:
"Yeah, probably. It's something that he's played a lot of football in his day. He's a big man, and when you're that big carrying that much weight on your joints, sometimes they get a little sore and stiff this time of year. It's just something we have to monitor, keep him fresh and get him in the rehab room. We had back-to-back games on that turf too, which didn’t help – in Atlanta and obviously the Jets. I think he's going to be fine. It's just a matter of taking care of him."
Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry
On the run defense during the last two weeks:
"Well, we talked about last week I think the game plan the week before against Atlanta dictated it a little bit, but the funny thing was – going back to Atlanta – the three biggest runs they had were in what we call eight-man fronts. We just lost a gap and missed a tackle. I know that you can't do this, but just going back and really analyzing this Sunday on Monday and Tuesday, there were seven plays that really hurt us in the run game – two by the quarterback and then five by the running backs. They ran the ball 41 times. The other 34 runs, we gave up I think 56 yards. Now, you can't do that. They rushed the ball 41 times for 220 yards, bottom line, but I think when you really break it down, was it, 'Can we not stop the run?’ or 'Were we just bad, really bad, on seven individual plays?’ It wasn't just one thing, it wasn't just one guy. It was a full breakdown. Unfortunately it happened and gave up big yardage. We went back and watched it together as a group and I tried to point out we looked at those other 34 runs where we were pretty damn stout and knocked the run out. But to give up, I don't know what that averages out to be, 34 runs for 52 yards is pretty damn good. At the end of the day, we’ve got to be more consistent. We've got to play down in and down out. That's what happened the last two weeks. We've let a couple get away from us and that can't happen."
On if that creates optimism that the defensive breakdowns are not widespread:
"Yeah, you feel a little bit better in the overall picture, but bottom line, like I said, 41 rushes for 220 yards, that's not good and we can't allow that to happen. But at least you can kind of pinpoint it and look at these specific plays. These five running plays when they've turned and handed the ball off to the tailback, we've got to be better."
On the reason behind the defense being less aggressive with the lead going into halftime:
"Are you talking about the two-minute drive? Yeah, it's two-minute defense. We have a lead. We ended up intercepting the ball before the end of the half. So, it's just when you go into a two-minutes. it's kind of what mentality you want to have. What's the situation? Is it tied? Are you up? Are you down? How aggressive are they being? I think at the end of the day, at the end of the half, our mentality in two-minute this past week worked because they didn't get any points and we intercepted the ball and gave the ball back to the offense."
On what changes the team will make in the third quarter:
“Well, I think it’s one of those things where you just can’t… number one, it’s been addressed. It’s been talked about. I don’t think it’s one of those things that you can just go, 'Oh, whatever,’ and dig a hole and put your head in the sand. For whatever reason, I wish I could tell you exactly why. I have no idea that it’s been an issue for us on our side of the ball, but it’s been addressed. It’s been talked about. It’s been a point of emphasis, starting fast. We’ve got to come out and start faster because we don’t have a problem starting the game; we just have a problem starting the second half. But it has been addressed, it’s been talked about. It’s been kind of a theme on the practice field. Halfway through practice, kind of cranking it up, so I think it’s just one of those things. I think the worst thing you can ever do anytime something is not going right is to ignore it and not talk about it. We’ve talked about it. We’ve addressed it. Now, we’ve got to go play better. We’ve got to coach better.”
On if there will be specific coaching changes to solve third-quarter issues:
"Well, no, we're not going to have a first half game plan and a second half game plan. I just think it's something from a mentality and it starts with us as coaches. We've got to be conscious of the fact of getting our guys ready to go when they come out of the locker room. We don't have a problem doing it coming out of the locker room in the first half, so we've got to get our guys going in the second half."
On CB Bashaud Breeland’s mentality with takeaways:
“Well, like I’ve told you every time that it’s been brought up in here with you guys, that’s been a point of emphasis since OTAs. We stress turnovers. We stress takeaways. We stress taking the ball away. We have a mentality, 'Hey, when the ball is in the air, it’s our ball. When a runner is carrying the ball, go take it from him. When the ball is on the ground, scoop and score.’ We’ve been stressing those things since OTA No. 1. Like I mentioned to you guys three or four weeks ago when the takeaways weren’t going our way, I said 'We’re going to keep stressing it, we’re going to keep hammering it, and they’ll come.’ Now that we’ve had two pretty good games of getting the ball, taking it away, it’s not like our mentality changes. It’s not like we stop stressing it and stop talking about it. You really do it even more now and we have.”
On if Breeland’s ability to produce takeaways is a function of the opportunities he’s getting:
“It helps. As a corner, when the ball is thrown your way you get opportunities. But I think Bree, I think Chris Baker, they have a great knack for it. The thing that’s great is that the other nine guys see those two, 'Wow, when I do punch at the ball, when I do hammer the ball, when I do rake the ball, look what happens.’ It’s kind of helped us in what we’ve been stressing. To ask you why it’s happening with him, I have no idea. But I’m totally for it and I like it.”
On if LB Ryan Kerrigan 'got sucked in’ on a screen pass against the Jets:
“That wasn’t Ryan. That’s one of those deals where the defense that we were in and the call they had, they got us. It had nothing to do with Ryan.”
On how important it is to have the discipline and recognition of screen plays against Tampa Bay:
“No question. We spent time on third down today. You know, I showed a big third-and-15 that [No.] 22 [Doug Martin] converted against New Orleans. [No.] 34 [Charles Sims] had a huge third-and-15 against Jacksonville for 50 yards — on screen plays. I think the more dynamic backs that there are in this league, a little, simple two-yard pass on a screen play can be dangerous if it’s not properly fit, if your pursuit angles aren’t proper. So, yeah, it’s been something that we’ve stressed and not just on third down. These guys do a great job in the screen game on first and second down, on third down. It happens all the time, they have a different variety of screens, but most importantly, the two guys carrying them — No. 22 and 34 --- very good screen backs. So, it’s been a point of emphasis for us all week, no doubt.”
On evaluating LB Perry Riley’s performance since his return from injury:
“The thing that was a bummer was when he got hurt, he played lights out against the St. Louis Rams. He really did. I think that’s a little — when a guy misses some time, especially with a lower extremity injury, he comes back, you’ve got to knock a little bit of rust off, so I don’t think Perry has played poorly. And we’ve had the conversation, 'Get back to how you played against the St. Louis Rams.’ I think he had a great week of practice this week. So, I think it’s part of the deal sometimes when a guy misses time and then comes back, it takes him a little bit of time to knock some rust off… Perry has played physical. I don’t think by any means — don’t pinpoint anything on Perry Riley. We’ve all got to play better, we’ve all got to coach better, bottom line.”
On if LB Will Compton could play more:
“Yeah, Will — we talk about a starter in waiting. Every time that we’ve ever called Will’s number to come in and play, he’s done a great job. I love the fact that we have Will Compton. He backs up both our Mike backer and our Dime backer in sub. He backs up our Mike backer and Mo linebacker in base, so he’s totally adequate to come in and play, but no we’re not at that point.”
On if the Jets’ running game helped keep the edge rushers off-balance:
“Yeah, I think when a team is able to run the ball 41 times, it’s hard to get a bead from a pass rush standpoint. I thought Ryan [Kerrigan] did have a couple nice rushes early, but yeah, it’s hard. When the game is going in that type of flow, it’s hard to get to going as a rusher, just because they’re running the ball… Difficult.”
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Redskins Park
Head Coach Jay Gruden
Opening statement:
“[Chris] Culliver did not participate. DeAngelo Hall did not participate with his toe. Limited was Jason Hatcher. Did not participate was DeSean [Jackson]. Kory [Lichtensteiger] did not [participate]. Limited was Keenan Robinson with his heel. Did not [participate] was Chris Thompson. Limited was [Stephen] Paea, Jordan Reed, Trent Williams. And then full was Bashaud Breeland, Matt Jones, Ty Nsekhe, Trenton Robinson and Andre Roberts, with his thumb, was full.”
On when he will know if T Trent Williams and TE Jordan Reed will be available Sunday:
“I’m hoping this evening or tomorrow morning. That’d be great for us to know.”
On if he feels optimistic about Williams and Reed:
“They look good out here, but you never know, so I don’t even begin to guess on this concussion protocol thing. You know, they have their own way of doing things, which is good. I’m not a doctor so I’m not even going to begin to challenge what they’re doing with him. So they have certain tests they have to go through and if they pass them, they’ll be good. If not, we’ll have to wait another week or two.”
On if he plans to add a third running back to the roster if Chris Thompson is unable to play Sunday:
“Yeah, it’s a thought. We’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow. I think the swelling has gone down a little bit but there is still significant swelling in his back. We’ll see how much of that gets out of there tomorrow and if not, we have obviously Trey [Williams] on our practice squad which is an option for us. We signed Mack Brown [to the practice squad]. So we’ll make a decision probably tomorrow after practice.”
On how they plan to disrupt Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston:
“I think any quarterback you want to obviously get pressure on him, force him into being one dimensional. When they have the two-headed — you know the quick games, the screens and play-actions and obviously Doug Martin going at a high level, man, they’re tough to stop and he’s in his comfort zone. If we can make them one dimensional — third-down-and-eights — and if we can get a lead on them, force them to throw the ball and get some pressure, then obviously any quarterback will struggle. But, you know, that’s easier said than done because you know Doug is running the ball really well right now, and they have got the play-actions and all the screens that [Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator] Dirk Koetter has done over the years, they’re very effective.”
On how the team will approach the third quarter:
“I think the big thing is awareness. I think awareness is letting them know that this is what the last six games have been like in the third quarter. We’ve had the lead five of six times and here are the stats and we have to do something about it. I don’t think we stop practice in the middle of practice, go to the locker room and come back out and pretend it’s halftime, but the issue is there and it’s been talked about. When we get to halftime against Tampa Bay, hopefully it’ll be with a lead and we’ll make some, hopefully, some positive adjustments and guys will come out ready to play.”
On if the coaching staff will have a different approach at halftime this Sunday:
“You know, not really. Each game plan is different. There might be something, it depends on what’s going on in the game in the first half, so we’ll have to wait and see what’s going on, what they’re doing defensively, what they’re doing offensively to us depending on the adjustments. Mainly, it’s going to be a mentality of how we come out. We’ve got to stay in attack mode. You come out the first half and we feel pretty good about our attack, our execution, our focus. Then for whatever reason in the third quarter, we might lose some of that edge and we’ve got to maintain that edge through the beginning of the third quarter throughout the game.”
On how hard it is to be patient on runs that result in short yardage in order to open up the playbook:
“Yeah, it’s hard. I think the big thing in the running game, it’s OK to get one or two years every now and then. We’re not going to hit all our runs, but it’s important for us to get some hits – some 15-yarders, some 20-yarders – which we haven’t had. We haven’t had any long runs. I don’t know what our longest run is the last couple of weeks but it hasn’t been very long. It’d be nice to get a couple of those which opens up your play-action. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t worked out for us and credit the defenses we’ve played — Atlanta and obviously the Jets — it’s something we have to continue to work on, develop our running game, come up with some new runs or stick with what we’ve been doing but do them better. ”
On if the team needs long completions to run the offense it wants to run:
“We need to. I made that point. We need to try to get some chunk yards somewhere, whether it’s breaking a long run or maybe it’s a short pass and it’s a receiver breaking a table or maybe it’s taking a shot deep and somebody making a play. But, you know, those are important elements of our offense that aren’t there. When we’re doing well on offense, we’re mixing it up pretty good with the play-actions, the deep ball, obviously DeSean [Jackson] had I think 15 40-plus gains last year. We miss those, but somebody else has to make them. It doesn’t have to be a 45-yard pass in the air. It can be a 10-yard pass and a guy breaking two or three tackles. So we just have to figure out a way to get them out.”
On if having Reed available would help add that element back to the playbook:
“It’ll come back in with Jordan, no question. He’s a great player and he provides us with mismatches on the opposing defense. We don’t feel like there’s a safety or linebacker that matches up well against him. There are some that are better than others. Tampa’s got some good ones, but hopefully that’ll provide us with a little bit of spark but the other receivers I think can win, too. We’ve just got to get them the ball and get them some opportunities.”
On how they plan to improve the run defense:
“Just being sound — I think everybody hitting their gaps and everybody doing their jobs. Like I said before, sometimes it’s the linebacker, sometimes it’s the 3-technique or maybe a corner. I think everybody’s got to be on the same page and then we’ve got to wrap up. We’ve got to wrap up and we’ve got to bring everybody, everybody else has got to hustle and get to the ball. I think we have a pretty good defense as far as everybody hustling and running to the ball. It’s just sometimes we get out of gaps and we’ve got to do a better job offensively to keep them fresh. We had a couple three-and-outs and the defense is right back on the field and they get a little gassed and holes develop. The Jets had a nice lead so their whole playbook was open. We’re playing the pass, Brandon Marshall, we’re playing this, we’re playing play-action. Like I said, it’s going to be important for us to get a lead and try and force the Buccaneers to be one-dimensional. That’s always your intent as a defense, but it’s just a matter of everybody doing their jobs and playing their gaps and wrapping up.”
On if he sees the players using last year’s game against Tampa Bay as extra motivation:
“I don’t think we need that as extra motivation. Anytime a team comes in here and beats you like Tampa Bay beat us last year, hopefully they remember that — the guys that were here. We have a lot of new guys that weren’t here. I think the situation that we’re in, we have plenty motivation to play well. We’re 2-4, obviously last place in our division and backed against a wall, so we have to come out and play well. Whether it’s a team we beat last year, lost to last year, got killed by last year, it doesn’t matter. It’s an important game for us and we have to play well.”
On if there is anything the coaches can use from last year’s game against Tampa Bay:
“Yeah, we can, especially offensively going against their defense. [Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach] Lovie [Smith] was there, similar style obviously, watching Gerald McCoy disrupt us and [Lavonte] David. They have some good players on defense that really run around to the football and they mix their coverages pretty well, so you can take a little bit from it but we have a lot of new players on offense – Morgan [Moses] at right tackle, [Brandon] Scherff at right guard, obviously our center is brand new, I think left guard… A lot of them are brand new guys for us [laughter] – quarterback. You can take a little bit scheme-wise, but it’s just a matter of going out and playing.”
On if missed tackles by linebackers are being caused by injury or missed assignments:
"Yeah, a little bit of both. They are both very athletic guys and sometimes they get to the hole so fast that they don't wrap up. But, I think they've played pretty well so far. I think sometimes they might try to cover too much for a defensive linemen who might be out of his gap sometimes. I feel good where Keenan [Robinson] and Perry [Riley, Jr.] both are and obviously [Will] Compton played well in Perry's absence. So those guys are excellent players. We’ve just got to all play together on defense. That's what it's all about."
On if DE Jason Hatcher’s knee injury is affecting his explosiveness:
"Yeah, a little bit. I think he's been sore. A little bit of it is wear and tear. He's played a lot of football in his day, and we try to rest him on certain days of week to make sure he's fresh on game day. But it's just becoming a little bit of a nagging-type deal for him and we've rested pretty him well yesterday and today. Hopefully he'll feel a lot better come game day."
On if Hatcher’s injury is related to knee scope last season:
"Yeah, probably. It's something that he's played a lot of football in his day. He's a big man, and when you're that big carrying that much weight on your joints, sometimes they get a little sore and stiff this time of year. It's just something we have to monitor, keep him fresh and get him in the rehab room. We had back-to-back games on that turf too, which didn’t help – in Atlanta and obviously the Jets. I think he's going to be fine. It's just a matter of taking care of him."
Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry
On the run defense during the last two weeks:
"Well, we talked about last week I think the game plan the week before against Atlanta dictated it a little bit, but the funny thing was – going back to Atlanta – the three biggest runs they had were in what we call eight-man fronts. We just lost a gap and missed a tackle. I know that you can't do this, but just going back and really analyzing this Sunday on Monday and Tuesday, there were seven plays that really hurt us in the run game – two by the quarterback and then five by the running backs. They ran the ball 41 times. The other 34 runs, we gave up I think 56 yards. Now, you can't do that. They rushed the ball 41 times for 220 yards, bottom line, but I think when you really break it down, was it, 'Can we not stop the run?’ or 'Were we just bad, really bad, on seven individual plays?’ It wasn't just one thing, it wasn't just one guy. It was a full breakdown. Unfortunately it happened and gave up big yardage. We went back and watched it together as a group and I tried to point out we looked at those other 34 runs where we were pretty damn stout and knocked the run out. But to give up, I don't know what that averages out to be, 34 runs for 52 yards is pretty damn good. At the end of the day, we’ve got to be more consistent. We've got to play down in and down out. That's what happened the last two weeks. We've let a couple get away from us and that can't happen."
On if that creates optimism that the defensive breakdowns are not widespread:
"Yeah, you feel a little bit better in the overall picture, but bottom line, like I said, 41 rushes for 220 yards, that's not good and we can't allow that to happen. But at least you can kind of pinpoint it and look at these specific plays. These five running plays when they've turned and handed the ball off to the tailback, we've got to be better."
On the reason behind the defense being less aggressive with the lead going into halftime:
"Are you talking about the two-minute drive? Yeah, it's two-minute defense. We have a lead. We ended up intercepting the ball before the end of the half. So, it's just when you go into a two-minutes. it's kind of what mentality you want to have. What's the situation? Is it tied? Are you up? Are you down? How aggressive are they being? I think at the end of the day, at the end of the half, our mentality in two-minute this past week worked because they didn't get any points and we intercepted the ball and gave the ball back to the offense."
On what changes the team will make in the third quarter:
“Well, I think it’s one of those things where you just can’t… number one, it’s been addressed. It’s been talked about. I don’t think it’s one of those things that you can just go, 'Oh, whatever,’ and dig a hole and put your head in the sand. For whatever reason, I wish I could tell you exactly why. I have no idea that it’s been an issue for us on our side of the ball, but it’s been addressed. It’s been talked about. It’s been a point of emphasis, starting fast. We’ve got to come out and start faster because we don’t have a problem starting the game; we just have a problem starting the second half. But it has been addressed, it’s been talked about. It’s been kind of a theme on the practice field. Halfway through practice, kind of cranking it up, so I think it’s just one of those things. I think the worst thing you can ever do anytime something is not going right is to ignore it and not talk about it. We’ve talked about it. We’ve addressed it. Now, we’ve got to go play better. We’ve got to coach better.”
On if there will be specific coaching changes to solve third-quarter issues:
"Well, no, we're not going to have a first half game plan and a second half game plan. I just think it's something from a mentality and it starts with us as coaches. We've got to be conscious of the fact of getting our guys ready to go when they come out of the locker room. We don't have a problem doing it coming out of the locker room in the first half, so we've got to get our guys going in the second half."
On CB Bashaud Breeland’s mentality with takeaways:
“Well, like I’ve told you every time that it’s been brought up in here with you guys, that’s been a point of emphasis since OTAs. We stress turnovers. We stress takeaways. We stress taking the ball away. We have a mentality, 'Hey, when the ball is in the air, it’s our ball. When a runner is carrying the ball, go take it from him. When the ball is on the ground, scoop and score.’ We’ve been stressing those things since OTA No. 1. Like I mentioned to you guys three or four weeks ago when the takeaways weren’t going our way, I said 'We’re going to keep stressing it, we’re going to keep hammering it, and they’ll come.’ Now that we’ve had two pretty good games of getting the ball, taking it away, it’s not like our mentality changes. It’s not like we stop stressing it and stop talking about it. You really do it even more now and we have.”
On if Breeland’s ability to produce takeaways is a function of the opportunities he’s getting:
“It helps. As a corner, when the ball is thrown your way you get opportunities. But I think Bree, I think Chris Baker, they have a great knack for it. The thing that’s great is that the other nine guys see those two, 'Wow, when I do punch at the ball, when I do hammer the ball, when I do rake the ball, look what happens.’ It’s kind of helped us in what we’ve been stressing. To ask you why it’s happening with him, I have no idea. But I’m totally for it and I like it.”
On if LB Ryan Kerrigan 'got sucked in’ on a screen pass against the Jets:
“That wasn’t Ryan. That’s one of those deals where the defense that we were in and the call they had, they got us. It had nothing to do with Ryan.”
On how important it is to have the discipline and recognition of screen plays against Tampa Bay:
“No question. We spent time on third down today. You know, I showed a big third-and-15 that [No.] 22 [Doug Martin] converted against New Orleans. [No.] 34 [Charles Sims] had a huge third-and-15 against Jacksonville for 50 yards — on screen plays. I think the more dynamic backs that there are in this league, a little, simple two-yard pass on a screen play can be dangerous if it’s not properly fit, if your pursuit angles aren’t proper. So, yeah, it’s been something that we’ve stressed and not just on third down. These guys do a great job in the screen game on first and second down, on third down. It happens all the time, they have a different variety of screens, but most importantly, the two guys carrying them — No. 22 and 34 --- very good screen backs. So, it’s been a point of emphasis for us all week, no doubt.”
On evaluating LB Perry Riley’s performance since his return from injury:
“The thing that was a bummer was when he got hurt, he played lights out against the St. Louis Rams. He really did. I think that’s a little — when a guy misses some time, especially with a lower extremity injury, he comes back, you’ve got to knock a little bit of rust off, so I don’t think Perry has played poorly. And we’ve had the conversation, 'Get back to how you played against the St. Louis Rams.’ I think he had a great week of practice this week. So, I think it’s part of the deal sometimes when a guy misses time and then comes back, it takes him a little bit of time to knock some rust off… Perry has played physical. I don’t think by any means — don’t pinpoint anything on Perry Riley. We’ve all got to play better, we’ve all got to coach better, bottom line.”
On if LB Will Compton could play more:
“Yeah, Will — we talk about a starter in waiting. Every time that we’ve ever called Will’s number to come in and play, he’s done a great job. I love the fact that we have Will Compton. He backs up both our Mike backer and our Dime backer in sub. He backs up our Mike backer and Mo linebacker in base, so he’s totally adequate to come in and play, but no we’re not at that point.”
On if the Jets’ running game helped keep the edge rushers off-balance:
“Yeah, I think when a team is able to run the ball 41 times, it’s hard to get a bead from a pass rush standpoint. I thought Ryan [Kerrigan] did have a couple nice rushes early, but yeah, it’s hard. When the game is going in that type of flow, it’s hard to get to going as a rusher, just because they’re running the ball… Difficult.”
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