Monday Conference Call: LB Jonathan Casillas

LB Jonathan Casillas

Conference Call, November 9, 2015

Q:…the bounce back effort that the defense had after the Saints game and just how you guys kept it together and overcame that?

A: We had to turn that relentless meter back up. I feel like we gave the Saints a lot of plays a few weeks ago, they earned a lot for sure, but when you leave guys wide open and they’re just catching passes unabated, that’s pretty easy. Drew Brees is going to pick you apart all day long and we didn’t have a good outing. We definitely wanted to bounce back and have a good showing. It all started in practice, we had a great week of practice and it showed up in the game.

Q: Do you think with some of the inconsistencies on the defense, was it more a result of injuries or just the players trying to jell together and grasp what Coach [Steve] Spagnuolo was teaching?

A: Whenever you have a first-year defense, you have a lot of moving parts and you have guys playing different positions. There’s always going to be a little bit of time to jell together, a little bit of an adjustment period where sometimes you don’t react on a certain play as fast as you would if you were running it for two years. That’s the case with us for sure, and we’re trying to improve every week and we already had a big turnaround from last week to this week. We have to keep trying to improve, continue studying, continue to be pros off the field, and in our notebooks. We have to continue to get better in the classroom and it’ll show on the field.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the anticipation of playing the Patriots, obviously undefeated, Super Bowl Champions, and what kind of test this is for you guys to see where you are at this stage?

A: Every game is big, but arguably the best team in the NFL is coming to our stadium and it’s going to be a big game. Tom Brady has played a lot of big games and he’s won a lot of big games on the road as well as home games. He’s consistently done it and they’re riding high right now. Their offense is a well-oiled machine, they can run the ball, pass the ball, inside, outside, their tight ends are good, they use all the receivers, so we have to be on point. It’s all about this week’s practice, how we’re going to approach practice, like we did last week, we had a great week of practice leading up to the game. We had a good showing and we have to do the same thing this week. New England is never not going to be a difficult task and that’s a tribute to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick as the coach, and all the guys that move around in and out the building. They just do a great job and we’re definitely going to have to play lights out to beat these guys at home.

Q: You played for them last year, so how much of an advantage do you think you have , having practiced against Brady and that offense, knowing what they do well, what they don’t do well, or is it just a matter of just looking at the tape and studying what’s current?

A: The interesting thing about New England is they game plan every week and every week is different. They attack teams differently. They run everything on offense so it’s like they have tendencies but they’re not as strong as other teams. A lot of teams stick to their tendencies and they do it like that and that’s how they beat you. New England picks a weakness or they see where they have favorable mismatches and they attack them. You won’t really know their game plan until the day of the game and then you realize what they’re trying to do. That’s how you have to play them, because they’re so good and the offense is so broad and wide, and Tom Brady has been doing it for 15 years. It’s easy for him to just attack a team one way and then the next week play totally different; passing, then suddenly you’re running the ball 35 times, so they can do that. It’ll be studying what they like to do, what they’re good at, trying to find out the little tendencies that we can find, and then game day, we have to be able to stop the early surge and be able to predict and see what they’re going to run towards us to attack us that day.

Q: Is there a sense of excitement to get JPP [Jason Pierre-Paul] back, Prince [Amukamara] maybe back this weekend, you’re in first place, all these things in a positive direction?

A: Oh yes. Me being just a big fan of football in general, I played against the Giants in the past and Pierre-Paul has always been, I felt like, one of the best defensive players in the league, and it was exciting to have him back out yesterday. I always try and go around and talk to all the guys on the defense, especially my linebackers, just say a word to them before the game, and letting them know I’m locked in and try to see were their head is at. I told him [JPP] that yesterday, I’m a big fan of yours and I’m just happy that you’re back, man, and it’s good to see you on our sideline, man. He played well, he still has to his feet underneath him just like anybody else would their first game back after a while. I’m just happy for a guy like who suffered a very traumatic injury and to be back, to be playing, and doing the thing he loves to do.

Q: How was Jasper [Brinkley] in the huddle taking control of the defense? I know that’s sort of a big void whenever [Jon] Beason is not there. How did Brinkley do?

A: Brinkley did really well. There was some responsibility taken off the mike linebacker like how it normally would be if Beason was there, with Devon Kennard basically taking the call from the coach, but Brinkley did a lights out job. He actually had got a game ball today, he had an amazing game, he played really fast, and he showed up like he was the mike linebacker. He played mike linebacker in a defense he was in before and it showed yesterday. He played lights out and you couldn’t have played the position better.