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Thursday Media Transcript: DC Steve Spagnuolo

Eric from BBI : Admin : 9/22/2016 6:17 pm
Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo

September 22, 2016

Q: How much more creative can you be because of the confidence you have in the defense this year?

A: Well, I think that’s coming. A lot of it has to do with the guys gelling together and I think they are gelling well. I know that I’ve mentioned this before, when I watch out here on the field, I watch and listen for communication and what the guys are doing, not even during plays, but what they’re doing when they’re coming off the field. Guys like Keenan Robinson have been great. Landon Collins, second year on the defense, he’s been great. They’re figuring things out; they’re unwinding things on their own. Sometimes we don’t have to walk over there and say anything, they got it figured out. With all of that, you can start to do some things that maybe you backed off on when you were trying to build the thing and get the foundation.

Q: Looks like you’re sending a lot of guys from the secondary, that’s pretty new.

A: We were working a little bit like that last week. Sometimes those are calls where any number of people could be coming. In that particular case, it ended up being DB’s. I was happy. I think Landon got his first career sack, he said he didn’t have one in college…Did Leon Hall say it was his first in the league?

Q: Yeah…

A: I think Landon said it was the first one he ever had. That was good to see, it was great. When they come, and they’re free and they don’t get blocked, it’s nice of them to finish the play and actually hit the sacks.

Q: How much of a concern is the depth at safety?

A: Yeah, it’s getting to be a concern. We’ll miss Darian Thompson. He kind of communicated back there and kind of glues things together. Landon’s just got to step up and help out the guy that’s next to him, whether it’s Nat Berhe or whoever it is. But, we’re getting thin at safety.

Q: How much has Leon Hall’s versatility helped?

A: We’ll move him all over. He’s been in a number of different spots. He’s been a backup safety, played that role. He was getting a little bit of that prior to this week so hopefully foundational reps help.

Q: Has Kelvin Sheppard helped steady the defense in the middle?

A: He’s been great. He’s one of those guys, I’ll tell you what happened in the game. I can’t remember what group we put out. Let’s say we put the dime out. There’s 12 guys on the field and somebody didn’t get the communication, and didn’t come out. And Kelvin, who wasn’t in that package and was on the sideline, he caught it before anybody and was yelling to whoever to get out. I thought that was as compelling as anything as to what Kelvin means to us. He’s on top of everything. He’s in there in the meetings giving things to guys. He didn’t play as many plays this week because we didn’t have much base defense. But I love having him. He’s one of those guys that gets football and he loves the game of football. He’s into it and he plays that position of Mike, where guys feel confident that he’s going to get them lined up.

Q: Does Keenan Robinson do the same?

A: Keenan’s come a long way, too. You guys see that he’s been going in the sub packages. He’s really run with that role, which is all jacked up this week, he’s got the Washington Redskins. He’s been talking about this is what they do…he’s been really good that way. That linebacker group, I’ve mentioned this before, that linebacker room is a solid one from the standpoint of knowing football.

Q: What do you see from Kirk Cousins?

A: Just when you think you might have him figured out or think he’s not going to do something, I think he finds a way to get it done. He’s a survivor. I think he’s an athlete. A guy down there who’s turned things around, in my opinion. I don’t remember everything about last year, but I do remember, once he got in there and was managing things, things started to click. They’ve been pretty good on offense. They’re up there in rushing. There were some stats that we had the other day. They’ve thrown the ball around well. I was looking at their overall passing yards for the two games, it’s up there pretty high. This is a good football team that’s coming in here. It’s a division game. Their offense has moved the ball on us before. They’ve got weapons. They’ve got people that can stretch the field, that can wreck the football game. We know what the tight end is all about, he’s a versatile guy. I think Kirk Cousins has used all of those weapons really well.

Q: Those tackles that Eli Apple made on Mark Ingram on the outside, is that something you already knew he could do or are you seeing that for the first time?

A: No, we’ve always thought he was a good tackler; he did in college and he’s done it here. I think in these first two games…I talked to him the other day and it’s been 50/50. Like he’s had a couple of misses that he should have made. I do think he is a [strong] tackler, and he takes a lot of pride in it, we were talking about the other day. He wants to be a tackling corner. Some of these guys, they’re only cover corners. But he wants to be an all-around corner and he’s really good at it.

Q: DRC and Kennard’s snaps are down. How have you convinced these guys to buy into what they get week-to-week?

A: We’ve got some great character guys. Devon and I have talked about that a little bit, and we want to try and get some packages with him in there. These are team guys. We’re using a lot of different people, we’re using, they’re all into it, because they know their names are going to be called at some point. It’s good to do that from other standpoints. By that, what I mean is offenses have to deal with a lot of different jersey numbers. I think that works to our advantage, which is one of the reasons why we do it. Sometimes offensive line coaches, protection-wise, use jersey numbers. That guy is a lineman, so you five that those four and now you’re sending out a lot of linemen numbers out there. The guys have been great. When it’s all said and done, you’re going to need everybody. I remember Kennard and I talking about it last year at this point, I thought he had way too many snaps. I think that was probably a part of the reason that he got hurt. Now I think we’re keeping him fresh and can keep him all the way through the season.

Q: Do you look at DRC the same way?

A: I don’t know what the total numbers are. We want him out on the field. We had some packages where Leon was in there as the nickel not DRC, for certain reasons I won’t go deep into now. I think taking a couple of snaps off helps him in the fourth quarter. You go back to Dallas, if you remember the end of the game, DRC and Janoris Jenkins, their legs were heavy at the end of the game and we need those guys at the end of the games. I think DRC understands that.

Q: Some of your ends were a little nicked up, JPP and OV…

A: Yeah. They seem to be okay. OV’s dealing with a wrist or a hand or whatever it is and I don’t think he’s ever had that. For a guy that’s an edge rusher, there’s a lot of hand movement involved. I think that affected him a little bit in this game. We were conscious of it during the game and trying to put him in different positions pass rush wise. But he’s fighting through it.

Q: Jason Pierre-Paul’s shoulder?

A: He seemed to be okay at practice. He’ll be okay, fingers crossed.

Q: When you’re deciding on the game plan, how valuable is Leon Hall to have?

A: His greatest value is that you can trust him. He’s going to know exactly what to do. Let’s face it, you only get so many reps out on the field and you can’t give all the guys all the looks and all of the coverages whatever we do defensively. Yet, he’s a student of the game. Even though he might not get a rep of something, you can throw him out there and he can figure it out, and that’s really valuable. Right now, he’s playing really two or three different positions.
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Big Blue '56 : 9/22/2016 6:49 pm : link
Quote:


Q: Do you look at DRC the same way?

A: I don’t know what the total numbers are. We want him out on the field. We had some packages where Leon was in there as the nickel not DRC, for certain reasons I won’t go deep into now. I think taking a couple of snaps off helps him in the fourth quarter. You go back to Dallas, if you remember the end of the game, DRC and Janoris Jenkins, their legs were heavy at the end of the game and we need those guys at the end of the games. I think DRC understands that..



Pretty much my take when people were speculating as to DRC's less minutes
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