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Thursday Transcript: CB Eli Apple

Eric from BBI : Admin : 9/21/2017 5:01 pm
CB Eli Apple

September 21, 2017

Q: How much more difficult does it become to defend teams when cornerback Janoris Jenkins is not out there with you guys?

A: I mean, you’re losing somebody that’s really great at playing man coverage and he’s really good at taking away the number one receiver. That’s a lot of production you’re losing. But we know we’ve got guys that are able to step up and take his place and I think guys like Ross [Cockrell] did a great job of doing that. And we also had other guys in the secondary step up, like, [safety Andrew] Adams had to pick up his reps a little bit, and same with [safety] Nat [Behre] and I think we did a good job with that.

Q: Are you guys better prepared to go forward with Jenkins?

A: Yeah, we just try every day to go really hard because whoever’s out there, we’ve just got to go hard no matter what. You can’t try to just anticipate everything, you can’t. You don’t know what’s going to happen with somebody’s health, so you’ve just got to do what you can.

Q: How does Jenkins being out change your job?

A: It doesn’t really change my job, really.

Q: Do you feel like you’re ready to take that next step and be that shutdown corner if Jenkins doesn’t play this week?

A: Yes, definitely, most definitely. It’s just about the little things. Just always trying to improve and get better, never taking any steps backwards and that is something I’m really trying to harp on and be hard on myself about and just try every day to get better.

Q: What happened on the touchdown pass scored on you last week against Detroit?

A: Well in the red zone, you never want to be too high on a receiver, and that’s one thing – that was the first mistake I made. I got too high on the touchdown and I kind of just was thinking too much and I was thinking which way I was going to look. When I really should’ve just turned into the receiver and just try to play chest-to-chest. That’s something we practice all the time, just something I didn’t incorporate during that time. But that’s something I’ve definitely been working on this week.

Q: Is Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz the type of quarterback that will give the defense opportunities to make plays?

A: Yeah, most definitely. In his first two games [this season] you can see that. They definitely try to throw the ball a lot and try to get their passing game started. He’s a great quarterback, he’s great at extending plays and getting his receivers the ball downfield. So, that’s something that we have to work on, just making sure we stay high to low because we know when he does scramble, he like to go deep?

Q: What does Philadelphia wide receiver Alshon Jeffery add to their offense?

A: Somebody with size. A red zone threat and just somebody who’s very productive, possession-wise.

Q: How to improve on third down?

A: Just continue to work on it and continue to make it an emphasis in practice. That’s something that we’ve been doing a little bit more, and just practicing a little harder on it and just try our best to disguise our coverages a little bit more. I think, as a defense, we can all work on that and just try to confuse the quarterback a little bit better.

Q: Does Wentz make it tough on third down, with his ability to extend plays?

A: Oh, for sure, definitely. That’s always the toughest part because we always have initial good coverage. It’s always just when a quarterback extends the plays. Like [Cowboys QB Dak] Prescott has done and especially with [Lions QB] Matthew Stafford this past game. He did that on a couple third downs and that was really critical but that’s something we’re definitely working on.
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