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Thursday Transcript: Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo

Eric from BBI : Admin : 10/29/2015 4:54 pm
Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo

October 29, 2015

Q: What have you seen from Jason?

A: Jason?

Q: Sehorn.

A: I remember the Jason Sehorn’s playoff game here, he picked that ball off. Can I go down that road? That was a great play, though. It was right at the end of the half. What year would that have been? 2000? What a great play that was.

Alright, the other Jason we’re taking about, right? It’s hard to tell anything right now. We’re just obviously all really happy he’s back in the fold here. I don’t know him as well as everybody else here, all the other coaches. I’ve admired him from afar, obviously, and know he’s a really good football player. But look, it’s up to the medical team, Coach Coughlin, Jerry, to make all the decisions on that, I’m just glad he’s back.

Q: Have you guys had conversations along the lines of how to use him as he progresses?

A: Today was really the first day he kind of did anything. I know he ran around yesterday, so I haven’t really had a chance to watch the film. It’s going to take a little while, it’s really early now. We want to be optimistic, and I know he is, too, but I think we want to be smart about it. We’ll just see where it goes.

Q: Given that it’s so early, are you surprised to see him out there doing those drills with scout team already?

A: I don’t know that. I’m not lying when I say this, I’ve had the blinders on for seven weeks on each game and now it’s the New Orleans Saints. When somebody gets hurt, you move on to the next guy, you focus on that. I’ll reiterate it by saying I’m just glad he’s back. All the questions you’re asking me we’ve got to figure out, but it’s a good thing to try and figure out. Probably the best way to look at it.

Q: Do you get to a point where you have to gauge how many plays he can maybe be effective for before you bring him out?

A: Yeah, probably. I think sometimes whether you’re coming back from an injury, whatever—coming off a suspension, PUP, whatever it is—sometimes it’s not the injury you have you’re worried about, it’s something else. I think we’ve got to be careful of that.

Q: He’s obviously going to be situationally used anyway to start?

A: You would think. It’s hard to throw a guy out there and play 65 plays when you haven’t done anything for a long period of time. We’ll see.

Q: Does New Orleans mean anything to you, you had the one year there. I’m assuming you haven’t been back since, have you?

A: I went back last year when I was with Baltimore, we went down there. There are good people that I’ve met down there, friends. But other than that, it’s another game.

Q: How much did you learn from that year? You only had one year there.

A: I’ve said this before, and it’s quite evident now, you learn more in adversity than you do sometimes when it goes real well. There are things I pulled away from that I think have been helpful and hopefully will be helpful.

Q: Anything tangible or specific?

A: No, not really. No, not really.

Q: How adverse was it there for you? You had a lot of bad things said about you when you left.

A: It was adverse. Yeah, well, it’s in the rearview mirror.

Q: With JPP returning and Robert Ayers, I assume, getting healthier…what do you envision from your pass rush moving forward?

A: Both those guys obviously can do that very well. We’re just glad we got Robert back, it’s been a while. To come back off of three or four weeks, whatever it was, and go back out there, you’ve got to knock the rust off. DK, Devon Kennard, had to knock the rust off a little bit, too. So hopefully Robert is one more week advanced there, and I’m sure JPP is going to go through the same thing. Keep everybody healthy and try to mix and match and keep guys fresh. Hopefully that part of it will improve.

Q: How difficult is it for you when you’re implementing a new system in your first go-round here with this group and you’ve got all these guys shuffling out?

A: I’ll tell you this, it is tough, it’s tough for the coaches, it’s tough for the players. But our guys have really handled it pretty well. I have to complement the guys on that. And we’ve tried to be smart about what we do and what we change or not change because of that. And yet, in the league, that happens. Everybody is going through the same thing. Every team around the league has to fight it and that’s where you hope you have guys in the room that have taken over for somebody that got hurt. They’ve been in tune to it and they’re ready to step in and take advantage of their opportunity.

Q: As you get healthier at defensive end, will it be hard to find playing time for Damontre Moore?

A: You’ve got a number of guys over there, so we’ll have to figure that out. But it’s not a bad problem to have. It’s not a bad problem to have guys that you think can go in there and play. I don’t know if you can ever have too many. You just find a way to even it out. The one thing about that, it creates great competition.

Q: You were here in 2007 when you guys went to New Orleans, right?

A: I don’t know if we played them in ’07, I don’t think we did.

Q: Well, you know what can happen.

A: Oh God, yeah. It’s a challenging place to play and it’s a good football team. Fans make it tough because they’re into it. I’ve always thought you embrace that and go down and enjoy it, that’s what makes the NFL so exciting. But it is one of those places that’s tough to win.

Q: Drew Brees’ numbers are not prolific like they’ve been in the past. Questions about his shoulder and things like that. What do you look at?

A: I don’t see that. I just see him throw touchdown passes. I was just in there watching, he had a nice little play—they went for it on 4th and two in the Atlanta game, he pops it in there for a touchdown. I’ve got a great deal of respect for Drew. I enjoyed my time with him. We had many a conversation when I was down there. Not only is he a great character guy, but he’s a really smart football player. He would see things and it’s always good to see the other side of it. I enjoyed that. I’ve got a great deal of respect for him. Great competitor, great competitor. And I don’t really see a tremendous drop off. With the system that they run and how quick he gets it out, he’s so effective that way. It’s going to make it a challenge.

Q: Back to Damontre, how has he held up the last two weeks in your estimation? It hasn’t been an easy two weeks for him.

A: From an emotional standpoint? He’s been great. There’s ups and downs in the league, especially early in your tenure as a player. It wasn’t easy for him to be deactivated last week, but he fought through it and he came out here and he’s practiced pretty well.

Q: Did you have to talk to him about that? Did you have a conversation?

A: I talk to him all the time. One thing about Damontre—when he was back at Texas A& M doing his schoolwork, we had a conversation over the phone and instantly kind of connected. We’ve kind of had that all the way through and we’ve talked through this situation, too.

Q: With JPP, does he have to fit into the defense you have now or you’re sitting there saying, “I’m a kid with a new toy?”

A: I think he fits right in. Football is football and I don’t think we’ve changed all that much from the standpoint of the position he plays. The terminology will be different, but Robert Nunn has been in there visiting with him time after time, so hopefully that learning curve won’t be too steep.

Q: You have calls in your defense that require him to just go get the quarterback, I guess?

A: We’ve got a lot of calls where everybody should be going after the quarterback. Especially early on, you try to limit the thinking.

Q: Coaches get fired every place, but when you go through a year like you had there in New Orleans, is there a worry like, “Is my reputation going to be damaged,” or that kind of thing?

A: I let the Good Lord take care of that. I don’t have any control over that.

Q: With the guys going in and out at linebacker, obviously Jonathan Casillas has been in and out. Do you feel like this is kind of a spot where right now he’s starting to find his groove?

A: Jonathan? Yeah, when we’ve put him in there—and Jim (Herrmann) has done a great job with him. And Jonathan was with us in New Orleans, and that’s where I kind of learned about his talent. And he practiced really well today. I agree with what you’re saying—he can fit into that, he’s a football player, he can run around, he’s skilled in the pass game and that’s why he finds himself in those situations. He’s a good football player and he’s been great on special teams for Tom Quinn. I’m glad we got him.
The DC transcripts are the most informative, IMO ...  
DonQuixote : 10/29/2015 5:05 pm : link
... I respect that
With The Lack Of Talent, Injuries Etc.  
Trainmaster : 10/29/2015 5:57 pm : link
Spags is being asked to make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t. I'm really glad he's back and I think the defensive issues are in spite of his efforts, not due to ineffective or lack of effort.
What bothers me  
blueblood'11 : 10/30/2015 6:53 am : link
is they always want to allude to defensive statistics and where teams rank against the run the pass and overall defense. They say numbers don't always tell the whole story. I know early on when it counted most offenses went through them like Swiss cheese. What they fail to mention is the take away ratio. That's the sign of a team that plays hard.

If they were getting blown out in games then those those numbers would mean much more. But as it stands they are a bend but don't break defense. Given the fact the pass rush is so weak and they still have as many interceptions as they do says the secondary is better then people realize despite the numbers. Give them a pass rush to work with and then people will take note.
What bothers me is the big distraction  
nicky43 : 10/30/2015 7:47 am : link
80% of the questions about JPP who isn't even ready to play yet.
Any quotes  
bc4life : 10/30/2015 8:35 am : link
re: porous run defense last week? I didn't see any since the game from SS.
Trainmaster  
AP in Halfmoon : 10/30/2015 8:38 am : link
I believe the talent is much better this year
Would have been nice to have asked him  
David B. : 10/30/2015 9:05 am : link
How much does JPP have to learn about your system before you can use him, and where is he with that?

But it was just the normal, waste-of-time interviews.
I like this one by Spags - Don't think, it can only hurt the team....  
Jimmy Googs : 10/30/2015 9:22 am : link
A: We’ve got a lot of calls where everybody should be going after the quarterback. Especially early on, you try to limit the thinking.
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