Cornerbacks Coach Tim Walton
August 3, 2016
Q: What have you seen from Janoris Jenkins?
A: He’s doing a great job right now. He’s a leader of the group, and very competitive. He brings a lot of energy and uplifts the group on the backend, so we’re very pleased with what he’s brought to the table so far.
Q: Why did DRC and Trevin Wade take a majority of the plays in the slot?
A: We’re just moving guys around a lot. Those two guys were with the team last year. We have a lot of young guys, so we’re just non-committal on all of that stuff, we’re just moving guys around and we’ll see where they best fit so when the time comes for us to make a decision, we’ve tried it all out.
Q: Why is DRC taking the most snaps in practice?
A: In the spring we had them rotating, so we’re just moving around based on parts of practice right now, starting out. Each practice is a different situation, so we’re just moving around and everybody will get their chance and we’re looking around just to see what’s the best fit for us.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge for Eli Apple?
A: It would be the mental. But this game is going to be the biggest challenge, period, mentally because it’s different than college. So outside, it’s going to be the same thing on a lot of the things that you have to learn at this level. We’re going to keep working him and trying to get him as much experience as we can before the first game.
Q: There was a play involving Eli Apple and he was grabbing the jersey of another player, does he need to work on that?
A: Yeah, he needs to work on it. That’s why we have officials at practice, they make the calls. So we go back and judge it and see. He has to continue to work on that part, and he does a great job of trying to prove that. We have him being competitive, so I think he’ll be alright in that area.
Q: How do you improve in that area?
A: Well, you work on playing the ball down the field and you use the tape as the biggest correction point. You use the tape because they throw a lot of deep balls in practice. He got a lot of reps where he’s one-on-one down the field, so you use that part. You do drills, where you throw the balls and you’re leaning on guys and trying to find the football, so we use all those drills a lot. The more he does it, the more he gets comfortable with it.
Q: Have you seen Eli Apple using his hands too much at practice?
A: It shows up every now and then, but he’s been better at it. He’s been much better than he was in college with doing that and I think he’ll continue to improve on it, and that’s what the reps are for. He’s definitely taking a step forward in that area.
Q: Do you think Eli Apple got away with more in college than he will here, with the grabbing, etc.?
A: There’s a lot of stuff that goes on but we just try and teach at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, now when the ball is in the air he has to be good at getting in position. It’s just the constant teaching of it. Like anything in life, you keep doing it, and he’s taking big strides in that. We feel good about where he’s progressing to at this point.
Q: What have you seen from Donte Deayon so far?
A: He’s doing a great job, very knowledgeable kid, very competitive, understands football and loves to play and bring great energy. We really like what he’s doing so far.
Q: What do you like about Trevin Wade?
A: Well, he’s smart and has a good understanding of the game. He’s played there before, so he’s the guy who has the most experience doing it, so things happen fast in there in zone and man. He can understand the combination routes and that type of stuff, so his knowledge of the game helps him.
Q: When you’re figuring out where to put people, is knowledge of the game more important than talent?
A: It’s week to week, it all depends on the matchup and who we’re seeing inside because offenses play a lot of different guys. You’ll see the big receivers inside, the slot receivers inside, they flex the tight ends out a lot, so it’s all really a game situation.
Q: Who of the undrafted guys stand out to you so far?
A: Donte Deayon is doing a great job for us. He’s really taking a step forward. Michael Hunter is really doing a good job. I like what those guys are doing for us so far. They’re picking up and understanding things and competing.
Q: Do you see Deayon as a guy who plays inside or outside mostly?
A: He’s been playing inside, but we’re going to get him some stuff outside. Like I said, we’re just moving guys around because we want to see at the end of the day what guys do best and then when it’s time to make a decision on where to put them, we’ll do it at that point. But he’s really comfortable inside because he understands it really well.
Q: The knock on him is that he’s small, did that show up to you?
A: No, he plays bigger than that and there’s been small guys who play well in the league before, so that doesn’t bother me. There are some big guys that play small and some small guys that play big.
Q: What have you seen from Darian Thompson at safety?
A: Very smart, he’s a guy that’s a leader and understands the defense well. He’s picking stuff up well and is a very dedicated, hard worker and has a great understanding of what we’re trying to do and really works at it.
