DE Jason Pierre-Paul
October 11, 2016
Q: How are you feeling?
A: I feel good. Can’t complain. I’m alive, so I’m okay. I feel great.
Q: Were you limited at all today?
A: No, I practiced. I did a full practice today.
Q: There is no doubt in your mind that you’ll play on Sunday?
A: I don’t know if I’ll play on Sunday. I had a full practice today.
Q: What do you need to do to play on Sunday?
A: I don’t know. I’m playing on Sunday. No question. I’ll be out there.
Q: When you look at the sack numbers, you guys have four sacks. What do you have to do differently?
A: We just have to finish. We just have to finish as a group, defense-wise. Starting with myself. Giving more effort. Just finish.
Q: With the talent that you guys have on that line, are you surprised the numbers have been so low?
A: I’m not surprised. To me, it’s not even about sacks, to tell you the truth. Yes, it’s nice to have but in reality when you look at the games, we’ve been close. We just have to finish with the sack numbers. Our defense has been playing pretty well. We just have to get there and finish. I’m not talking about the D-line I’m talking about as a group. Tackle better. We have done a poor job tackling. That’s every guy on the team, including myself. We just have to get better. That’s why we went out there using shoulder pads today. We just have to finish.
Q: How can you improve tackling at this point in the year?
A: You just have to do it. You just have to do it. You can’t depend on the guy making the tackle in front of you. I’m just going to go full speed and tackle. If that’s going to fire up my guys, then that’s what I have to do. I try not to do that because I know I’ll lay a big hit on him, but if that’s what I have to do, then that’s what I have to do.
Q: Last week, you and Olivier switched sides for a little bit. Do you think that kick started you a little bit?
A: Not at all. I play both sides. OV plays both sides and is now seeing that he can play both sides. We just switched up. It wasn’t the coaches call. It was our call. We just switched.
Q: Is it frustrating to get teams in third downs and haven’t been able to get off the field?
A: It’s all about finishing. Like I said, we did a great job when I looked at the film. I’m pretty sure other guys looked at the film on the defense too. It was just a poor job of tackling. Coaches can’t be out there to tackle for us. Starting with myself. I have to make sure that tackle is secure. If another guy has him, I have to wrap up to make sure. We just have to do a better job tackling. I think that will take place on Sunday.
Q: The one play that sticks into my head is when Rodgers runs for 10 on third and 10. Is that just losing containment on the outside?
A: Yes, basically. Lose contain. We went into that game knowing what Rodgers can do. He does it all the time. That didn’t cost us the game. The poor tackling did. We had them a bunch of times on third down and we missed tackles. They got the extra yardage after the catches. The long run they had, we missed tackles on that. It was just a poor job tackling on our part. Starting with myself. We have to take better angles as a group. That’s what we’ve been practicing.
Q: When you lose three in a row, do you sit there and go ‘Uh-Oh’?
A: No, not at all. There’s no uh-oh. You know how it is. We started, what, 0-6 last year? We still had a chance to go to the playoffs. It’s still early. The season just started. We’re going on six. It’s early. Anything can happen. Then we have this bye week after this London game. We’re just focusing on this game now but we have a lot of room for improvement.
Q: What went into the decision of you and OV switching sides?
A: We do it all the time. OV comes to my side and I go to the right. It’s not even a decision. We just did it.
Q: Flacco has been throwing the ball a lot. In the past two games, West has run the ball extremely well. Does that make it hard for you to decide what to lean on offensively?
A: We don’t care what they do. I’m just going to come out and play some great football. As long as I come out and play great football and the group comes out and plays great football, we shouldn’t care what they do. We know they have a new offensive coordinator. It is what it is. That’s what they have to take of. We have to take care of what we have to over here.
Q: Do you feel the defense has played good football?
A: So far we have, but we can do way better than what we’re doing now. I know that for a fact.
A: I don’t know if I’ll play on Sunday. I had a full practice today.
Q: What do you need to do to play on Sunday?
A: I don’t know. I’m playing on Sunday. No question. I’ll be out there.