LB Alec Ogletree
September 26, 2018
Q: You look at (Drew) Brees, you look at (Michael) Thomas, you look at (Alvin) Kamara, they’ve got a lot of weapons, so what’s the challenge for this defense?
A: The same as it is every week. We have to stop the run first and then try to limit the explosive plays and make sure we gang tackle Kamara and Mike Thomas and just get to the quarterback as much as possible.
Q: How about Brees and his accuracy, how much pressure does that put on a defense?
A: Puts a lot. He gets the ball out quick and he just gives it to his playmakers’ hands. Like I said, we got to do a good job of getting to him first and then make sure we tackle well.
Q: One win is nice, but how do you kind of establish something here that was just not one game, that you guys are going somewhere?
A: You just take what you did last week and try to build off of it. Correct your mistakes that you did and like I said, just try to keep that momentum rolling for this week.
Q: When you look at Brees and people say he’s small, get in his face, kind of wreck his field of vision, but yet he still does what he does. It sounds easy, but it’s not.
A: No, it’s not. He’s going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback one day. Well he really is a Hall of Fame quarterback, he’s going to have a gold jacket one day, but like you said, he’s done it for a long time and everybody says pretty much the same thing, you got to get in his face, try to limit his vision, but at the same time he has good pocket presence and he knows how to work in the pocket. Just presents a challenge for us to try to go out there and do that and get in his face and try to block his vision a little bit.
Q: There have been many scat backs over the years, Kamara is not the first guy to catch passes out of the backfield but why has he become so deadly these days?
A: They use him all over the field. He can line up at wide receiver, he can catch the ball out of the backfield. They look to get him the ball. He’s going to get his touches, so he’s special when he has the ball. He’s able to turn a small gain to a big gain and just like I said, it takes everybody to get to the ball and make a tackle.
Q: Is worrying about the big play really the biggest key in terms of containment?
A: It’s a numbers thing, that’s definitely one of the things. We want to limit the big plays because I think that gets them going and it makes the defense struggle a little bit, but to be able to stop them from doing that you can definitely have a pretty nice day against them. They’ve done it for a long time and they’re rolling right now.
Q: When you mention the stuff you’re saying about Kamara, it’s very similar to what they’re asked about Saquon (Barkley).
A: I don’t know, you have to ask them.
Q: Dealing with, as a defender, with that kind of a player.
A: They’re both good backs and they both can catch the ball out of the backfield, so you got to ask them what they think about Saquon as far as that goes, but as far as Alvin, like I said, he can catch, he can pretty much do anything anybody else can do.
Q: Does practicing against Saquon help a little bit the way he catches the ball out of the backfield, the way that he’s always going to get his touches in practice, give a good sense of what Kamara is going to do?
A: Yes, and no. Like I said, you get good work going against a guy like Saquon for sure during practice and it kind of helps you during the game as well, but they’re kind of different backs and do things different a little bit. At the same time, you do get good work.
Q: The fact as a defense you have to account for Michael Thomas, Kamara, Brees always a threat to throw it deep. How much added stress does that put on a defense verses any other week?
A: It’s relatively the same each week. Every team has their guys that they like to fix their game plan through and those two guys are definitely the top guys on the offense so it definitely presents a challenge for any team, us this week because we’re playing against them so we got a good game plan going in and we just got to execute our plan.
Q: Is Sean Payton’s offense a lot – a little more complex than other offenses that you faced?
A: No, I don’t think it’s real complex, I think they do a good job of getting to where they need to go and with Drew Brees back there, he can run pretty much any offense that you ask him to run, but those guys have been together for a long time so they know each other, they know what one another likes and with Brees back there, he gets the ball to his playmakers and lets them go make plays.
Q: A lot of different formations? They like to change it up a lot?
A: They do a number of different things. You just have to be disciplined in what you do defensively to have a chance against them.
Q: What makes Kamara so good? This guy is a weapon. They use him in pass, run, they split him out wide. What makes this guy – how tough is this guy to defend?
A: They use him all over the field and they’re looking to get him the ball. He poses a challenge for anybody, along with having 13 (Michael Thomas) out there too, so when you have those two there and like I said with Bress and what he does, it definitely poses a challenge for a lot of defenses.
Q: They had like nine guys with catches last week. What do you make of that when you see a team spread the ball around? That’s kind of unusual, right?
A: Yes, and no. They definitely like to pass the ball, for sure. That’s just their offense. They have playmakers on the outside and you can split the running back out and let him catch the balls too, so it’s definitely something they love to do is throwing the ball.
Q: Are you kind of on your toes a little bit more knowing that you have to kind of key in on obviously three or four guys?
A: You have to execute your game plan and that’s our going to be our thing this week is executing our game plan and try to limit the big plays and stuff like that.
Q: Is it kind of a confidence booster for the defense to build off of last week when you had two big turnovers enforced in that second half. Is that really a big step for this defense?
A: Yeah, it is. That’s something we have to do each and every week is create turnovers and get our offense the ball back as much as possible to let them go out there and put up points and control the game. We’re able to do that and it definitely gives ourselves a good chance.
