Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale
We were fired up, obviously, with the win last week. I thought our guys played really well. You've got the same guys stepping up, and others are joining them now. Continue to do a tremendous job of taking the football away. The big thing walking away, leaving the parking lot, the fans were incredible. I mean, they were the 12th guy, definitely, for us defensively. When you've got 80,000 people like that cheering for you, it was an awesome experience for everybody involved.
With that, I'll open it up to questions.
Q: What can you put your finger on with the turnovers of why they're coming?
A: If I could do that, we'd have a crap ton of them – I tried to clean that up – of takeaways every year. I think it's guys taking advantage of the situations. They're becoming better finishers at the football. You see everybody else, like (safety) X(avier McKinney) has punched the ball out, we've talked about (inside linebacker) Bobby (Okereke) punching the ball out, now you have (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott in the Washington game punching the ball out right at the right time and things like that that we're doing more often and having opportunities to do more often. The interceptions, they've just been good plays and the guys are studying, communicating so much better the last month. It's been fun to watch.
Q: What do you attribute McKinney's play over the last month to? It's not that he was a bad football player, but he's raised his game to a point that I'm not sure he's ever played at this level.
A: I think that it's—he wants to win. He said that, 'I want to win.' I think that he's taking the steps in what he thinks he needs to do to help us win. I mean, he's communicating better, we're communicating better. He's really enjoying the process of the game prep. When we talk out on the field, I always tell him, 'Here's what I'm thinking,' like, in a walkthrough and stuff like that, and try to get him to play the game. He's enjoying that. He and Bobby Okereke, they love doing that.
We're going to need him this week, because this offense we're getting ready to face, it's a beast. It's tough, because it's a regular pro offense with really good skill players, starting with the quarterback, then the receivers, and Alvin (Kamara) at running back, and then you bring 7 (quarterback Taysom Hill) into the game and it's a completely different animal. It's almost a different game plan, if you will. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. It's going to be a great challenge.
Q: You obviously had (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence II) on a pitch count last week. Did it surprise you how effective he was able to be even with the limited snaps?
A: Nothing surprises me with Dex.
Q: Regarding Dex, to do what he did last week and play – and obviously he's not 100 percent, guys know he's not 100 percent – what kind of message does that send to the rest of the unit? Does that help kind of lift everybody else up?
A: Sure, it does. Sure, it does. I mean, if you and Dex were walking into someplace, wouldn't you feel a lot more confident walking in with him than without him? That's just who he is.
Q: What did you think of (cornerback Deonte) Banks' play the other night?
A: I thought it was awesome. I thought it was awesome. He is just growing and growing and growing every week as a corner and starting to see things faster than what he has seen before. You're starting to see that in his play. I love the fact that he had 12 tackles, because I challenged him all week on making some tackles. I said, 'You're going to keep getting tested out there until you start tackling people.' So, I thought he stepped up and played really well.
Q: How much different are the Saints than Green Bay as far as what they do schematically?
A: Completely different. Completely different. And it's who they have in the game.
Q: Why do you think (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux)'s play is resulting in production of big plays? A forced fumble, another sack – half-sack.
A: I think that's a great question. We've talked about it before, and I've thought about it even more. I said that the guy has no ceiling. You remember me saying that before. The reason why he doesn't have a ceiling is because he doesn't allow himself to have a ceiling. He's in here working every day. He and (Outside Linebackers Coach) Drew (Wilkins) are in there watching tape from everything from A to Z because that's what he does. He's dropping in coverage, and they handle all that. So, I can't say enough about his work ethic, and he has that knack. To me, he's a finisher at the football, whether it's a sack, a strip sack, or the play you saw on Monday night when we had (Packers quarterback Jordan) Love held up and he dug the ball out. He's leading the defense. I mean, he's a vocal leader out there. Like I already said, it's crazy, because the guy is only 22 years old. He's becoming that football savant in the NFL where he sees things before they happen. He knows what's coming. That's a testament to, like I said, he and Drew Wilkins, and how hard they study the game. It's fun to watch.
Q: Where do you see the biggest jump in his play this year on the field? What is it that he improved on that you think has allowed him to do that?
A: I just think that he is... The biggest jump?
Q: His technique?
A: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely technique. I think it's also that rookie year, how their body wears down. I'm not saying rookie wall, for anybody that says that. Their body wears down because they go from their summer, their last year in college, all through the fall, they go right into training for the Combine, they come right here for OTAs. There's never a break. Even the break that they have when we all break at the end, it's shorter, and then it's a season longer than anything they've ever experienced that first year. So, when there was a break finally, I think he recovered right, and he worked out. He attacked his workouts even harder because he had that break where he could do it. It wasn't just constant. Like I said, I just think the guy's a finisher at everything he does. So, whatever his challenge that he gives himself or we give him, he accepts it, and he attacks it.
Q: Is his ability to kind of see things before they happen, you mentioned that, is that something he's always had? Or is it just because he's watching so much film? A: I think it's a little bit of both. He made a lot of plays in college, so I think that you see a guy like that, and I told you he's an old-soul guy, he's really worked hard. We're all starting to see the rewards of how hard he's worked.
Q: There's been this new focus on hip-drop tackles. Where do you stand on those, and do you think that they should be banned?
A: Obviously, not on my hip (laughter).
I don't know how you coach it. I really don't. So, I don't even want to—I don't make the rules. We just try to play by them. I don't think (NFL Commissioner) Roger (Goodell) is going to call me and say, 'What do you think, Wink,' before they pass the vote. I know that you don't want to see anybody get hurt. But also, being a defensive coach, sometimes it's a natural thing that happens. There's no ill intent. It's just a natural thing that happens with someone who's running away from you, especially somebody bigger and you're smaller. You just try to get the guy down. Football is a dangerous sport. We all know that. Do you want to make it as safe as you can be? Yes. So, it'll be interesting to see how they officiate it.
