Speaker 1: I would guess that's probably fair, but I don't know
Speaker 1: the fact he's uh uh he's not here today or
Speaker 1: he's not out here in practice. Said that he's fine,
Speaker 1: it's fine. I've got no words about Kol. He'll be alright,
Speaker 1: just being cautious. That's our any ideas everything. I don't
Speaker 1: know all the details. Uh, but I just know he's
Speaker 1: not out here today, but I'm not concerned about him
Speaker 1: at all. I was progress couple days. Good. You know.
Speaker 1: We just threw him in there right now. The plan,
Speaker 1: guys is to have the corners uh moving and out
Speaker 1: of that nickel spot. They've been training since the off season.
Speaker 1: We haven't put Eric in there due to the injury. Though.
Speaker 1: We threw Eric in there. Uh. Eric's a real bright
Speaker 1: young man and he said two days under his belt,
Speaker 1: maybe eight to ten reps. So we's got a lot
Speaker 1: of reps to go. But uh, so far, so good.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll we got we're early in camp. Still
Speaker 1: this year compares at this point last year's way ahead
Speaker 1: where he was. And I think the biggest thing that
Speaker 1: changes from a rookie year, especially when you end up
Speaker 1: in that first round draft pick, pressure mode, the confidence
Speaker 1: level and the pressure you put on yourself and others
Speaker 1: are putting on you kind of calms a little bit,
Speaker 1: or you actually have some coping skills to where you
Speaker 1: can handle it and still function and play and put
Speaker 1: your focus on the football part. And I think Marcus
Speaker 1: has got his focus on the football part and controlling
Speaker 1: what he can control, and he's in a much better place.
Speaker 1: He's playing faster, he's reacting faster, he's seeing the field better,
Speaker 1: and those are all indications that he's really taking some
Speaker 1: big leaps forward. Your points last year where you know,
Speaker 1: because of injuries and various issues, you were moving them
Speaker 1: inside outside us you would said you weren't quite sure
Speaker 1: what he would be Ultimately, could you have a better
Speaker 1: feel now where you'd like to happen. I believe he's
Speaker 1: an outside backers, that's who he is. But the good
Speaker 1: pieces he can swing, and in this scheme you see
Speaker 1: we swing a lot of guys, and it's a when
Speaker 1: you have a person has the ability again it's a
Speaker 1: mental and a physical ability to play inside and out,
Speaker 1: it just makes us stronger. It actually gives the linebacker
Speaker 1: himself a much broader understanding of the defense because those
Speaker 1: guys inside are our quarterbacks. The guys outside listen to calls.
Speaker 1: The guys inside make calls, and when you have to
Speaker 1: make the calls, then you moved to the position of listening.
Speaker 1: You have a much better understanding of why and what
Speaker 1: is about to be called? Why? Why we branding brand?
Speaker 1: Because you tectually make the ten promote a poor free
Speaker 1: ends who a three pore out a lot to I
Speaker 1: think is athleticism. The one thing that you get into
Speaker 1: when you try to convert defensive ends to linebackers, and
Speaker 1: you really you test them when you go to work
Speaker 1: them out in colleges. You test them moving backwards. How
Speaker 1: athletic are they going backwards? And Brandon's a good all
Speaker 1: around athlete and his ability to both mentally absorb the
Speaker 1: outside back you stand up role and physically handle the
Speaker 1: moving backwards. That's the biggest piece, the backward moving piece,
Speaker 1: and the brain is athletic enough to do that. So
Speaker 1: we saw a lot of them change in pum the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball. We've seen it on your
Speaker 1: side of the balls. That do you look at this
Speaker 1: now and saying, hey, I've got kind of a crew
Speaker 1: I like a little bit more that you can do
Speaker 1: what I want to do compared to maybe last year
Speaker 1: here before that. I think defensively first, I think it
Speaker 1: starts more from a WEE conversation, a collective we as
Speaker 1: a staff, and then it's who you have on your
Speaker 1: roster and you try to take advantage of the talents
Speaker 1: they have. It kind of changes are we are we
Speaker 1: moving some talents more suited to some of the things
Speaker 1: we think? Yeah, you say we're moving that direction, but
Speaker 1: that's what you do naturally in your selection process. But
Speaker 1: when you inherited team in the NFL and you're playing
Speaker 1: with the hand you're delt are, you're trying to make
Speaker 1: those those pieces do what they do the best. So
Speaker 1: it's we can move a little bit, but in jury
Speaker 1: sometimes cause that same thing to go back the other way.
Speaker 1: That's the one thing you have to have a flexible
Speaker 1: scheme because injuries can push you in all different directions.
Speaker 1: And that's what I mean. Would it be fair to
Speaker 1: expect a tangible and sizeable improvement disease given that, Okay,
Speaker 1: you had a couple of years under your gut. Now
Speaker 1: you had a chance to evaluate what you had, and
Speaker 1: you had an opportunity now to go get a guy
Speaker 1: like your axtual to say, Okay, we can do better
Speaker 1: than Harry Bradley and the ass. We're hoping that that's
Speaker 1: the goal, but the game will tell us if we're
Speaker 1: there or not. So right now, the expectation is yes,
Speaker 1: to answer that question, but it's also Atlanta will tell
Speaker 1: us where we are. Don't you want Maxwell's round the copper.
Speaker 1: We'll mix that up more this year. Yeah, yeah, because
Speaker 1: of Maxwell still said yeah, yeah, but yeah, you know
Speaker 1: we traveled carry last year on a game or two
Speaker 1: the last game of the year. I mean, he did
Speaker 1: that and we had ability too. But you have to
Speaker 1: I really see a you know, a difference. You're you know,
Speaker 1: a reason why to do that and take them out
Speaker 1: because a lot of times those guys getting a nice
Speaker 1: little pattern of their footwork and the left and right
Speaker 1: every day of practice. Last year, the first year, we
Speaker 1: always switched them right and left every other day, so
Speaker 1: their footwork is we can do that at any time
Speaker 1: we choose to. Mary, seeing everybody come out and holding
Speaker 1: what are you really looking for in the first preseason game,
Speaker 1: I'm looking for the tackling piece. To me, because you
Speaker 1: don't see that the communication when the lights are on
Speaker 1: who can communicate and then tell the guys all the time.
Speaker 1: It's it's about evaluating your ability combined with your coach ability.
Speaker 1: We've got in defense playing great defenses, eleven guys playing
Speaker 1: is one. So there's the communication, there's the effort to
Speaker 1: the ball. There's the technique. Are you down in and
Speaker 1: down out consistently using the technique we've been working on
Speaker 1: this whole offseason, we've been working on in training camp.
Speaker 1: So if you'll show that you are you can handle
Speaker 1: your spot using the techniques, alignments, communication, all the things
Speaker 1: we've taught you that, that's a big plus. You don't
Speaker 1: have to give us a bunch of wild plays to
Speaker 1: impress us. We've got to see that the defense in
Speaker 1: its hole, the eleven guys are doing what they're supposed
Speaker 1: to do. Back on last season, how did you evaluate
Speaker 1: your performance on first and second down contrary with the
Speaker 1: third down? And what changes are you making going forward
Speaker 1: with a new personality. We've expanded some packages. First and
Speaker 1: second down. Run game was very strong. The pass game
Speaker 1: again to both third down and first second down. The
Speaker 1: vertical passing game, the big X play is what our
Speaker 1: biggest Achilles heal was and That's the biggest thing we've
Speaker 1: focused on in the offseason, because we really are solid
Speaker 1: on third down. We could be a little bit better
Speaker 1: in all of them. Red zone. We gave up too
Speaker 1: many touchdowns, but I think that's also attached to the
Speaker 1: big passing play. So we've got some areas that we
Speaker 1: were strong and and we want to continue to build on.
Speaker 1: But it gets back to what I keep saying about
Speaker 1: the Atlanta game. Tell us where we are. This is
Speaker 1: a new year, and it's all those stats from last
Speaker 1: year raced and we start writing our new story this year,
Speaker 1: and hopefully we're ahead of where we were last year.
Speaker 1: From a defensive perspective, what are what's the chatter amongst
Speaker 1: the defensive bacs. What are you see? I'm highly impressed
Speaker 1: with Sam. I always have been. I've always known the
Speaker 1: skill set that man's guy. I was a defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: Arizona his rookie year. The first game he played Pat
Speaker 1: Tchurmer was a coordinator and we blitzed him. I blitzed
Speaker 1: Adrian Wilson off the edge probably ten times to fifteen.
Speaker 1: He kept hitting Sam and hitting Sam, and I must
Speaker 1: have been the third quarter Adrian comes over to me
Speaker 1: and says, hey, Billy d So we're in for a
Speaker 1: long one. He said, this boy's not rattle. I keep
Speaker 1: hitting him what everything I have, and he would just
Speaker 1: won't rattle. I can't I can't shake him. So we
Speaker 1: knew right then that Sam was, you know, has the
Speaker 1: mental toughness and capacity. And then his throwing a bill.
Speaker 1: He just got to watch practice to know that he's
Speaker 1: uh he throws a real accurate, real pretty ball after
Speaker 1: a quarterback like that, and you know it's yeah, uh.
Speaker 1: I don't know if anyone's prone to injury or not
Speaker 1: just because they have injuries. I mean, that's just a
Speaker 1: bug that happens there at the NFL. There's very few
Speaker 1: guys on a roster that hasn't had a litany of
Speaker 1: injuries in their pro career. Do you go after them more? Well,
Speaker 1: any of those guys, I mean, Sam wasn't mobile in
Speaker 1: his you know before any you know, he's mobile enough.
Speaker 1: But there's some guys you know they're going to be
Speaker 1: in that pocket. You know when some guys you keep
Speaker 1: bringing after bringing it. Really what you're looking at is
Speaker 1: where they where's their comfort zone and thrown if it's
Speaker 1: stepping up in the middle and not escaping. Then you
Speaker 1: bring pressure up the middle, you try to move them
Speaker 1: off their spot and disrupt their timing. So injury or
Speaker 1: no injuries really about more mobility nor mobility that Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning done that mobility, but he never gets sacked. You
Speaker 1: know those guys, The conversation is more about his overall
Speaker 1: mobility than if there's an injury or not. Jalen Watkins
Speaker 1: is kind of u with Marcus Smith and that taking
Speaker 1: a big step, and then you probably need to count
Speaker 1: on them a little bit more this year. Yeah, we do.
Speaker 1: You know, Jalen's is a very intelligent young man and
Speaker 1: has not the ability to play nickel corner and safety.
Speaker 1: So we're impressing again. He's taken another They know what's
Speaker 1: coming at him now, so they can relax and be
Speaker 1: more of themselves and let a rip a little more game.
Speaker 1: Where are you with the inside linebackers? You know, it
Speaker 1: looks like she goes not gonna be able to go.
Speaker 1: Jamiko set out yesterday. Kendricks hasn't really been practicing fully.
Speaker 1: He's gonna have whoever's left. We'll have whoever I believe
Speaker 1: we're going in and if Michael plays great, But even
Speaker 1: if the starters are playing, we don't know. It's usually
Speaker 1: a limited role. So the preseason is awesome for my
Speaker 1: standpoint because all these young guys and the guys that
Speaker 1: are the second third role, they get all this playing time,
Speaker 1: we get all this evaluation time. And I mean most
Speaker 1: every regular season game is only two starters or two
Speaker 1: guys and they play every snap. So we'll have four
Speaker 1: or five that can play in there and it'll be
Speaker 1: good experience for them. Okay, I mean, as far as
Speaker 1: I know, Michael's fine. Other than little nick picking things. Thins.
Speaker 1: The ability to man up on a wide receiver allow
Speaker 1: you to be more creative at all in diamond nickel coverages. Yes,
Speaker 1: it does. And that's also what Jenk brings us to.
Speaker 1: You know, our safeties that are converted corners. That's something
Speaker 1: what we look for because they have that ability to
Speaker 1: our ability to stay in our base personnel group and
Speaker 1: against three wide receiver sets. If your safety can drop
Speaker 1: down and cover like a nickel covers in the slot,
Speaker 1: then you have the ability to stay in there and
Speaker 1: you're a little stronger in the run game and you're
Speaker 1: still solid in the past game. Chipper need to comment
Speaker 1: to fire. Maxwell was the best nickel corner that you
Speaker 1: guys faced last year. The Maxwell yester sites yesterday said
Speaker 1: that you guys don't want them in there. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's accurate or not. But what are the
Speaker 1: prospects of him were moving into nickel or why you
Speaker 1: living want to pig? You know, he's in the conversation,
Speaker 1: but it's the latter part of the conversation. You know.
Speaker 1: Right now, we're so excited about having them out there
Speaker 1: wide and covering the big, longer receivers and and matching
Speaker 1: up there. Uh, he absolutely could and get some reps
Speaker 1: in there, but right now, again, it's his first year
Speaker 1: learning the defense, and it's, you know, kind of our
Speaker 1: philosophy to try to let him really understand that spot
Speaker 1: first before you bounce him round too much. But at
Speaker 1: any point that we felt that the game winning decision
Speaker 1: would be to put him in the slot, we could.
Speaker 1: Athleticism probably, and intelligence the kid really is. He's a
Speaker 1: he's a three down linebacker athleticism wise, and he's got
Speaker 1: a very good football IQ and instinct. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see him against the Colts with the light song
Speaker 1: to see how he plays. But he's a he's a
Speaker 1: really good athlete yesterday, but where do you see him
Speaker 1: match right now? We got him out there at the
Speaker 1: corner spot and he has I mean he got that
Speaker 1: first day, had no meetings, had no idea what any
Speaker 1: call was. So we've got to get him again. We'll
Speaker 1: settle him in a corner as he learns the defense,
Speaker 1: and as he learns it, then we'll have the ability
Speaker 1: to move them if we need them after it just
Speaker 1: work out and then and also skinning the other guys
Speaker 1: aress them. You know, you know there's there's most of
Speaker 1: the bodies you're in camps right and everybody's got a
Speaker 1: ninety man roster they're dealing with. So everybody's got a
Speaker 1: little something that keeps them out of there right now.
Speaker 1: And we're excited about signing him and we're excited about
Speaker 1: saying what he can do in the understand last year
Speaker 1: went at my point, boy could get down. He knew slots.
Speaker 1: This year is that you move, you're safe your words
Speaker 1: to the slot. I didn't love someone else how to
Speaker 1: pay the outside of the Yeah, our goal is to
Speaker 1: put the best five out there, and Nickel, we're the
Speaker 1: best six out there and dime and right now, the
Speaker 1: beauty of training camp is evaluating who those guys. It's
Speaker 1: really where we are. There is no move we wouldn't make,
Speaker 1: and there's no move where guarantee we're gonna make. Right now.
Speaker 1: We have the luxury of time and reps ahead of us,
Speaker 1: so we're going to take a good look at the
Speaker 1: corners train him. I know I have two safeties and
Speaker 1: Walter and Jank that can come down and play the
Speaker 1: nickel and have played it and played it well. I
Speaker 1: know they need reps there and about the halfway point,
Speaker 1: if I feel I need them down there, I will.
Speaker 1: But I'm excited about them in the safety spot, quarterbacking everything.
Speaker 1: I know. A lot of the guys said that the
Speaker 1: defense is a lot further along at this point than
Speaker 1: they were last year. Is that strange to here, considering
Speaker 1: how many new pieces have come in to know? What
Speaker 1: happens in the discussion in year one is everybody is
Speaker 1: learning for the first time. When you get to year three,
Speaker 1: your veterans are helped teaching and coaching your new guys.
Speaker 1: So there's like triple to coaching. There's coaching from us,
Speaker 1: there's coaching from each other, and that understanding, sometimes from
Speaker 1: a fellow player explaining it, or when you're in a
Speaker 1: locker room and it's just it's easier for the new
Speaker 1: guys to pick up because more people can give them
Speaker 1: the proper answer that you don't have in year one.
Speaker 1: Thank you,