BB: Good morning. We're pretty much on the same program as we were
yesterday. Meetings. We didn't have any contact in practice yesterday. We
won't today. We're just trying to get through some corrections and
adjustments and continue to improve. I'll just start off by saying I think
that everybody in that room, every player, every coach, starting with me,
feels accountable for what we've done. Some good. Some not so good, and is
committed to make it better. We need to take that and make those appropriate
changes and improvements and they need to transfer to the field and that's
what we're all trying to do.
Q: Is the feel negative around the team? How would you describe the feel
of what has transpired over the past six weeks?
BB: We've been inconsistent. There have been plenty of good things and
not so good things in every game. We just need to do them better. We need to
do them on a more consistent basis.
Q: What do you think you have to change personally yourself?
BB: Just continuing to find the things that give our team the best chance
to win. It's a weekly challenge.
Q: Is there something you feel you should've done differently or wish you
could have done differently?
BB: Sure. There are always things. You look back every game, every week.
Sure there are always things that you could look at and say, 'These are
things we could've done a better job of.'
Q: How would you assess the secondary's ability to be physical with
receivers on the line of scrimmage?
BB: I think our secondary has enough ability to be competitive. I don't
think ability is a problem. I think we just have to, collectively,
defensively, we have to play better team defense and that's all the way
across the board. It's not one player. It's not one play. It's collective
team defense and that's what it will always be.
Q: What about the actual physical play in the passing game? Have you guys
been aggressive with receivers at the line?
BB: It could always be better. It could certainly always be better. I
think at times it's been disruptive. At other times it hasn't. It could be
better.
Q: Can those kinds of players be made or do they have to be born with it?
BB: I don't know. Players are players and they come in all different
shapes and sizes. Every player has his own unique set of skills. You coach
those players and if they're good enough and they are effective enough what
it with whatever the whole skill set is, then they play in this league. If
they're not, then they don't. Each guy has a little bit of a different
playing style. They're not all the same. They're never going to be.
Q: Are there particular coaching tactics to end those inconsistencies?
BB: I think you just keep working harder on it and try to get it better.
There's always a degree of that, but you always work hard to get it better.
You make sure that everybody understands what they need to do. Sometimes
with scheme things, you can try to iron out a couple of wrinkles here and
there. Something that seems to see causing more of a problem, maybe than
what it should or what it has in the past but it is now, so you try to
smooth that out and keep doing it and hopefully you get it right.
Q: In terms of getting hands on receivers at the line, do you have to
change the way your secondary handles contact with the receivers?
BB: No, I don't think we've changed it at all. Again, it depends on what
the player is. Whether it's a corner, safety, linebacker. Contact at the
line of scrimmage depends on, to a degree, what coverage you are in. There
are a lot of coverages where you want to do that based on how the rest of
the defense is deployed. Then there are other coverages where you don't want
to do it. It's hard to get everybody. Sometimes you're jamming tight ends
and the linebackers and safeties are involved in that. There certainly has
been an element of that in our season given the players that we've played at
that position. There are other times when you're rolling up on receivers.
Some of it is inherent. A guy doesn't have the same assignment on every play
a lot of. A lot of times that varies on the defensive call. Sometimes it
depends on the formation that they're in as to where you want to try to,
like we were talking about yesterday, in terms of matching up on routes and
matching up on the coverage. Some of that depends on what is called, it
definitely depends on what is called, and how they're deployed.
Q: Do you consider the secondary the weakest link on the team in terms of
the inconsistencies?
BB: Well, no, it's team defense.
Q: How would you say you've been overall at re-routing receivers?
BB: At times it's been all right and other times it hasn't. Just
statistically, third-down, it's pretty competitive. That's a passing
situation. That's when a lot of balls get thrown, on a percentage basis, in
that down and distance situation. If you look at that overall, it actually
looks fairly good. Big plays, that doesn't look so good. It kind of depends
on which area you're talking about and a lot of it is the same. It's the
same players. Some of it is the same defenses. Some of it isn't. Just
overall it needs to be executed better and to a degree maybe coached
differently depending on where the attack is coming from and where we're
getting the most stress on the defense. If we can make some adjustments
maybe in where we deploy our people or what the percentage of the calls are
in certain situations.
Q: With Guss Scott going on injured/reserve will Don Davis see more time
at safety?
BB: Well, I'm not going to make any comments on playing time or anything
on that. It will just be we'll play the players that we think will give us
the best chance to win. We'll play the best in the situations that they'll
be called on. Don is a versatile player. He's worked in both positions in
the past and has done some of that this year. So, I'm sure if he is called
on, he'll be prepared and be ready to play.
Q: How did Arturo Freeman do against Denver?
BB: I think for just the short amount of time that he was here, he worked
hard. He picked up things pretty well. The assignments and all of that
weren't a problem. Obviously he wasn't as comfortable in the defense as he
would have been if he were here for a couple of months. But hopefully, that
whole situation can continue to improve. I thought overall he did a good job
coming in here in a short amount of time and being ready to play. It's tough
to bring a guy off the street who is not familiar with your system and then
put them in a game for a significant amount of plays. To his credit, I
thought it was competitive.
Q: Has Vince Wilfork had the type of year that you would expect from him
in his second year?
BB: I think you can pretty much say the same thing about every player.
There's a lot of plays that are pretty good plays and there's a lot of plays
that could be better. I think you can go right down the line and say that
about pretty much everybody.
Q: Looking back on the first six games do you wish you had played Mike
Vrabel inside more?
BB: In each game plan and every game, you do what you think is best for
each game going into it based on what your opportunities are and what you
think you're going to be facing. That's what we did. That's what we'll
continue to do. Our players have some position flexibility. Some of them
will play in different spots. Some of that varies from game to game. Some of
it varies by the situation that your team is in.
Q: Why is [Tom] Brady on the injury list every week?
BB: Why? Because he is slightly less than 100 percent.
Q: He's been on it for a year and a half now.
BB: I don't know, whatever it is.
Q: If he keeps getting hit the way he did last week will his status on
the injury report change?
BB: I just report his physical condition. That's all.
Q: How has Tom played over the last six weeks?
BB: I'm saying the same thing about everybody. He's had good plays. I'm
sure he's had some plays that he'd like to have back like we all would.
Q: Is that pretty even across-the-board as you look at players, is it 'We
all have them. See you tomorrow,' or is it 'We all have some good plays and
bad plays?'
BB: Well, no. Probably the latter.
Q: Do you look at the bye week as sort of a reset and gearing up for a
run against teams that are in your division?
BB: I kind of look at every day and every week as an opportunity. The
opportunity this week is to improve our football team and so we'll take the
opportunity that we have here in terms of time and meeting and practice and
treatment and conditioning and all that and try to address it in the most
positive and efficient manner that we can. Some of that is relative to our
next opponent. Some of it is relative to where we stand currently today and
then once you get into a game week, then your total commitment is on that
game. Our focus is on Buffalo because that's the next game. But at the same
time, we do have a little bit of time to work on some things that are a
little bit generic that probably could apply to a lot of games, not just the
Buffalo game, but it certainly would have some relevance to Buffalo. We've
kind of formatted it that way.
Q: I know it's not quantifiable, but what impact can intimidation have in
a secondary?
BB: It's hard to quantify. I think it probably depends on who you're
talking about.
Q: How about this current secondary?
BB: Well, I was talking about the receivers. I don't know how much of an
effect it has on Hines Ward. I'd say probably not a great deal based on
watching him play. There may be other players that it might have more of an
effect on. I'm sure does have an effect on them.
Q: Do you feel like that has been a strength for your defenses over the
years?
BB: What's that?
Q: The ability to intimidate, with Rodney [Harrison] back there.
BB: I think what's intimidating on a football field is good team
football. That's what's intimidating, is when you have everybody playing
well together and complementing each other and have a good complementary
game and the whole team working together as a unit, whether it's offense,
defense or special teams or all three of them working collectively. I think
that's really what the hardest thing for an opponent to deal with as opposed
to waving a towel or that type of deal.
Q: What about the flat-out fear of getting drilled?
BB: Football is a contact sport. Tackling, that's what defensive football
is. Getting the guy with the ball and getting him on the ground. That's one
of the most important elements of any defensive play. There are times when
you have a big hit, when you have an opportunity to make it, like Asante
[Samuel] had last week as an example in the Denver game. But, a lot of
times, really the most important thing is getting the guy on the ground. If
you go for the big hit and miss it, that's no good. You make one out of five
of those - that's bad football. But when you have an opportunity to make it
and you make it then you could knock the ball loose. You can cause a
turnover. You can set the tone for the secondary. Taking advantage of those
opportunities, they don't come very often, but when they come however many
times a game that is, you certainly want to capitalize on those. It's hard
to orchestrate those. 'We're going to have four big hits. This guy is going
to have two. That guy is going to have one.' Part of it comes on just the
way the play ends up developing. Those opportunities, there are not that
many in the game, but sometimes there's however many, a handful. A lot of
times those can be big plays.
Q: Can the inconsistency on offense be attributed to them getting used to
the new play calling system or the offensive coordinator by committee?
BB: There is no new system in place. I don't know what you're talking
about.
Q: Just in terms of who is calling the plays.
BB: What difference does it make? It's the same plays. Our system is our
system. I don't really think there's any excuse for it. I think we just have
to do a better job of it because when we go out and do it, we can do it and
we've done it, so I know we can do it. We just have to do it more
consistently. Again, some of that varies from within a game. It's not a
game-to-game thing really. We've had some quarters that are good, other
quarters it just doesn't seem to be generating the same type of production.
You come back in the same game and it comes back again, Atlanta as an
example. Pittsburgh is another example. I don't think there's anything
inherently wrong with anybody or anything, we just collectively need to
execute it better.
Q: Do you attribute that more to the physical or more to the mental
aspect?
BB: I think it's probably a combination of both. I couldn't say it's just
one thing and that's it.
Q: You said that the coaching technique to improve inconsistency is to
work harder, but when you play five games and just something specifically
like a big plays and red zone defense and then they get six [points] how do
you attack that? How do you work harder on red zone defense?
BB: Well, unfortunately it's not all the same play against the same
situation. So, you can work on it in one thing and then it can come up in
something else. It's not necessarily all cover two or blitz. It could be the
same coverage. It could be a different problem on a different type of play
It could be a different coverage or a different defense. Again, like we
talked about yesterday, the rush and the coverage, those two are
interrelated. Sometimes it could be good coverage with not enough rush.
Other times it could be okay rush and not enough coverage or not played
correctly on that particular play, the way that particular play unfolded,
the action, the route, the whole deal. That's only thing I think you can do
is keep working on it and try to make sure that we fully understand how we
want to play it and get it played correctly. My experience is eventually
that will take care of it. It's easy to sit here and say that, but when you
play multiple coverages and cover multiple formations and multiple routes
and multiple receivers who run routes differently and all that. Yes, they
have a lot of variables in there.
Q: That's always part of it though.
BB: Right and you're always working hard to get it right and there's
always going to be a certain degree of, it won't be perfect, but I think
you're always looking for that point. Even when you shut them out, they're
still going to be plays in there that had they hit them, you would've had a
problem. It's just for some reason maybe they weren't able to get them off
that time.
Q: It's better to have a shut out though.
BB: I'm just saying that you are not going to come in here Monday and
have a perfect game. I've coached shut out's in my career. I've been a
defensive coach for a long time and I've coached games where we've given up
not many yards and not many points and you come in and look at the film and
there are still problems. There are other games that you don't play as well
as you would like to and statistically it's not what you want it to be.
There are going to be plays in there that are done the way you want them
done and you just need more of those. I think you just have to keep working
through it.
Q: How did Tedy Bruschi look yesterday and can you take anything from
that sort of workout?
BB: Not much. There was no contact. Just a little tempo workout. It was
fine.
Q: Specifically, do you think it would help him to get some contact
before you make that decision about activating him or not? If the team is
not getting contact, can you get him contact on the side? Is there something
you can do?
BB: I think we'll do what we need to do. Again, we're trying to balance a
couple of things here. One is the team and another one is some individual
players. A lot of individual players are in different categories, Bruschi
being one and there are others. We'll do what we think is best for the team,
best for the individual players and try to balance all those things together
to the best of our ability. It's a normal situation. That's not anything
new. It's like that every week.
Q: So in general, if you have some injured players and you're not getting
contact in practice as a team and but you feel like that individual player
needs contact, you could get that for him on the side?
BB: Sure. You could set it up however you want to set it up.
Q: You mentioned some things yesterday about an offense disrupting a
defenses timing. Just looking at receivers in general, can you explain what
it is that they can do to help disrupt a defense?
BB: Are you talking about the running game or the passing game?
Q: The passing game.
BB: Well, basically a receiver in the passing game has two jobs - get
open and catch the ball. Without that, there is no passing game. So,
depending on the route that is being called, depending on the coverage that
is being played, and depending on the receiver's particular abilities,
because even if you and I went out there and ran the same route, there'd be
a certain degree of difference in the way that we run them, even though
they'd both probably be poorly run. Each player has his own way of running a
route based on his physical makeup and maybe even part of the technique and
the way he runs it. All of those are factors in his ability to get open,
again, depending on what he is facing on that particular coverage and the
route that's called and then catch the ball. Some of those are easier than
others depending on the coverage and the location of the ball. You look at a
lot of great receivers in this league and look at them historically, some
guys they have one style of play, some have another style of play. Some are
great technique players. Some are great physical athletes. Some guys have
great run after the catch ability. Other guys pretty much make their yards
on the catch and that's about it. But, however you do it, as a receiver you
have to have something in that degree of skills to be effective. There are a
lot of different styles on that.
Q: What are David Givens' traits in those skill sets?
BB: I think David has a number of positive skills. He has size. He has
some physical playing strength. He runs well. He has some quickness,
especially for his size. He has good hands. He can catch the ball. He can
catch a ball away from his body. I think he has a lot of good physical
skills to work with. His route running has certainly improved. It's improved
tremendously in the four years that he has been here. He didn't really know
how to run a route when he got here. He played mainly a running back and a
wing back in college. He was a running back in high school, so his
development as a receiver has been very significant, relative to a guy like
[Deion] Branch who was a much more refined route runner when he came out of
college.
Q: What is the key to running a good screen pass and is it more about
timing?
BB: I think timing is execution. Timing is to be able to get the receiver
out with the blockers in order to get it started. The whole key to a screen
pass is just getting it started and if you can get out there and get the
ball with the receiver with some space with a blocker or two in front of
him, you have a chance. They're not going to all end up in 80 yard
touchdowns, but you have a chance. Where you don't have a chance is if the
blockers don't get out for whatever reason, they run into a stunt, they get
knocked down, they get out too late and the receiver is out there ahead of
him, or the back can't get out, for again, whatever reason, traffic, stunts,
too slow. Just the timing and that element of it, that's really the whole
key to the play. Eventually, you're going to have man coverage. Eventually
you're going to have zone coverage. Eventually you're going to get some kind
of blitz in there and you're going to have some kind of gains, pass rush
gains, because usually screens are best run in passing situations when the
defense is penetrating, which a lot of times they run gains in those
situations, as opposed to running a screen against a team that is just kind
of standing there on the line of scrimmage. It's hard to screen a team like
that because they don't get upfield enough so you can't create the
separation. It's dealing with all of those different things and the timing
of getting the blockers out with the receiver and the quarterback drawing
the rush in enough to create that separation and then usually has to make
some type of a throw, either around or over the rushers that are between him
and the receiver. The whole timing element of that, it comes down to
execution. There's a lot of moving parts there. It's not like just throwing
a comeback or throwing a curl where it's pretty much the quarterback and the
receiver. Here, you have a quarterback, a back, the tackle on the play's side relative to the rusher or the defensive end and then a couple of
linemen inside. All of those moving parts have to fit together, again,
against a lot of different looks, pressure, zone, man. There are a number of
elements there in terms of execution.
Q: I don't know what the stats are, but it seems like you're relying on
it more this season?
BB: We've gotten some plays out of it. There have been other times where
I think we've left some yards. There was more there than what we ended up
getting. But we've gotten some plays out of them. Hopefully, that will
continue to be something that we can utilize, but again, I think you have to
be careful with plays like that because if they don't work, you don't have
anything. If you can't get the ball to the guy that you're screening to, you
have nothing. There's no outlet receiver. That's it. It's kind of a feast or
famine, it's kind of like running the reverse. They pursue and you get back
there, it's great. The fans go wild. Everybody's happy. But, if that player,
if you can't get him the ball, or they don't over pursue on a reverse on a
deceptive play like that, you have nothing. So, it's the kind of play that
if a defense really wants to stop, they could probably stop that. It would
take away from something else, and that's kind of how you want to be
offensively. If you see that they're taking that away, then I don't think
you want to keep running them. Just like if a team is taking away a certain
element of your passing game, I don't think you want to keep running it just
to say, 'Well, we're going to run this one so many times.' If you think
there's an opportunity there, then that can be a good complementary play to
the rest of your passing game. |
