BB: I think, in just speaking for our
football team and coaching staff, I think we all know what kind of challenge
we have in front of us with the Chargers. There's no question that they're
the best team in the league. They've had an outstanding year, 14-2, their
only two losses were right at the end of the game, very close games. Just
about everything you want to say about that football team complimentary is
well deserved. They do everything very well. I think it starts right at the
top with A.J. [Smith] and Marty [Schottenheimer]. They've put together an
outstanding team. It's a very young team. I know they have a couple of
experienced players on either side of the ball, [Randall] Godfrey and
[Donnie] Edwards on defense and Keenan [McCardell] and Lorenzo [Neal] there
on offense. It's a very young, talented group. They've drafted extremely
well. They have great players at every position. Their team really is the All-Pro team. They have a ton of players. I have a lot of respect for Marty
and what he's done. He's had a tremendous career. His two hundredth win, 15
winning seasons. He's pretty much there every single year. His teams always
play well. I think the biggest thing about San Diego that impresses me is
just how few mistakes they make. They don't turn the ball over. They don't
have many bad plays against them. They're consistent. They're tough. They
make you earn everything you get. It's hard to get anything on them. It's
hard to stop them. It's hard to move the ball on them. Their front seven is
outstanding. They're very good on special teams. Scoring – we always talk
every week about playing four quarters of football, but you look at the 176
points that they've scored in the fourth quarter, that's so far off the
charts, it's hard to even relate it to anything else. Think about it,
they've won 14 games, so it's not like they're coming from behind every
week. They put up points from the beginning of the game to the end of the
game and they do it in a lot of different ways. They have a lot of great
weapons. An outstanding football team, and it's a huge challenge for us
going out there, where they're undefeated at home. We're going to have to
play our best football game. That's what we're going to prepare to do this
week. It's a big challenge ahead of us. It's going to be a tough fight out
there.
Q: How do [Shaun] Phillips and [Shawne] Merriman affect how quarterbacks play? And how does a quarterback have to be
aware of what they do?
BB: I think it's more of a problem for the guys who are blocking them.
The quarterback can't block them. Those are guys that most of the time you
would have picked up, just like a defensive lineman, somebody is assigned to
him. Having somebody assigned to him and getting him blocked is two
different things. They have a good defensive system. Wade [Phillips] has
been at it a long time. His teams have always played well defensively we
ever he's been. Their linebackers are an outstanding group. They have a
great front seven. Those two guys off the edge are tough, but they bring the
inside people as well, Godfrey and Edwards, in different combinations. They
bring sometimes one, sometimes the outside two, the inside two, two up one
side, two up the other side. So they keep you off balance. You have to block
all seven of them. They're hard to get blocked.
Q: Do they play Phillips and Merriman down much?
BB: In sub. Not in regular. They play a 3-4, so they're outside
linebackers.
Q: Kind of like you guys do?
BB: Yes, that's the way it is for most 3-4 teams. I'd say the majority of
them, anytime they go to a 4-3, or a four-man line sub defense, that their
outside linebackers are really their defensive ends in pass rush. Pittsburgh. Dallas. Just about everybody does that. Cleveland.
Q: Do they mix it up much? Will they take Phillips and drop him? Will
they take Merriman and rush him?
BB: Yes.
Q: So it's hard to get a read on them is what you're saying, right?
BB: Right. They bring them all. They bring the two outside guys, the two
inside guys, two to the left, two to the right, two strong, two weak, bring
one. They give you a lot of different combinations, and you have to be ready
to block all seven of them really. because you don't know which five it's
going to be, or which four it's going to be.
Q: Obviously [LaDainian] Tomlinson has a lot of speed and a lot of
athletic ability. Is part of what makes him so dangerous is his knowledge of
how to use that speed and athletic ability?
BB: Yeah, well he definitely knows how to use it and they get him the
ball in a lot a different ways. He's their second leading receiver. He gets
the ball out of the backfield. He gets it on a variety of running plays.
They run him on sweeps, off tackle plays, inside plays, misdirection plays,
draws and use him in the passing game on some routes and check down screens.
He's a guy that they get the ball to in a lot of different ways and he's
outstanding. He can do it all. He can run inside, run outside. Obviously
he's tremendously talented in the open field and has a great nose for the
goal line. Nobody finds the end zone better than he does. He's outstanding
with the ball in his hands. When they hand it to him, there's no way to keep
him from getting it. In the passing game, maybe you could do something and
try to take him away as a pass receiver, but when they hand him the ball in
the running game, you have to tackle him.
Q: What did you see in [Reche] Caldwell that made him appealing as a free
agent?
BB: Well, we knew Reche coming out, and of course he had a good game
against us last year. I think he's a talented receiver when he had an
opportunity to play. He had some injury history out there where he wasn't
able to perform all the time, but when he was able to play, he was a player
that could get open and had good hands, could catch the ball and create some
separation.
Q: When you look at that receiver group as a whole from where it started
at the beginning of the season to where it is now, what stands out to you?
BB: They work hard. They're well prepared. And they really try to do all
the little things to get it right. I have a lot of respect for them.
Q: Have you seen steady improvement or did you notice a point where...
BB: No, I think it's been steady. They come in, and I get film, and start
looking at the team Monday, the game that we just played, and correct those
mistakes and then Tuesday start looking at the next opponent. Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, red area, third down, two minute, all those situational
things, they work hard. They study a lot of film. They go over their
assignments. They help each other out. They watch film together as a group
and try to watch it with the quarterbacks. I'm impressed with the way they
work. I think it's been consistent and it continues to get better.
Q: How much does Tom [Brady] help the receivers?
BB: Well, of course. He's the guy that's throwing the ball. I'll tell you
what, they listen a lot more to what he says than what I say. If I tell them
to run a route at 14, that's good. If he tells them to run it at 14, they're
going to run it at 14 because he's the guy that's throwing them the ball. I
don't throw them the ball. I think it's always good to have your quarterback
and receivers working together. Tom is outstanding at working with all of
his teammates, running backs, the tight ends, the receivers, all of them.
It's critical that the receivers and the quarterback are on the same page in
terms of the decision making and what each guy sees, so they all see the
same thing, so they can execute the play. He's great at it.
Q: Has Brian Daboll done an exemplary job with them?
BB: Yeah, he sure has. Again, I talked about the receivers coming in
here, but he's the guy that's meeting with them and working with them and
showing them extra film and taking extra time with each guy. Like any
position, each guy has his own strengths and weaknesses, things that he does
well or has his own individual techniques, or maneuvers, or whatever and Brian has done a great job of incorporating those into the overall system
and refining some things that need a little more work, including the running
game. He's done a great job.
Q: How do you prepare a quarterback who is making his first career
playoff start with [Philip] Rivers?
BB: I think that's a question that you need to ask Marty. He's 14-2, so I
wouldn't worry too much about that. He's done pretty well.
Q: Can you relate with to Brady in '01?
BB: Not really, it was two different teams. I'm sure you do the same
things that you do every week. Study the opponent. Go through the game plan.
Make sure that your players are aware of what they need to do and how you
want them to execute those plays.
Q: Your red zone defense obviously has done quite well. Can you talk
about the emotional value of holding an opponent to a field goal or nothing
at all?
BB: It depends on the situation. Any time the offense gets the ball down
there, like what happened last week where they recovered a fumble down, well
they're already in field goal range. So, defensively, to be able to hold
them to a field goal there it's like a three and out. It's almost as good as
you can do, other than turning the ball over. When they drive it the whole
length of the field and you hold them to a field goal, that's better than
letting them in the end zone. Sometimes it's hard to feel good about when
they just take the ball 65 yards on you. It could go a little bit both ways.
Certainly the defensive objective is to keep them out of the end zone. If
you can limit the amount of points, then obviously that increases your
chances of winning and that puts a lot less pressure on the offense and
gives you confidence that you can stop them, sometimes, even though it's
been after they've gained some yardage, at least when you walk back out
there on the field next time, you do feel like, 'Well, at least we did get
them stopped. We just have to get it done earlier.'
Q: Given their ability to control the pace of the game with a back like Tomlinson late in the game...
BB: Not to cut you off here, but I wouldn't stop with Tomlinson now. They
have several good backs. [Michael] Turner is averaging almost a yard a carry
more than he is. Neal is a pain in the neck, and that's not taking anything
away from Tomlinson, believe me, I'm not saying that. It's not like when
he's not in there, 'Well, they have no running game.' They have a real good
one, too.
Q: With that ground game then, how important is it for you guys to avoid
digging yourselves a hole, and getting up on them, and avoiding a
double-digit deficit?
BB: Believe it or not, that's what we usually try to do. I've never stood
up in front of the team and said, 'You know fellas, if we're down by 14
don't worry about it, we still have a good game plan at that point,' and
there are times when you have to play in that situation, but you always want
to try to play from ahead. You always want to try to go out there and
establish your game plan, your tempo at the beginning of the game and get
the game under control and play from even or ahead. You always try to do
that, but there's no question that San Diego is a great team. When they are
ahead, they have an outstanding running game, play action passing game, they
can rush the passer, 60-something sacks or whatever it is. When you're
behind on them then, as we know from last year, it really just gets worse.
They tee-off on the quarterback. It's harder to throw. They can run the ball
as well as any team in the league, so it's hard to get it away from them and
they can chew up the clock and just play keep away. You don't want to be in
that situation, there's no question. You don't want to be in that situation.
But, we never want to be in that situation.
Q: Is it down and distance that determines how much you pay attention to Tomlinson versus [Antonio] Gates?
BB: There are a lot of things. Down and distance is a factor. I wouldn't
say it's the only factor. Tomlinson gets the ball, and like I said, he's
their second leading receiver. He gets the ball in other down and distance
situations besides first down, as does Gates get it on a lot of other
situations besides third down. I think you defend players based on, down and
distance is a part of it, field position could be a part of it, and
certainly formation. You need to know where they are and what they kind of
do from those certain sets. A lot of times when you look at a formation, you
can eliminate certain plays that they want to run, or certain routes that a
receiver would run just by either by his location or where the other people
are around him. So you try to eliminate some things, but again, they have a
multiple offense. They shift and move people around a lot. They do a good
job of game planning. It's hard to know exactly where they're going to be.
Even Tomlinson, he's out of the backfield a decent amount in empty
formations and stuff like that. That's a problem. They run him out of the
backfield on pass routes. You can stack your defense in there for the
running game, but sometimes you have to cover him on perimeter passing plays
as well. I think it's a combination of things.
Q: Is there any chance that you would put [Asante] Samuel on Gates?
BB: There's a chance.
[Laughter]
Q: Speaking of chances, what are the chances of Rodney Harrison playing
this week?
BB: We'll have the injury report after practice. I know you'll be waiting
anxiously for it.
Q: On Monday you said that you could get to a point where you just have
too much film on an opponent. When you're looking at film of an opponent,
what is more important – the games that they've lost or the games that
they've played a defense similar to yours?
BB: Well, I think you can learn something from every game. I think that
at this point, when you've watched San Diego play 1,000 plays on offense,
1,000 plays on defense, plus we played them last year and all of that. At
some point, you just have to boil it down. It's just too much. They can't
run all of that against us, or anybody for that matter. There's just not
enough time, not enough plays. So you have to boil it down to where you're
going to put your emphasis and go with that and then be aware of some other
things maybe that they've done or could do. But I think there are a lot of
things to take into consideration, the teams that have done well against
them, teams that haven't done well, maybe that's how not to do it, sometimes
that's as important as how to do it. Close games. Teams that play a similar
defense, or a similar front, or similar coverages, I think that there can be
some application there. In the end, I think it has to be a culmination of a
lot of different informational points and then put it all together. I think
it's just hard to say, 'Well, we're just going to look at this one game,'
or, 'We're just going to look at this one thing that somebody or other did,'
it's a little broader than that. I don't think you could boil it down quite
that far.
Q: When you boil it all down, have you ever seen a team as well-balanced
on both sides of the ball as this year's San Diego Chargers team?
BB: I've seen some pretty good football teams now, but I would certainly
put them up there. 14-2, and like I said just losing two real close games.
They can run it. They can throw it. Play good defense. That's why they're
14-2. That's why they're the best team in the league. They do everything
well. They're well-coached. They're tough. Physical. They don't make a lot
of mistakes. And they do a lot of things well. They have a lot of good
players.
Q: What impresses you about Rivers?
BB: Number one, his record. I think that's the bottom line. They don't
have many turnovers. He doesn't give the ball away much. He makes good
decisions. He has a good arm. He's athletic. He has some quickness in the
pocket. He has a strong arm. He can throw off balance. He doesn't have any
problem getting the ball there. It won't be a question of arm strength or
accuracy. He's like a lot of their young players. San Diego has as many as
anybody as I've seen in a long time. They have a lot of, not only young
players, but a lot of quality, young players. A lot of good ones on both
sides of the ball and in the kicking game. He's one of many that I would
throw into that category.
Q: Does it appear to you that they've expanded his responsibilities in
the passing game over the second half of the season?
BB: It looks like they pretty much run their passing game. I didn't think
that they didn't have an extensive passing game earlier in the year. I don't
know. I would say watching him play and watching them play offensively, I
don't think there are a lot of things that they don't feel like he can do, or
are a lot of difference from last year when Drew [Brees] ran it. It looks
like they run the plays that are inherent to that offense and to complement
the running game and to complement each other in the passing game, they run
it. He executes them and they hit plenty of them.
Q: There's been a common theme with them from people who've been watching
them all year saying that maybe Cam Cameron has had more of an influence on
their offense and maybe Marty has loosened it up a little bit and has let
Cam do a little bit more with that offense. Do you see that?
BB: I don't know. I don't know how they could do much more than what they
did against us last year, whoever is doing it. They ran us off the field.
They outscored us 24-0 in the second half. They scored 41 points. I don't
know. It didn't look too bad to me last year. They're averaging 31 points a
game this year. I don't know what more they have to do. I hope they don't do
too much more than what they did. 41 points. I hope it's not too much more
than that this time.
Q: What do you think are the better attributes of Matt Light and Nick [Kaczur] at tackle?
BB: I think there are a lot of things you have to have to play that
position. Athletic ability. Size. Quickness is one of them. Mental
toughness. Intelligence. Technique. I think all of those things are
important. You could take a good athlete that doesn't play with good
technique and you probably won't get very far. If you take a guy that has
good technique and isn't a very good athlete, you probably won't get very
far. Guys that make mistakes out there, there are not a lot of times you can
get help. Centers and guards are tied up inside, so it's one-on-one. If you
miss an assignment, or have a bad set, or make a mistake, there's not much
of a second line of defense. Whereas a lot of the times, with the guard and
center, there's kind of three-on-two in there, especially in the passing
game, where you have the linebacker off the line of scrimmage. It doesn't
happen quite as quick. It's usually not quite as big of a disaster if it
happens inside compared to outside. But I think all of those things are
important. Without any of them, the weaknesses could offset the strengths in
a hurry.
Q: Are tackles like safeties in essence, given there is no safety net
back there?
BB: Well, sure. On defense, the secondary is the last line of defense. So
however the coverage and the play unfolds, usually when it gets to them,
your defensive ends and nose tackles aren't going to run too many guys down.
If they don't make the play, that's pretty much the last line of defense. In
a lot of cases, that's true of the tackles, too. Those linemen are all
committed on somebody else. We talked about, 'Well you could keep somebody
in,' a lot of times keeping somebody in just brings somebody else into the
picture. That's not really the answer either. What you really need from your
tackles is for them to be able to block the guys they have to block.
Q: Is there any common characteristic to a Wade Phillips-coached defense?
BB: Well, they're all pretty good. He's a 3-4 base guy. He's always had
good linebackers. It always seems like he's always had a good nose tackle. I
would certainly put [Jamal] Williams in that category. They're tough to run
against. They're tough to throw against, just in terms of blocking the
front. He's not a real exotic guy with 50 new defenses every week. That's
not really his thing. They do what they do. They do it well. You have to
block them. You have to block them and you have to get open on them. I don't
think finding them is going to be a problem. Where's [Marlon] McCree going
to line up? Where's Edwards going to line up? Where's Williams going to be?
I don't think that will be a problem. I think blocking them is going to be a
problem. I think getting open is going to be a problem. He's a very good
fundamental coach. His teams always play with good technique. They're tough.
They hustle to the ball and they don't give up a lot of big plays, because
they're sound and they know what they're doing and they execute it well.
Q: Are they any different from Pittsburgh's 3-4?
BB: Yes. There's certainly some carryover, but I would say that there's a
significant amount of differences to it. There are some elements of 3-4
linebackers pressuring, but I would say less zone blitzing, although San
Diego, they certainly do their share of zone blitzing now.
Q: Rivers is still relatively inexperienced at this stage in his career.
Does it give you an opportunity maybe to try get in his head a little bit
and show him some things that maybe he hasn't quite seen?
BB: Look, all we're trying to do is stop their whole offense. You can't
stop one guy. You just can't stop one guy. They have too many good guys
players. They have a good offensive line. Good tight ends. Good backs. Good
receivers. I think everybody has to do their job and you have to play good
team defense. I don't think you can just gang up on one guy. They have too
many of them.
Q: When you're scouting a guy who hasn't played college football, like
[Stephen] Neal or Gates, what are some of the things that you're going to
look for right away?
BB: Well, I think the number one thing that you have to see in that
situation is athletic ability and a couple of characteristics, like a guy
that will work hard and has some intelligence and has some toughness. You're
obviously not going to see a refined player, so techniques and understanding
and instincts and all that, you're probably starting from scratch at that
point. You just have to hope that you'll be able to improve those things in
time with reps and experience and understanding. So therefore, a player's
chance to make up for it would be athletic ability, and some physical
characteristics, but anybody that is that far behind would have to be pretty
intelligent and pretty hard working in order to make up the amount of ground
that they would have to make up with other players that have been playing
the game a lot longer.
Q: Does it take a great deal of patience on the coach's part?
BB: It depends on fast the player comes along. If the player is coming
along fast, I don't think it would take too much patience at all. If you
feel like it's going to be a long process, then you just have to decide how
long you're willing to wait and what kind of upside, what are you
developing, I guess that's the question you have to ask yourself. Are you
developing a guy who is going to maybe make your roster or maybe not?
Probably never really have a chance to have a lot of playing time and be a
legitimate player for you. Do you want to put three years into that project?
You could probably find other guys that could come in and do that a lot
quicker with out all of that work. Now, if you think that the guy has a lot
more upside, and he could be kind of a full time player for you, or a real
solid contributor, more than just a guy that might be able to hang on the
roster for a year or two, then you're developing a different type of player.
I think that's something that you have to take into consideration, what kind
of upside you think the player has in your system.
Q: What did you see in Neal early on that made you think he'd be worth
keeping around?
BB: Well, obviously not enough because we let him go, but then we brought
him back. First we started him off on defense, which that was stupid. He
can't play defense. But he can run and he's big and he's physical, but the
game was just too fast for him on the defensive side of the ball. There was
just too many things happening. He just couldn't play on the defensive side
of the ball. So by the time we moved him over to offense that first year, he
was so far behind in terms of terminology. He didn't know where to line up
in the huddle. By the time the end of training camp came, we knew he
couldn't play defense, and then he was so far behind offensively that there
was a lot of ground to make up. By the end of the year, we had some
injuries, some roster maneuverings took place. We were able to carry him as
a roster player even though he never played. At the end of that season,
because we did like his work ethic, we did like his toughness and his
athletic ability and kind of wanted to put in another year with him but
starting from scratch on the offensive side of the ball, not juggling him
around like we did. That actually worked out pretty well, and of course he
got hurt in the '02 season. He had a little temporary setback there, but
again, I think that's a real credit to him, even though he missed that time,
most of the second half of the '02 season, the second two-thirds it,
whatever it was, that he was able to come back and continue to develop as a
player even though he was out.
Q: Can you talk about the threat that Vincent Jackson poses? Is he
similar in any way to the big receivers you faced against Jacksonville?
BB: Yeah, sure is. I think he's maybe a little quicker than a couple of
those guys. But, yeah, he's a big target. He's not quite a tight end, but
he's somewhere in there between, he's a big receiver. He's a guy that's big.
He's a great target. He's a tough guy to bring down after the catch. He's
worked his way into the lineup and McCardell has really now become more of
their third receiver. Jackson is an imposing guy out there. He's definitely
a problem to tackle. He's a problem to cover. His size presents a problem
down the field and he's also a good target on the shorter intermediate plays
where you lay off of him and he catches it and then breaks a tackle and
gains yards as a runner, run after the catch. It's definitely a problem.
[Eric] Parker. McCardell. They have a good group of receivers to go with
their tight ends and backs.
Q: Can you talk about your history with McCardell a little bit?
BB: Well Keenan was like an eighteenth round draft choice, or something
like that, by the Redskins. I forget. There were more rounds than what we
have now. So he was a plan B signing in Cleveland. Different, but similar to
the Troy Brown scenario, on and off the roster, practice squad, didn't play,
but in the opportunities that he did get to play, he played pretty well and
by the end there, in '94, and in even '95, he worked and developed into one
of our best receivers. Quick. Smart. Real good hands. Has a great sense of instinctiveness for the game. Getting open. Knowing how to set people up.
He's not the fastest guy. He's not the strongest guy. But he's quick. He has
great hands. He has great instincts and the quarterbacks have a lot of
confidence in him, as they should. Then he went down to Jacksonville and
he's had a tremendous career. That's the kind of guy I think you always hold
up as a model for other young players. Here's a guy that was barely drafted
out of UNLV, Troy Brown [out of] Marshall, late pick, anybody could've had
him. Was with a couple of other teams. He would sit on the practice squad.
Bounced around a little bit. But he just kept working and kept getting
better and both of those guys have gone on to have great, great careers.
Q: It came out of San Diego this morning that the Chargers are blocking
most of their tickets for the Charger fans. Do you have any comment on that?
BB: Are you serious? I'm just trying to coach the team. I don't really
care about tickets. I think you need to talk to somebody else about the
ticket situation. Do you have any football questions?
Q: Can you talk about Lorenzo Neal's contributions to their running game?
BB: Running game and kickoff return. They have one of the best kickoff
return production teams in the league and he's kind of the lead blocker on
that, just like he is in the running game. As a fullback he's kind of the
eyes of the runner. He sees the hole and kind of gets through the hole
before the runner does, which a good fullback does, and that helps LaDainian
Tomlinson or [Michael] Turner, whoever is running the ball. He's a strong
player. He has good balance. Tough. He can really hammer it in there and
block defensive linemen and block linebackers. He's a tough kid. Good in
blitz pickup. Handles the ball pretty well. Surprisingly, for a fullback, he
has a high yards per carry average in the running game. Catches the ball
well out of the backfield. He's a tough, dependable player that adds a lot
to their football team and he certainly brings a lot of toughness to the
game.
Q: Is it fair to say that Caldwell has met or exceeded your expectations?
BB: We don't really put some big stamp of expectations on anybody. We
sign players that we think can contribute to our team, or acquire them,
however it is, whether you draft them or assign them or trade for them, or
whatever you do. Then you get them here and you start coaching them. As long
as they're improving and developing, then that's good. Reche has certainly
come in here and worked as hard as anybody. He spends a lot of time around
here doing extra things trying to get better and trying to understand how to
improve a technique or a route or recognition or an adjustment or whatever
it is. I have all the respect in the world for Reche and what he's done.
He's exhibited a good level of toughness and competitiveness. He's made some
big plays for us. I think he'll continue to get better, at least I hope so.
If he continues to work hard, he'll improve in our system and improve as a
player. He's still young. He's a hard-working kid.
Q: I know you don't like comparing them, but are there any similarities
between Merriman and [Lawrence] Taylor?
BB: They wear the same number.
Q: Besides that.
BB: Certainly there's some comparison. They played a similar position.
They're both good and they're both very productive, very productive players.
I think they have a different style of play. I would say [they have] a
different style of play. They've both been effective. I'm not taking
anything away from anybody, but I couldn't sit here and say they really look
kind of the same to me. I wouldn't say that. I would say that they're both
productive. They're both good football players. They're both very strong,
but I would say their overall skills, I see them a little bit differently. |
