Terrell Williams – August 5, 2016
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Friday, August 5, 2016
Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams
(On the defensive line) – “It’s early. We have a lot of work to do. We’re only six practices in. It’s just about gelling and getting guys playing together. Right now, I can say that we’re doing okay, but we have a lot of room for improvement.”
(On whether he has seen this kind of depth at defensive line) – “No, not at least in my experience. We got some guys (that are) experienced guys. Cam (Wake and) Mario (Williams have) played a lot of football. Andre Branch with Jacksonville played a lot of football. ‘J.J.’, Jason Jones, has played a lot of football. Then we got some young guys – (Terrence) Fede and Chris McCain is having a good camp. It’s going to be interesting when we start playing these preseason games.”
(On how Senior Defensive Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist Jim Washburn has been with the defensive line) – “Excellent. ‘Wash’ (Jim Washburn) and I are friends. We were friends before he got here. We got two good d-line coaches, and we’re excited to work together. But it was an easy transition because him and I were close before we even started working together.”
(On DT Earl Mitchell and DT Jordan Phillips competing for a starting role) – “Every guy has got to come out here and compete. They’re both going to play. Earl, (Ndamukong) Suh and Jordan – we’re going to rely heavily on those guys along with some other guys. On the defensive line, I think sometimes you look and see who goes out with the starters. It doesn’t really matter because when we were in Oakland, we had guys that didn’t start that played more than the starters. At the end of the day, it’s finding the right guys and how many snaps they can play.”
(On DE Terrence Fede and DE Jason Jones having the ability to play inside) – “Any time you have guys that have position flexibility – which those guys do – the more positions you can play, the more valuable you are to the team. ‘J.J.’ (Jason Jones) has played for ‘Wash’ (Jim Washburn) in Tennessee and in Detroit, and he has played (defensive) end and tackle. Both of those guys can do it. Then we’ve got some big guys that can go outside if we need to. The better and the more depth you have – the more position flexibility – I think it gives you some opportunities to do some things.”
(On whether DE Andre Branch will rotate with the other defensive ends) – “What is it, August 6, or something like that? Right now, the plan is get to the first preseason game and play these games (and) see where guys fit in. Again, ‘Dre’ (Andre Branch) is a guy that’s a speed guy. He’s got some edge rush ability. Right now, we’re still in … It’s early. I know for some of the players it may feel like we’ve been at camp a long time; but we haven’t been at camp a long time, so we’re trying to figure out where all these guys fit in. He’ll be a part of the plan somewhere.”
(On there being a gap in the middle of the Wide 9 defense) “There is no big gap. Here’s something – and listen, you can report it or write it, whatever you guys want – I think sometimes when people watch football, especially on TV, they see things that aren’t necessarily true. We know exactly what we’re seeing, and there is no big gaps in the middle. The only difference between playing a 9-technique and a 6-technique – which means you’re head up on a tight end – is one guy is a little bit wider, and now they just switched gaps. The off-the-ball linebacker now has the inside gap; the other guy has the outside gap. The Wide 9, there’s no big deal about it. We just want our guys to play fast. You look at ‘Wash’s’ (Jim Washburn’s) history playing this defense – which he has done a good job (with) – they’ve played great run defense. It’s not what people think. It’s kind of an illusion a little bit. I hear about the Wide 9 and stopping the run. In (Ndamukong) Suh’s last year in Detroit, they were in the top five in the history of pro football in run defense. You can stop the run, it’s just about attitude. I don’t care if it’s 3-4 (defense), Wide 9, 6-2, whatever it is, it’s just about who’s lining up and kicking the guy’s butt in front of them.”
(On if the advantage of having depth on the defensive line comes in the fourth quarter) “It comes early if you can rotate guys early. And we know in this league, most of the games are won in the fourth quarter. If we can score some points and get up on some people, then we can roll them in, in waves and see. Again, it’s so early in the process that we have no idea who’s going to be out there. You can pretty much bank on (Ndamukong) Suh being out there and a couple other guys, but we’re still trying to mesh all these guys together.”
(On who has made the biggest strides since the end of last season) – “It’s hard to say, to be honest with you, because I’ve tried to put … I’m retained (as the defensive line coach), but it’s a new staff. We got new players. I’ve moved on from last season. But I’ll say that from the end of the spring until now, I think as a group we’ve all made some pretty big improvements. As far as last year, it’s over. We’ve moved on. But as far as from OTAs to now, I would say if you told me to give you one person I’d say the defensive line, because everybody has made some improvement.”
(On stopping the run) – “I think we’re good. It’s funny because we’re not tackling, we’re not hitting the quarterback, so sometimes what you see – (like) a guy break across the line of scrimmage – we got to do better. There’s so much we got to get better at. But I don’t think we’re going to have any problems stopping the outside runs. We’re out there playing with guys that are big, physical guys, so they’re forcing everything inside. We shouldn’t have any problems stopping outside runs.”
(On whether an advantage of the Wide 9 defense is better angling for players) – “It does. It gives them some angles as far as pass rushing, but it also gives them some angles in the run game as far as coming off and being physical with tight ends and tackles. We have the personnel to run that defense, and it’s smart for us to do what our personnel is capable of doing.”
(On whether athletic defensive ends are preferable for the Wide 9 defense) – “Big, athletic DEs. If you’re going to have big, athletic guys across the board, you got a chance to be good upfront.”
