Matt Burke – August 2, 2018
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(What has been your impression so far of the defense the first couple days of camp so far?) – “Overall, I’m really just happy with the way they’re working. We’ve really stressed in terms of getting to the ball and everybody chasing and putting that high level of effort on tape. So, that’s really been the starting point for what we’re trying to do. That’s been good and we’ll go from there. We’ll clean up the mistakes as they keep coming, but I’ve been happy with the work ethic and the effort we’ve seen so far.”
(We saw the picks today from CB Xavien Howard.) – “You did?”
(Yes, we caught them. It seems like the entire week he has ‘got it.’) – “He’s got it?”
(Yes.) – “I don’t think anybody ‘has it’ quite yet. Obviously, he (Xavien Howard) has made some plays, which we’re happy for. Again, another sort of point of emphasis for us is taking the ball away. He has been getting his hands on balls. I think for us with ‘X,’ it’s continuing that high level of play and keeping the consistency. He can’t get lazy with his techniques or get bored, and he hasn’t been. We’ve really been pressing him to stay competitive play in and play out. A lot of times with ‘X,’ sometimes it’s when he’s on the backside of things and he’s not getting action and he kind of gets a little bored with what he’s doing. We’re trying to stress the consistency of play in and play out no matter whether the ball is coming to you or not, that you have to play your techniques right and he happens to. When the ball has been thrown his way, he has been in good position to make some plays, which will obviously be a good boost for our defense if that continues.”
(Is consistency the big thing you’ve seen CB Xavien Howard take a step forward with?) – “Yes, probably. Honestly, I would literally say probably his worst day of camp was the first day. He came to me actually and was like, ‘Man, that wasn’t good for me. I’ll be better.’ Since then he has tried to, like I said, come in day in, day out and keep that level of performance. That’s something with really everybody on defense. With everybody on defense, that’s something that we’re trying to stress is it’s not good enough to do it one play or one series or one game. It has got to be every day – day in and day out – that we’re performing at the level of expectation that we hold. The longer that he puts those type of days together, the better off we’ll be.”
(What are you looking for, for that cornerback opposite CB Xavien Howard?) – “The same. Honestly, I think all of that group of guys that are working on the other side across from ‘X’ have had their days and have had their not so good days. We’re rolling those groups and we’re trying to see what the best combination of guys are, too. Sometimes guys are working together and communicating together; but really it just hasn’t been … To me, there’s been a little bit of lack of consistency that one guy will make a good play one day and then doesn’t have a good day and then we put another guy in there and it’s sort of the same thing. Especially at that position, it’s hard to play with an up and down corner. You can’t count on what’s happening. We’re really, again, very similar to ‘X,’ stressing to whether it’s ‘Tank’ (Cordrea Tankersley) or Torry (McTyer) or ‘Lipp’ (Tony Lippett) or whoever, Bobby (McCain), all of those guys, that we have to get that level of consistency play in and play out because then, as a coaching staff, you can know what you’re working with. If you know what you’re getting every play then whatever our calls are going to be or techniques that we’re using, then we can work with. But if you’re not sure what you’re going to get every play, then it kind of puts us in a bind. If we get those guys, we want one of those guys to really step up and get to that level where it’s every play is the same thing we’re getting from them.”
(Do you play a different style with each of those corners – CB Cordrea Tankersley and CB Tony Lippett?) – “Again, I think it’s just that every player – not just at the corner position – they have their strengths and weaknesses. There may be a technique that’s better for ‘Tank’ than for ‘Lipp’. They’re different body types than Torry and those guys. I think there’s sometimes where we would play different techniques or teach a little something, a different way to get to the same spot with different guys. But within each of those sort of techniques, they’ve got to be consistent with what we’re asking them to do. Again, it’s at every positon; but obviously there we’re going to keep flipping groups until a guy really takes hold of that spot for us.”
(What has Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek brought to this project here?) – “You guys have seen him out there, right? (laughter)”
(We hear Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek, too.) – “You hear him? It’s hard not to. Kris is an energy bringer, an energy giver. I’ve worked with Kris for a long time. We worked together in Detroit and went through some tough seasons together. I know our little forged in the fire sort of thing – Kris and I were forged together. We had our offices right across the hall and there’s an innate level of trust for myself with him and what he brings. I think he’s a very demanding coach, but the players respond to it. They see that he cares. They see he’s passionate about what he does. He’s passionate about d-line play and about what his beliefs are and the level of play he expects from them. He’s demanding, but I think all the players respect the passion that he brings to the table. It’s been fun to have him out here. I have to watch where I stand on the field sometimes because I forget sometimes he’s right here and I get an earful. (laughter) But just the energy and the passion and the level of expectation.”
(Is that a particularly good match for the position?) – “Yes, I think so. People might get mad at me for saying this: I think the bigger you get, the more motivated you’ve got to get from somebody externally. Maybe that’s the best way to put it. I think he (Kris Kocurek) knows … And it’s hard on him. It’s hard for him to come in day in and day out and do that. And I always used to say with Kris, people would sometimes see him at Pro Days or at a local workout in the draft stuff and they think it’s an act; but it’s not. That’s how Kris is. That’s who he is as a person. That’s the way he is when he steps in the building at 6:30 every morning. I think it’s hard on a coach to be that way every day. But with that group, sometimes it takes a little bit of extra yelling and pushing and it’s a good group.”
(We’re patiently waiting to see the three safeties on the field together.) – “Are you patient?”
(I’m not really patient, but when do you have to practice that?) – “I don’t have to do anything. (laughter)”
(You don’t have to.) – “We’re mixing the groups. Really, what you’re probably not seeing is … We can … We’re repping guys at different spots, but maybe not all together, if that makes sense. There may be times where there’s only two safeties on the field, but one of them is playing a spot that they’d be playing when there are three safeties on the field if we’re going to do something like that, really. What we’re really trying to do right now – and it’s tough with splitting reps – we’re trying to cross-train really all three of those guys at multiple spots so when the time does come, they’ve gotten the work at whatever spot they’re going to end up. We’re just rolling groups. There have been a few snaps where we have them all out there together and there’s sometimes where we only have the two. But like I said, maybe Minkah (Fitzpatrick) is at playing a different spot than he would be in another situation. Again, this time for us is trying to find out how versatile all of those guys are and what the best alignment is for all three of them so when the time does come then we say, ‘Alright, let’s do this together.’ That they’ve gotten the rep at those techniques or those spots or whatever it is. I don’t feel pressure right now to (say) we have to get this package out of this group. We’re really trying to work it within the confines of our base defense. It’s only been one week, so we’re really trying to, within our defense, get those guys that work at those spots so when we start trying to get a little more exotic, a little but more tricked up, that they’ve actually gotten the reps at those skill sets that we’re going to ask them to do.”
(How have you seen in terms of the chemistry between S T.J. McDonald and S Reshad Jones?) – “It’s been great. I think T.J. has been probably one of the pleasant surprises. Reshad has been very good. Obviously, he has got his hands on a lot of balls, too. But I think T.J. has been a pleasant surprise at camp. He has shown some range in the back end. He has made some plays down the field. I think (Defensive Backs) Coach (Tony) Oden has done a really good job with the whole group in terms of communication. To me, if you start with the communication aspect, then the camaraderie builds and the rapport builds between those two guys, because now they’re always talking to each other. Whether it’s T.J. and Reshad or Minkah and T.J. or whoever – Walt (Aikens) has been back there – all of those guys, that you start with them having to communicate and forcing that communication, now It starts becoming second nature. I think there’s a level of respect from T.J. and Reshad in terms of what they’ve accomplished in this league so far. I think it has been a pretty natural rapport for those guys. So, it has been good. That whole group has been talking better and really fitting and gelling a little bit together.”
(Tackling technique, do players come in from college having that stone-cold down or is it something you’ve got to start over with?) – “No. We don’t have it stone-cold down. Everything we do is organic and it’s a work in progress. I think the good thing about where the country is going in terms of tackling, at every level, the emphasis is on in terms of keeping the head out of it and keeping the eyes up. They’re hearing similar things at every level of football nowadays. It’s not that we have to break them down and destroy bad habits or at least what they’re being coached to do. Again, it’s organic. It’s an ongoing process. Certainly every day that we have full pads on, we practice tackling and we talk about. I know there has been a lot of uproar about the new rules and stuff and we have the officials here this week for the next few days, so we haven’t had the presentation on that yet, but when we met with them in the spring, I really don’t think that it’s going to be a change in technique of what we’re telling our guys to do. We don’t want guys leading with their heads. We don’t want guys dropping their eyes down and leading that way. I think it’s going to be an extension of the technique we try to teach. I wouldn’t say that … I think college football is talking the same language we’re talking. Again, really probably like anything else in college football, those guys are limited in the hours they have with players and how much time they can spend and guys are coming out younger and younger, so there’s maybe less time on task with those sort of things that we have to keep working with. Again, with practice the way it is and how limited we are and what we can do in the time we have now a days, any time that we have plastic on, that we have shoulder pads on, we’re working that because we have to get those man hours in to get close to making sure we get what we want.”
(On going live tackling in practice.) – “When we have full pads on head coach Adam Gase will call some live periods. It will be period to period where he’ll say ‘this one is live’ or this one is thud, whatever it is. Every period he’ll dictate the tempo. Again, it’s a fine line for him. Obviously you want to protect your own team from injuries and those sort of things; but again, the issue of trying to tackle, live tackling without tackling is sort of that fine balance. Whenever we have full pads on, he’ll try to sneak in one or maybe two periods a day that are actually full go, and the rest are when we’re just thudding and trying to get a fit and let them run. You’re always walking that line, walking that balance, but in terms of the technique and what we’re trying to teach and keeping the head out of the game, I don’t think that’s going to change.”
(The preseason kicks off tonight. Will you watch?) – “Does it? No, I don’t even know which day it is.”
(It’s Thursday.) – “If I’m in my office doing something maybe I’ll put it on T.V., but I’ve got other things to worry about.”
