Matt Burke – December 20, 2018
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(I know there were some breakdowns from a physical standpoint on Sunday. As far mental breakdowns, were there a lot you think in coverage? Is it more than you would think would be happening to this team this late in December?) – “I try not to have any tolerance for mental errors. Obviously we had some breakdowns here or there. I wouldn’t say in terms of the volume of them or anything like that but one mental breakdown is too many. We made some mistakes that we shouldn’t be making at any time of the season, certainly not in whatever week we’re in – 14, 15. Yeah, we’ve got to clean those up for sure.”
(When we asked defensive players why there are issues stopping the run, pressuring the quarterbacks, breakdowns in the secondary, their response is always ‘you’ve got to ask a coach, I’m just a player.’ That’s the line this week.) – “They don’t want to answer it? They want me to answer it?”
(Correct. So now we’re asking the coach. Why are you guys ranked 30th in a lot of the important statistical categories?) – “Rankings? I don’t know. Specifically do you want me to address one of them?”
(Let’s start with stopping the run.) – “I think our issue with the run-game stuff has been explosive plays. If you look, our run efficiency has not been that bad, in terms of just play-in and play-out. Obviously when you giving up big plays and mis-fitting runs, that leads to explosive runs and that’s what skews the big-picture numbers and those things. Any defense is designed to work as a unit. When there is a breakdown at one level, that leads to the next breakdown. Again, then you have those explosive plays. That’s kind of been our problem. I thought we put that fire out a little bit. We had a couple stretches of games, obviously New England and even the Buffalo game – in terms of the actual run game stuff – and going back even to Indy, I thought we did a pretty solid job. We were trending in the (right) direction and obviously took a step back last week.”
(What leads to all of these mis-fits? I know it’s one area compromises another area, compromises another area, but how do you get that fixed on a consistent basis?) – “Honestly I think … To me, it’s a little bit of a discipline thing. Again, if you’re supposed to be in a gap, you have to stay in that gap. Some of it is … I don’t think we’ve had a lot of instances where we haven’t schemed up or we haven’t seen that play and we’re not sure how to play it. I don’t think that’s been an issue where like an offense is giving us a scheme we haven’t seen or fit or prepared for. I think it’s just a matter of staying disciplined and sticking to the plan and staying in our gaps. It’s hard. It’s hard to just ‘I’m going to hold my gap play in and play out. I’m going to hold my gap and do this,’ and again, sometimes players see things. There is space in there or again, sometimes it’s ‘someone else that breaks something down so I think I have to cover something up and fit something that I’m not supposed to. Then my area gets exposed.’ To me, it is about the unit working together and they have to understand where everybody’s fitting and how it all meshes up. Looking back at last week’s game, a little bit of that was us talking about ‘hey, when this happens, you have to understand how you’re affecting the rest of the team.’ It’s about being disciplined and staying in your role.”
(I think after the Houston game you were very adamant that, yes we have to be better coaches but at some point the players just need to execute what had been called. Has your overview of what’s gone wrong this year changed or do you think the calls our sound, the schemes are sound and it’s just the players aren’t playing it?) – “I don’t know if that’s the right way to look at it. Obviously I’m not putting out unsound schemes. I don’t think anything that we do is unsound. I’d challenge anyone to prove otherwise in terms of that sense. I don’t think … Again, it’s been different week to week. I don’t want to say ‘I’m doing my job and they’re screwing up.’ It’s all of us in this together and what we’re asking certain players to do. As a coaching staff, I think it’s our job to look at the skill set of our players and what their strengths are and try to utilize those strengths and obviously we’ve had a lot of moving pieces. (We are) trying to keep that target moving around and try to utilize the players that we have available to us week in and week out. I think it’s just a combination of all of us. We’re not going to sit here and point fingers and I’m not going to say it’s the players’ fault. Maybe they’re saying it’s our fault or they don’t want to answer. I don’t know. But we put a scheme together that fits what we think is going to help us win a ballgame and they try to go execute it. It doesn’t always happen obviously, but that’s how we operate.”
(I understand completely, but when you put up the numbers you guys have this year, people are going to ask why and they’re going to try to figure out what needs to change. Sometimes they understand what’s wrong and sometimes they don’t. What could you have done better this year?) – “You guys are already wrapping up the season here guys. I’m trying to win a ball game. I’m trying to figure out a way to stop the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. If you want to have a retrospect at the end of the season, maybe you and I can sit down and do that some time. We try to correct our mistakes week to week. Obviously you review the game plan from the week before and what you did good and what you did bad or what happened. You have answers on how to fix it and move on to the next week. From a cumulative standpoint, we don’t really get into all of that right now.”
(One thing that you might have heard, one thing the S Reshad Jones made clear Monday is that he feels he’s far more comfortable at strong safety. He feels like he’s more productive there. Is that a function – and this is beyond your control – but is this a function of having two safeties whose skills overlap too much?) – “Reshad hasn’t expressed any of that to me directly. I think the way we deploy our safeties a little bit, we don’t have an in-the-box safety and a back safety. Those guys play certain positions and dependent on what an offensive scheme is coming at us or how they deploy a formation depends on who’s down. So Reshad is down sometimes, T.J (McDonald) is down sometimes. I couldn’t give you numbers in terms of percentage of guys down or back, but we’re not setting things up where one guy is always a down guy and one guy is always a back guy. They both have opportunities to play in the box. They both have opportunities to play in deeper zones, are rangy and those sort of things. That’s a little dictated by what an offense is doing to us.”
(Both players are good players. Like you said, T.J. McDonald has had an underrated year. But are he and S Reshad Jones not the ideal match that perhaps that you and the front office would have hoped?) – “No. I think they’re both good players for us.”
(With the pass rushing, only the Raiders have produced less sacks. I know it’s not all about sacks, but the pressures are not consistent as well. What has been the issue that has led to the lack of pressures?) – “It’s a lot of things. Game situation, stuff like it always is. We haven’t had a ton of straight-up rush opportunities where we had a big lead or we’re just be able to pour it on or pile on. That always plays a factor. Again, I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we’ve lost some pieces, particularly our inside rush. Our ends, obviously we put a lot of value in our ends and rushing. They get a lot of attention certainly. Cam (Wake) and Robert (Quinn) and those guys are getting chipped and doubled a lot. Again, some of that shows up in some of our other stuff. Our turnovers and some of the interceptions and some of the things we were able to do on the positive side of things, some of that is an offshoot. If they are taking people out of their routes and paying so much attention to our rush or people are worried about those guys and getting rid of the ball quick and those sort of things, I think that shows up in some of the other areas we’ve had success. We do try. Obviously we want sacks. That’s not something that we’re trying to avoid. But offenses can do things to limit those issues and we have to take advantage of what they’re giving up. What an offense is giving up to protect on our ends or to get rid of the ball quick, we have to take advantage of those and other areas, which we’ve had some success obviously in the takeaway area.”
(Have you decided what S Minkah Fitzpatrick does best? He does everything well.) – “I don’t know. It’s hard. I would probably be remiss if I didn’t say this in public: I don’t think people appreciate what he’s done this year. He’s played four different positions for us and sometimes week-to-week. That’s not easy. For myself and the coaching staff to have that ability to just come in and say ‘Mink, this week we have to stick you outside at corner. This is where we need the most help,’ or ‘We’re thin at nickel,’ at the start of the year. He doesn’t blink. To be able to perform at the level that he’s been able to perform at, I think it’s probably being a little bit under recognized, what he’s actually been able to do for us. Again, it’s hard to say. To me, some of that stuff … We’re battling week-to-week and living game-to-game. We come in on Monday and say ‘This is what we have to do this week to win a ball game.’ Some of that big-picture stuff and stepping back and saying ‘What are we going to do with him moving forward?’ is something that we’re going to look at after the season probably. For myself, (I am) appreciative of, I guess if you want to call it sacrifices, that he’s made to bounce around so much and have to keep learning new spots. (He) never bats an eye and just says ‘I’ve got you coach’ and ‘Let’s go do it.’ So I think that deserves some recognition.”
(Earlier today, I asked DE Charles Harris why he thinks the defensive line doesn’t have more sacks. Charles said ‘I’m not a coach, I’m a player.’ I’m going to ask you as his coach, why does he have two sacks in 25 games?) – “I don’t know. He’s had some opportunities. Charles, like I said, he’s had kind of some up and down moments in his career. I think since he’s been back from the injury this year, he’s been playing at a faster rate and a faster speed. I think with Charles, he has to finish a little bit. He’s had some opportunities where he just doesn’t have that last kind of finishing touch for him. I’m not out here to try to chase stats or try to get people sacks. We’re out here to try to win ball games. Those are things we’ll look at as we get going after the season.”
(Is DE Robert Quinn playing better or is it just the numbers have caught up with how he’s played?) – “Both. Again, I think I mentioned this, you guys have asked before … I think he’s looked fresher kind of since the bye week when we had a little bit of that time off. I thought he was moving around a bit better this last month. He’s had a sack in every game – I think, if you want to talk sacks or talk stats – the last five games or something like that. I think he kind of got his second wind when we got back from the bye, so that production is just catching up to him moving around a little bit better and getting off the ball a little bit like he was earlier in the season. I’m not sure he’s doing anything different, per se, but I just think he’s maybe feeling a little bit healthier and fresher and kind of moving a little bit better.”
(I’m trying to accurately reflect what you’re working with here in terms of pass rushers. You have the second-fewest sacks in the league. The defensive line, you had to add two guys to your rotation midway through the year. Linebackers, two of them are playing in their first season. Cornerback, you basically began the year with two and had to have a safety play cornerback and then two safeties that basically are the same player. Is that accurate?) – “Sure? Look, the one thing I try to do when I come in here with you guys is I try not to make excuses. This is what it is. Again, I come in every week and say ‘These are the players we’re using this week.’ I could sit up here and complain about injuries and complain about guys that aren’t on the team or what happened in this, but no one cares. It doesn’t matter. This is our roster. These are our players. They’re working their balls off to help us win ball games and so I’m going to do the same for them. It doesn’t help me to come in here and try to tell you guys ‘This is what happened,’ or ‘This was this guy’s fault,’ or ‘The refs screwed us on this.’ I try not to do any of that stuff because no one cares and it doesn’t matter. We come in here, try to put our best plan together, players try to do their best to execute that game plan and play hard. We’re going to try to go win another ball game this week, just doing the same thing. Sure, I can complain about missing a Pro Bowl corner last week and this and that and having two d-tackles that we got off the street a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, that’s great; but no one cares. It doesn’t matter. You guys don’t care, the fans don’t care, we don’t care. We’re going to go out to win a ball game with the 46 guys we’ve got ready to play on Sunday. We’re going to do that again this week.”
