Matt Burke – September 28, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(What’s it like having LB Lawrence Timmons back in the mix this week?) – “It’s been good. He’s been happy to be here. (laughter) No, he’s been positive. He’s had good energy. I think any time something gets taken away from you like that, he was excited and grateful to be back and have a good opportunity to get back on the field. He’s been excellent. His energy has been great. He’s been engaged. I’ve been happy to have him around.”
(Nothing against LB Chase Allen but what can LB Lawrence Timmons bring that maybe has been missing?) – “Well, he’s played a lot of football in his time. He can run (and) hit. He can do everything. He’s an important part of our defense and has been, and how we planned that out. He’s a guy that’s played 100-and-something games and had 100-and-something tackles every year. He’s a physical presence. He’s a great football player so he’s going to help us out.”
(When the linebackers are asked to drop back and play more of a vision defense, so to speak, LB Lawrence Timmons been pretty experienced in doing that. He does a good job of doing that. Has that been something that has been missing? Something he can add to the table?) – “Again, I think in general, he’s a really good football player that we were counting on to play a lot of football for us, so (he can add to the table) in all areas; but yes, again, part of being a veteran player is that he’s seen a lot of football. He’s seen all those routes that people have to match up and break on certain throws. He’s seen it all – 100 times or 200 times. He does have a good feel when he’s dropping in space and where the patterns are coming from and how to match things up and how to break on certain throws. Again, he’s probably one of the better tackling players on our team so then obviously getting guys down on the ground. He does bring that element to us.”
(Have you given any thought at all this week – any serious thought – to any personnel changes in the defensive backfield? Or do you feel like there just aren’t options because your backups there, except for S Michael Thomas, are primarily young guys who might not be ready?) – “I give serious thought every week on personnel lineups. It is part of what we do. After every game, we evaluate obviously schematic issues and personnel issues, and not just in the secondary – up front and everywhere on the field. Every week, that’s going to be an ongoing discussion. ‘How do we have a better chance to win? Does this player give us a better chance to win? Does this call give us a better chance to win? Does moving this guy somewhere else give us a better chance to win?’ That’s part of what we do every week and that’s part of our postgame evaluation process. There’s always going to be those conversations and if we come to the determination that a different player is a better fit for us or a different way we’re playing something or a different technique, then that’s our job to find that out and to do it. There’s always those discussions, for sure.”
(With this group specifically this week, do you still feel like CB Byron Maxwell, CB Xavien Howard, obviously S Reshad Jones and S Nate Allen give you the best chance to win as a starting group?) – “Maybe? (laughter) Like I said, that’s still part of the process. Part of also our week is the same thing. Nothing is set in stone. I think, again, (Head Coach) Adam (Gase)’s history has proven that here. I think the way we’ve done things has proven that out, has beared that out. We’re mixing guys around a little bit and week to week. If this week we say this is still the best way for us to win, then that’s how we’re going to play ball. If we feel there’s a better way to do things, then we’ll do that.”
(I know the Saints come at you a lot of different ways.) – “They sure do.”
(What’s the first thing you need to take away out of that offense?) – “The quarterback? Take him away and we’ll be alright. (laughter)”
(Just get in Saints QB Drew Brees’ face?) – “Listen, he’s a great, great quarterback. Obviously he’s done it for a long time. He’s obviously controlling everything. Him and (Saints Head Coach) Sean Payton, they’ve been together for a long time so they’ve got a good feel in what they’re calling and how they’re setting things up. They’ve got some good running backs. They’ve got some good receivers. It’s a talented offense, obviously; but everything starts with No. 9 (Brees). We’ve got to do our best. With a guy like that, you’re not going to make a living fooling him. Again, he’s seen it all. He’s played a lot of football in his time. We’ve just got to do our best, really at every level, to just try to make him a little bit more uncomfortable. To me, he’s at his best when he gets in his rhythm and when you look up, he’s 30-for-32 and he’s just grooving, whether it’s because he’s not getting pressure, he’s got easy completions, or whether he’s moving things around. He’s probably one of the better quarterbacks in the league at tempo, in terms of quick-snapping, really getting up on the ball and moving. Not even being in no-huddle, but just breaking the huddle, getting up, knowing what he wants and going. We’ve got to try to break that rhythm a little bit; and again, at all levels, whether it’s getting him in the rush, batting a ball down, disrupting some routes, maybe showing a disguise and trying to give him just a one-second pause. He’s going to decipher it. That’s what he does. But just finding ways to not let him get in that rhythm where he just – we’ve all seen him – start grooving and get going. We’ve just got to find ways to just mix it up at all levels of defense to try to get him to pause a second.”
(Do you trust your run defense is as good as the numbers indicate?) – “What do the numbers indicate?”
(Fourth or fifth in rushing yards per game?) – “I don’t know. I try to avoid numbers. Numbers lie to you. (laughter) I feel good about where we’ve been in the run game. Obviously so far, I feel like we’ve had success. As you guys know, it’s been a point of emphasis for us from January or whenever it was. The guys are buying into it. We’ve done a pretty good job. I feel like, again, some of the players we’ve brought in – between Will Hayes and some of the guys up front that we drafted – and hopefully now we get Lawrence (Timmons) back. That’s another element we feel is a physical player in the run game. I feel like they’ve taken that to heart and they’ve done a pretty solid job.”
(Do you feel like it might be another week away for LB Rey Maualuga? Obviously he’s been limited in practice so far this week.) – “Again, we don’t make those determinations yet; but he’s working back. It was good to see him out (at practice). You guys know he was out a little bit yesterday and moving around. He’s progressing. I think he’s getting close. I’m not going to put a timetable on it. Between health-wise and preparation-wise, if he’s ready to go, we’ll play Rey when he’s ready to go. If it’s this week, next week or three weeks, at some point we’re going to hopefully get him back.”
(On LB Stephone Anthony, you had told us last week you hope to settle on one spot. By the end of last week, that spot is what?) – “I don’t know yet. (laughter).”
(You do.) – “I might. (laughter) Again, with Lawrence (Timmons) coming back and still Rey (Maualuga), there’s still some moving pieces. What we’re trying to do is just project … Say we have a healthy lineup – a full complement of all of those guys – where they best slot out. Stephone (Anthony) has played Mike and Will and Sam, really. He’s played everywhere. We haven’t 100 percent settled in on it with him yet but I don’t know. That’s where I’ll leave it at. I would say by next week, maybe I’ll give you a solid answer. How’s that? Is that a deal? (laughter)”
(A two-part question regarding the secondary and pass coverage. I know last week a point of emphasis was on being more physical with the receivers. We talked about that. I wanted to get your assessment on how that went in the Jets game. And also, a stat that I noticed is pass breakups. According to the stat sheet, you only have one pass breakup and your opponents have 11. How much do you read into that?) – “Well, I can’t control what other defenses are doing, so I don’t really read into that part of it at all. Some of that is tied together. Probably one of the more disappointing stats – if you guys want to talk numbers – I don’t know the exact number is but we’re close to giving up like 80 percent completions. So obviously if you’re completing 80 percent of your passes, you’re not getting a lot of pass breakups. I do think that’s tied in a little bit into being more physical on the receivers. Obviously if you’re in tighter coverage and you’re being more physical and you’re draped on guys, the incompletions are going to come and the breakups are going to come. I do think it’s a cohesive … I don’t know if issue is the right word, but it kind of ties in together like that. The thing I always tell those guys, even in practice, I just tell them give me one more step. Let’s get one step closer and if you keep doing that – one step closer, one step closer – they probably hate me. I keep saying that on repeat out there. Again, whether it’s putting hands on them or just one step quicker out of your breaks – all of those things – that’s all I preach to these guys. Just give me one more step. You’re in the right spot. Last week, I probably put (Alterraun) Verner in a tough spot on that long touchdown. I made a bad call to put him out there like that. But other than that, we didn’t give up anything over our heads. We were there. We weren’t cutting guys loose necessarily, except for the long touchdown. We’re there. Now just give me that one more step and let’s get there and get the ball out. Even ‘X,’ (Xavien Howard), his two completions that he gave up, he’s draped all over the guy. The one, I don’t even know if it was questionable, that maybe hit the ground and then the tight end is a big guy – (Austin) Seferian-Jenkins. (Howard) is on his back and the guy just bodies him out. He’s on him. ‘X’ is draped all over the guy. So for him, now that next step is to get the ball out now. He’s covering guys. One more step for him might be getting the ball out. One more step for ‘Max’ (Byron Maxwell) might be getting his hands on a little bit tighter. One more step for Nate Allen, whoever it is – all of those guys – I always preach just give me one more step then what you’re giving me right now and if we keep doing that, then we’re going to get to where we want to get to.”
(How much of it is just being confident in what you see as far as the route anticipation and things of that nature?) – “That’s part of it. That’s part of being a DB. Part of what we do all week in the film study is understanding ‘Here is this guy’s split. Here’s the stem he’s coming off on the route. What am I expecting off that? Or I’ve seen this before?’ Again, that’s part of what those guys have to do in terms of studying their opponents and the receivers they’re going to line up across and those sort of things. That’s absolutely part of all of it, for sure.”
(You were with DE William Hayes years ago. How has he evolved since then?) – “I was with Will as a rookie. We drafted him my last year in Tennessee. I don’t know if evolved is the right word. (laughter) He’s probably about the same. We drafted him out of Winston-Salem State. He was a small school kid. He came into the NFL and literally, sort of like he is now, it wasn’t too big for him. I know you guys probably get the off-beat side of him but he’s a tough SOB. He’s a hardcore dude. He was like that from the start. Again, sometimes you get those small school players and it’s too big. He never blinked. He played for us as a rookie in Tennessee and kind of had the connection. I had a lot of ties to those players and that sort of lineage of coaches and people down there. So to follow Will’s career, I left the next year up to Detroit; but I would always watch those defenses and keep track of what’s going on. I honestly don’t know that he’s changed much. It’s probably more of a testament that he’s 10 or whatever years in and that he’s still playing the same way. He’s a hard man to block in the run game. He’s a hard guy to block. He takes pride in it. He’s a tempo setter for us. He’s who he is. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He doesn’t hide behind anything and goes out there and plays some football. I’ve been seeing it for 10-plus years now. It really hasn’t changed much.”
(From the limited number of snaps that your young defensive backs can get during a normal regular season work week now. I’m speaking of CB Torry McTyer, CB Cordrea Tankersley and S Maurice Smith. Have any of those three done anything in the last few weeks to make you think maybe you should consider them?) – “We work all of those guys in. We don’t, especially in the secondary … In the front, in practice, those guys get reps. A little side note, but last week, one of the points that I made in one of my meetings … We go through a week of preparation – Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – and Friday morning was one of our last meetings, a wrap-up meeting. I called ‘Mo’ (Maurice) Smith down to the front of the room. I basically asked him five questions about the game plan, just specific stuff that those guys should know. He nailed all five of them. My point was, just to everybody, last week Chase Allen had to start a football game unexpectedly. On a Saturday we said, ‘Bro, you’re starting tomorrow,’ and he went out there and performed. My point is that everybody in that room – that sits in our defensive room – is on call. We saw it last year with injuries and stuff like that, guys that got called up, even the practice squad guys. Our message always to those guys is ‘Hey man, you’re in here. You’re listening to these meetings. You may only get two reps in practice but you’ve got to be responsible and know this stuff because you’re one step away from going into the game and you owe it to the rest of this defense, the rest of the people in this room, to be prepared and know what’s going on and be ready to step in when you’re called upon. That’s the message that we preach day-in and day-out. I believe that all three of those players, if they’re called upon, will be ready to go. ‘Mo’ (Smith) has been active and playing for us anyways. Those two young corners, they’re competitive dudes. One of the things that I love about the way (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) runs practice is when they’re on scout team, taking some of those reps, we don’t card practice necessarily for those guys. We put it into our terms. So as close as we can, we try to get those guys to play our techniques. Even though they’re on the scout team, we’re calling it in our language. We try to script it out in our language and say this is similar to the way we play this. Those guys take pride in that. I think (they take) pride, more so than some of the other guys I’ve been around, for young corners. They compete in those. They go up and they’re trying to make Jarvis (Landry) better and DeVante (Parker) and Kenny (Stills) and all of those guys. Those two players – McTyer and ‘Tank’ (Tankersley) – they’re competitive dudes and they work in practice. They get a couple of reps every period for our stuff too and they go out. Whoever’s number is called, they’ve got to go out and play, no matter what.”
(As a follow up that, do you do that often? Bring players to the front of the room and ask them …?) – “I’ll tell you, that was an old (Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator) Jim Schwartz move. He started that. He did that a lot when I was in Tennessee on defense and did it. (He) actually (did it) in Detroit too. He was the head coach and he would do it with the whole team. We’d be in a team meeting on Friday. The funny thing is too, it’s easy, right? Like this (media) stuff even. It’s easy. Everyone sits up in the stands, up in their seats, up in the auditorium and yells out answers, and then it’s different when you walk down in front of the room and the room is slanted and there’s 60 guys and they’re all heckling you and stuff. That’s a little bit different too. We would like call them down and you’re standing in front of your team or your defense. I always thought that was a cool way to just kind of make those points that everyone in this room is responsible. He was … I’m spilling beans here … (Schwartz) was like extreme. Anybody that was in the room was responsible to know what they had to know. So if there was an equipment guy in the room for the meeting, he’d call him down; or he’d call a security director down and ask him about gun concealment laws, or he’d call a trainer down and ask about insertion points of this muscle. (laughter) It was literally like ‘Hey man, we’re all counting on each other in this room and so you have to be able to prove to the rest of these guys in this room that I’m doing my job, and I know what I’m supposed to know and be there for you guys when I’m called upon.’ I always took that message to heart. I thought it was a good deal and I thought last week was a good time in light of – I don’t do it every week – but in light of sort of what had happened the week before with Chase (Allen) and kind of try to make a point of ‘Everyone’s on this. We’re in this together and I don’t care if you’re a practice squad guy or an inactive guy or a rookie or a coach or whatever in this room, we’ve got to be ready at the drop of a dime to step up and fill in some shoes.’”
(Have you called on an equipment guy?) – “No. That was the first time I did it. He called on me once when I was ‘QC’ (quality control coach). I’m getting carried away here. (laughter) Back when I was doing it too, QC, I was the only one and breaking down film. I’m working two weeks ahead sometimes trying to work on the next opponent, getting my film broken down and stuff. I was like three opponents ahead and he called me up in front of the defense and I’m like ‘I don’t even remember who we’re playing week,’ and he put me on a spot. I remember that lesson too. It was good. I just had to dial it back like ‘Who are we playing this week again? Alright. This is what they’re doing.’ So I’ve been called upon but I haven’t drug anybody else into it yet.”
