Patrick Graham – October 1, 2019
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(I wanted to ask you about blitzing. After this last game in the press conference Head Coach Brian Flores said ‘we can blitz more’ when asked about not getting more pressure. In the middle of September when asked about lack of pressure, coach also said ‘I think we can blitz more.’ I know you guys are in alignment obviously, but what is your general blitz philosophy?) – “In game, what you try to do on defense is defend that situation and whatever they put out there. I think like what coach said, blitzing more is something that we need to do or we can do, like you said. That’s something we’ll go about trying to get done.”
(Obviously every choice has pros and cons. This might seem self-evident but for the fans and media especially who aren’t coaches per se, can you kind of in general outline some of the pros and some of the cons anytime you bring pressure?) – “I think you’ve got to weigh what you think is going to give the quarterback or the offense, in general, the most issues. If you bring more than your standard four rushers, obviously you’re taking somebody out of coverage. Is it going to be beneficial for you to do that? Will it keep somebody in for them? That’s one way to look at it. Or, now that you’re bringing extra people, are you isolating somebody to have to block a certain player, so now you’re getting a chance to isolate one of your better rushers, if it is a passing situation. Then you have to take it into the whole situation with the run game. Are you bringing it off the edge to help set a firmer edge or to surprise them off the edge? Those are the different things when you’re weighing it. There is always a risk and reward so that’s really what you’re trying to weigh and trying to have some anticipation based on tendencies and the people in the game.”
(In your career, have you been a guy who enjoys – There would seem to be an adrenaline thing there. Like, ‘I’m going to dial it up.’ Are you a dial it up guy in general?) – “In general, I’m a ‘try to do my best to win the situation’ guy to be honest with you. I like the pressure. I like it all. It’s all fascinating to me, just to figure out ways to stop these offenses that are so dynamic. Blitzing is definitely somthing that I’m accustomed to doing. I enjoy doing all aspects of the defense to be honest with you.”
(Is it fair for us to say, this is the youngest team in the NFL, they have a lot of youngsters and you got new guys every week. Every week you’re putting guys in positions they’ve never done before. Is it fair to say, you know what, maybe because of that, we’re going to be a little more base?) – “No. Not in my opinion. I get paid to coach. We’re going to do what we think is best for the situation. That’s what I get paid to do. I’ve got to get them – regardless if they are here from a day, or three days, or five years – we’ve got to get them to do what we’re asking them to do. I don’t think that’s the answer.”
(A guy that has brought some pressure in the last two games is a guy who just got here. DE Taco Charlton to me seems to be playing with who is playing with motivation, and maybe it has something to do with how he was criticized in Dallas. What have you seen from Taco?) – “For me, I’ve always wanted to coach Taco, from when I met him at the combine. I told him, I say to him probably every day, I say, ‘I’ve been waiting to coach you. I’m happy to see you and get to coach you.’ I think he’s really bought in so far in terms of what we’re asking him to do, and then obviously his skillset. The motivation thing I think you’ll have to ask him. I think from what I knew of him and from what I know of him now, he’s a competitor. He’s been blessed with a skillset that – again, any time you’re having success, you’re going to want to push that anyway. He’s a competitor and he has a skillset. That’s probably the motivation, but you’ll have to ask him specifically.”
(What went into giving DE Taco Charlton a big opportunity? He had a lot of chances in that last game. What is the staff’s philosophy?) – “I think it’s practice. To me, practice is the closest thing to a game. Practice execution is game reality. Guys, if you’re seeing it in practice consistently, you get rewarded.”
(A lot of coaches really try to keep what’s in the building inside, and any noise that’s kind of outside or around the team, and expectations and performance, you don’t want any of that noise to creep in; but it kind of does. How have you guys taken it as a coaching staff, the 0-4 start, what people are saying about what this team is trying to do in the future instead of right now – how do you guys handle those things as a coach?) – “I handle it, and I would say our players in terms of, in my opinion, are handling it because the vision that’s been set forth by our head coach is a vision. It’s not a Polaroid picture; it’s not a glimpse at it. It’s a vision of where we’re going in terms of getting better every day, improving on our fundamentals, and that’s what we’re working towards. I think any time you have a vision and any time your leader lays out the vision and guys that buy in and we see it and we listen, what we’re seeing might be different from what everybody else is seeing. I can’t speak for everybody else; but the vision that our head coach has, (General Manager) Chris Grier – the vision that we have and the vision that we explain to the players – I think that’s important, so I don’t hear it. It’s not me (using) coach-speak. I don’t hear it. I don’t hear it, period.”
(Does it get a little clouded when the results don’t show up on the field?) – “No. That’s why it’s our vision. It’s not a Polaroid; it’s a vision. It’s deeper than that. It doesn’t sway at all. Obviously we want better results (and) we can coach better, and we can play better. I know I can – I’m speaking for myself; but the vision is there.”
(How much progress have you made towards that vision?) – “Like coach said yesterday, if we can play one good half – or coach said the day before, ‘if we can play one good half, we can play two good halves.’ That’s what we’ve got to do. That’s what we’re going to work on.”
(So baby steps?) – “I don’t know about baby steps. We’ve got to put together two good halves of football.”
(When you say, ‘I can coach better,’ which is a thing that coaches sometimes say; but as it relates to the first four weeks, what do you mean?) – “You’re always in the process of self-evaluating and trying to improve. I ask the players to get better every day. I make it a point on myself to get better every day. If I’m never thinking about how I can improve for the next week or the next day, then I think you get complacent, and then when complacency sets in, in this league, you’re not going to be here very long. That’s how I approach it. There’s a bunch of stuff – I don’t feel the need to get into exactly all of the stuff that I know that I need to improve upon, but I’m constantly evaluating myself and trying to figure out how I can become a better coach, a better husband, a better brother, a better son. That’s just how I’m built.”
(I saw DT Christian Wilkins a couple of time over the past few games, move a man – a guard or a center – five or six yards back. I was thinking, ‘that’s what he was brought here to do.’ I was trying to think about guards and center in this league. He’s just a rookie, but from a physical standpoint, his power, strength, his leverage ability, his footwork, his mobility, do you think it’s fair to say he should have a physical advantage over a good majority of men he’s facing in the league?) – “He’s a rookie, and I’d say a majority of the people he’s facing has some experience in the NFL. Four games compared to whatever, I don’t know. You hope you have a good matchup in terms of the physical, but there’s so much that goes into it. The physical, the mental makeup of it, the experience. There’s no substitute for experience. I think he’s making progress, just like some of our other guys are making progress. Eventually when the mental catches up with the physical, then it all ties together, then it becomes a beautiful thing.”
(I saw DT Christian Wilkins I think take a right guard, disengage and make an aggressive physical tackle, I think for maybe no gain on that particular play. Playing the position that he’s often at, left defensive end in a 3-4 formation, some folks wonder how destructive can he be in that spot. How much of the responsibility for his job is to wreak havoc in destruction, and how much is it to hold up his point of attack?) – “I think the point of the front is to – we ask those guys, we call it block destruction. That’s the No. 1 thing, that’s what we ask them to do: destroy blocks. In terms of violence and destruction and things like that, that’s in their job description. I would say that’s high on the priority list. As he improves and uses his hands and gets off of blocks and is able to find the ball, I would say that any time you’re a part of the front or just the defender, we’re trying to be destructive.”
(Do you agree that DT Christian Wilkins is showing improvement?) – “He’s improving. He’s definitely improving. Again, experience – there’s no substitute. That comes with time.”
(What’s been the most surprising thing to you about the first four games defensively as a whole?) – “The most surprising thing? I can’t – the most surprising thing? I don’t know how to answer that right now, to be honest with you. Obviously we would want to finish off the games a little bit better obviously, but I can’t say anything surprising per se.”
(What is something that is happening that actually pleases you, and provides you some encouragement going into the bye?) – “Again, from the first time I talked to you guys until now, I just really want the guys to buy into getting better every day. There is definitely evidence of that, and I just know if we get better every day, we’ll be okay. That’s the thing that’s been most important to me. The guys – their work ethic, trying to get better every day, working on something to get better every day, that’s been pretty good for me.”
(Going into last week’s game, you guys were allowing 208 rushing yards per game. Held the Chargers, which was averaging 5.2 to less than 100 yards. What was the difference?) – “I think as always with the run game, it starts with setting the edge and just trying to be more consistent setting the edge. Then from there, playing with power inside and tackling. I think there was glimpses of that during the game and then part of it too is mentality, just trying to get that established. It really starts from the film room in the meetings, them having a better understanding of it and us coaching it better, to practicing and being better. That’s where the emphasis – the emphasis always comes back to practice.”
(Has it been an edge-setting issue or what?) – “I would say it’s multiple things. It’s really just trying to improve the fundamentals of it. It always comes back in the run game to is the edge set, are you playing with power inside, and are you tackling? Then on top of that, eye discipline. You can get into all of that stuff but once you start dealing with all of the misdirection or pullers and things of that nature; but I think the most important (thing is), and we always talk about it, you’ve got to set the edge, play with power inside, building a wall and then you’ve got to tackle. You’ve got to tackle. That’s the main thing.”
(With LB Raekwon McMillan, has there been a moment where – ‘oh wow, this guy, we’ve got something here that we obviously we didn’t see a lot of in the spring?’) – “People want to talk about the plays and the big tackle here but to me, Raekwon ‘wow’s’ me by how he handles himself in the meeting room. He’s talkative in a good way. He understands what’s going on. He asks good questions. To me, when that starts to grow and you start to see it and he sees the correction before I do, now I know we’re starting to build something, especially at that position where they’re seeing it, they’re understanding it and then they’ll be able to correct it throughout the series on their own. That’s when I get the ‘wow’ moments. A lot of times it’s not the stuff that happens on Sunday, it’s the stuff that happens on the field, in practice or in the meeting rooms before that time.”
Chad O’Shea – October 1, 2019
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(You’re at the quarter-mile pole now. Obviously not the start that you probably wanted to get off to. Specifically with the second halves, 81-0 outscored – how do you approach the last 12 games and trying to fix that?) – “The positive thing in regards to the lack of success in the second half is that we were able to do it for one half of football. We’re going to go and closely evaluate what we do in all areas of the second half – the approach, the scheme we use, defensively study what they’ve done (against) us in the second half. I think it’s a combination of factors that we’re really going to look closely at and determine what’s best for us moving forward. Again, I think the positive thing for us is that we know we’re capable of playing a consistent brand of football that we’ve displayed in the first half. There were some really positive things for us in the first half of the game. We’re making improvements. We’re making progress. It’s just a matter of getting that to the second half, and that’s something we’re going to work really hard on moving forward.”
(How much thought is given by you and Head Coach Brian Flores in terms of the approach to the coin toss and whether you’re going to take the ball coming out in the second half or whether you’re going to take it on the opening kickoff?) – “I think that there’s a number of things that we have to make decisions on or try to think through prior to the game. Certainly, the coin toss is always one of those that is discussed as a staff. (Head Coach) Brian (Flores) does a great job of being very thorough in some of the discussions that we have; not only on the coin toss, but other things that may come up in the game – situational football or certain situations that come up during the game that we really look closely at, we talk about and I think that the coin toss is one of them.”
(When it comes to the progress of the running game and the passing game, you obviously have a lot of moving pieces in there with the running backs and then quarterback-wise, now that you’re developing QB Josh Rosen, how do you manage that game plan of needing to establish the run but also needing to get Josh into a rhythm?) – “I think there’s definitely a balance with where we are on offense right now of trying to establish the run and maintain a good balance of doing the things that Josh (Rosen) does well. Certainly, he’s done some things really well, and he’s making progress. To play quarterback in this league, you have to rely on the run game and it has to be something that you have to do well in order to open up some of the other things.”
(Have you identified where the improvement needs to come from individually – RB Kalen Ballage, RB Kenyan Drake, RB Mark Walton…?) – “That’s something that we’re still – this week is a great week for us because we really are going back and trying to really study our first quarter of the season and how we can improve. I know that the running back position is like other positions right now in that there’s plenty of things that we can improve on. I don’t want to narrow it down to one specific thing; but it’s just overall, I think that there’s a lot of areas to improve. I think it’s all positions right now. Obviously, we’ve had some drops at all positions. We need to improve that. Some of the basic fundamentals of football, we need to really make improvements on, and that’s something we’re going to spend this week really trying to focus in on.”
(You brought up the drops – receivers, running backs – is it to a point where you need to create specific drills in practice?) – “I think that one of the things on catching the football is it’s something that we have as part of our everyday drills. We think that throwing, catching, blocking, tackling are things that we try to work every day, and we’re going to continue to do those, but we’re going to – as a coaching staff – again, we’re evaluating all aspects of our program right now. One of the things we’re evaluating is the teaching progression and what we do on the field and the drills that we have and those things. At the end of the day, it just comes down to the basic fundamentals of catching the football. Certainly, we’ve had enough drops at all positions that we need to make some improvements in this area.”
(How about the mental aspect? I know when I talked to the receivers about that a couple weeks ago, there are different approaches. There’s the short memory – “get back in the huddle, throw me the ball again.” Sometimes the drops kind of stick with you sometimes. Are there mental exercises they can do to calm down?) – “I think that catching the football is obviously a lot mental as much as it is physical. We try to emphasize the players having positive thoughts of catching the football. We’re never going to talk about any negativity and never try to associate dropping the ball with the act of catching the ball fundamentally. They certainly know that they need to work on it. This is a good week to work our fundamentals. I look forward to getting out on the field this week and really working those fundamentals, and obviously the catching fundamental is something we need to work on.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage, how have you handled his psyche right now? I know he had a strong training camp and preseason.) – “I’ve continued to tell Kalen how much confidence we have in him because I truly do have confidence in Kalen. I know his teammates do. I look forward to having him out there again to have another opportunity whether it’s catching or running the ball. I have a great deal of respect for his work ethic, how he approaches the game. He’s certainly not in the position that he wants to be in right now because of the drops that he’s had, but he’s done a lot of other things well for our offense. He has the drops, which is what jumps out at most people because it’s so glaring in what happened and those things, but he’s done so many things well within our offense that we can’t lose sight of that and we have a tremendous amount of confidence in him.”
(Have you ever been part of an offense that had four different starting tackles in the first four weeks of the season?) – “I think that one of the challenges we all have is just those moving parts and positions. Certainly, when it’s at the offensive line position – I have such great respect for that position and what that means to a successful offense to have a good offensive line. Stability and continuity are things that really, are very helpful to the offensive line. What we’re doing here is we’ve had some different combinations here in the first part of the season, and we’re still looking for those guys. They haven’t worked together for a long period of time. I think this is a work in progress, one of which I think they made progress. I would say it’s a good type of challenge in the way in which that’s our job as coaches to find the right combination and to make it work.”
(T Isaiah Prince – obviously it was a surprise for us to see him out there. How do you think he held up?) – “I think he did well. Obviously, anytime you’re a first-time offensive lineman playing in the NFL, it’s challenging, especially going against what we were (going against). We have a lot of respect for the outside rushers for them (Los Angeles Chargers), so I thought he did well for his first time out there. Certainly, (there are) a lot of things that we need to improve on – not only with him personally, but as an offense. I think it was a good start for him, but we have a lot of way to go here.”
(I know the coaches really try not to let any outside noise seep into the building, but how have you guys handled this 0-4 start? How have you guys handled the noise surrounding this team during the season?) – “I think the team has been focused really on improving. They have embraced kind of our adverse circumstances that we’re in right now. They’re really – I have a lot of respect for the mental toughness of this team right now and how they’ve responded to the way the season has gone for us so far. They’ve come out with a positive attitude. They’ve continued to work hard, and I think they’ve continued to work on just the process of improving and that’s been a real positive for us through tough times here.”
(What have been the adverse circumstances you are referring to? I could name a few, but I want to know what you think.) – “I think that whenever you go out – the adverse circumstances I’m referring to is just the lack of success on the field. I think that the easiest thing for people to do in all areas of life is when things are going well, it’s just okay. I think that really, this team has been resilient through lack of success on the field. Obviously, we’re not pleased with the outcome at all, and we’re striving for something opposite of what has been the case, but I’ve been pleased with the way the team has responded and with the attitude that they’ve had. The circumstances as far as us having lack of success on the field is what it is right now. We’re 0-4, and we want better; but I think that everybody understands that we need to just focus in on the process of improving.”
(For lack of a better term, have you guys seen the light at the end of the tunnel here with what you’re trying to do?) – “I think that whenever there’s progress made, it’s encouraging to look at the film with the guys the next day and say, ‘hey, here are some positives. Here’s some progress that we’ve made. If we can build on this, we can continue to trend in the right direction.’ I think that that’s something that to the players was very evident after looking at the last game. If we did have some success, we played more consistently in this game in stretches of time than we did before. I think that’s encouraging and that’s a positive.”
(How about you personally? I don’t think you’ve been part of a four-game losing streak in a decade obviously.) – “It’s something that again, you’ve just got to remind yourself to focus in on the things you can control, and that is to improve daily. We can certainly – we’re taking this week as a great opportunity for us to look back at what we’ve done and how we can improve and how we can be better. I think that our vision for the team right now is all moving forward. It’s how we can be and not where we were. Certainly, we’re looking back and trying to learn from the past here in the last four games to how we can improve, but there’s kind of a vision that the team has I think in a positive way. I think they’ve approached it that way and it’s been good.”
(Who are a couple of guys on offense that have really kind of taken a step forward for you?) – “I think that we continue to trend the right way as the offensive line position. I certainly think the receiver group had a good game this past week. DeVante Parker continues to go out and make plays. Preston Williams showed up. Isaiah Ford came off the practice squad and came in and made a third down conversion that was a real nice play. I’m pleased with that group. I think that the tight end position – they might not get as many catches or touches as the other guys, but certainly Nick O’Leary and Durham Smythe – they played well in the run game for us, so they come to mind. The running back position – I thought (Kenyan) Drake made some plays in space and was able to finally get some space for him and did well there. I think a lot of guys are trending in the right direction, only to mention a few of those, but I think they’re trending in the right direction, making some improvements. Certainly, there was a number of positives out of this game despite the final score.”
(And QB Josh Rosen?) – “I think that Josh has really made progress. I said in the first week – I thought his communication was good and his overall operation of the offense was good. I think despite the one turnover he had, for the most part, he made good decisions with the football and tried to play the game the way we wanted him to play it. The overall operation again was good for the second week in a row, and we didn’t have any issues there. His communication was good with the offensive line and some of the things that go unforeseen – the line calls and communication that occurs before the snap, he was good on. I think that we’re definitely headed in the right direction. I think he made improvement. I think he’s embracing the challenge of continuing to improve, and I think it’s a positive thing.”
(How’s it going for you as a coach?) – “I think that I’m like everybody else. I’m like the players right in that I’ve got to keep improving. There’s certainly a lot of areas that I need to improve on. I don’t look at it as, ‘hey, we’re 0-4.’ I look at it as moving forward. I really do and kind of having forward thinking. The vision has got to be positive and that’s the way it is for me. I’m going to continue to work as hard as I can to put this offense in a position to be successful. I’m very fortunate to have a really good staff, so that makes it easy to come to work and have support around you. I certainly have a lot of confidence in our leader – in (Head Coach) Brian (Flores). I think that we’re all in this together. We all know how important it is for us to continue to work and to continue to improve, and the same message we have for the players is the same message that we have for ourselves as a coaching staff. We’ve just got to continue on the process of improving here day-to-day and control the things we can control.”
(Is there a call or two that you wish you had back, and if so, what lessons have you drawn from those?) – “I think there hasn’t been a game that I haven’t left from and said that I would maybe do something differently. I think that what I’ve learned about the position that I’m in is when you do make decisions throughout the course of the game, there are going to be decisions that you maybe wish you would have done something different; but again, we have a great coaching staff and a number of players who try to do exactly what we’re asking them to do, and that’s a positive thing. But yeah, there are certainly times that I look back and say, ‘hey, I learned from this. I would have done something differently.’ It’s been a learning experience for myself.”
Raekwon McMillan – September 30, 2019
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Monday, September 30, 2019
LB Raekwon McMillan
(In terms of your use, how different is it now compared to when you started the season?) – “At the beginning of the season, they didn’t know what I could do because I was out with the injury. I just had to work my way back from the injury and get my body right and I’m out there playing now.”
(How comfortable do you feel now in the scheme?) – “Real comfortable. I can do anything they want me to do. Anything they ask me to do out there on the field, I feel like I can get it done.”
(Pro Football Focus has you as one of the highest-rated linebackers in the entire league. How do you feel you’re playing and what do you feel about that grade?) – “It really doesn’t matter. I don’t really pay attention to stuff like that. We’re 0-4. We’re looking into going into the second quarter of the season trying to get a win and get better.”
(How can this defense improve?) – “We’ve just got to play together as an entire defense. Everybody’s got to be on one core, and if we get on one core we’ll play fast.”
(Was it a matter of getting a season under your belt and coming off the injury just getting that year’s worth of recovery? How much did all that help you do you think?) – “It helped a lot. People were saying I was this, that or I wasn’t this. Everybody was telling me what I’m not, but I don’t care about that. It’s all about what I can go out there and do on the field and make it happen throughout the week and my product. What I put out there on film on Sundays is what it’s all about.”
(When did you really start to feel like 100 percent like yourself?) – “When I got back – like I said, we always talk about it’s in the past now, but probably about Week 5 or 6 last year. I feel like after the injury I was all the way back where I needed to be and I could play ball.”
(What do you feel you’re doing well to get involved in so many plays?) – “Just effort. Running to the ball. (It’s) nothing special – just playing linebacker. Big props to my guy Kiko (Alonso). He’s gone now, but he really taught me how to watch film, how to diagnose plays and really taught me a lot about playing linebacker in this league. I’m just taking it one step at a time.”
(Do you feel like that’s what the difference is? You’re diagnosing plays faster?) – “Yeah, I’m diagnosing plays faster. I just know what I’m looking at and I’m able to trigger and go make the play.”
(Are you still in touch with LB Kiko Alonso?) – “Yeah, that’s my guy. That’s my dude. I’m going to always keep in contact with Kiko. We played beside each other for two years, and we’ll do it for a lifetime.”
(What do you think about where the bye week lands, and is it a good time or…?) – “Ohio State vs. Michigan State. (laughter)”
Brian Flores – September 30, 2019
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Monday, September 30, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Now you’ve got two weeks here. What do you want the mood of your team to be this week?) – “Always positive and upbeat. I think there’s obviously some disappointment with the way we started, but I always want our team to move on and really look towards the next day and the next challenge. I think they’ll do that, but obviously there’s some disappointment in that locker room kind of reflecting on the first four weeks of the season and really the last couple weeks where I think we can all feel some improvement and feel some opportunity and feel some possibility of things going a different way and when they don’t turn out the way you want them, there’s some disappointment; but always upbeat and always positive. That’s what I’m looking for out of this group. To go the other way, it helps no one.”
(Do you think things are trending in the right direction for you?) – “I would say there’s some improvement. ‘Trending the right way’ – I don’t know if that’s the phrase I would use. At the end of the day, this is a production business. It’s about wins and losses, and we’re not doing very well in that department. I think there’s some individual improvement, some improvement within groups, improvement for a half, good play for a half; but it’s a 60-minute ballgame, and we’ve got to find a way to put a 60-minute game together – not a 30-minute game, not a 40-minute game, not a 10-minute game. A 60-minute game. That’s where our focus will be.”
(Do you split the season into quarters, and if so, how would you evaluate the first quarter?) – “Yeah, it’s easy to do that with 16 games where you split it into quarters. The first quarter I would say not so good. I would say we made a lot of changes to the roster, (we were) kind of building the team on the fly in a lot of ways, but we’re not going to make excuses about that. We try to put the guys in the best positions to play well, but at the same time trying to build a team and build some camaraderie and build some communication and build some rapport. I think that’s been a big part of these first four weeks. I think that’s trending in the right direction as far as the team coming together, getting to know each other and building relationships in the locker room, off the field, on the field. That to me is very, very important on a team. I think from that standpoint, there have been some positives, but on the field, we’ve got a long way to go. I think they know that. I think specifically over the last two weeks, there have been some positives or more positives than there were the first two weeks but still not good enough. The first quarter of the season is over and we just move onto the next part of the season.”
(I guess that being said, what would be your No. 1 goal for your team and what you want to see in the second quarter of the season?) – “Putting a full game together. That would be my No. 1 goal. You’ve always got to do that one play at a time, one practice at a time, but we’ve got to string more plays together more consistently. That’s everybody. That’s players, coaches – it’s everyone. We’ve got to string the whole thing together. I would start right there. There’s a lot that goes into that – coaching, execution, fundamentals, conditioning. There’s a lot that goes into that. I think that’s my No. 1 goal.”
(Aside from effort and attitude, what do you see as the positives from the first quarter of the season?) – “I would say communication has definitely improved offensively, defensively and in the kicking game over the first four games. I would say offensively, our execution – obviously, we were better on third down yesterday than we’ve been, which allowed us to sustain some drives, put the ball in the end zone. We had another opportunity to put it in the end zone. We didn’t. Defensively, I think we didn’t tackle well, then we did tackle well and yesterday we didn’t tackle well. There’s some inconsistency there, so we need to continue to just focus on that. We didn’t defend the deep part of the field well early. Then we did. Yesterday it was a little bit of the intermediate pass game that kind of got us. We’ve just got to play a little bit more consistently. Our opponents – there’s a lot of good coaching in this league, and they do a good job of trying to attack your weaknesses. If you’re taking something away, they’ll try to – we took away a lot of over-outs. They checked it down, and then we couldn’t tackle. There’s just a myriad of things that go on within the game. We’ve got to be able to handle it all. You’re not going to take everything away, but you want to kind of play the way you want to play. If you’re giving something up, or if they catch you in the area where you’re a little bit weak, you need to understand that and do everything you can to limit the bad plays.”
(You had a bunch of guys that were questionable on Friday and didn’t end up being up – S Bobby McCain, WR Albert Wilson and G/T Jesse Davis. The thinking on those three and now you have two weeks. Do you anticipate CB Jomal Wiltz, WR Jakeem Grant, all these guys who are dealing with these little things…) – “I would say those guys – they wanted to play, each one of them. They fought their way into getting into practice and trying to go, and at the end of the day, we just felt like it was the best decision for them individually and us as a team not to play them.”
(And you’re optimistic that a lot of these are doing well?) – “I am. I would say yeah, I’m optimistic that those guys will be out there next time out.”
(When you look at these past four games, how would you assess the performance of the running backs, and do you have some clarity as to where you want to go from here with those four guys?) – “I think we’ve got three guys – four including (Patrick) Laird – who are all different, all have had moments of production. I thought we ran it better than we have yesterday. The offensive line played well. They were tough. They were physical. They did a good job moving a good defensive line. We had some opportunities in the run game. We had a big run early that got brought back because of a penalty. Again, that’s one of those things where if we just get lined up right, we’ve got a 30-yard play. If we don’t, we don’t (have a 30-yard) play, so we lose that. I think (Kenyan) Drake – I think he’s been productive. He ran hard yesterday. We’ve got to do a better job of ball security. That’s two weeks in a row where we’ve lost one. I think (Kalen) Ballage – he runs hard. He had a run called back as well yesterday with a holding penalty. Mark (Walton) – I thought he went in there and ran well yesterday. He’s caught the ball well and done some good things. I think Patrick has done a good job in the kicking game. I like our backs. Again, we’ll do a lot of evaluating. We’ll evaluate the entire team and try to find a way to get them all out there but get the guys we want out there in specific situations.”
(How would you evaluate DE Taco Charlton’s first two games?) – “I think he’s still learning the defense for sure. There were some instances there where he was a little bit out of position. He’s a hard-working kid. I like him. I think he brings energy. He’s got length. He’s got toughness. He’s got a long way to go from a pass-rush standpoint as far as using his length, using his speed, using his ability and putting it all together; but I think there’s a lot of potential here and we’ll just keep working him. He had a couple of good rushes yesterday and a couple of not-so-good rushes. We’ll just keep working. I think he’ll help us.”
(You had some other guys in that mix, too – DE Avery Moss, DT John Jenkins, LB Vince Biegel, LB Trent Harris – what are some things you’re liking from those other guys?) – “(Avery) Moss – I think he’s really shown up the last couple weeks in a positive way. From a run standpoint, he’s playing with the right techniques. I’m thinking of a play last week against Dallas. They’ve obviously got the big offensive line. He had a couple good plays against (them). They’ve got two good tackles. He played well there. (John) Jenkins does a good job holding the point in the run game. Trent (Harris) has done a good job on the edge and does a good job with communication. (Vince) Biegel – he’s a ball of energy. I think all of them are still finding their way within the scheme, and they’re really finding the way within the building to be honest with you. I think that group’s starting to come together. They’re working to come together, and you see flashes and spurts of a unit playing well together, and hopefully we can just continue to improve, get better and build that rapport and we can start to play more consistently.”
(Going back and watching the game today, it looked like you were fired up with DT Christian Wilkins after the penalty?) – “Yeah, I mean – Look, it’s 10-10. I think we just missed a field goal. We were right in it. We don’t need those. He knows that. I think everybody on the team knows that. I thought it was a bad penalty. We show plays like that on a weekly basis: ‘This is what we’re not going to do,’ and we do it. I love Christian. He knows that. I’m going to coach him hard, especially a kid like this who has so much ability and leadership potential. I think he’s going to be here a long time and be the face of what we want to be about, and that’s not it. He knows that. Everybody on the team knows that. I was upset and I’m still upset, but it’s football. You kind of get over things quickly.”
(K Jason Sanders is 1-of-3 on field goal attempts of 50-plus. How do you view that? That’s a tough distance but maybe a makeable distance.) – “He’s a good kicker. He can make these kicks. I have a lot of confidence in him. I still do. I just said that in front of the entire team. We’ll keep kicking them and he’ll make them. I have a lot of confidence in him. He makes them in practice day after day after day after day. I think he’ll be just fine.”
(It’s your bye week. How much rest will you take away from this place and kind of de-compress?) – “Me personally or the team?”
(You personally.) – “I think my wife has something planned, so whatever she says we’ll do. (laughter) But if it’s up to me, I’ll be in here. It probably won’t be up to me. (laughter)”
(Earlier you were talking about improvement, especially after these past couple of games. I’ll put you on the spot here: when you think of guys who are most improved since training camp began, who are a couple of guys who come to mind for you?) – “Training camp?”
(Training camp or the beginning of the season.) – “Well, the first guy that came to mind was Avery Moss. He’s a guy who has improved since he’s gotten here. Obviously he wasn’t here during training camp. For a guy from training camp, a guy like (Michael) Deiter. He’s a guy who has really made a lot of improvements over the course of – really, since he got here. The guy ended up playing tackle last week and played guard, played well yesterday. If you go back to the first preseason game when the lights came on and there was some movement, he looked like a deer in headlights. Now he’s out here playing tackle against the Dallas Cowboys in a hostile environment and he didn’t bat an eye. I think we’ve got a lot of guys who have made a lot of improvement. It’s a young team. We’ve got a long way to go. I think there is a – you have to learn how to be a professional as a young player. That’s something that we talk about on a daily basis. These guys are doing that. I think he’d be at the forefront. Christian (Wilkins) as well. I think I would say I’ve definitely seen improvement from guys like that – Avery Moss, etc.”
Charles Harris – September 29, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 29, 2019
Postgame – L.A. Chargers
DE Charles Harris (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(What have you guys been seeing that’s playing out differently in the second half?) – “Really, we have to get back and watch the film from today to see what the pattern (is). I think we have to start fast coming out of the half. Some people will say we’re a young team or whatever the case may be but we just have to get our momentum back up after we go in for the half, whether we end the first half good or bad.”
(The pressure you guys got on QB Philip Rivers today, what did you think? Did you get the type of pressure you wanted?) – “I think we definitely did a good job of caging him in. He’s a great quarterback, so we have to do a better job of hitting him more and more. He’s a tough guy. He got a couple passes out there. We just have to keep on him.”
(You’re 0-4 on the season. What’s the tone of this locker room right now?) – “Back to work. That’s the number one thing. Training follows wherever the leader goes. I think (Head) Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) isn’t giving up in terms of us working hard and getting back to the basics, correcting and things like that. I think right now it’s just hard work. I think everyone knows we have to come back in tomorrow, make the corrections, and get back to the grind. Enjoy the bye week and come back and come back to work.”
Xavien Howard – September 29, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 29, 2019
Postgame – L.A. Chargers
CB Xavien Howard (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(Where is this team at right now? Obviously the record speaks for itself but where do you feel the team is at mentally right now?) – “Just like Reshad (Jones) said, we are likely one play away from everything – one block, one turnover. I feel like we just have to make plays out there, and we’re not getting the job done.”
(Do you think the adjustments at halftime are proper right now? They are being made and you guys are executing those?) – “I feel like they are putting us in the right calls and we’re just not executing. We just have to come out there with more energy in the second half. We’ve been tied or ahead part of the game and then we come out in the second half and be flat. So we have to come out there with more energy.”
Taco Charlton – September 29, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 29, 2019
Postgame – L.A. Chargers
DE Taco Charlton (transcribed by Paola Argueta)
(I see you walked off the field and you glimpsed at the scoreboard and you kind of start shaking your head at the end of the game. Your thoughts on a game like that?) – “It’s never satisfying. I’m a competitor, so I like to win. Just having that feeling, I just hate seeing us lose, especially when I feel like we could have done some things that could have changed the outcome. It’s something for us to build off of and come back after this bye week ready to go. ”
(What were your thoughts just on the pressure you guys were able to get on Chargers QB Philip Rivers?) – “We got some but Iike I said, I’m never satisfied. I want more. It’s not enough. Like I said, we’ve got to help each other out. The d-line, we’ve got to put pressure to help that secondary out and vice versa. I think it’s something for us to build off of. Keep working and get back to work and like I said, get ready after this bye week to get a win.”
(In the two games you’ve been with this team you guys have been in the games going into halftime, what has changed after the half?) – “We just have to come out of the half I would say with more of a spark ready to play, make some key plays and then it’ll be all different. It’s just one or two plays – not one or two plays – but there are a couple of plays, that if we make that big play, it could be that play that changed the game. There are some things I think we can correct and come back a better team.”
Isaiah Prince – September 29, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 29, 2019
Postgame – L.A. Chargers
T Isaiah Prince (transcribed by Katharine Bohlmann)
(When did you get the heads up that you would start today?) – “They let me know sometime during the middle of the week. During the week, I was just competing and trying to get better.”
(How do you feel like you have progressed since training camp to now?) – “I feel like I have gotten a lot better since training camp with the help of my coaches and teammates. I am just thankful for them.”
(How much time did you get to study DE Joey Bosa and DE Melvin Ingram – I know Ingram went out with an injury, but did you get Bosa a few times today?) – “Yeah, I got to see both of them today. Like I said, I just stuck to the game plan with the coaches. The coaches – (Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo) ‘Guge’ did a really great job with me this week just helping me be prepared of whoever was going to be in there. It worked out. I did the best that I can.”
