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Terrell Williams – August 4, 2017 Download PDF version

Friday, August 4, 2017

Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams

(We’ve noticed that DT Davon Godchaux has been out there ahead of DT Jordan Phillips. Has there been a change in the starting lineup?) – “No, not really. Honestly, you’ve also seen Godchaux and Jordan in together, so really we’re just kind of … At this point in training camp, we’re really just trying to mix and match and see what the best combinations are. He’s competing. He’s doing a good job. For a rookie, he’s strong, physical. He’s doing what you want a defensive tackle to do. It’s really – in my mind – it’s an open competition at all the positions.”

(When you say DT Davon Godchaux is doing what you want a defensive tackle to do, does that mean he’s primarily a run stopper or an energy guy? What does that mean?) – “Honestly, in my mind, a defensive tackle on first and second down, your No. 1 job is to be physical with those guards and knock them back. We give them one responsibility – knock the guards back, whether it’s run or pass. If you’re thinking pass rush as a defensive tackle (on) first and second down, then it’s a problem. He kind of gets it. He comes from a good system at LSU, so we’re excited to have him.”

(Has DT Davon Godchaux done enough in your mind where he has essentially pulled even with DT Jordan Phillips where it’s a toss-up in terms of competition with those two?) – “Honestly, they were even coming into training camp and the offseason. We told our guys that you don’t inherit positions here. If you played a lot last year, if you started last year, it doesn’t really matter. Guys have to go out and compete. Jordan understands that, and he’s going out and competing. It’s a day-to-day thing. The good thing about having good depth is that it equals leverage, so if a guy comes out and doesn’t do his job, then you just put the next guy in there. That’s the way it is. We believe in that on defense, and (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) believes in that as a head coach.”

(DT Vincent Taylor, he’s a guy – Oklahoma State – that wasn’t necessarily put in the best position to put up great numbers, but you guys obviously saw past that.) – “I think he had good numbers. I want to say he was close to double-digit sacks and a bunch of tackles. He did good for their system, and he’s doing good for our system right now. The only thing we ask out of those young guys – and really every guy – is to just get better every day. When your two supposed best players are two Pro Bowl players, two of the hardest workers, that makes it easy for me as a coach.”

(What are your early thoughts on what you’ve seen from DT Vincent Taylor so far?) – “He’s physical. That’s what I see. The rest of it, we’ll fix. But I know that the kid is a physical kid and he cares. It’s important to him. He’s like a gym rat. He’ll pull me to the side in the cafeteria or pull (Ndamukong) Suh or pull (Andre) Branch or any of our veteran players. The kid wants to be a great player. We did a good job of drafting and bringing in the right kind of guys here.”

(How would you describe the progress of DE Charles Harris?) – “He’s doing well. The thing about him – and we were just over there talking – and he understands this league is so different than playing in the SEC. Not only do you have big guys, but you’ve got big athletes. He’s coming along. I like where Charles is right now. We’ve got to get him ready to play Tampa, but it’s a day-to-day process.”

(From afar, it appears the d-line has been the most active unit on defense against the run and the pass. Do you agree and how excited do you get about that?) – “Honestly, I don’t know, because I’m only looking at my guys. I don’t know if we’re the most active or not. I do know that we have a lot that we need to work on; but I think we’re doing a better job of setting the edges in the run game and knocking guys back inside. Will Hayes I think has done a good job of changing that too.”

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