Vic Fangio – September 21, 2023
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Thursday, September 21, 2023
Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio
(There have obviously been four cornerbacks you’ve been using a lot in games. Did the issues with CB Eli Apple last week – obviously he was targeted and gave up several catches – has that made you re-think whether to insert CB Kelvin Joseph, CB Parry Nickerson or CB Cam Smith in Eli’s spot in the rotation? Is that something you’re considering, or do you remain fully committed to Eli Apple being one of your top four corners at this time?) – “That’s a long question for a simple question. (laughter)”
(He doesn’t do simple questions.) – “He does simple questions. He just has a hard time spitting them out. (laughter) It’s always something we’re looking at, obviously. Yeah, Eli (Apple) had a tough game for him. He did contribute some good plays. Right now, this early in the season, we’re going to consider all options.”
(We talked about players having ‘revenge games.’ I’m curious if you have any special feelings regards to Broncos week?) – “No, I really don’t. Every game we play in this league, one of 16, 17 now, is equally important. I’m sure when I see some of the people there that are still there that I know, you say hello and you think back a little bit. I enjoyed my time there. There are still about 15 or 16 players that are on the team from when I was there. I wish them nothing but success, except this week. I really don’t look at it much different. If the game maybe had been in Denver, maybe.”
(Is LB Andrew Van Ginkel going back inside or do you want to use him in both going forward?) – “Both.”
(Denver Head Coach Sean Payton talked this week and mentioned that he talked to S Justin Simmons and S Kareem Jackson and trying to get some ideas of your tendencies. How much does that change what you do knowing that they have some guys that know you a little bit?) –“Not at all. If you get too worked up in that stuff, you’ll just get twisted. You just treat it like any other game, do the things you think you have to do to win schematically, and you go at it. Those storylines, they’re juicy, but they’re not as effective as you think they are.”
(What do you feel like you’ve gotten out of LB Bradley Chubb through these first couple of games this season?) – “I think Bradley had a really good game this past week. Obviously made the big play on the strip fumble. (He made) a big play in the two-minute drive to get the sack. Then on the last play, had pressure. So it was really nice to see him have a good productive game and hopefully that kickstarts him to a great season.”
(Did you use that play that LB Bradley Chubb forced a fumble on as kind of teaching tape in the defensive meetings?) – “Absolutely.”
(Is it a coincidence that he’s played better since you’ve gotten here then?) – “I don’t know that. I wasn’t here last year, and I didn’t watch him play hardly last year.”
(Is there a reason for that? When a new coordinator comes in, usually they might look at and try to get a feel for their players.) – “Not really. I kind of go the other way because I want to draw my own conclusions and not be clouded by anything that happened in the past. Now if it’s a guy that’s a free agent that we have to make a decision on whether we want back or not, and management wants my opinion, obviously I’ll go do that. But guys that are on the team and we knew were going to be on the team in camp, I want to start fresh with them.”
(I read or heard somewhere that you made a call to LB Andrew Van Ginkel – I don’t know if this is like a wives’ tale or a lie – when he was a free agent, saying that you would like him back. Is that accurate and what do you think that Van Ginkel does bring to this defense?) – “That is accurate. I did call him. I just liked what I saw. That’s the example there. He was a free agent, so I did watch him and I liked what I saw. I saw some versatility. I saw a good football player, a tough guy who’s smart and instinctive and wanted him back.”
(CB Xavien Howard is a Pro Bowl player and veteran, but I believe he’s got three penalties, two pass interference and an illegal contact. Were they all legitimate calls and is that a point of concern? Or is that just football?) – “I think there were four of them in the first two games. Yeah, it’s a concern. You’ve got to be able to cover without fouling, to use a basketball term.”
(A quarterback like Russell Wilson, who doesn’t just extend on scrambles, but also designed runs, how does that challenge a defense?) – “It’s challenging. Anytime you’re playing a mobile quarterback, you have to defend two plays when they call a pass; the one they call in the huddle and the one he might create. It’s challenging. It is.”
(With LB Jaelan Phillips out, you went LB Andrew Van Ginkel over DE Emmanuel Ogbah for the majority of snaps. It worked out well, obviously, Van Ginkel played out of his mind. What can Ogbah do to improve his chance to get more reps?) – “Just keep improving in every facet of the game, which I think he is, and he’s committed to doing. Then he’ll get more snaps.”
(You all have been – as you have been a lot your career – I guess the word would be selective with blitzes. Do you think the more selective a coordinator is with blitzes, the better chance it generally has worked?) – “In certain games, yes. In other games, maybe not. Yeah, you want to pressure when you want to and not feel like you have to as a last resort.”
(Around this time last week, we were talking about the run defense coming off the Chargers game. You guys responded pretty well, 88 rush yards. What changed in your view?) – “We played better, number one. I think we had the mindset to stop the run. We took on blocks a little better and just had that little more edge that you need to have to play the run better. We played the run good. It was, by my count, 20 carries for 63 yards. They got some quarterback scramble runs, which I know statistically are rushing yards, but they’re not in my mind.”
(What was the difference between LB David Long Jr. in Week 2 and David Long Jr. in Week 1?) – “He played more because of the injury to (Jaelan) Phillips, and he responded and did a nice job for us.”
(Did LB David Long Jr. do anything better, spotting the ball or getting to the ball?) – “He just played more solid. The mental errors and technique errors were limited and hopefully that’s something that will continue to improve.”
(I think there was a pressure package where you had DT Raekwon Davis as like a defensive end and LB Bradley Chubb over the right guard. I was curious with Raekwon, we really know him as the interior run-stuffer guy. What have you seen that made you confident in moving him out in that situation?) – “Well, it’s just the front we use sometimes that one of the tackles will kick out to be an end position and he happened to be in the game at that time. It could have been (Zach) Sieler too. Occasionally, we like to put a big guy out on the end.”
(It looked like S DeShon Elliott played well last week. In your mind, because you know that S Brandon Jones has an established NFL body of work, would you like to weave him in at some point? Or is it your thinking that if DeShon continues to play well, there’s no need to take him out of the game?) – “Both. Yeah, we’d like to get Brandon going. The big thing with Brandon is, he missed the entire offseason. He missed not all of training camp, but most of training camp. Did not play in any preseason games and he just needs to catch up. When you’re back there, if you’re not honed up, they’re not just six-yard gains. They’re big ones. We’re giving him more and more practice reps every week and I’m confident he’ll be ready to play soon here.”
(Along those lines, how valuable is it to have a guy like S DeShon Elliott you can play free and kind of open up S Jevon Holland to do a lot of different things all across the field?) – “Yeah, you need two good safeties. Right now, I think DeShon played the best game he had for us last week. Now, you’d say we’ve only had two games, but he played in the preseason a pretty good amount. Hopefully he’ll be able to build on that.”
(It looked like CB Kader Kohou played pretty well again, whether it’s blowing up that screen or in the slot or outside. You’ve got WR Jerry Jeudy, this week, obviously. What did you see from Kader this year as he’s continuing to evolve his game?) – “He’s playing good for us. He plays both corner and nickel. He’s played less corner these first two games because we were playing a lot of nickel. But he’s starting at the corner position in our base package. I have very good confidence in him at either position. He’s played well these first two weeks, no doubt about it.”
(How is CB Cam Smith progressing as far as playing from scrimmage?) – “He’s progressing. He’s progressing. He got more practice reps yesterday. We’ll continue to try and get him practice reps and hopefully when he’s called upon, he’ll be ready to play.”
(What’s a staple or something to know about Denver Head Coach Sean Payton’s approach to offense?) – “He’s always run a very balanced offense, balanced meaning run, pass. He’s not a guy that runs the ball just because he knows he has to. Sometimes he enjoys running the ball. He’s always had a good mix. I think he’s one of the better play callers in the league in the last 20, 30 years. He does a good job calling the game and I think they’re vastly improved offensively.”
(What stands out to you about CB Kader Kohou’s tackling ability and in all your years of coaching, where does he rank among tackling cornerbacks?) – “He’s a good tackling cornerback. Where he ranks? I don’t know. You’ve got to let me sit down and think about that for a while. There’s a lot of corners in 37 years. (laughter) But he’s done a good job tackling. I think the big thing with tackling is mindset and technique. You’ve got to want to tackle, and he likes to tackle.”
