Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson
Q: What is the message to the group about stopping the run? You guys focused on that already, but how that can be better going into this week?
DENNARD WILSON: It takes all 11. That's a huge emphasis for us. For us, it's about getting lined up, getting set, and then with the motions, the pre-snap and post-snap movement, we have to communicate a lot better. That's been a big point of emphasis, not only from the start, but even picking up even more right now. Once we get our feet in the ground and they start moving, we have to communicate. If we're working backwards or we're coming back to the ball, just so we can be in position to leverage the tilt of the formation or leverage the formations they have. Then we've got to come downhill and we've got to tackle. Last week was one of our worst tackling games for whatever reason. It's really going back to the basics. We have to go near hip, near half. We have to attack the ball carriers in the center mass, and we've got to run our feet on contact. A few plays got out, especially in the pass game, because of missed tackles. Then last week, we're not happy, and I wasn't happy with our effort running to the ball. We put some stuff on tape that was not characteristic of a New York Giant defense, and it's unacceptable, and it will be changed.
Q: How do you deal with that?
DENNARD WILSON: Well, you confront it. Just like we do, we confront everything. When you're in the meeting room, you show those plays. I look at guys that don't run to the ball, and I call them traitors because they're traitors to the defense. At the end of the day, when you have a traitor to the defense, you either have to make adjustments to get them off the field, you have to get somebody else on the field, or they have to correct their behaviors. Last week was one of those things where we did not on every play, run to the ball, and it was unacceptable. The guys know it, and this week when you see them out there, they will be flying around 100 miles per hour with their hair on fire.
Q: Is that more damaging when it's veterans?
DENNARD WILSON: Well, it's damaging when anybody does it. It's 11 on one when you play defense. It's 11 guys humming to the ball, and when you don't do that, you don't erase plays. We had a few plays that got out on us because if everybody's hunting, it's probably not a touchdown. You get them down on the ground. It's not an explosive play. You eliminate explosive plays with energy and effort. That's how you eliminate it.
Q: Is it also stress in that situation, like you just said? It won't be a touchdown, but you get another crack at it. I mean, the way your defense has played in several games this year with your back to the wall, you would think you'd want that extra play because then you never know what happens.
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, you look at last week's game, and it's still a learning process, right? We end up taking the field on the plus territory a few times. As a defense, you have to learn how to embrace those moments, right? You have to rise to the occasion, and what you have to do is also slow your heartbeat down and focus on just technique and fundamentals. I think last week, I think the pressure of getting stops when turnovers happen kind of compiled against the defense, but we have to learn from that. We have to put the fire out no matter where we're at, no matter what happens throughout the course of the game. We have to put the fire out, especially when we get in plus territory. Guys know the sense of urgency of doing that. They've seen it. They recognize it, and we'll be better from it going forward.
Q: How did (cornerback Paulson) Adebo look on the field yesterday? Could he be a solution to what looks like a cornerback bind right now?
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, his first day back, he's healthy right now. We'll see how it all plays out. I just love having the young man back out there, man. His energy, his personality, back asking questions. We'll see how all that shakes out in terms of who plays or not, but he's been a very good player in the National Football League, and if he gets his opportunity to play, we expect him to play well.
Q: What do you see in (Houston Texans quarterback C.J.) Stroud and Houston in particular the last couple weeks?
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, I think they're doing a good job of getting the ball out of his hands. When you look at Stroud, he's very decisive right now on where he's going. He's reading the defense way better than he has in the past. I have a track record of going against him. Right now, he knows where he's going. He's playing with confidence. They're loaded at the receiver position. They're getting (Houston Texans wide receiver) Tank Dell back, who's another very productive receiver. Their guys are doing a good job of run after catch. He's putting them in spots for them to pierce and get up the field. They're moving the ball at a high clip right now.
Q: Where do you stand on finding reliable options on the interior defensive line? Obviously, you have (defensive lineman) Shelby (Harris) and (defensive lineman) DJ (Reader) and behind them you've kind of shifted back and forth a few times. Where do you stand in that regard?
DENNARD WILSON: It's a collective approach. If you're on the field, everybody's got to play to a certain standard. Technique and fundamentals, the way you play, how hard we play, everybody has to do that no matter who's out there. Right now, the guys we have, we believe in them. We just all need to play better. We all need to play better at the same time and not have fall-offs.
Q: Who's the green dot without (inside linebacker) Tremaine (Edmunds)?
DENNARD WILSON: We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out right now. We have options. (Inside linebacker) Micah (McFadden), he can call a defense. (inside linebacker) Arvell (Reese) can call a defense. They have. (Inside linebacker) Jack Kelly can call a defense. (Inside linebacker) Zaire (Barnes), we've done this in preseason. We've done it throughout training camp. All the guys have had the opportunity to call a defense, and we'll see how it shakes out come Sunday.
Q: For a guy like Arvell who's playing the way he's playing, do you hesitate to give that responsibility to him because it can slow a young player down, or are you just fully confident if he did do it?
DENNARD WILSON: If he had to do it, I'm fully confident in his ability to call the defense. He knows the defense in and out. He's very demonstrative in what he's doing. He knows where all the other players are supposed to be. You should hear him, he was doing it when Tremaine was out there. He can set the front just as well as Tremaine would do. He knows when pressure is in things and where it's coming from. I have all the utmost confidence in that young man in everything he does.
Q: With DJ, you guys are pretty disciplined at not having him play a ton of snaps. Is that a challenge when he's playing as well as he is?
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, it's always a challenge, especially with those big guys. The fresher they are at times, the better they are. You don't want those guys to wear down throughout the course of a game. Then you also have to play the game like you need them when you need them the most, and you need them in the fourth quarter. You don't need a big man tired in the fourth quarter. So, there is a rotation. He's been playing great football, I love where he's at. Like I said, when he's off the field, everybody else has to pick up their weight and play at the same level he's playing.
Q: You mentioned Micah. He's a guy who started in this league. It seemed like he accepted the role. He knew where he was going to be. What have you seen from him when he's got opportunities in practice?
DENNARD WILSON: You've seen him play in the preseason. He was flying around. He was making a whole bunch of plays. He can play pass coverage, he can blitz. When the ball breaks, he goes and gets it down. He's a sideline-to-sideline guy. He's a starter in the National Football League that was just playing his role, just like you said. If he has a bigger role, he'll be ready for it. He's prepared for it. He's done it. He's done it at a high level. He was playing great football last year until he got hurt. For us, Micah has been ready to play. He's ready to play right now, and we're excited for the opportunity that he'll have.
Q: Coach, you mentioned just before, last week poor tackling for whatever reason. Why does that happen?
DENNARD WILSON: When you run to the ball, first of all, poor tackling happens when you don't have population to the ball. Second thing is technique. A couple of plays that we had last week, instead of going near hip, near half and trying to run through a ball carrier, we stuttered our feet. When you stutter your feet, you give them a two-way go. So, we have to be like heat-seeking missiles. When we break in coverage, when we break on the ball coming out of the stack, we need to attack the near hip and near half, and we need to run through ball carriers instead of catching them. When you do that and you have population to the ball, the ball carriers go down.
Q: What's your approach when you're in that situation where you don't like a guy's hustle or effort on a play? Do you talk to him individually? Do you bring it up in a defensive meeting, in front of the room, in team meetings?
DENNARD WILSON: We confront everything. So, if you're not doing something to help the team and you're hurting the team, if your effort is bad, if you have a lack of toughness, it gets pointed out. And it gets pointed out in front of everybody, not only in a defensive meeting. It gets pointed out in the full team meeting. When you have behaviors that's unacceptable, we're not going to accept it. And if you don't change the behaviors, we have to change the players.
Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy
Q: How does a quarterback change to JJ for a whole game affect what you guys are trying to do on offense?
MATT NAGY: For us, as we go into this, and once we knew and know that it's this direction, you've got to do what he does best. And for us, being able to understand, we've been working for four weeks now trying to get him to learn this whole offense and not just learn packages, and that's been his biggest challenge. Now here we are, and he gets an opportunity to be in this spot, and so it's our job now as coaches to make sure that we're helping him do what he does best. Whether that's in the run game, pass game, pass pro, formation, motion shifts, simplicity versus difficulty, there's that balance. We're going into an environment where it's going to be loud on the road against a tough defense that likes to play fast, so we've got to keep all that in perspective. But at the same point in time, our guys are hungry and ready to go.
Q: How do you keep things in perspective? How do you do as coaches not to get seduced by those 11 minutes, obviously, against a softer prevent defense versus coming in to start a game with his ability?
MATT NAGY: There's a realness to that. I think we keep perspective and understanding where their defense was last week in that fourth quarter. When you're down 24 points, they're going to naturally, most defenses, play a little bit more prevent/soft defense. We understand that, but there's still a lot of throws within that game in the fourth quarter where he made some really impressive throws. The other part, too, that was impressive, probably the biggest part, was just his operation was really good in that stressful time in that moment. We were playing a little bit of hurry up. There's a lot of communication that goes on, and there's, quite honestly, even in that moment in some of our no-huddle, end-of-game situational stuff, that he has had zero reps at just because of time and practice. So balancing all that, I thought he did that really well, but now we've got to be able to say, hey, listen, this is now a full week of a real game plan, and we cannot make it difficult on him. We've got to make sure we're doing what he does well.
Q: You mentioned about him what he did best. What have you learned about (Quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy) that he does best?
MATT NAGY: His operation is really, really good. When I say operation, what does that mean? It starts with listening to the play call in your headset, being able to say it and or read it on the wristband, get to the line of scrimmage, and then be a quarterback, see the formation, motion shifts, see the play clock, make your ID checks or whatever you do with the center, and then make a play. The operation right now, what he's doing is amazing. Then you throw in some of the throws that he made, not just when we're 70 yards away, but when we're in that red zone or when we're in a situation where you've got to make a throw. He did that, too. His demeanor has been really good for all four weeks. He's very eager to learn. He wants as much as he can get to digest within our offense. It's our job now, what we've been trying to do is just see what can he handle. And now as we go into that this week, it's like, OK, this is what we think he can handle, but how do we get that to a point of being able to do what our guys do well, too, on offense, the players. Because, again, you're going to a guy who, whether you like it or not, just hasn't had reps with these other players on our offense. There might be some plays that we've done in training camp. To give you an example, sometimes as coaches, we've been calling it and practicing it for six months, and you assume that he just knows it because we've done it for six months when he doesn't. We have to protect him from us thinking that he knows it, too. That's one example.
Q: How much of your original – when you drew this up, I know (Quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) and J.J. are not the same player, but they do have similar skill sets and some of the abilities. So how much of what – can you imagine what this offense would look like when you guys were in West Virginia? How much of that is now back now that JJ's out there with someone, what he can do athletically?
MATT NAGY: There's for sure a good amount of that. I think for us, and I know for us going into this thing, knowing what we wanted to do with Jaxson's ability and his traits, him and (Quarterback) Jameis (Winston) are very different, and that's okay. Now coming into this thing with J.J., you get to a point where his skill set is very similar to Jaxson. So it's like, okay, it brings back – we talked about percentages the first time we were here, right? You talked about whether it's 30 percent of the offense is gone. Well, maybe now 20 percent of that 30 that was gone is back. So for us, again, what does he do well? You've seen some of the packages he's done, but that can become predictable. We don't want to be predictable. Now that he's the quarterback and the starter, it probably benefits us some that he's just not always coming in to do predictable QB-driven runs.
Q: What's the level of trying to, I guess, get a grasp on when he's ready to start versus just doing things well and his ability to handle it? When did you see that over the last week or so?
MATT NAGY: Probably about a week ago is when you felt like – we all felt that, hey, he's definitely ready for sure to be the number two in case something happens. Is he 100 percent? No. And now going into it, we would not have had the discussion if we didn't think he could do it. We fully feel as a staff, (Quarterbacks) Coach (Brian) Callahan has done an amazing job working with him and getting him ready. We feel confident about it. And now for us, it's a matter of doing what he does well and what we do well to put it all together.
Q: Matt, what did you guys see a week ago?
MATT NAGY: In the game you're saying?
Q: Yeah, just a week ago that you felt like he was ready.
MATT NAGY: Just the confidence of him being able to, in practice, talk to us about the scheme, where his eyes are going in the pass game, where he's snapping the ball with a motion or a shift. We knew it wasn't probably 100 percent, but for him to be able to go – if there was a shoestring with Jameis and he got hurt or something, he could go in there and function. Whereas the first two weeks, I had a highlighted call sheet that if something happened and he was in, these were the plays. It was probably 50 percent. Last week it was probably 90 percent. Now this week it's going to be 100 percent.
Q: I don't know if anybody is looking at, hey, we put J.J. McCarthy in and everything else is fixed. With respect to that, the running game has obviously struggled and is not where you guys expected it to be. How do you go about fixing the running game and getting to where you need to be to be successful as an offense?
MATT NAGY: That's been a big point of emphasis for us. We know it's not where we thought it would be or we know it needs to be. We've got to start with ourselves as coaches. We've got to say, are we putting these guys in the best position possible schematically to make the play work? We started there at the beginning of the week. We went back and you just look at things that we've done well and schemes that we've done well. Then you go to the players and you look through some of the stuff that we're doing. What are you guys doing well, but what are you not doing well? How can we get better on some of the simple things? We've done that. We feel like there's some patience involved, but that's the first five weeks. That patience is gone now. For us, it's ready. We've got to go. We've got to be able to run the ball. You cannot be one-dimensional in this league. You certainly cannot be one-dimensional against the Houston Texans. That's trouble if you do that. I think for us, we want to make sure that we let these guys, we work together with them and put in good schemes, but then they've got to execute well.
Q: (Head Coach) John's (Harbaugh) been very transparent about being upset with the fact that nobody's going to take the bull by the horns in his words amongst the running backs. What is your preference there in terms of not necessarily which guy you want to step forward? How badly do you want to get out of this rotation and find a guy?
MATT NAGY: It's important for the guys to get into a rhythm. When you have four guys, it's not easy. You look back, and again, I know it was discussed with (Running Back) (Cam) Skatt. That was not our intention at all for him to not get any carries. It really was not. We got into the second half five minutes to go, and we're down 24. He certainly could have been out there at certain times in the pass game. We got one-dimensional. Less backs means probably more carries for some of those backs that are in there. It makes it easier. I think we're excited to see where this thing goes. Also, I think it needs to be made very clear that the way Skatt handled things last week is impressive, and it's not easy to do. He handled that like a true pro, and that's growth. I'm really proud of him for that.
Q: You talked about the operation. I was curious because it seemed like there had been times when Jameis was out there where maybe it was a little slow getting to the line, leading to delay games, trying to hurry up. I know the last couple possessions when it was hurry up tempo, that's a little bit different, but early on when J.J. was in there, it seemed like the call to quarterback to quarterback to the line was operating a little bit quicker. Is that an example of that operation that you're talking about?
MATT NAGY: It is. It is. To Jameis' credit as well, though, I think we as an offense probably operate. We all operate better. Jameis operates better too in that no-huddle type of offense. It's probably a little bit of a balance, but I thought that the operational part that I'm talking about with J.J. was phenomenal, and then to make throws on top of that. We want to keep that going. Again, it's just probably something that he's very comfortable in.
Q: You mentioned how Skatt handled what happened last week. (Running Back) (Tyrone) Tracy handled it similar to the first game. Last game he had two touchdowns. He's starting to get more carries. What have you seen from just how he handled the first game to where he is now where he was able to perform like he did last week?
MATT NAGY: Really, really proud of him too. Trace has a lot of talent. It's not easy for these guys. These guys are the best of their position their whole life. They've been very, very successful. It's hard when you're not getting carries. It's hard when you feel like you're not a part of it. That's difficult. We understand that. The only way to handle it is to have open and real conversations with them, and I've had that with all of them. I've had great conversations with them, and they understand that. It's important. Trace, for him to handle it the way he did, and then for what happened last week to have those two touchdowns, I think it kind of shows and it speaks to those guys. When you handle things the right way, same with (Running back) Motor (Devin Singletary). Again, nothing with (Running Back) Najee (Harris) either. Najee handled everything great. It's just we ended up having four guys. This is the direction we went. I wish Najee nothing but the best. Now it's time to do like Coach Harbs said. It's like somebody grab it, take it, let's roll. Then us as coaches too, put them in a great spot to be able to do what they want to do. No one complain about it. Coaches, don't complain. Players, don't complain. Let's put it together and let's roll because running the football is important, and it's our job to make it happen. Appreciate you.
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton
CHRIS HORTON: Just a quick little recap as always. I think that game last week came down to really just execution. One of the things we talk about the most is going out there and playing winning football, and I believe in all phases we didn't do that collectively as a group. Those are some things that we talked about once we got back in the building and had an opportunity to watch the tape. It wasn't a lot, but penalties in the return game, those are things that we try to coach against, and we try to make sure that we're not under receiving end of those things. But it's not a lack of effort, I can tell you that. The guys are flying around. The guys are playing hard. We just got to make sure we get back to playing winning football. What a great opportunity it is to get that done this week. Questions?
Q: Chris, there's been a couple times this year where you've only had ten guys on the field. What's happening there?
CHRIS HORTON: Just communication. I believe we do a great job throughout the practice, and we're rotating a lot of guys. But, man, that thing starts with me. It's making sure that I'm communicating to the guys. Then it's also the players understanding, being in the flow of the game, being in the moment. We've got to get out there, we've got to make calls, and we've got to have everybody up. We've got to put an end to that. I can assure you that, man. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing that that is continuing to happen. I want to make sure that we get a handle on that and we're able to put an end to it.
Q: You kind of see it happen once, it's one thing, I think it's been like three or four times now that it's happened in six weeks. I imagine you realize that you're trying to fix it. So why does it keep happening when you're actively trying to change it up or fix it?
CHRIS HORTON: It's just like I said. It's a communication thing. It's a part of being just in tune to the game. We're out there, we're making calls. When the phases are up, we need every guy up on the field. Sometimes there's guys that are on the field that have got to make sure that they don't come off the field. It just kind of goes back into those little things. Again, we're working on those things and we're going to get them fixed.
Q: Chris, I think you guys lost 97 yards, by my count, on return penalties in the second half. How do you go back to coaching so that that doesn't happen again?
CHRIS HORTON: Fairly simple. Those 97 yards, they came at opportune times, situations where we could have definitely flipped the field. When you get in situations and you're talking about losing yards because of blocks in the back, those are decision-making things. Those are things that happen within the game, and we can coach against those things because we offer a lot of tools in those toolboxes so you don't block a guy in the back. Balls being returned, for an example, if I'm running behind the guy, if I'm in chase mode, we call it chase mode, just turn and climb. Put your foot in the ground, go climb and go block somebody else. Returners are good enough to make guys miss at the point of attack. Secondly, if I'm in a situation where I feel like I'm going to block a guy in the back, maybe I run in between my man and the ball, and then I shield that guy off. There's opportunities to make sure that those things don't happen. And, again, it comes back to playing winning football and pure execution of the plays.
Q: With the kickoff around the two-minute warning, I would imagine the goal is put the ball through the end zone. Can you just take us through the decisions there, what you're considering, and is kicking the ball out of bounds an option at that point?
CHRIS HORTON: Kicking the ball out of bounds is an option. We firmly believe that we could have kicked that ball out the back of the end zone. We've got a guy that we believe in and feel like we can go out there and we can save those five yards and we can get that done, but we didn't get it done. So, again, that comes back down to the things that I talked about, just playing winning football and doing the things that we know we're very capable of doing.
Q: Is that one of those things where it's just confidence in the process and just got to execute? I mean, (Kicker) Dom's (Dominic Zvada) just got to put it through the back of the end zone.
CHRIS HORTON: Surely. We put him out there in that situation and say, "hey, kick the ball through the back of the end zone." He's fired up after the field goal. He's got a lot of juice, and we felt like he can go out there, he can get it done, and we didn't get it done.
Q: Just trying to understand, five yards is five yards, but why even open the door to that? Why not just kick it out of bounds?
CHRIS HORTON: I don't think it was opening the door for anything. I feel like we believe we can kick the ball through the back of the end zone, and we didn't get it done.
Q: Isn't that the definition of opening the door? If you kick it out of bounds, then there's no chance that it's a touchback, right?
CHRIS HORTON: Right. We're trying to put the ball through the back of the end zone. That was our plan. That's what we went into, and we didn't get it done.
Q: What do you see from Houston's special teams? What are the concerns?
CHRIS HORTON: Concerns? You know, obviously it's a veteran football team. I think they've got one rookie out there. Houston's always done a great job. They've got a lot of veteran players. They play hard. They play physical. But at the end of the day, man, I'm always bringing it back to my guys. If we play the kind of football that we need to play, which we played the last few weeks up until this game, we'll be fine. So just go out there. We come out to practice today. We have a good Thursday practice. We have a good Friday practice, and we go put our best foot forward on Sunday against what I feel like is a good special teams unit.
Q: Jordan Stout popped up on the injury report this week. Any concerns with him?
CHRIS HORTON: I don't have any concerns with him.
Q: What happened on the (Wide Receiver) Jones (Charlie Jones) fumble?
CHRIS HORTON: On the Jones fumble? Just come back to, you know, just got to take care of the football, right? We're in traffic. Protecting the ball. Two hands on the football. Guys came free. Again, we've got to block. We've got to make sure no one's in his way. But at the end of the day, we've got to take care of the football.
Q: What kind of protection has (Inside Linebacker) Micah McFadden been for you on the teams this year?
CHRIS HORTON: Great leader. Micah's outstanding. He's been awesome for the room. I'll tell you this, man, I've been excited to have him out there because the kind of effort he plays with, the kind of physicality he plays with, the communication that he brings. He's a guy that can play multiple positions on all different phases. It's great having him out there, and he's a great coach for the younger guys.
Q: Late second quarter, that kick return, the 41-yarder. What went wrong on that?
CHRIS HORTON: It's a great question. Before I talked about just pure execution on where we need to be. We didn't have an edge. Every kickoff cover team needs an edge. And we had two guys that we didn't have an edge. It just comes back to just executing the plays at hand, the plays that we get. That's all it comes down to. It wasn't a big fire. We go in there, we watch the tape, we knew exactly what happened. We need our edge players up on the edge. The ball doesn't get outside.
Q: With a guy like (Running Back) Tracy (Tyrone Tracy Jr.) and (Tight End) Theo (Theo Johnson), for example, guys who've had starters reps, I'm just curious, what do you see from their mindset as far as why they've embraced special teams so well and be able to be so effective on return duty?
CHRIS HORTON: I think, well, actually I believe more so of it's an opportunity to play football. People think special teams is just like it's a punishment to go out there and play. It's really not. It's an opportunity to go help your team win a football game and to go out there and play as good as you possibly can to give you that opportunity. I think that's two guys that are just embracing playing football, and they love doing what they do. When they're called upon to go out there and play special teams because it is an effective play, we saw how when you don't execute, it could change the game. When you put your good players out there, they go have success, it's easy. It's easy for the rest of the guys to see as well. But those two guys, man, they're doing everything you ask them to do, and they're playing really good football for us, and we appreciate it.
Wide Receiver Malik Nabers
Q: You have another starting quarterback – what have you seen from (quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy)?
MALIK NABERS: Very good arm talent, throws a great ball. He finds open guys, gives guys a shot, gives guys a chance to go make plays, and that's what we're going to rally around.
Q: What do you think it means to this offense to go to him as the quarterback? What can the offense look like with him as the quarterback?
MALIK NABERS: I think we'll just have to wait to see a whole game. We've seen the fourth quarter, giving guys the opportunity to go make plays and on the verge of a comeback. So, just trying to see how a full game will be. Not sure yet, but we're going to see.
Q: That fourth quarter is madness. It's like snap the ball as quick as you can. How is he at the things that you didn't see – like in practice or whatever, the things that we wouldn't have seen in the fourth quarter, the operation, the huddle, you weren't huddling. How is he at all those kinds of things?
MALIK NABERS: I think as a quarterback you know how to do those things on your own. So, I won't speak for him on just how he does it, but I think he did a hell of a job of coming into the fourth quarter and giving us an opportunity to win that game. Just not being out there not too long with us, especially with the first group, not getting that many snaps, but coming in and just doing a good job of just saying let me just find my guys. And I watched practice and I watched games and he knows who his guys (are) and he was just giving opportunities to go make plays. I think he did a hell of a job of that.
Q: Malik, have you kind of developed, unfortunately, a cheat sheet or what it's like to get ready to play with a new quarterback? I mean, you've had a run here where you're two years and four games, I think it is, that you've played with, I think, seven or eight quarterbacks. What is that like for you on a week-to-week basis, trying to get used to somebody and developing that chemistry?
MALIK NABERS: Get open. Just get open. They're going to find you, and they know who their guys are. And when you talk to them, just give motivation to them. Tell them, I know you're just coming in; you don't know me really. You don't know a lot of us, but just know on certain plays, just give me an opportunity. Even when I'm not covered, just give me an opportunity. Some plays it might look like the plays not to be made and we're going to make those plays, so just trust us and we're going to get open for you. Just expect that me and Zay (tight end Isaiah Likely), (wide receiver) Malachi (Fields), Moon (wide receiver Darnell Mooney), we're going to get open and we're going to give a good target for the QB. So, I think just being QB friendly, seeing what they see, understanding the defense and how (you can) get open and just being on time with the quarterback, I think that's just the best thing that you can do as a receiver – and catch the ball. So, yeah.
Q: Speaking of catching the ball, J.J. throws what the analytics say is one of the fastest fastballs from a quarterback in the NFL. Can you tell that when you're catching it, that it's coming in a little hotter than most quarterbacks? And how do you adjust for that?
MALIK NABERS: Adjustment is just focusing on the ball, just watching the nose of the ball, timing your hands up and clenching the ball when it hits your hand. It doesn't matter how fast the ball comes, as long as you time it up right, you're able to catch the ball. So, that's all I've got to say about that. I don't think it's really that hard to just catch any QB's throw, it's just timing up catching the ball. You've got gloves on, so (laughter).
Q: How about getting the run game started – how much would that kind of help where you guys are? It seems like teams are almost expecting you to, playing you like you're going to pass every play.
MALIK NABERS: Yeah, I mean, we've got to do a better job on offense of getting the ball – I mean, making sure we want to run the ball well, finding good runs for the running back that just hearing their thoughts on what runs that they like too. Trying to do a better job of asking them, asking the O-line of what specific runs that they like, where they feel like we can gain a lot of yards off of to just help the whole offense. So, just asking the question around, trying to get people's thoughts and hopefully we get an understanding, and we lock in on those plays and the O-line is comfortable, our running backs are comfortable. Just trying to make everything as comfortable for everybody as possible.
Tight End Isaiah Likely
Q: What did you see from (Quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy) just over the last week and since he got here?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Great quarterback. Somebody that is trying to learn, get after it. Obviously, a smile on his face every time he's out there. Somebody that is obviously competitive.
Q: You said something after the game, like, 'we have to be honest in the room and decide what kind of offense we want to be.' Now that you have, J.J. at quarterback, how would you describe what you think the offense is going to be?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I say an offense that fits J.J., his skill set, what he's really good at. And making him as comfortable as can to be a quarterback in a new offense for him. And I feel like that's on the skill positions, the o-line, the running backs, and the coaching staff to know that to ride behind J.J. and to get it done.
Q: It's crazy, some of the statistics that are now out there, advanced stats. One of them is how fast J.J. was throwing it. I think a couple of those were like 50. Might have been one of the ones that he threw with the touchdowns to you. When you're receiving it on the pass that quick, I mean, can you tell the first time you saw one, were you able to notice it? How much do you work with him in terms of both turning it on when he can, but also throwing a change up every now and then?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I can't say it's really came to my attention, for real. I mean, I feel like every pass, I have to catch it regardless of the speed of it. I feel like that's something that the weather's changing a little bit. You'll probably get to notice a little more when it gets cold. But right now, I feel like J.J.'s spinning with confidence. I feel like any ball that's in my vicinity is catchable.
Q: What does it feel like to have to keep switching quarterbacks for you guys personally as a receiver? And then what goes into getting the timing down and adjusting to each quarterback depending on what they like to do?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Yeah, I feel like that's stuff that you hit off the field as well. I mean, in the film room, you try to see what the quarterback's most comfortable throwing, whether it was here or it was before. Then you get reps in practice on the type of timing that he's obviously, that you're trying to get used to with him as well. And that's the time that you spend after practice. Again, the situations of throws that you might have missed in practice. Again, reps before the game.
Q: After the game the other night, J.J. was asked how many practice throws did he have with you and (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers)? And we kind of know that answer. So how do you guys go out there and have what you had in that fourth quarter when you catching passes from him for the first time?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I'd say really just trying to make his life as easy as possible. Letting him know that as long as the ball's in the air and in my vicinity, it's a great pass either way. It doesn't matter if somebody's on me or if I'm wide open. Just throw the ball, trust me, and I'm going to make the play for you.
Q: You talk a lot about the chemistry of the quarterback. You and (Wide Receiver) Malik (Nabers) almost have developed like a same chemistry that you're working off each other?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Yeah, for sure. I say that on the sideline, we're always speaking positivity into each other. Letting them know that, "Leek, hey, I'm going to need you on this one," or it's third down, I'm screaming to Leek on the other side of the field. Like, "hey, Uno, go get yours." And this type of banter that we have to remind each other that to make the quarterback's life as simple as possible with all the changes that we've been having, that they're relying on both of us and the skill possessions in general on the offense to go make plays for them.
Q: I'm thinking that long completion you had on one of your early drives, he runs a clear out. You see that the coverage is going to, maybe overreact to him, and help you and vice versa?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Yeah, and that's stuff that we see on film room when we watch the film together. Knowing that, 'Leek, I'm going to let you either go clear out' or 'Zay, I'm going to read off your leverage.' And that's just being out here, working with him day in and day out, and just building chemistry off each other. Just knowing the type of stems that he does, the type of releases that he has to be able to play and go get catches.
Q: When you look at, I mean, obviously, when he came in, he left a bit of a fire drill, Saints were in prevent a little bit there and all that. How much different do you feel like it's going to be for him with a week's worth of game planning, meetings, etc., and starting a game?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I feel like it'd be, I mean, like any position, there's going to be pros and cons. I mean, obviously, with a week of preparation, I feel like he's going to know a little more of the offense. I feel like he'll be a little more comfortable. Obviously, like you said, they were quote unquote playing prevent. But he obviously didn't have the game plan set for J.J. Like that was, (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) was a starting quarterback at the time. So, having a game plan that fits J.J. and what he does well, and going out there this week and knowing that the offense is behind J.J., I feel like it would be a lot better for him.
Q: The other part of your job is blocking. How do you guys get the run game going?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I say really just trusting your technique, bringing the little details that you have in practice into the game, and not letting little stems or little things that they do from different situations in the game dictate the type of fundamentals that you learn that we can practice.
Q: Do you feel like defenses are playing to you guys like you're one dimensional right now?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I wouldn't say that we're one dimensional. Obviously, like defenses know the scheme we have in runs. I'll say that they'll probably here and there pick up on little intel's that we do here and there, and that's obviously just being honest with ourselves in the film room on what type of runs we're trying to implement and making those match up in the pass game.
Q: What catches your attention when you see the Texas in the defense?
ISAIAH LIKELY: I'd say how together they are. I mean, all of them celebrate on a play with each other. You can tell the type of brotherhood that they have, whether it's a sack from the good D-line that they have or a pass breakup from a good secondary that they have. They're all together and all celebrating as one. So, I'll say making sure that we're on one accord and making sure that when our plays are there to be made, we'll make them.
Q: Individually, have you ever played better than how you're playing right now?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Statistically, no, but I feel like body-wise, like how I feel when I'm out there playing, I feel like I'm a little kid again. High school, I probably did.
Q: How are you feeling physically just getting that much usage with the way you've been playing?
ISAIAH LIKELY: Definitely starting to listen to a lot more vets, taking the snaps I'm taking, but like I said, Sunday or any game day when I'm out there, I'm not really thinking about how sore I'm going to be after the game. It's more so how can I help my team and get in end zone.
Q: What have they been telling you?
ISAIAH LIKELY: A lot of ice baths and a lot of time off my feet.
