*
Defensive Line Coach Robert Nunn (WATCH: INSIDER INTERVIEW) also met with the media earlier this offseason during team OTA's:*
Q: You knew you were getting Mathias Kiwanuka back at the start of the year. But is the role a little bit different now?
A: Yeah, a little bit different. But Kiwi is off to a great start. We will be able, I think, to get him more focused on staying at defensive end. He is really doing a good job so far managing it. Moving him around a little bit, at both sides of defensive end. We really like where he is from the mental standpoint and the way he has approached it in the offseason. He looks solid right now.
Q: With the Jason Pierre-Paul situation, it's good to have a veteran…
A: Oh, yeah, no doubt. He is a guy that has been in there and has played a lot, had a lot of reps – quality reps. And he has come up big for us in the past. And with him and Justin in there and bringing along a couple of young guys, we will make the best of it.
Q: Is Kiwi more of a reaction to not having….
A: It is a combination. Yeah, a little bit when Osi (Umenyiora) left. We felt like in the middle of the season, towards the end, that Kiwi wasn't really comfortable with what we were asking him to do. And so we felt that he would be more comfortable at defensive end. We were able to tell him that early and he has come in here and he is really off to a good start with what we can do in the OTAs and throughout minicamp next week. So he looks solid.
Q: So you came into the spring planning to work him at end?
A: Yes. I had a great conversation with him in the offseason.
Q: What kind of playmaker can he be at end fulltime?
A: Even going all of the way back when he had his injury in 2010, he was off to a great start there. He was really doing a good job and had four or five sacks there before he had the neck issue. And then when he came back we had a logjam there with Osi and Justin (Tuck) and JPP. And so we moved him around a lot. And he came up big down the stretch there when we made the Super Bowl run. Kiwi came up big in San Francisco; and against Atlanta; the roles we asked him to play. But I think it is going to help him and help us to have him in one position, especially with JPP being out – him and Tuck. Like I said, we have a couple of young guys coming on. And I think we have a pretty healthy situation.
Q: How much can you expect from the young guys like (Damontre) Moore and (Adrian) Tracy and those guys?
A: It is a great opportunity for them. Damontre has come in and has shown flash in some good things. He has a long way to go – a lot to learn in a short time. With the new rules you are limited to how much you can do with these guys. And so he really is off to a good start. He has a lot to learn in a short period of time. I'm really pleased with the way Adrian Tracy …. He is further along right now than he has ever been in his career at this time; this point. He has got to keep moving forward and come in here in great shape, which I know he will. He always takes care of himself. When he gets to training camp. He has proven, as a special teams player, that he has got to go out there and be consistent playing the run and pass on Sundays on defense.
Q: Can any of those tackles that you signed be outside at all? Or are they pretty much inside guys?
A: Cullen (Jenkins) has played out there. When I was at Green Bay with Cullen we used him inside and outside. And I would feel comfortable to move him around a little bit in emergency situations. But as far as Linval (Joseph) and those guys, that is really not their deal. It is not their cup of tea to go out there outside.
Q: Last year the run defense was not good. This year you have some of the biggest guys I have even seen. That is not by accident, is it?
A: No, we have to improve. We have to get better. We have to play better against the run. And right at the end of the year – Atlanta and Baltimore – we had our struggles.
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