Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier
Good morning. It’s good to be back at training camp and getting ready for our second preseason game. I think our guys are looking forward to getting back on the field and competing in a second preseason ball game.
Q: Seattle came out and threw the ball a lot. Do you think that is what teams are going to try and do against the Vikings this year?
A: I don’t know what their plan was, if it was anything different than what they would have done against another preseason opponent, I don’t know. It was good for us, just to get a chance to get some guys out on the field that we wanted to be able to see. Good exposure for us to get the rust off. It was good.
Q: What do you think of Tyrell Johnson so far?
A: You know what, he did a good job. A good job in the game and he has had a very good camp. Unfortunately, he is a little bit banged up. Hopefully he will be back on the field tomorrow because Madieu (Williams) is a little banged up as well, so we would like to have one of those guys out there playing in this ball game against Baltimore. We’ll see how it goes, but he has been doing a very good job.
Q: What have you seen him do when he is healthy?
A: The thing that he has done that’s been so impressive is just his grasp of what we are trying to do. He’s really picked-up things real fast. He has been playing faster than when we were in OTA’s when we were going through instillation. He’s come back in training camp and just taken it up another notch. The next thing for him is just continue to get reps in ball games because he is doing well in practice. Just to be able to get the speed of the game down. That was great exposure for him the other night.
Q: Where is Eric Frampton in his development as a safety?
A: You know what, he’s improving. He has made his name as a special teams player on our ball club. We went into this training camp trying to find out if he could help us as a safety and he has done some things to make you believe that he be a functional guy at safety and he’s improving. He’s improving in his awareness, been able to take proper angles to the football, playing the football in the air, which were some deficiencies in the past. He’s making some improvements, so we will just have to see how it goes.
Q: Are you concerned about Madieu Williams’ injury? Is it something that is going to linger all season?
A: I hope not. I was talking to our trainer, Eric Sugarman, just last night about him and they feel like he is making some progress. There’s no reason to be alarmed at this point is what I am being told. So just hoping this is something he is going through and that he’ll get past it. I know he had some contact in the Kansas City scrimmage and even the scrimmage we had that has affected him. From what I have been told he’s making good progress.
Q: Seattle was very physical with you on Friday. Do you think there is an advantage or disadvantage for a team to be so physical early in the year?
A: You really have to know your ball club. You really have to know your personnel and what you are trying to get out of training camp with the personnel that you have. Everybody approaches it a little bit differently based on their football team. I think the approach we’ve taken has been the right one. How you prevent ACL injuries from happening. It can happen, contact or no contact. I think we’ve taken the right approach for our ball club and we’ll see how it plays out over the 16 week regular season.
Q: Do you think the defense was rusty because they haven’t been as physical up until this point?
A:Usually you expect to have trouble tackling, when you haven’t had a lot of tackling in training camp, but that wasn’t the issue for us. We didn’t have a lot of missed tackles, we had guys running to the football. So not having as much contact as there have been in prior camps wasn’t a negative in that ball game. That didn’t have an adverse affect on us. As you go forward you take a look and just see. Our tackling, our being able to get off the blocks, those things were there, just as if we had been tackling all along in training camp.
Q: Do you think the issue is more about learning assignments and less about becoming accustomed to physical play?
A: Some of that and some of it just being in base stuff and just wanted to take a look at people as opposed to doing some other things we might do if we played them in a regular season ball game. More of our just being in base and just playing base defense.
Q: What is Brian Robison’s Status?
A: I was told that he would be up here tomorrow. I think we’ll get a chance to see him, so he’s making some progress. I talked to him right after our game the other night just to let him know how much we missed him and missed seeing him. In the preseason a year ago he did so well for us. He’s making progress. His attitude is great. He’s looking forward to being back on the field. He really misses being on the field. But he’s a few weeks away, so we’ll just have to be patient until we get him back.
Q: When you see a guy on the other team fumble do you go after them more?
A: You do try to find out, “Are there guys that put the ball on the ground?” If there are, you make your players aware of it and you’re going to try and strip the football a little bit more because you want to get it in their heads that they may have a fumbling problem. If you find out that somebody puts it on the ground you’re definitely going to go after them. We make a point of that to our players.
Q: Can you tell us more about the decision by the coaching staff to keep Pat Williams out of the game Friday?
A: You have to remember that he had off-season surgery. The one thing we don’t want to do with Pat coming off of surgery, and having a rehab period in the off-season we kept him out of OTAs also, you don’t want to do anything that’s going to jeopardize his being ready for the season. We’re going to heir on the side of caution in his case, although he’s going to play more. He’ll play this week but we’ll still limit his reps. Our goal is to get him ready for the season and understand that he hasn’t had the conditioning and the strength training that some of our other players have had just because of the rehab he went through this off-season. The strategy with him is going to be a bit different than some of the other guys.
Q: Can Ellis Wyms play defensive end?
A: Yeah, he’s played some end for us in these two-a-days, so he’s had some experience at it at the NFL level. We’ve worked him here, also. We feel very comfortable putting him at defensive end if the occasion arises, and it’s getting to that point.
Q: With the new signings, how do you feel about the quality of the team in terms of numbers?
A: You bring up a good point. Depth is so important in the preseason because you’re only playing your starters for a limited number of reps. So you want to make sure you have enough guys to have a rotation, so you’re not having to put a Jared (Allen) or a Ray (Edwards) back in the game because you’re short. I think the addition that we made today, and I’m sure Rick (Spielman) and those guys are still looking at the waiver wire, trying to see who else is out there because we lost a couple of guys.
Q: Is there more of an emphasis on the defensive end position in light of the recent injuries?
A: Everybody is looking for that guy at that position. Everybody wants depth in the interior line and at the defensive end. So I’m sure we’re not the only ones scouring the waiver wire for guys like that.
Q: Do you feel like there is an emphasis in the NFL to get that premier defensive end?
A: I think everyone in the National Football League would love to have that premier guy. We got in the mix with Jared (Allen) a year ago. Everybody would like to have a Jared Allen or a Dwight Freeney. Prior to the New York Giants having the success they had in the Super Bowl. Osi (Umenyiora) and (Michael) Strahan, they were there, Justin Tuck was there all in previous years. Everybody wants a premier rush end. What the Giants did probably made the public more aware but just about every general manager and defensive coordinator in the league would love to have a premier rusher; especially the way people throw the football today.
Q: Would you want to get more of those type of players?
A: Yeah, if you can get two or three of them, yes, you’d like to have rookie and all-pro defensive ends. It’s hard to get done. Strahan played a long, long time. With the addition of Umenyioraand drafting Justin Tuck, but to play 15 years or 16 years, however long Michael played, you have a chance to maybe find another guy to play along side of him.
Q: How is Erin Henderson doing?
A: I think he’s done a good job for us. He’s a kid who really understands the game. He’s a student of the game, and that makes a difference. He has some athletic ability. He’s a real tall guy who has to continue to learn to play with good pad level, but he’s doing some good things. He played well for us the other night and we’ll just see how he continues to progress.
Special Teams Coordinator Paul Ferraro
Q: How does losing Heath Farwell for the season impact the team?
A: We’re going to miss Heath Farwell; there’s no doubt about that. He was a tremendous player for us. He had one of the best years I’ve (ever) seen a special teams player have a year ago. We’re going to miss him, there’s no question. We’ve got better depth than we’ve had since I’ve been here and I expect those guys that are going to fill in for where Heath played to step up and play at a high level.
Q: How do the injuries impact Vinny Ciurciu’s role?
A: Vinny’s reps aren’t going to change. Positionally, we are still evaluating what we’re going to do in some of the spots that Heath played, but it could have an impact in terms of where he plays. We are still looking at that right now and we will make those decisions as we go along this week and then we’ll see how it goes in the (Baltimore) game. Specifically it could affect Vinny, yeah.
Q: How much juggling is going on in light of the recent injuries?
A: A little bit. We have backups all of the time in those spots to begin with. We’re always preparing, whether it’s an injury or whether it’s because someone needs a break because their playing four phases and need a break on a phase. We’re always looking through those scenarios, through OTAs, through training camp, so it’s not like we’re not ready for it. We’re ready for it. We certainly don’t like being in that position, but that’s football. That’s part of what goes on, and again, whoever steps in those spots we expect them to play at a high level.
Q: How was the return game on Friday vs. Seattle?
A: A little bit inconsistent. We had the one big return on kickoff return which I felt good about. The front line did a tremendous job on that return - on a double-team and a trap-block that set it up in the wedge and finished it up off in the back end - and Darius (Reynaud) had a nice run up the middle of the field. The same thing on punt return, Jaymar Johnson had a nice return up the middle. Aundrae (Allison) did a nice job fielding the ball, but I don’t feel like we really gave him a chance in his opportunities though. There were some positives but just a little lack of consistency, which is typical in the preseason. I expect us to see big improvements from game one to game two here in the preseason both in the return game and the cover game.