Steve Wilks on Making Adjustments Heading into Week 10 | Press Pass

It's been a little minute since I've seen you, guys. It's good to be back into the fold. Most importantly, coming off the bye week, I think it was at the perfect time for us as a team, particularly as a defense. In getting back this week, I saw a difference in the guys, just a great level of energy. Seemed like they were recharged, refreshed mentally as well as typically and I think they're.

Ready to go. We've had a good week of practice thus far.

We got to finish on the right note today and tomorrow before we get on the plane. We're playing a good football team, a real good football team, a playoff team that I think is well coached.

They have some dynamic.

Football players ETN and my opinion is one of the top backs. He probably don't get the recognition that he deserves, but three down back that can make it happen in all phases of the game. You look at the tight end, Uh, he's phenomenal, you know Ingram just like, I mean, what what can he do? You know when you watch him on tape, he does it all. He's out at number one at receiver. Uh.

They put him in a slot uh. Inline blocking for.

Us the run game I think he's phenomenal and of course Christian Kirk drafting him in Arizona, uh, still playing at a high level. Definitely got to know exactly where he is at all times, and I think really has you know, revitalized his career going down there with Peterson.

We got to go execute, you know.

It's about everything we do up front, number one, stopping this run game, and you know, when they are in the opportunity where they're going to pass the we got to execute on the back end. So uh, with that, I'll take your questions. You mentioned the the energy this week.

I mean, looking back before the the Bengals game, was dead noticeable to you that there was a dip in.

Energy at that point? Uh Y you could say that, uh that we noticed it.

I noticed it, but we got we got a good group, and you know sometime for fatigue sets in. So again, I thought it came at the right time. It it It's definitely never been a question of effort, uh from our guys and how we practice. I think they go out and give us everything each and every day. But you know, when you look at nine weeks in into it, I think it came at the right time.

Yesterday that you moved out to the field. Uh.

What what was kind of your input into that decision and how do you think it can help?

Oh, I mean, I mean, guys t to me, I think I think just very canon. I think we're making a bigger deal out of it then than it needs to be, to be honest. But uh, I just want to be able to communicate with the guys a little bit more doing the game. You know, certain things that I'm seeing, I'd rather be able to talk to them directly than.

You know, to communicate with coaches.

I think our coaches do a great job number one, throughout the week, but also in game adjustments. You know, that's one of the things I've really you know, pride ourselves on and how we communicate as a staff and making the right things throughout the game. So it's just really with me just wanting to be able to communicate with those guys a little bit more. You mentioned in the spring that you you're gonna go cutting her off too follows, Yeah, did.

You just mentioned in the spring that you get a little too emotional or you know, we wanted to kind of ring that in or whatever when you are on the field that do you feel like maybe that could be a good thing though, that you can break some of that emotion that well.

Well, to be honest, when when you look at our guys and I've been doing this for a while, you know, I don't think that's part of what they're missing and what they need.

You know, sometimes it can be good.

I think you know, we all feed off each other, you know, coaches, we feed off one another.

I feed off the players.

Uh so you know it depends, but I think it's more or less than the communication part that we can, you know, have that dialogue direct face to face and try to make the adjustment that we need to make throughout the game.

Pane, as you're looking at the film, what do you think he's maybe so successful this season?

H I think again, I think coach Peterson, Doug does a good job just with the scheme and and the things that they're doing. Uh, he has a lot of weapons around him that that sort of compliments him a little bit, you know, Like I said, a ramp and rave about the tight end and the receiving core that they have. So and he's a powerful runner and it has the ability to be able to also take it outside and has good speed.

So I think he again three down back given what's happened the last three weeks. You know, I try to stay out of the past.

When when I say that the obvious is the obvious, you know, but you know, dwelling on the past three weeks, it's not gonna really change what we try and to get done.

And our focus been since we've been back.

It's like, you know, it's just you know, one at a time, you know, let's just go, you know, refocus ourselves to do what we got to do to get this game. And I think we know in the in the previous games we were there, we played hard. We got to go execute, you know, we gotta we got to make plays when given the opportunity. I got to do a better job again, just put them in better positions, which I think is gonna, you know, help them go execute. But you know, third down it's been hurting us. We

If you could just clear up on the communications stuff.

One, when you are upstairs and we.

Would be calling plays, you have to go through like Johnny Holland to.

Get the plays in.

Was there any communication issues with that in terms of timing or anything.

No, no, none, whatsoever. Again, Uh, the coaches do a tremendous job and communicating with those guys. I just felt the need, you know, to be able to wanna, you know, communicate directly you know nothing what Uh the coaches have been doing and like I said before, doing a great job. Uh, I just wanna feel a little bit more presence on the sideline.

Another part of that is in terms of the different position groups.

Obviously you work a lot with the secondary and so I'm I'm imagining that's those are the guys you wanna speak more directly.

With the To be quite honest, I wanna talk to all the guys because I have certain thoughts that are going through my mind as I'm sitting there going through the game and trying to call things, and I'm looking at my call sheet and I say, man, okay, I'm thinking about this. Well, now I can go right over to the D line and say, okay, I'm looking and

Not breaking news that you know, as the defense, it has it quite looked like itself last three games. You've been receiving criticism or skepticism. You've been doing this for a while. I'm sure this is nothing it new to you, But how you handling you know, this level of kind of personal adversity.

I can I can honestly say, I'm sort of built for this, you know, not not in an arrogant way, but uh, I've always believe it is is certain.

You know.

It's it's two things. It's what you hear and what you listen to. You know, So I hear a lot of the outside noise. I don't listen to it good or bad, you know. Uh, as you mentioned, I've been doing this for a while, and I understand the emotions, uh of this game and and what we play at this level.

Uh. I try not to be emotional, you know. Uh, We're five and three.

The standard is so high here alright, and we lost three in a row that everybody feel like the settling is collapsing on us.

Uh. We're in a good position. Uh.

We need to turn it around. So uh, we got a lot of football ahead of us. You know. We wanted to start progressing, get better in November and start playing our best in December. So I've seen this, I've been around this. I can take it. I'm the new guy in you know. Uh, it is what it is. Uh. I have confidence in myself, most importantly, I have confidence in those players and the coaches that we're together, uh, and we're gonna come through this.

And how it's his relationship with Nicholas that helped him come along.

Uh, great relationship those guys, of course, as you all know, played together. I think he has truly come in and fit into the culture that these guys have set.

Uh.

I think Bosh has made that transition seamless form Uh and Uh, I think he's excited just because Uh he's in a different climate, different element, you know. And Uh he came in and A and in Washington and was thrust in a situation where he had to be a leader as a rookie. And that's tough when you have no one to really look to the right or the left of to try to pattern yourself out of. So he has a lot of guys here in this locker room that he can lean on.

How are players able to communicate to you? Do they have to go to a coach or are they able to directly communicate with you when.

You're up there? Uh, well, there's a lot of times either I talk to him either on the phone or I have the coaches put the headsets on. So Uh, again, it's just U a great opportunity for me to be able to look at certain things on the on the Uh, surface the iPad, and then I can go directly to that guy and say, Okay, this is what I'm seeing, you know, and then we can have that dialogue and communicate and talk, and you know, I like to also know how they're seeing things, you know, and when the