Wilks Talking Moving On from Week 7 Loss | Press Pass

I gotta be honest with you. By the time I talk to you, guys win or lose mentally. Uh, I'm on to the next game. And I know there's a lot of questions about the UH call right before the half. UH, so I definitely wanna address that before I move on to UH Cincinnati, UH take.

Forward responsibility for that call.

I have to do a better job in putting the guys in a better position. UH. We have good players, I know that, and UH I can't really press the issue, you know, and with that, you know, moving forward.

UH, it's my responsibility to do that.

So UH I d you know, wish I could take it back, but UH again you know, UH, I gotta I gotta do better. So UH this week, moving forward, I would say we have a uh definitely a challenge ahead of us. Joe Burrow, in my opinion, is one of the best quarterbacks UH in this league. He has a dynamic trio. UH at the receiver position, Board Higgins and UH what I think one of the best in

So UH with that, I take your questions.

See was that called uh partly a reflection of not being able to get to cousins?

Uh? I.

I I don't really want to elaborate on the call. Again, I can't. I can't press it. Uh. Our players Uh again, they they have shown the ability to be able to do certain things, and UH, I gotta be able to trust that. And I know I know exactly what we have in in in the caliber guys there.

Uh. And once again I.

Take full responsibility uh for putting them those guys in that position.

How youssing the front front four then not getting uh?

Uh I it's it's a common of both. It's the combination of both. You know, I saw with me. You know, you know from a standpoint of calls, you know, gotta gotta look at my calls.

Uh.

We gotta look at what we do from a coverage standpoint.

Uh.

And given those guys opportunities, you know, because when I evaluate the tape and I watch things, we're this close, we're this close, we're this close, and you know, you look at certain situations why the quarterback is getting rid of the ball.

Uh.

You know, we gotta be better on our zone drops, you know, getting in that particular wonder that's gonna make him hold the ball and then Boaster's right there to get the sack or he's gonna check it down. As we always talk about forcing the ball to the kill zone. So there's a combination of a lot of things. And we all got our hand in it, and we got to get better in training camp, maybe more than once that you know, as first, the depth of this defensive line.

You've never been around it and like it not to call out specific guys.

And and numbers, but you know the numbers don't don't bear that out at this point, do you don't.

From a production stamp point.

You know it it It it varies throughout uh the year in uh each team, you know, And I I go back to really what I just stated, Uh, I think we can do a better job on the back end, you know, in coverage, whether it's man or zone and allowing the quarterback to hold the ball a little longer, you know, watching tape, Uh, I think we're close. I think we're close a lot, uh, and we're gonna eventually

Various word was able to get the pick on the on the first series and he almost got the one on.

That on that call right at the end of the half. What kind of communication do you have with him in confidence do you have in him?

Uh?

A lot of confidence in him.

Uh.

I think he's emerging each and every week.

Uh, and I think it starts in practice, just leaving practice now, just watching him how he goes about his job. Uh, it translates and carries over to uh to the game. So Uh, he's working hard each and every day. And uh, the confidence is there to be able to call manor zone uh when he's out there?

Was he was?

He pretty crushed after the game Monday night.

Uh. I think we all were, you know, and as as professionals, as pros, we gotta quickly move on.

What does your working protocol with Kyle like after games?

Do you guys meet on the plane when you're coming back from away game or do you have meetings with him the next day?

Talk on the plane, we meet the next day, evaluate and go over the Uh. The game tape, so there's constant dialogue. You wanna look at your pressures, your play designs, your play calls.

Do you ever go back and look at what was successful? Uh for to meet go for Robert solo with similar players? Uh?

I think you have to, cause it's it's based off the defense, you know, and this defense is is a unique defense, and there's certain things that go with that particular uh defense, And uh, I'm learning that, you know, and there's certain things that you gotta you can't swell away from.

You know. So as we evaluate, as I evaluate.

And talk to the coaches most important as well as Kyle, I see those things. So again that's why I'm not panicking. I know we have the personnel. I know we have the talent, and I just got to do a better job putting them in position.

What is it like learning a defense and coaching and defense at the.

Same time, You know, it's it's always challenging, you know, you know, you when you've done your own thing for seventeen years, it's it's a little different. But I'm encouraged. I got a great supporting cast. These coaches are around me are phenomenal. They know this defense. They they know their craft. Uh, these players are great, So we're all in this together, man, So I'm not hitting the panic button at all.

There's a lot of great receivers in this league, but Chase might be in his own category. They've targeted thirty two times in the last couple of games. What separates Chase from because your other great receivers.

Around the league one, I think it starts with the quarterback. They have a unique relationship. You know, when you look at ball placement, Borol is phenomenal and throwing the back shoulder gives the receivers the only opportunity sometime to catch it.

So I think that chemistry is there.

Uh, he's just so dynamic after the catch, you know, so it's hard to really try to give him a lot of space. You got to try to do certain things, whether you're rolling the coverage to him where they're playing, man, but you gotta have definitely a lot of his own eyes on him. But I can also say this, if you try to overplay him, the other two are gonna hurt you as well. So we talked about that trio. So we got to do a great job and just trying to balance things out.

Watch your Burrow and the first you know, three or four games.

And then maybe the last couple of games. How different do they look in terms of you living healthier and how much.

Does that show up on the table.

Well, I still think they're productive, but you can see certain things on tape and where the injury is there. You know, I don't know where he is right now from a standpoint of to buy a lot of things that they've been doing is out of the gun where he normally operates underneath the center. So we'll see exactly how that is on Sunday. But Uh, the guy is very capable of still running the offense to the fullest with.

The with Brock, with rock and concussion protocol. There's at least a chance that Sam would start. And you have the experience of being on the sideline with Sam as the starting quarterback.

What could we expect to see?

Uh?

A lot of poors. You know, he's gonna he's gonna leave the offense the right way. Uh. I think you know he's shown that uh last year, you know, coming in under the circumstances. So uh, great leader, He's gonna do everything he has to do in running this offense to the fullest. So we'll see exactly how that goes, and you know, hopefully Brock's ready. That's that's definitely question for uh Kyle right there.

There's an assumption like, well, if you're you're more of a bloodz guy and they didn't bloods much year before.

But I'm not sure the numbers are out there.

You're blitzing more, are you?

Like blitz haven't been overly effective that blits you in the right situations?

Uh I yeah, I I don't you know, you go back to to to Cleveland and you know, right before the half, you know, we we got a sack cause fumble. Uh they rooted you know, in complete boasta, got you know, a sack there. So I think it's all timing, you know what I'm saying. In the situations, Uh, some get picked up, yes, but uh, I think you have to be.

On point at times.

When you when you are bringing pressure, you know, because you don't want to get hurt with it. So we try to mix it up a little bit for us, you know, man's zone and zone pressure.

So appreciate you guys. Thank you