Press Pass: Bill Davis

We just threw him in there right now. The plan, guys is to have the corners uh moving and out of that nickel spot. They've been training since the off season. We haven't put Eric in there due to the injury. Though. We threw Eric in there. Uh. Eric's a real bright young man and he said two days under his belt, maybe eight to ten reps. So we's got a lot of reps to go. But uh, so far, so good. You know, we'll we got we're early in camp. Still this year compares at this point last year's way ahead

where he was. And I think the biggest thing that changes from a rookie year, especially when you end up in that first round draft pick, pressure mode, the confidence level and the pressure you put on yourself and others are putting on you kind of calms a little bit, or you actually have some coping skills to where you can handle it and still function and play and put

your focus on the football part. And I think Marcus has got his focus on the football part and controlling what he can control, and he's in a much better place. He's playing faster, he's reacting faster, he's seeing the field better, and those are all indications that he's really taking some

big leaps forward. Your points last year where you know, because of injuries and various issues, you were moving them inside outside us you would said you weren't quite sure what he would be Ultimately, could you have a better feel now where you'd like to happen. I believe he's

an outside backers, that's who he is. But the good pieces he can swing, and in this scheme you see we swing a lot of guys, and it's a when you have a person has the ability again it's a mental and a physical ability to play inside and out, it just makes us stronger. It actually gives the linebacker himself a much broader understanding of the defense because those guys inside are our quarterbacks. The guys outside listen to calls.

The guys inside make calls, and when you have to make the calls, then you moved to the position of listening. You have a much better understanding of why and what is about to be called? Why? Why we branding brand? Because you tectually make the ten promote a poor free ends who a three pore out a lot to I think is athleticism. The one thing that you get into when you try to convert defensive ends to linebackers, and you really you test them when you go to work

them out in colleges. You test them moving backwards. How athletic are they going backwards? And Brandon's a good all around athlete and his ability to both mentally absorb the outside back you stand up role and physically handle the moving backwards. That's the biggest piece, the backward moving piece, and the brain is athletic enough to do that. So we saw a lot of them change in pum the offensive side of the ball. We've seen it on your

side of the balls. That do you look at this now and saying, hey, I've got kind of a crew I like a little bit more that you can do what I want to do compared to maybe last year here before that. I think defensively first, I think it starts more from a WEE conversation, a collective we as a staff, and then it's who you have on your roster and you try to take advantage of the talents they have. It kind of changes are we are we moving some talents more suited to some of the things

we think? Yeah, you say we're moving that direction, but that's what you do naturally in your selection process. But when you inherited team in the NFL and you're playing with the hand you're delt are, you're trying to make those those pieces do what they do the best. So it's we can move a little bit, but in jury sometimes cause that same thing to go back the other way. That's the one thing you have to have a flexible scheme because injuries can push you in all different directions.

And that's what I mean. Would it be fair to expect a tangible and sizeable improvement disease given that, Okay, you had a couple of years under your gut. Now you had a chance to evaluate what you had, and you had an opportunity now to go get a guy like your axtual to say, Okay, we can do better than Harry Bradley and the ass. We're hoping that that's the goal, but the game will tell us if we're

there or not. So right now, the expectation is yes, to answer that question, but it's also Atlanta will tell us where we are. Don't you want Maxwell's round the copper. We'll mix that up more this year. Yeah, yeah, because of Maxwell still said yeah, yeah, but yeah, you know we traveled carry last year on a game or two the last game of the year. I mean, he did that and we had ability too. But you have to

I really see a you know, a difference. You're you know, a reason why to do that and take them out because a lot of times those guys getting a nice little pattern of their footwork and the left and right every day of practice. Last year, the first year, we always switched them right and left every other day, so their footwork is we can do that at any time we choose to. Mary, seeing everybody come out and holding what are you really looking for in the first preseason game,

I'm looking for the tackling piece. To me, because you don't see that the communication when the lights are on who can communicate and then tell the guys all the time. It's it's about evaluating your ability combined with your coach ability. We've got in defense playing great defenses, eleven guys playing is one. So there's the communication, there's the effort to

the ball. There's the technique. Are you down in and down out consistently using the technique we've been working on this whole offseason, we've been working on in training camp. So if you'll show that you are you can handle your spot using the techniques, alignments, communication, all the things we've taught you that, that's a big plus. You don't have to give us a bunch of wild plays to impress us. We've got to see that the defense in its hole, the eleven guys are doing what they're supposed

to do. Back on last season, how did you evaluate your performance on first and second down contrary with the third down? And what changes are you making going forward with a new personality. We've expanded some packages. First and second down. Run game was very strong. The pass game

again to both third down and first second down. The vertical passing game, the big X play is what our biggest Achilles heal was and That's the biggest thing we've focused on in the offseason, because we really are solid on third down. We could be a little bit better in all of them. Red zone. We gave up too many touchdowns, but I think that's also attached to the big passing play. So we've got some areas that we were strong and and we want to continue to build on.

But it gets back to what I keep saying about the Atlanta game. Tell us where we are. This is a new year, and it's all those stats from last year raced and we start writing our new story this year, and hopefully we're ahead of where we were last year. From a defensive perspective, what are what's the chatter amongst the defensive bacs. What are you see? I'm highly impressed with Sam. I always have been. I've always known the skill set that man's guy. I was a defensive coordinator

Arizona his rookie year. The first game he played Pat Tchurmer was a coordinator and we blitzed him. I blitzed Adrian Wilson off the edge probably ten times to fifteen. He kept hitting Sam and hitting Sam, and I must have been the third quarter Adrian comes over to me and says, hey, Billy d So we're in for a long one. He said, this boy's not rattle. I keep hitting him what everything I have, and he would just

won't rattle. I can't I can't shake him. So we knew right then that Sam was, you know, has the mental toughness and capacity. And then his throwing a bill. He just got to watch practice to know that he's uh he throws a real accurate, real pretty ball after a quarterback like that, and you know it's yeah, uh. I don't know if anyone's prone to injury or not just because they have injuries. I mean, that's just a

bug that happens there at the NFL. There's very few guys on a roster that hasn't had a litany of injuries in their pro career. Do you go after them more? Well, any of those guys, I mean, Sam wasn't mobile in his you know before any you know, he's mobile enough. But there's some guys you know they're going to be in that pocket. You know when some guys you keep bringing after bringing it. Really what you're looking at is where they where's their comfort zone and thrown if it's

stepping up in the middle and not escaping. Then you bring pressure up the middle, you try to move them off their spot and disrupt their timing. So injury or no injuries really about more mobility nor mobility that Peyton Manning done that mobility, but he never gets sacked. You know those guys, The conversation is more about his overall mobility than if there's an injury or not. Jalen Watkins is kind of u with Marcus Smith and that taking a big step, and then you probably need to count

on them a little bit more this year. Yeah, we do. You know, Jalen's is a very intelligent young man and has not the ability to play nickel corner and safety. So we're impressing again. He's taken another They know what's coming at him now, so they can relax and be more of themselves and let a rip a little more game. Where are you with the inside linebackers? You know, it looks like she goes not gonna be able to go. Jamiko set out yesterday. Kendricks hasn't really been practicing fully.

He's gonna have whoever's left. We'll have whoever I believe we're going in and if Michael plays great, But even if the starters are playing, we don't know. It's usually a limited role. So the preseason is awesome for my standpoint because all these young guys and the guys that are the second third role, they get all this playing time, we get all this evaluation time. And I mean most every regular season game is only two starters or two

guys and they play every snap. So we'll have four or five that can play in there and it'll be good experience for them. Okay, I mean, as far as I know, Michael's fine. Other than little nick picking things. Thins. The ability to man up on a wide receiver allow you to be more creative at all in diamond nickel coverages. Yes, it does. And that's also what Jenk brings us to.

You know, our safeties that are converted corners. That's something what we look for because they have that ability to our ability to stay in our base personnel group and against three wide receiver sets. If your safety can drop down and cover like a nickel covers in the slot, then you have the ability to stay in there and you're a little stronger in the run game and you're still solid in the past game. Chipper need to comment to fire. Maxwell was the best nickel corner that you

guys faced last year. The Maxwell yester sites yesterday said that you guys don't want them in there. I don't know if that's accurate or not. But what are the prospects of him were moving into nickel or why you living want to pig? You know, he's in the conversation, but it's the latter part of the conversation. You know. Right now, we're so excited about having them out there wide and covering the big, longer receivers and and matching

up there. Uh, he absolutely could and get some reps in there, but right now, again, it's his first year learning the defense, and it's, you know, kind of our philosophy to try to let him really understand that spot first before you bounce him round too much. But at any point that we felt that the game winning decision would be to put him in the slot, we could. Athleticism probably, and intelligence the kid really is. He's a he's a three down linebacker athleticism wise, and he's got

a very good football IQ and instinct. So I'm excited to see him against the Colts with the light song to see how he plays. But he's a he's a really good athlete yesterday, but where do you see him match right now? We got him out there at the corner spot and he has I mean he got that first day, had no meetings, had no idea what any

call was. So we've got to get him again. We'll settle him in a corner as he learns the defense, and as he learns it, then we'll have the ability to move them if we need them after it just work out and then and also skinning the other guys aress them. You know, you know there's there's most of the bodies you're in camps right and everybody's got a ninety man roster they're dealing with. So everybody's got a little something that keeps them out of there right now.

And we're excited about signing him and we're excited about saying what he can do in the understand last year went at my point, boy could get down. He knew slots. This year is that you move, you're safe your words to the slot. I didn't love someone else how to pay the outside of the Yeah, our goal is to put the best five out there, and Nickel, we're the best six out there and dime and right now, the beauty of training camp is evaluating who those guys. It's

really where we are. There is no move we wouldn't make, and there's no move where guarantee we're gonna make. Right now. We have the luxury of time and reps ahead of us, so we're going to take a good look at the corners train him. I know I have two safeties and Walter and Jank that can come down and play the nickel and have played it and played it well. I know they need reps there and about the halfway point, if I feel I need them down there, I will.

But I'm excited about them in the safety spot, quarterbacking everything. I know. A lot of the guys said that the defense is a lot further along at this point than they were last year. Is that strange to here, considering how many new pieces have come in to know? What happens in the discussion in year one is everybody is learning for the first time. When you get to year three, your veterans are helped teaching and coaching your new guys.

So there's like triple to coaching. There's coaching from us, there's coaching from each other, and that understanding, sometimes from a fellow player explaining it, or when you're in a locker room and it's just it's easier for the new guys to pick up because more people can give them the proper answer that you don't have in year one. Thank you,