With his injury and he's come back from it, he's able to play. He was kind of complained about that. Well, Um, he's a competitor, number one. He wants to play his very best. He hasn't been able to do that really since the opener. Um, But because of our corner situation, he's had to get out there. We tried to manage it the best weekend. Um. Honestly, last week we were
managing both corners. Nolan Carroll had had a hamstring issue also from practice last week, so we tried to take approach of keeping a rotation to keep those guys fresh. But um, it's excuse me, it's tough when you're on the outside part of the field. Um. You know, if you're an offensive lineman, hamstring's not going to bother you as much. Maybe a defensive lineman, linebacker, But when you're a skill guy wide receiver, dB, Um, you know, it's tough to manage. And um, you know, I com betting
those guys for for trying to push through it. We got we're a little bit light on numb verse. Um. You know, they just, I mean, everybody's beat up this time of year. They just got to find a way to get it done. We had to find a way to put him in positions to be able to get a tonself. You know, orkus four guys like possibly activating CJ. Whatever was this week. Well CJ was active last week. Um he's been U you know, he's been available to play. But you know it's one of the reasons we use
jailing in there. And we took jailing off of the nickel um last year or last week also because um you know, and and we liked Malcolm and his matchup in there last week anyway, But um, you know, we'll try to manage it the best weekn going forward. Um, well I think that, Um, you've got a quarterback, particularly last week. I'll just speak on last week. Um, quarterback is going to get rid of the ball quick and um you know it's it's hard to get him sacked
when he's getting rid of the ball so quick. It's hard to sack him when he's running the running the ball. I thought we did a decent job of stopping the run. We can get a whole lot of eight man fronts. Actually, when we were getting an eight man fronts that stopped the run, they picked a ball up and throw it to a touchdown. Passes we gave up we're run calls by the offense and the quarterback just picked it up and threw it almost on the goal line. And the
other one was the first touchdown of the game. So you have to just keep on coming, if you if you watched the Giants as they went on a lot of times past rush earlier in the game wasn't as effective as later in the game. I think later in the game our rush we didn't get sacks, but it had some effect. We were able to get a couple of key stops at the end, and I think our last turnover was related to the rush. You know. I mean, if you said, hey, would you rather have a sack
or a tip ball, that's an interception. I'll take tip ball. It's an interception. I mean, of course, you know, our sack numbers haven't been where we want, but you know, it's not always the result of not having a good rush. That was tough on himself yesterday he said he needs to play better, obviously at the sacks in the beginning of the season, they've kind of gone away. Is he still playing at the highest level that he played He was playing fantastic against the run in that game, and
like I said, we weren't. We weren't loading up the run front to stop him because we were more trying to manage our coverage situation and we relied on those guys up front, and Fletch in particular made some some dynamic plays against the run, and you know, we I don't know what it ended up, but I think against the running backs, not including the quarterback kneel downs, we were about two point five yards carrying and that was
due to guys like Fletch. Um. Part of the facts of life when you're in the NFL is when you're a good player, you're going to get attention. And you know, I think that you know, and I wouldn't put fletching us because he's not a sophomore. But you know a lot of times you guys talk about sophomore slumps and things like that. It's not so much that a guy isn't a slump, it's just that everybody else is paying
attention to him. Now, you know, if you get a baseball player that you know hits a bunch of home runs, well, pitchers are gonna find a way to get him out and I think Fletch has to deal with that. When you're when you're a dynamic pass rusher in the NFL, when you can make an impact offensive line, coaches are going to start their game plan with number ninety one. Offensive coordinators are going to do it. Um, you know.
And I think you just have to keep on going and and and and know that there's other ways that you can contribute. But we certainly rely on Fletch to make a lot of plays for us, and he's played well, even though his numbers haven't been as as eye popping as they were in the first month of the year. Michael Hunters all, they played three strips. Well, they just played um, one personnel group the whole the whole game and the times that they did and he was out there.
He's going to be a big part of the game plan this week. Obviously, Atlanta uses a lot of fullback and they use a lot of different personnel groups. What the Giants do is they stay in three wide receivers and go no huddle. Makes it very difficult to situational substitute. Um you know. Um. Yeah, it was productive in his three I mean there was that. That's sort of the way it goes when teams want to play that way, and I think a little bit that's a little bit
of the trend of the NFL too. You're going to see so many more three wide receiver sets. They're trying to put more skill guys on the field, put more playmakers on the field, pitch and catch and those kind of things. You know. I thought he particularly having some multidimensional skills m moving him to safety, did a good
job of playing in the past. He was improving, improved tremendously against the run, made a lot of plays in the preseason, and when he was called upon, I mean, in limited time in the first six weeks of the year, he always responded when you know, when it came up. But I think that as his playing time gets more, it's a little bit different than I talked about with Fletch.
But the more he's out there, the more he has to take an account that now offenses are going to scheme him and they're going to know that he's on the field, and he needs to raise his game. Um. You know, he had played, he had played um good consistent football. I don't know that he played as good
last week as he had in weeks past. But you know, particularly with our corner situation and Malcolm get more reps at the nickel um, you know we're going to need him going forward and uh and and need him to make some of those get back to making some of those plays that he made before, but albeit in more extensive playing time now to return this week, and we would mean to have Benny back. Yeah, Bennie was playing
at a really high level before he got hurt. And you know they particularly well not just against the against the run, but against the past also. So the more I thought bows As has raised his level, bo Allen has raised his level since Benny's been down. But to have to have a four man rotation in there, um will mean a lot more. Having three man rotation is has I would say, warn us down in games, but you're not as fresh at the end of the game as as you would like to be. And hopefully we
can get back to that. And the Falcons are playing right now is it's the most explosive offense you guys have based. I mean, the Cowboys have been good of a team you have based have been good, but right now, yeah, you know, when you're a defensive coordinator, they're all good Um, you know, you don't sleep well the entire week because you know, you just see playmakers and it doesn't matter if it's you know, Odell Beckham, or it's Julio Jones or Matt Ryan or Eli Manning. Every week there's there's
somebody else. Um Falcons. Falcons are playing well offensively because they're not a one trick pony. Talk about Matt Ryan, we talk about Julio Jones, but you know, they run the ball very well. Their stats aren't great running the ball, but they're still well. They're they're significant and they got a running back they can break anywhere. Um, it's not
just Julio Jones. I think they've won You guys have to check the stats on it, but they've won like three games this year that Julio Jones really didn't have a big impact on. Um. You know, his numbers weren't great, but they still were able to win the game. And I think that's a sign of a good offense. Whether you know, one guy's not having a good day or defense as a scheme to take him out, they still had enough else to go to. And that's our challenge
this week. It's not just about stopping the run. It's not just about stopping one receiver. It's not just about you know, pressuring a quarterback that doesn't have a lot of playmakers. They're very and they have a very good scheme. Um, you know, Shanahan does a really good job of putting those guys in good position. We're gonna play our very best. Yeah, you had a pretty good receiver and in Detroit, obviously, how does Julio, I mean, how does he kind of
rank up there with those type? Well, he's all those big guys, even when they're covered, they're still open, you know, because they're catching radius is so big. They're so strong, they're so physical, they can jump, and I think that's what what takes Julio to a to a level. Um, you know, that's it's different than other NFL receivers. He can threaten deep down the field, he can catch the ball over in the middle, he can take a short pass,
and he can run extremely strong. He's hard to knock off his routes, you know, I mean Larry Fitzgerald had a lot of that. I think Julio Jones might even be more explosive and more dynamic than Larry Fitzgerald, who's a Hall of Fame receiver. So you know, he's not super tall, He's not like he's six foot six or six foot eight, but he's tall enough and his arms are long. I think probably the number one thing is his physical strength and his ability to make catches in traffic,
make contested catches, get open versus press coverage. Those are all things we're going to have to take into consideration. Jim Matt Ryan has taken some sacks this year, much more than than Eli did. Is it a different set up with him back there than what the Giants should do? It is the Giants through an awful lot of three step where you know, even if sometimes even when you're a free rusher, you can't get there. Um you know. The Falcons use a lot more I would call individual routes.
They try to spread the field. It's a little bit um basketball esque, i'd say, um, you know, trying to get some isolations, trying to um you know. And they're a very disciplined offense when it comes to route. But there's some I want to say schoolyard but there's some schoolyard backyard type um concepts to their routes. Some get open type concepts and some of those aren't exactly you know quick passes. Some of those take a little bit you know, um, get in reverse your field, get back
out those kind of things. That does give you a little bit of time to get there. Um, you know, and our past rush, our blitz package, um, combination of both um is going to have to affect that timing. Benny out what the destiny of the out show? You know, with his increasing numbers, Well, he got he got at that sack early in this game. Um, you know, I thought he did. He made some strides in that time. Um, you know, And it's asking a lot for a rookie to go in and you know, when you only have
three guys, it's not you can't pick and choose. It can't be like um, you know, I think the Bears he played eight to ten snaps something like that. It wasn't a whole lot was able to make a play in there. But you know, when you're relied on to play more snaps, you have to grow up fast. And um, you know, I think he gained some confidence in there, but there's nothing like having your full compliment. And you know that's always not you know, it's always not going
to be that way in the NFL. But if we can give many back this week, that'll, you know, that'll put us back into sort of a little bit more the way we blueprinted that position. So for defensive coaches philosophical, what dictates whether you play abducted like comers I supposed to having game? Um, you know, Sometimes it's the comfort level of a player. Sometimes you have right or left handed type players. Um. You know, I've been with corners
in the past that didn't feel comfortable traveling. They like settling in on their side. UM. You know. Sometimes it's matchups. You know. Sometimes you have bigger corners that you know, maybe you aren't as quick and that's a good matchup form. Maybe you have a smaller corner that can shadow a shift to your receiver. Um. You know what. I think scheme has a lot to do with it too. It's it's how much zone you're playing, how much man to
man you're playing, how much pressure you're bringing. All those things go into consideration that way. This year, they're just in sync offensively. Like I said, their run their run game is UM has been outstanding. It compliments their passing game. UM. You know, I think they're UM it's it's it's all sort of in sync right now, and it's our job to get it out of sync. Um. How many people
have been able to do that? They're averaging about thirty five points a game, and even the games they lost, um, you know, they still were able to move the ball and still were able to score. Um. It just makes our challenge even uh you know. No, he's always been a guy to take command of the offense. I think he's Um, he's playing with a lot of confidence. I
think that has a lot to do with quarterback play. Um, you know, he's uh, you know, I think it's all fitting together, the combination of scheme players, run game, um pass game. You know. I think snow adding to their offense has given him another target when teams do take Julio Jones away. Um, I think it's all been working pretty good for him. And uh, you know, on Sunday it's our job to make a knucko. Nucko is still
good for him. When you have a receiver like Julio Jones as a as a coach, like how is knowing that like you know, worse comes to words that you can always kind of throw it up to him play you know, I think it's from a coaching standpoint, I don't know that that's where they go. But from a quarterback standpoint, I think that, um, you know, that combination of a quarterback that has confidence in his guy to be able to make a tough contest at catch. And
I'm not just talking about down the field. I'm talking about, you know, in the short area, a shallow cross, an option route, those kind of things. Um, I don't know that echoes in the scheme. I don't think any coach is going to sit there and say, yeah, everybody's going to be covered, so just you know, just throw it up. But I do think a quarterback, if he has confidence in his guy ability to make a play or at worse, getting incompletion, I think that goes a long way. You know.
I think I mean, I'll sort of put us at four and four. Um. You know, even even Brandon has had times where, um, you know he can rush better. Um. You know, I think one of the one of the biggest one in this last game, as we had a chance when they were backed up maybe get a safety, and you know, and Vinnie who was rushing, who was rushing well on the play, just got a little bit loosey, I was able to get rid of the ball. You know, safety in that situation might have been able to make
a difference. Um, you know, Connor didn't have great production when it comes to rushing the past, but he knocked down two passes. Of course, one of them we might have intercepted if he didn't knock down. The other one we did intercept. So, Um, there's a lot of different ways those guys can can contribute. We put a lot in the run game on those guys, Vinnie. I think in particular, played really good against a run um. You know, and and we knew we were going to have to
do that. But you know, I think that you know, we're four and four team, and that reflects not just the entire team, but I think that reflects our defense. I think that reflects all aspects of our defense, our coverage, our pass rush, everything else. There's been some good but there's some things that we can do better. And uh, and we're gonna we're gonna need to do that over the last half of the year. Where you want wh