Q: Did you think the four-safety look worked last week?
A: Yeah. I thought they were very effective. I thought we had a chance to utilize our personnel and use their talents.
Q: Can that become the norm with a lot of the teams you face coming up?
A: It just depends on the teams that you're facing and what challenges they present to you.
Q: Did you want to use your personnel differently on the defensive line coming out of the bye?
A: Yeah. That was one thing that we studied that we felt like if we could get more healthy bodies that we could utilize our personnel in different ways to complement their talents and to complement our defense and so that was one of the thoughts going into the game.
Q: Can you use the three-safety look against a running team?
A: Yeah. I think it can be effective against a running team, passing team because of who those people are and what they bring to the table. I think it's very effective.
Q: Because you only need two true linebackers, does that help Kiwi get down on the defensive line?
A: It does and then also we have some added flexibility because sometimes he can be down and sometimes he can be up, so you never know what you'll get. So I think it has an element of surprise to it.
Q: Using Antrel at the nickel was a big part of last year's defense. What does he bring when you put him back in that role?
A: Just experience, knowledge. He brings a different type of energy to our defense and Antrel is an action player and so it takes him to the action a lot more, in my opinion, a lot more often than him playing safety. Now safety is an action position also, don't get me wrong, but it puts him closer to the action, I should say.
Q: He said he likes to play safety, but he likes to win more. What did you think about that?
A: I won't expand on that. You have to ask him about that one. But you know what? He's a good player and I'm glad that he allows us to utilize him in the ways that we do.
Q: So having Kenny back opens the door for him to do that?
A: It definitely does. No doubt.
Q: How did the secondary and defensive line perform last week?
A: I thought they both complemented each other very well because Antrel and the guys in the back row did a really nice job of executing the game plan and the guys up front, we need to give them some opportunities to mix and match and do some different things and so I thought they complemented each other very well to put together a solid football game.
Q: Does Kiwanuka give you that fourth end similar to the way that Tollefson was doing it for you last year?
A: You can look at it like that. Obviously we'll use him in a lot of different ways, but he'll play backer, he'll play defensive end. So we'll utilize him in any way that we need possible, but you can look at it like that. Yes.
Q: How do you emphasize to your defensive line the importance of getting pressure on RGIII, but not overextending and creating holes?
A: That's a tough question to ask because we've been trying to answer that question all week. First, I think you just have to have great discipline. You have key in on your reaction and know the people that you're playing in front of, if they give you a run-pass tip, or not. A lot of it is going to be based on the individual study of the player because they have to get some tips with a terrific offense like this because they're really good in the run and they're really good in their play-action pass.
Q: How much does Pierre Garcon affect your preparation?
A: Boy, he's a heck of a player, isn't he? He puts speed on the field for them and he can stretch the field. We're always aware of him. We won't change our plan, but we're always aware of him.
Q: Kiwanuka played on the line in your most impressive victories, over San Francisco and Green Bay. Does he bring an extra body up there or is there something that he allows your other guys to do when he's on the line?
A: I think it's a combination of both. He's played both positions and I think it's the flexibility that he brings to both positions. Sometimes you don't know if the offense counts him as a linebacker or defensive end, so when he drops his hand down, they don't know if he's going to drop off or rush. I think it's a little bit of guessing on their part, on what he's going to do.
Q: Thoughts on RGIII's fourth and 10 conversion last meeting and what you could've done to stop him:
A: Tackle him. That's a really fine football player making a football play. You would like to think that he spent enough time scrambling and looking that we would be able to corral him and put him on the ground or throw an errant pass. We've looked at that play probably a dozen times. You say you plaster your receivers more, and that's a point of emphasis, but then if you plaster your receivers more, he takes off and runs. You have to have vision on the quarterback. I think that's the dual-threat that he brings to the National Football League; that you can cover every receiver and have them locked down, and then he can go from 0 to 60 like that and get the first down.
Q: Moving Tuck to a stand-up stance and shifting Canty a little more outside…are those both techniques you changed coming out of the bye week?
A: No doubt, yes. We definitely wanted to utilize those guys in different ways like that and have different alignments and different movements for them. Chris Canty played in a 3-4 system when he was in Dallas at defensive end a lot, so obviously we felt comfortable putting him out there and letting him do his thing in the pass-rush mode. Tuck gives you great flexibility to move around and drop down and get up. The more that we can do, the more we can bring that to the forefront, the better we can become.
Q: When you go to a three-safety look, are you trying to create confusion for the quarterback?
A: Some, but I'm also trying to utilize our talent. I think that when you use that package it gives you a lot of flexibility and it does cause some confusion for the offense. Who is the safety? Who is the guy that's dropping down? Some people don't know and some people think they are. Those guys, the way they move around and the way they allow us to change them; it can be confusing and difficult for a quarterback.
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