Q: Was NASCAR a phrase that you used?A: We created that when I got here. We talked to the players about it and we said that we wanted power and speed on the field. We thought that was the best representation of power and speed.
Q: Your defensive tackles said they have no idea what's happening out there. Do you have any clue? Are they just improvising?A: They know what's going on out there. It's well thought out. It's coordinated and it's front-form.
Q: So why does it look like chaos?A: It's supposed to look like chaos.
Q: Who is this number 90 kid (Pierre-Paul)?A: I hope he shows up this week, too.
Q: What are you expecting out of him at this stage of his development?A: He's progressed every week. We just look for him to keep doing the same things he's been doing. We're not asking him to do any more than what he's been doing. In practice he's making plays. The game is coming to him naturally now and that's fun to see for a player like him.
Q: Is his enthusiasm on the field contagious?A: I hope it is. It's contagious for me and the coaches and I'm sure it is for his teammates because as we watch the tape everybody is hooting and hollering and everybody's getting excited about Giant football – defensive football.
Q: How are you preparing for Atlanta's no-huddle offense?A: We've faced the no-huddle all year. We know it'll be an up-tempo offense. We know it will be run/pass option. We just have to get our hands in the dirt and play as fast as we possibly can play and disrupt the timing of the run and the pass.
Q: How do you feel about how the defense is playing right now? Atlanta seems to have a lot of weapons.A: This team is no different than any other team that we've played. They have a lot of offensive weapons and we're battle-tested from that standpoint. I expect us to respond well.
Q: Can you talk about the challenge of stopping the run?A: Michael Turner, it's well documented that when he goes over 100 yards, they win. It's going to be vitally important that we control him, that we have to come up with a body part on that guy. He's a big strong guy. When I say big, strong guy, he's like Maurice Jones-Drew in that he's very powerful. We've got to do a great job of wrap-tackling.
Q: How has Jacquian Williams developed?A: We started out with him being a man-cover guy for us and then we asked him during the mid-season to do a lot more than that. That was a lot for him as a rookie. We had some breakdowns. We had some not-so-good plays. And the game was a little fast for him. So we scaled him back a little bit and then we've given him some roles to play in right now. I think he accepted those roles and he's getting better each week. We can see that he's starting to retain the defense, he's starting to learn the defense and instead of being a robot, now he's become a player. I think he's progressed as the season has progressed.
Q: How does Osi change your front four?A: It puts a lot more speed on the field for us. As we look at what we call the get-offs in the pass rush, he has such good eye-hand coordination when he's watching the ball and going on the snap of the ball that it puts a lot of pressure on those offensive tackles.
Q: Does he look significantly better coming from the right side?A: He looks good on the right and the left. I just have to convince him he looks good on the left side.
Q: He said he felt awkward there.A: He looks good to me. He might feel awkward, but he looked good. When he got the sack over there on the left side I kind of smiled and said, 'I'm glad to have you back.'
Q: Do you look at him as the missing piece?A: Yeah, he's definitely the missing piece for us during the course of the year up front. I've said that throughout the year that our pass rush is our pass coverage. They really do a great job for us.
Q: Have you seen the confidence in practice, in film meetings?A: Oh yeah. I just see a lot more communication on their part to each other. I see a lot more bounce in their step and confidence. I see a lot more focus, them wanting to get it right, trying to get it right, demanding each other to get it right. In the meetings there's a lot of chatter and it's not always coaches. It's them talking to each other about what they did right, wrong or what have you. I think it's just spilled over onto the football field for us.
Q: Much more than usual?A: Much more than usual.
Q: How long?A: It really started the week before the Green Bay game. They started really focusing in and getting better and it's just been a gradual thing for them. They're a good group. They want to get it right. We've been young at times and we don't know how to get it right at times, but we have been a little stable the last few weeks.
Q: Why are these four defensive ends working well together?A: I think each guy has a talent level, a good skill level that they're not the same. I'm not going to describe each guy's skill level for you, but they're not the same cookie-cutter person when they rush. I think that's what makes them unique. They bring a different skill set, each defensive end.
Q: If you were facing them, which one would you double?A: I don't know.
Q: Is it unusual that you have so many guys that can move inside?A: Yes, it's very unusual. It's a unique combination.
Q: Some ends don't want to move inside. They want to be free on the outside.A: No. You're exactly right. It is a unique combination and the willingness for them to go in there and do that, I think that speaks well of them for the team that they want to go inside and get dirty.
Q: It looked like on Osi's first sack Justin was inside and it looked like they knew exactly what each other were doing.A: He was. That was well set-up by them. It was well coordinated by them. We've been waiting for that to happen all year long, but we could just never get them on the field at the same time due to the nicks and injuries and those types of things. That was fun. That was a fun game for me to call.
Q: That makes a coordinator look smart.A: Yes it does.
Q: Get those guys out there and they have a flow of what they want to do.A: No doubt.
Q: You put them there, but it works.A: No doubt. They have a good feel for each other and they know how to set the stunts up.
Q: Do you see them adjust on the fly a lot?A: It happens in practice. It happens in our jog-throughs. We give them certain scenarios. Other times they have to adjust because the offensive line doesn't always block them the same way. There are adjustments and things that we put on film, that we put on tape that we have to go back and talk to them about and they have to think about.
Q: Did you simplify the defense or did the guys just figure it out?A: I think the young guys that were playing grew up a little bit and started learning more. I think as they learned more and got better, again, our communication level got better and by us not playing so many young guys at the same I think we got better also. I think those two things contributed to us getting healthier.
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