Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka

Q: What do you say to a quarterback when he throws for zero yards in the first half? Obviously, a lot of that was game script and the way the game was going. But, what do you, as a coordinator, say to him?

MIKE KAFKA: We'll talk at half and make any adjustments that we need to. And then go out and attack the second half.

Q: What do you say to your receivers after throwing for zero yards?

MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, I think it's pretty similar. All those conversations that happen at halftime, talk about what we did well and what we could do better. Then what the plan of attack could be for the second half. Whether it's certain schemes or certain plays, we'll talk about it, discuss it and handle it from there.

Q: Any differences with (running back Tyrone) Tracy (Jr.) with a full week as opposed to last week? Not really knowing, the uncertainties, if he was going to make it through concussion protocol. What does that say for him, over the last month, the growth that he's taken as a runner?

MIKE KAFKA: I'd say from a prep standpoint, nothing has changed. Just whatever the doctors give us in terms of practice reps is what we lean on. But, the prep has been the same. And (Running Backs) Coach (Joel) Thomas does a great job with the running backs and getting those guys prepped. I think (Tyrone) Tracy is just continuing, as a young player, to grow and continuing to learn. There's things that he's seeing that are new to him every single week, every single day of practice. He's banking all those experiences. I think it will just continue to pay off for him as he gets more time there.

Q: With a young player, you usually see it stack in a good way. (Wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt was more productive and played more last year. What have you seen from him this year? Because I think if you look at the numbers or the playing time, the natural reaction is 'He's taken a step backwards.'

MIKE KAFKA: I wouldn't call it that. I think Jalin (Hyatt) has taken advantage of all his opportunities. He's working his tail off in practice. He's working on the fundamental, those things that we talked about in the offseason and through training camp. He's taking that opportunity and that time right now to work on it. So, when his time's called, whenever that may be, he'll be ready. He'll be prepared because that's what he's been working to do.

Q: You have a guy with a very specific skill set, though. I mean, he's very fast. He can get downfield. He has one catch for six yards. So, do you guys have to do a better job as coaches, as schemers, trying to get him involved?

MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, when we talk about the game plan, we talk about putting these guys in certain spots. Whether it's Jalin (Hyatt) or (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) or the (running) backs, the tight ends. We think about all those things. Depending on how the game goes, how the flow of the game goes, how that determines, what kind of defenses they're playing, may give us those opportunities or take them away and we have to adjust.

Q: Why do you think it hasn't worked yet for him so far this year? I mean, obviously the results are the results.

MIKE KAFKA: I think just opportunities. I don't think he's had enough opportunities to do it. Any week could present those, whether more or less. When they show up, I'm confident that Jalin (Hyatt) will be able to make those plays.

Q: Question, I would only ask you this week. Are you German in any way?

MIKE KAFKA: I'm not. At least that I know of.

Q: Your name sounds like a good one.

MIKE KAFKA: No, I think it's kind of in that Czech region, is what my grandparents have told me.

Q: What are you expecting from the experience?

MIKE KAFKA: I'm excited. It's a cool opportunity, anytime you get to go overseas and play a football game. I've had a couple in my career and it's a new venue. There's obviously fans and excitement from around the league. But, at the end of the day, it's a business trip. We're excited to go and play the Panthers and do our best.

Q: There aren't many times where you get to experience something that's pretty much new for everybody, right? So, how do you kind of navigate through that?

MIKE KAFKA: I'd say just getting them prepared. Whether it's showing them what the layout of the stadium looks like or how long the bus drive is going to be. Just giving them prep as much as you possibly can. You maybe talk about what the field conditions could look like, the weather. I think there's a pretty good amount of guys that have played in overseas games, but the guys that haven't it's going to be a new experience. So, it's getting out early. It's checking the field. Making sure you have the right cleats. But, at the end of the day, it's like any other stadium that you'd go to in the United States and the field's going to be the same length, all those things. Once you start playing, you're playing. I think from just a player's perspective, that's how you approach it. But sure, like all the lead up, all the travel, all the stuff that we have to deal with, that's all new and that's all different.

Q: I've never been to an international game. I've always heard that like there's a pretty steady buzz in the crowd. It's not like a home game where they're quiet on offense or loud on defense or vice versa on the road. So how does the atmosphere, you said you been to a bunch of international games, how does that affect offensive operations?

MIKE KAFKA: This will be my third. But you're right. There is a little bit of a buzz just constant throughout because there could be fans from other teams and just from the area that are just fans of the NFL and fans of football. So, I think you got to anticipate kind of using both, whether it's silent count or verbal. When you get into certain situations, you might want to use silent. It might be a little bit louder. I know they're particularly more loud when the kicking team's out there. Just based on soccer and all that. So, that's part of it. We're prepared for it. We've been talking about it all week.

Q: Are you a big (FC) Bayern Munich fan?

MIKE KAFKA: I haven't caught a game.

Q: What do you know about them and Germany in particular?

MIKE KAFKA: To be honest, I haven't watched a whole lot of German soccer.

Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen

Q: How surprising was that to you last week? That obviously wasn't your unit's best performance. Did it come out of nowhere for you?

SHANE BOWEN: No, I think we gave up some critical plays in critical situations. That's the thing I took from it more than anything. A couple of third downs there. We didn't make plays where in a perfect world, we would make those plays, we're off the field, give us a shot. I thought we battled in the run game. I know there were a few, two or three, that went for 10+, but I thought we battled overall. Under four (yards) per carry is pretty good, winning football in terms of stopping the run if you're under four, usually. Just got to eliminate the explosives on that end. That's the other thing that just keeps showing up. The explosive runs. Making sure we keep those down. I think the biggest thing that came away from that game is just when the time comes, critical situations, we got to be able to execute and make plays and not let them make plays and don't give it to them. We got to make sure we don't give it to them and are in the right spots and execute at a high level.

Q: You have one interception, so why do you think that's the case and how do you get more of them?

SHANE BOWEN: I think we got to do a good job. It starts with making sure we stop the run. We got to get them in some passing situations. Get in some favorable situations for us where we can rush, we can cover. Play with vision, affect the quarterback. Continue to make the plays that are there. Hopefully get some balls tipped in the air that we can catch. Just got to create those opportunities for ourselves and when they present themselves, we got to be able to make them.

Q: Are they presenting themselves? Do you feel like you've had chances for interceptions?

SHANE BOWEN: I don't think. Not enough. I think we need more. Again, it's something we got to continue to work at. We got to find ways.

Q: People always say pass rushing, secondary go hand in hand. You lead the league in sacks and you're last in interceptions. It's very odd.

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, and I would say a big emphasis for me is we're back there on the quarterback and we don't get the ball off him. Quarterbacks are the number one fumblers in the NFL. So, there's got to be an emphasis. If we're able to get back there and we're able to get to him, let's try to attack the football. Strip sack is a sack just the same. So, I would say that's a major point of emphasis. I mean, I'd agree with you. You would think if you're able to affect. But again, those quarterbacks, if you're getting the sack numbers, they're not putting it up in the air either. So hopefully we can take advantage of those times where we're able to get some pressure, get them off the spot, make them uncomfortable back there. If there are opportunities that aren't great throws, we can take advantage of them.

Q: How can you get the pass rush back to where it was after this past weekend?

SHANE BOWEN: Just keep working. I mean, teams obviously they know what we know, and they know what you know. I mean we've had some success with those guys. Those guys have been able to win some one-on-ones. So, they're keeping some guys in and they're chipping on the edges. They're sliding where they need to slide. So, we've got to continue to counter that. Again, it goes back to a little bit to my point earlier. We've got to make sure we do a good job on early downs, stopping the run, putting them in some pass situations where we can go to where it's not always run, play action pass.

Q: How do you counter chips? What is the answer to that? Because it seems like any time you guys don't have a lot of sacks, you ask (outside linebacker Brian) Burns or whoever, they say they chip me all the time. So how do you?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, I mean, it's tough. It is. I think their awareness of where they are, how they attack those guys. It's got to be two guys. You've got to have a plan for the first guy, then you've got to have a plan for the second guy. You can't just go in there and say they chip me and I'm done. We've got to keep working at it. Continue to coordinate some things between the edge, the inside, what we're able to do there to try to change the picture on them in regard to that. And again, if they've got three guys out and around, hopefully we've got some bodies, we've got some vision, we can do some things and find ways to get off the field in those situations.

Q: What's missing up front in the running game?

SHANE BOWEN: I don't know if it's anything, one thing in particular. I really don't. I think the next-play runs are what's been showing up and it's been across the board. It's been missed tackles here or there. It's been potentially misfitting some things at times, not being in the right spot. I mean you look, and you go through all the runs, and you look back at them and there's some really good clips in there and you're just like, 'how can we get to the point where those other 20, 25 runs look like the five that we're giving up to 10 plus'. So, just finding ways to do that and I think a big part of that too is making sure if they do find a crease or it does break in some form or fashion, let's make sure it's 10 to 15 and we've had a few of those 50, 40 yarders too that play into that too. Just continue to focus on it, continue to make sure guys are doing their job, technique and fundamentals across the board, eyes come into play. I mean I think there's a myriad of reasons.

Q: You had (defensive tackle Armon) Watts in that sub package, rush package, (defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II) Dex, and the two edge guys a little bit. He's only been here a short time. What has he shown you? What about his game were you trying to mix in there?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, I thought he did a really good job in there. I think he won a few when he had some opportunities and that's what he's shown out here at practice. That's what we tell these guys. 'You earn your opportunities, nothing's going to be handed to you'. Again, it's a week-to-week league across the board so you've got to prove it every week. Guys come out here and practice, they do something, we see something. Like, we're going to give them an opportunity to go see if they can do it on Sunday. Keeping the competition healthy, continuing to kind of build on that and make sure these guys are competing day in and day out. Hopefully they make the most of their opportunities come Sunday, which I thought he did for the most part.

Q: (Cornerback Nick McCloud) filled a lot of roles for you guys. Inside slot. Safety, started five games. How do you replace him and fill those shoes?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, again, appreciate Nick, appreciate how he carried himself, appreciate that role that he had here. He was an ultimate pro in that regard. Really appreciative of him and what he was to our unit, to this team and his time here. But we got guys. It's the NFL and it happens everywhere. So, I'm looking forward to some of these other guys. They're going to have some opportunities and hopefully they can make the most of that.

Q: Who is the next guy up at nickel? He was the guy who stepped in when (cornerback) Dru (Phillips) went out the other day. Who is that next guy there?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, we've got a few. Between obviously, (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott's played there, between (defensive back Greg Stroman (Jr.), between (safety/inside linebacker Isaiah Simmons) Zay. We've got some pieces there that we feel comfortable with that we can mix in there if we need to.

Q: How do you get (cornerback) Deonte Banks back to playing the level that you guys want him to be at?

SHANE BOWEN: I think day in and day out, staying on him, coaching him hard, finding wins, small victories out on the practice field, continue to gain confidence, continue to make plays on the football in practice. I think that carries over to the game. I thought he did some good things Sunday. Obviously, there's a few plays he probably wants back. We probably want back just the same. But I thought he did some good things, showed up in the run game. I think that's a step that he's continuing to take for us. Been an emphasis there as well. So, I think just the day in and day out, the grind of an NFL season at practice. We've got to be able to do it in practice, all 11 of us. We've got to be able to do it in practice if we expect to do it on Sunday.

Q: With Tae, you mentioned confidence. Did you sense that he maybe had lost a little bit?

SHANE BOWEN: No sense of that. I think it's more just, 'let's envision ourselves, let's go out here and make these plays in practice and then the game is going to happen second nature'.

Q: How much different or more confident do you see (Panthers quarterback) Bryce Young after he came back and was put back in the lineup? Or what do you see different?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, they made some plays down the field. He had a nice little back shoulder throw on a little wheel route. Got the ball in guys' hands and they made some plays. Tight end, hurtling down the sideline. Seems like we see one every week. But I thought he was decisive, found ways to get the ball out of his hands, get it to their playmakers. They've got really good catch and run guys. If they're able to get the ball in their hands in space, they're big, they're strong, they're fast, they're tough to bring down. So, utilizing that, I think their run game, they're doing a really good job running the football, especially on early downs. So just making sure they're going to have complements off of that to help him, to help everybody, to help the offense. So, we've got to make sure we do a good job on early downs and then hopefully we can make them uncomfortable and go from there.

Q: Is tackling in your mind right now? Is it a matter of fundamentals? Is it will and focus? How are you working on that mid-season?

SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, I do. The space ones are hard. I think our guys' understanding of there's no bad tackle when you're in space. Get them on the ground. I think the understanding, it's going to be times it might not look good, and you might end up on your back. That's the nature of the beast. It's tough to get those kill shots when there's space. So, I think it's two-fold, continuing to constrict space. So, we're not having some of those creases where it gives the running back some two-way goes. And at the same time, when we do find ourselves in those positions, let's make sure we stay on our feet. We're not too wide with our base. We're not hopping. We're not stepping under ourselves. We're stepping to contact. We're wrapping up. Eyes, angles. I mean there's a million things fundamentally that go into making a tackle that I think we've got to continue to see. Again, like we point out every day in practice, those are the little things in practice you can't disregard. And we've got to make sure that we're focused on them, players and coaches, throughout the week.

Special Teams Coordinator Michael Ghobrial

Q: Got your guys back? (punter) Jamie (Gillan) and (kicker) Graham (Gano) I guess?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: We'll see closer to game time. They both did some stuff yesterday. Excited to see where they're at towards the end of the week.

Q: What would that mean to your units for you?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Anytime you have guys that you initially have gone into the season thinking that they're going to be your dudes for the entirety of the season, I think it always gives you confidence at the beginning. So, I know guys respect them in the locker room, both of them, and they work tremendously hard and have both worked really hard to make sure that they're healthy. So, guys would just be fired up for them to get their opportunity back.

Q: We're not out here for the length of practice. How do you explain three specialists, kickers, getting hurt in practice this year. Graham, Jamie, (kicker Greg) Joseph all got hurt in practice this year. Are you guys pushing them further? How would you explain that?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Yeah, honestly, unfortunate. Nothing extreme with the workload. You're always going to evaluate when you see just a culmination of injuries like that pile up. So, you look at the workload, you look at what you're asking them to do, spacing between games and all that, and it was nothing out of the norm from a general NFL year and a general volume of kicks that they normally take on. One thing that I always make certain of whenever I work with a specialist is I like to ask them what they're comfortable with in terms of how many kicks, how many punts, how many snaps they're getting normally. For me, that gives a good barometer from them on how to basically get them ready for the game. But a lot of the onus is on the player to manage that as well. So, it's good conversation early on in the spring, but it's also continuous conversation as we get going in the season.

Q: When you go into an international game like this, how much time do you have to put into the conditions, worrying about that? Or is that more of a game day thing for you once you get out there, what you're dealing with as far as punting, kicking, that kind of thing?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Yeah, you're always doing advance scouting, in my opinion. It starts with the stadium, what you're playing on, what the surface is. We're always tracking the weather every single day. What is the crowd noise potential? You always want to know and make our players feel very comfortable with going into a unique environment that they haven't necessarily done or have experience doing so. So, a lot of it, as coaches, we try and educate our players early in the week and stay connected throughout the week because it affects what type of shoes you wear in the game. It affects maybe your warmup routine, maybe you walking the field and seeing, 'okay, this is actually what it looks like'. So, we're excited to get out there and be able to navigate those situations.

Q: So, what are your expectations? Like for field, atmosphere, what are you expecting?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Yeah, it's a great question because there is a lot of uncertainty. There's going to be some stuff that is uncharted that we didn't necessarily prep ourselves with, so game day will be a huge factor. But we're expecting a good field. There's games played on that field. I expect the weather right now to be somewhat moderate. And then crowd noise, I think it's going to be an awesome environment for both sides. Regardless of who's home and away. I think it's going to be a good atmosphere where people are going to love seeing football. So, we got to anticipate some crowd noise in terms of that.

Q: How do you think (kicker) Jude (McAtamney) did?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Awesome, man. I was fired up for him. A guy that you bring in, and then you as a group start to see the maturation. Both as a person understanding the business and then also as a player. Being very convicted in himself of understanding that he belongs in this league, but also having the courage to adapt some things and learn from some veterans to where when he does get his opportunity, he gets to take advantage of that. So, to see Jude get his opportunity was awesome, number one. To see him excel in it was another thing, knowing that he was ready. He had a lot of confidence going into the game. And I thought he did a nice job for us. So, he's a pleasure to have on the team.

Q: He had said back in the summer asking about the plan you guys may have had for him, your message to him in the spring was, 'I want you to come out here and compete every day, but don't worry about making kicks early on. Just kick, just keep kicking and then we'll tally things up at the end'. Was that an approach you took from him that almost had to change at some point when you started realizing, 'you know what, he might be in the mix here', or didn't you just stay consistent?

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: The message was, 'I want you to compete and never think just because you're a rookie that you don't have the opportunity to play'. Because you never know when your opportunity presents itself. So, for him, I didn't want him to necessarily start counting the numbers and seeing guys ahead of him. I wanted him to go out and compete for the job. I think ultimately it doesn't matter whether you're a P-squad guy, undrafted guy, first round guy. You're always continuously competing to be the best version of yourself. So that way when you get the opportunity, you take advantage of it. So, I thought early on Jude learned from Graham heavily, he did. And I think Graham has been a huge mentor to him as well. But that's not to say that Jude wasn't competing every day, and he did a nice job with that.

Defensive Lineman Dexter Lawrence

Q: What are these trips like for you? Are you looking forward to it?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I'm looking forward to it. It's a business trip. Just playing in a different country and at the end of the day still playing football and doing what I love, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q: What do you take from the London trip in terms of catching up on rest and time difference? You guys had success there. What do you take from that and carry into this Germany trip?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I don't get in too much into that. I just try to keep my routine the same. At the end of the day, it's still the same time of the day, so we try to go about it that way. We're not there long, so I don't think the jet lag will sit in too much, honestly.

Q: Anything you're looking forward to most about seeing Munich and Germany, some place in the city you've never been to before?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Probably just eating, trying some different foods. I'm big into food. So, I'll do some research when I get on the plane see where I can go eat.

Q: A little Oktoberfest type stuff?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Yeah, a little bit. I don't know. I've got to do my research.

Q: What do you see from Carolina's offense? (Panthers quarterback) Bryce Young is going to be back as the starting quarterback. What do you see?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: He's a little savvy guy. We've got to make sure we don't give him a lot of space so he can make great passes. The running backs are running very hard. I know one of them just got an extension. Congrats. The o-line are big guys and like to get physical, so I'm excited for the matchup.

Q: There's always a lot made of these international games, the turf being difficult to play on. I don't know if you experienced that in London. Any concerns about that?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I got a real bad turf burn out there, so that's about the experience I got (laughs).

Q: So, no concern about footing in or anything in this game?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Just turf burns.

Q: What do you feel about this opportunity for you guys? Does it feel any different, this opportunity, in terms of they're a team that's in a very similar position to you guys?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I honestly believe they're a pro team. They're all here for a reason. They could be going through the same struggles that we go through. Whoever you play, you've got to take it seriously. You can get beat on any day. I think we've got to go out there with a great approach. I think we had a good week this week of practice, like always. We've got to go out there and dominate.

Q: From a defensive standpoint, you're not supposed to get interceptions. Why do you think this defense has done eight straight games without an interception? It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me because people always tell me pass rush and secondary go hand in hand. You guys lead the league in sacks, so shouldn't that be forcing quarterbacks into interceptions?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: They're just throwing good balls. We're not getting to them. That's the best way I can answer that.

Q: Turnovers were such a big part of what you guys did last year. Do you feel like creating more would flip the script a little?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I think we need to create more to have the offense have a short field and not worry about driving a long field. It's our responsibility to go get the ball, so that's what we've got to do.

Q: How much do you guys feel a sense of urgency to get a win before the bye at this point in the season?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Me personally, huge. You don't want to go that long without being able to play another football game after a loss. You've got to give it your all this week. It's basically a one-game season, pretty much, and you've got to go out there and play your hardest.

Wide Receiver Malik Nabers

Q: What do you anticipate your first international experience to be like?

MALIK NABERS: I don't know, I'm waiting to see how everything will play out. I'm excited though to get to go to another country and play football.

Q: What have you heard about what the international games are like?

MALIK NABERS: I heard it's a pretty good scenery. I know they've got a lot of huge fans that (are) out there, so I'm excited to see what our fan base looks like when we get out there.

Q: How important is it for this week to build on a strong offensive performance like you guys had last week?

MALIK NABERS: It's another opportunity to go out and showcase what our offense has. We get to do it in another country, so we're going to try to light it up.

Q: Do you think this is an opportunity for yourself to play on a world stage?

MALIK NABERS: It's kind of big, so like I said, I'm excited to go out there and see all the fan base out there and just play in another country.

Q: Have some of your teammates who played a couple years ago in London given you any advice or shared advice with their teammates about how to handle the time difference?

MALIK NABERS: A couple of my teammates right now?

Q: Yeah, they played a few years ago in London.

MALIK NABERS: They just said that the scenery was pretty good. They had a good time out there, so I'm just excited to go out there too and see.

Q: What about taking care of your body, catching up on rest, adjusting to the time difference, that type of thing?

MALIK NABERS: I never asked any questions about that, but you know your body better than other people know your body. Just get on top of (it) and prepare.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most?

MALIK NABERS: Like I said, going out there and playing in another country.