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Head Coach Tom Coughlin**
Q: Brandon Myers was added to the injury list?
A: He was, yeah.
Q: What happened?
A: Groin.
Q: Are you hoping to get him tomorrow?
A: Yes.
Q: Any update on JPP?
A: No.
Q: Will you be without him and Brandon Jacobs, too?
A: I think Brandon Jacobs hopefully can do some things tomorrow. Don't expect JPP to do anything tomorrow.
Q: Brandon Jacobs worked yesterday. Is the plan now to go every other day with him?
A: We try to do everything we can, but today was not… He wasn't going to work today, so we're going to try tomorrow.
Q: Is it a wait and see approach with Brandon?
A: No. There's a plan, but some days it doesn't work.
Q: Is Corey Webster close to getting into the games?
A: He's working a little bit better.
Q: What about Trumaine McBride?
A: He worked a little bit today. He worked 50 percent today.
Q: Are you encouraged that he may be able to play Sunday?
A: I'm encouraged that he worked 50 percent today.
Q: I don't know if you look down the road, but Jon Beason is a free agent after this year. Do you sit there…
A: I don't look down the road. Please. We've got a game. He's a middle linebacker. I hope we can take care of those kinds of things first. If you're going to ask me if he's played well… Yeah, he's played well.
Q: What did you see from Spencer Paysinger last week? Is he more of the run option and Jacquian is the pass guy?
A: That's the way it's been.
Q: Do you anticipate the same going forward?
A: I really don't see any reason to change that. They both play in all situations, but last weekend we thought it would be a game that Paysinger should start to play.
Q: Weatherford had a rough game a few weeks ago. It seems like he's been playing better since then.
A: Yeah. He's done well. He has.
Q: Was there anything you said to him?
A: Sure. We had to talk. You're always coaching them. For some reason, he let the wind bother him that day (against Oakland) instead of just doing his job and the next time he performed well in the wind.
Q: What do you need to see from Corey Webster?
A: I need him to be healthy and can consistently run full speed.
Q: Would you say Beason exceeded expectations in how quickly he was able to make an impact?
A: I think a lot of the research that we did was extremely positive about the kind of personality and energy that he brought and we were prepared for that, but we were pleased.
Q: Have you seen any signs of slowing down from him because he did come with an injury prone label?
A: I don't see any slowdown. (I see an ascending player).
Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride
Q: How do they try to deal with opposing passing attacks?
A: More than anything, they're a pressure oriented team that would like to do anything they can to keep you off balance. They probably have as wide an array of blitz packages of anybody that we've faced. I think they're getting some players back that were injured that will help them. More than anything, I would say that's it. It's a very well disguised, that's the best word, it's camouflaged. Normally we would say they're over here, alright we can make an adjustment to the protection to handle something. Ok, they're over here, but they do a terrific job of disguising. Really when you come into the game, you have to go in saying, I might have to throw some hots and I'm going to have to throw some sights. It's not a bad thing, but normally we are able to adjust the protections. Eli has done a good job of studying and he's able to take the tools that we have available for him and solve more protection problems. You're just not going to get it done this game because of their ability to disguise. In other words, they're willing to take chances. Maybe by putting guys close to you, and then he's got the deep (…), or he may have the deep path over on the other side. They're just gambling that you're not going to know where the pressure is coming from and if you don't see it, they're going to get a hit on the quarterback before you can realize where they're vulnerable.
Q: Is it too easy to say that sometimes it takes a while to develop a relationship with the quarterback and Brandon Myers is just doing that, or do you think it has been a process for him throughout the year?
A: I don't think it's too simplistic, but I don't know that it is necessarily applicable here. I think certainly he has really done a nice job for us the last couple of games. I think a lot of it is always what they're doing defensively, who are they ganging up on and who do they give opportunities to. When you have those opportunities, it's how you're doing and I think he's had some the last couple of games and has made some great plays for us.
Q: Did a lot of teams take the tight end away?
A: Yeah, remember the first game of the year, he was our leading receiver and everything else, so I think they played it balanced, but now it's been a lot of doubling and ganging up elsewhere. They were doubling on Vic or playing quarters to the other side, so in other words, it was 2-1 on the x and two on Vic, the guys who have to win are your A backs. The good thing is he has won for us.
Q: For whatever reason, maybe the protection problems you guys have had, the big plays in the passing game just haven't been there for you guys. Do you feel like you've been limited in terms of what you're able to try?
A: I think you're always adjusting. You're adjusting as the season goes on, as you learn the identity and personality and the ability level of your team, you say what can you do well, what can't you do as well as you'd like. There's no question it's an evolving thing and it's evolving on a season long basis, but it's also on a game to game. You always hope that certain opportunities are going to present themselves in the game, that maybe you weren't able to take advantage of the previous weeks. You're always hoping those big-play chances are going to be there. There's no question you have to take into consideration, what are your strengths. Is your strength your running game, is it your pass protection, is it your receiving corps? You capitalize on whatever that strength is to the best of your ability.
Q: It sounds like you're saying 'yes,' that you've had to adjust in certain ways?
A: I didn't say yes, but you may have.
Q: It sounds like you had to kind of adjust away from that and gear more toward the (…)
A: We always evolve. Every year it's a different story. We constantly change and it's not only team to team or season to season, but it's even within the context of a game.
Q: Along those lines, obviously Hakeem is having a tough time with the injuries and in and out of the lineup. Is there anything to try to get him going at all?
A: You always try. You're always trying to do that and we have. It's a two-way street. As you call something, you still have to get open, you still have to win, you still have to make the play, the coverage had to accommodate it. Maybe, I'm going to throw it to Hakeem right here and all of a sudden they roll up and play two zone, you don't have it. There's a lot of factors that come into play and a lot of it is just good fortune and luck.
Q: If we had said to you at the beginning of the season that Hakeem wouldn't have a touchdown this deep in, would you …
A: Have been surprised? Yeah, absolutely, sure.
Q: What has that been a product of, other than the fact that he's been hurt a little bit?
A: Again, if there was one isolated thing, do you want me to give you the litany, sometimes I think the opportunities haven't been there quite as much. When he's had the opportunity, we haven't always capitalized on it and sometimes the ball has gone other places.
Q: Do you believe in that? Will you try to get a guy the ball specifically just to get him rolling, or will you try to get Eli …
A: If it's to our advantage, we do.
Q: In the last few weeks it has taken the offense a few series to get going. How do you react to that when you script the beginning of the game?
A: You try to respond. You try to overcome where you are. The first play of the game, we took a nine-yard sack. All of a sudden, what you had scheduled for 2 and 3, throw out with the wind and then you go to your (…) the next time we started on the minus-1. Change everything. There's no question the dynamics changed. The good thing was we changed the whole momentum of the game with the next drive. There's no question that turned the whole game around. The morale of the defense got better, the play of the defense got better, the offense continued to play very well from that point on. There's no question it's a very important part of the game. Unfortunately, circumstances influence whether you can go to the openers or not. The way it happened for us, would have been a big wide open play on the first play and we took a sack. All of a sudden, you're out of that one. The next one, you're on the minus-1. There are things that you plan to do, you just can't.
Q: Have you found a season that you have had to get away from what maps out in the days before?
A: Not that often. Not that often.
Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell
Q: How would you grade the snaps that Damontre Moore took on Sunday?
A: Some good, some bad. It's good to see him play and it's good to see him get that game experience. We'd love for him to get more experience, so he'll take more snaps this week.
Q: Anything that really stood out to you? Like anything he should be doing better or be doing more of?
A: I wouldn't say that. I'd tell him that personally and I wouldn't say that publicly. There's a lot of things that we want him to improve on because he has a lot of potential as a player.
Q: When you say he'll take more snaps, you mean more than the percentage he took in this game, or just saying a lot more?
A: We'll add on some more to this particular game. We'll try to increase it a little bit more.
Q: Do you feel comfortable putting him in the position when it's not a passing down? That seems to be the most time that he's got. Is that something that you're willing to do going forward here?
A: He's a football player. He's a complete football player. He's got to be able to play the run and the pass. We'll definitely do that.
Q: Could you talk about what Jon Beason has brought since his arrival?
A: Jon has been a great voice for us. On the defense, you don't think that you need a quarterback, but you need a quarterback. You need someone that can go in and command the front and relate to the back row and Jon has been able to do that. He is very good at understanding situations and then being able to talk to all of his defensive players and play the game at a fast tempo. It's remarkable that he's been able to come in midway through the season and learn the terminology. We're not all there yet, we're still communicating and working. There's a lot of communication that takes place, but playing at the level he's playing at, my hat's off to him.
Q: Is he the kind of guy who lifts up his teammates?
A: I think we have several guys like that. I think Jon is one of those guys, I think Antrel Rolle is one of those guys, I think Justin Tuck is one of those guys, I think Terrell Thomas is one of those guys. I think we have several guys that can do that.
Q: At this point, are you surprised with what you have in Beason? There was almost a knock on him coming out of Carolina that he just wasn't healthy anymore, but even Tom said he hasn't slowed down a bit, since he's gotten here. Were you surprised?
A: I would say a little surprised from that standpoint. I think as a professional athlete he's done a good job of taking care of his body and I think that our training staff has done a good job of monitoring that. I think Tom has done a good job of saying, hey his heavy workdays are these days and we don't give him as much on this particular day. I think as a whole organization and as a professional for Jon, we've tried to monitor him and do the right things for him to sustain.
Q: Almost kind of like a situation with Terrell or is it a little bit different?
A: It's a little different, just a little bit.
Q: Could you just talk about the workload that Mathias Kiwanuka had the last game? I don't think he had one snap off. In terms of Kiwi, I know there's run stopping and a lot of things that go into it, but how much for a defensive end is getting those sacks? How much does that help confidence when you actually get on the sheet with the sacks?
A: That's such a big word for media, for fans, and for everyone, but you don't talk about how well they play in the run game, until we're poor in the run game. Then you say, they can't play the run. He's doing a hell of a job in playing the run game. The word 'sack' is a way for us to knock a guy when they don't get on the board, but he might be playing and doing a hell of a job like Justin Tuck is doing, in the run game. Kiwi finished the game for us against the Raiders with a sack-caused fumble and so Tuck was able to come and do that last week. I think they're going to complement each other and you'll see Kiwi come back and have a strong game, if not this game, the next game. It's important because that's what the media and that's what the fans talk about, sacks, sacks, sacks, but those guys do a hell of a job with their workload in playing the run game and that takes a lot of work, too.
Q: Do you think a defensive end goes home, after having had a sack, just with a little bit more confidence or feeling better about the job that he did when he gets a sack and a half?
A: I think they take a lot of pride in playing the run and when they're able to get sacks, I think that's a feather in their cap. Everybody's known for their ability to sack the quarterback. Do they go home feeling better? I don't know. You'd have to ask them that. I know that we feel good about them being able to be a complete football player.
Q: You talk about the run defense. You guys have done a very good job against physical running backs. Woodhead is a little different guy. Do you have to adjust to that?
A: I think you have to. It's going to be a challenge for us to do that. They have several good backs and Woodhead is a change of speed back. That's something that we really haven't seen as much this year and so it's going to take us probably a lot of focus and concentration on him being able to dart in and out and getting hats to the ball to control him.
Q: You said Beason is still a little bit of a work in progress as he learns the defense and you learn more about him. Is there more to see out of Beason?
A: I think so. Obviously we have some things that we call and he is not as familiar with and sometimes it's a little foreign to him or it doesn't click as fast as you would like for him to because he's not been through an OTA with us, he's not been through a training camp with us and then sometimes we, as coaches, have to say, 'I can't make that call or I can't… Beason hasn't done that enough to really execute that as well we'd like to.' Again, my hat's off to him because he's done a lot of the things and executed a lot of the things that we would like to do at a very high level and there's more that we can do once he learns the complete package.
Q: Do you think Trumaine McBride is going to be ready this week or do you think you will have to go with Jayron Hosley?
A: That's a training room decision. He practiced today. He practiced yesterday. I've got my fingers crossed, so it depends on tomorrow and how well he feels tomorrow. We've got our fingers crossed though.
Q: If McBride is good to go, will he be put back in as the starter?
A: We really haven't made that decision yet. We're just glad that he's practicing right now and we like what Hosley did last week, so we'll wait and see what they do tomorrow and then we'll make a decision.
Q: You can add Corey Webster in that mix, too. Do you feel like he can come back and be a starter like he was?
A: I think that's a question for Tom.
Q: Can you talk about what problems Philip Rivers presents to the defense?
A: Philip Rivers is… I think the system that he's running right now with the weapons that he has, he's really doing a nice job of just getting the ball out. He knows where he wants to go with the football. He's taking advantage of either man coverage, zone coverage, double coverage. We saw some people, Kansas City double (Antonio) Gates and then hits another, so he's got some good weapons that he uses and really he's a smart quarterback. I think the biggest improvement I've seen just from studying him last year to this year is his ability to get the ball out quick.
Q: When you talk about how strong Tuck has been against the run, what is the criteria that you use to grade a player against the run that maybe goes beyond the box score?
A: I wouldn't release that to the general public because then when I would say that and if they don't hit that criteria, then you would use it. We have standards that we set for them and if they don't adhere to those standards, then that's a good chance for me to get on their ass and not you guys. So I chew their ass then and that's the way I hold them accountable, not you guys holding them accountable. He's doing the job that we ask him to do.
Q: Even if we promise not to do that?
A: You know what? We'll talk afterwards and if you don't write it in the paper, I'll tell you what it is.
Q: Did Jayron Hosley show you anything?
A: You know what? Jayron did. I was very proud of Jayron with the way he came in and played in the football game. There was some friendly fire. On one of the plays he came up to crack support, run support, and Beason was in his way and he knocked the (hell) out of Beason and so he showed me right there that he's not afraid to hit something. He covered well and so he did some things that we saw in the football game that he was ready to come back and play and I thought his quickness matched up with some of the quickness that the receivers have from the Redskins. Be it Hosley or be it McBride or be it Webster; hopefully those guys are getting healthy enough and we're getting strong enough that we've got some options.
Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
Q: What did you think of that Alabama vs. Auburn finish? As a special teams coach, do you have a unique perspective on that?
A: It's a situation that we work on. We get a bunch of time to work on. We try to work on it with the field goal team every last field goal we cover. We just make sure we get used to… on the field, but obviously there is a physical mismatch when you've got a returner against linemen.
Q: How can you combat that? Do you try to teach lane assignments?
A: It's lanes and leverage. Obviously you want to keep the ball leveraged and the guys that can go down and make tackles; your snapper, your wings, they've got to go down there and make the tackle.
Q: What does San Diego do well in special teams?
A: They're very solid all the way across the board. I think Kevin Spencer does an outstanding job. They had a bunch of different returners due to some injuries, but whoever they put in has done well. I like Danny Woodhead, how he's just vertical and tough to get a bead on because he's in and out of his cuts. Hawkins has got very good speed and then obviously Eddie Royal has got a great history, so those three guys at kick returns and then punt return, Keenan Allen is a guy who we really liked when he came out of college last year out of (California). It'll be a challenge. They're well coached and they're outstanding specialists with Novak and Scifres. I've never done a hit chart like their punter's. Eight years… The hang time is tremendous, so he's really done a nice job and that aides their coverage.
Q: Is part of that climate for them or is that all just skill?
A: It's skill, but the climate does have something to do with it. But he's got the ability and he's always had the ability to hang the ball up there, which extends the play and so we've got to be smart with not having penalties and making sure the returner has a chance to get started.
Q: Are you happy with what Michael Cox has been doing?
A: We didn't finish one block on a kickoff return or he could have had a pretty good return, so we've got to work on finishing blocks.
Q: Have you been happy with the balls that he has taken out in terms of his decision making?
A: He did a good job of getting over to the one closest to the sideline, but he's aggressive to get it and he hasn't really had to face that because of the weather change as far as, 'Am I going to take it out or am I going to keep it in?'
Q: You guys were so good on kickoff return last year. How much was that just David Wilson versus somebody else?
A: Well, there's a bunch of new blockers. I think we blocked it well for him last year and he's obviously a tremendous talent, so that helps, and then when you have a tremendous talent back there a lot of times you block a little bit longer, a little bit harder. We just haven't got into a groove with it. It's been frustrating. We felt the last two to three weeks there's been some opportunities here and there to get something started and you're one block away. So we're focusing on just finishing our blocks and doing our job to hopefully get some field position for the offense.
Safety Will Hill
Re: covering Antonio Gates
A: Difficult, extremely difficult. Unless you're a D-lineman that could push him around a little bit, but other than that it's very difficult to deal with him.
Q: Obviously if you're a D-lineman you can't keep up with him.
A: Exactly. So you have to pick your poison.
Q: You guys have had some trouble with the tight end, Witten's had a couple touchdowns against you guys. Are you going to change things up from how you did it against the Cowboys?
A: No, we've just got to go out and get the job done, to tell you the truth. There's nothing wrong with the technique or anything, we've just got to bring it a little harder.
Q: What makes them so physical?
A: The running backs, they run hard. They have great O-linemen coming up that want to get their hands on you and are very physical, and their receivers, you really don't see receivers that really want to come down and crack.
CB Terrell Thomas
Q: Has Beason raised the play of the other guys on the defense?
A: For the linebackers, yes. He's definitely helped a young group, getting them aligned, giving confidence to them and having a voice. More than anything, he kind of sees things the way that we do in the secondary, we're a more veteran group so it's good to have his opinion in that room that gets us all on the same board. We were meeting before him but he's done a great job orchestrating meetings and being a voice and making sure everybody's on the same page.
Q: We heard a lot about miscommunication before he arrived. Has he helped clear that up?
A: There wasn't too much miscommunication, it just came to the fact that we were losing, so everybody started trying to do too much and at some point we felt like we had too much information, so we just tried to simplify things so we could play a lot faster. That's what happened when he came. Unfortunately it was just a timing thing but he's definitely helped more than anything. He didn't really help in the communication department more just his play. You should see him out there, he has 17 tackles last week. He's just making plays, taking on double teams. He's a hell of a ball player.
Q: I know you guys don't pay attention much to what's written but does it surprise you at all, 5-7 is not really that far out of the race, but it seems like so many people are counting you guys out already.
A: Yeah, it's always that way. They counted us out when we were 0-6. We're going to stick to the blueprint, keep working hard, keep believing in each other and see what happens. We know losing to Dallas made it harder for us, but at the same time we're still in this race and until they kick us out, we're going to keep fighting. Even then, hopefully we can still find a way to get in because nobody wants to go home early. This team is fighting hard, we had a great day of practice today and we'll watch the film later on and keep getting better.
Q: Does it make it easier at all the fact that for a couple weeks every game was like a must-win game and that was kind of the narrative, that you're not being bugged about that constantly every day?
A: We weren't really concerned with that because we put ourselves in that hole. After 0-3 and 0-4, you're kind of like, "Well, you've got to start winning." And once we start winning, now what are you going to do. You put yourself against the wall to make it a must-win game. Unfortunately, that's just the way our season's turned out so we adjusted to it and we accepted it and it makes it that much more fun. Every game is a playoff atmosphere for us, that's our mentality going into it. The intensity is a lot higher and the win means that much more for us.
TE Brandon Myers
A: Yeah, I came back yesterday and I was just a little sore. Just giving it a little bit of rest and I'll be back at practice tomorrow.
Q: Do you expect to be limited in what you can do tomorrow?
A: No, tomorrow I'll be back full go.
Q: Because you seem like you're really starting to fit in.
A: Yeah, definitely. It's unfortunate but when the body says you're a little sore, you've got to let it rest a little bit. I'll be back tomorrow.
Q: Are you surprised with how long it's taken you to feel like you're very much a part of this offense?
A: No. You just kind of do what the coaches tell you and when your number is called, just be ready to make a play.
Q: Two good games and it's like, "Oh, something clicked." I'm sure that things were working for you before then, was the defense just showing you something different over these last two weeks or has something changed?
A: No, a lot of things go into it, it's not just as easy as pitch and catch. Either we're in blocking for a certain defense or you get jammed at the line, certain things happen. The last few weeks we've connected and we've made a few first downs and a couple touchdowns. You just kind of hope to build off that, just keep going one game at a time and then build on it.
Q: Any of the things that went into it that you'd be able to share maybe?
A: You'd have to watch the film.
Q: You had some opportunities, things that didn't quite work out like the Chicago game, the Denver game.
A: I was waiting for someone to bring the Chicago game up. It's weekly.
Q: Has it been?
A: Yeah, it has actually. What was your question?
Q: Now it seems like things are working out for you. You were getting these opportunities earlier…
A: Yeah, we're just connecting. When my number's called, you always just try to make the play. There's obviously some unfortunate things that went on early in the season that you can't really control now, you've just got to move on and make plays.
