Head Coach Brian Daboll
Q: (Wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) popped up on the injury report yesterday, how's he doing and where does that stand?
BRIAN DABOLL: He's good.
Q: He's going to practice then?
BRIAN DABOLL: He is.
Q: Or are you going to limit him a little bit?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, he's going to practice. We'll see how he feels when he gets out here, but no concern. He'll be ready to play.
Q: Is (wide receiver Darius) Slayton cleared yet?
BRIAN DABOLL: He's going to be able to practice (with) contact, then he's got to pass one more thing, but trending in the right direction. We'll see where we're at with (cornerback) Nick (McCloud) and (inside linebacker) Darius (Muasau). Revisit it after practice and see where we're at there.
Q: Did you do anything different this week with your quarterback rep distribution?
BRIAN DABOLL: Nope.
Q: How do you handle that with two backup quarterbacks, do they split the scout team reps?
BRIAN DABOLL: So what we do is, what we've done for a while here, the starter gets all the reps. The backup gets all the scout team reps, and when the backup's going, the third quarterback goes to another field and he works through the entire play call sheet. So he's able to rep that, and then there's walkthroughs for (quarterback) Drew (Lock), so he gets them all. We try to get them all the reps, albeit not live, but to go through the process, whether it's a shift, whether it's a motion, whether it's an alert play, so they get to go through all that mentally.
Q: Would you need a guy to take snaps with the first team offense in order to put him in a game?
BRIAN DABOLL: No. I mean, the last, I don't know, however many years that I've done it. We've done it, a long, long time ago, where some guys got some reps, maybe one or two reps, but most of the time the starter needs as many reps as he can get. You don't know exactly which plays are going to be called. You have an idea on the early part of the game, but get as many reps as they can get, and then you give the backup the show team reps. If you have a third guy, we give him all the reps. We walk through every play with him during those periods when they're going. So, he's kind of off on his own going through it. You might have him throw to whoever it may be, just to go through the mechanics. And then with the backup quarterback, you get that, whether it's in walkthroughs or you meet extra, you go through the script. I mean, that's how we've done it.
Q: How did you think, obviously there's been a lot of offseason on (cornerback) Deonte Banks is ready to be the number one corner. How did you think he played Week 1 and, obviously, another test here with (Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry) McLaurin.
BRIAN DABOLL: I think he keeps improving. He's done a nice job for us up to this point. We're going to need him to. He's going against, obviously, another good player, (Terry) McLaurin, who's a really good receiver, vertical guy. He's been a good player for a long time. He (Deonte Banks) is a second-year player that just keeps on getting better.
Q: What's the balance, after one game, to changing things versus not overreacting?
BRIAN DABOLL: Changing…
Q: Personnel, schemes, whatever it may be. You work all summer to maybe think this guy's the best player for that spot. And it didn't go well…
BRIAN DABOLL: The biggest thing is to try to be as consistent as you can, whether you have a good win or whether you have a good loss. You're always evaluating, whether it's a play or whether it's personnel because you try to be as competitive as you can be. But you try to stay as steady as you can and make the right decision for the team.
Q: You mentioned earlier in the week (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott would be back on the outside more. What is your idea of moving forward with him? Is he strictly or mostly an outside cornerback?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I'd say he's got flexibility for us to be able to do both, which is important. It's like an offensive lineman that can potentially play multiple positions. He's done both for us, and he'll continue to do that for us.
Q: How hard is that, for a player, to kind of rotate back and forth? I mean, even though they can do that…
BRIAN DABOLL: Nowadays, if you're playing outside and if you're a matchup team, you're playing inside, it's like a receiver. Sometimes you play as a slot. Or you line up outside with a different formation. I'd say there's a lot of position flexibility in a lot of roles nowadays.
Q: Do you think (cornerback) Dru Phillips is ready for a bigger role?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he's making progress here. He was down a little bit in camp. I think he's improved since then. The communication part of it and the playing part of it. But I thought he played well last week, and he'll get some more opportunity this week.
Q: Whatever happened with (wide receiver Malik) Nabers yesterday, was that like a contact thing, or was that just him feeling…
BRIAN DABOLL: No, something with his knee. He was like, 'Ah, it doesn't feel right, right now.' So, we looked at him. We said, 'Let's be safe.' Looked at it. He came in early in the morning, got treatment. So, he's good to go.
Q: Did he get any imaging done?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, he's good.
Q: With (safety/inside linebacker) Isaiah Simmons, he obviously was disappointed with his role the other day. What do you make of that and how do you sort of handle that situation? When it's a veteran who came back and signed a deal with you guys this offseason.
BRIAN DABOLL: Look, I'm glad. I want people to want to play. So, it's a competitive deal. He'll have his role each week. That could change. I'm not just saying with him, with anybody. Again, that's coaching. Thirty years of doing it, you're never going to have everybody that's happy about it. And you want people like that. You want them competitive. You want to be out there to play. You want guys that want to be in the fire. That's a good thing to me.
Q: Is it harder when it's a veteran?
BRIAN DABOLL: No. It all varies. Coaching on many different positions and being a coordinator and head coach, you're never going to have everyone that's exactly happy on the team, relative to their role. And you understand that. You talk with them. You want competitive people, though. I want people that want to play, that want to be out there, and that aren't happy if they're not playing.
Q: When do you expect (cornerback Nick) McCloud's status/availability to be today and Sunday?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we'll see. We'll see after practice today, with both those guys (Nick McCloud and Darius Muasau), and then make our decision on it.
Q: Do you think (running back Tyrone) Tracy can help you more if you incorporate him more in the offense?
BRIAN DABOLL: We've got three backs. I feel comfortable with all three of them. There's one ball. Everybody wants it. But everyone's got a role.
Q: I mean, given how the running game went in the first week, do you feel like given the camp he had, what you liked about him…
BRIAN DABOLL: I like (running back) Trace (Tyrone Tracy), where he's at. It goes back to the one game. I feel we have three capable backs. I think he can help us. I think (running back) Motor (Devin Singletary) can help us. I think (running back) Eric Gray can help us. But everybody's got to do a good job with that.
Q: You said last week you had the idea of, 'Every year going into the opener, there's part of a guessing game of how the team's going to attack, what they're going to look like, and how they're going to adjust.' One week in, I know it's only one week, but you've seen what Washington was doing, and you saw how a team would attack you. Do you think you have a better sense, a better feel, going into this weekend?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think it's early. I think the first few games… The one thing you do know, there was 16 games last week. Teams that had a better turnover ratio were 10-1. It's a 91 (percent) winning percentage. Teams that had more explosive plays were 11-3 out of the 16, so two other games they were tied. That's 78 or 79 (percent) winning percentage. That's huge. That's usually in the early part of the game. How that happens, I'd say 85 to 90 percent of explosive plays, when you go back and watch them, are the result of missed tackles or good run-after-catch plays. There's some downfield plays, no question about that, but there was runs that gaps were missing. There was a missed tackle here. Those are the big things that we've got to make sure we take care of the big things.
Q: Obviously, (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers)'s first game, so you didn't know how the team was going to play him. The fact that they had (Minnesota Vikings cornerback Stephon) Gilmore traveling with him right off the bat, is there anything you can learn from how teams will treat a rookie in that situation versus someone with a resume?
BRIAN DABOLL: I'd say it's probably too early. I think that's the first week. We'll see what other teams want to do. I think that would be a better question for defensive guys.
Q: On (Outside Linebackers Coach) Charlie Bullen…will he be at the game?
BRIAN DABOLL: That's yet to be determined. He had surgery, so we'll see where he's at. It's just a day in. I know he wants to be there. If he's there, he'll be upstairs, obviously.
Q: Who will take over that group on the sideline?
BRIAN DABOLL: (Defensive Assistant) Ben Burress, he's been with him and he works with him. (We'll) bring him downstairs and put Charlie (Bullen) up. If Charlie (Bullen) can go, we'll see. He's fresh off a surgery here.
Q: (Defensive Coordinator) Shane (Bowen) had mentioned yesterday that he may end up being a little bit more involved with that. Just based on his experience.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, when Charlie (Bullen) was out getting surgery. Shane (Bowen) can be in those meetings. But, Charlie (Bullen) will be back. He'll be active in the meetings and doing everything he can do. It was an unfortunate injury for him. But again, it's good to have your coordinator that that's what his (Shane Bowen's) passion was, outside linebackers and edge stuff. I feel bad for Charlie (Bullen).
