Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: What's gone on with the tackling? Why do you think it's been so poor this season, particularly last night?

A: Yeah, definitely an area we've got to get better at. We'll continue to work at it every week, but it's something that we've got to do a better job of.

Q: Do you see an issue? A lot of times guys are either going high or going for strips. Is that something you see? Is it a technique issue? What do you see?

A: Yeah, I'd say it's just overall not where we need to be. So, we'll continue to work at it. That's an area that's got to get better.

Q: As far as (wide receiver) Jalin (Hyatt), he played 16 snaps last night. What does he need to do or show to get more playing time?

A: I don't think we had very many snaps on offense in general. I think we had 45 or 46. So, there's a plan for Jalin, a plan for all the guys, and based on personnel that we choose to use on a given play, it could be more, it could be about the same. So, we'll keep on giving him reps and hopefully we have more than 45 plays in a game.

Q: You're saying that there was a plan for Hyatt to have a bigger role that you guys didn't get to due to the game? Is that what you're saying?

A: No. What I'm saying is on the call sheet you have however many plays and they're tagged with different personnel groups and those are the plays that we called and the personnel groups we used.

Q: What accounts for not rushing the ball a lot in this game particularly with (quarterback) Daniel (Jones)? We've seen you utilize his running skills frequently and just didn't seem like he ever got going running the ball. What was the reason for that you think?

A: We had a few of them in the game plan, didn't get to them. That's the reason.

Q: I remember (Defensive Coordinator) Wink (Martindale) saying whereas on your offensive side you guys were adding a bunch of new pieces this year, Wink was really excited in training camp about year two of the system with so many guys back taking a natural step forward. Why do you think that hasn't happened for your defense? Because it certainly seems like guys are more out of position and it doesn't seem like they've all taken the step that Wink was expecting.

A: I'd say really in all three phases, we've got to do a better job, everybody.

Q: How much of a concern would you it is? Obviously, teams expect their highest paid players or their biggest investments to step up and when you guys played the Eagles in the playoffs, Dallas, or the 49ers, these teams with really good lines, it seems like (outside linebacker Kayvon) Thibodeaux, (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence) and (defensive lineman) Leonard (Williams), the guys you're really invested in, have been quiet in those games. I know you're one of those guys who believes it starts up front, so is more needed out of those three guys?

A: Yeah, I'd just say we need more from everybody. Coaching, playing, everybody.

Q: You are one of those guys, right? One of those it starts up front guys.

A: Yeah, the game is a line of scrimmage game at the start of it, but we need more from everybody.

Q: We're at kind of a natural breaking point of the schedule, I know it's still early. Do you have a sense yet of what the identity of this team is going to be moving forward?

A: I'd say we have a lot of improvement to do and that's what we're going to do. Try to improve.

Q: I know there was a lot of after the whistle stuff last night. Did you have a problem with how (defensive lineman) D.J. Davidson got hurt? Seemed like he was long away from the ball after the whistle.

A: It was a physical game. A lot of emotions, so hopefully he'll be okay.

Q: What is your day like today? Have you gone to sleep at all, or would you just say it's a regular day?

A: No, I didn't get back until about 8-8:30. Not too much sleep so a lot of things that need to be done. Talk with the coaches later. Such as the case on long trips.

Q. When you play teams like the Cowboys and the 49ers and you get the score you get and the results you get and obviously you were depleted last night, but how far do you feel like you are from being an elite team and what do you think you have to do to get there?

A: Yeah, I mean my focus right now is just improving here. There is a lot of stuff we can improve on and that's what we are going to try and do.

Q. You mentioned, obviously you've got to get better at tackling, how do you do that at this stage of the season? You're through training camp, you don't hit a lot during the season, I mean during practice, so how do you go about that during the season?

A: I mean you work different tackling drills every week. You do that as a defense every week. We'll continue to find ways to help these guys be better at their craft in terms of bringing people down and wrapping up. Something we've got to work on.

Q. You guys had mostly walk through practices last week. During a week like that, it seemed like (guard Mark) Glowinski played a pretty good game filling in at left guard against the Cardinals. How do you come to the conclusion to start (guard) Shane (Lemieux) over him, given those circumstances?

A: Yeah, we just put him in at left and Mark was going to be right or the backup guy. That's what we did.

Q. How does that work in a week like that?

A: Well, you have a body of work, you have discussions, you have discussions with the offensive staff. I have input and we just made that decision. Both teams had walkthrough practices, but that's the decision we made.

Q. Going back to Jalin real quick, is there a bit of a learning curve for somebody who obviously just played three games and is there just that big of a learning curve which is why maybe he hasn't been targeted as much because he has to kind of figure out a little bit?

A: No, I mean we put him in plays to try and target him. We will continue to do that, we'll continue to work, and we rolled all our guys in there last night.

Q. I was just wondering if you saw the NFL's explanation on the (49ers tackle) Trent Williams punch, that they didn't see anything definitive and if that's hard to reconcile?

A: Yeah, I heard that, but again those guys have got a tough job to do out there and that's really all I've got to say on that.