Philadelphia Eagles Media Conference

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Jonathan Gannon

Weekday Press Conference


Q. So you guys picked up Andre off of waivers. He hasn't played in the regular season games. But what stood out to you during his time with you and this preseason you kind of jumped?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, so I have a relationship with Andre. And from Indy, very high character individual, very intelligent.

He played in Indy when I was there. He played three different spots. So that was good. And it just felt like it was a good piece to add, and as many good players as we can bring in here. That's what Howie and Nick are trying to do.

Q. With that versatility, though, how does that help you with a game depth perspective?

Jonathan Gannon: A lot. And like we talked about since way back when, guys that are up on game day, you know, there's only a few guys that only play one spot.

They have to be able to play multiple spots for our pair and a spare. So he's one of those guys that can do that in the back-end. You know, he can play multiple spots back there. And it's good for Mike Clay on special teams.

Q. You, obviously, knew Marcus Epps beforehand or at least through other people. What was your opinion before he got here and what's it been since you've had him with several months?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, I was never with Marcus. I was in Indy when he went to Minnesota. But since I've been here with him -- so I can't speak to what he was when I wasn't with him.

But since he's been here with me, he's doing everything we ask of him. He's another guy that's highly intelligent, processes quickly, really understands how he fits within our scheme and what we're asking of those guys to do.

And I think that position, you guys heard me talk about, like, you know, the guys that are intelligent, that have fast processors, they can make a bunch of plays with how we're playing. So I'm excited about what he's going to do.

Q. How do you feel about your depth on the secondary? Because there's is a lot of inexperience there.

Jonathan Gannon: Good, good. I think the guys that are, you know, playing, and you guys are going to see, everyone that has a jersey, hopefully we'll get some snaps. I feel good about it.

I think those guys have all come along and through the training camp, the joint practices helped a lot. Because we were going against different schemes and different people.

And, you know, they've improved as a collective unit. You know, Genard and DK have done a great job with those guys. They are really understanding ball. You see them take strides, not just physically but mentally, you know?

Whether it be by coverage or by, you know, the split of a receiver. Or, you know, What's your thought process on this down and distance, within this situation. They're all making strides. It's good.

A lot of times, they rip it out. You know, what they're thinking before I do. So that's always good to see.

Q. You've talked about the presnap disguise a lot over the summer. When you have -- or going against a veteran quarterback like Matt or a younger quarterback down the line, how does that shift for you? Or how does that work?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, we're very aware of the quarterback position being able to -- and how offensive play callers call the game now. They're getting into ideal looks versus the look that they see.

So, you know, we talked about that way back when. You know, it's not just how you put pressure on the quarterback. Everyone thinks in their mind, you know, bring more than four. And I agree with that.

But the second part to that is you have to apply pressure to the quarterback presnap so he doesn't know -- before he gets that ball, he doesn't know, All right, I'm throwing it there.

So that's the reason we try to move around and disguise. And, you know, going against Matt Ryan, that's a big time challenge.

Because there's not a lot of looks that this guy hasn't seen. There's not a lot of coverage -- there's not any coverage that this guy hasn't seen. And he's got a very fast process. And that's why he's a top ten. And has weapons.

So we just got to do a really good job of how -- we talked to the guys today, Here's what we're doing, and starting the game, and adjustments down the road.

Q. Follow-up to that. Arthur Smith is known for the way he uses presnap motion. As a defensive contractor coordinator, what are you watching for?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, you got to figure out why he's doing it. And I think we got a pretty good beat, you know, just from knowing him for a while.

But I'll tell you, you know, you go back and look at certain games with Arthur and, you know, you can't prepare for everything.

And he throws a lot on, you know, his guys' plates mentally. And they get in a lot of looks that you might not have scouted or seen leading up to that game.

So with that, you have to apply your rules and have your guys figuring it out before the snap and post-snap. And let me finish with Zack.

And, you know, with that, he understands -- in my opinion, one of the top five guys out there right now. He understands what motioning -- not just to motion to say, Well, they're going to have to adjust to get what he needs to get for the quarterback before the ball is snapped.

And he's really good at -- it's not, like, fake motion. It's, like, motion for a reason. So he's always done a good job with that. And, you know, it's going to be a big time challenge.

Q. Talking about the play action offense. What are sort of the basic teaching points for your guys on the backside?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, you know, if you look at Arthur in the last couple years, he's an offensive lineman by trade. So he wants to pound the ball and he's shown that he's willing to pound the ball where a lot of guys aren't.

And even in situations where you think, Hey, this is going to be, You know, he might be getting into two-minute here or running out of possessions, or they're down 14 earlier, they're going to start throwing it.

That's not Arthur. So he's not going to drop back and throw until he has to. So we just got to do a good job with understanding with what call we have, how everyone fits into the run game and to the pass game.

Q. Week one, a new scheme for these guys. You talked about putting a lot mentally on guys' plates. How do you kind of weigh where they were and how elaborate to get with your scheme?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, you know, when I say put a lot on them mentally, like, we're not doing anything in the game that we haven't done already.

I think it's -- and, actually, like, the menu from the day-to-day training camp, what they have to execute and what we call, is actually a lot smaller.

The mental part of it is, Now, you're playing a new opponent. And so, this is really interesting because it's a -- you're looking at the guys from the Tennessee from the last two or three years, they're looking at Matt Ryan, Ridley, Florida tape. You know what I mean?

They're looking at different things. They're looking at Chicago tape with Cordarrelle. So it's, like, How are they going to pull these together?

And we know Arthur and Dave are doing a good job. They know really well how to do that. So, you know, we're watching a bunch of different things and look forward to the challenge and preparing. It's been pretty fun, pretty fun.

Q. Kyle Pitts, obviously, very unique player. But he's a rookie. So you don't know what to expect from an NFL level. But when you see somebody 6'6, 240 who can run like that, how do you sort of handle that?

Jonathan Gannon: Yeah, there's a reason that guy went as high as he went. There's a reason all the defensive coaches when they're talking before the draft, the best guy they've seen in the last 10 years.

So, you know, we're going to have to be smart about how we defend him. And we're going to know -- people that end up on him, they're going to need to know what he brings to the table. And hopefully that we don't have -- you know, we have help around us when we're defending him.

Q. Who's going to be the players with the headsets?

Jonathan Gannon: Not sure yet, actually. Not sure.

Q. So you talked about how much respect you have for Ridley. What are the challenges that presents the game plan for him and who will we see matched up?

Jonathan Gannon: I don't know that yet. He's a top 10 guy. You know, I always look for the guys that can beat you vertically and horizontally. And he's proven that he can do that.

And we were actually in Indy and we played Atlanta and we had our best cover guy on a third and five and, I mean, he beat him pretty good, you know?

And he's a really good player and he's a weapon that they have that they're going to use. And we have to be aware how they're deploying and using him.

Q. Genard and Ryan are, obviously, both veterans but they missed a lot of time during training camp. How do you think they're comfortable?

Jonathan Gannon: I'm comfortable. And a little bit of rust from both of them. But they'll be caught up and ready to go by Sunday.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
112282-1-1839 2021-09-09 16:28:00 GMT

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