Q. (No microphone.)
JONATHAN GANNON: No. I mean, when Jeff said it, I said, Maybe we should do it. No, we -- at that point in the season, you remember, like, we didn't have OTAs, you know, and you can -- you want to get good at certain things and you want to be able to put guys in the right spots to function and play.
But that's something that we have had when we got here. And when we decided to deploy it, we felt good about the guys in the game.
And then we have stuff that's built off of, you know, coverages and pressures from that group. And the players, it's really about the players. The players executed the calls.
And, you know, the coaches did a really good job of us planning those calls out. And -- but, you know, at the end of the day, the players make plays. And that's what you saw and that's why some of those calls worked.
Q. Did you think about that over the arc of the season from the beginning of the year, that you needed to use the beginning of the season to get good at the big stuff before you could build off of that?
JONATHAN GANNON: Yeah, you just got to be careful. Because you -- again, you guys know that we play some different stuff. And it's, like, Okay, well, you know, if -- you always got to be aware of who are playing in those spots within the backup to that.
Okay, we're going to have to play dime on third down all the time, if someone gets hurt, who's going to be in for them? Where this guys has to play, this guy has to move to.
So you're always aware when you have certain packages, you know, who's coming into those spots and what guys are doing what. Is this guy comfortable doing that? Asking, How does that fit into? And that's just us.
How does that fit into what we're defending, what do we have to defend, is it favorable matchups for us? You start looking at the routes, the people, the protection schemes and the quarterback.
You know, all of that blends into when we deploy certain packages. That's what we typically feel is the best way to go about it.
But you have to take all of that into consideration. You can't just, you know, throw out a group and call a couple calls and hopefully it works. So you got to go through it and there's a process that we use to go through that.
And, you know, the guys that are playing in those spots have done a good job. And, again, the players are -- they're executing.
Q. How much is learning who you have from week one to week 11 versus, Okay, we're playing Tom Brady this week or what kind of --
JONATHAN GANNON: A blend of both. That's a good question. You know, it's -- you always want to be mindful first of what we -- what are we asking our guys to do, you know, how that fits into our skill sets, what we're trying to get done on defense first, and then who you're defending.
Then that throws in another wrinkle of, you know, just not the quarterback, you start talking about the O-line, the protection schemes, who you have to cover.
So, you know, there's always a blend of what are our guys comfortable doing, what can we do, how can we set them up in good spots to where they can function and execute and win one-on-ones.
And then you start looking at, All right, what does this quarterback like, what does he -- you know, what does he struggle with, who does he have throwing the ball to, what's their protection schemes.
So that's why you see us -- we're a little bit different from week to week and that's solely based on who we're playing and how we try to decide to defend them.
So, you know, it kinds of rolls into the same thing with your packages, it's always going to come down to, who's up, who's playing, who we have to defend, what we have to take away, and are we doing a good job of setting it up.
And you heard me say a couple times when we haven't had success, like, you want to -- I always refer to it. It starts with me and the coaches, where, well, you know, on Tuesday we said this and then when we went out to practice. Well, this looked good, this didn't look good, can we adjust this a little bit.
And you think that the game is going to be played a certain way. And when it doesn't get played like that or, you know, we didn't set our guys up, Well, we didn't give them that look in practice because, you know, it was unscouted.
Or we didn't really detail that out with how we're playing this certain concept or whatever. That's what I mean by that is.
Because, you know, you -- you have to -- again, you can't just throw up a call and say, Well, hey, that's versus one formation and one play and, say, Well, hopefully this works.
Well, it's good versus that, but okay you have to adjust it out first for the 14 other formations they give you.
Yeah, this pressure looks good against this protection, but, oh, by the way in the first couple third downs in the game, they're doing something completely different.
And that falls on, you know, the coaches to be able to adjust, set it up the right way first, how we're going into the game, what's our answers to when they adjust and can we execute those calls.
And I think you can see our guys have done a good job knowing that pretty much going into the game, Hey, here's how we're going to start, this is what we're going to have to do.
If they adjust, we're going to adjust and then we go from there. So, again, it all comes down to the players. And they're executing at a high level.
Q. What has K'Von meant to your defense and what's the significance of using him?
JONATHAN GANNON: Yeah, it's -- he's been good when he's been playing in there. You know, he's been playing winning football and he's doing a good job. And I like how he's physical and he's fast and can make plays in space.
But, you know, I'm very confident -- you know, you saw Alex come in there and even though you saw Alex's snaps kind of go down a little bit, it's a testament that -- to him and the other guys that are in that room, all of our guys, they're all ready to play. And they get themselves ready to play.
If you can go in, you can be a starter -- you can be a starter in every package, in certain packages, or you could be the pair and the spare that we talk about. And you got to be able to go in and play winning football.
So I was really excited for Alex, because when he got in there, he played well. And that's really a testament to him to not -- you know, sometimes when your snaps get diminished, you kind of -- you know, a lot of guys I've seen go in the tank a little bit.
And that hasn't been him because he's got high football character. And that's the guys we want to be there.
Q. What was it about the Saints matchup to move heavy nickel and move away from the base?
JONATHAN GANNON: That's how we decided we wanted to start the game. And, you know, just for what -- you know, having to defend Sean a little bit and who they had up available to them, you know, we decided early that we wanted to start in sub and see how it kind of went and start to match as the game wore on or see what they were giving us.
And, honestly, you know, why we made the decision, you saw us play a lot -- not too many base snaps that game, that wasn't the intent not to start. When we started the week, that was not the intent.
But as the flow of the game went on, we said, This is -- we're doing a good job in these calls and they're not attacking some of the things that, you know, that we thought we were going to get attacked with so we could just play with that.
So when you see myself -- when you see us, you know, playing fast and physical and processing quickly and the hitting is on display and we're tackling well, we're taking the ball away, you know, I'm not going to change too much.
I'll kind of, you know, ride the hot hand, I guess you could say. But, you know, they were executing and we said, Let's just leave it out there and play.
Q. In the second half, did you take your foot off the pedal? Did the players take their foot off the pedal? And is there a teaching point because of what happened?
JONATHAN GANNON: Well, the teaching point -- no, I wouldn't say we took our foot off the pedal. The situation in the game, you know, you always balance, you know, What's the score, what's the time, how many possessions do they have left.
So, yeah, you're going to call the game a little bit differently and the head coach is great because he's on the headset with us, As an offensive coach, here's what I'm thinking, make sure your plan is to take that away.
So, you know, when you set the game plan up, you have certain calls you like in certain situations. And as that game went on, you know, being up like we were, then, they kind of got back into it, the teaching point to our guys is, you know, on Monday and when they come back in here, we still have to execute at a little bit higher level than what we did.
I thought the execution was high in the fist half. Third quarter pretty good, fourth quarter I thought we got leaky in some things, rush and cover, cover and rush.
We just got to bet get a little bit better to prevent those points on the board. And nobody's really tight in the stadium, because I looked up and I'm, like, Boy, this is getting a little closer than what you would want it to be at this point in the game right now, especially where the game was, you know?
And then in my mind, it's like, All right, let's blitz them. Well, no, that's not the right thing to do. Because you give up a 50-yarder for a touchdown and no time's off the clock, that's not very smart by me.
So I don't think we took our foot off the gas. I think I'd like to see our execution throughout the game.
Q. Broadcasting made a reference to you not having a crowded play card. A, is that the case relative to other coaches? And B, what's the philosophy behind that?
JONATHAN GANNON: Who said that?
Q. The broadcaster.
JONATHAN GANNON: Schlereth?
Q. Yeah. Is that accurate? I mean, I don't --
JONATHAN GANNON: That is -- that is accurate. Well, you know, we -- it -- again -- you know, and I hear a lot of people talk about an identity and this and that. And Jalen I think said it best.
It's not what you call, it's not the plays, it's how you play. And we've said that from when we got here, our identity of running to the ball, outhitting people, taking the ball away and playing smart.
And that's always a thing that you're working on to improve, you know, in practice weekly and in games.
And, you know, you guys heard me talk about, You want to be doing this as this season goes on. You don't want these big dips, you play great, you play bad. You know, you want to keep ascending and playing sound, winning football.
You know, some games, the sheet's a little bit more dense, some games it's a little bit tighter. And that all comes down to who you're defending, who you have, and that stuff, Zach.
So was the sheet tight this week? It was. And you guys have seen my sheet. I don't have, you know -- I don't know, I can't speak for other people. But some other guys that I know, their call sheets are lot denser than ours. And we do that -- you know, I always said in my mind, that's for a reason, that we keep it tight.
One is so our players can process and things they haven't seen in practice or have ever seen, they know how to solve problems on the fly, hopefully.
And the second thing is, I think it allows them to -- you know, when they're on their own watching tape, they can say, Okay, here's the three calls that JG -- we're going to be in. How do you play this, that, that?
Okay. Because if you have 10 calls that you can possibly be in, it's hard to go through each play and say, All right, this adjustment, that adjustment, how do we play this, is that a switch release or not?
So you go through that with the players and I always thought that keeping the plan tight takes off mental stress of the player, which in turn should make them play faster.
And that what -- again, it's not what you call, it's how -- it's how you do things. It's how you play. And I think that's on us to say, Hey, let's let our guys just get our feet in the grass and just play.
Q. A couple weeks, we've seen the roughing the passer and the strike zone. Have you guys had to go work on that?
JONATHAN GANNON: Yeah, we talk about it all the time and we drill it and you got to practice it. And that's another bang-bang, Jeff. It can go either way.
And I know the refs have a hard job and they call what they call. But we just got to continue to educate our players.
And, you know, This is how we have to hit quarterbacks, this is how we have to not land on them, this is what we have to do with our hands.
I saw the one -- we were watching somebody play -- the play of Daniel Jones, and it's a free runner. And you can tell, they coach it to get your pass hand up, you know, and the guy kind of elevates and he doesn't even really hit him and his hand comes down and he smacks him in the mouth.
It's, like, Jeez. It's a tough one, you know? But that's a tough penalty. Those are bang-bang and that's always -- yes, Jeff, we have to continue to educate our players and not, you know, try to stay out of situations where it's now 50-50.
You know, you see the refs talking to each other. Are we calling that or not? It looked violent. He was up around the neck area. And then it comes out late. And I think you saw the reaction from the crowd because it wasn't thrown right away.
Q. Did you see the woman's reaction?
JONATHAN GANNON: I did see the woman's reaction. My wife, I walked in the door and she says, Man, I love Philadelphia. And I said, So do I.
But, yeah, so we just got to continue. That's the smarts. You know, we got to continue to coach that and do better at those things.
And, again, though, understanding that those bang-bang plays happen and just got to, you know, get that a little bit better. Because those are -- you know, those are costly penalties.
Q. How much of the why was related to Alex and how did he handle it?
JONATHAN GANNON: Yeah, he handled it good. I mean, it -- you know, ends he still had a very big role on this defense and that could increase at any time. And Davion, his rep count went up. Alex said, I'll be ready to go when you guys need me. And I'm going to be a star within my role.
And that's why he went in there and played well. Because a lot of times you see guys that come in, you know, and they don't play well, they're typically not prepared to play. And this guy is ready to play at -- all the time.
And like I said, he's got high football character. And he'll -- you know, his snaps will increase with Davion being out a little bit and he's going to play well.
Q. What did you see from Zech McPhearson when he had to go in there for Slay?
JONATHAN GANNON: Yeah, he's played well. He's learning on the job. There's a couple plays I'm sure he wants back.
And I think with Zech, you know, it's -- not having that offseason hurts the young guys. You know, it hurts rookies, it hurts first, second, third year guys that haven't played a lot of snaps. Because those, you know, snaps are very valuable. And game reps are even more valuable, you know?
And what I like from Zech is, you know, in the preseason, he -- he gave up some plays in the preseason and you saw him correct that and adjust that.
And, you know, we just got to keep getting him reps and play winning football for us as far as, you know, get on the right people, do the right things in the coverages, you know, keep your eyes right, you know, sometimes, you know, he's had a -- he's done a really good job of improving his eye discipline.
And Denard and DK, he's on those guys about details. And Zech's doing a good job of taking those details in the production and the play making will start to come.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports