Q. What did you see on Friday night that you liked?
VIC FANGIO: I liked the ending. That was a hell of a play by Patrick at the end of the game there to cause that fumble and recover it. We did have a good run kind of in the second quarter through the third quarter where I think we had a bunch of three and outs in a row. That was good. So there was a lot of good.
Q. What are some things in the evaluation process that you need to game for that you didn't see in practice?
VIC FANGIO: A lot because in practice, particularly in pass rush, you don't finish. You know, we try and stay away from the quarterback, you know, so he doesn't hit his hand on an offensive lineman or a defensive pass rush, so a game is where you actually do finish. A game is where you actually do tackle. A game is when actually everything is at full speed, snap to whistle. The games are very, very valuable in developing players, and also in evaluating players.
Q. Most of your starters played on the defensive side versus the offense. How were you involved in that?
VIC FANGIO: We are just so new on defense. I think our offense is returning eight of their 11 starter, I believe, and although, albeit Kellen is new, most of the position coaches are the same on offense where everything is new on defense: New players, new coaches, new scheme. You know, we need to play.
Q. What did you think of Quinyon in his first game?
VIC FANGIO: I thought he played well. He played both nickel and outside corner. He's a good player and he's going to be a good player. We just have to be careful not to overload his plate too much because nickel is a full-time position as well as corner, and he's having to learn both right now and they are two drastically different positions.
So we have to constantly monitor that to make sure he's capable of doing that.
Q. Is that something you eventually want to pare down, let him major in one?
VIC FANGIO: That would be ideal. It may not be practical. We may have to play him at nickel.
Q. That stretch in the second, third quarter, Nakobe, Trot, Ben, they seemed to have good games. Is that what you saw?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I thought those guys played well, all three of them. And it was different. They had their twos and threes in there, too. You always have to temper it to a degree but I was pleased with the way those three guys played that you mentioned.
Q. You mentioned other completely different positions, nickel and corner, what makes those different?
VIC FANGIO: Corner is corner. I think we all know what corner is.
Q. In your defense.
VIC FANGIO: Well, in anybody's defense, not just our defense. It's universal. And nickel essentially is really a linebacker position. You know, if you stay -- go back to the traditional 4-3, if you stayed in a 4-3, a linebacker would be walked out on that slot. The linebacker leaves the game and now you're in nickel and the nickel is on that slot.
So essentially when you pare it down, he's playing linebacker-type zones more involved an the run than a corner is. So it's a drastically different position.
Q. When you say you might have to play him at nickel, because that's where the need is?
VIC FANGIO: Both from a need and maybe to get our best combination out there.
Q. Transitioning corner so safety, not everybody can do it. How is James doing?
VIC FANGIO: You know what yeah, he's doing pretty damn good there. He's got a good feel for football, which has carried over to the safety position for him. I think he understands the game from a high level through his experience and through his intelligence and it's helped him in the transition to safety. He's been doing a good job.
Q. What are your impressions on Isaiah Rodgers?
VIC FANGIO: Good. He had a handful of plays. He got beat on the one end cut but he was tied. Overall good. He's had a good camp.
Q. Following up on the transition -- I know James is doing this later, but four of your five top safeties are converted corners right now.
VIC FANGIO: I know Chauncey had corner --
Q. He was slot for a long time --
VIC FANGIO: Corner is corner. Nickel is nickel. Drastically different.
Q. You don't have many guys that just play safety throughout their entire career. Is that an issue? Is that maybe why you brought someone in just now?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, it's more depth issues. More depth issues. Avonte is going -- getting work there. So yeah, it's a position that's in transition from a roster standpoint.
Q. What did you like did about Caden Sterns when you had him that short time in Denver?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, he was a good player. Moved well. Had good instincts. Good ball skills. Had a good feel for the game. We just need to see where he's at physically. He's only played five games in the last two years, I believe.
I don't think -- I don't believe you'll see him out here on the practice field at least for a week or so. So we need to see where he is physically, how he's moving around and go from there.
Q. Kelee Ringo had some good moments on Friday night. What did you see from him?
VIC FANGIO: I agree. He broke up some balls down around outside the numbers, which is different than playing nickel. I thought he played well and has been doing good.
Q. How would you assess the linebacker play from Friday night with knack obvious ir?
VIC FANGIO: I thought Friday night it was pretty good, it really was.
Q. For Zack Baun not having played a lot of linebacker in New Orleans, what did you see on tape that made you want to play him?
VIC FANGIO: He had a few plays, where in New Orleans, where the way they adjusted their defense, he would end up kind of looking like an IOB at times, not a lot, and just from looking at those few plays, thought he had a chance to do it.
Q. And does he have those instincts?
VIC FANGIO: He does. I believe he does. He's had a good camp. His first few plays the other night, he didn't play correctly but overall, he's had a good camp.
Q. What's your overall philosophy toward blitzing? Is it based more on personnel or I guess the scheme and the opponent?
VIC FANGIO: All of the above. I mean, basically you want to blitz when you want to and you think it's appropriate. You don't want to blitz because universal you have to. So that's the answer. I mean, we'll have games where we hardly do it. We'll have games where we do it a lot. So it's based on who we are personnel-wise, the scheme we're going against and what do we feel the best way to stop somebody is.
Q. You had inside backer who is do have experience with that, whether in college or in the NFL. Does that influence the way you --
VIC FANGIO: Yeah.
Q. How about the defensive tackle rotation, you saw a lot of Mustipher and Booker and Paul. How do you think they did?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I think they did fine. You know, we had a decent game against the run. We didn't have many plays on defense the other night. You know, it was in the 40s you know, when you take away the pre-snap stuff.
So I would have liked to have gotten a longer look at some of them but you know, we need to develop more pass rush in our interior line, and that's something that hopefully we'll get done.
Q. What did you think of Hunt --
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I thought Hunt did a little better than I thought he would just based on practices. I think he's improving and he's coming, and I think he'll continue to improve.
Nolan had some productive snaps there. Saw the one sack off the edge where the tackle was late getting out there and he basically had a free sack, which he converted. A lot of guys would get there and not convert them. He converted it and that was good. They are progressing.
Q. What do you think Nolan does best right now?
VIC FANGIO: He's fast and athletic. When he gets to use that part of his game, he excels. He's got -- be more physical at the point. When he has the pass rush against tackles and wrestle with them, got to be able to get something done. He's improving.
Q. We saw Jalyx make a couple plays in coverage or out on the perimeter. How much does that background being in the secondary help in those situations?
VIC FANGIO: It might. It helps him some but not as much as I think you're trying to allude to.
Q. Where do you stand on nose tackle?
VIC FANGIO: Good. I think obviously we got Jordan, I think Milt can probably go in there and play it. You have to have -- you probably dress five on game day, interior D-Linemen, and somebody has to be a backup nose.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports ....
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports