Q. Nolan Smith, seemed like a big step forward for him?
VIC FANGIO: He played well and then late in the game had a really nice play when they ran a special play to our left. He sensed it, applied what we've taught him, you know, by the formation, and had a great reaction and a great play, and his speed allowed him to make it.
Q. Was Huff lining up more in a four-point stance than previously?
VIC FANGIO: Possibly on some of the third downs.
Q. And did you think that is a better way for him to take off?
VIC FANGIO: Well, he thinks that. But you know, you can do that on third down and long. Obvious, obvious pass. Doesn't help you in the run, you know, first, second down.
Q. Right. But I mean, was there a concerted effort to give them more the ability to do something that he feels comfortable doing or --
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, he's had that. He's had the ability to do that and obvious pass.
Q. Getting back to Nolan, did you see this come? Did you feel he was ready to take a jump forward?
VIC FANGIO: He's been, I think one of those guys that's been improving each and every week a little bit. You know, some of it's just from playing more. Some of it's learning more, experience. It's a process. You know, the play he made that we just talked about was a play we were getting ready, I can't remember who it was in an earlier game but a play that another team had shown and we practiced against it a couple weeks ago, and he kind of remembered that and applied it. That's learning football. You know, and those are things you can't put a price on.
Q. How did you know Cooper was ready to take that bigger role?
VIC FANGIO: I didn't. But you know, just to go back, after we played, we played Atlanta and then that was a Monday night game. Practice on that Wednesday was a walk through. Had a practice Thursday, and then your normal Friday practice, and then the following week, we had another Wednesday practice. That was a walk through. Then a Thursday and then your normal Friday. And then we had the bye week and we didn't do anything. So the only way -- you've got to practice, and the only way to really get him ready in practice was to, you know, put him in there and get him the reps because if he's the backup you can't get many reps when reps are at a premium, anyway.
So it was just, my opinion, just time to put him in there and let him get all the preparation and see what he can do.
Q. Nick said after the game that he made a defensive play call, first of all, what was that call, and are you okay with that?
VIC FANGIO: It wasn't a defensive call. It was just a situation thing to where he just said, hey, be alert for this. It wasn't -- he didn't call a defense.
Q. What was the situation then that he --
VIC FANGIO: It was just when they had the ball in their midfield and it was third-and-long. He said, hey, be alert that they may check it down or something. You know, they are trying to get in field goal.
Q. The wrong call on that --
VIC FANGIO: Only one guy can talk at once, I'm sorry.
Q. How is his level of involvement in what you're doing on game day compared to other head coaches you've worked for?
VIC FANGIO: It's pretty similar.
Q. He said that he made the wrong suggestion, I guess, on that play. What happened on that third-and-long?
VIC FANGIO: They ended up getting more than I would have liked to have seen them get. But you know, it was inconsequential what he said.
Q. On the Nakobe, he seems to be struggling in face a little bit. Do you think that's fair?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I think some of those, particularly with Watson in space, he's got a long list of guys that have missed him in space. So it's tough duty. I do think he can do better, not bite on the pump fake, etc. But those are hard tackles and it's definitely an area that he needs to improve on.
Q. Is there a coaching point on the interception opportunity?
VIC FANGIO: The only thing I can assimilate it to, it doesn't happen a lot, is just that gray area, fly ball in between the second baseman and center fielder. Somebody's got to call it. That might be a little unrealistic but I do think there is some validity to that, if the center fielder has it, I've got to go get it. But I'm not sure if -- every situation is a little different in the timing of it.
Q. Eugene as a blitzer, is that a function of his skillset?
VIC FANGIO: That would have been the same even if Avonte was in there.
Q. How did you feel in general about the way you had a very good defensive day? How did you feel in general about the last drive where they got the field goal?
VIC FANGIO: The last drive, obviously wish we would have stopped them much earlier. Not happy we gave up the field goal there.
But it was critical to hold them to the field goal once they did get down there. And you know, kudos to our fans to helping us there with the noise and we were stemming and you know, those two things kind of induce a couple false starts which helped us.
Q. Isaiah had to come in for Slay. How do you think he held up?
VIC FANGIO: Fine. He had the one bad play, the 35-yarder he didn't play correctly but other than that I thought he did good.
Q. When you have a bunch of young pieces in the secondary, does it change anything about how you call it?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah. The makeup of your squad always affects how you call it. That's not the only place where we have young players, either. Our two inside linebackers are young. Bond is a veteran but never played inside linebacker until he got here. Nakobe is a third-year player but this is the first year he's playing. Nolan Smith we've talked about, really the first year he's playing, etc., etc. So yeah, the makeup of your team, you can't ignore it. You've got to try and find the right fit, you know, that fits everybody.
Q. How long does that process typically take, trying to make sure that you're not overloading them or over-complicating it? Is that something that's always ongoing or does this become a point where you can trust them to kind of handle the breadth of the defense?
VIC FANGIO: It's ongoing until you get to that point. There's no magic formula. It's all individuals. Analytics can't help you on that one. These are all human beings that learn at different paces and experience things at different paces, and practice is important.
Q. You've been around this area a long time. How would you describe this place, and been to many other different cities, how would you describe this place compared to others in terms of the fan base?
VIC FANGIO: They are obviously very, very passionate here. They want and expect to win, and no different than any place else. I don't think it's as drastically different as some people think it is. It's just what this it does, things happen, just, you know, it's reported, there goes Philly or whatever.
I don't think it's grossly different to be honest with you.
Q. In Jordan Davis's case what factored into the drop in his playing time?
VIC FANGIO: Well, they were three wide receivers most of the day, so we're only playing two of those linemen at a time, probably, and just rolling them.
Q. More row seems to be showing a little bit of juice. What have you seen?
VIC FANGIO: He's a guy that's made good improvement from the start. Works extremely hard on the practice field and in the meetings. It's been paying off. He's got some good athletic ability. He's on the small line as D-Linemen go but he does come with the quickness and speed that you would hope a smaller guy would have, and he plays really hard and he's done a nice job and he's earned his playing time.
Q. Does Cooper's timeline to the field from injury compare to how long it might take for Brown to get there or does his experience last year in the system help him to get plugged in sooner?
VIC FANGIO: I don't know, it's all individualized. I do think Sydney's one year of NFL experience where he did play a lot last year can speed it up. But you know, we've got to be careful and let him get enough prep time so we don't put him out there too quick.
Q. On the lack of turnovers, you've been around a long time, is that something that you view more as just kind of like a variable that's dependent upon the way the ball is bouncing or do you think it's something that is as a result of the way you guys are playing defense right now?
VIC FANGIO: Both. It's a result of a lot of things. Some teams and players have a knack for it. I think it goes back to the youth a little bit. We just have to find a way to get the ball out some more. No doubt about it.
Q. Daniel Jones and the way the Giants used him and his mobility --
VIC FANGIO: They really ran him a really good bit in the pass game with quarterback design runs. He pulls it and keeps it on the zone read stuff more than most quarterbacks. Very athletic. Very fast. He's a tough assignment with his movement and his arm strength. They are throwing the RPOs more than they have in the past, and he's throwing them. So I think their offense is definitely a lot better than it was last year, and it's going to be a tough assignment up there.
Q. How is the offense different with Nabors than without him?
VIC FANGIO: Well, you put a great receiver being in there versus not being aware of, he's a guy you've got to be aware of and is a tough matchup. Yeah, it has a great effect.
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