Q. Where do you think you've grown most as a defense since you played these guys in week one?
CLINT HURTT: I think really the biggest growth is guys getting accustomed to playing together. When we were coming out of training camp, spoon missed a lot of time, Tariq was trying to get healthy; Jamal wasn't quite there; same thing we were managing Jordan.
So there was a lot of management with guys coming back from injury and things like that. I would say our cohesion as a group has improved tremendously since that point in time.
Q. Does it seem like Matthew Stafford gets the ball out faster against the Seahawks, or is that the reality based on how this rivalry goes and how McVay's play calling is?
CLINT HURTT: It's just with a lot of opponents he gets the ball out very quickly. There's not a lot that you can show him that he has not seen. So obviously that's a credit to him, and he's a great quarterback. We're all aware of that. But definitely he got the ball out of his hands quickly, and there's things that we've got to learn from that, too.
Q. Do they use Nacua any differently than they did then now that Kupp is back?
CLINT HURTT: No, they keep him in a lot of the same roles and things like that. That's one thing I give credit to McVay and what he does, is obviously he plays to guys' strengths and puts them in position to be at their very best, but he plays a lot of the same roles. He's a very dynamic football player.
Q. With Stafford, you're talking about getting the ball out quickly? Are you talking about his release or the design of the play gets the ball out?
CLINT HURTT: It's one of two things -- it's a combination of both. One is understanding the play call. They're a rhythm passing offense so everything is about timing with them.
But coverage-wise he's seen a lot so he has a good idea is it post high, is it middle open, things of that nature. So he a good idea where to go with it before the ball is even snapped.
Q. As good as they are as a rhythm passing offense, how important is the run game to that offense?
CLINT HURTT: Very important. Any offense, no matter who you're playing, you want to try to make them one-dimensional and take the run game away, because if they have balance, then you're kind of playing their game.
If you can keep them one-dimensional and take it away, then obviously teams will kind of get away from what they're struggling getting established, whether it's the pass game or the run game.
But you want to be able to take the run game away so they can't go to the play action game and all the boots and things that are a big element of their offense.
Q. Leonard Williams has seen a lot of football, but this style is different compared to what he was used to in facing Philly and Dallas and all these teams. Is the conversation different when you face an offense like this with a veteran who is experiencing that maybe for the first time?
CLINT HURTT: Yeah, you can always tell the difference when you're playing teams that have a high-level quarterback, and obviously that's what we're getting ready to see this Sunday. Yeah, it times up a lot of things. Even as a pass rusher or coming under pressure, you don't have a lot of time to get there. You've got to hit things right and be on point but also not be early because he's going to work cadence.
He's at home; crowd noise will be down; he can work the cadence and kind of -- he's going to work that stuff to try to get things to show pressures and coverages and things like that that we're all aware of. Definitely you've got to give him the respect that he deserves.
Q. Was playing Dre'mont on the outside always a part of the plan or part of losing Uchenna?
CLINT HURTT: A combination of that at the end. Losing 'Chenna, having Leonard, credit to him that he's able to learn all those things and be ready to go for that. A little bit of everything.
Q. What did you think of him in that role, Dre'mont?
CLINT HURTT: He did a nice job. For the first time out, he did a nice job playing out on the edge.
Q. What have you gotten to know about Leonard over the last few weeks?
CLINT HURTT: Awesome guy. Great human being, first and foremost, and then as a football player he's a stud. Big, strong guy, excellent in the run game. Really even if he's not making the plays getting sacks, he can be a disruptor because of his ability to collapse the pocket and his length with getting his hands up and being in lanes and throwing windows. Doing really, really well. Good football player.
Q. Before you guys started using Witherspoon in the slot, did you have an idea he would be that effective of a blitzer?
CLINT HURTT: You get a feel for things as you see it and generally guys have a natural feel in the game and you watch stuff as you call things in practice. Sometimes you can call a blitz and a guy shows a thing well ahead of time and he doesn't understand the indicators of when you can kind of start to walk into the blitz and show things, but he just had an innate feel and very instinctual guy.
You guys have heard me say that numerous times. But generally when you see a guy that has a high level of football awareness, he can kind of be good in those areas, and he does that.
Q. I think it was the first play of the game on Sunday where he passed the ball away. Is that an example of that?
CLINT HURTT: Absolutely because it's hard to tell when he's coming and when he's not because he understands when to go as opposed to showing early, now the quarterback can get out on the call and he can get to a better play call versus that call, so it's a credit to the kid to be able to help us with that.
Q. How have you seen Riq handle -- this year hasn't been as smooth as last year with the injury.
CLINT HURTT: I think a lot of it is you've got to give a guy some grace when he's coming back from injury and when you miss time. He's still a young player. The huge steps that Mafe has made is because he hasn't missed time. It's hard to get better at playing football when you don't play football.
So when you miss a considerable amount of time, you've got to give some guys some time to work through some rust, get back into the groove of things and get their feel back. I think that's why you're starting to see him come along.
Q. How do you feel Jamal is at this point getting a few games under his belt and trying to get comfortable with what he is now coming back from the injury?
CLINT HURTT: I think each game he's making strides coming along better and better and better. Same thing, when you miss a lot of time, it takes time for guys to get back in the groove of it. It's been great for us to have him back out there, but each game he's gotten better.
Q. When you signed back Bobby Wagner, did you plan on him playing a bigger percentage of snaps?
CLINT HURTT: No, that wasn't part of the plan. When we spoke I told him, hey, you may not like it from a competitive standpoint. You never want to imply with a person, the character, the football character of everything with him, to imply that he's not capable of something.
Bobby is capable of everything. He's still playing at a super, super high level, but obviously the thought is taking care of him. But I trust his communication. He'll come to me and say things if he needs a break here or there, usually during the week to get him ready to go, then we do that and take care of him. Obviously.
But he's been playing his tail off and he's looking good when he's out there, so everything has been rolling fine.
Q. Now that you've seen it, is that sustainable do you think?
CLINT HURTT: Absolutely. I don't put anything past him. The way he takes care of himself, his professionalism, his preparation for the game, again, taking care of his body, Bobby is going to be fine.
Q. Looking back at the kind of game, what was the issue in their final two drives?
CLINT HURTT: Just that we want to finish that game better. It was sloppy. I'll give credit to them. Never going to make an excuse. Didn't defend the run game on the second to last drive very well, kind of gave them some life getting back into the game, and obviously not finishing the game in a manner that we want to.
We'd rather finish it on defense and end it and let our offense get in victory formation. We didn't get that done. So that's an area we would look to improve.
Q. With all the crossers that McVay does, what's the challenge -- what's the biggest thing you have to do to stop them?
CLINT HURTT: Obviously the biggest thing is if you do play man, it's obviously not getting picked and rubbed because that's usually the reasons why they do that, but when you do play zones against it, whether it's a young kid -- gosh, I don't want to kill his name, but Nacua, Puka, and then obviously with Cooper Kupp, when you play zones, you find the dead area in the zones, so they do a good job of sitting down and Stafford finding it. You've just got to continue to change up your looks and where you put people in the zones and whatnot and what they may not expect, but it's a great part of the game on 3rd down.
Q. Do you emphasize on your pass rushers to leap more against guys like Stafford, jump in passing lanes?
CLINT HURTT: No, I don't want guys leaving their feet. We've actually done that way too much. We don't coach that. We want guys staying on the ground and get their hands up is what we prefer, just to be in throw lanes and windows and you'd like to be able to collapse the pocket around a guy like that just to be in his face.
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