Q. From a defensive perspective, how do you message trying to get something done, people making plays, without trying to be over-aggressive at this point?
CLINT HURTT: I think, always when you teach players, look for their shots and opportunities when they can go for something. You have to understand when you're protected within a call. I think it's understanding the question you're getting to. There's times for that.
Obviously, this is all through film prep, understanding the game plan. We talk about when those opportunities show. But there's some game that applies with. Not always. Not in every situation. Not in every game every week. That doesn't always apply.
Q. When you look at the explosive plays that the 49ers were able to put up, is it an issue of not knowing when to take your shots?
CLINT HURTT: I would say collectively we got to continue to help them, help our guys with coaching those small details better of what we have to do schematically to be better so those things don't happen, helping those guys understand. Obviously execute better. It goes all the way around for those things to get fixed.
Explosive plays obviously has been a big talking point for us. It's been that way. Unfortunate those happened. We just continue to work to make the corrections collectively in the meeting room.
Q. Mike Jackson ended up playing in that game. What did you think of the way he played?
CLINT HURTT: He competed on a couple of third down throws. Maybe one or two plays he'd like to take back. Otherwise he did a nice job. Competed well. We expect him to be consistent, that's what he's always been for us.
Q. How is Jamal Adams right now?
CLINT HURTT: Jamal, he's still working back to get himself healthy. I'm not sitting here saying that he's injured. That's coach's place.
As guys come back from things, they work their way back from injury, you got to understand it takes time. Sometimes it happens sooner than others. But I think all those things, you have to be patient with that process as guys work their way back.
I think obviously time continues to go on, he's going to get better and feel better and work his way on back. He's been healthy enough to play, but obviously he's still working through some things.
Q. His blitz numbers are down. Has there been a combination of reasons for that?
CLINT HURTT: I think a lot of things as that stuff goes, again, working with him as he's starting to work his way in his groove back into stuff, playing and whatnot, he's been battling his butt off to get back there with us.
Like I said, I've said numerous times, it's been awesome to have him. That doesn't mean a guy's going to be a thousand percent where he was pre any injury or whatnot that he's back to being his original self. Those things take time.
As you put guys in certain situations to do things, you got to have an understanding of that. Obviously coaching them, too.
Q. Riq Woolen, what have you thought of his play?
CLINT HURTT: There's some aspects of his game that have gotten better. Others we just have to continue to improve upon. That starts with us coaching him, making sure he understands exactly how he needs to do it, getting level of consistency.
Still a young player, second year in the league. Has done a lot of good things. But there's still a lot of room in his game for him to continue to grow.
Q. When you look at this offense that the Eagles are going to run, how do you look at this compared to the last three weeks?
CLINT HURTT: Different style of game. The previous weeks we had a lot more presnap motions and things like that that can get your eyes going in different directions.
With Philadelphia, it's not so much that. They definitely have outstanding talent. The quarterback is a stud of a player, great competitor. Strong, physical, can make all the throws. Obviously they're very dynamic at the skill spots with the wide receivers and backs and the O-line.
I worked with their offensive line coach for a number of years at Miami. I hold him in high regard. They're really well-coached all the way around and play really, really well together collectively as a unit.
They don't do a lot, but what they do do they execute at a high level. It challenges you to make sure you have to do the same thing. You got to be consistent with playing your technique on fundamentals, leveraging the football, understanding fits because they can spread you out and challenge you some ways schematically that other people don't. They do it in a different kind of way. They make it more of a space game.
Q. What is the one aspect you're emphasizing to turn this around?
CLINT HURTT: Biggest thing always, it's all about tackling. That's the number one thing that you have to do to eliminate explosives, get people on the ground. That's one.
Two, got to take the ball away. Got to be able to do that to create extra opportunities for the offense. Field position. Those are always things that's fundamental to our foundation, how we want to play football, what Pete believes in.
Q. In the modern NFL, how do you emphasize tackling when you can't bring guys to the ground without injuring them?
CLINT HURTT: That's the big challenge now. If you take into account training camp, I believe you get a maximum of seven padded practices. It could be a little higher. No one in the league goes past that. Then you get into the season, I believe you have 12 weeks that you can have one day of padded practices. 365 days you're looking at roughly 20 some-odd days that you can put on pads and physically strike people, put people on the ground, things like that. It does, it makes it hard to get better in that aspect of the game when it's like that.
You can't complain about it. Everybody's got to play by the same rules. You have to adjust and adapt accordingly. The next coming up, they're probably going to take the hip drop tackle, a lot of football, things of that nature.
You have to understand the ball carriers are getting more talented. It's getting harder to tackle some of these guys. You have to find ways to evolve and have yourself having a fighting chance. It's a problem.
Q. The hip drop... How do you do your job in the modern NFL? Seriously, how do you coach players to not strike a quarterback above the chest or below the waist?
CLINT HURTT: Right now there's so many protection rules for the quarterback, it's not even worth going for the hits. As fast as the game is going, and when I say that, you make it more of an emphasis to go for the ball. Almost forget the tackle. If the ball's within your sight and you can get it, poke an elbow, get after that, you do a better job of going after the ball.
If you tackle the football, then you don't get caught with we call it burping the quarterback, landing on the quarterback, swiping down on his head, then an automatic 15 for illegal contact above head and neck.
There's so many things they're protected on now, you just got to work around that, circumvent, say, How do I still get my job done where I'm not hurting my team but helping my team as well? Really, you just got to go attack the football.
Now instead of the target of a man, saying we're going to attack this small object. There's a lot of room for error in that, too. You just got to continue to evolve and change with the rules of it.
I'm still waiting for them to have a rule to have the offense adapt, change, not put it on the defense all the time. That would be really nice if that could happen soon.
Q. What did you say the rule is?
CLINT HURTT: Well, not so much about tackling, but 12 padded practices. I could be off by one or two on that. I know it's not 16 or 17 weeks of the season. It's like 12 weeks where you can have one padded practice per week.
It's not like you get a ton of time to do that, where in college you got a ton of time to work upon that stuff. You got young kids. When you get to the NFL, that's a hard skill you can continue to develop and train because of the lack of padded time.
Q. You guys are in pads on Wednesday or Thursday this week. You're not tackling?
CLINT HURTT: You'll thud up the ball carriers in practice, but you can't take anybody to the ground because you have to keep your team healthy to play on Sundays.
Q. How did not having Witherspoon for most of the game change anything?
CLINT HURTT: Anytime you lose talented football players, you got to adapt and adjust how you call things, where you put guys at to get things done. You just adjust on the run.
Appreciate everybody.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports