Opening Statement:
"Before we begin, I just wanted to give quick condolences to [Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator] Jeff Ulbrich, Atlanta defensive coordinator and his family. The passing of his wife, Cristina [Ulbrich]. It's a 25-year relationship and she was like a warrior and had an unbelievable light about her. So just want to hit you, hit them and just let them know we're thinking of them. Wanna give a couple injury updates. [WR] Trey Burks will be back at practice today. And [TE] John Bates strained his hamstring in Thursday practice, so that'll knock him out for a couple of weeks. Today's one of our favorite days. We get to share it with fans and get rolling with that, so we're looking forward to it. A lot of third down and end of half situations today. I talked in the opening time about our block. Today's practice, the end of the first block. And we'll kind of reassess what we need to hit, what we emphasize again, getting into the next one. So, let's get rocking with you guys today." On C Nick Allegretti's injury: "Nick won't be out there today. Same thing. He's in the next week or so in that space." On things he's noticed about camp this year compared to last year: "Without looking back too far, I would say I don't know if it's compared to last year, but I can tell you what I'm seeing now. I think like, unbelievable connection of the communication back and forth. Not just connection as like, a friendship you and I, but the work, the communication back and forth together. I saw it in the spring with [CB] Amik [Robertson] and [CB] Mikey [Sainristil] just after doing things. And so, I'm seeing these pockets of connection and work taking place. And so that would be one example of what I'm seeing." On setting the tone with the offseason defensive front additions: "Yeah, we definitely see it starting up front and different days we will emphasize different packages to go. So, think of it as like four down structures. Sometimes it's five, like a 3-4 structure. Otherwise, sometimes more people up on the line. And so, depending on what the offense is doing, it might be heavier or bigger groups. I like the versatility of going in and out. Each day, you kinda get to work some. In other words, in like a two-minute or a third down, depending on the distance, might be more spread out and open compared to like a short yardage in that day. I like that we have the flexibility to match different personnel. That's a big deal."
On what made them want to bring in WR Jaden Bradley as a UDFA: "We also got a chance to visit him on our local day. And there was a competitiveness that we saw, and that kinda went through to say, 'Okay, through the draft, he's somebody that's gonna be on our space.' And so, with [Wide Receivers Coach] Bobby [Engram] keeping connected with him as it goes, certain times you think, there's a chance after the draft to add somebody with this type of competitiveness. And, like, let's face it, if you're gonna be undrafted, you better be a dog of a competitor and finding your spaces on teams and other spaces. And that's what I've seen from him so far. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and seeing him develop. Having a hunger to wanna improve, that's the first step. And he definitely has that." On if the fans watching practice affects his planning for practice: "Nope. So, we'll stay along that path to go, but big playbook, big things to go. And so, as we're going through
it, it's more just us staying on rhythm and on routine for us, but no change. But it is nice to have the energy of them here. Sometimes when you're here all the way you don't hear them and feel them, and so it's nice to share the day with them." On if they blow the whistle early for one-on-ones during practice when QB Jayden Daniels is coming out of the pocket: "Not more than normal or less than normal. You may see some days where he's outside the pocket where he stays behind the line of scrimmage as opposed to running it down the field. We have an excellent idea of what that looks like and when he uses that, so when we're extending some plays to go. But also, I want it to be in a true competition sense. And some of them, this was a sack. I'm blowing the whistle. And he can definitely say they wouldn't have got me, and like, yes, they probably wouldn't, but we're doing it anyway."
On the secondary: "Tomorrow we'll get into our first kind of assessments. What do we like about block one? Where are we at? So, as we're going through the installs, a lot of mix of different people. I like the communication that I'm hearing so far. We haven't featured a lot of man-to-man into our first space. That's another evaluation, you know, who can do what. But the disguises are coming. That's part of playing the position. We're still seeing different versatility, but it'll be a while. I would say right now I'm storing observations more than having pure evaluations." On bringing a veteran in to play center in Allegretti's absence: "[General Manager] Adam [Peters] and his crew will definitely work through that. It's not something long that we're thinking with Nick. We like the group we have, but yes, you know, that's something that, not from a veteran-esque person, but we've also developed some other guys to see where they're at. It does give you a window to see where people are at. And so, the same thing with John at tight end. Like, I know John's a warrior, he'll be back, but it does give some spaces for people in those windows. And all of you have covered a long time, more reps, somebody came alive, this happened. And so, I like that, to see who is here and elevate them and see what that looks like. And oftentimes, you're surprised to say, 'Hey, okay, put them in the fire, see where it goes, and like, let's see where we go from there.'" On what goes into planning the cadence of camp: "Yes and that's a little bit of the blocks two and even on the next one in block two, you'll see a padded day, Monday, not Tuesday, again Wednesday. So, all of that kinda part of the first seven days or so of ramp ups to go. And even on the padded days, some are longer, some are shorter. So, I think what you'll see is camp, sometimes there's gonna be, 'Hey, let's extend it out far. Another day, bring it back down.' So, I'm not gonna say the intensity of going, but like, let's work a lot of red zones so it's not long. Now let's work a lot of move the ball in the whole field. And so, you're kinda just working it back and forth. But yeah, it took a lot of time in the spring and through the summer to absolutely try to nail it."
On structuring more time for film study and walkthroughs differently with two new schemes: "Not more time but certainly teach backs. If you really wanna test someone's learning, you have to ask the questions and explain them back to them. Think of all of us in school, somebody who's teaching or lecturing and, 'Okay, did they take this information in?' And so, that's really what we want to do. We think of, like, crawl, walk, run. The crawl part is the meetings, and then in the evenings, walkthroughs, and then out to practice. So, those three steps are a big one. We try to put some things in some buckets that mean something. So, these T words mean this, these, you know, D words mean this. So, we try to find common themes for the teaching, but if you really wanna know it, you have to have the player teach it back to have a real understanding." On if the ramp up procedure is different for someone who has been in camp versus someone who has not
been in a camp: "Yes. It definitely does. Reason being is like, they've kind of been through some of the football training, and also did they go through an offseason program or not? Sometimes that can factor in as well, but if you haven't had the person as part of your program, yeah, I think it makes sense to see where they're at and moving forward. Oftentimes, the veteran player will know how to practice, what to do, but where are they physically? And then, once you get that assessment, then you can add more to it." On his slogans and mottos for the team: "I think you guys know me well enough. Having an identity for a team is important. And it's not, you know, on a back of a slogan or hung on a wall. It has to be something that's done every day. But standards and identity of what you wanna be, it has to be established over time and consistently. And for us, we want our fans and our team and everybody watch us play say, 'Man, these guys really bring it.' And so, that's what we want to establish, but it takes time for that to happen. And I'm looking forward to seeing this team. You know, each team, there's a new group, seeing these guys build it together. Like, I'm pumped to see their connection happening quickly already. And that's a good sign for a coach."
On the changes made to training camps across the league in terms of days off and walkthroughs: "So, there's definitely some parts of it that are CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement] related and that and organized. But I think it's also good, we now have more information like 'Hey, this is when this amount of injuries occur at the beginning, so what can change?' And so, you saw a lot of red zone work early to try and limit. Now, is it foolproof? No. Like, obviously, we had John get a hamstring on day two, so it's not like, no matter what, this'll work. But it's good guidelines, you know, to stay with that. And if we can keep doing that, we're gonna, in the end, be stronger and better. And so, it's that fine line. You wanna walk, you wanna be right close to the edge, but you don't wanna go over it. And that's the same. We measure what did each guy do on a certain day? And, quite honestly, you do have to have some really hard days to build some resilience and knowing how are you gonna be ready to play 60 plays if you only play 15 at practice? So, a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more, and then back down, and go higher again. So, there's a lot of thought that goes to it, and I wish it was one size fits all, but it's not. It's just some of them were learning players, as David [Aldridge] was referring to earlier, somebody is new or a rookie player in their first camp. So, I think just having an open mindset each night we discuss it, who might need more, might need less, what needs tweaking, as opposed to, 'Well, this is on the script, we should do what it says.' So, that's an important piece." On if the changes made to training camps are based on media trends and medical research: "Definitely not media trends. [Laughs] Yes. But maybe, one day. [Laughs] But it does. And I think that's important, you know? Like, it's kinda how we grow the game, knowing that this would be a safer approach for guys to have better health long-term. So, when a lot of us covered the team, it was two days to this, and back-to-back, and now we don't do that, but there are some smarter ways to do that. And if we can continue to find that's ultimately the goal. Like, can we get to not only work really hard, but the roster at the end of camp really healthy too?" On if Defensive Coordinator's Daronte Jones' scheme has changed his perspective on defensive coaching: "I wouldn't say it's changed perspective, but I like that he's on the front edge of some things. And so, so often at the line of scrimmage, offenses, you know, can have the pen last, who want to get to this check and get to this change, and defensively, so much we adjust. Okay, that happened, we adjust, this happened, we adjust. What I like in the system that we have now is we are also into some of the checking to make the offense have to adjust. So, I think in the years ahead, defenses are trying to be in that space more, and it's nice to see us go into that space now. So, there's still 40 seconds that shot clock goes off, you're back at it again, the back and forth. There's a lot of pressure quarterback-wise, and then same thing on the communication on the defense. So, it's a good system and moving forward, I think we'll see more of it."
On G Sam Cosmi saying he's in the best shape he's ever been in: "For the big guys, the padded work is where it comes in, but I can say Sam and a lot of his teammates are in excellent shape. And conditioning for us is gonna be key. We are not gonna play our way into shape, kinda referring back to, like, what Nicki [Jhabvala] was saying earlier. There's days we have to be able to take it further. Days we'll back it off, but he is really in good shape and ready to go. If you look at he and [T] Laremy [Tunsil] and some others on the offensive line, they're in excellent shape as the start of it. So, that's a big deal because now they're ready to take it even further."
On what led him to believe they needed a new defensive system: "I think just going through offenses and defenses over the last five years, six years, to say, 'When would you wanna check?' A lot of times, a defense might have an all-out blitz, and an offense checks, and you wanna get out of that blitz because a screen or something could hurt you, and when could you take that further? And so, defense is often trying to disguise man and zone, and that's been popular for a while. So, now, having the ability to get in and out of calls, it has to be easy to learn and it's gotta be relatable and something you can execute quickly. And having a system that you're able to do that, that's a big deal. Was it hard to get to that point for you?
On if it was hard to get to the point of understanding the new defensive system:
"It wasn't. I enjoy learning the new parts of it. So, it wasn't difficult to learn. In fact, I thought it would be more complex, and so the best systems don't overtax someone. Like, you've got to let their ability to go and play freely with discipline out. And if you're just hesitating, overthinking, I've tried that where it's like, you want the perfect call, and a good call, executed violently is gonna work better. And so, this allows us to get in and out of calls, not every play, but on a more regular basis."
