HC Jonathan Gannon, OC Drew Petzing and DC Nick Rallis Media Availability 9.22.25 | AZ Cardinals

HC Jonathan Gannon, OC Drew Petzing and DC Nick Rallis Media Availability 9.22.25 | AZ Cardinals

So, I was wrong. Uh, James Connor um has to have surgery on his foot. He’ll be out the rest of the year. Um Z Jones is in concussion protocol. Why I didn’t tell you, I honestly did not know what happened on the last offensive play um of the game. So, I apologize for that. I just didn’t get it to you guys. Um just real quick talking about James obviously because I know you guys are going to ask me about it. Um, you know, one of our leaders, a captain, um, you hate that it happens. Uh, I feel terrible. Um, but I know he’ll take the right attitude and bounce back. Um, picking up that slack, both the player and the person. We’re all going to have to collectively do it truthfully. Um, but that’s a bummer just like all our guys that have gotten hurt. But, um, I just know what type of person and player he is. It’s tough to replace. but we have to. So, that’s what we’ll do. Um, looking back, just real quick recap in San Francisco, you know, watching all three phases, um, just disappointing honestly, you know, to not come away with a win there as a good football team on the road, had our chances and didn’t convert our chances, and that’s life in the NFL. So, um, you know, the old adage of coaching better and playing better, that is true. Um, but again, I think, you know, even after coming off the two wins, now I’m going way back. But, um, it’s correctable correctable things. So, we just got to make sure that we’re mindful of it and do it. Um, or I’m going to be saying the same things to you guys over and over and over and sound like a broken record. So, we won’t want to do that. So, uh, it’s my job to get it corrected. That’s what we’ll do. Um, 72 hours, 75 hours we kick off here. So obviously a different week that’s different than our routine. Um a lot of challenges of this week playing you know like I said in three days now. Um a lot of variables that go into that. We have to handle those things the right way. Um to get ready to to go win a football game at home against a really good team. So that’s what we’re working on right now. Does it clarify James’s foot, not his ankle? Correct. Yeah. I gave you the wrong It’s his foot. What are the correctable issues that stand out most to you? Fundamentals, you know, uh pad level, hand placement, um covering people, catching the ball, throwing the ball, running the ball. I mean, just I mean, really, Teao, it is. And and that’s why like I just ripped off how many um everybody in there and that’s why I told them after the game and that’s why I really feel like like you know for all three units to play better individually we all have to play better you know and obviously that starts with the coaches like we got to coach better but um those little details and those it’s really some techniques that um we’re hurting ourselves you know and and you got to do those things right because you know the NFL you’re in tight games and if you don’t do those things right, enough of those things right, uh it’s hard to win. So, uh our guys know that, our guys have done that, uh we got to do it more consistently. There’s no doubt. Players typically talk about the 24-hour rule giving themselves that day to dwell on it. Is that something you subscribe to? And if with it being such a short week, is that something that has to get thrown out? For sure. This week, you know what I mean? And I I I told them when they wake up today, um they we had them in to do treatment and they lifted today. We did not meet with them today. Um we’ll get on to Seattle tomorrow. Um I told him if you’re you know, if you’re and it’s hard because it’s I did it today. I caught myself in a meeting, you know, talking about a play that I didn’t wasn’t real pleased about, but we’re game planning on first and second down Seattle. It’s like I can’t be thinking about that. So, you kind of got to block that out. It’s hard to, but we do have to control that. But when they come in tomorrow, there’s there’s nothing about San Francisco because we got to be full focused on Seattle. Season ending injuries are obviously a part of football. You mentioned James as the person in your experience. Can certain injuries kind of sit heavier in the locker room? You know, that’s a good question. Honestly, they all do. Um, they really do. Um, you know, but he’s a vet that’s played at a high level. That’s a captain, that’s a vocal leader on our team. They know, everybody in this building knows what he means to our organization. Um, and that’s not to diminish anybody else’s impact. It’s it’s really not. Um, but he heavy is the crown. He does wear a big crown, you know, and so, um, we just got to pick up the slack. Coach, we’ve talked three weeks now about just the ability to close out a game. Offensively, we haven’t been able to do it yet. And you said coach better, play better, but what can you do to just get that mental side of things where it needs to be? Yeah. I mean, keep putting them in those spots and practice. You know, that’s that’s my job, which we I maybe I got to facilitate a not maybe. I do have to facilitate a little bit more um got to have it type situations for us because we’ve been in some of those and and we haven’t executed. Uh four minute mechanics, which is what we didn’t execute the last two weeks. Now, um really the last three weeks when you talk about four-minute mechanics, what’s that look like? Um and then just execution of what’s being called, you know, and and all those games come out a little bit different by the score and where the situation is and you’re taking a lot of things into account on my end. Um but I thought we put them in pretty good spots. We just got to do a little bit better with uh there’s there’s a lot of players over the years who have talked about that there’s no one harder on themselves than that person. Marvin has talked about that. Is there ever a concern when a guy is harder on himself than anybody else when he might be struggling and you worry about him getting in his own head because of it? Uh it it not for me. Um, but I think you have to have enough self-awareness to know, yes, we’re all our own worst critic. I think anybody would tell you that. You guys probably your own worst critics, too. You know what I mean? Like, no one’s going to look in the mirror harder than you are. Um, but there is a point that you have to let that go. Take the learning experience and move on. Um, so that’s kind of what we preach with all our players and the coaches as well. you know, they’re sitting in there on the plane and um you know, after a game like that that you feel you had a chance to win, you know, and everyone’s kind of taking the arrow in the forehead and looking in the mirror and it’s like, okay, like I get it, but that’s you know, you got to move on, you know. So, you take the the learning experience from wins and losses and move on. When it comes to the running game, do you have enough time to kind of tweak the scheme to what these guys do well? Well, that that’s a really good question, Josh. I was just talking to Mark about that like um talked to the offense about that first, but uh talking to Mark about that too. You know, I I went back and kind of looked and you know, I think we called somewhere around 24 runs and 17 of them are not efficient. We have to get that better because the hat that I wear, you know, or that I did wear on defense, when you’re not running the ball efficiently, you are you’re making it a lot easier on the defense to defend you. That’s what I would say. And there’s not a lot of good calls, run or pass, when you’re behind the sticks. So, you’re kind of playing and and you might not, you know, when I say behind the sticks on second down, you got to look at like play types. What are they defending and what are you what do you have to call? Um, and so I just I think like to answer your question, it’s a brand new this this team is significantly different than San Francisco, right? Um, so we’re going to have different plan for it, a different plan to attack Seattle than we did San Francisco. With saying that, um, our fundamentals and our techniques have to show up a little bit better. They got to improve from this last week what we did. And we got to realize why runs aren’t being efficient and how everybody fits into that. So I think we just if we just control that um we’ll put them in the right spots, you know, that’s our job, but then let’s control the technique part of it and makes some Hey, what’s the confidence level that Trey Benson take on a bigger work with him moving forward? Yeah, I’m fully confident in Trey. I really am. I think um you know, the more he plays, the more comfortable you see him getting and the better he’s going to be. I feel good with all those backs stepping in. I know. Yesterday you asked about the play calling. You were quick to respond on that. After watching the film, do you see anything that could change or needs to be changed? No. No. Back to the injuries. How is uh Paris Johnson doing? He’s doing well. Is there a chance of those this week? Yeah. So, I guess all of our guys that on the injury front, tough week because we’re not really going to practice totally. So, those guys that weren’t healthy enough to play this last week, it’ll kind of come down to game time, I’m sure. The issues in the run game, are they more running back centered, offensive line centric. How would you I’d say all 11? You know, I really would. I I think everyone’s got to do a little bit better. I think I think you guys are 27th in passing yards right now. I mean, I know that game situations matter and stuff like that and it plays off the running game, but do you feel like you’re getting as much as you need to get from the receivers? Yeah, I that’s a very good point because like that’s I always laugh. uh you can take a stat and make it look how you want it to look. You know, um where my mind goes is we haven’t had a lot of passes, you know, after the the second game, a three-game sample size with stats to me is you can maybe see a trend, but I don’t think it’s the end all beall. That’s why I don’t hang my head on stats. Um the good thing last week or yesterday too, we didn’t turn it over, so we did a good job there. We won a takeaway battle, still lost a game on a walk-off. That’s typically what’s going to happen. Meaning games are going to be really close. When they win the explosive play battle, you win the takeaway battle. That’s probably pretty close. A pretty close game. Um, I think just like the run game, it it should be more it needs to be more efficient. Um, I think we’re doing some really good things. I think everyone has to do a little bit better, you know, and that’s, you know, that’s the pass game on defense. That’s the run game on defense. just collectively as a team, you know. Uh so, and again, when the the defense knows that you have to pass in known pass, they have an advantage. So, we need to make sure that we’re playing a little bit more straight up on second down. One of those trends with the the passing game is that your area yards per the bottom of the league. Why do you think that’s been the case? A number of factors. I think, you know, I I’m I’m pleased with what’s getting called to push the ball down the field. You know, sometimes they have a say, too. So, um couple plays came up yesterday that they did a good job getting underneath it and then did a good job tackling tackling the checkdown. You know, um where that’s where the ball should go when they play that type of coverage structure. But, um you know, when you can’t run it, it’s going to be hard to pass it. And when you can’t pass it, it’s going to be hard to run it, you know. So they go hand in hand, you know, and so if you can get the run game going a little bit better, you will get more advantageous looks to push the ball down the field. When you can’t run it, they’re taking away you pushing the ball down the field. So it works hand in hand. That’s a good that’s a really good point, Taylor. That stat like it that stat to me works handinhand with the run game, what the run game’s doing, you know. So, um, we just like I that’s a long-winded answer to yeah, that needs to be better, but it’s a can be a direct correlation to what else is going on in the game, too. So, it’s not a philosophical thing. You want to keep things close to line. Um, if that’s what it needs to do to win the game, you know what I mean? That’s how they’re defending you. But, no, I do think what our two winning stats are explosive plays, you know? So when you talk about pass games that are explosive, there’s two ways to generate them in the pass game is catching runs and throwing the ball down the field. So that’s important to me. Were you okay with Kyler’s checkdowns this week? I was because of what they what they presented to him. You know, I knew he was going to rip the one and the pocket kind of collapsed. You know, it’s not just it’s it’s everybody. You know, we’re only a few weeks in here, but uh it’s pretty clear the NFC West is going to be a bad Looks like all four teams will probably be in the mix. You guys are within an eyelash of being three and 0, but now you know you turn around, you’ve got another divisional opponent. Losing Thursday would mean 0 and2. Can you talk about the importance of staying in this race about a quarter into the season after Thursday? Yeah. Yeah. Um, how do I answer that one? It’s a good question. Um, three games in a lot of ball to be played. Um, we understand the teams in our division are good teams. Um, I I know we’re a good team. Uh, you got to win games, you know what I mean? And they understand the importance of playing at home versus a divisional opponent. Um, you don’t want to get knocked down too far, but there’s a lot of ball to be played. Darius Robinson’s been kind of quiet as far as the stat sheet goes. How How have you judged judged? I think he’s playing well. I think he’s playing well. I I I did talk to him about I think um, you know, that’s some noise that we talk about. I I know he wants to get on the stat sheet, too. You know what I mean? But the most important thing is is just do your job. Don’t press to make plays because you’ll start playing bad if you do that. Um so, um I think he’s doing a good job right now. I know there’s things that he’s working on. Um to Darren’s point, your own worst critic. You know, I’m I’m hard on himself and I love that. I I I like that. Um because I know they care and he’s all about ball. He wants to impact the game and help us win, but uh I think he’s doing a good job right now and it’s just a matter of time before he starts filling it up. With the downfield passing, I I know there are things that defenses are doing to take that away. Are you pleased with your receivers’s ability, and I’m not just talking about Maria, but but as a unit, their ability to get open on those downfield? Yeah, I am. I am. I I am, Teao. Like, I’ve seen them do it, you know what I mean? like in in in games um whether the ball goes to them or not. I’ve seen them get open um versus in practice, you know, in training camp, all those things. But, you know, you’re playing new schemes, different opponents, different environments, we got to be able to handle all that and execute at a high level when we need it, you know. So, it’s just it’s time on task, you know. It’s it’s still early. I don’t it’s I told the coaches like uh the the sky is not falling. There was no panic in my game. I told the team that I I don’t I haven’t lost confidence. You know, we lost a game, you know, and um things over the first three weeks that uh we haven’t done a good enough job. We got time to correct it, but we got to correct it. Were the drop just a matter of concentration or focus? Yeah, I would talk to receivers on that. I Why I say that is I don’t know. Everyone talks about, you know, touchdowns come in bunches. Can you say the same thing for drops? I don’t know that either. It’s a fundamental. We got to make sure we catch the ball. M. Wilson, senior, was flying around all over the field. How much have you seen from him just taking that step up as the green dot in that Mike linebacker spot? Yeah, I thought um if you asked him, I thought he played I think that uh he played really well week one and in his mind, your toughest critic, Darren. Um, I’m using the hell out of that right now. Um, I’m my own toughest critic. I better do a better job. Um, he felt like he didn’t play as good, I think. Um, and I thought he absolutely lit it up yesterday. I mean, just, you know, and he had some tough downs, I would call them, that he won. Um, he’s doing a heck of a job. You know what I mean? With all that we put on his plate, he’s really in essence playing a new position. We’re three games in now and he’s impacting the game in a positive way. So, um, he’s another one that’s, you know, a vet that stays steady, you know, it’s good to have those guys, you know, so there’s no panic in his game either. But I thought he played really well. Seems like Kas and Josh Sweat are regularly in the back field. The impact of having those two guys huge. Yeah. I mean, those guys are doing a good job affecting the passion. We got some other guys, too, that are that are doing a good job. And again, that stat sheet, you know, those guys are showing up. Sometimes they have some freedom and other guys don’t. You know what I mean? So, um, you know, for those guys to impact the game, other guys have to do their job as well. That’s how I would say that one. So, um, but yeah, very pleased with where they’re at. Um, I think they’re both going to keep keep doing it, you know. I really do. And we need them to. Five sacks through three games. Are you happy with that number? about how do you how do you get more? I don’t know. I’m I’m I’m I’m kind of on a Seattle like I I feel like we’ve on defensively we have to do a lot of things better with saying that. I feel like we’ve done a lot of good things too. Do I always think you can affect the quarterback more? Absolutely. Coach, you’ve been under the microscope quite a bit lately for play calls and how you’re doing making the play calls. What’s your response to the no outside noise? Do you have any? Not really. Nature of the business. You know, that’s what we signed up for. It’s it’s why we do what we do. We love this game. We love why we do it. So, uh, not overly concerned with it. What are your thoughts? You know, obviously losing James Connor is a a big blow for the run game. How do you kind of make up for that? Try to at least of the aggregate. The starting point obvious I feel terrible for him. Yeah. I love that guy. Just what he brings, the way he works, the way he’s carried himself his whole career. So feel really anytime somebody gets hurt, you feel bad for the player. I think that’s where your mind goes first. Um, past that, I feel really good about the group, Trey, um, Amari, uh, Bam, all the other guys in that room to pick up the slack and kind of, you know, pick up right where we left off, knowing that there were times in the last two years James has not been out there and those guys stepped up, I thought did a really nice job. So, need that to happen this year as well. A short week, do you have enough time to kind of retool the run game to utilize your strengths or just kind of like we’re just going to go with what we’ve been doing just to get through this week and then reevaluate it? I think you always have time to try to play to the strengths of the people that are going to be on the field. Even in a short week, you know, you’re going to have to do it quicker, but I think you’re going to find time in the day to make sure you do. JG was talking about how with the 24-hour rule, that doesn’t really happen with it being a short week and that when everyone wakes up, they kind of have to flush the game. Is that hard when the game is still so fresh on your mind? Yes and no. To some extent, it happens on the plane. Like, you’re trying to buy every hour you can. So, you step on the plane, you buzz the tape, you learn from it, and you have to move on right away. we got a great opponent come to our house on Thursday night excited to be in front of our fans. So that focus shifts so quickly. Um but I think that’s also a blessing at times and it goes both ways, win and lose. So uh but there’s very little time left on the previous game regardless of when you play certainly on a short week. With four of the same offensive linemen, same offensive coordinator, how do you explain kind of the the step back that the run game has taken? You know, again, we got to break it down, look at it. I think it’s a small sample size in three games. You know, you’re never going to judge the entire product on three games. We got to look at the things that we can do better collectively, whether it’s, you know, looking at the technique that we’re using up front in terms of how we’re blocking things, the way it’s being called, the way it’s being schemed, why things aren’t working necessarily the way we want them to, and also not abandon it just because we played some good fronts in tough environments and maybe hasn’t come out quite the way we wanted to at times. Do you think losing Clayton Adams has impacted that? No. Is there a specific approach that you and the rest of the coaching staff feel like you need to take to build up the confidence of Mar or is the best way to do that just keep throwing him the ball? Yeah, I don’t put a ton of weight on that because I know he’s a guy who has confidence in his own ability. I certainly have a ton of confidence in him. He’s really hard on himself when when he feels like he didn’t live up to his standard. Uh but I think he’s going to be a big part of this offense and I have full uh confidence in his ability to do that move forward. you seem really hard on himself postgame for that just because he is so professionally at a young age. Do you have a conversation with him or players who might have a game like that where they’re hard on themselves of just reminding them who they are or you just kind of let the players go through their process? It goes different ways with different people. I think one of the key parts of being a coach is understanding who you’re dealing with, having a really good feel for the players that that you work with and understanding how you want to bring the best out of them. I think that’s a big part of it. So with him, you know, there’s certain ways I’m going to approach it. with other guys it might be a little bit different but uh he is we all are our harshest critic and I appreciate that about him but not concerned about him moving forward. How would you how would you evaluate how stepped up for Paris? I thought he did a really nice job. You know he played what 700 snaps last year in a very similar role. So there’s you know really no nervousness on our end about him going in there and playing at a high level against a good front with some good age players. So was really pleased with how he did. How do you address the drops with your receivers and your running backs? You know it’s hard. But I think at the end of the day, physical mistakes are going to happen. You know, certainly we want to get back to the details of the fundamentals of focusing on the football, locking things in, finishing the catch, all those things that go into it. Uh, but at the end of the day, I know that, you know, if you, you know, I can’t pick out names individually, but the guys that had those issues. It’s not a reoccurring theme. So, I think it’s one of those things that in a small sample size can happen at times and you almost don’t want to dwell on too much. Hey, move on. You you catch the ball really well. You got great hands. Not something I’m worried about. Do you get to a point at any point? I know you’ve talked a lot about the the ball, the passes have to go where kind of it’s dictated. You got to be smart about it. Do you ever get to the point where you think to yourself, we have an or have a problem here because the receivers aren’t being able to produce enough? No. No, I wouldn’t say it ever goes that direction. Coach, you get the ball yesterday with 310 to go. You’re up by two points. All you need to do is get a couple first downs. You can’t do it. What’s What’s going on in that situation? Yeah, we were able to get the first one, so we got close, you know, and then and then obviously on the second set of downs, weren’t able to convert there on third down, which obviously cost us. Um, you know, it’s a tough situation. It’s high leverage. They know you want to run the ball, you want to run the ball, you got to stay in bounds. Uh, had some opportunities, made some plays. Thought Kyler did a great job on that first down play to start the drive, getting nine yards, doing a smart things, sliding and staying in bounds to make them use their timeouts. Uh, but really kind of, you know, obviously didn’t get it done the way we wanted to there at the end. You guys are near the bottom of the league in area yards per tap. not pushing the ball down field. Why do you think that’s been the case? I think it’s a combination of things. You know, certainly when you you are struggling in the run game, you’re not getting quite the cell you’re used to or some of the bigger opportunities down the field. I think the other, you know, just based on the teams that we played, a lot of those teams are really good at eliminating explosives based on the way they play coverage and structure their defense. So, I think both of those things play into it. Do you think on center yesterday there were opportunities for Kyler to push the ball down field that that he didn’t take? Uh, not really. No. I mean, we pushed the ball down the field. I can think of I think three, four, five, maybe five or six passes in the second half that probably went 30 plus air yards down the field and you know hit a couple of them which kind of got us back in the game and gave us the lead there at one point. So um you know it’s something we’re going to continue to look at and work at but not something I’m overly concerned with. With that small sample size of three games, what is your process of this is our identity, this is what we’ve worked towards versus okay, this is this is going to require maybe some major tweaks with just a small sample size. what is your process of what you’re changing or how much you change with that? I think that’s a great question. I think that’s kind of the balance as a coach that you have to make sure you’re very aware of. You know, it’s you don’t want to run away from things that maybe you’re good at but you haven’t done enough or you haven’t got a good look at or maybe you just happen to get in the wrong situation. But at the same point, you have to be aware of, hey, maybe we do need to emphasize this a little bit more, move in that direction. I think we’re always going to be working through that balance and early in the year it’s a little bit finer because you have less evidence to go off of. Closing on games now has been an issue three weeks in a row. Yeah, the beginning. Sorry. Closing up games. At what point does it become more than just a few tweaks? A kind of a a big concern for you. Uh if we stop closing them out. Um, you know, jokingly we did it twice, we didn’t do it, you know, yesterday. And it’s funny like we come in here after the last the first two wins and you’re like, “Hey, we got it done.” Well, there were still errors or issues in those opportunities and then yesterday obviously weren’t able to get it done. I think the mindset for me and the mindset for the entire offense and the team to some extent is just because one or two plays weren’t made and we didn’t get it done doesn’t mean the process or what we want to do during the course of the week changes. I think that’s really important to keep in mind, you know. So, whatever we did to put ourselves in position to win and then not do it. Hey, if there is a difference, great. Let’s try to identify it. If there’s not, let’s stick to the process, get back to getting on the field and going through the fundamentals, making sure we’re agreed up for the next week. With Kyler, you guys have talked repeatedly about kind of wanting him to make the right decision. uh with the ball, be willing to check it down. How do you find the balance for him of being willing to check it down but not taking away some of his kind of natural and aggression? Yeah, it’s a balance that we’ve talked about in here. I think he’s doing a really nice job of that. You know, just yesterday, I know he pulled it down and made some great plays with his feet in some critical situations. Got us some third downs, created the big PI late in the game. Um, you know, and then there were some checkdowns that that, you know, I thought James took one for a first down early in the game. So, I think he’s doing a really nice job of finding that balance. JG talked about putting the team in practice in more of a four-minute situation. Little sense of urgency for guys. Do you feel like that’s necessary to get guys thinking about we’ve got to perform in this situation? Absolutely. I think you’re always trying to put them in situations throughout the week so that their mindset shifts to game day so it’s as real as possible. What gives you confidence that you guys can up the point total at the end of the game? Generate more points, more explosives, more yardage. What gives me? Yeah, I think the guys that we have in the room and the mindset that those guys walk into the building with every day. think it’s been great since really the moment that this season started. So, it’s not something, hey, when when it’s not hitting quite the way we want or it’s not perfectly done the way that that we all hoped it was going to, you know, I’m not nervous about where we’re at or where we’re going because of because of that, I guess. Trey Benson’s your feature back. How equipped is he at this point? Very, you know, I think he’s extremely ready for that opportunity. I think he’s always prepared himself for that. I think that’s the nature of this business. And he he certainly, I think, has learned a ton from James over the last year and a half to be ready for that opportunity, similar to the way James was early in his career. What do you know about Mike McDonald’s defense? You played Seattle twice, obviously. So, what do you know you’re getting Thursday night? Yeah, we played him twice and we played him in Baltimore uh our first year here, so a lot of familiarity with him and the system. It it’s a really talented group. I think they’ve done a great job of building that roster and then the scheme is dynamic. You know, they mix personnels, they mix front structures, a lot of different coverage and pressure looks. I think Mike does a really nice job. It’s going to be a big challenge for us. Are there things you can take from their game against the Saints and your game against the Saints? Yeah, absolutely. and they played the Niners. So, there’s a lot of similarities from the teams that we played and they played. So, you’re certainly going to look at that and try to evaluate what they did and how they did it and what where we can take advantage of that. You’ve said a few times uh not just this week, that that you’re happy with the job your receivers are doing at getting open and it’s not necessarily showing showing up in the statue. So, why are you happy with kind of the job that that group is doing as a whole? Yeah, I think one you I see the work that they put in every day and kind of the effort that they put into the game and the way that they’re, you know, winning their one-on- ones in some critical situations. Like I look at, you know, Z Jones showing up on third and 11 there, you know, in the game. Mike, uh, showing up on fourth and four, you know, some big completions to Marvel late in that game for some chunks that got us back in the game. So, I think those are going to continue to happen and certainly we’re going to try to put them in those positions over and over again. Overall, how do you feel like the defense performed last week? Um, some good and bad. Um, you know, obviously you’d like to finish game out. That’s that’s probably the biggest thing. Um, but definitely things that we can improve on. What were some of the bad things that you like to improve on? Um, a little bit more wins. Um, we did a good job, you know, being color on color as I’d say in the back end. just some of those contested catches. Um, you’d like to win a few more of those. Um, couple mental things that we could have done better, not hurt ourselves. Um, did some good things in the run game. You know, a couple things to clean up in the run game when they when they were able to kind of pop off runs, you know, I felt like um overall the run game was a little hit or miss. So, if we clean up some of those runs that went for, you know, eight plus yards, that would help us. Nick, how tough is it to be out on the field late in the game? all three. Now, you guys have been out on the field trying to save the win. How tough is that on the defense? I mean, that’s a that’s a situation we embrace. Um, you know, we’d love to go out there and close the game, and we got to do a better job of of finishing that game. There’s 10 different plays, 10 different things happened, but overall, what could you guys have done better on that last drive? Um, you know, I’ll start with myself. Um, a couple things play calling wise that I could have done better. Um, you know, and then it’s just it’s small execution things. You know, when when teams are in a two-minute drive and, you know, they got two minutes and they need a field goal, um, your margin for error is pretty small. So, you know, you have to you have to keep them behind the sticks because it’s it’s one explosive play um that all of a sudden it’s you’re defending 10 yards, you know, and the game’s over. So, you know, they did a good job of, you know, getting the ball out of their hands and kind of chipping it down. And then, you know, you know, credit to Kyle, great call um on the screen. You know, we were not in the right defense for that. So, you know, hats off to them. You know, he called that drive really good and and they executed. And, you know, I think if we do a couple things here or there, we can improve um and and win that situation next time. Yeah, on that last drive, what goes into having guys play off receiver compared to playing up and press? You know, a lot of things. Um, the situation, um, what they like to do. Um, and how you’re going to call it. Um, so knowing going into it like you know what we were going to stick to and um, what that situation was on how much you need to be able to challenge receivers. like you don’t want to give up an explosive cuz it’s one play and all a sudden ball game, but you can’t let them trip down the field when they have time. So that’s something that we’ll tell the corners um before we go out what we’re going to do mid-E. So they got a lot on their plates in in that regard and that’s something that you know Smitty um and myself are constantly talking about going into a two-minute drive. Matt continues to be a problem in the middle. Has he exceeded your expectations with that just taking over that new role and running with it? Um, no. I I’m I’m I knew he was going to do a good job. Um, you know, he probably had his best game and, you know, he’s just a leader. He’s got he’s got a seat on his chest for a reason and so he’s embracing that to the fullest. Um, and he’s playing good ball. I know it’s still early on in the process in terms of your evaluation with the Seahawks, but in what ways is Sam Darnold as the Seahawks quarterback different than the Sam Darnold’s Viking quarterback that you faced last year? Um, you know, there’s similarities and differences. Um, different system. You know, I think Clint does a phenomenal job with his quarterbacks of getting them to play fast. And so, you see Sam right now, he’s playing really fast. I thought he played fast last year, too. Um, but it’s in a different way. there’s it’s much more um uses of personnel, you know, a lot more personnel variety. Um different run game than than when he was in Minnesota. Uh different ways that they’ll move the pocket a little bit. So, you know, same player like I you know, he had he had an amazing year last year and he kind of showed the the league that he’s a starting quarterback um and he can play winning football and I think so far this year he’s he’s proven that. How’ you feel Keaton did stepping in a little bit more on defense? Yeah, it was good. Um, not a lot of plays, but the plays he he got in there for, he he did a good job of executing. Um, you know, broke up a pass on that one. So, he did a good job. You were clear at the start of the season, you wanted more turnovers from your defense. So, back toback weeks with multiple turnovers, eight points on the board. How are they taking what they’re learning on the practice field and on the field on game day? execution, you know, playing with high motor, high violence. Like that’s what leads to to those plays and, you know, capitalizing it and and sometimes guys just make unbelievable plays like, you know, two weeks ago, Sweaty, that’s that could just be a sack and he and he hunts the ball. Um, you know, Mack taxi arm Baron capitalizes with the pick. like rabbits play yesterday like that was just being a playmaker out there you know so it’s ultimately taking what we work on whether that’s specific you know techniques and a lot of times that can lead to takeaway um or it is just playing the down the correct way like Rabbits yesterday played with really good technique ball comes to him he capitalizes on it so it’s just you know applying practice into the game Nick on a short week is there a balance between what you scheme up versus what the guys can absorb in a couple days. Um, yeah, you have to be able to take into account understanding that your preparation is a little bit less, but I think our guys can handle a lot. Um, you know, we’re not really the type of defense to make stuff up every week. So, you know, anything that we pull is going to be stuff that they’ve executed before. Um, but that’s not to say that we can’t pull from the whole toolbox. Obviously with Will Johnson, you guys are hoping that’s a shorter term absence, but how do you feel like you did replacing Garrett at Nickel kind of with with all the moving pieces uh related to that? Yeah, there’s a lot of moving pieces. You know, credit to JT, like it’s not easy to um be taking very minimal reps at that spot. Um you know, throughout training camp and then in the beginning of the season and then just step in there and play. And that’s a that’s a high stress position, you know, specifically this past week because that’s so much of where their pass game was living, you know, between the numbers. And so he did a really good job like and then, you know, he’s playing safety and other packages. So not easy. He’s got a lot on his plate. Um, and he definitely stepped up to the challenge. How do you McAffrey had an unusual line, right? 15 targets, 88 yards, but but maybe not as efficient as he always is uh against the league’s best uh receiving back. How did you feel like you guys did? Yeah, there’s a couple plays that I wish we would have, you know, made the tackle or, you know, not busted. Um, which led to some plays. I mean, he is a really good player. So, there’s going to be times where he’s the beginning of the progression. Um, and he he had a couple of those balls and I thought we did a good job of we were there, you know, in phase with him and got it down. And then there’s a couple times where you’re taking away other concepts and you know the check down is open um and you know he’s able to you know get what he can there and and we did a good job of tackling him on those ones where he was in the first progression. So um you know it’s is if that if that’s where we wanted them to go with the ball then that that’s fine. You know if if he’s the primary and we need to be taking that away and that’s what’s hurting us then that’s that’s not as good. with Jackson, Smith, and Jiggle. What’s What sort of challenge is that? Yeah, he’s playing really good right now. He’s tough. Um, wins contested catches, can create separation to me, he is a first level, second level, and third level player. Um, meaning like he he’ll beat you on choice routes, he’ll beat you on intermediates, and then he can take the top off. So, he’s playing really good ball right now. You know, he’s definitely a huge part of their offense. Um, and he presents a challenge. What is the difference between his game now versus two years ago when you first faced him as a rookie? I would say he’s probably just improved in every area. Um, you know, like you see him winning those contested catches, you see him with the ball in his hands, you know, getting rack. Um, and you see him just creating separation. So, I would say his whole game has improved. Darius Robinson, how would you assess his play so far this year? He’s playing good. Um, you know, I think up front in general right now, we’re doing a really good job. Um, you know, winning one-on- ones in the run game. Um, we did a good job pushing the pocket. We won a couple times inside, led to some sacks or, you know, Clay’s a safety yesterday. So, you know, and Darius is right in there doing doing the same thing. Um, so he’s playing good right now. Got things to improve on still, but I like where he’s at. Do you think that’s not translating to the the sack and pressure numbers? Um, you know, I think those will come over time. I’m not too sure worried about the statistics there.

HC Jonathan Gannon, OC Drew Petzing and DC Nick Rallis address the media leading up to Week 4 vs the Seattle Seahawks

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