Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on maintaining growth & next man up mentality | Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on maintaining growth & next man up mentality | Press Conference

Yeah, coach, what will it uh mean um the absence of Devon Diablo in the Patriots and how you try to replace his activity? Yeah, it’s going to be a um kind of replace him by committee a little bit, you know, cuz um as we all know, he’s very unique in the fact that he is uh from an athletic profile standpoint, he’s very DBish from a size standpoint, he’s very linebacker-ish. So, um we’re going to replace him with that with some DBs at times, and we’ll replace him with some linebackers at times. you know, we’re we’re fortunate that we have a JD Bertrand here that is insanely intelligent, understands our scheme at the highest level, you know, so um he’s going to get a great opportunity to play some more. And then uh there’s some other guys too that are going to step in and do some of what Divine does. But I thought I saw Helen’s out there getting some some run and Harrison Fuller. See, it’s combination of all those guys. Absolutely. So, we’re going to give everybody a little bit of a of of Demine’s role, you know, and and um and there is a competitive um element this week to see who does the best and and you know, who deserves the opportunity to play a little bit more. And would would he be in that mix? Also, I’m just going off of the all those names are absolutely in play right now. Uh in addition to his football ac what did you see from JD last game and what did you um you know project in his part of the role? Yeah, he he’s a very unique player in the fact that he can play Mike, he can play Will, he can play on the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage, um obviously can handle the full special team load at the same time. So, it’s and then go out there and play from an execution standpoint, like virtually flawless in a lot of ways. So, um we’re we’re very fortunate to have a guy like him. He’s he’s a he’s a backup for us, but definitely starter ability. So, um he brings a a toughness. He brings some anticip some anticipatory stuff that’s very unique cuz he sees the game um in a unique way, especially from the run game perspective. So, you know, he’ll bring an element that that we didn’t have too. So, it’ll be exciting to have have him play some more. What’s that? Remove it. I was trying to get a coat deal. How big a stressor is speed? What’s that? How big a stressor is speed from your perspective? A lot of lot of stress. Yeah. Yeah. Because you know this team is unique. Um obviously they’re without maybe their fastest guy but Waddle’s right there as far as speed is concerned. So is Washington number six. So they still have and a chain obviously they have um ample speed. Yeah. It can be scary because the way they utilize motions they create space and then with that space um the speed increases the space and then if these guys were to get behind you it’s over with. you know, you don’t you don’t recover from from getting out of position with all three of those players. So, u Mike McDaniel does an amazing job with with the scheme as far as creating the space, creating the matchups, getting he’s going to get his speed on the guys he thinks that you don’t have speed. So, that’s happening. You know, whether whether you try to protect your guys or not, they’re going to get those matchups at times and and uh our guys are going to have to play really really well. We’re going to have to be on our stuff this week cuz you know, one mistake with these guys and it’s and it’s an explosive, it’s a score. So, um, yeah, we’re going to have to have a great week of prep. Any coaching tools outside of just emphasis to prepare for guys who are really fast to get your guys used to that angle. You know, you need to understand that that angle that worked last week is not going to work against this guy. You need to Yeah. I mean, you you get as much as you can from your from your scout team. I mean, we’re fortunate we have guys that that give us a great look out here and guys that do have speed. Um, so, you know, we’ll we’ll stress them to push our guys as as hard as they can. Um, and there’s a big part of this of of watching the tape and just getting familiar with it and and uh really putting yourself into play. Um, we try to be very deliberate in the way we watch tape and it’s not just watching players. It’s not just casually like you know not dogging fans in any way but would try to watch it not as a fan more as a as a student and really trying to apply calls and putting myself in the call putting myself in the play and if you do that consistently enough I really believe you get a good feel for the the speed you do you know and understand that maybe in my zones I have to drop with a little bit more depth and um and when I track as far as a tackler is concerned my angle has to change a bit so um there’s some elements to that you know fortunately too and I don’t I don’t know if it helps me much, but I played these guys a lot the last four years, obviously twice a year and very familiar with the speed. Um, now that I think about I don’t know if that helps me very much. It just I’m just I I know they’re fast. Rico, what was your first impression of Zack Harrison when you arrived here? Um, coming out of Ohio State, I had written him up and and uh and for the the attack front, which was what we ran exclusively in New York, um, I had him as a three-own starter. I had him as a guy that I had that I thought had amazing upst he’s he’s just enormous. He’s long. He’s um he’s got just just an amazing body in that way. Perfect for that defensive end position in the in the the attack front. And then um with the speed, the instinct, the toughness, and all that that he that he showed, I was just I I thought he had just just an amazing um potential in this league. So to finally get my hands on him, it’s been really cool to see. Um all the stuff I thought he had, he absolutely has. He’s checked every one of those boxes. Um now just getting him more and more familiar with what we’re trying to get accomplished here. And uh I feel like every week he’s taken steps and he’s getting better and he’s getting better. He’s getting better. The stuff that’s undeniable is his effort, his strain, his finish. It’s very uncommon. Um for a guy that’s as big as he is, he runs like a linebacker. So, um, you know, he had a one against a screen last week that was just amazing. You know, the way that he got there and he got to the red line from an interior position. So, and his superpower too as as I’ve gotten to know him is his versatility. He plays four eye for us. He’s played three technique for us. He’s he’s lined up at nose at times. He’s been a nine technique. He’s played outside linebacker in some ways. So, um, he wears a lot of hats. He does. All those things you mentioned, is he almost kind of the prototype, would you say, for that attack run for for what you wanted to do here? Yeah, because he’s he’s he’s long, he’s fast, he’s violent, he’s tough, and he plays really really hard. You know, you check those boxes and you’re an amazing candidate. Following up on what you said about your familiarity with with this Miami team, what do you see from Tua this year? Anything that that that you notice that that maybe has contributed to the turnovers being an issue there? I I still see the same guy that that I’ve been fearful of the last four years. you know, he’s uh he’s maybe one of the best rhythm throwers in the NFL still to date. Um his and it’s coaching as well. His synchron synchronized feet with the routes and the concept is just it’s elite. When the back foot hits, the ball’s coming out and um and when you get the ball out like that to players, as we’ve already mentioned, with the speed that they have, that can be explosive. That can be scary. So, um, again, like I’ve said, we we got to we got to have our best week of prep. Mike McDaniel, I mean, you came from the Shanahan tree, but how much correlation do you see between those two offenses and generally what they run? Um, there’s some similar there’s some familiar concepts that that are universal to that that tree of of coaching. Uh, Mike has definitely branched off. I think from a run game perspective, he’s he’s uh he’s got a lot of motion, a lot of formation variety. He’s got a lot of different personnel grouping. So, he does a lot of stuff. He’s very very creative. That’s not saying Kyle isn’t because Kyle is has amazing creativity, too. And he knows how to exploit matchups and and and he understands angles in the run game, and he knows how to really take advantage of certain fronts and certain leverages and and certain ways that we play defense. Um, I I really believe the evolution of his passing game is what really was different. And that wasn’t necessarily I don’t think just what he wanted to do. I think it was more he was um he was building an offense to feature the players that he had. You know, when you have a guy like Tyreek and and Waddle, you got to do some creative things to get them get him in space, get them free um and uh and take advantage of all that speed that they have. So, from a pass game perspective, it’s a little different. You know, concepts might be very similar. the the presentation, the motions, the formation’s a little different. From that end, it’s it seemed like San Francisco was able to get a little bit of momentum there on the ground. They did. Are you expecting something kind of similar? Yeah, without a doubt. You know, they’re they’re one of the other few teams in this league now that still plays 21 personnel on a consistent basis. So, you know, when you play the San Francisco of the world, it’s like I remember back in when I was playing, you know, I’d come in on Tuesdays and I’d sort the first and second down and it would be always 21 personnel, the number one grouping. Well, that doesn’t exist anymore. I remember when I was coaching in college at UCLA, like half the guys didn’t know what a fullback was, you know, it’s like, who’s that guy that’s lining up in front of the running back, you know, but Miami is one of those teams, you know, that has not only a fullback, but a good fullback and a guy that um is similar to to to Juice in the fact that uh he’s got versatility. Um, obviously he can do all the fullback stuff, the blocking stuff and and lead for the run game, but he also can do some stuff in the passing game because he is he’s got a little bit more athleticis athleticism than the traditional fullback. But I yeah, you can you can bet that they’re going to copy and paste some of that some of the concepts that got the the better of us on uh on Sunday night. How true is the notion that a team’s offense is the best way to help the same teams run defense? Um there’s some truth to that, but at the same time like this defense does not um buy that at all as far as I’m concerned. It’s like this has to be on our shoulders. You know, we didn’t do a good enough job. And that’s coaching is playing um collectively. We could have we could have done a better job. I could have put them in better positions at times with calls um and we could have played it better at times. So um as much as maybe there’s some truth to that, the this defense doesn’t use that as an out by any means. And you talked in the locker room a bit afterwards about mush yards and how those added up so quickly. Yep. What’s the key to stopping those? It’s population to the ball. Like you can never let your brother tackle a man by himself because you know they’re coming to the party. You got to come to the party and you got to push it. You know that the goal line play that that’s one that will be seared into my brain. I’m sure it’s seared into the brain of a lot of guys um in that locker room. That can’t never happen on our watch ever again. you know, when when one man stops him, that’s where the ball carrier ends, you know, that that’s where the the yardage ends. And um that wasn’t the case on Sunday night, you know, so we got to do a better job. When it came to the the 10 men on the field on that final drive, y what happened? It was a communication error. Um I’ll take full responsibility for it. Uh can happen, especially in critical moments like that. can never happen. But especially on the the the drive that essentially, you know, that that 10 men on the play, not not that that 11th man would have helped cuz the ball was out with such rhythm, but um you know, when you look at that play, you stop them as you should on a third and 13. You know, they kick a field goal, we’re down by six, our offense gets the ball, we get an opportunity to win the game. So um we all take pride, players and coaches collectively on the defensive side of the ball to give our offense that opportunity to win the game for us. We didn’t do it. So, um, got to be better in those moments. How much of the cop you mention cop the do copy and paste. How much of your week every week is spent reviewing the things that hurt you previously and quote unquote fixing them or addressing them because you know the next guy or the next two or three guys are going to Right. Absolutely. Um, so I I I designate a CEO of every area of football from our defensive staff. So some guys have a four- down run game, some guys have a five down run game, some guys have play pass, sometimes for just every single little subcategory, someone is the co that presents before they ever present what our opponent does ever. We always go back and see what has hit us, you know, in that area, whether four down runs, whether play pass keepers, whether, you know, the drop back change downs or or whatever it is, you know. So, um, we always just we understand it is a copycat league and I know that’s a common term and people understand that. U, but it’s a real thing, you know. So, um, knowing what they’re watching is probably just as critical sometimes as watching what they do, you know. So, and you always got to make sure any error like in my opinion that’s that’s from a coaching perspective, that’s that’s a fireable fence if you have a repeated error. You know, you you getting hit the same way on a consistent basis. So, you always got to fix that stuff before you ever dive into the next opponent. Yeah. Coach, what is uh what are the traits for for HN? Uh, you know, see the yards and catching it and uh but you you faced him a lot. What what do you or I guess what what are his superpowers, the perimeter run game and the screen game and that’s just getting him in space. Um, and like I’ve already said, like he is when you give him space, if you don’t track him correctly, if you don’t if you don’t set edges, if you don’t pursue him collectively as a defense, um, he has finish power and he he’s a guy that that can, uh, you know, he can take something real short, you know, and and take it take it all the way. So, you got to corral him. You got to understand how they how they feature him when he’s in the game. Um, you know, exactly like the the the majors, you know, the stuff that can really hurt you, you know, and and like I said, the perimeter run game and the screen game. We’re going to have to we’re going to have to be all over this game. Yeah. Coach, uh, for German TV, in about two weeks, you play a game in Germany. Um, how excited are you to coach in front of an international audience? And what does it mean for you and the team? And how excited can Berlin be to host a NFL game? That feels like a a year away. But now that you mention it, like it’s it’s exciting, you know, an opportunity to I’ve never been there, you know, for for me and for this entire team to to get an opportunity to to see Germany to me is that’s that’s an exciting thing in itself, you know, and then the opportunity to really um show another part of the world our brand of football and um why we love it so much, why it’s so important to us, you know, and hopefully we can share that same love of that game to the to the international community and um get a few people there to start falling in love with too. But I’m excited about it. I am. It’s all German. It is. Yeah. You got a little heritage. I do a little bit. Have you been there before? No. I have not. No. So, I look forward to it without a doubt. Anything else? All right. All right. Thank you guys. Thank you.

Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich speaks with the media ahead of the Falcons’ Week 8 home matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

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