Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Liam Coen on Patriots Prep, Focus on Physicality & Using Home Advantage

Transcript

Press Pass | Liam Coen on Patriots Prep, Focus on Physicality & Using Home Advantage · Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, sure. Patriots this week, how do you kind of
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: put the last week behind you and turn the page
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and get ready for what's a pretty tough opponent?
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got enough time to waste looking back. We
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: have a darn good opponent that played in the Super
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Bowl last year coming into town that we know they're
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: going to be very well coached, disciplined, darn good football
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: team with a good quarterback. And, you know, I think
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: our guys, they talk into them, there after the game,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: on the plane, when we got back, a lot of
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: guys understood kind of what took place and the areas
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: in which we need to improve on, and it's all
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: of us in it together, and that's the best part
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: of it, is we have the opportunity now to respond.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Last one at the bank.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: For a while, how important is it to kind of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: go out there and take advantage of that opportunity?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we need it, you know, we need a true
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: home field advantage this week, obviously, you know, not going
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: to be here for a while, and and definitely need
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the community and fan base to come out and support
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: as much as possible.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: New England's defense has been really phenomenal on third down.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: What are you seeing when you watch them?
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: They do a really nice job in man cover. I mean,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: they have obviously some good cover guys. Their secondary can
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: all play different positions in their structure. You know, they're
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: all kind of on a string. Their safeties, nickels, corners,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: all can kind of do similar jobs and responsibilities. which
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: can make it sometimes difficult to undress what covers they're in.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: And they have a.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Really good interior pass rush specifically. And then they mix
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: it up, like three-man rush, four-man, five-man, heat you up,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: play man coverage, play fire zone. You look at really
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the history of Coach Vrabel and the defenses and how
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: they've played. I mean, it's very similar in a lot
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: of ways to their style of play. And they're usually
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: a game plan. There's going to be a big game
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: plan element. They double guys if they feel like they
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: need to and take advantage of matchups.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Kind of signs have you seen from.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Travis Hunter in practice that he can maybe handle an
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: expanded role on offense and make an impact?
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah you know you you're continuing anytime you struggle offensively
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: specifically right you look for you look at the totality
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: of it all and and Travis is a big part
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: of that obviously that we're looking at continuing to find
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: different ways to Get him involved, and you're also looking
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: at the other side of the ball and looking at, hey,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: where are we batting here on defense in terms of
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: all that stuff. The missed time is communication, and I
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: thought he did a nice job throughout the course of
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: the week, and we're going to look at giving him
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: some more this week.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Balance with Travis just wanting to get him more reps
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: because of how much how much time he missed last
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: year also coming back from the injury yeah and then
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: wanting to play your full.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Corners yeah it's just uh it's a balance as you
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: said like it's just a balancing act that you're continuously
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: working through I thought you know he made it almost
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: made the interception on early on the first drive of
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the game had a couple things throughout that I think
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: you know he we can play better and and uh
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: it is a balancing act though right you're trying to
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: get into a flow, whether it's on offense or defense.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: But we have, you know, corners that we have a
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: lot of confidence in. We didn't play our best this
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: past week. You know, but I think a lot goes
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: into that, not just those guys specifically. It's on coaching.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: It's on the rush. It's on those guys in the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: back end. But they're confident to respond this way, and
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: he's a big part of it.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: How much did him missing all that time last year
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: impact him and just feel the comfort and knowledge and
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: understanding completely of the offense?
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it definitely has some form of an effect, right?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: You can walk through. You can do a million things
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: in the walk-through room, in the meeting room settings. But,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: you know, you just missed a lot of pitching and catching, right?
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: You just missed a lot of chemistry with the quarterback. But,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: like I said, just like anything, when you struggle– to
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: move the ball specifically in the fourth quarter when we did,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: and you lose, okay, well, we got to go look
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: at it, right? Go look at everything that we're doing, touches, targets,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: all that stuff. And, you know, he's a part of that,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: just like all those other guys.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Go ahead.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: With A.J.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Brown, he was going to be.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: A high-value guy for that offense. What kind of adjustments
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: did you see the Patriots having to.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: Make without him? You know, I think, look.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: that team, you look at how they were last year
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: prior to acquiring A.J., I mean, they spread the ball
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: around pretty good, and I think they all have certain
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: roles within their offense. You know, Douglas, Williams, you know,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: obviously Hunter, Henry's a dang good player, and, you know,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: it's Dobes, you know, they get Dobes, and then obviously
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: being able to use the run game to be able
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: to give them, like Mac Holland, those guys blocked their
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: asses off at the perimeter, all those guys. And so
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the play action plays off it all. And Mac Holland,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Douglas sprung, you know, the running back there on the
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: long run the other day on the tackle wrap.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: That was a huge block.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think there, as much as I
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: know it hurts to lose a star, you know, a
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: star player as A.J.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: Brown is.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: I think that, you know, it's so much about fitting
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: their players.
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: To the system and vice versa.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: And I think Josh has always done a nice job
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: of whoever he has in there, he's going to find
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: a way to be successful, find a way to get
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: those guys the ball. You know, I think Matt Collins,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: you look at in the middle of the field, operating
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: on the daggers and in breaks. I think they have
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: the tools on the perimeter that Drake feels really comfortable
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: with and They push the ball down the field. They'll
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: take one-on-one opportunities. And I don't know if it really
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: affects them too much because of how much they spread
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the wealth around, that it's not always just going to
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: go through one guy. And so that's what I've kind
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: of seen over the last two weeks, specifically when A.J.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: went out of that Seattle game. They just kept spreading
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: it around to other guys. It didn't seem like they
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: truly struggled at all.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: In each of the last six games what is it
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: about him that makes him so consistent yeah i think
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: he runs you know routes with urgency like every route
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: he's running he's he's.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Got twitch uh ability to separate um you know ripping
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: through the middle of the field fearlessly um you know
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: and and so he can run the routes the the
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: tree in terms of the short the intermediate and you
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: saw the double move last week that he hit. So they've,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: they've got a rapport obviously, which is nice to have.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: We got to continue to look at spreading the wealth
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: around as well and getting guys involved a little bit
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: earlier on. And, but he's playing at a high level.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: Starting fast is always important, but considering you guys didn't
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: score a touchdown the second half last week, just how
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: much more vital does it become to kind of get
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: going quickly this week?
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely a sense of urgency anytime you struggle late
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: in the game and, have an opportunity to go up
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: multiple scores, specifically coming out of the half. Definitely a
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: sense of urgency. I think our guys will come out
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: today with the right mindset to start fast, to start
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: practice fast. And then that has to carry over throughout
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the course.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Of the week. As I said on the Zoom the
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: other day, I didn't feel like we.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Had our best practices Thursday and Friday of last week.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Not that you go into it. We weren't concerned.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: It was just It wasn't our best, and it doesn't
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: always correlate, right? But you try to stay consistent and
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: remain consistent. That practice performance equals game reality. And so
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: that's something that we need to be better at throughout
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: the course of the week. We have to have higher
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: standards with how we practice and how we, you know,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: we've got to make plays in practice, like pitch and catch,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: make good plays, sustain blocks longer, rush and cover better.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: All that stuff has to improve this week.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: Just with injuries, anyone that you're expecting not to practice
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: today or limited?
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: Not to my knowledge, anything?
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Nope. Yeah. How much of a problem is Christian Gonzalez
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: for them?
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: He's just a problem. I mean, he's a hell of
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: a player, man. He is physical.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: He has long arms. He uses quick jam. He'll use
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: double quick jam. He's aggressive at the catch point.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: They all tackle.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, their whole secondary tackles, he tackles. Yeah, he's
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: a problem for sure. I mean, he gives everybody some fits.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: You've got to fight through contact with him. He's not
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: going to get called for getting right in the shoulder
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: and getting his hands on. It's just that they don't
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: get called on him very often, especially when you're that good, right?
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: So we've got to fight through contact.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: We're going to have to help the guys when we
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: can with you know, formations, motions, and things like that.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: But we have to go win one-on-one battles. And at
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the catch point, we've got to be as strong as ever.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the interior pass rusher so much. How unique
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: of a challenge can interior guys sometimes be compared to edge?
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: It just happens faster.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: You know, it happens faster when you have guys on
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: the inside that, you know, get an edge. And when
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: you get edged in pass pro on the interior, it's
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: on the quarterback just that much quicker to, As opposed
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: to being on the edge. So obviously we struggled with
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: it a little bit last week with Allen specifically. And
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: so got a huge test this week with with Barmore
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: and Williams specifically. And, you know, it's those guys that,
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: you know, the quick wins are the ones that are
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: the tough ones to sustain because he. he just feels
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: any quarterback's going to feel that a lot quicker than
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: maybe if the tackle gets the edge quickly, you just
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: got a little bit more time to react to it
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: or see it, or maybe the running back has is
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: in protection.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: The tackle gets be quick.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: If we don't even have a chip on, he might
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: be able to still see it and clean up the color.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: as opposed to when it does happen on the inside,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: it's just a little bit harder on the quarterback.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Who on your.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Roster can help you get the push on the quarterback?
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: From the inside, I know it's been an area of focus.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think obviously when we've moved Trayvon inside,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: he's done some of the good things on the known
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: passing downs. You know, expect Eric to be able to
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: come on for us a little bit more too this
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: week and continue to give us some more reps inside.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: I think being able to get Regis some reps and
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Rook had some good rushes the other day. We just
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: didn't end up finishing at the point of attack. But
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: all that crew, it's a collective effort and definitely expect
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: to see more.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: That question, especially when Devon left the game in the
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: fourth quarter, how would you assess that depth right now,
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: both in run defense and pass rush?
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we got enough guys to do it.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: You know, I think Dee Hamm actually, he had some
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: really good rushes as well in some of the play action.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: So we feel good about the depth. We just got
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: to get a little bit more production. I mean, Antonio
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: is a player that's been able to give us different
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: jobs and utility, whether he's playing in the back end
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: at safety, coming down at the big nickel, playing some dime.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: He gives us some flexibility to do different things, whether
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: it's from a coverage contour structure and in the blitz packages.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: So had a great long 45-minute combo with Antonio in
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: my office yesterday, and he's excited to get back to
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: work this week and to put our best foot forward.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: What needs to happen to get those guys more involved
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: this week?
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Just spreading the wealth, like I said.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Just getting those guys some more opportunities, especially early on
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: in the game and try to get everybody a little
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: bit more into the rhythm. You dial some stuff up
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: early and it works. You dial some stuff up later
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: and it doesn't. Typically the ball goes where it does.
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: I think.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Denver did a nice job of kind of taking number
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: one away from us at times. And we got to
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: be able to continue to, you know, progress throughout, but
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: also have enough time to do so.
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: Right. So it all kind of works hand in hand.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: We look at it every single week, right?
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: You're constantly evaluating your matchups, where you feel good, when
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: you need to. We brought some last week. They identified
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: them and kind of flipped the protection on us a
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: few times. When you're on the road in that atmosphere,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: they got the clock on their side and they got
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: the communication on their side and they freeze it, see it,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: flip it, and now they're picking you up and now
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: you're susceptible on the back end. So That's a cat
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: and mouse game that you're always playing, and we'll continue
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: to see what it looks like.