Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. addressed the media on Sept. 5. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
*Opening Statement: *"Alright, guys. Isn't it great that football is back? I mean, I just sit there and think about it. My high school, they played a team from Florida and they won. And then my best friend in college football, he won his, one of my best friends, he won his first game this weekend as the head coach at The Citadel. Just everything is better when football is going on. And now we have our first opportunity to come out here and show what all our hard work has been. So, starting off with Tampa [Bay Buccaneers], a really good football team, and it starts with their quarterback. High pedigree guy that's come out and proven that he was what his draft status said he was. You know, the last year he's playing his best football. Strong arm guy. He has really good weapons on the outside. [Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR] Mike [Evans] has just done it for years. Okay? All he does is get a thousand yards and a bunch of touchdowns. [Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Chris] Godwin, just a ton of respect for him. He's a dog in there blocking, going after people. He can run routes in the slot. He's a good screen guy, and then they have speed with the other receivers. And then, then you look at their offensive line, their tackles. Really good players, you know what I'm saying? It's gonna be hard to get around those guys. I think the center's a good young player that has a chance to be a really, really good player moving forward and he's gonna cause us some issues. So, it's going to be an interesting thing, just thinking about Liam [Coen], the [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] Offensive Coordinator. What do, you know, as we were doing our process, what do we look for? Okay. He was at Kentucky. He was, is he going to do what [Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean] McVay did? So, and what I didn't want to do was go down a rabbit hole of looking at things because as a coach, you will, and you don't want to give your players too much. So, we did our due diligence and looking at what they, what we think they're gonna do and from that standpoint. But they are doing the same thing. They don't know exactly what we're gonna do. So, it's gonna be a chess game at some point. And then, but one thing I do know is our speed and our physicality, like we talked about from day one. It better show up. It better show up. So, with that, all right, I'll take any questions."
On how views the challenge of the upcoming season with the Commanders to his previous experiences as a coach:
"You know, whenever you take a step up in your career, it is always new experiences and new things that happen. And so, this's gonna be the first opportunity for me in real games to put a defense out that I organized and put together and calling the plays. But it is not about me. It really isn't. And that's the one thing that gives me a whole bunch of comfort. We have a great defensive staff, and we have a bunch of young men that are going to go out here and fight their butts off and play the brand of football that we want to play. So that gives me comfort. I can tell you what, I sleep really well at night because I know that the young men are prepared. I know the coaches have done their job and the players are doing their job. We had a really good clean, focused, disciplined practice yesterday, and hopefully we do the same thing today, and it carries to the game."
*On if people will see more from the cornerbacks moving forward: *"I really don't know how to answer that question because I don't know what people necessarily have seen or not seen. I've seen what I want to see from them. We have been vanilla, but at the same time, I don't think you guys have seen some of the joint practices or, so you're seeing what's in the game. And we haven't really caught much within game, but we've challenged those guys and we're gonna have matchups that we feel are advantageous for us in this game. And then next week, the matchups might change. And so it's a week-to-week deal of who you'll see out there and how we utilize the men. It's just for one thing and just win the game that we're in right now."
*On how the rotation of the defensive line will work without DT Jer'Zhan Newton: *"Well, what we're gonna do, it's gonna be hot down there, so we're gonna try to just throw a lot of bodies and keep guys fresh in the fourth quarter. And so, the game will dictate the true rotation. But as much as possible, I want to keep one of those, you know, [DT] John [Allen] and [DT Daron] Payne out there at some point. I don't want neither one of them on the sideline at the same time, but that might happen, you know? And then when [DT Jer'Zhan] "Johnny" [Netwon] comes back, he comes back and he's be ready to rock and roll. He's a really good player."
On if he plans to rotate outside players to the interior:
"I want them to figure that out once we get out there. So, we'll see on Sunday."
On how he has developed his voice and who has been helpful in making him the best version of himself as a coach:
"Oh, that's easy. It starts with my dad. A lot of people might not know, but he coached at Auburn University for 25 years, and he's just an excellent, excellent leader of men. And he's a man's man at that, and so it starts with him. And then, I've had a lot of influences. Emmitt Thomas who I had the opportunity to work with when I was in Atlanta back in 2007, but when I coached at the University of Louisville, I would come during OTAs and learn up under him. So, he had a lot of influences on me as well. And [Head Coach] Dan Quinn, he's given me the opportunity because just to be honest with you, when I was in Atlanta, I was in a dark place in my coaching career because I just was, I'm not gonna get into why. But he's given me the ability to be creative, to be an outside thinker. A lot of times when you're a young coach, especially in this profession, I would have to get on the board and said, 'I got this idea from Gene Chizik', and it would, the idea would get in. I couldn't just get up on the board and say, Oh, hey, I have a really good idea', you know? And so where you have "DQ" where, 'Hey, Joe, think about this. Look at it', and he lets me think outside of the box and a lot of the ideas were really, really good. And then the ones that weren't, we tabled them. And so I give those, you know, my dad, Emmitt, and, Q for where I am right now."
*On Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles' influence on modern NFL defenses: *"I have a lot of respect for Todd. I don't know Todd. Somebody just asked me that earlier. I know of his product and what he's done and what he means to this league, but, he's not one of the guys that I'm really close with, so I couldn't answer that. There's other guys that I follow more than more than him."
*On what they need to do from the start to able able to face the Buccaneers offense: *"What we have to, the first thing, and I know it's gonna sound simplistic, but the speed and physicality has to show up, okay? The ability to produce the ball has to show up. The ability to, when [Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB] Baker [Mayfield] gets to his drop, that he has to get to his second and third progression, and now the defensive line can come to life from that standpoint. We have to be able to do those things and the strength of our defense is the interior guys. So, we have to win those matchups when we have the opportunity to get singled up inside as well."
On his message to the younger players to calm their nerves and perform at the top level:
"Well, what we try to do in practice every day is have a really intense environment. And so, when you live that way, alright, when you step into the stadium, it's easy. Well, I'm not gonna, it's never easy, but you don't feel the stress of it because we live that way. The walkthrough we just had, they sort of cruised into it and I stopped and I said, 'Hey guys, this is not what we're doing, alright?' We're not gonna come off a great day yesterday and come out here and not communicate and not be disciplined, not do the things the way that we know it takes to win, alright? You gotta do it every day. You can't pick and choose when you're doing it. You can't have success one day and then feel like that success from that day is gonna give it to me the next day. It doesn't work that way in this league. So, we have to make sure that we prepare the right way, in a intense environment so when we get into that game on Sunday, that we're ready to just play and play free. Don't think, don't be scared, play free. And then whatever happens, happens. Alright? As long as we go out there and play hard and stick to our technique and play discipline, the good things are going to happen. If we out there thinking, guessing and doing the other things that outside of the scheme, it'll be a long day for any team."
On what he learned previously about HC Dan Quinn that made him want to join the Commanders:
"Well, that's the main thing, what you just said is he is a truth teller. Okay? He, let's not ever confuse DQ's being such a great person to not being very demanding also. He is a demanding, demanding coach, alright? Very demanding. One of the most ones that I've been around. So, but also, he allows you to coach, okay? And some guys don't allow you to do what you do best, and he does. And so that's why I wanted to come here with him because I knew that he was gonna have a demanding hand, the culture that he was going to have for the guys, that's gonna be great. But he demands us coaches to do our job and to do it at a very, very high level. So that's why I wanted to come here with him."
*On attributes he sees in QB Jayden Daniels that stand out to him as a rookie: *"First is not too big for him. All right. He comes in, everybody talks about him coming in early and doing all that, which he does, but the moxie that he has when he's under center, the ability to go back and forth with [LB] Bobby Wagner as if he is a five-year pro. You don't see rookies do that. The ball pops out of his hand. The natural ability that you see from the guy, the kid that he can run, he can throw, but he's a leader, all right? You don't have to be a 30-year-old man to be a leader in this league. He is a leader right now and he's somebody that the guys want to follow. So, he's been competitive that he hasn't put the ball in harm's way a lot in practice and he's just, he's a guy that's gonna win a lot of games for us. Yeah."
On what he expects from DE Dorance Armstrong Jr. in the first week:
"Well, DA's been, I've been with him for the past three years and I've been really pleased with how he's worked for us. He's a guy that, like you said, that hasn't necessarily gotten the credit that he's deserved over the past couple years. But, like I said, what I said last week, the last time we were in front, it's a now or next league. And so what he does right now, alright, will give him the opportunity to have some great next. Next contracts, next whatever. And so I'm excited to see what he does right now because he has all the ability in the world and it's his time to go show it."
*On when his energy first picks up that football is back: *"Really when we go on vacation, I'm ready to go on vacation, okay. And at some point, I just start itching and wife can tell, and it is just, it's time for me to get back to real football. And then just the last two weeks of high school football, just at the purest form, watching those, listening to my daughter talking about their team lost and how sad she was. And then the colors and the pageantry of college football this past weekend. It was just amazing football. When football is going on, man, you, I could be corny, all right? But it is better for this country when football is going on. I believe that. It brings the right and the left together, it brings the north and the south, everybody comes together, alright for football. It's the, it is the best team sport. So, it's just, I'm just glad to be and honored to be a part of it at the highest level. And hopefully we could go out here and put a product together that the fans here in Washington are proud of because these men have been working their butts off for that. And I'm itching to put it on the field and let's get this thing started and take it one game at a time and start with Tampa and just go out there and compete our butts off. And not only compete, we're here to win. So that's what we want to do."
On how he coaches the defense to face a player like Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans:
"You know, and we talk about dog mentality. He has it. He's a dog, man, and it's been fun to compete against him as a coach over the years. You just have to go out there and understand that he's a vertical threat. You understand where he's gonna locate, you know, be located at. And I'm not gonna get too much in how we're gonna guard him, but everybody's in the NFL. Everybody belongs, okay. There's a great, I wouldn't, if I was a corner, I would want to go against a guy like that because now it shows that 'Hey, I am this type of guy that I say I am'. You know? So, don't shy away from competition and he's one of the best receivers in the league and he's done it for a long time and I have a ton of respect for him. But, we got good players too. And so we're gonna go out there and do what we do. We're gonna do it at a high level."
