Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. addressed the media after practice on Aug. 6. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
Opening Statement:
"Alright, so as we get started here, this summer before we came back I was thinking about what we talked about before we broke. The element of all we're going to do is get out and get in front and work. And work as hard as we can to forge a team that gives us a chance to win. When we first got back here, I told the defense, 'This is a now and next league.' What you do right now gives you the ability to have the opportunity and what comes next. It's the preseason games. Alright, we'll cut the team. We'll get into regular season and then get to the postseason and then to the Super Bowl. I say all that to say you got to focus on the now and you have to put the work in. So, that's where we are right now. Now I'll open up for questions, but most of the answers is going to be 'work.'"**
On what he's seen so far at camp:
"I feel good about the speed of the defense and how they're trying to get to the ball. The physicality, especially the guys up front. I think they've done a really nice job. I'm pleased with that. The coaches have done an outstanding job of teaching the scheme, getting the players to understand it. Like I said, Jason [Defensive Pass Game Coordinator Jason Simmons], and Tommy [Defensive Backs Coach Tom Donatell], Ken [Linebackers Coach Ken Norton], Tap [Defensive Line Coach Darryl Tapp], those guys have just done an outstanding job of teaching it. And now the one thing that I would like to see a little bit more of is, is ball production. We got a couple balls out today, punched one out, we intercepted one. But the ball is life and we need more of it. And so, that's one area that we can improve."
On the little advantages LB Bobby Wagner brings:
"Well, I don't know what he doesn't do anymore. I mean, the guy, he runs to the ball, he's a leader. He's a great position tackler. He gets people in position. He can make all the checks, checks that we don't necessarily have in that the other guys aren't ready for. He's making them. He understands what the offense is doing. We always talk about if you listen to the offense with your eyes, this formation will speak to you. He is a believer in that. And so, he can anticipate. When guys do get a little bit longer in the tooth, their anticipation and their understanding of football has them playing faster than some rookies."
On CB Mike Sainristil:
"Well, he has a command of the star position. When it comes to the signal callers, the linebacker, safeties and the star, you have to be able to communicate at a high level with confidence. And the young man has that. He does not walk around as if he's a rookie. He asks really good questions. He has a good presence about himself, a maturity about himself that's going to give him an opportunity to help us."
On LB Jamin Davis and his transition to edge rusher:
"Well, you see him and you've got to give credit to [Assistant Defensive Line Coach] Ryan Kerrigan first. He's doing a great job of working with him, but Jamin's has been very willing to learn from a very good coach. And you see him each day getting better from just being a guy that can possibly rush the passer, to being a guy that can play the run. 'Alright, I understand stunts' and definitely rush the passer is what we wanted to see. He is a big man that has power and I've been pleased with what he's doing and his buy-in to looking at doing a little bit something different."
On DB Quan Martin:
**"Quan has a lot of talent. I don't want to really signal him out, but he can help us."
On Martin's versatility: **"Well, Quan has the ability to cover down in some slot. He can cover tight ends and cover receivers. They did that with him last year. He has great range from the middle of the field. But with young players, you also don't want to put too much on him. You can put too much on a young player and have him playing slow because he's thinking. So, my job and Jason's and Tommy's job, is to make sure that we have him and everybody else on the back end playing extremely fast. And that's when you're going to get the best version of Quan."
On DT Jon Allen and DT Daron Payne:
"Oh, I've been very pleased with them. It all starts up front. I'm a believer in that, and those guys have done just a very nice job of not only setting the edge in the run game, but getting after the quarterback. They've done a nice job of running games. We've rushed the passer as a collective and no individuals. We've put them in a whirlwind at times and I'm excited to see if we can do that when we get up into this practice on Thursday."
On what he's looking for from players in the secondary at the upcoming joint practice:
**"I just want to see guys go out there and compete and who can make plays. This is a win business. You get used to going against your same team. So, we're going to go against different bodies, people that we don't know as well that are good players. And so, I just want to see them go out there, compete, challenge, who can make plays, who when they get beat, can come back and fight back from it. Because at some point you're going to get beat. And so, that's what I'm looking for right now. We're going to be simple in what we call, because I'm not trying to trick anybody with what we're doing with them. I'm trying to just see who can cover, who can rush, who can tackle, who can do those things."
* On Wagner's performance so far:*
"Nothing's really surprised me because I had very high expectations of who he was as a person and the ball player and he's met all that, you know. I guess this would surprise me the way he runs to the ball. Like, you know, there's a couple times I've come to him and say, 'Hey, you know, you don't have to finish this pursuit drill. You don't have to'. He didn't pull out any pursuit drills. He's the first to the ball out of the linebackers. He probably turns and sprints right now better than any of them, you know. And so, he's an all-in guy and he's a alpha male. I'm glad he's here."
On his focus in his first preseason game as a defensive coordinator:
"For myself, you know, I'm not really worried about myself. I'm worried about making sure these men are in the right positions and we play with the aggression, the effort, the speed that we talk about, you know. Words are words, you know, and if we don't go out there and do it, it's been a bunch of bullshit, okay? So we gotta go out there and make them feel our speed, our physicality, and, that's what I'm worried about. I mean, I'm not worried about anything from my standpoint."
On how he will prepare for play calling in the regular season:
"Well, you know, the first preseason season game, you don't game plan for those guys anyway. I have a ready list. I have a call sheet. Gonna go round and call the plays that are on it. So, I've called games before, okay. So, you know, y'all might not know that, but I have, so it's fine."
On CB Emmanuel Forbes' training camp performance:
"You know, first off, Emanuel's been working extremely hard to get the off-field stuff from his weight up. You know, I was very pleased with the way that he came back in shape, gained weight, and then his availability's been there and now he's with Jason Simmons and, and just learning the finer details of how to be an excellent, professional corner. And so the things that he needs to improve on, we'll talk about that in the building, you know. I don't talk about that in these venues, but, I've been pleased with the way that he's been working."
On driving the message of 'Ball is Life':
"Well, I'm very simplistic with it, you know. The ball is life is simply the way we feed our children, the way we feed our family, and so if we don't get that ball, we can't feed our families. And that's the way, the importance of how we have to attack it, how we have to go at it. The guy that's carrying it, we have to get it from him because if we don't get it, we don't eat, so that's why we use the term 'The Ball is Life' and we have to believe in it and we have to make it come to life."
On the chemistry of the defensive line:
"Tapp has done a outstanding job of holding those guys accountable, and then the players. We always talk about is the players huddle, DA [Dorance Armstong] and [DT] Jonathan [Allen], and not just those guys. Payne, and [DE] Clelin [Ferell], and [DE] Dante [Fowler, Jr.], they've just formed a close bond. And you can tell how the way they rush, how the way they play blocks, that there's nobody up there being selfish. Everybody's right now being unselfish, and we're putting the quarterbacks in a whirlwind and we're hitting runs, we're hitting blocks, and they're where they're supposed to be, so. And it comes from being close. I believe that players that like each other genuinely and that are close will play better, and that's what you're getting from them right now. Hopefully, we can carry that to New Jersey when we go against the Jets and it keeps moving forward. But right now, I've been really pleased with the D-line."
On what it takes to dominate the 'Ball is Life' mentality:
"It's, it's the mentality shift. It's the confidence to go get it. It's the belief that, alright, certain throws can't be made or when the running back's going down, we have to be able to go punch it. The opportunities because we don't wanna be always chasing the ball and miss tackles, right? One thing that we did at the other place as well is we tackle really well. I think we were the number two tackling defense in the league last year at the same time of getting those turnovers. So it's all encompassing of just playing high level defense and the mentality, the belief, the confidence, and it comes from each other and doing it each and every day. And it comes from what I said at the beginning of this press conference. It comes from work, alright. There's no other way. There's no secret other than we're gotta go out there, we have to work, and we have to put action to the words that we're saying because it means nothing if we don't do it on game day and in those situations. So that's where my focus is right now. It's getting the work done and then hopefully the results will come and producing the ball."
