Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. addressed the media before practice on Jan. 15. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
Opening Statement:
"Alright, let's get going man. Just talk about Tampa for a little bit, then we'll jump into Detroit. With Tampa, it's always good to get a playoff win. And first off the crowd, the visiting crowd that we took down there was amazing, man. I mean, they had a lot of juice, a lot of energy. We felt them, and that was good. And hopefully it's the same way when we go to Detroit. Playing against Tampa, we knew that they were averaging around 30 points a game. We kept them to their second lowest point total. That was important for us, we knew we were going to play a bold style, go for it on fourth down a lot on offense, and a couple times we didn't get it. We went out there and made sure they didn't get points and it was complementary football all the way through. And that's what we need and that's how we have to play. That's the style we have to play. We talked about the ball was going to get on the ground. We talked about getting our hip down at some point, we knew the ball was going to be on the ground. [LB] Bobby [Wagner] got his hip down and got the ball and recovered it. In the past, we've had a couple of those, and we didn't get them. And so, we need those turnovers and the stops. And so, it's always good to get a win. I thought the front played well; they played square. That was the reason Bobby and [S Jeremy] Chinn and Uce [LB Frankie Luvu] could run through and make some plays. So, it might not show up on the stat sheet all the time, but they hit blocks, they stayed square and that's what we needed. So, moving forward to these guys here and we, like I said, we just played a top five offense and now we're playing another one. Probably the top offense in the league, they have eligibles that are dangerous. Nine [Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams], 14 [Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown], 87 [Detroit Lions TE Sam LaPorta], you just keep going. 26 [Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs], 5 [Detroit Lions RB David Montgomery], they're all really good. Offensive line is really good, so they're a scrappy team. The head coach has them playing hard, they're playing [like they're] behind when they're up, and that's what makes them a very dangerous team. So, we're looking forward to the matchup and it's going to be fun."
On the New York Jets requesting to interview him for their head coaching vacancy and on how nice it is to see his name pop up in those conversations:
"I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not going to try to dodge a question, but my whole focus is on Detroit. If I put any effort or energy into anything else with this opportunity we have, I'll be cheating these men. So, that's the only thing I'm concerned with right now."
On the biggest challenge Detroit's offense poses:
"They test your discipline. I think [Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator] Ben [Johnson] does a really nice job of understanding coverages. He understands horizontal spacing as well as vertical spacing. He understands the responsibility of every player, and he's going to test the discipline of those players and other coverage. And so, you have to be where you're supposed to be and let your eyes be true. And if you don't, he's going to take advantage of it. And then they have really good players, they have nine [Williams] and 26 [Gibbs], have real speed. And so, they're going to try to get matchups, they're going to try to do those things. And then you have 14 [St. Brown], he's just a great receiver inside, outside, can do it all. So, they're just a good football team."
On CB Marshon Lattimore's performance against Tampa Bay:
"I felt that it might be a little bit difficult from the standpoint that he got one real day of fast practice and we asked him to go out there and, same thing we asked him last time, to go out against [Philadelphia Eagles WR] A.J. [Brown] and go out there against [Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR] Mike [Evans]. But that comes with the territory of being who he is. And when you go out there and you fight on the outside lanes, you're going to win some, you're going to lose some. And I have full confidence that he's going to win because he's getting the reps now every day and he's going to knock all that rust off. So, it wasn't the performance that any of us wanted, but I have full confidence in the young man that he's going to get it done."
On if the Detroit receiving corps makes it easier to leave Lattimore to guard one side of the field:
"Yeah, you know that's a question I'm not going to answer [laughs]."
On if he left Lattimore on one side of the field late in the game against Tampa Bay:
"No, that wasn't the case."
*On preparing the defense for late game situations: *"Well, like Q [Head Coach Dan Quinn], and we just came through the walkthrough and we put them through another scenario. We try to think of every possible scenario that we can get in those winning time moments and put the team in it. And we talk about it, we practice it, we stress it, we have them teach it back to us. So, they understand what pockets or what calls. When we get into the end of the game, 'Hey guys,' I'm talking to the coaches, 'Expect this call this call, this call. Let's go over it. Let's expect this pressure on third down, expect this call on first down.' And when he goes forward on fourth down, 'Hey, Joe, I'm going for it.' Cool, alright, get the defense ready. 'Hey, if we don't get it, we got to go out here and get a stop.' So, we are always in communication on everything that we're doing."
On how he feels when watching the final plays of close games this season:
"We're going to win. This game here, so it was a second-and-one. We got the stop. And then third-and-one, they sort of bobbled it, we get the stop. Now, they punted to us, I think it was four minutes or something else. Alright, we're going to go down and win it. That's winning time. We got the stop that we needed, the special teams secured the ball, and we went down there and kicked the field goal. So, that's what complementary football was all about, playing as a team."
On how Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff has evolved since he first saw him and on what makes Goff effective in Detroit's offense:
"Well, like I said, I think what makes him effective is the understanding from the play call, or from Ben [Johnson], of how to test people's discipline. Goff is a talented man, he can throw from the pocket, he can throw deep inside and outside. He has all the tools, but their scheming, their eligibles makes them very difficult. And then he's a smart player."
On Detroit's interior run game:
"Well, they know how to move people and they do a nice job of it. They can gap scheme; they can do the mid bounce. They have different types of runs that they can run inside, and they just lean you. They'll go 30-plus runs on multiple games where they're just going to lean on you, lean on you. And then they make you soft because as soon as you start overplaying that, here comes the leak play, here comes this play, here comes the screen. So, you just have to play discipline ball all the way through."
On S Quan Martin and on his ability to prevent explosive pass plays:
"Yeah, so I think we're top 10 in fewest explosive passes this year. And Quan has done a nice job of putting a cap on the defense, over the top. And he does a nice job of tackling out the posts. And so, I've just been really pleased with him. He has a ton of ability, he's an ascending player that's going to continue to get better, but he gives guys confidence that he's going to be in the middle of the field in our single-high defenses. And then, if he has to get to a half zone or if we're playing our junkie cover twos, he does a really nice job. He's made like three clinic plays on our junkie twos where he's come out and got his hands on the ball."
On what about the team is allowing them to withstand the close finishes:
"It's the way that we live. And I said that my very first press conference here, that the way we live is not for everybody. It's a very competitive environment in that building over there, everything that we do. And when we compete every week, like yesterday was really Wednesday in our world, so it's competition Wednesday. Everything is about competing. So, when we get in those moments in the game, we're ready for them. And that's been from day one, from the time the men walked in from day one, when DQ [Quinn] started talking about them, we talked about this is the type of environment that we're going to live in and get comfortable living in that environment."
On Detroit's success on fourth down and on if that changes the way he will call the defense:
"Yeah, sometimes, depending on where the you are on the field, third down becomes second down because you stay in your second down type calls. Because, 'Hey, they're going to go for it on fourth down. And so, they're more apt to run the ball than most people would be on third down sometimes. So, you have to get there. But for us going forward, that's Kliff's [Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury] job. If we don't get it, we'll go out there and stop them. But for them going forward, that's the only mindset is that, hey, when after we get the third down stop, I tell my guys, 'Hey, don't run to the sideline. Let us tell you if you need to come to the sideline, I have another call ready to go.'"
On the key to slowing down opposing rushers as the game unfolds:
"I don't know necessarily, and I got to look at the numbers, that's one thing. I haven't looked at the runs in the first and second half of explosives in halves. But this game, I know we changed a couple techniques that I think really benefit us. We put the guys in some different positions that I think maximize their skill sets. When we get to the halftime, Coach Pags [Senior Defensive Assistant John Pagano] does a good job of adjusting in the runs. And [Defensive Passing Game Coordinator] Jason [Simmons] does a good job of adjusting in the pass. And then we go back and look at the call sheet and try to go back and hit some calls that they haven't seen yet, and some fronts that they haven't seen yet. So, that's what we do."
On LB Bobby Wagner's acumen:
"Yeah, Bobby, I've said it many times, he's a coach on the field. He's the ultimate leader, for him to be the Bobby Wagner, he's a humble man. He listens, he takes coaching, he has one of the best linebacker coaches in the world in [Linebackers Coach] Ken Norton [Jr.]. So, they have like a father-son type of relationship, but he takes the younger guys, he brings them, he's a mentor. I can tell him and talk to him within the game and he could take what I'm saying and communicate it really well to the players. So, he's like a coach on the field."
On how he's grown the most this season as a coach and a play caller:
"That's a good question, I haven't really thought about it. As a coach, probably the big picture thing of it, of not necessarily looking so much at the back end, but looking at the whole picture, the big picture element. And when I say big picture, the complimentary aspect of it. Okay, how does the offense affect us? How does the special teams affect us defensively? And so, I think that's from a big picture. From a play calling standpoint, early on in the season I was trying to call plays perfectly. 'In this situation, you're supposed to do this.' In this situation, and after the third game, going into the Arizona game, I said the hell with that. I'm going to call it the way I want to call it and we started playing a hell of a lot better. And that's the way I should have cut it loose at the beginning, but I was, alright, it's second and seven plus, alright. 'They're here, this is supposed to be the perfect call here.' No, just cut it loose. And that's what we've been doing ever since and that's what I'm going to do."
*
On the "Ball is Life" towels and on how important they are:*
"I didn't even know you noticed that. Yeah, I wish we would've gave out a whole lot more. I had planned to give out more. It's just, these men are very prideful. And it might be something that's as simple as the ball is life swag towel and they're different colors by how many turnovers you get. I think we have one player in the burgundy, and then gold is the gold standard. Any turnover, and Bobby's going to get one, gold one. Any turnover in the playoffs is the gold standards. So, it's white, black, burgundy, and gold. But they take a lot of pride in in taking those and getting them because at the end of the day, this is a kid's game and we're all kids at heart. And you play this game because you love it. And to play the weight that we play in this building, you have to love it. So, it's just something that I thought that would be a cool idea and they embraced it."
On what he tells the defense about facing fourth downs:
"It's just like another turnover, so that's how we see it. If we get a fourth down stop, when we get a fourth down stops, it's a turnover. There are no points that go on the board, our offense goes on the field. So, we're excited about that pressure situation, we thrive in pressure. That's what we do in this building. So, it's just like, hey, you get that fourth down stop, there's a turnover, offense comes on and we're excited about it."
