Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. addressed the media before practice on Sept. 20. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
Opening Statement:
"Alright. So, like normal, I'm gonna start off just talking about last week and then get to this week and then any questions that you all might have. It's always better to correct when you win. So, we got the win last week. It was still not the play style that we're desiring, but it is getting better, okay? And we did focus on some of the issues that we still have from the first week, which is third down. We have to do a better job. And when we went back and looked at it, give credit to both teams that we played, but a lot of our third down ills are mistakes that we're making on different levels. Some of them we did correct just from the first week to the second, and we still have some more to do and so we will. But it's always good to get the win now going into to the next game, especially a divisional win, that's always big. But going into Cincinnati, it starts with the quarterback. I mean, he's [Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow] just a really good player. He has been outstanding when he was at LSU. And then ever since he's been in the league, all he does is find a way to win games. He's a challenge, but he's a challenge because he has outstanding weapons on the outside. [Cincinnati Bengals WR] Tee Higgins and [Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja'Marr] Chase are just two guys that make you play a softer type of coverage because you have to get over the top of them. I don't believe Chase gets the credit that he deserves in this league, man. He's been one of the top receivers for a long time, and we played him two years ago and we had some doubles on him two years ago and he beat the double twice. And we were fortunate enough to win that game, but he made it hard for us. So, they have a tight end that can really, 88 [Cincinnati Bengals TE Mike Gesicki], they can really just stretch out. He's like a receiver, so you have to be aware of him. Offensive line, big, especially the tackles, the young kid hasn't played, but they still have the two big tackles that are mammoth men, alright. So, getting around them will be a challenge. But, it all starts with the quarterback and the skilled positions. The running backs, they run hard when they get the opportunity also in the screen game. And so, we have to just do our job. That's the main thing is to make sure that we are doing our job, we're playing fast, we're playing with the physicality that we want. And then good things will happen from there. So, any questions?"
*On what has been the focus this week to get to the play style he wants to be at: *"My number one focus was since we had had an extra day, was the third downs, to go back and look at every third down, examine the call, alright. Were there any repeat mistakes? And the common theme of what was keeping us from getting off the field because once we get off the field, I mean we're causing negative plays on some first and second downs. But we get to third downs, and one reason or another, we've had five penalties on defense. All five penalties came on third down, so that's something that that can't happen. So, just we've looked at a number of different areas, but that was my main focus when we had the extra time."
*On his evaluation of DT Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne: *"About like the rest of us. We're as a defense, we're not where we need to be. I know everybody wants to get enamored and individual player stats and numbers and all that, but we rush as a collective. We play as a collective. And once we start playing better as a collective, individual's numbers and all that will increase. But until we as a collective play better, it is gonna be what it is with certain people's numbers."
On what allows Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase to beat double team situations:
"He has the ability to get out of his hips. Two years ago when we played them, the way we were doubling them, we actually played it too deep, one of the guys. So that's how he beat us on one of them. The other one, he just was out quicked us. But, he has the ability to get out his heels a lot like [Las Vegas Raiders WR] Davante Adams where you're so worried about how he can shake, so it moves you when you don't have to move because you have leverage. You have somebody on the other side, and he has the ability to move people when they shouldn't be moving. And that's why he beat us two years ago in those doubles."
On what he is not seeing from the defense to get to the play style he desires:
"Well, the main thing is I've always talked about when guys are thinking, and it's my job to get them from thinking, but when they're thinking they're not gonna play as fast as you want. We want to play with speed and physicality. The physicality is there and the speed is coming, but we have to make sure, and I have to make sure I do a better job of clearing up their thinking so that they're reacting and they're attacking. And so, once that happens, so a couple of the layers that we might have had some defenses that have multiple layers, we pull back some of those layers. So now that we can just play a little bit faster. Now the complexity of the defense might not be there, but I don't care about that. I care about how we arrive and how fast that we can get there, and that will take care of some of the ills that we've had."
On what he is seeing that's causing a decrease in passing numbers league wide:
"I mean, I really don't want to get into that to be honest with you, but you can all start with the college game if you want to say. Because when you look back, when I first got in the league, you had quarterbacks that grew up in systems and there was traditional learning how to, where to send the ball and how to send it. And now everything goes so fast in college, so when they get up here, it takes them a little bit of time to learn where to send the ball into progressions. And so, but I'm not really worried about that man. I'm worried about stopping these Cincinnati Bengals."
On what he saw from CB Michael Davis last week:
"Well, we have to do a better job as a defense of tackling and getting multiple people to the ball, and that's part of the speed element. We're still on the outside looking for the combination that's gonna give us the best chance. And like I told you, I believe two weeks ago, it will be a week to week deal. Not just necessarily at the cornerback position, but throughout the defense of who we think is gonna give us the best opportunity to win the game that we're about to face. So, the rotation might be a little bit different. But it's just because that we wanna look at who's gonna give us the best chance to win this game, and then next week when we go against Arizona, we'll figure out who's gonna give us the best chance to win that game."
On how to get pressure on Bengals QB Joe Burrow and the different defensive approach to a quarterback that tends to stay in the pocket:
"I think you have to attack his feet and get him moving. He's comfortable. He can throw when he's in the pocket. When you hit him, he keeps his eyes down field. He's not a guy that necessarily looks at the rush, so he's a tough man. So, we need to be able to move him off the spot. And then when he does scramble, he's different than [New York Giants QB] Daniel [Jones]. Daniel typically scrambles to run. He scrambles to throw. And so his eyes are still downfield. So we have to do a great job on the back end of plastering the coverage because if we pull up, now that's when the explosive plays come to life."
On how he moves DT Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne around to bring extra pressure:
"Yeah, we've pressured a good bit and we are gonna move guys. They can, people can take one or two guys, well really one guy away from you with the protection the way that they want to do it. But, like I said, I never said that we're gonna come in here and just, we're gonna have two guys rush. We wanna rush as a unit and so we wanna put a wave at them and we have to do a better job of if we have a pressure call, don't be selfish at all in any kinda way. Run the pressure because if you get outta your lane, you're knocking somebody else off and so just like on the back end, we have to cover as a collective, we have to rush as a collective."
On what allows the Bengals tight ends to be successful in giving the quarterback multiple options:
"Well, it's just what you just said. They have multiple options, so you have to concern yourself with Ja'Marr. Alright? And when you concern yourself with him, the times that you're going to. But when you're taking care of Ja'Marr, your next thing you wanna take care of Tee Higgins. Alright, so that gives other guys opportunities to have some favorable matchups that they might see as a offense. And that's why a guy like him that can really get out and make plays and can catch the ball and has a large catch radius. That's why he succeeds."
On improvement on communication in the secondary through the first two games:
"Firstly, I never wanna see a free runner. I never wanna see anybody running wide open. I thought the communication was better from the first game to the second game. It's not quite still where it should be, and not gonna make any excuses about it. I'm not gonna get up here and talk about young players or this, that and the third, or not being in the preseason together because all that is excuses. Alright? It is our job to make sure that we are on top of every coverage and that we're communicating, we're on the same page. We've made some adjustments to some, some of the coverage system to limit the exposure on some of the reduction, communications that we must have. So, you know, and that helped us this past week and I think it'll help us moving forward."
On if there is a particular player that consistently represents the brand of football he wants to play:
"[LB] Frankie Luvu, it starts with him. The way he runs and hits. This last game, I, you know, we won it and it was good, but Bobby, [LB] Bobby Wagner, Frankie Luvu, [CB] Ben [St-Juste] and [S] Quan [Martin], I think Quan played really good the first game even though we didn't play good as a defense. Those four men have been playing the play style, okay. All right, Frankie Luvu runs and hits and puts his body on people in a very violent manner, and we have to get everybody to do that, alright? Quan, the Tampa game, we did not play a good game defensively, but he came out of the post and had some really nice tackles and some space tackles that were hard. So did [S] Percy [Butler]. Had some space tackles that were hard. Now we have to get 11 guys doing it every time. And then we talked about playing with a deep crew. When those guys get tired, alright, the next group that come in have to be able to do it. And so, but if you were asking of plays, Frankie, his whole play style is what we're looking for as a defense from a physicality run and hit. And I thought Bobby Wagner, I challenged him on some things this past week in the coverage aspect and he was all over it, man. He was just, he played really well this last game. Those two men played really well."
