Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington addresses the media on Thursday, December 26, 2024.
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Good to be home, Good to see you, guys.
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I gotta great great What about you? Yeah? Good?
First question a thought on, uh, what you liked about you know, obviously guys came up short.
But what you liked from your defense and.
The energy that you saw, Yeah, flying around, playing with a good passion, energy, effort and going out there and going out there and trying to win the football game.
What the doll Challenge chats on the Saturday.
They do a lot of things well, so it starts off with the quarterback does a really good job and then obviously with their running game, different personnel group. Its eleven twenty two, twelve personnel, different guys in the game.
Uh.
And obviously they do a good job of really just their scheme runs and really attacking the defense, whether it's the run game and their play action pass.
So a lot of people talk about the run.
Game, but their eighth and explosives really in the NFL and with their past game.
So and that sets it up.
Q was pretty hardly something.
It's one pretty hard only something to talk to vious, especially in regardless players to run.
What are you've seen from them the last weeks? Just not Yeah, I think we all need to do a better job, not just pointing out Kia. We all need to do a better job where there's fundamental technique and it's good first first steps starts with accountability and out take that accountability and the players have accountability.
So uh, not putting that just on Keon. Uh, you know all of us who for.
The first time in a couple of weeks, it's wonder what did you think of his performance?
Did you feel like he earned more stats from the forward? Yeah? I thought he did a good job.
Anytime he's up, he plays on defense, so he does a really good job for us. Uh and uh I thought for him he did a good job as far as his communication being being in the areas where he needed to be. Again, Uh, Tay is a good football player for us.
Do you know what he is? Like? I think that when we came into the year that he rob mentally we're not totally sure where he best fits or what his best position. Did you feel like now after almost the full.
Season with him, that he have a better idea of where he fits in your defense?
Yeah, he's a good football player. What is I know, he's backed up right now? What does will Tisney do for the Chargers offense?
I'm sorry?
Oh sorry? Uh again?
Like, I think they do a really good job using their personnel, whether it's you know, you know from the tight end position all right, you know, creating the wild wah wings in the backfield. I think they do a good job of using every everybody they have available. So you know, when you look at their roster, big physical players who can do a good amount of things, it's kind of.
Your hard type of game for you guys, because they.
Just seem to be physical over yeah, no doubt, I mean every week is like that anyway. Every week. You know, you bring your hard hat week, but for sure, you know, for sure we need to be ready to get ready to stop the run.
So and you play quarterback, you know, like Josh Allen Pilot of the week before rush, laying the integrity seems like an important thing those matchups, like do you almost like assess it differently than get just catching up the field with quarterback pressures and things like that when you play quarterback that you're purposely trying to keep in the pocket instead.
Yeah, because guys like Josh Allen, he's definitely deadly when he gets out of the pocket and can hurt you. So I think each week each quarterbacks a little bit different than how they scrambling where they want to scramble. They all have the ability to to use that tool. It's just how how do they do it? Do they vertical out the pocket? Do they go out to ways? Do they run lose ground? And how you want to combat that, you know, going to this left, going to our right, those those different things.
Mark, I know you guys are game plan operations, ask similar questions before. But you know Sunday, well, the high rate man coverage, you guys got to the playoff season to the window of the Bears Jets similar in Cincinnati? Is it ver said, it's kind of the best way that you guys played the best version of yourselves.
I think we just do what we need to do to try to win the game whoever we're playing against, So, you know, and I think there's also an in game feel of how you're able to play the game too, So whether you're a head, whether it is a passing game where it's a more of a running game.
So I think that goes with it.
You can go into the game plan with a zach plan, and then also you have to make the adjustments on based off of how the game is going too, so and then do you have the lead, you know, what's the what's their mentality on us going into the game too?
Is learning in particularly as to quin struggle out with the Rocky ends right now?
Yeah? Uh, are fundamentals run fits Mark is when you aready man coverage and you're deciding how to deploy Christian Gonzales.
Is it always him against the top.
Guy or do you consider all the collective matchups.
That's best where Yeah?
So, uh, I think it depends week the week on who we're playing, whether it's best matchup, whether it's field, whether it's boundary or based off of down and distance. So it depends on what we we're playing and who we're playing.
Sorry, but he has the versatiility.
If you wanted to man him against a slot guy, you'd you'd be comfortable doing that.
Of course, long Runner look like there was a lot of communication going on before the snap board happened.
I was wondering was that a communication issue? Is that a fundamentals issue? And how did you feel about the communication overall for the game?
Communication was great. That was probably one of the lack of communication there. And I would say both.
Letting how much of what he does is based off the slot.
And how do the Chargers using Yeah, they moved around. Yes, it is in the slot.
And I would say he's definitely a go to guy player for and you want to say for a rookie, you know he's playing really really well and good quickness, good route runner they were, they were moving around, motion them, So yeah, he's definitely be you know, a point of attack guy for for Saturday.
Mark, Well, you.
Remember about your past battles of Justin Purpert. Statistically it went pretty well, but just the thieves there.
Yeah.
Again, I think for us, you know, you can look at the past, but I think we got to stay in the presence of what we need to do to win the game. He's a very good quarterback. He improves every single year, and I do know, yes, we have you know, great success with him in the past. You know, I think you still got to stay in the present. And really for him, it's you know, he's great command of the offense. His understanding the defenses is great. You know, he can run when he needs to run the ball. He can throw the ball anywhere on the field. And so for for us, it's about stopping those things to you know, control him, not letting them scramble vertical in the pocket, uh not let him you know, make it easy on them, seeing the coverages and different stuff like that.
A lot of questions that reflected in his own reception.
Total this year.
Yeah, they stay balanced, They're able to move the ball a lot, their head on, their head on, you know, they went on first down. So when able to you know, have a good running game, you know, good play action game and then take the profit and then making smart decisions and being able to recoverage exactly right, and so's that's.
Why they're in games. A lot of games.
They don't turn the ball over, don't make many mistakes on that stuff. So that's why they're pretty much in all the games because you know, if you turn the ball over, it's a high percent chance you're not winning the game.
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Let's just get one thing done, and let's get it done right, and then we can worry about versatility.
Am I lying to anybody here?
Let's just get one thing done. Let's get one thing done right, and then we can move along.
That's kind of my biggest thing.
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