[Upchurch]

What did you think of the secondary and how they played?

“I was happy with the group as a whole with the way they played. I thought Delano Hill had a good game. Obviously had an interception returned for a touchdown, but he was solid in his coverage. He did a nice job. Didn’t make any mental mistakes, and I was happy with the way he played.

“Dymonte Thomas, he did a good job. He’s been a steady player for us all camp, and it was good to see it come to fruition at game time. I was happy with those two guys and then Tyree Kinnel. He came in and did a nice job. Young guy, hasn’t had much experience, but I thought he did a pretty good job coming in. And he was confident, and he helps me be confident to put him in the game when he plays the way he does. I was happy with the way they played.”

What did you have Jourdan doing on a day where he wasn’t going to play just to keep him involved? Can he pick things up from the game on the sideline?

“Well, I work more with the safeties, so I’m kind of more focused on them. I think Jourdan’s done a good job working trying to get back and he’s done a nice job with the younger guys pitching in. Him not being in there, he can give them lessons from the sideline. Having him around has been good?”

What are things that you saw during camp with Dymonte and Delano, because they’ve been essentially backups—they’ve had spot starts, but for them to take those leadership roles. Did you see a flash where they were prepared for that? It’s a different role, a different mentality, right?

“Yeah, I mean, being a starter, a lot of times you’ve got to lead by example. I thought they’ve done an excellent job coming to work every day, bringing their lunch box, and just having a workman’s mentality. Delano, all camp he was one of the leaders as far as reps in practice. And just leading by example, I think, sets the tone for the young guys. We’ve got a lot of young guys in the secondary and they’re learning from them and the example they provide on a day-to-day basis.”

Khaleke’s [Hudson] still a safety, correct?

“Yes.”

Jim had spoken highly of Khaleke, I remember, on national signing day and since then. What have you seen out of him? How is he adjusting and keeping up with the older guys?

“Yeah, Khaleke came in as a freshman, didn’t know much. Played running back in high school, kind of an option running back, and you could see the maturity that he has for a young guy coming in. He’s really learned a lot over the last couple weeks. I’ve been happy with his progression from where he started to where he is now. Just got to keep going every day, getting better, and just learning the game, the safety position. But he’s done a nice job so far. I’ve been happy with his progression.”

[After THE JUMP: on Hudson, Metellus, tempo, and mechanics]

How do you flip that, if even possible, from running back and apply it to safety? Is there anything that runs parallel there? Or totally different position?

“It is a different position. You’re kind of on the other end of it, but knowing how a running back thinks, that helps. You’re kind of seeing the same thing he sees but from the other side, so when you’re playing against the run game you’re seeing the same holes he’s seeing. So having that vision, I think, helps on defensive side.”

Jim said there wasn’t really a false step that he saw through 2.5 quarters and said it looked like the alignments were pretty good. What did you see?

“The alignments?”

Yeah, the alignments and the steps.

“Yeah, that’s something that we always focus on, our technique. We’re big on technique and alignments and assignments because we do a lot of pressuring and blitzing up front, so we’ve got to be sound in our man-to-man mechanics and our coverage, because there’s going to be little room for error.”

You were pleased with what you saw on film?

“I was happy with what I saw in the first week, yes.”

In such a lopsided game, what can you take from that? What do you talk to them about? Two pick-sixes could have been three with Channing’s first one; how do you look at that game and kind of address these guys and have them take something from it?

“We try not to worry about the score and just focus on doing your job to the best of your ability and getting better from a technique standpoint, so the score takes care of itself. We just focus on how they’re playing. Snap to snap, every snap, are you getting better? Are you improving or are you taking plays off? That’s kind of how we look at it.”

Is Josh Metellus with your group?

“Yes, he is.”

How’s he doing?

“He’s doing good. He came in, he had some injury setbacks coming into it, but he’s definitely got some talent that we can work with. He’s done a good job learning the system. He’s just got to get an opportunity and take advantage of it.”

Where does he need to work? Does he need to get stronger? Are there some things he needs to work on?

“I think every freshman, when they come in they can get stronger. He came from a really good program and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Mentally, I think he’s picked up the system pretty good so far. He’s just got to continue to develop.”

What’s the max, the high end for Khaleke?

“He can be a very good player. He’s just got to take it one day at a time and continue to improve.”

Athletically, how does he stack up to everybody else that you have in your position group?

“I don’t want to compare anybody. You know, everybody is different, but he brings a lot to the table in terms of his physicality. He’s a very physical player, he’s a good blitze, he’s got sudden quickness. There’s some things he needs to work on, but he’s done a good job so far.”

You mentioned one-on-one play in the secondary. Given the increase in blitzing your defense brings to the table, how would you describe the emphasis on the level of pressure that’s put on that one-on-one play where guys are hung out there a little bit and there’s not a lot of help?

“That was kind of one of the things we talked about the first day when we came in. You’ve got to be able to play man-to-man coverage as a secondary because Coach Brown’s gonna bring pressure. That’s the key to the whole defense; you’ve got to be able to hold up man-to-man. Our guys have taken to that challenge. We’ve got a confident group. They’re confident in their skill set and that’s one of the things we take pride in.”

What’s it like having Jabrill go in and out of your position group room? Sometimes he’s a safety even though he’s described as a linebacker.

“He’s a smart player. He’s able to pick it up pretty quick without a lot of meeting time, without a lot of reps. He can pick it up like that [snaps]. So that’s a strength that he has and we definitely take advantage of that.”

You hadn’t been around him before, you just kind of met him [when you got here]. Was there a point where that struck you early in the spring or something?

“Early in the spring and definitely in camp, the way he just picked up things quickly, that was surprising because a lot of guys can’t do that, move around as much as he does. That’s a rare thing to see and definitely happy that he brings that to the table. Makes it easier for everybody else.”

You guys didn’t mix up coverages too much, did you? It was mostly man?

“Um…well, you know, we’re always mixing things up. Don’t want to get too much into the technical part of it.”

There’s more in the bag, I would assume.

[laughs] “If you know Coach Brown, there’s always something else in the bag.”

With that one-on-one stuff, are you kind of curious to see how this group does against a spread, uptempo offense that will give you a very different look?

“Yeah. We’ve kind of been preparing for it all camp just with the way we practice uptempo. This team definitely—there’s a lot of focus on the uptempo and it’s up to us to get lined up and be prepared for it.”

When you got here it seemed like you were happy with the guys you had available. You knew that you had some talent. Up to this point, and I know it’s one game and one camp, are they what you thought they’d be? What is the thing that’s struck you most, the best part about the safety group?

“I think the best thing has just been their willingness and their openness to learn. With a new system coming in that’s one of the things you’re always worried about, especially with an older group; are they going to buy into the system? And they’ve been receptive to everything we’ve taught. They were successful in the past and just their willingness to learn the system and be open to it, that was the best thing for me. They’ve been a great group, an easy group to coach. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”

Talent-wise, are they what you thought they’d be or have they even exceed it?

“From when I first came in, they’ve exceeded my expectations talent-wise. Now it’s just a matter of every day getting better and improving on that.”

Where do you see that experience? I’d venture a guess that not a lot of teams have five or six seniors in their secondary. Where do you see that when you’re working with them?

“Where do I see the experience? Just the little things that they pick up on. A lot of younger guys, they don’t get the big picture. But these older guys, they’ve been in three different systems. They kind of get the big picture. Little things that you’d normally have to spend more time on they just pick it up and go, so it makes it easier.”

You’ve seen a lot of defenses in your time. The team speed on this team, how does that compare to some of the better ones you’ve seen?

“We’ve got some speed. I don’t like to make comparisons, but I definitely think we’re fast. Just focus on knowing our assignments so we can play fast. It’s one thing to be fast physically, but when you’re playing fast, when you’re confident in what you’re doing, that’s when you become a good defense.”

Can you discuss some of the speed-specific things you’ve done with the safeties?

“Speed-specific things?”

Training-wise.

“We focus on a lot of footwork with the safeties and our crossover run, getting out of breaks, all the finer points of breakpoint mechanics. That’s kind of what we focus on. That’s a big thing because in football the difference between you making a play and not making a play is always going to be one step, so just trying to eliminate that one step. That’s primarily what we focus on.”

I know you work primarily with the safeties, but what does this group of cornerbacks do specifically that can enable the rest of the defense to do what Don is looking for in terms of pressure?

“Well, they can cover one-on-one. You can put them out there on an island, and when you don’t have to worry about that you bring all over nine guys in the box and play against the run, and you can make teams one-dimensional that way. Having the confidence that they can go out there and play one-on-one, it helps out your defense and allows you to do more things.”

It seems like each guy kind of has his thing amongst that group. Is there a correlation between emphasis on different packages and the corner group that’s put out there for it?

“We definitely have a lot of different packages, so that allows a lot of different guys to play. I think guys like that, having different packages where they can come in. You never know when your number’s going to be called, so you have to be ready.”