Blue White Illustrated

S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 7 C O A C H S P E A K • E X C E R P T S F R O M J A M E S F R A N K L I N ' S P O S T G A M E P R E S S E R Where is your defense now com- pared to a year ago? How much better is it? I think our defense is in a good place. I don't know if I can sit here and measure it right now a?er the first game, not having watched the film yet, but I thought our defense came out and played really well. We were dominant up front. I'd like to see a little bit more pass rush, but I thought we were domi- nant up front, especially inside. I've been saying this since I got here: The game of football is played up front. Our O-line has dramatically improved, our D-line depth is dramatically im- proved. We still have to get some guys in a pass rush situation that put the fear in an offensive coordinator or offensive tackle or quarterback's mind. That will come. Can you talk about the way DeAn- dre Thompkins' punt return broke and the job he did judging whether to field a punt, whether to run, or take a fair catch? I thought he looked really confident today and that was a combination of a lot of things. I think he's a much more experienced player at this point in his career. I think Terry Smith has done a great job with those guys as well. And then, the feedback that I've gotten is to stay away from them. Stay away from the punt returner. You question them, you're screaming, you're yelling – leave them alone. Let them play, and they've earned that. I thought [Troy] Apke could have broken one there in the second half as well. He got grabbed by his baby toe and taken down, but I think it's going to be really, really significant for us is if we can really become a threat in the re- turn game. We showed some of that today. How do you balance it when you're up 35-0 at hal"ime and you want to get your first-team guys as many reps as possible, but there are also injury concerns? And do you feel that your guys got enough reps today? Maybe more than you wanted to? I felt like we managed it well. We've all seen example a?er example [of situa- tions in which] maybe fans think the game is out of hand, and it's not. You better put yourself in a position where you feel the game is in control [before making] the change and going to the second teams. I thought we managed it pretty well.

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