Vic Fangio
Q. At this point, is your mind made up with the rosters? Is [there] still something anybody can do going to this last game? (Al Thompson)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, they can. It doesn’t matter if my mind’s made up or not. It’s [Executive Vice President/ General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni]’s mind has to be made up.
Q. You talked last week about DT Ty Robinson coming to life, why do you think that is? (Cayden Steele)
Vic Fangio: Everybody’s a little different, but you see it every year — some guys, they’re struggling, struggling, struggling. It just something happens that they’re able to turn the corner a little bit. It just so happened that it was him in the first preseason game, and he carried it over to last week. Hopefully, this will continue. Now, he’s got to be able to do it against the frontline players too.
Q. This battle at safety with S Marcus Epps and DB Michael Carter, any closer to [a decision] — (Ed Kracz)
Vic Fangio: No, it’s close. It is close. Michael has been doing a good job back there. It’s just all new to him and we need to get him more exposure, which is hard to do, but I do think Michael eventually can do it.
Q. Now that we’re at the end of camp, how would you assess CB Riq Woolen’s summer? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: Overall, good. He’s had his moments where he can get a little sloppy. We need to eliminate those and hopefully once the regular season starts, that will happen. We like him. I like him a lot. I like the player. I like the person. I like being around him and I like coaching him.
Q. What about S Maximus Pulley and DB Kapena Gushiken and their play? (Jimmy Kempski)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, good. Those guys, going back to your question there, they’re still alive, and this game will mean something to them.
Q. I was going to follow up on CB Riq Woolen. We all know about his press ability. How’s he adapted to playing more zone and specifically your kind of match zone? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: I think he’s done well. Our offense in particular too, you have to play off a little bit more because they’ll stack and bunch people. It’s been a good camp for him in that way, but he’s getting better at it for sure.
Q. The safety situation, is that something that could go right up until game day? (Martin Frank)
Vic Fangio: No, we’ll decide before then.
Q. At the time you guys drafted OLB Jalyx Hunt, a message was, what does this look like in year three? Now that you’re in year three, is this what you expected? Is it beyond what you expected? How would you explain it? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: It’s what I expected and hoped for, but now I hope and expect for more too.
Q. What’s that look like? What’s the next? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: I don’t know. You stop asking — Not you [personally], but all you. Am I surprised? Is this unexpected? That’s who he is.
Q. You mentioned CB Riq Woolens tendency to get maybe a little sloppy. How do you fix something like that? (Ed Kracz)
Vic Fangio: Just keep pointing it out. He knows it. It’s not like he denies it. Just some guys, sometimes [sloppiness] could happen to some guys, and we just got to try and eliminate that.
Q. While there’s still today’s practice to go, what’s been your overall takeaway, the defense during this camp? (Dave Uram)
Vic Fangio: It’s been a good camp. A lot of guys need some more developing, some more reps, but that’s just the way it is. Then whatever it is, two weeks from now, we got a game or three weeks, whatever it is.
Q. QB Jalen Hurts has thrown a lot of interceptions over the last few weeks, pretty much all camp. As a defensive coordinator on the same team of that quarterback, how do you view that? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: It’s good for the defense, which is good for the team. He’s learning a new offense. He’s trying things, seeing what’s available and what isn’t available. I don’t think that’s going to carry over.
Q. How do you feel about the cornerback depth right now? (Dave Zangaro)
Vic Fangio: I feel good about Q [CB Quinyon Mitchell] and Riq [Woolen]. [CB] Jonathan Jones has missed a lot of time here, so hopefully we can get him back at some point. I think [CB] Mac [McWilliams] has made a lot of strides. He’s dinged right now a little bit, [and] wasn’t able to finish the other night. [CB] Kelee [Ringo], I think, is making strides. Those are the five main ones, plus the guys that are competing for the sixth spot.
Q. S Andre Sam has been here for a while now. What’s your assessment of his third training camp? (Andre DiCecco)
Vic Fangio: It’s been good. He knows our defense from the safety position. He’s reliable in that regard. He’s trustworthy, and I think he’s a guy that will have a spot somewhere along the line, but we like him.
Q. Seems like DT Ty Robinson continues to come on. Has he earned a spot in your defensive tackle rotation? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: He probably has. I mean, when you say rotation, I don’t know what that means. Meaning how many plays that means, but yeah.
Q. DT Jordan Davis left a little early last night from practices — (Ed Kracz)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, but he came back. He came back.
Q. When it comes to those last few roster spots, obviously I’m sure your voice is taken into account, but historically, what have you found that you value in these last few guys on the defensive side and how much does special teams factor in what kind of decision that you get to make on defensive players? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Special teams does play a factor. The last few spots are always a story in and of itself. It might be a guy that’s not ready to play, and you might not think he’s ready to play the entire year, but you want him. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it’s a guy that you think can help us in a pinch if we need it. As I said, special teams is a big thing. Just numbers, too. There’s minimal numbers you need at every position. You need five or six defensive linemen to make the roster. You need eight to nine outside backers and inside backers to make the roster minimum. The numbers is part of it also.
Q. When it comes to you, I don’t know personally, but obviously further along your years, you want to win now. I mean, how do you accept if they’re going to tell you two guys, we’re going to be on the 53, but they’re not going to play the entire game? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, that’s just part of it. We all want to win now, but it’s Howie’s job to always be building the team for future years too.
Q. It’s our first time talking since before that joint practice, what stood out watching them against the New England Patriots offense? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: I thought those two practices against the Patriots were our two most beneficial and valuable practices the entire year, entire camp. Just like I said before, it’s a different style offense, so that was great in and of itself. They have a good group of receivers that was good to go against. Way different offensive scheme than ours, great to go against. Those were two really, really good practices. We had, I think like 80 some plays the first day, 50 [or] 60 maybe the second day with a red zone focus. Fantastic practices.