Vic Fangio
Q. What will your defense miss most with LB Nakobe Dean being out? (Tim McManus)
VIC FANGIO: His good play. He’s really played well for us this year and gotten better and better as the season wore on. He had the green dot. He was a call leader out there, making the calls that ILBs have to make. We’re going to miss him a ton.
Q. Does it change the way you call the game without him in there? (Dave Zangaro)
VIC FANGIO: No.
Q. Does LB Zack Baun get the green dot now? (Jimmy Kempski)
VIC FANGIO: Yes.
Q. Have you thought about getting LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. some reps, or will it be LB Oren Burks, or how will you work that? (Reuben Frank)
VIC FANGIO: We’ll probably get Trot [Jeremiah Trotter Jr.]. We’re not afraid to put him in there.
Q. Are the Rams a better team than when you played them in November? (Merrill Reese)
VIC FANGIO: When you look at Rams, they started the year 1-4. They had a ton of injuries, and then they lost the last game of the season when they didn’t play their regulars. So that’s 1-5. In between, they are 10-2. So, I think that answers your question.
Q. Are you as comfortable with LB Oren Burks and LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. with blitzes like you were with LB Nakobe Dean, or do you have to see that in the game before? (Brooks Kubena)
VIC FANGIO: No. We’ll call it as we see fit.
Q. What has LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. shown you as a young kid? (Reuben Frank)
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I think Trot’s got a good future and that future may be now. He’s got good instincts. Really likes the game. He’s smart. He’s got a lot of good qualities.
Q. What do you like about LB Oren Burks? (John McMullen)
VIC FANGIO: Oren is a good athlete. He can run. He’s got experience playing. A good tackler as we saw in the opening kickoff. And we like him, too.
Q. Will it be a mix of them or just one? (Dave Zangaro)
VIC FANGIO: It could be. It could be.
Q. Are you happy with the tackling against Green Bay? (John McMullen)
VIC FANGIO: No. Particularly two plays, we had multiple missed tackles. So no, we need to do better there this week.
These guys have, obviously, [Rams RB Kyren] Williams, the running back is a good ball carrier, a tough guy to tackle. All their receivers are good runners after the catch, as their tight ends are. We need to improve there.
Q. The two plays, that was Packers RB Josh Jacob’s long run, I guess, and the Packers WR Jayden Reed — (Jimmy Kempski)
VIC FANGIO: Yeah.
Q. When you spoke about OLB Nolan Smith this year, you talked about his improvement. Where specifically has he improved from the start of the season to now? (Zach Berman)
VIC FANGIO: In all facets of playing the edge for us. The run, the pass. Pass, meaning rush the passer. Pass, meaning dropping when he does have to drop. He’s improved in all areas.
Q. I know the depth chart looked different before injuries but going into the year, what did you expect OLB Nolan Smith to contribute? (Zach Berman)
VIC FANGIO: I didn’t have any expectations. I shoot high. Put no limits on anybody and let’s just see where he went, and he kept improving.
Q. Is there something about the Georgia players that when you look at it, you can say, ‘Yeah, I can tell he went to Georgia because of this?’ (Bob Brookover)
VIC FANGIO: Not really. [Georgia football Head Coach] Kirby [Smart] is a friend of mine. No, I mean, I don’t pigeonhole him that way.
Q. What was the key defensively the last time you guys played the Rams? (Tim McManus)
VIC FANGIO: They drove it on us early in the first drive of the game and then we got a takeaway. Early in the game, we weren’t very sharp. They were. And these guys are very game plan-specific team. They are going to have a mode of operation of the way they want to attack you, and we’ve got to be ready for that.
Q. Why do you think DB Cooper DeJean had the success he had against Rams WR Cooper Kupp in that first game? (Chris Franklin)
VIC FANGIO: I don’t know if you can label it that way. We played a lot of zone [coverage]. So, I don’t know that you can say he had great success one way or the other against any of their guys.
Q. What are the difficulties facing a quarterback with the experience like Rams QB Matthew Stafford? (John McMullen)
VIC FANGIO: His talent and his know-how. He’s still one of the top passers in the league. Very, very smart. He can read coverages better than most, if not one of the top two or three. He still has tremendous arm talent. Can put the ball anywhere.
Q. In the first Rams game, you were in the most dime all year. What was the reason for that and with LB Nakobe Dean out, is that more pronounced going forward? (Zach Berman)
VIC FANGIO: I don’t remember the reason, and no.
Q. The play where Packers G/T Elgton Jenkins was pulling across, OLB Nolan Smith hit Jenkins and Jenkins went out. Is that the kind of play that you’ll show in the week after as an example of a hard, tough player? That’s not a highlight play within the scope of the game, but it is a play that did have an impact on the game. Just curious what your thoughts are. (Jimmy Kempski)
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, it was a really good play, and he wasn’t the only one that was really good on that play. Everybody on that side of the ball from the nose over played that play well.
Yes, it was a good play for us.
Q. DT Milton Williams, another guy that had an impact in that game first time around. How key is he going to be in this matchup? (Tim McManus)
VIC FANGIO: Well, everybody that’s out there is going to be key. And [Milton Williams] Milt had a good game the other night, or late afternoon, whatever you call it.
Yeah, we need everybody to play well. When you’re playing a quality offense like this team is, you’ve got to play well.
Q. When you’re playing so much zone, what does it take to be buttoned up when you’re passing it off? (Dave Zangaro)
VIC FANGIO: Practice reps. Experience. Game reps. Meetings. All of that.
Q. DE Bryce Huff only played one snap. What went into that? (Jimmy Kempski)
VIC FANGIO: We had a good three-man rotation with the other guys, and we just stuck with it.
Q. LB Zack Baun was saying that his interception was an example of how he has felt trust in the system to make adjustments. When did that happen and how did that happen? (Zach Berman)
VIC FANGIO: It just happens organically over time. You can’t put your finger on one moment.
Q. First time we’ve talked to you since LB Zack Baun was named an All-Pro. How did you talk to him about that and what are your thoughts on his year? (Brooks Kubena)
VIC FANGIO: Well, obviously he’s had a great year. I think he exceeded most everyone’s expectations. Probably even himself. But now there are no limitations. He’s set a standard for himself, and he’s got to show up and do it every week.
Q. How big of a deal is it to have a different linebacker pairing after a season full of two high-level guys doing it all year, and now a new person or maybe two new people are coming in? (Tim McManus)
VIC FANGIO: It’s an adjustment. They haven’t had the amount of reps together that Zack and Nakobe did. So yeah, it’s an adjustment.
But we practiced them that way. I kind of have a little rule not to put two backup linebackers in practice together because that’s not how it’s going to happen in a game. So, they have been out there together in practice.
Q. What’s the benefit of playing both LB Oren Burks and LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. if you do go that way, as opposed to just having one guy out there? Would it be situational? (Reuben Frank)
VIC FANGIO: Part of it is those two guys are on all special teams. So, depending upon the flow of the game, kind of like when Nakobe didn’t play against Dallas, I guess it was, they had like a seven- or eight-play drive, and we had the pick-six.
Then they got the ball right back and drove it for like a nine-play drive. Then we went three-and-out on offense. We had a bunch of plays right there in a row in a short span. So, something like that would be a good time to sub them.
Q. A few years ago, Rams Head Coach Sean McVay named you as the toughest defensive coordinator to go against in his mind. What makes him so tough to go against? (Bob Brookover)
VIC FANGIO: He’s got a great offense that he has great command of, and he’s a really good play-caller during the game. He can change gears on you at a moment’s notice, and he’s one of the top play-callers in the league for sure, without a doubt.
Q. DT Moro Ojomo was the pass rusher on the CB Darius Slay interception. What do you like about him as a situational pass rusher from the interior and how has he improved? (Jimmy Kempski)
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I thought he played very well the other day. He wasn’t in there just in passing situations. He enrolled in all situations. I thought he played very well. He does have the ability to rush the passer, but for an undersized guy, he can anchor in the run, too. But I’m very pleased with the way he played the other day.