Vic Fangio

Q. What was your perspective on those last two late touchdown drives the Rams had to win the game? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, we struggled to make a play, struggled for me to make the perfect call against a quarterback and an offense like that, that’s not a good combination and we didn’t get it done. We played great for 10 drives, but the last two we didn’t.

Q. 77 snaps against, what was the effect of that? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: 83. You just look at the play-by-plays, the penalties are plays.

Q. That’s fair. All right, 83, what was the effect of that? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: Well, I’m not going to insult your or anybody’s intelligence that yeah, it has an effect, but we got to find a way to finish.

Q. The second halves and fourth quarters have been an issue for much of the year. Is there anything you can point to that’s coming up late in games? Is it playing – (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: No, we’ve just got to find a way to finish. We’ve got to make a play in coverage, make a play in the pass rush, make a perfect call and find a way to get it done.

Q. What’d you think of DB Michael Carter’s first time? (Jeff Neiburg)

Vic Fangio: I thought he did good. Did good.

Q. Obviously in the game they’re probably going to pass a little more. What you think of the pass rush or did you think it was an effect of there being a lot of snaps? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: It was inconsistent for sure.

Q. That’s been kind of a running theme this year with the pass rush. What have been the issues you think overall with them finishing? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, we just haven’t been consistently really good against one-on-ones. There’s always going to be some chips that affect you, but when we are getting some one-on-ones, we’re not getting it done on a consistent basis. We had some games that applied some pressure and did some good things against their backs and tight ends, but the normal down-to-down one-on-ones, we got to get better there.

Q. You lost CB Quinyon Mitchell in the game. How did CB Jonathan Jones step up and play in your mind? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: I thought he did good for really his first action in a long time. If you remember, he missed the tail end of training camp and hadn’t had any action since whenever, one of the early preseason games and though he’d come in there and did a good job. He does a good job preparing and he was ready to go.

Q. There was a lot more cover 2 than we’re used to seeing, what was the reason for that? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: They have a pretty good passing attack.

Q. Do you expect to get CB Quinyon Mitchell back this week? (Olivia Reiner)

Vic Fangio: We’re hopeful, but I mean, we’ll find out more as the week goes.

Q. As a follow-up, you played good passing attacks before and you haven’t played cover two. Was it personnel related here? Was it something you saw with the Rams? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: No, we had planned to play it regardless.

Q. Is DB Kenny Moore II closer to having more of a role? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: He’s getting closer. He’s done a great job learning, [we’re] trying to get him to learn two positions to be part of nickel or dime and safety. But he got in there for a play or two at the end.

Q. How about OLB Jonathan Greenard he left with an ankle. Are you expecting to have him this week? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: Too early to tell.

Q. When the pass rush is inconsistent, like you’ve mentioned, how does that change things for you when you’re calling a game? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: It’s game to game, depending upon the offense, the passing attack you’re seeing. The other team’s quarterback’s ability, how he does versus pressure. It’s week to week.

Q. It looks like you guys did a pretty good job on the insert releases. Was that a point of emphasis during the week? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, they do a good job of it and our guys did a good job in preparing for it and executing it.

Q. How would you assess LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr’s play? He had 15 tackles and everything. (Martin Frank)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, he played very well. Did a good job.

Q. Did it warrant more playing time? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Possibly, yeah.

Q. How about DT Jordan Davis’s playing time? He took 35% of the snaps. Is that how you want to use him? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: No, we probably need to get him some more snaps.

Q. Was that game flow related or personnel they were in? (Jeff Neiburg)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, it was kind of personnel. They had been playing a lot of three tight ends coming into the game and [they] really made it a three wide receiver game, probably because they had some injuries at the position. So that kind of changed the game.

Q. You said before that you don’t want to blitz unless you have to with the pass rush. (Brooks Kubena)

Vic Fangio: No, I said I don’t want to blitz until I want to.

Q. Do you want to give them some of the pass rush more often now? (Brooks Kubena)

Vic Fangio: Again, it all depends upon the opponent. One of the reasons we played so well the first 10 series was — we weren’t [blitzing] because that quarterback could feast on it.

Q. S Andrew Mukuba had the interception, but overall, how do you feel like he performed? (Cayden Steele)

Vic Fangio: Good. He’s been playing good all year. Real pleased with him.

Q. What stands out most about the Jags? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: They’re really good on offense. The quarterback is athletic, got a big arm, he’s got a good group of receivers to throw it to. Their running back, 33 [Jacksonville Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten] runs really good, kind of a new guy on the scene and they do a good job. They got a very varied running game, a lot of different types of runs, multiple run game and they’re good at it.

Q. How would you assess how DT Jalen Carter is dealing with the wrist? (Johnny McGonigal)

Vic Fangio: I think it affected him more this past game than it had been, which is to be expected in a way.

Q. How so? Because he’s been using it in games? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: Yeah and It’s hard enough to play this game with two hands. When you have a cast on one, it’s going to have a negative effect at some point.

Q. I know that you’ve used more of DT Byron Young and DT Ty Robinson as a result of that, but is DT Jalen Carter still playing too much? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Possibly.

Q. Are you confident that the pass rush will get to the point where you like to see it? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: I am. I am.

Q. What gives you that confidence? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: I just believe in the guys. A lot of times too, we’ve lost two sacks the last two games due to penalties. Sometimes the ball’s coming out quick, like previous some games. I know you guys have a love affair with the sack stat, but the ball’s coming out quick a lot.

Q. We talked about DB Michael Carter II earlier. Do you still envision going back to a rotation when S Marcus Epps is healthy? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Well, we’ll see when Marcus is healthy. I don’t know if he’s going to be healthy this week or not.

Q. [Regarding OLB Jalyx Hunt having a pretty good summer and what he can do to improve.] (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: Just do the little things right all the time, be a good technician. Not to insinuate that he’s had an epidemic, but just keep doing the right things.

Q. Where’s LB Jihaad Campbell stand at this point in his maturation as a starter? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: I think he’s coming along. He’s getting better and better every game.

Q. Each summer you discussed establishing the depth. How do you feel the depth is on this defense right now? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: It’s being challenged right now, so we’ll see. But I think in certain places we’re good and others, you cross your fingers.

Q. In what ways are you seeing LB Jihaad Campbell get better? (Johnny McGonigal)

Vic Fangio: Just the overall play, both versus the run and the pass.

Q. What are some of the challenges that Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen presents as a play caller? (Andrew DiCecco)

Vic Fangio: Does a good job mixing it. They have a good run and play action game that they do a good job marrying together, and he’s got a good feel of utilizing that, not abandoning the run, even though it’s running good, you might pop a pass in there and it’s usually first shot and does a good job, really good job.

Q. When it comes to DT Jordan Davis and the pass rush, what do you want to see? Is it just pushing the pocket? Do you want to see him win more at the point of attack in these one-on-ones that you’re talking about? What does he, considering his size, need to do more to become an effective pass rusher in this league? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, all of the above. There’s times where you, based on the protection and pushing the pocket is important, beating your guy when you have a one-on-one is important. And I think he’s more than capable. We probably haven’t given him enough opportunity right there.

Q. If I can follow up about the depth, at what spots do you feel good and at what spots are you crossing your fingers? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: You’ll have to figure that out yourself.