Vic Fangio

Q. During the Draft process, were you asked to evaluate Rams DT Braden Fiske and Rams LB Jared Verse with the possibility of the Eagles drafting them, and what do you think of those two players? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, those are two really good players that we did work on. As the Draft is, you know, you only get your certain amount of picks, and guys are gone or there’s somebody there that you take.

But those were two guys that we were very high on and liked.

Q. What do you like about them? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: Just that they are good football players at their position. Fiske on interior D-Line, Verse on the edge. They’re both really good players.

Q. What does it take for a defensive tackle to be able to play every snap in a game, and how do you reach that decision during a game that he’s not coming off the field? (Dave Zangaro)

VIC FANGIO: No. 1, it’s the guys’ conditioning. Can they do it? Two, sometimes the circumstances allow itself to happen or make it hard to get them out on occasion. It’s the flow of the game. I’ve had many do it or come close to doing it.

Q. This is a week where pre-snap is going to be a big thing with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay. You’ve had a lot of success against him in the past. (John McMullen)

VIC FANGIO: I haven’t gone against him in six or seven years.

Q. When you talk about that pre-snap motion, what do you preach to your guys? (John McMullen)

VIC FANGIO: Well, No. 1, we’ve got to be able to react to it and adjust to it correctly. They do motion a lot at various tempos, and they are trying to get you out of position and back on your heels a little bit. We’ve got to be ready for it and be able to play correctly and not let the motion confuse us at all.

Q. You’ve had only one game lost to injury in your back seven, CB Darius Slay. Having that continuity on the back and that communication, how key has that been? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: That’s very key. We are all better coaches when our better players are playing, and those guys have done a good job coming together, communicating and doing well for the most part.

Q. How would you evaluate what DT Jordan Davis has done so far this season, and overall, your defensive tackles? (Bob Brookover)

VIC FANGIO: I think Jordan has been doing better and better here as of late. He’s been strong against the run, offering a little pass rush, and I do think he’s improving. I do think [DT] Jalen [Carter] has really come on and really helped our defense extremely to a high level.

And the other guys, Mo [DT Moro Ojomo], Book [DT Thomas Booker] and Mill [DT Milton Williams] have all done well.

Q. Speaking of DT Jalen Carter, what has he been like behind the scenes in the meeting settings? What have you noticed about him? (Chris Franklin)

VIC FANGIO: He’s been good. Nothing major either way there. I don’t know what you’re looking for there. He’s been good in meetings, been good in prep. It’s translating onto the field.

Q. What were the indicators along the way to know that he was ready to take on a bigger role. (Jeff Neiburg)

VIC FANGIO: He’s been playing a lot, anyway, you know. What the hell is the difference between 90 percent and 100 percent? I mean, geez.

Just that he’s been able to do it for the most part, and he’s ready for it.

Q. You and former Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson started in the USFL 40 years ago, you were never together but did you ever get to know him or talk defense with him, and is there anything that you kind of took from him? (Reuben Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, Jim and I were professional friends. In that there’s, on occasion– not much right now but back then– you’d have a couple of guys that you would talk to. Meaning if you played somebody, you’re playing somebody this week that maybe is not in your division and you haven’t played in a while, and you want to call somebody that has more familiarity with them.

Jim and I would do that back and forth with each other. Me for him and him for me. So, I got to know him that way. We had what I would consider a very good professional relationship, and we kind of saw the game the same way to a degree.

Q. Anything significant you took from what he did? (Reuben Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Nothing that I can remember. You know, things have changed so much since then. When was Jim’s last season here? ’08?

I can’t remember. I’m sure there was, though.

Q. On the fourth-and-2 stop, what was the key? (Zach Berman)

VIC FANGIO: Just guys being where they were supposed to be and making the plays. It helped early that he bobbled the snap on his own and Jalen [Carter] got some penetration which made them bobble even more and it helped us.

Q. S Reed Blankenship comes up with obviously a big interception. What has he meant to the secondary so far this season? (Martin Frank)

VIC FANGIO: He specializes in those on the low line drives in center field, you know what I mean. It’s amazing how all three of his picks have looked the same.

He’s done a good job. He quarterbacks the secondary. Leads communication between them and the linebackers. So, he’s very, very valuable.

Q. When you have such a young defense, what are the biggest concerns you have? Especially as you get deeper into the season with a young secondary. Really, all three levels, you have young guys. (Bob Brookover)

VIC FANGIO: Nothing, really. Back in the day, you used to hear rookies hitting the ‘rookie wall.’ I don’t think that rookie wall exists anymore because back in the day, you’d have two-a-days in training camp. When you got a rookie that you thought would play, you’d practice him a lot. He’d play a lot in preseason games when there were four.

Well, that doesn’t happen anymore. So, I don’t buy the rookie wall anymore. It’s not physical. It might be mental or emotional. But it’s not physical anymore, in my opinion.

Q. What about the teaching aspect? How much has that changed over the years? Just your scheme when you get younger players as opposed to experienced players, has that changed or not? (John McMullen)

VIC FANGIO: Not really. It’s just the process. And you have to keep at it and not get discouraged when they don’t get something early.

I can remember times with young players where I told them they had to see it a certain way, and they said, ‘Man, that’s hard, how am I going to do that?’

Then a month or two later, they see it and I say, ’Hey, nice job on that.’ He said, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s easy.’

I said, ‘Well, remember a month or so ago, you told me that was too hard.’

It’s a process. It comes with practice and playing, and you can’t guess discouraged when they don’t see it the right way early on.

Q. What was the key area of development you were looking for out of LB Nolan Smith and what do you see as his trajectory now? (Tim McManus)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, Nolan has been doing well. Obviously, speed and athleticism are his forte, which is good. We need that. And he’s been able to offset being kind of small for an edge position. To really work on being physical enough to play the run, play in his blocks, and I think he and [Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers Coach Jeremiah Washburn] Wash has done a good job with him to get to where he’s competitively good enough to play the run.

Q. Sometimes at this point of the season, especially when there’s sustained success, some teams take on a personality. What is the sense you get out of the defense at this point and is that something you try and foster? (Brooks Kubena)

VIC FANGIO: No, I think anything along those ways kind of happens organically. I don’t try and do anything one way or the other.

Q. Do you think too much is made of you playing a lot of two-high safety shows, when it seems like this season you’ve mixed in a lot of single-high and played a little more man than you have. Is that narrative a fair one in terms of how you call your schemes? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: I don’t know, every game is a new adventure, and you major in certain things in certain games. It’s more of a game-by-game thing than a seasonal.

Q. What challenges do you see with Rams WR Puka Nacua and Rams WR Cooper Kupp? (Dave Spadaro)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, two really good receivers. They really have good [chemistry], both of them, with [Rams QB Matthew] Stafford. They are strong at the catch point. Both of them are strong receivers. Both are excellent runners after the catch. [The Rams] have played, I don’t know how many games, but more than a few without either one of them.

For them to be at this point in the season with the injuries they have had speaks highly of their players and their coaching staff. Now they are back pretty much to full strength offensively and they will be a tough group to defend.