Vic Fangio

Q. I don’t know if DB Cooper DeJean would be your first outside cornerback if one of the top two guys were to get hurt, but will you ever work him in there or do you just feel comfortable with him there in the slot like he’s done in the past?

Vic Fangio: Yeah, he’s worked in there in drills. I’ve told the DB coaches to make sure he’s stayed up to snuff there, both mentally and technique-wise.

Q. How big of a test is this for CB Quinyon Mitchell with former Eagles WR A.J. Brown practicing?

Vic Fangio: I don’t know. Are we sure A.J.’s practicing today?

Q. Can you tell us?

Vic Fangio: Every snap you take in the NFL is a test.

Q. How important are these joint practices just in terms of evaluation, especially for those guys who might not see any reps or limited reps during those games?

Vic Fangio: Yeah, I love doing these things. I think these things are great. I wish we would do another one. It’s great to go against a new team, new schemes, new players. You learn things. You’re going to get unscouted looks and plays and see how people react. These things are tremendous and can’t get enough of it.

Q. In LB Jihaad Campbell’s case, what made you want to play him in that first game and how’s he coming along?

Vic Fangio: When [former Eagles LB] Nakobe [Dean] got back last year, [Jihaad’s] snaps got cut down a lot and I just feel he needs more reps. It proved it out in the game. He had a play or two that he didn’t play the right way, that he should be playing the right way. We’ve still got work to do.

Q. What is the difference between him and S Andrew Mukuba on that front, since he also missed time as well?

Vic Fangio: Yeah. Mukuba was more injury-related, his misses last year. Each case is different.

Q. How about with S Marcus Epps? Why didn’t he play in that game?

Vic Fangio: Yeah, because I wanted to see [DB Michael] Carter get a lot of snaps at safety. Epps has played his whole career at safety. He’s getting a lot of reps in practice. This is new territory for Mike and we need to get him a bunch of reps there to really get him prepared and totally evaluated.

Q. How did he do?

Vic Fangio: He did fine. Mike’s had a good camp. I think it was their first touchdown pass in the game, he should have played better. But to me, it’s more just his newness on the job, particularly when he’s in a deep zone, it’s all new to him. We need to get him as many reps doing that as we can.

Q. Where does that competition stand still?

Vic Fangio: It’s a competition. It is.

Q. What’s impressed you about LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., his training camp and everything like that?

Vic Fangio: He’s reaping the benefits of being in the system for three years. He’s matured. He always knew what to do, but his processing is a whole lot faster and quicker. I mean, the most important quality you can have as an inside backer is instincts, play recognition. His is really showing more in this camp than it had before.

Q. Are you happy with the EDGE group in light of the fact that OLB Jonathan Greenard hasn’t practiced for a little while?

Vic Fangio: I don’t know when Greenard will be back. That injury he got in our weight room is going to take some time to heal. Yeah, I’m very happy with [OLB] Nolan [Smith] and [OLB] Jalyx [Hunt]. AK [OLB Arnold Ebiketie] is coming along. The other guys are coming along, but we need our third and fourth until Greenard gets back to really solidify their positions.

Q. How about DE A.J. Epenesa in particular? You spoke about him the first time–

Vic Fangio: Yeah, he’s been doing good and he played good in the preseason game. He had a great learning experience on that pass he got beat on. I’m really happy that happened because it was a preseason game. But not only for him, but all the outside backers/EDGE players. It’s a great learning experience on how to play that play, and he’s doing good. He’s picking up– We dropped those guys a little bit, not a lot. He’s really done well with it and I think he’ll continue to improve.

Q. What did DT Ty Robinson show you?

Vic Fangio: Yeah, he came to life. He’s been on life support since he’s been here, but he came to life and hopefully that will continue.

Q. Just generally speaking, what are some of the challenges in covering Patriots WR A.J. Brown? What makes him so effective out there?

Vic Fangio: Well, he’s a big receiver. He’s strong. Got strong hands. Fifty-fifty balls are his friend most of the time. Just a big, strong, athletic, instinctive, good receiver.

Q. I know you asked us to calm down on the DT Uar Bernard and OLB Joshua Weru storylines, but Weru in particular, seeing him out there, did anything jump out?

Vic Fangio: So you’re not calming down? [Jokingly.] Those are our two exchange dudes. They’re doing fine, but they’ve got a long way to go.

Q. You mentioned LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. three years ago. Kind of like CB Kelee Ringo three years ago. We saw the interception and we also saw some other–

Vic Fangio: I think Kelee is– he’s been everybody’s piñata doll for a while. I kind of sense he could be coming. We’ll see. See how he does these next– I think somebody asked a question [about] these two days. I think these two days for him are big.

Q. What’s been your impressions of some of the safety depth of guys like S Maximus Pulley and CB Kapena Gushiken in the back?

Vic Fangio: Yeah, they came alive in the game, did some good things. I think they’re two good young prospects. We’ll see how it all shakes out when you have to get to 53.

Q. You’ve talked about LB Chance Campbell before, but with LB Deontae Lawson and LB Smael Mondon, it seems like you have real depth at that position.

Vic Fangio: Our ILB position is probably our deepest position on defense. We’ve got Trotter and Smael, that are two good quality players. Campbell, been hurt for a while, but I think he’ll be back out there today, and Deontae. So, I feel good about those guys.

Q. With OLB Keyshawn James-Newby and S Cole Wisniewski, them missing so much time, what do they have to do to catch up?

Vic Fangio: It’s hard to make up for lost time, especially with the way we practice anymore in the league. Reps are at a premium. It’ll be hard.

Q. What about Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense will be–

Vic Fangio: I mean, I don’t know exactly what they’ll show us, but they’ve always been– Last year, they played a fullback a lot, so they’re one of those teams that still plays a fullback. We haven’t seen any of that, so that’ll be good to see. They’re a little bit more spread out. Our offense is more condensed, so that will be good. Everything’s valuable. It’s going to be great to go against new stuff.

Q. Because DTs Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis haven’t played in a preseason game, what are you kind of looking for to see from those guys going against the Patriots?

Vic Fangio: Get them a lot of reps. What’s happened with these joint practices, a lot of teams take the philosophy of getting your ones a lot of reps in practice, then they don’t play in the game. Hopefully we can get both of those guys enough reps to where over a two-day period, it kind of feels like a game for them.

Q. Elsewhere in the league, there have been fights in some of these sessions. What’s your approach or philosophy with that going into it?

Vic Fangio: We don’t want them. We don’t tolerate it. The way I explain it to the players, every time we do one of these– you have 90 teammates in camp. Now you’ve got 180 teammates. We’re just working against each other. Okay? They’re in a different jersey, a different helmet. We’re not here to fight. We’re here to get better as an individual and a team, and hopefully we’ll all treat it that way.