Vic Fangio

Q. At safety, Michael Carter has shown up a little bit, at least [to] us, made a splash play yesterday. What do you think of that competition? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Michael’s had a good camp so far. He might be the only guy — I’d have to think — he’s learning three positions. He’s playing safety, nickel, and when we do go to our six-DB stuff, he’s the sixth DB in there. I think he’s had a very good camp and has done nothing but helped himself and not eliminating himself from anything. Safety, he’s progressing nicely.

Q. What’s the biggest difference in S Andrew Mukuba this year and last year? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: It’s just experience, knowledge and know-how of the defense. You might look and say, ‘Man, he looks quicker. He’s in better shape. This, that–‘ I think it’s just the thought process [speeding] up, comfortability with the defense and what he has to do. He’s in a little bit better shape too.

Q. We saw that LB Jihaad Campbell blitzed yesterday. I know that that was a big tool with [former LB] Nakobe [Dean]. Does Jihaad have that additional– (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: We hope so. It was nice to see him do it yesterday, but we’ll see how he does in the game. But yeah, I mean, he should be able to.

Q. Is DB Cooper DeJean alright? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, why do you ask?

Q. There was something with his arm at yesterday’s practice. (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: That’s news to me.

Q. OLB Jalyx Hunt and OLB Nolan Smith both said they bulked up this offseason. Is that something that the team wanted them to do or did they just do that on their own? If it is something the team wanted them to do, why? (Jimmy Kempski)

Vic Fangio: I don’t think they have. Jalyx is weighing the same that he was last year. Nolan came back in the Spring heavier and now he’s back down to where he should be.

Q. Have you noticed DT Jalen Carter being a lot more active in camp? Is that because he’s fully healthy? (Martin Frank)

Vic Fangio: He’s had a good camp up to this point. He’s doing the little things better, which when you’re in good shape, the little things are done better because when you’re not in good shape and you’re just kind of getting through practice, the little things suffer. I think he’s doing a much, much better job and really excited for what the possibilities are with him.

Q. CB Riq Woolen was talking about how he’s enjoying playing off the ball a little bit more. He said he’s known as more in a press situation. What have you seen from him playing more off? (Brooks Kubena)

Vic Fangio: Like we said earlier in the offseason, for a guy as tall as he is, he’s got good movement. It’s not press or nothing. He can play off, he can mirror routes, he can come out of a break. I think it’s good he’s working on that. It’s easy to always do what you’re good at, and you need to work at deficiencies that you may need to incorporate into your game. He’s done a good job of that.

Q. How has DT Jordan Davis gone about improving these pass rush moves? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: It first started towards the end of the ’24 season. He got in better shape. He’s a much better pass rusher in the 330s than what he was. That, to me, is the biggest thing. He’s 6’6″, right? What is he? 6’5″– We’ll call it 6’6″ for discussion. He needs to be 6’6″ when it’s to his advantage, and he needs to bend his knees and be 6’3″ when he needs to be. When you’re in better shape, weighing less, that’s easier to do and you can do it for a longer time. That’s what’s made his game take off.

Q. With the offense implementing a new scheme, do you work with them at all where they ask you to give certain looks during the course of practice? (Tim McManus)

Vic Fangio: We do that with each other. I’ll give them what they’re looking for and vice versa.

Q. What are your early impressions of OLB Arnold Ebiketie on the edge? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: He’s made nice progress here. Coming in in the offseason in the six OTAs we had, it was kind of new to him. He was hesitant, not sure. I think he’s made a lot of progress in that manner and is having a much better camp. Him and some of the other guys are taking advantage of the reps they’re gaining with OLB Jonathan Greenard being out for a while.

Q. Two guys who are so new to football, DT Uar Bernard and OLB Joshua Weru, how do you balance getting them the reps they need versus not pulling the team back? What are your impressions so far? (Bo Wulf)

Vic Fangio: It’s hard because there’s a health part of that, too, where you don’t want them in there against, say, your number one offense or even with your number one defense because you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen. It’s going to take a long while. You guys can get off that topic, they’re light-years away.

Q. But from that perspective, you are invested in their development? (Bo Wulf)

Vic Fangio: Yeah.

Q. How do you balance all that? (Bo Wulf)

Vic Fangio: It’s not easy. We are invested in their development, but not at the detriment of our team.

Q. You’ve spoken about trying to figure out the depth on the roster for a couple of guys. How long is it going to take to know how you feel about the overall depth? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: It’s different at every position with every player. For instance, Michael Carter right now, I feel good about him playing nickel, playing safety if need be. Maybe some of the other DBs that are in that bag, not so yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get there. We don’t have a lot of new, young players on defense. Most of the guys that are here have some background with us, so we should be able to make those decisions a little quicker.

Q. One of the guys who doesn’t get talked about a lot, but the offensive players all raved about him on the scout team last year, LB Chance Campbell. What do you like about Chance? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Don’t sleep on Chance now. You guys, when you make your list out there, we like Chance. Chance is a good football player. He had some injuries earlier in his career that set him back. Since the day we picked him up last year, he’s shown that he’s a football player and we like him. Interestingly, last year we picked him up the last week of the preseason. I don’t remember the exact date. It was just a few days before the game, and he didn’t need that acclimation period.

Q. You said before that your preference at off-ball is to not sub in packages, if need be, but has LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. done anything to kind of like put himself in the conversation of certain looks, you would play him as opposed to LB Chance Campbell? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Trot’s had a very good camp. Trot, to me, along the same lines as we talked about with Mukuba, looking better, moving better, playing better. I just think it’s not so much a conditioning and physical thing. It’s more of [he] knows what he’s doing, seeing things quicker, faster, and playing faster. He’s had an excellent camp. It’s the best I’ve seen him look since we’ve had him.

Q. I know it’s a relatively small sample size still, but do you have a sense of Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion as a play caller and setting things up? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: No because there’s no scoreboard out there. We’re doing a lot of call-it periods to where it’s not scripted to get him acclimated that way. It’s good to do that, but it’s not a game. I wouldn’t be worried. I told him, we obviously got the best of yesterday’s practice by a long shot, but that’s the way it’s been the last two years in training camp. The defense has gotten the best of the offense. So, not to be too concerned.

Q. [Regarding if there’s benefit to the defense seeing more under center play action.] (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: There’s a lot of teams that are primarily in the gun. There’s some that on first or second down are a lot more under center. This gives us a good look for those teams that we’re going to be playing. It’s a good mix. We’re still in the gun some out there on the early downs, and it does give us a good perspective and mix in practice that we probably haven’t had the last couple years.

Q. QB Andy Dalton was talking about pure progression yesterday. A lot of people point to you as why the league has gone to so much pure progression. How does that differ as much as you can talk about it from the old — (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: What do you mean? What kind of progression?

Q. Pure progressions, you just go one, two, pure. (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: From the quarterback standpoint? I don’t know. We’re always hopeful of making the quarterback progress, not always have the first read, which is not always possible. I’m not really sure what you’re going at there.

Q. Well, a lot of people give you credit for why so many offenses run that way compared to the old school coverage rates. (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: I’m not sure how or if I want to answer that. [Laughing.]

Q. In these past few years, you’ve played more nickel snaps than any team in the league. (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: I don’t think that’s true, but we’re high.

Q. Is that based on the matchups you get or is that — (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: Well, first off, the league as a whole is playing a lot more nickel. There’s many reasons for that. The biggest being the fullback has disappeared in the NFL, and he’s been replaced by a third wideout or a second tight end who’s a good receiver. They’re splitting out people more from the core of the formation than they ever used to. That’s one of the main reasons for playing more nickel.

In ’24, we played a lot of nickel one because I thought it put our best combination on the field whenever we could, and to a certain degree last year also. I do kind of sense that the league is coming back a little bit. Not that there’s an influx of a bunch of fullbacks right now, but they’re maybe playing two tight ends. I think there’s a chance you’ll see more base, not just from us, but from other people too.

Q. [Regarding recent Philadelphia Phillies moves.] (Pat Gallen)

Vic Fangio: Definitely going to improve their offense. We’ll see how it does defensively. It’ll be interesting. Do you see some of these other guys? I mean, [Phillies players] Nick Castellanos, Matt Strahm, Harrison Bader, Taijuan Walker. Man, [former Phillies Manager] Rob Thompson did a hell of a job with managing those guys through to the playoffs last year.