Vic Fangio

Q. CB Kenny Moore, why is he here and how much do you know about his game? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: I don’t know a whole lot about it, to be honest with you. I don’t know if that’s finalized yet. Haven’t heard from [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] one way or the other.

Q. When you watched back, were there any common themes with some of the tackling issues and what you kind of attribute them to? (Jeff Neiburg)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, we miss more, a little bit more than we normally do. Missed a couple critical ones there. We’ve just got to close space a little bit better, and we got to do it better.

Q. With the Bears coming up, I know last year it was a struggle in the run game. What do you take away from that game and what do you have to do to prevent that from happening again? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: We’ve got to play it better, obviously. They are one of the better running teams in the league. They’ve got a really great O-line, great backs. Their scheme is good. We’re going to have to play it a whole lot better.

Q. If any CB Kenny Moore does end up signing, do you envision him more as a safety or he’s played Nickel most of his career? How would you – (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Vic Fangio: Not sure yet. I’ve never laid eyes on him, never watched him play. So, we’ll see.

Q. What are your thoughts on the lack of takeaways so far? (Christiaan DeFranco)

Vic Fangio: We’re due. We’re due.

Q. Any reason? (Christiaan DeFranco)

Vic Fangio: I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

Q. Do you worry about guys maybe trying to press too much if they don’t come? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: A little bit. We have to tackle and not miss tackles because we’re trying to go for the ball. That bugs me.

Q. Would you consider moving to DB Cooper DeJean full-time to safety? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: No.

Q. Are you preparing for Chicago Bears QB Case Keenum this week at quarterback? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: Don’t have enough information yet. We’re preparing for Chicago’s offense. I don’t think their offense will change a whole lot schematically, so that’s what we’ll prepare for.

Q. Are you expecting OLB Jonathan Greenard back this week? (Olivia Reiner)

Vic Fangio: Better chance than last week. We’ll see how he does in practice.

Q. You talk about their running game and how good it is, but how much does Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams influence that versus if he’s on the field versus not on the field? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Not as much as you think he does. They’re an under-center offense a good bit, so it’s not like it’s a lot of gun zone-read, QB-generated runs. They’re under center, handing it off. They do a great job of blocking.

Q. Vic, when OLB Jonathan Greenard does come back, do you anticipate he’ll be able to jump right in for a full workload? Do you think he’s going to have to ramp up 15 snaps in the first game? How do you think that’s going to go? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: He’s definitely not ready for a full workload. He’s not only coming off inactivity, he’s coming off an injury. His injury for a good bit — the first, I don’t know, four to six, seven weeks — he really couldn’t do a whole lot conditioning wise either. So yeah, he’s nowhere near ready for a full load.

Q. Any idea how long that’ll take to get there? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: No. We’ll see how he does.

Q. How would you assess the EDGE rusher group through two weeks without OLB Jonathan Greenard in there? (Johnny McGonigal)

Vic Fangio: I think OLB Nolan Smith and OLB Jalyx Hunt have done a good job overall. We’ve had [OLB] A.J. Epenesa and [OLB Arnold Ebiketie] AK in there some. Thought AK played a little better this past week.

Q. How do you think S Marcus Epps and S Andrew Mukuba did in Tennessee? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: I thought Drew played an OK to good game. Marcus had some plays that he would like to have back, both against the pass and the run, and he’ll bounce back.

Q. I know you said that the offense doesn’t change much whether Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams on the field or not, but having a quarterback who’s able to play out of structure and create extra plays, how does that change how you coach? (Jeff Neiberg)

Vic Fangio: He creates a real dilemma for you. You can have a good down going against the passing play that they have called, and he can bail them out with his scrambling ability, his ability to improvise. That’s what makes him an elite QB.

Q. Any chance you’ll see a little more of DB Michael Carter moving forward? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, there’s a chance of that.

Q. What was your evaluation of the way DT Jalen Carter played in the game, and how did he handle the wrist injury in particular? (EJ Smith)

Vic Fangio: He actually did a little better than I thought he would because he’s got a cast on his one hand and wrist area, and that can really hinder you, but he did better than I thought he would.

Q. It looks like the corners are back playing left and right like they did in ’24. Is there a reason for that and is there a preference you have between that and the field boundary? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: No, I mean we like them both, and I think once guys get grooved on one side, they play better.

Q. What could LB Jihaad Campbell do to improve on when he needs to get depth or whatever, he drops into coverage, balls aren’t thrown over him? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: He just has to be aware of the situation. I’m not sure what player or two that you might be talking about.

Q.  Yeah, I guess there were a few. I could be wrong. (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Could be. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Q. How is he doing when he drops? (Jeff McLane)

Vic Fangio: Good. I mean, could he be better? Yeah, but I don’t see the issue that I think you’re trying to drum up.

Q. Did you notice guys playing to get turnovers or force the ball out rather than tackle? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: I think that can be a problem at times. I don’t think it’s an epidemic at this point, but we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Q. On the third-and-longer version, what was your view on the play? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: We didn’t play it well. First off, we didn’t play the situation well. It was obvious they were going to run the ball. We call the front that we usually call when there could be a run, and our guys just didn’t transition into realizing the situation at the time and we need to get lower in the secondary and make a tackle.

Q. With DT Jordan Davis, obviously you have two great interior pass rushers with DT Jalen Carter and DT Moro Ojomo. Is there have to be an emphasis to maybe give him a few more opportunities for a third down, or do you not worry about that? (John McMullen)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, he can. I mean, we didn’t have a ton of third downs the other day — We had like four or five third-and-ones, fourth-and-ones. Yeah, he’s very capable of playing more. [Defensive Line/Senior Defensive Assistant/Associate Head Coach] Clint [Hurtt] will balance that out a little more.

Q. Do you have much time to practice Hail Mary situations? Do you have any philosophies when it comes to those? (Dave Zangaro)

Vic Fangio: Yeah, we practice it every week. Sometimes it’s just in a walkthrough, but every week.

Q. You asked about the game last year. Is that something you bring up often this week? Is it something you try to flush away? (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: Well, you aren’t going to be able to flush it away. It’s going to be on our cutups, so they’ll be seeing it.

Q. How much does that help having seen this offense just a year ago, not even a year ago, really? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: It probably helps a little bit. Probably does.

Q. In what ways? (Ed Kracz)

Vic Fangio: The guys have experience playing, playing against it, playing against their high-quality offensive line, good backs. So yeah, it does.

Q. With DB Michael Carter, if he does play more, would that be at safety? Is that part of the plan? (Reuben Frank)

Vic Fangio: That’s possible too. Yep.