Vic Fangio
Q. What happened on the 41-yard touchdown? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, it was between [DB] Cooper [DeJean] and [CB] Riq [Woolen]. Had a miscommunication on that.
Q. What needs to kind of happen to make sure that that doesn’t happen again? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Correct it, make sure they understand it, which we thought they did. That wasn’t an uncommon motion for that team.
Q. Were you happy with the call there? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: No, the result was [bad].
Q. Who was supposed to be with Bears WR Kalif Raymond? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: Well, those two guys have to sort it out. I’m not going to point blame.
Q. No takeaways, three sacks through three games. How disappointing is the lack of big plays? (Reuben Frank)
Vic Fangio: I mean, they all have a story. We definitely need to get some takeaways to help our offense and to get some stops. The sacks, a little different there, but yeah, I think we’ll get some eventually.
Q. What was the reason behind DB Michael Carter coming in perhaps after the first drive? (Reuben Frank)
Vic Fangio: Well, we were going to play them both. That was the plan all week. We practiced it that way and we played them both.
Q. What about that position right now? (Brooks Kubena)
Vic Fangio: Those two guys are still going to man it.
Q. How are you going to manage that situation though? How do you determine who’s out there at what time? (Bo Wulf)
Vic Fangio: We’re just kind of rotating them. It’s not so much situationally as it is rotating them.
Q. Is the goal to have one settle in eventually? (EJ Smith)
Vic Fangio: That’s always your goal.
Q. How does DB Kenny Moore II factor into that? (Martin Frank)
Vic Fangio: Well, he’s a down the line possibility, maybe. He’s really never played safety in his career, so it’d be some heavy lifting for him on the immediate return.
Q. S Drew Mukuba got banged up in practice, I guess, before the Tennessee game. Is that hampering him at all from your perspective? (John McMullen)
Vic Fangio: No.
Q. I know you were asked about DT Jalen Carter and the wrist, but how much can he actually do with that? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: Well, it’s a negative. There’s no way it can’t be, but to be honest with you, he’s done better than I thought he would with it.
Q. Have you thought about rotating LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in, maybe getting him some reps? (Reuben Frank)
Vic Fangio: It’s possible but didn’t feel the need to.
Q. Multiple players after the game used in some different words, ‘miscommunications,’ were ‘not on the same page.’ What do you think is the issue there? (Jeff Neiburg)
Vic Fangio: It’s the play we were talking about.
Q. Are you still keeping DB Cooper DeJean in the slot when you’re in nickel? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: Yeah.
Q. How do you feel DB Cooper DeJean’s playing this year? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: Playing good.
Q. When you look back at that game, what stands out most to you? (Dave Zangaro)
Vic Fangio: I thought our guys were ready to play mentally and physically. Our details were off a little bit, especially when they were throwing it quick, so that’s on me. Didn’t have them ready to execute better.
Q. [Regarding OLB Jonathan Greenard.] (Brooks Kubena)
Vic Fangio: About what I thought. He got, I don’t know, 18, 19 snaps, I think. Had some good rushes. Some little things were off a little bit, but about what I expected.
Q. Chicago had a much higher percentage of intermediate level throws. Is there a common theme there, middle of the field — (Jeff Neiburg)
Vic Fangio: No.
Q. Rallying to the ball and making tackles have been an issue for the last two weeks. Is there a theme or do you think it’s just kind of isolated to just a couple games? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, I don’t think it’s rallying to the ball as much as we’ve just missed some because I had us for 11 missed tackles in the game, but it only gave up 28 yards extra, so that indicates they are rallying to the ball.
Q. With OLB Jonathan Greenard, how quickly do you think he could get ramped up to what was expected? (John McMullen)
Vic Fangio: I think it’ll be an upward trend. 18, 19 snaps this past game, maybe up to 30 this game. Ballpark figures, don’t hold me to it.
Q. Do you think teams are targeting your safeties? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: No.
Q. When you look at the Rams, obviously they have the offensive weapons that they have. How do you prepare for them on a short week? What’s the key to that? (Martin Frank)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, they’re really good. Not counting their San Francisco game in Australia, their last three games going back to the NFC championship game, they’ve gotten 500 yards in all three games against Seattle, the Giants and Denver. Three good defenses. That in and of itself explains to you what the chore is we have. They run it very well. They stay committed to the run and they’ve got a really good play action game off of it that they marry very well to the run game. You’ve got [Rams QB Matthew] Stafford at quarterback, guy’s going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Got the weapons and the tight ends that they have and they’re probably having the [Rams WR Puka] Nacua back this week.
So yeah, it’s a tough assignment because they’re balanced and they run and throw it very effectively.
Q. [Regarding Rams WR Davante Adams.] (Brooks Kubena)
Vic Fangio: He’s got size, number one. He’s quick and a really good releaser off the ball. He knows how to body up DBs and get himself an advantage one way or the other. With a quarterback like Stafford, that’s all you need.
Q. Rams Head Coach Sean McVay’s really changed the run scheme the last few years. How’s that made his offense different and what are the challenges? (Jeff McLane)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, he hasn’t changed his run scheme at all. What he’s changed is he’s playing three tight ends, but the run game’s the same. That’s the beauty of their offense. No matter what personnel they have out there, they basically run it the same way. It’s just different people.
Q. I guess, what makes them so hard? (Jeff Neiburg)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, their tight ends are versatile. They’re pretty good receivers, and obviously the blocking and they create extra gaps in there. They’re committed to it and they’re good at it.
Q. What do you think of LB Zack Baun’s play over the last couple of weeks? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, it’s been good.
Q. At the start of this, you talked about how the sacks are going to be coming. What do you see that makes you feel that way? (Zach Berman)
Vic Fangio: I haven’t felt like our rush has been poor. I mean, they’re throwing it rather quickly a lot of times is part of it.
Q. You’re just as confident that the takeaways will come? (Reuben Frank)
Vic Fangio: Yeah.
Q. You pushed a little more and then you used CB Riq Woolen in certain situations this past week. Why’d you like that? (Tim McManus)
Vic Fangio: Just to get some mix going. That was about it.
Q. [Regarding CB Quinyon Mitchell.] (Reporter)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, I thought he played very well overall.
Q. In those moments, are there points of emphasis for possible interceptions for the way that he plays or how do you discuss that given that it is still — (Brooks Kubena)
Vic Fangio: Yeah, obviously you’d like to pull one or two of those in. We’ve just got to keep giving them multiple ball drills. Coaches throwing ball drills is almost a waste because they’re lollipops. We’ve got to get them on the jugs or get a real quarterback throwing them some balls that have some RPMs, maybe like a [Jhoan] Duran fastball rather than a Jamie Moyer.