On why he switched his linebackers' positions: "Really, we're interchangeable. I mean, it's all about gap responsibility. That's something I have to do a better job in the run game. We're just moving our guys around to hit different gaps so we can see what we can do with these Giants."
On why he did it now as opposed to two weeks ago or two weeks from now: "Like I said, it's really gap responsibility; it's interchangeable. We're playing the Giants, it's no different sometimes in a game plan. It's something that we want to do, the Giants are a good football team, so it's a game plan type deal."
On whether this is just for this game: "Again, I said everything just depends on the situation."
On who will be making the defensive calls: "(LB) Jamar (Chaney) will make the calls."
On whether LB Moise Fokou can run with the tight ends or will he have to put a cornerback on them: "You know what, there's different coverages that you run, too. You have to be careful what you say, you know, but sometimes things happen, there's certain coverages, people fit better with this coverage, other people fit better with this coverage, so sometimes it has to do with a lot of different things, you know."
On whether he would put a cornerback on a tight end against the Falcons in retrospect: "You know what, the thing is, I think (CB Nnamdi Asomugha) talked about that earlier, and what happened is (CB) Dominique (Rodgers-Cromartie) got nicked up a little bit, we didn't know where he was at. Hopefully we'll get to see each other in the playoffs."
On whether this move is a reflection on LB Casey Matthews: "No, I think if anything anytime that you want to point the finger at him I think you point it at me. You know, I'm his coach, I'm responsible for him, he's my responsibility."
On how this move will help Matthews moving forward: "The thing about it is, is there's a lot of things, the linebacker position, depending on how you play it, everybody ends up having the same gaps at different times, depending on the alignment, depending on the formations. I think this is something that we decided to do for the Giants and then we'll see from there what happens."
On whether any other players besides LB Brian Rolle have a chance of getting in: "The thing is, we have different packages, you've seen that. We have packages where, you saw Keenan get in there. Keenan is very athletic. You've seen a package where Jamar and (Brian Rolle) were in there, and then you've seen another package where it's Jamar and Casey. I think, you know, they're all young, and they're all fast and athletic so I think the part of it sometimes is if you split up the packages it'll help them a little bit."
On how S Nate Allen is coming along and whether he is going to get more time on defense: "You know, he still gets a little bit sore. We used him a little bit last week, and he's starting to get faster and more comfortable out there. We'll just see."
On whether he worries about Matthews' confidence because of the move and not calling the signals anymore: "No because he's playing, he's playing a lot. So no, I think he's good with that. I think he just wants to help the football team win. In this game plan that's what we're doing to win."
On whether not making the calls will help Matthews to be able to just go play: "I think it'll make it a little easier. The guy that calls the front, you know, you have to call the front, get everybody lined up, and then go and play.
On whether it's likely that he will stick with this next week: "Possibly. We'll see how we go with it. A lot of it has to do with the front and the coverage and what we're doing with it."
On what the Giant's run-heavy offense means for him: "Again, we come back to gap responsibilities, and that's my job making sure the guys understand that. I think in the game, when you go back to the Atlanta game, the first eight runs they had 42 yards, and I think then what happened is the next 12 runs they had 13 yards. Then we gave up the big one, which was a gap responsibility. It's my job to make sure that the guys come out and we do what we did in the middle of the game in the Atlanta game, that we do it from the beginning all the way to the end."
On why these new spots are better for the players switching positions: "I think what it is, is what you're trying to do that week with that spot. Because you know what, you can have in coverage, you can have the SAM linebacker be a guy that plays like the strong safety, in a certain coverage. All of the sudden, in another coverage, you can have that SAM linebacker just being the curl guy, the hook guy. It just depends what kind of coverages you're doing. It depends, I don't want to get into a game plan type deal, but it kind of depends on what you're going to do with the coverages on which one needs to do this, or which one needs to do that. But we feel that Jamar is a very good football player, and he can fit in any of those positions."
On whether it would be fair to say that he wants the middle linebacker to stop the run this week: "And take care of certain looks, certain things in the passing game. You know, they're an explosive offense, not just in the run game but also in what they do on first and second down."
On whether the realignment totally his decision: "You know that everything goes through (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid. We sit down and we discuss things, and talk about the defense on a daily basis."
On whether he is convinced that he has the personnel to get the job done: "The question your asking is, for me is, am I convinced I'm a good enough coach to get it done? Yeah I am, and it will get done."
On whether the players that changed positions could change positions again during the game: "I think they change more in the sub packages."
On DE Trent Cole's performance against the Falcons: "Trent, I mean, he's unbelievable. You can go into our meeting room and we have Trent up on the wall. He was a fifth round draft pick; he's one of our leaders. He's a guy that I talk about in the meetings. Every day we have Trent Cole right here and we have (CB) Asante Samuel right here on our walls in our meeting room. What we're trying to do is, we have a philosophy, we have a plan that if you work hard, and outwork your opponents, that you're going to be successful, that you work on your fundamentals every day. We work on the same fundamentals. What happens is if you keep working on the fundamentals every day, every week, you'll improve, you'll improve, you'll continually get better, and that's our plan. Really, that's what Trent has done. Trent was a fifth round draft pick. How did he become Trent Cole? If he was Trent Cole the way he is now, would he have been drafted in the fifth round? I mean really, would he? He's a model of what we want our guys to do here, to work and train, and do the right things."
On whether he expects to use DE Phillip Hunt more because of the injuries at defensive end or will he play DT Cullen Jenkins: "Phillip, you know, he made the team because we feel he's got some ability. We feel good about Phillip. He's athletic, he's 110 miles per hour, you know, just like (Defensive Line Coach Jim Washburn) like them. We're excited and we feel good. Sometimes opportunities are what guys take advantage of right here, and he has an opportunity."
On Jenkins: "We had Cullen come up and speak to the defense today. Every day a guy will come up and share something that he had to go through in life that was a challenge. Again, because what we're made out of is trying to work hard. Cullen is special, man, he's not just special as a football player he's special as a person, as a leader, as someone, again, I don't know if you all know, but Cullen was not a drafted guy. He shared the story with us of how he got cut from the Green Bay Packers, and was landscaping his first year, and then went back and worked in Europe, and then came back. That's inspirational. We have a hard practice today, and that's what we're talking about, guys like that that work like that. He wasn't a first round draft pick. How did he become Cullen Jenkins? How did Trent Cole become Trent Cole? That's what we're working our young guys, so they can become like that. Sometimes some guys come here and they're already studs, whether it's a first round draft pick or a high free-agent, but there's guys that come here that develop, or guys that are free agents that come here that were college free agents that had to develop."
On whether he could have made adjustments covering Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez or was he limited with his personnel: "Well, I have to do a better job, we lost the game, that's the bottom line and I hope I get another chance in the playoffs."
On what he would do differently if he had another chance: "Well we're going to have another chance, you know, they make it to the playoffs, we make it to the playoffs, I think that I will get another chance, then we'll see."
