Jack Del Rio and Eric Bieniemy talk about Washington’s win over the Patriots, visiting the Seahawks, and more

Washington’s coordinators talk before practice

Jack Del Rio

Defense vs the Patriots:

I thought we did a good job defensively last week. We had two plays that got away from us. One in the pass, one in the run. And other than that, we played real, real well.

Key on defense when facing Seattle:

Play good defense. You know, when you’re dealing with the run game, make sure you’re rugged. Make sure we’re swarming. They have a big, strong line, talented backs and when they’re throwing it, rush and coverage go together.

Rookies vs the Patriots:

No, it was good. I mean, I obviously, you know, that was one we thought he did the right things there. We had some young guys that showed up and played well in the game. You know Quan got the interception at the end. Emmanuel played well, played a bunch and played a lot better. So, we had some contributions from some of the younger guys that are being called on to play and that was good to see.

Emmanuel Forbes’ improvement from previous weeks:

I think he’s just working at it. You know, he’s a good young player. We believe in him. He’s just gotta grind and work. That’s what he has done and that allowed him to get himself back in the game and then he played well.

KJ Henry’s sack/penalty:

NFL emphasizing roughing the passer penalties:

Pass rush vs the Patriots:

I mean, you got, anytime a team throws as much quick game as they throw, you’re not gonna get home a lot. But, you know, the ball came out on time. He wasn’t back there patting it and holding it forever. So, what I like about it is that our defense played well. If a team doesn’t want to get sacked and they want to throw quick game all day, they can do that. One, two throw. So yeah, everything was solid. We had a good solid effort.

What makes Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith tough to play against?:

Geno just has played well. He is a veteran guy. He has seen a lot. He’s experienced a lot. He’s grown a lot and he’s become a good football player in this league, so he’s earned it. I appreciate guys that work along through their career and are good pros.

Prepping for games:

Jonathan Vilma’s explanation of Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson’s 64-yard touchdown::

It was accurate. Jonathan was right. Jonathan played a long time. He was right. We didn’t fit it properly and then we didn’t cap it. Anything that pops through, if it ever goes long like that, there’s somebody in the back end that didn’t do their job in terms of capping and getting it down. That’s just part of explosives. If you’re having them, you’re not capping them in the back end if they’re runs and you’re letting the ball go over your head if it’s a pass.

Explosive plays:

Yeah, explosive plays allowed. That’s been the big problem. We’re playing solid in a lot of areas but the explosive plays allowed. Many of them kind of gift type situations are the ones that keep us from ranking well and being able to beat our chest and say, look at our rank right here which doesn’t mean a whole lot. I think what really means the most is give your football team a chance to win, play complementary football and make sure we’re getting the ball back for our offense as often as possible.

Is giving up big plays a byproduct of having young players in the secondary?:

Look, we could come up with reasons which would then be considered excuses and we’re just not going to get into that. But obviously, it’s not what we’re looking for. I like the amount that we had last week. I think holding people to one rush explosive and one pass explosive will meet our goal board. We have a defensive goal board and that will meet our goal board each week. We just don’t want it to be a 64-yard explosive.

We look at everything, that’s what we do as coaches. The bottom line is, get our guys fired up, ready to go, prepared, full of energy, and then we go out and compete. It’s kind of like we put our neck out there each week, right? Some weeks it gets chopped off. I’d like this week to be one of those weeks where it does not get chopped off.

Eric Bieniemy

Sacks in the last two games:

I attribute that to our coaching staff doing a great job getting these guys ready. Travelle Wharton and Juan Castillo are two pretty good O-line coaches. On top of that, just making sure that everybody’s on the same page. I talked about it before. We got to continue making sure that we’re doing a great job of over-communicating and getting the proper message communicated to our players. I think our players have done a heck of a job protecting the quarterback. And the quarterback has done a great job of getting rid of the football. So right now, I think we’re in a good place now. We just got to continue moving forward.

Avoiding negative situations as a play caller:

It always feels good when you’re not in a negative. Whatever we can continue doing moving forward to help us in a positive light, that’s what we want to continue doing. And just like I said last week, we’re continuing to grow. We’re working and growing together as an offensive unit. Our guys are doing the little things that we’re asking of them, and we’re starting to see some things show up on tape on a consistent basis. We just need to make sure that it can continue this particular week because the challenge is different. The team is different and the setting is different.

Run game against New England::

I just think that our guys did a heck of a job of maintaining some consistency. Obviously, we still got to be much better on first down. It was a concerted effort just to make sure that we’re doing enough in the run game. I thought the backs did a heck of a job. Now, obviously, when you run it like we did a number of times, those guys are going to want more. And in order to get more, they got to make sure that they’re continuing to do the little things. We got to continue protecting the football, we got to continue making sure that we’re being decisive when being given those opportunities and finding the right seams and making it happen. We’ll continue working on that aspect of our game as well.

Brian Robinson’s grown within the offense:

First of all, Brian is a tremendous individual. He’s a courageous young man that has a story that basically sets himself apart from many different people. I just love the individual, he’s a great kid. He’s a hardworking professional. The thing that I love about him is that he has the right attitude and the right mindset. Those are the type of people that you want in an organization. Those are the type of people that you want to lean on in certain situations such as what he did this past week and just running the football.

Jahan Dotson working through the drops:

Even though Jahan has dropped the ball, he’s still been himself. One thing I always tell these guys, I’m not judging you based on something negative that happened. The only thing that matters is the next play. That’s what this game is about. If you play this game long enough, things happen. The only thing I want to see is how are we going to respond when called upon? I’ve seen a consistent young man that have worked hard at his task and obviously he’s having some production. He’s showing some good things. He just needs to continue to put that consistent behavior on tape.

Dotson’s touchdown catch:

He made a heck of a catch. It was good. It was good to see. Obviously, it was good just watching our guys make it happen. Our guys have been working their tails off and it was just good to see the hard work payoff in that particular moment.

What stands out about the Seattle Seahawks defense:

They’re fast. It’s a typical Pete defense. They’re fast up front. These guys do a great job of penetrating. They want to get to the quarterback. On top of that, they got a great linebacker who’s going to be hall of fame worthy. I’ve watched his career for a number of years. I remember when he was at Utah State. He’s done a tremendous job since he’s been in the league. And then he’s got some guys in the secondary that love to wreak havoc. It’s a typical Seattle defense and the challenge is different. We got to go out and execute our offense better than they execute their defense. They’re not a defense that’s going to cause any confusion because they going to play straight up and try and beat you with their best. Our job is to make sure that we can go out and do what we do best.

Sam Howell’s pre-snap checks:

You know what, Sam is right where he needs to be, just like I say, each and every week. Every week he’s growing with the offense. He’s doing a heck of a job as a leader. Obviously, it’s always been important to him because he takes work home, he studies. He’s a humble, hardworking kid that just wants to do it the right way. And so as far as his pre-snap reads and everything, I think he’s just doing a great job of just having a complete understanding of what he’s looking at, but also feeling more and more confident and just executing his job with great attention to details.

Quan Martin intel on Seattle Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon:

You know what, I haven’t quite asked Quan yet, but I’ve watched him enough when they were at Illinois together because, a good friend of mine who’s the head coach at Purdue , we used to babysit him when I was in college. So, I’ve known all about those two young men for a long time, [laughs] but the kid Witherspoon is pretty good.

John Bates helping in pass protection and run blocking:

Bates is doing a heck of a job. He’s a new father, first of all, I probably shouldn’t even say that, huh. Dang. I was about to say, I just got myself in trouble. But you are talking about a good wholesome kid that you just love watching work every single day. Bates has a workman’s mentality. He shows up with his hard hat every single day in his work boots and that’s what you appreciate about him. And you know, the thing about it, he has not changed from who he is. And the thing that I’m watching and enjoying is he’s better than what anybody gives him credit for. Because just when you doubt anything, he may come up with a big catch. On top of that he’s doing a great job in the run game as a blocker, and then he’s doing the things that he probably doesn’t get enough credit for in the background, which has been very, very good to see.

Howell’s throw to WR Byron Pringle across the field:

You keep playing. Hey, things happen, right? In situations, just like in life, things happen in life. In this game, and if you’ve been around it long enough, you’ve participated and played, sometimes plays break down. And when those plays break down, great things can happen if you continue to play. I thought our guys did a great job of continuing to play, Sam kept his feet alive, Pringle kept the route alive. And when you’re doing that, that’s when the chemistry starts to develop. So you’re seeing the connections that we’re making, not just because of the X’s and O’s that we’re designing, but know the fact that we’re understanding that if you work at it, guess what? Great things will come.

Did his heart drop when Howell threw the pass Pringle:

If you’re in this industry long enough and you got to understand, I’ve watched Patrick throw a bunch of them, and so I’ve kind of lost the scared feeling years ago. But you don’t doubt those guys. They know exactly what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.

Did he knew Howell was capable of making those kinds of throws based on his tape:

Yes, in fact I’ve shared this with you guys before. I have a couple of good friends of mine that coach with the University of North Carolina. The O-line coach’s son was the strength and conditioning coach down there. Both his sons played on the offensive line at North Carolina. Natrone Means was a former teammate of mine. Tim Cross, who I’ve known since my college days, one of my fraternity brothers. I’ve had a great connection with people there and they told me everything that I needed to know about him. And he’s living up to the bill.

Is the offense starting to click?:

You know what, I don’t know if it’s so much a light bulb moment because in this industry, you can have a good day or you can have a bad day and obviously we’ve proven that. So we just got to learn how to put consistent behavior on tape, obviously. I always use this old school saying, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. So if you’re not giving yourself a chance to have a chance, then why do it?

So we all have to work hard at it because if we’re working hard at it, we’ll create our own luck. And if we’re creating our own luck, good things will happen. So we can’t worry about the things we cannot control. It’s all about us going out and making sure we’re taking care of the little things that need to be taken care of so we can give ourselves a chance to have the best chance of winning come Sunday.

Tips for Sam Howell to deal with the loud environment at Lumen Field:

It isn’t so much tips. You’re just making sure that he’s mentally prepared. Because when you’re playing in hostile environments like that, everything seems to happen a little faster. That clock seems to be running a little bit faster. I got to get the play out a little faster. Everything feels rushed. The biggest thing, I want him to remain calm. I want him to remain poised under pressure, as he always does. But the biggest thing is it’s a part of being a professional player. He has to learn to handle the environment and it will be a loud and hostile environment, but we’re looking forward to that challenge.

Terry McLaurin sliding to keep the clock running late in the game:

He’s a veteran that’s been in this league for a while, but those are the type of things that we discuss each and every week, making sure that we’re doing the right things, keeping the clock running. So in those particular situations as a four minute mode, you want to make sure you are utilizing as much clock as possible. But as a veteran, I’m not shocked nor surprised that he did that. And he understood the assignment and he did a great job of executing it in that particular moment.

Logan Thomas

Chase Young’s comments after getting traded to the 49ers: