Here's everything Houston Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said on Thursday ahead of Week 1's matchup against the Buffalo Bills, including his thoughts on running back James Cook, containing MVP quarterback Josh Allen and the play of the young defensive linemen making their NFL debut.
Q: On what he wants to prevent Bills QB Josh Allen from doing Week 1
Matt Burke: “Score touchdowns and complete passes. He's a great player, dangerous throughout the play. He has a history of making off schedule plays and extending plays and creating explosives off that, which is obviously a thing we've talked about a lot. I think the usual stuff of just trying to keep him from working his magic and he's got a lot of it. Obviously, he has the big arm. We've
been working a lot on trying to limit explosives and there's different ways those things show up. I think that's a big starting point with their offense and with Josh especially, just his ability to make huge plays in the passing game and the running game, to be honest with you, is where we've got to start.”
Q: On Bills WR DJ Moore
Burke: “Explosive receiver, great with the ball in his [Bills QB DJ Moore] hands. They've created a lot of explosives with run after the catch in the pass. He is another guy that fits in that mold, but then also can get vertical down the field. I played him a few years ago when he was in Chicago when we were here one of those night games. They have a very good group of skill players and he just adds another element, another weapon that we've got to be ready to defend.”
Q: On if past success against the Buffalo Bills effects the game plan
Burke: “They have new players. They have new receivers. They have a new coaching staff. We do as well. Week 1, you're leaning on some history and trying to figure out, ‘Hey, what do we think might happen?’ Just prepare our guys best to play, but nothing carries over. I know we had a lot of sacks last year. We don't finish some of those this year and he gets out of the pocket and makes a bunch of plays, it's a totally different game. We're preparing for a lot of stuff, but at the end of the day, we're preparing for our guys to be on their business and play the style we want to play and see how it shakes out. Week 1 in the league, there's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of we don't know what things are going to happen, so we control what we can control, which is how we play and how we prepare. Again, last year there's information available in a lot of different areas and the games we played in the past are some of that, but there's going to be a lot of unknowns and stuff that's going to change. What we think might happen is going to change probably three plays in and we'll have to be ready to adjust. It's a new game, new season and we'll be ready for it.”
Q: On how to prepare against a team with a new staff
Burke: “At the end of the day, we have to be on our stuff. That's our starting point. We're going to play us and we're going to do what we do well. We joke, last year we played them on a Thursday night. It's almost easier. We're down rabbit holes. There's a lot of film out there. There's other teams we played, obviously with Coach [Pete] Carmichael coming in and the history against his front. There's a lot of tape that we can watch and have watched and had the extra week obviously coming off the sort of bye week last weekend. You start driving yourself nuts. I even felt our players out there a little bit, they're getting ready to go play this game, what I mean? Everyone's getting itchy. You try to narrow it down as much as you can and try to limit just the chasing a bunch of stuff. Again, we've had a lot of time. We had all summer. We had last two weeks specifically to really focus in on it. As much tape as I want to watch as they're available to me and sometimes you start making it worse. I think we just try to do a good job of anticipating what we think we might see or some wrinkles or some changeups or what might be brought from other teams. Again, really focusing on at the end of the day, we've got to go play our style of ball and see how that looks.”
Q: On his emphasis to the defense when going against the Bills offense
Burke: “Yeah, really for us that's about like being in the moment, being in play-to-play, focusing. There's a lot of distractions, whether it's outside noise, whether it's in the game. There's motions. There are things happening. If you're not locked in on the moment and playing the play or playing the call or whatever it is, then that's where you get off course. Again, with a full set of dynamic offensive playmakers on this team, we can't afford to have a slip or be somewhere we're not supposed to be or have our mind in a different place or anything. The emphasis on heightened focus, every team is good. When you play a really good offensive team, NFL MVP, you play the leading rusher in the NFL, you've got to be on your stuff and it can cost you or they can get at you. Our guys are really just locked in on the calls and being able to execute what we need to execute.”
Q: On Bills RB James Cook III
Burke: “It was a short-yardage play that he kind of busted out of there and got loose on us. I would say the biggest thing with him is his ability, his vision, his ability to cut. He will take a ball anywhere. Even the one that got on us for like 12 yards where he whapped it all the way back and bounced back behind our end and got to the edge on us. There's not a lot of like you can't chase and fold too early or peekaboo in the gap. You've got to be, again, where you're supposed to be, because he's probably one of the best cutters in the league if that makes sense. He gets his ball and he'll find your mistakes. He's canceling gaps. He's going here, here, here and here, he will take it all the way out the back end. He will stay on the front side. He can get downhill and out his foot in the ground and go north-south. He can cut things. He'll bounce cut things. Like he's just got really good vision and gets to where he wants to with those cuts. So if we're out of a gap, we're not where you're supposed to be, he'll make you pay. He'll find it. That's the biggest thing. So tightening down on our discipline. We've got to be in our spots. If you're supposed to be in the B gap, be in the B gap, because, if you're not, he'll find it and it will cost you.”
Q: On Offensive Coordinator Nick Caley, and the improvements he has seen on offense
Burke: “Yeah, they've done a great job. Again, like all of us, we all try to grow every year. Nick from year one to year two has been able to do more of what he wanted to put in and progress and grow through the offense. They've made a lot of plays. It's been great of us. They've been challenging us in a lot of thing. It helps when, ‘Oh, man, that came up; how do we do that?’ That allows us to grow our defense too when things kind of get exposed or get challenged, rules get challenged. I feel like he's been able to expand a lot more. We saw a lot of different looks and a lot of different things that were new to us this year. Really great competing against him and going back and forth all camp. Excited to see them go ball out.”
Q: On keeping the defensive core together from the previous season
Burke: “I would say we play our defense pretty similar to last year when we didn't have some of those guys. We do have a philosophy of how we do want to play and then I feel like the organization has done a really good job of trying to identify good players that fit the style we do want to play. Obviously, that enhances what we do. We have really good players and we want to let those guys go be good at what they're good at. I would say that's part of it, but I think there's an identification piece to that. I've said this before, I'm trying to get out of the way. I don't want you all talking about me. I want to be as unobtrusive as possible and let those guys go play ball. But there's an element and a style, a philosophy of what we do. I don't care if it's underrated or underappreciated. We have a belief and a style we want to play and we try to stick to those principles.”
Q: On the Bills offensive line
Burke: “Very cohesive unit and with Josh obviously in conjunction with that in terms of like setting protections and how they're doing it. Whether there are some changes or not, I don't know, but you just see they're always on what they're doing. I know we had a little bit of success last year from a rush standpoint, but it's not because they're busting things or anything like that. They're a very cohesive unit. They know what they want to do. They're really good in the run game. Part of Cook's success last year is because that offensive line is really good, particularly in the run game. It's another big challenge for us. It sure is.”
Q: On being an intentional defense and how it helps, stemming down from locker placements
Burke: “Everything's intentional. I can't take credit for that. I wasn't part of the decision-making process of locker room alignments. I think in general, going back to identifying players and how we player acquisition through this organization, like we have really good players at all levels of our defense and we have really good leaders and really good veterans. I would say I'm very proud of the way like all those guys embrace the new players, whether it's a rookie like ‘K-Mac’ [Kayden McDonald] or even [Jadeveon] Clowney coming into a new system, all those guys, like Azeez [Al-Shaair] taking guys in, bringing Reed Blankenship into the back end and help those rooms. We're one for all, all for one type thing. I think it's a staple of the type of people that we try to bring in that locker room. We want to pair those guys up, whether rookie or anyone. We bring a new person in the building and there's great examples at every level in every position room at every level of the defense to say, hey, man, go watch how that guy does it and you'll be all right. Good job by [Head Coach] DeMeco Ryans or whoever did that.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans DC Matt Burke said ahead of Week 1's battle vs. Bills
