Here's everythingHouston Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said ahead of Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts, including his thoughts on containing Jonathan Taylor, slowing down the tempo of Daniel Jones in the passing game and more.
Question: On Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Matt Burke: "Takes 11. Great player. A ton of respect for him. Obviously, we've had a lot of battles with him over the years. Another guy that has everything in his arsenal. He can run inside, outside, good vision, good in the pass game as well and hard to tackle. A very patient runner. Again, another sort of example of we've got to kind of be where we need to be in terms of not folding too early. If you give up an edge, you think he's going one way, he can always
bring it back. So, we have to be pretty disciplined in our gaps and in our run fits to stop him. It's always a good challenge. It's always fun to go against a great back like he is and we're excited to get that opportunity again."
Q: On Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones
Burke: "He's been moving around well. You guys have seen he's gotten out of the pocket still and he's still beating people's legs and doing those things. I haven't noticed anything any different from how he's operating. They do a good job at the line of scrimmage and just with his checks and what they're trying to get into and trying to put him in the right call. In terms of how he's operating, he's still working at a very high level."
Q: On coaching up S Reed Blankenship
Burke: "I think that's the same for everyone. I hope I give grace to a lot of people, you guys included. I thought Reed made giant strides from Week 1 to Week 2. I thought he had a lot of good plays in the game, tackled really well for us. I think you saw his comfort level in the scheme and what we're asking him to do in his role grow and I think that's going to just sort of be the trend as we move through things. I think there's a lot of our guys that had some plays that went back again, so the grace comes in that and just coaching in the same way. Whether it's Will [Anderson Jr.] who's been here for the whole time or Reed who's new. Like, 'Hey, this is what we're asking you to do and if it's not happening, why? Let's figure it out and let's fix it."
Q: On the lack of turnovers heading into Week 3
Burke: "It's like anything, if you're chasing things, chasing sacks, you start cheating to go make a pick, then you're going to be in a bad position. We've had opportunities. We've been in the positions that we need to be in and we either haven't finished on the ball or we've had a couple on the ground we haven't got to, those sort of things. So, we've had opportunities. Obviously, it's something that we preach and we practice and we believe in in terms of how it affects the game. Again, you start chasing and cheating to go try to make a pick, then it's going to cost you. The messaging is be in the right positions, be in your leverage, be where you need to be and then when the plays come we've got to make them and we've had opportunities. We had 'D-Hunt' [Danielle Hunter], Will and 'Rank' [Sheldon Rankins], I think all three of them had the ball loose in the pocket last week on the quarterback. I feel like we're close. At the end of the day it's just about putting shots on net and the more opportunities, the more attempts we get on the ball, then hopefully those numbers start changing. But, we're due."
Q: On the emphasis of positioning during a scramble drill from an opposing quarterback
Burke: "That's a two-part process, always. Our rush has to be coordinated in terms of how we're trying to dictate where someone gets out or if they can or can't get out or when they do those sort of things. The rush has to be in unison and then always in coverage. In terms of a plaster drill or scramble drill, it's got to be on your minds and I feel like it's probably every week at this point in the league these days that quarterbacks can get out and make plays. There's probably more of those than the traditional old-school pocket passer that's a statute back there. Again, trying to coordinate the front, that it doesn't happen, but when it does, the back end's got to make sure that they're on their rules of who they're plastering and who they're matching up with and those sort of things."
Q: On a defensive meeting held by DE Will Anderson Jr.
Burke: “I wasn't there. Will asked to do that yesterday and I think it was more of like, 'Hey, let's just kind of reset and not forget who we are and how we approach things.' We feel that our formula is a good formula and let's just make sure we're back to doing the things that we want to do and the way we operate here. I think it was just sort of like a reset reminder, but we had a good day of practice today, so maybe so."
Q: On the positives of having DE Will Anderson Jr. and LB Azeez Al-Shaair to take command of the team
Burke: "In a lot of ways, after a while, a coach preaching to players sometimes that can fall on deaf ears. So, when you have the players that are driven to sort of bring those points up or to make that communication for themselves. It's always good feedback as a coaching staff too. Those guys are honest in terms of what the pulse of the team is or what's going on or how can we be better to serve them as coaches. To have guys that A, like have the respect and command of their peers and in the room, but then also are mature enough to like have conversations with the coaching staff about what they're seeing and just true communication in terms of like, 'Hey, let's make sure we're all on the same page through this,’ that's invaluable."
Q: On having a top five defense over the last two years and coordinating changes within the defense
Burke: "We have this conversation every week. If you just line up in one thing and stand there, yeah, there's a lot of good offensive coaches and we're about to play a really good one. They can scheme things up, so we're always trying to keep change-ups and moving targets. Feedback from the players in the moment on game day is the same thing. I can see what I'm seeing from over here, but like they're on the field like, 'No man, this guy's doing this to me.' Or, 'Hey, I saw this motion a little differently,' and you get that feedback. We have a lot of good and mature players that can truly communicate what they're seeing, what they're experiencing and then let's try to generate some answers or some ways to combat that. Really love all our guys and in terms of that part of it, they feel very honest and open about sort of what their plight is on the field or at practice or within a call or in a play. Everybody has it hard down. There's calls where I know I'm helping this guy out, it's putting you in a bad spot or vice versa. Those guys know that, too. That's the kind of moving target you try to keep in terms of where you're helping guys or where you're giving guys a harder down. Those guys have got to win some of those plays and that's part of playing ball. Communication from the staff to the players and vice versa is huge."
Q: How has he seen offenses adjust to his defense over the years
Burke: "We talked about Week 1 last week. I thought we did a lot of good things. We were pretty solid in the run game. We started affecting the quarterback a little bit more with the sacks and pressure numbers. A couple balls went up on us in some random situations. We've got to make some of those plays, but I thought they just ran their offensive. I didn't see a ton of like pointed things in terms of what they were trying to do to get at us. That's always like a fluid thing as you move through the year and if there's patterns that start to show up or anytime we give up plays per se, we know that people are looking at those. So, okay, 'How could this next offense sort of replicate that play or put you in the same bind or whatever that situation was?' Those are things that we repped throughout the week to sort of stay ahead of. I haven't seen like a total pattern of like things that are thematic through that."
Q: On the linebacker room
Burke: "I thought both those guys played really well. Azeez [Al-Shaair] had a huge game tackling and just super credit to him just in terms of like talking about communication and stuff. Him running the show was loud out there and him trying to get everyone on the same page and communicate and run everything. There's a lot of burden in that you've got a bunch of guys asking you for the calls like, 'What are we doing, how are they making checks and seeing everything?' Man, he did a really good job with that. We put a little bit more on his plate maybe last week. I though Jake [Hansen] stepped in and did really well. Same thing. Jake probably, as much as anybody on the field, took to a lot of our specific game plan, coaching points and the ways we were trying to play some techniques. Jake really did a good job on sort of taking some things away that we were trying to take away. I thought those guys both did a really good job and we'll just kind of keep building that depth as we go through."
Q: On CB Derek Stingley Jr.
Burke: "You can ask [Former NFL Official] Walt Anderson about that one. We have an immense amount of confidence in 'Sting' as a player. If someone's strategy is to take a lot of shots at 'Sting', we'll live in a lot of those scenarios. He's got as good of all skills as most of the receivers he's going against. The play [Cincinnati Bengals' WR Ja'Marr Chase's first touchdown in Week 2], yeah, kind of was in a weird spot. 'Sting' was on top of the guy. We preached all week about not letting guys get behind us. I mean, he was on top of Chase. He got a little contact there at one point. It was kind of a weird outside throw for him. He was trying to locate it. If someone thinks they're going to make a lot of living making those plays on 'Sting', then we'll see how that works out throughout the year."
Q: On adjusting preparation to go against an offense who is missing a key player
Burke: "I think I've probably said this in the past playing these guys. I think Coach [Shane] Steichen is one of the best in the league at designing shots. I think he has a true understanding of what the defense is trying to do or how they're deploying their guys and then how to try to set those things up. Everything that they do is intentional from a motion, a formation. They're trying to get you into certain things and take advantage of that. I think he does a really good job. I mean, [Alec] Pierce is a great player. We've been playing without one of ours as well [Nico Collins]. I understand how that works. I think we have to be on our stuff in terms of like the schematic plays are going to be there and they've got capable players to go make those. Obviously, the tight end's had some explosives on us in the past. He's a good player. You know, [Laquon] Treadwell came in last week and caught whatever that was in overtime. Those shots are going to be there. I get that Pierce is a good player, but it doesn't take away that element of their offense, so we've got to be on it to make sure that we're not going to be exposed again in those things."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans DC Matt Burke said ahead of Week 3 vs. Colts
