Here's everythingHouston Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said ahead of Week 10's matchup against the Cleveland Browns, including the play of tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Q: On whether the defense is capable of preforming like they did last season
Matt Burke: "Yeah, I think so. I would hope so. That's again, that's our goal obviously and I think there was a step in the right direction last week from some of the things that we were trying to get accomplished. Every season is different and I don't think you can always chase what you had or whatnot, but we're always trying to chase perfection and I think there's a lot of games left to keep growing and I think if we stay on the trend that we started on last week,
I think we hopefully are heading in that direction.”
Q: On Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson
Burke: "He’s making a lot of plays really. I haven't gone against him in a while as a coach. I'm just really diving into that a little bit. Especially obviously with some of the injuries he's had, like really moving around really well, I would say like the making plays with his legs and off-scheduling the run game, obviously transferring the offense kind of from Baltimore, Coach [Todd] Monken and that sort of thing. There's a lot of like carry over and so how they're trying to use them. He has the danger of making a lot of guys miss in the pocket, we've seen a lot of plays where he's dipping the shoulder and guys are flying by him. He's shrugging guys off and then getting out. That part of it was kind of, I don't want to say surprising, but hadn't really remember seeing a lot of that. He’s really doing a really good job with using his legs, both in the run game, pass game, getting away from the rush, all those sort of things. He hasn't thrown a lot of interceptions, taking care of the ball pretty well. Always has had the arm and can make all those throws, so that's still there. I just thought the other stuff has really stood out to me on tape.”
Q: On what leads to DT Tommy Togiai recording a high number of tackles
Burke: “I think it was probably the same last year. Did he lead the league in tackles last year or something close? I think it's probably since Tommy's been here, he's been one of our most consistent performers across the whole team, I would say and he does it in practice. He does in games. For a defensive tackle, he's got really good awareness. He's just got like really good football savvy. I'd say him and ‘Rank’ [DT Sheldon Rankins] are two of the better ones I've been around from a defensive tackle position that just have an understanding of sort of big picture how the run schemes are set up. It's not just kind of blindly just trying to be in there and either occupy space or wreck shop. They're both really good with their hands. Tommy just has a really good, good eyes for the ball. We talk about that with like linebackers and stuff sometimes in terms of having vision to the ball. Tommy sees the ball, he gets to it and his effort is unparalleled. He's always showing up where he needs to be. This morning we put the play up about the fumble we got last week where he's down the field and we missed it, but he was down there. I'm joking, it was him and the post safety that were in there trying to get the football on the ground. He shows up at the ball. He's got a really good level of awareness for a defensive tackle and he's really good with his hands in terms of getting off blocks and ‘X-ing’ off and playing with to be able to shed blocks to get there. Those three things are going to put you around the ball a lot to make those plays.”
Q: On an area the defense needs to clean up
Burke: “I would say there were still some stuff technique-wise, coverage technique that maybe even didn't show up, didn't hurt us as much. As we're watching tape, there are things that we have to clean up from those situations. Frankly, I think we'd like to finish better and I get it. The game was at a certain point and all those things, but we talk about standards and we talk about the level of defense that we want to play here. We don't want to give what you call them cheap touchdowns or not. We don't want to give up touchdowns at the end of games and we want to finish games out the right way. I think that was something that we're emphasizing a little bit this week as well.”
Q: On Cleveland Browns WR Denzel Boston and WR KC Concepcion
Burke: “Both really good playmakers, probably different stylistically. Boston, is obviously really good at the catch point, a little bit bigger body, playing more of the ‘X’, like downfield throws, but still in the slant game, catching runs, stuff with him. He’s just really good body control and kind of a classic sort of bigger receiver. Obviously saw that one last week where he kind of peanuts the guy on the deep ball down the right sideline. Then No. 1, just really good with the ball in his hands. You can see it, try to not make a lot of comparisons, like with the [Baltimore Ravens WR] Zay Flowers sort of like roll, but just they're getting the ball screen game on the perimeter, handing them off with jet sweeps, reverses and then obviously all the pass game stuff. For a smaller guy, he’s really, really strong in run after catch. It's not just making guys miss on the cutback stuff, just like very dynamic and can run through tackles, like all sort of stuff. I think they're both really special players. It's going to be a fun challenge.”
Q: On the effectiveness of having DE Will Anderson Jr., DE Danielle Hunter and DE Jadeveon Clowney all in at once
Burke: “Hopefully pretty effective. That's the plan. We just try to put multiple guys in spots and just like having to defend two wide receivers that are really good. When you have to stretch out how you protect against us and there's threats to rush across the field and obviously ‘Rank’ started us off last week with a lot of stuff early. We always talk about that. A lot of times it goes the other way. Obviously, our edge guys are kind of winning and we just try to get a get complimentary rush inside. But then when our inside guys were winning last week and then the ability to bump Will [Anderson Jr.] in some. For a defensive end to be able to rush the way he rushes inside is unique. That gives us another sort of pitch in terms of matchups and how we're trying to manipulate protection. [DE] Logan [Hall] had a sack on the edge last week in terms of him being inside out. It’s just a lot of those things, we have different lineups. Again, now an offense has to hopefully prepare for guys in different spots. You have to prepare to block either of our ends on either side. We had a couple of rushes with ‘D-Hunt’ inside last week as well. Just having all those versatile types of rushes and players just gives us a lot of options to manipulate who we want, where and which rushes and which protections and hopefully just stress an offensive line out as much as we can.”
Q: On whether the cornerbacks played up to standard in Week 9
Burke: “Yeah, hopefully the trend is that. I thought they both played well. I thought it was probably Kamari's [Lassiter] best game of the year. We still had opportunities to take the ball away more than we did. We'd like to see us finish some of those when the ball's in the air. We were around a lot more challenging, a lot more. ‘Sting’ came down with the one on the deep shot on the overlap, which is nice to see. It's sort of his patented over the shoulder catch for ‘Sting.’ That wasn't perfect, but was a step in the right direction for how we want to play. Hopefully we can keep on that trend at all levels but yeah, especially at those corners.”
Q: On S Jalen Pitre returning last week and S Reed Blankenship potentially returning
Burke: “’JP’ was awesome, obviously. I can't remember how we worded it. He's like infectious violence or contagious violence from him. He's just like a happy, violent guy. It just gets contagious the way he plays and the energy he brings and I think that shows out. I know in previous weeks we've talked about tackling and obviously he's one of our better tacklers, especially on the perimeter and in space. Getting him back just obviously from a schematic standpoint and from a physical standpoint, it's great. Just the energy and affection he brings, too. As Reed’s working back into things, too, again, another great communicator. Another guy that's been a good tackler for us as we've worked through the season. Hopefully just keep adding guys to the mix.”
Q: On Cleveland Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr.
Burke: “Man, tough run after catch guy, really tough, like physical, seeks contact. I know everyone highlights the play of the overtime touchdown last week where he stiff armed two guys and dumped them. But just in general, it's pretty hard, you don't see a lot of one-man guys bringing him down. If he can get squared up, he's a hard guy to bring down. They're starting to get the ball in space to him as well. It's not like some of the tight ends you face that are just the good over outrunners and kind of down the field, stretch you out and stuff like he's just catching a run and he's bringing it and seeking contact. I think that mindset that he plays with and how hard he runs and how physically he runs after catches is pretty unique and we have to bring our ‘A-game’ to stop him as well. A pretty fun challenge for us.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans DC Matt Burke said ahead of Week 10's game vs. Browns
