[Bryan Fuller]
[Happy Thanksgiving! We know that three hours ago we said we hoped one article was enough to chew on, but what fits the spirit of the day more than a second serving? Here’s one more to tide you over until tomorrow.]
Thoughts on this defensive football team you’re about to play?
“Very good defensive football team. Up front, very talented, use their hands very well, great initial quickness. Linebackers can run sideline to sideline. Very gifted at the corner spot. Think they play very good man coverage. The safeties—Mr. Hooker is a very good football player. Very, very talented football team. Very talented defense.”
Seemed like Indiana was having some success getting a little bit of pressure on John [O’Korn] in the last game. What was the factor that was causing that?
“Indiana does a nice job. Indiana going into that game was a big-time pressure team. They had a lot of different looks of what they did. Fundamentally, some of it was in terms of just us moving our feet, keeping our head out of there, covering guys up, IDing things. We’ve got to do a better job with that, and I’ve got to do a better job coaching it.”
How did John progress, in your mind, from the start of that game to the end?
“I think he did an outstanding job. Made a play when there was a play to be made. He managed the game very well. He took the timeouts when he needed to. He established that drive with 9:42 left in the fourth quarter. We took it down, made them use their last time out, gave the ball back with I believe :50 on the clock. John did an outstanding job.”
[Hit THE JUMP for the inevitable Speight questions]
Did you and the line have a chat about what needed to happen in the second half there?
“I read that about Mags. I don’t actually remember if I did actually say something. They do always talk about running the football. I trust them with my whole heart and soul. Maybe we did. We went over, like we normally do, our normal things at halftime, talking about it. We talked about running the ball, we talked about protections, talked with the whole group offensively [about] what we were going to do going into the second half. But I do rely on those guys. I do. In terms of just what they’re feeling, how they’re feeling it, because they’re the ones out there doing it.”
Do you want them to put more on their shoulders at this point? Your quarterback, whatever the situation is he’s either making only his second start or he’s banged up. Do you tell the line ‘You guys have got to carry more weight this week’?
“Nah. I think every week you challenge them. Every week’s a new challenge, and they understand the expectation level, what needs to be done in the room. I don’t think you ever put added pressure on them. I think that we just understand in the offensive lines, the defensive lines, the quarterback, any position there on the field that you got to deliver at a high level. I don’t think you try to put added pressure on them. Just demand.”
What’s the balance between sticking true to what you do well and changing tendency in a game like this?
“You know, I think the bottom line is you do what you do really well, you gameplan, you try to attack their weaknesses, you get a feel if they’re trying to do some things differently out there that you make sure you do adjust. The bottom line is we just do what we do.
“I would say if it’s a rainy day and you’re going to face somebody, do you change your whole gameplan, do you do the balls in the bucket, do you say ‘Hey, we’ve got to run the ball’? I think you start to get away from what you really are, and like any gameplan you try to create matchups. You try to put the best plays in, you try to call the best plays, and you just go from there.”
When you’re facing a team that’s as athletic as they are on defense, do you try to beat them by letting your athletes do the same or with scheme?
“I think both. They run really well. They really do. They’re a type of team you could probably fool ‘em once but you can’t fool ‘em twice. You do both. You do both. They run very well. Very athletic. Very good up front, like I said. Great initial quickness. Really savvy football players. Really savvy, so you’ve got to put the best plan together.”
When you’re going against a team that puts up big offensive numbers the way they do, is there more pressure on your offense to do the same?
“No, you just control what you can control offensively, just like the special teams, just like the defense, you know. My job is to coordinate this offense, but it’s a good question. You just stay on course. In any type of game you’re going to get a storm. You weather the storm. You find out the best answers, you deliver the best answers, and you get the players to execute at a high level.”
When you’re gameplanning, to what extent can you plan for that? There’s a lot of things you can’t plan for.
“I mean, you go through all the different scenarios in the game. You’ve got the four-minute, you’ve got the two-minute, you’ve got the red zone, you’ve got backed up, you’ve got all the different third downs. I mean, you go through it and you think, you always go in your mind ‘well what if they do this play or this coverage, what are you going to do? If they play this front they bring a lot of this pressure, and you kind of always have a little bit, something, on that call sheet that if they start to do something you can change and be able to maneuver. You just don’t want to be pigeonholed.
“You know, at times you want to think like their defensive coordinator. How would you attack us? What would you do to us? You look back at games and different things that they’ve had done in the past, and Coach Schiano being there, what did he do at the previous employer to where I was? What did he do when we played against him?”
How much do you look at what other teams have had success with against them and incorporate that?
“Well, you always look. You look at what hurts them. You look at the other teams and evaluate. You put that in consideration and you take what you need to take.”
Were you looking at Schiano’s NFL film?
“Yeah, he was at Tampa Bay at the time and Rutgers at the time. There’s a lot of different places that we’ve crossed over.”
Wilton’s taking snaps?
“Yeah, he’s taking snaps. He’s day-to-day. We’ll make the decision when we need to make it. That’s in the doctor’s hands and ultimately Coach Harbaugh will make that final decision, him being the head football coach, with the doctors.”
Can you make a decision on that real late in the week? Do you kind of need to know early?
“Yeah, I think you can do it whenever you can do it. We’ve had guys before—Frank Gore when we were at the Niners. He was kind of a little banged up, we took him out and warmed him up, he looked good, made a decision. You’ve got the head coach, you’ve got the doctors, you’ve got the trainers. You make what’s the best decision for that young man’s health and for the football team.”
It’s not different for a quarterback, though?
“Nah, it’s any position. A position’s a position, you know.”
How much is this an atonement for last year’s game? Do you think about that?
“I mean, whenever you lose a game it hurts you and you don’t want it ever to happen again, but this is the next opponent up and we’re going to put the best gameplan together and stay even-keeled. You don’t want to get emotionally hijacked and think this, think that. Just put our players in the best situation and let’s go out and execute at a high level.”
Does Wilton lobby to play through the week? Is he someone who’s asking that?
“Wilton’s an unbelievable competitor. I wouldn’t say he ever would lobby, but he’s ready to go if he’s able.”
How healthy does he have to be to get on the field?
“That’s really up to Jim and up to the doctors and trainers, and we’ll make that final decision when we need to. I can’t put a percentage or, you know.”
Is it more of an issue of whether he can play or if whatever capacity he can play is better than John?
“We want the best for Wilton and for our football team.”
Can you sense a little more energy among the seniors wanting to win this game not having won it yet?
“You know, yeah. I mean, you see that. I think it’s excitement in the air, just like every week. It’s the last final regular season game and there’s a want-to to play at a high level.
“Is there more excitement? You know what, this is a great time of week, Thanksgiving, because you’ve got a lot to be thankful for. You play this game, to be able to break bread on Thanksgiving with your family and the team—I think there’s always excitement on this team around this time. Any time you get to play a football game on Thanksgiving and that week, it’s a neat time of the year. You look back at times in high school, maybe you don’t make it far enough in the playoffs. You know, it’s like, gosh, this is a great day! And everybody’s got their Turkey Bowls on Thursday and it’s a very thankful time.”
If John starts, what did he gain from the Indiana game?
“I think he gained in terms of just being able to manage the team, manage the offense, take snaps in a live situation. You know, just another chance for him to do it.”
You mentioned this week. What about Jim? He talks about treating every week the same. Have you seen anything different from him this week?
“No. You know, I’ve been with Jim for a long time. No. He’s the same, just like I’m the same. You know, it’s put the best plan together, you lead the team, you lead the players, you get the players to practice hard and you get them to execute, you get them to understand the gameplan and take it day by day—you know, want to be better today than you were yesterday and just keep going.”