On showing whole defense:"Yeah, we're all excited about using our rules and seeing what we come up with. We'll go one play at a time."
On differences in defensive schemes in preseason and regular season:"It's all in the scheme to us. I've talked in the past about categories. We teach it as categories. The look will be slightly different, but it will be the same type of coverage that we're using. It will look different, but to us, we like to think we can use our rules and play fast."
On players picking up defense:"When you keep it…like the same thing, it's those lines of teaching, so when you see it on a certain thing and say, 'hey, this is like this, remember?' And then see how they do from there. Once you correct them, see if there are any repeat offenders. We've been able to catch it, and they'll make the adjustments. And the guys have been great at making those adjustments. We're in the lines and this week has been really well. Anything that we made the first time we made the call on the practice field, they've done the next time. If we can transfer that to a game, we're going to be excited about where that takes us."
On doing too much on defense:"As a coach, you go in the game plan meeting and you think about: 'What 11 guys are going to be on the field? What can they do well? And how do we maximize their abilities?' Sometimes there's a whole bunch ideas and sometimes there's not as many. You can know you're doing real well. So you're playing that line every game plan week. What do they know well? What have we seen from practice that our guys really have a good grasp of? What does everybody do well? What changes do we need to make and/or what little tweaks? How do we fit it in our categories, get it all done and then make it presentable to them so they can play fast? So you're playing with that line all the time as a coach. That's what makes it fun at game plan meetings; you're playing on that level. We did that last night and we'll do it again for the next section of the game plan tomorrow."
On if there are things he still doesn't know and won't find out until the team is playing:"Sure. You're playing this team. I had a fortunate year where I got to work with Coach [Norv] Turner. He's one of the best in this league, in the history of this league at calling plays. He's special. He can find, see a weakness in your coverage, and repeat plays to get himself and his players in good spots. There are some things we don't know, but if we use our rules of our defense and we understand where each other are, and then if anything happens, get the guy on the ground with the ball and go to the next play. That's the key. That's even more so the key with Coach Turner and the Chargers because one, they've been together awhile, and two, you don't know what formations they're going to pick. But, if you have good rules and you use your rules, then you'll be alright because they shift and motion and try to get the ball to their good players. So are you going to know everything they're going to pick? No. Does anybody ever know everything Norv picks? No. But, the rules can get us through the down and if there's a tough one, get the guy on the ground with the ball or take the ball away and go to the next play."
On Miles Burris playing with passion, but not getting out of control:"Sure, because if you get too excited then you lose track of where your help is in the defensive play. But this game is a passionate, energetic game which is why we all love it and love coaching it. You can't take that out of it either. That's a fine line to play as a coach. As for the players, you're constantly looking at where they are. Are they too excited? What's their mindset during the game? What are they feeling like? You ask them, 'how do you feel?' 'I just didn't see that one.' 'Okay, well now you know right? Okay.' 'Yeah.' Make the adjustment.
On whether Burris is where he needs to be:"Miles is doing well. In the situations, when we pick defenses, we have all 11 players that are on the field in our minds and he's been using his rules on those for the most part, pretty well. Miles is very rarely a repeat offender. He learns from it and comes back with a vengeance on the next couple of plays. He's tackled pretty well over the last two games. He wasn't as good the first game, and he made that adjustment. What's nice about Miles is that he's very coachable."
On Matt Shaughnessy's strengths:"Goes straight ahead and runs into things. Matt loves football. When you aim him somewhere, he goes and hits where he's aimed. He does a nice job of using his hands and playing the physical part of his game. Mentally, he's one of those guys that can really do a nice job of going to the next play. That would be the strengths of Matt. We're excited that he's healthy and I can't wait to watch him play."
On San Diego's undrafted free agent rookie starting at tackle:"It's the same thing. If you get focused on that one spot, Coach Turner and what they call, they do such a good job of getting down the field and attacking where you overload a run game. So if you're overloading him, for example, he might get to the other side the whole game so you've got to watch that. He's got in front of the guy that he's blocked, for the most part, in the preseason. We know he's out there, they know he's out there and it's a chess match to see how much they help him and how much the scheme goes around him and what players can match him. Everybody is conscious of it, them and us, and that's what makes the game great. You don't know who's going to be up and you've got to be able to adjust both as a player within a down, and as a coach within a game."
