Mike Macdonald: "Geno Is A Stone-Cold Assassin Late In Games"

SPEAKER_1 (0:07)

Bob Condote, you want to get us going?

SPEAKER_2 (0:13)

Sure.

SPEAKER_3 (0:15)

Mike, I know you talked about this a little bit after the game, especially after watching the film. What do you look at as kind of the biggest improvements in your defense from this game, from the first time you played the 49ers?

Mike Macdonald (0:29)

Well, I mean, you can't, you start singling stuff out, it gets tough. I mean, it's, I know I sound like I broke a record, it's all 11 It's how we game plan, it's the things that we want, how we work the stuff throughout the week, how we iron out the rules, how we create clarity for our guys, how we get the call in fast, how we communicate it, how we set the front, how we play blocks up front, how we play second and third level, how we tackle stream line, I mean, all those things go into having success on Sundays. And when you do it the right way and you stack those plays, you stack those reps, I think that gives the guys a lot of confidence going in and being able to execute.

SPEAKER_1 (1:19)

Brian.

SPEAKER_5 (1:22)

Hey, coach. According to NFL Next Gen stats, you guys had a 0.71 getoff as your fastest so far this year, and you also had a season best 2.7 yards per separation in terms of coverage. Anything you'd attribute that to in terms of whether it's coaching emphasis, resting from the buy or something else that might have changed in this game?

Mike Macdonald (1:44)

Well, having fresh legs definitely sounds like that has something to do with it. I mean, that's a hell of a question, Brian.

I mean, it's good to hear that we're guys. We're going off of good keys up front. Guys are reacting fast. Being sticky in coverage is not an easy task against the 49ers. The way they create space and how they handle their formations and personnel. So it tells me that we're executing at a high level, communicating well. So that's all good stuff.

SPEAKER_5 (2:18)

Quick follow up. I'm just curious, if you had the number one pick in the draft and you could take any position on defense to start a defense, best player possible, which position would you pick?

Mike Macdonald (2:30)

Man, without context, the rule of thumb would be, or conventional wisdom, you'd think someone that could affect the quarterback. So it would be the easy answer. But I will say this, I think we've found out that some of these positions that people say that they don't, that they undervalue or analytically undervalued, I think we've debunked some of that over the last few years with the great interior guys up the middle, the great safeties in our league, the great defensive tackles in our league, inside linebackers, I don't want to devalue any of those guys because those people can have a huge impact on the game as well.

SPEAKER_5 (3:16)

Thanks, Coach.

SPEAKER_1 (3:18)

Jen?

SPEAKER_2 (3:21)

We got our first look at Olu and Abe for extended periods.

SPEAKER_3 (3:24)

Where did both of those two excel on Sunday?

Mike Macdonald (3:27)

Well, with Olu, this guy's on his Ps and Qs, the details, how we're making our calls, coming out fast, making sure we're all on the same page offensively, especially up front.

It's one of Olu's superpowers and he was sturdy in pass protection. Run game, we're still chasing right now. Our run game numbers, we still want to improve significantly. And just having Abe out there, just again, proud to see the process that he's gone through, to put himself in a position to go play winning football for us. Haven't talked to Abe yet about what he thought of his performance yet, but I'm sure he's pretty sore today and I'm sure there's some plays that he wants to improve on, but I thought he was off to a great start.

SPEAKER_1 (4:15)

Corbin.

SPEAKER_2 (4:18)

Hey, coach, going more specifically with the cornerbacks, how do you feel about the cohesion of that group? Josh Jobe right now has the lowest passer rating against of any cornerback in the NFL with at least 100 snaps in coverage, spooned with three pass breakups yesterday. What we've seen from Rick Wolin, what have you seen from that group here as the season's progressed with the way those guys as the unit are working and maybe how the front line is impacting their play as well?

Mike Macdonald (4:42)

Yeah, it's a great point, Corbin, that I think it's all three levels, how it works together. I will say continuity really helps, you know, being able to stack reps over it from a week to week basis. And I think schematically we're starting to find out what we're good at and things that we're going to, like the answers to the riddles that we need to be able to solve earlier in the weeks. You're able to get some of those reps throughout the week that the guys can see so they can go play with confidence. And then Josh deserves a lot of credit too. I mean, this guy just keeps putting great, stacking great days on top of each other. And we got a lot of confidence in him right now. I thought I played a tremendous game. Thought, you know, Devon Witherspoon got one of the game balls, one of the five game balls after the game. But I thought he played one of his best games this season. And, you know, Rick Wolin, in my opinion, played one of his best football games of the year as well. Just the focus, the attention to detail, the snap to snap.