Mike Macdonald: "That Was A Great Team Win"

Mike Macdonald (0:01)

I'm never completely sure if this is on, but yeah.

Yeah, just a lot of the same stuff we talked about yesterday. Great team win all the way around. 60 minute game. Good opponent, that's a good football team that we played yesterday afternoon. And getting the details kind of sorted out after watching the tape. But again, kind of a foundational first game. A lot of good stuff. I mean, shoot, it's really hard to win the NFL, man. So to come out with a win, especially week one at home was big for our football team. And but it's just a start. You know, it's one week, a lot of emphasis, you know, here taking the next step as a team and excited to see where we're going to take it here over the next week and go into New England. So excited for that.

SPEAKER_2 (0:54)

You said the quarterback, Mike, how did you feel about your run defense?

Mike Macdonald (1:00)

Well, I put them in a couple of bad spots where I could have helped out there. Some of the perimeter game, we can be better on the edge. I think there was one dual play and split safety, we can fit better and play that better. But on the whole, I think we tackled well, do what we needed to do, you know, in certain situations. So, overall positive.

SPEAKER_3 (1:22)

You mentioned next steps, what do next steps look like after yesterday's matchup?

Mike Macdonald (1:26)

Well, we go back to work. So, I'm excited for this to be over, so we can move on to New England. And a lot of the background work's gone in, and then we kind of come in tomorrow, debrief a little bit as a team, and then we move forward to New England in tomorrow's meetings, get a good lift and let's rock and roll and have a great Wednesday.

SPEAKER_4 (1:45)

Mike, did you allow yourself to celebrate and enjoy the win?

Mike Macdonald (1:49)

Yeah, yeah, you have to. I mean, we work tremendously hard, and a lot of family and friends were in town, too, so it was cool to take a breath and watch the rest of the Sunday night game and just enjoy Jellie's company and cherish the victory.

SPEAKER_5 (2:03)

Boye Mafe took a really big step forward last year and had a big game for you yesterday. Watching how he played last year, where did you see that next big step being for him in year three, especially in your defense, and what were your impressions coming out of yesterday's game?

Mike Macdonald (2:18)

Well, to your point, I thought he did play really well last year. And I guess being more of all three down type of player for you, where he can be out there in all the different situations. I mean, not sure they matter. I think he played upwards of 60 snaps last night. So and played fast, didn't seem like he got tired, ran to the ball. The play he made on the third medium there in the fourth quarter where Nix got out, that was just an extraordinary play. So, but same, the mentality of, hey, these are the things we need you to do. Let's go attack him. Let's get it done to his credit. He's answered the bell each time. So I expect him to keep making those strides. And I think the sec numbers will start to show.

SPEAKER_6 (3:01)

Coach, it seems like the defensive line got upfield a little bit more in the second half. Was that a coaching point to be aware in the first half?

Mike Macdonald (3:07)

Definitely pass rush. Yeah. No, I mean, we changed some of our pass structures, but it wasn't an emphasis to get more upfield. I mean, it's tough. Do you want to run the games and then all of a sudden, you know, you might give a pass rush lane up, you know, and then the quarterback can get up, or do you want to, you know, do you want to kind of mush rush them and now you're a little bit nullified with the quarterback in terms of getting there on time. So there's some decisions you have to make based on situations, what coverages are in. There's a lot of things that go into, you know, how you orchestrate those four guys.

SPEAKER_7 (3:41)

It's something you talked about yesterday, but a day later after watching film, just how pleased are you with your guys being able to rally the way they did, overcome some of the early mistakes and win the way they did?

Mike Macdonald (3:51)

Yeah, I mean, it's, I think it's, it's a shout out to where our football team is and their mentality. And so shows us that we have the right guys, you know, and their mentality is right where we need it to be.