Mike Macdonald: "The Defensive Front Played An Incredible Game"

Mike Macdonald (0:03)

Everybody good? Like the jacket, Corey?

Corey (0:06)

I promise I didn't make the reps throw that many flags.

Mike Macdonald (0:08)

Yeah, okay, I will blame it on you then. When I get the penalty questions. Yeah, overall, just a... I mean, it was sloppy. It felt like a little bit, you know, operation-wise, which we want to definitely need to address moving forward. But I'll tell you what, our guys played incredibly hard.

You got a complimentary football towards the end of the game in the red zone. I thought they had really great red zone defense. And then the offense getting that backed up situation was redeeming, to say the least, and then going down and, you know, a 98-yard touchdown drive pretty much seal it was pretty awesome. So again, just the mentality, how hard our guys are playing. It felt like we played physically. The guys were flying around on defense. The place is electric. So our communication was on point given how loud it was. So I think we gave their operations some trouble. The fans did, so shout out to the 12s on that one. Definitely, definitely boosted us on that one. But it's a great win. I mean, it's awesome to be 3-0, but obviously we got a big one coming up too. So we'll shift our focus after we celebrate today.

SPEAKER_3 (1:14)

How much closer is today to where you want to be, Mike, defensively?

Mike Macdonald (1:19)

I thought we took a step forward today. You know, the run game, I think they popped a couple runs, but overall, I thought we tackled very, very well. Didn't feel like the catch and run stuff. I mean, it's such a dangerous team. You know, the usual suspects, when they get their hands on the ball, you got to take great angles. You got to get an inside out pursuit. You got to set the edge. I thought our front played incredibly hard getting to the ball with a sense of urgency, which was really fun to watch and be part of.

SPEAKER_3 (1:50)

You got more out of your run game than you did last week. What did you feel like was working there?

Mike Macdonald (1:54)

Yeah, we just stick to it. I mean, this is us, you know. I mean, I think that's the message throughout the week. I mean, definitely you want to improve on the run game numbers from last week, but you can't panic. You got to stay poised. You got to stick to the process. And there's always going to be things that you're chasing from week to week. So again, we're just, I thought it was a step in the right direction, run game wise. I thought our guys tried to play physical, but I thought they did a good job, especially at the end.

Corey (2:22)

You spoke several times in training game about the growth that Derick Hall has shown here early in your time as a coach. What are you seeing now in these last few games? I mean, today it felt like he was living in the backfield.

Mike Macdonald (2:31)

Yeah, he, Derick played a tremendous game. Really, I felt the whole front on how fast they were playing, but playing incredibly physical, incredibly hard, playing smart, you know, and how we're hitting the quarterback. I mean, no quarterback penalties, just hitting them legal.

And he's playing, I mean, this is kind of, this is the type of player that you envision. He's a physical guy that can set the edge and can drop when necessary. I mean, he's just, he's playing at a high level right now. So we're excited about Derick.

SPEAKER_4 (3:04)

You mentioned the defensive front twice already. For those guys to get the job done, minus Leonard and Byron for a lot of the games.

Mike Macdonald (3:11)

Yeah, it speaks to their depth, resiliency, again, I thought that the front, I thought they played a tremendous game. So all those guys, the coaches included AD and CP and Hines. I thought they did a great job getting the guys ready to play.

SPEAKER_3 (3:26)

You guys lost Leonard and Byron up front there too, to continue to play that kind of level from up front, given that they weren't out there for you. How would you see out of the guys that had to go in?

Mike Macdonald (3:36)

Yeah, I mean, that's the expectation. I mean, I think, you just go down the line, the guys that are suited up, that's how we expect our defense to play. And it's just kind of like, okay, so they're down, next guy's rolling, let's go back to work.

Corey (3:52)