Chip Kelly was in particularly good spirits yesterday at his weekly press conference, even insisting that the Register-Guard’s Rob Moseley be granted the first question because he was wearing a Red Sox hat. Below, we’ve transcribed some of the most interesting answers:
On the 3-4 defense and how center Hroniss Grasu has reacted to it:
He’s done a nice job and we’ve seen a fair amount of it. I think in the Missouri State game it was their number one front, they didn’t really play anything else. But there’s a lot of teams we’ve played that have played off spacing against us, and I think Hroniss has done a real nice job with it.
They’ve got kids who can play multiple positions, you’ll see Chase Thomas as a defensive end on one play, then you’ll see him as an outside linebacker. They can kind of mix and match and present some problems for you. But they’re kind of similar to what we do defensively, so we’re kind of used to it.
On Andrew Luck, and whether he would prefer to defend him out in space or in the pocket:
I would like him to be in outer space (laughs). If we could get that taken care of, put him in a rocket and send him to the moon for the weekend…but he can do it all. He can break the pocket, break contain. That’s the one thing you kind of marvel at when you look at him. He’s 6’4, 230 pounds, but he’s really, really, really athletic and he throws the ball extremely accurate on the run, but he can sit back in the pocket and do it. So you’re picking a poison whether he’s in or out of the pocket.
On a potential competition at kicker between Alejandro Maldonado and Rob Beard:
Yeah it is a competitive situation, and the breakdowns (against Washington) were really just timing issues by Alejandro.
On Stanford’s running game and how to defend it:
The matchup really is with their offensive line and their tight ends and fullbacks, because they do such a great job of blocking at the point of attack. And they’ve got some kids in (right guard David) DeCastro, (left tackle Jonathan) Martin, (center Sam) Schwartzstein and the guys up front — (left guard David) Yankey —that do a really good job and it’ll be our best matchup against probably the best offensive line we’ll face, and that’s where the game’s gonna be played.
On Stanford’s physicality:
It’s a real physical group. They have a mindset at Stanford — they want to be physical in what they do offensively and they want to be physical in what they do defensively and that’s what those guys do. And they’ll all good size kids, they’re 240 (pounds), 235, 233, 246 — they’re built for a reason.
On how Stanford’s run sets up the pass:
It’s because Andrew’s such a good ball faker, number one. And then, they have so many weapons, and they’re so multi-formational that they’re not in the same formation every play. So first it’s two tight ends, then it’s three tight ends, then it’s no tight ends, then the fullback’s motioning out, then they run unbalanced, and is that kid eligible on the backside or ineligible on the backside? There’s six offensive linemen in the game — they really keep you guessing, and then by the time you kind of figure out what they’re in, then they snap the ball and they’re gone. So we gotta be really sharp as they break the huddle in terms of our guys getting lined up quickly and making sure we identify the eligible receivers.
On last year’s success defending the Cardinal in the second half:
I think we did a better job of pressuring Andrew (Luck) in the second half than we did in the first half. We could kind of get some push and get after him a little bit more, and I think that’s the big thing: if you can not let him set his feet. Like any quarterback, if you can disrupt the launch point for a quarterback that’s the key to playing good pass defense. If a guy can sit back there all day long, eventually he’s going to be able to find out where the receivers are and put the ball on target. But I think we just pressured him a little bit more in the second half, and it’s tough because he knows where it’s coming and can really change his protections and do those things. But that kind of becomes the cat and mouse game between Andrew and Nick, to be honest with you.
Chip Kelly press conference highlights
Daily Emerald
November 8, 2011
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