On whether aggressively pressuring the quarterback worries him because of the risk of getting a personal foul penalty: "We have to play smart and that's all. We want to be aggressive but you have to play smart at the same time. I think I'll just leave it at that."
On what he's looking for at LDE and how close he is to finding it: "Every week it's going to be – and (defensive line coach) Rory (Segrest) and I talk about it every week to make sure we have the right guys in the right positions and the reps are exactly the way we need them to be to take advantage of the matchups, keep our guys rested, and so on and so forth. The formula may be slightly different each week but it's important, and I thought Rory did a great job of that last week of managing the personnel and the reps, and so on and so forth so we get production out of that position, and I thought (Juqua Parker) did that."
On whether he is expecting to have LB Akeem Jordan back this week: "We're on a day-to-day basis right now with Akeem, same as like we were last week with Akeem. I think he did some things yesterday in practice and looked good and we're going to wait and see how he does today."
On whether he is going to change the way he teaches tackling with all of the emphasis on concussions these days: "I think from a defensive standpoint and a tackling standpoint, the number one thing you have the responsibility to do as a coach is teach the proper technique so that the player doesn't, number one, get hurt on defense. That's my job and on a personal level that's my job. In terms of the concussions and the rules and the way things are going I can't really comment about that, but I'll just continue to come back at a core level to teaching the proper technique so our players don't get hurt, number one, and so we are effective and aggressive at the same time."
On whether DE Trent Cole is having a season comparable to his Pro Bowl seasons: "I think he is right there, I really do. With the amount of double teams and chips he faces on a weekly basis and the things he's done, playing different positions for us, I think he's had a tremendous year."
On Cole being ranked 5th in the NFL in sacks and his consistency in pressuring the quarterback: "Consistency in my mind would put Trent at the top of that list week in and week out. Now I know maybe the other years he hasn't had that, but he this year he has had the consistency as you mentioned. He's been there for us every week."
On why he thinks Cole has that consistency this season: "(Jokingly) Coaching. (Seriously) I give the credit to Trent, he comes out every week and that's hard to do in the NFL. It's such a long season, you have training camp and preseason, and he comes out and he goes to work every week, and he comes out in practices every week and he prepares like a professional."
On whether Cole is fresher at this point in the season this year as opposed to past years: "I hope he is fresher and part of that, as we talked about earlier, is the reps and trying to make sure that we give him a break within a game somewhere whether it's the first quarter, second quarter or third quarter, so we have the right guys on the field at crunch time, our best pass rushers if you will."
On whether Cole plays more snaps than the other defensive ends: "He does. He never wants to come out of a game and trying to get him out is a chore in and of itself."
On whether he feels tackling has become less fundamentally sound these days as opposed to in the past: "You're right. I would equate it to the jump shot in the NBA. It's almost a lost art it seems, to me. It's important that if you want to be a good football team on defense you have to be able to tackle. We didn't tackle well this past week and we are going to continue to work on it. You're not going to make every tackle when you play fast and you play aggressive but you have to be a good tackling football team to be successful."
On whether he has to remind his defense that Atlanta is still a good team even if they are without QB Matt Ryan and RB Michael Turner: "I hope not. I hope I don't have to remind them that this is an important football game. Regardless of who plays, those are NFL players and that's a quarterback that drove, and (QB Chris) Redman, that drove the team down the field in two-minute fashion and won the football game. With the weapons they still have on the offense, with Ryan out, you have (WR) Roddy White who is arguably one of the best receivers in the NFL. (TE Tony) Gonzalez at tight end, who is a future Hall of Famer. They have put points on the board with or without Matt Ryan."
On whether it is difficult to gauge what the Falcons will do if Turner is limited or out this Sunday: "It's a good question. I think the system will remain mostly intact. Now, not having, same thing with Redman playing, not having him on film from a starting standpoint you don't have a complete feel as to what they are going to do offensively with Redman at quarterback from the start versus Matt Ryan. So, there is going to be a little bit of a feeling out process there but we are going to prepare as best we can for the system and go from there."
On whether he was surprised when the Falcons declared Matt Ryan out at the beginning of the week: "I really didn't think twice about it. I guess with the extent of his injury maybe through league rules they had to do that. But, we appreciate that."
On whether they are using the game film from when the Falcons played the Giants two weeks ago to get a feel for what Atlanta might do: "That and you're right, but there is so much of Turner on tape and Matt Ryan on tape that every time we try and show a play, whether it's a specific run or pass, sometimes it's not (RB Jason) Snelling and sometimes it's obviously not Matt Ryan, so you have to say, 'Hey this is a different quarterback that you're going to see.' Then the position coaches have to do a great job of watching tape of Redman the same way and all the indicators that are there in his game."
On this being his first season as defensive coordinator and whether he feels like he's having to do more than what he initially thought he'd have to do due to injuries and rotations: "There is adversity in every season, and I love it. I love the challenge. I love the weekly and daily challenge, and we have a great staff that we work well together and the players are fun to work with, they really are. We have the right type of players here. I love the challenge."
On how they are preparing for Redman: "We have (gone through film). I think it was '07, his last considerable amount of playing time that he had, so we looked back at some '07 film, trying to dig up in the archives. You just go from there and the system is different, obviously playing in a different system, but you just try and simplify it and just look at the player in and of itself."
On whether the crowd noise in the Georgia Dome is an issue for the defense: "It is from a communications standpoint, similar to way it is on offense. Now, I would imagine and hope that it's not as big of a factor on defense as it may be on offense, but the communication still has to be there. There is going to be white noise, if you will, when we are on defense the same way. It'll be loud enough that we need to make sure that we are all on the same page."
On whether it's more difficult to deal with the noise now that they don't use hand signals as the primary way of communication: "At certain points of that game it is more difficult because you have to manage the no-huddle situations versus the huddle situations where as before a number of the players would look over for the signal, now they have to get that verbally from (LB Will) Witherspoon at this point."
On whether it is harder to play a home game in terms of noise: "It definitely is. The fans are great. In the two-minute drive the other day, I mean that place was rocking. You need to be able to communicate whether it's hands, signal or verbally. We've talked about that as a staff, especially with having some of the younger players out there you can't just say, 'We're going to play this.' How do we get them to point B?"
On whether DT Antonio Dixon and DT Trevor Laws are getting more reps in place of DT Brodrick Bunkley: "I think come game time he'll be full strength, but that would be our plan and has been our plan through practice, as of yesterday, that Dixon and Trevor step up."
