On whether the defense gets frustrated that Redskins QB Jason Campbell has been successful against them compared to the rest of the league: "It seems like every team has that guy that plays well against them and he's always played well against us. It's frustrating a times, but each time we play him we have to have the feel that it going to be a different game, and that's the way that we're going into it."
On Campbell's qualities that make him difficult to defend against: "I think he's a lot better than people give him credit for. He's big, he's smart, he has a big arm, and he can run. I think he's kind of been the scapegoat up there, but I think he's a good quarterback. Everybody here respects him. That's probably one of things that's helps him, is his size and his speed and his arm."
On Campbell being difficult to sack: "It's that he's able to be mobile with his feet and escape, but I think one of the underrated things is he's smart. He can figure things out. Especially being in the same division, twice a year you see the same defense; you kind of get accustomed to it. I think that's probably where it comes from.
On whether he is surprised when Campbell beats him: "Surprised? I would say disappointed. This is the NFL everybody can win or lose but we're always upset whenever we lose. It doesn't matter who it is, but obviously with him it's almost like 'damn, what's going on?'"
On whether it is difficult to prepare for a team when they have a new play-caller coming in: "I think it will probably be a little bit different. They still have the same personnel and they'll still try to do the same things I would imagine. I think when you are away from the game as a play caller for as long as he has been it may play into our hands. We'll see how that goes."
On whether he knows anything about Redskins consultant and play-caller Sherm Lewis: "I know his history going back to Green Bay and coaching with the Lions, we actually played against him back in (2004) when we played the Lions so we know a little bit about him, but a lot can change in five year."
On where they played against the Lions: "That was there in Detroit. I can't remember the score of that game actually."
On whether is anything from the game against the Lions in 2004 that he remembers about Lewis: "I was on special teams then so it was a whole different ball game for me then."
On helping LB Will Witherspoon: "He is a smart guy and there is carryover from the Rams' defense so he is able to pickup things quickly. If it's anything, it would be terminology or something like that because he has all the techniques and stuff down. If there's anything that I'm helping him with it would be that."
On what he has seen from Witherspoon on the field: "He is smart and he can move around. He's very mobile. He has good size on him. We haven't really been able to go full-go to the ground so I haven't been able to see him attack and hit yet, but I'm pretty sure that he can do it."
On defenders seeing different checks on the field and how they handle that as a unit: "Generally the middle linebacker would make most of the checks and calls and stuff like that. So, if there is something that he sees and he checks the call then we all check from that."
On whether if he sees something different than the MIKE linebacker he still has to follow the MIKE's check: "Exactly, the middle linebacker is the guy. He's in the middle and whatever he rolls with we have to roll with."
On whether a difficult dynamic is created when a new player comes in and makes the checks for the defense: "No, that's the middle linebacker's job. Their job is to make the checks and the calls. Obviously, in the secondary the strong safety makes the checks and stuff like that, but in terms of the core of the defense checking certain things, the middle linebacker does that."
On wearing the communication helmet to relay plays to the defense: "I will still be wearing the head device this game."
On whether he relays the call to linebackers who call it to the whole defense: "Yes and if there is a hurry up situation then I'll make the call. That's not a problem. It's been working great so far so we'll continue with that."
On Redskins new starting WR Devin Thomas: "He's been playing well. I was surprised that he wasn't starting earlier in the season because he is a good player. We have played against him before and we know what to expect, but he is definitely a factor. He is going to be a weapon. We're going to have our work cut out for us with him and (WR) Santana (Moss) and (TE Chris) Cooley so it's going to be interesting."
On Thomas' height: "I think (WR Malcolm Kelly) is actually taller than him but they're both big 6-2 type guys."
On the defense's difficulty defending tight ends this season and how they intend to deal with Redskins TE Chris Cooley: "We've had issues with that. All you can do is go to work on it and try to come up with different schemes. I think bringing in Witherspoon is going to help with that. Having him on tight ends and dealing with that kind of stuff. We'll see how that goes. At the end of the day, we're only a couple of games deep. We have a long way to go. We're getting ready for the division and hopefully that all will change."
On how the defense's goal is to hold teams to less than 17 points and whether they felt like they did their job last week: "No, we lost the so we know we didn't do our job. We always set goals and that's our goal each week is to keep the offense below a certain amount of points. But our ultimate goal is to win. I think that was taken out of context, I know guys were frustrated after the game. We were all frustrated; we all wanted to win that game. I think we played really hard and it was disappointing that we didn't get it. At the end of the day with defense, we let a tight end run down the field 86 yards for a touchdown. We bring that play back and it's a different game. Everybody came in after that we all looked at ourselves and yeah we held them to 13 points, we also let a big play go and that's something that we don't do. At the end of the day we all have to look at ourselves, everyone has to look at themselves and go from there."
On how helpful it is to have the linebackers be able to handle covering the tight end: "It helps a lot. Especially in this division where we have tight ends like we have that can get down the middle of field or create plays with underneath routes, it kind of draws your eyes away from the deep threats. Having our linebackers getting on those tight ends helps us out, which helps our corners out and helps the whole defense out. We're working hard on that stuff and we're just going to go from there."
On why they played more dime coverage in the last game: "I think we were just trying to get more playmakers on the field and give (S) Sean Jones a chance to get out there and show what he can do. He's doing great with it so far. We've always had dime packages over the years, going back to when I started playing. It adds an extra dimension to our defense and it's going to help us so we're going to continue with that."
On whether the dime coverage is put in specifically for tight end coverage: "Not necessarily just for that. It's more of a look, getting an extra guy in there that can blitz, that can guard a tight end or you never know, just a different look."
