(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
Aug. 7, 2017 at Wayne Densch Center
Availability: DC Erik Chinander, OC/WR coach Troy Walters
DC Erik Chinander
Through a week of practice, competition has been the big theme of camp.
I thought competition’s been at an all-time high around here, for what we’ve been doing, you know, as far as we’ve been here. There’s competition at every position, some of those—even though that D-line and Shaquem [Griffin]…etched their spot. There’s been a lot of competition there. There’s been extreme competition at all the other linebacker spots, all the DB spots. I’m just fired up to watch these guys run around and compete. And tomorrow, we’ll see who can tackle and who can do it when the lights turn on.
The defensive line has been impressive so far throughout camp.
I mean, they’re playing as well as a group I’ve seen together. And not just that first group but all of them. We rotate everybody through there as much as we can. To try to get some depth on this team, and that’s a great unit.
Chinander praised his position coaches for how well players are developing and stepping into leadership roles.
[Griffin’s] leadership role has grown every day. He’s done a great job developing. You know, the D-line’s done a great job of leadership, and I think that kinda, you know, goes to show what their position coach has done. You know, all of our assistant coaches—Coach [Jovan] Dewitt, Coach [Mike] Dawson, Coach [Barrett] Ruud, Coach [Travis] Fisher—they’ve done a great job of not only making these players into great players but also great teammates. And some of these guys are developing into great leaders too.
Chinander has worked defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman into every position on the line.
Jamiyus has done a great job. You know, we’ve moved him around, taught him to play every position on the D-line. So, if anybody goes down or if there’s a change in the lineup we need to make, he’s ready to move. I think he’s embraced that role. Sometimes you move guys around and want ‘em to learn some new stuff, and they don’t wanna do it, but he’s embraced that thing. And he’s also starting to let his voice show a little bit, in a positive way.
As far as leaders go, Chinander made it clear that he doesn’t choose leaders.
I don’t pick leaders. I don’t ever think you can pick a leader. That don’t work. Leaders kinda emerge. And once those leaders emerge, then you have to cultivate those guys and turn them into kinda leaders that they need to be. But it’s hard to just say, “You’re gonna be a leader.” Or, “You’re gonna be a leader.” Because guys naturally gravitate towards certain personalities, and certain people just kinda have it. So, you know, [Pittman’s] one of those guys that people listen to, that people follow, and now we just have to kinda get him rolling in the right direction.
The linebacker group is going through a lot of changes with Griffin being the only returning starter. Chinander likes what he’s seen so far.
Yeah, Titus [Davis] and Dedrion Bacote have done an unbelievable job this camp. They look so much more knowledgeable in the scheme after last year, and, obviously, they both have extreme talent. Now they look more comfortable in what they’re doing. Shawn Burgess-Becker’s done a great job adjusting to what we’re trying to do. As well as Eric Mitchell’s done some really nice things in camp and some of those freshmen that they have. Everybody at that position is playing well. That’s a very deep position for us. I think that’s a position of—you know, it’s gonna be a rock for us in years to come.
Inside linebacker is a hotly contested position for the Knights this preaseason.
Yeah, I mean, right now, if you had to start a game, you know, it’d probably be Pat [Jasinski] and Chequan [Burkett]. But, you know, those other guys are right there. Nate Evans and Gabriel Luyanda, a new guy, JUCO transfer. Those guys are right there. So, Pat and Chequan got a tough job to hold that thing off. But I kinda like that four starters at that position. So we can roll with two guys fresh.
In the cornerback competition, tackling is what will set players apart from each other.
The corners have been doing a good job. To me, the big test for a corner, especially a young one—we’re gonna find out tomorrow. Because can a corner tackle? That’s what I wanna see. You know, all these corners come in from high school—they can usually cover. If we’ve selected them to be on this team, they’re a cover guy. Can they tackle? Can they shed a block? That’s what I wanna see tomorrow. So that’s gonna separate the pack a little bit.
During Tuesday’s scrimmage, Chinander wants to see good tackling from the entire defense.
Yeah, I mean, we’ve already seen great communication. We’ve already seen great effort. Can that carry over to a game-type situation, and can we tackle? That’s the big thing as a defensive coach. What you always want to see in that first scrimmage is—you know, you might think your defense is awesome, and you go out to the first scrimmage, and you can’t tackle anybody. We got some work to do. Maybe tomorrow we’ll be pleasantly surprised; maybe we won’t be. But I’m going to find out tomorrow, and we’re al gonna find out.
OC/WR coach Troy Walters
Walters has liked the way his offense has looked so far and likes that the defense can give them so many different schemes and formations to practice against.
Very excited about our progress. You know, we’ve come a long way. Guys are picking up all the things we’re throwing at ‘em. The thing about our defense is that they give us so many different looks. So we may go over something in our game plan and our playbook versus one coverage, but we’re getting multiple coverages with our defense. And, so, it’s making us better, making us sharper, and we’re light years ahead of where we were last year.
The tempo is at a higher level in this year’s camp compared to last year’s.
We’re so much faster. So much faster. Guys know the expectation, the standards. We go tempo, the guys know what we wanna do, what we wanna get accomplished, and understand the signals. I think last year that’s what was slowing us down. Is just understanding the signals and being able to process what we want. Now they’re able to process. They’re able to get lined up faster. And we’re definitely gonna use that to our advantage this year.
The Knights have championship aspirations, but Walter and his players know that doesn’t happen instantly.
We talk it over as a whole team and then, you know, as an offense. It kinda echoes what Coach Frost’s vision and expectation is. We wanna be champions. We wanna be champions on and off the field. You know, 6-7 is not our standard. Our standard is championship; our standard is greatness; our standard is competing every day, every play. And if we do that and we trust the process—we know it’s not gonna happen overnight—but, if we trust the process and compete and have that mindset of being champions day in and day out, then we’re gonna get to where we need to get to.
Walters feels the wide receiver position is deep and filled with talented players.
Tre’Quan’s [Smith] our leader. He’s been there, done that. But we’ve got a great group of guys and, you know, those guys are competing. We’ve got a lot of talent. A lot of guys that can make plays. And, so, it kinda forces everybody to be ready. When your number’s called, you better make a play because if you don’t, someone behind you is ready to step in. So, it’s been great. The guys are competing, and, you know, any time you have competition, it makes everybody better. So, I think we have that across the whole board on offense. We’re deeper at every position, and that creates competition. Competition makes you better.
Walters has been impressed with the freshmen during camp.
All of them are doing a great job, you know? We’re throwing a lot at them. We’re throwing a lot at them, and the defense is throwing a lot at them. So anytime you have that combination, you know, usually their heads are spinning. But, you know, those guys came in early. A lot of the freshmen came in early and got into the playbook and really learned what we’re trying to do. And now it’s—you know, I always tell them it’s trial by error. You go out there, sometimes you’re gonna mess it up, but just learn from your mistakes. And we’re gonna count on a lot of freshmen this year. We’re gonna count on ‘em, and we’re gonna get ‘em ready. Defense is getting ‘em ready. What they’re seeing on defense and the DBs and what they’re facing is gonna help ‘em when we start the regular season.
As far as the freshmen getting significant playing time this season, tomorrow’s scrimmage will tell a lot.
We’re still in evaluation mode. So, we’re gonna scrimmage tomorrow and watch the tape and kinda see where guys fit in. But I expect some of the true freshmen to have opportunities to play this year. But we’ll know more about what they can do tomorrow and the scrimmage when the coaches are off the field and it’s a game-like atmosphere. But, you know, they picked up the offense; they’re sharp, good kids; they work hard, so I expect them to compete tomorrow.
The quarterback competition is in full swing and Walters believes t
It’s been going well. McKenzie’s [Milton] done a great job. The young freshmen are doing good. You know, anytime you’re a freshman, and you’re coming into this offense, and we’re throwing a lot at ‘em, and, like I said, the defense. I mean, every day, there’s three or four different defenses that they have to take into account. So, all the quarterbacks are doing well. And then we’ll see tomorrow with the scrimmage. Live-game atmosphere, coaches are off the field, how they process everything. We’re still in evaluation mode but very pleased with how all the quarterbacks are doing.
During the scrimmage, Walters wants to see the quarterbacks take control and lead their units.
Just be leaders. Lead the offense. In the pass game, completions. Move the chains. You know, any time you have a quarterback, decision-making is important—making the right decisions. You know, the big thing for a quarterback is just lead the team. Leading your unit. Make sure everybody’s on the right page and doing the right thing. So that’s what we’re gonna look for tomorrow.
For more on the Knights and their first scrimmage of the preseason, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
