FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons secondary coach Jon Hoke spoke to the media recently, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s John Riker.
Here’s what Hoke had to say about new cornerback Casey Hayward, the nickel back spot and Richie Grant taking over at strong safety.
ON CASEY HAYWARD: “He’s obviously played a while. You can see that he knows football. He’s very instinctive. He’s been a positive influence in the (defensive backs meeting) room and with everybody. Just because, you know, he’s not a wild guy or anything like that. But just the way that he plays.”
ON HAYWARD HELPING THE YOUNGER PLAYERS: “He’s going to do it in his own way. But he does it. He’ll take a young guy aside and talk to him if he sees something on tape. … They’ll go ask him questions, too, which is awesome. He’s also one to call someone over and say, ‘Hey, Coach was talking about this.’ It’s been good, though.”
ON HAYWARD’S ROLE: “We’re trying to figure out how they all play and how they all fit. It’s a little early for that.” (He’s slated for right cornerback).
ON A.J. TERRELL: “He’s got really good movement skills. You can tell that he’s working at it in the offseason.”
ON ISAIAH OLIVER AND DARREN HALL: “With Darren, he’s gotten better, and he looks stronger. He’s playing with more confidence because he understands these offenses, and that’s pretty cool. Isaiah is working really hard on his rehab (from right knee surgery). He’s working really hard on it.”
ON HIS VISION FOR THE SECONDARY: “It’s early. We just have to get them all together. We haven’t played enough football plays to know that yet. We want to be a tough and aggressive group. We’ve got to eliminate big plays and at the same time create takeaways. We’ll see how the chemistry and all of that fills out as we keep moving forward.”
GOALS OF THE OTAs: “Make sure they have a firm understanding of our base concepts and base techniques. How everything fits together. I hope they have a perspective on how it all works and where their help is. Those type of things.”
ON NICKEL BACK: “… It was obviously a little bit of a challenge because after Isaiah (was injured) we had a bunch of rookies play. Not a lot of them had played in there. At least Isaiah had played inside the previous season before we got here some. It’s a whole different (position) because you’re a safety, you’re a linebacker and you’re a corner. There are a lot of things to do and a lot of hats to wear at that position. So, having him in there, he kind of knew that. They will adapt to that. When he got hurt, we had to move around guys and kept trying guys because it can be tough at times to play that position. I’ve been around some really good ones. (Defensive coordinator) Dean (Pees) had some really, really good ones. It’s a position that, you know, it’s one of the 11. That’s actually a position you need to have.”
ON CHANGE OF THE BODY TYPES FOR THE POSITION: “A little bit. Not a ton. You know, some of the slots have gotten bigger, but still they’re more quicker than fast guys.” (Hoke noted that you can’t hit slot receivers like you used to before the passing rule changes.)
ON HOW HARD IT IS FOR A ROOKIE: “We took Avery (Williams) and played him there a little bit. We had Richie (Grant), who had never played in there, and Darren Hall had never played in there. We were (taking) guys that were first-timers in there, and we were trying to coach them up. They played their butts off. I give them credit; they gave it a good go. They were productive and tried to be productive. I thought they did a good job. Was it perfect every time? No. But they worked at it.”
ON GRANT’S POSITION: “Safety. He has taken a good step. It was good for him, the way he was played last year. ... He had two good older vets in Erik (Harris) and Duron Harmon to watch and see what a pro football player looks like … how he prepares. How he conducts himself on a day-to-day basis. That was a great thing for him. He did a great job of using those guys as a resource.”
ON GRANT UNDERSTANDING THE NFL GAME: “He’s doing good. Now he’s focused on one spot. Last year, he was focused on two spots. It can be challenging.”
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