Q. One of the things I wondered about when it happened was on the Patriots' fourth-and-1 from your own 28-yard line with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter, you called your second timeout. What were you looking to accomplish there?
A. I wanted to give our guys a chance to exhale. I wanted to be able to look them in the eye, talk about some things that we could anticipate under that scenario, get in a good call. Just handle all the minutia. It was a big down, certainly, and so the communication and the planning component of it was more important than the timeout we utilized. With the timeout we're able to communicate with our guys, give them a call, give them some finer detail points and go out and execute the play.
Q. Also, after that game you referred to "ball search culture," a reference to creating the 5 takeaways that were a huge part of the victory. How does having success in that area early in a game or early in a season breed more success in that area?
A. It's like any other skills you develop. You continually hone them, and you do so daily with physical work. And so certainly it can be an asset to you at the early portions of the season when maybe your collective work, or your individual work, lacks a little detail, you lack a little situational awareness and playmaking, things of that nature. It can bridge the gap in the effort to engineer victory in the meanwhile, while you round out other components of your game.
Q. When it comes to designed quarterback runs vs. quarterback scrambles, how is the approach to defending those different?
A. Designed quarterback runs is "plus-1 running game," and so you've certainly got to have some tools at your disposal schematically to minimize that. The quarterback scramble can be handled a little bit less so schematically, more with the knowledge, expertise, and collective work of those who rush him. But certainly designed quarterback runs are much more schematically challenging than scrambles.
Q. What are some examples of the tools you said you need to defend against designed quarterback runs?
A. You've got to do things to cloud gaps. You've got to try to occupy three gaps with two people, and you do that by stunting, or you take your free safety out of the middle of the field and you play 11-on-11 football. And so those are the two primary means that schematic engineers utilize to minimize it. You've got to occupy multiple gaps with less people, or you've got to play 11-on-11 football, and that's why they call design quarterback runs "plus-1 running game."
Q. How might you adjust your defensive game plan for a team that is a threat to go for it on fourth down from just about any area on the field?
A. More than anything, you adjust your mindset on third down, because if they have that mindset of going for it on fourth down, you've got to ascertain whether or not they view third down as third down, or whether they view third down as second down. Sometimes people play third down twice, and sometimes people treat third down like second down when they have four-down intentions. And I think that's the biggest component of the equation from a defensive perspective. Are they playing third down twice, or do they have more latitude in terms of the range of plays that they're willing to run on the first third down if they're in four-down mode.
Q. Around the NFL generally now, do you find that it's more likely for coaches to go for it on fourth downs, or is going for it on fourth down still an individual characteristic for certain coaches who like to play that way?
A. I think in general, there's a personality to it, and different guys have different personalities. But certainly there's a general uptick in going for it, because there's just more informational tools at people's disposal in 2025 that makes them more comfortable taking that risk. Afterwards, they can stand at the podium and say analytics told them to do it.
Q. At your Tuesday news conference you talked about how playing an international game is a big honor, that representing American football is a really cool thing. But is there anything special added to this whole experience because the game is in Ireland, and because of the roots and history the Rooney family has there?
A. If you knew the late, great Ambassador Dan Rooney, that's an easy answer to that question. I smile when I think about him. I smile when I think about this game actually coming to fruition. It's just an honor. Certainly, I know what Ireland means to that family, what it meant to him. I know what it meant for him to have the honor of being U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. He staged American football games on the embassy grounds on the Fourth of July when he was over there. And so, this is a culmination of a vision. It's certainly extra special, having known him.
Q. Brian Flores is the Vikings defensive coordinator, and after Miami fired him following the 2021 season you hired him in 2022 to be a senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach. Was there any interest by either side in that being more than a 1-year arrangement with the Steelers, or was hiring him more about getting a qualified coach back into the league as soon as possible?
A. Initially it was about getting a qualified coach back into the fold, and having the pleasure of his expertise. But certainly after that initial thought, it was obvious that he fit in around here. And so there was a potential of more than that, but opportunity came knocking (for him), and I certainly wished him well. I think his intentions when he got here reflected that mindset. He bought a house here, immediately moved his family here. His kids went to Shady Side Academy. He lived the Pittsburgh experience.
Q. So was that – I won't say a difficult parting – but difficult in the sense that it was only a one-year thing?
A. You hate to see good men go, both players and coaches, and he certainly fits that bill. He was an asset to us while he was here. And so you certainly hate to see capable men like him move on. But it's part of the game, to be quite honest with you, opportunity arises for those who are deserving, and he definitely fits that bill.
Q. The Vikings have ruled out second-year QB J.J. McCarthy, and he'll be replaced today by Carson Wentz, who's in his 10th season after being the second overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. You talked about how a veteran backup QB can provide a team with intangibles, and so what intangibles did you see Wentz provide in Minnesota's win over the Bengals last Sunday?
A. I wasn't in the huddle, I wasn't a component of their communication, and so it's somewhat speculative, but I've just been in this business long enough to know there's no substitute for experience. They have a long-term commitment to J.J., and there's some long-term cost in terms of his not participating right now. But in the short term, they've got a guy who has been there and done that. He has been in a lot of systems. He has digested a lot of ball. I'm sure he can articulate that. I'm sure he's helpful to young people in the huddle. I'm sure his experience is an asset in terms of calming the emotions of the unit in heavy moments. There's just a lot of intangible value to veteran experience. And I'm sure at least in the short term, he and that is an asset to them.
Q. Is it an advantage to you in any way to have Wentz named the starter in advance? You can prepare for him, rather than have J.J. McCarthy start and get injured on the first series, and then you've got to deal with Carson Wentz.
A. Certainly from a preparation standpoint, information is good, but it's probably less significant in this scenario. It's probably more significant when there are vastly different skill-sets between the two quarterbacks. If you've got one pocket passer and one runner, for example, it's more troublesome from a prep standpoint. There's different schematics utilized to meet those challenges. But in this particular instance, I doubt that the offense changes very much schematically, no matter which guy is in there. And so it's less significant than what we experienced about 12 months ago, moving between Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco in Indianapolis. There are some significant schematic differences in terms of meeting the demands of minimizing those two for example.
Q. Harrison Smith, in his 14th season as a Vikings safety, returned to the lineup last week for his first game in 2025 after being sidelined with an injury in late August. What is his significance to what Brian Flores wants to do on defense?
A. Much like we were talking about the veteran quarterback on the other side, there's no substitute for a veteran presence, particularly on the back end, and particularly within Brian Flores' system of defense. So much of what (Flores) does is from a pre-snap disguise standpoint. Young people generally can't hold their water in terms of the disguise. They leave too early, or probably worse than that, they leave too late, they stay too long. Harrison Smith has been at it long enough. He's got a real good feel for cadence, when the snap is imminent. He'll do a great job of playing along the line of scrimmage and running the half-field. Or he can come out of half-field and blitz off the edge. His experience, his innate feel for the game, are two things that allow that to happen, and certainly he's a major component of the pre-snap strategy of Coach Flores, the cat-and-mouse of the disguise game.
Q. Where is Justin Jefferson in the pecking order of the NFL's top wide receivers, and what are his special qualities?
A. I think his top quality, first and foremost, is his competes. It jumps off the tape. When you watch tape and you feel emotions of a player, he plays with an edge. He never flinches in play. He runs into dark places at full speed. He's competitive in one-on-one circumstances. He's a great route-runner. He's competitive in run-after circumstances. He's got a well-rounded game. He's certainly among the elite. I enjoy those conversations about who's No. 1 and who's No. 2 and who's No. 3. I'll take the ones you don't. He's an elite guy. He's at the top of the food chain in what he does.
Q. Same question about T.J. Hockenson's special qualities and his standing in the pecking order of NFL tight ends?
A. He certainly has a skill-set. I don't know that he produces some of the numbers that the other guys do, his peers. And it's not because of his talent. It's because of systematically, what they ask him to do. They have two first-round wide receivers in Justin Jefferson and in Jordan Addison, and particularly in a lot of one-dimensional passing circumstances, they utilize (Hockenson) as a component of the protection. And so there's not a lot of opportunities in one-dimensional passing circumstances for him to provide the stats that maybe compare him to some of the other guys who are like-bodied. He probably gets underrepresented in some of those equations, but certainly he's a talented guy and a big-time capable guy.
Q. In terms of down-and-distance, what is your definition of second-and-manageable?
A. Seven or less. I think that's the global term in today's NFL, and certainly it could be different week to week for us or for an opponent. When personalities change, that's when the lines change from my perspective. If somebody is behaving like second-and-6 is second-and-long, then second-and-6 it is. If they're behaving like second-and-10 is second-and-long, then it is. And so specifically, if you're planning for somebody, you let their tape tell you what second-and-medium or second-and-manageable is, what second-and-long is. You certainly determine that for yourselves. But the global term, or the blanket term that a lot of people use, is 7 yards or less.
