Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – January 8, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

What makes Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts a unique challenge this weekend?

“Big, physical quarterback. He’s got arm talent to be able to make every single throw. Elite deep-ball thrower, can get it behind the defense pretty good. He’s good in a pocket. He’s very aware from a pressure standpoint, being able to escape. And then obviously the QB runs. They don’t do it often, but when they do, it’s effective. You can’t faze him. I got a chance to practice against him way back at the Jets. I mean, the young man’s got elite presence and is a damn good football player.”

You preach all gas, no brake. When you’re going up against a quarterback like him in a scheme like that which leverages his legs, does it slow you down a little bit? Is it like, some gas, a little brake?

“(Laughter). Well, the all gas no brake thing is more than just blindly running, obviously. But no, he’s good. He makes people miss. So, you’ve got to be great with your leverages. You’ve got to be great inside out, chasing the inside hip, making sure that you hold your leverage, trust your teammate on the other side. That goes for everybody. That goes for [Philadelphia Eagles RB] Saquon [Barkley], the receiving corps and the tight end. All of them. We’ve got to improve our leverages. It’s what kind of caught up to us against Seattle, not taking the proper angle. That’s usually the starting point for all tackling.”

You’ve been challenged by injuries all year at various positions. But, your situation at linebacker right now, particularly just with how important communication is at that position, how are you navigating that with more moving pieces this week?

“I feel like [linebackers coach] Johnny [Holland] and [defensive quality control coach] K.J. [Wright] have done such a really nice job getting all these guys ready to be next up. [LB] Eric [Kendricks] has come in, just going off yesterday with [LB Garret] Wallow, they did a really nice job through walk-through and practice. I feel like [S Ji’Ayir Brown] Tig and [S] Malik [Mustapha] have done a really good job of ramping up their communication. So, it’s not just one person. It’s collective, as a group. And you know, we’re far along in the season where I feel like they’re really coming along from a defensive standpoint with regard to communication. So, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

It’s only been one day with LB Kyzir White, but what were your impressions of him? Is it realistic for him to play?

“You know, he’s got familiarity with the system. He was with [assistant head coach defense] Gus [Bradley] over at the Chargers, and I remember him coming out. We were hoping he’d get to the fifth and the Chargers took him the fourth, but one of those prototypical safeties that you could convert to a linebacker. He’s had a hell of a career for himself. And he’s ready to go. He knows our system too, so he can step in if needed to and give us minutes.”

Is he training at one particular spot this week?

“He knows all of them. He can play all three.”

The Eagles are notorious for their tush-push. I’m curious, before the season, were you for it or against it? And then also how do you stop it?

“Good question. I’m for it. I think if you do something good and the rest of the league hates on that, it’s a good thing, right? They’ve mastered it. If it was easy to do, everybody in the league would be doing it. And teams that have tried to duplicate it, struggle. So, if you’re going to take that out, then you might as well take out the forward pass for some of these teams that do really well with it. So, I’m for keeping it. But, as far as stopping it, we will give it our best shot and see what happens. I always say the best way stop it is don’t give them third-and-one, but they’ll probably get to that eventually.”

When it comes to two new guys, like Eric Kendricks and Kyzir White out there together, do synergy and chemistry matter when you have those two in a new system, one just a few weeks in and one coming in this week?

“Yeah. I think so. Just communication, how they’re going to play different things, how they’re going to play different route concepts, the trust that someone’s going to be in an area when you’re trying to create an exchange based on coverages. But, they’re two very experienced players. They’ve played a lot of football and you trust that they’ll have it all figured out.”

Why have defenses had more success against Barkley this year than the previous year?

“I’m going to skip that question from a schematic standpoint, but I still think he’s elite. I know his production isn’t what it was a year ago, but he’s still a damn good football player. He’s still a threat to break it any time he touches the ball. [Philadelphia Eagles run game coordinator and offensive line coach Jeff] Stoutland is still one of the best O-Line coaches in all the football and creating leverage, creating good angles and creating space for the back. So, they can still run the ball as good as anybody.”

You think the three games in 13 days or whatever it was was part of the problem when it came to tackling against Seattle?

“I don’t know. It definitely is a tough stretch, not to give anybody an out, because you’re also talking three nationally televised games with the emotions and all that stuff. But, it doesn’t matter. Your number is called, you’ve got to answer the bell and it’s as simple as just taking the proper angles and taking the extra step. Could you say that God, your body, you’re a little tired so you’re missing the extra step to get your body there? Sure. But, it’s still not an excuse. We’ve got to be our best when our best is required and we just weren’t that at on Sunday.”

Eight NFL head coaching jobs are open now. How do you kind of split, or do you even at all, split your time between looking at these opportunities and what they may entail and doing your job here?

“You know, the league has done a really nice job with structuring the interview process to allow people to focus on the job at hand. So, I haven’t thought about any of it. I know things come in, but it’s not something that I have to deal with until next week so I’m completely focused on Philly.”

What is it that CB Upton Stout needed to get better at when you got him and how did he take those steps intentionally to really improve this season?

“For Upton, it’s just reps. Anytime a rookie, especially a guy who plays his play style, the violence at which he plays, it’s more just getting reps and starting to feel the game and understanding where he needs to put his body and all the techniques that we’re asking. I’ve always said, a coach’s job is to give a player a three-foot, a little foundation to stand on, something rock solid that he can count on play-in and play-out. It’s a player that’s going to expand that, along with reps and coaching, just bringing more awareness to what he’s being asked out of all his different techniques, how can he expand that foundation so he can stretch the limits of what he’s capable of? And Upton has done that week after week after week, and I still don’t even think he’s close to done. I think he’s got so much left in the tank. He’s learning so much every single week. And it’s been good for him. I’ll echo what [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] said. I do think he had his best game on Saturday night. Every day goes together, but he showed his violence in the flat on a big tight end. He knocked a couple O-Linemen on their backs or shed them at least, threw them to the ground. He’s a good little player, man. He is going to be good in this league for a while.”

What can you tell us about Garret Wallow? He’s a new guy and a guy that fans are just sort of familiarizing themselves with right now. What’s he good at?

“Yeah. He’s good at playing linebacker (laughter), but he was with Houston, so he knows our system a little bit. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with him. He understands the techniques that we’re asking. It’s been almost seamless. Just watching him in individual and watching him in team. We are unique in regard to how we do things at linebacker. It seems like he has a lot of recall from just his brief moment in Houston. You know, he’s really good. He’s patient. He understands routes, he understands concepts. He’s good in communication. So, a very smart linebacker also. But, we’ve got all the faith in the world that he’d be able to go out there and execute.”