Eagles Press Conference: Patrick Johnson, Reed Blankenship, and More | August 5, 2024

Partick Johnson um I was down in House of athletes down in Fort larda Florida and then the last couple years I've been uh in Texas Dallas Texas okay so what part of your past rush were you really looking to improve on because you can see the maturation in that develop in training camp right now I mean it's always all around you know I always want to work on my speed rushes but you know mainly you know power feeling the tackles you know that's a big thing that a lot of people don't really talk about when it comes to pass rush you know everybody wants to work you know different pass rush moves this and that but you know you really got to understand what the tackles give you um and they'll use that to your advantage and uh that's something that be Jenkins you know does a lot um you know what he teaches and stuff so uh you know I just took that and you know went with it where do you think you've improved the most with the pass rusher since you got here that's a good question man you know I really say my my get off has really has really really improved but really just my hand and my and my technique with my hands uh basically being able to use my hands even after the first rush and if I don't went on the first one I'm making sure I have you know a backup plan and also just like you know my plan B my counters and stuff stuff like that I feel like I've really improved on how do you think the defense is doing with everything that they install and also how much is there a change from last year how different is it um you know you know Big's really taking control of the defensive room uh you know which we love and so you know we're all really buying into it I feel like everybody's you know really understood their role um and what it's going to take um you know for the edges you know I speak just for us um you know just basically getting off the ball being able to play physical setting edges understanding our jobs um and I feel like we've done a really good job of that and it's been very like very detailed which has been really good so it's you know it hasn't really been you know not clear or nothing so it's been able to play fast do you like his old school approach yeah man yeah and I've had some Old School coaches and so I pretty much understand his ways you know and but it's it's always it's going to work in the long run so could you describe Pete's coaching style yeah Pete's yeah man Pete Pete's old school man just like Vic honestly you know so when I came here and I met Vic for the first time after working with Pete you know I was like man this going to be a piece of cake man just just understand what they want um do it that way you know while still playing your ball game you know just playing within the scheme I if you do that you're you're going to be successful you know you see guys you know who've been paid a lot of money through Vic uh who's played under his defense just because they they play hard and they play Relentless and uh they just do what they have to do you know uh it's it's tough Reed Blankenship as like a green do cuz obviously I had it before and you know you don't really know what they go through until you're in a game like situation I know not to rush somebody like that he did a great job um when you start rushing somebody they kind of get you know anxious and you know you're coming from you got to make sure the D line gets the call and the secondary gets the call and I know not to try and Bug them too much but you know it's just a simple call like hey we got this uh you know it's it helps a lot but I thought he did a great job you're you're in your third year third different coordinator well actually um but the scheme is generally kind of bones are are the same uh now that you have kind of like the original guyis how is it different I wouldn't say it's it's crazy different um it's great having the guy that came up with it I just say that the master of behind behind it all um he's a great coach he he's one of the coaches that can coach every single position you know in one meeting and uh it's it's hard for a coach to do that to sit there for however long he needs to and explain exactly what each person's job is and that's what that's what we need and that's I'm glad we have him I mean he he describes our job to a team you know and if we have any questions we can we can ask him um and he'll I mean it's it's laid out in front of it's like there it is pling as day but uh he does a great job with us and you know I'm excited to to get the ball a former safy did you know that I did not know that he doesn't take doesn't have any put any extra tension or that position he's big on playing football and playing it physical so if that if that says anything he wants us to tackle and Tackle as legal as possible but you know want to want to H somebody as hard as you can I was going to ask you what do you think the identity of the defense will be when it all comes together is that it oh that's exact I mean that's exactly what it is um we play football as a defensive unit to to oppose our will on people and uh I don't think we did a great job last year but this year we have a different mindset and we have the guys in the room that can do it um especially viig he he is an old school football coach and he shows us tackling Clips all the time of like how it used to be and obviously legal hits now that look illegal but are legal and you know you want you want to mimic that as much as possible you know cuz that's that's the game you know it's legal between the lines as long as you do it right so physicality is he coaching physicality oh yeah and the thing is I feel like you have to have the people in the room that already have that physical aspect to you can't just give it to them on like this week I'm going to be physical no it's you got to come with that mindset every day and I feel like we have the guys in the room that up CJ G Johnson absolutely talking that every day showing that every day I mean it's one thing top if you can walk it yeah he does it he does it both so that's what that's what we're excited about you know we feed off that how often would you say that Vic shows you clips and and things of how to tackle or or not actually we just watched the clip uh yesterday about it's it's honestly it's the fundamentals of football you know just to hit somebody and get get the ball carrier down you know you want to do it legally now but you know it's to the point where hey if you have a chance to to hit somebody as hard as you can why not what was the clip we actually showed a really good clip with one of our sages Tristan doing in uh I think it when was a Thursday in the open practice um the the low tackle you know just a great fundamental play but you know coming with and laying a boom on and you know it doesn't take a l it's just it's crazy that you have to be fundamentally sound to tackle somebody you know people don't understand that they got to so especially now what do you think of the youth in the secondary and how much energy do they bring and and tough physical play you know I like where we're at um I feel like we like I said we got the great we got great guys in the room um they listen that's the main thing they listen and they take notes from the bets um they try to do everything right and when it comes down to it they play football at a high level and they try to be as fast as they can doing it you know if they mess up they do it full speed so that's all you can ask like brown kind work see him out there every day kind of taking mentals and everything like that what like in the main like see like really engaged as far as like being ready when he gets back yeah he's he's still engaged what our coaches do a great job we always it's not just a the coach talking you know it's like a fully engaged meeting and that's what I like that's what I've always liked and uh if there's any like sen sort of questions we we can ask always be answered but no he does a great job um there's times after the walkthroughs in the uh bubble that he stays and he'll go over a couple plays you know and that's that's good I mean the middle reps are key especially what he's going through right now so he's he's doing all he can to get his mental rep and I can see him you know in back of the end zone do as much he can so you know I can't wait till he comes back I know he's improving a lot and uh he's going to help us a lot too I think it's a testament to Grant Jason Michael won you know in terms of I think it's been pretty consistent what he's done throughout the offseason and where he left the season what he was able to do from January February when he came back in the offseason program uh he took strides and and then he continued to do that throughout the offseason program and then he's done the same thing he's picked up kind of where we've left off the offseason continues to take advantage of his opportunities um you know it's early you know we're still trying to figure out how all this thing is going to play out but you know Grant's done a really good job of um you know building on what he had going into the off season and then you know working on those things that that he felt like he needed to and felt he needed to improve on and he's done a great job of just how he's attacked it you know on a personal level and then obviously from the team how you seen be a guy who like to improve upon his prodction from last year what have you noticed from have so far yeah I mean I think that's Dallas you know every time I get a chance to speak to yall you know I can't say enough about how he goes about his business um you guys see some of it out here um there's other things in the background that you don't see you know from the the film study to what he does when he's away from the building in terms of just preparing himself I mean I think that's any of these guys that want to be great right and I think Dallas is no different than that you know he's trying to work on everything and and he's he's unique in his own way because of what he is able to do run Game Pass game protection u in terms of being able to contribute in all three phases and and he's trying to master you know every bit of that and try to be as good as he can in all three of those phases and and the biggest thing about Dallas CD is all he cares about is winning you know and I think you see that in terms of how he is around his teammates the teammate that he is how he helps those guys from the background in the tight end room I mean it's it's it's a lot easier to coach when you have a Dallas gotd in the room to where he can pull a guy aside or during practice or during a meeting and explain it from his perspective and he's awesome that