Jeff Ulbrich - Head Coach, falcons Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-17 | Full transcript (primary source).
On September 17, 2026, Jeff Ulbrich, Head Coach of the Falcons, addressed the media in a press conference following the team's recent performance. The session focused on the team's defensive strategies and player development, highlighting the contributions of coaching staff and individual players.
Transcript
Ulbrich: Yeah, I thought it was a good starting point for sure. You know, I always try to let the game kind of dictate whether we pressure or not. So when we're rushing well and the guys are winning, I allow them to do that, you know, and I think that's always the best way to play defense, when you can play coverage and you can rush your four. And I felt our guys winning on Sunday. So, you know, I try to stay out their way as best as possible. A good starting point still, a long way to go.
Ulbrich: Yeah, it's a great testament to John Timu and to Nate Ollie. I hope those guys have just spent just so much extra time with these guys, getting them caught up, getting them up to speed with what we do. It's like you said, rushing four is one. That sounds cool, but that is earned. And that takes a lot of time on task, takes a lot of cohesion, takes a lot of time together. And for us to rush as well as we did was a testament to those two coaches for sure and the players that put the time in. But saying that, like, we can still be so much better.
Ulbrich: Yeah, just like, I mean, he was on the couch three weeks ago and now he's two sacks, tackle for loss, a couple really clean wins as well. So, yeah, that's a rare thing for a guy to do what he did. So, just excited about giving him more opportunities.
Ulbrich: Yeah, without a doubt. Like, you just, you never know in this league, you know, when you get a guy that's played as long as he has. Is he set in his ways? Is he, you know, is he a mercenary? Is he not? And you just, you never know until you get your hands on him, you get him in the building. And I've been just so blown away by him. As the players, obviously, and I think we've all seen that, that might be the highest sack rate in the history of football. He plays two sacks, you know, but aside from that, like the leader, the energy, the wisdom, the experience, the time that I see him devoting to the young guys, you know, the conversation when nobody's around, trying to get guys up to speed or just giving them some insight for a guy that's played as long as he had his play as well as he's had. So, really fortunate to get him, especially, you know, when you get a guy this late in the process, typically there's a reason, and he's been, you know, a great addition on and off the field.
Ulbrich: Yeah, it's, you know, it's unique that two people at the same time, you know, we cross paths. That stuff to me isn't by accident, you know, like we've come into each other's lives at the right time, you know, for both of us. So, yeah, really excited. Really excited about obviously joining us, but then also, you know, gaining, for me, like that's a brother for life now. So, you know, pretty cool.
Ulbrich: Just the evolution of Bryce Young. You know, we played him his rookie season when I was at New York and I didn't know what to think, you know, just you just never know with young quarterbacks. It takes time in this league for especially that position, as we all know. So, didn't know and it's just been this constant improvement every single year to the point where he has become scary in a lot of different ways, you know. He's a guy that's, he's got some point guard to him where he can open it up and very Aaron Rodgers-like. He's efficient. He sees the field really well. He's accurate. His time, he's impeccable, you know. So, there's that part of his game and then there's this other part of his game, the drop back, the play pass game, where he's starting to build this inventory of understanding coverages and the soft spots and the weak spots and he's putting the ball where he needs to go, creating more explosives. So, that's starting to compliment what he already had, the kind of the point guard thing, you know. So, he's going to test us in every way, you know, from a coverage perspective. Then obviously, as we all know, he's one of those rare guys that's better off the spot than on the spot. So, it's a guy that we got to keep him where he's not very comfortable, you know. And that's going to be a huge part of our, what it takes, our keys to victory this week.
Ulbrich: I feel like it's one of our strengths, for sure. I think that the back end, just in general, is one of our strengths. And that was one of the challenges going against the Steelers, you know. Whenever you play Aaron Rodgers, like, there's no coverage you're going to, you're going to spook him with. Like, he's seen it all, you know. So, in that, you have to be prepared, in my opinion, to play a lot of match and man coverage, which we did. And the DBs knew that the burden was going to be put on them. They celebrated it. They embraced it. And I thought they did a really good job. You know, some of those deep shots down the field, could we play with a little bit better technique, for sure. And I could help them with a call here and there, you know. But sometimes that's a byproduct of when you're playing that much man and match, you know. Like, fatigue is obviously becomes an issue. But I thought they did a good job. Good starting point.
Ulbrich: Yeah, it's interesting. We are a team. Don't get me wrong. But it's like I am so hyper focused on defense all the time. And I would, you know, I would imagine, because I've been around these guys and I continue to be around these guys as much as I am, that the defense is the same way. I really believe, like, the DNA of that group wants to be the reason we win, you know. And that's not being selfish or self-serving or self-promoting. That's none of that. That's just, like, celebrating that challenge to be the reason we win. So, regardless of what's going on on the offensive side of the ball, this group approaches it the same way, you know. And they take great pride in that.
Ulbrich: Yeah, I thought it was for him. But just like the rest of the defense, I thought it was a good starting point. You know, as I've gotten to know him, you know, he has DB movement, but he's got kind of size, strength, physicality, almost a linebacker or of a linebacker, you know. So, when we got him here, I was just so excited to use him in that capacity, bring him close to the core, let him support the run. But at the same time, he's got enough athleticism, speed, and coverage ability to be able to match up with some slots and not just survive, but play it really well from that standpoint. So, the more we get familiar with him and the more he gets familiar with us, the more we're going to get a chance to use him. So, he's been a good addition, for sure.
Ulbrich: Yeah, something similar to that, you know, without giving away too much. But yeah, there was a real intent of balancing that load at nickel between the two of those guys, you know. And I thought they did a good job of understanding the situations each was going to be asked to kind of be featured within. I love doing that when you can because it allows players to really hyper focus on one part of the game, you know, not just from our perspective, but how you study the offense, knowing that you're going to be in for a very specific situation, you know. So, I thought the two of those guys balanced it well. Will it be something we do continuing going forward? I think at times, you know, at times we will. But I think a lot of that will be dictated with how both those guys grow and evolve in our system.
Ulbrich: It was. Jalen Coker? Like, I think they do a good job of really featuring their guys. They got their Coker plays. They got their foreplays. They got their, now that they got 88, I think he's starting to get revved up and featured. They've got their screen games. So, yeah, like, you see that a lot of people, obviously, they put a lot of attention on for it, whether they roll the coverage, whether they insert the safety, whether they bracket, whatever. There's a lot of that going on. So, when that happens, there's always somebody that's the beneficiary of that, and Coker's kind of been that as late.
Ulbrich: You know, it's an interesting conversation because, like, AJ is obviously world class, and in my opinion, the best boundary corner in the NFL. But, like, CJ's really good, too. You know, that's, like, we're really fortunate to have two really good boundary-type corners, you know, and obviously, I think those guys could do both. Both of them could play the field, as well, and amongst other things. But, like, you know, we got great confidence in CJ. He's got to go in and play. We really do.
Ulbrich: Yeah, I think that there's always, you know, what, keep the main thing the main thing, you know, and make sure that we ultimately take away what they do best. But then, always, like, when things like that show themselves, always have a contingency plan. Like, if this guy gets going, what's going to be our answer? You know, so that's always, we always have that in the game plan.
Ulbrich: It can change the approach and, like, end of game, end of half, like, really specific situations. You know, if the line has changed based upon this or that in regard to how we're playing on offense, like, it could at times, you know? But just in general, typically, it doesn't have a ton of influence, you know, in normal football, but situationally it can, for sure.
Ulbrich: Yeah, it's just such a cool, exciting rivalry. You know, I think a lot of people talk about rivalries in the NFL, but I think a lot of that is just, it's false. It's just trying to build some hypes, you know, some fictitious hype, but this is a real rivalry. And when the two of the, these two teams play, like, it is a really unique environment, whether we're playing here or whether we're playing there. Like, the fans have embraced it, and I think the players have embraced it as well, which a lot of times you just don't see in the NFL. You know, it feels like that's way more of a college thing, so I'm sure it'll be an amazing environment, as it always is in New Orleans, you know, it's always that place where your ears hurt when you leave, but it's extra special when it's these two organizations, for sure.
Ulbrich: I don't.
Ulbrich: Yeah, picking and choosing our spots. You know, I think they present some challenges with protection and certain coverage tendencies that they have, and, yeah, certainly when you look back on the game, we had a big one to Drake, big one to Hahn there. You know, we had another opportunity for one that we just didn't execute kind of there in the high red zone, so, look, it's part of our DNA and who we are on offense. You know, I think our players dictate some of that, and then how they were, you know, their edges and how they match up and some of the things they do when you're under center certainly played a factor into it.
Ulbrich: Yeah, I mean, I think we're always trying to maximize what we can do, and certainly, I mean, he pushed the ball down the field on the one to Drake, so it was more schematic than anything else.
Ulbrich: Yeah, I think Mike's looked good. You know, he's been really going here for a few weeks now, and I don't know Mike pre-injury very well, except from afar, but, you know, he looks sharp, moving well. I think he has confidence in it, and obviously, his arm talents, you know, is easily seen, but in terms like the lower body movements and his ability to play quick and do those things, I think Mike's progressed really nicely.
Ulbrich: Yeah. It seems like a big challenge. Yeah. It's an added layer. I would say we deal with it all the time, not only with our own roster, like you talk about, a running back, an offensive lineman, a quarterback. Like, there's always questions throughout the week, and you kind of have a contingency plan for the way things can go. You also deal with it when you're game planning another opponent. If they have injuries, they have a guy that can or may or may not play. We dealt with it last week with Porter and understanding whether or not he was going to be in the game. So I would say there's certainly an added layer, but it's not something as coaches that's foreign to us. We deal with it throughout a season, probably almost every other week, whether it's our own roster or somebody on the other team.
Ulbrich: The hardest part is the reps. You know, you have a finite number of reps throughout the week, whether it's walkthrough or practice. And you want to make sure you have the right balance of getting guys different looks, making sure they don't, they get, you know, if you're running two guys, you got to make sure they each get an opportunity at certain plays. And then we got to do a really good job as coaches when you come back and watch it. If it's not their rep, you know, you're really teaching for everybody and keeping them engaged to see that through the lens, even if they didn't get a full speed rep of that specific look.
Ulbrich: Just mirroring the route. Yeah, you got to flip some calls. You know, there's things that we wanted to have for Tua that, you know, flip. And there's things that you want to use to maximize Cooper's ability that you try to get in the game plan. And, you know, I thought our staff handled it really well. I thought our players handled it really well. You know, we didn't execute at a high enough tick. I didn't do a good enough job throughout the game. So that's why you lose. But, you know, I think our guys handled the changes throughout the week pretty well.
Ulbrich: We would like to be more balanced. You know, circumstances. We were running it pretty good there in the second half. And, obviously, you know, B's got a pretty good skill set out of the backfield. And, look, sometimes the ball ends up there when you don't expect it to in a pass concept. But, you know, we have good players on the outside. You know, my job is to get Drake going, KP going, those things. But, you know, we would certainly like to be a little bit more balanced throughout. But, obviously, everybody knows Bijan's skill set's pretty good. So, you know, he's going to be a focal point. And, you know, I thought B-Rob went in there and ran it well, you know, in addition to B. And those two guys can certainly provide a good one-two punch for us. And I think as we continue to evolve, keeping people a little bit more off-balanced.
Ulbrich: Yeah, that's a key, you know, that's not... I think Mike looks good, man. You know, I really do. I'll let the medical side of things handle, you know, there's certain check marks after surgery and tests and all those things they do. You know, our job as coaches is to evaluate it on the field. And Mike's done everything we've asked of him with really, over the last few weeks, he's looked sharp without many limitations. He's, you know, moved in the pocket. He's gotten outside of the pocket. So, I'll let the medical side handle all those things. You know, I'm very pleased with where Mike's been.
Ulbrich: No, we're certainly in the business of highlighting our guys. You know, like, that's at the top of the mind. And you want to blend it with what fits what they're doing while also highlighting the guys we have. You know, we had a couple opportunities to Drake. We had two batted down. We had one called back on a penalty that, you know, we had one early to KP. You know, we had another one late that we just didn't execute at the right level. And it's certainly, you know, part of our thought process at the front of your mind. But there's a blend there of, hey, what are they doing versus what are we doing well and then get our guys involved.
Ulbrich: Yeah, I gotcha. I don't think it takes much. Look, played twice last year. I think this defense did a nice job in a lot of facets last season. Obviously, there's a lot of things, even in this first game, that are challenges. I don't think players get too bogged down in that. I think when you turn on the film, you see they have good players at all three levels. You know, start certainly with their front. You know, safety is extremely disruptive. They got an all-pro corner on the outside. Like, this is a team that guys are familiar with. You know, they bolstered the linebacker room from a year ago, added pass rush on the edge. Like, games sometimes tip late. You know, you watch the... We were on the plane, and Minnesota was playing, and, like, that game flipped in five minutes, you know. And so, they're circumstantial things, but I don't really think you do much selling there. I really believe these guys have a tremendous amount of respect for Carolina, and the players they have over there, they do a really good job defensively of keeping you off balance and challenge you on the back end. And, you know, it's more about we're putting in a plan, and we're showing them why we believe this will lead to success and looking at probably a little bit more inward on how we can execute at a high level.
Ulbrich: Probably not. Yeah, I mean, I think it's our job to, like, sift through all that, you know, and, you know, come Friday, you sit down, you have your plan settled, and then you start putting yourself in the game and how you're going to call it for the quarterback and how you're going to call it to attack the defense. And I think we have enough in our offensive system and in our offensive scheme to go into the plan, go into the game with plenty in our plan. Like, that's our job, again, as coaches, to make sure that we can sift through all that.
