49ers defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks details why the 49ers had trust to go back to Ambry Thomas as a starter.
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00:00 My last question would just be about Ambry Thomas because really it felt like you guys
00:03 in secondary really started to tighten up when you made that, when you reinstalled him
00:07 as the starter when you go to your nickel package to kick the lower end side and at
00:11 first it's like what's Ambry doing out there?
00:13 Because you know people will send us things like he's a lot of building, it's a little
00:15 big but that's the thing about corners, you're going to get beat, you got to accept it, right?
00:19 But with him it's like, whoa, that's not Ambry, that's not Ambry.
00:22 How was you guys able to really go back to him again in terms of having that trust in
00:28 him and the work he was able to do to really be a solidified outside corner?
00:30 I mean Ambry, the trust was earned in the offseason.
00:35 You know Ambry had a really good offseason, you know what I'm saying?
00:37 And it started off in the offseason, we gave him a plan, he stuck with it, he kept his
00:40 weight on, he had a hell of an arm, OTAs, mini camp, and then carried on to the summer,
00:45 he kept his weight up, went to training camp, he had a good training camp.
00:48 So he had all the confidence he needed, we had all the confidence in him, he had confidence
00:52 in himself so we knew he could do it.
00:53 It just a matter of when he was going to get that opportunity to do it.
00:56 So when the season came along, we started off with Oliver and then we had Dimo outside,
00:59 and then we made the switch so it was an easy transition for us because I trusted Ambry
01:03 Thomas because he'd been putting that work out, seeing him on a day-to-day basis, going
01:06 like, well, he'd been out for a couple weeks and now all of a sudden we're throwing him
01:10 out there.
01:11 Now he'd been doing it even when he wasn't out there in the game, he'd been getting those
01:13 reps at practice, so I've been seeing it.
01:14 And just for him, I think for Ambry Thomas, this is his third year, so his third round
01:18 draft pick, his third year, sometimes the light bulb go off in the player, and sometimes
01:21 it may be sooner than later.
01:22 Some guys' light bulb click in their head when they get it, and they're playing, they're
01:25 starting off their rookie year, they're playing at a high level for Ambry.
01:28 The process, he started off good his rookie year, ended up playing in the NLC championship
01:32 game, and then the second year, last year, it didn't go as well as he wanted.
01:35 And guys were kind of down on him, and then coming into his third year, he knew what was
01:39 at stake, like he was doing dive for him, so he busted his butt, worked his butt off,
01:42 and earned that right, that opportunity to go out there and play.
01:44 So when he did get that opportunity, he went out there and took advantage of it, so it
01:47 didn't surprise me.
01:48 And the more reps he got, the better he got, as you know, as a corner.
01:51 It's like you say, you're going to get beat, whether you're at corner, I don't care what
01:55 position you're on the defense, you're going to get beat at some point, you know what I'm
01:57 saying?
01:58 It's about how you're going to respond, you know, are you mentally strong, and what's
02:01 your bounce back, so I give my credit to him, it's an easy transition for us to put him
02:05 outside, and it also gives us versatility to do that as well.
02:08 Slide D on the inside and have AT outside, and still have good matchups, when you're
02:11 looking at calling man coverage or something or whatnot, we like our matchups, and that's
02:15 what we're going with.
02:17 Damn.