Posted Oct. 31, 2009 @ 12:22 p.m.
Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, along with the rest of the coaches, spent the bye week self-scouting and trying to identify the most correctable elements for improvement. One common theme repeated itself on the game tape — poor tackling. Cunningham was amazed, he told the media, to see "40 snaps of excellent defense and then we have five bad plays" in any given game. Cunningham said the mental mistakes and poor tackling would have to end or he would make personnel changes quickly. Although he refuses to name names, our sources say it isn't too tough to identify some culprits. CBs Anthony Henry and Phillip Buchanon both have had their struggles and have been benched in favor of William James and Demarcus Faggins. "They can't just be cover guys," Cunningham said of his corners. "They have to tackle, and if they don't want to tackle, they're not going to play."
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