LB Jerome Baker
(On QB Lamar Jackson.) – “A guy like that, you really can’t stop him at all. You really can just contain him and make other guys beat you. That’s really our approach, just to contain him and do our job, run to the ball and play as a defense. We’ve just got to work on Sunday.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa said it will be a good test for you guys. You hit the road and go into a hostile area like Baltimore where their fans are really crazy.) – “I think their record in their last home openers is like 6-0 or something. It’s going to be a good test for us and ultimately we’ve just got to stick together as a team and we’ll be fine. We’ll definitely be fine.”
(Last year with you rotating outside, that was a huge impact to the game. Are you excited to potentially do some of those things?) – “Yeah. I say this every week – my job is pretty fun. Sometimes I’m inside, sometimes I’m outside. Sometimes I’m essentially a safety. That’s the fun thing about playing in this defense. I can play whatever and I can do whatever. I’m really having fun out there and Sunday is definitely going to be a fun one.”
(Is it fun how you guys defensively controlled the Patriots? Was that fun out there like that?) – “I think that was a good game. But ultimately, I think the fun part was that was our first test of playing together, seeing what we can do and going up against a team like the Patriots, that was a great way to prove it. That was a great start to our season. Now we just got to keep it rolling.”
(Coming off of that this week, how has it gone so far? How does it feel in the locker room right now going to Baltimore?) – “Guys are focused and hungry. I think that’s the main thing. Guys are locked in. Even today, we changed a few things in our schedule and guys didn’t blink. We just got our job done and continued about our day. That’s the main approach is we are ready to work, we are ready to perform and we are ready to do something special.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said the other day that this is the defense’s team until proven otherwise. How much pride do you take in that? And how excited are you to see what this team can do when you’re clicking on all cylinders?) – “For me personally, that just means a lot. I’ve been here through a lot of different circumstances, I’ll say that. This defense has always helped this team and we’re going to continue to do that. We have great leaders on defense. But our offense is exciting to watch. It truly is. We’ve got guys that can take it to the house on a simple out route. It’s going to be a fun one. If we just keep playing together, we’ll be just fine.”
(How much does this group embrace the challenge of facing a guy like QB Lamar Jackson?) – “We’re excited. I’ll say that. We’re definitely excited. Any time you go up against a guy that gives you a big challenge on defense – any defensive guy is going to get happy and hungry and ready to prove themselves. That’s the main thing. We’re ready to prove ourselves against essentially a superstar in this league. It’s going to be a fun one Sunday.”
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(What did you think of your group’s play in Week 1? I know you’re looking at Baltimore, but just looking back real quickly?) – “I thought defensively, overall, everybody played hard. We’re always looking to improve and the beauty of coaching guys who are always kind of looking to get better – coming off the field, I think they were just excited to watch the tape and I think there are some things we wish we did better and some things we’re really fired up about that we did. So like any game, any first game, too. But yeah, obviously I’ve been grinding away on these guys, but I thought overall a solid performance. Definitely room for improvement, just like most of the time.”
(Where are you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer right now in terms of your discussion about a package for LB Channing Tindall? Obviously, you’ve got LB Jerome Baker, LB Elandon Roberts, LB Duke Riley, who all need to play. Is that something you guys have talked about much? Does one exist?) – “Yeah, I think as you’re going through that, always with the roster, each game is different and guys have different roles in different games. So that’s one of the things certainly, in the NFL, it’s a long season. Every game is a little bit different and you’re kind of always talking about that every week, honestly, with all the guys in the room.”
(On the focal point this week) – “I just think, obviously like most games, it’s a do your job – every game to do your job game – but just obviously reading your keys, playing physical, things that we always talk about, because I just think those are the tenets of playing good defense. Running to the football, tackling well, being physical and obviously getting your eyes right, so you can do your job correctly all the time. Those are the things we’re often talking about, we’re always talking about, but certainly in this game as well.”
(Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer mentioned he’s stayed here late a few nights already this week. Is that just the nature of the business when it comes to facing Baltimore?) – “I think facing anybody – I don’t know if I’ve ever been here when it was not late. (laughter) But yeah, I mean football is a job like that. Coaching football, I think if you’re doing it right, you’re putting the hours in and you’re trying to look for every competitive advantage that you can get. So yeah, it’s definitely not much different than many other weeks, but you know, in here late burning the midnight oil, trying to get it right. And if you have the type of guys that we have, like defensively, the guys we get to coach, you want to do a great job for them. You don’t want to let each other down. I think players feel that way about players. Coaches feel that way about coaches. Players feel that way about coaches. And coaches feel that way about players. I think we always try to work towards just having guys that genuinely honestly, like love each other, want to do a great job for each other, never quit on each other. And if that means staying here late or whatever for 20 weeks, however long the season is, 25 weeks; then yeah, absolutely. Because we’re fortunate enough to coach guys that are about that and just good people. So you want to make sure you’re doing a good job for them.”
(What’s the challenge of preparing your guys to face the fastest quarterback in the NFL, just one week after facing possibly the slowest quarterback in the NFL?) – “I think each team presents their own challenges. So the beauty of football is you’re jumping into different schemes and defending different things every week. Camp is no different than that. You jump out of camp into a preseason game getting ready for an opponent or possibly playing with a team for a couple practices there. So you’re jumping in and out of schemes all the time, and hopefully the fundamentals that you’re practicing every day – OTAs, summer camp, in the season – that stuff’s got to show up for you to play well against all these different assortments of offenses and players. So really just – maybe I’m redundant in saying this, but doing your job, getting up, hit the ground running, play like there’s a hot stove on the ground and don’t ever stop running, attack the football and those are the things we talk about every day. And obviously, like I said, I’m going to keep going back to this; but if you care about each other, you care about the guys in the room, you love each other, you’re going to do your job well and you’re going to do your job to the best of your ability.”
(How much you have to drill into your guys – it’s QB Lamar Jackson back there so you’ve got to even more aware of the running threat because this is no ordinary quarterback?) – “I think anybody who knows Lamar Jackson as a player knows he’s an elite-level athlete and a great quarterback. And I think we have respect for every guy that we play that plays that position. It’s obviously a tough position to play in this league. But yeah, he’s an exceptional talent. I got to coach against him a couple of times in college, too. I learned that firsthand as a college coach. So, yeah, just everybody locking in and trying to do their job and I think you could see that on the tape.”
(I don’t think there’s any other team that ran more fullback snaps in the game on Sunday than the Ravens. How does that challenge your position group to have another back in the backfield so often?) – “I think fortunately, we’re just – our team, we played a bunch of that type of look in the offseason and in the summer. So I guess that’s an added benefit of being in our system on offense, but I think like anything else, you’re preparing for different looks every week, so you’ve just got to get your eyes right to play fast and play physical.”
Safeties Coach Steve Gregory
(When you reviewed the film of S Brandon Jones, what did you like most about his performance? Obviously we know he can blitz well, but it seemed like he made some plays in coverage as well?) – “Yeah, it’s great to see him go out there and make some plays in a game. It’s a good start to the season. The thing with Brandon is he’s always going to play 100 miles per hour. With him, when he goes out there and he performs like that, it’s a credit to his play style. The way he was flying around was really good to see.”
(I know S Brandon Jones wants to be known as more than just a blitzer but he’s really good at blitzing. I’m curious what you see in his skill set that allows him to make plays like he did against QB Mac Jones the other day in some of the blitzes you guys ran?) – “Just his explosiveness, his agility, his quickness, his physicality. All of those things that can help you as a blitzer. His timing, his understanding of the scheme and how we’re trying to send him and things like that. With all of our guys that we send, those are key points to being an effective and good blitzer.”
(There was a play where S Jevon Holland ended up hitting QB Mac Jones, where you could see the communication where all of a sudden Jevon tells S Brandon Jones to come down on the line and you guys send a blitz there. How have you seen them maybe work together with their communication on plays like that and overall?) – “It’s been a process that’s started since the beginning of the offseason. We pride ourselves on being guys that are going to talk to each other out there. This is football. You’re teammates. You’ve got to communicate and you’ve got to talk with each other. Everything isn’t going to go perfectly. We don’t know what the offense is going to line up in. We don’t know who is going to move when and where. We just have to have a good understanding of conceptually what we’re trying to do defensively. And then when those guys move and they adjust and they shift, we talk to each other and let each other know what’s going on so we can be in the right situation.”
(What’s the NFL skill that you’ve observed in S Verone McKinley III from watching him for five months?) – “He has really good ball skills. I think his angles to the football and his understanding of the game, his smarts, his wisdom as a football player are a little bit beyond his years. I know he studied the game a lot in college. He had a podcast or whatever where he talked a lot about NFL players and things like that. He’s a very knowledgeable player, which allows him to play a step faster than maybe is perceived on paper, physical attributes. So all of those things help him as a football player.”
(I think it was earlier this week, Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that S Eric Rowe was very engaged even though he couldn’t play in the game and was kind of chomping to get out there. I was curious what that veteran presence and the way he is engaged, kind of how that impacts the rest of the room and just gets guys more prepared.) – “Yeah, it’s huge. Eric is a professional football player. He’s a true pro at everything he does on a day-to-day basis. His attention to detail, his support for his teammates. Whether he is playing or not playing, he’s a team guy. So when you have a guy that’s professional, that’s experienced, that loves the game and he loves being a part of a team, I think that helps, especially young guys, seeing how he does it and how he approaches everything from a day-to-day basis.”
(The zero blitz last year against Baltimore was so effective. How much do you guys have to be prepared for the certain adjustments that you know they’re going to be making?) – “We’ll just have to see what they do. Every year is different. Every game is different. Their scheme has a couple of different wrinkles than what they showed last year. They’re going to game plan us just like we’re going to game plan them. You go into these games with a certain game plan. You try to go execute it. That’s why we’re on the sideline after series trying to evaluate what they’re doing. They’re trying to evaluate what we’re doing and we’re trying to make in-game adjustments.”
(To follow up on that, QB Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown pass of 20+ yards on Sunday. How do you balance not letting him get loose on the run but also making sure he doesn’t burn you over the head with a deep throw?) – “It’s extremely challenging. The guy is a heck of a football player. He can throw the ball down the field. He has a strong arm. He has a quick release. And then obviously everybody in the world knows what he can do with his feet. He presents challenges all over the field. We just have to go into the game understanding what those challenges are and how we want to execute our game plan to try to limit the explosive plays that he can create.”
(Did you watch the Thursday night game last year or were you busy with your own coaching responsibilities – the Dolphins/Ravens game? I wondered if you watched it live and if you did, what you thought seeing S Jevon Holland and S Brandon Jones blitz constantly and wreak so much havoc.) – “I did not watch it live. But yeah, it was great. That game in particular – not just those two guys but the defense in general was flying around and playing fast. Regardless of what your scheme is or what defense you call or what play is called on either side of the ball, if guys are playing fast and flying around and it’s a physical football game, then you play well. That’s the bottom line.”
(I don’t want to get too far ahead but you do have QB Josh Allen, who has similar skill sets to QB Lamar Jackson in that he can make plays with his feet. Do having games like that, where it’s back-to-back similar quarterbacks, kind of help you stay in that mindset?) – “I don’t think so. I mean we don’t really look past what we have as the task at hand. Right now, we’re focused on Baltimore. We’re not really focused on Josh Allen. I get the comparison but right now we’re focused on what Baltimore does, the challenges they present and whatever our game plan is to go ahead and try to execute to defeat them. We’ll worry about Josh Allen next week.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(What are the difficulties you find in preparing for a team that maybe you’re playing for the second time this season that you’ve played in close proximity before?) – “Yeah, I think every time you go into a game plan, you always take into account whether it’s a coordinator from a different team, or whether it’s the same coordinator, the same team; I think you always look at the ways that they tried to attack you, the ways that we thought were good going into it, and then the results and the things that actually happened in the game. I think each game is different. Sometimes the games have a different ebb and flow to them. I think there’s always an element of adjusting going into the game. So I think every team in the league would do their due diligence and always study past games against the same opponent, same coordinator. I think those things happen on a week-in and week-out basis.”
(On if he believes in pounding an opponent with something they haven’t proven they can beat versus being ahead of them in making adjustments because you’re preparing for them to counter) – “Yeah, I think there’s a balance there, for sure. I don’t think you want to be predictable in anything you do. We see that defensively. If there’s things that we struggled with, we definitely prepare for that and anticipate that it will show up again the next week. But I think there’s a balance of giving them a little bit of an element of surprise and then really just trying to put your players in position to succeed. Ultimately, that’s what it really, really is about. It doesn’t necessarily mean this coverage, this front. It’s really what you think is best for your team to succeed and really get off the field and get the ball back to the offense.”
(I’m sure that in any given situation, you love having the element of surprise, but I wonder in something like a Cover 0, is the element of surprise that much more important or just the same? How does that work do you think?) – “Sometimes when you line up, obviously you can kind of tell what’s coming defensively. We try to disguise things as best we can so that all looks don’t look the same. But I think it comes down to execution. I really do. I know you guys keep referring to the game from a year ago, but even in some of those zero blitzes, they had some good answers, but it really came down to execution. And that’s in any defensive scheme or any offensive scheme. They have good coaches over there. They’re going to be well prepared. We know and understand that. We’re working very hard to put together the best game plan that we feel going into the game and we’re looking forward to the competition on Sunday.”
(How much, if at all, does George Godsey being on their staff this year impact the game plan?) – “The NFL is really a small, tight knit community. So I mean, usually, you’re always going to have players that are on the other team that you’ve coached or have been in your system or coaches. Last week obviously there was a massive amount of familiarity – I would say us with their offense and them with us defensively. I think each week that you go into it, there’s going to be somebody that you probably know or has worked with somebody. Ultimately it comes down to really game planning and execution. I mean, that’s really what it comes down to. I don’t think that – do they know the ins and outs of what you’re doing? Things are different from year to year. It’s kind of like I talked about last week, once you leave the building of somewhere, you really don’t know everything that’s going on, if that makes sense.”
(One reason that CB Kader Kohou mentioned he signed here was the interest that you took in him and how you all cultivated a relationship during the process. Do you remember was there a day where you were just looking at tape in February or March of him and you saw something that you liked that you told General Manager Chris Grier about? How did that play out with him?) – “I remember it very well. It was actually the day before the draft, if I remember correctly. Usually – there’s a lot there’s a lot of players that you look at going into the draft, and for me, I usually always save the corners for last. I spend a lot more time on the front and then I go to the ‘backers, off the ball ‘backers, on the ball ‘backers, spend time with the rushers, then I go to the safety group and then usually the corner group is the last group that I hit. And I believe that was right before an OTA session, if I’m not mistaken and I saw him on film – and I’ve got a list of every position and then you just start moving guys up and down your list where you got him – and I saw him and I was like, ‘I like this kid and I need to talk to him.’ It was a matter of could I fly out there before or could we just do it on Zoom, and we had a Zoom conversation. It was very clear to me how I thought he would fit in this defense and we had a good conversation. I had a good conversation with his agent. Then it came to the process of talking to our scouts, who they all have their evaluations and talking to Chris (Grier) obviously. In fact, I mentioned something to Chris, out on the field, when we were – and Chris has got a lot going on. I mean, he’s got thousands and thousands of guys. I mean, he’s looking at the other side of the ball, too, before the draft. So he’s probably looking at me like, ‘Hey, who are you talking about?’ But no, Chris was awesome. And he goes, ‘Okay, I’m going to get on that.’ And then really, (Assistant General Manager) Marvin Allen did an awesome job when it came to post-Draft, to make sure that we were able to secure Kader (Kohou). So it’s a group process to get things done. Obviously, we’re happy that he’s here and we’re looking forward to working with him and hopefully he can grow and get better as we move forward. But yeah, that’s usually how the process works. You basically, you evaluate a bunch of players, you kind of move them up and down where you see fit. And then it’s really important to make contact. If you haven’t, I would say – over the years, a lot of guys – Keion (Crossen) is a good example. I actually went to Western Carolina to work him out. And it was one of those deals that I had a good meeting there and then we ended up drafting him late in the seventh round. And some guys, you just do the workout, some guys you call and talk to. Nik Needham would have been a guy that really a lot of that talk was with his agent. And sometimes when you find out that there’s not a lot of interest there, you’re going, ‘Okay, we’re probably the best offer, then.’ So everybody has a different story, a different path, I think there’s a lot of guys that do their due diligence of going through and looking at guys. And it’s always, I think, just a little bit better when you can evaluate a guy and put him in your system, and then that checks out with the guys that have already evaluated him. So it makes that for a little bit smoother process. I know that was kind of a long-winded answer there, but that’s kind of what happened.”
(What specific trait of CB Kader Kohou’s jumped out at you?) – “There’s a lot of things that you look for. I think that he was physical, he had a great play style. I think those are the big key things. And then you – especially when you’re looking at guys that are free agents or late round picks, there’s usually something that’s going to be looked over whether it’s level of competition, height, speed. All guys have different things. So I think there’s an element of things that you look for in those guys and then really, you need to find out what motivates them, what drives them, because it’s going to be an uphill battle and they’ve got to come to work every day, and they’ve got to focus on getting better every day. So, I think those are the things that you really kind of look for. That’s why I think it’s important to make contact with the guys and get in touch with them. And I would say Kader in particular, talking to him, if you guys ever get the opportunity, I mean, he’s an impressive individual.”
(You’ve had a lot of success personally finding some of these UDFAs – JC Jackson, Malcolm Butler, Nik Needham, all these guys here – is there a common theme that you found? I know all these guys aren’t the same, but is there a common theme and I’d imagine that rate is not very high across the league in finding them, but you seem to have…) – “I do think there is a common theme. I’m not so sure that I’m quite ready to share that. (laughter) But I do think there is a common theme. I mean, there’s definitely a specific thing that you look for that I would say whether it’s Malcolm Butler, Justin Coleman who was undrafted out of Tennessee – I mean, we had to end up getting him from Seattle because he ended up going to Seattle, and then we put him on the roster, but there’s characteristics that you look for guys that I think – they’re all different, like Nik is different than Malcolm Butler. Kader’s different than Jon Jones. I would say there’s one characteristic that really kind of stands out that’s common among all of them. And I’ll probably just keep that to myself. (laughter)”
(S Jevon Holland makes a lot of headlines from the safety position, but to have a guy like him and S Brandon Jones together on the field at the same time, what kind of luxury is that for you? And what really jumps out on tape when you watch them?) – “I think with all 11 of our guys that we put out there, the thing that we stress the most is to get everybody to the ball and play with great effort and attack the football. And I think those two – Brandon (Jones) and Jevon (Holland) in particular – they do that. They give you an opportunity. Usually if you get turnovers, and you guys have all been doing this for a long time, so you know and understand turnovers usually correlate most to winning than any other statistic you could throw out there. So obviously, those are things that we stress and then usually if you’re around the ball, good things are going to happen. I think that’s the thing that we stress with our guys and obviously, there’s thousands of fundamentals and techniques. I feel very fortunate, we have a very good coaching staff that that’s very good at implementing and teaching and showing how we want things played. And the fundamentals and techniques, that’s obviously an element of it, but I think any time that you can put guys out on the field that are going to get to the ball and get after the ball, I think that’s a good thing defensively.”
(CB Kader Kohou was mentioning that your approach to him is a large reason why he chose to come here. So what was it in your approach to him? What did you tell him and how satisfying must it be pretty personally to see a guy from Texas A&M Commerce make the roster and then had the effect he did on Sunday?) – “Well again, it’s one game and hopefully we can continue to get better. I think the one thing is when you talk to players, you always need to be honest and upfront. And I think when you’re talking to players, you have to have a vision for what you see them doing and their desires, skillset, kind of have to match that vision. And when that’s matched, there’s an element of getting the best of that player, whether it’s Kader (Kohou), whether it’s Zach Sieler. Like it could be anybody, but I think when the stars align, when you have a vision for them, and sometimes that vision can change based on growing of skillsets. But I think from a starting point, with all young guys and all rookies that are coming in, you bring them into your program, you want to have a vision for how you see it going.”
(You are a really smart guy so you don’t need advice on how to identify traits that you want. That being said, were Bill Belichick and Brian Flores helpful to you in being able to identify traits you like in young guys who were NFL projectable?) – “To single out two guys, I don’t know that would be the case. I think you learn from everybody. I really do. I mean, I’ve been very fortunate, obviously – I believe this is my 17th year in the NFL. I’ve been around a lot of really good ones and whether it’s – Scott O’Brien is a guy that is probably not a name that rings a lot of bells with people, but he was really good special teams coordinator in the league for a long time. And he was a very good evaluator and I got to spend some time with him. Guys like Matt Slater and Julian Edelman – those are guys that I would say Scott was probably very influential in getting to New England. Like Dante Scarnecchia, as a position coach, as crazy as it sounds, I was a corner coach modeling being a position coach after an o-line coach and spent as much time with Dante Scarnecchia as I possibly could. Like I said, I’ve been very, very fortunate over the years to be around a lot of good people, a lot of good evaluators. You always work on things that you think that you could be better at. Again, there’s a reason that I leave the corners for the last because I think sometimes you need to spend a little bit more time on positions that you don’t, that I would say, over the years, I hadn’t had those responsibilities or had to be that familiar with them. I think you always work on things that you can get better at. And I think things that seem to come easier, natural to you, you just put those at the end. But at the end of the day, it’s all work. I’ve tried to learn, whether good or bad from everybody that you come around, which is what we try to tell our players – so if you can have the humility to understand even if you’re put in a bad situation and you can learn from it, you’re making progress. It might not feel like it, but you’re making progress.”
(I was looking at the Ravens personnel splits yesterday and they ran almost everything out of 12, 22 or 21 personnel. How challenging is that in a league where it’s all about 11 personnel and these spread attacks to adjust to a team that goes so heavy all the time?) – “I’m glad you asked because I get really excited. Watching the Ravens and the job that Greg Roman does, I really feel like this is an unsung coach in the NFL. He game plans the run and uses multiple personnel groupings. He game plans the run game like most people game plan the passing game, and he’s done it for a long time. I believe he’s been in the league for 25 years, if I’m not mistaken. I know he’s been in Baltimore for eight. But I would say that – he’s done it with Colin Kaepernick at San Francisco. He did it with Tyrod Taylor in Buffalo. Lamar Jackson, who is a special talent, he can run, he’s physical, he can throw, he can make the reads. I would say Baltimore and what they do, schematically, I’ve stayed here late. I’ve been here real late for the last two nights, for sure. They make it hard on you. They can do a variety of different things out of all personnel groupings, and they have every run known to man. They really do and they execute it well, which again, whether you run blitz zero, or you run all the runs, ultimately it comes down to execution. That’s what it comes down to. And they’re going to be really well-coached. They’re going to be really well prepared. They’ve got good players across the board. It’s a real big challenge for us this week and we’re looking forward to it.”
(Speaking of the Ravens run game, there’s a chance they get JK Dobbins back this week. What does he maybe add to their run game and as you try to prepare for the possibility of…?) – “He’s a very dynamic player. He can take a 4-yard run and make it an 80-yard run in a hurry. He has great vision. He’s got good – I mean with his vision, he has the athletic ability to cut on a dime, if you will, and he can be physical. He’s got a good stiff arm. He’s definitely somebody that we’ve been watching this week and anticipate him being out there. I do think he’s a very good back in this league and I think he probably will be for a while. So again, it’s a huge challenge for us – run, pass, scheme. They do a very good job over there. Like I said, nothing but the utmost respect for the job that (John) Harbaugh does running the team and then obviously, Greg Roman on offense, and then the talent that they’ve amassed over there. Like I said, it’s going to be a big challenge for us this week, and we’re really looking forward to it.”
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(QB Tua Tagovailoa seems more polarizing and discussed by national pundits than anybody. Was there a time where you were on a treadmill in the last eight months and happened to have ESPN or FOX on and you see that the nonstop debate on Tua, what do you make of that? Do you think it’s unfair scrutiny or does it come with the territory?) – “I’d imagine it just comes with the territory. If you play quarterback in the National Football League, the performance is always going to be the most scrutinized position – over, under, too much credit, all the blame. So I think he handles it extremely well, especially being around many different quarterbacks from Drew Brees to last year, Justin (Herbert), Derek Carr, Jay Cutler. I’ve been fortunate to see the gauntlet myself, and Mike (McDaniel) with his experience and really our whole staff. I think overall, just the hardest thing I think is to just take it as a compliment. They’re talking about you because the minute they don’t talk about you, it’s probably because you’re not playing.”
(There is some uncertainty this week on the line with OL Austin Jackson kind of dealing with some things and T Terron Armstead. How does that change your guys’ game prep and the possibility of not having one or both of those guys out there?) – “That’s a good question because I think it ties into last week when we’re talking about how do we plan for contingencies on the line? And how do you build continuity? So I think that the reality is you saw this last game, an execution of (Offensive Line Coach) Matt Applebaum working those contingencies that we had talked about, that maybe you guys didn’t see in practice, but we had worked in walkthroughs and our individual (periods). So ultimately, you always want to create consistency upfront through guys playing the position and communicating with each other. And then when injuries occur, you just basically are moving through plan ABCD, all the way up until ‘Ok, we don’t have anyone left at the position.’ So I think this week, we’re operating under one context with a thought that the next couple contingencies or things we have talked about, we do have flexibility with. But ultimately, everything’s a day-by-day situation just because of the way these guys recover, how quickly, how much pride they put into their performance and to the recovery. We’ll basically just make sure that each day, we’re up to date with our training stuff, with (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel), (General Manager) Chris (Grier), that we understand who will be available, what is our plan from it and we adjust like we did. That’s a credit to Matt (Applebaum) and Mike (Person) and ‘Lem’ (Lemuel Jeanpierre) for working the drill as they did all throughout training camp.”
(You mentioned contingencies. One of them was moving OL Robert Hunt outside during the game last week. I’m curious your thought process of moving a guy’s position versus bringing guy off the bench. I know you talk about continuity, but how do you balance that element of it? Moving a guy outside versus just bringing a guy in to replace another guy?) – “Sure. I think when it comes to lineman, I think it really goes down to what stance you’re playing in. Sometimes it’s easier to stay on your side as opposed to switching across the ball. Like last year in LA, our contingency plan was Matt Feiler was our emergency right tackle if we would have had one or two injuries. So he would have been our left guard to right tackle. We practiced it. We did it more in individual. You hit it on late in the week, just because it’s an opposite stance. I don’t think it’s necessarily is a guy in the game as opposed to a guy out of the game. It’s more of you’re always evaluating what is your best group, your best combination, your best – who’s communicating what, who’s doing what. I think you’re always working multiple variables. It’s a credit to – I learned that lesson from my second week in the NFL, I think. Or second month. It was a long time ago. But I was fortunate enough that I drove around – Howard Mudd was consulting with us at the Saints and I had to pick him up from the airport and drive him around. And he was very blunt and direct – my memories of him. He used to always say ‘Every day, when you’re a coach some day, every day you’re responsible for your group, and knowing that if that guy goes down, what’s your next plan? What are your best five?’ And then also at the same time when you’re making cuts in training camp, who are the guys? So you’re always evaluating your group and knowing them and that’s a lesson I learned and always stuck with me because Aaron Kromer kind of put it into my head too. So in turn, now you make your progression and you go to talking with Matt (Applebaum), we discussed that and he’s really embraced that and he’s always on constantly on it. So I just think ultimately, to answer your question, it’s basically we’re always evaluating what’s the variable going on, and who do we believe are the guys. Sometimes it might not be the combination that would be the most obvious but to us, it’s already been drilled and practiced.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that the gameplan going in against New England was to get TE Mike Gesicki getting more involved than he was. Will there be a focus on that?) – “Well, I think the some of the touches we were trying to incorporate them on, the game of football played the way out it did. So on the opportunities that we’re trying to get him the ball, something didn’t go the way it allowed us to, to operate with getting him the ball on time and the timing of the play. I think always we’re trying to make sure that we get our guys the matchups and the opportunities that we want in the course of a game. That’s always the hardest thing is just what’s going to happen on that play. I think it takes all 11 to make sure that Tua can get the ball out on time, get it to Mike (Gesicki), get it to Jaylen (Waddle), get it to Tyreek (Hill), whoever it is. But ultimately, we want to get him involved. And obviously, that was a goal of ours and the game just didn’t work out that way.”
(What is your level of confidence in TE Mike Gesicki as a blocker?) – “Yeah, I think he’s been improving since the day he got here. And I think the greatest challenge is just getting those ops in a game. So it’s trying to always constantly put your guys in the best position to maximize their skill set. So I think that we’ve been pleased with what he’s been doing so far. And we’re continue trying to get him opportunities with the ball in the game.”
(You’ve been around FB Alec Ingold obviously a couple years with the Raiders. Not every fullback can go out on a third-and-1 for a downfield passing play like he can. Is there any unique skill that he has different from the stereotypical fullback? What’s appealing about him that makes him an asset?) – “Sure. Yeah, I was fortunate to be there when we drafted Alec in Oakland the year before Vegas. And we had him at the Senior Bowl. Getting to know him, you just understand him as a person and his high school coach was my high school coach. I’m from Wisconsin. So the exposure to who he is as a person kind of shows who he is as a player. So obviously being new into the system, coming off his injury, he’s done a fantastic job. He was a high school quarterback. Guys who were high school quarterbacks have normally a great understanding of the game and they understand more than just their position. So as he’s been now assimilated to the offense, I know Mike (McDaniel) and Eric (Studesville) both feel we’re just scratching the surface on what we’d like to do with him this year. And you saw it at the end of his time in Vegas with what they were asking him to do. You can see him playing all over the field.”
(I noticed this past game that WR Tyreek Hill in particular was used in motion a lot to get him on the move. From a broad picture and schematic standpoint, what’s the advantage for him in particular, getting him on the move when you’re running some of these plays?) – “I think as far as the advantage, it also is more of what is what does that movement do to the defense? And what is their adjustment? I think you deliberately have to – some people might just do things to do things. We look at when we do something, what reaction are we trying to get? Like, what do they do? So whenever we try to do things, we’re trying to attack a component of the defense and we’re using our skill in a way to use their reaction to our advantage. So I think always you’re seeing and studying and you’re realizing, ‘Okay, if we do this, here’s the reaction we anticipate.’ If we don’t get that, then it’s probably this. So now at quarterback, you’re thinking here’s your progression and you can see now how you teach a passing concept. So we try and use everything strategically when we’re moving people. That’s why we move people so often. I don’t think it’s just relegated to this offense. I think that the history between Mike (McDaniel) and his time with Kyle (Shanahan), and their time in San Francisco, wherever they’ve been, is understanding how motion creates challenges to the defense and then using it to our advantage. That’s really what we try and do. It’s not necessarily like, if we did this with him. It’s like if we use him in this capacity, what reaction are we going to get? How can we use that in our attack to build strain on them? I think that’s the overall when we try and do stuff.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa mentioned yesterday that his timing was off on a couple plays. Do you think the lack of continuity maybe in the offensive line in game one had something to do with that? Or is it just maybe just not seeing the receiver in time?) – “To answer your question, it’s never just as black and white as one thing. A couple times, that did play into it. Other times, we got a reaction from the defense that we didn’t anticipate. I think you look at a couple plays in the game and you realize that you can practice things all week or even when you play an opponent in the opener, you can sometimes over-prepare for certain things and then you run that play more times than you would naturally in the normal course of a week. And then all of a sudden when the variable hits you, you’re like, ‘Oh.’ So I think some of that comes into its Game 1 for us coming together as an offense. We’re learning from it. We’re learning from the reactions. I think sometimes when you’re an outcome-based organization, you just A, you should have done this as opposed to ‘Ok, what happened at that moment? What were you thinking? Why did you do what you did?’ And then you start teaching them their reactions. And then I think as a player, you’re ultimately trying to realize was my action correct? Or does my reaction maybe need tweak or improvement? I think it takes all 11 on offense to be working together and that’s our goal through the course of the season. This should be – and I know Mike (McDaniel) hit it – it’s just constantly, I think, a great message overall for us as coaches and fans. That game should be our worst game because as we work to grow, it’s a race to improve. I mean constantly, you’re worst football you hope is in September and your best ball is coming in December as you’re making your push for January. So I think overall, some timing things would come down to reactions of the defense, maybe who was in there and understanding what we’re trying to do. I think that’s all going to improve as we get more experienced together. And then you can understand the reaction he’s going to have when the defense does this, or when Tua is giving a reaction, off of what he’s saying, you can anticipate this. I think all that growth is going to come, as Mike said, the more we play together as the months go by in the season.”
(The Ravens were in dime personnel almost half the time in the game on Sunday. I was curious, how challenging is it to attack a defense that will stay in that sub package for almost half of the game?) – “I think that you just – every defensive personnel group has complexity to it. You’re just trying to see what is their goal inside of that package. So what are they trying to do? What are they trying to do and how do we attack it? So I think that the big thing was like this last game with New England, around this second half, we kind of were able to see what their plan of attack was and communicate it. Communication improved in the second half. After halftime, we painted a better picture. So I think ultimately, when you’re getting whatever personnel grouping, whether it’s dime, base, nickel – whatever the defense is, I think if we have an understanding of what that means and how we’re trying to attack it, that helps us as an offense. So I think that overall, we just have to improve in our consistency and communication and us as coaches delivering the information to help our guys know what they’re trying to do.”
QBs/Passing Game Coordinator Darrell Bevell
(It’s kind of uncanny the amount of attention QB Tua Tagovailoa gets on these national talk shows. You had six people weighing in this week alone – Kurt Warner, Keyshawn Johnson, Sean Payton – and it’s been continuous for nine months. I’m going to ask you what I asked Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith, if you’ve been on a treadmill at all the last nine months and looked up on ESPN or FOX and saw him being discussed, what do you make of the preoccupation with him? Is the scrutiny excessive? Does it just come with the territory?) – “I think it comes with the territory. I think it’s part of playing the quarterback position. You’re always going to be looked at. I think the year that Tua is in, everybody says ‘Oh, this is the important one.’ But I couldn’t be more happy and excited about what Tua has been doing. The growth process that he’s had, the information that he’s digesting, learning a new offense again. He’s doing a really good job in it. As we talked about, we’re just trying to get better each and every day. This first game is not going to be our best game. We want it to be a good game and then we want to continue to grow from there and playing our best football when it’s really going to matter.”
(There was some talk between QB Tua Tagovailoa and Head Coach Mike McDaniel about some communication and headset issues and getting plays in late on the game on Sunday. I just wanted to get your perspective on how Tua handled that situation?) – “I think Tua handled that well. He even did a great job of getting us into a play when we needed to so we didn’t end up having to burn timeouts or we didn’t end up getting delay of game. So he handled that well. For the first game, it was good for us to learn one another and to be able to do that in a game where you win the game. But our game operation is definitely something that we can work on from the head coach, to the quarterback, to the line making calls – the whole orchestration, moving around with all of the motions that we’re doing. We can continue to get better at that.”
(From studying QB Tua Tagovailoa’s tape last year, you probably noticed that he is determined to avoid sacks, like most quarterbacks are. So there were sometimes where maybe he threw passes that he shouldn’t have. Obviously on Sunday, he tried to get a couple out of bounds. What is the guidance you give him on whether to take a sack or whether to throw it out of bounds?) – “Well, you’re always trying to play smart situationally. The one where I think we were on the 29-yard line and took a 12-yard sack – you’re always trying to understand the situation. ‘We’ve got points here. We don’t want to be taken out of points.’ I think he had some of that in his head. But always the most important thing is the ball. We have to end the play with the ball. We have to make great decisions there. I talked about I think there were three plays and I’m like ‘We’ve got to get this out of our game where you’re being slung around,’ because you don’t know what’s going to happen with the ball. The ball comes out of your hand, you sling around and it ends up in one of the defensive linemen’s hands. But from your perspective, you guys don’t always understand where guys were supposed to be protected and where they weren’t, and if you’re protected or if you’re not, the quarterback has to understand that as well. Those are situations or things that we’re continuing to learn from.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa said that his timing and footwork were off on a couple of passes that ended up being short or off the receivers. I’m curious what you saw on his mechanics on a few of the plays?) – “I like where Tua is at mechanically, for the most part. I’m not saying that we don’t have plays that we can improve on. But for the most part, he’s done an outstanding job with his footwork. I think you can go back and look at some of the plays from last year as opposed to what he’s doing this year. It’s a major focus for us. He’s buying into the focus and I think he’s done a good job with that.”
(Was there a time you did see any of the national pundits’ names you know or played in the league, say something about QB Tua Tagovailoa over the last eight months, where you said to yourself, ‘That’s unfair. That’s ridiculous.’ I wouldn’t ask you who, but has that happened to you?) – “I can say that I have seen some of it. It’s not for me to say if it’s fair or not because people have their own opinions. I’m just glad that I’m in the building and know what’s going on and that I get an opportunity to watch the guy work every day and I know what’s going on, on the field. I’m happy with where Tua is at.”
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(What did you think of P Thomas Morstead’s punting performance?) – “I was pleased with Thomas. Obviously he performed like a professional, like we expected. Being aggressive in the plus-50s, able to flip the field when we needed it to be flipped and then obviously the gunners making plays both tackling and then the ball in the air on the plus-50. Really happy with that part of the game.”
(You say aggressive on the plus-50s. What does that mean exactly?) – “Where we want the ball. If you kick the ball at the 15-yard line and it’s going to be a fair catch, you want more out of that. We’re trying to be more aggressive and get the ball further down the field.”
(What sticks out to you when you think about Justin Tucker and the special teams group of Baltimore?) – “I’ve known John (Harbaugh) forever. They’re always going to be outstanding in the kicking game. They’re going to allocate time. They’re going to allocate resources. And then they’re going to get good players. And then they’re going to get good players and make them even better players. What they’ve done over the years is outstanding. They’re aggressive when they need to be aggressive. They play the percentages. Justin Tucker is outstanding – the best in the league since I’ve been around and that’s 20-some years. A good group. They went and drafted an outstanding punter. They’ve got good return players with big-time speed. Overall, it’s a great unit.”
(What went into the decision to use S Jevon Holland as the punt returner last game?) – “A lot of things. We have multiple guys that we feel comfortable with and multiple guys that we like. Sometimes it’ll be a situation. Sometimes it’ll be part of the game. Sometimes it’ll be how the game is going offensively and defensively. We feel we have four or five guys that we like. We’ll just see how the game goes. Maybe this week we’ll get some other people and maybe it stays being Jevon.”
(On a possible rotation at returner) – “Again, it will all be based on the game situation. There are a lot of things in flux with that.”
(You mentioned Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh a minute ago. How does that change your prep when you’re facing a team with a head coach that obviously has that special teams background and you know they put more into it?) – “I think for me, it’s more the combination of – (Ravens Special Teams Coordinator) Chris (Horton) does an outstanding job and Chris has been around a while but then also being able to package that with John (Harbaugh) and some of the things that John has liked and some of the things that John did all the way back to when he was the coordinator with the Eagles. So you’re really blending two different things but the philosophy and how they play, they are very, very similar. You’re going to spend the same amount of time no matter who you play. But you just understand that this is a group that they’re not going to give anything away. You’re going to have to learn everything you get.”
(I was curious on the fourth-and-7 that obviously scored the touchdown, a field goal seemed like an option at that point. Is that something you guys were considering, kicking a field goal in that spot?) – “Absolutely. Any time you’re in that field position, there are always multiple options. You can punt the ball, field goal, what we call a cuatro situation and the offense stays on the field. So there are a lot of different options. Again, those things can change throughout the course of the game based on a lot of different variables. But any time we’re in that area, we like Jason (Sanders) and we feel good, and that’s always going to be one of the things we talk about.”
(Obviously there was a big kicking situation with Denver in the game on Monday. I’m curious, in those particular situations, do you have a number for K Jason Sanders every particular game that you may tell Head Coach Mike McDaniel if we get to this yard line – can you give us a little insight on how that conversation may work?) – “Well, there’s always numbers but situationally, those numbers change. Whether it’s the middle of the first quarter, the end of the half, the end of the game, those lines and what you’re trying to do and what you’re willing to do, those things change. That’s a situation where you’re going to look at the numbers, how you feel, how the game has progressed, what type of game it is. There are a lot of variables. We play every game knowing certain numbers where we feel very confident with Jason and then we also have numbers that we’re more than willing to take the chance of sending him out.”
