Speaker 1: Represented by went Back Betty of the team Sports got
Speaker 1: together at win by Eric Allen here inside the studio,
Speaker 1: joined by one of my favorite interviewers interviewees here at one,
Speaker 1: Jeff Drive. That is defensive coordinator Jeff all Brick. Brick.
Speaker 1: How's your summer by It was fantastic. You know, got
Speaker 1: some some time with the family and got to reset
Speaker 1: a little bit and rest a little bit and uh
Speaker 1: ready to roll. How much has changed since we were
Speaker 1: talking down in Mobile, Alabama had the Senior Bowl. We
Speaker 1: are from a personnel standpoint, for sure, we are a
Speaker 1: different defense. Um. Absolutely love and appreciate the guys that
Speaker 1: fought with us in year one and and a lot
Speaker 1: of growth occurred individually collectively the whole deal. Um. But
Speaker 1: we got some guys now that uh, um, we're extremely
Speaker 1: excited about and uh it's gonna be uh, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a different year. You talked about numerous times that
Speaker 1: not only do you guys have players who are physically talented,
Speaker 1: but they bring a lot of intangibles on the field
Speaker 1: and inside the room. Can you go on that, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty plus years in the NFL now planning, coaching and
Speaker 1: and uh and I don't want to sound over the
Speaker 1: top here, but is absolutely UM the finest collection of
Speaker 1: human beings from top to bottom that I've ever been around.
Speaker 1: UM character football character, off the charts, Guys that absolutely
Speaker 1: love this game, obsessed by it. UM to assemble a
Speaker 1: collective group that there is no turds, There is no
Speaker 1: outlier regarding a guy that maybe doesn't love it, not
Speaker 1: obsessed with it, not willing to put the work in.
Speaker 1: It's really hard to find. It's just it's a tremendous
Speaker 1: credit to Joe Douglas, tremendous credit to UH coach Robert
Speaker 1: Sale and Uh, this entire organization really like refew using
Speaker 1: to compromise when it comes to that. What does that
Speaker 1: mean for you as a teacher, a guy who's installing
Speaker 1: the defensive plan, the game plan, or who's gonna go
Speaker 1: through all these installations throughout training camp. But to have
Speaker 1: a collection of guys like this, it makes it fun.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got guys that they're you know a
Speaker 1: lot of times you've gotta urge a guy to come
Speaker 1: in extra. UM takes the extra time that it takes,
Speaker 1: and and I want more. Uh, that is not the
Speaker 1: case with this group. These guys are absolutely down for whatever.
Speaker 1: The extra is kind of part of their DNA, and uh,
Speaker 1: it just makes it fun come to work every day.
Speaker 1: When you got a group like this, you said, a
Speaker 1: good defense has to be feared. What do you mean
Speaker 1: by that? Well, I think there there there's there's multiple
Speaker 1: components to it. UM. I think the most obvious is
Speaker 1: the physical component. Um, We've got to be a team
Speaker 1: that is absolutely physical, and physical can be defined and
Speaker 1: demonstrating a lot of different ways. UM. I think the
Speaker 1: obvious is obviously the way you hate a guy. But
Speaker 1: it's within the line of scrimmin it's getting off of blocks,
Speaker 1: it's coming out of breaks, it's all that we do. UM.
Speaker 1: We've got to demonstrate that at all times. UM. So
Speaker 1: that's a that's a big part of it. And then
Speaker 1: there's a mental component to that, you know, as far
Speaker 1: as being so precise in what we do and having
Speaker 1: answers for all the issues that we potentially could have, UM.
Speaker 1: And then to have the ability to execute at the
Speaker 1: highest level. I think that creates a level of fear,
Speaker 1: especially within opposing quarterbacks and offenses. So an offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: So I think it's it's it's partly partly physical, it's
Speaker 1: partly mental and m and I think we've got the
Speaker 1: guys that are capable. I really do believe that we
Speaker 1: have the guys that are capable to get that that
Speaker 1: that accomplished. What's important of dictating on early downs. I
Speaker 1: know that sounds so I'm elementary, but I go back
Speaker 1: to Mike la Fleur. Last season, a lot of people
Speaker 1: are questioning what is he doing, and it kept on
Speaker 1: saying we need more plays and then that playbook is
Speaker 1: going to expand. From a defensive coordinator's perspective, on the surface,
Speaker 1: it looks like you have a lot of guys who
Speaker 1: can really get after that quarterbacks. So if you have
Speaker 1: teams in third and five, third and six, third and seven,
Speaker 1: then what does it do for you with in terms
Speaker 1: of opening it up? That's huge. Um, you gotta win
Speaker 1: the early downs in this game. You gotta set yourselup
Speaker 1: up with third and longer's. This league is just um,
Speaker 1: it's so hard, the skill level so high, UM. The
Speaker 1: ability that was so high for for an offense when
Speaker 1: they get into that third and two to five window. Um, defensively,
Speaker 1: it becomes hard to win in those windows, you know,
Speaker 1: because you've got guys that can win the one on
Speaker 1: ones you get you got. Um. You know, from a
Speaker 1: pressure standpoint, it's hard to get there when the balls
Speaker 1: coming out that quickly, you know, so it nullifies your
Speaker 1: defensive line a lot. So, as you said, winning on
Speaker 1: those early downs, creating those third and six plus um
Speaker 1: downs is huge. UM. I really believe we have the
Speaker 1: guys to get that accomplished. Now. Uh. You know there's uh,
Speaker 1: there's there's a couple of philosophies and how you get
Speaker 1: that done. Um, I think the one that we will
Speaker 1: lean to and uh that I believe in and coach
Speaker 1: all believes in is on those early downs, we're gonna
Speaker 1: play simple, sound, fundamental football. UM. We're gonna play fast,
Speaker 1: we're gonna play physical. Uh, We're not going to overload
Speaker 1: our players with a whole lot um just so that
Speaker 1: they can demonstrate all the stuff that we talked about, physicality, precision,
Speaker 1: all those things, you know, and then on on those
Speaker 1: third and longers that will really give us the ability
Speaker 1: to open up the playbook, just as the offense was
Speaker 1: trying to get accomplished all last season. Um, that's when
Speaker 1: you can really get a little bit more exotic with coverage, pressure,
Speaker 1: all those things. Now those defensive alignment really come to life. Um,
Speaker 1: And and from a back end perspective, you know it's
Speaker 1: their job to to create that hitch for the defensive line. So, um,
Speaker 1: it'll be exciting to get into those longer windows and
Speaker 1: open up this playbook and really allow these players to
Speaker 1: have some and getting after people. Where do you think
Speaker 1: you have to be in terms of run defense? Obviously
Speaker 1: you want to be a stout unit, but full runs
Speaker 1: of Fogassi not here Solomon Thomas a big free agent edition,
Speaker 1: and I think it's kind of slipped onto the radar
Speaker 1: here c J. Mosley what he could do last year.
Speaker 1: If anybody had any doubt, he still remains one of
Speaker 1: the final linebackers solutional Football League. I know you guys
Speaker 1: love what you got out of Quincy Williams last year,
Speaker 1: and he should only get better and then you have
Speaker 1: some young pieces around that unit. But where do you
Speaker 1: have to be in terms of this run defense? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we've we've got to be sound, we've got to
Speaker 1: be physical, which I've ever already spoke on. But um,
Speaker 1: the big part is you just can't let teams really
Speaker 1: get their run game established and rolling, because that's when
Speaker 1: defense becomes very hard because not only you're struggling with
Speaker 1: the run, um, you're you're creating certain shorts which aren't good.
Speaker 1: And then it opens up this whole can of worms
Speaker 1: regarding play action. You know. So it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: huge emphasis for us defensively to be better versus the run.
Speaker 1: Part of that is we've we've brought a new players
Speaker 1: that's going to absolutely help that. UM. Part of that
Speaker 1: is a second year in the system, especially from a
Speaker 1: linebacker perspective, because uh, what this system has asked linebackers
Speaker 1: to do in the past is so difficult from a
Speaker 1: coverage standpoint that inevitably, especially year one within this system, UM,
Speaker 1: there can be some hiccups. There can can be some
Speaker 1: struggles in the run game because when I know I
Speaker 1: gotta take Tyreek Hill on a on a vertical route
Speaker 1: as a linebacker, I'm not so eager to jump in
Speaker 1: my a gap and stop a run, you know, So
Speaker 1: it takes It's like you overcorrect it first and you
Speaker 1: play so passive in the run game because you're so
Speaker 1: worried about the past stuff. And then year two you
Speaker 1: start to settle down and start to really understand when
Speaker 1: I have threats, when I don't have threats, when I
Speaker 1: can be aggressive, when I can't be aggressive, you know.
Speaker 1: At the same time, Um, I think we've refined our
Speaker 1: scheme in a in a way that that allows to
Speaker 1: be more aggressive versus the run. So it's it's a
Speaker 1: combination of a lot of things, but it's extremely important. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's the evolution of the scheme because you learn a
Speaker 1: lot of things about your personality or one you come
Speaker 1: in here, you work with Robert for the first time,
Speaker 1: and then you have this huge transformation in terms of
Speaker 1: bringing in all these talented pieces in this offseason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting. Um, you know, you always have to evolve
Speaker 1: in this league. You have to. There's just too many
Speaker 1: bright offensive minds that are Uh it's funny. They used
Speaker 1: to have their their beaters, their three beaters, there, four beaters, there,
Speaker 1: six beaters, all those things, and it was kind of standardized. Um.
Speaker 1: Now you know, because of the the Michael Fleur's, because
Speaker 1: of the Kyle Shanahans, because these guys that are really
Speaker 1: go beyond what was the traditional way to beat things,
Speaker 1: creating new problems for us defensively. Um. Really from their perspective.
Speaker 1: They went from trying to just beat us to really
Speaker 1: understand us, and that's danger us, you know. So you know,
Speaker 1: and when you have a strong understanding of a defense,
Speaker 1: it really opens up your ability to beat the defense
Speaker 1: in new innovative ways which really create problems for us.
Speaker 1: So as they evolve, as they grow, as they create
Speaker 1: more of these beaters for us, we have to evolve,
Speaker 1: you know. So I think we really took a deep
Speaker 1: dive and and really washed our scheme, and um, we
Speaker 1: won't abandoned the base fundamentals of it, but some of
Speaker 1: the coverage principles within it we definitely refined and and
Speaker 1: tried to give our our players a better opportunity successful. So, um,
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna help us a lot too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not. You're not gonna give away state secrets here
Speaker 1: on the Even training camp. But one thing that I
Speaker 1: always thought that was fascinating that Robert is stressed each
Speaker 1: time I talked to him about coverages, is that there's
Speaker 1: this notion that you guys in the backgend are always
Speaker 1: playing zone and Robert always smiles and says, we play
Speaker 1: a lot more man than effect, absolutely, and you have
Speaker 1: personalit wise, if you really look at it, you have
Speaker 1: even have more ability Adrian year or two to play man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's an interesting balance. You know. When you
Speaker 1: look at the teams that major in man, when that
Speaker 1: is the majority of what they play, Um, it can
Speaker 1: be very good, it can be very successful, it can
Speaker 1: work at a very high level. Um. But at times,
Speaker 1: if you really look at the people that major in it,
Speaker 1: at times they also give up some explosives, you know.
Speaker 1: And it is and uh, um, although we will play man,
Speaker 1: and there's absolutely times where you have to play man,
Speaker 1: you know, like we talked about the third and short
Speaker 1: windows where you gotta glove people up and challenge them
Speaker 1: and and and stick to them. Um. I think we're
Speaker 1: gonna still be a balanced team though. I think I
Speaker 1: really believe the best brand of defense for this particular
Speaker 1: group of guys and within this system is when you
Speaker 1: have true balance. You know. That's not to say will
Speaker 1: be all zone or a majority zone or all man
Speaker 1: or I think when you find that that balance, Um,
Speaker 1: that's when you keep offenses a little bit off platform
Speaker 1: and they're not quite sure what they're getting. That's when
Speaker 1: we play our best ball. That's when we give our
Speaker 1: players the best opportunity to be successful. So, um, we
Speaker 1: will play a little bit of all of it, you know,
Speaker 1: and and uh and we'll get really good at it.
Speaker 1: And um and when I say that, that doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: mean a lot of defense, you know, that just means
Speaker 1: some variety of within what we do. That's all it is. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: Carl Awson. He was the best player on the field
Speaker 1: by far last summer. How excited are you to get
Speaker 1: him back here as we start training camp? And then
Speaker 1: also from a coaching standpoint, I know you love coaching him,
Speaker 1: but do you have to caution him, Hey, sometimes we've
Speaker 1: got to just scale back a little bit. We're heading
Speaker 1: in the right direction. Yeah, Like, Carl's a guy that
Speaker 1: you gotta yell will because he will go at all times. UM.
Speaker 1: So excited to get him back, just not only the talent,
Speaker 1: which is obvious and like you said, um, by far
Speaker 1: the the m v P of last training camp. UM,
Speaker 1: what he put out there, he was difficult to block
Speaker 1: with and deal with every single day. Um. But he
Speaker 1: is a guy that we I think we will have
Speaker 1: to monitor because he is he's again, he's one of
Speaker 1: these guys that is so obsessed with the game and
Speaker 1: go so hard and has no um like, he only
Speaker 1: does things one way. So because of that, we have
Speaker 1: to be careful on the reps, the situations, the times
Speaker 1: that we utilize him, and we really have to help
Speaker 1: him help himself regarding that because he's a guy that
Speaker 1: will will he'll work himself to death if he could,
Speaker 1: you know, because he loves the game, because he's such
Speaker 1: a great teammate because he wants to create this amazing
Speaker 1: legacy as a player and a person. Um, so we
Speaker 1: got to kind of protect him fro himself a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know. But at the same time, I know he's
Speaker 1: so eager to get back out there, and um, because
Speaker 1: of that obsession and love for the game. He loves
Speaker 1: to practice and he loves to constantly refine his skill
Speaker 1: and and evolve and grow and try new things. And uh,
Speaker 1: he's really he's he's why you coach this game. How
Speaker 1: cool is it to have him considering you just went
Speaker 1: up in the draft and got Jermaine Johnson, of course,
Speaker 1: and then can't come back in the fourth round and
Speaker 1: get Michael Clemens, two guys that you like. But just
Speaker 1: having a guy like lost in in the room and
Speaker 1: watching him on the field and the way he prepares,
Speaker 1: the way he takes everything is so serious. Yeah. He
Speaker 1: just he creates such an amazing environment for these younger
Speaker 1: players because he he provides the perfect model of what
Speaker 1: it's supposed to look like as a pro. The way
Speaker 1: he prepares, the way he takes care of his body,
Speaker 1: the way he eats, the way he studies film. Um, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he these these younger guys they don't know because they
Speaker 1: don't know better, but they're they're so fortunate to have
Speaker 1: a guy in the room that can show him, um,
Speaker 1: exactly what it looks like to do it at the
Speaker 1: highest level. The changing dynamic. At defense event, we talked
Speaker 1: about the draft picks you resigned, Vinny Curry. Jacob Martin
Speaker 1: comes over a free ag and say nobody's talking about him,
Speaker 1: but he's gonna fit in great in this system. Um,
Speaker 1: you still have Bryce hoff Fear. I'm just wondering how
Speaker 1: the dynamic changes in the middle now with the healthy
Speaker 1: loss and and all these guys on the edge. And
Speaker 1: I didn't mention JFM because he's got the versatility flip inside,
Speaker 1: but what is it me for guys like Quinno Williams,
Speaker 1: Solomon Thomas, Sheldon Rankins and jf IM When he goes inside,
Speaker 1: it just gives us a lot of versatility, allows these
Speaker 1: guys to play the style in which we're trying to
Speaker 1: to play. Um, we absolutely like we And I know
Speaker 1: I take key about this and I really can care
Speaker 1: less that we rotate so much, you know, but UM,
Speaker 1: I really believe and this is from a coaching perspective,
Speaker 1: it's also because I played the game that to play
Speaker 1: the style of defense we want to play, regarding the
Speaker 1: effort to strain the toughness, um, that ability to go
Speaker 1: all gas, no breaks, and make that come to life
Speaker 1: in every way. Uh, rotation is necessary, you know, and
Speaker 1: at times you just don't have the depth. You don't
Speaker 1: have the guys that are capable of rotating and maintaining
Speaker 1: the same level of play. Um, we have that now,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's gonna be really exciting to see
Speaker 1: that come to life. These guys are gonna play with
Speaker 1: their absolute hair on fire, like, um, knowing that. Okay,
Speaker 1: I play four plays, I play five plays, I can
Speaker 1: come out and we're not gonna there's not gonna be
Speaker 1: a big drop off to the next man. So, um,
Speaker 1: the depth is absolutely critical, especially on the defensive line.
Speaker 1: Why do you think that comes with a bad connotation
Speaker 1: sometimes when people are talking about some people and keeping
Speaker 1: people fresh, But like, like you just discuss it. I
Speaker 1: just don't understand. I get Quinn and Williams an elite talent.
Speaker 1: I get that Carl Lawson as an elite talent, but
Speaker 1: you need everybody firing for four quarters, right. I was
Speaker 1: talking to White Cotton about it a few weeks ago
Speaker 1: during O T A S and he talked about the
Speaker 1: number of reps that JFM played last season. Well, he
Speaker 1: doesn't have to play that amount of reps, and you
Speaker 1: can get more production out of him. That's right. I
Speaker 1: just think it's human nature when you know you're in
Speaker 1: it for sixty seventy plays of defense, Like, regardless of
Speaker 1: your makeup, regardless how much you love it, regardless how
Speaker 1: tough you are, you know, what type of motor you have.
Speaker 1: I think inevitably you hold back at times, you know,
Speaker 1: and and you know there's that internal conversation about okay,
Speaker 1: when this is third and six, I need to go,
Speaker 1: you know, so on this second and eight, like maybe
Speaker 1: this is my op too, to hold back a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know. And and when you really study the game,
Speaker 1: even the best players, even the best of all time
Speaker 1: in this in this game, you see him hold back
Speaker 1: at times, you know, and especially from a deal line perspective,
Speaker 1: because it's just so straining, it's so taxing, it's so
Speaker 1: hard to to maintain, you know, the highest level of
Speaker 1: play for sixty seventy plays. So I think when these
Speaker 1: guys really have a full understanding that that I can
Speaker 1: go hard and then I'm going to get sub that
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be in here for sixty seventy plays.
Speaker 1: I think you get a better version of them. I
Speaker 1: really do. And then when the critical moments come, third down, two,
Speaker 1: many it in the game like we're ready to roll,
Speaker 1: we're ready to finish, We're ready to close the door
Speaker 1: on somebody, Robert said, Sauce Garner can pretty much do
Speaker 1: it all. He's gonna have to make an adjustment here
Speaker 1: as he plays. He said. One of the things that
Speaker 1: he pointed out was sometimes they can get free releases
Speaker 1: and non a follow as opposed to college. Can you
Speaker 1: talk about that transition and what he's gonna have to
Speaker 1: prepare for. Yeah, that he's one of the guys that
Speaker 1: I don't know what the percentage was, but it was
Speaker 1: maybe the highest of all the draft eligible corners regarding
Speaker 1: his his time being down in a press position. So
Speaker 1: he lived in that world and he thrived in that world,
Speaker 1: and um and obviously we're gonna allow him to do
Speaker 1: that as often as we can. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: in this league that you're gonna play teams that are
Speaker 1: gonna create formations whether it's condensed formations, book alignments where
Speaker 1: you gotta get off, whether it's stacks, bunches, whether they're
Speaker 1: trying to free a guy out. Um, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: times where he's not going to be able to be
Speaker 1: in that press position. So it's gonna be a little
Speaker 1: bit of adjustment for him, you know. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful we'll mix in enough zone, will mixing enough
Speaker 1: stuff for him where um, he'll still be able to thrive,
Speaker 1: He'll still be able to do his thing. And and
Speaker 1: he's and he's saying all of that. He's still gonna
Speaker 1: have plenty of opps to get down and press people
Speaker 1: and kind of that's his superpower, you know, it really is.
Speaker 1: And um, for us to not allow him to do
Speaker 1: that as often as we can would be a huge
Speaker 1: mistake on our part. Did anything surprise you about him
Speaker 1: during the spring? You knew he was a sensational talent,
Speaker 1: and he knew he was competitive, But even just me
Speaker 1: watching from the sideline, it was like every play he
Speaker 1: was getting after it. It wasn't some guys make that transition.
Speaker 1: And there's a little bit of taking a step back
Speaker 1: and absorbing, and I'm sure he's absorbing because I know
Speaker 1: he can't get enough football. But with that being said,
Speaker 1: he was on it right after people. He's the rare
Speaker 1: guy that he refuses to repeat airs. He's just constantly growing. Um,
Speaker 1: something happens out there that's out of whack and he
Speaker 1: gets beat, or or maybe he doesn't get beat, maybe
Speaker 1: the guys just more open than he'd like, and he
Speaker 1: sprints over the sideline and it's Tony Odin, it's Marco
Speaker 1: o'manuels myself, it's all of us, it's it's Coach Sala
Speaker 1: like you know what happened there? Like you know he was.
Speaker 1: He's an insane student of this game. He's he's got
Speaker 1: a passion for it, love for it, but he's also
Speaker 1: got the brain to ability and the ability to to
Speaker 1: absorb it all to you know, so um, to see
Speaker 1: him in the spring, that was probably the thing that
Speaker 1: I was most surprised about, because we knew the athlete,
Speaker 1: you know, we knew the athletic talent. We knew that,
Speaker 1: and we had heard about the makeup, especially having Greg
Speaker 1: Scrugs here who had been at Cincinnati, who gave us
Speaker 1: a brilliant inside view of him from a guy that
Speaker 1: had coached him at Cincinnati. UM, but still just to
Speaker 1: see it and to see the consistency of it, to
Speaker 1: see a guy first out on the field, last to leave,
Speaker 1: to see a guy that was so UM, just just
Speaker 1: obsessed with it, you know. And I don't know I'm
Speaker 1: using that word a lot, but he's just he's he's
Speaker 1: unique in that way. A lot of rookies just kind
Speaker 1: of sit back and take their lumps and and steadily grow. Um.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's down for that life Like he
Speaker 1: wants it, and he wants it now, and he wants
Speaker 1: to be great today. He doesn't want to just be
Speaker 1: a player in this league. He doesn't want to just
Speaker 1: be a starter. That that is like the farthest thing
Speaker 1: from his brain. I think there's a huge part of
Speaker 1: him and he's got the makeup to do it. From
Speaker 1: a physical and mental emotional standpoint. He wants to be
Speaker 1: the best in this game. How about the swagger in
Speaker 1: the depth at that position you're talking about Sauce before
Speaker 1: DJ read such a fascinating story and I know you
Speaker 1: appreciate his work ethic and I just love that dynamic there.
Speaker 1: But then you think about the cornerback group. You guys
Speaker 1: are awfully high on Michael Carter. But now you've got
Speaker 1: this depth that has developed. Suddenly feels like overnight, you
Speaker 1: saw what Bryce All did last year in Brandon Knickles
Speaker 1: instead have Javelin Gudry as well. So it's like he
Speaker 1: got swagger, you got you got frontline big time ability,
Speaker 1: but you have depth as well. Yeah, that's it's critical.
Speaker 1: They're they're gonna happen. Um, people are gonna get hurt,
Speaker 1: they're gonna get nicked, things are gonna happen. You have
Speaker 1: to have the ability absorbing dream this league. You have to.
Speaker 1: If you can't, uh, you're not going to have sustained success.
Speaker 1: So the fact that we do have depth now is um,
Speaker 1: it's very exciting. And we've got guys with a lot
Speaker 1: of different skill sets, you know. So I think it's
Speaker 1: going to give us the ability to to really adapt
Speaker 1: to offenses at times regarding matchups, regarding you know, techniques
Speaker 1: regarding calls that we can that we can utilize based
Speaker 1: upon our superpowers. Um, you've got a guy in DJ
Speaker 1: Reid who brings an edge. He brings is a dog
Speaker 1: mentality that's very unique especially for that position. You know,
Speaker 1: he's Uh, another guy that provides such an amazing example
Speaker 1: for these younger players, especially from where he came from
Speaker 1: and what he's had to overcome. And he's not a
Speaker 1: guy that's just been given everything. You know, he wasn't
Speaker 1: given anything from a college perspective, wasn't drafted super high,
Speaker 1: got cut like all these things that have occurred to him. Um,
Speaker 1: and still found a way to be a top tier
Speaker 1: corner in this league. And he's still growing and he's
Speaker 1: still just scratching the service what he what he can become.
Speaker 1: So he provides so much for us in that way.
Speaker 1: Obviously saw Uce, We already spoke on him. Um, you
Speaker 1: got Brandon Eccles, who I I anticipate making a big
Speaker 1: jump this year. He was a guy that, um, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe going into the season, maybe he didn't think, maybe
Speaker 1: we didn't think that he'd be a guy that we
Speaker 1: were gonna have to count on for so much. You know,
Speaker 1: he was a six round pick at a at a
Speaker 1: Kentucky and all of a sudden he's thrown into the
Speaker 1: fire and he's starting for us, and um doing a
Speaker 1: heck of a job. And his guy that grew as
Speaker 1: the year went on and became a better player. But
Speaker 1: I always believe that rookies they're kind of just they're
Speaker 1: they're they're trying to stay alive. They're trying to keep
Speaker 1: their head up, you know, out of water, and and
Speaker 1: and you're constantly got the sensation that you're being drowned,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's the competition, the playbook, the length
Speaker 1: of the season, all those things. Um. And then finally
Speaker 1: the season ends, you finally have a chance to breathe.
Speaker 1: And and that's where the growth occurs. Things start to
Speaker 1: really absorb, things start to make sense. Um. And I
Speaker 1: feel that from him, there's a new sense of confidence
Speaker 1: about him, swagger, whatever that how you want to define it.
Speaker 1: But I think he's gonna make a big jump. I
Speaker 1: think Bryce is gonna make a big jump. You know,
Speaker 1: we we we forget that he hadn't played a lot
Speaker 1: of football prior of last year. And you know, obviously
Speaker 1: he came in as a later draft pick, but then
Speaker 1: had the injury and and wasn't available whole lot for
Speaker 1: his rookie years. So he's gonna make a big jump.
Speaker 1: So Michael Carter again another rookie who gets this offseason
Speaker 1: to let things slow down for him and Um, I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be a much better player than he was,
Speaker 1: although he played tremendously, especially for late round rookie playing
Speaker 1: Nicol in this league, which is a huge task. Um.
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Speaker 1: on seven zero seven one one seven. Your favorite player
Speaker 1: growing up was Rounding Love, So let's talk about safety position. Um,
Speaker 1: the dynamic has changed there as well. A LaMarcus joiner,
Speaker 1: Why did you guys resign him? Um? He played one
Speaker 1: game last year, A lot of teams might event you
Speaker 1: might have said, hey, listen, didn't work out, unfortunately, get
Speaker 1: the injury and you know what the thirty at the
Speaker 1: same time. But you guys brought him back and then
Speaker 1: you bring in Jordan Whitehead, a guy's got championship I degree,
Speaker 1: who's a thumper who potentially could be a tone setter
Speaker 1: for that back end. Yeah, Um, LaMarcus was an easy
Speaker 1: decision as far as I'm concerned, Um, just getting to
Speaker 1: know him. I know we didn't have him for but
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of players of that first game,
Speaker 1: but having the off season with him, his makeup is
Speaker 1: his world class. Um, he's a great teammate, as a
Speaker 1: great human beings, a great man, Um first and foremost,
Speaker 1: so you just you want as many of those people
Speaker 1: in your building. And then the player is Um. He's
Speaker 1: a guy that, like, in my opinion, how we utilize
Speaker 1: him exactly how he should be utilized. He's a safety
Speaker 1: because he's got safety brain, he's got safety mouthpiece regarding
Speaker 1: his ability to communicate and run a defense and make
Speaker 1: all the checks and and and all the stuff from
Speaker 1: a coverage perspective. But he's also guy that we're gonna
Speaker 1: ask to play man at times. And the fact that
Speaker 1: he's played nicol and corner and he's done that, been
Speaker 1: asked that, done that at a high level makes him
Speaker 1: the perfect candidate to play kind of that free safety.
Speaker 1: But he's kind of out of his time, don't you think,
Speaker 1: because a lot of people now think of safeties in
Speaker 1: a corner like role at times. Absolutely. Yeah, this league
Speaker 1: has become so coverage based, and um, you gotta have
Speaker 1: versatility to get back there. You gotta have guys that
Speaker 1: can do a little bit of it all zone man
Speaker 1: and in everything in between. And uh, and he checks
Speaker 1: those boxes for us. Plus another guy that for a
Speaker 1: very young secondary, another guy that provides the example of
Speaker 1: what the pro is supposed to look like. You know,
Speaker 1: as much as we'd like to say as a coach,
Speaker 1: we can still those those work habits and um, you know,
Speaker 1: all the small things that make great pros. You know,
Speaker 1: there's nothing more powerful than them them seeing it and
Speaker 1: it being demonstrated on daily basis. He provides that for us.
Speaker 1: So to me, it wasn't easy. It wasn't it was
Speaker 1: an easy you know. As as far as like why
Speaker 1: we brought him back, Like I don't think anybody fought
Speaker 1: with that, you know, that issue when we we we
Speaker 1: addressed it this offseason. And then Jordan's whitehead brings swagger, toughness, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and like, I don't know how best to
Speaker 1: describe this. He's just and I don't want to diminish
Speaker 1: like what he is because I know him. I'm raving
Speaker 1: about these guys because I love these guys collectively, but
Speaker 1: he really is different. Like he's an edgy, tough like
Speaker 1: you said, potential tone setter, physical safety, um, but at
Speaker 1: the same time, has this like high level of like
Speaker 1: kindness you know that just absolutely attracts people to him.
Speaker 1: So he's a guy that's just like leadership comes easy.
Speaker 1: And what I was going to ask you when you
Speaker 1: were talking right now is like it's almost like I
Speaker 1: don't know how much he's talking inside the room, and
Speaker 1: he might be talking a bunch, but it seems like
Speaker 1: he's soft spoken. But he's definitely somebody who other players
Speaker 1: are gonna gravitate, you know, and because of that, he's
Speaker 1: gonna have the ability to really bring people along with him.
Speaker 1: And uh, he does have a coach's brain, like he
Speaker 1: wants to know every little detail he wants to know
Speaker 1: the why. And UM, guys like that are just hard
Speaker 1: to come across, you know. Um, we're so fortunate that
Speaker 1: we had the opportunity to sign him. Typically guys like
Speaker 1: that and and I don't know what the situation wasn't
Speaker 1: tampon a lot of times, it's money related, business related,
Speaker 1: and who knows, But um, that's not typically a guy
Speaker 1: that ever leaves a building. You know, he stays for
Speaker 1: a long time, especially when people really understand his DNA
Speaker 1: and his makeup. UM, so so fortunate that we got him,
Speaker 1: and and he's gonna make us so much better on
Speaker 1: the back end. And then there's other guys back there.
Speaker 1: You're super excited about two. I mean, it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a a dog fight to start. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: a dog fight to make this team from that position,
Speaker 1: whereas maybe last year we didn't have the same sort
Speaker 1: of competition that we do now. So it's it's so
Speaker 1: exciting from that standpoint because Elijah Riley is a guy
Speaker 1: that just insane instinct and leadership and all all the
Speaker 1: stuff that he brings. And UM, I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: last year was really his first opportunity to play substantial
Speaker 1: amount of reps from a defensive perspective. Um, and I
Speaker 1: thought he did well, you know. And and then but
Speaker 1: not making this transition from corner. Super excited about him
Speaker 1: because it's like he has all the stuff that we
Speaker 1: can't coach. He's got length, he's got speed, he's got physicality,
Speaker 1: plays hard, he's tough. Um, the position is just still
Speaker 1: new to him. This is gonna be just talking to
Speaker 1: Mark Ommanuel's coach, UM, who does a tremendous job with
Speaker 1: those guys regarding like this is his first training camp
Speaker 1: ever as a safety, you know, so we got to
Speaker 1: remind ourselves that because that's not gonna always look perfect,
Speaker 1: you know. And I think he gets that, and I
Speaker 1: get that and gets that, you know. But but we
Speaker 1: see this growth that's occurring every day with him as
Speaker 1: he starts to under understand the position at a higher level.
Speaker 1: So that's exciting. And then Ashton Davis, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: here's a guy that got injured, you know, early in
Speaker 1: his career, really didn't get an opportunity to like last
Speaker 1: seas season as we prepared, you know, he wasn't with
Speaker 1: us in the O t AS mini camps. He wasn't
Speaker 1: Um a participant in the off season and then in
Speaker 1: training camp even you know, I wasn't able to do
Speaker 1: a whole lot. So when he eventually got the opportunity
Speaker 1: to play and he had to play substantial amount of
Speaker 1: rests for US, it was without a ton of work
Speaker 1: within this defense. And that's hard, That's really hard. It's
Speaker 1: hard to ask, my opinion, linebackers and safeties within this
Speaker 1: system because there's a we put a lot of stress
Speaker 1: on him. We asked a lot out of them, you know,
Speaker 1: and um to see what he's gonna be capable of
Speaker 1: now that things I think have slowed down a little
Speaker 1: bit absorbed. He's got a lot of bank reps um
Speaker 1: from last season and now an entire offseason with US.
Speaker 1: I think you're going to see a big jump from
Speaker 1: him as well. And then Will Parks do. I don't
Speaker 1: want to miss on Will because um, Will is one
Speaker 1: of those guys that, like, he brings that different level
Speaker 1: of he's got experience obviously has played a lot of
Speaker 1: football in this league, but he's got a different edge
Speaker 1: to him. You know, he's a guy that, like I
Speaker 1: don't want to diminish all the other stuff, but like
Speaker 1: if I'm gonna go fight in a dark alley, like
Speaker 1: he's one of the guys that I'm taking with me. Yeah. See,
Speaker 1: it's clear talking to you and other people inside the building,
Speaker 1: I don't think that people externally they fully have appreciated
Speaker 1: that point just yet. Is that you guys are excited
Speaker 1: where some people externally might be. Well, safety seems like
Speaker 1: the question mark right now. You guys are genuinely excited
Speaker 1: about this group, not just okay, yeah, we brought in
Speaker 1: Whitehead and uh LaMarcus is going to bring a lot
Speaker 1: of versatility to the table, but you just names. You
Speaker 1: just want up and down that group in terms of
Speaker 1: that pieces and how a lot of those guys are
Speaker 1: still growing in there on the fight. Yeah, it's so
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna be excited to see how it shakes out,
Speaker 1: you know, like is this Pannox here who knows you know,
Speaker 1: like that that story hasn't been told yet, you know,
Speaker 1: and he'll still that, he'll tell that story. But um,
Speaker 1: it's exciting to see what that group will become. How
Speaker 1: pumped are you? I'm super excited. This is especially like
Speaker 1: you know, as much as we struggled last year at times,
Speaker 1: you know, I I absolutely put that on myself that
Speaker 1: I didn't get the job done, I didn't do enough
Speaker 1: for them to be successful. But I really believe another
Speaker 1: year within this system for these players, for myself and
Speaker 1: really gaining a deeper, deeper understanding of the answers that
Speaker 1: are necessary to help them really unlock their superpowers. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just it's exciting to think that we're gonna finally
Speaker 1: like bring some true joy to these players as they
Speaker 1: start to realize what they can become individually and collectively
Speaker 1: as a defense, and to really bring the success and
Speaker 1: that this fan base deserves, you know, because you know,
Speaker 1: I've been a lot of places and been around a
Speaker 1: lot of fan bases, and it's just one that has met.
Speaker 1: As much as the Jets have struggled over the years,
Speaker 1: it doesn't feel like they've they've left, you know, they've
Speaker 1: they They've kept their love and their passion in there
Speaker 1: and um, their support of this team and this organization
Speaker 1: through all the hard times. To think that we can
Speaker 1: bring them a product that they're going to be really
Speaker 1: proud of is exciting to me. But that speaks to
Speaker 1: who you are as a coach. You said that maybe
Speaker 1: there's some things that you think you can improve upon.
Speaker 1: But one thing I think that we got to take
Speaker 1: into account is you put your head down and during
Speaker 1: the storm, you didn't change, you didn't waver. And it
Speaker 1: is always stuck out to me that you said in
Speaker 1: January that we could have took shortcuts, but in the
Speaker 1: long run, that was not going to help us improve.
Speaker 1: Now you've set yourself up to take that next step. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know. And and I'm not saying our ways the
Speaker 1: best way or the right way, but it's the way
Speaker 1: that we chose, and and I think it's gonna pay
Speaker 1: dividends in the long run. We could have absolutely fabricated
Speaker 1: to make believe defense that would have um maybe helped
Speaker 1: us within some games and and made some games a
Speaker 1: little tighter and maybe pulled out a a win here
Speaker 1: or there. But in the long run, I really want
Speaker 1: these players to know that they're the answer, not me.
Speaker 1: I'm not the puppet master holding the strings over here.
Speaker 1: They're the ones that are gonna make this defense come
Speaker 1: to life. They're the ones. They're gonna create that defense
Speaker 1: that is feared and and that brings pride back to
Speaker 1: this organization, into this fan base, and and to them
Speaker 1: individually as as as human beings and men and the
Speaker 1: privlemen that they are. So you got a really cool
Speaker 1: staff to do. Yeah, and how much did you guys
Speaker 1: grow together last year? And man, it just seems like
Speaker 1: and you point them out continually here as we talk,
Speaker 1: but it just seems like everybody's totally together in mindset.
Speaker 1: It's so it's the absolute truth. Mike Rutenberg, who does
Speaker 1: a fantastic job with the linebackers, mark on Manual coaches
Speaker 1: our safeties. Tony Oden who does an excellent job with
Speaker 1: those corners, and what a task he was asked to
Speaker 1: do last year, you know, to coach so many young
Speaker 1: guys up on the fly. Um. Ricky Manning Jr. Like
Speaker 1: we're so fortunate to have this guy who's played the
Speaker 1: position of nickel at the highest level, maybe one of
Speaker 1: the premier nickels that have ever played this game, really has.
Speaker 1: He's one of the guys that kind of put it
Speaker 1: on the map, him in Ronde Barber and and some
Speaker 1: of those original guys. Um. And then to have Aaron
Speaker 1: white Cotton with such a deep understanding of this front
Speaker 1: and now to bring in Greg's scrugs and um, and
Speaker 1: then Matt Willingham another fantastic addition who who he's kind
Speaker 1: of be in a support position, but he's gonna help
Speaker 1: with the linebackers and help a lot of different places.
Speaker 1: Help myself. UM. You know this business, any business, when
Speaker 1: when times are hard and you're going through struggles and adversity, UM,
Speaker 1: I feel like the normal thing amongst groups is there's
Speaker 1: always gonna be a little bit of people deviating from
Speaker 1: the plan, people protecting themselves. UM it's not my fault,
Speaker 1: you know, and and creating pockets and division and that
Speaker 1: whole thing. We saw absolutely none of that last year. Um.
Speaker 1: We put our arms together, put our heads down, stayed together, UM,
Speaker 1: worked our butts off to help these players as as
Speaker 1: best we could. And U and for that, I will
Speaker 1: be forever, forever grateful for the staff to final ones
Speaker 1: and the schedule. When you saw Baltimore week on in
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson and just the way it sets up with
Speaker 1: the f C North, what goes through your mind those
Speaker 1: four weeks and getting ready for the start of the season.
Speaker 1: It's uh, definitely a fantastic challenge for us, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think that's how we've all approached it. Player
Speaker 1: and coach alike. UM, but it it definitely there's a
Speaker 1: level of banks as there's there always will be, you know,
Speaker 1: like there especially with the Baltimore who is so unique
Speaker 1: in what they do, and they present so many challenges
Speaker 1: that you don't see a week to week. And when
Speaker 1: you got a quarterback of that caliber, with the mobility
Speaker 1: and the speed that he has, UM, it creates issues
Speaker 1: that just aren't normal. You know. So from that standpoint, UM,
Speaker 1: you can't simulate it. But is it better that you
Speaker 1: can get him a week one? Uh? You know, it's
Speaker 1: They're always gonna be a challenge. I know it's a
Speaker 1: crazy question. But at the same time, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: at least we can practice a little bit on this
Speaker 1: during some of these training camp sessions. Yeah, that helps
Speaker 1: little bit. But like you said, it's so hard to simulate.
Speaker 1: You know, UM gone against him twice now from a
Speaker 1: coaching perspective, and UM, and what you see on Sundays
Speaker 1: is Uh is real and it's legit and it's different,
Speaker 1: you know. And and he's got a um ability to
Speaker 1: play the position differently than maybe it's ever been played.
Speaker 1: And Uh, he brings a level of athleticism that just rare,
Speaker 1: so it's gonna be a fantastic challenge. But um, at
Speaker 1: the same time, like just knowing the makeup of this
Speaker 1: defense and from players and coaches like we're gonna be
Speaker 1: ready and we're excited about it. And um, what a
Speaker 1: great platform to to get the season started with. Ye
Speaker 1: and I just want until then, we got a lot
Speaker 1: of work work. I just want to end it here. Um.
Speaker 1: There were so many topics that we didn't get too
Speaker 1: because you're you're too good to be honest with you. Um.
Speaker 1: Robert defensive coach, UM all the way going back and
Speaker 1: obviously before he got this job, proceeding the Jets defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator in San Francisco, he tabs you to be the
Speaker 1: defense the coordinator. One of the first statements he has
Speaker 1: asked or one of the first questions he has who's
Speaker 1: calling a place? So I'm not calling a place and
Speaker 1: he hires you. Um. How how much did he provide
Speaker 1: in terms of balance, like you throwing things off him,
Speaker 1: ideas and also how did that relationship evolve and continue
Speaker 1: to involve. Yeah, it's huge to have that type of
Speaker 1: resource in the building to to throw ideas against um,
Speaker 1: you know, to get advice from uh, during the week
Speaker 1: of preparation, during practice, during game planning obviously, and then
Speaker 1: on game days. Just it's invaluable, you know. And it's
Speaker 1: one that I'll be forever grateful for. Um, I really believe, like,
Speaker 1: and I got so much to learn still and I'm
Speaker 1: still growing in every way teaching and knowledge of the
Speaker 1: game and my database of defense and the whole thing.
Speaker 1: But but I'll be forever grateful for the education of
Speaker 1: defense that he gives me daily and that he's given
Speaker 1: me so far. So UM, he just gives me the
Speaker 1: ability to grow every day. Uh and um because of him,
Speaker 1: I'll really be able to be the best version of myself,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's it's a very it's a very
Speaker 1: cool relationship that I'm fortunate to have. Let's go out
Speaker 1: on this one. You've got a favorite training camp story. Um,
Speaker 1: you broke into the league when they're still doing two days.
Speaker 1: You got anything that stands out that mm hmm. The
Speaker 1: training camp which was my last with Mike Singletary as
Speaker 1: the head coach. He uh, he brought us back to
Speaker 1: the essence of football and uh with that meaning physicality
Speaker 1: and um, he really he took that idea that it
Speaker 1: was going to be the players that make this thing
Speaker 1: come to life, more so than maybe any coach I've
Speaker 1: ever been around in my life. And um, I mean
Speaker 1: put it this way, we started every practice with either
Speaker 1: like Nutcracker or Oklahoma. Like it was. It was as
Speaker 1: throwback as it gets, and it was as tough as
Speaker 1: it's ever been around. And and uh, yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It was an adventure. It was definitely tough, and and
Speaker 1: but I got to really I'm still so fortunate that
Speaker 1: I went through it, though, because it you really gained
Speaker 1: an appreciation for the men that have that have laid
Speaker 1: the foundation of of what this league stands for and
Speaker 1: what is what is all about? And uh, you got
Speaker 1: to walk the walk of of those guys for at
Speaker 1: least a training camp, you know. So I'll be forever
Speaker 1: grateful for him for that. But times have changed, haven't
Speaker 1: There's none of that. There's no Oklahoma, there's no tackling,
Speaker 1: there's no double days, there's no nothing. So but ultimately
Speaker 1: absolutely the best thing. Like I don't want to ever
Speaker 1: say that we need to go back to that way
Speaker 1: of life, because I think, um, this emphasis on player
Speaker 1: safety is just absolutely necessary and it's it's the right
Speaker 1: way to do things. This was fun it always is.
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time. I appreciate you. Thank you, M M