Vance Joseph – September 22, 2016
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(On his relationship with Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson) – “That’s my man – Hue Jackson. He’s a brilliant coach, brilliant offensive play caller, very aggressive. He has got some tricks that we won’t know that’s coming, that we’ve got to prepare for. But (he is a) good football coach and a good friend.”
(On whether he has spoken to Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson) – “Not this week. (laughter) A couple weeks ago we talked a little bit, but not this week.”
(On DE Cameron Wake’s snap count) – “We want Cam to probably have 25 to 30 rushes a game. He had last week probably 14 to 15 plays maybe (that were) all passes. The first week, the game, it was a little whacky with Mario (Williams) being hurt. Last week, it turned into a four-minute game. We’re down by three scores within the first quarter, so that game changed also. If we get into a normal game, I think the plan for Cam is to play 25 snaps on pass rush downs. (There) can be a time where he can play more. He probably should have played more last week, but it was more four-minute – it was double team – so we didn’t want to put him out there. It’s week to week, but our plan is to play Cam 25 snaps on pass rush downs. That’s the plan. It hasn’t worked the last two weeks, obviously, because it has been two different games. But that’s the plan.”
(On whether DE Cam Wake will not play on running downs) – “No. If Jason (Jones) is tired or Mario (Williams) is tired or (Andre) Branch is tried, he can definitely go in on running downs. But we prefer not to do that with Cam.
(On whether the vision is to have LB Donald Butler have a couple series in relief of LB Jelani Jenkins) – “I think going forward, yes, that would be ideal if he could steal two series at Sam or Will (line)backer for Koa (Misi) or for Jelani (Jenkins). He has played a lot of football in this league at a high level. If we get him caught up, that’s the plan.”
(On whether LB Donald Butler will likely play two series per half or per game) – “Probably per half if he’s ready to go that way. Per half.”
(On what makes it difficult to coach against Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson’s offense) – “You’re not sure what you’re going to get each week. With a young quarterback and a young football team, they should simmer down some. In the past, he has been a multiple guy. He has run zone read. He has run speed option. He has run counter plays. He has run outside zone plays. It’s multiple with Hue. It’s a vertical pass game – always has been – so we’re expecting some vertical shots and a lot of run plays that we haven’t seen in the past. Obviously, the crack toss, we’ll see that play after seeing it last week three or four times. That’ll come up in all personnel groups.”
(On whether playing a young quarterback changes the way the defense goes about things) – “Not really. This week is about us. We’re 0-2 trying to get a win. We’re going to play sound this week, and hopefully get them in the third-and-long and rush the quarterback like any other quarterback would face. It wouldn’t change our package that much.”
(On how he would assess CB Xavien Howard’s play) – “He has played really well for a rookie. (To) miss an entire training camp and play in one game in the preseason, he has played really well. He has covered his guy, and that’s what you want from a guy.”
(On DT Ndamukong Suh’s snap count in the final series against New England) – “Most d-lines have a rotation going. Once it gets past five or six snaps, it’s tough for those guys to play at a high level. So, we usually rotate those guys six snaps for two and put them back in the rest of the series. It was a six-play sequence where he came out for two and went back in. He has played really well first of all, and he has played the most snaps in the whole league as a d-tackle inside. So, I’m not concerned about that at all. We’ve got guys that are NFL players. They should go in there and do their jobs. I’m not concerned about that.”
(On the defensive backs pressing during last week’s game) – “We’ve seen a lot of cut splits or reduced splits. We’re, obviously, a press team, and that’s what (Byron) Maxwell does really well is play press coverage. But he has seen a lot of cut splits where they’re cutting the splits so he can’t press the receiver. It has been quick glances. It has been play-action over routes. So, it has been tough for him to chase those routes. He has got to do it, because he is a press corner, so that’s what’s going to happen on game day. He has got to get better at chasing over routes. I’ve got to help him with more shell coverage. That stuff is happening to him. It’s definitely an issue when you’re a press coverage team. They reduce the splits and run away from you. I’ve seen it in the past.”
(On whether LB Donald Butler can play in the middle when LB Kiko Alonso is not in the game) – “Right now, Kiko is the Mike (line)backer. Donald is working Sam and Will. If something would happen to Kiko, (Butler) can always play Mike, because that’s his natural position. But right now, he’s working Sam and Will.”
(On being strong defensively in the middle because of DT Ndamukong Suh, LB Kiko Alonso and S Reshad Jones) – “Suh has played really well. He has been a dominant force inside. Kiko has played really well at Mike (line)backer, very productive. Our problem in the run game has been the edges, not setting the edges, being sealed and being cracked on the edges. We have to do a better job at defensive end of setting the edge, and that has been an issue. That (was) an issue (in the preseason) against the Cowboys, and we fixed it against Atlanta, and it came back last week. That’s an issue that we’ve got to rectify quickly.”
(On how important it is to maintain effectiveness in base packages) – “Absolutely. Being good in your base package is very, very important. Sometimes you have matchups where the wide receiver is the guy you want to take away, and you have to put a (line)backer on a tight end and keep a safety in the hole to help the nickel player. It’s weekly. But you’re right, if you’re going to be good on defense, it has got to be out of your base package. Most of the time, we’re in our base package playing in our base defense. If we feel good about a matchup with a tight end versus our (line)backer, we’ll do it. But most of the time, it’s a safety on a tight end that’s a nickel in the slot, and that’s what we want to play.”
(On the defensive backs causing turnovers) – “They have been fine. We’ve had some moments where it wasn’t great, but overall, they’ve punched balls out, they’ve picked balls off. We had a chance to pick off two or three balls on Sunday that we didn’t do. We were close Sunday. We didn’t make those plays in Sunday, and that was the gist of the game – not making contested plays at all on Sunday. But overall, they have been a good group.”
(On the defensive backs’ play against New England) – “We were a step off on four or five plays that we didn’t make on Sunday. That’s disappointing. We had a good week of practice. It was sound. We had good pressures. We had free blitzes on the quarterback, and the ball is gone, and the guy wasn’t covered tightly enough. We had guys there, but it wasn’t good enough.”
(On whether the defensive backs needed to turn their heads on plays against New England) – “Absolutely. We had two or three of those where it was a vision defense, and guys weren’t playing with vision. So, you’re right (with) what you saw.”
(On defense staying on the field for 80 plays against New England and Head Coach Adam Gase blaming the offense for that) – “That’s our fault. Third downs are key. First of all, first downs are key. If you win first down and they’re in second-and-long, you’re probably going to end up in third-and-long. If you lose first down, (and) you’re in second-and-4, you’re probably going to be in first-and-10 again. So, that’s our fault. If we’re playing 80 snaps, we’ve got to do better on third downs. The first week was a different kind of game, but last week it was solely on the defense to get off the field. In the first half, they were four out of six on third downs, (a) nine-play drive, touchdown. That’s on the defense. That has nothing to do with the offense. They played good enough to win the game last week, and we didn’t.”
(On the defense’s morale) – “They’re fine. We watched the film, and as a group we can see there were plays to be made that we didn’t make (like) not staying high in the zone, not covering a guy – simple stuff that we hadn’t done in a while here that we didn’t do last week, and I’m not sure why. But we’ve got to fix it and go play better. That’s the truth.”
