Josh Boyer – August 23, 2021
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Monday, August 23, 2021
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(About LB Sam Eguavoen’s game on Saturday, what were your impressions of him? Obviously he missed the joint practices on the COVID list and then comes back and has four sacks. What were your impressions of the game he had?) – “I think any time you talk about Sam, you’ve got to talk about a guy who is a very diligent worker. He takes his craft very seriously, so any time he has success, for the amount of effort and time and energy he puts in, you’re obviously happy for him. I think he did a lot of good things out there for us, there are some things we can work on and correct. As far as being physically and mentally tough and working hard, Sam exemplifies all of those things. It’s always good to see him out there having success.”
(LB Sam Eguavoen has a little bit of versatility too. He can play outside a little bit, he can rush the passer. I know one of his sacks he came in on a stunt it looked like. What’s the key to that, working with the linebackers to get the rush?) – “Sam has worked very hard to be able to do multiple things for us. He’s a strong, explosive guy. We try to utilize his abilities the best we can. A lot of times you see one guy getting the sack, but it’s usually someone else that set it up. You usually have good coverage in the back end. For us, we always talk about it’s 11 guys doing one thing and when 11 guys do one thing correctly, somebody is going to have success. The great thing about Sam is he’s an unselfish guy, and he might do something good where somebody else makes a play. It was just nice to see him have some plays.”
(With DE Emmanuel Ogbah, obviously he led you guys in sacks last year. What can you say in terms of what he brings to your defense? Obviously he’s a pass rusher, but what can he do for your defense as a whole?) – “Emmanuel is a guy that’s been pretty multiple and versatile for us as well. He’s played all across the line for us. Obviously he’s done some good things in the rush. I’m excited and glad we have him. Again, he’s another hard worker, unselfish guy. Very coachable. Little details that we hit him with, we see that on film week in and week out. He’s always striving to improve his craft and he’s a very unselfish individual. He will do things for the betterment of the group. Again, I’m glad we have him.”
(With LB Sam Eguavoen, his journey and what he’s had to do to get to this point, the way he’s constantly had to prove himself, does he come in here everyday with a little bit more – not saying anyone else doesn’t, but does he bring a little bit extra with everything he’s had to prove?) – “I think he has a great work ethic. I think he’s a humble individual. He’s a hard worker. He puts in a tremendous effort at practice, off the field, in the film room. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
(What was it like to see that come together for four sacks in a game for LB Sam Eguavoen?) – “Again, a lot of times – when you talk about sacks, there are a lot of guys doing the right thing for those things to work. Sam is a big part of that. We talk about team-rush mentality. We talk about how we have to have good coverage for those sacks to occur. We don’t celebrate the individual; we celebrate the group.”
(LB Sam Eguavoen a guy you’ve moved around, inside outside, just his versatility?) – “He’s been able to do multiple things for us. He’s grown in some of those roles. That’s what we’re asking all of our guys to do is strive for constant improvement and keep trending in a upward trajectory. I think Sam is doing all of those things.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jaelan Phillips. He made his debut playing in this preseason game. He played well into the second hall. What did you see from him and how do you think he’s going to be able to impact this team?) – “I think like all guys that come into the league, there is a learning process that has to occur. I think that Jaelan, when he’s had opportunities to get work on the field, he’s made the most of those. I think he’s doing some good things out there and then there are some things that we have a ways to go. The more he does it, the better he’ll be at it. We’re excited to have Jaelan. He’s a hard worker and he’s doing some good things for us. We’ll just hope that continues on an upward trajectory.”
(For any outside edge rusher guy, what’s the hardest part transferring what you do in college to the NFL? Is it setting the edge, finding counters to good offensive tackles? What do you see?) – “I think it starts with everybody needs to be a complete football player. You’ve got to be able to handle the run, you’ve got to be able to handle the pass element. If we ask you to drop, you’ve got to be able to handle those. There are a lot of things that go into it for him to be able to handle, and then obviously everything in the NFL is new to him. The transition from college to the NFL is not an easy smooth transition. It’s a different game, it’s a different speed. The rules are different. I think there are a lot of things that go into it, but obviously it’s football, and those guys have done it their whole life and they adapt and they adjust well to it. I think as time goes and they get more experienced, the better we’ll be at things.”
(With S Jevon Holland, I know last year you guys played a lot of single-high looks. At free safety, Jevon is a guy that you would expect to be back patrolling the deep third. How important is it to have that kind of versatility with your safeties where both guys can drop back or play around the box?) – “We try to set up our defense where guys can do multiple things, so we don’t just sit in the same looks over and over again and make it easy on the offense. I think the more guys can do multiple things, it gives you an opportunity to disguise coverages and it gives you an opportunity to play different coverages. Jevon is a guy we’re excited to have. He’s another hard worker. I know I say that about all of these guys, but they really are. They put in a good day’s work and our goals haven’t changed. Our goal is to be better tomorrow than we were today. That’s kind of how we approach it.”
(You led the league in takeaways last year. Obviously that’s not something you can go into a game accounting for. But how do you drive that, instill that, into your players on the practice field, in film study or whatever it may be?) – “We spend a good amount of time on drill work when it comes to turnovers and recovery. We spend a good amount of time studying opportunities and situations when those come up, to make sure that our players are aware and alert and looking for them, and how to handle those situations. Then we also talk about how we have to take advantage when we get tipped balls, we get overthrows, there is a miscommunication between a quarterback and a receiver. We’ve got to take advantage of those plays. We spend a good amount of time on it. We believe in it. At the end of the day, there is no stat in football that doesn’t really equate to having the football. Any time we can get our hands on the football or get the football, it’s a good thing for us.”
(LB Sam Eguavoen, a lot of us knowing far less than you guys, we looked at Sam and were like “ok, here’s a guy trying to make the team.” Do you all look at him as someone that has carved out a role as an effective pass rusher as someone who ideally you’d like to get on the field in regular season games, even knowing you’re deep at linebacker?) – “I think for us – each player, and it’s not unique to Sam, but what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to make them the best version of themselves on and off the field. I think with that intent in mind, there are a lot of things that go into the classroom, the film study. Obviously (Anthony) Campanile has done a great job with Sam. We ask a lot from Sam. He does a lot of multiple things for us. As a group, we don’t really celebrate individual sacks because we always preach team-rush mentality. It takes the coverage to help the rush. It takes the rush to help the coverage. We’re excited when guys have individual success. We’re happy for them, especially a guy that is a diligent worker like Sam. At the end of the day, our focus is getting 11 guys to do one thing. Once those 11 guys do the one thing we’re asking them to do, in turn it usually turns out somebody is going to have success. That’s kind of how we look at it.”
(LB Jaelan Phillips, even though he’s missed some time, has he shown you enough in terms of knowledge of being able to play, hand on the ground, standing up, physical skills that you think he’s going to be a big help to you early in the season despite the missed time?) – “I think the thing for Jaelan is he’s going to keep working. Yesterday or whatever day we played, it was the first experience he had in the NFL on the field. We were excited for that for him. There are some good things out there and there are some things he’ll get better. He can’t buy experience. One of the ways to get better is to play. When you can expose him to multiple things and he can see multiple looks and get the experience of it, some of the things we’ve seen in practice and some of the things he’s done, obviously we expect it to trend in an upward pattern about where he’s getting better.”
(Jason Taylor expressed surprise on your first series that LB Jaelan Phillips came out of the game on third-and-8. Obviously you’re not going to show all of the line ups you plan to use this year to New England, Las Vegas and Buffalo. But is it safe to assume that we will see LB Jaelan Phillips, LB Andrew Van Ginkel and DE Emmanuel Ogbah together at times this year in pass rushing downs?) – “I wouldn’t assume anything. You know what they say about assumptions. (laughter) I won’t talk about scheme; I won’t talk about strategy. I just think it puts you at a competitive disadvantage. There are different ways to approach different things. I don’t think you’re seeing a lot of – some teams are running a lot of stuff in the preseason. Other teams not so much. I think for us from a strategic standpoint or a scheme standpoint, those are things where we’ll kind of do what we do and people can assume or look at however they want to take it.”
