Emmanuel Ogbah – November 15, 2021
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Monday, November 15, 2021
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(You’ve had pressures all year – you personally and the team were in the upper half of the league in pressures. It’s finally turning into sacks these last two weeks. At least four in the last two weeks. What has been the big change you where the group has gotten the quarterback down more often?) – “I wouldn’t say it’s a real big change. We just have to keep going. It’s the same approach we take every game – affect the passer whichever way we can. We just kept on doing what we’ve been doing and we’re finally getting home.”
(I know that Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer, Head Coach Brian Flores and Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark have all said the goal is to disrupt the quarterback more than sacks per se. But I’m curious, from a human standpoint, being in a contract year, do you think teams consider pressures or do you think you need high sack numbers to get the type of contract that any pass rusher of your quality would like to get?) – “I would say sacks are the flashy numbers but as long as you affect the quarterback whichever way you can and stop them from making a play with batted balls, pressures, hits. As long as you’re throwing them off the spot, you’re doing your job. That’s what I would say.”
(I believe you have a streak of going of five games with a pass defensed. Is that something that you’re making a point of emphasis or just they came along and you made the plays? What’s going on there?) – “I would say for sure practice and also I would say instincts, too. If you know you can’t get there and you know the ball is coming out hot, all you have to do is just put your hands up and hopefully you bat the ball down.”
(You made it sound so easy.) – “(laughter) I wouldn’t say it’s easy. Practice starts with practice. But if you know you can’t get there fast enough and the quarterback is throwing the ball in less than two seconds, the best thing you can do is put your hands up and affect him.”
(I read a statistic that said S Jevon Holland had 21 blitzes in the last game, which hasn’t been done in five years or something by a defensive back. How does all those blitzes help the team?) – “It does. It goes by gameplan. He’s doing a good job for us blitzing. It’s all 11 men on the field. Either you’re blitzing or you’re dropping in coverage. Just whatever you do, affect the quarterback. He’s doing a phenomenal job for us blitzing like he is doing.”
(Sometimes it’s a sight to see when a corner or a safety blitzes and they come in clean and they just smash the quarterback. You never get that option. What’s that like for you?) – “(laughter) I think my presence is more – they feel like I’m bigger. They don’t really see the DBs coming so that’s why it’s always a clean shot with them. Like I said, I like when they’re doing it. It feels good. I like when they hit the quarterback. It makes my job easier. Now he’s worrying about that and won’t see me coming.”
(Don’t you ever say to yourself, just one time let me…) – “Don’t see me coming? (laughter) It’s a team game. If he gets it, I’m happy for him. If another person gets it, I’m happy too. It’s making a play for us.”
(I know the gameplan won’t be the same every week and you won’t blitz as often as you did, every single week. But is a gameplan like that fun as a defensive lineman to know how many are going to be rushing, and that it’s going to happen a lot with a lot of guys rushing?) – “It throws the offensive line off. They don’t know who to block. They might block me one play and then somebody else is coming free. They might block another person and I’m coming free. They don’t know who to block so it throws them off the spot and makes our job easier, I would say.”
(When you get to the line of scrimmage, sometimes there’s three players on the line, sometimes four, sometimes seven or eight. Do you very quickly know how many guys are going to be around you or does sometimes more guys just start appearing?) – “It’s practice. I know who is coming and I know who is not coming. When we line up, I know who is coming but they don’t know who is coming.”
(Do you look at the standings at all? You’ve won two games and see how you’re coming back into the rhythm. Do you think maybe if you get this game and next game, you’re back in it? How do you manage that?) – “I just look at the next game. I take the game one game at a time. Like I said before, it’s a process. We weren’t getting the wins but we were always in there. I felt like we were getting better. A lot of people didn’t say we were getting better but I felt like we were getting better and it’s finally turning around so I’m grateful for that.”
(You guys have had 10 straight game weeks and now you had a mini-bye. Did guys come back fully refreshed, do you think?) – “Oh yeah, definitely. Any time you get three days off, it’s always a blessing. I feel like a lot of the guys feel good. They feel good, I feel good and we’re ready to get after the Jets this week.”
(Have you always had that mentality of day-by-day or is it something that Head Coach Brian Flores has instilled in you and your teammates?) – “I mean I’ve always had that, that mindset of just taking one day at a time and don’t think about the past too much. Just keep it moving. Also, Coach Flores harps on that every day at practice and in the meetings, too. Just keep it going, one step at a time. You never know when this thing could turn.”
(One of my favorite photos is DE Cameron Wake and DT Ndamukong Suh coming together to crush a Jets quarterback. Is that photo still in one of the rooms? Have you seen it?) – “No. I know the play you’re talking about but I haven’t seen any pictures of it here. I haven’t noticed it.”
(Do you have an extremely memorable collision? What’s your all-time favorite two dudes meet at the quarterback?) – “I’d say that has to be up there with Cam Wake and Ndamukong Suh. It’s for sure up there.”
