Josh Boyer – October 6, 2022
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Thursday, October 6, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Health of the cornerbacks is a primary topic right now. Can you give us any update on how optimistic you are about CB Xavien Howard?) – “I’d say we have a couple of guys in probably the same category of they’re kind of day-to-day. You make plans with them and you make plans without them. You kind of approach the week that way. I know all of our guys are trying hard to get out there on the field and be in the best physical condition possible, which at this point in the season usually somebody is dealing with something. Not everybody – I would say very few guys that we put out there are at 100 percent.”
(I know that you guys have a philosophy and you have core tenets that you want to stick to and a style that you want to play. With injuries that you need to monitor in the secondary – CB Xavien Howard, DB Keion Crossen and obviously CB Byron Jones is not still up. At any point, during the week, do you have to consider contingency plans given some of the guys you might be putting out there may not be as experienced as some of the guys that you have right now?) – “I think ultimately it comes down to putting the guys in the best position to succeed. I think regardless of if it’s a guy that’s been a veteran guy or a guy that’s had little playing time, you really want to put them in spots that they can succeed knowing full well that where you put all 11 guys, it affects everybody. So if you move the focus to maybe compensate for something else, it’s going to take away from something else. I think ultimately, there are so many variables that go into it. One is the particular players that you’re using. And two, the offense that you’re facing. I think all of those things go into it. Over the NFL and the course of the season, you’re very accustomed and used to guys being in and out. You kind of understand that even when you’re in OTAs. I doubt that there’s a team that goes wire to wire that all 11 starters, whether it’s on offense or defense, goes (the entire way). I think we’re very accustomed to guys being in and out and that’s why even the guys that aren’t playing, they need to prepare mentally. And you give them as many reps as you possibly can. They need to prepare mentally like they’re going to play in the game anyway.”
(How bothered are you by the fact the team only has one pick in four games?) – “Well, we’ve had some opportunities. Obviously turnovers is a thing that we stress and we’ll continue to stress it. Those are usually game-changing or momentum-type plays for a defense. Yeah, we’d obviously like to have more than we have. There’s no question about that. I think any time that you present problems, whatever they may be, it presents an opportunity for progress. We’re sitting at a pretty good spot here at 3-1 and there’s a lot of things that we can improve and get better on that we’re looking forward to doing, that we need to do, to get better.”
(On the pass rush) – “A lot of that goes back to game plan. Sometimes it can be a scheme thing, sometimes it can be an individual thing or a matchup-based thing. Or another thing is when you pressure at a high rate, the ball comes out a little bit faster and you’re seeing quicker routes and a lot more check-downs. I don’t really get caught up in a sack number. I don’t really get caught up in stats in general. Basically what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to get the ball back to the offense. Going back to (Josh) Allen, one thing we would look at is turnovers because that correlates probably more to winning than most stats. There are stats out there for everything. But I do – and our players believe this and we preach this – is the problems or the issues that we’re having, we have a great opportunity to make progress on those. That’s what we’re working to do in a lot of facets, not just rush.”
(Last year it got rolling at one point and then it got rolling in a big way. Is there such a thing as momentum when it comes to that, forcing turnovers and creating pressure?) – “I think there are a number of factors that go into it. If you’re playing with a lead and a team is forced to be one-dimensional or get into a drop-back game, there may present some more opportunities for that to happen. That’s one scenario that could happen. Another could be taking advantage of protections. Another could just be physically winning one-on-one matchups or doing things from a coverage structure that make them hold the ball a little bit quicker. I think there’s a lot of variables that go into that.”
(Considering the amount of time you guys were on the field in the Buffalo game and the heat, then the short week, was last week different as far as taking precautions and monitoring snaps and things like that because of the short week?) – “I think we were very aware of the snap counts going into the game. I think you’re always pretty aware of each individual player, the things that they’re dealing with that they’re out there playing with and then snap counts. Then you’re also very conscious of the fact that it’s going to be a long season. But at the end of the day, on a short week, the opposing team (is also) on a short week and it really comes down to execution. It really does. There’s no shortcut. There’s no excuses for traveling early due to a hurricane, playing on a short week. Once the ball is kicked off, none of that stuff really matters at all. It really comes down to execution and trying to put the players in the best spots to succeed. I think we always take into consideration health and rep counts. We do that on a daily basis even in practice so the games are really no different.”
(What do you need to see from CB Noah Igbinoghene for him to get playing time on defense?) – “We’re just going to ask him to continue to do what he’s been doing. He’s had a real positive attitude. He’s worked really hard at practice. Then when he gets his opportunity, hopefully he’ll make the most of his opportunities. I’m really excited to see that when that happens. I think all of the guys we have in the back end, they’re working. We’re seeing progress out at practice. I know you guys don’t get to see all of that. Then when we get into game situations, hopefully practice execution becomes game reality. I’m excited for the opportunity for him when he gets it. He’s worked hard and when he gets an opportunity, he’ll have earned that for sure.”
(In last week’s fourth quarter, Cincinnati was able to complete a lot of long passes. Granted CB Xavien Howard and CB Byron Jones were not in there but what happened? Why was Cincinnati able to have that success?) – “Well one long pass was on a third down and the double pass, we didn’t execute the coverage we were in well enough. Obviously I have to coach it better and we need to play it better. Then the one at the very end of the game – one was a second-and-6 play. We were in man coverage. We were cheating coverage over one way and just kind of got beat on call it a double move down the field. Then the one at the end of the game when we were just being pretty aggressive, we’re really in a four-minute situation where we need to get the ball back. That’s where that occurred. Obviously that’s another category for us defensively, if we can eliminate some of those big plays. Chunk plays are going to happen. Like 17 yards or 16 yards here, 22 yards here, those will happen. But the 40-yarders and stuff like that, we really need to eliminate those and make people drive the field. Then when you get down to end of game situations, there’s obviously a risk of the offense throwing the ball because that can stop the clock. We’re probably going to play that pretty aggressively. We can definitely coach it better and play it better. I’m not saying that. But those are really kind of the situations that came up in that game in that situation.”
(We’ve seen you do different things with CB Xavien Howard in the secondary but I noticed against the Bengals, you had him on WR Tee Higgins for the most part until he went out. Then you shaded a lot of the coverage towards WR Ja’Marr Chase. What went into that particular decision there because obviously Xavien travels with the number one but in this case you kind of put him on the number two and shaded to the number one.) – “Again, a lot of it varies from team to team. I think when you can manipulate balls or throws to go ‘X’s (Xavien Howard) way, I think everybody in our building feels very comfortable with that. Now 100 percent of the time is that going to work? No. Even Champ Bailey, Deion Sanders and Darrelle Revis, all of them have been beat at some point in time. But I think everybody has the utmost confidence in ‘X’ and his playmaking ability, especially if you can get a ball thrown down the field, which we feel very comfortable about that. If we feel like we can manipulate a coverage to get more balls his way, we will try to do that. Then sometimes it’s really just matchup and coverage based, and what coverages you’re playing. There are a lot of variables that go into that. Then what are you trying to take away? How do you feel that you can manipulate the offense to play into your hand? It doesn’t always work out in your favor but that’s something that I would say for the last three years, we’ve tried to do at certain points in time to make sure that balls get forced his way. He’s had a lot of production on the ball over the course of his career and sometimes I’m sure people go into the game plan saying, ‘Nah, we don’t really want to go this way.’ And if you can force it that way, more often than not, that’s going to be good for the Miami Dolphins.”
(The Jets have a couple of tackles out. Is that viewed as an opportunity or do you look at their line any differently?) – “I think from a protection standpoint, kind of how they’re structured, they’ll be very similar. Obviously it’s different guys in there. Again, I think whether it’s us putting new guys in or them putting new guys in, it just presents opportunities for the guys that they’re putting in. Ultimately, it comes down to execution. But it’s no different from anything week to week. Obviously it’s easier for someone who is watching the game to see what you’re doing with guys that are spread out of the formation. But we try to do the same thing with guys on the interior, if we feel like those are matchups – again, it ultimately goes down to putting guys in position to succeed. So moving guys around and trying to – what we feel like would be the best advantage to us to help our guys succeed is usually what we try to take advantage of on a week-to-week basis.”
(QB Zach Wilson made his first start of the season last week. What have you kind of seen in that one game, the growth he’s made from Year 1 to Year 2 already?) – “He’s very athletic. He has a very strong arm. It looks like he’s making his progression reads quicker. He’s definitely doing a good job with that. He came in and in the fourth quarter, they were able to mount a comeback. He was very efficient and very accurate with his throws with a lot of big-time throws and in big situations. The fourth-and-7 comes in mind last week against Pittsburgh. That was a good throw that was right on target and it was a great read. He has the ability to get the ball downfield. He has an incredibly strong arm. I would say he’s very athletic and he’s really slippery in the pocket, for sure.”
