Vance Joseph – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(CB Byron Maxwell shadowed WR Kenny Britt last week. How did it work out? I think that was the third time he has done it, right? At least the third? How does he do in those situations?) – “It worked out fine Sunday. Britt is a bigger man. He’s strong. So, it was a good match for Maxwell. He did a fine job. He matched Brandon Marshall the same way. Anytime it’s a bigger man for us, ‘Max’ is a better match than ‘Lipp’ (Tonny Lippett). ‘Lipp’ is more of a thinner-bodied guy, and ‘Max’ is a stronger player, so it was a good fit for us.”
(Did CB Byron Maxwell shadow WR Terrelle Pryor?) – “Yes, he did, because it was our first time doing it. He did shadow Pryor. Again, a bigger, stronger guy for us, a better match for us at the corner spot.”
(In the secondary overall, no S Reshad Jones, no CB Xavien Howard. What has been working for them?) – “Those kids have done a great job of doing it right. The two corners have played very consistent not giving up the deep balls. The safeties have tackled well; they’ve communicated well. Isa (Abdul-Quddus) has done a fine job. Michael (Thomas) has been consistent. (Bacarri) Rambo has come in and played well. Overall, that group has been fine. It has been a work in progress, but they’re playing really well right now. The last month, they’ve played well for us.”
(What are the specific challenges of a team that has won five-straight games playing a team that has lost nine-straight games?) – “It’s the letdown. You don’t want that. But I think we’re at a point right now (where) we’re not satisfied about where we are right now. We’re a young team. We’re still learning and trying to find that perfect game. So, I think we’re in a good place where we won’t overlook the Niners. Every game you watch, it’s a close game until the end. It should not be a problem for us. That’s a team that has got talent. The quarterback is a good player. The running back is a good player. They have great tight ends. It’s a team that’ll score points fast on people. For us, it’s going to be a focus week, in my opinion.”
(When you face an athletic quarterback like QB Colin Kaepernick, what are the challenges of having a guy shadow him from a running aspect?) – “He can pop big plays, especially in the pass game. In the running game, it’s not a major concern, because you have rules to contain the guy. But in the passing game, you don’t have anybody accounting for him, unless you cover him with a spy. So, that’s the danger of him. He’s averaging 10 yards a pop on scrambles and only 4 yards on called runs. Our concern is really the pass-game aspect. We’ve been okay versus those quarterbacks – (Tyrod) Taylor and Russell (Wilson) – but (Marcus) Mariota hurt us a lot with the scrambles. He had two or three big scrambles that killed us in the first half of that game. So, we have to do a good job of keeping this kid bottled up, especially when he’s in a passing mode. That’s the key for us. The zone-read run game, he’s good at that, but that part we can control with our calls. But once the pass happens, we have to be smart up front and rush the kid right away.”
(You guys lead the league in third-down defense. I know you’ve been up there for a few weeks. What is the significance of that statistic?) – “I think it helps you get off the field, and that leads to keeping the point totals down. When you’re first in third downs, obviously, it’s getting (stops). When you’re last, or low in third downs – drives (are) extended and obviously leads to more points. That’s a big deal for us being top in third downs, because our front can rush more, and we’re off the field. It’s a big deal for our defense.”
(We talked last week about the penalties on defensive backs. You guys as a team had eight more on Sunday. DT Leon Orr had a personal foul. What is it? Is it just lack of discipline? What is it with the penalties?) – “I wouldn’t say that. I would say most of the DB penalties, I’m almost fine with that. I want those guys to ghost in coverage. (They are) aggressive penalties. But the post-play penalties we can’t have. The Orr penalty, the Michael Thomas penalty – we can’t have those. That was a tight game, and every yard counts, so we can’t do that. That’s more of the players and coaches stopping it. We’ve got to stop it.”
(How do you do that?) – “How do you do it? That’s from each man. It’s not worth a 15-yard penalty after the play is over if a guy shoves you in the back. Just walk away. That’s stuff that’s hard to do for guys, but we’ve got to do it.”
(What happened with CB Chris Culliver?) – “Chris Culliver was brought in here to help us at the corner spot, obviously. Chris had two major knee injuries. He worked hard – that wasn’t an issue – but he never got back to himself. He was never – in my opinion – full-speed. He needs more time. He needs more time to go home and rehab and train and to get himself healthy. It’s always a toss-up after two major injuries for a corner. That’s a guess if he’s ever going to be the same again, and I think he needs more time. He got better and better each week, but it wasn’t good enough to say, ‘Okay, let’s start him at corner for us.’ He just needs more time to get himself healthy.”
(Have you seen more consistency from DT Jordan Phillips recently? And how has DT Earl Mitchell played his first weeks back?) – “Jordan has played more consistent as far as staying in his gap (and) not being offsides for the first time this year. That’s a good thing for Jordan. I think Jordan is growing. He’s a second-year player; he’s a baby out there. He’s going to be a good player, but he has got a ways to go. Earl played better against San Diego, not as good last week. That happens. He hadn’t practiced – he hadn’t played – in almost two months, three months. It’s tough when a guy comes back to be consistent right away, but Earl is going to be fine. He plays so hard.”
(On the Rams RB Todd Gurley touchdown run, can you help me make sure I understand correctly what you saw from No. 56 [LB Donald Butler], No. 47 [LB Kiko Alonso] and No. 90 [DT Earl Mitchell]? What happened on that play?) – “Again, Jordan (Phillips) could’ve been heavier on his block. He kind of skimmed the block and got soft. Donald Butler was soft on his block. Earl was awesome, but he stumbled. It went through Earl’s gap – and it wasn’t Earl’s fault – but he stumbled and Gurley just hit it. He hit it with speed, and he was off and running. So, it was a combination of those three guys just fitting it perfect. When you play big-time backs, they find it. If you don’t fit it perfect, that happens. They popped two runs on us. It was two misfits, and the rest of the game was pretty good. But again, we can’t afford that to happen. We got to fix all those things.”
(What are the plans and expectations for DE Dion Jordan?) – “Right now, just to see him practice. He hadn’t played in almost two years, so for Dion, it’s to get back to the field and practice first. That’s the plan right now. But nothing above board, just to see him practice first and see where he’s at physically.”
(And expectations? Or is it wide open, you don’t know what you’ve got?) – “Again, he’s a young player. We don’t have any (expectations). We just want to see him practice, and hopefully he can help us this year. If not, he’ll help us next year. So, zero or none.”
(What is the defensive end situation relative to DE Jason Jones, DE Mario Williams, DE Dion Jordan and DE Nick Williams?) – “I think Mario, he’s obviously back this week. Jason is gone for two weeks. We’ve got (Terrence) Fede also sitting there. He hadn’t played much, but he’s ready to play. We’ve got Nick Williams who can play tackle or end. I think we’re fine there. Cam (Wake) is healthy, and Andre (Branch) is healthy. We get Mario back. We’ll be fine.”
(It looks like DE Dion Jordan now that he’s 275 there wouldn’t seem to be doubt that he’s a defensive end. But did you and General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Adam Gase and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum have a conversation in the offseason about, “Should he be a defensive end for us? Should he lose weight and be a linebacker?” Was that a conversation that you ever had, or is he a natural end to you?) – “He’s a natural end for us. Our ends are more and more like outside linebackers, so it fits him perfect. He’s going to rush, he’s going to prop, he’s going to be in the run game as an outside edge player. For us, he’s an outside backer/defensive end. That’s what we play with. It’s the same spot for us here.”
(What do you foresee for LB Jelani Jenkins this week?) – “Hopefully he’s ready to go. If he’s not, Spencer (Paysinger) played well last weekend. ‘Nev’ (Neville Hewitt) is playing really well. Hopefully he’s ready to go this week.”
(You’ve kind of been the grim reaper of bad news for some veterans this year. You benched CB Byron Maxwell. You benched DE Mario Williams. You told DE Cam Wake you’ve got to dial back at one point. How did those veterans handle that news?) – “In my mind, it’s the truth. We share the truth in our room, so it wasn’t a surprise that Mario wasn’t playing well. He had to play better. It wasn’t a surprise that ‘Max’ wasn’t playing well. He had to play better. Cam was off of an injury that we thought was going to slow him down early, but obviously, it hadn’t, so I was wrong there. I still feel good about Cam starting slow, because where he is now, he’s healthy, he’s playing well. Those things I don’t regret. I think most players want the truth. How do you not tell a player the truth? For me, that’s easy. For a veteran player, I think it’s easy. They want to know where they stand every day. Most players want that. For me, it’s natural.”
(I guess what I’m asking is their reaction to that news, would you say they fell in line, it was classy?) – “Mario (Williams) played better. He, obviously, played harder and better. (Byron) Maxwell is playing really well. ‘Max’ played his best game as a Dolphin (last) Sunday. So, it’s working. I think sometimes with players … It’s a new environment for Mario and ‘Max’ and it’s expectations. Sometimes you have to spell it out for players. But both of those guys have been great the last month and a half and going forward they should be good for us.”
(Do you have the expectation that CB Xavien Howard will play again this year?) – “Hopefully. Again, until he’s healthy enough to help us play, he won’t. ‘X’ is a young player that has a bright future, so I don’t want to rush him back and have more setbacks. But if he’s ready to go, he should absolutely be able to play.”
(S Michael Thomas talked about how all the defenders and you and all the defensive guys have something in the room called “Speaking truth to power.” How do you feel like that has impacted the entire defense throughout the season? Do you feel like you guys are a better team – or a better defense – as a result of that?) – “I think we are. It’s easy when you watch the film. It’s right or wrong. You’re right or wrong that way. I think players like that, because now they know what the expectations are, they know if they’re doing well or not. That’s part of being a good pro. They want to know how can they can get better, ‘How can I fix it, coach?’ They want their jobs. It’s important to them. If we can’t help them keep their jobs, that’s an awful job as a coach. I think speaking the truth is the only way to go in pro sports.”
(You talked about LB Jelani Jenkins. He has been so start and stop all the way back to August. How does he work through that? What has he been when he has been healthy for you) – “Healthy, he has played well. Obviously, he has missed a couple weeks with injuries, but when healthy he has played well. He has got to figure it out sooner or later how to stay healthy. Maybe a certain role for Jelani fits him better. But right now, he’s our starting dime ‘backer, so he has got to stay healthy. If not, we’ve got guys behind him who are going to play. He understands that. Part of being healthy is a skill set for players, in my opinion. Some guys stay healthy, some guys don’t. So he’s got to acquire that skillset quickly.”
(A different role as far as what?) – “A different role, maybe playing less, maybe being a dime ‘backer full time, not being a starting base ‘backer. We’ll figure it out. He has worked hard. When healthy, he has played well for us, so we’ll figure it out.”
(DT Ndamukong Suh, I believe, had six tackles last week. Five sacks on the year. The 12-tackle game against New England. Are there numbers or anything that you can point to quickly to illustrate how good of a year that he has had? Anything you can say other than, “Watch the tape’?) – “His numbers are solid. He has been a dominant force for us inside – run and pass game alike. He is being doubled a lot. But when he’s singled, he wins in the pass game. Run game-wise, he’s always in his gap for the most part. He has probably had three or four misfits the whole year. He has been a solid force. He has been consistent. Again, in the pass game one-on-one, he’s winning a lot. He’s a three-technique, so he’s not going to have Von Miller’s numbers, but for us, he’s Von Miller. He’s that important to us.”
(When you see a guy like LB Neville Hewitt, it seems like he’s playing with a lot more confidence lately. Is that what you’re seeing from him right now?) – “Absolutely. (Linebackers Coach) Matt Burke has done a great job with Neville. Neville is a young player – again, a second-year player – that has played really at a high level the last month I would say. That’s a good sign. Going forward, he may be a guy that can be a full-time starter. We’re not sure, but he has proven that he can help us win right now.“
