Anthony Weaver – December 5, 2024
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Thursday, December 5, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(How much was LB Tyus Bowser missed in terms of setting the edge last Thursday? What does LB Mohamed Kamara need to do at this point needs to do to get to play?) – “Tyus (Bowser), whether he was missed, yeah, of course. I think Tyus has a presence out there, he’s just familiar with the scheme and he’s been through a lot of battles, particularly in those situations. But I don’t want to take anything away from ‘Q’ (Quinton) Bell. I thought ‘Q’ Bell went out there and played really well and continues to flourish when he gets opportunities, so excited about him. As far as Mo (Kamara) is concerned, he’s just a very young player who’s still trying to earn trust amongst his teammates and that only comes through consistent, repeated, positive action. When he’s out there, can he make plays, can he be impactful? Yes. As the games become more important, it’s hard to live through some of those potential rookie mistakes that can occur. Again pleased with where he’s trending, but practice is very much different than games against the opposing competition, particularly when you’re vying for playoff spots and things of that nature. As he continues to grow in his technique and fundamentals, his attention to detail and scheme, he’ll earn more reps.”
(Does LB Bradley Chubb look to you like he’s ready to play? I know that’s a decision that you, General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel et cetera will make collectively, but how close does he look to you to being able to help in an NFL game?) – “That’s difficult to say; I’m basing it off like seven full speed reps. I’m really just incredibly happy for the kid. I know the work he’s put forth just to get to this point. I’m sure it’s going to be some time just to gain confidence and get back to where he feels comfortable going out there and playing in an NFL game.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel noted that on film he saw some guys stopping their feet on defense, not running through the tackle. In all your years of experience, do you believe that that could be a result of the cold?) – “No. It’s one of those things where, as a coach, you’re always trying to predict what’s going to happen in the game. Our poor tackling in this showing was certainly one I didn’t see coming. Was it the cold? Who knows. Was it playing on a Thursday? Who knows. It could be a variety of things. You got to give credit to them, right, just in terms of breaking tackles. Josh Jacobs is not an easy guy to bring down. Do we need to be better in our technique and fundamentals and like wrapping up, driving our feet, not diving off the diving board? Absolutely, but I certainly wouldn’t attribute that to the cold. I’ve coached in Houston where we’ve gone to Green Bay and we’ve won, a number of places where it hasn’t been a concern. I certainly wouldn’t put that on the weather.”
(CB Storm Duck, the first quarter, the touchdown pass in front of him and then the RB Josh Jacobs run, he’s there. What about the teaching moments? I’m not criticizing him at all, I know he’s had a good rookie season. Do you put your arm around him? Do you yell at him? Does that depend on how each guy is? What’s your policy on that?) – “No, each one of these experiences for him are new. It was unfortunate in that particular game, the plays that kind of hit us, he was right by and really had a negative impact on those plays. They’re all learning experiences, and you try to make sure he understands why he didn’t have success on those particular plays and coach him through them. That way when those same plays present themselves again, he’ll now make the play with confidence. It does me no good just yelling at a kid, particularly if you don’t know if he’s been in those situations and you as a coach have kind of coached him through it so he can have the success. That’s all we try to do with him. Again, I have so much confidence in that kid. He’s stepped up for us in huge situations and certainly not going to lose confidence in him now.”
(I say QB Aaron Rodgers. You say?) – “Future Hall of Famer. He’s a stud. He’s one of the few guys left in the league that I’ve played with, right? Him and Calais (Campbell) and Marcedes Lewis would be another one. Has all the arm talent in the world, a lot like (Matthew) Stafford where there isn’t anything he hasn’t seen. A lot of times, if you’re not great with your disguise on what you’re showing pre-snap, he’s going to figure it out. You’re going to try to do everything you can to try to affect him with your rush, because that’s probably the one thing that he can’t really control. I’m going to put a lot of onus on the guys up front to have a good game, and when we do bring pressure, it’ll be calculated.”
(Did you sack Aaron Rodgers?) – “I did not. I did miss a sack on him, I do remember that.”
(What happened? Did you stop your feet?) – “It was really cold. (Laughter) I’m kidding, that is a joke. He was just faster than me. I was rushing off the edge, he bailed and kind of gave ground and ran around me and I lost the edge. Yeah man, heck of a player. He has weapons too, so we are certainly cognizant of those guys.”
(When you have a player like S Jevón Holland, obviously there were a lot of expectations for him coming into his career because of his talent level, how would you assess how he’s played? Do you feel like injuries and setbacks have impacted how he’s played this season and what you’ve asked him to do?) – “Yeah, I think just kind of being in and out of the lineup has certainly affected some of that. It’s unfortunate the stats haven’t been there for Jevón (Holland). When he’s on the field, you certainly feel his impact even though it may not show up necessarily on the stat sheet. I think the games he’s missed, you can feel it. Particularly on our side of the ball on some of those plays where you thought if he would’ve been there, those plays would have been made. I love Jevón, I think he’s a heck of a player. Those stats to me, they’ll come. They’ll come with the snaps.”
(Green Bay scores 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half. There were a lot of missed tackles in that series. What happened?) – “We were essentially in red two. They were in a three by one set, they motioned to it. Jordyn Brooks was kind of standing on the line, he can be in more relation to two there and then Storm (Duck) took a chance and went inside to try to make the tackle, missed it and ends up capturing the edge. Storm, again, another young player, needs to set the edge there, we’ll chase that thing from inside out and we’ll get him down on the ground – hopefully stop them from a first down, definitely shouldn’t score a touchdown. Prior to half, what really contributed to those three points was Jalen Ramsey, he missed a tackle on the tight end, I believe, on the sideline which kind of extended the drive and put them in more of a manageable field goal situation. Again, it was tackling in both of those cases, unfortunate. Don’t know why it happened, but that game – sometimes the ball just needs to bounce your way a little bit. We were about two feet away from having four takeaways. Third play of the game with (Zach) Sieler on the sack, how close was that to being a takeaway and a huge play in the game? Kader Kohou, the play he gets hurt on, the ball is in the air forever, very close to a takeaway. Jalen Ramsey on a corner blitz tips the ball, close to a takeaway, and then obviously a lateral that we all thought was a lateral where Siran (Neil) picks up and goes for a tug. The missed tackle, they stink, definitely didn’t see that happening. Don’t anticipate that happening again, hoping that was a lesson so when we play cold games and hopefully they are meaningful ones in the end, we have no excuse. We’ve been there, we know what we need to do. But sometimes the football gods just aren’t shining upon you man. The guys played hard and I think that showed the second half. They didn’t stop trying to score points in the second half. If they could’ve scored 50, they would’ve scored 50 – they scored six. Did we miss a couple tackles in the second half too? They had a checkdown go for like 40 something yards to the running back. Yeah, it stinks but there are play of opportunities there to be made, and unfortunately in this particular game, we just didn’t make them.”
(CB Siran Neal’s play, is that one that you guys submit to the league and see what they say?) – “I don’t know who submits what to the league. What, do you get an apology letter like – if it happens enough times, I’m still going to lose my job. (laughter) They don’t care, like ‘Hey, sorry we messed up.’ Great, is this official going to stand in front of you guys and do this? I don’t think so. (laughter) God bless them, they have a difficult job. But again, I think sometimes the football gods got to shine upon you man. You’ve got to make those things happen.”
(How tough was that to stomach?) – “I’ve been in this league a long time, man. I’ve had some – that AFC Championship loss last year stings a lot more than this one. Again, I think there’s lessons to be learned in this game that hopefully pay dividends in those two games that ultimately will be cold in Cleveland and New York at the end of the season.”
(LB Jordyn Brooks is an aggressive, physical player. He had a few aggressive, physical plays. After the game, he kind of opened some eyes when he said he thought that the overall defensive performance was soft. You’ve heard the comment, what was your reaction to it?) – “I think that’s Jordyn (Brooks) – it’s one of those things when you’re talking after the game, you’re reacting purely off emotion. I’m sure that once he watched the tape, I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his tune, because that game, the missed tackles you could say they kind of equate to softness in the moment, but when you see why they occurred, you would see that softness had nothing to do with it. I give credit to the Green Bay Packers for just making plays and making us miss.”
(Talking about the bad luck, I can think back to the Buffalo loss, you guys had a tipped pass on that last drive that could’ve been picked off as well. The Cardinals game when Kyler Murray had his arm going forward, Calais Campbell swats it back and bounces right back to him like a basketball. My question is how much do you harp on that or what is the teaching point when you have defensive meetings? Are you showing guys that being like we have to keep coming because this could happen or do you not focus on that?) – “I think the first thing you do is you make sure you’re hopping on every loose ball regardless of whether you know what happened – that was case in point with Siran (Neal). The other thing you’re just trying to coach is where is that tenth of a second, can that be gained? Is that better timing on a blitz, is that not being in your stance ready to play? Now rather than just being there and getting there for the tip and him just having control of the ball, now you’re being there a second early and that ball is out. It’s always those little intricate details that you’re trying to coach guys through that takes them from good to great.”
(Obviously you have a talent in CB Jalen Ramsey who is comfortable, efficient and familiar with shadowing a player. From a defensive coordinator’s standpoint, I want to know the cons to having a player shadow a guy?) – “I think the stress isn’t on Jalen (Ramsey) so much as it puts pressure on everybody around them to know their jobs. When you can play somebody into the boundary or at a particular position, then everybody else, they kind of fall into place and just know they’ve got to learn that one particular spot. Once you start moving guys around, there’s a trickle down with everybody around them. To me, that’s where the weight is. The weight is on the other guys to kind of, ‘Hey, this guy is sitting at No. 2 in the slot, now I’m this. This guy is No. 1 to the boundary, now I’m this.’ It’s all the pieces around them that have to know how they fit together based on where that guy is now.”
(So I’m guessing CB Jalen Ramsey isn’t shadowing anyone on Sunday?) – “We’ll find out. We’ll find out on Sunday.”
(When CB Jalen Ramsey is in the nickel, obviously I’ve heard the theory that you always want your best players closer to the ball and the line of the scrimmage, especially somebody as physical as him. What are the pros and cons to him being in there at the nickel spot?) – “I think the pros are just what you said, he’s around the ball, he’s around the action. You can feel his presence more in both his physicality in the run game, I’ve seen the guy set edges on tackles where a lot of nickels aren’t capable of doing that, and then obviously you can blitz him. You have a little bit more blitz flexibility when he’s there. The negatives to that are your potential matchups on the outside, if you don’t have a player that you feel confident in, particularly if there’s a size deficiency or things of that nature, and then sometimes, his skill set isn’t necessarily perfect for some of those jitterbug guys that you have at the slot position. He’s kind of straight line, fast, has good change of direction, but you get some of those guys like the Wes Welker types back in the day from a matchup standpoint, just doesn’t work in your favor. So you kind of pick your spots based on opponent, based on what we’re trying to do that week schematically. The beauty when Kader (Kohou) is out there is you really don’t know when we’re going to pop it out on you from an offensive perspective. When you have to substitute it, as soon as you trot a guy in, they’re going, ‘Hey, 5 is going to nickel,’ and you lose that element of surprise.”
(How do you like to explain to players how to handle the opposing quarterback going into a slide, possibly going into a slide, might be stepping out of bounds, might not? It seems real delicate, how do you go about that?) – “That is incredibly difficult, and you’re obviously referencing the kid in Houston situation. I think throughout the week, you always watch what’s in this quarterback’s DNA, what’s he done in the past. Really, Trevor Lawrence in the past, he’s been a guy that wasn’t sliding a whole lot. He was going to try to run through you, he’s a big dude, so I could understand why something like that could occur. You would hope that – again, the onus is on the defensive guy and rightfully so. Those guys are protected for a reason and I get it. You just hope that if you see a guy going in that slide position, you have to pull up. You don’t have a choice, and I know that’s a difficult thing but it’s no different than the Poyer hit in the Buffalo game. That is such a bang-bang play, and for him to hit somebody, even when you say in the strike zone and not make contact with the helmet, it’s so much easier said than done. It’s terrible for both parties, for all parties involved. As a defensive guy, again, I err on the side the aggression, but if you see that, you have to try and pull up.”
(You mentioned the slide thing, and I can understand how that’s a difficult play, but I always wonder about the sideline plays too. Especially you see Patrick Mahomes always doing this, and that was the Gardner Minshew and Jevón Holland.) – “Yeah, you’ve seen it with (Gardner) Minshew and Jevón Holland. You’ve seen it with (Patrick) Mahomes where he looks like he’s going to go out and then he turns it up for another six or seven yards. Again, we’re going to try to hit you and if that’s what you’ve shown on tape, don’t be surprised if you get hit late.”
