Anthony Weaver – August 2, 2024
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Friday, August 2, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(A lot of the guys have talked about wanting to be bullies. They want to emulate what you did, what the Ravens did, the Ravens looked up to them over the years. Is that something that’s innate? Are you teaching that or do you see this on the field?) – “I think with the guys we have on defense it certainly is innate. So it’s our job to make that come to life and you do that through your actions. You do that through your actions daily, just going out there on the practice field and trying to be purposeful and have clear intention of what we’re trying to get done and trying to solve all our problems with our pads. Ultimately we get an opportunity to do that 17 times this year. Hopefully at the end of the day they say we are bullies.”
(Even though he hasn’t practiced yet, what have you learned about LB Jaelan Phillips in your short time here?) – “I’ve learned that he is an absolute freak. He is a specimen of a human being. He is a phenomenal person and he is chomping at the bit to get out there on the field and play with his guys. So super excited. (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) showed a clip today just how fast he was running in his rehab program so let’s just say we got excited seeing those numbers.”
(How fast was he running?) – “Faster than I’ve ever seen a dude that big run. (laughter) Let’s say that.”
(WR Tyreek Hill mentioned yesterday that there’s kind of like a game between the team where he was reminding some of the defense that they had the No. 1 unit last year. Is that a common thread so far in the training camp? Is there a lot of trash talk about that and is there pride from the defense in that sense?) – “Absolutely. I’ve got to be honest – I can’t wait to face another opponent because our offense is so talented, but it’s just iron sharpens iron, right? For us, the opportunity to go against them each and every day, we know that they’re the best. So for us to go out there and compete daily and have this kind of back and forth, just shows that defensively we can also chase those same goals.”
(With DT Calais Campbell, was that someone that you pound a table for or did they just come and ask your input or were you the one who was kind of like “Oh we’ve got to get this guy in here?”) – “I think probably a little bit of both. If you haven’t been around Calais (Campbell), you don’t know the impact he can have off the field. Everybody sees the phenomenal football player that he is, he is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. He is what I call a force multiplier. So the affect that he has on a team – not just a defense, but a team – is immense. It’s like having another coach in the locker room, on the field because there isn’t a situation he hasn’t been in and hasn’t seen. The one thing we need to do collectively to kind of stamp his career, is get to New Orleans and win a Super Bowl and hopefully we can get that done.”
(How would you describe his leadership style?) – “I think he leads through empathy. Empathy and example, I think is what that is, because on the field at this age in particular, I truthfully don’t know how he does it. It’s like LeBron James in basketball and Calais Campbell in football in my mind, like they’re just human marvels. I don’t know how he gets it done and then in the locker room he doesn’t lead from like a ‘this is me on top of the mountain’ type approach. He is very relationship-minded, relationship-based, tries to get to know each and every one of his teammates and then once that trust and just conversation is there, that’s when he can impart some of the wisdom that he’s acquired throughout all his time here.”
(What is your impression of DT Benito Jones?) – “Oh man, I love my big guys. I love the way Benito (Jones) is playing. Those guys, they’re grinders and they don’t get a lot of headlines. They don’t get a lot of credit, but he’s one of those guys that’s out there each and every single day and he’s the same guy. He’s consistent every day in his actions. So I love who he is, I love what he does, I know our inside backers love him and I think Coach (Austin) Clark and just that whole defensive line collectively, the way they approach practice every single day is awesome.”
(I know you spoke about this, but how do you think it’ll benefit to rotate guys more often on the defensive line?) – “Yeah, I mean you’re out here right now. It’s warm. It would benefit if I could have somebody else come finish this interview right now. (laughter) So for those guys, particularly those bigs, if we want them to play with uncommon effort which is something we preach day-in and day-out, I think it’s important for them to stay fresh in order to get that done.”
(With CB Cam Smith obviously the injuries, unfortunate, but what had you seen from him before he got hurt and how much ground will he have to make up once he’s back?) – “I think Cam (Smith) is such a young player and he certainly has some scars from the previous year which if you didn’t play a lot and you’re wondering why, that’s going to occur with any young player in that situation. So for me and for us and I think in order to get the best version of him, which we just started to see prior to injury, he needs to be confident. He can’t be afraid to go on that practice field and make mistakes and fear repercussion particularly at the corner spot. Take the corner spot out of it – whether it’s a corner spot, defensive end, anybody on that football field – if you don’t step between those lines with confidence, you don’t have a chance. You’re already beat. So all I’m challenging Cam is to go out there and be confident, be who you are, have faith in your skills and challenge your receivers. And good things will happen. And when he gets back on that field, I know he’s going to be just that.”
(Where is CB Kader Kohou at this current point in training camp compared to what you knew about him when you took the job?) – “I felt incredibly confident about Kader (Kohou) coming in. Just as soon as I thought I was in the mix for the job, I went back and watched all the games obviously and I kept saying like, ‘Who is No. 4? Who is No. 4?’ Like multiple times, just wrote down ‘Who is No. 4?’ And we see that each and every day out there. The thing you love about Kader is just his competitiveness. He’s not the biggest guy, but he doesn’t back down from anybody so I love his toughness. He is a tremendous player for us and he’s going make a lot of plays for us.”
(How has it gone from your estimation the times you’ve used CB Jalen Ramsey in untraditional roles or that ultimate chess piece that you’ve said?) – “So far in practice, it’s been exactly what I thought it was going to be. You have a guy like Jalen Ramsey, who yeah, he plays cornerback, he has a cornerback skill set, but he is a football player. Because of his football intelligence and just sheer God-given athleticism and talent, there are multiple places you can use him. Ultimately for us as a staff, our challenge is to make sure that we can put him in spots where he can be most impactful in the game. The last thing you want an offense to do is put him to the field and say he’s your field corner, let’s stay away from him. Let’s put him in places where they can’t predict where he’s going to be.”
(We’ve heard from several offensive players that he still talks trash even when he’s beaten. How does that help the defense with that mentality?) – “You have to have that mentality. Every offense, defense, football team in the National Football League is going to get beat. You’re going to face adversity. Everybody is good. Our job is to win the next play. Win the next play, win the next game, win the division, win the conference, win a Super Bowl. If you don’t have that next play mentality, the emotional ups and downs of this game will crush you. So you have to always be ready for the next play. I love that about him.”
(What’s your early take on LB Chop Robinson?) – “As advertised. He’s still a young player, still trying to learn the finer techniques and fundamentals of the game but you see his athleticism and his skill set. What I love most about the kid is his intent when he comes work. He’s quiet, he’s not one of these rookies that are out talking all of this stuff and they’re not backing it up on the field. You can see him just contemplating every single thing that’s being given to him and try to see what bits and pieces he can take from people to use for his game.”
(How do you get better as an edge setter? That was kind of your primary job in the league. What do you do? Is it hand placement? Is it anchoring down? What do you do to get better as a edge setter?) – “For me, setting the edge to me is a like non-negotiable. In terms of getting better at it, I think because you operate with time and distance and you don’t know where that guy is going to go – but if you run a straight line and somebody is trying to move lateral, if I’m a defensive end and that’s what needs to happen for that guy to get to me, then I should knock him back and set the edge. It’s no different than if you’re going like this and I’m going straight ahead, I’m going to knock you backwards. I tell guys, ‘Listen, roll off the ball. Pick your aiming point, play with good leverage, play with your hands, lock the guy out and get ready for that ball to come back.’ Fortunately for us, I don’t think there is a single outside backer or defensive end who doesn’t understand that responsibility and isn’t able to get that done.”
(How do you see that safety battle shaking out? Obviously, we see a lot of S Jevon Holland on the field this year. Beyond that, it looks like three if not four guys competing for playing time.) – “I have a tremendous amount of confidence in all of those guys. Obviously, we have the veterans who have been here. Jevon Holland has been practicing awesome. Elijah Campbell has had a great training camp so far. Jordan Poyer can’t say enough things about him. Marcus Maye, we have a tremendous amount of competition at every position. Shoot – ‘Pat Mac’ (Patrick McMorris)… All of those guys have had really good camps. They’re grasping the scheme. They’re understanding when they can take their chances and when they can’t. Coach (Ryan) Slowik and Coach (Brian) Duker have done tremendous jobs with those guys. I can’t wait to just play against another team and kind of show you guys all the work that they’ve been putting in.”
(We’ve talked about CB Jalen Ramsey being able to play a versatile role, can you use S Jevon Holland in a similar way?) – “We have a bunch of guys we can use in those ways. For us, the job is to make it simple for our guys and hopefully create some complexity and some indecision for the offense. Fortunately we have a bunch of guys that are kind of Swiss Army knives, where they can play multiple spots and they’re super smart and they can execute those jobs regardless of where they are at positionally.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel is no stranger to going around to different position groups saying, “I want to hear the chirping and the trash talking.” I’m curious how the gamesmanship has been for you and him as playcaller on the other side of the ball this camp?) – “I love Mike (McDaniel). I am not much of a trash talker, particularly to guys that are smaller than me. (laughter) I love him, I love him to death. Any trash talk that we have between each other is sheerly in good fun, because we know ultimately, we’re just trying to get this team as well prepared and as ready to go as we possibly can.”
(DT Calais Campbell, you’ve probably addressed this already, but what does a 17-year veteran who is familiar with your scheme bring to this defense and to his unit?) – “Just hearing ‘17 years’ is wild to me, particularly at the position he plays. But I’ve mentioned this before, when you have a guy that’s had the success he has and still willing to go out there and work as hard as he does, to me that provides leadership enough. What you guys don’t see is how he affects the guys in the locker room and how he’s constantly trying to reach out and give to anybody who is willing to listen the wisdom he’s acquired throughout all of his years. He’s a true force multiplier for us.”
