Anthony Weaver – October 17, 2024
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Thursday, October 17, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(Do you think S Jevón Holland is going to be able to play with a club on Sunday? Or is it just expecting too much at that position to play with that limitation?) – “Yeah, we’re certainly hopeful as a staff. I think with that kid, I’m not saying he can’t do anything. So if I was going to count on anybody to get out there and play, it would be him – but we’re preparing for both situations.”
(In regards to when you have a safety with something on their hand, do you look at them as “Hey, the opposition might go after them because they have some limitations?”) – “Well unfortunately, we’ve had three. So I think our safeties are taking boxing classes in their off-time or something like that. We had a situation with (Jordan) Poyer, he did something to his hand in training camp, as well as Marcus Maye and both those guys at this point have played excellent when they’ve been out there. So regardless of if he has something on his hand or not, I think he’ll be able to go out there and do his job.”
(A question about your defensive success – you’ve got nine sacks, and you’ve allowed teams to rush for 100 yards each game, but you’re No. 5 in the league in defense. Why are you No. 5? Why have you had success?) – “The run defense numbers, obviously we got to improve there. That’s certainly a thorn in our side at this point. It’s particularly the explosive plays that have hurt us in the run game. In terms of our success, I think a lot of that has been our pass defense and then just guys collectively starting to grasp big picture wise what we’re trying to accomplish. I think as long as we don’t give up those explosives and let the ball go over our head in the pass game, we have the guys that are going to make plays if we force offenses to try to matriculate the ball down the field, which nobody wants to do, particularly this team we’re going to play this week.”
(What about red zone defense? Those numbers aren’t that flattering. Is that just a byproduct of the run struggles?) – “I don’t think so. Some of those numbers, just situations we’ve been put in bad spots. We’ve had a couple of pass interferences where they’ve gotten the ball on the one – those obviously kill your red zone numbers. We had a couple long third downs that were converted where, I mean good throw, good catch, hats off to them. I was encouraged by the last game where we went 0 for two and that’ll help. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come, and like I said, I think it’s just a matter of finishing particularly when they get down there.”
(What challenges does QB Anthony Richardson pose?) – “I mean you’ve seen him. He’s back there, when he pulls the ball down to run, he looks like John Riggins. He’s enormous, he’s big, he runs through people and then he has a hose for an arm. The throw he made against Houston, which was like 70 yards in the air falling backwards was incredible. So just his skill set, his physical attributes, he is certainly still maturing as a player, but I think his ceiling is incredibly high.”
(The splits in the red zone for the Colts are much better with QB Anthony Richardson in the game. I’m curious what a quarterback with his running ability does to make the challenge even more difficult in the red area.) – “It’s a nightmare because essentially, they always have another hat for you when you use him as a runner. I’ve lived through that, have got to watch that from my own sideline with Lamar (Jackson) for the last three years. So the thing we try to stress to the guys is that even when it’s empty, you got to play it like wildcat because he can certainly pull the ball down and they can do a bunch of scheme runs in that situation. So it certainly provides issues for our defense; you find certain ways to try to attack them and not leave your defensive backs vulnerable and we’ll try to do just that.”
(What difference does RB Jonathan Taylor’s presence make to their offense and to your defense?) – “Yeah, I think that kid is an absolute stud. When I watch him, he reminds me a little bit of Fred Taylor in the sense that he has some patience and vision. He’s a guy that’s going to dip in an out of holes – Le’Veon Bell type back – and then still has the speed to get away from guys. So if he doesn’t play, it certainly doesn’t hurt us. If he does play, you always want to play against the best and I consider him one of those.”
(You’ve been getting some good playing, some good minutes and snaps from DT Da’Shawn Hand. What has he shown you – probably since the beginning of when you got here to where he is now?) – “Yeah, I mean Da’Shawn – you look at him, he’s as strong as an ox. And every day he’s in this building, he just works. He’s not an excuse maker, he’s not a guy that goes out and makes the same mistake multiple times. He’s just constantly trying to get a little bit better each day, which is all we ask of every single player on the team. So I’m happy with where he’s at, I’m happy he’s stayed healthy throughout and knock on wood, he’s out there for all 17 for us.”
(How much more can you get out of LB Tyus Bowser now that he’s been with the team for a bit as opposed to just arriving on Thursday morning and going and playing 30 snaps on Sunday?) – “Yeah, a lot. Tyus (Bowser) is obviously a guy I have history with, and unfortunately, he missed last season with dealing with some things with his knee. I think Tyus is a tremendous football player. I still think he’s kind of working himself into where he was prior to injury, but he’s extremely knowledgeable from a scheme standpoint. He can play multiple positions, so just when you’re able to acquire somebody that’s that familiar with what you’re doing, particularly at this point in the season, it’s huge for a defense because you don’t have to limit yourself when he’s in the game. So I think the sky is the limit for him as he gets more confident in where he’s at with his body, I think you’re just going to see more production from him.”
(Was his name one that came up? Did General Manager Chris Grier ask you about him earlier this offseason, obviously with your background with him? And what physical skill does he have that makes him effective?) – “Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on Tyus (Bowser) for a while because when I first got here, he still wasn’t cleared to play. So we were just keeping an eye on him where he was from a health standpoint, just because I knew he would be a seamless add to the defense. And another thing that happens, and I saw it – you saw way back in 2008, 2009 when Rex Ryan went to the Jets and he brought Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard with him to the Jets, that you have guys that are scheme familiar that are able now to help you teach the other guys some of the intricacies of what you’re trying to get done. So in terms of his ability and his flexibility, he can play SAM backer, he’s a guy that’s had 9.5, almost 10 sacks I believe when I was with him in 2021. You can rush him from multiple spots – on the edge, inside, he can drop and knows every drop with detail, so just adds tremendous value for us.”
(Going back to RB Jonathan Taylor and QB Anthony Richardson, what kind of added layer of stress is there late in the game having to account for a running back and a running quarterback? I know the Ravens come to mind with how they use RB Derrick Henry late in the game where they’re able to just take over a game late in those situations.) – “Yeah, always an issue, particularly in close games. And the things where they really stress you is when they’re particularly in plus territory, it’s four downs for them. So that normal situation where it’s third-and-5, third-and-6 where typically thinking, ‘All right, let’s go hunt and get after the passer,’ you’re playing those more 50-50 situations now. So to me, that’s probably the biggest stress in it all is that your typical, predictable pass downs don’t play like that when you have those guys.”
(Have you found any noticeable growth in LB Chop Robinson through his first five games?) – “Yeah, I thought his last game was his best game to date. You talk about setting the edge, falling back, playing gap and a half, impacting the passer – which we obviously expected and know that he can do. I’m pleased with his trajectory and how he’s grown so far this season. I know the sack hasn’t been there yet, but he’s close. And like I tell all rushers, they come in bunches. As soon as you get that first one, you usually get a bunch of them back-to-back. So just looking forward to that kid’s career as he pushes forward.”
(What stands out in the self-scouting that you did during the bye week for your defense?) – “Yeah, the biggest one I think was just the explosive run numbers. If you take the biggest explosive run out of each game, we’re like top five in run defense and yards per carry. Now, unfortunately you can’t do that. (laughter) We have to get that fixed, but I don’t think it’s going to require wholesale changes. Pleased obviously with what we’re doing on third down but knowing that you got to continue to spin the dial and keep offenses unbalanced. So just trying to make sure we’re not doing anything that’s going to come off as predictable when somebody is studying us.”
(Are you optimistic about having LB Emmanuel Ogbah on Sunday?) – “I am, I am. I mean you see the guy – he’s tough, he was out there through individuals yesterday. I know he’s nursing an injury, but just like I said about Jevón (Holland), I’m not counting that kid out.”
(A question about G Quenton Nelson. We look at QB Anthony Richardson, QB Joe Flacco, RB Jonathan Taylor, WR Michael Pittman Jr. – he might be the best player on their team, G Quenton Nelson. What can a guard do for them? What can he do for Anthony Richardson? What can he do for Jonathan Taylor?) – “Well first off, he went to an excellent university. Let’s start there, I mean arguably the best in the country. (laughter) No, I think the kid is an absolute stud. Me, particularly as a defensive line guy by nature, I don’t have the most love for offensive linemen; he is one that I do because he plays the game from the offensive perspective like a defensive lineman. He plays nasty, he’s trying to finish everything and to me, he’s kind of the tone setter for their offense. So when you have that guy, particularly when he’s big, right in the middle, he’s kind of your enforcer and your intimidator and guys tend to follow that guy.”
(When we first talked with you back in February or whenever that was, you raved about CB Jalen Ramsey’s flexibility. I’m curious, five games in, six weeks into the season, how you’ve seen that play out?) – “As expected – I don’t think there’s a position on the football field he hasn’t played. You blitz him sometimes like a SAM backer. We’ve put him all over the place, we’ve blitzed him from the corner position. I’m almost ready to put him at inside backer just to try to mess with these offensive guys. (laughter) But just love the kid and the intensity he brings to the game. His competitiveness and then just his overall football IQ allows him to play all of those spots seamlessly. To me, it’s incredibly admirable what he, and Kader Kohou as well – I don’t want him to get lost in all of this because when Jalen (Ramsey) does move, that requires somebody else to know the job too and Kader has been great. Just seamlessly moving those guys around and offenses trotting like the same people out there and when they don’t know where they’re going to be, that’s a problem.”
(Obviously you guys are having tremendous success on third downs, credit to you, but where would you want to have success on defense? I know sack production, turnovers, red zone defense, third down defense, obviously, those are all factors that connect to the outcome, but where would you put the most stock in terms of this defense helps teams win?) – “Scoring defense. That’s it. I’m pretty sure that you win 100 percent of the games where you score more points than the other team, pretty sure about that. (laughter) So we’re trying to hold offenses to as little points as possible. All the other stuff is incredibly important but ultimately, I think that’s all. All those measurables are to justify not allowing offenses to score, so that’s what’s most important to me. I love the stats, and it’s incredibly important. Obviously, you want to be great on defense but most importantly, we want to win games. That’s the most important stat and there’s going to be certain games that are required to win a certain way, and whatever way that is, we’ll try to play that way and get it done.”
(I know that takeaways are always emphasized, and you’ve got a quarterback like Anthony Richardson who’s tied for the second most interceptions, what do you tell your defensive backfield?) – “Nothing different than how we approach any other week where we’re always striving for takeaways. Coach (Joe) Barry just had a great meeting about takeaways and turnovers, both trying to preach to the offense of holding the ball and for us, punching it, strip-sacking, doing everything we can to try to get that ball away because when we win that differential, your percentages of winning go way up. And just like I said, ultimately that is goal – win the football game.”
(We saw that LB Jaelan Phillips posted that he had a successful surgery. What’s the approach he has taken through all of this where a lot of guys could be down over it but it seems like he’s positive?) – “Yeah, just what an incredible individual, right? The adversity that he was hit with, a lesser man, lesser person, you could see crumbling or going through a state of depression. He has not done that. He’s faced it head on, which you would hope particularly in this profession that we’re in, that’s what you do. After a storm comes the rain and this is a storm for him. I know he’s going to push through this and be the guy we expect him to be.”
