Anthony Weaver – September 19, 2024
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Thursday, September 19, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(Wanted to ask you about LB Chop Robinson’s snaps. Saw a couple of pressures. How would you assess how he’s done with his defensive snaps both as a rusher and against the run?) – “I love how Chop (Robinson) is playing right now. I know from a numbers standpoint maybe the production hasn’t been there, but when you watch the tape, you realize just how close he is. And his production, again, all he can do is give energy and effort and try to execute his technique and then ultimately through the law of the numbers, the production will come and I believe that’s going to happen, wholeheartedly.”
(As far as setting the edge on the run, how has LB Chop Robinson done with those opportunities?) – “He’s been great. He’s been great. That’s always a thing you worry about with young players just because what we ask for from a technique standpoint is so much different than what they were asked to do in college. It happened with Mohamed Kamara where he was spilling blocks; we don’t wrong-arm anything. We don’t like to trade one for one. We’re constantly trying to change the math on all levels of our defense, so there’s some re-teaching that needs to occur, but for Chop (Robinson), that learning has happened very quickly.”
(What do you think of Seattle’s receiving trio and is this a matchup where maybe you get CB Jalen Ramsey to shadow one of those guys, possibly DK Metcalf?) – “Yeah, possibly. I’m not going to sit up here and try to give these guys any advantages, but they obviously have very good receivers, right? (DK) Metcalf looks like he can come out and play outside backer for them, too, if he wants to. He’s that big and that fast and that powerful. Then you talk about the (Jaxon) Smith-Njigba kid, No. 11, and obviously he loves (Tyler) Lockett. So to me, they’re very good complementary pieces to one another and you can tell that Geno (Smith) feels comfortable throwing the ball to all of them.”
(Can you talk about your relationship with Seahawks Head Coach Mike Macdonald and are these similar defenses scheme-wise? Obviously personnel and what you – there’s variation.) – “First off, I love Mike Macdonald. The two years we spent together, we played really good defense and just who he is from a leadership standpoint as a teammate every day, we’re very similar in our philosophical approach. I was so happy for him when he got this opportunity, and to see them at 2-0 right now is not shocking to me just because I know what his foundational principles and beliefs are. In terms of who we are on defense, yeah, I think the roots are the same. Probably how we call games is different obviously just because he’s going to see it through his lens, I’m going to see it through mine, but how we believe the game needs to be played from a defensive perspective is the same.”
(I have a snap count question. I think LB Jaelan Phillips and DT Calais Campbell played 23 snaps last game, 51 percent. That’s being monitored obviously and then LB David Long Jr. and LB Jordyn Brooks I think have played every defensive snap. Has that pretty much gone according to plan on all of those?) – “The previous game was unique, just in the way it played out. We’d go into every game if we thought we were going to play 40-something snaps and that resulted in a win – I’m signing up right now. (laughter) But some of those guys, obviously Calais (Campbell) being where he is at in his career, Jaelan (Phillips) still kind of coming off an injury. We tried to be cognizant of that once the game was essentially out of hand. Some of those other guys like David (Long Jr.) and Jordyn (Brooks), I’m going to be honest – tried to, wanted no part of it. They were not coming out of the game and ultimately that’s why you love them. You love their competitive spirit. As long as there was a second on the clock, we were going to compete until the very end. So honestly it was the same conversation with Jaelan and Calais; we were just a little bit more forceful.”
(As far as using DT Calais Campbell when games are competitive, do you and Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark and him have an understanding of how often he’s going to sit on the bench and rest? Does weather in terms of heat and humidity, does that play a part of it at all or no?) – “Are you playing into his old joints? Is that what you’re trying to say? (laughter) No, to me there’s always a balance there. I had to operate under these same parameters kind of in Baltimore. You always want to make sure he’s playing in the game where you can feel he can be most impactful. Sometimes there’s a fine balance in that. You also want to do that, yet not have him sit around too long so he does start to get stiff, and that’s any veteran player. So there’s an art to it. It kind of just depends on the flow of the game is going, like how many two-minute drives and third-down plays and things of that nature. But the one thing you do know is if it’s a critical situation, there’s a high likelihood that Calais Campbell is going to be in the game.”
(You called DT Calais Campbell the best leader you’ve seen a few weeks back. How important is it to have a voice like him and other veterans in the locker room when it’s time to bounce back from a game like Thursday?) – “It’s huge. It’s huge because the one thing you know with the leaders that we have in this locker room is you won’t let one loss turn into two just off sheer emotional insecurity. Losses happen. It was a short week. You hate it, particularly to the opponent that we lost to, but it doesn’t count any more than this one and our job is to win the next game. So when you have those voices, particularly guys that have been through this. I remember I was in Houston. I forget – I guess 2018 – we started off 0-3. I don’t know what your playoff chances are at that particular point, but we ran off 10 straight after that. Now the first two, we won after that were in overtime, so we were very close to being 0-5. But the one thing I know is every team in this league is good and because you lose a game, you shouldn’t lose confidence by any means. The process is the same. Even if we won the game, the process is the same. We’ve got to correct what we need to correct, keep chasing the best version of ourselves and find a way to win the next one.”
(Kind of even with that answer you obviously have just two regular season games in – one win, one loss – was that the message going into facing the Seahawks? Just keep being consistent? What exactly is the next attitude in that getting ready for Week 3?) – “For me, it was just that. Just staying true to who we are and our process and how we attack everything, how we attack meetings, how we attack practices. The truth of the matter is when you play that Thursday game that soon; you just, you haven’t practiced a whole lot. Particularly us, with how we were coming off injuries and things like that, guys kind of in and out of the lineup. I jokingly said to (Jordan) Poyer, I was like, ‘You know, I think we’re playing pretty good, but just imagine when we can practice.’ (laughter) So obviously we get an opportunity to do that this week. We’ll get three good ones underneath us, have a kind of mental sweat Saturday and then see we do out there on Sunday against the Seahawks.”
(I know the Bills game was a long time ago, but I did just want to ask about one play – the 49-yard touchdown run. Can you help us understand – we’re always going to ask to help us understand – it looked like one of the defensive tackles got triple-teamed and the one linebacker went left when the running back went to his left. What should be know about that play?) – “It’s funny, this morning – and it wasn’t in reference to that play, it was just in reference to the defensive play overall – I was talking to our guys about DoorDash and I was like, ‘How many of us have ordered DoorDash?’ And I was referencing a time where me and my wife, we ordered all these snacks for our kids and as soon as the bag showed up at the front door, we knew the order was wrong. We were like, ‘Come on.’ We’ve all been there, and you’re pissed off and you’re angry. And I go, ‘Well, why did that happen?’ Poor communication that led to poor execution, and really that’s what happened on that play. Our comms kind of – there was a breakdown in communication and ultimately, we left the gap unfilled. It’s not about pointing the finger; it’s about getting it corrected. And again, I think the more we can talk, the less we allow those negative plays like that to happen.”
(I wanted to ask you about the defensive mindset with when a starting quarterback goes down. Human nature would suggest, hey, we’ve got to step up on our side because who knows… is that a mindset? Is that something you have to fight against, maybe doing too much when you’re down a quarterback?) – “Yeah, I always think we have to step up on our side, regardless of what’s going on offense. Again, in this game – I love our offense, I love what we do. I love how aggressive we are, I love the way we attack down the field, I love the pieces that we have. But we’re trying to be the best defense in the National Football League, plain and simple. I love Skylar Thompson. We believe we can get that done, but we have to handle our business. So for guys to think ‘We need to step up’ – shoot, our team collectively needs to step up. We lost Tua. I just saw him – it’s the first time I’ve seen him actually since it happened. Looks great, by the way. So collectively, our group needs to stand up, but I don’t think we should put any more undue pressure on ourselves than we already do to go out there and play well.”
(The current landscape of the league, passing rates are down, touchdowns, passing yards, all that stuff. Two-high structures are way up. I’m just curious to get your perspective on the cycles that are what they are in the NFL, where we are right now with all of that being the case and the running game being more popular and passing and everything being way down?) – “I love it. To me, the chess match in it all and kind of the cyclical nature of the game and how everybody is trying to punch, counterpunch and try to figure out how to stay ahead of the trends, you have to love that piece of it. So we’re constantly scouring every bit of film that we can watch, whether it’s something innovative on the college level that we’re watching when we’re scouting these young college players or trends that are happening throughout the league, just to make sure if it is, you’re able to incorporate that in your system and not confuse your players and it allows you to be more multiple when you try to do so.”
(Regarding LB Chop Robinson, you said he’s played well but you haven’t seen the numbers. That was what was said about him in college also, that he played well and those sack numbers weren’t there. At what point do you need to see numbers from a first-round pick knowing that LB Jaelan Phillips isn’t healthy and knowing that LB Bradley Chubb isn’t there? Do you need to see numbers at some point?) – “Yeah, but that’s not on that kid alone. He’s had some good rushes, and sometimes you haven’t had the coverage to match what he’s doing and vice versa. So to me for that kid in particular, the numbers will come as he earns more reps. As he continues to earn trust with his teammates and we find more reasons to put him out there, again, I believe that those numbers will come because the kid plays too hard, he’s too talented. He listens, he takes the coaching. It’s inevitable.”
