Brandon Jones – September 27, 2021
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Monday, September 27, 2021
S Brandon Jones
(When we talked to you when you first got drafted, one of the things that stood out about your game was preparation going into it and how it allowed you to play fast. I’m wondering now that you’re getting more playing time, more production, how you feel you’ve grown in terms of seeing things and reacting more than having to have to sit back and wait and let it play out before you can make that reactionary play?) – “I would say my overall mindset has stayed the same and obviously enhanced in a way. I’m really big on routine, so I like to stick to the same stuff that works for me. A big thing that works for me is meeting with my coach every morning before practice and get an idea of the game plan and overall knowing the defensive scheme. I think with those meetings, I’m not only able to get to know my position but get to know a lot of other positions. I think that’s what’s helped me slow the game down and be able to play fast.”
(You had the two big sacks yesterday. What is it about playing forward in those pressures packages that really suits what you do well? How do you think that brings out the best in your game to get two big sacks in a game like that?) – “It’s all scheme based. I wouldn’t necessarily give myself all the credit for that. The d-line did a great job of the stunt games and all of the stuff we did inside to free me up. My mindset it to play fast, trust my keys and continue with the process and kind of go from there. Obviously those were good plays, but the bad plays and the plays I should’ve made, especially at the end of the game is the stuff that sticks to me more than necessarily the good plays.”
(We talked to S Eric Rowe and DB Jason McCourty last week and they talked about the challenges of being an assignment-based safety unit. What’s it like to have roles and everybody do their roles and be subbed in and out of the game the way that you guys have so far?) – “I think overall it’s just a scheme that we do. Each week it could easily change with people in different positions and stuff like that. I would say the biggest thing, it obviously gives you a better idea – overall it kind of builds your IQ of knowing multiple different positions. I think it really benefits you and your game to be able to do multiple things. For me, I think I get so stuck on learning new stuff and this and that, and I kind of let the old stuff, the stuff that I should know, especially playing strong safety, I kind of let that stuff fall off the plate in tough situations. You saw it kind of showed up yesterday with that catch to (Bryan) Edwards. I understand the scheme. It’s what we do and makes us different from a lot of different teams. Kind of like our coach always preaches, at the end of the day you can’t let any food fall off the plate. No matter how many different roles you have, you just have to be able to execute at all times.”
(I wanted to follow up and ask you about that play to WR Bryan Edwards. To me, you can tell me if I’m wrong, it looks like one of those perfect pass situations, where there is not much you can do about it. Is that the case on that kind of throw? Are there passes in the NFL that you can’t do anything about?) – “There definitely is. Obviously they get paid like we get paid, at the end of the day. But I feel like I was in position, so I could’ve made the play. That’s kind of my mindset of it. I’m not really too big on excuses. At the end of the day, I didn’t make a play and he did. That’s something I’ve got to live with and learn from. If we get into similar situations down the line, hopefully be able to fix that and have a different outcome.”
(I just want to follow up on “can’t let any food fall off the plate,” the first time I heard that. Is that just about the constant installation and not forgetting about what you did in Week 3 even though you’re in Week 6? What is that about?) – “It goes from play calls, from your job description, cover three, or the curl flat player or hook dropper. Just how versatile we are and how much we change it. We could easily – like we did, we ran some stuff early in training camp and then stopped running it for a little bit, and then bring it back in whatever week. The weeks are kind of short, so you don’t always have time to re-teach something and start from the beginning. Even though we don’t run everything all at once, you have to, like I said, like our coach says, ‘not let anything fall off the plate.’ Even though we are not getting the practice reps at it, sometimes you have to be mentally prepared, and always ready.”
(There is so much talk about execution from the first three games. What is falling flat in terms of the play call to the execution?) – “I think it comes down to preparation and how we attack it. Obviously (Defensive Coordinator Josh) Boyer does a great job of putting us in very good situations when it comes to play calling. We just got to do a better job executing. At the end of the day it’s 11 on 11 and the guys that play better and play harder are going to be the ones that win the play. We’ve just got to dial in and take it play by play and just learn fast. We can’t let the negative plays haunt us and stay with us that long, and get things corrected when we can.”
