Byron Jones – November 23, 2020
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Monday, November 23, 2020
CB Byron Jones
(I was just curious how you thought the defense performed with the ‘bend don’t break’ attitude. The approach seemed to work again with the 20 points you guys held them to.) – “Defensively we didn’t do a good enough job stopping the run obviously. It is something that we talk about often. We’ll give credit to Denver. They had a really good game plan. But honestly, a lot of that is really on us, just finishing tackles and understanding how they are going to attack us in certain defenses. Yeah, the points were minimal but in a game like that where both defenses are doing good, you would like to be a defense that stops the run. That is something we’re going to try to improve this week.”
(I was going to ask you a little bit more about how you go about stopping the run. Is there a common thread in the games that you have given up a lot of rushing yards? Do you see any common threads there?) – “This game – just some of the stunts that we ran. And really, it’s setting the edge. It comes down to simple stuff. You hear it all the time, and we hear it all the time as players. Oftentimes you think you’ve got it until you don’t. It’s setting edges, tackling, eliminating blocks, not staying blocked and making tackles and all of that good stuff. It really comes down to individual effort on the field and if you do it collectively, it will look a lot better than what it did yesterday.”
(You guys have been playing from ahead a lot in the last six weeks. You’ve obviously done a great job in doing that, and giving you a chance to pin your ears back and be aggressive with the blitz and stuff. How different was it to find yourself behind yesterday and changing the whole dynamics of everything you were doing defensively?) – “We knew coming into this game it was going to be a dog fight. We knew that they were going to make adjustments based on the film that they’ve seen from us thus far. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. I don’t think we were down by much the entire game; but we knew this was going to be a close game. This is one of the games that ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) talks about a lot. The first couple of games that we got this year were kind of blowouts. But as we go further along in the season, offenses are going to start scheming us, and the games are going to get tighter and you’re going to find yourself in games where you’ve really got to win in the fourth quarter. We had an opportunity to do so. We just fell short. Being up seven points, being down 10 points, it really doesn’t matter. We just try to play individual series and play our calls.”
(How has playing opposite of CB Xavien Howard benefitted you this year? Has there been a benefit for you personally do you think?) – “I just think it’s cool to look over to his side and see him get so many damn interceptions. It’s really amazing how he’s so attracted to the ball and he really makes every play that comes to his side. Being a part of a defense that makes so many turnovers, and seeing individual players do that on a weekly basis – it’s funny, you can’t see my facial expression in the helmet but I’m like, ‘this freaking guy again?’ (laughter) It’s really cool to be on the other side and knowing that we communicate off the field often and we talk in the huddle. It’s been really fun up to this point. Hopefully we can keep this going and get the wins, but the kid is definitely on a roll.”
(I heard the old adage that you either win or you learn. I’m curious after as stretch of so many wins, and stacking up – obviously you make corrections during those wins, but coming off of a lose, what can you guys ultimately take away from this to get those corrections made and play better football going forward?) – “I think the overall point is how difficult these next six games are going to be in the season. There is something special about late November and December football in the National Football League. These games get tight. Regardless of your record, people are trying to win. People are either trying to extend their playoff lead or trying to ruin your playoff bid. I think more than anything, it’s understanding that these games are going to get close. We’re not blowing out teams anymore. I hope that will be the case; but truthfully, we’re playing a lot of good teams, and teams that have plenty of film on tape. We have to continue to find ways to win in that fourth quarter and make those plays throughout the game that really change the tide. I think that’s pretty much the most important part. We got punched in the mouth yesterday and that was good. We always have our Monday session where we watch film for a couple of hours and go over it, but the games are going to get tougher from here on out.”
(During the game, I actually tweeted – I don’t know why, but I just had a feeling that you were going to get yours yesterday. How eager must you be to see a one next to your name on the interception column?) – “You said a 1? I don’t have any.”
(Yeah. But how eager are you to get that first one?) – “Truthfully, when ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) gets and interception, in my mind, I also got it. I feel that good when that happens. Obviously he has enough for everyone in the secondary. (laughter) This is something that’s always in the back of my mind. Coach is always harping on it throughout practice, going up for the ball and looking back. It’s something that I haven’t done great in my career, but I’m doing a lot better now with the Miami Dolphins. When my opportunity comes, it’s just go attack that ball and make sure you come down with it. Like I said, ‘X’ has enough for everybody in the defense. As long as he keeps getting them, we’re good. Obviously we all want to contribute in any way that we can, but it’s just continue to stick to the technique, play hard ball and play good ball, and it’ll come.”
