Byron Jones – October 12, 2020
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Monday, October 12, 2020
CB Byron Jones
(I guess I’ll start with the obvious question of how good it felt to be back in the lineup and how do you feel the day after?) – “It was exciting to be back with the team. It’s something that you work very hard to do once you get injured, but body felt great. Mind was great. I thought we played a hell of a game yesterday, so it was fun to be a part of that.”
(This is obviously the second year of a major rebuild. When you signed here did you want any sort of – I don’t want to say “assurances” – but any sort of feedback from Head Coach Brian Flores or General Manager Chris Grier that this team was ready to win? Had you felt they were ready to win?) – “For me, that was the exciting part about signing here, was being part of a team that’s up and coming, being a part of the foundation of a team that’s going to be successful in the future. I spoke to ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores). I spoke to the GM and ‘Coach Josh’ (Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer) and their direction for the team, their philosophies, I thought was going to be perfect for a young team. You can’t guarantee anything, but I feel good about the guys we have in our locker room and the coaches that we have on our staff.”
(Beating the defending NFC champions at their place by 26 points, what can that do for the confidence of a team that’s got a lot of young players still?) – “It just – for them, it kind of validates the hard work we’ve been doing; but understand that it is truly a week-to-week basis in terms of success in the National Football League. So yeah, we celebrate this one, no question; but it’s understanding just how good you have to be on a weekly basis in order to show up every single game or you will get embarrassed. So for us, it’s good to validate some of the work that we’ve been doing throughout training camp and throughout the week and not really seeing results we wanted to see, so it was nice to get a win like that; but now it’s onto the Jets.”
(I wanted to ask you about the moment of DT Christian Wilkins giving Head Coach Brian Flores the game ball. Did you witness that? Were you looking for perhaps Flores to crack a smile in the heat of the moment or what?) – “I can tell he was smiling underneath his mask. I don’t know why Christian (Wilkins) did that. Christian’s a fool, so he’s going to find a way to have fun with the game. (laughter) It was funny to see. It was cool to see, especially to cap the win off in that manner. ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) was definitely smiling. Don’t let him fool you.”
(I think this is the first game that both you and CB Xavien Howard were playing more than 50 percent of the snaps together. Were you able to see what you guys can do as a duo yet? Like was that a sign of what you guys can do?) – “Yeah, it’s cool to be out there with one of the best. That dude always finds a way to get the ball. He has a very natural instinct to get the ball, but it’s nice to have all your guys out there, all your guys ready up and at ‘em. Just communication and just understanding how we play and getting some insight from him and what’s happening on the left side of the field and I’m telling him stuff that’s happening on the right side of the field. It was fun. It was definitely fun.”
(Because everyone was healthy yesterday, it was really the first time we got clarity and a look at what this defensive backfield could be with Bobby McCain and Eric Rowe at safety, Nik Needham in the slot – what do you like about those players and how this defensive could look if this is the group moving forward?) – “I think the coolest part about our secondary is our versatility. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things. I think Bobby’s leadership is one of the best I’ve been around in terms of his ability to communicate and really just be the same person every single day and be in the right spot. So it’s cool to have all of us on deck. Nik (Needham) and Jamal (Perry) – they come in and do very important jobs for us. They hold it down, so to have everyone on deck, that’s exciting and the future is bright; but again, you’ve got to keep working week-by-week, day-by-day.”
(Have you had a chance to look at the film yet?) – “Yes. I actually saw it on the airplane.”
(Okay so based on what you saw on the film, what were you seeing that the defense was doing specifically be it on the back end or actually on the front end as well because I don’t have to tell you – you got some good pressure on the quarterback, too?) – “Yeah, that’s exciting to see, especially as a DB. Just the amount of pressure that we’re getting on the quarterback and how uncomfortable we’re making it for him. Guys were setting edges. We were doing a good job stopping the run against a really good run team with a bunch of good running backs, so it’s the culmination of everything – the combination of everything together – that makes a special performance. And obviously guys on the back end, they covered and we got some takeaways, too, so that was big for us. It’s really one of those games where everybody’s doing the right thing and kind of the ball bounces our way. We made a lot of good plays, too.”
(I think you held, I guess, both of their quarterbacks together 128 passing yards. When you hear that number, does that kind of show what you guys can be as a defensive backfield?) – “Truthfully, that’s something that can be attributed to the entire defense. I can’t explain how important having good pressure on a good quarterback is to the secondary. When you make the quarterback feel uncomfortable back there, he overthrows balls. He underthrows it. That’s when plays start to really develop; but on the back end, we have to give the front guys some time in order to get to the quarterback. So we really work in tandem and that’s the beautiful part about a defense, is it really works together. But our rush has been really good the past couple of weeks and it definitely showed yesterday, and the result of that is we get turnovers on the back end.”
(You talked about the versatility of the defensive backfield there a little bit and I wanted to ask you about S Eric Rowe and the job he’s done guarding tight ends and playing that safety position. I was curious – you’ve been here for five weeks and obviously training camp now, as well – what is it about this coaching staff and Head Coach Brian Flores that really gets guys to be kind of that selfless type of player and take on new roles and new positions like that?) – “I think they do a good job of finding those types of players through recruiting, free agency. I think that’s very important; but also guys understanding their versatility and how to use it best. The coaching staff does everything they can to put guys in the right position to be successful, and I think that’s a big component as to why you see guys having success at certain positions against different opponents. It’s getting the right guys and having a coaching staff that understands matchups and putting guys in the right position to succeed.”
