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Eric Rowe – September 13, 2021 Download PDF version

Monday, September 13, 2021

S Eric Rowe

(I know this is nothing new for you guys on defense doing this, but it was very noticeable on defense that you guy seem to be going for the strips every time you got a chance. You got one and CB Xavien Howard had the one late in the game. Was there a special emphasis heading into this game even more than normal about let’s strip the ball away from these guys?) – “No, nothing more than normal. We’ve been preaching that probably since – even last year – but the spring, OTAs, this year, to training camp to preseason games and to practice. Just always attack the ball no matter how it comes, whether it is in the air or on the ground. Always get a punch at it because eventually somebody will give it up.”

(You guys gave up almost 400 yards of total offense but 16 points so in that light, how do you view the defensive performance? – “It’s Week 1. That was our first, probably for a lot of guys, live tackling since the Atlanta game. Really at the end of the day, points is what matters. Yards matter too but you win the game on points. Especially for Week 1, of course we’ve got a lot of corrections but we did a lot of good things too.”

(You’ve always done such a great job covering tight ends since you’ve gotten here but they sort of got back to doing some damage against you guys. I know it’s two tight ends but what were some of the issues you guys were having?) – “I wouldn’t say anything specifically to the tight ends. I know on a couple, Jonnu (Smith), he had a long play. We had a busted coverage and then the other long play they had down the sideline, he stepped out of bounds. I was like, ‘thank God he stepped out of bounds,’ because that was a big gain. It was just another busted coverage. (They are) fixable things that you correct on the film and there’s not a lot of mistakes that we made like that.”

(Looking ahead to the Bills game, what stands out to you from the jumps that QB Josh Allen has made from rookie year to now and how much of a transition is it going to be to game plan for a different offense? That’s an offense that likes to spread it out compared to the Patriots who seem to kind of want to stick to base personnel.) – “Josh Allen, he’s gotten a lot better since his rookie year. I’ve played him every year, twice a year, and I remember his first couple years he’s always had a strong arm but just accuracy wasn’t really his thing because he was too strong. But now, each year he’s gotten better and he’s gotten a lot more accurate. Now he’s easily one of the elite quarterbacks in the league. Going against him, it’s a totally different game plan but that’s how the NFL is. You have to put one win or loss behind and you have to focus on the next person.”

(I understand it’s a new season but is there a sense among the defensive players a little trial for redemption after the number that the Bills did on you guys in the season finale last year with their offense?) – “I really wouldn’t put it like that. They did kick our ass last year, the last game of the season. We remember that; but we are not taking that as a revenge game because it’s a new season, new players, new coaches kind of like that and whatnot. Now we are just taking it as a big division game. It’s the 2021 season. It’s not 2020. We need to get on them.”

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