Gerald Alexander – November 24, 2020
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Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander
(I wanted to ask you two questions for the price of one. One is why is S Brandon Jones playing more? What’s he doing well? And also how would you assess the quality of CB Nik Needham’s play in the slot over the past few weeks?) – “For Brandon (Jones), I think that when you see Brandon play, he plays with an incredible amount of speed. So he does a good job when he kind of diagnoses the play and he’s able to be disruptive in the backfield and do some things from that perspective, so that’s one aspect that we love about his game – we’ve always loved about his game – which is why he’s gotten an increased amount of reps whether it be normal down situations or possibly even situations like third down. As far as (Nik) Needham, he’s been a guy that has developed at the nickel position really over the course of the season. Obviously it’s different than perimeter corner. I think we’ve mentioned this before, but he’s starting to get a feel more for how to fit in the run game, how to zone drop, how to utilize his leverage and his help. That’s a lot different than being on the outside as a perimeter corner, so I think over the course of the season you start to see some production and some improvement and obviously we’re going to need more improvement especially this week against a division opponent.”
(Yesterday in talking with CB Byron Jones, he said that when he looks across the field and sees CB Xavien Howard with the ball in his hands with another interception, he’s thinking “that freaking guy again?” I want to get your reaction – what are you thinking when you see “X” with the ball in his hands and secondly is it just a matter of time before Byron gets his?) – “I think when the opportunity comes – I always talk about technique and opportunity, and when they meet, that’s when splash plays happen. And ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) has been very good as far as those opportunities that come and the one thing that ‘X’ does which is very elementary in a sense, but he catches the ball. He catches the balls that are thrown to him and when I see it, it’s just another opportunity for us to score on defense or possibly get the ball back for our offense. And that’s just the way the game goes at times. That’s the way sometimes seasons go and sometimes Byron (Jones) will have his opportunities as well as everybody else on the defensive side, and when those opportunities do present themselves, you have to do the elementary thing and that’s catch the ball.”
(The past draft was pretty deep at the safety position with a bunch of guys, including one of the guys you coached at Cal. What was it about S Brandon Jones that really stuck out to you guys from an evaluation standpoint?) – “I think again, kind of going into what we talked about prior to just getting this thing started with Brandon is just his play speed. He does a really good job once he diagnoses a play and you can see that there’s a significant difference in speed when he transitions and he goes and he’s active. As a tackler, in the zone, underneath zone defense; he’s got a very quick trigger and obviously there’s more to just the evaluation side of what we see on film and when we got a chance to know Brandon throughout the process. He’s a guy that really cares. He really loves the game. He’s doing everything he can to prepare himself to be able to play at the speed that he plays. So all in all, the football character, obviously the physical traits that he has, really went into our evaluation of Brandon.”
(I know we were talking I guess at the start of the season about the turnover game that you guys were doing in camp and you guys are tied for third in turnovers so far, so it seems if there’s any correlation, it’s paying off. I’m curious what you’ve seen in your team for the turnovers to be happening as much as they have?) – “I think it all goes down to really the mindset and the culture that we’ve tried to create as a defense. It’s not just starting with the turnover game in the secondary. We talk about disrupting the ball every single week, whether it be guys who are attacking the quarterback or attacking ball carriers and tackling, and then obviously when we have the opportunity to grab the ball when it’s in the air. We understand what that does for our team. It’s about scoring on defense or getting the opportunity to get the ball back for our offense and really it just goes down to a mentality and pursuit when we’re chasing ball carriers and we’re just attacking the football. It’s kind of like body blows. You may not knock one out every single time you throw a punch, but if you just keep on attempting, then you will have an opportunity to get one knockout and get the ball back for our offense.”
(You talked about CB Byron Jones and CB Xavien Howard a little bit earlier, but there was one play I wanted to ask about – a general what it does for you defensively – there was a Cover 0 blitz look where he got a tackle on the outside in open space and it just looked really impressive to me. I’m curious what having those guys that can tackle and cover so independently on their own, the ripple effect that has on the rest of your defense?) – “I think you have to have corners that are willing to tackle people, whether it be just off of ‘0 blitz’ or in the run game when they’re trying to crack block on the safeties and make the corner be the one to tackle the ball carrier. Those are guys are tough, willing tacklers and obviously those guys cover well; but it definitely gives you just the security as a defense where you have guys on the perimeter who are willing to tackle, who are willing to get dirty in there and get guys on the ground because it definitely gives you an opportunity to play another set of downs on defense and not give up more yards on defense as well.”
