Jerome Baker – December 30, 2020
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Wednesday, December 30, 2020
LB Jerome Baker
(What’s it like having CB Byron Jones as a teammate? What kind of energy does he bring in the locker room and then also on the field?) – “He’s a quiet guy really. He’s a quiet guy. He just stays to himself and he does what he has to do on the field. He’s smart; but to me, he’s real quiet.”
(I wanted to ask you about the lessons that you learned from the first time you guys played Buffalo. I know this isn’t your first time facing QB Josh Allen. What do you take from that game earlier in the season that will help you guys pull out the victory this week?) – “Are you talking about as a team or just me personally?”
(Both.) – “For me personally – for me, it’s my eyes. They throw a lot of eye candy. Just me personally, I just have to make sure my eyes are right. If my eyes are right, everything else will fall in line. As a team, we’re a completely different team honestly. We played them in Week 2 right? We’re just a completely different team. We have different things that we’ll try defensively, but ultimately we’ll have to play together as a team. That’s with all three phases.”
(Earlier today, Head Coach Brian Flores was telling us that Assistant Defensive Backs Coach Curt Kuntz leads third-down meetings – third-down defense. Obviously he was an Ohio high school football coach. I’m wondering if you knew of him and how he’s made the transition from high school to the NFL and what his strengths are?) – “He’s very detailed, I’ll say that. He’s very detailed. He tries to get every single thing they do on third down. I guess you can say he transitioned well. He’s definitely been helping us doing his part when it comes to third down. Yeah. I think he transitioned well and he’s doing fine.”
(I’m curious as to why you think you’re getting to the quarterback with more frequency this year. Seven sacks, is that more opportunities? Do you think you’ve improved your pass-rushing skills as far as moves?) – “I’d say it’s more credit to our d-line. Having (Emmanuel) Ogbah, having Shaq (Lawson), having Kyle (Van Noy), the offense has to gear towards blocking them first and it just helped me with more opportunities. I’d say it’s definitely the d-line. Those guys will take up sometimes two or three guys. For me, it’s usually a one-on-one battle and sometimes I’m just free. I definitely give all credit to the d-line.”
(From Week 1 in 2019 when you guys played your first game under Head Coach Brian Flores to now, what do you think is the biggest thing that you guys evolved as as a team, and him as a coach over that period?) – “I just think we found – we’re playing together and we learned how to win. What I mean about that is we were in some tight games and some close games but certain key plays you have to execute and do your job and that’s how you win the game. I think last year we didn’t do a great job of doing that. This year, I think we do a better job of really just knowing how to win and knowing the situation and what we’re supposed to do to make sure we win. It’s just a credit to ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores). He’s been preaching that since he’s been here. It’s definitely working out for us.”
(Just as a follow up earlier to my question about CB Byron Jones. He’s a quiet guy but he’s got a lot of experience under his belt. He’s been to the playoffs a couple of times. What’s more so that like, knowing that he has experience and you get to line up with him, especially with such a critical game coming?) – “He’s very detailed. What I mean by that is every little play, every little assignment, it matters. It’s not just him. All of the older guys we have that have played in the playoffs, they know that and they stress that. I think Byron does a great job when it comes to the secondary of making sure those guys know that. Kyle (Van Noy) in our room, he makes sure we all know that even the little plays matter when it’s big games like pretty much for the rest of the year. That’s the way he does a great job and we definitely need that.”
(I don’t think you’ve ever won in Buffalo, I think the two trips you’ve gone up there have gone the other way. Is that correct?) – “I don’t know. You’re probably right.”
(Is there a common thread when you go up against those guys and come up on the wrong end of the result?) – “I don’t know. It’s something about them. For them, they have a unique offense. They have a unique way of how they do things. I know they don’t have fans now, but when you throw in going up there, the fans, how they play the game, I guess we just didn’t come out with a win my three years. Hopefully that changes.”
(What makes their offense so unique? I know they’ve got weapons all over the field, but what makes their offense unique?) – “It all starts with Josh Allen. He’s their guy. He does a great job of just leading them. It’s hard because you can’t just pass rush and go wildly out of control because he can scramble out. He has the arm talent to not only make the throws down the field, but he can also use his legs. Now when you throw in (Stefon) Diggs and you throw in all the weapons they have, they give you a real challenge. I think this year, if you look at their offense, they’ve been rolling. It’s definitely going to be a big challenge for us.”
(I don’t know if you had individual goals or team goals coming into the year, but you guys are No. 1 in scoring defense. Is that significant and what sort of does that mean if it is?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely significant. We definitely had goals as a defense – batted balls, interceptions, sacks. There is one more. But yeah, we’ve got team goals. I don’t know the exact numbers or if we met them, but we kept those goals, we kept those pillars of what we had. Just having the No. 1 whatever it was is just a testament to if we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be one of the best defenses in the league. It’s definitely been a fun year.”
(Obviously when Head Coach Brian Flores got here the first couple of games were not pretty at all, and now you guys are one game away from making the playoffs. How unfathomable is that and how realistic is it for you guys to be able to go to Buffalo and get your goal of reaching the playoffs this year?) – “It’s very realistic. That’s one thing. It is a credit to Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores). Since the day he came here, he stressed the main points of what he needed this team to be and what this team needed to do. That’s what we did. We just followed his lead and it’s definitely working out for us. I think this Sunday, we’ve got to put it all together, we’ve got to play together as a team and if we win this game, the rest is what we make out of it. We’re definitely excited, we’re definitely ready to go and it’s going to be a fun one Sunday.”
