Jerome Baker – December 30, 2021
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Thursday, December 30, 2021
LB Jerome Baker
(What was your reaction to finding out you were named AFC Defensive Player of the Month?) – “I was happy. I was in meetings and I was just sitting there and my phone just kept buzzing and buzzing and buzzing. I think Duke reposted it and I clicked his notification and that’s when I found out, so I was definitely happy though.”
(You had two sacks last game. It seems like you’ve had a run the last few games with getting these sacks. What does it feel like when you’re getting sent on blitzes and you’re getting home the way you’ve been I guess these last few weeks?) – “I think a lot of the time people don’t realize I’m not even blitzing. That’s the main thing. It’s our d-line. They cause havoc and I kind of just walk into a lot of blitzes, but it feels good. It feels good getting to the quarterback. It feels good making plays, but it feels really good when we’re winning so I’m definitely happy.”
(If I could follow up from that, you guys are obviously leading the league in sacks. What is it – I know for a while you guys felt like you had to – I don’t know if you knew that, but you guys are leading the league in sacks…) – “I didn’t know that. (laughter)”
(But I know for a while it seemed like you guys had to blitz to get home. Now a lot of your front – the front dudes – are being able to get home without blitzing. What does that help maybe the evolution of this defense and what you guys are able to do?) – “It helps us in ways – it helps us all around. It helps the DBs, it helps the safeties, it helps the linebackers. It helps our defense as a whole. We don’t have to bring an extra guy. We can use that guy to cover and now our front line is tearing it up. It just helps our defense as a whole and it’s a credit to our d-line. They’re confident and us as the back end, we believe in them and they’ve definitely been working and we’re definitely happy to see that.”
(So what’s the best reaction you’ve gotten regarding the award from a teammate, from your mom, from whoever?) – “It’s definitely been my mom and my dad. They might have texted me, like, a million times about it. They texted me, they called me, they DM’d me on social media. It’s like they just keep saying it so I know they’re proud and it’s kind of cool to see my high school. They keep reposting it and keep telling me about it. For me, it’s just happy to see everybody else happy. Happy just to get an award and bring attention to our defense, who definitely have been doing our thing this past month and it’s a credit to our defense.”
(I wanted to ask you about Titans QB Ryan Tannehill. They asked him if he was eager to squash Miami’s playoff hopes in this Sunday’s game. Do you still have a relationship with him or have you talked to him previous to this game and can you talk about how it’s going to be to face him? Now it’s a rival for a playoff spot.) – “I haven’t talked to him directly, but I’ve definitely been following him. When he was here, he was a guy that led by example. He always did the right thing. He’s a family man and I’ll never forget that. When he left, I was still just rooting for him to do well, but you know Sunday, it is what it is. You’ve got to turn the page and he’s on the other side now, but he definitely was always a great teammate, a great guy. Sunday, it’s just business is business.”
(I wanted to ask you this. Obviously it’s been – how many games – a couple games since Baltimore you’ve been kind of in an outside linebacker kind of role. Do you feel like that’s more of a home for you or I know you started there, but now that you’ve played both positions, what feels more natural to you?) – “I don’t know. It’s really a game plan thing. What our defense – sometimes when I’m on the outside linebacker role, it really feels like this is where I need to be in this week. Sometimes it’s inside or I need to be inside, but naturally, I don’t know, man. It’s one of those things where I just love being out there and playing ball. I love how versatile I can be. I love how they use me in this defense and I’m truly just out there having fun and just having a great time with the guys.”
(With this – you’ve been here for a while. You’ve been in situations where it’s right there within your reach. What will make, in your opinion, what will make this run different to get to the postseason?) – “What will make it different? Just actually getting there. (laughter) I think we’ve been close so many times, me being here in this organization, but just actually getting there – it would definitely be a blessing, but I think the one thing that we always lose focus on is worrying about what the future’s going to be. The most important thing is just going out there Sunday and winning. That’s all it’s about. We’re going up there to face a good team. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go up there and just get a win. We don’t care how we get it, how many points we score, whatever. We’ve just got to at the end of the game just walk away as winners. That’s the main focus for us, is just go up there and just get a win. That’s all that matters and the rest will handle itself.”
(I was curious. This isn’t necessarily a Ryan Tannehill question, but for you guys when you’re lining up against an offense, what’s the biggest difference you notice when it’s a rookie quarterback as opposed to someone who’s been in the league a long time and kind of seen everything that defenses are trying to do?) – “I’d say it’s the confidence. Older quarterbacks, they have confidence. They expect the guys – the receivers – to run a certain route the way they practiced or however they have it. They just have that energy that they know exactly what’s going on on the field and they expect it to be how they expect it to be. I guess that’s the main thing. A lot of young quarterbacks – once you throw a lot of pressures and a lot of different looks at them – I’m not going to say they act strange, but their eyes start to wander a lot. They start to think they know everything, they’re trying to point everything out when sometimes it’s simple. But that just comes with any job. When you’re a young guy or you’re new to a job, it’s hard to compete with the older veterans. Over time, those young guys will grow up and they’ll figure it out.”
(So we could kind of see just watching the game that QB Ian Book had that sort of deer-in-the-headlights look as you guys sort of threw your different deceptions at him. And it seems that that’s when your defense is most effective, when you guys are lining up, pulling guys back, dropping guys, doing whatever it is to kind of confuse the quarterback. I’m curious from your perspective, what does it feel like when you know you’ve got him? When you know that the other quarterback doesn’t know what’s going on and you guys are about to eat?) – “I think I’ll speak for any defensive player – that’s the best time to play defense when the defense is dictating what’s going on. Not just our defense. Any defense ever – when you have a quarterback or offense on their toes, they don’t know what to do, that’s the best time to play defense. When you’re out there and everybody is making plays and just like everybody eats, that’s the best time to play and Monday, that was a good game. We all were out there having fun. We’ve just got to bring that same approach to Sunday and just go out there and have fun and just do what we’ve been doing. Playing together. I think that’s the most fun part about our defense. We all play together, we all have fun and we all enjoy each other.”
