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Jerome Baker – October 7, 2020 Download PDF version

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

LB Jerome Baker

(Do you think it’s possible to repeat as PFWA Good Guy of the Year considering all of this is being done on Zoom?) – “(laughter) I’ve never thought about trying to win it; but who knows.”

(How everything has changed with the no locker room, us not being there and they are trying to keep you guys 12 feet apart in the cafeteria. They keep adding rules. They are adding buses and planes. They are trying to be safe. Is there anything that might not be obvious that’s kind of interesting in terms of “hey, here’s a rule that’s interesting, unique or different because of COVID?”) – “For me, all of the rules are pretty simple and understandable. For m,e the hardest thing is just remembering all of them. Even just walking out, I forgot my mask. I’m just thinking I’m going to do an interview and knock it out. But for me, all of the rules are simple and they pretty much just try to help us be safe. For me, it’s just hard to remember all of them.”

(I wanted to ask you about the blitzing. You had so much success with it – well, you had a sack in Week 1. Do you feel like that’s an underutilized aspect of your game? Or are you more needed in coverage?) – “It’s pretty much a weekly thing for us. It changes. For me, it’s pretty much whatever they ask me, I just try to do it the right way and the best way I can. Lately, it hasn’t been dialed up; but the cool thing about our defense is that can change. You can not be on a blitz right now, and they do an adjustment or motion, and the next thing you know, I’m in it. I’m not really worried about if my number is being called. I’m just being ready when it is, and just do it really.”

(Obviously you have seen everybody speculating about QB Tua Tagavailoa and when he’s going to be the guy or whatever, and obviously you try to keep everything, the main thing, inside the locker room. But what’s that talk like in the locker room? Just everybody’s speculation about who the guy is and back and forth? Do y’all talk about that?) – “Nah. That doesn’t just come up or anything like that. One thing I always tell Tua – he actually comes around and asks the defensive guys how he can get better. For me, it’s just try it. Whatever, if you think you can make that one throw, try it. It’s going to help you, it’s going to help us. Just do whatever you can to get better. In practice, that’s your time to really practice, just trying to do things that you normally wouldn’t do. He’s a smart guy. He’s a competitor. Even in his first few weeks, he was coming into the defensive rooms and asking us how to see this or how to do that. Whenever his time comes, I’m sure he’ll be ready.” 

(You mentioned the motion of the 49ers offense. That’s something they actually lead the NFL in pretty much every year under Kyle Shanahan – the most pre-snap motion. I’m curious for you as an linebacker, how do you stay away from taking the eye candy and all of the window dressing they do, and stick to your keys and not fall for all of the motion and misdirection?) – “For me, it’s understanding your defense. Depending where you’re at on the call, it might be your job to leverage the motion. The motion might not affect you at all. Just understanding what your role is and then throughout the week, you really want to go through film and make calls and adjustments, and just get used to constantly seeing it, so on Sundays it’s a lot easier. You more just anticipate motion and what they do. This week, I’ll take that approach, and every play just look forward to motion and expect it, so when it actually comes on Sunday, it will be a lot smoother.”

(I wanted to ask you about the 49ers run game, this is one of those teams where they are committed to beating your head in – not yours in particular, but the defensive front. When you are facing an opponent who want to basically destroy your will, what’s that like as a player?) – “If you’re a competitor, you take that as a challenge. You take that personally. You just want to go out there and really just compete. If you’re a competitor, you know exactly what they are going to do. They do it every week. That’s what they say, so Sunday, you’ve got to take that personally. Are you basically going to let them do it or are you not? Sunday, that’s what you’re going to find out.”  

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