Josh Boyer – August 27, 2020
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Thursday, August 27, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I wanted to ask about DE Shaq Lawson and DE Emmanuel Ogbah. There’s been a lot of sacks, some tipped passes at the line – what are you seeing from those two guys to let you know that your pass rush may be in a better place this season than it was last season?) – “I think specific to Emmanuel and Shaq, both of these guys are very diligent workers. They’ve come in. They’ve done a lot of things that we’ve asked them to do. I think they’re both talented players and I think they’ve made the most of their opportunities in practice. Improvement is a constant theme for us, and that’s something that we strive for on a daily basis and I think these guys work hard at that. They’re not satisfied with one good play. They’re looking for consistent play over time, and then there are some plays that they’d like to have back. They keep working and you keep seeing productive plays from them, and hopefully – with all of our defensive ends – hopefully we’re improving.”
(I have a question for you now that we’re about halfway through padded practices. I’m just curious about the evaluation mindset. Has it started to change towards how you’re going to round out each sub-package and if it has, how do you evaluate this defense’s ability to be multiple and have all the parts for each sub-package you want to call on game day?) – “It starts with kind of an individual approach. You see what guys can do. I think there’s some things that we’ll practice. You put guys in certain situations to see how they handle it. Obviously practice is the closest thing that we have to game simulation and we work different combinations. I think over time, some of that starts to settle in; but there is also still a competition between players, and I think that brings out the best in players, which as coaches is ultimately what we’re trying to do, is to get the best version of the player on and off the field.”
(What is your vision for DE Jason Strowbridge and how has he been doing?) – “Again – you guys are going to be like, ‘man, this guy is really redundant’ – but my vision for him is to see improvement on a daily basis and to build consistency over time. And I think with not just Jason but a lot of rookies, they come in and you see some good things and then you see some things that need some work, and really what we’re trying to do is build upon the good things. The things that aren’t so good, we try to correct that, and really what we’re looking for is consistency and to string good days together. And that’s kind of our goal, is just the day at hand and to constantly improve.”
(What’s your impression of how CB Byron Jones has competed in training camp so far?) – “I think again, Byron has had some good matchups in camp. I think he’s been competitive in coverage. I think he’s working very hard to improve on some things that he can put himself in a little bit better position to make plays. And by that I mean he’s right there; some of these, we’ve got a chance to get our hands on and turn the ball over. He’s a very diligent worker – works at his craft – and again, it’s the reoccurring theme of we’re not satisfied with where we’re at and we are trying to get constant and consistent improvement.”
(Sort of following up on that, you guys obviously as a franchise made a big investment at the cornerback position in the offseason with CB Byron Jones, CB Xavien Howard and then also drafting CB Noah Igbinoghene in the first round. Just what makes that position right now in the league such an important position to make a big investment like that at?) – “I think again, it goes really back to situational football – third down, red area, two-minute. Those are, call it, ‘winning football.’ You really need to have guys that can cover and you can never have too many of them, especially the way offenses are constructed. Sometimes it’s three receivers, one tight end and a receiving back; and all of them are skilled receivers. Or it could be two tight ends, two receivers and a receiving back; and they could run the ball at you or they could spread you out and throw it, and I think as many guys that you have on your team that can cover, it puts you in a more beneficial state as a defense.”
(A little bit of a curveball question for you here. Your defense obviously has to go against your offense every day in practice and your offensive line has undergone a lot of change. I’m wondering what are you seeing in that offensive line – how it attacks your defense? What are maybe your defensive linemen telling you about how that offensive line is to go against and especially with that size that they’ve added? They’re massive.) – “I think obviously (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) and (Offensive Line Coach) Steve (Marshall) – they’re going a good job, and I think it’s the same process for them as it is for us. They’re looking for constant improvement with their players. I think the scheme and I think the personnel at times presents you some problems defensively; but it’s one of those things – it’s competition. They’re trying to get better; we’re trying to get better. Sometimes we get them; sometimes they get us. And I would say for all the players and for all the coaches, it’s try to get the best version of the player that you possibly can; so when we put them out there on Sunday, we’re putting them in a position to succeed.”
(From what you’ve seen from CB Noah Igbinoghene does it look like he’s ready to play major snaps and contribute as an NFL player right away if needed?) – “Again, I think Noah, he’s had a productive camp for us and we’re going to hope that continues, and we’re going to strive for improvement on that. I think when he gets the opportunity, hopefully he’ll make the most of it. Everything’s kind of like, you’ve got to earn your right to get out there and play; and then once you get out there and play, you’ve got to earn your right to keep more snaps. That’s kind of the way we’ve always approached things and he’s working hard towards that. Time will tell.”
(DT Christian Wilkins seems to be a centerpiece in a certain package you guys have. What makes him kind of unique and perfect for that role versus DT Raekwon Davis, who has taken a little bit more of an opportunity there when you do a four-man front?) – “I would say for both of those guys, I think there’s some multiplicity with all of our guys on the defensive line. Sometimes in practice, you work one guy at one thing and you work another at another, and then you try to balance out the reps as it goes whether it’s (Davon) Godchaux, (Christian) Wilkins, Raekwon (Davis), (Zach) Sieler, Benito (Jones) – any of those guys. We try to balance out the reps, balance out the different packages that we have as we go, and we try to at all positions kind of create some multiplicity so that we’re not just lining up in the same thing over and over again for the offense.”
(You guys brought a lot of new players in on that side of the ball and some obviously had preexisting relationships with both you and Head Coach Brian Flores. I’m curious how are the new guys on the defense kind of acclimating and does that preexisting relationship with those players kind of help accelerate the learning curve for the rest of the guys?) – “I do. I firmly believe like every year, you kind of start over. The current relationships – some things may click a little bit quicker for guys if the terminology is the same. For other guys that are coming from different programs, they may have done the same things, but maybe it’s just the terminology is different. So I think it’s a case-by-case basis, but there’s a lot of things that when you have a history with certain guys over years; there’s things that as a coach, you’re quicker to know, ‘okay, this is probably what we’re going to get on this.’ But like I said, I think (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) did a good job of putting as many competitive players on defense as they possibly could and we’ve had some competitive practices. We’ve had some competitive work in individual periods and again, we’re just going to try to improve on a daily basis.”
(We’ve heard a lot of the players talk about sort of the emphasis on turnovers and getting hands on the ball this offseason. I know every team wants that. That’s sort of a goal for a defense, but how easily do you see, I guess, that emphasis being able to translate to turnovers on Sunday?) – “I think practice execution becomes game reality; so if we’re not practicing something and it’s not a point of emphasis, you’re probably not going to get the results that you want. We spend a lot of time on trying to get the ball, and I would say historically if you look through the league, the turnover margin is probably closest-related to wins and losses as anything else there is. And to get turnovers, you’ve got to get a lot of guys to the football and they’ve got to know what they’re doing when they get there; or you’ve got to get guys ready to read the quarterback, ready to break on throws and get hands up in the passing lane. These are all things that we spend a good amount of time on and again, we’ll see if our work bears fruit here, but it’s definitely something we put a good amount of time on of trying to get our guys to the ball, trying to get our guys to get the ball.”
