Josh Boyer – December 22, 2020
Download PDF version
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Question for you – you guys are right up there in rankings. I know you try not to pay attention to all that from a defensive standpoint, but what in your mind determines “this is a good defense.” Like what is it? Is it turnovers, is it points allowed, is it yards, is it third-down efficiency, is it red-zone efficiency? What, in your mind, is the No. 1?) – “Wins.”
(What’s the challenge this week – you’ve done it before this season – preparing for two quarterbacks and if it Raiders QB Marcus Mariota, what does he present for your defense?) – “I think going into every week, you prepare for their entire roster and sometimes you’ve got to prepare for practice squad guys that could be flexed. Obviously we’re going to do our due diligence on Derek Carr, we’re going to do it on Mariota and we’ll study (Nathan) Peterman, too, as well. Usually, backups, no matter – it’s not exclusive to the quarterback position, but there’s usually differences. So we have to make our players aware of what we feel like their strengths are, what we feel like some things that they might struggle with and then we definitely have to be aware of who’s in the game. We’ve got a very good opponent this week. They have a very good scheme. They’re very well-coached. They’re also a team that things that have given us problems over the season, they’ll do those, too, as well. So we’ve got a lot of guys to prepare for and we’re working hard to do that.”
(When we spoke to LB Jerome Baker yesterday, I kind of complimented him on his performance against the run the last couple of weeks. He’s made a lot of tackles, he’s had tackles for loss, he forced a fumble, he’s had sacks. But he said something interesting and I wanted to ask you about it. He said “I’ve learned that I don’t need to make every tackle, sometimes I just have to make sure I’m a part of a solid wall.” Can you kind of educate me a little bit more on that in terms of what you want the players to do relative to assignment?) – “There’s 11 guys out there on the field and they all have to be working as a unit. If we have one guy that breaks down on every play, then a lot of times those are going to be big plays against us. It doesn’t hurt you every time, but the majority of the time it really does and I think a lot of guys – and we’ve talked about this before – the splash plays, the splash stats, sacks, interceptions, tackles for loss – sometimes if you go try to make those plays and it’s not within the structure of what we’re trying to do defensively, what happens is you open up creases and lanes for either quarterbacks to throw and step up in or for running backs to find and take off. So again, it’s really a team thing and a lot of times that you see guys make plays, there’s usually somebody else involved in it. We’ve had a number of interceptions this year where there’s been good pressure. There’s been a number of sacks this year where there’s been good coverage. And then we’ve had some really good individual plays, too. I’m not saying that, but I think it all kind of goes hand-in-hand and again, we’ve got a good group of guys that they care about each other, they play for each other and they’re all genuinely happy when somebody else has success. Eventually their time will come and because they have success, somebody else probably set that up, too. So I think that’s probably a little bit of what he was talking about.”
(I wanted to ask you about the challenges of playing on a short week with obviously a holiday in the middle on the road going cross-country. Did you start your game planning as soon as the game ended on Sunday? How did that work?) – “It’s a difficult situation, but that’s what’s presented in front of us and you’ve got to cram as much in as you possibly can to compound. We are human, too, so there’s a holiday element here that sometimes you’ve got to be able to block all that stuff out and prepare and go. We’ve worked really hard all year to put ourselves in this position to play meaningful games, so our sole focus is on the Raiders and putting our guys in the best position to succeed. Whatever the clock says or the time says, things have got to get done. So that’s where our time, effort and energy has really been.”
(I wanted to ask you about Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden. What’s it like preparing for one of his offenses and how ready will you guys be for a Spider 2 Y Banana?) – “(laughter) I’ve actually had a couple interactions with Coach Gruden. He’s a University of Dayton alum and he’s a tremendous individual. He’s a very good football coach. His playbook is massive and he does a very good job of attacking defenses, so we have a big challenge, like I said, in front of us this week and he’ll be quick to adjust. They do a lot and there will definitely be a game plan element to it, so there’s a lot for us to prepare for. But again, we’re going to put everything we have into it and try to put the guys in the best position that we possibly can and hopefully we can go out there and execute.”
(You mentioned splash plays and splash stats. CB Xavien Howard obviously is one of those guys. Could you explain to someone who hasn’t seen him play why he is successful doing what he does?) – “First of all, he’s gifted athletically. He has a really good skillset. He’s strong, he’s able to diagnose plays, he’s got a good feel, he doesn’t really panic when the ball is in the air. And I would say the thing that pleases me most about Xavien (Howard) is he’s really a selfless player. He’s done really well in the run game and he’s really made some big plays for us. He’s just a guy that you can count on consistently week-in and week-out. He has a nose for the football and he’s done a really good job for us and he continues to work hard. He comes in and puts in a good week’s work every week and he’s striving to get better, so all good things to say about him and hopefully he’ll come in here this week and work harder to get better. He’s been a productive player for us, for sure.”
(Keeping on the theme with CB Xavien Howard, I wanted to ask you first your reaction to his making the Pro Bowl – I don’t think anyone was surprised at that – but how would you feel about his candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year? There seems to be more talk about him as a strong candidate for that award as well?) – “When it comes to offseason stuff or awards and stuff like that, I think we have plenty of players that are deserving of things that work hard and that are good players. Obviously stuff like that is out of our control. I’m sure ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is a deserving candidate, but the important things for us as a group collectively are all team-oriented goals. We’re always happy for individuals and when they achieve success and like I said, I think we’ve got more guys that are deserving of things. ‘X’ has done a good job. Like I said, he’s played consistently week-in and week-out for us, made big plays for us. He’s been productive and really like a lot of things that don’t get seen, I would say he’s really a complete player. He can play in the run game. There’s a lot of things that when the ball doesn’t go his way that he does well. So as far as the stats and all that stuff, those things are great. They’re nice. But at the end of the day, our sole focus is on the Raiders and winning and everything that we can do – all our time, effort and energy is going to be put into that.”
