Josh Boyer – December 28, 2021
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Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I want to get your assessment on this year’s Titans QB Ryan Tannehill and how the Titans offense is different from when they had Titans RB Derrick Henry back there to now – the version you’re preparing for which is them without Henry, like it’s been since about midseason here?) – “I would say when you start with Ryan Tannehill, you start with the intangibles. I think he is definitely a tough-minded quarterback. He has the arm to make all the throws and does make all the throws. He can beat you with his feet whether it’s a designed run or whether he makes a play to extend with his legs in the pass game. He makes good decisions. He makes good reads. I would say whether – I think their offensive philosophy is they’re going to run the ball, they’re going to use play-action, they’re going to get into manageable third downs and they’re going to try to wear you down and they’re going to play for 60 minutes because they’re a tough, physical team. They’re tough-minded and I think Ryan Tannehill embodies all that.”
(You mentioned tough and physical so you still see those traits definitely even since they’ve been without Derrick Henry?) – “Absolutely, yeah. Derrick Henry is a good back, there’s no question about it. But I think their philosophy and what they try to do – and they have capable backs – they have a very good scheme and they have a very good offensive line and they’re going to be physical in all facets of the game and we’re excited for the challenge. Obviously this is the biggest game of the year for us. We’re excited for it and we’re going to need to be at our best for 60 minutes because we’re going to get that from Tennessee.”
(It was obviously a really big night for your entire defense and CB Nik Needham kind of started that off with the pick-six. The week before we’d seen him play pretty much every snap at safety and then he kind of goes back to nickel. He’s played outside when CB Xavien Howard and CB Byron Jones went out. How does he kind of embody everything you look for in a Dolphins defensive player? Not only on the field but off the field.?) – “I think it starts with his work ethic and his constant desire to improve, and he puts in the work to do that. He’s mentally and physically tough. He’s a put-the-team-first guy. I think he’s everything that you want in a player in your program and it’s obviously – again like I said, we don’t really celebrate individual success. We celebrate team success, but Nik is obviously a guy that all of us are happy for when he has some success out on the field. And like I said, we’ve got a big challenge in front of us this week so I know Nik has already been in here getting prepared and ready to go for this week and whatever role that may be, he’ll accept that challenge and he’ll do his best to be at this best.”
(I saw a cool stat that over the course of the winning streak, you guys have the highest sack rate when you rush four or fewer rushers. Just wanted to get your take on how you’ve been able to get pressure with only rushing three or four and how important it is to your defense?) – “Any time you can get pressure on a quarterback, obviously it opens up things for you in the pass game and I think again, a lot of times that’s not just an individual thing that can – one, it could be the coverage is good enough to allow extra time to get there or it could be just a great individual rush or it could be a team rush that’s executed well to get pressure on the quarterback. And then I think allowing yourself to do a variety of different things and present rushes whether you’re rushing three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I think all of that puts a little bit of pressure on the offense as you go and then there’s always elements to open up – based on what you’re getting from a protection standpoint – different ways that you can attack the protection that the offense is giving you.”
(When I was looking at the league statistics at the end of last night’s game or I guess early this morning, it jumped out at me that the Dolphins are now first in the NFL in sacks. I know you’ve spoken how that’s a splash play and sometimes quarterback pressures and quarterback hits can be as impactful, but I am curious what is your opinion on the sack play and how it can change the dynamics of a game?) – “I mean obviously we’re always happy when we get sacks. You could get a sack on first down that puts you behind the chains and I think when you listen to offensive coaches talk, they’re always talking about staying on track, staying in manageable situations. Any time you get a negative play or a sack, that’s going to put them a little bit off track which sometimes puts them into a different mentality. It shrinks their call sheet a little bit or you kind of have a little bit of a better idea of maybe what’s coming as opposed to everything’s available to them. And again, it’s not that we’re not happy when we get sacks. (laughter) We just know that as a defense to put pressure on the offensive line, to put pressure on the quarterback, it’s not always a sack that does that. Sometimes you can get pressure, you can get a tipped ball, you can get an interception which ends up being a pick-six kind of like what happened last night to start the game. So again, that wasn’t a sack, but there was pressure, ball gets tipped and you’re able to have a successful play. But I think it all comes down to putting pressure on the offensive line and the quarterback in those situations and then obviously if they lose yardage, we’re all going to be happy with that and then again, there’s a lot of times when we have sack opportunities that you’ll see our guys trying to attack the ball because there’s nothing more important than the football. So sacks are nice, but if we can get a strip-sack and recover it, that just made a good play a great play, if that makes sense.”
(You guys have been consistent, generally successful against the run in this stretch. To you, has DT Christian Wilkins improved against the run? Has DT Raekwon Davis improved? Who else beyond those two might come to mind as players whose improvement against the run has pleased you?) – “I’ll credit (Defensive Line Coach) Austin Clark and (Linebackers Coach) Anthony Campanile. These guys have done a good job with these guys. And really it’s a credit to the players. Their work and their understanding –it’s one thing to improve your individual run technique and two, to understand what’s going on around you and how one particular block and the way that you play that affects a guy behind you, a guy beside you. I think we’ve garnered a better understanding of that and again, I think our players’ work ethic and their love for playing for each other and their joy to see success from others has really kind of been the catalyst for our improvement on that.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Elandon Roberts as well. He seems to bring such a toughness – you have plenty of tough guys on your unit – but what do you think of when you think of Elandon and what he brings to a defense?) – “Again he’s a good communicator. He’s intelligent. He’s a physical player and he loves football. He cares. He wants everybody to be on the same page and he goes above and beyond to make sure that’s getting done. And we’re going to need that to continue and we’re going to need that to continue to improve because we need our best football coming this week.”
