Josh Boyer – January 4, 2022
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Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(You all have done so much right and well defensively this year. What sort of gnaws at you as far as things that you wish you all, collectively, had done better as a group through 17 weeks?) – “Obviously the end game is wins. That’s the ultimate goal each week – to play complementary football and do our part of that and win as a team. So obviously when you fall short of that, that stings. Those are the things – that’s the big picture goal for us is to each week win, obviously. Then you move onto the next week and you try to improve on the things that you’re doing well. And on the things that you’re not doing well, you try to get corrected. That’s kind of the way we approach it.”
(There’s no question the run defense has been better this year than last year, and was very effective during the seven-game winning streak. But you did give up a lot of rushing yards obviously Sunday. A lot of that was because Tennessee was leading throughout. You gave up a lot in the Buffalo finale last year. Do you emerge thinking your run defense is good enough?) – “Well again, you don’t really look at things – at this time of year, our focus right now and it has been for the last six or seven hours this morning has been on the New England Patriots. We went through the Tennessee film on Monday and Sunday night. We looked at some things that we could do a little bit better or a little bit differently. We looked at some of the things that we were doing well. Tip your hat to them. They had a good scheme. They’re coached well. They played well. Again, our focus is on correcting the things that we can correct, move on and get ready for New England, who is another tough opponent. We know they’re going to run the ball and we’re excited for the challenge this week.”
(That run defense had been so good for so many consecutive weeks and then this is the first time in a long time where it looked the way it did. What were some of those factors that you identified when reviewing the game as to why it took that drop off?) – “Some of it could be a little bit scheme-related, where we’re trying to create negative plays. Some of it is them staying ahead of the chains and staying on track and not being able to really get them into situations where they need to throw the ball. Then some of it, like I said, is scheme issues. Then some of it is just fundamentals and techniques. Those are the things, like I said, that when you review the film, you try to correct all of those and then you get ready to play New England, who is a very good run offense. They can throw the ball. They do a lot of things. They’re very multiple. They’re very well-coached. They’ve got very good players. They’ve got a very good offensive line. Very similar to the team that we saw last week. Their receivers all block well. They all play hard. They’re a physical, tough team. They’re going to play for 60 minutes. Again, we have a big challenge in front of us this week. That’s kind of where our focus is.”
(In regards to that focus on the Patriots, you guys obviously had a chance to see QB Mac Jones in Week 1. Where have you kind of seen him grow in terms of where he was back in September to now in January?) – “I would say he has full control of the offense. He has the ability to check them in and out of plays. He makes quick decisions. He’s a quick processer. He’s very accurate with the football. He understands protections, so he knows where pressure is coming from. He knows where he needs to get the ball. He’s done a very nice job for them. Again, it will be a big challenge for us this week to try to keep him off-track. We’re looking forward to that.”
(I wanted to get your thoughts on DE Emmanuel Ogbah, the steps he took this year and the totality of what he brings with the pass rush and then when he doesn’t get there, his ability to bat the ball down at the line of scrimmage as well.) – “The first thought that comes to my mind when you talk about Ogbah is he’s a selfless player. He puts the team first. He’s a hard worker. He’s a tough guy. I’m obviously glad we have him. He competes. Like all of us, he’ll come in and put in a good day’s work, try to put his best foot forward and he’s been productive for us this year.”
(How instrumental has the play of your top two cornerbacks been in a lot of the things you tried to do the second half of the year, where we saw the drastic improvement in a lot of categories?) – “Again, we have good plays. And when they play well, it opens up the ability to do multiple things. Obviously those guys, not only in the pass game or coverage – you see them in the run game and they show up, you see them in zone coverage and they show up. It’s like all of our guys. We ask them to do the same thing from all the way back in August to tomorrow or today, which is to improve, get better each day, become the best version of yourself. Big picture, totality type things, that’s just not really where the mindset is. It’s the same mindset of getting better each day, trying to improve, be the best version of yourself and then collectively as a group, go out there and put a good product on the field on Sunday to win the game.”
(I know your focus is entirely on New England, but I figured I’d give it one last try on one thing in particular. In terms of keeping in perspective what happened to your defensive group Sunday, giving up 198 rushing yards, it followed seven really good games. Do you look at that game – if you’re willing to engage in this – do you look at that game and say our defensive front is not physical enough against power teams? Or do you look at that game and say we shouldn’t form that conclusion because we put good things on tape for seven weeks?) – “That’s a good question. I would say it goes back to there’s a process. You look at what you’ve done and how you’re doing it, and against multiple different things and multiple different teams, and you kind of make an assessment of, ‘Ok, we’re doing this well. Let’s build off of this. This we’re not doing well. Let’s kind of shy away from this. Where can we put guys in better spots on this?’ One thing, our guys play hard. They’ll fight to the end. They’re always going to play competitive. At the end of the day, we’re human too. So when you lose, it’s dejecting. You put a lot into it. You put a lot of effort, work, energy, time and when those things don’t go your way, obviously you don’t enjoy it. But again, like we’ve talked many times, the reason I love football so much is because it really kind of relates or correlates to life. Sometimes you get knocked down and all of us have experienced loss or tragedy, and sometimes you have to push forward and put your foot in front of the other for others. That’s why I like football because when you sign up for that, you’re a part of something that’s greater than yourself. We’ve got a lot of good guys, a lot of mentally and physically tough guys in our locker room. We’re excited about the challenge this week, for sure.”
