Josh Boyer – November 24, 2020
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Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I have a play-calling question. With the amoeba, Cover 0 and the like, is there an acceptance that you’re probably going to give up some yards in the ground game and that’s just the cost of doing that kind of business and part of your balancing act as a play caller?) – “I would say to answer that question, I think I could definitely do a better job of putting our players in a better position to make plays. Obviously situationally, there’s good times to call things and there’s times that it’s not so good, and it could put you at a disadvantage. Again, that starts with me. I’ve got to put those guys in a better position to make plays. There’s numerous ways that when we’re moving around, people have tried to attack us. Some things have been more successful than others. There’s ways for us to combat that. There’s ways for us to change things, but ultimately it comes down to just putting the players in a good position based on situation.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Andrew Van Ginkel who has either scored a touchdown, blocked a punt or forced a fumble in five of the last six games. I know that you and Head Coach Brian Flores talk about getting consistency out of the non-splash plays, but I am curious, is there a trait in guys that makes it to where they are consistent to make those big plays that change games like he has lately?) – “I think with Andrew (Van Ginkel) in particular, I think one thing that shows up with him is his work ethic. I think his effort on the field to finish plays. One, he’s putting himself in good position and two, he’s finishing plays; and I think that’s a carryover from the time he puts in in the classroom, the time he puts in at practice and how hard he practices, and I think he’s seeing some results with that.
(Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio was talking about their sweeps. And he said that the reason they looked like Green Bay Packers sweeps a little bit is because the Dolphins run fronts that are from the 1960s. So I’m wondering if that rings true and if so, what’s the genesis of that? How do you combat that also?) – “Again I think it goes back to kind of (the first) question. I think we do numerous different things. We’re very multiple with our fronts. I would say a lot of the plays that we saw, it’s not like they’re unfamiliar. We saw San Francisco ran some of the same plays. Again I think it comes down to really just making sure that on a down-in, down-out basis that we’re putting our players in a good position to succeed and then when things come up, be able to adjust and put our guys in better spots.”
(I wanted to ask you about Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile. Obviously he took on a bigger role on defense with some coaches being out the last couple weeks. How have you seen him kind of progress as a coach this season and what’s it been like working with him?) – “I have nothing but good things to say about Coach Campanile. He’s an extremely hard worker. He’s been very involved since he got here. He comes in every day – comes in early, stays late, cares about his players, cares about his craft, cares about his profession. You’re going to get the same guy day-in and day-out. He’s a tremendous human being as well, so it’s really been a joy for me one, to get to know him and two, to be around him on a daily basis.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Kyle Van Noy. Since he’s gotten here, he’s had a hand, a groin, a foot, a hip. To me he doesn’t look like the typical Kyle Van Noy that we’ve seen, particularly in this last game against the run. What’s your assessment of what we’re seeing from Kyle? How is he playing particularly against the run?) – “I think Kyle (Van Noy) has been productive for us this year and like I would say for all over our players again, I’ve got to do a better job of putting these guys in position to make plays. And I would say Kyle has had production for us. He’s made some big plays for us this year. I know he’s going to work hard. And not just in particular to Kyle – the things that our players are going to focus on whether it’s after a win or a loss, they’re going to focus on their fundamentals, their techniques and they’re all going to work hard to improve those and the guys that we put out there, we have a lot of confidence in them. Like I said, for me, we’ve got to do a better job of adjusting and putting our players in position so they can succeed.”
(I wanted to ask you about your cornerbacks. Two highly-regarded corners. One of them has been in the lead or tied for the league lead in interceptions pretty much all year and the other one hasn’t had an interception in a few years now. What do you make of that stat?) – “It’s always good when you can turn the ball over. I think as a DB what you look at is are you giving up completions? When are you giving up completions? Are they on third down? Is it in two-minute? Is it in the red area? I think when you’re a cover guy and you go through a game and you don’t give up a third-down completion, you don’t give up any in two-minute, you don’t give up any in red area, you have no mental errors in the game, you make all the tackles that you’re asked to make – I think that’s a complete game. I know sometimes the interceptions, they’ll get the headlines; but you could have one interception in a game on a tipped ball and really not play a very good game. Fortunately for us, I think both of our guys that are out there, they’ve done a good job against receivers when we’ve asked them to do that in man coverage. Sometimes we get interceptions, sometimes we don’t; but again, what you’re trying to do is limit completions. I think we’ll always take interceptions, but you could play a really good game and have no interceptions, too, as well.”
(If I could ask a two-parter on your amoeba defense. I know you talked about it a little bit earlier. Head Coach Brian Flores talked about creativity and kind of credited you with being creative and coming up with that. I wanted to ask maybe what the genesis of that was and two, the confusion. We’ve heard offenses talk about being confused on the line. Is that the main goal that you’re trying to achieve there, creating confusion?) – “Again and I think it goes back to (a previous) question. I would say that the game’s been around for a while. I don’t think anybody’s reinventing anything. So whether they think it’s a run from the 60s, a front from the 60s, it’s all been done before. And to answer your question, I would say that we’re always trying to put stress on the offensive line, the quarterback and if we can do that with variations and fronts and if we can do that with movement – and again, I think if you do the same thing over and over again, obviously sooner or later people are going to catch onto that. From a play caller, from a football coach, it’s all basically a reoccurring cycle. So whether it’s the power run game, whether it’s the K-Gun, whatever you want to call it, whatever any defense or offense is – bear front – it’s all been done before. I think ultimately what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to put your players, with what you have available to you, in position to make plays and you’re trying to attack your opponent based off things that they do, and that’s a week-to-week approach. Then like things that come up in the game, we just have to be ready to adjust because you have to prepare for the unseen, too, as well.”
