Josh Boyer – November 3, 2022
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Thursday, November 3, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(You had an early Christmas present the other day. What’s your reaction to the new addition of LB Bradley Chubb?) – “Obviously, we’re excited. Any time that you can add a quality player to your roster, obviously, you’re very excited to get that. Then he got here, I know it was a quick turnaround for him, but we’ve been fast at work, getting him caught up with really the terminology and things that we’re going to ask him to do. We’re very excited to get him out there on the field.”
(When you picture him, perhaps, on one side and LB Jaelan Phillips on the other, what are some of the things that go through your mind in terms of the potential for those two guys?) – “I think both of them have shown that they can do multiple things. They both can set edges, they both can rush the passer, they both can drop from time to time. I would say that they’re productive, they’re physical. Obviously, we have a multitude of players that we feel like we can use and put in those spots as well. And the more you have, the better we feel we’ll be. We’re really excited about the addition and getting him caught up to speed. Like everything, you’re trying to get better from week to week, and we feel like he definitely can help us do that.”
(I hope this question makes sense. Is LB Bradley Chubb a specific good fit for this defense? Or is he so good, you just take his talent?) – “That’s a good question. He’s a good fit for our defense, so I don’t really look at the other question. I know he fits what we’ll ask him to do. I think we’ll be able to highlight his skillset, and I think he’ll help our defense. So I think it’s a good marriage.”
(Can you take us through the decision to play S Verone McKinley III at free safety and now S Jevon Holland playing a lot in the box? Is that matchup based? Or do you think that’s something you want to continue doing?) – “Well, I would say, to us each week is based on what’s available to us, what the offense is doing to us and then what we think is going to be the best going into that week. So I think the key point in all of it is to progress players as we’re going along, get other players a little bit more multiple as we’re going along, and then each week, you just choose what you feel is the best way for you to win that week. So I wouldn’t say anything is set in stone like, ‘This guy is going to be this this week, this guy is going to be that this week.’ Usually, if you line up the same way or you – you’re always tweaking things as you go, you really are. I think the key thing is to understand what we’re asking guys to do and for them to get better at things that maybe we’re asking them to do that’s new, if that makes sense.”
(Back to the LB Bradley Chubb acquisition, one of the talking points you see is how important is it get pressure with four-man rushes in today’s NFL. I’m just curious your take on that and kind of how he adds to your ability to get pressure with just four rushers?) – “Obviously, if you’re rushing with four and you’re getting pressure with four, you have more guys in coverage. Again, I’m not real good with math, but I do know the more guys you put in coverage, usually, you have an opportunity to do things a little bit more multiple than you do the more guys that you send. Again, I think it’s dependent on how you feel about your matchups week to week and what you feel like the offense is doing to you on how you use guys and where you put them. I think that’s kind of – is it advantageous? Again, you can get a sack on a three-man rush, or you could rush eight and have really good coverage in the back end. It goes hand-in-hand, but I would say it opens up a lot more avenues to you from a coverage perspective when you can rush with four.”
(What would you say the one single biggest factor in the defense pitching a shutout the past two weeks?) – “In the second half?”
(Yeah, in the second half. Sorry – details, details.) – “(laughter) The first half, we committed way too many penalties, which continued in the second half, which, obviously, we got to get cleaned up. Then there are penalties that really have nothing to do with talent or effort, so we definitely need to get that cleaned up. We had some opportunities for plays – they kind of went against us, I would say. This week was a little bit different than the previous week at half. There was, I would say, substantial adjustments this week than there was the week before. But it’s really a credit to our players and our coaching staff because halftime is 12 minutes. So really you talk about it as a staff for – I was actually talking to a couple guys walking up the tunnel. You talk about it for a couple minutes, and then you go, ‘Alright, we’re going to do this, this and this. We’re putting this in on this. We’re going to put this and on this. Let’s make sure that we got this on this.’ And our assistant coaches didn’t miss a beat, our players didn’t miss a beat and we were able to make some adjustments that helped us out. I think we’re working very hard to start faster, especially on the road. So, again, there’s always things that you’re going, ‘OK, we’ve got to get this better. And what are we doing to get it better? How are we going to get it better?’ Then the things that you’re doing well, obviously you try to keep continuing doing those and build. I think the big thing is just the mentality of our coaching staff and our players allows us to handle whatever comes our way. Our guys are built to handle adversity. Now, obviously, we would not like to put ourselves in that situation time and time again, but they’re definitely built to handle that. That’s a credit to them, and it’s a credit to our coaching staff.”
(You’re one of the few remaining coaches from 2019 when the team and the franchise were, for lack of a better word, building for the future. I know you’re focused on the now, but can you kind of speak on a coach level and maybe the organizational level, the excitement of the team bringing in LB Bradley Chubb, months after bringing WR Tyreek Hill and making moves that kind of signal that this team really believes it can win now and is ready to win now?) – “I think as a coach, regardless of what your circumstance is, your intent and your expectation is always to win. I really believe that, like we said last week, like there’s going to be one team that’s happy at the end of the year, and there’s going to be the 31 others trying to figure out how to be that team. I think that’s why you’re in the business is to win championships. I think when you go out and you play each week, the expectation – and for our opponents, I’m sure the expectation is the same. We’re going to go out, we’re going to have a good plan, and we’re going to win. – that’s our expectation. Obviously, when you acquire players that are good players, proven players, that have done it, the beauty of it is you actually get to see firsthand. Like, I knew Tyreek Hill was a good player when I was coaching at New England. The amount of respect that I have for him now seeing how he practices, seeing how he approaches the game, seeing how he attacks things, it’s on a whole new level. There’s usually a common thread between guys that are really special in this league – it’s their effort, their attention to detail, their routine. I think you’re always trying to acquire the best that you can be in the NFL from a player standpoint. Whether it was (2019) or now, I don’t think the expectation has changed one bit.”
(Has the belief changed?) – “For me? No, not at all. Each week, we expect to win. We expect to do good things. Like I said, you’re in this business to win the last game of the season. It’s not – I think that’s what all competitors want to be and want to do. I don’t think it’s about contract, it’s not about sponsorship, it’s not about – when you’re in it in a competitive manner, you’re trying to win the game that’s in front of you, and you’re trying to do that week after week to set yourself up to be in a position to have a chance in the tournament.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa said that he had to learn to be less hard on himself because Head Coach Mike McDaniel is so positive and encouraging. I’m wondering, in your first year of working with him and having been here previously, have you had to learn that as well and maybe learn to adjust maybe some of your own coaching styles to match his encouraging sort of supportive style?) – “Well, I think to be genuine, you have to be who you are. So I don’t think from that standpoint, it changes. What it does is it gives you an opportunity to learn from somebody else, and I think those are valuable lessons from all the coaches, not just (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) included, which I’ve learned a lot from Mike since he’s been here. But I’ve had conversations with ‘Embo’ (Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree). I’ve had conversations with (Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator Darrell) Bevell, (Offensive Coordinator) Frank (Smith). Obviously, I knew (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes (Welker) from before when he was a player, but there’s a lot of guys that you have conversations with. I think it’s always a great opportunity to learn and to improve yourself, because I think, again, as individuals or human beings, you’re always striving to be better than you were the day before. When you’re presented with an opportunity from people that give you a new perspective, it’s a really an opportunity for growth. So I’ve been very fortunate in that regard and very, very happy that those conversations exist.”
If I’m not mistaken, this team has played four undrafted rookies, three on defense – DL Ben Stille, CB Kader Kohou and S Verone McKinley III. Can you take me through the process of those guys from when they come into camp, getting the coaches attention, gaining their own confidence and then for two of them to start last week is just kind of incredible. How do you gain confidence in them? And how do they? It seems like it’s a much tougher road for them.) – “Yeah, I think it comes in and it really starts with consistency in practice. I think it starts with, obviously, the execution that you see on the field. Their opportunities arise on the practice field before you can get them in the game situations. Obviously, we had some preseason games that they got opportunities. Then you definitely see how they handle themselves off the field and all their preparation that goes into it. Then really, it’s like all of us – it’s a production business and comes down to when you get opportunities, can you produce? They take coaching. They all pride themselves in trying not to make the same mistake twice, because, like all of us, they’re going to make mistakes. I mean, I make probably – I would hate to quantify how many mistakes I make a day, but it happens every day, and you just try to learn from them and get better. And they do. They try not to repeat errors. Then they have the physical ability, the right mentality and they’ve been able to be productive for us. They’ve earned everything that they’ve been given.”
(Are they, I guess, allowed to make fewer mistakes, for lack of a better term, than maybe a veteran player or a drafted player?) – “I think you know when you go in, you have a plan in place and you know or anticipate some things are going to come up. That’s just a natural thing. The big thing is, and like (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) said all year, adversity is really just an opportunity. So what they do when they’re faced with adversity or a bad play really kind of tells you a lot and how they learn from that and how they move on.”
(Which part of CB Kader Kohou’s college film has sort of shown from a physical skills strength perspective in the early portion of his career?) – “I think we’ve seen it all. I really do. I think we’ve seen that he was a physical player in college. He attacked the ball when he had opportunities. He was able to track the ball and his coverage skills, which obviously, we’re working to improve all those things, but I think you see all of those transfer to our league.”
(The Bears obviously run the ball for a bunch of yards, a couple of really strong running backs and a quarterback that involves himself in the running game a lot. How do you handle both those running backs but also a team that can insert the quarterback in the run game both designed and with a scramble yardage?) – “They make it very challenging. I mean, they have a really strong one-two punch with (David) Montgomery and (Khalil) Herbert – two different types of runners, but they’re both very productive. They both get opportunities. They are a team that is committed to the run. They have a quarterback that’s very dynamic when he is running. He’s very fast, very strong. He’s physical. He’s elusive in the open field. So there’s a lot of assignment football, if you will, that has to be detailed with every call that we have, with every play that we could possibly face. So it’s a massive undertaking, but we’re really excited for the challenge. We have nothing but the utmost respect for their running game. We know they’re going to be committed to it. They’ve got two really good backs, and they use the quarterback in it as well. They’ll also – they’re using their receivers on jet sweeps, or reverses, whatever you want to call them. So it’s a very dynamic running game that I would say that’s very diverse.”
(How many minutes before you got over the Detroit Lions win?) – “(laughter) That anger process started a little early for me, that was probably somewhere in the first or second quarter. But no – I mean, I would say it’s the same thing. You just move on. Obviously, there are some things that you look back on and reflect that you’re like, ‘OK, we could have done this better. We need to get this better.’ Like the penalties, that stuck out in your head right away. I think there were some things that we did improve and some things that we changed going along the way. So you obviously feel good about that and building on that, but it quickly turned to, ‘We need to get a win this week,’ which I don’t – you can go all the way back to (2006) when I started my career, maybe I didn’t know this at that time, or like the question about 2019 to now, but it’s the same process. It really is. I mean, you put that in every week with the expectation of winning. I’ve never went into a game going, ‘I don’t know about this one.’ I mean, you always put a plan in that you’re going ‘OK, we’ve got to do this. If we hit our targets and we execute, we’re going to win.’ So I think that’s kind of the expectation and that’s all the preparation that goes into it to get to that point.”
(The Bears were also active at the trade deadline. I’m curious, how do you prepare for an offense that may feature a new receiver in WR Chase Claypool? What’s the process there? Are you just watching him in his previous team and extrapolating? How do you do that?) – “Yeah, I would say you look at what the team does offensively, then you look at the skillset of the player that they acquired and you take an educated guess on how they might use him. Obviously, it was two weeks ago that we played Chase Claypool. So, we have a little bit of familiarity from call it a skillset standpoint. Obviously, the schemes are – I would say they’re vastly different. So it’s a little bit of, ‘OK, how will they use him in this?’ But I think our players are very aware of who the player is, how they might use him and how we need to defend the scheme and the player.”
