Noah Igbinoghene – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
CB Noah Igbinoghene
(My first reaction to you being a rookie here is QB Cam Newton, QB Russell Wilson and Josh Allen in your first couple of games. That’s got to be a challenge for a guy like you. What do you think about all of that?) – “It’s crazy when you think about it. Like I said, it’s a blessing just to be here. Those are three really good quarterbacks. I feel like we played well against all three of them. Of course we went down on two of them and we won the last one. We’ve just got to keep on that roll and we’ll be good.”
(What’s the No. 1 challenge when it comes to defending WR DK Metcalf?) – “He’s big, physical and fast. I’m pretty sure everybody knows about that. You’ve seen what he did at the Combine. I feel like it’s not really about him. We all have the physical abilities to beat him, but we have to focus on ourselves. We have to do our technique and be disciplined ourselves and focus on that. I feel like it’s not really about the Seahawks. It’s about how we play ourselves, so that’s how we’re going into this game.”
(The Dolphins have very few penalties and that’s been the case since Head Coach Brian Flores arrived. What are some of the specific ways that these coaches help guys and put you in position to understand the rules, to understand the trends, to understand what is more likely or less likely to actually get called?) – “We’ve sat in Zoom calls and face-to-face meetings and he really details and explains to us every single rule. Literally, he’s explained every single rule. He’s brought referees in to tell us about the rules and stuff. It’s been real. He comes educated about it, I would say. Real educated. I think that’s why we’re successful in that area of the game. We just have to keep doing it and keep being disciplined.”
(One more question about WR DK Metcalf. You’ve obviously matched up with some of the better receivers in the league. If Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer asked you to guard Metcalf for 65-70 snaps on Sunday, what have you learned from your past experiences and why do you think it will be better this time around?) – “I just have to be overall better myself. I feel like the Buffalo game, it just wasn’t me that day. I’ve just got to come together. If that was the case, I’d come together and I’d do what I have to do as a man to prepare like I need to and dominate like I know I can.”
(Last game was a good bounce back game. You covered well, tackled well. What happened on that one play where WR Chris Conley got behind you?) – “I really don’t know. I can’t really go into detail with it. I really don’t know, honestly.”
(You had mentioned focusing on your own technique and your own fundamentals and being discipline. Just to piggyback off the previous questions, what would you say you changed in your fundamentals and your technique from Week 2 to Week 3 to have more success on game day?) – “I’d say I took a breath. I just relaxed. I feel like that second game I was tense, just on myself. I was so tight everywhere. In this last game, I was playing relaxed and I hope you were able to see that. I was just myself. I was relaxed and focused on my game, not really focused on my opponent, and just focused on my eyes, my technique and my fundamentals and stuff like that. It was just being focused. It turned out to be a better game.”
(I’m wondering if you can describe the challenges – it’s not just WR DK Metcalf, but WR Tyler Lockett, TE Greg Olson, it seems like they have so many weapons. It almost seems like they make it look easy sometimes. How difficult is all of that when you look at their offense as a whole?) – “Like you said, they are a complete team. They have really good receivers all around, really good players. Like I said before, we have to come around as a team, as a defense. I feel like it’s not really about them. I feel like it’s really about us. If we come together as a team, if we do what we’re supposed to do, do our job and execute, we’ll be fine. I don’t feel like we’ll have to worry about that at all.”
(This is a matchup of two of the best special team units in football. You play a role on Dolphins special teams. What makes what you guys good in kick and punt coverage so good right now?) – “We practice. We do a lot of practicing and we focus at practice and do what we need to do at practice. We take care of what we need to do in this week. We prepare like we need to and I feel like that’s why we’ve been successful the last couple of weeks.”
(This is about to be your fourth game. As a first-rounder, you come with some higher expectations to play here for this team. How have you dealt with all of those things after those first couple of performances?) – “Like you said, I feel like there is a high standard for me. I put a high standard and a lot of pressure on myself, so to play to the standard I know I can and what my coaches preach on me – like I said, I put a lot of pressure on myself but I don’t really feel it from my coaches. It’s just a standard. I need to meet that every single game.”
Kyle Van Noy – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
LB Kyle Van Noy
(As we’ve seen with our own eyes and as you’ve told us, you can do everything. You’re not a one-dimensional linebacker. What do you think you do best? We’ve obviously seen you have great success as a pass rusher in particular this year. I think you have the most pressures of any linebacker.) – “I just pride myself in being a disruptive player. Whatever you want me to do, I got you, and that varies week to week. Different teams do different things and we want to attack those situations, and I feel like all 11 of us are playing together to allow those plays to happen, and hopefully we can continue to keep progressing and keep doing that.”
(You’re going to see one of the league’s most athletic quarterbacks this Sunday in QB Russell Wilson and he’s got a penchant for evading the rush as well as anybody. How does that change your target point as a pass rusher or kind of alter the way you work to get upfield, so as to not over-run him?) – “I think you have to be conscious of that; but at the same time, you’ve got to do your job and do it to the best of your ability without overthinking. You want to get pressure on him. You want to be able to do what you need to do to get back there; and I think if we do it as a team – the coverage doing their part, the rush doing their part and marrying it together – I think we’ll be all right. It’s not easy though. (laughter) It’s easier said than done.”
(If the Seahawks get to the 1-yard line what do you think they’re going to do? Run or pass?) – “(laughter) You can answer that one.”
(That’s why I asked you.) – “I’m not sure.”
(I was looking at my notes. When Patriots RB Brandon Bolden came south a couple years ago – you probably know Brandon – they asked him what he brings with him from a mindset and I wrote it down. He said “pay attention to details in order to correct small mistakes more quickly,” and he said, “turn the other cheek when it’s hard to avoid penalties that hurt the team.” The penalties element really stuck with me. What are some of the things from your previous stops that are sort of being echoed here in the area of penalties?) – “I don’t know if anything’s being echoed. It’s more so just taking on Coach Flores’ philosophy and being a fundamentally sound team that doesn’t make mistakes, and mistakes are penalties. We want to limit those as best as possible. We’ve done a pretty good job of it this year and we want to do business how business is being done. If they’re calling it tight, then we’ve got to adjust our game. If they’re calling it loose, then we can be more aggressive. So you just want to be able to do business as that’s being done.”
Bobby McCain – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
S Bobby McCain
(When you have one of the best QBs in the league getting ready to come to the crib, what type of excitement level is there in terms of going up against that challenge this Sunday?) – “Very exciting. We know he’s playing good football right now. We know we have to have a good week of practice, a great week of practice, to be able to perform well on Sunday. That’s what it takes. It’s not necessarily so much about them; it’s about us doing what we need to do and being prepared.”
(Both Head Coach Brian Flores and Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander are very complimentary of how you’re playing. Do you feel really comfortable right now at safety, and how do you feel of your play?) – “Each and every day we can get better. I can get better each and every week. That’s my goal. I’m just trying to play well and play better each week. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m comfortable, because you never want to get too comfortable. But you want to keep getting better and keep applying pressure.”
(The Seahawks come into this game with a couple of really dangerous deep threats. I’m just curious, from your perspective in that single-high safety look where you’re 20 yards off the ball so many times, how much of an importance do you put on yourself to help eliminate that deep passing game?) – “Just doing my job. Defending the deep part of the field is our job as a secondary. Just making sure we defend the deep part of the field. Don’t allow big plays, don’t allow big touchdowns. It depends on what coverage we’re playing. I can’t tell you what coverage we’ll be in or if we’ll be single high or whatever; but just defending the deep part of the field is our job as a secondary.”
(One of the things that has happened since Head Coach Brian Flores has taken over is penalties have gone down. I’m curious from your perspective, in terms of like pass interference, defensive holding, how did the coaches help you guys figure out, ‘hey I can do this but I can’t do this to this player, or this game, or this official.’ What’s going on behind the scenes that’s helping you guys?) – “Just making sure we’re disciplined at practice. Making sure at practice that we understand the rules, and you can’t get too handsy on guys, especially at the top of the route, because they will call it in this league. You have a five-yard access to put your hands on guys but you can’t hold them. Just explaining the rules to everyone each and every week. We would go over the rules, and having the refs here during training camp, having the refs here was huge. They explained to us what we could and could not do. That helped a lot.”
(I’m sure you’ve been made aware of what’s been going on with the Titans. What’s your reaction to them not playing a game this week? Their game is going to be delayed. What has Head Coach Brian Flores’ message been to you guys internally? Is this kind of a wake up call do you think?) – “We have to keep being accountable to one another, keep being accountable to yourself. You have to understand that you have to hold yourself to a high standard, especially when you’re outside of the building. When you’re inside of the building, it’s probably one of the cleanest places you can be in America. So when you’re outside of the building, making sure you are accountable and taking precautions and doing the things necessary to not come down with anything or catch COVID, or to not feel well coming in here because you never know. It’s not something you can choose or you can pick. It is something that can happen. So you have to hold yourself accountable.”
(How would you describe the progress the secondary has made after this Jacksonville game? And how eager must you be to see the secondary attack with both CB Byron Jones and CB Xavien Howard in there at the same time? I’m sure you must be itching to see that. Can you just describe your feelings on that?) – “Just getting better each and every week. We have a lot of guys that can play a lot of different spots. Just getting better each and every week, coming together because we didn’t have a preseason. These first three games were vital to us to understand that where we’re supposed to be, what we’re supposed to be doing, our roles. Really, you’re just trying to get better each and every week. You don’t want to put a stamp on it and say we made it, because we haven’t. We won one game. Now you have to keep playing well and keep stacking on top because it’s going to take a better effort this week than it did, and we’re excited to get the opportunity for them to come and play at home.”
(A lot of us I guess here in this group, we don’t play football. We don’t have the vantage view of seeing all of the players kind of in front of you when you’re on defense. What is that experience like? What’s it like when you are kind of looking at everything and watching plays unfold? Can you take us a little bit inside your helmet of what you see and what that experience is like for you?) – “Yeah, it’s just making sure that guys are lined up, making sure we’re in the right play call, making sure we know what we’re doing. That’s one of the biggest things, especially playing safety, playing free safety. You have to understand that a lot of the guys are going to look to you and some of the other captains and leaders on the defense to get us lined up. So just making sure we’re communicating, making sure the plays are going to be made; but it all starts with communication pre-snap because if you’re not lined up right, then you’re all wrong.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(The quarterback on the other team is MVP caliber, is leading the league in touchdowns and leading the league in passer rating. Does that affect your mindset at all? Does that affect what you feel you have to accomplish at all?) – “Yeah, I think it does, especially as you get into the second half of games. Every possession matters that much more. And when you have a lead, no lead is safe with a guy like this. They’ve had a really great start to the season. Obviously they’re putting up a ton of points. I think in a game like this, it does matter. In that second half, your mindset can’t be if you have a lead, okay we’re going to sit on this thing and just hope that things work out. You’ve got to keep going the whole game and every possession, you’ve got to make it count. It’s not one of those games where you’re going to be sitting there watching the clock in the fourth quarter.”
(We talked to Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey the other day and one of the funniest things he said in our conversation was that the offense realized on Thursday that it wasn’t against the rules to go out and begin the game with two straight scoring drives. What kind of confidence do you think last week gave to the rest of your offensive teammates that you’re capable of starting this thing off pretty hot?) – “I think the last few weeks, we’re just in a little bit better rhythm. That has to continue this week. You want to see it happen for the rest of the season but this week is definitely very important for us, not just to get to a fast start but to put together a full game. Last week we had a good first half, didn’t capitalize at the end of the 2-minute drill and then a slow second half. That’s something we won’t be able to get away with this week. We’ve got to put together a solid offensive game for all four quarters and that will be an emphasis for us this week.”
(I want to talk about your offensive line real quick. According to one website, you’ve been under pressure on 30 of 111 drop-backs this year, and 19 quarterbacks in the NFL have been under pressure more often. Last year, you were under pressure 230 times out of 580 drop-backs. That was the sixth-most in the NFL with 13 starts compared to 16 starts for some other guys. So my question is about the offensive line and with 80 percent turnover on the line from a year ago, from your perspective, how have they been able to jell and perform so well so quickly?) – “Well, I think Ted (Karras) gets a lot of the credit there. He’s the leader for those guys up front and has done a really nice job. I think just the talent that we brought in in the offseason, those guys have come in and meshed really well. It’s early too. They’ve got a lot of work to do and communication-wise, we have to continue to get better, whether that’s me and Ted or Ted with the rest of the guys. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s been a good start. It’s been a solid start for those guys and I’m proud of how quickly they’ve been able to come together. But as we know in this league, as soon as you show something that there may be a crack or there maybe something that guys can take advantage of, they’re going to. So they’ve got to come out and perform every week. We’ve just got to continue to get better and not be happy about the first three games.”
(Those shoulder pads look like you stole them from one of your linemen.) – “(laughter) They look like those shoulder pads – I don’t what this extra thing is – but those shoulder pads like my mom used to wear back in the 80s.”
(I wanted to ask you last week, two games in four days. You went from the Buffalo game with three touchdown drives that could have been four, and three straight drives to score in Jacksonville. Is that a hot week? Do you think you guys can sustain that coming up this week?) – “I do. I think we have a lot of confidence right now. I think the guys that I’m throwing the ball to are doing a really nice job and we’re getting better there. We’re getting a lot of different guys involved, which I think is really helpful. Myles (Gaskin) has really stepped it up these last few weeks. There’s a lot of stuff that we’re kind of jelling and figuring out who we are. I think as we do that and as we continue to spread the ball out a little bit, hopefully the success continues.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Russell Wilson and what you expect most in him. Can you believe he’s never received an MVP vote?) – “I think the biggest thing about him is he’s consistently won every single year. He finds different ways to do it. But the last few have especially been very impressive. I think when he first got there, it was all about the Legion of Boom and Beast Mode and all of that, and he’s really embraced the culture and the competitiveness and the things that their coach preaches. He’s had an incredible career so far and he just gets better every year. I think he has an amazing record as a winner in the National Football League, which is most important, and just continues to get better every year. Whether it’s understanding the game or physically somehow, he finds a way to do it. It’s been really impressive to see the start of the season for him.”
(The team is among the best in the league in fewest penalties, and that’s been the case since Head Coach Brian Flores took over the program. What are some of the things that you’ve noticed that are contributing to that – including offensive line penalties and whatnot?) – “I think part of that is focus on fundamentals and the things that we do in practice to sort of eliminate some of those bad habits. I also just think that in terms of a clean operation and avoiding a lot of those pre-snap penalties, that’s been a big thing too. Whether it’s the false starts or the delay of games on offense – the illegal formations – that kind of stuff, those are all things that you can avoid. We’ll have penalties that pop up throughout a game just like anybody will, but preaching fundamentals and then just preaching those small things, the penalties that we can avoid, and making sure that we all understand that those aren’t acceptable. Those have been two things that have really helped us out in that area.”
Brian Flores – September 30, 2020
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What’s the biggest challenge? We know about the scrambling quarterbacks but QB Russell Wilson is one of those guys where it’s not necessarily about the scramble but the buying time, extending plays. What’s the biggest challenge when you have a quarterback like that who extends plays?) – “I mean there’s a lot of challenges with a quarterback who can extend plays – the coverage, the rush. You’ve got some guys who extend plays and they’re looking to scramble. There are some guys who extend plays who are looking to throw. With Russell Wilson, it can either or. He’s very good at both. You couple that with they’ve got good receivers, they’ve got good backs, they’ve got a good o-line. Those receivers, I would say on scramble situations, they know where they want to go. Once they see him scramble, they’ve kind of lived it for a number of years. There’s some rapport that’s been built. I know we want to say it’s just Russell, but they kind of work all together in concert, trying to create big plays or create positive plays when he does extend plays. It’s not like guys just stand around. They all work together and they do a good job of that. We need a good rush. We need to try to limit those opportunities where he does extend plays; but when he does get out – which he will, he’s a good player – we’ve got to do a good job on the back end of trying to plaster receivers when they try to uncover. It definitely will be a tough test.”
(I wanted to ask you about Seattle’s vertical passing game. It seems like the bulk of their big plays have come on deep throws to WR DK Metcalf. You guys in Week 2 had some problems with some deep routes. Why do you feel like you’re in a better position now than you were then? And just your thoughts on the talent…) – “I think to your point, they’ve got a lot of vertical threats. Obviously the quarterback can get them the ball down the field. When you’re defending the run game, you’re defending the screen game, you’re defending the short passing game – the big plays, they’re definitely looking for them. Metcalf is obviously a big-play guy. Tyler Lockett is obviously a big-play guy. They’ve got multiple weapons. We have to do a good job of defending the deep part of the field also; but also defending the intermediate part of the field and the run game and the screen game. It’s a big challenge. Obviously those big plays are the ones – you need to limit those. If you don’t, they just lead to scoring drives or scores on the play. That’s something that we obviously know and understand that. We’ve got to try to limit as many of those big plays as we can.”
(Once again the team is doing well in the area of fewest penalties. I’m wondering if you could kind of dig in on that topic. I was thinking about technique, self-discipline and understanding rules and trends in the game. If you could bite on that in a little bit and explain some of the things that go into the fewest penalties.) – “Well, I think our coaches do a good job of talking through what a penalty is and how to avoid them. (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey), (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer), (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) in the kicking game, I think those guys do a good job of coaching our players from that standpoint – how to play with good fundamentals, or try to play with good fundamentals and good technique, good communication and penalty-free. We understand that penalties can only hurt us. We try to – as a team – limit those penalties when they happen. We understand it’s not like we have none. They happen. But we try to, as best we can, use the techniques, understand what’s going to get called, how it’s going to get called, and then try to play in a way that we can be competitive and give us an opportunity to play well but not commit penalties. We try to stress that; but we stress a lot of things. We tell these guys a lot – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game – whether it’s communication, whether it’s tackling, whether it’s a fundamental. I think they do a good job or we’re getting better at taking everything we tell them and trying to apply it in practice and then in the game. Our players work hard at it. Our coaches work hard at it from a penalty standpoint. Hopefully you didn’t just jinx us. (laughter)”
(Just because it’s Seattle, has the Malcolm Butler play come up any time, within your thoughts? And if the Seahawks get to the 1-yard line, are they going to run it or are they going to pass it?) – “Actually, no. I’m really focused on our team, our team this year and their team this year. There’s plenty to think about there. Offensively, defensively and in the kicking game, this is a good football team – a very good football team. They’re 3-0 for a reason. They play well in all phases. They play for 60 minutes. We’re going to need a 60-minute, well-played, high-execution game to pull out a victory against a very well coached and very talented team. No, that stuff is in the past. That’s where they are. They can’t help us now. My energy is on our team right now, this week and really today. Our meetings, our walkthrough, our practice, I’m trying to bring energy to that and prepare ourselves to put ourselves in a situation where we can hopefully play well on Sunday. They can do anything on the 1-yard line. They’ve got a lot of options. Russ(ell Wilson) can run. He can run it, they can run it with someone else – (Chris) Carson, (Carlos) Hyde – they can throw it to (Tyler) Lockett or (DK) Metcalf. They’ve got a lot of options.”
(I wanted to ask you about the secondary, not just in terms of who is going to be able to play and who is not on Sunday; but just the general idea that you haven’t been able to field what I would presume is your ideal secondary for very long this year. And going against the vertical passing game that we’ve talked about, what’s your level of concern right now?) – “We’re getting guys ready. We’re getting everyone ready. I think our guys are in today and they’ve been working to prepare against a really good opponent. They are working together, the group of guys that we have – corners, safeties, nickels. They are working together, trying to get a good grasp of what they do offensively, who their key players are and how they are getting them the ball. The guys who are out there are going to do everything they can to try to play a competitive ball game and try to limit what these guys do offensively, which they do a lot and they’ve got good players. It will be a tough challenge. I think they know and understand that. Specific to who is in and who is not, and injuries, we have the guys we have. It may not be what we had in Week 1, but it’s that way for every team. Everyone is dealing with something, and I think we are confident in the guys we’re going to play on Sunday. If we prepare the correct way and compete, we’ll give ourselves a chance; but we’ll have to play well against a very, very good team.”
(I guess what every coach is dreading this year is happening in Nashville right now. The commissioner has asked teams to look at what they are doing to limit contact, especially when traveling, and in position groups and tryouts. I’m wondering what your reaction is to the news from the Titans, and do you foresee any changes with your procedures?) – “It’s a reminder that we can’t let our guard down. We can’t get complacent. I know (Titans Head Coach) Mike (Vrabel) well. I’m sure he wasn’t, and they’re not (complacent). We know how quickly the virus can spread, I think everyone knows and understands that. We have to be vigilant in enforcing the masks and the protocols. We just have to be diligent in following the protocols. That’s the reminder that we talked about this morning as a team. When you have three, four, five, six weeks where things are going good, human nature takes over, and you let your guard down a little bit. We can’t do that. It’s just a reminder that we’ve got to continue to be diligent. I’ll do a better job at that. I think every coach around the league is probably having the exact same conversation. I think it’s probably the case in all 31 other meetings this morning. It’s unfortunate, and you don’t want to see that with any team. I know how hard the guys work and how much they put into this. You don’t want to see that from any team. It’s a situation that we all have to learn from.”
(I want to know do you study officials No. 1, and kind of come up with what they call and things of that nature? The second part is about if guys practice well, they get a role. What during the week are you looking for? Is it just on-field stuff or is it classroom stuff? What exactly is it that gives that magic recipe for a guy to be elevated and get reps like DT Zach Sieler?) – “To answer your first question, yes we study officials. I study everything or I try to, at least – whether it’s officials, whether it’s situations – anything that I think will help us win a ball game. I think our coaching staff and I, we try to study. Any way we can get an advantage, we try to take advantage of it. So yes, we study officials. I think every team does that. To your second question, I thinks it’s a combination of performance on the field in practice – whether it’s individuals to any kind of group work, 7-on-7 or 9-on-7 to the team periods. The performance in those areas of practice, if we feel like they are performing well and they have a good understanding of what we are trying to do this particular week, I think that may lend – every week is a little bit different as far as who we may be trying to attack or what we’re trying to do game plan wise. That’s offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. Some matchups are better than others. I can’t say there is one specific thing that will elevate someone. If we like a matchup or we feel like someone can handle the position that it’s going to entail them doing two, three, four or five different things versus one thing, that can elevate someone in a particular game plan. I don’t know if that totally answers your question, but I think there is a little bit more to it than one or two things that elevate a guy. There’s matchup, there’s game plan, there are a few different factors that goes into that. But yes, if you perform well in practice and we feel confident that you’re going to execute the game plan, then it’s very likely you will end up in the game.”
(Closing Statement) – “I’ve got one thing from an injury – not injury standpoint. So Tua (Tagovailoa) will be out today. He will be on the injury report with an illness. This is not COVID related. This is not a false positive. We’ve been through the protocols. We test every day. We’re confident saying it’s not COVID related. He won’t be on the COVID IR (list); but I just wanted to let you guys know so you weren’t blindsided at practice. Tua won’t be at practice today. Illness. Won’t be on the COVID IR, not COVID related.”
Anthony Campanile – September 29, 2020
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Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(I have a non-Italian food question if it’s okay.) – “I’ll let it slide. All right, yeah. (laughter)”
(LB Kamu Grugier-Hill – certainly he had a splash play last week. He’s a guy who seems to have his role increased by the week. What has he done to earn that playing time?) – “I think he’s just done a very good job in a couple of different facets. I think he’s done a really good job open-field tackling. I think that was evident the other night. I thought he did a good job in that element of the defense for us. He’s got pass rush ability, and like I said earlier last time we had talked in the summer, he’s just got a pretty diverse skillset. He has some coverage ability. Tough guy and has some pass rush ability. To be honest with you, I love coaching him and he can do a lot of things for us. We’ve been really happy with him.”
(We just Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby on talking about LB Jerome Baker’s work calling out plays and helping communicate the defense. Now that you’ve been in the meeting room with him for a few months and three regular season games now, and being around him every day, what can you say about the way he approaches the film study and the way he communicates what he sees on tape to the rest of the guys in that room?) – “’Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is a very cerebral guy. Very high football IQ. I think he sees things pretty well. I think he’s done a very good job communicating through the summer and through the beginning of the season, so in that room – honestly it’s a great room to be in because there’s a lot of dialogue and the players are always asking good questions, giving good insight. And that’s fun to watch, the guys communicate with each other. Whether that’s Kyle (Van Noy), Elandon (Roberts), ‘Bake,’ Kamu (Grugier-Hill), Calvin Munson, Sam Eguavoen; everybody kind of contributes to that conversation and ‘Bake’ is just another one of those guys who I think does a very good job of that. I think Elandon Roberts does a great job of that, too.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Andrew Van Ginkel. What is it about his skillset and his physical attributes that lend him as maybe turning into a pretty effective pass rusher?) – “He’s a worker bee. He works at it. Works at his craft every day. Always trying to do extra. Another guy who I think has a very good knowledge. He’s up in this facility as much as he can be and he has some really good length and he’s got toughness. He’s got pride. I think those things are essential for any football player, and I don’t mean them as blanket statements. I think he does possess those qualities and that’s why he’s been able to develop and made himself a better player. I think he’s playing off the guys he’s on the field with pretty well.”
(In two of the three games, LB Kyle Van Noy has played the majority of the game but not all of the game. Is that because A) you want to conserve his energy because he’s rushing the passer so much? Is it B) you have other linebackers you want to play? A combination of both or neither?) – “I think it’s always a combination you’re trying to get. We feel good about the guys we have in the room and guys are capable of doing a bunch of different things, so it’s also how the game is going each week. How much he’s pass rushing? How much he’s playing off the ball throughout the course of the game? So I think there’s a lot of factors involved in that, but he’s in tremendous shape. He’s another guy who takes a ton of pride in being in great shape, so it’s never been for ‘hey, I’m gassed.’ You know what I mean? It’s really just more so cycling guys in and that’s part of the rotation.”
(What do you see as the role of the linebackers in containing Seahawks QB Russell Wilson? What do you tell your guys as far as the most important things they need to do to make sure he’s not running all over the field?) – “I think that’s a team effort every week, whoever plays against Russell Wilson. I think he’s a great player and that’s one of his great abilities is to extend plays and make plays down the field with his arm, and keeping those situations alive with his feet. So I think he’s – we have a ton of respect for him as a football player. I think he’s done a great job of that and that’s really just kind of game plan specific in terms of what you’re going to do, what you’re planning in order to keep the guy contained, I would say.”
(You know what time it is. How are you doing today? All right, give it to me. I need your best ingredients for a cold cut sandwich. What was the best one you ever had? Where did you get it? Tell me the best ingredients that go into it.) – “Oh, that’s a tough question because my buddy used to own a great place in Jersey and then the cold cut sandwich is a little tough because you could go to Fiore’s in Hoboken and get the roast beef mozzarella with the hot peppers on a Thursday, and it would probably just change your life. You’re going to have some different feelings about the world after you have that sandwich. That’ll really make an impact on you for the rest of your life. That’s a great one. Then there’s another great place up on Arthur Avenue – one of my favorite places – that’s up my dad’s old neighborhood. So you’ve got to go a little prosciutto, mozzarella and then the roasted red peppers with some balsamic on the top. That’s phenomenal. That’s the Calabria Pork Store. That’s a great place up there.”
(That sounds amazing.) – “Yeah, it is amazing. You just ruined my day, honestly, because I wish I could go get one of those right now. But you know, whatever. (laughter) I’ll bear it. I found a couple good spots down here, though. There’s a lot of Northeast transplants, so it’s been good. I’ve been lucky. I’ve been lucky.”
(Hopefully you can Uber Eats or Door Dash something into the building.) – “No question. Forget it. I was at the Italian market on Saturday. No question.”
Marion Hobby – September 29, 2020
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Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby
(A guy as physically imposing and big as DT Raekwon Davis you would hope that at some point he’d become a dominant run stopper. Can that quality be taught to someone of that size at all? What can be done to get to that level? I know we’re talking only three games into an NFL career so there can’t be unrealistic expectations yet, but…) – “But? (laughter)”
(But can that be done?) – “I think he’s getting better each game. He’s getting better every day in practice. He is a big pretty specimen, that’s for sure. I think he’s getting better. He’s very conscientious about his game, so I think eventually he’s going to be a really good football player. But let’s not make him Reggie White just yet. (laughter)”
(From appearances, from what we saw, DE Emmanuel Ogbah and DE Shaq Lawson didn’t necessarily have great opener at New England, but have been factors in the last two games. What have you seen from them in terms of them picking up their play?) – “We talked about the very first game and we ask them to grade themselves a lot of the times before we ever grade them. You can be your worst critic. Your worst critic sometimes comes from inside-out. I don’t think they were happy with the way they played the first game of the year and I think they took some pride in it and decided they’ve got to play better. It sure helped us out.”
(I wanted to ask you about, I know LB Jerome Baker is a linebacker, but he spends plenty of time up on the line of scrimmage as a pass rusher. I just want to ask how involved you are in working on his pass rush game and what you’ve seen from him in that area.) – “I think everybody knows that (Jerome) Baker’s been a playmaker around here for a long time and when the offensive linemen see Baker on the line of scrimmage, they all know he can really run. So a lot of times he’s stretching the offensive linemen out and getting better every day with his pass rush. Sometimes he’s calling the plays for us, so he’s like a coach on the field for us in those situations. But his speed is evident in those situations as a pass rusher and a penetrator.”
(DT Zach Sieler got himself a lot of playing time against the Jaguars on Thursday night and Head Coach Brian Flores told us that he basically earned the playing time by the way he was playing. What specifically was he doing well?) – “Everybody talks about how big Raekwon (Davis). Zach (Sieler) is a pretty big man himself. I’m not short or anything, but he’s a 6-6, 315-pound guy who plays with an outstanding motor. His motor never stops running. He gives such a great effort. His technique and stuff – he’s really active in there. He did earn his playing time. He kind of jumps out at you on game day.”
(What is the downside to a defensive tackle rotation? Educate me here.) – “What’s the downside to it?”
(Yes. I mean less snaps for everybody. Maybe higher level of play from everybody?) – “I think that’s the key. We talk about it early in the year is trying to keep those big boys as fresh as possible and getting them rotated in and those guys being honest enough to say, ‘hey, I’m a little bit tired. Get another guy in here.’ So you’re just keeping fresh legs coming in the game – great energy coming in – I think is an advantage on both ends. It’s kind of the happy medium. You want to have your best ones on the field in certain situations, but then also sometimes your best one is the freshest one.”
(DT Christian Wilkins had the really big first game where he really stood out on a lot of “splash plays.” We haven’t seen those the past two games, but how would you evaluate how he did in those two games?) – “I definitely know he didn’t get all the splash plays that he had in the New England, but I think he played well in the last two. Sometimes – I think ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) said it the best: sometimes you don’t make the splash plays and you still have a good game. And it’s kind of what’s your assignment? What are we asking you to do? Sometimes the defensive tackles – they can get their hands on a lot of tackles and in some games they cannot because they’re running away from them or just the opportunities didn’t go their way. So sometimes as a coach, we have to grade them on what did they do in the system compared to the production because if not, those players, all they want is production and we’ve got to calm them down sometimes and say, ‘hey man, take it on two, being where you’re supposed to be is just as important as you knocking on batted balls or tackles for loss.’ So we’ve been pleased with the way he’s played.”
Gerald Alexander – September 29, 2020
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Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander
(I wanted to ask you in terms of S Bobby McCain’s transition to safety, how would you assess that that’s going and what do you look for from an impactful free safety?) – “I think Bobby’s (McCain) transition to safety is actually going great. One thing about that position and that responsibility that we put him in; a lot of the great things that Bobby does for us as a free safety sometimes isn’t represented on the stat sheet. So in that respect, I think Bobby has done a great job in regards to what we ask him to do and that’s communicating first and foremost – making sure that all 10 guys in front of him have the understanding of what the responsibilities are and what the adjustments are, what the call is. Being a leader and playing with a passion that he needs to play that also will generate the energy that his teammates need to play with as well. Being able to do that in the role that he’s in, I thought he’s done a great job. I think he’s done a great job so far and those opportunities to make splash plays within our defense are going to present itself where he’s going to be able to make those plays when the opportunities come.”
(I’m curious if a player like LB Jerome Baker at the linebacker spot and all the athletic ability that he has and his ability to kind of get depth on those drops into the hook zone. Does having a linebacker like that, does that change the way you do things or does it help your group in coverage at all?) – “I think it helps us in coverage with guys like ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) who has the athleticism to get the depth in zone coverage and have the speed to really break down on check downs and be able to make open-field tackles as well as be able to do some things athletically when we want to play some man-to-man and matching up on certain guys. I think that that’s a weapon for us defensively, being able to utilize his skillset.”
(There’s obviously a lot to like about S Brandon Jones in terms of intelligence, speed, tackling ability, how he prepares. If you look at numbers from a metrics side – Pro Football Focus – it indicates that he’s … a very high percentage of balls thrown in his coverage area – last year at Texas, this year so far. Where is he in his coverage skills and is that something that a player with his athletic ability can improve on substantially?) – “I think that’s a thing that he can definitely continue to improve on. I don’t really get the numbers part of the Focus Football or whatever; but just looking at the things on tape, there’s a lot of things that he can continue to do better in his development, whether it be in man coverage from a technical standpoint and being able to win with leverage or also from a zone perspective of really being able to understand the threats and having the vision to break on the quarterback. So regardless of what he did in his past as far as Texas is concerned, I think that he’s a developing player that has the tools and he has a great skillset that we’re continuing to build on a day-to-day (basis).”
(Seahawks WR DK Metcalf is averaging an absurd 25 yards a catch over 11-12 yards a target. How do you handle that A; and B, is it as simple as saying, “Hey, CB Xavien Howard go cover that guy for 70 snaps?”) – “For one, this isn’t anything that surprises me. I actually saw DK (Metcalf) at Ole Miss when I was at Cal my first year there, so him doing what he’s doing now is not a surprise to me at all. But definitely for us defensively, we have to be aware of that. Not only DK and his vertical presence out there on the field; sometimes it’s not just as easy as saying, ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) go cover him. There’s a lot of things that go beyond that because I think Tyler Lockett also needs attention as far as the coverage is concerned. They have weapons. They have guys like that. They obviously have a great guy who is engineering the offense with Russell Wilson, so we have to be smart with what we’re doing coverage-wise and I think first and foremost, for us to be effective in the pass game, we have to stop the run. We have to at least not allow the run game to get going, that also kind of generates their play-action package. And then when it is time for Russell Wilson to drop back and throw the ball, we’ve got to do a good job in coverage just kind of mixing in some of the calls.”
(I wanted to ask you, how did your players take to Head Coach Brian Flores saying as a press team and as a Cover 1 team, we have to cover better? I imagine you have a prideful group. How did they kind of take to their performances the first two weeks and then going into this week?) – “I don’t think Coach Flores saying that let us know that we need to do that better. I think that we look at our body of work and we understand the things that happen out there on the field and we evaluate it, and we try to continue to get better. Regardless of the result, if it was good or bad, we always have to get better. We have to get back in the lab. There’s so many different things that we need to do even when the situation doesn’t present itself as a ball that got completed. Something maybe happened at the line of scrimmage or happened in coverage where it may not necessarily have generated a negative play for us, but we have to continue to get better. And also, we look at that obviously as a challenge. We’re challenged to be able to play man-to-man and when that is something that is observed as something that has not been as successful as we would like, we have to just continue to get better.”
(You mentioned Seahawks TE Tyler Lockett earlier and he did jump off the tape when watching the last game, which I did. What are some of the coaching points when you face a player with Lockett’s particular skillset in the slot?) – “I think you have to have awareness of where is. A guy like that – they utilize his skillset and his vertical speed and really put him really everywhere. He can line up on the outside and do some things on the inside. He can really stretch a defense. So as a secondary, we have to be aware of where he is and if that’s coverage where we have the opportunity to get hands on him in the slot or obviously on the outside, and we have to make sure that we definitely have depth to the defense and zone coverage and even some single-high stuff. He has the ability to do some stuff not just vertically. They get him things on crossing routes and catch-and-run situations, and those are the opportunities where we are playing zones and we’re dropping off and staying back for the intermediate stuff. We have to have vision to break on the quarterback and be able to swarm him and be able to leverage him and be able to get him down on the ground and not allow those check downs to become rewards for the offense where they go for 12-15 yards when they were really designed to get tackled at five or six. So for us, we’ve just got to be aware of all those threats, whether it be Tyler Lockett who does a good job for them, DK (Metcalf), obviously the backfield – the backs. We know and accept the challenge that we have coming in on Sunday and through preparation, we hope we’re ready.”
(What did you see out of CB Noah Igbinoghene and his ability to bounce back this past week?) – “That’s no surprise. I think Noah (Igbinoghene) is a competitor. We knew that as his evaluation throughout the draft process. We know that this is a guy who again is a developing player, but he’s a competitor. You’re going to have days. There’s not a guy in the league in his career that hasn’t had a rough day at the office. So looking at it, evaluating it, figuring out what we can do to continue to get better throughout the week and accepting the challenge of a new opponent, and also looking at the things that we can do to get better throughout the week day-to-day, allowed him to have what is I guess a ‘bounce back day.’ But regardless of what the result of Jacksonville was for him individually, we’ve got to use this week to go back to work. This is a new opponent, a new challenge, a new thing that’s going to be presented to him in his rookie year. And we knew that. It’s no surprise, just for the mentality of the kid that we knew we were getting.”
(I wanted to ask you about the nickel position. We’ve seen three different guys in there three different games. Is that matchup-based? Is that practice performance-based? Is it just you trying to find the right mix? What’s going on at that position? Is it a weekly battle?) – “I think it’s a little bit of all of the above. I think we’ve kind of had a conversation of how valuable that position is and a lot of it is based on game plan. It might be based on matchup. It might be based on the matchup in the slot or whatever our defensive plan is for the given week. So of course, ideally you want a guy who’s kind of strong-arming the position and that’s your guy; but I think we have a couple of different guys with a couple of different skillsets that we can be a little bit more versatile with how we use those guys in that position based on whatever the game plan is and whatever the opponent is that we’re facing. That’s kind of the plan for the nickel position as of right now until noted otherwise.”
