Patrick Graham – August 1, 2019
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Thursday, August 1, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(Seven days in on the job, how has your defense done?) – “I think the guys are out here working pretty hard. Guys are being pretty diligent with their work on and off the field. I think the goal is to get better every day. I can say that honestly I think, we’ll see the tape from today, but I think the guys are getting better every day. That’s all we’re asking, that’s all (Head) Coach (Brian Flores) is asking from them and if we keep on that path, we’ll be okay.”
(We obviously have guys we think have popped. Do you have a handful of guys that have really surprised you, impressed you, have played really well out there?) – “In the spring meeting the guys, I had a feeling these guys were going to come out and work pretty hard. I’m pleasantly surprised by the whole group in terms of how they’ve all come together. Guys are starting to see some leadership from some of the guys. That’s a positive we’re seeing. Guys are really getting up in front of the group, getting in their groups, doing the drills, being the first guy in the drills and stuff like that. That stuff has been positive. In terms of singling out anybody, they’re all working pretty hard right now. We go day to day, so I’ll have to watch the tape before I make any judgement today.”
(How much of a priority of yours to get – there was a logjam at safety last year. You see out here everybody is getting on the field, S T.J. McDonald, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, S Reshad Jones. How much when you’re thinking how to scheme things up do you get them all on the field?) – “It really comes back to trying to put the right personnel groupings out there to match up with what the offense is doing and try to maximize the skillset of our players. If it’s five or 10 safeties, then that’s what it is. Again, whether it’s the safety positon, linebacker or d-line, what we’re going to try to do is for that situation and particular down-and-distance, situation on the field, we’re going to try to take advantage of our guys strengths and try to capitalize on their weaknesses on offense and we’ll see how we deploy our defensive players and see who’s the best fit.”
(You didn’t get to obviously spend a lot of time with him in the spring, but S Reshad Jones has been here all camp. He’s a player that’s been not only a starter, but a Pro Bowler. A little bit of a different role that we’ve seen for him this year. How has he handled that? How have you communicated your desires to him?) – “Reshad has been a professional. He’s been in here, he’s been working hard. Different role – I can’t define it as a different role. He’s going to be around the ball. He’s still playing defense. We’re still going to ask him to do the things I’ve seen him do over his career. He’s been great in terms of working hard every day and trying to get better and working diligently in the classroom. No complaints from me.”
(I guess a different role I saw is S Reshad Jones has been running the twos and we didn’t see that before.) – “There’s no depth chart right now. Everybody is out there competing right now. Who starts the first period, the second period, it doesn’t matter. Again, we’re evaluating guys and guys are working hard.”
(How would you describe your coaching style? I see you’re pretty vocal out there. If guys do something wrong, you’re on them quick. How do you describe it?) – “I’m just transparent and honest with the guys. I’m loud because I’m fat and big, so that’s part of the reason why I’m loud. (laughter) And I had two brothers growing up, so you had to be loud. And I was a middle child, so take all the middle-child syndrome, I’m fat, I’m big, yeah I’m loud. (laughter) I’m loud but I’m just transparent with the guys. The strength through transparency in terms of letting them know about myself, so I can build a trust with them. I tell them ‘I’m going to try to get you right and try to put you in the best spot and if you’re doing it wrong, I’m going to correct you.’ That’s what I’ve learned. (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores, that’s what he asks of us, so that’s what I do.”
(Is that a good compliment for Head Coach Brian Flores, because he says how people can lean on him, but he can yell if he has to? Do you complement each other?) – “(Head) Coach (Brian) Flores, he’s always honest. I don’t know what to tell you. As a friend of his, as a coach working under him, he’s always honest with you. I follow the leader. Be honest with the players, don’t beat around the bush. The guys appreciate that. That’s stuff we’ve learned throughout our career, learned from watching him every day as we work together, so that’s what I do.”
(We’ve seen DE Jonathan Ledbetter getting a lot of work with the ones. What has be shown you since he’s gotten here?) – “I don’t know about ones or twos, it’s just whatever we put out there for the period. Ledbetter has been out there working hard like all of the guys. He’s been getting better with his hand placement. His base has improved, his ability get some knockback and shed. It looks solid right now but we still have a ways to go. (He) can do a better job of escaping some blocks. He’s doing a good job. He’s working hard, but we still have a long way to go.”
(Has DT Christian Wilkins slimmed down a little bit?) – “I wish I could tell you. I’m still bigger than him. That’s a good thing. (laughter) As long as he doesn’t get this heavy, he’ll be fine.”
(And the pads have come on with DT Christian Wilkins now, what have you seen from him?) – “I see a guy, a rookie out there working pretty hard. He definitely flashes out there, but there’s still a lot of stuff to improve upon. I’m really happy with where he is right now, but knowing that we have a long road ahead of us. I’m looking forward to his growth. I’m really looking forward to that.”
(Has the versatility that we’ve heard about with DT Christian Wilkins shown up?) – “I hope all of the guys are versatile because the more you can do, the more value you bring to the team. That’s how you get to stick around. He’s been doing a good job. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s worked hard at it and we’ll see about the production as we get going forward.”
(What will you be focusing on during the scrimmage on Saturday?) – “I’ll start with this: substitutions. Making sure my mind in terms of the situation as a first-time play caller, making sure I’m seeing the situation, deploying the right guys out there for our defense, looking for the guys to play with good pad level, good hand placement, heavy hands, active hands, playing with separation. I want to be able to see from the sideline us playing as a defense with good separation and pad level. Then after that, pursuit, hustle, finish and all of that good stuff there. Then when you watch the tape, you’re hoping to see very limited mental errors. It’s all fine and dandy in the classroom, on a piece of paper; but I’m looking for when the pressure is on them, when they’re out there competing, can we eliminate the mental errors. That’s what we’re looking forward to – guys competing. (If we do) all of that, then that leads to the fun.”
(Have you been encouraged by the pass rush?) – “I’m encouraged by a lot of things out there. Again, we’re not where we want to be right now; but as long as we keep improving every day, I’m going to feel good. I think we’re there with that right now.”
(What have you seen from your defensive tackle rotation and how close is that to being a strength on the defense?) – “The guys upfront right now, their ability to play with their hands and get some knockback has been pretty good so far. We still have a ways to go, but it’s been pretty good so far. Again, in terms of the rotation, I’ve seen guys (like Jamiyus) Pittman knocking people back, to ‘D’ (Davon Godchaux), Christian (Wilkins), everybody, (Akeem) Spence. Everybody has been knocking somebody back. Now the thing is can we get consistent? Can we get it consistent?”
(Are you planning to spend game days on the sideline or in the box?) – “We’ll see. You can ask (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores that later. (I have) no comment on that. (laughter)”
(The linebackers and defensive backs, you have a whole lot of options out there mixing and matching and we’ve seen a lot of them. How close are you to making decisions on who can play in what package and who can do what?) – “We’re trying to figure out who the best guys are for each situation, however we try to configure the defense. Right now, guys are still competing. We’re going to continue to compete all the way through, but how close? I don’t know. We’re competing. What is this Practice 7 right now? We’ve got a ways to go before we know exactly who we’re going to be. We know this though: we’re going to be a smart, tough, physical football team that’s going to be disciplined. I know that. Those are the guys that are going to be out there on the field. However that plays out, it plays out.”
(For you, discipline might be more important than talent?) – “I don’t know. That might require an essay right now. Discipline is very high up there. In order to defend – You see all this grass right here? We’ve got 11 guys to defend all that grass. You have to be pretty disciplined to defend all that grass.”
(I guess the point is they had some busts in the back end last year.) – “Last year, I wasn’t here, (so I) don’t care. I know this: when we put defense out there, there’s a whole lot of grass behind us and based on the situation, we have to figure out how those 11 guys defend it. Those 11 guys, that requires discipline, because those guys with the ball, they’re pretty skilled.”
(With the multiple looks you want to have, how do you go about substituting guys in and out now for the plays that you want to do?) – “Get the substitutions out there. You can see what the situation is presenting in terms of first down, third down, third-and-long, third-and-short and then we go from there. We put the group out there that we think is best for the situation, the matchup with what they’re doing, and we go from there.”
(How do you adjust when a team is playing hurry up?) – “We’ll see. We’ve been in practice so far, but we’ll see. We’ll adjust. We’ll do what Coach (Flores) wants us to do and we’ll try to get the job done.”
(When you guys say you want to be multiple on defense, from what we’ve seen that goes way beyond 3-4, 4-3.) – “I don’t even know what that is. People ask us, (and we) say, ‘I don’t know.’ You look out there, we can be 1-10 if you want us to be. We’ll figure out something. If it works, we’ll do it.”
(As long as there’s 11 guys on the field.) – “11 guys on the field, yes. That’s what we have to do – get 11 guys on the field, 11 guys playing smart, tough, physical football, being disciplined and we’ll figure it out.”
(How much are Head Coach Brian Flores’ fingerprints on this defense?) – “We worked together for seven years. He knows defense. There’s definitely a fingerprint there. We were all raised the same in terms of how we think about the game. Again, everything aligns with our head coach – being smart, being tough, being disciplined. Right there, that’s what he talks to you guys about. That’s what we’re trying to make our defense. Before the scheme, that’s what we’re going to do.”
(It’s your defense too, right?) – “It’s our defense.”
(Is it fair to say with very few exceptions, practically everybody on defense could wind up playing multiple positions?) – “That’s for you all to figure out. I see them as Xs. Sometimes I make the little check marks when I’m drawing. I don’t know the last time I put T or LB. I put little marks. You all can figure that one out. (laughter)”
(It is like when LeBron James was here, they talked about positionless basketball with the Heat.) – “I was a Bulls fans. (laughter) I hear what you’re saying though. If we just would have won Game 2. (laughter) I’m going back to D-Rose (Derrick Rose) days, sorry. (laughter)”
(You like the idea of not having positions?) – “I like the idea of 11 guys understanding the situation, understanding that we have to defend the grass behind us and we’ll deploy them how we think is right and we’ll go from there.”
