Patrick Graham – December 24, 2019
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Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(Do you mind mentioning on your side of the ball two or three guys whose growth really made you happy this year?) – “It’s funny just thinking about the game last week, and moving into now getting ready for New England, just the growth from the second game of the season to preparing for the last game of the season. One of the players that stood out – and he didn’t even play last week – was Raekwon McMillan (and) his leadership. I think he’s improved as a leader. Again, I think he had those leadership qualitied before I ever met him but I think he’s improved there. I think in terms of some of the younger guys, Christian Wilkins in terms of how his play has improved over the year, and now we’re starting to see the fruits of his labor in terms of what he’s been working on in practice. That’s the thing that’s most telling for me. When you talk about somebody like Montre (Hartage) – we’re going to need his best because of who we are going against in terms of New England and all of the guys they have – in terms of how his tackling has improved. Those are the things you start to feel happy for all of those guys because they’ve worked so hard at it, and seeing how they work at it. There are other guys too. I can’t mention everybody but those are the things that stand out because as we game plan for New England, I know we’re going to need those things to happen because we’re going to have to tackle those guys, we’re going to have to cover those guys, we’re going to have to use our hands up front because they are so skilled and so physical. That’s the stuff that is going through my mind right now currently.”
(What would you say about LB Vince Biegel in the same sentence?) – “The same thing. I think Vince’s athletic ability, his work ethic – I knew him a little bit from when I was with Green Bay. I think that his improvement over the year has been good. What he’s going to be able to do this week, we’re going to need his length, because they have good guys on the edge there whether it’s the tackles or the tight ends. We’re going to need his physicality in the run game because (Sony) Michel is one of the best backs in the league. He’s seeing the field better than I’ve ever seen him do it just in terms of combined how his vision has grown and his ability to make people miss in the hole. I mean this guy has developed into a very dynamic back. I know he had a lot of success last year, but I’m just seeing improvement from a young player and how he’s improved – the vision is the thing that sticks out to me. I think he’s seeing everything. If you misfit, he’s going to find you. We’re definitely going to need Biegel and all of those guys in terms of helping us with that – setting the edge and making sure we play with patience on the edge.”
(What’s a coaching point maybe that DT Christian Wilkins has really embraced that has allowed him to – from my eyes – be more disruptive?) – “Well, I’ve told you all every week that when you all ask me about him, what I say to him every day until he gets sick of it – since I’ve met him – is your hands have to improve, and his hands have improved – getting his hands in front of his eyes. Once you’re able to do that, you’re able to control the blocker. To me, that’s what you’re looking for in terms of block destruction upfront. You have to be able to control the blocker by getting your hands on him. This week, if we try to play with our shoulders against New England, they’ll just run us out of there and we’ll be five yards down the field. We have to play with our hands, get our hands in front of our eyes, control the blockers, play with some good pad level in order to – you’ve got Shaq Mason, you’ve got all of those guys. If you don’t play with your hands in front of your eyes, you’re going to have trouble. You’re going to have trouble.”
(I want to ask you about defending Patriots WR Julian Edelman. You know he’s going to get his targets. You know he’s going to get the ball in crucial situations. Knowing all of that, what’s the challenge there?) – “The biggest challenge for me is – and it always has been since I’ve known him – is how tough this man is. He’s arguably one of the toughest players in the NFL pound for pound. However you want to look at it, I don’t care – he’s one of the toughest players in the NFL, period, point blank. It’s hard to prepare for him. He’s tough. He’s talented with his quickness, his speed, the ability to block in the run game. There is so much to prepare for. How many wide receivers do you talk about being a point-of-attack blocker in the run game? That’s what you’re dealing with. He’s a point-of-attack blocker as a wide receiver, and he’s their number one targeted guy. Yeah, it’s a challenge. That’s why I’m a little bit out of breath because I was running down here and I almost forgot about this because I was working. (laughter) We’re going to do everything in the game plan to limit him; but when you watch the tape, plenty of people double him, and he still catches the ball so it doesn’t matter. He’s a good player. You’re talking about one of the best receivers in the league over the past 10 or 11 years. I think this is his 11th year because he came in the same year as me. He’s tough, he’s talented and he’s going to keep coming at you, period. Whatever we do, we’ve got to be ready to do it for 60 minutes, or 70. Who knows?”
(I know it’s only one game and you’re not ready to anoint anyone; but do you look at what DT Zach Sieler did, and say ‘hmm, maybe we found something?’) – “The thing with him – and you saw it on the tape – is he plays with his hands in front of his eyes. I know it’s small stuff and this is coach speak, but this is how I talk. I’ll be talking like this at Christmas with my brother. It’s the same thing. (laughter) Hands in front of your eyes. I keep it simple. That’s what he does. Because he was able to get his hands on the blocker and use his length, he was able to make plays. And especially this time of year – December, when you’re months away from training camp – who is working on their fundamentals? Who is working on their pad level, hands in front of their eyes? That’s where you start to see the play in terms of guys getting better as the year progresses. It’s the guys that are able to focus on the fundamentals. That’s why we preach it so much. That’s why we focus on it every day.”
(What does DE Taco Charlton need to do?) – “Taco has been working. He’s been working hard. Taco has to just keep working hard. Keep working hard, keep working on his technique and fundamentals, just like everybody else. Just like me. That’s what I do. I mean thank God I’m not doing it on the field; but I work on my fundamentals in terms of coaching and just working hard every day. That’s what everybody has to do.”
(Why has DE Taco Charlton – I know he had the ankle injury last week but since the first time he was inactive until now, what has he done to show you guys that he deserves to play or maybe he doesn’t?) – “We base who plays and all of that stuff based on game plan. The thing is Taco is working hard. That’s what we’ve asked him to do. Then based on game plan, we make a decision on that.”
(What have you thought about this year for you as a play caller? What have you learned and what have you gathered throughout the year?) – “It’s hard for me in the moment right now. I’m really just worried about New England. I’ll tell you this – this is what I do in terms of coaching, being a father, being a husband – I just try to get better every day. I’m never satisfied. Thankfully I have people around me that challenge me to get better every day, so there is a laundry list of stuff. But right now, I’m trying to be better at preparing for New England, to take care of the run game, to see if we can help stop (Sony) Michel, to see if we can affect Tom (Brady) in the passing game, to see if we can limit Julian (Edelman) in the passing game and the other weapons they have. My whole goal is to always get better every day at everything I do. I learned that a long time ago and that’s helped me get to where I’m at now. I can’t think too far back, ahead, or whatever it is; but I try to get better every day, I can promise you that. I try. Whether it happens or not, I do try.”
(What are some things that you’ve done to try to get better?) – “I throw work at it, effort at it. I just watch more tape, talk to more people, get insight, listen. Let’s start there. I listen. I listen, and it was not always the case like that when I was younger as a coach. I can tell you that. I listen. I’ve learned that you learn a lot more by listening as opposed to waiting to talk. I used to be one of those guys. I used to wait to talk all the time. Now I listen, even if it’s uncomfortable. That’s the number one that has changed in my life – not necessarily this year, but over the last few years – is I’ve learned to listen more as opposed to wait to talk, so I’ve been able to grow and that helps me. Especially right now, going through this year and working through it. Learning how to listen.”
(Is that listening to other players, to other coaches?) – “You can learn from everybody. Listening to other coaches, listening to players. I’ve learned to listen, even listening to assistant coaches when we’re going through the game plan. If I had this job a few years ago, it wouldn’t have been this way. Being able to sit there and go through New England and talk about Julian (Edelman) and talk about Tom (Brady) and talk about all of the players they have – the offensive line – and I’m able to sit there and listen instead of waiting to talk, gathering information and make the right decision as a leader. That’s what I’ve learned.”
(Do you have a better idea of the type of players who are a fit for your scheme and what you want it to look like?) – “The beauty of it, the beauty of it is real simple – tough, smart, discipline, play with their hands, tackle and tough. That’s probably the same thing I said in April or whenever I started talking to you guys. So yeah, I have an idea.”
(That hasn’t changed at all?) – “No. If you have vision – that’s what we talk about – vision is long term, in my opinion. We have vision, so the vision is for us to accumulate players like that and then help players grow in those fields or grow in those characteristics, however you want to look at it. That’s the vision, and thankfully we have a head coach that has laid out the vision very clearly in terms of we need tough, smart football players who are disciplined and love to play the game. Then when you get into the physical traits, play with good knee bend, football position, hands in front of their eyes, tackle, toughness, contribute to the kicking game on the coverage units, stop the run when we need to stop the run. That’s what we are looking for.”
(On the last play in regulation, when the tight end boxed out four guys in the end zone. I don’t know the answer to this so you can help me learn. I know that on the last play, it’s usually chaos on a Hail Mary type play. Is there something that a player – not one player, just a player or those guys in that situation – could have done differently or better? Is one guy supposed to get in front of each player? What’s the coaching point there?) – “The coaching point, the main thing is I got to do a better job of coaching the situation and what we want to execute. That’s the main thing. That’s as simply as I can put it. There are different ways to skin a cat, how people want to play that play, but I can do a better job of coaching it. That’s what I’ll leave you with on that one.”
(I feel like they never call pass interference on that play, so maybe that’s an opportunity where a defensive back can be more aggressive in general?) – “So you do know more about the play than you’re letting on. (laughter) I can coach it better. I can coach it better. That’s my point. Sorry, I don’t know how to answer that. Well, I do know how to answer it and that’s how I’m going to answer it, sorry.”
(What did CB Tae Hayes show you in extended work on Sunday?) – “The effort, the ability to tackle. For a guy that hasn’t been here for a long time – just able to go out there and execute the game plan, which was key. It was good, it was good. Obviously we’ve got a lot more to go. We’ve got a big challenge this week, a big challenge this week based on the people, based on the scheme, based on everything. So we’re going to have to tackle, we’re going to have to be able to play our leverage in coverage and compete on special teams and hopefully we’ll give ourselves a chance for Sunday.”
(Regarding LB Calvin Munson, what did you see from him?) – “Calvin Munson, I hate to do it to you guys but he’s smart, tough, disciplined, he tackled and he competed on special teams. That’s what I saw. We’re going to need that this week because you’re dealing with one of the best special teams units in the league with the Patriots. They are disciplined, they attack your weaknesses, your strengths. They do a good job there. We’re going to need his tackling in the run game, his block destruction in the run game, his coverage. Tom (Brady) is one of the best at working guys, zone defenders, man defenders – so it’s a big challenge. Hopefully all of that stuff shows up again on Sunday.”
(You mentioned DT Christian Wilkins earlier. A lot of times, people who aren’t in the trenches, they only see the sacks and tackles for loss. How would you evaluate his rookie season and what you have seen from him?) – “I hate to do it to you, but the improvement with his hands. That’s the only thing I’ve been coaching him on. You can ask him: that’s all I talk to him about. ‘Get your hands right.’ Then that leads to being a more successful football player, especially up front. It carries over for every position: use your hands.”
(What do you think about DT Christian Wilkins running out on the field every time the team score a touchdown?) – “I like his excitement. I’m pretty stoic, I guess. I don’t know if the word is stoic. I’m just usually not in a good mood, no matter what happens. (laughter) It’s good. It’s good energy. That’s another thing – (I’ve learned to) listen and let people be who they are. That’s not me, which is fine. That’s him, and I love it. I’ve grown more comfortable with that. Probably once I got married and had kids, I realized that you can’t control everything. Relax. (laughter)”
