Patrick Graham – October 15, 2019
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Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(Can you tell us what led LB Vince Biegel making a start at linebacker? He’s a guy who seemed to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback. What does he do well to put pressure?) – “Vince – I’m familiar with him from last year at Green Bay for a short time when he was there. I think the thing about Vince is this guy practices extremely hard and prepares very hard. Preparation in the classroom, on his own and then it shows up in practice – that’s really what led to it. His ability to show in practice what he can do and that led to more time on the field. He’s a good football player. (He has) been a good football player since his playing days in college. Now he’s transitioning here to the NFL. I’m just happy to see him have some success.”
(Anything about LB Vince Biegel as a pass rusher stand out?) – “Oh, yeah. One, you start with – I hate saying this but he does have a relentless motor. That’s one. Two, then you go to the fact that he has some length. To me, the key is playing with extension and we could all do that a little bit better in terms of the pass rush; but playing with extension because we know these guys for the most part – unless you’re one of the different ones – they’re usually bigger than us, the tackles. If you don’t get any extension and be able to play where they can’t grab you, it’s going to be hard to rush. Usually when he’s had success it’s been because of those two things. From there, you get to the flipping the hips and all that – defeating the hands, defeating the inside punch – all that stuff comes along; but really it starts with your effort, relentless motor, going after them and then playing with some extension.”
(Statistically you guys had your best game of the year. Would you agree that last week was your best game so far?) – “Guys fought. We fought. We fought, but with a loss, I can’t – “best” and all that stuff – I’m not prepared to say that just in terms of that (the loss). We fought to the very end. It was a close game; but again, we’ve got a lot of stuff that we’ve got to do. There’s a lot of room for improvement from that game whether it’s improving the pass rush even though we had some success, improving the run game a little bit more and then keeping the points down. Two big plays there. We’ve got to keep the points down. Any time they score more points than us, I don’t know if I’ll be able to use the word “best.” That’s just me. Sorry about that.”
(You guys got off the field in the first quarter and in the fourth quarter. What was going right? Who was doing what there? Why?) – “It’s usually a combination of a few things. I’ve always taken it in terms of – okay, if we’re talking about third down, getting off the field, I thought we did a good job with the rush in terms whether they knew where it was coming (from) and again, trying to be multiple there which is going to be something critical for this week with Buffalo. I think they’ve got a good offensive line. They’ve got a very good quarterback that can make you miss. We’re going to have to have a plan for that. After that, really if you take a look at it, guys were covering. It was a young group out there and we’re going to need that effort this week because Buffalo, they have some good receivers. (John) Brown – these guys can play ball, along with the backs. I think guys were covering. They were playing the right leverage. They were competing to get through some of the picks and rubs. It led to that. Again, if you take a look at it, if you play with extension in the pass rush, relentless effort, and relentless effort in coverage, too, in terms of having to get through all that stuff – the meshes and all that stuff – I thought those guys really worked well doing that.”
(DE Charles Harris had limited playing time on Sunday. Was that game plan-oriented or was there…?) – “Anything we do in terms of guys being out on the field is game plan, what we think is best for that week, and then all of that stuff can change from week to week. Nothing is set in stone. Whatever happened last week, coming into this week – this week is a totally different deal. We’re going to do what we think is best for Buffalo and utilize the players’ skillset. Charles (Harris), Taco (Charlton), all those guys – we’re going to use all those guys to help us win the game so that’s usually what happens there.”
(Can you talk a little bit about two players – DE Taco Charlton and CB Ken Webster – what they contribute and the contributions that they made in this game?) – “I think Ken, Ken competed. He did a good job in terms of – there’s one play in particular that stuck out to me where there was something that went across the field and it wasn’t really anything that had to do with the play, so he came back and he was ready for the run game. That’s something that some veterans struggle with. I thought he hit that home, and his ‘competes’ out there were pretty good. I don’t know if that’s technically a word, but we use it in football lingo so don’t go to the dictionary on me. (laughter) His ‘competes’ or his competitive nature out there – I thought he challenged guys at the line of scrimmage. He was physical, tackled – that’s the stuff that shows up. Another tackle is in my mind. He tackled this guy; he did a great job with that. Taco – the thing that Taco provides us some awareness, versatility on the edge and a big body. He’s a smart guy that understands football, understands what they’re trying to do to him and it’s been fun to see him grow. Again, I told him I’ve been wanting to coach him since he was coming out in the draft, so I’m just happy to be around him and I’m going to coach him this week some more and see if we can get some more improvement.”
(DE Taco Charlton wound up playing almost every snap on defense. Was that pre-planned or was it the way he was playing…?) – “’Pre-planned?’ In this league and in every game, I don’t know how much you can pre-plan because you might have certain personnel or a defensive you want to go out there and all of a sudden they come out in something totally different and you’ve got to play something totally different, so I don’t know if it was pre-planned. Most of it is, ‘okay, this is the thing that we think we’re going to use to try to win the game’ – just like for this week with Buffalo. We’re going to figure out what we’ve got to do to stop (Frank) Gore from rushing, what we’ve got to do to minimize the pass game from Buffalo. I don’t know if it’s pre-planned. It’s just us just trying to do what’s best for the game.”
(You brought up Bills RB Frank Gore. How many have you faced him and what are some of the challenges you have with him?) – “Don’t do that to me now, man. (laughter) Last year, I faced him. He is an excellent back. I remember the first time I was introduced to Mr. Gore – that game didn’t go too well. (laughter) He is one of the best to ever play the game. For the younger guys, in terms of whether they were kids watching him and wondering, ‘okay, now I’ve got to go play him.’ This man’s still got it now. (laughter) He’s a good player and I got a chance to meet him a couple times, and he’s one of the smartest football players I’ve ever been around in terms of just my brief interactions with him. He knew exactly the guys I coached, exactly how they played and I said that’s pretty impressive to me. It’s going to be a challenge. He’s a tough tackle. He’s good in pass pro. He’s one of the best to ever play the game, so any time you get a chance to go against those guys – we had one last week and now we’ve got another one this week – it’s a pretty good challenge. The guys will be up for it.”
(Kind of an open-ended question – when you find out you don’t have CB Xavien Howard, what does that do to your game plan? I’m guessing obviously, you can’t do as much one-on-one on one side of the field. What does it do?) – “We have confidence in all our guys. As a coach, part of our job is scouting the opponent, getting our guys ready to play, but then also, you’ve got to go through the scenarios because it’s a physical game. It’s a contact sport. If you’re not prepared for when guys go down, then we wouldn’t be doing our job. We have a lot of confidence in the guys that went out there. They played their hearts out. We competed but again, schematically, what we were not able to do and not do – I don’t know if I’ll get into that – but we have confidence in the players we have and confidence in our coaching and trying to get them up to speed.”
(LB Raekwon McMillan led the team in tackles Sunday and continues to make plays when he’s out there. What stands out to you about him?) – “The thing about him, he’s a physical presence out there on the field. You talk about the tackles; I think about the chances he had to press tackles, not make tackles. I’m talking about pressing the line of scrimmage and getting some knock-back. That’s what we’re going to need this week. That’s what we’re going to do need this week because again, we’re going up against a physical run team. Tackles is a team sport. I’m happy for him to have the most tackles, but we’re going to need the physical presence to show up this week against Buffalo in terms of the guys they’ve got climbing to the second level and knocking those guys back. That’ll lead to the tackles, but in terms of playing with power inside, that’s probably the stuff I was most pleased with.”
(We’ve talked before about mobile quarterbacks. You’ve said quarterbacks are mobile to a step, but Bills QB Josh Allen is probably a little different. How much he runs – does that change how you guys go about this week?) – “I think in terms of how much he runs, it’s different than last year. That usually happens in this league. A guy matures, he takes a few less shots, he’s seeing his progressing, going through his progression, getting the ball thrown out there. You’re seeing him maturing as a passer in this league. In terms of his ability to run, the thing that sticks out the most is his toughness because this is a guy who’s a big guy who can move with a big arm, but he’s tough. That’s a combination where you’re like, ‘okay.’ This guy is a tough tackle. He’ll run through some tackles. We’ve got to make sure we make the plays there, and he’s not going to be scared. In terms of the adjustment, we’re going to have to account for the guy because he’s a dynamic runner and a dynamic passer; and it seems like he’s been a pretty good decision-maker this season so far, too.”
(Do you find that they run a lot of their plays in the mesh point because they’re so run-heavy?) – “In terms of – what do you mean by…?”
(As far as – because they do some of the read-option stuff with him and Bills RB Frank Gore and so much of their offense seems like a power scheme. Do you find that you can kind of defend the certain line…?) – “(Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Brian) Daboll – I know him and have worked with him. He’s going to stress you out horizontally, vertically, however you look at it. He’s going to use the entire field. If you just watch from the formations to the whatever in terms of the mesh point, the different schemes; Brian (Daboll) has been a very good coach and very good coordinator in this league. He’s going to use every one of his players. He’s going to use every inch of that field to try to cause some confusion for us. I don’t know if I can answer because there’s so much to prepare for from those guys because they do such a good job of using their weapons and utilizing different schemes to challenge us and put a lot of stress on us defensively.”
(Does it make it any easier at all that you know Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll so well?) – “You know what, people always ask that question. (laughter) No, because they know us, too. (laughter) It’s like if you were going to play against your brother. Yeah, I know him; but he also knows me, too so that might be an issue there, too. It comes down to the players and how they execute on Sunday. I know he’s up there preparing, working his hardest to get these guys ready. We’re down here working to get our guys ready to go and we’ll rock and roll on Sunday.”
(Regarding LB Jerome Baker, it seems like we haven’t seen the play-making – the sacks and things that we saw in preseason and training camp. How is he doing and why are we not seeing those numbers?) – “I think ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is still a young player. He’s a young player and he’s improving. I’ll give you that. Trust me, in terms of – if you trust my vision in terms of being a coach and seeing it, he’s improving. I think one of the things that I’ve asked him to do is just get better every day. I know it’s cliché, but he has whether it’s block destruction, whether it’s recognizing routes, whether it’s being able to come back and ask good questions. ‘Pat, okay, what if they give us this versus this call? What do you think about that?’ ‘Bake, that’s a good question.’ That’s what I’m looking for, the growth there, because the athleticism, the football player – once they start to merge and come together for a young player, that’s when you start to see the dynamic play. I know he’s working hard. He’s working hard to get better. He’s been successful on the field for us. It’s just – I can’t define the plays what you’re talking about in terms of what you’re looking for, but I know he’s getting better every day for us if that makes sense.”
