Patrick Graham – October 29, 2019
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Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(DT John Jenkins really seemed to be all over the place in the first quarter, even on the pick. He pushed C Maurkice Pouncey back into the pocket into the quarterback’s face. What have you seen from him and how has he progressed since you got him?) – “It’s funny, just meeting with those guys, having a little extra time I met with the defensive linemen and went through some stuff with those guys, along with (Defensive Line Coach Marion) Hobby, and (Linebackers Coach) Rob Leonard – we all met together and the thing that he did during the game is that he did exactly what we were asking him to do to the best of his ability. He tried to get some push in the pocket, he played with power in the running game and he’s a pleasure to be around. I know I say that about all of the guys, but the relationship we’re developing with these guys, I love coming to my job every day and working with these guys. He provides some push in the pocket and a spark in there and I thought that was positive, I thought that was real positive. We asked him to be one of the guys that contributed to try to be the most physical team out there and he helped us with that.”
(How do you think CB Eric Rowe has played since he’s been needed at safety?) – “The thing about Eric is that he’s a selfless guy that he’s going to be willing to do whatever you ask him to do. Whether it’s safety, corner, whatever it may be – covering tight ends, backs or receivers – I think he’s done a good job of competing and getting his hands on people, and that’s really helped us as a defense. Then of course the tackling. He’s a guy that’s a physical tackler, a guy that gets people down consistently. He’s constantly trying to improve, so it’s been positive.”
(On the subject of takeaways, you had the one early, and got your hands on some balls. Do you as a coach see that as progress, or how do you see it?) – “I think I said it a few weeks ago – progress, we’re progressing, we’re progressing. But you want more. There were opportunities out there and hopefully we will capitalize on those more as it goes along. There has definitely been some progress, but it’s hard for me the progress – I want to win games. That’s what it comes down to: you’ve got to win the game. Guys are improving and we’ve just got to find a way this week when we’re facing the Jets on how to finish the game as a complete group.”
(Do you think that you have guys with good hands?) – “Yeah, we have guys with good hands here. We definitely have guys with good hands. I think the old adage about defensive players don’t have hands, I don’t know if that’s the case anymore. I was an offensive player when I started in college, but I didn’t have hands. (laughter)”
(What have you seen that you liked from your young cornerbacks?) – “This is how we evaluate the cornerback position: we look for guys with toughness. That’s what we start with – whether it’s mentally or physically. Guys who can tackle. Then the willingness to get up in somebody’s face and get your hands on them. The toughness and all of that stuff, that all plays into it. I’ve seen that form those guys. The ability to come back – whether it’s a good play or bad play, and be able to compete and just keep working at it – that’s something that I – I never played that position. I understand being out there on an island like that from a coaching perspective. I’m just amazed at how those guys – one good play, bad play or whatever it is, it’s the next play. I’m always amazed by that, especially when they’re younger because it can be harder, especially in the big stages like we are here in the NFL whether it’s a Monday Night game or whether it’s a Sunday 1p.m. game. It’s a big stage. It’s NFL football.”
(What led to LB Vince Biegel playing more last night. He played well.) – “He’s been playing a lot lately. What led to it really is practice. Practice and then his diligence in the classroom in terms of our meeting room, and then just the performance on the field. He played the way we were asking him to play. He did a good job of trying to set the edge and rushing on the right side. He’s providing a spark and he’s definitely providing some energy out there and he’s doing a good job of using his body and his tools to help us as a defense.”
(It seemed like LB Jerome Baker was a lot more active last night than he’s been in recent weeks. What did you see from him?) – “He’s hungry right now. He’s hungry right now. Just by his play, he was running around, attempting to do the stuff that we’re asking him to do. I thought that play he made on that third down, that was critical. I don’t know what his speed rate was, but he got over there. Obviously we’re going to need that next week against the Jets because, you’re dealing with (Le’Veon) Bell, (Balil) Powell and all of these backs – Ty Montgomery. At some point he’s going to have to cover those guys. But I thought it was a good illustration of his toughness, his awareness to see the play and also just his natural ability and his physical traits.”
(I know that fans sometimes or even people in our business look at snap counts. Some teams when they see a guy’s snap counts go down they think maybe he’s not playing that well. With your team though, the way you and Head Coach Brian Flores run things, a player’s role can change. He might be playing well, but he can play a lot more one game or not a lot in the other. The one thing I’ve noticed with that was DE Taco Charlton. He had less snaps yesterday than he’s had in the previous two games. Was that a reflection of the type of defense that you wanted to use? Did Taco not have a great practice week, what?) – “No. Taco worked hard this week in practice. We put out the defense, or the unit – however you want to look at a particular unit – for what we think is going to be best that week. For this week it was a different configuration of the guys. It wasn’t anything bad on Taco, it was just a different configuration of the guys. When Taco got in there, he was productive. We got that from him. I think his work ethic and what he’s been doing in the classroom and also on the practice field has been good. Based on what we think is best that week, we’re going to move it around a little bit.”
