Rob Leonard – October 1, 2019
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Linebackers Coach Rob Leonard
(Talk about your linebackers – specifically LB Raekwon McMillan. He’s gotten off to a good start this season. Pro Football Focus just rated him as like the best linebacker through four games with his stats. What have you seen, especially because he had to come off an injury during training camp? Is he ahead of schedule, I guess?) – “He missed some time during training camp and the offseason. He’s earned the playing time that he’s played in recent weeks. It’s really been nice to see him show up, in all honesty – playing physical, doing the things that he does well naturally. Hopefully he continues to do those things.”
(How is he handling his role in the huddle? I know last year, he was the one wearing the headset. It’s LB Jerome Baker this year.) – “Yeah, ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) has kind of been head up on wearing the headset right now. I know everybody’s always – for whatever reason – everybody’s caught up in the headset. (laughter) But yeah, he’s been great. He’s been consistent. He’s been consistent emotionally and physically when he’s been available, and not hurt and that’s led to him having more playing time.”
(How much of a help is that to have in essence, two quarterbacks in the huddle?) – “It’s extremely helpful, especially two guys that know each other from the past from college and are kind of like-minded in that sense. They’re always bouncing ideas off each other and different techniques and how they see things. That’s kind of my goal as a coach, is to train these guys that they could all be in that position – the center of the defense, be the leader if needed – and not put the pressure on one guy. Them knowing each other and that room starting to come together, that only helps with that.”
(Where is your confidence level right now with that group as a whole and that room as a whole because you’ve moved some pieces around and DE Charles Harris jumping in there a little bit and LB Sam Eguavoen…?) – “The confidence level with my group is – I don’t care what anybody thinks – is actually really high because we’re going in the right direction. The guys are starting to see where we’re headed, and that’s honestly my job as a coach. It’s to paint the picture of the facts. Regardless of what people say, this is where we’re at. These are the things that need to be fixed for us to get to where we want to go, so kind of take the emotion out of it – why are we where we’re at? What do we need to fix? They can see that, which helps them take steps in practice and preparation and doing the right things to where we need them to be.”
(Sunday seemed like a positive step in the right direction, especially against the run game. I know you guys shut down their run game.) – “That was obviously encouraging, considering how we started the season. The thing is with the run game, you can be good for 10 plays and then they split you one for 60 (yards) and all of a sudden, everybody says you can’t stop the run. It’s true. It goes back to the consistency of it, and that starts with a lot of basic things: alignment, communication and then once you get to the point of attack, making the tackle. Just harping on those things over and over. I tell those guys it’s like training like a boxer. You need to do the things you don’t want to think about game day so you can play mindlessly. (For example) block destruction – you can’t be thinking about how to play a block come game day. You just have to do it over and over and over again, so training those habits and then the consistency comes.”
(How would you rate the performance as a unit in pass coverage, especially with the tight ends? That was an issue with defenses here in past years.) – “I don’t know how things were really done in the past. If I’m being honest, I really don’t kind of look at like that, so I can’t really give you an answer in terms of how we’re covering the tight ends. If there’s an issue, it’ll be addressed but for whatever reason, it hasn’t really – We talk about that every week: who’s best for the tight end whether it be a linebacker, safety, d-end. Whatever the matchup may be.”
(Is it kind of week-to-week based on the opponent? Obviously, some teams don’t have as strong a pass-catcher tight end…) – “Of course. It’s a conversation every week. What do we look like matched up with this tight end? How do we put our guys in the best spot in to match up against that? I don’t want to say it has or hasn’t been an issue. I can’t really give you an answer because it hasn’t been talked about – at least for this game.”
(The progress that LB Sam Eguavoen has made since joining the team. He had success in the CFL. What do you like most out of what he brings to your unit?) – “His energy. His passion. His physicality. We need to get back to the fundamentals with him. He missed a few tackles here this past game. We’re working on very basic things, so he can go play fast and do the things that he has shown that he can do. Really, starting with the tackling, we’ll clean that up and we’ll be just fine. He keeps progressing in the right way – learning the defense, all those things. It’ll be just fine.”
(DE Charles Harris and his transition in those two roles – d-line to what he’s doing for you at outside linebacker – what has he shown you?) – “In all honesty, ‘Hobbs’ (Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby) still spends the most time with him. We all – as you can kind of tell – cross-train everybody. If he has a question about a drop, then maybe he’ll ask me but he spends the most time with Coach Hobby, so I’d probably refer to him if you’re asking about Charles.”
(With LB Jerome Baker, there’s no question about effort with him and the skillset is there. If you look at metric sites, he’s rated pretty low among linebackers. He said he needs to play better. What hasn’t happened yet with him? Have you been puzzled at all that it hasn’t translated to the type of impact plays that he would like to make?) – “Is that what you’re asking about – impact plays? Or metrics? I’m not sure…”
(In terms of impact on the game – sacks, interceptions, pass breakups, pressures.) – “So big plays?”
(Big plays.) – “Those will come if the consistency comes every play. If you’re around the ball, play-in and play-out, the big plays will come. With ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker), that’s all we’re looking at. I look at the basic things – footwork, eyes, hand placement – which lead, in turn, to big plays. If you didn’t get home on a blitz, ‘why didn’t we get home on a blitz? Were you late? Why are we late?’ You can’t go chasing after big plays. They happen from the detail you put into each play getting closer to the football. And that’s my job: it’s to get him closer to the football to make those big plays.”
(How has LB Jerome Baker played in your mind because you would know better than metric sites?) – “’Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is playing well. I have to – which game are we talking about? We’ve got to continue to develop the consistency with ‘Bake.’ He’s doing great as a leader. Right now, I think he’s learning how to – as a captain of the football team – to deal with the adversity we’re faced with right now. My job is to paint a picture of the facts of what we need to fix, regardless of what everybody else is saying. ‘This is what we need to get done. Okay, why isn’t it getting done?’ And cutting into the detail of that; not just saying we’re not making big (plays) or a bunch of blanket, general statements. ‘We’re not making big enough plays.’ What does that even mean? Why aren’t we getting there? Why aren’t we getting this done? That’s kind of the key.”
(What have you liked about how LB Raekwon McMillan has done?) – “I’ve liked Raekwon’s consistency both emotionally and physically. It’s not his fault, but he didn’t have the (playing) time in training camp and the spring which led – the way we play here, you’re going to earn your playing time. He’s come in, he’s been consistent and earned more playing time. He made a few plays this week. There are still definitely some things he’s got to clean up and hopefully that’ll lead to more. I’ve been encouraged with obviously the progress he made this week.”
(I think one thing that stood out with LB Raekwon McMillan is you guys are putting him in maybe a better position to do what he does well than in years past. Was that something you identified? ‘These are five or six things that he’s really good at. Let’s start there and maybe build on that.’) – “I think we are – in all honesty, I think he can do a lot of things. I think he’s shown that. I’m not sure (about) years past, in all honesty; but Raekwon has done a great job of embracing whatever role we’ve asked him to do. Regardless of what anybody thinks of the position we’ve asked him to be in, he’s excelled at it which has led to more roles. That’s kind of the objective of what we want to do. Somebody asked earlier, ‘do you want him (to be) the center of the defense?’ I want everybody to be able to play the center of the defense if needed – not just ‘Bake,’ not Sam (Eguavoen), not Raekwon. He’s been the most consistent. He’s embraced every role and that’s kind of where he’s been for us.”
(Where is LB Raekwon McMillan from a coverage standpoint right now in the development?) – “He’s doing great. Whatever we’ve asked him to do from a coverage standpoint, he’s been excellent at it. He really has.”
(Is it just the injury that set LB Raekwon McMillan back in terms of the evaluation?) – “Yeah, in terms of at least my evaluation. The guys that are here are going to play. The guys that are practicing are going to play. With him just coming Week 1 off injury, I’m not just going to stick him in there. You’re going to earn your playing time. That goes week-to-week. That’s kind of how we’ve been with that.”
(How would you assess LB Sam Eguavoen’s development so far this season and his progression?) – “Good. In my mind, that whole room is trending in the direction that I want to see at least as far as from a leadership role, from an execution standpoint. We’re definitely not where we want to be, but my job is to paint a picture of where we need to go, what we need to get done and they can see that. They’re believing in that and moving in the right direction, so I’m encouraged with where Sam (Eguaoven) is and with that whole room in all honesty.”
(LB Vince Biegel is obviously a guy that we don’t know real well, but we see him flash from time to time. What are his strengths?) – “His strengths are his motor and his physicality. You don’t have to say anything to Vince (Biegel) to get him going so I can coach that. I can tame you down. I can’t tame you up. He lights a fire to the whole defense. Now we’ve just got to get that motor pointed in the right direction and I think he can help us. I like Vince a lot.”
(Has LB Vince Biegel always been an edge player going back to Wisconsin days?) – “I believe he played opposite T.J. Watt most of his college career. I’m not sure where he’s been between now and then. I remember evaluating him coming out; but yeah, I guess primarily. Again, I’m going to push his skillset to the test like we do with everybody.”
(Do you have a good example of when you’ve had to kind of channel that a little bit with LB Vince Biegel?) – “Sure. (laughter) Scout team. Don’t kill the quarterback. (laughter)”
(I saw LB Vince Biegel at kickoff. He had an energy level that was a little bit high…) – “Oh, yeah. He’s great. Guys like that are fun to be around, and they bring a lot of energy to the room so it makes it fun to coach. There’s never a dull moment.”
