Vance Joseph – December 21, 2016
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Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(You guys held RB LeSean McCoy in check last time around. You would surely welcome the same effort this time around, right?) – “Absolutely. Obviously, last time he wasn’t 100 percent. He only played half the downs. It was an overall good effort. He had about what, 47 yards rushing? But he makes a difference. It’s different with him. He’s the best ‘make-you-miss’ back in the entire league. So 47 yards for him, that’s kind of wishful thinking that it’s going to be the same. He makes a difference.”
(What is the key this week? Obviously, we ask you every week about the run defense. The stats really haven’t changed.) – “Right. Well, the key is setting the edge. It’s an outside-running team. It’s an outside-running style that ‘Shady’ (LeSean McCoy) has. Setting the edge, gap integrity, swarm tackling is going to be key. He’s going to make guys miss. We have to hustle to the ball and get a bunch of hats to the ball.”
(When you say RB LeSean McCoy is the best ‘make-you-miss’ back in the league, what is it about his running style exactly that can kind of get defenders off balance?) – “Well, he’s got great feet. Great feet; great instincts. The first guy never gets him. That’s okay. Again, you need bodies around this guy, because he’s going to make guys miss. He’s fearless. He’s a great bounce runner. He kind of sucks you in and bounces outside and takes the edge. So it’s going to be a challenge.”
(Now when you say he’s a good bounce runner, does that also go into his ability to kind of set up his blockers as well?) – “Absolutely. He’s very, very patient. He has great vision. Again, it can be an inside running play, he kind of sells it, he can feel the edge being softened and he can kind of bounce it. Even though the play is designed to go inside, he can bounce it and bring it outside. I’m not sure his coaches know where he’s going to go. That’s dangerous for us.”
(A couple things on the linebacker corps. Obviously LB Kiko Alonso has had a very good year. How has he done against the run? And also, how tough has it been to have this makeshift group keep it together with LB Jelani Jenkins hurt, LB Koa Misi out for the year and now Kiko?) – “I think Kiko’s done well against the run. Again, the rushing stats or numbers, I think they’re important in some aspects; but the last month and a half, it’s been okay. I’m fine if we play 79 snaps and they rush for 120 yards, because rushing yards doesn’t always equal to points. It equals to burning the clock, and that’s fine with me. Passing yards is where the points are scored. So I’m fine with where we are in rushing defense. I wish we were top five, but I’m happy we’re winning. That’s more important than having great rushing stats. The linebacker group, it’s been a work in progress. Losing Koa, losing Jelani for half the season basically and having ‘Spence’ (Spencer Paysinger) and ‘Nev’ (Neville) Hewitt fill in. So it’s been a work in progress, but all of those kids have been good at filling in. It’s been a good group. It’s tough when you don’t have the same guys playing every week. That makes it tough. But who cares? No one cares. We have to go play.”
(Your Pro Bowl picks, I’d like to ask you about them separately. Your reaction seeing DE Cameron Wake selected, with the long road he’s taken to get back to this point.) – “Obviously, Cam had a horrific injury last year. He missed half the season, came back and worked hard in the offseason. He had a great camp and didn’t make his first start until Week 5. He’s had a great year. He’s had 4.5 sacks called back. He’s got 10 (sacks) with 4.5 called back, so he would be the leader in the NFL for sacks. Outside of that, Cam’s been a great leader. He’s been a great example for our young kids and that’s important. (Ndamukong) Suh has had a dominant year. Sometimes being an inside guy, his stats don’t reflect that; but for us, he’s been a dominant force. For coaches voting, for players voting, watching the tape, they know what he’s meant to our defense. Again, that being said, he’s been a great teammate. He’s been a great leader in the locker room. He’s been a great person. So that’s important also.”
(Is it as simple to say that if you guys control RB LeSean McCoy, you have a chance to win. If you don’t, you don’t. Is that too simple?) – “Absolutely not. They’re averaging 168 a game in rushing, 5.5 yards a carry, so it obviously goes through ‘Shady;’ but what makes it more difficult – if it was only ‘Shady’ it would be okay – it’s the quarterback. That’s an element that you can’t account for in the NFL because you see it twice a year. So if it was only ‘Shady,’ it would be an easier task; but when you bring the element of option football with Tyrod Taylor, that makes it tough. And ’35,’ (Mike Gillislee) the backup kid, is running the ball really well also. It’s obviously ‘Shady,’ but it’s the overall offense and who’s running the football makes it tough also.”
(I’m sure it wasn’t the plan to play CB Xavien Howard 68 snaps on Saturday. How did he handle that responsibility and also how was he after the game, coming off that injury?) – “He handled it well. Going into the game, we were hoping to play him 15 snaps and obviously, Byron Maxwell went down early, and he played 68 snaps and he played very well. That’s why he was drafted as a second-round player. He’s tall and long. He’s got great movement. He’s got a great demeanor about him. He’s kind of a relaxed, too laid back of a person; but that helps sometimes being a young corner. He just kind of plays. He was over Brandon Marshall for most of the night and it didn’t affect him at all. He did his job. He played leverage, he played technique and he did a fine job. He’s fine this week. He’s ready to go if ‘Max’ can’t go. He’s ready to go every snap.”
(You mentioned CB Xavien Howard’s relaxed demeanor. He was in trail technique a couple of times and as you said, he didn’t panic. One thing he did in particular, he kind of nudged the elbow of WR Brandon Marshall. A lot of times, that isn’t called. Is that kind of something that you guys teach a little bit?) – “Not really. His college tape, he was the best I’ve seen in years with playing the deep ball by not panicking. So what I saw Saturday night, that’s what we drafted him upon. So I wasn’t surprised he did that. Obviously, Brandon was grabbing him, pulling him through. So he was in trail most of the time on those deep balls; but he never panics. That’s a trait that young corners don’t have all the time. He has it naturally. So it was fun to see that trait come out Saturday night.”
(You guys obviously asked DE Cameron Wake to sacrifice at the beginning of the season and now, you’re reaping the benefits. Who else on your defense has made sacrifices to get you guys to where you are?) – “Well, I would think, obviously Cam. It was more of trying to preserve Cam for the majority of the season. So obviously Cam wanted to start; but we thought at the time, we thought he wasn’t ready to start and play 50 snaps a game. So Cam sacrificed a lot. Most of our veteran players – Cam, (Ndamukong) Suh, Mario (Williams), Andre (Branch), Jason Jones – all of those guys have given up a lot. We’ve got a young, young, young defense. So those guys have set an example for our guys. They’ve worked hard every day, even injured and hurt. Cam’s been sore and beat up. Obviously, Suh’s been sore and beat up. But they never complain and they show up every day. Obviously Cam – speaking of Cam – he’s sacrificed a lot. He’s probably sacrificed three more sacks because he would have been starting the first four games. He’d probably have 15 sacks right now with four called back. So he’s sacrificed the most, in my opinion. But our veteran players have all been great team guys this year. It helps.”
(Every week in the NFL, you see defensive ends and guys rushing up field on third-and-long, and then back sneaks out, screen pass. But you guys did a very good job of making sure that help is covered and making sure that you guys were aware of the backs. Is that something that you saw in film last week that you monitored and studied up?) – “Absolutely. Any time it is third-and-long, you have to have a mindset of screen game or check down. Our guys, again, they’re unselfish guys. Most guys want the sack on third-and-12, third-and-13; but our guys are very aware of the check downs, very aware of the screen game. Even last week, it was still tough last week with (Bilal) Powell because he’s such a good player. He caught it in space and made guys miss and got first downs early on in the ball game. But our guys are very aware of the screen, the check down game. That’s part of being not selfish as far as pass rushers. That’s tough to find in the league.”
(You spoke of DT Ndamukong Suh being a great person, a great leader this year. His teammates have said he’s been more of a leader this year in terms of speaking more. Was that a conversation you or Head Coach Adam Gase had with him in the offseason encouraging that?) – “Yes, because he asked what more can he do to help us win. We told him being a leader, because he does things right. Sometimes guys who are doing things right, sometimes they’re kind of on their own doing it right, and that helps us win also. But having a young football team, he had to be more vocal. He had to spread his wisdom to Jordan (Phillips) and those guys more often than he has in the past. So he’s been great at that. He’s a constant professional as far as taking care of his body, as far as how he studies. His football IQ is very high. So the more he shares with those young kids, the better they’re going to be in the future.”
(Have you seen DT Ndamukong Suh [sharing his wisdom] in action with some young players? Because him and DT Jordan Phillips ran out together on their player introduction the other day. It seems like it is rubbing off.) – “Absolutely. He’s been great with Jordan. He’s been great with Nick (Williams) and the room. It’s a veteran room for the most part, but Jordan is kind of the young guy in the room that needs guidance, and he’s been great with Jordan. Jordan is going to be a great player in the future. But he needs support from Suh. He needs a guy to kind of mentor him through this process.”
(The Dolphins are 0-4 in their last four trips to Buffalo. I know that doesn’t necessarily affect this game, but are players aware of things like that? And the team on the upper half, does it give them an edge and the team on the lower half, does it get in their minds?) – “I think our team right now wouldn’t be aware of that because we kind of preach that this team has never lost to Buffalo in Buffalo. This is a new team. They’re a new team. Every team we play, it’s a new opportunity for us. I would be surprised if guys knew that. Obviously, if they read it in your guys’ column, they’ll figure it out (laughter), but I would be shocked if they knew that. And I would be shocked if they cared. At this point, we’re playing with a great belief right now as far as the entire team. I think we’re confident. We’re going to work all week and give it our best shot on Saturday, so I would be shocked if they knew that and they wouldn’t care if they did.”
(Given the fact that this is your first year as a defensive coordinator, how much personally would it mean to you to make the playoffs?) – “It would mean a lot. I think for the entire team, the process, because when you’re a new staff, it’s tough to preach your process without success. Success allows the players to believe your process. You can have a great plan – a great process – and if they never win with it, why would a player believe it? So going forward for this entire football club, I think it’s important to win and have success because we’re going to be better in the future, obviously. But it’s important for players to know the process works. So going forward next year, we’re not selling the process. ‘Guys, you know it works. So let’s get better with the process.’ Adding pieces we need and adding more knowledge and more work. So the process helps you in the future, kind of sell the dream.”
(What was going through your mind on that play last week when DT Ndamukong Suh and DE Cameron Wake went unblocked?) – “I didn’t see it. I was watching the coverage and I kind of heard it a little bit. (laughter) That’s rare you turn both guys loose. It was a down where Suh was playing defensive end, so it kind of freaked the offensive line out because we were now split with our double-A (gap) look and Suh is usually our three-technique to the offense’s right, but he was the end to their left. So I think he freaked them out and they kind of squeezed it all. And they turned Cam and Suh loose. That’s too bad for the quarterback.” (laughter)
(We haven’t talked much this year about DT Earl Mitchell. He made a play in that game the other day that caused a 7-yard loss. He wasn’t credited for the tackle but he disrupted everything. What do you remember about that play and what does that say about Mitchell?) – “Earl is a guy that’s quiet but he plays so hard with so much effort. His best play of the night, to me, was the screen play. He kind of ran (Bilal) Powell down from the back after that. So he plays with great effort, and he’s a great example for Jordan (Phillips), because Jordan also plays hard. But Earl, his effort is off the charts. He’s probably the guy on our defense that plays the hardest all the time. It’s never a lack of effort with Earl. That’s a trait that most guys don’t have because if you play 30 snaps, all you get are 30 snaps, that’s rare. But he does it. He’s always been that way and that’s Earl’s positive for our defense.”
(LB Jelani Jenkins said that he had trouble slowing down and that he and (Linebackers Coach) Matt Burke talked at halftime and he would be used only as needed. Do you have any hope of having him again this season? What’s your feeling?) – “We’re hopeful. He’s been beat up an awful lot this year. He tried to go for us last week because he knew Kiko (Alonso) was kind of in between going. So he tried to go for us. He just couldn’t do it. But you commend him for trying and rehabbing all week and having his knee drained and all of those things. He tried to go but he just couldn’t finish for us. I’m not sure (if we will have him again this season) and hopefully we’re playing longer than two weeks and he can come back and help us win.”
(With WR Sammy Watkins back in the lineup, is there anything that you kind of take a note of in Buffalo’s offense since he’s been back in the fold?) – “Well, Sammy, he’s a great player. He’s a big, fast receiver. He’s the No. 1 guy. He’s no different than a Julio Jones, one of those guys. Obviously, on third downs and on critical pass downs, we have to make sure we take care of Sammy. It’s apparent on tape. He’s on the field; he’s the primary target.”
(Are you expecting CB Byron Maxwell this week? Is it 50/50? What would say it is?) – “It’s 50/50. Yesterday was more of a jog-through. Today is more of a real practice. So we’ll see. We’re hopeful for him to practice on (Thursday) and kind of give us an idea of where he’s at tomorrow.”
(Do you guys have a practice [Thursday] or is that just a walkthrough?) – “Well it’s a practice. There’s practice on (Thursday). So we’ll see where’s he’s at on (Thursday).”
(How often would you say you guys have lined up DT Ndamukong Suh at defensive end?) – “Probably, I think the entire season probably about 20 times. And again, it’s weekly. It’s weekly because he draws so much attention and it is tough when you have Cam and Suh on the same side. It makes it easy for the offense to turn everybody and block them. As we go forward, we have to do more of that stuff to kind of give him a chance to get one-on-ones and to avoid getting our two best rushers blocked with four guys. So going forward, we’re going to do more of that.”
