LB Anthony Walker Jr. (9.14.23)
Opening Statement:
“Well, before you guys have any questions, I am a brand ambassador for the Stay in the Game! Foundation of the Cleveland Browns, aiming to support students and increasing school attendance and making it important for them to show up at school every day. Something I’m very passionate about, obviously, is education. My dad’s an educator. Actually, I had 100% attendance until I got to college. Don’t tell him that. Just the importance of showing up every day and just the skills that you learn from that, being there every day. Being attentive in school to your teachers, and then just those skills that you learn, those social skills you learn with being around your other teammates and classmates and all that stuff. Yeah, just wanted to throw that out there.”
Since he (Dawand Jones) cleared the way for you to get up here. I’m just curious your thoughts on how a rookie like that steps into a big situation NFL debut and plays as well as he does.
“Yeah, I guess just a testament to him, his hard work. Coach Bill (Callahan), one of the best in the game. And he comes from a somewhat good school, I guess, at Ohio State. But no, he’s a wonderful person to be around every day, full of energy, and he takes that same approach on the field, and he’s always ready to go. So definitely proud of him.”
I don’t know what your record was with the Colts in Pittsburgh. We know the record with the Brownies. Why is it so difficult to win there?
“Yeah. Just historic. You know for a long time, they had a top quarterback in the NFL in Big Ben (Roethlisberger), much respect to him. And then they were well coached. They do the fundamental things very well, and they don’t beat themselves. So obviously, it’s a huge challenge for us this week. Again, it’s the next game, so it’s a huge game for us. But last week, we don’t want to put too much into that one. You kind of want to flush it and go to the next week, and obviously, it’s another division opponent. You never want to take those games for granted. So, yeah, we have a huge challenge ahead of us, and I think we’re ready for it.”
You mentioned not wanting to put too much into last week. They have a game that they want to put in the rearview mirror, obviously. Probably expecting their best shot from them Monday night. But just when you watch that offense and some of the struggles that they had, just what do you take away from that film?
“Yeah, again, you don’t want to put too much into week one. First time, everybody’s back on the field playing a full game together, so you never want to, like I said, put too much emphasis on it. We know that the Pittsburgh Steelers are a hard, tough-minded group. They run the ball really well. Number eight (Kenny Pickett), very accurate thrower, especially on the run. So, we have a huge challenge to keep him in the pocket, stop their run game, and they have playmakers outside as well. So, again, we don’t want to look at our film and think too highly of ourselves and look at their film and think too lowly of them. We have to go and approach this week as its own week, and it’s them versus us this week. So that’s all it is.”
What allows Jim Schwartz to do the different things he does up front? Right against the Bengals, it was five D line. It was Myles (Garrett) moving around, it’s you blitzing. What allows him to be able to do all those different things?
“Yeah, I mean, the engine up front, they make everything go. So, when you have those guys, you can pretty much do whatever you want. You can go five D lineman, you can go four-man rush, five-man rush, six-man rush, whatever you do. And then the guys just willing to execute. Guys being selfless. I think you saw a lot of guys just clearing the space for other guys to work, and nobody was selfish about it. We were all happy to see each other make plays, and I think that’s the most important thing. You don’t have selfish guys in this room.”
Do you see confusion from the Bengals? Like, who are we going to block on this play?
“We got to play them again.”
The blitz rate was a little more than historically Jim (Schwartz) does. Was that just seeing the blood in the water, trying to put the game away?
“No, I think he has a good rhythm of calling the game. We saw were able to get a little bit of pressure with four, a little bit of pressure with five, six, so just want to keep the looks different. I don’t think it’s more blood in the water. I think it was just his feel of the game and what he felt like we needed at that time.”
The tone got set on the very first play last week with Za’Darius (Smith). Was that really the case, that play is what just really got the ball rolling for you guys and just the way that front played? I think they hit Joe (Burrow) ten times on top of the two sacks. When you’re going through a game like that, can you just feel that you guys have the pressure, so to speak? You’ve got them right where you want them?
“Yeah, I think, like you said, the first play set the tone for sure, but that’s a long game. We knew we had to keep battling, keep swinging. We got to the middle of the third quarter still, a one or two-score game. We had to keep fighting. We understood that. And a lot of resilient guys in our locker room, especially on that defensive line. Man, those guys really just flew around the whole game, made our jobs a lot easier, and then when we got guys covering the way our DBs cover, it makes the linebacker’s job a lot easier as well. So, testament to those two groups man the engine and then the tip of the spear of our DBs.”
Myles (Garrett) still wants to be a two-sport star?
“No.”
What do you think of those hoop moves, though?
“I didn’t see them. I don’t want to see them. I need him on Sunday.”
Back to your D line. You talk about being the engine. How important is it to have the versatility of the guys that you do have up front that can move inside and out and Jim (Schwartz) can put them wherever he needs to.
“Yeah, a testament to those guys. Myles (Garrett), always the dominant force that he is. Za’Darius (Smith). Ogbo (Okoronkwo). I mean just all, you can name every guy in that room that can play in multiple spots and just really effective passer and play the run really well as well. So, we have a really great group that I really appreciate. No doubt, one of the best groups I’ve ever been around.”
You’ve been here long enough now to know how much Cleveland wants to beat Pittsburgh for the fans. New locker room. Do you think they need to be educated on what this game means besides the obvious standings and all that?
“I don’t think so. I think we have a really mature group. Obviously, a lot of young guys, but a lot of mature young guys as well, and they understand it. And I think Kevin (Stefanski) hits on it more than enough about how important winning our division is. So, a little bit more when it comes to Pitt. But it’s a division game, so if you have to be fired up or (given) a history lesson on a division game, then I don’t know why you play this game. It’s like playing in a conference game, a conference title game, whatever it is in college, you don’t need extra motivation.”
How good did it feel to be back on the field last week? And then does this feel like a circle moment at all being Pittsburgh, Monday night? Because that’s obviously how you got here.
“Yeah, it’s funny. I sent a message to the linebackers yesterday, obviously very grateful to be back on the field last week. Never want to take that for granted. This week is a little bit more for me, obviously a night game, Pittsburgh Steelers, last year around the same time was when I got hurt. So yeah, it means a little bit more. I’ll leave it at that. But yeah, it’ll be fun.”
How do you manage the emotions going into a primetime game? Like you’re the only one on TV, you’re in front of the lights. How do you manage the excitement and the emotions of a game like that?
“Just play ball. I think at the end of the day, you can go out and make it more than what it is, but at the end of the day, you go out there and you play a football game that you’ve been playing all your life. That would be my message to all the guys. You’ve been playing this game; you’ve played in big games before. This is nothing different, just a bigger stage and a little bit more TV time.”
Jim (Schwartz) told us last week he’s not everybody’s cup of tea. So, what are your early impressions of Jim? Why does he work?
“Yeah, because I think he’s the same guy every day. You get some guys that they bring it one day, don’t bring it one day. They go with the ebbs and flows of the NFL, the good days, the bad days. Jim is the same every day. Good day, bad day. He actually went off on us earlier. But his message doesn’t change either. Just a consistent message. And the same guy every day is what a lot of guys just want in the locker room. And somebody that you want your coach to be, the same guy every day, is what Jim is.”
Consistency obviously is the goal as well as winning. You guys have 16 more of those defensive performances in you.
“I hope so, but yeah, it’s a daily grind. We can’t rest on last week. We got to put the work in this week and that starts today. Well, started Monday, but you can’t rest on what you did last week and for us to be better. And we really don’t even think we’ve even got to where we think we can go. So. we got like you said, 16 more, and hopefully the last of those 16, we’re trending in the direction that we really want to be.”
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