LB Anthony Walker (10.2.23)
When you look back at how you guys played defensively yesterday, what stood out as things that you want to take from the game, but also, especially in that second quarter, what areas you guys want to improve on?
“Yeah, wasn’t good enough. Obviously, we didn’t play winning football defensively. I think you get in a game like that, you start off well and then you kind of get a couple of lapses, and that’s what happens when you play against a good football team in NFL. They have playmakers as well, so we had a couple drives where we had a couple of lapses and we allowed one play to become two plays and three plays, and then they’re in the red zone and we put ourselves at a disadvantage. So like I said, there were some positive things obviously that we can take into the next game, but obviously a lot of stuff for us to learn from and get better from and we’ll be better for that, for this game. This game really, as we’re watching tape, we’re like we’ll be better from this because we saw things that we needed.”
To kind of follow up on that, obviously it is just one game, but do you guys still feel as a defense, really sound, and that you guys can continue on the dominance that you guys had, I guess, before yesterday?
“Yeah, no doubt. I don’t think there’s any flinch in our room, no panic in our room. Obviously, guys want to win and that’s the hunger, that’s the mindset of our team, as always. And it sucks when it doesn’t happen. It’s funny, you can look at this and we could be like, we played three games, we play really solid defense and we didn’t do one or whatever, however you want to look at it. But at the end of the day, we’re a 2-2 football team and it’s unacceptable. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. We’re an average football team right now. That’s what the record says. And we want to be an above-average to elite team. And we got a long way to go, obviously a long season, but we need to take steps in the right direction.”
Hey, Anthony, I think you touched on this after the game, but was there any jolt or confusion when you guys found out yesterday morning that Deshaun (Watson) wasn’t going to be able to play?
“No, not at all. Obviously, you always want to go out there full strength with the franchise quarterback. Obviously, we found out that he wasn’t playing, but that doesn’t change us defensively. Obviously, we got to go out and play our game and we didn’t do that. No matter who was at quarterback yesterday. So obviously we learned from it. Obviously, we understand that injuries happen. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us as a team and the Ravens didn’t. So, we got to be ready to go. And no matter who’s at quarterback, defensively, we got to do our job.”
And Jim Schwartz last week said sometimes success is harder to handle than failure. With the great start that you guys got out to, do you think that had any part in a little bit of a letdown yesterday?
“No, not at all. I think every game is a game within itself. Obviously, you want to be perfect, you want to shut teams out and all that stuff. But again, like I said, [if] you play in the NFL long enough, it’ll humble you really fast. So, you’re never going to know we played two or three games and we played great defense and all that. The game finds a way to humble you every single day, every single opportunity. So obviously, we just got to learn from it. We got to get better from it. I think it’s an early bye, but I think it comes at the right time. I think it comes at a time where we really needed to just reset, refocus and go on the long run and understand that the NFL, man. We talked about it, me and Rodney McLeod just saying that the NFL is a humbling game and we needed to be humbled. So, we’ll learn from it, we’ll be better from it, and this game will be a stepping stone into why we reach the point that we want to reach at the end of the season.”
I know I asked you a little bit about this yesterday, but going into the bye after a loss, I mean, the last two years, this team has gone into the off week after a loss, after a win. What’s most important in terms of that regrouping, but still taking some time to get away, but still staying focused, all that stuff?
“Yeah, like I said, balance of reset, refocus, refresh. Obviously, you would rather be going into the bye with the win. Obviously, we can’t sit here and change that outcome. It is what it is now. Like I said, we just have to focus on getting reset, refresh, refocus as a team and then come back and be ready to go. I think it helps that we play against a really good football team when we get back, and we all know that and everybody’s looking forward to that matchup. You know, it’s just another opportunity for us that guys just have to wait two weeks instead of one week.”
And Myles (Garrett) talked a little bit about this yesterday, but he was super confident, it seemed, like that guys wouldn’t hold on to this loss longer than they needed to and that it kind of be flushed after film today even. How do you feel about that? Do you agree?
“Myles is a little different, obviously. No, obviously you want to flush it. Wins, losses, ties, whatever. You want to flush it and move on to the next. This is a bye and you don’t play another game till next week. So, I gave myself a 48-hour rule instead of a 24-hour rule. So, it’s still on my mind right now. Myles is probably kicking me in the head right now, telling me to get over it, but I still got a couple more hours to just sit on this one and watch some more film and correct some mistakes and all that stuff. But, yeah, you want to flush it and we need to be long past this by the time we get back.”
Just wondering if it was a little disconcerted to watch Myles kind of leave the stadium in the walking boot the way that he did and maybe even just a little rattling to see him have to hobble off the field like that?
“I’m not worried about Myles Garrett ever. So, you guys can worry for us. But I told him he needs to take that boot off right now because he’s just doing it for show at this point. But he’ll be fine, man. I know he’ll be fine. He’s a warrior, he’s a battler. He’s going to be ready to go. He’s going to do everything to be ready to go next game that we have. So, I’m not worried about that at all.”
Obviously being a veteran and a leader of this team, it could be tough coming in having to go into a bye after having suffered a tough loss. How do you stay patient to know your guys’ time is going to come, knowing that you can’t just get right back out there next Sunday and kind of avenge the loss?
“Well, one thing about a bye, it gives you a chance to, like I said, just retool, refocus. The NFL is long, man. Training camp, offseason, all that stuff, it’s just long. So anytime you have this little mental reset that you can have, you want to use that. Obviously, it sucks. Going into a bye after a loss always sucks. You could be 10 and one, you lose that one and you got a sick taste in your mouth after losing that one going into a bye. So, for us, like I said, we can use this as a stepping stone, which I’m sure we will. As a team, we will use this as a stepping stone. That game, this bye week, probably perfect timing and then the week after. You know it’s crazy how the NFL schedule works, that it landed just like that. We have a chance to defend our home turf against a great NFC team, a team that consistently has been playing for [the] NFC title or Super Bowl title the last few years. A great challenge for us, and I think the guys are excited about that. So that is going to make the bye week go a little bit more – guys are going to be hungry.
It’s time for Myles to throw that boot away, huh?
“Please.”
Hey, Anthony, when you’re talking about the bye, coming at a great time is part of that because it feels like so much has happened through these four weeks, whether it’s losing Nick (Chubb) and kind of the up and down nature of win one, lose one?
“Yeah, that’s the NFL. You never can predict it. They can talk about the script and all that stuff that they want to but, you know, the emotions of being in the NFL, of playing, the way injuries happen, all that stuff. It’s an emotional battle and like I said, anytime you’re able to kind of just get that reset, it does wonders for your team. So, again, we just happen to have ours, I feel like at the right time. I’m a little selfish at this point obviously coming back from injury, playing four games in a row, obviously spotty sore, all that stuff. I have not played since last September. So, for me, I feel like it’s perfect timing as well. But like I just said, for our team just to kind of reset refocus, I think it’ll be huge for us.”
So, Anthony, Kevin Stefanski had pretty high praise today for David Njoku coming in there and gutting it out after what he went through on Friday night, seeing him the way that you, I know, saw him yesterday and seeing him do what he did on the field, what are your thoughts on what David did yesterday?
“Yeah, he’s a tough character, man. I told him, first of all, he’s a character for I don’t know what he tried to do at home. It obviously wasn’t done the right way, but, man, just the will to get out there on the field and go to war with your teammates, I thought that was awesome. Seeing him and seeing how he responded. I could tell you now, I don’t think I’m playing in that game. Just with the way everything – I don’t know if you guys have seen him, but it was a lot. He’s tough, man. He’s a tough guy. This has always been his persona since I’ve known him throughout college and being in the NFL, he’s a tough guy, and I wasn’t surprised, but obviously – yeah, he’s tough.”
You touched on it a little bit, but also Greg Newsome last night was talking about how the little things on the defensive end was what was missing. So I guess what are those little things that you guys have to now, I guess, kind of focus on for week six?
“Yeah, we can’t give you all our secrets. But no, I think just the fundamentals. Tackling, covering, communication, all that stuff, I think as long as you play in this NFL, you’ll never have the game down pat all the way. And I think as a team, we know that as a defense, we know that we got to be better at everything. The little details, the everyday process of getting ready for a game, all that stuff. It just has to be better. We understand that. And then I don’t want that to be like, oh, I’m blowing it out of proportion that they didn’t do the little things or they had communication breakdowns. It wasn’t that. But, you know, after a loss, everything is heightened. That’s just what it is. That’s the nature of the business that we live in. Now, if we had won yesterday and had 20 minutes errors, it would be downplayed. But at the end of the day, we want to be a championship defense. No matter whether we win or lose. We need to learn from it, we need to better from it and not make the same mistakes twice. And I think that’s kind of what Greg was talking about. Not really the fact know, we did little things wrong the whole time. But to be an elite defense, you gotta do the little things right everytime, you know, just how we see it and how we want it to be done.”
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