Cornerbacks coach Brandon Lynch (12.8.23)
Just how nice will it be for you guys to maybe have Denzel (Ward) back this week?
“Anytime that you get a starting player back, especially Denzel, with him being the tip of the spear in the room as a student, he brings a really big spark for us. It will be amazing.”
And how much has it kind of hurt not to have him the last couple of weeks?
“Sure. We have very high standards for all of our guys across the board, so it’s really one of those things that next man up mentality, like, all of our guys in a room, keep them focused on the work. So really having him out has really put an emphasis just on our technique and fundamentals of our other guys.”
Beyond just his talent, what is it specifically that when he’s on the field, he brings that maybe you don’t get from others, taking nothing away from others, but that he specifically brings when he’s out there?
“Toughness. The way that he plays the game with his effort and his passion. And he’s a very smart player. And when we say that he’s ahead of plays, so he keeps us ahead of situations. He’s very aggressive, and with him being a student of the game, he also communicates with the others out there to help our team be ahead of the plays.”
How’s he look this week?
“Yes, he’s looking more and more like himself again, working diligently to get back. He’s still that very smart player out there with very good energy, press coverage. He tracks the ball well. So really good to see him out there moving.”
We’ve seen how Martin (Emerson Jr.) has grown on the field, but how has he grown in that room?
“Anytime that you have a student that’s bought into the team concept, right? That’s also, like a tough guy. He plays with the edge. You really see his maturity and leadership. And I say that – you brought in guys like AWalk (Anthony Walker Jr.), you brought in guys like Rodney (McLeod), and you’ve seen him really blossom just by bringing in other leaders, like tip-of-the-spear guys that have high standards like himself. And it’s really been showing his toughness, his effort, his passion, what he brings to our defense has really been leaking over to the other rooms, too.”
Jim (Schwartz) talked yesterday about how Greg (Newsome) was used outside against, I think it was Denver and then more in the slot last week against the Rams, what goes into that decision? How you use him?
“Sure, the team, most importantly the team, us winning matchups, and really we talk about body types. We have high standards for our guys across the board, so putting our guys in premium position so that our team can win, so that our offense can get the ball back and we can set up our special teams in good field position as well.”
He gave up a couple of plays in that Denver game. How do you think he responded last week?
“Man, he responded like the champion that he is. We all keep the focus on the work, but with him specifically, you never see his energy waiver. You never see the team waver, more importantly. So, with him keeping the focus on the work with his technique and fundamentals, he’s just going back to work the very next day.”
What is it about – you guys don’t know if you’re going to be playing Trevor Lawrence this weekend. What makes that challenging for you?
“Sure, there’s some uncertainty there, but we like to really keep the focus on what we do. Our technique, our fundamentals don’t change the way that we communicate, the way that we execute as a team. Our role being the tip of the spear to help our engine to really rely on the nerve center for communication. None of that changes. So we really like to keep the focus on our work and things that we can control.”
There’s one play last week where I think it was second and 20 and (Demarcus) Robinson caught like a 30 yard pass. Was Mike (Ford) supposed to get hands on him at the line of scrimmage?
“Yes, sir. We can obviously improve our technique and our fundamentals in that situation, but our guys, they work diligently to keep improving that for the team. That just happened to be a play that cost us a little bit. But that’s something that all of our guys have learned from. We’ve moved on from it and we’ll make the adjustments.”
And what do you see out of first, (Calvin) Ridley for the Jaguars and then a couple of your corners have also said you treat (Evan) Engram like a receiver so what do you see out of those two playmakers?
“Playmakers. These guys are playmakers on all three levels of the field. The guys are very competitive. It’s going to be a very tough matchup for us. It’s going to be one that we’re going to have to rely on our technique and fundamentals. We’re going to have to lean on our engine, and we’re going to have to lean on our special teams and our offense as well.”
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