LB Anthony Walker Jr. (12.13.23)
Wyatt Teller was saying the other day that Joe Flacco was a real voice that kind of reasoned down the stretch. Like he was kind of saying, hey, if this happens then do we got to do this or what have you. How important to have that kind of guy who’s basically seen everything over 15 years on the sideline, let alone in the building?
“Yeah, no doubt. A guy like that with a lot of experience, every game situation, nothing should surprise him at this point. He’s been playing for 100 years, so he’s getting those guys ready just in case. If it’s a two minute or we’re up two or we’re up four, we end up being a four or whatever it is. I’m pretty sure he’s telling those guys how to manage that situation. Like I said, a guy that’s been around, he’s done it all, seen it all, is able to communicate to the guys different type of situations that we could be in.”
Myles (Garrett) described him as Kevin’s (Stefanski) long lost brother. Has anyone busted him on that?
“Yeah, not yet. That’s all Myles on that one.”
It’s one thing, though, considering everything that happened at that position this year. You guys, I think, have made seven changes leading up to games because of injuries. It’s one thing to say that you believe in a guy. It’s another to really, truly believe that. What is it about Joe (Flacco) that with him coming in here, it feels like you guys believed in him from day one? What is it about him that earned that so quickly?
“Not the fact that he won a Super bowl or anything like that would just be, you know what I mean? But a guy with so much experience has played winning football in the NFL for a very long time, knows how to get the job done. Until he proves otherwise, he’s still a great quarterback. And what we need for right now to kind of steady us as a team, just great to have and to find someone like that later in the season after what we’ve gone through. We got the luck of the draw on that one.”
It looks like you’ve lost a couple more guys. Maurice Hurst, maybe, Grant Delpit. But how much more can this defense absorb and still keep winning?
“I hope we don’t have to find out anymore. No, man, we believe in everybody in this locker room. They’re here for a reason. Obviously. It sucks, right, to lose guys. We’ve done it all year from week one on. So the name of the NFL is next man up, as we all like to say. We don’t like to say it, but we have to say it. The next man up mentality. And, yeah, we believe in everybody in this locker room. So whoever gets that opportunity, we believe in that person and it won’t be no different with the new guys stepping up.”
As you guys have begun preparation for the Bears, what stands out offensively that you guys have to combat on Sunday?
“Yeah, number one (Justin Fields) looks very great on film. He can make every throw. He can run the ball as well. When you have a dual threat quarterback like that, obviously, we’ve had our share of them this year, but when we have a quarterback like that, that can kind of make the game multidimensional, make you cover every blade of grass on the field. It’s very special and very unique. So we got to obviously be fundamentally sound in everything that we do and dictate the game and not let them dictate the game.”
Is that more of a mental approach when you are facing a dual threat quarterback because of the way they can run in and pass the ball?
“Yeah, for sure. It makes you have to layer the coverage a little bit, and rushing cover has to be on point. We say that every week, but when you play a dual thread quarterback, it has to be almost perfect to get the job done.”
Do you feel like you guys struggled against all those guys this year and even guys that can do the zone stuff and what do you need to fix in that area?
“Yeah, I think we could better in pretty much every part of the game. Rush coverage, blitz, whatever. I think we honed in on our fundamentals and technique against the zone read and all that stuff. So, we just got to go out and execute and it’s just all 11, all 11 of us, one ball carrier, and we got to get a guy down and play well on third down, play well in the red zone. And like I said, just our same goals every week.”
Seems things got better after the (Gardner) Minshew game. Was there more emphasis or awareness of it after that?
“I’d say so.”
Grant (Delpit) might end up having to miss the final four games with this groin injury. How well was Grant playing? And then also, were you happy to see that he was able to get his extension and achieve some of those goals?
“Yeah, I was about to say that’s how well he was playing. Got an extension, but yeah, Pro bowl caliber year from him, put work in all offseason, really stepped into his own this year and he’ll be fine when he gets back. Getting back into that role and obviously sucks to lose, like I said, any guy on our team, but you lose a guy like Grant Delpit, really excelling in run defense and coverage and everything like that. Blitzing as well. Hate that for him. But for our team, we got other guys that have to step up. Guys that can step up. That’s proven that they can do that. And we got to have each other’s back. And then if he is able to get back, we obviously welcome him with open arms. But we can’t worry about the playoffs right now.We got to worry about this week, and this is the biggest game of our lives.”
Greg kind of echoed your sentiments about players on your side of the ball stepping up when called upon. What is it about and he said that you guys don’t change anything. Just guys stepped in and just kind of picked up where others have left off. What have you seen from some of these reserve guys that weren’t getting a lot of playing time early when they have been able to be so successful and in key moments, too?
“I think it’s a testament to their preparation. Preparing like starters and when their numbers call, they’re not scrambling to get ready. They’re already ready. So, like I said, testament to them, but also a testament to the coaches, position coaches doing a great job, the DB coaches, linebacker coaches, d line coaches. You know, whenever we have somebody step up, there’s no drop off. Like Greg said, there’s no different play call or anything like that. Everybody knows the scheme, knows what we’re doing and trying to get accomplished, and they executed really well. So testament to player and coach.”
It seems so much has happened to this team, from Greenbrier to now. Guys, quarterback, this and that, and you still have four games left. Does it seem like that kind of year to you that the finish line is farther up than normal?
“Normal season, like I said, last year was ten linebackers go down. This year is just different positions. But again, I think we prepared ourselves, I believe, a lot better than we have probably in the past of guys going down and not really being executed, not executing at the same tempo and everything like that. I think we’ve gotten a lot better at that. Guys being ready to go when their numbers call. Like I said, testament to player and coach. Yeah, we’ve been through a lot, but nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. And it’s December football. You can’t ask for a better position to be in. Give yourself a shot to get into the playoffs and one game season from there and you can go as far as you want to go. So, I wouldn’t trade it, obviously. I’d love to be having Nick Chubb and Deshaun and everybody healthy, but I wouldn’t trade this position at all.”
As a signal caller on the defense with the potential of two young safeties the other day, does that put more on your plate to communicate more with those guys?
I like to over communicate no matter who’s in the game. But like you said, I feel like those guys are prepared enough so if I give them little reminders and tips, they already on it. They’re a little younger so they listen really well. But like I said, those guys are prepared, so I’m not really worried about over communicating with those guys as much as I am just doing my job and making sure everybody’s on the same page.”
Chicago has beaten some really good teams this year. Is that something going into this week you guys are hypersensitive about? Not to insinuate you would take an opponent lightly, but just the fact that they’re not in contention like you guys are. And like you said, they played ball against really good teams.
“Yeah, you can’t worry about that, especially in NFL. This is the NFL for a reason. Everybody has good players. There’s no bad players, there’s no bad teams. So, we have to bring it and we understand that. Like I said, it’s the biggest game of our lives and we understand that we have to approach it that way. But at the end of the day, it is nameless, faceless opponents and we’re trying to get better as a team, so we’re taking that approach. But obviously there’s a team standing in front of us that we have to defeat this week.”
Anthony, obviously the next man up mentality has been like the on the field perspective of just next guy up. But just from like a morale standpoint, I would imagine it gets pretty discouraging and just see the sheer number of guys who’ve gotten injured. So how do you keep spirits up and how do you kind of keep guys not getting down on this situation?
“Yeah, you hate to lose somebody, right? You hate to lose. Sorry, let me not say it like that. This isn’t life or death, right? You hate to not go out there with your brothers that you’ve grinded with all season and all offseason and stuff like that. But again, we’ve had guys in here, in this locker room that’s been with us the whole time as well that has been waiting for their opportunity. And it just happens like that sometimes. You never know when your number is going to be called, so all you got to do is stay ready. And when your number is called, you go out there and you prepare it and you go out there and execute and you want to help contribute. So it gives opportunity for that. But obviously, like I said, it sucks not having those guys out there. But like I said, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
I know you got that fumble the other day, but are you saving the interception for, like, playoff picture?
“I guess so. I hope that’s the case.”
Did you think you had, like, the pick six there at the end?
“Yeah, he threw a bad ball. The ball would have been perfect. I would have caught it if I wouldn’t have tipped it MJ (Emerson) would have caught it because it was so bad. But I think he knew that, so he threw it away. Kind of, but, yeah, hopefully I’m saving it for the playoffs.”
You spending any extra time on the jugs because you’ve had some opportunities this year?
“Yeah, and I have been doing extra.”
If you could catch you’d be a receiver, right?
“I did play receiver, yeah. I don’t know. It hasn’t been my year right now, so we’ll get it done when we need to.”
David (Njoku) hasn’t invited you over to use the jugs machine at his house.
All right now, Dave got a couple drops on the year, too, so I’ll make sure we both own there. I’ll make sure we both on there.”
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