Defensive line coach Ben Bloom (12.22.23)
Everyone else has named Myles (Garrett) as Defensive Player of the Year. I guess it’s your turn.
“He’s the Defensive Player of the Year. Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of ways you can evaluate that. The obvious way is, like, statistically, I think his stats speak for himself, or speak for themselves. He has a lot of sacks, he has a lot of pressures. He has a lot of quarterback hits. We all know the numbers. He has tackles for loss. I don’t know what the run rate or run efficiency is in his direction, but anecdotally, it’s good for our defense. So he’s a multidimensional player—run and pass. So I think that’s the start of it. And then I think you got to dig a little deeper beyond that. It’s just a unique situation where the way that the opponents are forced to prepare for him, for Myles, is unique. This doesn’t happen that often. I don’t think there’s another player in the world that commands this type of respect and preparation and allocation of time and resources week in, week out in the game plan. I mean, Coach (Sean) McVay from the Rams alluded to it, right? That’s documented. I know he’s not the only offensive coordinator or head coach that has the same sentiment. He’s continually being doubled, whether it’s by the tight end on the line of scrimmage or the back from the backfield. That’s, I think, obvious to my wife and kids who watch it on TV. You don’t have to be a coach or experienced media person, a reporter, to know that the center slides in his direction quite often. Some of the techniques you see offensive linemen use to try to block him are unique or different. They have to resort to use techniques that a lot of people don’t have to use or probably aren’t taught that much to actually block an edge rusher, but Myles just commands that type of techniques. They’re aggressive, they’re a little different. You don’t see them all the time, but those are happening. So those things alone, I think, speak to it. For me, being around him every day, seeing how he prepares, seeing how he works, it’s never more evident to me than at the end of games. We talk about our room, in our room, about messing things up for the offense, about getting off the ball. He does that, and then the last thing we talk about is finishing. He finishes plays, he finishes games. So I don’t know, as a young guy, I was a baseball fan, and my dad took me to a lot of baseball games. And I grew up watching Dennis Eckersley come in for the Oakland A’s and just dismantle the Red Sox. And then when I got older, he was still taking me to games. And then I saw Mariano Rivera do the same thing for the Yankees, and dismantling the Red Sox at the end of games. And it was kind of like this crushing thing. Are the Red Sox ever even get over the hump? And they did. And this anecdote is not about me and my dad and Red Sox games. It’s about great closers, Dennis Eckersley, Mariano Rivera, Hall of Fame people, generational people who finish games. And I think that’s what Myles has done this year. Last week you watched the last two series, what he did in that game to help us win. Coach (Jim) Schwartz talked about the crack toss play that the Bears ran, minus five, minus six. Myles made a ridiculous play. That’s a run play at him, right? So we’re not even talking about pass rushing. And then the next play after that, Jeremiah (Owusu-Koramoah) hit the quarterback. But Myles was about to right before Jeremiah did. And then the third down after, MJ (Emerson) made the tackle on the flat, the ball kind of floated up. But the reason why the ball floated up is Myles had an unbelievable rush. Beat the chipper, beat the tackle, threw the tackle on the ground, almost at the quarterback. Quarterback threw it in the air, and they’re punting. And then when you watch the last drive of the game that ended up with the jump ball that we came out on the right side of that, you watch a couple of those plays preceding that, the quarterback is throwing the ball out of bounds because Myles is about to hit him. If we go back to the week before that, when we were victorious versus Jacksonville, there was a third down where Myles almost hit the quarterback, but it was a legitimate pressure. Wasn’t able to finish that hit, but the quarterback scrambled. That was a third and long. They went for it on fourth down, we got off the field. Then the drive after that was the two minute drive where I think there were 13 plays in that drive, including the two point conversion. I think I had Myles for one pressure and like five hits. And then the last play of that drive was a two point conversion. And he tackled the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage on a pass play, which is a sack, but it’s a two point play. So it’s not a sack, but it’s a sack. And I’m not a statistician, but now we won that game by four points. If they converted that conversion, it’s a two point game. It’s a lot different going out for an onside kick on a two point score differential than a four point score differential. That’s changing the game. That’s closing and finishing the game. You watch the end of the Baltimore game at Baltimore when we won. How did that game end? It was Myles and Za’Darius (Smith) who ran the quarterback down on the sideline. Week one, which seems like five years ago—do you remember Myles’ sack in the fourth quarter when he split it? So that’s the end of my campaign. But the stats are there. The way people have to prepare for him is unique. It’s just different. And then the biggest thing is, the greatest thing you do in a game on defense is finish and close the game in a two minute drive. And there’s other examples than the four I just gave, but he’s doing that at a high level. I mean, he’s our closer.”
How about the fact that Chris Kiffin is down there and just knows everything about Myles? How do you think that will help them in their preparation for this game?
“Chris Kiffin’s an awesome guy. He’s a great coach. I know him well. We worked together for a few years here, I’m excited to see him. I don’t know if anybody’s intel in the world is going to stop Myles.”
Laremy Tunsil coming back this game, possibly, or so you know, that’s probably one of the best left tackles he’s faced all season, right?
“Yeah. I mean, I’m excited to watch it. I know he’s excited to compete with Laremy. I think you might have asked, Mary Kay (Cabot), a similar question about Trent Williams when we played San Francisco. So it’s going to be a battle. I mean, you got two of the best in the world going up against each other. And I think I said then, I have the utmost confidence in the world that Myles can have success against anybody that he goes against. So I feel the same way.”
Off of that, though. What is it about Laremy? Because he has had some success against Myles, compared to other left tackles. What is it about him that makes him so good and such a great matchup for Myles?
“Well, I mean, when you’re dealing with guys who are this talented and this experienced, played in the league for a while, like Laremy, like Myles. I mean, Laremy’s got the experience, like he knows how to play the game. He’s got really good feet, he’s got good awareness. And then he’s a high first round pick. He’s got good arm length, he’s got good anchor, good strength. So he’s why you draft left tackles high in the draft because they’re good athletes, they’re physical, they’re long, they have good feet, they can cut off speed rushers, they can redirect and anchor versus power. We know what good tackles look like. He’s one of them.”
All the good things you said about Myles that he’s done, it’s still been, he’s been a few games without a sack and we know he’s frustrated by the lack of penalties, right? So do you see any frustration level with him because maybe things aren’t going his way because he’s not getting those calls that you think he should be getting?
“Myles is a pretty focused, stoic guy in his demeanor. I mean, he shows emotion, we all do. But yeah, I know inside we all would like a penalty to be called here and there, but that’s not what we can control. So our focus is what we can control and what can we control. Come to work every day, go to meetings, pay attention, ask good questions, go to walk through, be dialed in, work on our technique in walk through. Work our technique and individual practice in the team periods, work our run stuff, work our pass rush stuff. And that’s been his focus. Focus on what he can control and that’s getting off the ball and messing things up and being great in the run game and being a great pass rusher. And then that process there has served him really well his entire life and there’s no reason to deviate from that right now.”
Do you get annoyed on the sideline watching those penalties not get called?
“Well, I’m a defensive line coach. Like, no matter what, I’m going to get annoyed if we’re not hitting the quarterback. I’m just being positive and coaching and having fun with the guys. But, yeah, shoot. But that’s part of the job description, right?”
We saw you on the sidelines of something I can’t remember what it was, but you were really right in there in the weeds getting these guys super crazy fired up. So what is your role in that regard in terms of just pumping up your guys?
“Well, we have a veteran group, sometimes I think they got it. And then I’m like, you know what, it’s my job to bring the juice and the energy when we have to bring the juice and the energy. I always feel like if I show that I care with some emotion, with my words, it’s a reflection on how much I believe in them and how much I care about them having success and our group having success. So in case they forgot, this is how much I care about what we’re doing together and how much I care about us kicking butt together. And that’s the purpose of it. And I don’t know if it’s 100% effective, but I’m going to keep trying.”
You talk about teams having to prepare for Myles, does it make it even more impressive that with all this preparation that teams are doing specifically about him, the impact he still has across the board in different areas?
“Yeah, I think that’s a great question, Kelsey (Russo). Yeah, because we’ve had this conversation in this room about Z (Za’Darius Smith) earlier in the year. If you evaluate everything on sacks, then that’s your choice. But again, we have advanced metrics, and we have people that chart things around the league, and we all have access to that data. So, again, like, at the end of the Jacksonville game, he had a run of quarterback hits. I mean, he’s hitting and making contact with the quarterback while being blocked by one or two people and forcing the quarterback to throw it early or incomplete or out of bounds. Those are pressures, those are hits, right? So they have a huge effect on the game, just like sacks, especially in situations like that, on third down and two minutes. So the fact that he’s doing those things at a high rate in those situations while being blocked by multiple people with some questionable techniques, so to speak. Yeah, I think that speaks enormously to what he’s still able to do with all the attention and resources used to try to prevent him from doing just that, hitting the quarterback and sacking the quarterback and pressuring the quarterback. So, yeah, the answer is yes.”
How much do you guys miss Ogbo (Okoronkwo) and what is your involvement in trying to communicate with him regularly and see where this whole thing is going?
“We miss Ogbo. We miss his energy and his juice. He’s got an incredible spirit about him that permeates the whole group. I feel like times in the past week or so, there are times where we just kind of all dial in and work because I’m thinking about him. Like, ‘What would Ogbo be saying right now if he were with me right now?’ But he’s not. And his energy, even though it’s not with us on the practice field, it’s there because he’s still part of us. And, yeah, we stay in touch, text, talk on the phone. I know he’s going through a process right now trying to figure out the best course of action for him in regards to his injury, and I’m not privy to the high level decisions and stuff there, but I know he’s doing everything he can to still be part of it.
What does it say about him that he is fighting like crazy to get back here and play, even though he’s got a torn peck, which we know it’s torn so?
“Yeah, I mean, what does it say about Ogbo? It says that Ogbo loves his teammates. He loves to play the game. You know, he finished the Jacksonville game injured and played some plays, and we were just low on numbers in that game, and it was really helpful to be able to rotate him in there a little bit. And he did a good job, too, considering everything. So it says that he’s tough. It says he loves his game, cares about his teammates, and he wants to do anything he can to be with us and playing games, and we love him for that.”
We’ve talked about a little bit before, but Shelby (Harris) got to start last week and made a bunch of plays. What has he brought to you guys?
“Yeah, I mean, Shelby’s a veteran dude who’s had a lot of production in the league. I think it was a little bit of an adjustment when he got here just because the techniques that we use up front are different than some of the things that he had done for the majority of his career. And to his credit, he kept working through it, working through it, because it’s easy to revert to some of your old habits. And I think more and more we’ve seen in the last month or so or maybe since the Arizona game, that it’s starting to click for him more, just become more. It’s become more natural and ingrained for him to use our attack style of football in defensive line play, and it’s been fun to see because he’s obviously helping us win games and making plays in the run and the pass game. So we’re fortunate that he’s part of the group.”
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