Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (6.4.25)
Jim, when you watched Mason Graham, who from your past came to mind?
“I don’t know. I’ve had a lot of good defensive tackles over the years and this game has featured a lot of those guys. It allows them to penetrate, play without handcuffs and make some impacts. I think he can fall into that category. We’ll leave who he reminds us of when he starts playing and starts making plays.”
Hey Jim, I’m sure you’re unhappy with the statistic results last year for the defense. So what can happen this year to get you guys back to where you were in 2023?
“Yeah, I think a couple things to go with were just things that end drives. Third down percentage had dropped from number one from the year before and then takeaways, both of those things obviously end drives. We’re trying to get off the field with no points allowed and those are the things that we’re putting a big emphasis on this year. We emphasized them last year, but those areas that we have to improve.”
So how do you do that though?
“Well, I mean there’s a lot of different things. Turnovers go a lot of different ways. We work a lot of different techniques for turnovers. A lot of turnovers are because of rush on the quarterback, and we’ve got to improve there from last year, get our rush percentage up. Being around the quarterback is a good formula for takeaways. Team speed, is a good formula for taking the ball away and physical contact, which we’re not working on right now, but guys that play physical nature of football, they have a habit of forcing turnovers. So, if we can do those things, we can have good technique to punch balls out, force fumbles. We can play physically, we can play fast and we can rush the passer. We’re around the quarterback. I think the turnovers will take care of themselves.”
Can you address just how disappointed you were when JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) had to miss the season and when he seemed to be hitting his stride. And then also how has Carson (Schwesinger) looked so far?
“Yeah, JOK was on his way to All-Pro season last year. He had really reached that level. We had talked this time last year about the biggest jump between being a starter and then being a Pro Bowl player. There’s even a bigger jump to being an All-Pro player. It was really disappointing to lose him because he had really, like you said, he had really hit his stride as a player. He had some sort of growing pains and some ups and downs, but he really fit the scheme well. He does fit the scheme well. His ability to blitz and rush the passer and he made coverage look easy. The game had slowed down for him and all those things together, it’s disappointing to lose a player like that, but we support JOK and everything that he does. He’ll still have a big impact on our team this year. It’s not going to be playing, but he’ll still have a big presence. Carson, a little bit like Mason (Graham), it’s hard to see where they are right now, but he’s working really hard. He picks things up really fast and he’s big and he’s athletic. So, he’s got a lot of good things going for him.”
Do you believe a good penetrating defensive tackle can have a bigger impact with (Myles) Garrett than a complementary edge rusher?
“Yeah, there’s a lot of different ways you can look at that, but, Myles sees a lot of double team chips. But a thing that goes a little bit unnoticed is he sees so much center slide too, which lets the tackle overset him because the guard is there to play all the inside moves. So, in essence, a lot of times you can be triple teamed on those plays. And the best way to combat that is have a pass rusher that’s on the opposite side that can make offenses pay for singling up a defensive tackle on a guard. And like I said in my history, I’ve had a lot of guys that come can do that, most recently guys like Fletcher Cox in Philadelphia that could do that. You’re closer to the quarterback when you’re a tackle. But there’s only a few ways you can really combat a defensive tackle. And one of those is the center slide. And if the center’s always slide into Myles, that provides a lot of opportunities for a player there. We have to take better advantage of those situations than we did last year”
With Mason and what he did at Michigan, I mean, it seemed like in that defensive scheme a lot of his responsibility was eating up blocks. I mean, he got after quarterbacks, but how I guess excited does that make you to get him in this system where he doesn’t have to do all that stuff all the time?
“Yeah, it’s been an adjustment for him just because the style of play, reading blocks and like you said, protecting linebackers and things like that. You know, that’s not what we do. We’re a penetrating team that makes a big emphasis on defensive linemen being able to make the plays. So there has been some growing pains. He’s pretty far ahead right now. When we get pads on, that’ll be the next step. And then when you go live contact, that’ll be a next step. So it’ll be a process for him. I do think there’s a lot of meat on the bone as far as his production, and we can see better production from him than even we saw, and he had outstanding production and college. But I think there’s some meat on the bone that he can even have a chance to make more plays here.”
How much, if at all, does OTA attendance matter to you for a player like Myles?
“I mean, this is a voluntary portion. We know Myles works hard no matter where he is, no matter what time of season is. He’s a veteran player that’s proven himself in this league. We have a lot of guys out here who are trying to reach that level and they’re working hard every day to do that. Every player is a little bit different, but this is a voluntary part of the schedule, and we’re happy with the guys that are here, and they’re all working really hard.”
Jim, what went through your head when you saw Myles request that trade then to get the extension worked out. What are your expectations for him moving forward?
“Yeah, I really think Myles is going to have the best season of his career and has to, right? You know, I mean, and I’ve told him before…what’s that Spider Man quote? ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’ right? That’s with the big contract, with the notoriety that came along with that, you know, with the process that took to get him to that point. There’s always pressure in this league, but probably a little bit more so. And I think that, that brings out the best in players, and I know that’ll be the case with Myles.”
Can any of your free safeties be a ball hawk?
“Yeah, I think some of being a ball hawk has to do with pass rush, but guys that are wired to the ball that can get an extra jump on the ball, we didn’t do enough of that in the past. And that’s certainly a position we can improve on. And, you know, we talked about things we can improve off of last year, turnovers and things like that mean a lot. So many of those deep ball things come from ball coming out before the quarterback wants to or being hit before as he’s throwing. You know, they, but they both work hand in hand. A guy in the back end, like in this stuff, you’re not going to see very many interceptions because quarterbacks aren’t being hit when they throw and they’re not being forced to throw before they want to. So, you know, it all sort of goes hand in hand.”
What would you say Ronnie Hickman’s best attribute is?
“Yeah, he’s always been a ball hawk. Last year there was some injuries, things that kept him from being on the field. This is a really big season. He’s in his third year. He should really hit a stride for us, we’re surrounding him with some veteran players. Brought Rayshawn (Jenkins) in, brought (Damontae) Kazee in, have Grant (Delpit) returning. We’re a safety heavy team. We run a lot of three safety system, but we need Ronnie to really bring it all together. You know, showed really good flashes as a rookie and he played well when he was on the field last year, but we just need him on the field a little bit more. He’s a little bit bigger now. I don’t know if you guys noticed him, you know, physical stature, he’s a little bit more and he’s still moving just as well. And I tell players all the time we want guys as big as they can, running the fastest that they can. Basically means that is if you put weight on and it slows you down or size on, it slows you down, that wasn’t a good weight to add. But he’s maintained his movement metrics while gaining a little bit. I think that’ll help him.”
What can younger players learn from Denzel Ward in this setting?
“Yeah, I mean, you learn something from everybody, whether it’s a Jordan Hicks or a Denzel Ward or, you know, it doesn’t matter. You can learn from offensive guys, not just technique in your own position, but just the way you handle your business, the way you go about things. There’s a lot of places for people to learn and Denzel’s a great example. He had a drive and break on the ball. I think you guys were out there. That was as good as I’ve ever seen. You know, a little bit like we talked about before with finishing plays for turnovers. Denzel got his hands on a lot of passes last year, and we need to convert more of those to interceptions. And that’s the difference between Pro Bowl and All-Pro. The game changing plays. The PBU is big for us, but we need to get more of the INTs and he’s made a big push to convert those to INTs and we need that to the show on the field.”
Jim, Mike Hall, for a variety of reasons, wasn’t able to get a lot of time on the field or as much time as you guys obviously wanted out of him in his rookie year. How important is this season for him in terms of his development to what you guys hope he can be?
“Just like any players – I would say this, you know, we talked about Ronnie. It should all come together in year three. But I do think the biggest improvement you see from players is year one to year two. You see rookies here, they don’t – everything is new to them. Standing in front of you guys, everything they do is new. And the second year they come back, they know what to expect. And I think you see the most improvement. We need that from Mike this year. He’s been set back with an injury, but he’s been working extremely hard to come back from it. And we’re real hopeful to get him back on the field.”
(Damontae) Kazee led the NFL interceptions with Atlanta. Does he still have that game?
“Well, we’ll see. You know, like I said, this time of year is more about individual improvement. You’ll see some times out there where you see players that will avoid contact and plays they could make or hits they could make, and that’s not the time of year for it. So, it’s probably too much to read into it right now, but through training camp, through the preseason, through the course of the season, I mean, that’s where the proof will be.”
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