Defensive Coordinator Mike Rutenberg (11.5.26)

 

So far, what do you think of Tyler Shough? What’s he doing well, and what do you guys have to worry about the most with him?

“You know, it’s a really skilled offense across the board. Tyler Shough, obviously, watching a lot of tape and then going against him last year, I have great respect for him as a player. He’s got full command of the offense, strong and big and athletic, and got a ton of guys who he gets the ball to. Obviously, the running backs, extremely skilled in space, great set of receivers, tight ends are as good of a group as we’re going to face, and good tough offensive line. So, it’s going to be a battle.”

 

Run game defense is something that you guys as a collective are working to improve these past few weeks. Their run game hasn’t been maybe consistent, but they have the skill players there. So, what does this week of work look like as you prepare for that, to try to get some better results than you have had the past two against the run?

“The league is built off of the greatest players and coaches in the world, and great coaches on the Saints, great coaches across this league and great players in this league. So, every week it’s the battle to minimize the damage and maximize our winning edge. So, whether it’s in the run game, collectively trying to improve it to the best of our ability collectively, whether it’s technique, whether it’s scheme, whether it’s putting them in the best position possible, all options to help improve, in your case, what you asked, the run game. But it’s always, as I’ve said before, anything that we think we need to improve on, we are going after it, we’re hitting it head on, we’re addressing it honestly, we’re talking about it, and we’re doing everything we can to fix it in meetings, walkthrough and practice. And that’s our approach, you know, obviously from Monk (Todd Monken), but defensively, that’s constantly our approach. And I like what we’ve done so far this week.”

 

Todd talked this week about thinking that rewatching everything, those trap and wham plays were really impacting you guys. So, when you’re an aggressive front, how can you combat that sort of stuff as a defense?

“Totally. I love that we’re an aggressive front, and there are going to be certain scheme runs that come with aggressive fronts. We spend every week, whatever we think how we’re going to be attacked, we spend every week trying to minimize that damage and then maximize our ability to make plays on those plays and all the other plays.”

 

With that, the tackling the last couple weeks, has seemed to me, not as sharp as it has been previously. Would you agree with that?

“Anything that we feel as a defense needs to be improved, we’re going to address it head on. Like, we pride ourselves in that. Anything we think we’re doing well as a defense, we’re going to work our butts off to continue doing it well. So, across the board, guys, each week, it’s one of the coolest parts of being a part of this defense with this staff and these players. We address things honestly, we talk about it, we give each other feedback, and we bust our butts to try and fix it.”

 

How do you assess attack in the last two weeks?

“Football is all about tackling and attacking the ball. So, every week we’re working on tackling and attacking the ball, and actually they go hand in hand, because with a good tackle comes an opportunity at the ball.”

 

Off of the idea of making adjustments of things, I think last week the Steelers had run a lot of trap runs going into that game and I think they ran more than they had all season against you guys. How much week to week, because you’re picking up on tendencies, right? Like, figuring out what a team does that you need to stop. How much is the game plan from you guys about, yes, finding those tendencies, but also trying to figure out things that they’re going to try to throw at you in a given week that maybe you aren’t accounting for?

“For sure. The cool part about any system you’re in is you know your system so well, and you hopefully know how you’re going to be attacked, and you try and minimize that damage and maximize your ability to stop those type of attack plays. So, it’s the fine line between studying their tape, studying what’s hurt you, studying trends in the league of what’s going on, and then allowing our players to play as fast as humanly possible, getting lined up as fast as they can, getting their eyes where they need to be, getting their cleats in the ground, and then letting their talent take over.”

 

Carson (Schwesinger) is usually good week in and week out. After the game, you talked about giving up those couple of plays to (Darnell) Washington and missing some tackles. So, how have you seen him respond this week to maybe a game that’s unusual for him?

“Carson’s unbelievable. He fixes problems before we fix the problems. That’s who Carson is. He is so humble. He cares so much about playing for his teammates and his coaching staff. He’s had a great start to the week. I can’t wait to watch him play Sunday.”

 

Is there anything that you can do schematically to unlock some of the production that you think might possibly be there for Jared Verse?

“I’m really excited about his growth, Mary Kay (Cabot). I’m really excited. I love the way he practices. We all love the way he practices. We all love the way he approaches. He studies his butt off. And it’s cool to see that during the week, and I see a lot of growth in his game. I see a lot of his edge setting, the way he’s jumping out of his shoes and finding his inches within the attack scheme.”

 

How hard is it to see him, though, say that he maybe is a little disappointed in himself, in his production, even though he’s working and that the attention isn’t there because it’s not showing up on the stat sheet. How difficult is that to have a player putting in that work and not showing up on the stat sheet the way that he maybe wants to, and you would love to see from him?

“Gosh, for all of our players, our staff, our team, all we want is to see the guys be successful collectively. It’s not just one player. It’s the entire team. It’s the way we’re built here, and it’s one of our greatest joys to see guys have success. It’s awesome. And success can come in many forms. It might come in a great edge set and forcing the ball inside. It might come in an interception. It might come because you had a good week of practice, and that’s a good victory for the week, and you took it in the game. So, we want all our guys to have a ton of success.”

 

Does it hamstring you in any way that you’re not getting the pressures necessarily or the sacks from your edge guys? I think it’s total three from Isaiah (McGuire) right now.

“Our whole defense is built on a collective 11, so it has nothing to do with a position ever. We’re not built that way. When it comes to pressuring the quarterback, it doesn’t matter who the pressure could come from. When it comes to anything we do, it’s a collective 11. It takes all 11 to play great defense, and that will always be our motto together.”

 

Jared was talking about how he had a discussion with teammates because he thought he wasn’t supported when he got dumped on his head. And he talked about how he, last week, said a lot of stuff without talking to his teammates first. So, how have you kind of seen that dynamic? And obviously you know him, and you know he’s a guy that talks a lot. Is that something that you even try to temper?

“As a team we have each other’s back, and we’re always going to protect each other as a team and a coaching staff. And I see that from our team, always trying to have each other’s back.”

 

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