LB B.J. Goodson (11.12.20)
LB B.J. Goodson:
On Texans QB Deshaun Watson:
“I played with Deshaun before. He is a great player, a great leader. He loves to compete. Knowing that and going through the film, their record does not speak for who they are as far as their play. Just giving those their credit where it is due.”
On how much the Browns defense has to be aware of Watson’s ability to extend plays:
“The film speaks for itself. He is an amazing athlete. He has the ability to get out of the pocket. He is very accurate when he gets out of the pocket. We are aware of all of that. Just looking forward to competing against him. He presents challenges, like you said, and I am looking forward to competing against him.”
On what the Browns defense can do to limit or prevent explosive plays by the Texans offense:
“A lot of their plays are just called for guys with their eyes. From watching the tape, I see guys with their eyes off of their keys and things like that. They do a great job of extending plays. Deshaun does a great job of extending plays, and he is very accurate in the pocket and is very accurate when he gets out of the pocket. He presents challenges in that way.”
On areas the Browns defense can improve during the second half of the season after the self-scout during the bye week:
“We did a lot of self-scouting and a lot of reflecting and looking in the mirror. We made adjustments as players and as coaches. Just trying to get better consistently. There is no point in staying stagnant. There is no progress in being content with where we are. Everybody is just trying to get better each and every day as far as everything – everybody from top down. Looking forward to going out and competing this week.”
On if it reasonable to expect the Browns defense to make a significant jump in the second half of the season:
“To be 100 percent honest with you, I am not into statistics or predictions. I am a very simple guy. I will say, I do expect to see an improvement, especially from our defense.”
On balancing coverage assignments as a LB with Watson’s ability to escape the pocket and run:
“(Defensive coordinator) Joe (Woods) put together a pretty great scheme this week as far as handling that. I can’t speak on it too much. Definitely have different things with keeping that in mind. With that, Deshaun is Deshaun, one of the greater quarterbacks out there. It is what it is.”
On if the vibe of the team at practice has been different than before the bye week:
“It is part of my job to bring the juice every week as the leader of the defense, but it helps a little bit for guys to get a chance to reset and come back to the table. Like I said, we did a lot of reflecting over that bye week, but we had a chance to miss it a little bit as far as being on the field together and just being able to play the game that we love. I think that helps. I love where we had the bye week, and I think that helps.”
On LB Jacob Phillips:
“Jacob is doing a great job of working himself back out there, getting back on the field and getting healthy. He is just laying a brick a day at a time and just trying to get better.”
On if LB Mack Wilson is looking more like himself now and if the LBs will be on the upswing with Phillips and Wilson healthy:
“Mack is moving beautifully to me. To me specifically, I feel like he has been moving pretty well the last couple of weeks. I felt like he has been fine as far as his health goes. I look forward to great things from our corps, especially as the leader of the corps.”
On the Texans running game and Texans RB Duke Johnson Jr. potentially being the team’s lead back this week:
“I played against Duke before while he was here, actually. I played against the Texans scheme, although they have a new coordinator and things like that. I do not see them changing their scheme a whole lot as far as to shape it for him. I feel like what they do already kind of fits him. I do not see them doing too much, but I could see them doing things as far as looking at the tape and scouting against us, actually trying to do things in that way.”
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