Linebackers Coach Jason Tarver (10.21.22)
On LB Deion Jones:
“He is a professional. He works. He brings a great energy to work every day and has a smile on his face. He has experienced the highest of highs and some lows within this business. Everything has happened to him or he has made it happen from coming into the league and going to the Pro Bowl. He is excellent at taking the ball away. He has scored many touchdowns on defense, which is a hard thing to do. Then he has overcome injuries and he has seen some different schemes. He has seen it all. He has been absolutely wonderful to work with, and I can’t wait to see what he does.”
On if the Browns envision Jones’ role being to split time with LB Jacob Phillips or if Jones could play all three LB spots:
“We said that we had four starters [at linebacker] when we started this year, and we have used them accordingly. In certain gameplans, some of the guys play more than others in different personnel packages. Like last week, we had a few different personnel packages so we used one, two or all three of them. What is really cool about him is he has played MIKE and WILL. He has made the call for many years. You will see him in with one or two of the other guys at MIKE and WILL. I won’t say any more than that based off of personnel packages.”
On if Jones is ready to play this week:
“He has had a very good week of practice. Yesterday, he was moving around really well. Hopefully.”
On the challenges getting a player like Jones up to speed within a defense midseason:
“That is what this league and this business is all about is know your personnel, use your personnel and get it going. What is great about him is he has been in a form of the system coached by really good coaches who myself and a lot of our staff have spent some time around so a lot of it is just translating. He has done many of the techniques that we do within our defense. Our zone drops and how we shed blocks, he has done that with (former Falcons and Cowboys defensive coordinator) Coach (Dan) Quinn and (NY Jets defensive coordinator) Coach (Jeff) Ulbrich. That translation is really just translating words. He just has to repeat it to himself, right? ‘This with my old team was this. Now, it is this.’ We have been doing that since he got here. ‘Hey, you have heard this word your whole life. Now, it is this word.’ A lot of them are the same, but some are different, though. He has done great with that. It is just practicing and practicing saying things sometimes. When you are ‘this’ and you get the call as MIKE linebacker and you kind of put your hands over your ears sometimes, depending on the stadium, and then you have to repeat it, you just have to keep practicing doing that over and over.”
On if it is too soon for Jones to wear the green-dot helmet communication system to relay defensive play calls:
“He has done a good job with it. There is a good chance he is wearing the green-[dot] helmet quickly here in the near future.”
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