Defensive Line Coach Jacques Cesaire (12.12.25)
So, Jacques, when you said, before the season, that you saw more in Myles (Garrett), and you thought that he had still more left in him, is this what you envisioned?
“Yeah. I mean, obviously, every year that you go on with a dominant pass rusher, you expect the most from him. But I said it in the beginning, when you watch him in the preseason, it was probably the most dominant preseason he’s ever had. I mean, he didn’t lose one one-on-one rep, and that goes for the joint practices and our practices. And he was just, he had a singular focus on just dominating every play, and you saw that throughout the year. So I’m happy with what he’s done and how he’s developed as a football player. You think you got all the answers, but you really don’t. You never stop going, and he’s a testament to that. That guy works so hard to continue to develop and be the most dominant defensive player that I think we’ve ever seen.”
When you looked at the film from this past game against the (Tennessee) Titans as a defensive line, what are some things that, you know, you want that group to correct against, what’s also a really good running team with the (Chicago) Bears?
“Yeah, I mean, you know, hats off to the Titans. They had a good plan on the two of those runs, and they got out on us. You know, we got a little loose as a defense as a whole, but for the most part, the guys were playing attack and getting off blocks, and they were making plays. But, you know, it just goes to show, like, in this league, you can never fall asleep. And unfortunately, those two plays, we can’t get those back. But the guys, you know, they came in just ready to go and they are a proud defensive line, they’re proud defense, and they know we got to correct what happened last week.”
When Myles is out there trying to get this sack record. And now you’ve got teams that are going to be determined to try to stop that from happening the way that the Titans did. What challenges does that present for you guys?
“Yeah, I mean, every week, every team in the NFL, I mean, a Myles plan, right? I mean, he’s the most dominant pass rusher in the NFL. So every week he’s seeing chips, he’s seeing guys coming from outside in, double teams, sometimes triple teams. And the biggest thing is the other guys have to continue to step up and make plays. You know, there’s going to be teams that are going to try to neutralize Myles, and he’s going to do his best to try and get open and get his like he did this past week. But, you know, other guys have to step up and make plays as well.”
Do you feel he’s the most dominant defensive player you’ve ever seen?
“Me, personally, yes. You know, I mean, some people might disagree, but working with him up close now for two years and just seeing the type of athlete that he is, with the size that he has and the strength and the explosive ability and the bend and the flexibility and the movement skills – there’s no one that I can think of that can do some of the things that he does. You know, he’s routinely getting chipped from tight ends, backs. He’s routinely getting the slide coming to him, a guard coming off and helping out. So, you know, when you got that much attention for you every week and you’re still putting up the numbers that he’s putting up, that’s pretty special. I may be biased, but yeah, I mean, I think he’s the best defensive player I’ve ever seen.”
So when you say that, just to clarify, I mean, LT (Lawrence Taylor) is widely regarded as the greatest defender of all time, are you sort of saying that you think Myles has exceeded LT and has taken over the mantle of the greatest defender of all time?
“I’m saying, me personally, with the person that I worked with. I didn’t work with LT. I was a kid when LT was record shot, okay? And I have all the respect in the world for guys like LT, Bruce Smith – the minister of defense – Reggie White, Greene from the L.A. Rams – Kevin Greene. I got all the type of respect for these guys. But I wasn’t around, watching those guys up close every game. And I don’t know how much chips they were getting and what teams were doing to try and stop them. You know, I just know this from 10 years that I was in the NFL as a player for six years now as a coach, I haven’t seen a more dominant football player than that.”
How’s Mike Hall Jr. coming along in obviously being pushed into a bigger role with injuries and whatnot?
“Yeah, Mike has done a good job of, first of all, getting back from injury and just working back into the lineup and doing all he can to try and contribute for the team. He’s continually developing every day. We work together individually, we watch film together. He comes out early in practice, stays a little later for walk through and things like that. So he’s doing everything he can so he can continue to play like how he’s been playing. Again with everybody’s attention on Myles and things happening with, obviously with Maliek (Collins) now being out. We need all those guys to continue to step up.”
We hear all the time about your line being the engine of the defense and how what you guys do up front triples back into the linebackers and the secondary. But for you, how do those players, safeties, the corners and the linebackers play maybe impact you guys and what they’re able to do back there, how does that impact the line?
“Yeah, I mean, we always talk about rush and coverage needs to work together and our job is simple. We’re out there to go just wreck shop and penetrate, disrupt, rush our butts off as much as we can. They’re going to give us time, we’re going to get home. And if things happen that either we’re not doing our job or they’re not doing their job, we correct it. There’s no finger pointing or anything like that. We’re all about working together, and it’s a tight knit group. Those guys, we never think about anything about the score or anything like that. We just go out there and just play. I haven’t enjoyed the losses, but I’ve enjoyed working with this group of men – the character, the work ethic. And it all started in the Spring with Jim Schwartz talking about, ‘hungry dogs run faster.’ Those guys really like bought into that and they’ve been working their butts off since OTAs. So we still got four more games to go. We still got a lot of work to do. And I think the guys, as I said before, they have a lot of pride, and they’re going to come out here and put some work in.”
When you guys talk about all, you know, pitching in to make sure that Myles gets this sack record, it seems like a lot of the guys have been selfless about that. You know, Grant (Delpit) talks about, “I’m going to hold up the quarterback and let Myles come over and get the sack,” which of course he tried to do in the past game. But, you know, Alex Wright, it looked like he may have been eligible for half a sack in the past game, but he willingly gave that up. So is this a group effort? And then how do you feel about everybody pitching in like that?
“Yeah, we laugh in the room that, anybody that’s close to getting a sack, they better give it to Myles. But no, I mean, the guys really appreciate playing alongside him. And you can see it, they’re all happy for him when he gets sacks and they’re all working together. I mean, everybody wants to get one, right? Everybody wants to rush with Myles. Everybody wants to get out there on third down and get their opportunities. But we know that four equals one. Myles can’t do what he’s doing unless everybody else is working to collapse the pocket, squeeze the pocket and help flush the quarterback either to Myles or step up so Myles can come underneath or one of those other guys get the sack. So it’s not something where everybody’s like, ‘Hey, hold the quarterback up for Myles.’ They’re all trying to get sacks too. It’s just that, you know, we know Myles is going to win. We know he’s going to win. Who else is going to win? Who else is going to win their one-on-one matchup or push the pocket enough where somebody gets a sack, not just Myles.”
How would you describe Mason’s (Graham) rookie season and the development. I know he thinks he’s been playing better lately. What have you seen out of him?
“Thank God. When that kid first showed up and I think we all saw him, you know, we saw that picture of him throwing up, eating too much and throwing up and stuff. And I talk about just how he responds. You know, he works so hard. I don’t think people realize just how hard that guy works and how detailed he is in his rush plan and how smart he is. You know, you watch him before the games, he’s calling out where all the runs are going, every single play. He has a good relationship with Carson (Schwesinger). He does a great job at the point of attack, away from the point of attack. He can shimmy through all the trash to close and make a play on the running back. So, I mean, that kid probably – I’m biased again, one of my favorite draft picks ever because he just works. He doesn’t care about getting any type of recognition whatsoever. He doesn’t care about getting stats. He just wants to win, and he wants everybody else to play well. I’m happy that we have that guy. He’s done a heck of a job. He’s going to be a great pro for a long time, and I think he’s just scratching the surface of his potential.”
Jacques, what’s it been like just working with Jim, this season and you know, the wins haven’t come, just his attitude and the way he… it seems like it rubs off on the whole defense to still be one of the top units?
“Yeah, Jim has been a great leader and the thing about him is he just keeps the energy up. You know, it’s about energy. It’s about having swag. It’s about continuing to believe in each other, believing in not only each other, but yourself. And, we haven’t been perfect this season, right? But again, Jim, he always lets us know, like, ‘hey, we’re this close to getting what we want.’ You know, it’s a gap here, a missed tackle here or a misfit here. But we are a really good dominating defense, because of his leadership and all the guys buying into what he wants to get done.”
Going back to Myles and just how dominant he’s been, Jim actually said a couple weeks ago that you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who’s more valuable in this league than Myles kind of eluding to him being an MVP candidate. We know that award has become such a quarterback driven award at this point. What do you think it would take for like an edge rusher or a defensive player to actually bring that award home? And do you think Myles is maybe making the best case that we’ve seen for that?
“I definitely think he’s making a case for that. I told him, ‘Hey, look, man, let’s leave no doubt, get have 30 sacks,’ alright? He’s like, ‘The record’s 23.’ And I’m like, ‘Leave no doubt and just keep being dominant.’ And honestly, he’s not really thinking about things like that. He’s thinking about just every day, every week he wants to get a win and whatever that takes. If it takes him getting five sacks, if it takes him getting one sack, if it takes him setting up a player, another player setting him up, he just wants to get a win. I want to get a win, too, but I also want him to get sacks. Because he deserves it. He works hard for it. So, you know, it is what it is with that award. I think, if there’s a defensive player that is breaking records, that is routinely getting double and triple teamed and is making offensive coordinators lose sleep at night, I think he presents a good case for winning that award.”
We always hear that it’s not always all about the sacks. And everyone obviously praises his tackles for loss and all those kinds of things, but why is it in the end really all about the sacks?
“Well, the most important position on an offense is what? Quarterback. Okay, so if you’re getting a quarterback down and you’re hitting the quarterback and you’re chasing the quarterback and you’re keeping them off schedule, and you’re pressuring them every play, that messes up an offense. So I think, with getting sacks and getting to the quarterback and making that quarterback look at the rush and not look at the coverage, I mean, that’s why those things are important. I try not to put a big emphasis on sacks more, ‘Hey, let’s get pressure on the quarterback. Get him down on the ground. Keep hitting them, keep hitting them.’ But the sacks, you know, that’s just, that’s what gets your name in the paper. Sacks and TFLs. And Myles is closing on another record – all time TFL record in the NFL too. He don’t even talk about that. I mean, he’s improved his run defense so much since I’ve been here. The way he’s rushing is amazing. And I just, it’s a special year for him as far as statistically. I know he wants to get wins and play in the playoffs and things like that, but you can’t just overlook just what he’s done this whole entire year.”
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