Cornerbacks Coach Brandon Lynch (10.18.24)
Well, let’s start with, Jim (Schwartz) yesterday kind of called on the cornerbacks to step up their play and give the effort that he — not effort intensity-wise, but give the type of performance that you guys know they’re capable of. So what are your thoughts on that?
“Yes, ma’am. I think he’s spot on. We hold ourselves accountable to what our standard that has been set. That’s something very, very important to us. We talk about holding our best players the most accountable, and our best players, some of them on defense, are certainly in that room. So that’s something that our guys don’t shy away from it. Luckily the focus is always on the work with those guys, and we got the right guys in the room.”
Brandon, thinking about recent years, thinking about some highlights from your group against the (Cincinnati) Bengals, like Denzel’s (Ward) pick six or Greg (Newsome) going up against Ja’Marr Chase as a rookie. What is it about these matchups that these guys have really excelled when given the opportunity against the Bengals?
“Sure, opportunities multiply as they’re seized. Our guys have really taken advantage of seizing those opportunities, being prepared, having attention to detail, and really executing with urgency. I think that whenever we get in the AFC North or any time that we’re playing on Sunday, that’s at the forefront of it, the urgency to execute for our team. And that’s something that you see in these matchups.”
We’ve talked about how MJ’s (Martin Emerson) kind of slow start to the season, maybe not playing the way that he’s anticipated or expected. And I know Kevin (Stefanski) said it’s kind of a matter of playing the cornerback position. What stood out to you about MJ and maybe some of the opportunities that you want him to kind of capitalize on?
“Sure. You know, the process is the process, right? As long as our guys have toughness, they have effort, they show passion. Obviously, a lot of those things that are in between that, you can work on that. He’s a young guy that works extremely hard, and he’s also a young guy that has proven to be able to be resilient and bounce back. So, looking forward to him putting that on tape.”
Are teams adjusting to what they’ve seen out of Martin now with multiple years? Are you noticing teams attacking him maybe differently now than they had previously?
“You know, I would say no. I think that the style of defense that we play, the edge that we have, and expectation of our group is to win our one-on-ones. I know a lot of people talk about 50-50 balls. We don’t call them that in our room. They’re 80-20 balls. So having the opportunity to just win one or two more of those, they put our segment, as well as him, they put us in a really good position to win on those.”
What are your coaching points to Greg on that crossing that went for a touchdown?
“Yes. You know, awareness, awareness of situations. He’s a very smart player so when we talk about just the details, just attention to detail and just the urgency to execute that detail.”
Joe Burrow is off to a torrid start. Can you just talk about what you’re seeing in Joe and just how well he’s playing?
“Sure. You know what? He has really improved just from being a young player to now being a veteran player. He’s seen a lot of different coverages. Obviously, he has great offensive resources, and he’s one that really processes information fast. You know, we talk about, ‘You never grow broke taking a profit’. He’s very… He embodies what that is. If he sees an open receiver, he gets it out of his hands fast so his guys can execute.”
We saw your guys in camp this year. Martin was one guy that really relished that opportunity to go against Amari (Cooper) in practice. How did he make your guys better?
“First off, he was a great teammate. I think that’s the first way that he made our team better. He stretched them in that aspect, from a communicator to his work ethic, how he handled his business. I think that from a field aspect, anytime that you have a great competitor going against other great competitors, it really sharpens iron there.”
I’m not trying to insinuate that you guys concede anything, but do you expect sometimes that because you guys play a lot of man and that’s what’s best for you guys, that sometimes there’s going to be big plays and that’s going to just kind of happen as part of the process of the game? And along those lines, how much of that do you understand versus how much you’re trying to prevent it I guess?
“Sure. You know, and the question that you asked about, our style of defense and getting pick plays, correct? We talk a lot about expecting the expected. On our style of defense, like what we do, expect the expected, those things are going to happen. So, with that, just the urgency, just to execute. And then just stay ahead of plays, we have the right guys in the room for that reason. So, us expecting the expected, stay ahead of those plays so that we can execute.”
Brandon, I know you guys always use that phrase, ‘Rush at coverage, working together’, but when you have Burrow, who’s getting the ball out so quickly right now, the coverage part of that, how important is that going to be if he’s looking to get the ball out quick before the pass rushers?
“Extremely important. And how we can help in our 1/11, is eliminating garbage yardage. So, spot tackles, being very assertive with our communication so that we can execute and really tackle well on the perimeter so that we can force guys in the third-and-six plus, which now he’s holding the ball, now we can go ahead and match our coverage with rush.”
You mentioned Martin showing the ability to bounce back before and I’m guessing you feel the same way about Greg. So, I’m just curious, coming off the game he had against Philly (Eagles) and getting called out a little bit by Jim, how have you seen Greg handle this week?
“Three things; play fast, attack the ball, execute. A young guy is a very resilient young guy. I think that him having his first child, I think all of us, kind of helps bring out even another level of maturity. So, to have his leadership in the room, having somebody that really understands that, ‘Look, these things happened, that was last week. Let’s put the focus on the work and let’s go ahead and move forward’. I think that I’ve really been proud to see how he’s operated in that aspect.”
Has Ja’Marr taken his game up another level, even though it seems impossible for him to do so?
“Yes, he continues to improve just like Joe. Every year, he improves just with his technique and fundamentals as well. And then system-wise, how they’re using him has helped magnify some of his natural strengths.”
With Joe, we saw the Sunday night game against the (New York) Giants, Joe kind of show his ability to take off and run. I know it’s not a big part of it, but have you noticed him using that a little bit more, using that pocket awareness and stuff to maybe utilize… what pressure does that put on you guys as a position group and as a defense overall?
“Yes, expect the expected, right? We talk about rush and coverage working together, we got to make sure that we’re winning second leverage because when we are tight, we’re expecting him to scramble. Our rush pattern up front, they’re going to keep him in the pocket to capture him. We got to do a really good job making sure our coverage matches that rush. So on second leverage, we know that we have to win the one ones.”
Whenever you guys play the Bengals, it seems like there’s a little extra juice, particularly from their wide receiver group and your DB group. We know from out of practice, especially during training camp, your guys like to talk a lot, they like to talk a lot. Just how much does your group kind of embrace and relish the opportunity to match up with those guys in Cincinnati?
“The thing that our group relishes the most is another opportunity to go out to perform for our team on Sundays. They really do a good job keeping the focus on the work. So, when we talk about, like, competition, the competition is really intermingling amongst ourselves, making sure that we can apply our fundamentals consistently and that we can go out there and we can do the best for our team.
It seems like your main guys, Denzel and Martin, have been in and out of the lineup maybe more than in the past. How much of that is because they’re dealing with injuries and how much is you just want to keep everybody fresh?
“I think that’s probably like a 50/50 split. Our guys do a good job, but it also goes back to trusting the other role players that we have on our team to come in, give us some relief so that when they are not on the field, we won’t miss beats.”
Did you have any reaction, maybe surprise, to the Brook Park news yesterday with the future of the Browns stadium?
“No, sir.”