Cornerbacks Coach Brandon Lynch (10.10.25)
Can you just give us your thoughts on the trade, and how you feel about Greg (Newsome II) leaving, Tyson (Campbell) coming and just how’s that all going?
“Yes. You know what, the biggest thing with the trade, I’m extremely excited for Greg. That’s a young guy who’s really earned it. You know, we talked about, really making every rep a statement. This is a young guy, since he’s been in the building, you’ve really seen him mature in that aspect. So, to see him have an opportunity go somewhere else, really have grassroots in a different organization and really be a leader there, I’m really excited for him and his family.”
What about your first impressions of Tyson? I mean, I know he got here very quickly and then was on the practice field and how you think he’ll fit in the room?
“Sure. You know, Kevin (Stefanski) talks about being tough and competitive and that’s a young guy who is arrow up in all of those categories. You know, we talk about, who we play, what they play, what we play, best personnel in our 2d in reference to injuries. This is the AFC North, so we got to have guys that play physically violent. We got to have guys that give great effort and guys that play with swag and passion. So, looking forward to him, like really being in our culture and really being arrow up in everything else.”
So how much was, you know, maybe a schematic, not a fit? You know, Jim (Schwartz) talked a little bit about, you know, how Jacksonville had changed schemes this year with the new head coach. How much did maybe coming here going to help kind of fit what Tyson does best?
“Sure. You know, and speaking to different schemes, you know, I’m not so sure, where he might not have been a fit there. But like what we do as far as playing press man, we really like guys that have like 32-inch arms, right? Like guys that want to be in the run fit. We talk about throwing that willing word out. We want guys that want contact, seek contact, like guys that want to go get back off blocks and make the plays. And he’s one of those guys and being in this division where we got to stop the run first. Really excited to see, what he’s going to do for our defense. And again, physically violent player, right? So, you know, him fitting into our team culture, just being tough, being competitive, really being physically violent out there with effort and swag., I’m glad that the young man’s here.”
So, from your perspective, like, I don’t even know if you were sleeping, like, when the trade went down. Like, how does that happen? Like, how do you find out what’s your next steps? Are you watching film, his prior film to try to get him up to speed and see his strengths? Like, as a position coach, how do you go about, like, really, like, integrating somebody into the schemes?
“You know what, I’m gonna give you a quote that was given to myself when we transitioned from a player. It said, ‘when the student fails, the teacher gets the F. Find a way for all students to earn an A.’ So for this young guy to come in, we got to do a really good job simplifying the complex and really simplistically put, we want him to perform the standard. And our standard is do what we’re supposed to do when we’re supposed to do it every time. What is he supposed to be doing? I want that young guy to go out there, physically be violent. I want him to giv great effort and play with swag and passion. So really simplifying that what’s important to us, I think it’s going to really help his learning curve.”
How much of, like a prior experience did you have, like in the draft, did you, like, scout him maybe, or like watch film on him? Like, how much did you know beforehand?
“Sure. You know, he’s played a lot of snaps, right? And he’s seen a lot of ball. Like, we talk about that shared situational awareness. That’s a really real thing, you know, so him being able to have prior knowledge with motions and splits, like prior knowledge of situations that are going to be important, you know, when are runs coming, when are play action passes coming, when’s drop back pass coming, right? Like, with him having a wealth of knowledge like that, it really helps that learning curve. And then what we do, right? We pride ourselves with Jim (Schwartz) really simplifying it. Jim wants us to be the tip of spear, right? He wants us to really get tight, stay tight, so our defensive line can really operate and in our nerve center, we can go ahead and back those guys up.”
So, can you expect him to come in Sunday and play all games for you? Jim sounded like that was a goal. Watching him out there yesterday, confident that he can do that?
“Sure. You know, it’s always the goal as a teacher to get your students up to speed as fast as they can. And in my opinion, he’s a culture guy, right? So simplistically put, that young guy is going to go out there and do the things that are required to be great in this league, especially in the AFC North. All he has to go out there to do, to operate, is be at his best when his best is required with his violence, his effort, and really do a really good job with passion.”
So yesterday, like on the practice field, for example, are you spending most of your time with him just getting him comfortable, terminology, all that kind of things. Did you stay late with him yesterday?
“Sure. That’s a great question. You know, and I say that he’s a come early, stay late guy. So, he’s a young guy, we stayed, after practice. He’s a young guy that after he got lunch, he immediately came up so that he can digest our terminology. The techniques, a lot of the techniques are going to be a lot of the same. There’s some details and things that we put of more importance, but really him nailing down, what is our terms, so that he can play fast, he can play free, and then we can end up seeing what he does out there. And the other guys that’s in the room, they really help that, right? So having a culture that’s really inclusive of guys that are coming in, great players want to be around great players, right? So, that learning curve, like sitting with Denzel (Ward), him being able to ask Myles (Garrett) certain questions. He’s familiar with Ray (Rayshawn Jenkins) and Grant (Delpit), so them being able to have nerve talk and really nail down what those terms are, is going help.”
I’m sure terminology is one of those things, but are there other key indicators for guys that are coming in on such a short notice to know that you have the confidence that they’ll be ready? Are those things that you can pick out from practice, pick out in the meeting rooms to know that, okay, we’ll be good here if he’s out there.
“Yes. You know, I think that as a teacher, one, you have to know your personnel, and you have to have knowledge of personnel around the league. So, having the opportunity meet with him a few years ago at the combine, you know, there are some very tell signs as a student. Like with him, he’s a visual learner. He really loves to get reps on task. He picks it up extremely well, especially when he chunks his notes. So, really just organizing that information for him, you know, you can see the light bulb go off. And I think that for us as teachers, the most exciting thing is the young guy is excited to learn, right? He’s a guy that really wants the information and as a teacher you can see that he can handle more information. He wants the 201, the 301. He wants to know the why behind it, right? So being able to clearly articulate it’s going to end up helping him move faster.”
Aaron Rodgers, what kind of pressure does he put on your position specifically? Because of, you know, the years he has. I mean, just everything about what makes Aaron Rodgers great.
“For sure, Hall of Fame player, right? You cannot ever discount reps on task. You know, he has a million of them. You know, so the fact that he’s really good with his hard count. He’s really good at seeing, the full picture of the field, right? You’re not going to disguise him. You’re going to have to out-execute him, you’re going to have to out-hit that team, you’re going to have to tackle in space, you’re going to have to get off blocks. We’re going to have to communicate and we’re going to have to execute. But more importantly, we’re going to have to do what’s important to us.”
What have you seen, Jim mentioned that like, if Tyson isn’t able to take like a full workload, Dom Jones is a guy that could step into that. What have you seen? I mean he seems like, I know he fits that profile physically that you guys are looking for with the long arms and the big size. What do we see from him?
“From Dom, tough and competitive, right? That’s something that I thought that AB (Andrew Berry) and Kevin did a really good job on and very laser-focused job on bringing guys in that were going to be tough, competitive students that want to play hard and play smart. So, when you think about Dom, he’s a guy – thankfully he’s been here since rookie camp. But he’s arrowed up every single day. You know, we talk about really making things a statement and taking advantage of our opportunities. He’s a young guy that has taken advantage of every opportunity as a student, you know, as a mentee, right? Being able to talk to guys like Greg, MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.), (Denzel) Ward out there, and I think for him specifically the confidence piece. For him to be around other great players and other great players really notion that they love the way that he plays, his play style, his effort, physicality. He’s a trusted teammate because he’s arrowed up and communicating. You know, all of those things give us confidence to put him out there to operate.”
So, Denzel (Ward) yesterday morning talked about being hurt by the trade, by the Greg trade, and, you know, shedding tears. So, what was that room like yesterday? And did you have to kind of talk to those guys and get their heads right, moving to a big game on Sunday?
“Sure. That is a fantastic question. And perspective, okay? And the perspective is selfishly, yeah, we always want to be around our loved ones, right? They love him. We all love him. Our building loves him. But the other thing, how excited we are for him to move forward and helping another room, for him to really grow and put other things on tape. And then we’re really excited to bring Tyson in. I think that when Tyson got in the building and you can immediately see, competitors want to be around competitors. So, the fact that, you know, him and Denzel immediately are starting to talk. They’re immediately immersed in the details. Like I said, he’s a student, so for him to go up to Denzel and ask, you know, what are you reading? What’s your alignments? You know, when can we talk about split indicators? You know, that really helped not necessarily soften that, but that really helped the blow of the room, of we’re bringing in another culture guy who can help us win.”
Brandon, so have you been able to keep your food down since that final game winning touchdown drive by the (Minnesota) Vikings?
“You know, Ms. Mary (Kay Cabot), I try not to move with the pendulum, right? Like, try to stay very still. You know, we want to be at our best when the best is required. And to do that, we all have to move forward. So, has it been tough? Absolutely. You know, but at the same time, you know, you need certain things like that in your career so that you can be complete and lacking nothing. So, I’m really thankful for the benefits of that, right? For the benefits of myself as a teacher as far as operating fast, being able to make sound, fast adjustments, and also for the students, for all of us to go through that situation together and understand that we got to be resilient together, just like Coach Kevin says.”
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