DC Joe Woods (12.11.20)
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods:
On Ravens QB Lamar Jackson as a player and Jackson’s performance last week:
“Obviously, that is a problem (laughter). He looked good. He looked like himself. Just based on their offense, the offense is around him. Even when you do things right and you are in the spots, that one guy has to make the tackle on him, and that is what makes it difficult. When you watch teams try to defend him, they have guys in the right spots and they just can’t get him on the ground. We really have to be good with our scheme. We have to get multiple guys around him in order to contain him. The other element of him being able to run is that so many guys are worried about the run, it opens up the pass game. We just have to be smart, execute our job and just get a lot guys to the football.”
On DE Myles Garrett’s first game back and if Garrett will have his legs underneath him even more on Monday:
“We definitely appreciated having him out there. It makes you feel good, especially when you are calling defenses. He played a lot of snaps. He was definitely tired after the game. I went right to him, ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘I am tired, Coach.’ We knew that was going to be part of him coming back off COVID. This week, he will be in better shape. He will have more practices under his belt, and he should be good to go.”
On how happy he was with the execution of using five Browns DL during Titans game and the potential to use it going forward:
“Definitely, that is what we talk about, as well. It is something that we have within our defense. We run it more in situations. We kind of add it to the package. It was something I was familiar with when I was back in Denver. It was a good gameplan for those guys. Early on, we defended the run well enough and we got the lead just based on what our offense was doing that they got out of the run/play action mindset, which helped us.”
On Jackson as a runner:
“Just electric. You guys see it. It looks like he is playing at a different speed than anybody else on the field. He is a dynamic player whenever he is running the ball. Just over the years, he is definitely throwing the ball. You can see him go through his progressions on tape. You can see him make accurate throws. We just have to be on top of our technique. It is not one guy getting him down or two guys. We need all 11 to get to the ball because he is going to make guys miss. It is going to happen. You have to acknowledge it, but you just can’t give up the big one.”
On how different the Ravens’ run is game compared to the Titans’ with Jackson’s ability in the running game:
“The whole system again is built around him. They do some very unique things in the run game. You have to be very, very sound. They really make you play gap responsibility football with a lot of stuff telling you to do something else. Their running game is very effective just because of the threat of him keeping the ball, as well as their ability to run it. All three of their backs, you can see that they run well, they all run downhill, they run with power and they can make you miss. It is very tough to deal with.”
On Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins:
“He has great balance and body control. You can see the speed. He can run around the edge and beat you with speed or he will try to run you over. You see both on tape. When you put it all together with everything they do with the misdirection in the run game and the ability for the quarterback to keep it, he is running the ball with some big holes in there. We have to make sure that again we just execute our responsibilities and really just try to limit the explosive gains.”
On if S Tedric Thompson will be able to contribute this week:
“We are going to keep evaluating that every day, just to see if we can get him up to speed. We will evaluate him today and tomorrow and then make a decision.”
On if there were potentially missed penalty calls on players blocking DE Myles Garrett last week and if Garrett makes it hard for officials because of his leverage, lean, bend and ability:
“I do not know. At times, you wish they would throw the flag a little bit more, but I feel like the officials do a good job. Every coach calls for flags, but it is part of the game. It happens up front. It happens in the back end. It is just something as a player you have to acknowledge and you just have to play through it, especially with all of the protection that is going to go Myles’ way.”
On if Myles complains at all about potentially missed penalty calls:
“Not at all. He knows and he understands that he just has to play through it.”
On coaching players on how to get QBs down when running near the sidelines while also not drawing a flag:
“You just have to be smart. We talk about it, especially with [Lamar] because he is a guy where he will run, you think he is going out of bounds and you see him stop and guys run right past him. We have to make sure if he is in bounds we are going to do everything legally to get him on the ground. We just have to finish really through that echo of the whistle.”
On CB M.J. Stewart Jr. stepping up and making plays in recent weeks, including the interception:
“I really love this defense and this team because I feel like we fight every week and I feel like we are getting different contributors every week. I talked to you guys before, at the beginning of the season, I just felt like this is the year that everybody is going to have to play. He stepped in multiple times this year and has done a nice job. I feel like he is getting confidence and he is getting better. Who knows who the next guy is going to be? I was really proud of how he played and happy for him.”
On DT Sheldon Richardson’s big plays last week and what Richardson has meant to the Browns defense, in addition to those type of plays:
“I love Sheldon. He is a great player for this team. He comes to work always happy, the jokester guy who keeps everything light, and when it is time to go play, he plays. He has played at a high level for a long time. We actually moved him last week and we played him out more on the tackle in that position. He plays a little differently technique wise so we talked about it all week, and the play he forced the fumble on is exactly what happened during the week. I just really appreciate having him in on the team and coaching him. I feel like he has played well this year for us.”
On how much of the Week 1 tape he watched this week and areas of improvement for the Browns defense since the first game:
“We have come a long way just in terms of figuring out what we do well. Looking back at that game, it felt like are we really playing? I remember walking up to (assistant strength and conditioning coach) Dale (Jones) and nobody in the stands with everything going on. I just felt early on we just did not perform well. I did not feel like I had a great game calling it. Just looking back at it, you can see the areas that we did well and you can see the areas that we can clean up. I feel like we have progressed just in terms of what we are doing so I feel like this game, we will be a little bit better prepared to play these guys.”
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