Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (1.1.26)
Jim, why has this been a matchup – as good as they are offensively – why have you guys had some relative success against them as a defense, Cincinnati?
“Well, I mean, I think the way our teams match up, their obvious strength is their wide receivers in their passing game. And we’ve had good corners, and we trust those guys to be able to play, and we have good pass rush. So, you know, I think a lot of that goes into it. And it’s division football – teams know each other pretty well and, you know, it’s just a matter of going out and playing. But I would say this, like any success or lack of success over the last three years means nothing in this game. This game will stand alone, and we have to finish our preparation. We have to go out and, you know, play with a lot of toughness and effort and physicality. And if we do those things, we’ll feel good about ourselves and coming out with the win.”
Jim, just how good was that sequence at the end of the game by Denzel (Ward)?
“Yeah, I mean, it really, like, you probably couldn’t have scripted it any better from my comments last week. I guess it was last week when we talked about Denzel and about how, like, people don’t throw at him. And they didn’t throw at him the whole game. And then the coverage that we were playing was forcing them to go outside, right? It was like, ‘Okay, let’s take away the inside part of the field, and let’s force them to take the lowest percentage throws outside,’ which, oh, by the way, you know, you’re either going to be throwing at Denzel or you’re going to be throwing at Tyson (Campbell) and we like both of those. So that’s just Denzel – his ability, and he had three different techniques on those, too. Like, the technique he played just, he played so square, they couldn’t get him out of square. First play to receiver couldn’t run his route. The second play, receiver couldn’t run his route. The third one, they tried to double move him and, you know, get a little hesitant in there. And he just had great timing. So, you know, that’s the Denzel we know, and that’s why people don’t throw. But that’s also why in those situations, we had the confidence to play a defense that forced them to throw the ball outside. That’s where their opportunity was going to be. But also, we like those matchups and we like those players.”
Tyson said after the game that it was like night and day with the first (Pittsburgh) Steelers game – when it was his first game here – to last week. So how has he been? Has he been everything basically you thought he would be when he got here in this system?
“Yeah, there’s a perfect example of that. And there was a deep ball that got thrown in the first game, and he had good coverage but didn’t find the ball, right? We talked about that. You know, some people are trained, particularly high school and college guys, a lot of times they train them not to look for the ball, and they just play flashes of hands and things like that. But we want our guys to get their head around a little bit earlier and stuff like that. And you saw a perfect example of that when they tried the Scotty Miller play on fourth and one. Great coverage, but also just great locating the ball. And the quarterback couldn’t throw the guy open because the corner was staring at him, because Tyson was staring at him. So, you know, I think that he had some flashes in that first game. I mean, that’s a tough situation. – number one, he plays on Monday night. He gets one day of practice. You know, he’s got to try to put everything in; I’m not making any excuses for anybody, because there’s never any excuses, but there may be reasons, right? And we’ve said that before. But, you know, as proud as I am of Tyson on playing that coverage stuff – a little bit like when I talk about Myles (Garrett) and the TFLs – I’m even more proud of Tyson Campbell when it comes to the physicality and the way he plays the run game. And that’s been the thing that’s really earned him the respect, not just from the coaches, but from the other players and his opponents.”
Did you think Pittsburgh or Aaron (Rodgers) altered their game plan regarding Myles not trying to get that sack record?
“Well, I mean, they are always Myles-conscious. Everybody’s Myles-aware. They have to be because otherwise he’ll just completely wreck your game. So, everybody starts their game plan with saying, ‘okay, 95 is not going to beat us, and let’s see if we can play it another way.’ I would say this – it helped us because most of the time, the guy that was chipping Myles was (Kenneth) Gainwell. And with the injuries that they had with losing DK (Metcalf) and not having (Calvin) Austin, Gainwell was their number one receiver. So, it’s a little bit like swapping queens to get checkmate a couple plays later. I haven’t given you any chess, I used to have a lot of chess, I used to play a lot more way back in the day, but, you know, it was a little bit like that. They took a very important piece out of their offense to try to take an important piece out of ours. And I think that had a lot to do with how it went. But I think, you know, the way this game went, like, our corners played extremely well, you know, and it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s hard to cover on the outside part of the field. Rodgers is a Hall of Famer. They have very capable guys that can play. And Tyson and Denzel played outstanding on the outside part of the field. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Tre Avery, because Tre’s bounced around, undrafted free agent – had a couple different teams up and down from the practice squad this year. And we lost Myles Harden, and we did a workout before the game, he just wasn’t able to go. And Tre had to step in and play. Other than like, one of his first plays was that rub pick on the one third down, which I’d like a little better awareness of just knowing that’s coming to avoid that situation, but settled down on the sideline and played outstanding ball for us. He tackled, he played tight coverage, he played sticky. You want to watch those really, the last four plays of that game – watch Tre. Watch how he’s loving receivers and played really good, but communicated really well, played with some effort, you know, and he was a guy that, whatever Wednesday before, really wasn’t in the game plan. But we talk a lot about being able to do your job and don’t be a weak link. And not only was he not the weak link, but he was a strong link for him. Guys like Tre, guys like Rayshawn Jenkins – Ray, depending on how the game’s played, sometimes Ray plays five plays on defense. Sometimes like this last game, San Francisco, Steelers, he’s playing 35. But he played really, really physically. He covered well. He was in man to man a lot on those guys, played with great effort, played with great spirit and made a big, big contribution. So, we got some good contributions from those guys. It just wasn’t the guys on the outside.”
Hey, Jim, there’s going to be several coaching openings after Sunday. Did you want to be a head coach again?
“Yeah, I’ve answered that question a lot of times, and I just want to keep focus on the Cincinnati Bengals. Like, we need to finish with a win. We felt good about last week and coming out with a win against a division opponent. Not just a division opponent, but a team that was sort of a quasi-playoff game because if they won, they were in. And we didn’t want those guys putting hats and T-shirts on in our stadium. I know our fans didn’t want to see that. We certainly recognize and respect the history of the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. So, we took a lot of pride in that, and we’ll take a lot of pride in this game and we’ll keep it focused. We’ll keep it focused on that.”
Yeah, but I understand that. Can you just talk about the itch to be a head coach?
“No. No, I’ve answered that. I’ve answered that enough times, and I think I’m gonna respect this game and keep the focus on this game, because anything else is not what we’re focused on this week. Sorry, Jeff (Schudel).”
Jim, Myles has talked about when you guys faced Buffalo, Josh (Allen) rolling away from him a lot more. Have you noticed – teams are obviously going to scheme away from Myles, but have you noticed as the season’s gone on, teams more dramatically than even they would normally do, play designs and everything going away from Myles?
“Oh, I mean yeah. I mean, he’s been on a pace for an NFL record, and that’s going to get anybody’s attention. And everybody’s going to try to scheme it. When we’re on defense, we say, ‘okay, what are the best weapons that an offense has, and how can we try to neutralize those weapons while playing within our personality?’ Opponents do the same thing. Opponents know. I mean, and I’ve said this before, it’s a corny thing to say, but he’s almost 6’5”, he’s 280 pounds, he wears number 95 – he’s easy to find. You know, you’re not going to hide him anywhere, he’s going to get attention wherever he goes. So, you expect opponents to do those things. I think for the most part of the year, we did a good job of making people pay that took that strategy, and a guy that was a really important part of that was Maliek Collins. And Maliek got hurt and hopefully we can get him back and humming and again next year, because that makes a world of difference for guys like Myles when – I mean, just like if you’re an offense and you’ve got a receiver and they decide they want to take that receiver out, and roll coverage to him and double him and everything else. If you got other dudes that can make them pay for that, then you’re in good shape. And I think it just falls on the other 10 guys on the field to make the offense pay when they try to take that approach with Myles.”
I know (Joe) Burrow is always good, but how impressive has he been coming off that toe? It feels like he didn’t miss a beat.
“Yeah, you look at their numbers when he’s been the quarterback this year, and their top of the league in just about everything – number one in third down and right up there in points and red zone and everything else. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. I’ve always had respect for him, because not only is he a talented player, but he plays tough, uses his weapons, gets out of bad plays and into good plays, he can extend the play, but he can also throw it quick from the pocket. So, we respect our opponents, we don’t fear them. But that’s a tough matchup. I mean, last week we played a slam dunk Hall of Famer and we were up for that challenge, and Josh Allen the week before – really it was the run in those first couple series, but I thought our guys were up to that challenge, and I hope we’ll be up to this challenge too.”
Jim, in the off season after Myles’ contract thing and all that, you challenged him to have a career- year and you said with that comes the responsibility…
“Yeah, my Spider-Man…”
But since you got here, you found a way to get more and more out of Myles, it seems each year. Just your thoughts on what you’ve seen from him?
“Well, it’s easy for me, I don’t have to go out and do it. He’s the one that has to go out and do it. I’ll just say this, he has really been on a mission – when he signed that contract and committed to coming back, he’s really been on a mission. And I mean you guys don’t see practice the way we do. But you saw training camp, and I mean, was that the best training camp you’ve seen from Myles Garrett? I mean, it’s the best training camp I’ve seen. So, I think that has something to do with the success that he’s had. He’s been very driven, he’s been trying to carry the load, he’s not afraid of the spotlight – he’s been out in that. He’s been a good leader for us, he’s played the run well. I know I bang that drum probably too many times, but I’m just really proud of the way that he plays the run and he’s been a wrecker on offense – and just hope we can finish strong and set him up to have success in this game also.”
Were you worried that Carson (Schwesinger) was going to have to leave the field when he was limited at the end of that half?
“Well, if it would have been anybody else, I might have been worried. But I mean, during the game, I’d hit Jason Tarver, and I’d be like, ‘Hey, look, do we need to get him out?’ And he’s like, ‘Let him go, let him go, let him go.’ And I was talking to him after every series, and he just said, ‘I can do my job,’ and he could. You know, those last series, what we were trying to do in the last series, is Carson was right in the middle of our defense to take those end breakers away. You know, whether it was the slants and all that different stuff. He’s perfect right in those windows, he’s breaking on the ball, so he was able to still go out and do his job. It’s really been an honor to coach that kid. Again, it’s a little bit like Myles, it’s easy for me, but he’s done everything – and he’s played extremely tough, going back to the ankle sprain. But he’s been all over the injury report. He prepares the same, he goes out and plays effectively. And I think some of the plays that I think he’s played the best are plays that you guys might not notice, because he’ll take something away in the passing game or he’ll play, like, perfectly in the run game and somebody else will make the play. And he’s been a good leader for us – he’s increased that as the season’s gone on, and I look forward to seeing him even take greater strides as a player. Really a cement block for our defense and I think defensive rookie of the year.”
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