Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (10.2.25)
How different is it being in London?
“Not really, I mean up until Wednesday it was perfectly normal, and just getting on the plane, and then going. It seems like almost like a short week schedule, but that’s just for one day. By the time we get to tomorrow, it’ll be a normal Friday and normal Saturday, and we’ll feel like we’re back on schedule. So, just a little bit different today.”
How do you evaluate last week?
“We lost the game. Yeah, you don’t get a whole lot from me with judgement on anything other than wins and losses because we didn’t do enough to win the game.”
Can you maybe just address how the quarterback change impacts you guys as a defense and what sort of is the mindset for you guys?
“Well, I mean number one, we have to take care of our business, and we have to try to be the best versions of ourselves and not worry about all those other things. But there is a responsibility that goes along with starting a rookie quarterback. It’s up to us to get stops and keep them in position so that he doesn’t feel the need to do too much. Last thing you wanna do with a rookie quarterback is put him in a situation where he’s got to score every time he has the ball, then you’re going to see mistakes. So, if we do our part, then that can help but our part is trying to be us, trying to get stops, trying to take the ball away, you know tackle fundamentals, all those things.”
Jim, (Dillon) Gabriel said he hopes to bring energy and juice to the offense. Can that help the defense?
“Oh, for sure. Energy is contagious and you know, the way we preach, that’s one of the things that we preach. We preach physical toughness, physicality on defense. We preach effort and we preach energy and enthusiasm and those kinds of things. So yeah, certainly that stuff’s contagious. I feel like when we do a good job of that, it can be contagious to the offense, and I would expect the same, it would be a lift for us too.”
What do you make of Minnesota’s offensive line, just their O-lineman?
“Yeah, they probably don’t get a lot of sympathy from our guys, do they? Yeah, it is what it is. I mean injuries are part of the game, you know and it’s an opportunity for some guys to step up and see what they can do. It’s up to us to try to exploit those matchups, so you know that’s a big part of the game. Usually as our defensive line goes, we go. They’re the tempo setter for us. They’re the people that we lean on to be our engine. And you know, if they can capitalize on some of those matchups, all the better for us.”
It looks like Carson Wentz is going to start for them, JJ (McCarthy) didn’t practice. So, what, you know, what are you seeing in person? What do you guys have to be accounted for?
“Yeah, veteran quarterback, been around long time, big arm, has good weapons. You know, getting (Jordan) Addison back last week really helped them. Obviously (Justin) Jefferson, but (TJ) Hockenson and you know, I mean (Jordan) Mason’s a good running back. So even though they’ve had some injuries, they still got a lot of talented guys and you know, he does a pretty good job of getting the ball in those playmakers hands and you know, we’ll have to play our best to come out with a win.”
How do you feel against Jefferson?
“Well, I think he’s been in the league six years, he’s four time all-pro – you guys have to fact check me on that. That’s pretty unique, you know? There’s some guys that are really good route runners. There’s some guys that just have great hands. There’s some guys that have really good run after to catch. You know, some guys have speed, some guys have size. He’s checking all those boxes and then the final check is productivity and everybody knows he wears number 18 and it’s easy to find him, but he’s still able to be productive. You know, particularly when Addison was down early in the season when he was suspended, you know, Jefferson really carried a load. So, guys that can do that, we have a lot of respect for, but he’s just a really, really good all-around player and we need to know where he is throughout the game, but particularly on third down.”
Heading into the game, are you confident you’re going to have Myles Garrett?
“Yeah, I’ll let Kevin (Stefanski) talk about injuries. That’s really not my thing. Nice try though.”
We don’t have him (Head Coach Kevin Stefanski) today, so we don’t know.
“You’ll get him tomorrow then. Injury report will be out. We’ll see what that looks like. I don’t want to jinx myself. We’ll have 11 on the field at all times, so.”
And just from Myles’ (Garrett) standpoint, obviously you guys were, you know, held without a sack, but you got good pressure and everything last game. But just how important obviously is it to have Myles out there doing his thing and how does that trickle down to everybody else on that line?
“Yeah, I mean, it obviously makes everybody better. It makes our coverage better. You know, all those different things. You know, there was a time…I can’t remember what point of the game it was. Maybe were down 17 in the fourth quarter and Myles was rushing and I was just, in my mind, I saw him reach, sack strip and pick it up and score and all of a sudden, you know, it’s just like the week before, it’s 10-point game and here we go. He was literally inches away from that play, you know, and, and again, he still played good against the run. He was playing banged up a little bit in that game, but still able to be productive. But to get those sacks, to get those lost yardage plays and then also the high percentage of turnovers when you’re hitting the quarterback. Like the interception that Denzel (Ward) had was a direct result of what the guys did up front. Shelby (Harris) cracked a stunt up front. Quarterback had a guy in his face, he had to elevate the ball high. Denzel did a really good job in the coverage. We did overlap and were rewarded with a turnover. So, it all really goes down to pass rush and even if you’re not sacking the quarterback, if you’re affecting the quarterback, making him throw before he wants to, or make him make errant throws, then it’s part of it goes. (Carson) Wentz has fumbled a lot in his career and we gotta be aggressive at the ball when we’re in the pocket there because there’s gonna be opportunities there.”
The final score was what it was but how would you grade out the run defense against the Detroit Lions?
“Yeah, I mean, we gave up 100 yards. I mean, hard to be happy about that. If you really sort of fine tune it, half of the running game came on two plays, but it all still counts. I mean, that’s sort of the flip side of what I always say, like you get a tackle for a loss for minus five and you get a sack for minus five. It’s the same thing. Well, you give up a 23-yard run or 23-yard pass, it’s still the same thing. So weren’t happy with that. We didn’t do a good enough job protecting our edges on (Jahmyr) Gibbs. I thought we did a good job against (David) Montgomery and we were ready for the trick play, they tried to reverse and were able to get that, but gave Gibbs too many opportunities and he’s a tough guy to handle in the open field and you know, he’s a little bit like a, like a knockout boxer. You can be holding them off, holding them off and all of a sudden he hits you with one and it’s a knockout. And that’s the way that game sort of went. You know, we were holding him, holding him, and then all of a sudden, he’s hitting us with a couple haymakers, and I thought that really flipped it. So certainly not happy with that. We got to get back to that good challenge this week. I’m seeing a lot of wide zone from Minnesota, so hopefully we can correct some of that stuff from last week and put a better performance out this week.”
Having two back-to-back games with takeaways, how beneficial has it been for momentum for the defense? And knowing, like you said, that how Wentz plays and he’s fumbled…
“I mean, turnovers certainly give you energy. You know, we obviously made the one interception, I consider a fourth down stop a turnover also. I mean, it’s in the definition, a turnover on downs. So, you know, that was a big spot at that point of the game to keep it there. But yeah, there’s nothing that really gets your energy going, your momentum going than lost yardage plays, turnovers, big third down stops, big hits. All those things are contagious and have some good carry over for us.”
What does Addison bring to that pass game for them?
“Yeah, he’s got a lot of speed and he’s a guy that can win one on one. He did last week on a couple of plays. I mean, he went right in and had 114 (receiving yards), I want to say…you guys always have to fact check me, I think it was 114 yards. So right away was productive. Young player, but he’s got a lot of experience now over the last few years and definitely brings a speed element to them.”
Playing off of Jefferson, I mean, how does it sort of play for him?
“Yeah, I mean, and (TJ) Hockenson has something to do with that inside. He’s a good tight end, but obviously, you put too much attention on Jefferson, you know, then Addison’s a guy that can hit a home run. If you put too much on him, then Jefferson’s there. So having two guys, obviously, to be able to play off each other and try to command the coverage, that goes a long way. Fortunately, we got two good corners too.”
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