Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (10.9.25)
Jim, who’s the next man up after Greg Newsome?
“Well, it would be, it would be Tyson (Campbell). He just put boots on the ground. Yeah, he’s a veteran player. We’ve got players ready in less time than that. We have our intricacies, and we have a few things that we do uniquely, but we also do a lot of things that he’s done in the past. Late last night, watched some film of him, and it’s just a matter of him getting terminology down, and he’ll lean on the safeties and the nickels to communicate to him. And then if we need to, we’re excited about Dom Jones also. You know, Dom is sort of, he’s leaped every hurdle we put in front of him since he was an undrafted player. He played well in practice, he played well against Carolina in the practices, played well in the preseason games. He’s big, he’s strong, he plays square, and he plays physical – all things that we like. So, we’ll see where it is, because I haven’t even met him yet. He just put boots on the ground after getting his physical. So, we’ll see where it is and have a good plan for Sunday, whoever it is. But it’d be one of those two guys.”
When you watched the film, what did you see in Tyson that you liked?
“Yeah, well, it was after the fact, it wasn’t – I mean, that’s Kevin (Stefanski) and AB’s (Andrew Berry) thing. And I would say this, we’re really going to miss Greg. Such a good guy, you guys know him, great locker room guy, great worker, great pro, productive player. Always a positive attitude, brought a lot of energy. So, we’re certainly going to miss him. So, our excitement of Tyson in no way diminishes what we felt about Greg. But Tyson’s got size, he’s got excellent straight-line speed, timed well and he has track experience. I mean, the guy’s a former 100-meter, 200-meter state champion in the state of Florida, which will get your attention. You know, he’s a physical player, he’s a good tackler, I’d have to say, probably wasn’t a great fit for their scheme change. And he’s probably a little bit more of a scheme fit for us. He’s a good press cover guy, challenges guys on the outside part of the field. Anytime you get a change in a head coach, defensive coordinator, GM, sometimes decisions and things that they liked about a player’s skill set in a previous regime might not fit. And I think it was that opportunity here. I can’t speak for AB or Kevin. I know I’m up here; they can go into the rationale. We’re excited about having a good player and a guy that’s been productive in the NFL. We’ll try to get him up as quick as we can.”
How much does Denzel (Ward) play a role in being the leader of that cornerback room? How much is he helping get Tyson up to that?
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if it’s going to be on Denzel’s plate to do that. I mean, it’s more just into the culture of the room and things like that that’ll go into it. But coaches will get him up and up to speed on things. And then like in practice, in the games, a lot of the communication comes from safety to corner. So, we can keep him ahead of problems that way, for probably today and maybe a little bit of tomorrow, he’s going to be probably putting things in old terms, and then we’ll see how quickly he can just get it in our terms and be able to go. But like I said, we’ve gotten players ready to play in less time. I mean, there’s been sometimes in preseason games, you get guys like two hours before a game, I think, and get them out there and go. So, we’ll see where that is, but we certainly have high expectations.”
Jim, obviously you’ve done this for a long time, but is there still a shock factor when something like this happens, especially after the first practice of the week?
“I don’t know. I mean, the timing probably isn’t ideal, but, I mean, that’s just the way things are, no different than an injury. I mean, a lot of times you get your first practice of the week, and maybe you lose a guy on Wednesday, and you’ve got to shift gears and you’ve got to get somebody maybe you weren’t ready to play with or in the game plan, ready to play. So, whether it’s the situation like this or an injury situation or anything else, I mean, that’s just what our job is, and we’ll do the best we can as quickly as we can. I’m optimistic.”
Did Campbell play as much man in Jacksonville as you do here?
“Well, this year, not as much. You know, their scheme was a little bit different, but I think in the past he has, and I like his physical skills on the outside part of the field. He does a good job playing the ball, he’s got really good size, he’s got catch up speed and he’s a good press corner. And there’s a lot of things, like I said, there’s a lot of things to like from that skill set.”
Jim, that final drive in the (Jordan) Addison touchdown. I know Denzel talked about needing to do something different there, took responsibility for it or whatever, but what did you see? And as you break down the film and everything, that drive as a whole?
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think I’ve been able to keep any food down since we gave up that touchdown. And when you get the lead in the fourth quarter, hallmark of great defense is, you close the game out, and we failed in that regard. A couple of years ago we had one against Seattle (Seahawks). You know, you don’t have many of them, but they stick with you, they stick with you for a lifetime – probably remember every single time that you’ve given up on it. You know, the thing that’s different in that Seattle game, that was after an interception, and they had the ball like right around midfield and close to scoring range. The thing that was most disappointing about this is that we had some cushion to work with, and through different things, we had a couple missed tackles in there, we had some, let’s just say some poor execution of some things, and we gave up a couple plays that we shouldn’t have that put them in scoring range, and then all of a sudden, we were on our heels. And we just needed one play, we needed a sack, a tip ball, interception, a third down, second stop. Just needed one play and we just failed to get it done. We certainly take that responsibility on us, it’s up to us to close games out. One point lead, three-point lead, whatever it is, fourth quarter, and we’re responsible for that. No excuses.”
You’ve certainly seen Aaron Rodgers a lot over your career, especially in Detroit (Lions). What are you most looking forward to with this next chapter?
“Yeah, he’s one of the great quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. You know, there’s a lot of unique things. You know, I mentioned the hard count. He was one of the OG’s hard count. Everybody used to try to hard count to get guys offsides to get five yards, and he was one of the first ones to build in taking deep shots off of it, and we really got to be hyper alert for that, and trying to sub and catching 12 guys on the field, because he’s going downtown with those things, and has made a lot of plays over the course of his career doing that. So, up front we can’t put stress on our secondary, just giving him free shots, free shots with deep passes by being offsides. So that’s been a big point of emphasis for what he does. And he’s got great arm talent, but it doesn’t always look the way that other people’s -there’s classic throwers and things like that. He’s just got such a loose arm, he can throw from six million different angles, he’s extremely accurate. He’s been an outstanding quarterback, been a Super Bowl winner. So, we certainly have a lot of respect for him, and we’re going to play our best. He’s putting the ball in positions that his guys can make plays, right? So, you’re a point guard and you’re getting the guys the ball, and they’re open, and they’re hitting layups, and they’re wide-open jumpers and things like that. Well, that’s the way he’s playing quarterback. I think it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 70% of their passing yards is run after the catch. And it’s like, that’s a ridiculously high number, but that’s a tribute to him. Number one, he’s throwing accurate passes that allow them to run after the catch and just knowing where to go and just put the ball in your playmaker’s hands. Anytime the ball is in a playmaker’s hands, it’s a good play, and he uses all the guys. He’s got a running back, (Jaylen) Warren, that’s averaging almost 13 yards a catch. I mean, there’s a lot of wide receivers that will be really, really happy with 13 yards. That’s a running back. And he also has some play extension ability, and he’s always made some big plays down the field and play extension. So, we’re going to have to cover the whole field, and we’re going to have to play really well, we’re going to have to be able to pressure up front. We’re going to have to cover it in the back end. It’s going to take our best effort.”
It sounds like the scout team quarterback is pretty important this week with that hard count practice, huh?
“Yeah, I mean we were certainly drilling it, but there’s nothing like the real thing, you know, when you know there’s 300 pounders six inches from your nose and you know it’s third down and one or it’s game situation and there’s a million calls and things like that. We just got to carry it over from this to the next. And you know, our scout team quarterbacks have done a good job of doing that stuff and it’s not just them, it’s offensive lineman. There’s a lot of coordinated type movement, you know, guys like abruptly moving their heads or flashing their hands and things like that. We just got to zone all that stuff out because again, it’s not a five-yard penalty the way that they play, it’s a chance to make a 40-yard gain, 50-yard gain and you know, it’s obviously it’s been a big point of emphasis. Any time you play a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, it is.”
What kind of start would you say Greg was off to this year? Looked like he was playing really well. Kind of rejuvenated back there as the starter.
“Yeah, Greg’s been a good quality player for us. He’s covered well on the outside part of the field. I thought he improved his tackling and his physical play. Like I said, he always brought a lot of energy, and his relentless positive attitude was a big thing for us and we certainly wish him the best. I’ll always be a fan of Greg Newsome, so we wish him the best in Jacksonville, but you know, we’re moving on. We’ll get Tyson (Campbell) up to speed as quick as we can, and we’re looking forward to having another good player on defense with Tyson.”
Jim, on that trick play for the touchdown, how disappointing. and what did you see go wrong there that you shouldn’t have?
“Yeah, we’re in man to man, and it’s hard, but it’s our job to keep our eyes on our coverage, when you’re getting run action, it’s no different than play action, and we were so eager to go make a play and tackle that we lost our eyes and, you know, gave that up. It’s kind of not necessarily a wildcat type play, but there’s halfback toss passes, there’s reverse passes, there’s a million times like that. And it just really tests your ability to keep eyes on one thing as opposed to, as opposed to the other. I think, you know, one of the things that happened on the last drive, too. You guys know me. I always guard, try to guard against, you know, when you guys get up in arms about no turnovers. And I try to say, like, look, you know, we have to worry about, you know, playing hard, playing physical, playing with effort and doing our job, and the turnovers will come. There were a few times in this game, including on that last drive, that we had guys trying to make a play. It’s human nature. You know, the game is on the line. They’re trying to make a play, they’re trying to do something to help the defense. But you can also put your defense in peril when. And we, when you do that. And we pay a severe price for that, you know, giving up that touchdown and, you know, I mean, we certainly have respect for them. They had, the week before, put up about 400 yards on Pittsburgh and played well. It wasn’t like we took it lightly. We knew that they were a talented group, and other than that play in the last drive, we did a pretty good job of holding them down and keeping that game in balance. But we just have to finish that game. You’re going to get plays in the game where you don’t play your best and like that play you got a lot of time to overcome. When it’s the last drive of the game, you don’t have time to make it right. You don’t get second chances. And that’s the heavy penalty that we paid every, every cost that we paid, every price that we paid. And, you know, we didn’t do our job to finish the game.”
Jim, (Carson) Wentz got the ball out very quickly. Aaron (Rodgers) does that, too. So, what’s the antidote today? Does that put the pressure on the secondary to cover?
“Yeah, cover quicker, cover longer. You know, there’s things. But so did Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow threw the ball extremely quick. You know, like you said, Aaron Rodgers, I think he might have the quickest time to throw in the whole NFL at this point, and a lot of them are short targets. So, you just have to cover your short zones, your short, man to man, really well, and try to buy a little bit of time, cloud the picture up a little bit, close some windows. We were very effective going against Burrow doing that. So, it’s going to take a lot of the same kind of effort to combat that and buy some time for our pass rush to get home.”
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