Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (11.6.25)
Hey, Jim. Myles (Garrett) coming off the game, he had five sacks. The late frustration he showed, like, just what did you take away from his performance and then his reaction to be taken out at the end of the game?
“Yeah, I like the competitiveness with it. You know, you want guys, and the thing is, for him, like, there’s sometimes you get taken out of the game because it’s like a blowout win, and you’re protecting your guys at the end of the game. And we had that at the end of the Miami game. And guys want sacks and interceptions and things like that. They’re fairly – well, they’re easier to get at that time of the game than other times. But this was the point that we were down. And I appreciate the competitiveness of him wanting to figure that out. Also 100% see where Kevin (Stefanski) was with it, you know, the game’s over, let’s protect our players. Outstanding performance. You know, I think the thing I told him this, the thing I was probably most proud of with his play was not the five sacks, it was the way he played the run in that game. And he did a really good job there, setting edges and chasing from the backside and things like that. Obviously, in a losing effort, there’s really no silver linings, but it was a good individual performance.”
Jim, kind off of that, we know how important Myles is to your defense on the field, but when you’re going through these and you’re trying to clean things up, how important is he off the field in the efforts that you’re trying to make across the team? Leadership, him being vocal and open in that way?
“Yeah. I mean, you want all your guys to be honest and to be, you know, to be honest with their feelings and things like that, but you also want to frame it the right way, and I think Myles has been good that way. I mean, you know, I think that you guys don’t with him on a daily basis, I mean, having frustration at the end of the game is not something that normally shows with him. So he’s done a good job of being consistent and working. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but, the week before that game, he took every single practice round. Every single. And he had told Jacques (Cesaire), ‘Hey, I wasn’t happy with my performance the week before, you’re not taking me out of practice in this during this week.’ And I think that goes, you know, like that kind of statement speaks loud, too. And he ended up with, you know, a good performance in the game. So, you know, I don’t want to, whatever, call that out too much. You guys aren’t out there and seeing the reps, but usually D lineman, because particularly the way we go, we like to split reps in practice. But I think that sends a strong message. And, you know, it’s a difficult thing to do during the week, to take every single rep, but I appreciated him doing that. I think it showed on that Sunday. Again, no silver linings and loss, but, you know, we’ll put it behind us and move on to the Jets.”
We’re not sure if Carson (Schwesinger) is going to be able to play or not, but with how well he’s been doing, just in terms of calling your defense back there and managing the whole thing, what will that be like for you guys if he can’t go?
“No, we have some experienced players there. Mohamoud (Diabate) got a lot of starting experience last year. Devin Bush has played in there. You know, Bake (Jreome Baker) has played in there, you know, so we have a lot of different ways that we can go with it and, you know, we’ll practice that way and just see where it lands. But yeah, Carson means a lot to us, not just from his play – but also his communication and, you know, things like that. And I think he’s also stepping in with some leadership things. We’ve said a lot of times it’s just a matter of time before the ball found him. And it did on that play. And, you know, I think, you know, we’ll get him back on the field. Whether it’s this week, next week after, whatever it is, I think you’ll continue to see a lot of those same positives from him.”
Jim, it obviously doesn’t affect your side of the ball directly, but with Kevin handing off late calling to Tommy, just what type of message do you think that sort of sends? And what does it say about Kevin as the leader of this team that he’s wanting to do something like that?
“Yeah, you guys know Kevin, he’s all about the team and he’s extremely humble and doesn’t overreact to things. So, anything, any decision he makes is going to be a very measured decision. And if he thinks that’s what’s best for the team, then we trust him for that to be best for the team. And like you said, that’s really the only thing that comes out of it, who’s calling the plays doesn’t affect us on defense. But I think from a leadership standpoint, from Kevin’s standpoint, with him being humble enough to make that move and then also measured. I mean, you guys know Kevin, he doesn’t make any seat of the pants decisions. So, I think that’s all part of it, you know, that reinforces his leadership on this team.”
Jim, in the Patriots game, it looked like they had some success in the second half running to the outside. What did you see and how can you clean that up?
“Yeah, I mean, some of it was a couple missed tackles, and we’ve generally been a really good tackling team this year. So, some of it was that and some of it was the quarterback scrambles. You know, I mean, that game, I mean, when you look at the rushing stats, it’s been so long I can’t remember. But they’re obviously buoyed by those scrambles, which were big games, it all counts the same, you know, whether they’re running or passing. But for the most part, I’ve been pleased with our perimeter defense this year. We put big emphasis into it, and particularly our defensive tackles have done a really good job of flattening out and making plays on things like jet sweeps and crack tosses and things like that. This game, I thought we did take a little bit of a step back and we got to bounce back that way.”
Jim, the Jets have run the ball really well, and how much does the presence of a running quarterback enhance that running game?
“Yeah, for sure. It just makes you defend one extra guy. It’s like having an extra blocker out there because, you know, you have to have availability to handle the quarterback. So, a lot of different ways to do it, but, you know, it certainly adds a different dimension. You know, (Justin) Fields has tremendous speed. He’s a 4-3 type quarterback. He’s got great size. They have called quarterback runs like quarterback sweeps, particularly in short yardage. They have quarterback draws and then they have options, whether it’s a zone read or an RPO and things like that. It just really makes you play a sound. It’s like playing the triple option in college, right? You have to make sure you cover the dive, the quarterback and the pitch. And this makes you really play assignment football and put some emphasis on that. You know, we’ve obviously seen it before – Lamar (Jackson), Baltimore runs a lot of stuff like that. We’ve seen other teams that do it, so we have a good plan to be able to handle it. But sometimes a plan is a little bit easier in theory than in execution. You know, it’s one thing to say, yeah, you have the quarterback on this, but another thing, when you have a guy, that’s the athlete that Justin Fields is and the speed that he has. So, it’s going to take a good team effort to defend that stuff.”
Jim, for a league-wide story that we’re working on, if you’ve got a unit that’s struggling with missed tackles or just fundamental tackling, how much can that be cured or fixed during the middle of the season, especially with lack of padded practices and everything? Just throughout the league there just seems to be missed tackles and everything.
“Yeah, I mean, I’d say, I think I’ve said this before. I think most of the time missed tackles are a result from poor positioning as opposed to the technique of the tackle. Right? You overrun it, you take a bad angle. I think it’s more bad positioning. And a lot of times tackling comes to pursuit because there’s a big difference. Like, you know, the first guy takes a shot at a guy and misses and forces the running back to cut back. That’s technically missed tackle. But he forces him right into the next line of pursuit and that guy makes the tackle. You don’t even notice it. Again, you guys write about it that, you know, you don’t even say it’s missed tackle, but you miss and then there’s nobody there to clean it up, it stands out a little bit more. So, you know, pursuit positioning, I think those have a lot to do with it. And then it’s the technique that goes into it, I think just around the NFL. I know in particular now with us, coaches have gotten very creative in a lot of tackling drills that aren’t live tackle. Right. Because nobody lives tackle in practice and you see it all across with different techniques. You see it every day when you watch our individual. And I think that’s a big change. I mean, you go back 20 years ago, you know, there was some form tackling, but there was nowhere near the emphasis on tackling with different drills and different bags and things like that we have now. So I think that’s been a strength of our defense this year. And I think it comes from a couple different things. Our guys play free because they know what they’re doing, generally, and we play with good effort, and then that cleans that stuff up. But I think the technique certainly has a lot to do with it. When it’s all said and done, how well you tackle is, probably, the number one indicator of how well you play defense, so. “
Myles had mentioned that the Patriots left him in one on ones more than he has seen, and I’m guessing that, first of all, was that a little surprising? And then also, I’m guessing that the Jets will probably put two and three guys on him again after that performance?
“Yeah, I mean, we expect that every week. You know, they did have a little bit more opportunity for Myles, and they were counting on ball coming out quick. I think, some of those, Myles made some really good pass rushes, but there were a couple in there that really were a result of taking away when the quarterback wasn’t looking, and buying us a little bit of time. Generally, when he gets clean looks, like you look at it and you’re like, “All right, ball’s coming out quick or it’s a screen.” You know, you’re just like, “They’re not going to give him that one-on-one,” and when they do, you have to make them pay for it, and I think that’s part of what he did in that game. Again, it wasn’t enough to get the win, and that’s what we judge ourselves on. But everybody has a plan, whether it’s throwing the ball quick, throwing screens. Miami (Dolphins) chose to throw a lot of screens, and our defensive line really did a good job of turning and running and neutralizing. Not only neutralizing the screens, but making tackles for losses, turning them into negative plays. So, everybody’s got a plan, we’ll just react to it. He’s got a good plan for dealing with chips. We’ve moved him around maybe just a little bit more, try to keep the target off him, move them a little bit more right and left. You know, he still wears number 95, and he’s 6-4, 275, and he’s easy to find, but great players can still affect the game even if they’re doubled.”
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