Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (9.4.25)
Jim (Schwartz), obviously you talk about Joe (Burrow), we talk about the receivers, but what dimension has Chase Brown added to that offense?
“Yeah, he gives them a big play running back. The guy’s got good speed, he’s developed every year he’s been there. He’s earned trust, and they’ve been a bit of a one-dimensional team over the last couple years. Look, there’s a big disparity in the rankings and in passing game and rush game, and I’m sure they want to rectify that. So, he’s a big part of that. They brought in (Samaje) Perine to be in protection, in some third-down situations, and he’s good in the passing game, and they drafted a guy too. So, they’ve made a big commitment to the running game.”
Jim, when a team has two new starters on the offensive line like the (Cincinnati) Bengals, how much does that factor into your game plan?
“Well, the biggest thing is, our defensive line is much, much improved over last year and I think we’ve got back to our personality. You know, we saw it in…I think we started seeing it back in OTAs. We showed good signs of it in training camp and I think, even though we didn’t have our guys on the field a lot during preseason games, we saw it in the practices and we saw it in the preseason games, and that’s a huge, huge thing for us because it’s hard to win versus Ja’ Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and (Andrei) Iosivas and (Mike) Gesicki and those guys with a quarterback like Burrow. So, we have to really…we have to win up front, and that’s a big part of it. Guys like Mason Graham, we brought in here to give us interior rush, brought in guys like Maliek Collins to give us interior rush. You know, those are big things. We know they can help on the outside part of the field with guys like Myles (Garrett), they can chip, they can leave tight ends in the protection, but our ability to win inside in this game is going to go a long way to coming out with a win, because the ball comes out so fast, and shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and those guys are closer to the play. So, those guys need to step up for us. They need to win those matchups. And when we play our best, our D-line leads us there as our engine.”
I know before the summer; you talked about Mason and some of the growing pains coming into a new system. How do you think you guys navigated that and how you feel going into this first NFL game for him?
“Yeah, I’m cautiously, guardedly optimistic, because I haven’t really thought about that in a while, particularly the way that he played against the (Los Angeles) Rams, the way he practiced against Philly. I think it’s in his body now. I mean, we see the quickness. He made a big effort to change his body type, to be a little bit more lean and dropped a little bit of weight, but his movement skills have been outstanding. He’s really good with his hands, and he just has really good instincts. So, I’m guardedly optimistic. I think there’s always a tendency to sometimes regress in the heat of battle, but I think he’s shown that he’s got it in there. And I was very encouraged by what we saw in the preseason, particularly, like I said, particularly Philly and then the Rams game.”
You’ve been known to move (defensive) ends inside on third down. But is Mason Graham a three-down player?
“We’ll see. We have a lot of different rush groups. We’ll have some rush groups where we have three defensive ends. We’ll have some rush groups; we have two defensive tackles in there. I won’t talk a whole lot about the matchups, but we also have different outside rushers. We have guys that are more power, guys that are more speed, and we’re going to try to use all those guys in different roles and just a little bit like a pitcher with different pitches, just keep throwing different things out there, keep them fresh and keep them in good position to sort of wear out the opponent. The one constant on pretty much any third down that we’ll have…95 (Myles Garrett) will be out there. But after that, we’ll have a lot of different things. And I think that all those guys deserve chances. They’ve all shown that they can win. They all have a little different skill set, and I think that’ll benefit us.”
With Carson (Schwesinger) making such a big impact throughout the summer. Now, looking into week one, he wore the green dot in the preseason, in training camp. What makes him ready for the moment, to step in there and be a leader as a rookie?
“Yeah, I mean, I’d sort of flip that question around and say, what makes him not capable of doing that? You know what I mean? Like, every hurdle we’ve given him, he’s jumped, he hasn’t batted an eye. He has great instincts, great eyes for the football. You know, leads our defense in interceptions through training camp and things like that. He’s just wired to the ball. He’s big, he’s physical. Green dot, relaying the call. I think we might overestimate like that. But his play, his communication and those kinds of things are going to be what sort of creates his leadership on the field.”
First time you laid eyes on (Adin) Huntington, did you think he could make this team, or did he surprise you that he made it?
“No, I mean, it doesn’t surprise me because he had what we’re looking for, which is movement skills at the defensive tackle. I watched his pro day from Tulane. One of our scouts brought it to us, Hajriz (Aliu), and you saw a powerful guy that could run in four-sixes. You know, he’s a little bit, a little bit shorter, but there’s, you know, been some of those guys. But he was playing as like a base defensive end, sort of five technique and you had to sort of project his skill set to our defense. But we liked him inside, just watched a couple plays. He played with great effort, played with speed and made a big point to get him after the draft. So, hats off to those guys, but you know, early on there was a really steep learning curve because he was playing inside really for the first time as opposed to just playing a 3-4 defensive end. But, you know, once he got it, played with great effort, plays with great speed, like I said, our speed up front, our movement skills up front are so much improved and Adin’s part of that. Plus, he can do stuff on special teams too, and that’s a huge bonus to us. Those guys, Joe Tryon (Tryon-Shoyinka) and Cam (Cameron) Thomas and Alex (Wright) and you know, in the past, Sam Kamara has done those kinds of things for us. Mike Hall did some of that for us last year. Those big guys that can run not only help us on defense, but they might be able to save some first downs, kick covering kicks and covering punts.”
How is Greg (Newsome II) doing in his return to starting cornerback and being on the outside?
“Yeah, it’s been seen seamless for him because he’s played a lot outside over the last couple years anyway, so it’s a little bit more just sort of full time out there. But he’s a quality player for us, brings a lot of energy to us, being on the opposite side of Denzel (Ward), you know you’re going to have some chances for some passes. He’s made some big plays for us. You know, just in general, our secondary really needs to play well. We need to play tight enough coverage to negate some of the free access, quick throws that (Joe) Burrow uses, but then also we got to win a lot of one on ones. When you give him one on ones, he trusts those receivers. And it doesn’t matter if it’s Ja’Marr Chase. It could be (Mike) Gesicki, it could be (Andrei) Iosivas, it could be any of those guys…(Jermaine) Burton, if you’re on the field, he trusts you and he’s going to throw it on those one on one. So, you know, a lot of people look at that matchup up front as being key to this game. That matchup outside is just as key. Number one defending the pass, but then number two getting those guys tackled. Because Ja’Marr Chase is, once he gets the ball in his hand, he’s like a running back. Very, very strong. (Tee) Higgins is a strong runner after the catch too. So, we have a lot of respect for those guys. It’s going to go hand in hand. Hopefully our pass rush can help our defensive backs by making the ball come out a little bit quicker than they want it to. And hopefully our defensive backs can make the quarterback hold the ball a little bit longer than he wants to and buy some time for our rush.”
Jim, you said that Carson (Schwesinger) has cleared every hurdle. I don’t know if you ever had any reservations about handing him as much responsibility as you’re giving him. Did he put you at ease at any point this summer though, just the way he was taking things on?
“I’ve had a lot…like I said, when I was at Buffalo, I had a rookie, Preston Brown, that was similar. He was a third or fourth round draft pick, I can’t remember which. Played almost every snap on defense. That guy like led the NFL in tackles for like three years in a row, but he just had a similar demeanor, and nothing was too big for him, went out and just did his job. Earned the respect of the other players. You know, it’s one thing earning the respect of your position coach, it’s earning the respect and the trust of your coordinator, but just as important to that is earning the trust of your teammates. And I know our guys have a lot of trust in him because of what he’s done on the field and in the classroom. And, you know, I was haunting the hallways here late one night and looking for some snacks and went into the linebacker room, and he was in there watching film, so just that kind of stuff earns your trust not just as a coach, but also as a teammate.”
From one to 10, you kept 10 defensive linemen. Is that your strongest group in your three years?
“Well, yeah, we’ll see, right? But I think they have the makings of that. I think one of the biggest things is we’re able to play a true form of attack now because of the those…and we have improved players. I think Isaiah McGuire had a good year last year. I think he’s improved over that. Alex (Wright) is as good as I’ve seen him. Guys like Cam (Cameron Thomas), adding Joe Tryon (Tryon-Shoyinka), a lot of speed there. You know, defensive tackles, getting some young blood in there. You know, I think we have the makings of it, but, you know, when it’s all said and done, we got to prove it on the field. I like where we’re going, but let’s not crown them just yet.”
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