Defensive Coordinator Mike Rutenberg (10.15.26)
I wanted to ask you about (Jared) Verse. We kind of take for granted a guy who played in a 3-4 goes to a 4-3 and doesn’t skip a beat. But is it an adjustment for him in your system from what he was used to?
“Anytime you move from team to team, system to system, I imagine there’s the normal adjustment. But in terms of the techniques and fundamentals, he’s picking up really, really well. He’s understanding the attack front. He did a lot of that playing his position at the Rams, and you’re seeing that. And I continue to see it every day in practice. I continue to see it in the games, of his get off, of his disruption, of his edge setting and his force as he rushes the passer and creates chaos in there and that continues.”
It looks like you use the wide nine way out there on occasion.
“I mean, we’re going to be an attack front.”
Does that agree with him?
“Absolutely. Absolutely. We’re going to be an attack front. It’s rooted in this Cleveland Browns defense.
We’re going to jump out of our shoes and we’re going to try and play on their side of the line of scrimmage no matter what. And that’s the basis of this front. That’s why I always call it the engine. And like I tell you guys every week, we go as they go, and I’m excited about the way they’re going.”
Can you just address the fact that you guys kind of are banged up on the D-line and the interior? Carson (Schwesinger) wasn’t out there again today. How are you kind of approaching this game with so many guys on the injury list?
“We have the greatest group of guys who are full of spirit. I mean, you see the way we practice today and yesterday. There’s tons of spirit. Our competitive nature is awesome. And we have a bunch of guys who play to our style. They play for each other. They play hard as hell. We’re constantly trying to find different ways to create edges, and that’s the mind part. And then in the end, it’s our fist. And you see that every day from our group of guys, no matter who’s out there. And that’s the coolest part about being out there with them and being a part of it.”
There’s also uncertainty at quarterback with the team you’re going to play. Lamar (Jackson) didn’t practice again today, it doesn’t seem like. When you’re dealing with something like that, especially with the starter being a guy like Lamar Jackson, how do you sort of handle the preparation for the potential of either or quarterback?
“I mean, we’re playing the Ravens. Lamar, Snoop (Tyler Huntley), both elite quarterbacks. I mean, Lamar’s all… everything he’s done speaks for itself. And you see every time Snoop’s in there, they win a lot of games. He’s highly productive. And then it’s the quarterback. It’s the great running backs of Derrick Henry and Justice Hill. The tight ends, Mark Andrews has been doing it a long time. They’ve brought new guys in. They’re doing it at a high level. They got really good receivers, the O-line. We’ve got to prepare for the Ravens.”
Can Todd Monken give any insight in your preparation on a lot of those guys you kind of rattle off, and what makes them tick, the best ways in practices of maybe taking them away? How does he sort of factor that in the game plan?
“You know, Monk’s awesome. Every week. I mean, the guy’s been coaching offense for a really long time, so every week he has great insight, whether it’s on players, scheme, situational, he’s helped me a ton. And it’s a new offensive staff there and a really good offensive staff there. So, we’ve got to prepare for the Ravens for what we see on tape and the great players and staff that’s there.”
If Carson can’t go, I think Easton (Mascarenas-Arnold) will probably be the next guy up. What would you say to him about that moment and the opportunity?
“Just do exactly what he did during training camp. He was awesome in the time that Carson was out. I’ll let Monk address who’s up and who’s down in terms of it, but any guy who plays, just do what you’ve been doing your whole life. And Easton had the unique experience of being in training camp and did an amazing job of it, and that’s exactly what I would tell him.”
What about Quincy (Williams)? Did he set the bar pretty high for himself with the game that he had, and what did you think of his performance?
“It reminds me of a time when I got asked a similar question in New York. And Quincy, the sky will always be the limit for Quincy. I don’t know that there is a bar that’s set for Quincy. He continues to get better. He continues to find his game within the players we have here. It’s so cool to watch him and the linebacking crew, and Tarv (Jason Tarver) and Zach Dunn and Paul Worrilow and the guys who all work together, just gel together. And what an amazing game he had last week. And I can’t wait to see him continue having great games.”
What about Sam Kamara? I know he gets thrown in there, but gets his first career sack, his sixth year in the league. How have you seen him kind of persevere through the practice squad to being elevated and all those sorts of things?
“I mean, how cool is that, right? And it’s a credit to Sam. He bounces back from what happened in training. You saw it from Sam. And then he’s got to bounce back from being out, and he works his butt off, gets the chance and does exactly what we all would have expected him to do. Plays hard as hell, gives us really, some really, really cool presence inside, and then is rewarded for all his hard work with a great performance. Really happy for him. Sam also brings this dawg, brings the fist part of our style, and we’re always going to go as our style goes and as our front goes. And he was a huge part. It was really fun to see.”
You mentioned Easton and the training camp experience he had filling in for Carson. You had a lot of guys on your side of the ball who were out various times in training camp. How much have you seen some of that extra work that those backups got during that time sort of pay off through the first five weeks?
“Jeff Ulbrich taught me a lesson. It was a hard lesson in coaching, being a position coach. I remember him telling me the hardest position in the NFL is to be an NFL backup, because you don’t get the reps. You don’t. There’s a limited amount of reps, and you got to learn through your brother. And it’s a term that we’ve been talking about, and any opportunity you have as a backup or a starter, you got to take advantage of that rep. That rep is going to come up again somewhere, somehow. And our guys have done an awesome job. Whether it was a rep in camp, a rep in OSP, a rep two weeks ago that came up, our guys have done a really good job banking those reps, because it’s going to come up in a game. And if it comes up, we got to do what we’re supposed to do.”
The Ravens made a trade for Pro-Bowl center Cam Jurgens while he’s still working through concussion protocol and we’re still wondering his game status. Does that change at all within your game plan, especially in the changes you’re still working to adjust through the injuries on your side if he were to play?
“Yeah, again, we got to prepare for the Ravens. It’s a really good O-line. Obviously, he’s an elite player and has been for a long time, but along that offensive line, I was with John Simpson at the Jets. He’s a great guard, the young man, the rookie playing, the two tackles have been doing it a long time. It’s a great offensive line. Super well coached, and we got to prepare for the O-line and the Ravens offense in general.”
Did you guys do anything more this week to work on fumble recovery? Or was that some of it weather related in that game? It just seemed like you could’ve gotten a few-
“You’re being so demanding of us. Absolutely. Anytime you force a takeaway, you want it, right? Anything, Mary Kay (Cabot), in a game or in practice that we didn’t feel is up to our standard, we’re going to address. We’re going to address it head on. So, whether it’s recovering fumbles, whether it’s being on our jobs, whether it’s doing a better job as a coaching staff from an organizational and operational perspective, whatever we feel collectively as a group of players and coaches that needs to be addressed or improved, we’re going to address it. Conversely, whatever we feel like we need to continue to build on, we’re going to build on it. And that’s the way we approach every week.”
You guys are mostly playing nickel or free safety and not doing a lot of three linebacker looks. I guess, what’s your philosophy as far as kind of sticking with that instead of playing more base defense?
“I think every week you got to figure out what the best combinations of players are for what you’re facing. And it’s probably boring you, because I sound like a broken record. I’m going to steal Monk’s line again, like, it’s under construction every week. Fortunately, we have multiple personnel groups because of the players we have that we’re able to deploy at different times, and per week, per situation, per offense. You got to utilize what we all think is the best for that, and it’s a credit to the players being able to function like that.”
You adjusted, it seemed, in-game pretty quickly after the first drive, with Garrett Wilson’s 70-yards on the opening drive and then shutting down for a bunch of the rest of the game. So, did you go, I think, more zone right after that drive? How did that work?
“A game is like a week in practice. It’s like the Wednesday to the Thursday to the Friday. They say the first drive to the second drive, and you’re constantly trying to find your different edges. Eliminate Browns hurting Browns, eliminate things that could hurt us, build on things that could help us, figure out what they’re doing. ‘Oh, this can work, let’s go here.’ It’s a constant adjustment process, or it’s a constant, ‘hey, let’s settle back. Let’s let our players get their cleats in the ground, their eyes right, and play fast as hell.’ And every game, no matter the first drive, the third drive, the tenth drive, it’s a constant process of all of us together on the sideline just trying to figure out what’s best for the next drive and then don’t even think about anything after that. And shoot, whatever happens in that drive, what’s best for the next drive. And sometimes it is adjustments, sometimes it is just take a step back, let’s let our play style take over. So, it’s a credit to those guys, the way they responded. And also, part of that is just the heart, the resilience after a tough first drive to bounce back, is credit to our players.”
During this period with the tackle injuries, was there any temptation at all to move Verse inside?
“You know, I’m not going to talk about, Tony (Grossi), all the different things that go into that, but I have complete trust, and we all have complete trust, in our tackles. Whoever’s out there, they showed it. They show it every day in practice. The great thing about what we do is you get to see it every day. It’s not like you go into a game, it’s like, ‘oh, shoot, I don’t know what happened there.’ You know exactly. And the guys who are in, whether it’s the tackles, whatever position, you get a chance to see it every day in walk through, in individual, in practice. And it’s awesome to see those guys in the game. What did they do? They responded just like they practiced, played their butts off. It was really cool.”
You mentioned obviously the running game that you’re going to see this week, and you sort of talked about it last week, just the running backs that you’ve seen. Where do you feel like your run defense is right now? Do you like where you guys are at, or what do you feel like you need to still maybe tweak, correct, whatever the term may be, in that area?
“Every part of our defense, pass game, run game, third down, red zone, two minute, first down, second and one to six. It’s constantly looking at, are we tweaking? Are we building on it? Is something working? Is something not working? The entire defense it’s constantly, I’m going to use the same term, but it’s real, under construction. Now, our principles, the heart, the mind, the fist, the ball is oxygen, that is who we are, that is our non-negotiables, and that’s our play style. But schematically, technically and fundamentally and situationally, it’s constant searching for the next inch. It’s constant searching for the next inch, whether it’s run game, pass game, we’re always doing that. And our players do a great job with that.”
In the event that Lamar does play, what sets him apart even from maybe some other dual threat quarterbacks? What makes him so special?
“I mean, he’s been playing at the highest level his entire career. He can do it all, we all know that, and it’s a credit to him. Whether it’s extending plays, whether it’s going downfield, whether it’s running or just operating that offense. He does it all at a high level.”
The go-ahead touchdown on the Jets, it seemed like he just had a wide open lane there. What specifically happened on that play?
“I’m going to keep the schematics to ourselves and within us. We never want to give up a touchdown, and it doesn’t matter, we just never want to give up a touchdown. But in terms of schematics, I’m going to keep that in house.”
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