Defensive Line Coach Jacques Cesaire (12.20.24)
When you saw Myles (Garrett) go down last week, what was kind of going through your head?
“Probably the same thing that was going through everybody’s head. My heart stopped a little bit. But anytime you have one of the best players in the National Football League go down, there’s going to be a little bit of anxiety, a little bit of just anxiousness, like, ‘Hey, what happened? How’s he doing?’ But the minute I saw him spring up, I was figuring he’s at least okay. He can walk off. So, it stinks getting poked in the eye. It’s happened to me before, and that’s just kind of part of the game where you got two guys battling, two great veterans, good players, they’re battling each other, and things like that happen sometimes.”
How does it help you guys as a defense and probably as a whole team that your best player on defense is really setting the tone for playing as hard as possible throughout this home stretch when the playoffs are not on the line?
“Yeah, we had talked about this before, and we’re always talking about our ‘why.’ What are we doing here, why are we doing what we’re doing? I always believe that men are much better when they have purpose. And guys like Myles, he always has purpose. Whether it’s being the best player on the field, getting sacks, helping his team win. The guy goes out there with a sense of purpose. So, just getting those guys to rally around that. Everybody in that room has a lot of pride and we’re not just going to come in at any game and just lay it down. We’re guys that have a lot of pride. We’re a bunch of football players that know how to play this game and play it well and for whatever reason we haven’t done that this year collectively as a group. So, that doesn’t mean that we stop playing. It doesn’t mean that we stop playing. We got to go out there and compete every play until the last whistle and whatever happens, happens from there.”
What did you see out of Mike (Hall) last week getting back on the field?
“It was just good to see him just still be explosive, still be physical, violent. It was great to see him make that tackle for loss. You could tell he was just itching to make a play. And he’s just worked so hard. This has been a long year for Mike, the different things that he’s had to go through and I’m actually really, really happy and proud of the kid. He’s gone through a little bit of adversity coming into the league. It’s already tough enough as it is being a rookie in the NFL. But then having to go through all these little adversities and bounce back from that, it’s really telling of the type of man that he is and type of character that he has and his work ethic. So, I was really happy to see what he did out there making a couple plays and just getting back to himself as far as a rusher is concerned. I’m expecting real big things from him this week.”
When you look at Myles’ career, he’s just had so much success against the (Cincinnati) Bengals. I mean, I know it’s your first year here, but what do you think kind of goes into having that much success, sack wise, against one opponent?
“I think Myles, just generally against the AFC North, he just has a lot of success. You’re going up against these guys twice a year. There’s familiarity and obviously there’s pride in the conference and there’s pride in going up against guys that know you and you know them really well. I just think Myles, he approaches every team the same way, but I think there’s just a little bit more just ‘oomph’ when he has to play against the AFC North.”
What has Myles shown you — I mean, now the eye and he’s dealing with the back, and the feet earlier in the year. He had a whole bunch of stuff he’s dealing with, but he hasn’t missed any time. He’s still playing at a really high level. So, what’s he showing you by playing through all that?
“Just resiliency. Just the type of player that he is. I mean, he still works hard every day. For a player that you go out, there’s not a lot of players in this world that can say, ‘Every time I take a snap, I got four hands on me, no matter what.’ And he’s still fighting through. Me and him, we had a little laugh the other day because there’s this one great shot of just him just fighting as much as he can through two people. I mean, that’s just Myles. He never complains, he just goes out there and does his job and does it at an extremely high level. And honestly, I joked with him, I was like, ‘I’m going to just bait all the offense coordinators out there. I dare you not to chip them anymore, okay?’ Because you got a guy out there that’s getting hit every single time by two, sometimes three people and he’s still going as hard as he can. I mean, that’s how much he loves the game, that’s how much he has pride in himself, in his unit and how hard he wants to play for this city. So, it’s been an honor to coach a guy like that, a great player like that.”
It’s not always just two guys, right? What’s the most extreme thing you’ve seen as teams try to slow him down?
“I’ve seen a chip, which is the tight end punching the defensive end, right? So, I’ve seen a chip with the tackle, so that’s the double team. With a back coming up and chipping him as well with the center slide coming his way. So now you got a potential one, two, three, four guys that potentially can hit you on one play. And like I said, he never complains about it. He might move to the other side; they’re still going to follow him over there. But he never complains. He just keeps trying to rush as much as he can. He’ll come out, ‘Hey, what are you seeing out there? Anything else that I can do?’ ‘Hey, we can move you inside, we can move you on the other side.’ They’re still going to try and find him because he’s that dangerous of a player. I’m happy for him. I’m just happy that I get to be a part, hopefully of him getting 100 sacks.”
Is all the double teaming, and the chipping and all that kind of stuff that much different than what J.J. Watt saw and all the great pass rushers in this league see?
“I mean, it’s a different scheme, what J.J. played in. He was a little bit more inside than outside. The chips have really gone up the last couple years. 10 years ago, you didn’t see this many chips. You might chip one elite rusher here and there on third down. Now you’re seeing it on second down, sometimes first down, any time they pass the ball. So, kudos to the offensive coordinators out there that say, ‘Hey, we’re just going to protect up and help this tackle out because he’s a special player.’ He really is a generational talent. Sometimes I can’t believe some of the things he does out there. You’re talking about a man that picks up 320-pound men and throws them off their feet almost on a daily occasion. So, you have to commit two to three people to him at all times.”
Is there a way to alleviate that? I mean, getting somebody, Ogbo (Okoronkwo) or Isaiah (McGuire), getting more pressure from the other side?
“As you look at it, those guys are getting pressure now. Another thing that a lot of offenses are doing is they got the chips and now the ball’s coming out a lot quicker. So yeah, it’s just a matter of the other guys on the other side getting more pressure and really working. And sometimes you’re seeing double chips nowadays. So, as a pass rusher now in this league, you really, really have to work your butt off because as you can see, the leading sacker in the NFL has 12.5 sacks, Myles is at 11. So that just tells you right there. It’s all over the NFL. All the pass rushers now you’re starting to see they’re getting chipped, too. Not as much as Myles, but a lot of guys are starting to get that ‘Myles Plan,’ where now they’re getting chipped and they’re taking out that number one pass rusher and getting the ball out.”
He faced a quarterback in (Patrick) Mahomes a week ago who’s very difficult to — I know he’s been sacked a career high, but he’s very good at eluding pressure and everything. Now you’re facing (Joe) Burrow, who has been sacked a lot, but also can get the ball out. What are his strengths in terms of trying to avoid pressure?
“Yeah, I mean what I’ve noticed this year about Burrow, he does a really good job in the pocket. And it’s just real subtle movements to get away from the rush. Last week you watched that Tennessee Titans game, I mean he did a really nice job of just stepping up, stepping out, really, just ducking and just really trying to avoid the rush. That’s a guy that you have to have multiple hits on him. You got to have multiple guys coming at him at the same time and you really have to just collapse the pocket so he can’t go anywhere. But he’s been doing a good job of scrambling this year. He looks a lot quicker, and his eyes are focused downfield, so he’s always finding receivers. And obviously, with a talent like (Ja’Marr) Chase, and (Tee) Higgins and (Chase) Brown in the backfield and (Mike) Gesicki, our guys in the back end, they got to do a great job of covering and we got to do a great job of rushing.”