Linebackers Coach Jason Tarver (12.26.25)
So, as we head into this final home game, can you kind of just put into words the kind of season that Carson (Schwesinger) has had for you guys and where this might go in terms of NFL Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year and all that?
“Well, he’s the same every day, which is the ultimate compliment to any human. And he just keeps wanting to get better and make plays just like we talked about. What’s his favorite play? The next one. That’s how he lived all year long and really proud of him for that and can’t wait to see him play on Sunday.”
Is it probably safe to say that, like, him playing 95% of the snaps isn’t ideal, but he continues to take it on and never wants to leave the field.
“Well, that’s what you want. You want every one of them to say, ‘I want to stay on the field, Coach.’ And he’s been able to master situational football at a high level as a rookie, so keeping him on the field is something we want to do because he’s able to run the show and adjust. And a good example is his sack last week when he triggered perfect timing behind our D-lineman to wrap the big quarterback up. That was a great play that gave us a chance to stay in that. And now our next thing is to finish those off, and Carson’s going to be a big piece of learning how to be at our best when our best is needed in four quarters, and that’s where we need to go.”
While being a Pro Bowl alternate as a rookie is a pretty big honor, was there maybe a bit of disappointment in Carson not getting, like, the full Pro Bowl nod, especially with the year that’s he’s had?
“Well, I think that the Pro Bowl’s voting is a bunch of different ways. And I think you just continue to earn the looks. So, Carson’s production has increased and a lot of his – I don’t know how many he’s on, you guys are better than me of how many 10 tackle games in a row. (Six) I’m not counting the tackles. I’m on to the next play, just like you said, but is it six? So that’s really, a lot of his production has come later. And Carson’s, our whole mindset is just keep making plays. That stuff will happen. The more we make plays, the more people will notice.”
How do you accelerate, (Aaron) Rodgers? I mean, because he’s obviously… I mean, or not accelerate, but I mean, he’s so good at getting the ball out, he’s so good at getting rid of the ball quickly. How do you neutralize that?
“I don’t know if you totally, if anybody’s ever completely neutralized how quickly he throws the ball. But I will say this – it’s really fun to try to be a coach mimicking that in drills every time you play against him, because you just get to throw the ball fast places. But, no, he’s special. He always has been. The combining speed of the release and his awareness of the defense. One of the things that you got to do is he’s so good at changing what he’s looking at early is you really got to be disciplined with your eyes, whether you’re on the front side or the backside of the plays he’s picked. And that’s easier said than done, but it is a challenge every time you play him. And we got to defend everything inside out and start from there.”
The run defense, obviously, the last couple of weeks and in the first half last week wasn’t what you guys were looking for. What did you notice? What was the kind of message to your guys?
“Well, I think we have, as we’ve gone through the year, and once Maliek (Collins) went out, we’re rolling in some different humans early in the game, and that’s been good learning. What’s happened is something might have happened early in those games, and then we fix it. I think Coach (Jim) Schwartz talked about it, and that’s what’s happening. Now, it’s our job – coaches, players, everybody – to when they put the ball down, to be ready to go, okay. And there’s different phrases for that used on defense. Carson has one that he shares with the defense, and that’s where we got to get better. That’s been our emphasis this week. The last two teams are exceptional run teams that built their teams that way. And you can see the benefit of buying the offensive linemen and keeping them together or drafting them however you acquire them, right. I should just say acquire, but sometimes it’s buy, sometimes it’s draft, so. Hopefully it’s all of the above, right, to get as many good big humans as you can in the room. And I think we need to make sure that anything that anybody’s seen from those games, we fix early and often. That’s the key, is however you want to say copycat plays, is we got to get better in those situations and know that this look means could be this because somebody else ran it, and then if they do something else, great. But at least we’re ready for what we’ve seen. So that would be the biggest thing – getting guys ready quicker and fixing our problems.”
Off of that, is it, the last three games, it seems like the other team has gotten off to a fast start. Tennessee (Titans), I think, had an, on opening drive that went down to score. Chicago (Bears), well, they didn’t score the first drive, got off to a big lead in the first quarter. Buffalo (Bills), is that sort of what you’re talking about is you guys have to start faster as a defense, not let teams sort of be able to build up.
“Exactly. By doing the things that we know are coming, which is, as always, easier said than done. We got our call. We know they can only run or they can pass and then RPO (Run-Pass Option), is both. So patch your feet and if it’s their own, go tackle it and make sure we’re not making it more than it is. What I mean is there’s only so many formations they can get. We got to use our rules early, and we got to understand that quicker in games and that’s what, of course we’ve been working on that all week and all season. But when you haven’t seen those or new people are moving in, they may not have the collective shared experience. So, we got to get that quicker and that’s one of the things we’ve been working on. And then when you play really good O-lines like that, little space can turn into big space or that, back last week, jump cuts, these two backs, great jump cutters. So the big line combined with jump cutting backs, got to be right.”
How about the one, two punch of (Jaylen) Warren and (Kenneth) Gainwell? What do you guys have to deal with on Sunday?
“Both. They’re both really good football players that run hard and they both, whosever in there, they complement each other’s skill sets. So, we need to make sure a little like we were talking about, that we have the correct leverage in the run and the pass game for both of them. And Gainwell, they both can cut one step, go wherever they want. So, we’ve got to be on the correct leverage. And when we’re in our balance positions around them, we got have our hips down and our eyes in the right spots and so that’s where it is. And the leverages will change based off calls and things like that, but that’s the emphasis – ‘Hey, you’re approaching him, make sure you’re in this spot.’”
What is it about Devin (Bush) that kind of allows him to thrive in this system?
“Devin has done a really good job over the last year and a half of giving himself to the system – being able to play on edges, using his hands. We asked him to walk up in man coverage, and he’s really only had a few times all year that his eyes have been wrong in some hard situations. He’s playing with his hands. What really allows him to be successful. He’s done a good job. He is flexible and strong in his lower body and by being on edges of blockers more, he’s able to bend and slip and slide through things. So, he’s really been able to maximize his great football feel with how he fits in the defense. We need him to keep doing that because he’s blitzing better than in past years. He’s covering better than past years. So Devin, make me right. Okay, here we go.”
That giant tight end that the Steelers have, like how does he change things? What does it mean for you guys when you see a guy that big in that position?
“Well, I think Coach (Mike) Tomlin talked about it a lot. Like when you have a guy like that and you get guys like that so that you can match up and block defensive ends in the run, and the pass game. And they do a good job of using 80 (Darnell Washington) and 74 (Spencer Anderson) and others in that role, right, so they can get real big. And so, when you have that, again you need your leverages. You need to know when they’re at the point of attack, how everybody else is fitting around them and then how and why they’re moving them. 80’s done a really good job improving his hands, and there’s a few plays that of course you showed the defense where he’s made some plays this year that is a – I don’t know what he weighs, but he’s very big and so we got to get around him. We got to get his cleats out of the ground, and we need as many humans as we can get as fast as we can get around him. Because they’re going to do ways to find him, to find underneath throws and even some seven routes that they’ve been building with him too. So, it’s a team effort knowing where he is in the run and pass game and making sure when he is at the point of attack of a run game that the ends and everybody else have a lot of help around that.”
Along those lines with DK (Metcalf) obviously out, how much does thinking through the ways they use tight ends, how much does that impact sort of your guys game plan this week to sort of account for different things they might do without him on the field?
“I think they do a really good job of using their personnel anyway because they got a bunch of different tight ends, a bunch of different skill sets, and Coach (Arthur) Smith has always done a really good job of using his personnel. So we got to be ready for all of them anywhere, and know our matchup rules within our calls, even on third down, even in the red zone. So he’ll continue to roll all the guys in, and they all can kind of do it all. You know, he’ll use 81 (Jonnu Smith) to do a bunch of things. He’ll use 88 (Pat Freiermuth), maybe a little more, right without number four (DK Metcalf), he’ll use the tight ends to be the bigger receivers. But they’ve acquired wideouts throughout the year and those guys have started to show up a little more on their offense. So again, they do a good job with it and we got, we have rules for the different situations based off of personnel, and it’s going to be fun to watch it play out.”
You mentioned Maliek (Collins) being out earlier. Just how much does his absence, you know, I don’t want to say change things, but I guess maybe the opposite of that. Like how has his presence early in the season especially helped that second level of your guys group and you know, the job that they have to do, obviously. How much has it impacted him not being out there?
“I love the question. I love Maliek. Maliek has really brought, and he still is, brought a lot to this organization. In that, he’s played in this front system before and he’s been excellent, helping in many ways our entire D-line, but especially our interior D-line, know how to play the techniques. And so now what you’re seeing is, and it’s actually starting to get a lot better, is you’re seeing some of these young guys get their chances and improve and we need to see it in these two weeks. So these guys need to take advantage of our opportunity. But I can’t say enough about Maliek, of how he’s helped the backers, the D-line, all of us coaches because of his experience in this system and who he is. He’s a great person.”
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