Linebackers Coach Jason Tarver (9.5.25)
Coach, just with Carson Schwesinger, what are you looking for him in this first outing, especially with those green dot responsibilities that we’ve seen him take on?
“Yeah, just staying in his process. He’s, like we said, he’s really good at that, going to the next play and staying in the process, whatever is happening. And the biggest thing in your first game is there’s going to be things that happen, whether it’s adjustments or whatever, and it doesn’t matter. What I mean by that is when you see the ball, wherever it is, you got to go get it. That’s his strength. His effort is chasing the ball, and that’s what we want to see, because if something’s wrong, we’ll fix it.”
In terms of your room, you’ve had to overcome some adversity in the room this season of losing guys left and right. But how do you think the room has responded to that? I mean, it looks like you guys are reasonably healthy right now, but how have you overcome that?
“I think our room, number one, they’re a lot of fun to be around right now. We love going on the field. We go on the field; they all play catch before practice. They just enjoy being around each other, number one. And that’s the love of the game is something that it’s professional level, but we’re playing football, and every day you can get a smile on your face and go to work. Every time we get in that meeting, they’re ready to go. They’ve been early in their meetings, and I really like how we interact. We know that anybody could be in at any point in time. That’s how this league works. That’s how this world works. And what I’ve been proud of the guys of is embracing that. And so now we get to go do it for real, so excited to see how we look.”
Jason, what did you see from Easton (Mascarenas-Arnold) this summer? I feel like he was a guy that, you know, really maybe had to make his name on special teams, but as a linebacker, just what have you seen from him?
“Really like Easton (Mascarenas-Arnold), just like were talking about Carson (Schwesinger). His effort and his ability to be the same every day is there. He loves football. He likes contact. He listens. He takes coaching. He tries. If I say anything, he tries it right away. And just his ability to – he got his body, he took it from the offseason, anything we worked on, just powering his lower body, getting in and out of his brakes, for example. Over the summer, got better and better. And that’s one of the things with young players and rookies; anyway, is if you can take anything you’re working on and come back better and get better every day, you got a chance. And that’s where Easton (Mascarenas-Arnold) is. Proud of how he’s worked.”
I know Mohamoud (Diabate) has got a quad injury that’s limited him. Kind of limited throughout training camp at times, too. But how have you seen him work through that injury to get ready for the season and also balance this desire to have this leap this year?
“Well, with Mohamoud (Diabate), he came to camp in really good shape, and he was having his best camp. He was all over the field, and he actually hurt it by saving a touchdown, which was a great play by him. And he’s attacked his rehab really well, and I’m excited to see him. The good part that Mohamoud (Diabate) has done, becoming a young pro in this league is being able to play any position and not worrying about a little bit of that question. Not worrying about when he’s in, just worried about when he’s in any of the positions, being the best he can be on that play. And sometimes that’s hard to get over when you come from college, when you’re the best at everything you do, right? A lot of these guys, and it doesn’t matter – ‘Mohamoud (Diabate), go!’ ‘Gotcha, Coach’” And that to be able to lock your brain in, whether or not you’re getting reps is a strength, and it is an acquired skill. And he’s getting better and better at that, learning from even if he’s not in the reps, because that’s not easy for any player to do, but especially younger players.”
With Joe Burrow getting pressure on him, specifically from your position group. What’s the challenge? Because it seems like he’s one, I mean, one of the best in the league at getting rid of the ball quick. How do you have to sort of handle that especially if have a guy like Carson (Schwesinger) coming off the edge or something.
“Yeah, if we’re blitzing, we gotta go. There’s no messing around. There’s no taking little steps. You gotta go. Because if you’re blitzing, you better get there really fast, as we know he’s gonna get rid of the ball. So that’s the key where when we’re activated by Coach (Jim) Schwartz and our different schemes, we gotta be on point. Can’t be hesitating, can’t be late in our roll offs that we call them on line of scrimmage. You gotta roll because the ball’s out if you don’t.”
With your unit, what’s it been like with that D-line in front of them and you know, throughout camp and the preseason, seeing the kind of pressure they’ve been able to create, like, how has that impacted your guys’ jobs?
“Well, that’s the job of the linebacker, right? It’s even in his name of our position, which is we’re back behind the line, which I kind of like saying that one. But the D-line’s job is to cause havoc, and our job to clean it up. And it’s a lot of fun to clean it up when they’re causing havoc. That’s how I’d say it because that’s when it works. Now, when the D-line is going forward at the offense, we have to be able to adjust good enough if, say, that there’s a gap, but then that gap closes. We got to be able to fix and help them. So, when you play behind it, you need the live practice reps. We’ve gotten more of those in this camp, and that’s helped us.”
How about Jerome (Baker)? Just what kind of veteran presence does he bring and how is that helping you guys this year?
“I’m really excited for Jerome (Baker) because, you know, he gets to play in his hometown and for anybody to be able to get to play in this league in your hometown, that’s exciting. He’s been very positive, and he has not played in this type of system, and he’s put in the work to really master the system. This week, for example, his just – and we were just in the meeting talking about it. His brakes have gotten faster and faster, and he feels comfortable. We had a talk at the beginning of camp, and I said, in a few weeks, let’s do it again. And I said, how do you feel? And he just smiles, big smile and like, all right, cool. He’s getting ready to go. So, he’s really good with younger guys. He’s very positive and he said a few things like, ‘Hey, expect this,’ just by the side. Just kind of pulls them aside and says things. He probably doesn’t want me to say all that, but. But definitely glad Jerome’s (Baker) here. And, you know, we’re gonna need all of them, like we were talking about. So excited for when he gets his chance.”
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