Linebackers Coach Jason Tarver (9.6.24)
Jason, you had a lot of injuries in your position group during the course of the preseason. How much did you feel like you really saw some development and allow for some development from a guy like Devin (Bush), a guy like Mohamoud (Diabate), Nathaniel (Watson) to a point. But just the development that opened up for some of those other guys?
” I’ll start with Mohamoud. One of the things we wanted to see from him was growth to where he could be a rotation player in the defense going forward. And then, you know, whatever happens, being able to take productive snaps and not miss a beat. Just go in and switch the headset if that’s where he is and go and run the show. And he got better and better at that, so that was great for Mohamoud. For Devin, he hasn’t been in this system yet, so it was great to where – and he started really fast. First preseason game, he was all over the place, did a great job. You know, like that third and short tackle in that big back, that was awesome. But he just got better and better at learning the system because he hadn’t been in the system. So, it was great reps for Devin, and he’s come here with a great attitude every day. And Nate, his – I think it was 13 plays, I’m usually right on these numbers so I better look it up – 13 plays against Green Bay (Packers), he learned every play he was in and got better. So, we’re excited for the development of those players so that they can contribute. Because as you’ve heard me say before and heard us say before in the organization, ‘we need everybody’. If you’re on the roster, we need you. And we’re all treating that the same way. There starts to be a depth chart announced, but we’re all going to play.”
Jason, along those lines with the injuries, Jim (Schwartz) yesterday mentioned, like, it is a concern on some level that there hasn’t been a lot of time all together for the defense in the preseason. So, like what can you do to kind of try and combat that at least going into week one? And I guess, how confident are you guys overall?
“Well, I’m, like I say, ‘I’m up here, I’m up here, I’m excited.’ Our challenge is going 1-0. So, I’m excited to see how it goes together. As a coach, that’s what every year is. Every year is a different year and your group, how they develop the identity together as they play. The good part is a lot of our players that were out have experience either in the system with us, with each other, like Jordan Hicks. So, they can grab things, maybe seeing it in a meeting and not having to have a rep; you know, Rodney McLeod, Jordan Hicks. And so that part’s really good where you just –there are a couple of things even today, we just got done with meetings and walkthrough where, ‘Hey, Jordan, remember this? This happened to you with Coach Schwartz at Philly (Philadelphia Eagles)?’, ‘Yeah, I got you coach.’ And he does because he’s a vet, so that part’s good. But we are really excited to see them all play together. And we’re really excited to see them all play because we’re going to need everybody like we said.”
With Mohamoud, did he make that jump you were talking about where you think he can step in and play defense much more than he did last year? And where have you seen that biggest growth from him?
“Yes, and the biggest growth is a little bit… like I talk with Jeremiah (Owusu-Koramoah) sometimes, being able to go take a deep breath after the play. Because Mohamoud plays hard and he’s physical and we love him, but it’s to be able to let that go and then the next play is going to be the best play you ever played. That’s where his thing is. However you do it, take a deep breath, hit your helmet a little bit. Whatever it is, he’s gotten better at going to the next play, and that’s all we want. He’s going to play hard, and when he gets his chances in these upcoming weeks, that’s what we want to see. Go to the next play. If it’s your job to make the calls, make the calls. And I think he’ll stay in that mindset as we go forward.”
How about Dak? What can you say about Dak and just how well he’s been playing, how good he is? And what are you guys thinking about when he comes to Cleveland?
“We are going to have to execute. We’re going to have to be in our right spots with whatever the calls are with our mix of different coverages. Whether it’s tighter coverages or more zone or whatever we’re doing on that play. Because he’s really good at – he’s gotten better and better at analyzing defenses. And he knows… they get him out of the huddle early so that he can see things and look over the defense. And he’s just gotten better at that throughout his career. So that’s our challenge. Now we need the Dawg Pound to make this hard on him in our house, you know? So, we’re excited to see you guys, by the way. But we need our advantage to help us with our different things. And it’s our job as a defense to, you know, get going and play with great passion so that, you know, in that environment, we can take over.”
Jeremiah, obviously, signing that extension. We know the expectation for him on the field, but does that also come with higher expectations off the field as far as his leadership in that room and kind of what his responsibilities are?
“He’s growing up on and off the field every day. He just keeps getting better at realizing things and thinking through things and building his processes. So, we just really need him to stay in that process. Cause for me, it’s still gonna be those two things. It’s gonna be keep your body – get your body right, get it as [good as] it can, and then each play, whatever it is, just focus on that play. Those two things that we’ve talked about for the last year and a half is really where he needs to be. And he’s been doing that throughout the time in camp. He’s really gotten… the joint practices were really good for him. It was really good for him to focus on just that play, and he was flying around. And so that’s where we’re going to stay with him, stay in that deal. I mean leadership is – you know, I’m up here talking with my hands – it’s just, leadership comes from being confident in yourself, knowing your job, and then being who you are at all times. Just be who you are. That’s all we need him to be, is be himself. And, you know, when he’s himself having all that energy, we all feel it.”
Earlier this year it was talked about, in relation to Jeremiah, that it might be time for him to just be on the field for almost every play. Is that something you think is probably on the menu for him in terms of, like, his workload in each game?
“Yeah, we’re doing situational football today. So in a lot of the situational football we’re training him in addition to some of the other guys to be able to do all those roles. So, yes, there’ll be more and more. There’s still going to be times where, like we’re talking about rotation, especially early in the football season. We need to play everybody so we know we want to get as many of these as we can so we can keep playing, right? So there’s going to be some rotation at the position, there just is. The closer you get to the ball, D-line linebackers, they roll a little more because those are harder positions to play because you got to chase the ball all the time. The offense knows where we’re going, we don’t. We just got to chase the brown thing and make plays. But there’s going to be some rotation. The answer is yes. He’s training in all situations now.”
Also, we’ve talked a lot with just everybody about just the influence that Mike Vrabel has had in different areas. And I know he’s focused a lot on, like, tight ends, kind of working with the offense guys and giving them perspective. But given that linebacker is his natural position, how much of a resource has he been for you, for the guys in that room and what not?
“Well, Mike is so great at teaching contact. How to block, how to strike, and he’s doing a lot with Bubba (Ventrone) that way. But linebackers play special teams. It’s a three-word phase that we say, and it’s true. We’re all going to be on special teams at some point. So, Mike’s ability to teach contact and how to defeat it and how to maintain it has been awesome for us, me as a coach and for the players.”
Jordan told us yesterday he was going to have the green dot. I’m curious what goes into that decision. Is it as simple as he’s a veteran, he’s a middle linebacker, so he’s out there? I guess why is he the one with the green dot?
“Well, Jordan has been the green dot, but we will – I don’t want to say too much about how we’re going to use the green dot. We’re going to use all our linebackers, so. But Jordan is the first one to go out with the green dot. He’s really good at relaying information and Coach Schwartz is really good at calling things in and giving reminders, not only for the person in the green dot, but for the whole defense. So, Jordan’s really [that] – and he’s done that with coach Schwartz before. So that’s why we’re starting that way. And Jim is really good at how he calls things in and gives little reminders to the defense. I’ve learned a lot as a coach from how he does that. So, the comfort level, how we start, how much of a pro he is, I mean, there’s many, many reasons why we’re starting that way.”