Safeties Coach Ephraim Banda (10.25.24)
So, you’ve got some safeties back healthy. How does it feel to have a little bit of a more robust room now?
“Yeah, definitely sleeping better again having Juan (Thornhill) come back, start to get back into the fold. Really worked hard to get back on the field as soon as he could. Still trying to do a good job of just working through him coming back off the injury. Don’t want to like pile on 70 reps or anything like that. But the luxury of the room and the way that AB (Andrew Berry) and his staff have built it, we can rely on those other guys, which we had to. When we had those guys down, they did a good job.”
How important, I know safeties are important and don’t want to diminish in other weeks, but with Baltimore’s offense, specifically, with what Lamar (Jackson) can do, Derrick (Henry), and as well as that receiving corps. I mean just go down the line… How valuable are they going to be this week defending everything that Baltimore can do?
“Yeah, I mean, look, number one offense in the NFL, talent at all levels. And at the end of the day, when they built this roster, I know the personnel people, AB, brought people in here to be able to defend the offenses that we got to play against in this division. So, the luxury and the reason that guys like Grant Delpit are here are to defend these types of players and that we see in this division, these types of tight ends. JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah), right? I mean, to be able to have him be able to match up as best you can versus a guy like Lamar. So, it’s very important to have the safety and the quality safety depth we have to be able to match up versus this type of offense to tackle the back or the backs that you see in this division. You need those type of bigger guys, those physical safeties, but at the same time they do such a good job, Coach (Todd) Monken does such a good job with the offense in terms of schematics that you can’t just be physical brute, you got to have intelligence as well. And again, we’re blessed with the people that are in this building to be able to match up with the scheme and also the personnel.”
You guys are kind of the last line of defense if Derrick Henry has a whole full head of speed. How do you kind of prepare them to deal with him and tackle him?
“You have to rely on technique that we rep every day in terms of tackling right the proper way. Open field tackling is an emphasis. You guys see how much we work on that individual. You see me with the goofy donut and standing on the bag trying not to get chopped every time those guys come through. But the emphasis on those drills is really to make sure that you take your feet all the way to the human at the point of contact and then a violent wrap on the finish. It’s going to happen at the safety position, a ball is going to be running at you in the open field. The hardest thing, especially with football nowadays with the lack or the lack of contact in practice environments, is that it’s toned down. It’s hard to rep that. So, you got to find ways to rep that in practice as much as possible. We’ll do it again today. We try to do it every other day at least. You just got to rely on your technique and the things you’ve been working on since day one of OTA’s, early phases into training camp.”
I know Derrick Henry’s a guy that sometimes makes people make business decisions. Do you guys talk about the commitment that is necessary to bring him down and face him especially at 1-6?
“I don’t mean to cut you off, but I was eager to answer. The answer is absolutely. No poodles in our room. We talk about it. We want to be physical. There’s no shying of contact in our room. Like if you shy away from contact, D. Bell (D’Anthony Bell) is going to say, “Poodle!” in the back. And there’s none of that. We have to attack this game with the mindset of solving your problems with violence. And it’s going to be a physical match. It is. I mean, it doesn’t matter what year or who’s in the game. When these two teams lock up, it’s going to be a violent fight and you got to match their intensity, you have to be more violent than they are, willing to give yourself an opportunity to win the game. So, 1,000% we talk about it.”
Is it difficult, I mean, with a guy like that, I don’t want to bring up a bad subject, but thinking back to last year, the Mikah Fitzpatrick hit on Nick (Chubb) that a guy like that; a big, physical, strong guy. You talk about hitting too high, finding the right target zone to bring him down. How do you avoid going too low where you don’t just risk your own injury, but you risk injury to the other player?
“That’s a good question. I think the biggest thing you have to understand, which is hard, people don’t get this probably as much as they should. The areas of strike zones are highly dependent on the area of the field and the ball carrier in a millisecond of time. I think that’s what makes these people so amazing in terms of the talent of the NFL. Where you track a player in terms of the target, where you’re targeting and tackling is dependent on where the ball is and who it is. So, a lot of times inside of the box, where some of our second level guys like Grant, a lot of times those targets will maybe more at the chest level to above the thigh, above the waist, because you’re seeing the profile of the man. But when you’re on the open field, like Juan or sometimes Rocket (Ronnie Hickman Jr.), that target may drop a little bit more to the thigh board or on the sideline, where you’re in more in the open space. So, it is really dependent on who it is, right, and where it is and the angle that you have on the person that you’re tackling. So, it’s a complex answer, but that’s the reality of football, especially nowadays.”
Going back to Juan, he was talking last week that, obviously last year he was dealing with a calf injury. He never felt like himself, so it was kind of important to him to get fully healed. How difficult was that to kind of balance wanting to get healthy? And also, I know he played the second half of that Dallas game with the injury.
“Yeah, it was hard for him last year mentally. We spent a lot of time, less coaching and a little bit more psychological work. I will say he did a much better job this year. We addressed it at the very beginning. We were open about it, his feelings, my feelings, and we just put it out in the open. Last year was tough for him and it kind of got to him a little bit, like anyone would. Injuries are hard for these players because they love the game and want to play. So, for him, it was all right, you’re going to have these moments of frustration to get back on the field. Let’s fight that with continuing to stay locked in meetings and asking questions as if you’re going to play in the game, which I did regularly in meetings to keep him activated mentally, to not allow his mind to drift. So, it was not easy for him, for sure. He did a much better job this year of staying ready and present and locking in on a date to come back and be able to, like Jim (Schwartz) about, bring reinforcements and energy and juice when we get these guys back, which I feel like we’ve done.”
You mentioned matching up with those Ravens tight ends. What do you see out of each one of them? I know, I think Grant mentioned (Isaiah) Likely’s increased role and (Mark) Andrews is coming on lately.
“Yeah, last year being my first year in the division, watching 89 (Mark Andrews), I walked away from both games saying this guy is elite. And his ability to move at his size, his ability to move his feet, his ability to press a ball, press a DB, move his feet and swipe and his length and then to catch the ball. I mean, he’s just truly a special, special player. I’ll be honest with you, Likely started catching my eye last year and in spots, and then now it’s not a secret. I mean, he is a pass catcher, but what is really admirable about him right now is his physicality in the run game. So, he’s becoming this truly complete player and do a great job. I’ll say their tight ends. Coach has done a great job in development. And you can see that. Really, even 88 (Charlie Kolar), he shows up on his yards-per-catch. So, they do a great job of developing that room and that room’s gotten better every year that I’ve seen. Again, I told the guys, there’s opportunity out there to compete against maybe one of the best tight end groups in the NFL.”
Has Lamar somehow even taken his game up to another level this year and just what are you seeing in him?
“Absolutely. Just again, maturation over the years, seeing him at Louisville being in the ACC and then now, really grown as a player. He’s definitely grown and has a good understanding of, schematically, what to do. Coach Monken’s done a great job over the last two years of developing him and helping him grow into a new phase of his career. But his ability to just not run around and just to run, he can find players. He’s moving to throw now. His understanding of getting the ball out when he needs to, his understanding of schemes and where safeties are and just knowing where to go with the ball in quick and efficient manners. Really grown a lot.”
Do you remember the first time you faced him? What that was like?
“He just had just left, but I remember watching the tape, getting ready for Louisville and I’ll be honest with you, I was amazed at his ability, his talent. But he’s a Palm Beach kid. Working in that area and recruiting that area, his legend is pretty big. He’s a hell of a player. He was then in high school and into college and obviously proving himself at the highest level now. Obviously, a quality MVP candidate at the end of the day.”