Q. Last Sunday against a 7-1 Colts team that had the best RB in the league spearheading an offense averaging over 30 points per game, your defense held that RB to 45 yards and a 3.2 average, which forced 50 pass attempts, which allowed you to get to your pressure packages, which led to 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. Is that the vision or expectation you had for this defense in terms of the way it needed to play?
A. It is certainly the mode of operation in terms of how you play defense, or how we envision playing defense. You minimize the running game. You get people one-dimensional. You get them behind the chains. You're in more advantageous possession down circumstances, and the more advantageous possession down circumstances you're in, the higher the probability is for defensive splash that comes in the form of sacks, sack/fumbles, interceptions. And so it's certainly the formula that we envision, but it's easier said than done.
Q. When watching the video of that game, what specifically did you see that was happening to allow your defense to control Jonathan Taylor?
A. We did a nice job of constricting and containing. Guys were in their gaps, and we set good edges. We didn't play on a field that was 53-and-a-third yards wide. Our edge people constricted the horizontal space. The linebackers played downhill and minimized vertical holes. And when you do that highly consistently, you've got a chance to have a good day. And I think that was really the bones of the day. We set edges. You didn't see him bouncing any balls to the perimeter for big gains, and then you didn't feel any vertical holes where he can go lateral to get vertical. And those are the two major components to playing really good run defense.
Q. Two individual defensive stats we always see are tackles for loss and passes defensed. When you're grading the video, what constitutes a tackle for loss, and what constitutes a pass defensed?
A. I don't define it. It's defined by the powers that be in the National Football League, Elias, or whoever officially compiles our stats. But anything for less than zero, so a half-a-yard loss, anything of that nature, is classified as a tackle for loss, and even zero at times because when you tackle a quarterback for a 0-yard gain it is registered as a sack, for example. And then the pass defensed are somewhat judgment. Sometimes they're pure breakups, sometimes they're disruptions. You get to somebody's elbow, you dislodge them from catching the ball by getting to their elbow. And so anything where you're close enough to be a factor in terms of a ball being incomplete is characterized as a pass defensed. Certainly that includes things that are that are much more than that, interceptions, etc. But by definition, as defined by the NFL, those are the two categories.
Q. A few weeks ago, I asked you about what Aaron Rodgers had said unsolicited about Jalen Ramsey getting himself on the field for a Thursday night game and what he thought of him as a teammate and a professional. Last week, Ramsey accepted a full-time move to safety, helped get Kyle Dugger ready and able to play on a few days' notice, and then he spoke to the team the night before the game, where Rodgers said, "It was meaningful to me on the offensive side." You knew what kind of player you were getting when the trade was made to bring him here, but did you know what you were getting in him as a leader and a teammate?
A. I did. We do our due diligence during draft prep, and I remember vividly Kevin Colbert and I taking that trip to Tallahassee for Florida State's Pro Day. We expressed frustration during the trip, because we were so attracted to his intangible qualities as well as his talent. And we certainly realized that we didn't have enough draft capital to put ourselves in that conversation, but we really appreciated all that we discovered about him nonetheless, the intangible things, the leadership, the relationship with the game. Being on campus for his Pro Day, you saw how his younger teammates felt about him, the charismatic leadership component of it. We're facing a dynamic player today In Derwin James. And Derwin James was his little brother in Tallahassee, like wherever I saw Jalen go that day, Derwin James was on his hip. And so it just speaks to who he is, and that certainly hasn't changed. I've been able to follow him throughout his football journey in the league, and he's been held in that regard wherever he's been.
Q. Both Rodgers and Ramsey came here with some questions about what kind of teammates they had been, but it seems they have been everything you could want in terms of positive leaders and teammates. How does that happen, that disparity between reputation and reality?
A. You know, narratives are just that. Narratives. Oftentimes, they are created by those outside of our collective speculating on what is real. And so, if you're in this business, you just realize how inaccurate some of that stuff can be. As a citizen, it makes me question some of the other news that goes on, because a lot of it in our business, as they say, is fake news.
Q. During your Tuesday news conference, you referred to Roman Wilson's fumble as a "boneheaded lack of ball security." Generally speaking when it comes to those kinds of things, do you have a doghouse?
A. I certainly do. I don't necessarily know that I have any hard-and-fast, black-and-white guidelines in terms of what constitutes what puts someone in the doghouse. I just know when I'm there.
Q. So how does a guy get back into your good graces once he's in the doghouse?
A. I don't know that he does, to be quite honest with you. I was told long ago that once a player shows you who he is, believe him. And so if I'm at that point, I don't know that there is (a way out).
Q. In talking about the Chargers defense, you said, "Derwin James is just the straw that stirs the drink for them." What did you mean, and how does that drink stirring manifest itself on the field?
A. His position flexibility puts him in position to be impactful in just about all circumstances and personnel groups. He's a very good Blitzer. He's a good tackler. He plays safety, he plays nickel, he plays dime linebacker in sub situations, and all of that is done so that regardless of how you play, you can't stop him from doing what he does. Which is play downhill, play off the edges, blitz, tackle people sideline to sideline. They do an awesome job schematically of being multiple enough where that guy gets a chance to do what it is that he does on just about every snap, regardless of the circumstance or the offensive personnel group.
Q. You have a long history coaching against Ravens Coach John Harbaugh, and the Chargers are coached by his younger brother, Jim. When it comes to style and what's important to them as coaches, are they more similar or different?
A. I think they're probably different in a lot of ways. Jim is a former quarterback, and I think he's more of a general risk-taker. I think his approach in all three phases is a little bit more wide open. John is a little bit more buttoned up. And I think that probably defines them as individuals as well. I hadn't thought about comparing them and contrasting them in general, but I'd say that's probably my general synopsis of it.
Q. What are the characteristics of a Greg Roman running attack?
A. You know, big personnel groups. Two tight ends, two running backs; three tight ends, one running back, one receiver. Gap-scheme running, downhill, and you couple that with quarterback mobility and the potential of designed quarterback runs and keepers, I think, is a real signature of his game.
Q. Chargers QB Justin Herbert was the 6th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. What do you remember about the pre-draft process as it related to him that year?
A. I don't remember a lot, to be quite honest with you. That was the Covid draft, and we were working remotely, and so I didn't waste a lot of time interacting on the sixth overall pick based on where we were picking in that draft. It was a unique time. We left work one day expecting to be back at work the next day, and it was several months before we all saw each other again. And so it certainly was challenging. It altered our approach, and I'm sure everyone's approach in a lot of ways. And that's one of the ways that it altered mine. I'm probably a little bit less familiar with him than I am, say, the sixth overall pick in other drafts. I think some of the challenges of Covid and the remote working was a component of it.
Q. When you look at Herbert's height and weight, it's almost exactly the same as Josh Allen's. When it comes to mobility and how they use it, are they almost exactly the same there, too?
A. No, I wouldn't describe him that way, and I probably hesitate to believe the listed weights. Josh is a bigger man, and he certainly plays bigger. Down the field as a runner, he's combative, he leans into people. He runs over DBs routinely, and I don't think that's reflective of Herbert's game. And I'd imagine, although they're listed in a very similar way, I imagine if we stood both of those men side by side, there'd be a visible difference in terms of the thickness of the two.
Q. If I was one of your defensive backs this week, what would you be telling me about Keenan Allen?
A. That he is crafty, that he's one of those guys whose game isn't defined or predicated by speed. He has enough savvy, enough wiggle, enough know-how that he can lose you in a non-vertical way. And I think that's a special trait. I think oftentimes we spend a lot of time talking about the fast receivers or guys who can run by people. But those of us who are in this business have a lot of respect for those who can beat you in a variety of ways. And he certainly falls into that category. He's got a great feel for the game. He's got great routes, he's tough, he's got good and strong hands. He's just got a really complete game.
