[Fuller/Barron]
Four or five of your nine tackles came on Saturday. Was that a game that things just kind of clicked for you? Was it where you were just able to take advantage of an opportunity? How do you view it?
James Ross: “I just view it like basically all the guys out there, we do our best to do what we can on the field at any given time. I just made those plays, but a lot of guys, we’re just running to the ball. Anybody can make a play at any given moment, you know; JD [Jourdan Lewis] or corners, safeties, we all run to the ball at the same time so there’s going to be a lot of assisted tackles.”
How many plays does it take to get the hat? [ED. (Adam)- It says ‘Ball Hawk’; Lewis was wearing a ‘Ball Hawk’ track jacket]
JR: “How many plays? This was in practice, in camp. Got a couple of forced fumbles.”
Jourdan, what was this week like for you, obviously dealing with a concussion and whether you were going to play? Also, four pass breakups was obviously a career best. What did you do and see in that game that helped you out?
Jourdan Lewis: “Just using my technique. Trying to get back as fast as possible from that concussion. Just excited to be out there, obviously.”
Jourdan, obviously a bigger challenge from the BYU receivers, a little bit bigger. What do you see from them on film, and when you’re attacking a larger group of receivers like that when you’re not as big how much do you have to rely on your technique and what do you have to do?
JL: “We haven’t seen much film on BYU yet. We’re actually going to watch film today, so I actually haven’t seen them.
“Commenting on the larger receiver thing, it really doesn’t matter to me. Small receiver, large receiver, it’s all the same. Just using my technique.”
[More, including Ben Braden, after THE JUMP]
Jourdan, your coach talked about the secondary and I think the way he put it was it’s really coming together. Your thoughts on how good this group can be, and maybe where you see it improving.
JL: “We can be the best, honestly, in the country if we just continue to use our technique. Just need to get the ball back, honestly. Need to improve on turnovers, get more turnovers. That’s the main goal.”
I’m sure in practice you’ve focused on trying to get yourselves better, the defense, all that but facing Jake Rudock in practice as opposed to what you’ve seen the last few years, what’s the biggest difference in what you see going up against him in practice as opposed to maybe before?
JL: “From the DBs’ perspective it’s the same thing. We have great quarterbacks: Shane Morris, Wilton Speight, and Rudock. They all can throw the ball, so it’s honestly great competition out there every time we step on the field.”
James, you guys have had a couple sudden change opportunities- turnovers by your offense where you’ve gone back out there and held them. What has been the key to the defense’s success in those positions this year?
JR: “It might sound bad but we kind of thrive off those situations. We like them. I mean, we would like to limit them, but if it happens we love to be back on that field and we love to get the ball back for our offense, so if that happens we go back out there and we look at it as an opportunity. We try to do our best and get the ball back.”
James, how much more stressful is it against a pass-happy offense for a linebacker making sure that you’ve got the underneath taken care of there?
JR: “Oh, it’s very important. The coverage goes hand in hand with the defense, from linemen getting pressure on the quarterback to making for a difficult throw, and for corners and safeties to stay in their coverage and for us to protect the inside zone or if we’re man on a running back or a slot receiver, we’ve got to make sure we take care of our business. If everybody does their job it’s hard to beat us.
“I think we’re getting better at our craft and we’re honing into our techniques and fundamentals like JD said. And like I said, if we use those techniques and fundamentals and we remember what we learned in camp and what coach is preaching to us every day we’re going to be pretty tough.”
Jourdan, on Saturday Ryan [Glasgow] said the D-line- the defense as a whole was mad about giving up the seven points. What’s your impressions, because it came on a scoring drive of a 53-yard reception that set that up? What did the secondary talk about? I mean, were you guys as angry as the rest of them?
JL: “Yeah. All of us were. You know, we wanted that shutout. They weren’t supposed to score. We weren’t supposed to let them score, so we let up seven points and that’s the biggest statistic we’re supposed to fix. There wasn’t supposed to be points on that board.”
How much of a motivator is that going into this game?
JL: “It’s a huge motivator. We always preach about getting the ball back and limiting opportunities for the other team to score, so if any opportunity presents itself we have to make good on those and make sure they don’t get points.”
Jourdan, you talked about how this secondary could maybe be the best in the country. I’m just curious, how different is the coaching you’ve been getting this year? How much of the improvement is coming from those two?
JL: “It’s- coaching is basically just a mindset, honestly. It’s just a mindset of being aggressive and trying to get that ball back.”
[Fuller]
Your head coach says you’re improving rapidly. How far do you still have to go, and you’re still fifth out of five, he said, but you’re climbing quickly. How much does that motivate you?
Ben Braden: “It’s a lot of motivation, especially coming from someone like Jim Harbaugh and my teammates. As far as how much further I’ve got to go, you know, I feel like personally be more consistent. Still improving. There’s always something, no matter how high or low or whatever, no matter what level you’re at there’s always something you want to improve on, so my mindset every day it just to come in and get better.”
Where have you gotten better compared to a year ago?
BB: “I think definitely getting comfortable just playing. I mean, last year I was a tackle and now I’m a guard. I think just getting comfortable playing different positions and everything. I felt like I’ve really gotten comfortable with that quickly- quicker than I expected, so I was really happy about that.”
Past couple of years it seems like there’s been more of an emphasis on one running back than the committee idea, but then when you do have a committee- Ty [Isaac] comes in and goes for 100- how much does that help this offense that any given day it can be someone else?
BB: “It’s awesome. [We’re] playing with a lot of great running backs and it’s awesome just to see them all be able to go out there and succeed and show what they can do with all the hard work they’ve had in practice and in camp. It was great to see Ty Isaac out there and Drake Johnson, and De’Veon Smith does very well and some of the other running backs. It’s just awesome to see them out there and running well.”
Pass protection looks like it’s been drastically improved this year. In your mind, what have you guys as a group done to improve that? What have you done individually to improve that?
BB: “I think we’ve really taken that to heart. Every week as an O-line we give ourselves a goal, and our goals are we want to run for so many yards, but our goal this week was no sacks. And I think having the leadership from Graham Glasgow and all of us sticking together and making that goal, I think that was something we really took to heart. I think the aspect of us coming together even since fall camp started I think was huge for us in improvement in pass pro and the run game and what we do.”
What have you done individually that’s helped you?
BB: “I’ve taken more reps even before and after practice and working on technique and I think that’s something that’s really helped me a lot, or just asking questions like, ‘Hey coach, how is this technique…’ or ‘I’ve noticed this. What do you think of this?’ Or just, I was watching- or watching NFL games and seeing like their stances are like this or this technique is this and just kind of experimenting with different things and giving them a try during practice, and practicing different things and getting more reps with my teammates outside of practice I think has really helped.”