LB Jon Beason
Conference Call, September 25, 2015
Q: After the game with the knee, how does it feel and is there any—I know at one point there was soreness but how does it feel now in reverse to that?
A: It’s definitely sore, nothing that I didn’t anticipate. It’s just kind of one of those things where you just keep working through. I was able to finish up and that was the thing I wanted to do more than anything was to make sure I finished the game.
Q: How did you think you did? I don’t know if you got a chance to watch it but what did you think of yourself in the first game back and your performance individually?
A: Going into that, I just wanted to be where I was supposed to be and make sure that from an assignment standpoint that I was consistent. I would love to have been more active, make more plays, be more a factor that way, but I did my job and I gave great effort and I didn’t feel winded, which was good, so the work in the pool and the arm bike and kneeling arm sprints, all those things I’ve been doing to try to keep my cardio up was evident. For the most part, I think it was a great step forward and we’ll just keep building on it.
Q: With the knee in particular, will a couple extra days between now and the next game probably beneficial for you?
A: On the flip side of Thursday night games, it becomes like two bye weeks, which is a good thing. So you take the time, you get away from it, but you take care of the body more than anything. Getting an extra two days off and then we’ll probably have that Tuesday off next week off is huge in terms of recovery and get a chance to study Buffalo and figure out how we’re going to attack them. They pose a lot of flex, they give you a lot of problems, so we have our hands full this week. We’re playing a tough team, a resilient team and we’re going to get away from it but we’re looking forward to the challenge.
Q: How do you have to handle the extra bye week, as you call it? Do you sort of shut it down and sort of rest your body or keep going to maintain or build up?
A: Well, after a game you definitely want to recover, but for me, I’m going to continue to do some extra running and try to get my wind back so I can play at a high level. That’s key for me.
Q: Jon, normally during a season, a game ends and you move right on to the next opponent, with these few days now, do you soak up the win for a little bit or enjoy it? Is that important after the slow start?
A: Yeah, I think this win is a little short-lived for us. That fourth quarter was not indicative of the way that the game went. We still, for some reason, collectively have this problem with finishing. I don’t know, I think they ran 30 plays in the fourth quarter offensively and that means they’re converting, they’re moving the ball, we gave up another touchdown, special teams had been great all year and gave up a big return late after scoring a touchdown. The offense’s four minutes wasn’t pretty, but we did hit a big play to Rueben. We all realize we’ve all got a hand in this and it’s bad. You always want to be a team that’s known to finish strong and I don’t want other opposing teams to think, ‘hey, we’re playing the Giants. Whether they have a big lead or we keep it close, we know in the fourth quarter they’re going to give us this and that.’ You don’t want to be that. That’s something we have to put more emphasis on and we have to figure out what the issue is because you just can’t be consistent in this league and try to win games if you’re doing that.
Q: At the same time, do you still sit there and say hey we won, we’re still alive?
A: No. Well, I wouldn’t say still alive. I think we’re very, very much in the thick of things with it being just Week 3. The good thing about it is we’ve got a little mercy this week. We deserved to win the first game, we deserved to win the second and there’s no gimmes. It’s truly, truly a game of 60 minutes. To get the win was huge, knowing that we can, knowing that we are a good football team and we need to start thinking that. The way we are in the locker room, outside the doors, the way we carry ourselves in the community here, we’re a great football and we have a chance to go far if we decide to do that.
Q: What is it about this defense that it’s creating so many turnovers? What’s the difference in that regard?
A: We have a motto of ‘do your job plus’ where some schemes, they just say just do your job. If the play comes to you, you make it. That’s one thing I can be honest about and say I love about my linebackers, I have more freedom to go make plays and do more than just my job of the x factor of a 4-3 scheme. I think guys are really embracing the fact that we want to be a defense that chases perfection with relentless effort and do your job and after you do that, keeping playing and go be a factor on something else. That’s something that Coach Spags has brought here, he’s harped on it throughout the offseason and guys are really starting to embrace that.
He played 28 of 77 defensive snaps.