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Sunday Media Transcript: LB Coach Bill McGovern

Eric from BBI : Admin : 7/29/2018 2:45 pm
LB Coach Bill McGovern
July 29, 2018
 
Q: Thoughts on being reunited with [Connor Barwin]?
A:  I’m excited to have Connor on the team. He brings obviously a number of years of experience and also success on the field. He’s a guy who is a true professional, but he also adds some athleticism to our team and some proven leadership.
 
Q:  Coach Shurmur just said that he feels like Connor’s got a lot of good pass rushes left in him. Do you feel the same way?
A:  Absolutely. We saw him on the first day, he’s a guy who has always kept himself in tremendous shape. He comes ready to play all the time, he’s a consummate professional, he works at his craft all the time, he’s always trying to improve, trying to find something to give himself an edge.
 
Q:  Do you have to limit a guy like that, in terms of situationally, the number of snaps he might play?
A: That’ll be as we see. We’re trying to find out right now, just the first day we had out in pads and obviously Connor’s only been here a couple days, so we’re looking to get all the guys on the field at the right time when they can do something for us. We feel that it serves them best.
 
Q:  We hear the term ‘edge rusher’ a lot and it’s starting to apply to the outside linebackers. In this scheme, are you differentiating between the two, or is it just kind of a preference thing as far as terminology goes?
A:  Well, basically, there’s obviously a couple different styles of defense. You have 3-4 defense, and that’s where you hear the outside linebacker term really come into play more where they’re a standup outside linebacker. But then when you get into the sub packages, a lot of that becomes 4-man fronts, which goes back to a 4-3, and that’s a [defensive end] type responsibility. Those guys have the ability, we’ve been trying to find the guys that have the ability to do both.
 
Q:  Does this defense fit [Olivier Vernon] to a T?
A:  Yes. I think any defense fits him. I think he’s that kind of a football player. He’s strong, he’s powerful, he’s smart, he works at his craft, he’s a true professional, again, in terms of being prepared and coming here and showing up and going to work. I think it plays him in space, we can rush him outside, we can bring him inside, there’s a lot of different things, so he’s hard to key on a little bit when he’s bouncing around on the edges.   
 
Q:  How do sacks work for you guys during practice? Obviously you can’t hit the quarterback, do you guys have a way of charting them?
A:  No. If you ask how many sacks the defense had in practice and the offensive guys how many sacks we had, there’s two different numbers. 
 

Q:  Do your guys log them?
A:  No, that’s not one of the things we’ll focus on. We’re trying to focus on just kind of getting better. We know that, hey, we’re just trying to get better, they’re just trying to get better, and we’re just competing at each snap.
 
Q:  How much better is your group with Connor [Barwin] here?
A:  It’s great to have Connor here obviously. He’s a true professional, proven leader, good person, just a guy you enjoy having in the room. Again, he adds something to the room. We’re always trying to add guys who can add something to the room.
 
Q:  How can he help Lorenzo [Carter]?
A:  I would like to think he can, and so can some of the other guys in the room, too, in terms of just showing him how to become a true professional, how to approach his craft and how to work at it.  
 
Q:  Connor had some of his best years in Philly playing for you. What about your scheme or your coaching style do you think helps him?
A:  That’s Connor. We might help some players, but those guys take it upon themselves and they want to get better, and they improve their job, and they study their craft and get better at it. That’s really, you’ve got to give the credit to Connor for the success he had down there.
 
Q: What kind of effect has [Alec] Ogletree had on B.J. Goodson’s development?
A: I think it’s been great. Again, having more proven leaders around, having good people in the room, you just kind of rub off on each other. You see good things, you hear other things that maybe somebody did or he might give him a heads-up like, hey, ‘I did this or I tried that, why don’t you try doing it this way? It can only help you get better.’ 
 
Q: Lorenzo [Carter] looked like he had an inside pass rush yesterday. Is that something he has to develop?
A:  Yeah. I think right now, he really needs to develop his whole game. Again, being a young guy out there and it’s the first day in pads against the guys, he’s going to go against obviously better players than he’s seen, but he’s got to develop everything. He’s got to develop the way he’s playing against the run, the way he’s going to do the pass rush, and you need just a couple of moves as you get going, but he’s going to have to fine tune, he’s got to work his steps, his eyes, all of it. It’s just the overall game right now.
 
Q:  Physically, when you get handed a rookie like this, if you look at him, you’re probably thankful. He looks the part, right?
A:  Yeah. He’s long, he’s athletic, he’s sudden, he’s smart. We’re finding out here, which he’s doing a good job of so far, he’s working at it right now. 
 
Q:  In this defense, how much are you coaching them to disguise who’s coming and who’s not?
A:  Well, that’s part of it, yeah. The scheme is, we’re naturally going to be an aggressive defense, but you also with the two outside guys when you’re in a 3-4, they both have the ability to come, they both have the ability to drop. So, you try to make it look the same as best you can all the time.
 
Q:  How has [Olivier Vernon] picked up the drop part of it?
A:  Dynamite. He’s as athletic as any of them out there. He does a great job, he’s fluid with his hips. He’s really done a nice job. Again, and Robbie Leonard has been working a lot with the outside linebackers and has put him in some drills, but he’s really responded well and he’s really handled it well so far.
 
Q:  How have you managed B.J. [Goodson]’s kind of confidence – He had 18 tackles in Week 1 last year and was so frustrated through the injuries. How have you managed him through this offseason back to where he is?
A:  It’s one of those things, again, you’ve got to give credit to him. He’s been working at it, and again, that’s something as a young pro you’re growing, you’re learning, you’re maturing, and I think that’s a hard thing to go through but it’s something that you have to. It happened, you gotta deal with it. And I give him the credit for the way he’s approached it, he’s trying to get better, he’s come back ready to go and he’s looked good so far. 
 
Q:  In a perfect world, how big of a rotation do you need at outside linebacker?  
A:  In a perfect world, you’ve got two guys that go 95 plays each game, it’d be great.
 
Well, you kind of had that last year.
A: Honestly, if you’ve got – basically, if you can rotate three or four through, that’d be great because the reason why those guys give you, they help you a little bit in terms of being pass rushers on third down, when you get to the passing downs. So, if you can put a fast group out there that can really get after the quarterback in certain pass situations, that’s why ideally some of those extra guys can really help you.
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