Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen
September 4, 2024
Q: What went into bringing (cornerback) Adoree’ (Jackson) back? When you had those conversations, what did you talk about?
SHANE BOWEN: Those conversations were ongoing before we signed him. Good to get him back here. We're focused on getting him ready to go, get him up to speed as quick as we can. I think my experience with him in Tennessee (Titans) and his experience here with the coaches and the guys, I think, is a benefit as well. But, glad to have him back here. Excited to kind of get him rolling here.
Q: Do you have experience with a guy coming in this late and having to play a lot of snaps?
SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, you can ask all 32 teams. There's guys that come in on Tuesday that end up playing on Sunday throughout the year. (I) dealt with it in my time in Tennessee with some of the injuries we had. It's the league, the nature of the league. With numbers and injuries that occur throughout, you got to be ready to get guys up to speed relatively quickly so they can go out and execute and hopefully not ask them to do too much too early to where they're making mistakes and some things come up.
Q: How would you describe the aggressiveness of your defense? I keep hearing you use the word aggressive, and guys here keep saying, ‘It's aggressive, but aggressive in a different way than we've been aggressive in the past,’ which was obviously blitz heavy. How would you describe your plan to be aggressive?
SHANE BOWEN: I want these guys to attack. I want them to have an attacking mentality with everything they do, whether it's attacking the line of scrimmage up front, playing with our hands, leading with our hands, being violent with our hands. Whether it's linebackers getting downhill violently, physical, DBs (defensive backs) getting out of breaks, showing up in the run game, staying on their feet, tackling, putting their chest on guys. It's a play style. You play defensive football, I don't care if it's Pee Wee or if it's up to the NFL, when you play defensive football, there's an expectation of physicality, toughness, aggression and being aggressive throughout. Totally different than scheme and what that is and where that goes, but it's more about play style to me.
Q: Would you say it's fair that nobody who was here throughout the summer for that second cornerback job won it?
SHANE BOWEN: I would say all those guys have been battling and competing throughout. We'll kind of see where it goes. I think bringing (cornerback) Adoree’ (Jackson) in is really just a chance for us to add some depth and have another option. Across the board, you want competition at every position. You want the roster to be as competitive as possible, so guys improve and they feel the pressure of having to come out here every single day, a Tuesday in October, a Monday in December, and get better. So, that's ultimately what we're trying to get done is just continuing to push all these guys to be the best versions of themselves and, again, put their best foot forward and how it sorts out is how it sorts out. We got to put the best guys out there. We owe it to the team. We owe it to the unit to put the best guys out there that we feel give us the best chance to win and we got to navigate that as we go.
Q: Obviously, with a player like (defensive lineman) Dex (Dexter Lawrence) and even (outside linebacker) Brian Burns, you would love to have them on the field 100% of the time, right? But what's your approach to playing time for defensive linemen? How much do you think is reasonable? How much do you want to rotate guys in and out and keep them fresh?
SHANE BOWEN: I think it depends on the guy. I think there are certain guys that can handle it, that can play a ton of snaps, and they never really feel it, and you don't really feel it when you're watching them. There's other guys that you get in the fourth quarter, it starts to get noticeable. We got to be mindful of it, especially early in the season. Got to be mindful of where we're at conditioning-wise. If we do end up playing with some heat, I think that's a big thing. But, doing what we can to keep those guys fresh in the fourth quarter. All these games are going to come down to one-score games more times than not, so we got to be our best there and hopefully those guys are in condition enough and we can spell them enough at times, at the right times, to where they're the freshest when we need them the most.
Q: Going back to your point about being aggressive, how do you balance being aggressive versus being smart and not committing discipline-related penalties that sometimes come with aggressiveness?
SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, no doubt. We talk about don't do dumb crap that hurts the team. There's a fine line between being aggressive and hitting guys when it's legal and being stupid and hitting guys late, hitting the quarterback high or going low on the quarterback in the pocket. We have to play within the rules. We understand that. Again, we want to toe the edge, we do. We want to get up to the edge of it, but at the same time, we can't do the dumb stuff that costs the team. It's tough to come back. When you give these teams 15-yard penalties, (a) high-percentage (of the time) they're probably going to result in points. Just doing a good job understanding the rules of the game and how far we can take it. A lot of that even goes into some of the officiating crews at times, with what they're allowing. I think we got to get a feel for that early on in the game, how they're calling things and what we're able to potentially get away with or be able to push the limit on.
Q: Have you got any feel for the hip-drop tackle? I don't think it's come into play with anything.
SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, there were a few examples throughout the preseason that we send into the league to get a little bit more clarity on. Just the examples of, ‘Is this the classified three areas that it takes to really be determined a hip-drop tackle.’ So we'll kind of see as that goes here these first few weeks, see where they're at with it. But right now, I think it's going to be a learning process for us and the officials as we go. (It’s) something we're going to have to continue to get information on throughout the season and get feedback from the officials on different things to kind of help us not get in those positions.
Q: With (inside linebacker) Micah (McFadden) somewhat of a question mark, what have you seen from (inside linebacker Darius) Muasau?
SHANE BOWEN: I've been pleased with Darius (Muasau). He's done a good job. I think he's improved throughout training camp. He's smart, doesn't make the same mistakes twice. I think he's got a pretty good understanding of situational football. I've been pleased with him. We'll kind of see where it goes with Micah (McFadden) this week. He was out here yesterday, so we'll play that by ear as it goes.
Q: You've gone up against (wide receiver) Malik Nabers here for the last month and a half. What kind of a headache is he going to be for the other defensive coordinators in this league?
SHANE BOWEN: He's talented. I'm not going to do any comparisons or put any unfair expectations on him. He's a rookie. He's got to go out there and do it just like our guys and everybody else, but he's talented. The ability to separate and catch the ball. He's got the ability to be a good player in this league.
Q: Your defenses in Tennessee were always at or near the top of the NFL in red zone defense, and that's what we saw against the Texans, you guys had the red zone stop. Why do you think that is? And is the description of, ‘Bend don't break,’ is that something you think is a good comparison or is that an insult?
SHANE BOWEN: I think, as it relates to red zone defense, it takes all 11 (players) down there. The run game, obviously, you don't want to let teams run it in when you're that close, but the passing windows get tighter. We got to use that to our advantage and understand that. I think the coordination, the understanding, being able to play off each other, the leverage that comes into play and just how you're able to fill windows with some different pieces at times. Hopefully that continues. Hopefully we're working hard every day to hopefully be one of the better red zone defenses. It's a game changer. They score three points instead of seven, that's a huge difference in a game. I wouldn't necessarily say it's ‘Bend don't break,’ as much as it's, ‘Let's make sure if they do get down there, we don't really care how they do, but let's make sure when they do get down there that we're defending our house.’ That end zone is our house. We're going to do everything we can. We're going to empty the chamber. We're going to defend our house and find ways. That goes back to mental toughness. Being able to play the next play, not be focused on what happened, but be focused on what's coming. I think that's probably more the emphasis from my point of view than saying, ‘Bend don't break.’
Q: What makes (Minnesota Vikings Head Coach) Kevin O'Connell difficult to coach against? What makes him a good offensive play-caller?
SHANE BOWEN: They got a good scheme. He does a good job moving those guys around. They got talented pieces, obviously, on the perimeter. They added (running back) Aaron Jones in the backfield. The O-line's been together. They do a good job manipulating to get guys in positions to where they can find openings. I think the run and the play-action pass complement each other. I think he does a good job building plays off the same look where they complement each other. It's going to be a big challenge for us, obviously, with the talent they have on the offensive side, and then ultimately the scheme. I think (Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam) Darnold a really good fit for what they're doing offensively as well.
Q: Being with (defensive lineman) Dexter Lawrence as long as you have in the run-up to this season, what have you seen that either sets him apart or explains how he's able to do what he does and stay on the field as much as we've seen him?
SHANE BOWEN: That was one thing I was surprised with when I got here was just the amount of play time for a dude that big and how hard he plays. There's a clip from yesterday that we showed today, just the effort, play in and play out, running and chasing the ball. He's a total pro. He does everything you want in the meeting room. He's vocal. He helps with the younger guys. He asks questions and he comes out here and works. He puts the work in. There's a reason he's to the level he's gotten to and hopefully that continues and elevates even further. But it's because he's a pro and he works at it.
Q: With (Minnesota Vikings quarterback) Sam (Darnold), is there anything that you could really take from his film with the (New York) Jets and the (Carolina) Panthers or after that year with (San Francisco 49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) and now working with (Minnesota Vikings Head Coach) Kevin (O’Connell), do you think he's going to be a different player?
SHANE BOWEN: Yeah, I think it is different. I think probably going into a system that's similar to what he had in San Fran(cisco) last year is going to benefit him because I think there's going to be some continuity for him. But we're going to have to do a good job. We're going to have to find ways to affect him. And hopefully do a good job stopping the run so we can play the play-action pass game, that's so good. I'm sure they're going to get him on the edge a little bit as well. So, we'll see. It's going to be a big challenge for us.
