Q. Obviously you got Darius Slay everything and, how big a match-up is this Sunday against the Cowboys with their three wide receivers and obviously without telling us the whole game plan, how do you plan to use him?
JIM SCHWARTZ: You know, particularly when their quarterback was healthy, that was a very, very lethal combination and not just Gallup and Lamb and Amari, but even the other guys, all those guys were productive when they got in there, 85, 11, Wilson and Noah, those guys all made plays. And it's going to be a group effort getting those guys stopped. It's not a game where you just take one guy away and you're going to limit them.
So I think that is an important part of it. They are explosive, they are productive at all those positions, and it's going to take a group effort.
Q. You guys used Alex Singleton in a blitzing role a couple of times against the Giants. How does he do in that role and how is he doing just in general?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, he's continued to make plays for us. Started with that 49ers game where he was able to get some playing time and he's gotten a little bit more in each game.
I mean, I don't know that we actually called blitzes for him. It was just sort of when he was in the game, we were sort of rotating our guys through and the situation called for it, and he made the most of it. That was a big play in the game, pressuring -- pressuring the quarterback, getting that holding penalty.
It's one thing just to get a hit on the quarterback. It's another thing to cause an incomplete pass. It's not quite as good as a sack but a forced holding penalty is big and Alex has made a lot of plays. Hasn't played perfect, but has contributed and has made some big plays for our defense.
Q. The 80-yard run by Jones the other night, this is the sort of thing we've seen a few times, again, the running backs didn't kill you, but the quarterback ran 80 yards. What has to happen to stop that sort of thing or limit it more than you've been doing?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, you're right on that. It's been rare that people have methodically driven the ball on us. It's been more perimeter oriented. It's been more reverse, a quarterback loose play, maybe even a quarterback scramble in some of those, zone read-type play. You know, those are plays that just stretch your whole defense, whether it's a reverse or a quarterback play like that.
And every single person along the front needs to be right, and one person out of their gap, it can really, really look bad, where a lot of inside runs, one guy out of his gap, you've got a linebacker that overlaps it or a safety that overlaps it and it's a gain of five and you guys don't even really notice.
Puts more emphasis on just being stone cold on the outside part of the field. It's just the way offenses are now. That's been a layer to the run game that ten years, five years ago, wasn't as big. You might get a reverse in a game but you didn't have all those different things, and I would even include out left passes like the RPO outlet passes. That's basically a run, also. It forces you to defend the entire width of the field, and that play wasn't our best. I mean, we didn't -- we didn't comeback on the quarterback the way that we should have on that and then the defense I was in, we were half-field on the earth I'd and sort of wasted on our middle field safety that can get that ball down because he wasn't a middle field safety. Robey was trying his best to hold guys off just to buy us some time to get there but there was nobody there to get there. That certainly wasn't our best play, but I think it remains -- if we can eliminate those plays, we can make it hard for people to drive the ball.
I thought the only thing that really consistently drove the ball on us was the Rams. I guess the Steelers, also. But those two games, the other games, it's been big plays, whether it's been run or pass that have put them in scoring range. I think this Giants game, they really had one series that they -- that they drove and scored on. The other one was a one-play drive and the other one was an 80-yard run set up by the quarterback.
Q. In your history as a defensive coordinator when you come into a game that they are having issues at the quarterback position, they could be down a No. 3, they have a lot of issues on the offensive line, just from a human nature standpoint, do you have to do anything different to make sure your guys are saying, just, you know, 100 percent rivalry game, that kind of thing, do you have to do more to motivate them?
JIM SCHWARTZ: No, I mean, we are always up for the Cowboys, really doesn't matter who is out there at quarterback. We'll be ready to go. They have enough play-makers without the quarterback, even considering a quarterback, that's going to keep our full attention, when you're talking about those receivers we just talked about, they have got a good tight end group, obviously Elliot back there, even Pollard, those guys can all make plays. You know, they are not going to change their offensive game plan, whether it's Dalton or Ben in there at quarterback.
Q. You have a ton of injuries at defensive tackle last year and a couple there already this season. What's the plan? Do you have enough players to fill out that rotation right now?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, we'll see where Malik gets to bouncing back. You know, it's just too early to tell, but we're disappointed to lose Ridge. Ridgeway was having a very good season. Wasn't playing a ton of snaps because of the other guys we had there, but he was a very productive player. He was a little different style than some of the other guys and he was hard to handle in there.
So we're going to have to have some other guys step up into those roles. TY has played a couple games for us this year and has given us some quality snaps. We'll just see where we get to on Sunday with the rest of those guys, but obviously it's an important position for us. It will probably put more snaps on guys like Fletch or Hargrave or Malik when he gets back healthy.
But you know us, we like to spread those reps around and keep guys as fresh as we can. It will definitely be something we'll be looking at and trying to find the best way forward with that.
Q. We saw some pretty good moves out of Derek Barnett and quite frankly for most of the season and one of the big talking points early on was more than the outside speed rush. What did you see out of him in terms of the second and third moves?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, well, the inside spin was obviously effective for him in this game. Got a sack on it and got some pressures, also. And it's just a good complimentary move. Talked a lot about Sweat and his repeatable motion and things like that. I think one of the things with Derek that Matt and Wash have done a really good job with is his repertoire is sort of down a little bit, down in numbers. He doesn't need a whole lot. He's got an edge move. He's got a speed to power move, and he's strong with his speed to power. Derek is not the biggest guy in the world but he does have good speed to power and he sets that up with an inside move.
You know, you really don't need a whole lot else, and he's been closing ground. He hasn't been wasting a lot of time in his pass rush. He's been closing ground where in the past he was probably, you know, foot-faking a little too much, and not putting the pressure on those guys. I think, also, Derek's success has a lot to do with the other guys, getting good rotation in there. They are all productive when they are in there, whether it's Sweat, whether it's BG, him, Vinny, G, all those guys have been productive in those roles and we always look at our guys as what's the production of the group, not an individual production. But I agree with your assessment.
I think Derek, he really has taken -- he missed most of training camp with an injury and sort of started slow but we're seeing the player that we expect with him and he's been productive for us on the field. Always plays hard. Always plays tough. That's a given. But I think that move and limiting some of his other moves has been productive for him.
Q. Andy Dalton being a veteran but how do you prepare for a rookie like Ben DiNucci who does not have that body of work? Do you go back and look at his tape from JMU?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, we were on that tape yesterday watching some of his college film, just getting a feel for him more as an athlete and some of the throws that he made and things like that, neighbor that makes an NFL team is good enough to play, so I think you start there. That's going to get you respect right away. You're good enough to make a 53-man roster, that deserves our respect, just watching him run some zone read stuff when he was at JMU, our scouting staff has really helped us that way. Our scout, Jim ward, has watched him since he was at Pitt. Actually saw him when he was a high school player. You know, just those kind of inputs and that kind of perspective helps us. You're right, Dalton does have a good body of work but we'll be ready, whoever is out there at quarterback.
Q. Fletcher Cox has one and a half sacks so far this year, on pace for about three and a half. What are you seeing on tape out of him? What do you need for him for this defense to be at its optimal?
JIM SCHWARTZ: You know, sacks, obviously, are the thing that everybody's judged on, but again, we judge our guys on what the group's doing. A lot of times, you can have a great rush and it gets somebody else's sack, or it gets a pressure, they throw incomplete. I think of the screen play that Fletch and Duke sniffed out and we got a tackle for like minus five or something. Well, you know, when you're playing the game as a play caller, what's the difference between five-yard loss when it comes to a screen or five-yard loss when it comes to a sack. Or even a TFL. They all count the same. It's all lost yardage play for the offense and they lost a down. We'll keep our eyes on things like that. I think that obviously he caused a fumble in that game. That was a huge play. We didn't score off it but I thought that was a huge play in that two-minute drive, we were able to get the ball back. Looked like they might have a chance to score before the half and Fletch was able to get that ball back.
I think it's always -- you can never look at any one stat and say whether a guy is productive or not. I think it the whole body of work and the way we play our guys up front. It's the body of work of all the guys not just one.
Q. What was the plan for Avonte Maddox in last week's game and going forward is the job still his if he's healthy?
JIM SCHWARTZ: Oh, yeah, he's our starting corner out when I was healthy. He was just coming back. It was a difficult week. We started his return to play and we didn't have any practice so it was really hard to game where he was. You know, he wasn't 100 percent sure. We weren't 100 percent sure.
He was active sort of as an emergency player. He got Preston service on some pump return stuff, and he was doing a good job staying warm in case we needed him. Because of some of the zones that we were playing at thing at the end of the game we would you tell him in at corner. We knew he wasn't going to have to run 80 yards down the field to cover somebody but we wanted him in there and he had felt good enough on those special teams snaps and kept himself warm.
He was training the right way. Looks like he's definitely trending to being able to get back in there. I think Robey did a good job subbing in there, but Avonte is an outside corner for us and it will be good to get him back out there.
Q. What does an NFL Sunday like for you when you have the day off? Were you watching the Cowboys game yesterday and if so, what do you watch when you watch a game live?
JIM SCHWARTZ: There are never days off for us. We were in here at work getting ready for the Cowboys. I did have the game on. You know, we have multiple screens in our office, so one game was on the live game and then I was watching cut-ups on the other one. So every time there was a commercial, somebody is else might be going out to get a snack or hit the restroom or grab a beer. That's when we flipped over and looked at plays from the previous game.
I think we do look at a lot of game tape and things like that, but sometimes a live game copy gives you a different perspective. You can just sort of feel the flow of the game a little bit more. I thought that was obvious when you were watching that Washington-Dallas game. Yeah, days off aren't exactly on our calendar.
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