Following a six-sack performance against the Chicago Bears by the Arizona Cardinals and the acquisition of edge rusher Baron Browning, it was a good time to circle back to the position coach that handles it all, Rob Rodriguez.
After the trade for Browning was made last Monday, head coach Jonathan Gannon said, “Rob will be working overtime here the next month. Sorry, Holly,” referring to the coach’s wife.
We present his comments in a Q&A that began with a simple question: “How are you?”
A: I’m good, man. I’m good. Haven’t slept much, but otherwise I’m pretty good.
Q: We asked JG the other day after the trade for Baron was made and he talked about all the work he’s gonna have to do and then he said, “Sorry, Holly.”
A: (laughs) Holly doesn’t like me around anyway, but no, the wives are unbelievable, man. It was kind of cool when he did that. I was like … he came into my office, like, “Hey man, apologize to Holly ahead of time, OK? You got to get to work.” But team before me, man. The wives get it more than we do. They’re already sacrificing before we even ask ‘em to. So it’s all good.
Q: How’s it been with Baron trying to get him up to speed as quick as possible?
A: It’s a challenge, but it’s been a lot of fun. I’ll tell you what’s kind of cool about it is you spend that much time on tasks together, you get to find out who the person is and I’m really excited. I’m excited about the player; I think I’m more excited about the person. He’s a tremendous guy, has a great work ethic and he’s really intelligent. So I think I’m more excited about him as we stand here today than I was when we made the trade. So it’s been tough work. But like I said, anything worth doing is worth doing right. And we worked hard, but the guy’s showed me a lot. His dedication to it in response. I know I’m dedicated to it, but when those guys can match it or exceed it, you get excited about what can be.
Q: What are the skill sets that bolster your room a little bit going forward?
A: There are so many things. He’s got versatility, so I guess that would be the first one. But he does have tremendous bend and he already has a lot of experience rushing the passer. He has an arsenal, so I don’t have to teach him a lot of moves and get him a lot of stuff. What it is is refining stuff that matches our technique, not our technique, but really our scheme, getting him in the right angles just to make sure that it all spaces outright. But it’s really just his ability to bend and his versatility because he can cover, he can play the run and he’s already a really good pass rusher when you get him in the right position. So that’s probably all those things. And he does have the intelligence to do a lot of things. So right now, I think we’re probably going to keep it pretty simple to start, of course. But I think the future is pretty bright with that guy.
Q: His athletic traits, his explosiveness is what everyone talks about with him. The production hasn’t always been there. Why do you think that’s been the case and how do you guys get him to that point where the athleticism and the production match?
A: I watched his film; I can’t speak to it because I’m not 100 percent sure like schematically what he’s asked, but I think there are a couple just very small things. He is very instinctual and he’s got all those qualities, but it doesn’t matter. So the offensive linemen, if we did a track meet right now, they’d be the last guys you picked. But defensive linemen are great athletes, right? Why do they win so much? It’s the technique. So I think there are some times I think where the technique doesn’t match. It’s not his fault. It’s what was asked of him. I think he’s capable of doing everything it takes to win at the point of attack and I think within our scheme we can get him there. So I’m optimistic that within our scheme, he’s going to be successful in those same scenarios, but the skill set and the instincts and really the intention is all there. Because when you watch other people’s film, it works for them. And it wouldn’t work for us. And I think in those scenarios, it’ll work for us because of what we ask those guys to do.
Q: Zaven (Collins) and XT (Xavier Thomas) got home a couple times last week. What kind of confidence can that give those guys going forward.
Q: Oh, it’s huge. Because when it comes to pass rushers, guys, it’s like having a kid that wants to put a penny in a socket. You can tell them, “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.” But they gotta feel it. Once, they feel it, they get it. The pass rush is a lot the same way. It really is. You sit there and I told you so. So it happens. And so I’ve been so encouraged with what I’ve seen from those guys in the last three weeks, and the growth. And for them to come back to the sideline, “Man, I hit him with this” and it’s kind of like, “Dude, I’ve been telling you that’s good, right?” But the confidence, as you said the word, confidence is trusting it. Because again, it can’t be my technique, it’s gotta be his move and he’s gotta want to put it in there. When you get confident, you put it in there with force and so many things come off of those principal moves. Those guys are starting to feel it and it’s really cool when you get multiple guys across the board, all rushing together, it looks like that and I want more of that. So I want that for them. I want that for the team, right? But it was encouraging.
Q: How important is it when you get in the game and things are flowing and you get to known pass, you can stop the run and then getting a lead also helps that pass rush?
Q: Yeah. All those things come into it and like, JG and Nick (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis) are always talking. I gotta tip my hat, not just to Nick and how he calls the game, but the way those guys covered on the back end. And getting into known pass also puts those guys into position where they can take certain things away and play their technique. I thought those guys, when I got home, I thought I was feeling pretty good about myself and my guys. But everybody rushed well. There are so many different people who contributed. But really the consistent thing was those guys covered so well. So putting them in those known-pass situations really gets those guys to be able to play a little bit more off or press in these situations because they know we’re going to pressure; ball’s coming out. I thought those guys did such a great job disguising and covering.
I think it gives everybody when you can eliminate all the possibilities and say, listen, we’re going to get pass and/or draw and/or screen, pin your ears back. We can react to the other things that attack the pass and pin your ears back. That makes all the difference in the world and when you go on mixed downs, so many different things can happen, you got to play for the run and transition the pass; it’s a completely different animal. So, getting into those known-pass situations changes the entire mindset of the play before we start. And so when you see these aggressive defenses that get off the ball on third downs, typically it’s because they don’t have to think about three four different scenarios that might come to them. They can just attack.
Q: Browning is getting a second chance. Do get a sense of fire from him by getting a fresh start?
A: Yeah, I mean, here’s the deal: I don’t know how he was before. I’ve heard great things about him. I know a couple of people who have worked with him in the past and they’ve said nothing but unbelievable things. What I do know is what I see in front of me is fired up, motivated, highly intelligent, highly capable. But what is really cool is he’s consistent too. There’s not like I don’t think I’m getting this from him. I think I’m getting somebody who is that way. I think this is the way he’s cut. I think this is the way he was raised and I think this is the way he goes about his business and that’s what’s really exciting. I’ve asked a lot of him this week and he’s responded every single time. So I’m really excited about the person. Like I said, I’ve found out a lot about him as a man this week. I don’t know if it has anything to do with first, second, third chances, but like when we came in here, I didn’t care what anybody said about the guys that were here. They’re my players; show me who you are. And that’s how I’m going to judge you. That’s how I’m going to treat you. And I’m going to go about it the same way with B because he’s been a lot of fun so far.
Q: What about the language part of it, being comfortable that he will know the calls.
A: It takes time. But like I said, he’s extremely intelligent. He’s working at it and it’s one of those things where I know like you can say, Hey, if I say the verbiage, OK, he can nod at me and kind of give me a dumb look and trick me, so we’re just going through it and asking him to say it. It’s a lot like learning a new language, it really is and what’s hard is sometimes some of the things we call it this, we call it Jet. Well, Jet meant something totally different in what he just came from. What’s fortunate with Barren is he had, I think, three different coordinators in the last few years (head coach Vic Fangio with DC Ed Donatell in 2021, Ejiro Evero in 2022, and Vance Joseph in 2023-24). He’s had multiple different schemes; he’s had to do that before. So he’s making that transition pretty well, but it’s going to continue to get in the way and we just got to keep working at it, just continue to get him to say it the way we say it.
Q: What’s standing out about Jesse’s (Luketa) game?
A: We talk about motor violence; Jesse’s always had that. What we needed to bring to the table was technique and I think that’s what’s coming around. His dedication to the little things, and it’s hard, man because it’s muscle memory and you got to do it so much that your body does what you’ve taught it to do, so on Sundays, you can’t say. “Oh, I want to get to this edge.” You should have already taught it what to do during the week and in the preseason. Jesse is a meticulous worker and what was really cool is even when he was down (inactive), he went out there against scout team and was working on his craft. So when he got the call he went out there and put it on display. And so when we talk about motor violence and we’re looking for someone to set the tone, Jesse’s been that guy. And I’m not surprised, I’m only just pleased that that it came out the way he did because that couldn’t happen to a better person than Jesse. That’s why everybody loves Jesse, right?
Q: It’s been a roller-coaster season for XT. What ha he done and what did he show you during all the weeks that he was inactive to earn his way back?
A: Here’s what I’ll tell you. It’s like you deem it a roller coaster, but this is what I’ve seen from XT (moves hand in a straight line). He ain’t been on that roller coaster. He’s been steady working. He’s taking success and failure in stride. And even though he’s young in this league, XT’s a very calm person. And what I love about XT is his effort every day is good and he stays calming, he stays grounded. And so that consistency has been good for him. What I’ve seen from him is just a development of the technique in the angles that happen in the NFL. There’s a lot of good pass rushers in college that come in here and fail because they can never adjust to the technique that they’re seeing. They get to the contact point from these elite tackles; to be in the NFL you got to be pretty good at your technique.
There’s not like freak athletes at offensive tackle everywhere. The guys are good technicians. You’re not running across a dude who’s going to be an accountant in six months. These dudes, this is what they do. And then No. 2, the angles are different. They are different than they are in college; you can’t just burn the edge and turn and run around people. You have to have technique. It’s just a bit of development of that with him and it’s still going to get better because XT has got a lot of things in his game that are unbelievable and he’s working at them. And they’re just going to continue to get better as he works.
Q: What are the things that are unbelievable?
A: His twitch and his nose for the ball. Some dudes have to see the ball. Some dudes, they can feel it. It’s like a magnet, so it pulls them back in and that’s what he has. He’s got great character, he has a good work ethic. So I’m really happy about that too.
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