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00:00As part of our coordinator series, we're joined by a coordinator from the Patriots, and today, it's defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington.
00:06He's brought to you by RATE. You can visit shant, S-H-A-N-T, W-E-E-I dot com to learn more, and by McFarland Energy, a Lenox Premier dealer.
00:14Demarcus Covington, how are we doing this week?
00:16I'm doing good, how are you doing?
00:18We're doing great. We noted some of the defensive breakdowns over the week against the Rams, specifically the play right before the half, the long touchdown to Cooper Cup.
00:28How do you guys balance, throughout the week and even in-game, the risk of a zero blitz where you could give up a big play, compared to the potential reward of making a big play as a defense?
00:39Yeah, I think that goes with, you know, playing on defense. So, like, in that moment, I think at the beginning of the second half, just stopped him on a run, and then trying to get some pressure on the quarterback, and then really just making sure that we gotta have, you know, good fundamentals on every play.
00:58What's sort of the, I guess, the pros and cons of putting Christian Gonzalez, sort of as the boundary corner, versus maybe moving him around, or just having a matchup on an elite receiver?
01:10Yeah, I think when you go into the game, there's a good amount of elite receivers on each team, and then I think it's best for whatever we want to do, best help us win the game.
01:20So, whatever we want to do as a coaching staff, going into it, put him on the receiver, keep him field, keep him boundary, and I know a lot of times into the boundary, there's a good amount of, you know, where your isolation plays, and, you know, you can win those one-on-one matchups with him backside, especially when the team's, you know, shift motion, run around every single play.
01:43I know Coach Mayo said that when you guys were in man-to-man, Gonzalez was on either Pukunukuwa or Cooper Cup the majority of the time. I know there were some beat writers that, I guess, went through the All-22 and said that that wasn't the case. Either way, do you feel like he was on those guys enough in the game on Sunday?
02:02Yeah, I think he did what we asked him to do in the game plan, and like I said, you can't put Donzo on every single receiver. You can't double every single receiver on our first, second down, and third down, but yeah, he was doing exactly what we asked him to do in the game plan, and for us, you know, that's what we wanted him to do, you know, be coachable and do what we asked him to do, which he's always like that.
02:26Patriots defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington joining us here on Jones and Keefe on WEEI. Just yesterday, you compared Marcus Jones to Travis Hunter from his days in college. Knowing what Travis Hunter is capable of, obviously, you were aware of what Marcus Jones is capable of on offense. How was he not an option on offense until this past week?
02:47Well, he's a, you know, a defensive player, so for us, and I said that in a respectful way, and like, because I do think Travis Hunter is a great player, so I said it in a respectful way in both lights and give him shining light on both players, and I just think, you know, we all see the things that, you know, Marcus can do with the ball in his hand, and for us, it's really, you know, it's my job as a coach of defense.
03:14I don't really worry about what goes on offense and special teams. I got to do what's right for defense, and if, you know, the game plan is for him to play on offense, game plan for him to play on offense. If it's not, then he plays on defense and special teams.
03:27So, but he was a defensive player in 2022 as well, and he got snaps on offense then, so I get that he's a defensive player, but he's done both in the past. There's a big push for collaboration in Foxborough. I get kind of staying in your lane and, you know, sticking to your side of the football, but it sounds like Alex Van Pelt wasn't aware. No one brought that up to him, because I agree, it's obvious what he can do. Why was it not brought up?
03:53I think you asked for the wrong guy.
03:56Okay, but you were aware that he played off. You knew that, and Van Pelt didn't know. So, I mean, who should we ask? Jerrod?
04:03Well, to me, I think when you look at players and you look at me being a defensive coordinator,
04:10me, I should know my players better than anyone, and just like I tell our position coaches to know
04:15the players better than anyone. So, Marcus Jones has been, you know, with us for defensively for a while.
04:21So, that's kind of how I look at it, and I know Marcus well enough, and so to me, those are
04:29questions for someone else. Did Marcus ever bring it up to you before he contacted Coach Van Pelt?
04:38No. No. I'm curious, going up against a team like Miami and their speed, you know, every team in
04:44the league is fast. There's fast players on every team, but I feel like Miami has sort of another
04:49gear with their receivers and their running back, even their tight ends. Is there anything
04:52different you can do in practice to sort of prepare yourself for that next level of speed?
04:58Yeah, we cheat those guys up on the line of scrimmage, give them extra yards where they
05:03start already, you know, almost in their running area. So, those are different
05:09ways that we can do that, where we, you know, instead of putting them in their normal receiver
05:13alignment, we just put them, you know, a yard ahead. You know, and this is sort of, I guess, a
05:20minor thing, but there really aren't a lot of lefty quarterbacks in the NFL anymore, and so that
05:24also has to just be sort of a different look the two times a year you guys face. Well, I know last
05:28time, actually, he was hurt, but the times that you guys face Tua. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Tua is a
05:35great player. So, I mean, he does a really good job throwing it. He does a really good job getting
05:41it out to his receivers, his playmakers. Definitely, definitely a good player, you know, being
05:45left-handed or right-handed. You know, for him, he's a great player. There's a point of emphasis
05:50this year from the NFL to limit some of the pre-snap motion, or at least it changed from in
05:57years past, where we saw the Dolphins offense be really successful at a high level. How do you think
06:02cracking down on some of that pre-snap motion has impacted them this year?
06:06Well, I think they motioned a good amount, so I don't think it's slowed those guys down at all.
06:13They do a good job. They're very creative with their motions. I think a good amount of teams in
06:17the NFL have copied that, and so I don't think it's slowed them down at all. I think they're
06:22an efficient offense. I think they do a good job creating different plays off their motions.
06:29Okay. He's Patriots Defensive Coordinator Demarcus Covington, part of our Coordinator
06:34series every Friday here on Jones & Keefe. Demarcus, best of luck on Sunday. We'll talk
06:37to you down the line. I appreciate it. All right. Demarcus Covington joining us here,
06:42brought to you by Wraight and also by McFarlane Energy. It's a question for somebody else.
06:50Who should we ask that to? Durant Mayle? That's a Monday morning question. I mean,
06:55how much do you want to talk about gimmick plays or whatever he said? That's what Mayle already
06:58said. So Mayle had a chance to answer it, and I don't know. I do put Covington lower on the
07:04list. It just happened to be one of the guys I'm talking to today. Yeah, thank you. He's the guy
07:08we're talking to today. I think he's somewhere on the list, but yeah, he's lower than, I mean,
07:12certainly Mayle and some of these other guys. No, I think Mayle, Wolfe, and Van Pelt are the top
07:17three, and then after that, it's probably a big gap, but yeah, Covington's one of the guys that
07:24would at least be aware of it, and then it's amazing that it took till November. I'm going
07:29to tell you, just saying he's a defensive player is not a satisfactory answer because he was a
07:34defensive player in 2022. It's like, well, he plays on defense. Well, he played on it then too,
07:38and so that's what it is.