December 11, 2025 • 10 mins
Ejiro Evero spoke to the media before practice Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hoon for the review. I just wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Acknowledge the what we got in front of us, And
obviously we got a great opportunity here against the Saints,
and I after a week off, everybody getting a little
bit of time to enjoy their family get away a
little bit and all that, and so it was very
exciting to come back on Monday and see everybody in
the building and everybody refreshed, and we're just excited to get.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Back on the field and play.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
And I do want to give a little bit of
thanks to just the guys that really support me, obviously
our coaching staff, but specifically our quality control coaches Aliamini, Mayor,
Chad Harry, Kevin Peterson. Those guys make my job immensely
easier and I would not be able to function without them.
So I just wanted to acknowledge those guys and just
(00:51):
really thank them for the great work that they do.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Sounds good, any questions, Hey, Jake, good morning, Good morning,
Mike brought up may Or.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You guys have known each other for like a really
really long time, right, Yes, When you when you have
somebody who's in quality control or maybe just like an
assistant coach like Pete, who you've known for years, is
there like an unspoken like understanding when you want something
out of a guy in practice or you're just trying
to figure out where a guy fits in a scheme,
(01:23):
like how does the language work there? And how does
the communication work when you're trying to better the players
but also better the scheme.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, it's you know, like almost like the relationship you
have with your players, you know, the longer with the coaches.
I just think it allows the verbal and nonverbal communication
to just happen that much easier. And it's very that's
very much the case with guys like like to your point,
Coach Hanson and Coach Mayor, when you've been around guys
(01:51):
and uh for a long time and you know, with
me and Mayor, we came we obviously were Davis together
and we understood the culture there to the scheme there
and all that, and then me and Pete together in
San Francisco with under Fangio and so like a lot
of things that guys that we you haven't been with
as long may just know the surface level. We know
(02:13):
the have it both have an understanding of the kind
of the roots of some of the things that we do,
and so it makes it so much easier, Like when
I'm trying to, you know, communicate like this is what
we need to get done with the coverage or front adjustment,
those guys can understand like they have a reference point
for a while going, uh, why I think this is
something might be an issue. And so it definitely makes
(02:34):
those things easier. But with the other coaches, we're growing
those bonds as we work through and that's the value
of being with a guy like the coach Chrich washed
back in Tampa and then these last three years and
guys like Jonathan Cooley, and I just think it makes
that collaboration with the staff so much better.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Thanks Joe Person, Good morning, Good morning, Joe.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
The first meeting with the Saints, you guys gave up
a lot of explosives, which was uncharacteristic from this defense
what was there, and a couple of them, I know
JC ended up on the ground. Other than that, was
there any sort of common theme running through those?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, you know, we didn't play our best that day,
and man, so I think the common theme is that
we just need to execute better.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I would say in certain instances, I.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Don't want to divulte a game plan too much. But
I can certainly do a better job in terms of
Clayton creating clarity with some of the things we were
doing schematically. But yeah, we all got to be better
from that standpoint.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And wondering where you've seen growth or just maybe how
they're doing things differently in New Orleans with Shuck four
or five weeks later since you've seen him the first time.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What I would say is this team has kind of
found their identity. You know, they played tough on defense
and then on the offensive side of the ball, they're
committed to run the ball. They're involving a quarterback in
the run game. They have featured guys in the past
game like Olave and mister Johnson that they're trying to
get the ball to and Uh, they're really buying into
the physical part of the game. And I think that's
(04:19):
gonna be the big challenge on Sunday. Hey, coach, what
did you learn about their quarterback and that first meeting
that could because you probably didn't know a whole lot
about it.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I guess going into that game that is kind of
helping you. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing is that we
learned is just the ability to keep plays alive. You know,
he made you know, handful of plays against us where
he got out of the pocket and made a play
down the field. A couple of those big plays you
talked about, Joe, But uh, yeah, we I think that's
the biggest takeaways, Like we needed arm talent, you know,
that kind of jumps off the tape. Obviously, he's he
was highly thought of to be drafted where he was,
(04:58):
But it's just the ability to kind of keep plays
alive and that innate scrambling ability and even when they
run the quarterback run plays. Those are the things that
I think or we've learned about them.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Thanks, Mike k J.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I know you're you're focused on the present and you
guys are at the bottom of the league in sacks,
are around there, but you also are second in the
league in rookie sacks. You're seeing Scording and Princely.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Out there a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I'm just curious how much does that, from just from
a coaching standpoint and development standpoint, give you optimism for
the future, especially down this stretch of four games.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, you know, I think that's that's the key to
any great organization is that you got to have development,
have a developmental mindset, and so to see where these
guys have come from, like when we first got them
in May to where they are now and they just
continue to get better and better. It's it's promising for
the future, that's for certain, and uh we got to
(05:59):
continue need to drive that home and uh really not
just with our rookies but with everybody. Uh. But going
back to the first part of the question, you know,
we just we we got to find a way too
to be better in terms of like affecting a quarterback.
And we all understand that it's not just a player thing.
You know, we gotta we gotta do things better schematically,
and then we gotta when we get those opportunities, we
(06:19):
got to execute and get it done.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Do you have to in doing that? Do you have
to balance how much improved you are against the run
with how much you set up your pass rushing scheme?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Oh? Yeah, that that's always a part of it.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And you know that's a big part of my job
is to make sure that uh you know, windows knowing
windows passes are going to be called and windows runs
are going to be called by the opponent and Uh,
when those past situations arise, you know, that's where we
all have to just be better because you know, at
the end of the day, it doesn't matter how good
your coverage is. If you can't affect a quarterback, it's
gonna be hard to play the past game.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Thanks Joe person.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
E J looks pretty promising. I guess for for j
c Uh, what will it mean to get get that
defense back intact?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, you know, he certainly is a big part of
what we do, and it's a very very important player.
And uh, when you have a player of his caliber, uh,
you know, miss a game and then come back, you
know it's certainly going to give us a boost. But
you know, I still got to just give so much
praise and love for the uh, the effort that we
put out the other day in the secondary, you know,
(07:31):
missing a couple of guys, and guys like a Caleb
coming in and just doing a heck of a job,
Shaw Smith, a Waite stepping up, Mike Jack obviously making
that big play, Ransom making a big sack, you know,
Nick Scott making a big interception.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So you know those you know, JC is always going
to be missed. But like at the end of the day,
it's the next man up.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And I'm really really, really proud of the way that
those guys performed in that game.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah, we didn't get a chance to talk to you
last week, obviously. What was let that like? I know
you just spread the praise around to your guys, but
what was it like for you personally to beat the
Rams and beat Stafford.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I mean it's great, you know, Like I talked about
our less press conference, there's a lot of people that
I really admire there, and I had a fantastic experience
working there for five years. So that being said, it's
almost like when you, like you're playing your family members
in like cards or chess or something, It's like you
want to beat them just as bad as anybody else.
(08:34):
And so it felt really good to beat them. And
they're such a good team. I mean, that's an unbelievable
football team on both sides. And the performance that our
guys did collectively offense, defense and special teams to get
that done was really really gratifying, and I was very
happy for our players.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
We have time for one more and things off with casts.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Hey, j how's it going get How you doing doing good?
I'm going back to JC for real quick. He and
Mike and Coopley have kind of turned that Friday red
zone drill into a pretty competitive little period. Other guys
have come over. I think Jimmy Hornkey's trying to get
in there. What do you peek over there and watch
them a little bit on Friday And what are some
(09:17):
ways you're seeing that kind of really filter over into
the team and help the defense.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Well, I think it just kind of speaks to the
competitive nature.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Of so many of the guys on our.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Unit and on our team, and it's cool to witness
because at the end of the day, you know, we
can talk about plays and routes and coverages and all
these things, but it's the determining factor in so many
of these deals is the ability to have that competitive
nature about you. And so that's cool to see come out.
You know, I personally don't really like to look at
(09:51):
it because I'm like, I'm just always the worst case scenario,
like we shouldn't be doing this on a Friday, We're
going too fast but so close to the game. But
I do respect the competitive name sure of it, and
I certainly think that it's improving our having an impact
on our red zone play m
Hoon for the review. I just wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Acknowledge the what we got in front of us, And
obviously we got a great opportunity here against the Saints,
and I after a week off, everybody getting a little
bit of time to enjoy their family get away a
little bit and all that, and so it was very
exciting to come back on Monday and see everybody in
the building and everybody refreshed, and we're just excited to get.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Back on the field and play.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
And I do want to give a little bit of
thanks to just the guys that really support me, obviously
our coaching staff, but specifically our quality control coaches Aliamini, Mayor,
Chad Harry, Kevin Peterson. Those guys make my job immensely
easier and I would not be able to function without them.
So I just wanted to acknowledge those guys and just
(00:51):
really thank them for the great work that they do.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Sounds good, any questions, Hey, Jake, good morning, Good morning,
Mike brought up may Or.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You guys have known each other for like a really
really long time, right, Yes, When you when you have
somebody who's in quality control or maybe just like an
assistant coach like Pete, who you've known for years, is
there like an unspoken like understanding when you want something
out of a guy in practice or you're just trying
to figure out where a guy fits in a scheme,
(01:23):
like how does the language work there? And how does
the communication work when you're trying to better the players
but also better the scheme.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, it's you know, like almost like the relationship you
have with your players, you know, the longer with the coaches.
I just think it allows the verbal and nonverbal communication
to just happen that much easier. And it's very that's
very much the case with guys like like to your point,
Coach Hanson and Coach Mayor, when you've been around guys
(01:51):
and uh for a long time and you know, with
me and Mayor, we came we obviously were Davis together
and we understood the culture there to the scheme there
and all that, and then me and Pete together in
San Francisco with under Fangio and so like a lot
of things that guys that we you haven't been with
as long may just know the surface level. We know
(02:13):
the have it both have an understanding of the kind
of the roots of some of the things that we do,
and so it makes it so much easier, Like when
I'm trying to, you know, communicate like this is what
we need to get done with the coverage or front adjustment,
those guys can understand like they have a reference point
for a while going, uh, why I think this is
something might be an issue. And so it definitely makes
(02:34):
those things easier. But with the other coaches, we're growing
those bonds as we work through and that's the value
of being with a guy like the coach Chrich washed
back in Tampa and then these last three years and
guys like Jonathan Cooley, and I just think it makes
that collaboration with the staff so much better.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Thanks Joe Person, Good morning, Good morning, Joe.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
The first meeting with the Saints, you guys gave up
a lot of explosives, which was uncharacteristic from this defense
what was there, and a couple of them, I know
JC ended up on the ground. Other than that, was
there any sort of common theme running through those?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, you know, we didn't play our best that day,
and man, so I think the common theme is that
we just need to execute better.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I would say in certain instances, I.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Don't want to divulte a game plan too much. But
I can certainly do a better job in terms of
Clayton creating clarity with some of the things we were
doing schematically. But yeah, we all got to be better
from that standpoint.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And wondering where you've seen growth or just maybe how
they're doing things differently in New Orleans with Shuck four
or five weeks later since you've seen him the first time.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What I would say is this team has kind of
found their identity. You know, they played tough on defense
and then on the offensive side of the ball, they're
committed to run the ball. They're involving a quarterback in
the run game. They have featured guys in the past
game like Olave and mister Johnson that they're trying to
get the ball to and Uh, they're really buying into
the physical part of the game. And I think that's
(04:19):
gonna be the big challenge on Sunday. Hey, coach, what
did you learn about their quarterback and that first meeting
that could because you probably didn't know a whole lot
about it.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I guess going into that game that is kind of
helping you. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing is that we
learned is just the ability to keep plays alive. You know,
he made you know, handful of plays against us where
he got out of the pocket and made a play
down the field. A couple of those big plays you
talked about, Joe, But uh, yeah, we I think that's
the biggest takeaways, Like we needed arm talent, you know,
that kind of jumps off the tape. Obviously, he's he
was highly thought of to be drafted where he was,
(04:58):
But it's just the ability to kind of keep plays
alive and that innate scrambling ability and even when they
run the quarterback run plays. Those are the things that
I think or we've learned about them.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Thanks, Mike k J.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I know you're you're focused on the present and you
guys are at the bottom of the league in sacks,
are around there, but you also are second in the
league in rookie sacks. You're seeing Scording and Princely.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Out there a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I'm just curious how much does that, from just from
a coaching standpoint and development standpoint, give you optimism for
the future, especially down this stretch of four games.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, you know, I think that's that's the key to
any great organization is that you got to have development,
have a developmental mindset, and so to see where these
guys have come from, like when we first got them
in May to where they are now and they just
continue to get better and better. It's it's promising for
the future, that's for certain, and uh we got to
(05:59):
continue need to drive that home and uh really not
just with our rookies but with everybody. Uh. But going
back to the first part of the question, you know,
we just we we got to find a way too
to be better in terms of like affecting a quarterback.
And we all understand that it's not just a player thing.
You know, we gotta we gotta do things better schematically,
and then we gotta when we get those opportunities, we
(06:19):
got to execute and get it done.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Do you have to in doing that? Do you have
to balance how much improved you are against the run
with how much you set up your pass rushing scheme?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Oh? Yeah, that that's always a part of it.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And you know that's a big part of my job
is to make sure that uh you know, windows knowing
windows passes are going to be called and windows runs
are going to be called by the opponent and Uh,
when those past situations arise, you know, that's where we
all have to just be better because you know, at
the end of the day, it doesn't matter how good
your coverage is. If you can't affect a quarterback, it's
gonna be hard to play the past game.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Thanks Joe person.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
E J looks pretty promising. I guess for for j
c Uh, what will it mean to get get that
defense back intact?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, you know, he certainly is a big part of
what we do, and it's a very very important player.
And uh, when you have a player of his caliber, uh,
you know, miss a game and then come back, you
know it's certainly going to give us a boost. But
you know, I still got to just give so much
praise and love for the uh, the effort that we
put out the other day in the secondary, you know,
(07:31):
missing a couple of guys, and guys like a Caleb
coming in and just doing a heck of a job,
Shaw Smith, a Waite stepping up, Mike Jack obviously making
that big play, Ransom making a big sack, you know,
Nick Scott making a big interception.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So you know those you know, JC is always going
to be missed. But like at the end of the day,
it's the next man up.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And I'm really really, really proud of the way that
those guys performed in that game.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah, we didn't get a chance to talk to you
last week, obviously. What was let that like? I know
you just spread the praise around to your guys, but
what was it like for you personally to beat the
Rams and beat Stafford.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I mean it's great, you know, Like I talked about
our less press conference, there's a lot of people that
I really admire there, and I had a fantastic experience
working there for five years. So that being said, it's
almost like when you, like you're playing your family members
in like cards or chess or something, It's like you
want to beat them just as bad as anybody else.
(08:34):
And so it felt really good to beat them. And
they're such a good team. I mean, that's an unbelievable
football team on both sides. And the performance that our
guys did collectively offense, defense and special teams to get
that done was really really gratifying, and I was very
happy for our players.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
We have time for one more and things off with casts.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Hey, j how's it going get How you doing doing good?
I'm going back to JC for real quick. He and
Mike and Coopley have kind of turned that Friday red
zone drill into a pretty competitive little period. Other guys
have come over. I think Jimmy Hornkey's trying to get
in there. What do you peek over there and watch
them a little bit on Friday And what are some
(09:17):
ways you're seeing that kind of really filter over into
the team and help the defense.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Well, I think it just kind of speaks to the
competitive nature.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Of so many of the guys on our.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Unit and on our team, and it's cool to witness
because at the end of the day, you know, we
can talk about plays and routes and coverages and all
these things, but it's the determining factor in so many
of these deals is the ability to have that competitive
nature about you. And so that's cool to see come out.
You know, I personally don't really like to look at
(09:51):
it because I'm like, I'm just always the worst case scenario,
like we shouldn't be doing this on a Friday, We're
going too fast but so close to the game. But
I do respect the competitive name sure of it, and
I certainly think that it's improving our having an impact
on our red zone play m
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