Budda Baker Press Conference- 11.20.25 | AZ Cardinals
You’re playing this JS team that in your career you’ve only faced twice and historically the Cardinal only faced like six times. How different is it when in terms of the preparation when you are playing a team that is kind of rare that you match up against them? Yeah, I mean uh you know we just go by what we what we see on film, you know, uh you know, great quarterback, guy who can throw inside the pocket, outside the pocket, great run game with ETN. Um, you know, back in the day when he was young, I remember using him on on NCAA. I was like, “Yeah, I like this guy.” So, um, you know, great running back, twitch guy. Um, you know, great great team. Another opportunity for us to, uh, show a better brand of football on the field on Sunday. Last time you played Trevor Lawrence, you like third game of his rookie year, right? So now four years later, how different is he on film and what do you remember then? How much applies? Yeah, I’m uh back in the day, I just remember how um you know, his arm, he had a real strong arm. He can make all the tight throws and the the intermediate and the deep passes. And now, you know, it’s kind of the same thing. Um you know, they do a great job of uh understanding defenses and uh you know, not throwing the ball when he doesn’t need to. He take off and run and scramble. So, uh, you know, a guy who’s all around great great QB and, um, a guy we’re going to have to have our eyes on because he can make all the throws, but also he’s he’s real good at scrambling and get those first yards, get those extra yards. You know, sometimes he he doesn’t really slide. he kind of puts his shoulder down or dives and you know that’s something where you know hopefully he learns from that but you know hopefully uh you know he slides because you know as a defensive player it’s hard to you know have a quarterback who you know doesn’t really you know uh give up. He kind of just keeps running. So for us we just got to have that mentality to treat him like he’s a he’s a a running back kind of and just you know if he’s if he gets past the line of scrimmage to run the ball we got to hit him. um he has to do a good good job of getting down. That’s that’s a big thing that I’ve seen that, you know, he’s kind of running over DBs and and and diving forward and getting those extra, you know, tough yards, but you know, as one of those big money quarterbacks, you you got to learn how to get down. So, um you know, we’ll see. How tough is that as a defender? Because you know, they protect quarterbacks. Exactly. Right. Yeah. So, you’re asking yourself probably at the very last moment, is he sliding? Is he not? I mean, that’s got to be difficult. It’s very difficult especially in this in this NFL right now where you know QBs get a lot of calls and um it’s very difficult on the sideline in the middle of the field. He might seems like he has a couple plays where he seemed like he was sliding but he got those extra yards and died for the first down. So it’s real hard on us. Uh it’s just something that we’re going to have to communicate. You know me I play full speed. So if I’m running full speed and you know I kind of had that situation happen one game where I’m running full speed. I think it was with Dak and it’s like I could hit him but he’s also not really sliding until the last second. So for us it’s just we got to be smart in those areas and not get those 15 yard penalties and uh you know kind of just hope hope they kind of slide. Prior to the previous two games, you guys haven’t given up a lot of points. Although a good amount of those points have come, you know, turnovers by the offense or special teams, but for the defense, what’s the most crucial part against the Jags to keep them out of the end zone? Yeah, it’s just doing our job no matter where we’re at on the on the on the, you know, on the field. Um, you know, the last few weeks kind of had short fields, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. You know, we have an opportunity to uh either get off the field or get them to get a field goal. That’s that’s our main goal. So, um, you know, especially this week, they got a they got a great kicker. He’s I think he hit the longest field goal in NFL history. So, you know, as soon as they get to that 50 yard line, it’s like the kick the kicker can can get it there. So, for us, it’s just uh being able to take a one play at a time and um you know, if they get the ball on their minus field to try and you know, take one play at a time and get them to punt, but if they get the ball on the opposite 50, just um you know, try to only limit them to get a field goal. So that’s that’s the main thing, just doing our job, taking one play at a time, understanding we know they have a great kicker who who can kick all the distances. So just being able to try and get those stops when they’re backed up for sure. What last week? Is there anything that stands out from Jacksonville on third or fourth down that they’re really good at? Um, you know, this tree is kind of the same tree as the Shanahanss, this the Shawn McVey. So, they do a great job of, uh, you know, just their route concepts. Um, you know, they’re they’re really good at, you know, seeing cover four and doing a cover four beater, seeing cover three and doing a cover three beater. Um, so it’s just going to be uh, you know, on us as a DBs to disguise and, you know, do kind of the things that we do in order for them to to not really understand what the play is, uh, you know, pre- snap. So, if we can get him, if we can get moving, um, he he looks up, he sees a coverage, and then as soon as he snaps the ball and sees a different coverage, that’s that’s something that, you know, of course, we we try to do week in and week out with every team, but this this team especially. The injuries I I know are part of the game, but you guys have four captains that are on injured reserve. Being one of the captains that is out and in the locker room on the field with the guys. Does that put a little bit more pressure on you maybe to to speak up and make sure that the guys are staying, you know, locked in considering what the record’s been in the last handful of losses? Yeah, I mean I think we have a great group of guys, a great group of young guys, great group of veterans that um you know, understand that this this game is a process and um yeah, you can be mad about, you know, the loss that you had um that day of or maybe even a little bit the next day, but after that it’s, you know, you’re on to the next week. Each and every week is a new opportunity to to work hard and grind throughout the week and to get a W. So for us, you know, guys down on Sunday with after the loss, Monday maybe a little bit coming into work, but you know, coming in maybe Tuesday on off day or Wednesday, it’s like it’s a fresh slate. It’s a whole new opportunity. So, um, you know, I think the leaders do a great job of that. And also the players on the team are are real great players that understand that and just understand at the end of the day, we want to work throughout the week to ultimately try to get a win on Sunday. So, um, yeah, me and Kas or Kas was talking to me about it. You know, it was it was crazy when we were doing the coin toss. It was like, yeah, you know, it’s down to three of us, you know. So, uh, that’s definitely uh, you know, something that’s kind of weird, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s our job to continue to just do our job and try to lead the guys as best we as best as we can. Who are some of the guys that might not have the sea on their chest that are still being those those vocal leaders, you know? Um, you know, Cody, of course, he’s a he’s a rookie, but we also, you know, he’s he has the green dot, so you know, you got to listen to Cody and he does a great job of getting us the calls and, um, you know, just getting us aligned and, uh, you know, guys like that, Jacobe, of course, um, great quarterback, guy communicates all the time and, uh, you know, at the end of the day, we all understand this is this is this is our job, but we all want to win, you know. So, in order for us to win, we got to work harder throughout the week and um you know, on Sundays, just got to let it loose. Do our job. Be be on the details and take one play at a time and and don’t matter where you’re at on the field, just play football and uh you know, on defense, try to get limit them and on offense, try to score. The 17 penalties, there were only seven the previous two games combined. So, what happened? How do you diagnose it and and what’s the solution? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I I don’t even want to go about this the flag situation. At the end of the day, we just got to be better. We got to be cleaner. Um we got refs on the on the field during practice and we just got to be able to, you know, um you know, coach ourselves not to do those things. You know, um JG talks about it all throughout the all throughout the week. So, it’s something that we know and something that, you know, we can do better. So that’s the main goal is for us to just not commit those especially pre- snap penalties and stuff like that. You know there might be a post snap penalty hold here and there but not 17 flags worth you know so we got to do better as that as a group as a team. We saw Will Johnson on the field. What would his return mean for the secondary? Uh yeah I mean uh Will Will Will’s a great quarterback. It it would it would mean a lot. You know I know this is his first day back getting on the field. He looked great, but you know, at the end of the day, um, you know, however, you know, his body, you know, treats him the next day is how it’s going to be. But, um, you know, having zero on the field is definitely cool. Um, you know, he’s getting better. Uh, you know, he had some scout team reps today, then going against our one offense that, you know, he looked real good at, you know, and you know me, I’m I’m like a big bro. We got the same agent, so I’m always talking smack like, “Man, you were never injured. you you’re good right now. You can play, you know, like you run, you could you can play. But, uh, you know, he’s he’s one of those guys that is a perfectionist and a guy who who works very hard as a rookie and, uh, sky’s the limit for that guy. With Dennis Gard for quite some time. I don’t know. Are you guys Have you been in touch this week or are you just going to wait to say something for your post game to him? Yeah. Yeah. I’m never in touch with the other team. Never. Uh, no matter what. It could be my brother, you know. I I would I would never talk to the other team pregame or maybe even a little postgame. But, uh, Dennis, man, real great guy. Guy who, um, did his job each and every time he was out here. Um, you know, he was limited to special teams at the time. Had a little bit of defensive play, but a guy who was uh, always honed in on the details and, um, you know, gave a lot of fire to the team. He was a a real energy guy as well. So, um, I know he’s going to come in here and, you know, be excited to play against the guys that, you know, he kind of started with. And, you know, it’ll be cool to see him after the game and, you know, chat with him a little bit. But, you know, you know, he’s he’s the on the other side.
S Budda Baker addresses the media ahead of Week 12 vs the JAX Jaguars.
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