We have no defensive identity. In fact we don't have an identity as a team. Our players have adopted the identity of the owner and GM. They play for themselves and care more about the sizzle than the substance, just like Daddy Jerry taught them.
This draft was the epitome of the franchise. A few good players in the midst of a random events that seem to have no plan or direction. I can't speak for everyone but I feel a lot of frustration and I think the frustration is this draft is a microcosm of the franchise. Just going through the motions and hoping we'll be successful and if not then at least we'll be talked about.
Hmm, I heard all four of the primaries on stage yesterday say that the plan was to create competition across the board on defense.
Jerry and Stephen went so far as to say they hoped that by creating competition they hoped that some rookies and one year free agents would literally push some veterans off the roster.
Then Quinn got his own press conference, solo, without McCarthy or Jerry there to speak for him or override what he said, where he got to lay out his plans.
Considering the fact that for years we’ve clowned the front office with the meme “we like our guys” as their “identity”, this would seek to be a pretty fundamental shift .
A team known for just paying huge extensions to their own veterans without those vets necessarily being in a position to demand said extension has now essentially put them all on notice.
I think there is now an attempt to create a new identity on the defensive side of the ball.
Big
Long
Athletic
Young
Hungry
We’ll have to see how it actually pans out once the roster is finalized and the season gets under weigh but honestly, I’m more hopeful about our defense than I have been for years simply because there seems to be an acknowledgement that it was broken and that something needed to change.
Quinn bringing not one, but two of his guys to the team was a message that “our guys” are no longer good enough.
The Jones regime doesn’t make a habit of admitting to mistakes but anyone who didn’t see Parsons and Cox as a gauntlet being thrown down at the feet of LVE and Jaylon is willfully choosing to ignore what happened this weekend.