Kent Somers

azcentral sports

In Thursday's edition of The Republic, Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin gave his assessment of the changes that have taken place on that side of the ball.

Today, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles talks about his group.

Question: Linebacker Karlos Dansby signing with the Browns was the team's biggest loss this off-season. What are you losing or what are you worried about replacing?

Answer: I don't worry about anything necessarily. Communication has to come every year, and Karlos was a very vocal guy. Because of his years in the league, he kind of knew things, where the ball was going, anticipated it very well. Every first - or second-year guy has to gain that experience when he comes into the league. Karlos is longer and probably, on paper, a better athlete than Kevin (Minter). Kevin's probably a better thumper than Karlos. It's apple and oranges. With Karlos we lost some leadership in the locker room and on the field. He had a great year and made a bunch of plays. It's just next man up. Kevin's not trying to be Karlos. He's just trying to be Kevin, our next 'Mike' backer. There will be some competition there if we draft somebody and bring somebody in free-agent wise.

Q: Kevin seems to be built to step into this. It doesn't seem like much bothers him. Is that accurate?

A: It's not his first rodeo. He played at LSU, one of the top programs in the country, so he's played a lot of football. It's the experience and the things he sees at this level, study habits. Hopefully he picked up from Karlos. I don't think there is a lot of pressure on him, just do your job.

Q: Are you OK with numbers at those two inside spots?

A: We're OK with numbers. You can never have enough of them but we're OK.

Q: Are you moving Lorenzo Alexander there?

A: He'll be inside and outside, just like he was last year. You have to have somebody who can play both places. We'll see what we come out of the draft and free agency with, but Lorenzo's a good football player.

Q: What does cornerback Antonio Cromartie give you that maybe you didn't have a year ago?

A: Height. (Jerraud) Powers played great football. I've always taught that you can never have enough linemen and never enough corners. He (Cromartie) has the reputation of being a very good man-to-man corner. Barring any injuries, I think with him, Powers and Patrick (Peterson), we'll be able to match up and do some things.

Q: Do you have to have corners these days who are built like Peterson, who is 6-1, and Cromartie, who is 6-2?

A: You don't have to have them but over the past five to eight years, the receivers have gotten taller. Out on the field, it's fine, but when you get into the red zone and you've got Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson, Dez Bryant, Chicago's got (Brandon) Marshall and Alshon Jeffery and Denver's got their guys who are 6-5 and 6-6. It's hard to play with 5-8 and 5-9 corners. You can't double every player because they will run the ball on you. I think as big as the receivers are growing these days, you have to evolve as a secondary as well. It's not that way in all cases but in our conference we play some pretty big receivers and we play some big receivers coming up this year.

Q: At the scouting combine, General Manager Steve Keim was asked about how the team could defend tight ends better. He mentioned getting taller, longer at certain positions, defensive end and outside linebacker?

A: Taller, longer, faster, smarter. Everybody equates stopping the tight end to the strong safety but that's not the case at all. Most of the passes they caught weren't even on the strong safety. A few but not many. As a defense, we've got to become more aware. I've got to coach them better. They have to play it better and we have to pay more attention to where he (the tight end) is when they break the huddle. It's an awareness and everybody doing their jobs.

Q: But it's easy to point at one guy and say, "We need a better, or taller, strong safety."

A: We played some different things last year, and everybody (was wrong) at one point or another. We played the Saints, and hell, everybody covered Jimmy Graham, nobody stopped him. Y.B (Yeremiah Bell) got beat Tryann (Mathieu) got beat, Patrick got beat, Powers got beat, the linebackers got beat. I've got to do a better job of doubling and understanding the formations as far as putting some of them in the bind they get in."

Q: Are you OK with the depth you have at defensive end?

A: You can always use more. We have to see what becomes available. Like I said, D-line and corners you can never have enough of.

Q: Especially given Dockett's age, he turns 33 in May. Don't you have to look a year or two down the road?

A: Yeah, you do but we don't go by age. Sometimes the age thing is overrated. In the NFL, when you're reach 30, if you're playing like you're 25, then you're 25. If you're playing like you're 45, then 30 is an old age. Dockett keeps himself in great shape. We need more depth; they take a pounding more than anything, rather than the age thing being a factor.

Q: How about safety? Yeremiah is not re-signed. There is no guarantee Mathieu will be ready by the start of the season.

A: We probably need more depth there. We're looking for one or two. Hopefully, somewhere in the draft and maybe still somewhere in free agency."

Q: Did you see enough of Tony Jefferson last year to make you think he can be a factor?

A: Tony did a good job. It's a natural progression for a rookie. He got better the second year. He has to communicate a lot better but from a physical standpoint, he did some very good things playing as a rookie. The game wasn't too big for him.

Q: Personal question about your career. You interviewed for head-coaching jobs with Cleveland and Minnesota this off-season. What did you learn or gain in going through the process?

A: I learned that it's cold in Cleveland. It was zero degrees and a snowstorm when I got off the plane. I was like, 'Wow.' But the process was good. It's hard to impress somebody when you're only there for five or six hours. The conversation and football part of it was very good. We had good dialogue, Cleveland and Minnesota. You have to go where the situation fits you and they have to pick the guy that best fits them. I think the situation was best for me to come back to Arizona. Bruce treats me great. Michael (Bidwill) treats me great. We've got a good group of guys on defense and some good coaches. I'm not dying to be a head coach. It comes, it comes but it has to be the right situation. I'm very happy where I am right now.