REDBLACKS defence embracing collective approach

It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

A staggeringly long list of injuries on both sides of the ball have made for some early adversity; punctuated by season-ender’s to quarterbacks Jeremiah Masoli, and Tyrie Adams, both of whom were forced to undergo surgery within the span of a week.

It’s unfair, and maybe even unprecedented, but the REDBLACKS aren’t making excuses about their 1-3 start. Instead, they’re working to identify the positives in their game, while also paying close attention to the things that need to improve.

Despite key players in the likes of star linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, and defensive backs Money Hunter, and Cariel Brooks out of the lineup, the Ottawa defence has been a silver lining in the season’s early days. Defensive Coordinator Barron Miles’ unit has surrendered an average of just 18.3 points through the first four games, second only to the BC Lions, and a league-low five offensive touchdowns.

The defence is coming through with big plays, too. Ottawa’s 14 total sacks are the CFL’s third-highest mark, and they’ve also forced 10 turnovers, with five coming by way of interceptions.

With the offence having to endure so many personnel changes, Miles and Co. know they need to keep the pedal to the metal if they hope to enjoy a prolonged stay in the win column.

“We’ve just got to be consistent in crucial times,” said Miles. “When it’s crunch time, that’s when we’re supposed to make stops, not drag it on a series or two. We’ve just got to make the stops right away.”

Getting off the field, and putting the ball in the hands of the offence as much as possible, is a mentality echoed by each member of Miles’ defensive unit. A key piece of that equation is reigning CFL Defensive Player of the Year, defensive lineman Lorenzo Mauldin, whose 17 sacks led the league in 2022.

While the second-year REDBLACK doesn’t currently appear the odds-on favourite to be 2023’s Sack King — Lions pass rusher Mathieu Betts currently boasts a whopping nine — Mauldin’s three through the first four games sees him tied for third in the league, along with his teammate: linebacker Douglas Coleman.

Individual production is nice, sure, but Mauldin knows that he can help the team in other ways. His breakout 2022 season has earned him more attention from opposing pass protection, and though it’s become a bit harder for him to get home, Mauldin knows that he’s opening things up for his teammates, like Coleman.

“I’m just going out there to do what I do,” Mauldin said. “Bringing some attention opens up windows for other guys, and I’m just happy to see my dogs eat.”

It’s the type of collective approach that the Ottawa defence, and especially defensive line has embraced. Defensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator Mike Phair worked to help install that mentality when he arrived for the 2022 season, and he’s quick to throw credit to the players for buying in.

“We’re always talking about how it’s not just one or two guys, it’s got to be all four guys,” Phair added. “You’ll hear me talk about ‘four equals one’ in our group. It’s got to be four guys rushing together, so that’s, to me, the thing that they’ve done.”

Miles has leaned on the experience of the REDBLACKS front four, boasting veterans like Mauldin, Cleyon Laing, and Michael Wakefield, given the relative youth of the team’s linebacking core, and secondary. Their experience, and stout play has made life easier for their teammates, but also allowed Ottawa to get creative with their personnel packages, and blitz calls.

The REDBLACKS defensive play-caller attributes the success of their implementation to film study, and working with his assistants, but also back to the players themselves. Whether it’s Mauldin, Coleman, or ballhawking defensive back Brandin Dandridge, different guys stepping up from game to game is what keeps the Ottawa unit one of the league’s most stout.

When you combine play-calling, coaching, and big plays, however, that’s when you have something special.

“That all helps,” said Miles. “When you’ve got guys that can go get it, you just point them in the [right] direction, and you let them go and do their thing, but when you have a combination of all of the above, you’re laughing.”

Their status as one of the league’s top units isn’t seeing the REDBLACKS fall victim to complacency, though. Along with Miles’ emphasis on timely stops, the defence is focusing on the finer points of their game, in order to build upon their success.

“We definitely need to work on tackling. Coming downhill, and being able to wrap guys up,” Mauldin said. “We’re getting there, but we’re just not finishing. The whole point is finishing.”

The journey towards being the CFL’s top defence is an incremental one. It involves tuning out the noise; not worrying what’s happening on the offensive side of the ball, or even across the league.

“The focus, to me, is how can I get better today,” said Phair. “I think that’s really the mindset as a coach, and as a player, that you have to have, because that’s the only thing you can control. That’s all I think about; just coming in, and trying to get guys to think that way. To get better today. That’s all we want.”

The REDBLACKS will look to do so in a tough test, Saturday, with the vaunted Winnipeg Blue Bombers visiting TD Place for a 4:00pm kickoff.