FRISCO, Texas — Since Michael Bennett’s acquisition, he has boosted the Cowboys’ pass rush with a sack in his first debut against the Giants and No.79 accumulated two quarterback hurries in 45 snaps in the loss to the Vikings.
Having a familiar face here in Dallas with Kris Richard and having been exposed to his scheme helped Bennett through the transition from New England. He spent time with Richard when he played for the Seahawks from 2013-2017 and Richard coached in Seattle as the DB’s coach (2012-2014) and as the defensive coordinator (2015-2017).
“ We go way back, “ Bennett remarked on Richard.
“ We grew up together and played a lot of winning football together. I’m used to winning and that’s just a part of the process, and we’ve always been friends, always texting when I wasn’t playing and when he’s in the offseason checking on my family. It’s always been a close relationship…the scheme is very familiar from something that I am used to. Like I said, I just came from a place with the most defenses in the league and so any other defense is pretty much easy to learn.”
The Patriots like to mix it up with a one-gap and two-gap in their defensive front and Bennett always thrived in a 4-3 formation. He is now at home in Marinelli’s base defense and Richard’s aggressive play calling.
In response to Sunday night’s loss to Minnesota and the defense’s performance, Bennett stated, “We have to do the simple things right. I think football is always about the simple things. It comes down to fundamentals and every single week is who has the most fundamentals, who has the most discipline every single week and sometimes you can get out of your gap a little more and sometimes you don’t, so for us its regrouping and recommitting to the things that we know that football has always been a part of; whether you are at a junior high level, little league, high school, college, its always the same things: your hands, your feet and being able to get off blockers.”
He is now two games in with America’s Team and has formed relationships with his new teammates. With his versatility, he can play either end position or in the interior at nose tackle or under tackle. When asked about lining up opposite DeMarcus Lawrence, he immediately gave the power edge rusher high praise considering whom Bennett has played around.
“ I am just a part of it. DeMarcus is the key to it. Like I said, DeMarcus is one of the best players I have played with and I’ve played with a lot of great players in the NFL…and I would say that DeMarcus is probably at the top of the list of guys I’ve played with in this league and I think he’s got great leadership, he’s also a great captain, and goes out there and puts it all on the line every week. I think he leads by example, so for me it’s great to be around a young guy like that being able to feel that energy again, and feel excited about playing football and I think it’s an honor.”
