Kwity Paye: ‘Anthony Richardson Was Balling Out' Before Injury

JM: What has become your go-to pass-rushing move in your opinion?

Paye: Early on in my career, I was really just a power guy. I was converting speed to power, I had the stab [move] and things of that nature in my arsenal. Now that I’m a bit more experienced, I’ve been able to refine my abilities as a speed rusher. I’ve done a lot of work in the offseason to get faster. It’s allowed me to use more speed moves as opposed to just power.

I’ve fallen in love with the cross chop. That’s my go-to move nowadays. I love the double-swipe move as well.

JM: Which quarterback is the toughest to sack in the entire league?

Paye: I’d probably say Deshaun Watson. If you watch the film, two defenders will be on him and he’ll just wiggle out of their grasp. He spins out of so many tackles and would-be sacks. He can stiff-arm a guy. I feel like he’s the hardest quarterback to sack in the entire league.

JM: Talk to me about the growth you've enjoyed as a run defender this season. I feel like you're stopping the run at a better rate.

Paye: For sure I am. Going back to my Michigan days, having played Big Ten football, stopping the run is something that you have to do. Playing against Iowa, you have to stop the run against them and their three-tight end sets. They love those looks. The skills I developed as a run-stopper then carried over to the next level for me.

I try to hone in on my ability to stop the run every single offseason. I’ve been getting progressively better every single year in that area of my game.

JM: You're doing everything for this defense. You're also dropping in coverage. How have you gotten more comfortable with those responsibilities?

Paye: It’s all about being a three-down player. Whatever the team asks me to do, I’m always going to execute those concepts to the best of my ability. I’m just trying to help my team win games this year. There’s no job that’s too big for me. I have to do everything.

JM: I want to ask about a pair of young players. The Anthony Richardson injury was obviously unfortunate. Was he playing like the best rookie quarterback in the league when healthy?

Paye: Anthony Richardson was balling out. For sure he was. He was giving us a great opportunity to win a lot of games this year. It sucks that he went down. We have Gardner Minshew in the lineup now. He answered the call. Minshew is playing great football for us as well.

JM: What have you seen from rookie wideout Josh Downs this year? He’s been a revelation for the offense.

Paye: He’s stepping up big time. Coming in, we knew Josh Downs was going to contribute a lot. We saw some great things from him throughout training camp. We ended up watching some of his college film. For him to contribute the way he’s contributing, we knew exactly what he was capable of.

JM: How great has it been to have Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss as a duo in the backfield?

Paye: I’d like to say they’re thunder and lightning, but they’re both very powerful runners (laughs). They get the job done. Zack Moss has been playing so well, especially when Jonathan Taylor wasn’t in our lineup for the first few weeks. Taylor came back and they’re playing well together now.

JM: We've appreciated your time today. Thank you for the terrific work you're doing to fight food inequality with Chunky Sacks Hunger. In closing, what are your goals for the remainder of the 2023 season?

Paye: I’m trying to rack up as many sacks as I can to help out the Chunky Sacks Hunger initiative. For every sack we get, Chunky is donating 1,000 Campbell’s products to those in need. I want to continue to produce sacks so we can feed as many hungry families as we can through this great initiative.

As a team, I’m going to continue helping our defense. The back end of our secondary is a young, ascending group. They need us veteran defensive linemen to offer them as much help as possible. We can do that by rushing the passer.

I’m going to continue putting my best foot forward.