Friday, October 4, 2019
(Opening statement) “Obviously Jalen’s [Ramsey] been working extremely hard to get back with this low back issue and it hasn’t been getting any better, so we’re going to make sure we do everything possible and get him to see a specialist this week. And then with Josh Oliver, he’s not ready yet, he practiced three days and hopefully next, we’ll go day-to-day with him.’
(On when Ramsey will go see a specialist) “I don’t know what the travel arrangements are, but Jalen’s always been someone that’s been extremely diligent in what he has to do to get back on the field. [He’s] been one of the toughest guys that I’ve coached when it comes down to injuries and fighting back from it. We’re just working day-to day to get it better.”
(On who will start for Ramsey) “It’ll be the same thing. It’ll be Tre [Herndon] again.”
(On if Josh Oliver can play next week) “I hope so. I hope that we can progress now. The three days were good, and I think the next step would be some team reps. And I think once we get to that, then we’ll evaluate the team reps. And then from the team I think we can go ahead and see if he’s going to be able to help us play.”
(On how he prepares the team on a week-to-week basis) “We’ve gone through the four games, and a little bit because of the way the bye is, it’s kind of broken up by threes. So, we just looked at it from a standpoint of, ‘OK, this is kind of the second set of three of a weekend series, trying to win them.’ The one thing that we’ve been trying to do with the team is we’ve been trying to keep them focused on the day. And a lot of times I’ve used quarters before, pretty much every year. This year I’ve kind of talked about it but I haven’t harped on it and I’ve been more talking about, ‘hey, what do we need to do today to get better,’ and just really focus in on that opponent each week.”
(On the play of TE James O’Shaughnessy) “I think all of the tight ends, James [O’Shaughnessy] has done a nice job, Geoff [Swaim] has done a good job, all of those guys. They’ve really helped us from the standpoint of they’re giving us quality snaps. Obviously, it’s kind of like the O-Line, we have to stop with the penalties in the run game. I think that we’ve gotten some good targets. We’ve gotten some good production. I think for what that group is that we’re getting production out of them, both on offense and special teams. So right now, just like all the other groups, we need to keep progressing and keep pushing.”
(On if he has a higher comfort level with QB Joshua Dobbs now that he has taken reps with starters) “Obviously it’s a much better level than it was when he first gets here. I think when you first get the quarterback in, even though he’s on the roster, you don’t feel comfortable with him being able to go in there and play. Then I think when he’s in the room, almost the same with Gardner [Minshew II] in the first game, he’s in the room so he’s looking at the plan, he’s doing a plan, but he’s not really out there executing any part of that plan. So, there’s always that chance of if there’s an injury and he goes in there, you really don’t know what to expect. You expect him to know it, but you don’t know the production of it. And to be able to take some reps during the week, and watch him perform, it gives you a better sense of, hey listen, if God forbid something does happen, you feel a little bit more comfortable with it. So, I think it’s probably a natural progression. And he’s done a good job, because if he goes out there and does it, then obviously you’re like, ‘holy cow what have we done?’ But he’s really done a good job and has really been in tune and handles himself like a pro.”
