(Opening Statement) “Congratulations to A.J. Bouye, they had a baby girl, Rhyan Elizabeth. He’ll be flying in tonight, getting back for practice tomorrow. Then obviously congratulations to Josh Lambo, AFC Special Teams Player [of the Week]. Josh has done a really good job for us obviously and has been extremely consistent. Obviously, we’ve had injuries at linebacker, so we were able to add a couple of guys. We switched out Parry [Nickerson] and Joe Giles-Harris from practice squad [to] the roster. We brought Donald Payne back who will be able to help us. [He] knows the system special teams-wise. And then Malcolm Smith, another veteran player who’s played in this system. So, obviously when you bring that many players in it’ll probably listed as doubtful that any of those other three will be ready to play this week even though they’re obviously going to try. We’ll see what happens. We have to do a good job of coaching those guys, we have to get them up to speed, we have to get them ready and get them ready to go. Like anything else, obviously New York’s coming down. We’re concentrating on ourselves. There’s a lot of things that we need to work on, so things that we’ve done better obviously with the turnovers, something that obviously we want to keep going. It’s difficult and we’re going to continue to work on it and then obviously there’s a lot of other things we need to do to get better.”
(On how having confidence in your kicker helps the offensive coordinator) “A lot of it depends on the quarterback’s awareness. Of where, when you have a third and long in some of those situations, maybe you’re going to hold on to the ball a little bit longer when you can just hit the check down and put yourself into field goal range. The play calling is always going to continue to strive to get the first down and move the football. I think it’s more situationally. And then you talk to your quarterback too, ‘Hey, this is where we feel very comfortable about kicking.’ So, we have a play called, and if we don’t like it, or it looks fuzzy or it doesn’t look clear, ‘Hey, take the check down and we’ll take the three points and move on.’”
(On if having Lambo gives him comfort or confidence) “I feel great every time. I send him out there, I feel like he’s going to make it every time. I think that’s the best thing you can say. When you’re a coach and we get the distances pregame, because of wind and all of these other things [that] affect, and I have him in my mind, what his yardage is and what’s a desperation if it’s the end of the game, the maximum amount of it. And when I get those numbers, and I put him out there, I just expect him to make it. So, I have the highest level of confidence when we throw him out there. It’s not something that sometimes you have to worry about, so I’ve been fortunate. I’ve been around a lot of good kickers and I’ve always felt confident in them.”
(On an injury update for OL Cam Robinson) “Yeah, I think he’ll be out today, and we’ll see what he can do tomorrow, [he’ll] probably be limited on Thursday.”
(On how he felt the team did on third down and goal-to-go situations last week) “We have to do a better job all around. We have to coach it better, look at what we’re doing. I have to do a good job of making sure I put it into the practice plan, which we did, so we’ll get a little extra time on it, and then move forward from there. Just continue to try to get better. That’s the one thing that we’re trying to do. I think during the season it’s important. I think you see a lot of teams that are in the dance at the end continue to get better during the year, and that’s what you want to see out of your team, so we’re no different than anyone else. We’re just trying to get better.”
(On how significant DT Marcell Dareus’ injury is and if he’s in Philadelphia to get a second opinion) “No, he’s in Philadelphia getting treatment, and then he’ll be back. And then hopefully he’ll be back on the field, that’s our goal. That’s what we’ve talked about, that’s what I’ve talked about with Marcell [Dareus].
(On what he wants to see from QB Nick Foles this week) “I’m really not that concerned about Nick [Foles]. I don’t have any expectation. I think afterwards I was just going to ask, ‘How do you feel?’ My focus is going to be on the guys that are playing [against] New York. I know we have a plan, we put it together. That was kind of the other day when we sat down and then, ‘Hey, here’s your plan, go work it.’ My focus is getting ready for New York.”
(On if he is confident that Foles will be ready to play by the Week 11 game at Indianapolis compared to his similar injury when he was playing for Philadelphia) “I don’t know. What you just said is the first I’ve heard of the injury and that. I’ve never heard that. I don’t know, I really don’t. I think that’s why you have a 21-day window for when the guy comes back, and he starts practicing. I don’t think I’m as concerned like when [Florida Times-Union Writer] John [Reid] said, ‘Hey what are you expecting and what are you looking for?’ I think this is just week one back, so we’re going to take it back very slowly. I think that I’ll probably be looking at it more so as we get closer to see where he is, and I think there will be a lot of communication on how you feel and what’s going on. That’s really how I feel. I hate to say it. I love Nick and all that stuff, but my focus is on the team and trying to win a game. The trainers, Nick, [Quarterbacks Coach] Scott [Milanovich] at times, their focus will be on Nick. And then I’ll get the information as we go.”
(On the production of rookie DE Josh Allen) “Good football player. We knew that coming in. I think you’re only seeing the surface. I really do. I think that he has the ability to be one of those players that are going to be able to play at a high level for a long period of time. I think that he’s handled himself really well. I think Calais Campbell’s been a big influence in that. I can’t speak for Josh [Allen]. That’s what I see. I think that was smart on Josh for him to find someone like Calais and do that stuff, and he’s playing well, but he has so much growth left. I mean he’s going to get so much better. He’s playing well for us, but we really have high expectations for him and what he can do.”
(On if TE Geoff Swaim going on IR will accelerate the process of getting TE Josh Oliver more involved in the offense) “I don’t know as much as learning curve, because he’s been involved as far as mentally and doing that. I think it was good to get him out there for the 25 plays that he was out there. I think he showed good toughness. I think there’s a confidence. I don’t think you ever know how you’re going to feel, especially if you’ve never played in a game before, and you’re coming back from injury, and this is your first time in the league and you’re a rookie. I think it was good to get that one game in and I think now we’ll look to ways to progress him and get him more involved if we can. If we can’t, then we can’t.”
(On what strides Allen has done to improve in terms of technique) “I would probably say it’s been a regular progression of strides from a technique standpoint. I think you learn every week; you’re learning as you go. You’re working on it and trying to become very consistent. The thing that I appreciate, the one that hasn’t changed is his desire or his effort. He just has great effort, goes full-go, does everything you want. So, that’s what I’m saying – when the technique, and the experience, and all this stuff is starting to come in, and you’re healthy, someone like him can really be a heck of a football player.”
(On if opponents are devoting more attention to defending against Allen) “They do for both of our guys. I thought last week watching the film prior to they usually helped on one side, getting help, and then when we played last week, they were chipping both sides. So, I think it’s a compliment to both those guys, that they do a good enough job that people are planning. And then it puts a little bit more of a challenge on us on how to free those guys up more.”
(On if the team alters their game plan after watching a player struggle against the blitz in a game on Monday Night Football) “If it is something that you don’t do, that is hard because then you will show something or do something that you do not normally do. I don’t think you ever go outside of what you do. Is there stuff in there? Yes. We are focused on ourselves and what we need to do to play well. Just like someone is looking at us and seeing what people did – just like last week – [Cincinnati] comes out and stay inverted and play two-man just like New Orleans did. They are going to show stuff like that. They did that early and Gardner [Minshew II] did a nice job and adjusted and hit the ‘Z’ on a play and we made a big play out of it or had a good play out of it. I think people will always test you. Whether we do it or not, a lot of that will depend on how the game goes or what the flow is.”
(On how much of Leonard Fournette’s production is based on Leonard’s focus and work in the offseason and how much of it is the offensive line) “I do not want to not give credit. I think he has done a nice job. He’s come back and he’s done a good job with his weight. He’s done a good job of being focused. He’s done a good job with his conditioning. He’s done a good job in meetings, so he’s done a good job. But like I said, it’s a team sport, so if no one else is doing – you could do the best job you can if you’re a running back, if no one else is doing anything for you, you’re in trouble. So, I think those guys, like you said, it’s up, it’s down. Some games have been good, some games haven’t. I think that we’re striving for that consistency to keep working on it. We’ve shown that we have the ability to do it and the question for us when it comes down to coaching, I’ve always put it on myself first to if you see someone doing something well, why you want to get that every week. And this week will be a great challenge, New York is excellent against the run. They have an excellent defensive football team. [Jets Defensive Coordinator] Gregg Williams is an excellent defensive coordinator, so we’re going to be challenged as far as what we can do, whether it be running or throwing the football. They have a lot of really good players on that side of the ball, really on all three phases, but defensively they’re really playing well.”
(On if they are plugging away at trying to fix the red zone issues) “Yeah. We’ve talked about a couple things that we had some good discussions with on what we want to do and how we want to address it. So, we’ve had those discussions, we’ve put in the practice time. It’s later in the week obviously, we’re not doing red zone today, so later in the week we’ll do it. But we’ve sat down and really said, ‘Hey listen, we have to do a better job of what we want to do.’ And then now, we have to do a good job of executing it. And if not, then it comes back to us as coaches, then we’re not doing our best to put them in the right situations.”
(On how S Jarrod Wilson is progressing) “Good. I like the way those guys are playing back there. I think they keep getting better. J-Dub [Jarrod Wilson] has been solid. He’s played a ton of snaps for us. He’s played special teams for us. When you look at the snaps on the team, which I do every week, he’s probably one of the guys that has the most snaps, so that’s valuable. He’s going out there, he’s being productive for us. He’s a really good communicator. Both of those guys are really first year fulltime starters, so you’re going to see them get better. And that’s what I’m doing, I’m looking at the team and I’m just trying to push and push to get everyone better as the season goes on. I used to always say that there’s a certain point you can take a player in practice and get him better. I think there’s nothing like playing in a game. When you play in a game, I think that’s where you learn the most, that’s where you really excel. And plus it’s easier for us to evaluate whether this guy can do it or not do it.”
