OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2023
(On improving third down efficiency) “There’s different things that come up here and there, whether it
be situation of the game, play call, protection, route running, catching, throwing. There’s a lot that
comes into play with that. It’s certainly an area we need to get better at and we’re continuing to put in
the time to continue to trust our process with how we game plan for these things, how we scheme
them, how we rep them and teach them, all of that. But it’s definitely something we need to improve
on.”
(On if he’s trying to improve on his game planning or coming up with different ways to game plan)
“There’s always a combination of those sort of factors, of doing what we do, things we know really well
inside and out really well, but also, things that put our guys in position to do what they do well while also
attacking a defense and how they want to play a certain situation. Every defense is different, so every
game plan changes a little bit and there’s a give-and-take of doing what we do and attack what they do
to put everybody in the best positions. It’s a case-by-case.”
(On if knowing he needs to score a lot of points on Sunday effects his game planning) “It doesn’t
necessarily affect the way you game plan, really, when you play teams like that or every single game, the
game changes as it goes. We always go in with the intent that we’re trying to score every single drive.
Even like last week, all the sudden you’re in a 17-point lead, it changes the way you want to play the
game. You adjust the gameplan within the game based on the situation you’re in. A team like Buffalo or
these high-scoring offenses that you play, when it’s high scoring, you may have to match, you may have
to be aggressive in the way you play, you may have to play a ball-controlled style of game just to keep
them at bay for a little bit and give your defense a break. Again, it always changes, you know you’re going
into a game with the plan that you’re going to need to score maybe more than you play other teams that
tend to run the ball, however they play the offense.”
(On how to prepare against a strong defensive line like Buffalo that has depth) “Yeah, they do a great job
of subbing, pretty much hockey subbing, their defensive line where it’s the whole two unit comes in, the
one unit gets a break. They’re rolling guys in and out. They’ve got a lot of really good players, whether it
be a defensive tackle or a defensive end. It’s certainly something you try to plan against, maybe you have
times where you want to change the tempo just to keep a certain group on the field or keep a certain
group off the field. There’s different ways you want to attack them when teams are doing something like
that as you go.”
(On how to prepare against Bills LB Von Miller who hasn’t played this season due to injury) “Well, either
fortunately or unfortunately, we have about ten years of tape on him. We know what type of player he’s
capable of being. He’s one of those guys you have to be aware of, he’s a game wrecker and we would
imagine if he’s used in bits and pieces, it’s probably going to be critical situations where he gets a chance
to rush the passer. If he’s playing every single down, that’s something you got to be aware of as well.
He’s somebody that we’ll pay the respect he’s earned.”
(On value of OL Walker Little and his versatility) “He’s a security blanket just within the staff, of knowing
he can align in multiple spots. Being able to play left tackle and right tackle is not as easy as people think.
Now, you are right hand dominant on the right side and left hand on the left side. That’s a little harder
than I think people would realize. Being able to move inside where there’s less space and everything is
constricted, everything happens faster. A guy that can handle that and do that at a high level is really
invaluable for us.”
(On if he’s seeing statistical improvements on offense) “All those numbers, I had no clue about. So those
are great and I appreciate those and they sound good. It feels like we’re certainly stringing things
together. We really just want to be efficient. We want to be efficient and explosive, that’s one of our
commandments that we talk a lot about as an offense. We’ve started to gain some traction of being
efficient, we’re still working to be explosive at certain times and when we need to be. Like I mentioned
earlier, I think the dynamics of the game changed last week pretty quickly, where all the sudden, you’re
up 17, a team that was, in all honesty, was struggling to throw the ball at certain times. The gameplan
changes as you get into it or the way you play the game changes and I thought did our guys did a great
job of that. Ultimately, it came down to the other day on Sunday, our players make plays. When you
think of the first touchdown it was Calvin [WR Calvin Ridley] and Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence], we’re hot
and Trevor makes a guy miss, Calvin breaks a route off, and we score a touchdown. Christian [WR
Christian Kirk] had some big third down conversions, Evan [TE Evan Engram] made some big plays on
some keepers. Even Calvin drawing a DPI late in the game. It won the game that we were great running
the ball, but a lot of things came off the run in terms of movement, some of the play passes we had
earlier. It’s a full system, you look at it and say we didn’t run the ball great, but a lot of the things that
came off the run game were big for us.”
(On if he’s getting closer to where he wants to be in the run game) “We think so. The dynamics of the
game change where it didn’t seem to benefit us to be super aggressive and try to get to the perimeter
and risking negative yardage plays. Some of it was let’s keep going straight ahead, we’ll pop some of
these eventually. Which we did or we didn’t, we probably didn’t in that game but some movements
came off and we get a 30-yard gain to Evan [TE Evan Engram] rolling off there on a run sell where their
defense is committed to it. We go into the game knowing that’s a really good front, you have a lot of calls
that you don’t get to do just because when you’re sitting on a 17-point lead and the dynamics of the
game change, you play the game a little differently than you plan to when it was 0-0 and you had four
quarters ahead of you. There are things that we need to continue to get better at moving forward.”
(On OL Blake Hance being a versatile player) “Blake is similar to Walker [OL Walker Little] as he’s a guy
that we have a lot of trust in and can do a lot of different things. Whether it be playing guard which he
played through training camp, playing tackle which he’s done for us, even being available to be tight end
there in certain situations. When you play Atlanta and a guy [Falcons DL Calais] Campbell sitting there on
the edge, you kind of want to match some brute force with some brute force right there maybe a little
better than some of our tight ends give us. We felt like Blake gave us an advantage in that particular
matchup. Again, it’s a case-by-case, game-by-game basis of when we will utilize things like that, but we
felt like that would give us an advantage or better matchup than we would’ve had with our tight ends
doing the same thing.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2023
(On importance of trying to take away the run game against Buffalo on Sunday) “Well, that’s the plan all
the time, to keep teams in our advantage in third-and-longs, second-and-longs. You’re right, a big guy
like [Bills QB Josh Allen] who is a really great runner and it’s going to be tough. We’re just going to go out
there and try to understand our gameplan and focus on keeping them in those situations.”
(On tackling plan against Bills QB Josh Allen) “Really, the skillset that he has, he’s a great runner and a
great thrower. You have to get bodies around him. He’s a big guy that it’s going to be hard for one guy to
bring him down. Our plan is to get multiple guys around him and try to get him on the ground.”
(On if forcing turnovers is the defense’s identity) “I don’t know if it’s our identity, but we want it to be
that. We focus on that a bunch and that’s a topic in almost every meeting. You have to take the ball
away from the offense and give it back to our offense. That’s one of the things we like to do, and we’ve
had a little bit of success here lately of getting them. Hopefully, they’ll continue to come.”
(On if he saw OLB Josh Allen’s talent brewing last year to make him perform well this season) “Josh has
had a bunch of pressures last year, and he went home and focused on just finishing. As a staff and as a
defense, we talked about finishing and he being able to finish early on in the season. We look for that to
continue. Josh put the work in the offseason, he’s a talented player, he came back and it’s paying off for
him and us.”
(On talent of the defensive secondary) “I think when you look at it, it all goes together. The pass rush and
the secondary. When the pass rush is doing well, the secondary is doing well. When the secondary is
doing well, the pass rush is doing well. It really goes together and right now; we’re working pretty good
together.”
(On how to find the balance of finishing as a team but also not allowing big plays to happen) “That’s a
good question. Really, you have to go out there and execute your gameplan. We understand we don’t
want to fly by the quarterback, we want to stay in the space and try to get him on the ground with
multiple guys. We want to be aggressive and try to attack him and also be smart how we rush him.
There’s a plan and we’ll go out there and see if we can execute on Sunday.”
(On seriousness of OLB Josh Allen being limited in practice yesterday) “We really allow the training staff
to answer that question. He was out there and he was limited, but I’ll let them handle those questions.”
(On how much of the secondary’s performance is based on what he wants them to do) “I think anytime
you’re in a system for a year, then a second year, you improve just because you’ve heard it over and over
again. We’re preaching the same message, now they’re able to apply it better. You can go back to early
on in the season, they’re able to pass things off. Now, we did have a couple of bad plays against Texans
where we reverted back. But it’s a work in progress, the guys are continuing to get better and we will
continue to progress in that way.”
(On if it feels like a normal preparation week despite being in London or if he’s had to treat it differently)
“No, whichever week it was. Last week, we treated it like a normal week and this week we’re doing the
same thing. Football players are creatures of habit, when you get into a habit you want to do the same
thing on Wednesday that you did last Wednesday. We try to let their habits take over. We’re trying to
keep our schedule the same and that’s why we go at it. We’re here to play the Bills and our schedule will
be the same if we played three or four more games here.”
(On improvements of S Andre Cisco in his scheme) “I think his understanding of the overall scheme is
better, and he’s catching the ball. He had opportunities last year and he didn’t come up with those
catches, now he’s coming down with them and he’s a talented player. He has all the skill and a bunch of
range back there. You like the way he’s attacking the ball and he will continue to do that.”
SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR HEATH FARWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2023
(On if he feels the team is ready for a tough matchup against Buffalo) “I think that’s the best part about
games like this. All these games prepare you down the stretch come January. Just to feel that adrenaline,
a little bit of nervousness and gut feelings to you pregame, all the rituals and the fans and the crowd,
that’s what makes it special and that’s what makes it cool. All of that stuff helps us. Doing those Kansas
City games the last couple of years, I think that’s also prepared us. This is another one, it’s another great
game and great matchup. Come playoff time, we’re going to need these games just for experience. I
think our guys are ready, they’re excited about it, we’ve had a good week of practice so far. That’s the
challenge of it, let’s see what we can do in a good matchup against a very good team.”
(On if K Brandon McManus’ performance was surprising) “Not surprising at all. He’s a pro, he’s been one
of the best kickers in the league for a long time, so I knew he’d get right back to what he does. He had a
great week of practice last week and he went on the field and did exactly what he does every day. It
wasn’t shocking, he controls it completely with great kicks. Something that also probably gets
overlooked are those touchbacks he hit. It’s something where we potentially would’ve hung some kicks
up and covered some kicks, but when you have that dynamic returner back there deep, not all kickers
can guarantee touchbacks like he can do. To be able to take that part of the game completely out of it, is
a big thing for a coach is to take that portion of the game out of it and as well as making all those kicks
he did. He’s a great player, I’m not surprised at all.”
(On his thoughts of the 56-yard field goal last game) “I think we tried the grass all week, we had a good
feeling of what kind of turf we were going to deal with there. Coming here as often as we do, I feel like
we have a good understanding of what cleats we’re going to wear for that game. Just trusting his leg
strength and his ability to make those long kicks, our confidence never wavered. We were sending him
out there, we were talking about it on third down of sending him out there. It wasn’t a last second
decision, there was no gray area with it. It was to send him out there, do what he does best. That’s why
we got a kicker like that in the program. That was one of the reasons why we felt like we upgraded in the
offseason, we got a guy that can make that kick when we needed those three points.”
(On improvements of WR Jamal Agnew’s health) “If he’s active, he’s definitely returning. I will not hold
him off of that. The guys last week did a really good job, they filled in perfectly and did exactly what we
wanted them to. They gave the ball back to the offense, got some yards, great. But Jamal Agnew is a
special player, if he’s active, he will be back there deep. We’ll see how he looks, today is another day to
see what he can run around and do. As the week goes on, we’ll have a better idea of what that looks like.
But yes, he will be back deep, I’m hoping he’s back. He’s very, very good and he’s a big part of flipping
the field for our return game.”
(On difficulty of WR Christian Kirk having to come in as emergency punt returner) “I think normally as a
coach, you get to your third returner and you’re pretty nervous. Not the case with me. Christian Kirk is a
pro, he’s caught punts for a long time in this league. He’s very consistent and catches the ball super
clean. You trust him and you want the ball in his hands. It was not a concern for me, it was more the
operation aspect of having a guy who plays as much offense as he does, now he’s got to return punts for
us. That’s the biggest concern with it. But as far as his ability wise, not a concern at all. He’s a pro, he’s
done it for a ton of years, and he’s done it at a high level. It’s just fortunate that we have Agnew [WR
Jamal Agnew] that we don’t necessarily need him. On most teams, he’d be the punt returner, I’m sure.”
(On if WR Christian Kirk has full-go as punt returner or if he’s told to fair catch the ball to be safe) “He’s a
ball player, I think he’s going to want to return. As much as we want to protect him, probably protect him
from himself, he’s a ball player that wants to help the team and if there’s yards to be had, if he has good
space, he’s going to try to score, yes. He’s not going to fair catch every time, he’s going to return. That’s
what we do and that’s what he does.”
(On if it takes time to get adjusted to a kicker that’s been with a different team for a long time) “The
obvious is the mechanics of it. What is the trigger? Is it off your hand? Is it the face mask? Is it the hand
coming off the ground? There are different triggers that they use, so it’s all timing. What are they going
off? They change the cadence all the time to get the field goal block team off a little bit. It’s all the timing
aspect and where the ball is caught and where the lace is. The reality is, if the laces are off this much,
those kickers know that, see that and feel that. It’s really precise. It’s down to a quarter inch making a
difference in the kicking game. That’s a big deal. The more reps they can get, the more consistent they
can get, the operation gets cleaner, the better the ultimate result of him making kicks. That’s part of the
process we’ve been working through, obviously Logan [P Logan Cooke] was out for a couple of days in
training camp, Ross [LS Ross Matiscik] missed a ton of time. We were making up for some of that time,
but they’ve really picked it up where they left off and starting to get in their own. The last couple weeks
of practice, we’ve had some great sessions and this week is no different. We’ve had some great sessions.
I’m expecting good results come Sunday, whatever you typically see in practice, I think that’s typically see
in a game and that’s what I’ve come to realize. When you’re consistent like they have been the last few
weeks, we’re getting in the right stride and we’re getting in the right mode.”
