Thursday, October 10, 2019
(On what it says about the offense’s resiliency to come back in the second half after struggling in the start) “I think our guys believe that we are never out of the game. That is a credit to them and the hard work they have put in and getting to learn the system and trust each other. [Head Coach Doug] Marrone talks all the time about trust and communication and I think it’s good right now. I think those guys really trust each other. I think there is great communication going on, both on the sidelines and on the field during the play, before the play, after the play. We need to keep that going, no doubt. That’s a credit to our players.”
(On the offense being successful in play-action and how important play-action is) “It’s very important for a couple of reasons. Obviously, anytime you can get the defense’s eyes in another spot, I think that’s a good thing. I think the things that you have seen us have success with, at least statistically – running the football the last couple of weeks. I think that obviously doesn’t hurt. That doesn’t hurt at all. Our guys do a good job with it and they do a good job up front and selling out the run and making it look as close to the run as we can. Obviously, I think whenever we have the playmakers on the outside who are bigger guys who can run, you give them a little bit more space and a little bit more time to work. I think that’s advantage: Jaguars, when we are going against the defense. That’s kind of how we look at play-action.”
(On if DJ Chark Jr. will see more double teams as the season goes on) “Yes, you anticipate that. There is no doubt. I don’t know how they are going to play us on Sunday. I know the last place I was at, they did bracket [receivers] a lot the last time they played them. I really … I have said this for a long time since I have been here. I really like our skill players on this team. I like all our players, but we are talking [about] doubling receivers now, tight ends. We have guys that can win one-on-one matchups if they try and bracket certain players. Does that make us concerned? Sure. Whenever someone tries to take one of your best players out of the game, that’s cause for concern and cause to try and game plan him where that can be alleviated as much as possible. But at the same time, I’m confident in our guys that we can win those one-on-one matchups if they do want to bracket certain guys, especially on third down.”
(On Leonard Fournette’s patience and his long runs the last three games) “On those three runs, I think you saw the first guy not make the tackle. His yards after contact … I don’t know those stats, but I would assume he’s up there. For a bigger guy, Leonard runs with a really good pad level. He runs with a pad level that is not his size. For a big back that can run at that pad level, it’s a good thing. He’s going to keep doing a great job of seeing the hole, staying patient. Like I said all the time, the run game isn’t going to be clean all the time. A lot of times, if we have to motion a receiver down there to get an extra guy in the box and they tighten up, you have to make a guy miss a lot of the times. Leonard [Fournette] has done a great job of doing that.”
(On Josh Dobbs’ command of the offense) “It’s pretty good. I think it’s pretty good. The biggest thing is he needs to work on is cadence. He has to work on that cadence, but he’s done a really nice job of getting in here and spending the time. [Quarterbacks Coach] Scott [Milanovich] does a great job with him.”
(On what he’s seen out of the Saints defensive front) “They are really good. They are really good. You look at ’92’ [Marcus Davenport], ‘94’ [Cameron Jordan] and ‘98’ [Sheldon Rankins] – all of those guys. They do a great job of rotating guys in there. I think that you see a lot of speed and power. Those guys are powerful dudes. ‘56’ [Demario Davis] is a blitzing [line]backer, I include him as almost part of the front because when he blitzes the [running] back, he tries to punish the back. They do a really nice job. They try to press the pocket up the middle so the quarterback doesn’t have room to press up and it allows the edge rushers to do the work. We’re going to need to do a good job being solid at the first level and you know, [Demario] Davis is a damn good blitzer.”
(On what to do in practice to ensure Gardner Minshew II has better ball security) “You stress it. It’s like anything. You stress it and you acknowledge it because I think if you stick your head in the sand and don’t acknowledge it, you allow possible problems to grow worse. You acknowledge it, you drill it and Scott [Milanovich] was doing some good drills out there yesterday, some good pocket movement drills with him. It’s something that you worry about, but it’s not something that you … It’s not something that you overstress because you never want to make the quarterback a robot. I’ve said that a few times. You never want to make the quarterback a robot. There was no one more disappointed that he fumbled the ball three times than Gardner [Minshew II] was. I think that problem will be drastically improved this week.”
(On how much Saints CB Marshon Lattimore can impact an offense’s game plan) “A lot. A lot. He’s a darn good cover guy. Obviously, his accolades, Pro Bowls, All-Pro, all of that stuff speaks for itself. He’s fast, he’s physical. He wants to get his hands on you at the line of scrimmage and does a darn good job at it. It will be interesting to see how we match up against those guys.”
(On where Gardner Minshew II is improving the most from Week 1) “I think it’s as much off the field as it is on the field. I think he trusts his preparation. I think anytime you go through game week after game week after game week, I think you get into a routine. I see him much more comfortable in his routine throughout the week. On the field, I just think it has more to do with the 10 guys that are around him than it does him. I just think you see the other 10 guys believe. It was kind of an unknown for all of us when he went in there against Kansas City when Nick went down on play [No. 11]. I think you just see an organization, not only players and coaches, but I think that you see an organization believe that he’s going to go out there and perform. That is a credit to him.”
