HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
(On if his perception of the game changed after watching the tape) “Not really. Obviously, I always like to tell the team we played, they played well and they did. But self-inflicted errors on offense were crucial but nine penalties on offense which is unheard of and absolutely unacceptable. And we forced a couple throws, that we’ve just got to make the right reads. But [that’s] about what I thought.”
(On any adjustments he would’ve made during training camp) “No. I mean, of course, at the right time I will review that. But when you start—like the penalties, we had, I believe one substitution then we had alignment issues. I don’t know what that is, that’s just lack of discipline, lack of focus. You’re lined up off the ball and then a receiver covered up someone once. And then a couple holding penalties, but we’ll evaluate everything.”
(On whether he’s considered simplifying things moving forward) “We had that conversation already. Once again, we got home late and I met with the players, watched the video tape, and I just popped out here, so I haven’t really met with the staff— offensive staff this morning, [with] defense I haven’t had a chance yet.”
(On balancing developing a rookie quarter versus trying to win a game) “Yeah, there was never a time that we threw up the red flag and said we’re done. You’ve seen it before, I’ve been a part of games like that where a guy catches fire and they come back. But there were times where we’re moving the ball and you score. It was 27-14 at one time and we were still cooking. And then, a couple penalties, they make a mistake. And then I think at the point the fine line is, how you continue to get reps for a young quarterback, yet not wear your team out. You’re down to 48 players active and then the practice squad. So, that’s the conversation piece we’re having as well.”
(On his evaluation as to why there was only one sack) “Oh yeah, three times we had him [Texans QB Tyrod Taylor] in our grasp and he ran out, two of them became big plays and he got the ball out just in the nick of time. So, obviously, you’d expect more sacks than that, but also understanding who you’re going against. Make sure we’re aiming for the right shoulder, he spun out of it a couple times. But three times we had him wrapped up in one they just made a great play, launched it down the field, the guy went up and made a play. And the other one was a pressure, I mean, right in his face and he got it out. The guy made another play that we should—50-50 ball.”
(On what he tells the team when they try to get more pressure on the quarterback) “What do I tell them? Well, I haven’t had a chance to visit with them yet, but we’re going to visit it as a staff. And then, you’ve just got to put—we call them snapshots, you have to put the players in those kinds of positions in practice and train them on how to attack an athletic quarterback like that.”
(On whether QB Trevor Lawrence’s interceptions are easily correctable) “Yeah, I would think he would after this meeting they just had as a quarterback room and unit room. But yeah, I talked to him after the game, and after watching the film, those were very correctable, and he’ll be the first one to correct them.”
(On his evaluation of the second safety position opposite of Rayshawn Jenkins) “Yeah, [Andre] Cisco is really coming on. You know, he’s a guy that we were told when we drafted him—we really thought highly of him, we still do—is that he had that ACL, so he’s still—was a little bit on that pitch count during training camp. [Andrew] Wingard was the most consistent throughout, missed a tackle, had a chance to make a couple plays. We’re still, we’re not throwing anybody under the bus yet, but Cisco is a guy that we believe has a great future and he played pretty well when he was in there.”
(On what went into the decisions with the inactives) “A lot of time was spent on Chappelle [Russell] versus another d-lineman, we just feel they have a very good returner. One of the bright spots was that the returner they have was outstanding. We kept him in check all night, our punt team had a 50-yard average and 48-yard net. We spent a lot of time on that, coverage units were really good Saturday. I was really—like my mind always does, I go right to that, ‘Who do they have at returner?’ If you want to lose a game fast, not cover. So, that was where we spent a lot of time on Walker [Little], well, I think it’s eight linemen. And we just felt like [Will] Richardson has been more consistent than Walker [Little] right now.”
(On what he learned from his first NFL game) “I always tell people, I’ve always told teams that when talent becomes equated, there is no margin for error. You’re sitting there driving the ball, I want to say it’s 14-7 and we get a 13-yard run and then the back judge throws a flag in there and then we get a holding penalty, goes back to first-and-20. I just watched it, we went through it again, I was watching with [General Manager] Trent [Baalke], another time, [it’s] just the margin of error. You have a nice run, another flag pops out there, then all of a sudden, another pick. So, it’s just consistency and any time you’re facing talented teams, the margin of error is very minimal.”
(On RB James Robinson’s performance) “I have not had that conversation with James [Robinson], but he’s a guy we believe in, him and Carlos [Hyde]. Those two actually played – we had a couple dropped passes, but I thought Carlos ran the ball really hard. I thought overall we ran the ball. At one point, I want to say it was 6 yards per carry, we were running the ball and those damn penalties. You find yourself off-schedule and then you look at the score and you change your game plan. That was one of the bright spots. I thought the tight ends played decent in the run game. I thought we blocked them decent in the run game and the running backs ran hard, but we got off out of schedule.”
(On DT Malcom Brown’s performance) “[It was] very consistent. Josh Allen played the best on defense and Malcom [Brown] was there. I don’t have that sheet in front of me, but Josh was the only guy really that played well enough to grade a winning effort.”
(On the offensive line) “For throwing that many times and I think we gave up one sack, I’m trying to find the bright spots and the bright spots are they had a pretty good defensive line and our guys hung in there. We expect them to play better consistently throughout the whole game, but we better not be a 51 drop back times a game [team].”
(On preparing the team for Week 2) “Positive is we’re all healthy. I haven’t gotten the final training report, but the original one right after the game was we’re healthy, everybody should be good to go. That’s a positive. We met today, they get their lift in, and then tomorrow they’re off and then you have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Last week we had the bonus day, had the Monday, but do what we do.”
(On if his approach this week is different than last) “That’s different each week. We’re not there yet, but that’s what we’re getting ready to go do now.”
(On his evaluation of offensive play calling) “To me, it goes back to fix the self-inflicted errors, which you hear that quite often in this sport. Have I had a chance to deep dive into the complete play calling? I watched it for two hours this morning, I’m going to go back and be involved in the afternoon meetings as well, but it’s fixing the self-inflicted errors that put you backwards. We get the holding, a couple holding calls, first-and-20 and you’re trying to just get back in sync. That took away when you start asking questions like James Robinson and the run game, second-and-20. That’s what got us out of the on-schedule game plan.”
(On CB Tre Herndon’s status) “It’s close. I’ll be in there in a minute.”
(On fixing the errors from yesterday’s game) “Nothing’s easy, but it’s just discipline. It’s power of the unit we call it. It’s the coach in charge of that unit spending time and making sure that we get those things [fixed]. I always ask, I know what happened, but why? Was it some call in that game plan that made that happen or just lack of discipline? Like why was, we did a couple time, the tackle? Well, turned out the guard was little bit back too far and that’s how the tackle gets lined up. So, those are all things you have to work and get fixed.”
(On WR Jamal Agnew having chances in the punt return game) “Yeah, I don’t think we hit one. I’m just trying to think. You caught me off guard with that. Did he have a few chances? To be honest, I haven’t gotten deep into that yet.”
