Frank Smith – December 8, 2023
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Friday, December 8, 2023
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(The snap allocations at running back and receiver. I know some of that is dictated by packages. But is that something that you, Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker, Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Eric Studesville and Head Coach Mike McDaniel collectively talk about? Or does Eric have an idea of this is how I want to distribute running back carries, and runs it by you? How does that work?) – “It’s kind of a combination of the packaging for the week, where we anticipate them to go and how we want to deploy them. As the week involves, it’s handling the variables that could occur and a discussion on game day for things that are coming up. Kind of like all things, everything around here is very collaborative towards our process. There really is no element where there is just one person in charge of an island. It’s just a collective process as we go through all players’ play time on Sunday.”
(With the decision last week, it was the first time in RB De’Von Achane’s limited body of work that he carried more than RB Raheem Mostert. Was that a decision in part to the lopsided score and getting work late? Was it because you just wanted to give him more work? What led to that?) – “It was a combination of things. The way the game was going – getting some touches, getting in the rhythm of the game, getting some opportunities presented itself. It’s just at runner, if you can get in the rhythm of running and get some opportunities, that’s where you can really grow. I think it was a combination of all of those things.”
(I wanted to ask you about the four-minute and eight-minute offense and the ability to finish off games as you guys have. Has that helped build the confidence in the run game some? Obviously you’re averaging, I think it’s No. 7 in NFL history at 5.3 yards per carry. Does it make you more confident knowing you can finish out games and finish off drives with a run game even when teams know you’re trying to run?) – “Yeah, absolutely. Even last year, we’re always striving for balance, the ability to do both elements – run and pass – whenever it’s necessary. In those moments where we’re trying to close out a game and the defense knows it’s coming, the ability for us to execute in those situations is vital, as at the same time they know you’re going to throw it and you have to throw it. Then you have to pass protect and get open and timing. When it comes to situational football, being able to execute as a group I think is just vital, whatever phase it is, one minute, two minute, or eight minute.”
(To build off of that, the last two games you guys have had I believe 34 and 37 rushing attempts. What is the significance of those numbers to you?) – “It’s more of just the flow of the game and what’s being presented and what we’re attacking, and the execution of the guys. With the run game, not every run is going to be 70 yards, and it looks sweet as it goes up the sideline. Many are you’re running though the briar patch through the middle. As you’re going through there, it is going to be prickly and ugly, but you’re learning about the core as they are blocking, how guys are fitting combinations to either what we anticipated or they are working on this. The more opportunities you get to understand what the defense is doing and for us to know what we’re attacking, it allows collectively for the guys to really build confidence into what we are doing. To sustain drives and to do what we’ve been able to do the last two weeks has been really encouraging and it’s really a testament – when you can do that on a Sunday, it starts with Wednesday, Thursday and Friday practice.”
(You guys finished the game with a 13-play drive, and 12 of those plays were runs. Is that significant to you?) – “Yeah. It’s the same thing if you had to throw the ball 12 times. It is just being at your best when your best is required. You trained the whole offseason and training camp through all your practices, getting yourself ready for whatever the game is going to present. You have your plan, you work your plan and you plan for the unexpected. As you go into the game, you’re executing on your plan and then you adjust to whatever they are presenting themselves. If you’re able to run the football at the end of the game to close out games and do it that way and play team football, that’s what you want to be doing in December. It’s been really encouraging and it’s a real testament to everyone and how they train and how they go about things.”
(OL Austin Jackson got his contract extension. I would imagine you must’ve been a big proponent in that.) – “What a great guy. The way he works, how he’s gone about everything with (Offensive Line Coach) Butch (Barry) and (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) ‘Lem’ (Lemuel Jeanpierre), and just everything. The way he attacks his day, it’s awesome just to see a guy work so hard to fulfill your childhood dream, and at the same time, after he’s done with it all, he says, ‘I’m ready to get to work.’ He’s ready to go to practice. It’s an awesome thing when you have the culture and environment that we do here, when you have just a great group of men that really embrace the day and they are really just trying to be their best. I couldn’t be happier for Austin.”
(I know you guys have a high level of confidence in T Terron Armstead and him being out there playing hurt, even if he is out there working on a short week. At what point do you look at it from the standpoint of what would benefit the team long term in terms of what you guys are trying to achieve at the end of the season?) – “There are no easy games. Every team is good. Every team can take it to you and you can be sitting there at the end of it going what happened. You can’t look at anything bigger than the way we approach wholeheartedly our program of the most important day is today. Being able to be available today to help us win today in the current is the most important thing. If you start thinking today, this week, next week or looking towards the future, the next thing you know – When a guy like him is getting ready for every game and he says he’s good to go and he’s ready to play, we trust that with really all guys. But Terron has proven he’ll tell us when he’s ready to play and when he’s ready to play, we’ll play him.”
(I was wondering about the pass game specifically. You have so many plays that express themselves so quickly. I’m wondering with the linemen specifically, are there drills that you guys rep to get them moving and that understanding of both speed and space quicker than the average play?) – “You would think that watching other teams operate, that’s just the way we operate from the beginning. There’s not, ‘Hey, let’s ease the boat in the water with how we do things.’ It’s our progression of how we install the offense and just everything is about that life. So they learn through the process, and not everything is perfect. Early on, you have things that you’re really going to learn from and you learn why, and then you start learning reactions and you understand the intent and through the concepts and the trust that exists between our staff and our players of what we’re trying to do, that’s how they learn. So it’s not what drill we do. I’d just say it’s our team period. (laughter) It’s just the way we do things. I think that’s ultimately – that’s why when we assimilate guys through the season a little bit, they’re like, ‘That’s how we roll, man.’ That’s kind of our starting point.”
(I wanted to ask you about the quality of play you got last week from T Kion Smith and what level is OL Liam Eichenberg playing right now, those two guys?) – “Pleased with the way both of them have performed. They did a good job, especially with the interior guys in that front. We knew it was going to be – we’re going to have to be on it all day. I mean just overall, the group, the way they’re able to control the line of scrimmage and control the pocket for the quarterback, it was great. Kion (Smith) is obviously doing very well. He did a great job. You’re not surprised when you watch guys every day, you see the pre-practice, during practice, post-practice, and he’s one of those guys, like Liam (Eichenberg), that just puts so much time into it. You’re really happy when you can see him really start putting it together.”
(If OL Robert Hunt can’t play, what goes into deciding where OL Liam Eichenberg and OL Lester Cotton would respectively line up considering OL Liam Eichenberg played at left guard last week and before that played right guard?) – “It’s not one thing. It’s a collective of things that we go through. It’s ultimately the variables that we work through, the line or the wideouts or the runners, as we go through, ‘OK, if this, then this and this.’ We don’t go through 20 contingency plans, but we have basically three that we work through. Through the three variables that occur, where is the consistency, and that normally drives some of our decisions with who will play where. So when it comes to the line, it’ll just ultimately be as we go through the week, who is going to make it to the game, availability, and then ‘OK, if we had this and this, what are the moving pieces we have to do,’ and just trying to limit, like we talked about, one side to the other side. That’s hard, so we try to limit that as much as we can. So some of that drives a lot of our decisions, and we normally work through that between today, tomorrow and Saturday, or whatever day we’re at now, Sunday. (laughter)”
(Are you guys calling today Thursday? Like is it Thursday, Thursday, Thursday?) – “Yeah, just as far as the routine, in my head it’s Thursday. (laughter) Everyone else might say, ‘No, it’s Friday.’ But I’m like, ‘What are you talking about, it’s Thursday.’ Why was this game playing on Wednesday last night? I’m sitting there going like, ‘Huh? What’s going on here?’ But it just goes and then on a short week, it’s like, ‘OK, this is a Wednesday-ish day.’ You try to do it because of the routine, otherwise I personally don’t know what day it is. I just go, ‘Yeah, it’s Thursday, right?’ It’s Friday. ‘But why is there a game on Wednesday?’”
(I wanted to ask you about RB De’Von Achane and the rib injury, which obviously was a surprise to us, I’m sure not necessarily a surprise to you. Is there a concern about putting him out there when he’s got something that he’s battling? Or is that you saw no effects of it from practice yesterday?) – “Anything is – injuries are things we’re working through. It’s communication between the training staff, the players and Mike (McDaniel), Chris (Grier), all of us. It’s a collaborative effort. We’re never going to put a guy in harm’s way, so we make sure that everyone feels comfortable and that we have the adequate things we need to make sure everyone feels that they can be at their best and not going into a situation knowing you don’t think anything is going to happen.”
(What percentage of opponents base their defense around WR Tyreek Hill primarily? You know, the Belichick with the three high safeties. What are you expecting along those lines on Monday night? Are you expecting that type of a defense on Monday night?) – “I mean, it’s more of anyone can do anything. You have so much tape now that there have been several different ways now that defenses have tried to defend us. If you go down the rabbit holes of, ‘what if they would’ve,’ it’s not about that. They’re going to have their plan. They’re going to execute it. Our job is to be where we need to be at when we need to be there. If we’re on that together and we’re connected, there will be a better execution at that moment. We try not to worry about too many variables, because that’ll keep you up until 3 a.m. – an hour later than you need to be. (laughter) But it’s more of it’s about us and making sure that we are where we need to be, and then we execute and just adjust as the game goes.”
