Chris Foerster – August 3, 2017
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Thursday, August 3, 2017
Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Chris Foerster
(Before I ask you about the line, any time you see one of your guys go down how does that affect you and the players?) – “It’s trainers, head coach. I’m out of the loop on that. When guys go down in practice, obviously you never know what it is. Practice goes on and the next guy comes up and you move on from there and then you find out after practice what happens.”
(How would you describe in general what you feel you have to work with in terms of offensive line starters and depth? The group you have.) – “I love the guys we have. We have a great group of guys, a good group of guys returning from last year. They got a year (of) experience. We picked up a lot of guys midseason last year. When you look at Jake Brendel and Jesse Davis and some of the young guys you have coming on. You have (Anthony) Steen last year that was pushed into a starting role. Now he’s in more of a backup role and competing. You have guys that got playing time last year that will be starting, playing time last year that could be backing up. I feel real good about putting together a good group of guys. (There is) a lot of competition still to go. We’re just starting the evaluation process right now; but it’s a great group.”
(How is T Laremy Tunsil doing at left tackle?) – “Laremy is doing great. He’s doing an outstanding job. He missed a little bit last year by playing guard, but it did help him. He got to play 16 games, or he missed – I don’t know how many he missed with an injury – but then he got to play a little tackle last year. It’s been a great transition the whole offseason. It’s like going back home. He played well at guard last year, but it was a whole different learning experience for him. This year, he’s back where he’s been his whole life.”
(What do you think the ceiling is for T Laremy Tunsil?) – “That’s up to him – as hard as he wants to work, as hard as he wants to prepare himself on a weekly and daily based to be a great player. He has all the tools to be a really, really, really good player. I have a bunch of tools in my trunk and I don’t really know how to use them, so it doesn’t do much if I don’t know how to use them. He’s done a great job at this point. I’m not saying that he doesn’t, but like anything, it’s a process, still getting to be a top-flight player and he’s working towards that.”
(How far along do you feel like C Mike Pouncey is in his recovery?) – “You know, check with the docs on that one. He looks fine to me. Last year, he looked fine. Even after he was injured in Dallas, once he started to get back into rehab, he looked great. It’s just a matter of the docs and everybody figuring out when he’s cleared to fully go; but he looks great.”
(How comfortable do you feel that C Mike Pouncey could be highly effective in very limited reps?) – “Well, as I think (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has told you guys, last year was an eye-opener for all of us. He missed a lot of time and was finally cleared the week of – I think it was the Tennessee week when he came back – and he came out and picked up where he left off.”
(What has G Isaac Asiata done so far? Has he done enough to even get into the equation of playing time?) – “He’s right in that mix with the backup guys to compete. It’s a full-on competition with he and (Anthony) Steen and (Jake) Brendel and (Jesse) Davis and (Kraig) Urbik. All of them are working their butts off to try and compete. He’s right in the mix with those guys. These preseason games will tell a lot.”
(What did you like about C/G Ted Larsen in the evaluation process? You and General Manager Chris Grier and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum, etc., in determining that he could be a starter?) – “He was definitely a … When you saw what he did throughout his career, the things that we do with our offense, the system that we run, that (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase runs, Ted is a good fit for it. We saw the things that said ‘Hey, this guy really fits what we do.’ So when he gets here, the things we ask him to do are the things he’s good at. The things that he isn’t as good at, we don’t do as much of. Not that he wasn’t good at it – maybe that’s some of the reasons he didn’t start (in Chicago). I don’t know. We’ll find out; but he’s a good fit for us, both character-wise and ability-wise.”
(How much confidence do you have in your backup centers should something happen to C Mike Pouncey again?) – “All of those guys are doing an outstanding job. Obviously Mike Pouncey is a great player and we want Mike out there; but at every position, we have to have somebody ready to go if something goes wrong. The great thing is (Anthony) Steen played a lot of ball last year, (Kraig) Urbik played a lot of ball last year, Jake Brendel has come on and done an outstanding job last season and this season, and you even have Ted Larsen who can play center. We are well prepared and trying to be the best we can be prepared if indeed somebody else had to play center.”
(With G/T Jermon Bushrod playing guard for the second year of his life – we had C/G Anthony Steen play center for the first time in his life last year – has there been a moment where you’ve seen that the year has helped?) – “Yes, 100 percent. You see it in his pass sets just in one-on-one pass rush since last year. As he said, left-hand, right-hand, he had all of those years on the left side. It was truly like learning to write right-handed for him. It was just going to take some time. This year, he can write with both hands, he’s doing a good job.”
(The one area you want to see some growth from T Ja’Wuan James?) – “Consistency. Just consistency in his techniques. That’s what Ja’Wuan needs to do. He’s an outstanding run blocker, but consistency in all of them. Just being a consistent technique player, play in and play out.”
(Last year we had a lot of conversations about T Branden Albert helping T Laremy Tunsil and how they had to work together on plays – zone, second level, get to the linebacker, talking, communicating – I’m wondering what you have noticed about the Tunsil and C/G Ted Larsen relationship.) – “That’s great because again you have … ‘L.T.’ (Tunsil) has a little more experience this year so he’s aware of things – very, very aware and a smart player. Then you have Ted, who has a lot of experience. So they picked up right where they left off. They kind of meshed quickly because they’re both experienced players. If you put them together, they can kind of work together.”
(What have you seen from C/G Ted Larsen that makes you certain that he can be a starter?) – “He’s a good fit for what we do. That’s the thing that I’m really encouraged by Ted. When we studied the film, we saw the things that he did well and we said ‘You know, we do a lot of the things that he does well.’ So when he gets here, we like the marriage of our offense to his skillset.”
(What is that? What do you want the identity of this offensive line to be?) – “Well, the identity of our offense last year was we centered around the outside zone running game. We offset it with some inside zone and gap scheme, but it was more of a change of pace. Our passing game is always about getting the ball out quickly, time passing game. (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase is about just staying ahead of the sticks. Then we’ll take our shots when the time comes. That fits Ted (Larsen). Our running game fits Ted and we’re getting the ball out quickly. We’re not a team that’s going to be holding the ball at seven steps and standing up there where you need guys who are going to be able to anchor for three or four (seconds). We’ve got guys who are going to stay in front of people, mirror them, we’re going to get the ball out quick and we’re going to make people run with our athletic ability because when you have (Laremy) Tunsil and Ted over on that left side, you’ve got two really quick athletes. If you put Mike (Pouncey) at center, another one Ja’Wuan (James) and then ‘Bush’ (Jermon Bushrod) is still – for 10 years in the league – still has some good athletic ability. We have a nice, athletic group. We’ve got to take advantage of that.”
(So you’re looking more for athleticism now?) – “Obviously you want to get as big of a player as you can get that’s an athlete. At the end of the day, you have to play on third down. It’s like anything else, you can be a great first and second down run player, but everybody has to play on third-and-6, third-and-8 and third-and-10. So athletes tend to be able to hold up a little bit better against the defensive linemen when it’s third-and-6 and there is no threat of run, and here we go, we have to pass block.”
