Chad O’Shea – December 17, 2019
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Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(With the offensive line, what goes into the decision to rotate those guards in the game?) – “I think there’s a lot of factors that go into having the five guys that are out there. In the particular – like last week for example, the rotation of the offensive line was based off of giving an opportunity to some of those guys to play from our perspective, and the idea of just obviously giving them an opportunity to play. That was the biggest thing. It wasn’t that it was a particular matchup reason defensively. It was just really an opportunity for all those guys to play because they deserve the opportunity to go out there and play.”
(So this is just an evaluation process for you?) – “I think the process for us is always trying to get the best guys out there, and in doing so, one of the things is there is an evaluation process of how those players play when they’re in there. If that requires rotating different guys in to see who are the best five, that’s what the process is for us. It’s always about putting the best guys out there to give us the best chance to win, and if that requires giving each guy an opportunity to go out there and do it and not just be in set with a certain five guys during the game, that’s what we’re going to do.”
(Isn’t there a statement to be made that you’re in Game 14 and you’re still not sure who the best five are?) – “I think it’s ongoing. Certainly in a perfect world, everybody would like to have continuity at different positions; but again, what we’re trying to do is get the best five out there. If it requires us to keep doing that, we’re going to do that.”
(How did G Shaq Calhoun and G Michael Deiter perform in returning to the starting role?) – “I think there were some things – I think the one word at all positions is ‘consistency’ – so there were some things that were real positive, and I think there were some things when we looked at the film that we would’ve liked them to do better. I think that’s probably true of the way we played offensively in general, that there was lack of consistency at all positions and certainly there were some things that they did that were very positive, and there were some things that looking back that we need to improve on from last week and going into this week.”
(We’ve spoken a lot about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s running ability. We haven’t spoken a lot about his arm strength. The first touchdown pass to WR DeVante Parker, the 20-yarder, looked like everything he had on it. He’s got pretty good arm strength doesn’t he? That’s an important piece in his repertoire, isn’t it?) – “I think there’s a lot that goes into that – the anticipation and the coverage recognition is something that helps Ryan. He had enough arm to get it to DeVante on that play. That’s a play that was repped in practice, and we always stress the importance of our preparation and practice really equals what happens in the game; and that was true of that play. We had repped that play in practice and he had thrown to DeVante and had good anticipation and recognition of what the coverage was, and DeVante ran a good route. There’s a lot that goes into it, but one of the things that’s important is the quarterback’s got to be able to physically make that throw, and he was able to do that.”
(I know there are two weeks left, but how would you evaluate the job you have done this season?) – “I think it’s something that I have certainly learned every week. It’s been a process that each week is different, and when I look back it’s something that there’s always areas to improve, just like we talk about with the players. Certainly my job has been to try to give the offense the best chance to win every week. I’ve certainly tried to do that on a weekly basis. I appreciate the way our players have embraced what we’ve tried to do here. They’ve worked extremely hard, and I just think that the efforts of the players have really helped me do my job this year and certainly there’s areas in hindsight and looking forward that we would all like to be better in. I think that’s true of all players and coaches, but I think that just as the players have done, I’ve tried to give the best effort I can to put the offense in the best position to win.”
(Would you say this offseason that figuring out the run game is one of your highest priorities?) – “I think there’s going to be a lot. We’re going into the game this week and there’s a lot that we need to improve on. The run game is one area, one facet, of a lot of areas that we need to improve on, and I think that all areas will be evaluated. We still have two games left, and we’re going to try to improve in those areas even with two games left, and it’s just not the run game. There are other areas certainly. That’s always the one statistically that’s the most glaring for us right now, but there’s a lot of areas that we can improve on offensively.”
(With the run game, you guys got over 100 rushing yards, and a lot of that production came from backs. What was different about last week?) – “I think the backs did a good job of running well. I thought on those plays that we did have some production the offensive line was good in their assignment, good in their technique, fundamentally they were good. I think that all those things as I’ve said all year, it takes all 11, and on those plays that we were successful, there were 11 guys doing their job correctly. Certainly the disappointment in the game for us was our inability to get one yard when we needed a yard, so obviously we’re going to put a lot of focus and a lot of our energies into that area of being better in situational football; but on the runs that we did have productivity, I think it’s a tribute to all 11 guys doing their job better.”
(There’s been a lot of attention focused on RB Patrick Laird, but RB Myles Gaskin also had himself a pretty nice game on Sunday. What did you like about what he showed?) – “I think that the one thing that’s been good about Myles is he’s continued to learn the offense and know what to do when he’s out there. He’s made the most of his opportunities at practice and certainly I think that’s really kind of transferred into the game. He ran the ball and was decisive with some of his run reads. I think he had some production in the screen game as well. We’ve got to do a better job catching the ball, but that’s as a unit. I just think that he’s continued to develop and grow in his role.”
(What do you see as RB Myles Gaskin’s skillset? More quick than fast maybe?) – “I think we’re still learning a lot about him. He’s certainly done some things that would say that he’s got attributes in both of those areas, so I think it’s still something we’re evaluating and giving him opportunities kind of to show what he can do physically.”
(We’ve asked about G Michael Deiter and G Shaq Calhoun. What about C/G Evan Brown? What did you see from him on Sunday?) – “He had a chance to go in there. I think he had 37 plays in the game, so it was a good start for him to get in there and again, there’s a lot of moving parts inside and a lot of communication that’s required of different guys at different positions, so it’s a work in progress. But there was enough positives that he’ll continue to have opportunities and we’ll continue to try to put the best five out there.”
(What do you want from your guards? What do you want your guards to look like?) – “I think it’s something that is based on a lot of what you’re doing offensively and what you’re facing obviously, but ideally you want to have some guards with some size and some athleticism. I think the athleticism is something that’s very important for that position because we do pull our guards quite a bit in this offense and we do utilize them in the screen game and some of those (things). So I think athleticism and mobility (are) something that come to mind first for us as far as our guards, but there’s obviously a lot of physical characteristics that you would like also. You just can’t have them all. But that’s one that comes to mind, is just the athletic (trait). I think there’s also – you need to be big and stout enough to stand up to have a firm pocket inside also.”
(Joe Burrow won the Heisman last week. I know your focus isn’t on the college game, but you as an observer of sports have to have seen some of what he’s done this year. Were you kind of surprised, encouraged?) – “I’ll be honest, out of all respect to the Heisman Trophy and college football, so much of our energy here has been on us and the focus on our team and what we need to do the next two weeks to improve. Certainly we have a great challenge this week in Cincinnati, so yeah, I am a sports fan and I respect the Heisman Trophy and am aware of who won it; just all of the focus for us truly has been on us.”
