Chad O’Shea – July 28, 2019
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Sunday, July 28, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(How have the duties that Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell was handling been split up with members of the coaching staff?) – “Certainly, we miss Jim Caldwell. He’s a wonderful coach and even more of a better human being, so we miss him as a person. He was a valuable member of our staff; but one of the great things about our staff is we have a strong staff, a lot of experience on the offensive staff and we certainly are going to use the entire staff in different roles and different ways and use their strengths because we certainly have a strong staff, and I really look forward to working with all of those guys.”
(Is that a reason why another assistant or maybe engaging another assistant hasn’t happened yet?) – “Yeah, I think that when you have the staff that we do in place, they have a lot of experience with different positions, and they’re able to work and cross-work with different positions. Again, we’re very fortunate to have a strong coaching staff – one that I enjoy working with every day. We certainly miss Jim, and we think about him often; but we feel real good about the staff we have in place and the ability to coach the players that we do.”
(You’ve worked with Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jerry Schuplinski the last couple years. What is it about him that makes him ready for this bigger step?) – “Obviously, I have a lot of familiarity with Jerry Schuplinski. He did a great job for us at New England, and we were very fortunate to have him here with us working. He’s a great communicator. He’s got a great personality to work with a position. He’s got a tremendous knowledge of our system, which is very important. He’s someone that I really trust and I really lean on for his expertise and his ability to communicate with the quarterbacks. We’re very fortunate to have Jerry here on staff.”
(How would you say that quarterback competition is at right now?) – “I think the quarterback competition – it’s been competitive. We’ve asked both of those guys to come in, and the goal is to improve daily. I believe that we have. There are areas that they both need to improve in. There are areas that they’ve both done really well in, so I think that right now it’s competitive. Right now, all positions are competitive on our roster, so I don’t think anything right now is set in stone. There are no starters. There really aren’t. There are a lot of players that are working for roles on the team, and we’ve asked the team to do whatever’s best for the team, and certainly, they’ve done that. They’ve worked hard, so we’ve been happy with all the things that they’ve done that we’ve asked them to do. Like I said, nothing’s set in stone, and that’s true of all positions right now.”
(We’ve seen QB Ryan Fitzpatrick get to work with the ones I think every day – do you need to see QB Josh Rosen get some of that work with the ones at some point?) – “I think right now, what we’ve told all positions is they’re going to work with different groups. They’ll have the opportunity to work with all players, whether they’re starters or backups, so we don’t even look at it right now as, ‘Hey, this guy’s going to take all the first-team reps.’ We just look at it as we’re going to have the opportunity to work with different players, and that way, obviously if we need to play with those certain players at different positions, and the quarterback’s not always in there with the first group, we’ll be better in the end. So they’ll both have opportunities to work with our entire offensive group.”
(Having said that, what can you tell about your offense right now even though there’s a lot of moving around right now?) – “I can tell this about the offense: it’s a group that’s embraced everything that we’ve asked them to do. They’ve worked extremely hard. They’ve been very diligent in the meeting rooms. They’ve come out to the practice field, and they truly have tried to have an edge. It’s a group that wants to prove something. It’s a group that wants to play good, quality football. I’ve been very pleased with their work ethic. I’ve been very pleased with their roles and how they’ve accepted the team approach here.”
(How do you like a 300-something pound fullback back there?) – “As ‘Coach Flo’ (Brian Flores) has told the team, the more you can do, the better. If a defensive player can come help the offense, he’s going to; and if we ever have an offensive player that can help the defense, he’s going to do so. It’s great to have Christian (Wilkins). We worked with him on the offense today, but certainly all players will have an opportunity to create their role based on what they can do, and the more you can do here, the more you’re going to help the team.”
(In some of the live action we’ve seen, the defensive line has gotten some pressure on the offensive line and gotten into the backfield. What do you guys need to do to sharpen up the middle of the offensive line?) – “I think there are a lot of areas that we need to improve on, and there are a lot of areas that we’ve done well. There are times we’ve had not as much consistency in certain areas, and that’s what we talk to the team about – is just having the consistency in all the areas, and that’s what we’re working to. That’s what we’re working to, that’s what we’re striving to be – is to be a consistently good offensive football team who takes care of the football, who plays well under pressure, who plays together as a team and who plays with an aggressive mindset. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
(What would you say you guys have done well?) – “I think that we’ve come out here, and we’ve tried to play with great effort, and we have. Certainly we have a long way to go, but the thing we’ve done as well as anything looking at our team right now is we’ve played with tremendous effort, and there truly is a good attitude on this football team. I’ve been very impressed with a lot of players. There have been a lot of skill players that have really come in and really done well within their roles, and I can’t say enough about our coaching staff – with a new system and a new scheme – how hard they have worked. It’s been tough, and it’s been a grind, but they’ve worked so hard to try to get this group on the field and playing at the level we want, so I can’t say enough about the job that they’ve done.”
(How has QB Josh Rosen responded to coaching, and how’s been working with him?) – “Josh has been excellent. Since Day 1, he’s come in here and he’s done a good job learning the offense. He has accepted our offense, embraced what we do. Obviously he has a familiarity with other systems, but he understands this is the system we’re going to run here. He’s been excellent in the meeting room. He’s tried to do on the field what we want him to do, and like it is with him, it’s a work in progress, and all positions are working to improve, and he’s no different.
(As far as the depth with wide receiver, this week you bring in WR Allen Hurns. Can you speak to the depth at that position?) – “We do have some depth at this position that I’m really excited about. It’s very competitive. With the addition of Allen, we have a really good group, a solid group – one of which that every day I walk out on the field, I’m real excited about. It’s an area that I have some familiarity with in coaching that position for a number of years, so I’m really excited about this group. I think we have a skilled group. I think have guys that have different skillsets, and I know that the quarterbacks are really starting to gain a lot of confidence in these guys, and a lot of that is because of their work ethic. They come, they have good intangibles, they work hard, and again, they try to do what we ask them to do, and that’s all we can do at this point is to keep getting better and improving.”
(What must Josh Rosen do to earn more first-team reps?) – “At this point, we really aren’t looking at this – and this is true of every position – we’re looking at opportunities regardless of where you get them. Regardless if you’re with the first team or second team, we’re looking at opportunities. We’re going to mix in groups all through training camp. There’s such a long way to go right now that what we’re asking our players and what can Josh and what can all of our other players do at this point – it’s just to go out there and try to do their job, do what we’ve asked them to do, execute at a level where we really trust them. Regardless of what group they’re in, that’s the task at hand. There’s a long way to go. We don’t even look at it right now as anything set in stone because it’s not. We’re going to have all players have an opportunity to play with all other different players, so I think it’s a long training camp.”
(What’s something that QB Josh Rosen has improved in since his arrival from your perspective?) – “I think he’s improved in the knowledge of the system. It’s a system – any system in the NFL, regardless of what it is, if it’s new, it’s challenging to learn. So it doesn’t matter if it’s our system or the next system, you come in and you have to learn the language. It’s a totally different language, and he’s done a great job. I would say over the break, he’s really worked at it – it seems like – on his own. He’s come in here, he spends extra time. Obviously (Ryan) Fitzpatrick has been a great person to have in the room because he does have some familiarity with this system and obviously an experienced veteran who can help him along the way, and Fitz has certainly been very good in that role. It’s a competitive situation. Those two are competing for a job, and at the same time, I think Fitz and Josh understand the power of team and being a great teammate, and that’s what I see on a daily basis. Those guys interact with each other, and they’re really good teammates to each other.”
(Are you going to be a field guy or a box guy? Have you decided?) – “We still have a lot of decisions to make on that, so we have some time before the first game, and we’ll see what works best for us. We don’t have anything set in stone right now.”
(In New England, did you spend a lot of time in the box or down on the field?) – “I was on the field in New England.”
(Do you like that vantage point down there?) – “I think it’s different for the role you’re in, so we’ll see what works best for our staff.”
(How do you prepare for play-calling, and how do you embrace it?) – “I think the thing about play-calling is you’ve got to lean on the coaching staff around you. Certainly, I’ve said that today, is how confident I am in our coaching staff. We have some guys that I’ve worked with previously. We have some guys that I haven’t worked with previously that I’m so impressed with and I just really enjoy working with, and I respect their expertise, so what I’m going to do as a play-caller is really lean on them and lean on the power of our staff. I think there’s a lot that has to do with play-calling that leads up to that – the preparation, the expertise of the scheme, all those things go into (it). I’m simply the messenger on game day.”
(But you have a second to be that messenger. Do you prepare for that?) – “I think it’s something that’s ongoing, and it’s something that we work on daily. Obviously, I’m in a different role as a play-caller, so it’s something that being a different role for me, we work extremely hard on whether it’s in mock setting, in a meeting room or on the field. Coach Flo has done a good job of setting us up in situations that we try to work on that area, so that’s what we’re doing, and that’s true of all areas right now.”
(So preseason games are important for you personally?) – “Yeah, I think the preseason games are important for me, they’re important for this team. I think they’re a valuable part of our process of building an offense.”
(I was going to ask your philosophy towards the running back rotation? Some guys like to go with the workhorse philosophy, and some rotate on who’s hot.) – “It’s a great question. It’s one we’re still evaluating, and it’s one we’re still looking at, and I would say that’s true of all positions. You can say, ‘Hey, what’s the rotation?’ And that’s something we talk about daily as a coaching staff of what we think is going to be best for our football team and what rotation works best. The thing is, whenever you’re talking about a rotation, that means you have some depth at the position, so that’s what excites me. You would’ve not asked the question about rotation if we didn’t have multiple people at that position, so I’m really excited about the running backs. They’re a group led by (Running Backs Coach) Eric (Studesville) that has come out here and really impressed me. They work their butts off out here just like a lot of other positions, and certainly, I’m really excited about that group.”
(What gives you confidence that the offensive line is going to be better than what we’ve seen in out of that group the last few years?) – “Like we tell the team, in all positions you have to come out here and take action and prove it. So obviously the offensive line has come out here, and just like other positions, there have been some times where we’ve had some real positives, and then there are times we want more consistency. That’s true of all positions. I have a lot of confidence in those guys and spent the spring with them and now spent the early part of training camp. It’s really a group that I like. I think they work hard, and again, they’ve come out here and done everything we’ve asked them to do, and right now, that’s all we can ask of them.”
(On the field, what has been encouraging about what you’ve seen?) – “I think that there have been some times we’ve really established the run. There have been some examples of us really protecting the quarterback and staying inside-out and being very firm in protection. The communication level on the offensive line – because it’s a new system – has gotten better and better and it’s continuing to grow there. So the area of communication, the area of being able to run the ball and protect the passer are areas that certainly there have been examples of positive things for our offense in that area.”
(Now getting to the position where you specialize in – wide receiver – in New England, you guys have kind of revolutionized that slot position. Here, you don’t really have a defined slot. Is that something that you groom somebody to be, or is that a unit where everybody’s going to be contributing?) – “I think truly, like I said when I first got here, is that we have to utilize the skillset of our players, and that’s true of that position. I think we have some players that have a skillset to kind of be a multi-position player, and certainly, it might be a different look than what I’m used to as far as lining up somebody in the slot, but there’s certainly a lot of success we can have based off of the strong – I think it’s a strong receiver group, and regardless of where we line them up, we’ll be able to put them in position to have success at that position; but I can’t say enough about it.”
(What makes you feel like this is a strong receiver group?) – “It’s a group that I’m familiar with, a position that I’m very familiar with working all the years at New England, and it’s an area that when I look at those guys, I’m just, I’m really excited about them. I’m never going to make comparisons, and I’m not going to do that at all. I just know that this group right here – there are few days I walk off the field where I don’t look back and say, ‘I’m really excited about that group.’ I’m really excited about a lot of groups. The tight end group doesn’t get a lot of talk around here, but I see, like Nick O’Leary is as dependable of player as we’ve had through the offseason, and he’s done a great job. Mike’s (Gesicki) working in his role to be the player that he needs to be, and Durham Smythe’s trying to be the blocker that we know he can be. There’s really – there are a lot of positives in a lot of different positions, it’s just our job and their job to create their role. They’re basically going to create their role, and that’s true of the slot position, too. Whoever can line up in there and do some things is going to be the guy we’re going to lean on in there.”
(The former coaching staff invested in WR Jakeem Grant as a slot in the first season, and then they scrapped it. They said it wasn’t a good fit for him. Is that something that you guys will try again?) – “What we’ve told the receivers is we’re going to clean-slate this, and we’re going to utilize this where we think you can help the offense. Whether it’s inside or outside, whether that’s true of Jakeem or Albert Wilson or DeVante (Parker) playing inside some, we’re going to use those guys in a multiple-position role, so we definitely haven’t pigeon-holed them into any position. We truly haven’t. You saw today we lined up our outside receivers inside, some of our inside receivers outside, so we’re going to try to have that mindset that really says, ‘You guys need to learn our offense conceptually. You need to understand the big picture and be able to get lined up at all spots.’”
(At what point do you hope to establish that offensive identity of who this team is?) – “I think it’s an ongoing process. I really do. I don’t know – obviously they know what our identity wants to be, and we stress that to them daily, and they come out here and try to be that daily; but I think that it’s a long season, it’s a long training camp, and I don’t ever want to put a timetable on that because I think this is ongoing, and improvement’s ongoing. You never stop improving, so we’ll just see how far we can go, but they definitely know what the standard is. They know what our expectation is, and it’s high. We told them we’re not going to waver on that. We’re going to have high expectations, and we’re just going to work on staying day-to-day, winning that day and improving daily.”
(To our eyes, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has consistently been better than QB Josh Rosen. Is that a fair evaluation?) – “We evaluate those guys daily, and there certainly have been things that they’ve both done well. There are some areas of improvement. That’s true of all positions right now. We walk off the field, we evaluate these guys, we watch every bit of film, including the individual drills as a staff, so we’re definitely on top of the evaluation, and we’ll stay real close to that, but at this point, it’s a long way to go. It’s a competitive situation and again, they’re both working hard to be great teammates and help our football team.”
