Chad O’Shea – November 12, 2019
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(I wanted to ask you about – obviously you come from New England where you have a pretty extensive history with the slot position – probably one of the best slot receivers in the game. Why has that position not emerged or been an impactful position here so far?) – “I think that position is an important position to a lot of offenses; but I think at the same time, you always have to utilize the skillset of the players that you have. Certainly we’ve utilized Mike Gesicki in some of those ways that you would utilize a slot receiver. I think that we have receivers on this roster that have great strengths and a skillset, and some of that is more of an outside receiver type of player. Again, I think it’s just playing to the skillset of the players on your roster as much as anything, but I think that you can make up for the production of that slot player in your offense with other ways to do it. Certainly that’s something I’ve been very pleased with; for example with DeVante Parker, is his ability to play outside the numbers to try to make up for some of the production that we might have had in another offense with a slot player.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw passes to nine different receivers in that game. Is that one of the ways you replace someone like WR Preston Williams, by spreading the wealth?) – “Yeah, I think that’s really important. When we had a player in Preston that was as productive as he was and as important to our offense, we think it’s very important here moving forward, as it was last week, to try to distribute the football to multiple players that are very capable. That’s the good thing about this for us right now, is we have players that we’re confident in that can kind of combine to make up for some of the production that we were going to lose with Preston. I was pleased with those guys in their roles of being maybe in different roles than they’ve been and being able to be productive and to kind of combine to produce some of the production that we had at those spots.”
(How did you see the return of C Daniel Kilgore impacting the offensive line?) – “Yeah, it was great. He came in and the first thing, he added a presence and a leadership not only on the sideline; but in the huddle, and he really played well for us. It’s nice to have a veteran, especially as important as that position is. Certainly that doesn’t take away from what (Evan) Boehm did for us. I thought he really performed well as I said the last couple weeks and really did well, especially under some circumstances. For him, the first time out wasn’t easy, but ‘Danny’ (Daniel Kilgore) coming back really certainly was something that was positive for us, and I think he really added some leadership and it was good to have him back.”
(As a follow-up to that, how did C/G Evan Boehm transition back to right guard?) – “He transitioned like we thought and that is he’s a multiple-position player that has some versatility. That’s one of his strengths. We have confidence in him at both the center and the guard spots, so we went into the game feeling that that would be an easy transition for him, because he had played the spot before and it’s so close to obviously the center position and there’s so much of the communication that’s carryover between those two spots, that it was kind of a seamless transition for us. I thought he performed well.”
(How’d you assess how the offense played in general because ball security was key for you all but the 229 yards didn’t really jump off the page?) – “I think that sometimes statistically when you look at that at the end of the game, it doesn’t tell all the story. I thought there were definitely some times that we played situational football and played kind of complementary football and did what we had to do whether it was at the end of a drive to ensure a field goal and decent position to kick the field goal and some of those things. I think that there were obviously some things that we did that were very positive, and as always when you come out of the game, there were some things that we definitely need to improve on moving forward; but I think that’s true of every game – win (or) lose. That’s something that we talked to the team about yesterday, is just the areas of improvement and then building on some of the positives that we had in the game. I think in the end, we’re looking for overall consistency to be at the highest level and that’s the goal. I thought that throughout the game, there were times that we were consistent and then there were times where we needed to be better.”
(One of those situations I think was when your quarterback was pulled from the game by officials. The three runs there – was that just to ensure that you guys would get out of it with at least a field goal…) – “I think that we’re always going to do what’s best for the team, and certainly in that situation we’ve had a lot of confidence in our kicker and we should because he’s performed so well, especially in this last game; and when you have as much confidence in your kicker and you know where the ball is located, that plays into the decision to run the ball or pass the ball.”
(RB Kalen Ballage came out of this game with 2.2 average. What has to happen for that to get where you want it to be?) – “I think that Kalen had an opportunity to play more with Mark (Walton) not being in there, and I think that again, that position relies so heavily upon the other players. It’s (not) just him. It’s the success of the runs and the success of the plays he’s in on that are the passes that rely, again, on the other 10 guys out there. Certainly that’s something that we’re looking to improve is that we’re looking to improve our run game among other areas we need to improve. It’s all 11 guys doing their job a little bit better for Kalen to do his job better.”
(How much better does RB Kalen Ballage have to do his job?) – “I think that it’s – we’re asking all players to improve in specific areas. Certainly Kalen is a player that has prepared well. He’s practiced well. I think that he’ll continue to get opportunities for us and I know he’s going to try to make the best out of those opportunities, and I know that the other members of the offensive unit are also looking to do their job better, too, so he can do his job better.”
(How did you think RB Patrick Laird and RB Myles Gaskin handled their first action on offense?) – “I think that they handled it well for being the first time. We had very specific roles for them in the game. We had kind of menus of plays that would be their plays, so it wasn’t in a situation for them that they were going to have to know the entire game plan, which I thought was important. Both of them prepare very well, so we were confident that they were going to know those plays that they had within their role. I thought that they both performed well. They were limited on the snaps, but certainly they had contributions in the game that helped us.”
(Why WR Allen Hurns as the starting – I don’t know if you call him a flanker or splitter?) – “Yeah. Allen (Hurns) is somebody that is really – I use the word ‘dependability’ with Allen. Since he’s come here, he’s been a detailed, dependable, accountable player for us, and I know that that’s one of the reason we have a lot of confidence in Allen, is that he’s always going to do the right thing and be in the right position. I know that (Ryan) Fitzpatrick has a lot of confidence in him just as the coaching staff does. Certainly I think he’s made the best out of his opportunities when he’s been out there. He’s made some tough catches. I think he brings toughness to the position. I think he plays extremely hard. I’m really glad he’s on our roster.”
(Vision for WR Gary Jennings now that you have him on the team and he’s…?) – “Gary spent the last week trying to get acclimated to not only our offensive system, but just the way the building is and getting to know faces and all of those things and learning names. We went through that last week and now we look forward to kind of building on that this week and continuing to see how he can progress. It’s always a great challenge when you have a new player that comes into a system and a new organization, for them to get caught up as fast as they can; but I would say the way he’s worked and the way he’s approached it here has been impressive and if he continues to do that, I think that he’ll be in a position where he’ll have an opportunity, if he continues to progress and work. This week we’re going to continue to work with him on the field, just like we do all the players that come new to the system. I think that as we tell all the players, your role is kind of dictated on what you do at practice, so we’ll continue to monitor that and see how it goes for him.”
(With WR Gary Jennings, do you just give him one spot to learn considering he’s coming in so late or…?) – “Yeah, I do think it’s important to not put a player in a position where he’s trying to learn multiple roles early. We’ll have him learn a certain type of position, but it’s not going to be necessarily, ‘hey, you’re always in the slot,’ ‘you’re always outside.’ The way we tag our positions – identification offensively – is we’ll tag them a certain, call it letter, and then we’ll be able to move him around accordingly. We’re not going to lock him into, ‘hey, you’re just a slot receiver,’ ‘you’re just an outside guy,’ but he’ll be in a position where he won’t have to learn the entire offense.”
(The 15 snaps for WR Jakeem Grant, is that about what you want from him or was that a surprise when you saw the box score?) – “I think that the way we’ve done the skill position – again with the loss of Preston (Williams) and Mark (Walton) last week – is we tried to do it by committee some. We definitely had a very specific plan on how we were utilizing those guys. I think that so much of that – when you go into the game, it can be slightly altered by the way the game goes. Some of the plays that we have on the call sheet that might’ve increased his role or his participation might be affected by the way the game goes. I think sometimes that changes so I don’t think it’s ever set in stone, but Jakeem is somebody that will continue to have opportunities, to have an opportunity to contribute to us in the way that he does. We’ll utilize his skillset and his strengths to the best we can and I think that there’s going to be guys that fall in his category, too, where we’re going to try to do the things that they do well and if that’s 10 plays, it’s 10 plays. If it’s 50 plays, it’s 50 plays.”
(You’re playing the Bills for the second time in a month. Invariably when that occurs, do you expect to see different things than you did the first time?) – “Yeah, we do. That’s what we’re going through right now. This morning we spent a lot of time studying our tape from last game and really looking very closely at what we did – what our strengths were in that game (and) what our weaknesses are and kind of knowing that the Bills will be doing the same thing. I think that’s kind of where the game-planning starts when you play a divisional opponent for the second time, is you evaluate the first game quite a bit and you move forward from there.”
(How would you assess TE Clive Walford’s development since he rejoined the team?) – “It was actually – he’s come in and he was in good condition when he came here, which I think is important when a player hasn’t been with a team for a while. That’s always a concern you have, is the overall physical conditioning. I thought his conditioning was good which allowed him to get reps and get in there. I was really impressed with the way he played in this last game. It was a limited number of snaps, but he had a big third down conversion for us and he did exactly the right thing the way he was coached. Clive has done a good job since he’s been here and he’s a big target that adds another dimension in the pass game. He’s competed in the run game as well, so I think he’s done a good job and it all started with him being ready to go when he got here.”
(What is your vision for T Julién Davenport now that he’s on the road back?) – “Julién certainly was somebody we were really excited about when he was in the lineup and then we were sidetracked with he injury. I think the training staff has done a great job of getting back and the strength and conditioning group. They’ve gotten him to point where now we’re ready to have the opportunity to go play again. As I’ve said with the offensive line, there’s a lot of moving parts all year. There’s nothing set in stone and I think that’s going to continue to be the case this week. I think he’ll have a chance to continue to get in there and progress and see where he is physically.”
(So would you say T Julién Davenport in the mix to compete to regain his starting spot?) – “I think that definitely he’s going to be in a position to go on the field this week and practice and see how he does just like he’s done whether it’s with the strength and conditioning group along the side or he actually gets some team reps with us. I think we’re still kind of in a waiting period on that, but certainly if he is back and full strength and full participation, then I look forward to him being in there if that’s the case.”
