Chad O’Shea – November 5, 2019
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Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(Two hits to the offense in terms of RB Mark Walton being suspended for four games and WR Preston Williams being out for the season. How can the offense compensate for their absences?) – “I think the first thing I’ll say is that those two did a tremendous job for us and really, there was a lot of production that both of them had combined. So what we’re going to have to do, the challenge for us offensively, is obviously to go and find that production from other players. I think it’s going to have to be a combination of several guys. I don’t think anyone’s going to fill exactly the role of each of those players exactly, so I think we’re going to have to do this by committee and I think that there’s some guys that we’re looking forward to seeing what they do with the opportunity. I feel like we’ve got some guys that have worked hard and are ready for this opportunity and it’s going to be by committee.”
(At the beginning of the season you said your receiver group, you really like that unit. Where is WR Albert Wilson and WR Jakeem Grant on their road back from their injuries?) – “I think it’s been a road back. I think there’s been a steady progress made, but it’s been one of which has been a work-in-progress for both of those guys. I know physically, there’s been times they want to be at full strength and they really aren’t, and I think that we’re closer to that than we’ve ever been. I think that the thing that in combination with that that’s been challenging for those guys is that they’re trying to play in this offense for the first time and when you’re not healthy and you’re not able to be out there and get the reps, it’s challenging. They’ve continued to have increased reps here in recent weeks at practice which has been very beneficial to them and I think physically, they’re at the best place that they’ve been all year. I think both of those things are kind of coming together right now and I think it’s going to be good to see their opportunities and see how they make the best out of those.”
(I wanted to ask you about RB Kalen Ballage. Obviously you guys had high hopes for him earlier in the season. The average isn’t where it needs to be. What do you think has been the issue there?) – “I think that, as I’ve said all along with him, I think it’s been a combination of a lot of things. It takes all 11 at that position and I know that when he’s had his opportunities earlier in the year, we were still in the process of putting together the offensive line and there were some consistency issues not only at that position but at all positions that really relate to his production and all that. But he’s going to have a great opportunity now moving forward obviously with an increased role in our offense with Mark (Walton) not being there, and I know he’s looking forward to making the most of it. He sure has prepared and practiced that way and I look forward to seeing what he’s going to do with this opportunity.”
(I know you said that it’s going to be a collective effort, but the coaches and I guess the scouts, found a couple of guys in WR Preston Williams and RB Mark Walton. Are there other guys on this roster that are “lying in wait” so to speak?) – “There are some guys that obviously haven’t played yet that. I think of a guy like Patrick Laird who has done a nice job for us and worked extremely hard and had a role on special teams. We’ll see if he has an increased role on offense. He’s at the running back position where we just lost a guy, so we look forward to seeing him. I know we have some other guys on the roster at the running back position in (Myles) Gaskin, who hasn’t had the opportunity yet, but obviously he’s at a position that has one less in the room than we had last week. We’ll just see how the game plan goes, but we certainly have some guys that may have the opportunity to play an increased role that they haven’t had this year.”
(Through eight weeks, what are you seeing in this offense because it seems like you guys are on an ascent.) – “I think that there’s been some – we’ve had more consistency here in recent weeks. I think that that consistency has been built through practice and our preparation. That’s the one thing that I think I’ve really taken away from the last several weeks, is just I feel like our preparation has been good and I think it’s really transferred to the field with more consistency on Sundays in those areas.”
(How did you guys get more consistent? I know you just said practice, but was it QB Ryan Fitzpatrick? Was it solidifying the offensive line? The emergence of RB Mark Walton and WR Preston Williams?) – “I think it’s a combination of all those things. Sure, ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has done a good job of coming in and kind of added some consistency and some continuity to that position and I think the offensive line situation, those guys are working with each other in combination more often right now, which is good. I think it’s a number of factors that lead to more consistency. Again, the greatest factor has been just the ability to believe in the process of our preparation and practice has been really good the last several weeks.”
(What about coaching? Brag on yourself a little!) – “(laughter) I feel like the players have done a good job of embracing what we’ve asked them to do and I really feel like – I’m very complimentary of what they’ve done as far as going out and preparing well. The meetings have been really good. There’s been a lot of focus in meetings and walkthroughs and I think it’s something that they can learn from. If they believe in that and they should believe in that because of some of the results that we’ve had, that it’s the right way to prepare and to believe in the process of our preparation.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores was talking about learning how to win and maybe you might not have learned that thoroughly, but you have one win. What does one win do for a team like this?) – “I think it does bring confidence and I think the one win, it really kind of reaffirms the power of our preparation. That’s something we really, kind of tried to really stress in recent weeks, is the importance of our preparation during the week and how that relates so strongly to our results on Sunday. It’s easy to say and then you don’t have the results and the difficult thing and the challenge is to come back that next week and to continue to do those things and ask the players to really believe in the process of preparation. Then when you win a game, it obviously – there’s evidence that it’s the right thing to do and that our process works. The things that we do from a scheduling standpoint, a walkthrough standpoint, meetings, all those things, collectively come together and it’s the right way to prepare. I think that’s the one thing that’s been good, is that you win a game and it kind of confirms those things you’re trying to stress to the players.”
(What’s the vision the next eight weeks. Is the sky the limit for you guys?) – “I think the vision is to continue to improve and make progress. That hasn’t changed despite the win obviously. It’s something we’ve stressed even when we were not having the results that we wanted. We just said we’ve got to continue to just find some things to improve on each week. Maybe it’s one or two things. And if we focus on the process of improving, that’s the way to go and not worry necessarily about the end result or what’s the immediate future. It’s just let’s get better every day and try to focus on what we can control and that is improving.”
(Two-part question: how much have you enjoyed play-calling and at the end of three and a half hours, are you just mentally drained? It’s got to take a lot out of you.) – “It’s a good question. I’ve really enjoyed the process. Especially on game day, it’s obviously very rewarding when things go well and then I would say you have the exact opposite emotional response when things don’t go well. I know that there’s a lot of decisions that are made on game day. I think by the end of the day, when I’m driving home with the family in the car, I feel that it’s an intense – call it three and a half, four hours – and I’ve looked back and realized that there’s a lot of decisions to be made and there’s going to be times where you maybe would have wanted to do things different and you always have that in mind.”
(Does it go quickly or does it go slowly, those three and a half hours?) – “To me, it has gone quickly. It’s gone quickly. I think that I really try to rely heavily on the staff here. We have a great staff and they’re a great help to me on game day. ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has been excellent on game day (and) been very helpful to me in the process, not only on game day but during the week of preparation; but it’s something I’ve definitely been grateful for the opportunity to do and I’ve enjoyed the process and I’ve learned every time I’ve gone out. There hasn’t been a time that I haven’t come off and sat on the bench after a series and learned from that series and gotten better as a play-caller, I think. It’s been a work-in-progress and one of which I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”
(How do you wind down?) – “Family. I spend time with the family. I have a great family that really supports what I do – win, lose or draw, good play call, bad play call. I’ve really kind of leaned on them through some tough times and they’ve been great and very supportive.”
(I went to college with Chan Gailey and he used to tell me he needed to be after three hours of calling plays, he just needed to be alone. He just needed to take a deep breath and hyperventilate.) – “I understand his feeling on that. I’ve found where I’ve kind of winded down is through my family, being with them and spending time with them. I always am entertained by some of their thoughts on the game.”
(One of the things I think is interesting about what you do is you really don’t have time to enjoy a great call.) – “No, there’s no time to enjoy that and there’s not time to (linger on a bad call). That’s the same thing we stress to the players, is it’s one snap and clear as we say. Each play is unique to itself, so you need to move on as quickly as you can. No different than the players.”
(Everybody gets caught up in the numbers in terms of touchdowns, yardage, stuff like that. Can you just talk about how disciplined the offense has been in terms of penalties?) – “It’s something we really stress and that was something we stressed as we started off the program here. I think that there’s a lot of hidden yardage. If you can stay disciplined, stay focused and have a minimal amount of penalties, it can be the difference in the game and obviously it’s a lot of things that go unforeseen; but it’s an area that we really feel is very, very important to the success of the offense and something we’re going to continue to stress.”
(How is it that you’ve been able to achieve that? Is it just kind of hammering away at it with players or just repetition? What is it that’s sticking?) – “I think it’s the preparation. I think it’s something we try to emphasize daily, at practice – I know we have the T.N.T. (takes no talent) wall which has been a big emphasis point here – and the players are very aware and conscious of that and the importance of playing penalty-free; but I think it’s a daily thing. I think it’s stressed through our fundamentals. It’s stressed through the importance of it on a daily basis and I know that it’s going to continue to be an emphasis point for us.”
(RB Kalen Ballage is a guy who really flashed in the summer. How might he benefit from the increased workload that’s expected with the situation with RB Mark Walton?) – “I think he’s somebody that I’ve spoken about throughout the year and said I have a tremendous amount of confidence in and I look forward to him having increased opportunity, and I think this is it. He’s going to get a chance to go out there with Mark’s suspension. He’s going to have a great opportunity and I know he’s done some things in his preparation and in practice that we have confidence that he’s going to make the most out of his opportunity. He’s worked extremely hard. He’s been very focused through times of maybe not as many opportunities as he saw himself having at this point thus far, but now he’s going to have the opportunity. Hopefully his hard work and all his preparation will really result into being the player that he wants to be.”
(Human nature being what it is, would it be fair to say that most running backs that are in a situation where they are expecting to get heavy workload – I don’t want to say their preparation ramps up because they’re always prepared – but human nature being what it is, that it changes a little bit?) – “Yeah, I do. I think when you know now you are going to be the one that’s going to have an increased role and there’s going to be some of that – we have a lot of guys in that running back room that we’re going to look to. We just started our game planning today for the Colts and I think there’s going to be some guys that’ll have some opportunities whether it’s Kalen (Ballage) or the next guy; but I think when you know for sure that you’re going to have that opportunity, it definitely intensifies the focus and overall preparation. He certainly has done a good job in his preparation even in the role that he’s been in and I could see obviously him doing the same thing and having great preparation and making the most of his opportunities.”
(RB Patrick Laird has been limited to special teams so far. Is it because strictly a matter of the log jam in front of him?) – “Yeah, I think Patrick has had some guys in front of him and he’s definitely prepared well and stayed ready offensively. We stress special teams so much here and it’s so important to what we’re doing that that’s what his role has been and it’s been a very important role for us; but we have one less guy in the running back room now, so we’re going to have to have some increased roles for different guys in the room.”
(TE Mike Gesicki’s increased number the last couple of weeks – purely a matter of opportunities or is he running his routes better, getting open more?) – “I think it’s a combination of several things. I think he’s definitely done a great job on the practice field. I know he’s worked extremely hard with (Tight Ends Coach) George Godsey on the technique of route running and the details of route running, so I’ve definitely seen some improvement there. He’s had some opportunities in the game and I think the other thing is that (Ryan) Fitzpatrick really has a lot of confidence in him to throw him the ball and give him the opportunity. I think it’s his work ethic and his improvement in practice with a combination of ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) having a lot of confidence in him and then obviously defensively we’ve been able to throw him the ball based off of what we’re getting defensively.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s numbers have really spiked up since he got back into the lineup against Washington. What are you seeing as the difference there?) – “I think that some guys are playing well around him. I think that at that position – sometimes you just look at the success of the quarterback position and you think it’s just him, but you rely so heavily on the other guys and their consistency and I think that we’ve been able to be more consistent around him. He’s taken advantage of that consistency around him and really played very well for us.”
