Chad O’Shea – October 1, 2019
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(You’re at the quarter-mile pole now. Obviously not the start that you probably wanted to get off to. Specifically with the second halves, 81-0 outscored – how do you approach the last 12 games and trying to fix that?) – “The positive thing in regards to the lack of success in the second half is that we were able to do it for one half of football. We’re going to go and closely evaluate what we do in all areas of the second half – the approach, the scheme we use, defensively study what they’ve done (against) us in the second half. I think it’s a combination of factors that we’re really going to look closely at and determine what’s best for us moving forward. Again, I think the positive thing for us is that we know we’re capable of playing a consistent brand of football that we’ve displayed in the first half. There were some really positive things for us in the first half of the game. We’re making improvements. We’re making progress. It’s just a matter of getting that to the second half, and that’s something we’re going to work really hard on moving forward.”
(How much thought is given by you and Head Coach Brian Flores in terms of the approach to the coin toss and whether you’re going to take the ball coming out in the second half or whether you’re going to take it on the opening kickoff?) – “I think that there’s a number of things that we have to make decisions on or try to think through prior to the game. Certainly, the coin toss is always one of those that is discussed as a staff. (Head Coach) Brian (Flores) does a great job of being very thorough in some of the discussions that we have; not only on the coin toss, but other things that may come up in the game – situational football or certain situations that come up during the game that we really look closely at, we talk about and I think that the coin toss is one of them.”
(When it comes to the progress of the running game and the passing game, you obviously have a lot of moving pieces in there with the running backs and then quarterback-wise, now that you’re developing QB Josh Rosen, how do you manage that game plan of needing to establish the run but also needing to get Josh into a rhythm?) – “I think there’s definitely a balance with where we are on offense right now of trying to establish the run and maintain a good balance of doing the things that Josh (Rosen) does well. Certainly, he’s done some things really well, and he’s making progress. To play quarterback in this league, you have to rely on the run game and it has to be something that you have to do well in order to open up some of the other things.”
(Have you identified where the improvement needs to come from individually – RB Kalen Ballage, RB Kenyan Drake, RB Mark Walton…?) – “That’s something that we’re still – this week is a great week for us because we really are going back and trying to really study our first quarter of the season and how we can improve. I know that the running back position is like other positions right now in that there’s plenty of things that we can improve on. I don’t want to narrow it down to one specific thing; but it’s just overall, I think that there’s a lot of areas to improve. I think it’s all positions right now. Obviously, we’ve had some drops at all positions. We need to improve that. Some of the basic fundamentals of football, we need to really make improvements on, and that’s something we’re going to spend this week really trying to focus in on.”
(You brought up the drops – receivers, running backs – is it to a point where you need to create specific drills in practice?) – “I think that one of the things on catching the football is it’s something that we have as part of our everyday drills. We think that throwing, catching, blocking, tackling are things that we try to work every day, and we’re going to continue to do those, but we’re going to – as a coaching staff – again, we’re evaluating all aspects of our program right now. One of the things we’re evaluating is the teaching progression and what we do on the field and the drills that we have and those things. At the end of the day, it just comes down to the basic fundamentals of catching the football. Certainly, we’ve had enough drops at all positions that we need to make some improvements in this area.”
(How about the mental aspect? I know when I talked to the receivers about that a couple weeks ago, there are different approaches. There’s the short memory – “get back in the huddle, throw me the ball again.” Sometimes the drops kind of stick with you sometimes. Are there mental exercises they can do to calm down?) – “I think that catching the football is obviously a lot mental as much as it is physical. We try to emphasize the players having positive thoughts of catching the football. We’re never going to talk about any negativity and never try to associate dropping the ball with the act of catching the ball fundamentally. They certainly know that they need to work on it. This is a good week to work our fundamentals. I look forward to getting out on the field this week and really working those fundamentals, and obviously the catching fundamental is something we need to work on.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage, how have you handled his psyche right now? I know he had a strong training camp and preseason.) – “I’ve continued to tell Kalen how much confidence we have in him because I truly do have confidence in Kalen. I know his teammates do. I look forward to having him out there again to have another opportunity whether it’s catching or running the ball. I have a great deal of respect for his work ethic, how he approaches the game. He’s certainly not in the position that he wants to be in right now because of the drops that he’s had, but he’s done a lot of other things well for our offense. He has the drops, which is what jumps out at most people because it’s so glaring in what happened and those things, but he’s done so many things well within our offense that we can’t lose sight of that and we have a tremendous amount of confidence in him.”
(Have you ever been part of an offense that had four different starting tackles in the first four weeks of the season?) – “I think that one of the challenges we all have is just those moving parts and positions. Certainly, when it’s at the offensive line position – I have such great respect for that position and what that means to a successful offense to have a good offensive line. Stability and continuity are things that really, are very helpful to the offensive line. What we’re doing here is we’ve had some different combinations here in the first part of the season, and we’re still looking for those guys. They haven’t worked together for a long period of time. I think this is a work in progress, one of which I think they made progress. I would say it’s a good type of challenge in the way in which that’s our job as coaches to find the right combination and to make it work.”
(T Isaiah Prince – obviously it was a surprise for us to see him out there. How do you think he held up?) – “I think he did well. Obviously, anytime you’re a first-time offensive lineman playing in the NFL, it’s challenging, especially going against what we were (going against). We have a lot of respect for the outside rushers for them (Los Angeles Chargers), so I thought he did well for his first time out there. Certainly, (there are) a lot of things that we need to improve on – not only with him personally, but as an offense. I think it was a good start for him, but we have a lot of way to go here.”
(I know the coaches really try not to let any outside noise seep into the building, but how have you guys handled this 0-4 start? How have you guys handled the noise surrounding this team during the season?) – “I think the team has been focused really on improving. They have embraced kind of our adverse circumstances that we’re in right now. They’re really – I have a lot of respect for the mental toughness of this team right now and how they’ve responded to the way the season has gone for us so far. They’ve come out with a positive attitude. They’ve continued to work hard, and I think they’ve continued to work on just the process of improving and that’s been a real positive for us through tough times here.”
(What have been the adverse circumstances you are referring to? I could name a few, but I want to know what you think.) – “I think that whenever you go out – the adverse circumstances I’m referring to is just the lack of success on the field. I think that the easiest thing for people to do in all areas of life is when things are going well, it’s just okay. I think that really, this team has been resilient through lack of success on the field. Obviously, we’re not pleased with the outcome at all, and we’re striving for something opposite of what has been the case, but I’ve been pleased with the way the team has responded and with the attitude that they’ve had. The circumstances as far as us having lack of success on the field is what it is right now. We’re 0-4, and we want better; but I think that everybody understands that we need to just focus in on the process of improving.”
(For lack of a better term, have you guys seen the light at the end of the tunnel here with what you’re trying to do?) – “I think that whenever there’s progress made, it’s encouraging to look at the film with the guys the next day and say, ‘hey, here are some positives. Here’s some progress that we’ve made. If we can build on this, we can continue to trend in the right direction.’ I think that that’s something that to the players was very evident after looking at the last game. If we did have some success, we played more consistently in this game in stretches of time than we did before. I think that’s encouraging and that’s a positive.”
(How about you personally? I don’t think you’ve been part of a four-game losing streak in a decade obviously.) – “It’s something that again, you’ve just got to remind yourself to focus in on the things you can control, and that is to improve daily. We can certainly – we’re taking this week as a great opportunity for us to look back at what we’ve done and how we can improve and how we can be better. I think that our vision for the team right now is all moving forward. It’s how we can be and not where we were. Certainly, we’re looking back and trying to learn from the past here in the last four games to how we can improve, but there’s kind of a vision that the team has I think in a positive way. I think they’ve approached it that way and it’s been good.”
(Who are a couple of guys on offense that have really kind of taken a step forward for you?) – “I think that we continue to trend the right way as the offensive line position. I certainly think the receiver group had a good game this past week. DeVante Parker continues to go out and make plays. Preston Williams showed up. Isaiah Ford came off the practice squad and came in and made a third down conversion that was a real nice play. I’m pleased with that group. I think that the tight end position – they might not get as many catches or touches as the other guys, but certainly Nick O’Leary and Durham Smythe – they played well in the run game for us, so they come to mind. The running back position – I thought (Kenyan) Drake made some plays in space and was able to finally get some space for him and did well there. I think a lot of guys are trending in the right direction, only to mention a few of those, but I think they’re trending in the right direction, making some improvements. Certainly, there was a number of positives out of this game despite the final score.”
(And QB Josh Rosen?) – “I think that Josh has really made progress. I said in the first week – I thought his communication was good and his overall operation of the offense was good. I think despite the one turnover he had, for the most part, he made good decisions with the football and tried to play the game the way we wanted him to play it. The overall operation again was good for the second week in a row, and we didn’t have any issues there. His communication was good with the offensive line and some of the things that go unforeseen – the line calls and communication that occurs before the snap, he was good on. I think that we’re definitely headed in the right direction. I think he made improvement. I think he’s embracing the challenge of continuing to improve, and I think it’s a positive thing.”
(How’s it going for you as a coach?) – “I think that I’m like everybody else. I’m like the players right in that I’ve got to keep improving. There’s certainly a lot of areas that I need to improve on. I don’t look at it as, ‘hey, we’re 0-4.’ I look at it as moving forward. I really do and kind of having forward thinking. The vision has got to be positive and that’s the way it is for me. I’m going to continue to work as hard as I can to put this offense in a position to be successful. I’m very fortunate to have a really good staff, so that makes it easy to come to work and have support around you. I certainly have a lot of confidence in our leader – in (Head Coach) Brian (Flores). I think that we’re all in this together. We all know how important it is for us to continue to work and to continue to improve, and the same message we have for the players is the same message that we have for ourselves as a coaching staff. We’ve just got to continue on the process of improving here day-to-day and control the things we can control.”
(Is there a call or two that you wish you had back, and if so, what lessons have you drawn from those?) – “I think there hasn’t been a game that I haven’t left from and said that I would maybe do something differently. I think that what I’ve learned about the position that I’m in is when you do make decisions throughout the course of the game, there are going to be decisions that you maybe wish you would have done something different; but again, we have a great coaching staff and a number of players who try to do exactly what we’re asking them to do, and that’s a positive thing. But yeah, there are certainly times that I look back and say, ‘hey, I learned from this. I would have done something differently.’ It’s been a learning experience for myself.”
