Chad O’Shea – October 15, 2019
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Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, obviously, provided quite the spark when he came into the game. What did you see from him?) – “That’s what he did, he provided a spark. I thought that he came in and really – we were able to move the ball with him in the game. He’s a veteran player at the position that has been in this position before where he’s come off the bench and provided a spark and he certainly did that for us and it was good to see. It was a real positive for us.”
(There was a great shot of QB Ryan Fitzpatrick celebrating with WR DeVante Parker after the score. What does that say to you about Fitzpatrick and his enthusiasm and his zest for the game?) – “As I’ve said all along about ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), he brings a lot to the table as far as his intangibles. I know that he has a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to play the game even being a veteran that he is. He really has a lot of energy. I think it’s contagious. I think the players enjoy playing with him. But he certainly has a lot of intangibles and one of the intangibles he has is just his overall passion and enthusiasm and energy to play the game.”
(How hard is it to come in cold like that and as a play caller do you have to ease him in or do you just let it rip?) – “I think it’s something that you have to consider when you have a player that comes off the bench. Probably at any position, there are certain considerations that you have as far as play calling and what you choose to do early with them because physically they are just coming off the bench. But certainly one area that we have a tremendous amount of confidence in ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) in is his ability to function mentally and to be well prepared to run the offense. There’s no limitations in regards to that. There might be a different approach early just physically coming off the bench. But from a mental standpoint, ‘Fitz’ is so well prepared and knows the offense so well, there’s really no limitations to what we do early when you have a guy come off the bench like ‘Fitz’.”
(Did QB Ryan Fitzpatrick get a single snap with the ones last week?) – “During the week of practice, there’s certainly different combinations that we have. ‘Fitz’ being in the backup spot, you’re limited in the amount if reps you have, but you certainly work with the first group as well as the second group. You’re just limited on the reps you have as the backup quarterback. I think that’s true of all players in the NFL at that position. Certainly, there’s opportunities throughout the week for our backup quarterback to work with the players that he was playing with during the game.”
(Can you take us through the two-point conversion, both the decision to do it and how that play went?) – “The two-point conversion as well as other critical situations during the game are well thought out prior to the game or they are discussed in our planning both as an offensive staff and with the head coach. I think Brian (Flores) has done a great job of having opening communication with us as an offensive staff on those plays that might come up in a game that we consider critical situations (and) certainly the two-point play was. It’s a play that we had talked about and discussed and it’s the play that we thought was best for our team at that time. It’s no different than the other situations that may come up in the game, whether it’s a third-down – a critical third down – or the play before that was a critical play that ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) made a great play on, that we were able to score on to put us in position to run the two-point play. Those things are all discussed at length prior to the game and even discussions prior to the play.”
(How much as you in that situation? How much are you talking to Head Coach Brian Flores or are you just with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and your guys?) – “As I said, I think ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) has done a great job of being a great communicator with us. There’s an open line of communication with us during the week in preparation and on game day. He certainly allows us to do our job as offensive coaches and myself as the play caller. There’s definitely input. He’s the head coach and I have a tremendous amount of respect in his input. Certainly we’re all on the same page in most of the decisions we make that are critical.”
(Coming out of the timeout, was there a decision – was that the play before a timeout was called? Was that still the play after the timeout was called? Did you have any apprehensions on calling another play because a timeout was called?) – “What we try to do is rely heavily on our week of preparation and the plan that we have in place. There are certain things during the game that might come up that are unforeseen circumstances call it, whether it be something defensively they’re doing different or it might be an injury to a certain position. Those are all things that factor into whatever play we run, whether it’s the two-point play or a critical red zone possession. I think that when there is a stoppage of play, there’s going to be discussions on everything that we do. Certainly there was on that play. Again, as I’ve said from day one, we’re always going to try to do what’s best for our team and certainly that play was what we thought was best for our team. Obviously, we were very disappointed in the outcome of that, but I think that we’ve talked about these things at length and prepared and that’s our jobs as coaches to put us in the best position we can and what we think is best.”
(Was C Daniel Kilgore’s injury a factor that played in too?) – “I think there’s a lot of factors. Obviously, Dan’s our starting center and he was in there a majority of the game and he wasn’t on the last snap. I would say that during the course of the week, there’s a lot of different players who rep different plays that might not come up in the game. So, that certainly was true in this case. There’s times – just because of practice reps that you have 10 reps at practice, you can’t have your starters out there for 10 reps just because of maintenance and those things physically. So, there’s plenty of times where there’s other people that are repping certain plays that might not necessarily do it in the game or it might come up and be the opposite.”
(It’s easy to play the result. Obviously, the outcome as you mentioned wasn’t what you wanted. Have you had any introspection in the last couple of days, “Maybe this would’ve been a better call?”) – “I think the one thing I’ve learned in the positon that I’m in now – and this is a new role for me – is that there’s going to be decisions that you make during the week and there’s going to be a lot of decisions that are made on game day. I think it’s easy to obviously look back at those decisions and I’ve learned from all the decisions I’ve made. I’ve tried to look back and have confidence in the decisions I’ve made and tried not to second guess myself. I’ve certainly learned from the decisions I’ve made. But when you put as much preparation and planning as we do on certain plays in certain areas of the game plan, you have confidence that you shouldn’t second guess yourself. I think you always learn from certain things, but certainly there’s no – you can’t second guess every call that’s made in a game.”
(On that play, I thought I saw a missed block up at the line of scrimmage. Head Coach Brian Flores said the pass could’ve been better, the catch could’ve been made…) – “If we would’ve scored on this play, we would’ve saved a lot of time today. (laughter) I do want to talk about the Bills in a minute, if we can.”
(How much went right on that play for you guys? It seemed like there were a few things.) – “On the two-point play?”
(On the two-point play.) – “That play was something that we had worked on quite a bit. There were a lot of things that were aligned to work on that play. Certainly, there were some parts in place that would’ve allowed the play to be successful, but at the end it wasn’t. We’ve always stressed that it takes all 11 guys and perfect execution for an offensive play. Certainly, we didn’t have the execution we wanted on the play. We’re just moving forward at this point.”
(How did you evaluate QB Josh Rosen’s play throughout the game and what’s the plan sticking with him going forward this Sunday?) – “I thought that there were areas that I’ve said he needs to improve on that it was good to see. Early in the game, we had some communication things that go unforeseen to you guys or maybe the people watching the game, but he did a good job on some communication things early. Certainly, our number one goal in every game is to have ball security and we had two interceptions, which was disappointing. He’s disappointed in those two interceptions as well as we are offensively. There were some things that he did well as far as communication, running the offense early, getting us into some right runs checks and some things like that. But obviously when you throw two interceptions, that’s something that we want to be better at.”
(What led to the decision to start RB Mark Walton and how would you evaluate his performance?) – “I think Mark played well for us. I think that Mark leading up to the decision to start him has really impressed us with both his work ethic at practice, his production on the field when he has been in there. He’s a great example of a player who has taken great advantage of his opportunities, who has made the most out of everything that we’ve given him from an opportunity standpoint. Certainly, he was very deserving to go out there and start for us. I’m glad he’s on our football team. I think he can make some very positive contributions moving forward and we were pleased with his effort in the game.”
(TE Mike Gesicki had the acrobatic catch on the middle of the field on the last drive. How would you assess his development route running and what needs to happen for Mike to become an even bigger part?) – “I think (Tight Ends Coach) George Godsey has done a great job with him at the tight end position. They’ve worked so hard on the details of route running and route recognition and those things. Obviously, he made a great play on that ball to keep the drive going. We wouldn’t be talking about the two-point play and some of those if he doesn’t make a great play on that. Certainly, that was a positive. I think he worked really hard with his position coach. Again, they’ve really tried to focus in on a lot of the things of the route running, the detail and the overall top of the routes and releases. I think he’s continued to develop. Again, like I said, with Mark (Walton), if he makes the most out of the opportunities, we’ll continue to give him opportunities.”
(Going back to the RB Mark Walton question, do you feel like he could give more with the potential to be a featured back?) – “I think the one good thing, again, about that running back position for us and that room is that you have a lot of guys that fall into that category of – I sit there and today is our game planning day and it’s always a challenge to try to get those guys the touches, because you want them with the ball in their hands. Mark is certainly in that category. I was happy with what he did in the game. We were happy with what he did in the game. I think that if he continues to progress, then he’s going to continue to be a part of what we do in our game planning. Certainly, it’s a room, it’s a running back group that I think a lot of and I think we have guys that can do things with the ball in their hands and Mark is in that category.”
(When you talk about it takes all 11 to make a play, the up-tempo offense worked well for you guys. Going beyond QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, why did it work so well?) – “I think that a lot of those, the decision to go up-tempo, there’s a lot of factors involved. One is where you are in the game, what you think defensively they’re going to be, schematically what they are going to be doing, how do you think they are going to respond, what do our players do best. I know certainly ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has always functioned well within a no-huddle and a tempo situation, so that’s something that he does well. I thought that he really functioned well within the – we’ll call it the two-minute or tempo offense, and was able to get us two scores and that was a positive for us.”
(Was it offensive line-wise, running back- wise, route running? What were those guys doing?) – “The offensive line, I thought, during those drives that we scored did a great job of allowing us to play on time in the pass game. I thought the protection was good during those two drives. I think from a route-running standpoint, we always say that the responsibility of playing on time is just not on the quarterback, but the responsibility of all involved including the route runners to play on time, to get into your routes fast, to be decisive and detailed in where you’re going. I thought there was a lot of examples of us being very detailed in the pass game from the skill standpoint and that includes the running backs. I thought Mark (Walton) did a nice job of being exactly where he needed to be and taking the ball and doing something with it after the catch. I think that the ability to protect, the ability to play on time in the pass game – We always talk about individual accountability in critical situations and I thought that there was a lot of good examples of that during that drive, it just wasn’t ‘Fitz’ at the quarterback position. I thought there were a lot of guys that shared the positives that we had during that.”
(What concerns you about the Buffalo Bills?) – “This Buffalo Bills team is absolutely well coached. They have a great scheme. This is a great challenge for us. There are solid at all three levels of their defense. Their front is an issues. They’re very disruptive. Their linebackers play with great energy and run to the football. Their secondary – their two safeties are veteran players who are smart players who play very well within the defense and have been playmakers for years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Buffalo Bills defense. I have a tremendous amount of respect for how well-coached they are. Coach (Sean) McDermott does a great job. I’ve worked with (Defensive Coordinator) Leslie Frazier at the Vikings as their defensive coordinator, so I have a personal relationship with him and have a lot of respect for him as a coach. But the reason I’m talking so much about it is because I’ve been in there looking at them for the past several hours and I really do think a lot of them. I think this is a very good defense and it’ll be a great challenge for us to play on the road versus a good team that, again, we have a tremendous amount of respect for and we certainly have a lot of challenges here moving forward.”
(Is there one thing that scares you the most I guess?) – “What scares me the most about this team is they’re so fundamentally sound. They’re so sound in what they do schematically. They know the defense. They play well within the defense. I think that’s why they have the ranking that they do is they play well together, they play with great energy and run to the football. Again, this will be a great challenge for us this week.”
