Clyde Christensen – September 28, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(Players spoke this week about mental errors, how Head Coach Adam Gase has mentioned mental errors. What have those been primarily? Has it been not lining up in the right spots? Not reacting to QB Jay Cutler changing plays at the line? What have they been?) – “Probably all the above. We’ve had all of the above. We’ve had some alignment issues. We’ve had some assignment issues. We do ask a lot of them. We play them in a lot of different positions and the thing that I think was disappointing is I thought we really had a good week of practice. That’s kind of been the theme. Somewhere from Friday until Sunday, we lost our edge and we weren’t as sharp. We really had a sharp week of practice. There weren’t a bunch of mental errors in practice and we had three really good practices that we thought were really quality practices, and it didn’t translate, which is perplexing to a coach, because the basis would be that you’re going to play how you practice, and that didn’t happen this week, which is very rare. It was a good week of practice.”
(These mental errors are happening at what positions primarily?) – “They were wide spread. They were wide spread. Everyone’s were up a little bit. Everyone’s (mental errors) were up a little bit and give the Jets credit too. They also whipped us. We didn’t lose the game because of … They also physically got after us and so it was a total woodshed, woodshedding if you will. The critical errors were up. Some were mental, some were physical, some were drops, some were misses, some were … They come in different forms there, so it wasn’t all just mental errors.”
(What do you expect to see on Sunday?) – “I expect to see a team rebound and, having been embarrassed last week, come out with a vengeance, just like the Jets did. They were sitting there at 0-2 and they came out and got after their opponent, which happened to be us. I would expect the same thing (from us) and I don’t think anyone’s pleased with how we played. We didn’t have a bunch of people play winning football and I think you’ll see some guys with some pride come back out and be real disappointed if we don’t come out and play extremely hard and extremely competitive, compete extremely hard in the ball game. That would be the first thing I’d look at, and then fixing some of those errors, and then also just figuring out what took place from Friday to Sunday. It’s a seven-day work week, if you will. The preparation is all week and so we have to find a way for that to go all the way to the football game. It’s been rare that I felt like the opponent had more juice than we did and that the opponent was more ready to play and there was more energy; but that was the case last Sunday. We’ve got to reverse that. We’ve got to play with our energy. We’ve got to play hard and that’s the chance we have. This game isn’t a game of out-ability-ing somebody. It still comes down to energy and effort and hitting.”
(Obviously in preseason and for what it’s worth it is preseason, we saw WR Jakeem Grant as a factor in the offense. How long before you think we might see him lining up more in the offense along the way?) – “I do. I do and I have and I probably thought we … even going back to last year, there were some packages up for him. I know you guys are tired of hearing me say it and I’m tired of saying it but just number of snaps again. You can’t go six percent on third down and there’s not enough snaps to get him in and get some of the other things called. I think you have seen him a little bit more. His catches in games are a couple of hundred percent up, so he is getting a little something; but I think our intention is to keep playing him. He had a good camp. He’s practiced extremely well. He’s playing well and he’s a good football player. The intention is to get him in there. He is behind three really good receivers who also had good camps, so it’s not quite as easy as ‘Hey, who do we take out for those plays?’ But I think the goal was to play more people, especially during this stretch, just to keep people fresh, and we have the advantage of doing that because we’re a little deep at that position. So we do want to get him into the game more and get him involved, and he is a playmaker. He is playing well.”
(Can the downfield passing game just emerge as a factor or does it depend on say the running game or maybe an underneath passing game to set it up?) – “D: All of the above. We are much better if we’re running the ball and our play-actions can come off those runs. That’s where we’re better. We’re better when that’s happening. Can it? Sure, I mean Jay Cutler can get into the gun and throw the ball and he’s had some big years. He can throw the football. We feel like we have good receivers and stuff, so I think both. Both of the above. But again, the ideal for us would be running the ball better, which we failed at this last weekend and for the naked (bootlegs) and the play-actions to come off of that as a starting point.”
(What are some of the things that are kind of precluding you guys from running the football a little bit better?) – “I think we’re getting the eight-man front. We’re getting people loading the box, which is no surprise for us, and then we just didn’t block them very well. We didn’t block them very well and didn’t run the ball well, and they kind of out-physicaled us. They did out-physical us. We have to reverse that and then we have to be efficient throwing the ball on first and second down also, to help the run game. It’s hard to block. It’s hard if they say whatever happens, you’re not running the ball. Those are hard carries. Those are hard blocks. You’re out-leveraged, there’s too many guys, there’s an extra guy, they’re downhill, they’re heavy in there, and that is a hard call run-wise. You can’t just say we’re going to knock all eight of them back 5 yards and run the football. They’re all tied together and so certainly they build off of each other, and we really broke down Sunday on both of them. We didn’t run it. We didn’t set up the play-action. We didn’t throw the ball well enough to soften them up where we could run it. They kind of fed off of each other and it’s really a combination of both things. It wasn’t one thing over the other.”
(How would assess the overall performance of the offensive line for these two games?) – “This week, I think the overall performance of the offense was dismal. We were poor in every … I wouldn’t even just say the offensive line; but the whole unit, we didn’t play very well. We played poorly and it showed and for all intents and purposes, we got shut out in the football game. I think it’s hard to assess it for … We have some guys playing well up there. (Mike) Pouncey’s played extremely well. (Anthony) Steen’s playing extremely well up front. So those guys did, even though … It’s not everybody but it’s … Fortunately, it’s a team game. Fortunately, it is a unit and everyone has to do their part and it’s hard to yank down and say this guy or that guy.”
(Can you assess what you’ve gotten at tight end and do you need more of the same?) – “I think it’s a good room. I think we’ve got some veteran guys. I think they would tell you that they can play better than that. I think that’s what they would say and I’d agree with them. We can play better at the tight end position. We could play better at every positon in this past game, but we have to play better and we have to get some big plays out of those guys. They’re huge. They’re the hybrid. They have to be able to pass protect defensive ends and block defensive ends and get open on safeties and make big plays and do all those things, so it’s a hard position; but it’s really a key one for us, because we have so many things that are kind of dependent on it with the outside zone and then all of the play-actions off of it.”
(On third downs, what determines whether you or Head Coach Adam Gase opt for RB Damien Williams or for RB Jay Ajayi and where does that decision stand at this point?) – “Yes, that game was kind of out of hand. We want to get … Jay is our horse. That’s a good time to rest him because we have two guys that can really catch the ball and make big plays catching the ball. Jay can also, but third down, especially later in that game, especially with Jay nursing the knee and soreness and stuff, it was a good chance for us to get those other guys in. A lot of it depends on if it’s a zone game, if it’s a man game, the matchups. We want to play them all on third down. Our intention is to put Damien and Kenyan in the game on some of those third-down passing yards, 2-minute (offense), and that’s two-fold because they are good players and they make some big plays and they’re natural receivers, and it gives us a chance to breathe Jay. Hopefully you’re still running the ball in the fourth quarter, which wasn’t the case; but, you’re still running the ball and it’s still a game in the balance where you can stay balanced and you want Jay fresh on that first and second down.”
(After this game, how much emphasis and after watching the film, how much emphasis has been placed on everybody winning their individual battles, everybody winning their one-on-ones?) – “Tons. The better ingredients, better sandwich, right? The better everyone is playing individually, the better unit. We need people to play winning football. That was the emphasis of the week. If we don’t play winning football individually, it’s not going to add up to a winning effort. So, I think a lot. A lot. That’s where you have to fix it on an individual basis. If you didn’t play winning football, find out what happened. Why didn’t you? Let’s fix it and play winning football. Obviously the more guys we have playing winning football, the better chance that unit is at being pretty good. It’s a big emphasis. If you do break it down that way, then it still comes down to one-on-ones, 11 one-on-ones. If eight of the guys are losing their one-on-ones, it’s going to be a tough day out there. We’ve got to have more guys playing winning football.”
