Darrell Bevell – December 1, 2022
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Thursday, December 1, 2022
Quarterbacks Coach Darrell Bevell
(One of the things that we spoken a lot or has been talked about a lot is kind of QB Tua Tagovailoa’s anticipation and the manipulation of defenses. I was curious in terms of like the eye discipline and that manipulation, is that something that’s inherent, can you teach it in quarterbacks? And if so, how do you do that?) – “Yeah, I think there’s a little bit of both. I do believe that there’s an innate ability to do that and a feel, but also, there’s things that you can teach within the progression of plays that you work on in movement keys.”
(There was a question about the timing of the passing game, and Head Coach Mike McDaniel was saying that that’s probably the most important element. The possibility of you guys not having your two starting offensive tackles, and 49ers DE Nick Bosa. Aside from better man on man blocking, what can you do if somebody is coming at you, keeping that timing, is it shorter routes? Is it that simple? What do you do?) – “That’s the beauty of the of the timing; you let the timing take care of that. It’s all built in for the number of steps he’s going to take, the number of hitches that he’s going to take. And if you’re accounting for that whether we have the tackles or not, then if you’re able to throw on time, then you’re kind of making the rush moot. It’s a moot point and that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to handle things and do things to make sure that we’re taking care of the edges. I mean, you’re playing one of the best, elite rushers in the league, so you don’t just turn a blind eye to that. But the timing is something that is very critical that enables you to still play at a high level.”
(You’ve coached a lot of great quarterbacks in this league. Now that you’ve had some time with QB Tua Tagovailoa, how does his approach compare to the others you’ve coached? Is there anything unique about what you’ve seen from him?) – “I think Tua has grown a lot in the time that I’ve been here and just the communication that we’ve been able to have, from the day I got here to where he is now and all the things that he has done to prepare, and if you were to ask him, I don’t think he was doing the same things in the years previous that he’s even doing now. He’s done a great job of really just assimilating the things that we’ve asked him to do, in terms of the preparation that he needs on his own, the time that we spend together, the things that we’re looking at. And he’s just a different guy in so many different ways and I’ve just been impressed with the effort that he has put in and the things that he’s done to prepare himself on his own away from what we’ve been asking him to do and coaching him to do.”
(When Head Coach Mike McDaniel was mic’d up on the game on Sunday, he said something to the effect of QB Tua Tagovailoa as a savant. What does he mean by that?) – “Well, he is. I mean, there’s, just things that… like I was talking about, just some of the innate ability that Tua has – all quarterbacks have different skill sets and one of Tua’s best skill sets is his ability to see and his field of vision. His field of vision is pretty large and the players that he can see and diagnose their movements in really quick short periods of time I think is something that you would relate that savant-ism or whatever that is to, because he does it so well, so fast and it’s really impressive what he does.”
(There was a play late in the second quarter where QB Tua Tagovailoa got some pressure, he moved up in the pocket and chucked the ball out of bounds. How satisfying was it to see him not trying to make something when there was nothing there?) – “Those are some of your favorite plays. They’re plays that you’re just like, oh, it goes down on the sheet as an incompletion, but those are some of the most impressive plays and we had a few that went the other way where he decided to throw it down. I think of the one in the Ravens game earlier in the year, but to see him do that and there’s quick decisions that have to be made – how much room and time do I have? Can I create some more space to give myself more time or hey, this play is done with, I need to get the ball out of my hand and save the damage. And he’s been making really good decisions there.”
(I’ve got a late-game play time question for you. You guys have taken QB Tua Tagovailoa out and put QB Skylar Thompson. Back in the day the starting quarterback used to stay in no matter what the score. Why are you taking Tua out? Does that help, is that to get Skylar some reps, what’s behind that?) – “I think the situation in the game, just the score was at a point where we felt comfortable being able to take Tua out. A bonus to that is getting a young guy some extra reps, but just in terms of where the game was at and you know how valuable these players are and in game time situations, just didn’t want anything to happen.”
(We’ve seen QB Skylar Thompson, how comfortable… he could be the backup quarterback this week depending on QB Teddy Bridgewater. How much more comfortable are you with Skylar and how much more comfortable is Skylar now?) – “I’ve been impressed with Skylar from Day 1. His preparation, he’s mature beyond his years. Actually, he’s like our second-oldest quarterback in the room actually, right? But he’s got great maturity to him. He understands the process. He understands how to study. He’s been on it since Day 1 in terms of what he needs to do and kind of knowing his routine. Teddy (Bridgewater) has been great with really the younger guys in there and teaching them his process. I have all the confidence in the world in both those guys as backup quarterbacks.”
(And then one question about QB Teddy Bridgewater. He seems to me to be a very happy, upbeat guy, always has a smile on his face. Can you talk about his personality and how he compares to other quarterbacks or other players?) – “Yeah, he’s got his own swag to him. I mean, he could be a Hawaii guy as well, just his laid back. I don’t know, maybe it’s the Florida in him. He’s very laid back. Never too high, never too low, but he’s a happy guy. He’s great in the room. He communicates really well, clearly. And as an older player, he’s very willing to help the younger guys. I could spend a lot of time talking about Teddy and what he means to us in our quarterback room. And then if he has to go on the field or gets to go on the field, we are 100 percent confident in the ability that he has to lead us.”
(We noticed it might rain in California. Do you guys get enough rain practice that you don’t have to worry about it or are you a fan of the wet ball stuff?) – “I’ve done that before in our past. We have practiced out here in it and you kind of just get used to those situations while you’re going through it rather than saying, ‘hey, this week you’re going to start doing wet balls.’ But yeah, I think we’ve practiced in it and I think we’ve handled that.”
