Durham Smythe – November 29, 2021
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Monday, November 29, 2021
TE Durham Smythe
(How much fun has it been to you to be incorporated in the passing game obviously overall this year, but particularly in the last three weeks?) – “It’s always fun when we have a fun offensive gameplan, where everyone is touching the ball and everyone has an opportunity. When we’re spreading it around, I think that’s when we are at our best. It is fun for everyone, you’re right.”
(You guys wanted to be a balanced offense, but this has been the longest stretch where you’ve actually been committed to the run game, not abandoning it even if the results aren’t substantial. What has that been like especially for guys like you whose job it is to open up those holes?) – “It’s obviously good to establish the run game at this level. Everyone knows that. That opens up a lot of things, whether it’s in the play-action game. Maybe it takes off the rush a little bit in terms of helping the offensive line. It’s definitely a benefit when you’re trying to establish that regardless of the outcome. But when it starts to roll a little bit and you can get some positive yards on a consistent basis, that’s when our offense, and really all offenses, are the most effective. That’s something that we’ve focused on the last couple of weeks is to try to get that rolling. I think we’ll continue to do so and try to be efficient in that aspect of the game.”
(What do you see from WR Jaylen Waddle behind the scenes that leads to his success so early on as a rookie?) – “Jaylen has been tasked from the beginning of the season to do a lot of things for this offense, play a lot of different roles. He’s a smart guy. He can handle all of that. And he’s confident. He’s been confident from day one when he stepped into this building. He knows that he can make those plays, and as he’s become more comfortable, as we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, he’s really taken off.”
(What’s the next step for this offense? You guys have seen to be getting on a roll, where you’re averaging about the NFL average. How do you get it better? How do you get it to the next step?) – “I think above everything else, it’s just being consistent across the board. There are games this season where we’ve been efficient in the pass game. There have been games this season where we’ve had multiple explosive plays in the pass game. And there has been games where we’ve run the ball efficiently. I think when you put all of those together within one singular game, that’s what will really take you to the next level. I think it’s just finding the consistency and finding a way to be consistent in really all of those categories within one game instead of just having one here or one there.”
(It seems as if Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey has really found a groove as an play-caller. What has he done that has most impressed you in that role? Why are things working successfully as far as play calling these last few weeks?) – “I think one thing that sticks out to me is that he knows his personnel. He knows how to utilize the guys that he has. I think if we had different personnel at different positions, this offense would look completely different. I think he’s become comfortable with who we all are on the offensive side of the ball. He’s utilizing us in ways that are becoming more and more efficient. I think that is something that he really has a talent in is recognizing who he has and what he has in guys, and trying to play to our strengths.”
(The offensive line growth, obviously with young offensive linemen it’s going to take time. Has it impressed you seeing how the young players have come on these last couple of weeks?) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think that was a matter of time and it still is. It’s the building of a process, but in this league, it definitely takes a while to adapt or establish a comfort level, I think is a good way to put it, especially at the offense line position and tight end as well. Once you get that groove, you become a little bit comfortable with what you’re doing, your technique and things of that nature. Then it starts to become a little bit easier. As you know these guys gain experience, like you said there are a lot of young guys up there, I think they’ll just continue to get better.”
(I wanted to ask you about RB Phillip Lindsay coming in. It seems like he got here five minutes ago and he went and had 12 carries yesterday. What did you observe from him and his ability to learn the offense as quickly as he did, and his ability to contribute so quickly?) – “He’s a good player. He’s been a good player in this league. He’s had production in this league. He’s a guy that I think brings some tenacity to our offense. As you mentioned, it’s a testament to him that he was able to pick things up so quickly in three days or whatever it was and go out there and be efficient in the game on Sunday. That says a lot about him and I think he’s impressed us all.”
(With the amount of snaps that TE Mike Gesicki now takes on the boundary, does he go to wide receiver meetings or is he in the wide receiver room? Have you guys kicked him out of the tight end room yet?) – (laughter) “Good question. If it was up to him, then he might be in that room. But he’s a guy that plays a lot of roles for us. Obviously he plays tight end, but he splits out a lot of the time as the statistics show. He kind of bounces around. One day if he needs to be in the receiver room, he’ll go over there and get some tips. He’ll be in our room. He’s been in the quarterback room talking to quarterbacks before. As a guy who does a lot of things for us, he kind of bounces around and absorbs from all of the rooms.”
