Eric Studesville – December 3, 2019
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Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(I wanted to ask you about RB Patrick Laird. When did ‘The Intern’ nickname become a thing?) – “He told a story about that – it must have been, maybe during training camp he told the team, the offense, the story about that. I think it was about during training camp. He might have told us beforehand in the running backs room a little before that.”
(And it just stuck?) – “(laughter) Yeah. I mean I don’t call him that. (laughter) He’s Patrick but it’s a good deal for him.”
(Which of the coaches call RB Patrick Laird “The Intern?” Any of them?) – “I don’t know. I don’t really pay much attention to it like that. I call him Patrick when I talk to him. ‘Hey, Patrick.’ I don’t think about it like that.”
(How did you feel RB Patrick Laird responded when he got some playing time?) – “I thought Patrick did a nice job the other day, having to go in and his most extensive playing time. I thought he really did some good things in the pass game, pass-protection wise. He had what? Four catches for 43 yards and a 2-point conversion? I thought he ran an excellent route and made a big-time catch on that. He was getting ready to get hit right when he made that catch. It was a good route and catch. He’s just continued to develop and get better. I wasn’t concerned about it. We put him in and doing things and it’s just a matter of getting playing time, and seeing all of the different things that happen with defenses. But he’s done a good job. And he’s taken advantage of the preparation and the time. He knows that he’s potentially part of the game plan and has been all year, he just hasn’t gotten in.”
(RB Patrick Laird seems very polished in the pass game. Is that something you guys saw at California?) – “Yeah. He had a lot of catches at Cal. The thing is for me, we try to establish roles for guys and what they can do; but they have to be able to do everything in order to play. So you can’t just do one thing good. It kind of has to be the whole thing. I’ve seen him run the ball more physically in the spots that we like the ball to be put in and then obviously him catching the ball. Then in pass protection, he’s done some nice things this year already in pass protection in some of the chances that he’s gotten.”
(What’s your confidence level in all of the young guys if RB Kalen Ballage happens to be out for a bit?) – “They all have to be ready. That’s how we talk about it all of the time. Patrick (Laird) has been working at it. Myles (Gaskin) has been working at it. De’Lance (Turner) hasn’t been here that long but he’s the only other guy that’s in the room now and we’re going to have to get him up to speed and get ready because if that’s what happens, we’ve got to be able to be ready to go and just have another guy ready to go in. The one thing I like about all of them is that they’re competitive, they’re focused, they work hard at it, they take it seriously and they’re ready to go for their opportunity. They’re just waiting on an opportunity.”
(Let’s talk about RB Patrick Laird. He’s a kid who seemed to just grind this whole entire season and this opportunity kind of paid off for him the last couple of weeks.) – “I think that’s right. I think that’s a great way of describing what he’s done. He came in here, he was great in the classroom and learning stuff, staying on top of things and really pressing himself to learn everything. Then obviously I think his contributions early on special teams got him into games and got him used to what the NFL setting is. He’s just continued work and then when the opportunity came, he’s performed and he’s taken advantage of it.”
(How devastating is this injury for RB Kalen Ballage?) – “As far as?”
(For the rest of the season, the way RB Kalen Ballage’s season has kind of gone.) – “I don’t know that – I think every injury feels to guys like that and to teams like that. People that you’re counting on, that you’ve got time invested in. It’s important to us to have your players on your team and to keep them healthy. So it’s never a good thing that happens. It’s an unfortunate part of our game. As big and fast and as explosive as this game has become, it’s just one of these things with these athletes.”
(A little lighthearted question – what is Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham like over there? I want to get to know the coaching staff. How do you guys kind of interact with each other? Who is the funny guy? Who is the quiet guy? Who is the serious guy? Who are all of those?) – “That’s kind of a fraternal question. (laughter) You’ve got to be in the fraternity to get those answers like that.”
(How do you think you guys have kind of come together as a coaching staff this season?) – “From my experience, I think this is an outstanding coaching staff. I think ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has put together a tremendous staff. There’s a lot of good football coaches, guys that are passionate about what they do, how we coach, preparation and work; but yet at the same point and time, there’s great personalities on the staff too and you enjoy the diversity of the personalities on the staff and the people and their experiences and things. Everybody brings something different to the table and I think it makes for a good recipe.”
(What’s something that you bring to the table for the staff?) – “Well hopefully I bring a knowledge of how the offense is affected by the running backs. The fact that I don’t just look at the run game. I’m involved in the protections. I know a lot about the passing game too and how we fit into the passing game and things that come up as well as just running the ball. Hopefully it’s a well-rounded contribution in all areas, not just – where I’m contributing with my experiences and things that I’ve seen in the past, different kinds of runs, different kinds of protections, adjustments and all of those things that are made to help the group be successful.”
(How much do you think a bunch of these guys working together previously kind of helps you guys fill in gaps or helps the continuity of things?) – “I think it helps. I think it certainly helps. I think it helps (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) to have known those guys in the past. But I think too, sometimes you get an influx of new ideas and people see things different that haven’t been around for a long time too, and that’s a good thing too.”
(Beyond how RB Patrick Laird works, what else impresses you about him?) – “Well, I think that’s it. He works and that’s what gives himself a chance to maximize opportunities because he does work so hard and he is prepared and how he attacks every day. He’s trying to establish a role for himself. He has since he came here. He really took that part of it and said ‘Okay, if it’s special teams, I’m going to do that. And when my time comes, I’ll be ready on offense.’ He’s demonstrating that he has done that.”
(RB Patrick Laird did a good job on the touchdown run but his per-carry average was low. Was that him not finding opportunities? Blocking? A combination of the two?) – “Well, we’re always trying to find better averages and better things in there but I think it’s maximizing the situation. He did a great job on that (touchdown) run. There were only three yards to go and he got the three yards. So from that perspective, you’d say it’s a productive run. But we’re always trying to – we’re continually trying to find ways to get the run game going and we know that’s an area that we’ve got to get going some kind of way. It’s all hands on deck as far as trying to figure out solutions to this to give us a chance in that area.”
(Did anything RB Myles Gaskin do the other day intrigue you where you want to see more on the field during games?) – “I don’t think it was just the other day. I think it’s been Myles since he’s been here and how he’s worked on the practice field, in the meeting rooms and all of those things. You love the kid. He’s passionate about it. He’s focused on it. He’s worked very hard to get – it just hasn’t been a situation where he’s gotten an opportunity. All of a sudden that opportunity came and what you saw is not someone who just flashed but someone who has worked for that opportunity and prepared for it, and he was ready for it. It wasn’t too big for him.”
(What’s the on-field NFL skill with RB Myles Gaskin, beyond obviously work ethic. What does he do well that makes you guys intrigued?) – “I think Myles does a couple of things. I think the first thing is Myles is shifty. He’s got a little slipperiness to him. He can get on the edge of people and he can get in small spaces. He’s much faster than – I think he’s fast. So he can get to the edge, he can threaten the edge on things. That being the case, you’d love to get him in space because of his shiftiness and his speed to see if he can do something and make people miss. He catches the ball much better than I thought he would have. He caught that hitch the other day on the sideline, which was a great catch. It was a 6-yard catch but it was really outside of his strike zone and he made a really nice catch on that. Then the other area that I think he’s really probably exceeded even my expectations on to this point is his pass protection. He’s willing to step up in there and hit these guys. He’s not a real big guy but he’ll go up in there and compete and he’s doing what we’re asking him to do. That’s an area we’ve got to keep working on but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
