Frank Smith – December 26, 2024
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Thursday, December 26, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(On the right guard thing, was the thinking with you and Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry and Head Coach Mike McDaniel that you’d eventually like to settle on one guy? Or do you like the idea of potentially the rest of the way of the platoon?) – “I think that it was a solution towards getting Isaiah (Wynn) involved. Liam (Eichenberg) has been working through some stuff, so the ability to get guys fresher through the course of the game. We think it boded pretty well, and each week, we’ll evaluate what’s best for the opponent to put our guys in the best position possible. Yeah, we were very pleased with how it worked out last week.”
(On the pass that QB Tua Tagovailoa throws to WR Tyreek Hill in the end zone and it’s tipped, Tua took a hit on that. Are you at the stage where you still will notice that and wonder and cross your fingers? Or are you kind of past that as far as Tua and a possible injury?) – “I think it’s more of when you’re going into any game, you’re always trying to minimize contact to the quarterback through your pass protection systems. So I think ultimately, we’re always evaluating how the pockets going, how we’re able to protect and trying to choose the right schemes to attack through that approach. I think the line did a great job pass protecting and Tua (Tagovailoa) delivering the ball and the skills being in the right spots. I think ultimately our goal is to make sure that we protect the quarterback and use our skill to understand concepts, launch points and everything so we make sure we can keep it successful.”
(Should WR Tyreek Hill have caught that pass?) – “Well, it’s one of those things where it got tipped at the last second so when those things happen, it’s like your vision gets changed. So I know the competitor in him wants the op again and I know the stuff he’s going to be working on this week to get better at.”
(Staying with WR Tyreek Hill, we know he’s a great troll. Is there any chance at the end of the season that the left wrist thing – he tweets, ‘ah, got y’all again’ – or is this legit, and I know he’s been treated for it, he’s been on the injury report, but is this a troll job? Someone who seeks attention, social media, messes with people on social media.) – “Tyreek (Hill) has been awesome working through the pain that it involves, and it’s hard when you’re trying to catch the ball and do all the things. So I think him working through it and making sure we’re connecting on the same page with timing and all that is going to be, obviously, the utmost importance this week.”
(It’s always harder for an offense to operate on the road for various reasons. How has the road operation been overall throughout the season?) – “Well, I think earlier in the year it was something that we wanted to improve on. In the short week, it was an area that we knew we could have improved on. I think that’s just always your goal when you’re moving like we do to try and create leverage on the defense is to make sure that we’re operating together, having the balance of things where you’re trying to get a premier look and making sure you have plays that you can get lined up fast and be able to attack. So I think there’s times this seasons that we think that we could have been better, and the good thing is we got this chance this week to go up there and really improve upon things that we would like to be able to do over again, and that’s what each game provides.”
(There might be some cold rain over there. Do you have to prepare wet ball drills and things like that?) – “Yeah, we go through the process to get ready for that. It’s one thing – I’ve been up to Cleveland three times and each three times it was different weather. With it being right on the lake, I think in COVID in 2020 when I was with the Raiders, it was sunny, it snowed, it sleeted and it rained all in the same game. But yes, we work all of our preparations for the weather, depending on what it is but it’s Cleveland, you never know.”
(I know that General Manager Chris Grier and Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Eric and the scouts and everyone had an appreciation for RB De’Von Achane’s hands and receiving ability coming in. But was there a moment with you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel and Eric in meetings the last couple of years, or even on the practice field, where you said to yourselves, “this guy’s ability as a receiver, his hands are special. We want to utilize that even more?” Any perspective on how good he is on that, that you could share?) – “I think it started with his college tape, like at (Texas) A&M, you could see his ability to play the ball in the air. Necessarily sometimes in college, there’s different things they’re trying to do and they use their backs different ways, but you could see it on his college tape – ball is in the air and his ability to track it, running vertical routes, and that’s not easy, especially coming out of the backfield with the different things they had him do. So we knew that coming in that was going to be something that he could do well, and credit to him working his tail off to make sure he’s been ready on the multitude of things we could ask him to do. I think it just plays to how dynamic of a back he is and all the different things he can do.”
(How much sleep have you lost this week trying to think of protections for Myles Garrett?) – “Well, the gauntlet of the last couple weeks hasn’t been necessarily easy for us with all the rushers we’ve had to do. I think he’s a special player, a high-end guy that you always have to be mindful of and it’ll be a good challenge for us. I would say the last month has been kind of tiring from that standpoint and that’s on the whole season. But yeah, we have respect for his game, and we’ll have to be ready for him.”
(Might he get the Maxx Crosby treatment?) – “There’s a multitude of things that we’ll have to do because with him, he’s very talented guy. I think that the different variables that we’ll have to do – when you have an elite guy to that level, you can’t just do one thing. You have to do a multitude of things. So he gets high level treatment like (Nick) Bosa and like Maxx (Crosby) did and like other guys we’ve faced this last month.”
(How would you describe the matchup of going up against a Jim Schwartz coached defense?) – “Well coached, do a bunch of schematic overlaps. They try and have a lot of disguise to what they do. They play hard, physical. You can tell it’s a well-coached group, and it’ll be a good opportunity for us to go on the road and to be ready to be on our details because they are going to be aggressive to the ball and play hard to the end.”
(How did OL Isaiah Wynn do?) – “Did well. I mean the run we had at the end; he was able to really block the three(-technique) and shut it down. I think he did a great job in his first opportunity back, and he’s an energy guy. I mean he loves ball, so to have him back was awesome. It’s just another element to the room of a guy that just is all ball and loves playing hard.”
