Frank Smith – October 3, 2024
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Thursday, October 3, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(What would you say would be a thorough explanation for why we’ve seen a drop in RB De’Von Achane’s per carry average from 7.8 to 3.1?) – “Last year obviously his numbers were outstanding and naturally there’s – you could expect some to come back but ultimately right now, there’s a lot of areas that we need to improve on to get where we need to go. But for us to get to back to efficiently running the football and improving, I think it’s areas that overall we’ll work together as an offense. It isn’t just one thing or just him and his carries as it pertains to it.”
(Can you detail some of the intricacies in this offense that could help a new quarterback make a big leap from one game with the offense to the second game orchestrating it?) – “I think the big thing is trying to – we have carryover through stuff we do, so just making sure we have concepts that are overriding principles. Ultimately what it comes into is the timing as you get into it because when you come from a place that’s offensively different in the way that they throw the football, the more time you get on task with the guys and getting used to how the guys run routes so when you have the consistency of concepts or consistency of how we do things, that naturally improves the more time you get on it.”
(A question about the fourth-and-1 play to WR Tyreek Hill and whether you question a call or the outcome of the play. It looked like Tyreek could have made it but two guys missed blocks, and I’m wondering do you say it was a good call but the outcome was bad or do you say we’re asking these guys to make blocks they aren’t capable of making so it wasn’t a good call? Does that make sense?) – “Yeah, it’s kind of a collection of it where it’s like is that the optimum look to have that play called, and then you say, ‘No, it’s not the optimum look.’ Could we have had a chance to execute and get it? Yeah, but it’s like all plays where the margin of error is so small sometimes that if it’s not premium looks, OK, guys have got to try to overcompensate for maybe not a premium look. But whether it’s that play or other plays, it’s always just if everyone isn’t just synced up together, that’s where all of a sudden where it’s a good play where if everyone was connected and he was able to make a play in space, could have gone for a decent gain. But then if it’s not and you don’t get a premium look, it could be a negative play. So it’s just the big thing is just the margin of error is small and when you’re trying to get back on track, get healthy offensively, that’s what you’re trying to do, is try to make sure you’re mitigating the risk so we can put plays in as best looks as you can.”
(What’s your assessment of T Patrick Paul’s first start?) – “I think for him there’s a lot of stuff that obviously he’s learned from and operating and knowing that with the techniques and fundamentals that we’re going to ask him to do, there’s always a lot of growth. So there’s some things that we thought that he’s going to get some really good learned lessons from, growing from good things he did blocking-wise. It’s just ultimately when you start off the season and it’s not going too well overall for the offense, it’s all of us together getting better. And I know he’s going to approach it and he’s been really diligent with the guys and working hard, and I think overall all of us will continue to grow from this point in the season.”
(It’s been pretty well documented that you guys haven’t had a ton of production beyond WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle from the wide receiver position. How much can – if he’s able to play this week – WR Odell Beckham Jr. change that dynamic?) – “I think with the way obviously his career has gone and what he brings, he’ll be another piece that we could really use. Obviously, he’s working through his process to return to play so I’m sure when he is ready to go, we’ll be able to use him in a way that will obviously use his skill sets which is catch radius, ball skills, separation – everything he’s had in his past and he’s a fun guy to be around. So whenever he’s ready to go, we’ll be excited to have him and I think that he’ll be a piece that we’ll be able to utilize in the passing game.”
(What was going through your mind when the team had the three illegal shift penalties in a small sequence of plays like that game?) – “Just kind of like, OK, we’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot in those moments and it doesn’t get any worse than that. So as we assess it and figure out how we’re going to get better, that’s a big area that we think that we can get better with just limiting those instances of where all of a sudden, we’re moving backwards. If we can get that solved and that is our sole focus this week, is just making sure that we’re executing what is necessary as opposed to ourselves. We get that solved, we’ll keep the ball moving where we need to go and that’s towards the end zone, towards theirs.”
(Was the walkthrough helpful? Was that a point of emphasis – is there an advantage to doing a walkthrough as opposed to a regular practice for that stuff?) – “I think ultimately when you have a walkthrough versus a practice, it’s the intentionality to which you about things. So when you study for an exam, are you better at the library or in your room? It’s like where is your focus at, what are you putting your attention to when you’re doing it. I think ultimately for us, everything we need to do is make sure intentionality is there because everything matters as we’re trying to just make sure that we’re doing the right things, asking guys to do the right things at the right time and make sure we’re maximizing our opportunities.”
(Where are you in terms of getting TE Jonnu Smith more involvement in the offense? In the preseason we saw him doing a variety of things and he talked about, “Hey, I’m in a place where they can really use all of my skills,” and yet he only has nine catches, doesn’t have any rushing attempts. What has not happened so far and what would you like to see happen for him to contribute more?) – “I just think – we have plays obviously to utilize his skill set, it’s just making sure we give him the opportunities to get the attempts at the ball. So great thing about him is each week he is working to be ready to go and improve and I think ultimately, it’s just on us collectively to just keep improving to make sure we get better and utilizing our guys. So that’s where the excitement for this week is, to make sure that we’re ready to go with all of our guys and knowing that we’re going to use all of our personnel to help us win this Sunday.”
(Have you been satisfied with the level of effort that you’ve seen? Some of these games have gotten a little sideways but then continue to fight through it. Is that something that’s been a concern of yours?) – “No, it hasn’t been a concern. The intent and the effort is there; it’s just execution. So that’s our sole focus this week is collectively getting better, coaches and players, of our execution, what we’re doing, our communication of it.”
(Going back to the illegal shifts, who’s specifically at fault for that? Is it like the quarterback in terms of the timing with not necessarily realizing that people aren’t set? Is it the receivers? Who I guess would you – I don’t want to say “blame” – but who is, when you came to correcting it, who were you specifically focusing on?) – “Unless it’s just something egregious, you say, ‘Hey, it’s this one thing.’ When you look at something like that, it’s all of us. It’s like, ‘Hey, making sure that I’m lined up and I’m set. OK, making sure that they are set.’ It’s like, how can we help each other as opposed to saying, ‘Well, he moved before I was ready,’ or ‘He wasn’t set,’ or something like that. It’s all of us really understanding, it’s like – what gave us success last year was in our ability to line up and move, and this year, it’s just making sure that we understand to get what we’ve had, we have to make sure that we’re collectively understanding if we’ve got to get set and move. And as you change quarterbacks, it’s like knowing the pace at which we operate. So I don’t think it’s just to say it’s one person. I think it’s collectively, and ultimately it starts with us as coaches, making sure that we’re teaching like ‘Hey, there’s one movement here to that; we’ve got to make sure we’re set.’ So I don’t think it’s one person you say to blame; I think it’s ultimately our goal this week is collectively get better all together.”
(Is there a way to simplify the offense? I know that with all the shifts and motions and very long play calls for the quarterbacks – can this offense do simple?) – “I think that for us, we’re looking at making sure that we’re asking our guys to do things that we can execute well, and then the things that we’re struggling at, making sure that we’re – why are we struggling at it and how can we improve it, or do we just have to evolve? So I think when you’re saying of simplifying things, it’s not as much simplifying it as opposed to what are we doing well and how can we maximize it, what are we doing poorly and how do we eliminate it. And that’s the goal because we’re at a point in the season where it’s like if we can get these things solved and corrected, we got a lot of football ahead of us. I think that’s where everyone’s intent has been. That’s why yesterday was great because the intentionality of everyone was there and that’s why now we build on today.”
(How would you assess where RB Jaylen Wright is in terms of his understanding of the offense four games in?) – “You see his ability with the ball when he’s running, he’s obviously taking in all of the different personnel packages where we can use him. I know he’s been meeting with (Associate Head Coach and Running Backs) Eric (Studesville) a bunch, so his intentionality to learning what he needs to do has been awesome. It’s just like everything, your hardest year in the NFL is your rookie year, so he’s been working hard to understand how he fits, where he complements and really excited for the next – for this one especially, to see his growth from week to week.”
(Admittingly, I don’t know what I’m watching when I watch a lot of this film. It looked like there was a couple of times where QB Tyler Huntley could have delivered the ball to WR Tyreek Hill or WR Jaylen Waddle that QB Tua Tagovailoa would have delivered right there at the time and the spot but it’s hard for others to do that in their first game. Am I assessing that correctly? Is that right?) – “It’s not as simple as, but it’s getting used to when you have different receivers and you’re getting into full speed reps, you’re learning through it. You always want the learning and growth to come through success, but sometimes the greatest learning lessons come through the failures or adversity. So that’s right now, is that we know that we’re learning a lot and we have to take what we’ve learned and improve. So I think that’s where we’re at right now. It’s not as, ‘Hey, he could have done this.’ It’s more of, ‘OK, now what have we learned to apply this week?’ And that’s the challenge with going up to New England.”
(Certainly, the quarterback position is a big factor in this, but are you surprised by the lack of big plays by the offense this year?) – “Obviously, it’s been discouraging, but at the same time, each game presents a new challenge and you have to evolve to attack the defense for what they’re giving you. So I think – obviously last year, that was something we did very well and people are trying to minimize those opps. But the big thing is when we’ve had them, we just haven’t been able to connect on all of them. That’s just the big thing is just make sure we’re improving, when we get the opportunities, maximize them and just make sure we don’t let something bad continue on. So I think for us, that’s been the focus. It started yesterday and it will continue today.”
(With all the seven-man fronts you guys have seen, can you have 40 carries like Tennessee had against you? Is that a solution? Is that an answer?) – “Well, you get those opportunities a lot of times like when you get into the end of the third or fourth quarter and you got the lead. That’s where a lot of the rushing opps come from where you can really build upon it. When you’re playing from behind, you’re having to balance offense and what you’re trying to do versus the ticking clock that’s running down. So when you look at a lot of heavy rushing attempt games, you’re saying that probably at the end of the third or the fourth, you got the lead – that’s where you get a lot of those extra rushing opportunities. So for us to stay on schedule and get to where we need to go, that’s where those situations come from and if we can get back in those situations, that would probably help our rushing average.”
