Jerry Schuplinski – October 1, 2019
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jerry Schuplinski
(I’m doing a story on first-round picks. You and Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea, you’re going to have QB Josh Rosen’s career in your hands a little bit. He was a first-round pick, former No. 10 guy. How do you have to help him manage any kind of expectations being a franchise quarterback kind of thing while you’re really just trying to win some games here and have him develop at a pace where he’s comfortable?) – “I think you take every player and tell them – like we do for every positon – it’s really no different. For Josh, specifically, his whole – we’re still working hard to teach him everything we can on a daily basis from protections to run game to routes to reads to footwork to timing to all that stuff. It’s really the same and we’re going to continue to do that throughout. I don’t think you ever get done growing and learning in that phase. In terms of expectations and everyone else’s expectations on him, I think ultimately, we control what we can control with him and that’s to try to work and get better every day and not worry about anything else. Each week, each day, each week, dive into the game plan, understand what the game plan is, what we want to do, how we want to get the ball out to the different players and the protections associated with that, where we think guys will be open and what we want to do with that. It’s literally week by week and day by day and then the game in itself and trying to grow each week and each game. But really not looking much further ahead than that.”
(QB Josh Rosen has said he’s made leaps and bounds improvement since he got here in the offseason, since OTAs, preseason. Where would you say he’s made his biggest strides and do you agree with that assessment?) – “I think he’s done a really nice job since he’s gotten here. I mentioned this before that he’s a little bit behind the eight-ball when he did arrive, because I think we were four weeks out already into learning the offense and starting from the basics. So he was playing a lot of catchup in the spring, which that’s just the way it goes. I feel like over the summer, he did some stuff on his own to prepare. And then when he got back to training camp, you could tell he was ahead of where he left off at, which was great and then he just continued to grow in training camp. His recognition continues to build each week. For young players in general, that’s what it’s going to be and he has made good progress in a lot of different areas. There’s still a long way to go, he knows that. We talk about it all the time. But he has grown in his understanding of our protection schemes and certain details on routes and things of that nature. He’s grown in that area. Like I said, we’re always going to have a long way to go, because every team we play is different and everybody is going to give us a little bit of a different look at things. Being able to take that from week to week – the different challenges that they present and understanding those – will continue to be a good learning experience for him.”
(Outside of the day to day and the week to week things that are very, very important to you guys, where are some areas QB Josh Rosen needs to make the next jump in his progression during the season?) – “There are a few things that I’ve talked to him about – getting the ball out on time, stepping up in the pocket, his footwork that’s related to things such as accuracy and stuff. I think he’s done a really nice job embracing those challenges that we’ve all given him and working hard at those. Again, it’s not always perfect and there’s going to be some things that he can do better; but for the most part, I think those are the areas, the continuous ball out on time, stepping up in the pocket, playing comfortable from the pocket, especially under pressure, are areas that he can continue to improve on that’ll help him.”
(I wanted to ask you one thing about being a coach on this staff. A lot of coaches in the NFL they don’t want to have anything – they don’t try to concern themselves with anything outside the building. It always seeps in a little bit. How do you coach on a staff like this, on a team like this where things are not going your way early?) – “It’s really fun. I’m privileged to be here. I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to work in this organization. I’m excited to work directly for (Head Coach) Brian Flores. I respect him and I like him. That’s probably where it starts and the same could go for (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) and the rest of the guys on our staff. There’s challenges. I think what you need to do and what I’ve always tried to do and I think what we’re trying to do is just put one foot in front of the other, one step forward at a time, one meeting at a time, one day at a time, one game at a time and continue to strive for improvement. That’s the biggest thing that we’re trying to do right now. There’s a lot of mistakes that I think we can fix from a coaching end to a player end that we’re going to try to do. I think if we can get that taken care of, then the results will eventually come. But right now it’s just the focus on one foot in front of the other and keep going forward.”
(What’s the best thing you’ve seen QB Josh Rosen improve on since he’s been taking over as the starting quarterback?) – “There are a couple things that Josh has done that are good. I think once you become the starter and you get named the starter and you get the chance to work with the first group as a starter, your leadership has to grow in that area. A little bit more of the urgency, a little bit more command. He’s developed his relationship skills with a lot of players – the center especially, the receivers – and the little things he’s looking for. That has grown a lot. I think his ability to continue to – There’s no substitute for repetitions, whether it’s practice reps or game reps, he’s really taken a lot of those in the last couple weeks and that’s really helped him. It’s the same thing I was saying earlier: his ability to diagnose the coverage, understand what he’s seeing, get the ball out on time in the passing game, playing more comfortable in the pocket is an area he’s growing at, that he needs to continue to grow at and get better at. He’s improving.”
(How important is it to have a veteran like QB Ryan Fitzpatrick helping QB Josh Rosen along the way? How has that relationship been?) – “First of all, personally, I really like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). He’s a smart guy. He’s a football guy. He really understands a lot of stuff and he’s a great asset to have for all of us in this organization. His ability to bring a veteran perspective in our whole entire room is really good. He’s seen a lot of things. He’s a guy that I rely a lot on too to communicate with, and he’s also been really good with Josh. I think he’s handled this whole situation awesome. He’s been there for Josh. He’s been a good voice in his ear helping him with some additional things. He’s really been a true professional this whole matter and he’s done a great job.”
(The third quarterback, QB Jake Rudock, young guy, showed a lot during camp and preseason. What did you like about Jake to keep him around for the practice squad?) – “I’m really glad he’s back. I really like Jake a lot. I think the best thing that I could say for Jake is he does his best every day to do things the way you ask him to do it. He’ll do it that way. He’ll do exactly what he’s asked to do and he’s really improved. I think he’s got good mechanics. I think he’s developed and progressed a lot. He’s smart, he’s tough, he understands defense, he understands where to go with the ball and he’s doing a really good job in the areas that he can in practice right now. We’re really glad to have him here. He’s certainly a guy we want to continue to develop.”
(How would you like to see the guys improve over their bye week here moving forward to the later part of the season?) – “I think right now the thing is with everybody, the bye week is what it is. We really have only one practice with these guys. I think first of all, through four weeks, we have to evaluate where we are and we have to try to – I think everyone at the quarterback position is relatively healthy, but I think that’s a big part of it is getting their bodies back together for these last 12 weeks. And just improvement overall. It doesn’t stop. It really doesn’t change for us and what we’re trying to improve on and get better at. It’s understanding our system. We still haven’t completed a full year in what we’re doing here with our system, so it’s still better understanding our system, understanding the defenses, understanding our opponents and a true understanding of what we’re trying to get accomplished on each play and get the ball in the right spot and whether it’s the run game, get the blocking situated properly and things of that nature.”
(Was going to ask you what QB Josh Rosen has done well in his two starts?) – “There’s a couple things we’ve tried to focus on outside of the schematical things and that’s really with him is – I gave him a couple of goals and that’s stepping up in the pocket and playing on time in the passing game – those are two critical ones – and doing his best to take care of the ball and make good decisions. I think he’s really tried to do those three things really well. I know we had the interception last week that got away a little bit from him; but he’s really done a nice job of trying to do those three things good. Playing on time is an area he’s improved on and he has to continue to improve on. But those three things, really.”
(What’s the one area that you think there’s still room for the most growth? I know QB Josh Rosen’s metrics under pressure aren’t great. Obviously, he’s taken a couple sacks. But your view on where specifically he has to be better?) – “I think sacks fall on everybody, including the quarterback. That’s certainly an area that we can improve on: No. 1, have a better understanding of where the issue is coming from and what we need to do to get the ball out of our hands a little quicker there is an area of improvement I’m sure we’re looking for.”
(What area has most impressed you? What would that be?) – “He’s just got a really strong arm and his ability to start putting that together with some reads I think has led to a few big plays for us and that’s been really good to see and hopefully we continue to see more of it.”
(What conversations do you have with QB Josh Rosen when it comes to the dropped balls with the receivers and how he balances out where the ball is supposed to be and where some need to be caught and moving on and helping massage there?) – “Not much to be honest with you. I think it’s really important, and I’ve always said this in our room, is we need to do our job really well before we need to worry about anybody else’s. So, until we perfect that, we need to keep working on what we can do. If we get a dropped pass or something, we need to put the next one on the money and give it another chance. He’s been really great with that, too. There hasn’t bene any dropped heads or bad body language. It hasn’t really been an issue from our standpoint. We just need to keep trying to do the best to give them good balls every chance we’ve got.”
(How has QB Josh Rosen been in the huddle with the guys when that happens. Is it ‘Hey, I’m coming right back to you?’) – “I feel that he is. Honestly, it’s not an issue. Certainly, we all want to make the plays, but there’s plenty of times where we make a mistake too. I think it’s just trying to keep the guys confidence up and stuff. But it’s been fine to me and I know he has some sidebar conversations with some guys trying to maybe build them back up. But it’s been really a non-issue. We just need to keep doing our job.”
