Jim Caldwell and Jerry Schuplinski – May 9, 2019
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Thursday, May 9, 2019
Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell and Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jerry Schuplinski
Jim Caldwell:
(What are your earliest impressions of QB Josh Rosen so far?) – “I’d probably lump him in with the rest of the group. He works hard. He’s just learning right now. He came here a little bit later than when the other guys got started. But he’s working at it, wouldn’t you say?”
Jerry Schuplinski:
“I’d agree with that. I think he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s prepared hard. We’re only allowed to meet with him for a certain amount of time each day and I think based on his questions and everything, he seems to be in his playbook and studying. That’s all we can ask right now.”
Jim Caldwell:
(What can you take from QB Josh Rosen’s rookie season and the struggles that he had there with the Cardinals?) – “I think he’s got a clean slate here. He’s in a new system (with) a different group of guys and we’re looking forward.”
(When you watch the film, what traits of QB Josh Rosen’s do you think work well into the offense that you are trying to install?) – “I don’t think there’s any question that he’s a talented guy physically. All of the other parts of the game will come as time goes on and he’s working at it.”
(You’ve worked with a lot of young quarterbacks. How long does it take them to have the game slow down for them in terms of understand and reading coverages and things of that nature?) – “It varies. I’ve been around a while and you don’t ever lump them into categories. You don’t make comparisons because they’re all different. They use what they have and we try to look at them and use their traits and the things that they do well to assist us in moving the ball.”
(I’ve watched QB Josh Rosen’s film going back to UCLA and his rookie season. He looks effective in play-action. I guess that comes from his college background. How much does the fact that he has a background in play-action and behind center help in his development?) – “I think it’s one of those things that this league is different. This league is different in a lot of different aspects because one’s familiarity in college does not necessarily translate. I can tell you that he’s working at everything that we have asked him to do and I think he’s progressing.”
Jerry Schuplinski:
(QB Josh Rosen is known as a cerebral quarterback as well. What have you seen from him in terms of his ability to absorb what you’re telling him as well as questions that he might be asking you to fully grasp everything, not just what you are doing but why you are doing it?) – “I would just say that as a whole, we’re pretty happy about our room. I think they’re all working hard – Ryan (Fitzpatrick), Jake (Rudock) and Josh (Rosen). It’s a really good group, so you’ve got to be on your game to come in and present information to them because they’re going to have a lot of good questions as a whole. Josh is included in that. I can just tell those guys are studying hard and working hard at everything that we ask them to do and they’re prepared. You can kind of see the look in their face. If you’re going through something and they kind of turn their heads a little bit, you know the question is coming. I think that’s a sign of them just wanting to be sure and wanting to make sure that they’ve got everything down.”
(QB Josh Rosen was a quarterback who was sacked 45 times last year – a big number. Is there a certain balancing act that you guys as coaches have in terms of maybe – for lack of a better term – building up confidence in a guy as young as Josh after what he went through?) – “I think Jim (Caldwell) kind of hit it on the head in general with Josh when he said once he got here, that’s what we’re working with. So what happened with him in the past – college or pro – he’s kind of got a clean slate here. I think just in general, with every guy, we’re trying to … The best thing that you can do to build confidence is get your nose in the playbook and learn the system. It allows you to play faster, slow the game down and that’s probably the biggest things that they can do.”
(In your experience in evaluating a player at quarterback, how much does his rookie season tell you about his potential capabilities and that kind of thing, and how much is it just kind of scratching the surface?) – “Certainly looking at (Josh Rosen) in college and some of his stuff last year, it’s hard to answer that in total because we’re not exactly sure what they’re always telling him or asking him or what his responsibilities are in that offense. So in order to get a full complement of what he can do, we kind of want to judge him in our system I would say, first and foremost. And what else were you asking about that?”
(So you throw that out. How much does it tell you about a guy to see him play as a rookie? There’s so much of a learning curve it seems like at that position in particular.) – “I think experience is a good thing. So the fact that (Josh Rosen) got to have the experience that he did on this level is a really good thing for him, in terms of kind of understanding the speed of the game and all of that. But other than that, I don’t know. We like his physical skillset and that’s part of the reason that he’s here to come in and compete with the rest of the guys.”
Jim Caldwell:
(And what are your thoughts about that?) – “I think overall, you have to look at their whole body of work. In this league, you can find guys that have a great year one year and they disappear literally the next. It’s the body of work over an extended period of time. So (Josh Rosen) has just been through his first year, so he’s working at it and he’s obviously trying to put himself to be in position to have a little bit of a better year than last year.”
(What do you see in QB Josh Rosen specifically that makes you think you can work with this guy?) – “I don’t think it’s any secret that he has talent. Obviously he has physical talent but he’s also very smart. Any time you have a guy that has those kind of characteristics, it’s a good thing. But also, you have to keep in mind that everybody in that room has it as well. Obviously ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has been around a long time. He’s a smart guy that works at it. Jake (Rudock) is the same way. He’s been working at it and been in the league a little bit. It’s a great room in that regard. Jerry (Schuplinski) and I have an unusual opportunity to coach three really smart guys that have ability. But we all have a long way to go.”
(When you’re having this competition with your quarterbacks, is there a concern about getting them equal time with the same weaponry or developing chemistry with players like WR Kenny Stills or that nature?) – “I think that one of the things that we try to do is we try to get each and every guy as good as we possibly can, whatever that takes. Sometimes it varies but overall, I think they’re doing a good job of competing. They’re working at it. They’re being evaluated, obviously, on every snap. And I think they enjoy that challenge.”
(In terms of an evaluation, for an offensive lineman, we don’t really know. That’s the bottom line.) – “Are you saying we because you used to be an offensive lineman? Or we as reporters? (laughter)”
Jerry Schuplinski:
(No. I don’t know. I have no idea. There’s stuff that offensive linemen could be doing that I don’t see. But with a quarterback, kind of everybody sees. Is it going to be as simple as whoever plays better, that’s the guy? Or are there other factors that you’ll be evaluating to decide?) – “First and foremost, we’re just trying to get each guy better in our offense right now. That’s the understanding, that’s the mental part of it. I think that’s a process that takes time, certainly in OTAs and training camp. We’re excited to get to OTAs next week for all of those guys to see what they can do. I think they’ll all be working in with similar guys and getting pretty much equal reps with everybody. Then, eventually, we’ll just see how they develop and how they go. I think we’ll probably let the process come to us and see who is playing well.”
Jim Caldwell:
(And what role do intangibles play? Leadership, how guys respond to a guy and stuff like that?) – “I think that’s really all part of it. I think (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores will take a look at that and make some determination. (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) will as well, as you look for guys that best reflect what we want to do and are able to get it done. The intangibles are important. All three guys are obviously quality people that are smart people and that are very capable physically. So we have a great group to work with and a lot of competition.”
Jerry Schuplinski:
(Do you guys go in with a plan and then maybe you see something from a guy and think you might be able to do some different things? I’m sure before you picked up QB Josh Rosen, there was a certain plan in place for the offense. How much does it change depending on which guy is in there?) – “I think right now, in this phase, especially being a new staff, we’re really just trying to focus on installing the core concepts of our system: protections, schemes, run game and basic information. That’s what is really important right now. Then, as we get developing here in the next couple of weeks, maybe some of that starts to take shape like ‘this guy can do this a little bit; this guy can do that a little bit.’ Then we’ll start to build it. That’s probably more game-plan-specific I would say.”
Jim Caldwell:
(You’ve been around quarterbacks a long time. When you first see a guy, like in QB Josh Rosen’s case, does something jump off right away when you see him? Most of the time with quarterbacks, you’ll see something right away that you can say ‘Okay, here’s a different little niche.’) – “One of the things about the National Football League is the fact that you have so many different types of quarterbacks that play in this league, and they all have something unique about them. There’s a uniqueness that I think makes a difference for them, and everybody has their own characteristics. As we mentioned before, just talking about all of the quarterbacks in that room, they’re smart. They have physical talent and they’re working at really the core concepts of what we’re trying to get taught and what we’re trying to improve, to put themselves in the best possible position to compete.”
Jerry Schuplinski:
(How far along are the quarterbacks in terms of learning your playbook and QB Josh Rosen coming along later in the game, compared to the other guys. Has he caught up? Where is he in that?) – “I think he’s in the process of catching up. He’s certainly not caught up to everybody probably quite yet; but I think we took the right approach with that. I don’t think he’s going to catch up in a week-and-a-half’s time. But if we take a little bit of a longer view, hopefully in the next couple of weeks he’s there. You can certainly see signs of progress.”
(Part of the reason I asked is I think I saw a reference where one of QB Josh Rosen’s teammates at UCLA said he learned the playbook in like three days over there.) – “Yeah, I haven’t seen that (quote) but he’s doing a good job so far.”
