Josh Rosen – September 25, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
QB Josh Rosen
(With the way the offensive line has been so unsettled, guys coming and going and now the injuries, how would you describe the challenges from your perspective of dealing with that?) – “Sooner or later I think we’ll get some consistency going, but we’re just trying to find the best spots to put guys in. Whether my offensive line – whatever kind of condition they’re in – I’m always trying to push anticipation, just trying to get the ball out as quick as possible to always help them out. I think it doesn’t really change anything I do. On certain situations, just a little bit of heightened awareness of where my issues are. Like this last game, (Michael) Deiter is a hell of a player; but he’s just not really a natural left tackle, so those kinds of things you just got to be aware of. I dealt with it a lot last year in Arizona, so (we will) sort of continue to figure out – I think it actually makes you a little bit better, because you have to work the pocket a little more, get the ball out quick. Hopefully it’ll help me in the long run.”
(It’s obviously not ideal the situation you’ve been in in terms of you haven’t played with four All-Pros on your offensive line in either spot, so that’s a negative in terms of judging you. Are there any positives do you think in terms of playing with rebuilding units that maybe aren’t as developed? Can you see any positives in that from your standpoint?) – “Yeah, absolutely. As I was saying earlier, I think a lot of the reason that Tom (Brady) and a lot of these great – Drew (Brees) – and all of them can play for so long is because – unfortunately Drew got hurt – but is because they can get the ball out so quickly, so they’re not really taking that many hits and they understand defenses so well, so it can take some stress off of their offensive line and get the ball in their playmakers hands and let them make plays. I think in situations like this, where maybe you have to push the clock a little bit, I think that could be really good for my development as it has been up until this point.”
(Do you have a number in your head as far as how many seconds in a typical play you want to…?) – “No. It all depends on what we’re trying to accomplish, whether we’re sending all our guys out trying to get something quick. Sometimes protection is a little counterintuitive where you might think put as many guys in the box to block as you can. It might work, but you’ve got less guys running routes and it’s still the same one-on-one matchups inside, they just sometimes add players on top. So, sometimes it’s a little counterintuitive and you might spread guys out and you might get the ball out quick, might help them out a little bit. But at the same time, bringing guys in and max protecting is also always valuable as well. I think it all depends in the situation. Clocks are different and objectives for different plays and where you’re trying to go, so I can’t give you a specific answer.”
(You’ve talked about how important the Mike point is in this offense and for the quarterback. Could you let us in on what everything it is that you need to process or that gets processed when that thing happens?) – “I think I will say that I finally have gotten over that hump. I think finally I’m starting to really pick up front IDs pretty well. Dallas runs a little bit more of a vanilla system, because they’re really good at what they do. That’s just kind of their style. It was good for that to be my first game. But I’m starting to really feel a little more comfortable with regards to that front ID stuff that I was struggling with a little while ago. It’s essential to know exactly where your issues are. In certain situations, you’re not going to fix everting. If they’re blitzing – If they blitz and they’re always going to bring one more guy than you, then at least you know where that guy is coming from, so you know which way to slide, where to drift or where to set the protection for the particular routes, because Dan Kilgore is an unbelievable center, but he just doesn’t know all the routes. I think where sometimes if you can fill that void in communication, I think it can be a positive.”
(I imagine you grew up following Chargers QB Philip Rivers. Do you know him at all and what do you admire most about him?) – “Freshman year at UCLA, Noel Mazzone was my coordinator and he I think was Philip’s coordinator at NC State, so he would sometimes stop by. I got to meet him briefly, but I haven’t really got to talk to him too much. But he’s an unbelievable player. When I played him last year, I think he almost was one throw short of a perfect game, which is hard to compete with. He’s an unbelievable player. Coach (Mike) McCoy last year in Arizona with me as well. As he’s installing his offense with us in Arizona, we’re watching a ton of Philip film with his time with the Chargers. (He is an) unbelievable player and it’s fun to watch.”
(Do you remember following him as a kid?) – “Not like very detailed, but I grew up an Eagles fan. I followed Donovan McNabb when I was a kid. (laughter)”
(I just figured it was in the neighborhood or nearby.) – “A little further south, but yeah.”
(I know you mentioned last week your style is aggressive. How would you grade your aggression last week?) – “That’s a good question. I think pretty good. I think we had a goal. I don’t really want to say what the goal was, but I think (we) roughly hit our goal in terms of aggression and whatnot. I tried to give my guys a couple chances. DeVante (Parker) made an awesome play at the beginning of the game. I remember I chucked a third-and-long later in the game. It was kind of throwing up a prayer, but I think it’s all about taking calculated risks. You never want to chuck up a pick; but in certain situations, you definitely want to push it down the field and know who your guys are. I thought I did a pretty good job in terms of aggression.”
(An aggression goal?) – “Yeah, you usually have – You usually think out how you want to tempo a game. It’s sort of a general offensive principle like this is what we want to attack.”
(How many throws downfield?) – “Kind of. Yeah, a little bit. Not exactly, but yes.”
(How do you handle communication and positivity with teammates when mistakes occur?) – “Just a positivity thing. I think sometimes when – Unfortunately I’m a little – I’ve lost a good amount of games last year and a half, but I think sometimes when the game is getting a little bit out of hand, sometimes you just want to reign everyone’s focus and be like, ‘Let’s just play good football that we’re proud of. This is still a game. Let’s have fun, smile.’ If you grab someone’s shoulder pads and they’re pissed off and you make them smile before they leave, I think it always works a little bit. But for the most part, I think in that huddle sometimes you’re just like, ‘Guys, it’s not –” Like when we played – Sorry this is kind of weird to bring up a college thing but we played Texas A&M (and needed) a big comeback, and we’re down a bunch of points. I’m like, ‘Guys, who really cares about that? Let’s just play good football. Let’s do what we were brought here to do and let’s just have some fun.’ I think sometimes with enough of those words of encouragement, it can snowball into actually manifesting itself in real positive plays, drives, quarters and wins.”
(Did it work that day?) – “It did.”
(You seem to have really good chemistry with WR Preston Williams and I know everyone is an individual, but how do you get close to that with the other guys and how long does that typically take?) – “Reps. I really haven’t gotten – I think part of the reason I have chemistry with Preston is because he wasn’t really in the starting lineup with me all throughout OTAs and the beginning of training camp. So, I really haven’t gotten a lot of reps with these guys. DeVante (Parker) is pretty easy to throw to. You can put in it in the general vicinity and he’ll find it. But still getting my chemistry down with Jakeem (Grant). I remember I’d air-mailed one to him at New England. Albert (Wilson) is coming out, so that’s someone new. All of the tight ends – Mike (Gesicki) and Durham (Smythe). ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake) and Kalen (Ballage). It’s just reps. I’ve just thrown with Preston a good amount, so time will come.”
