Mike McDaniel – September 24, 2024
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Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(With QB Skylar Thompson hurt, will your starting quarterback next Monday be QB Tim Boyle or QB Tyler Huntley? Or will it be a Boyle-Huntley competition this week to determine that?) – “Well, I think that as Skylar (Thompson) progresses, I think that leaves variables more vague. I think we have an important 48 hours to kind of see where he’s at and then also to get in front of the rest of the quarterback room and talk with them, talk with coaches, talk with some of the players to get them as most comfortable with the varied uncertainty and we’ll just have to take it a day at a time, there’s a lot of stuff on the table. And in moments that are broader than just the quarterback, just the overall offense and the team in general, I think you have to open up your mind to a plethora of different solutions considering your current answers, as objectively you could evaluate haven’t been the right ones.”
(QB Tim Boyle seemed to move the offense. What did you see between him and QB Tyler Huntley that tells you, you’ll have him up over Tyler?) – “Well, that was something that we utilized the week to kind of asses. You want to be fair to all parties, you don’t want to rush to judgement and assume that people will assimilate – fully knowing that it was going to be difficult this past week for a guy getting there on Tuesday to feel comfortable leading the offense, also a veteran guy so you just let it play out. At the end of the day, we thought that the quarterback affects a lot of players, down-in, down-out and that Tim (Boyle) was the better option for that moment on that day.”
(QB Skylar Thompson was obviously your guy after training camp going forward – this was a moment you had planned for, were you surprised by the level of quarterback play that you saw on Sunday?) – “I was surprised by a bunch of things. I think you go into a game planning for more than three points. I think there was surprising moments within that game from the quarterback play from Skylar (Thompson) that I know he wished he had back, just the same as – I think it’s important to not take anything for granted and to be extremely accountable and critical across the board, including yourself, so you’re looking at the decisions that you’re making. And then I think there was also some surprising contributions too that to the quarterback by way of other players that compounded to make it not a game that any of the players are used to, one that I’m used to or the fans watching that have gotten used to how we play offense. So I think the NFL is full of surprises. I think it’s either – and there’s no gray, generally you’re either very happy or very, very motivated and annoyed with whatever happens. I think there was definitely some results that were not what we were expecting, but it doesn’t matter how you feel. Your job is to take whatever it is, however unexpected, and figure it out. So I think that’s where we’re at.”
(When you reflect on games like that, or let’s just say this Sunday’s game specifically, have you ever felt like delegating offensive play calling roles or do you feel like that’s something you’re still comfortable doing moving forward?) – “Yeah, well, whatever it is I think I’m a veteran enough to the National Football League that I expect to field those type of questions randomly when your production isn’t near anyone wants. And I think it’s important as a head coach and a leader to take accountability for all decisions made, and then as well as like, what if we had numerous touchdowns that were terribly timed play calls that players just made right? I think you have to – I don’t just make that assessment. I think it would be incredibly irresponsible if I just went with the results. So I think every time that I call plays, I’m de facto, doing so in the light that I think it’s the best for the team. I wouldn’t be able to – the game is not about me, first and foremost. The cost of the television packages to watch the games would be a lot less if people we’re trying to watch me. So I think that inherently, I take the responsibility super serious and every time that I’m calling a game, it’s based upon doing the best for the team and the second – I mean I wouldn’t hesitate to change that procedure because it is my call; I would change it in a heartbeat if I thought somebody else gave the team a better chance to win. So ultimately, you just have to be fully accountable for every decision you make knowing that the results could be any way, and I’m fully accepting of that.”
(Do you have any kind of update you can share on the status of T Terron Armstead and CB Kendall Fuller?) – “Both in the protocol. Good conversations with them today, but we will – no timelines and day-to-day and just making sure that they’re getting back to full health and assessing the plan after that. So I don’t really, I couldn’t rule anybody out for anything, but I really don’t have a scope either, just because it was so fresh and we’re just taking it day by day.”
(We know philosophically you like outside zone runs, something that’s a big part of this offense. You seem to be having more success this year running inside, is that something you have seen as well, and might that change your philosophy going forward?) – “No, I think by and large – so the outside zone is the starting point for our technique and fundamentals, and basically every play in the plan has an accompanied tool if there’s overplay to that play. I think based upon the structures that we’ve evaluated during the game, as the opponent trots their plan out on the field, I think there’s been some pre-snap and post-snap overplay to kind of our more perimeter runs, and as a result we’ve tried to get some stuff going with some alternative schemes that we’ve always ran. But I think we’ve gotten those called a little bit more, and we’re still working and developing those types of results, so the four-yard plays and the eight-yard plays, 16-yard plays, etcetera, etcetera. That’s – you’re always kind of adjusting for the defenses, as well as the players that you have. We’ve had some good combination blocks on the inside zone and gap stuff, so we’ll see how that plays out moving forward.”
(You were one of the better teams when it came to red zone touchdown scoring last year, not so much this year. What do you attribute the change to and how do you plan to overcome it?) – “You’re always going to have people that are trying to stop you from scoring touchdowns, and I think there’s been a lot of points that we’ve left on the board when we’ve gotten closer to there. I think there’s – first and foremost, I’m always about evaluating the decisions and when stuff doesn’t work, generally it’s hard for me to be like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m absolved of all responsibility.’ So there’s some directions that had I known X, Y or Z, I would have done differently. Then I think there’s also one of the pieces that I think is supremely important, this being the first time that I think since I’ve been here we’re below .500, and it feels way too long as it is. I think the big thing as a team, in this case if you’re questioning the offense, is that you have across the board accountability, and the hard thing is, when you very much dislike the results, for you to go above and beyond to say, ‘OK, well how is that my fault?’ And so as a team when you’re in situations like this, or as an offense when you’re talking about the overall score of games or just your red zone efficiency, you get to learn a lot about a lot of your teammates and it goes one way or the other. You either stay miserable with the results or you collectively fix them, and the only way that will get fixed is if everyone’s putting all the burden on their own shoulders individually, so that we can have more winning football plays because currently, we’re not doing right by the football team in taking three points and making them seven.”
(Are you and General Manager Chris Grier planning to bring in a third, healthy quarterback to join QB Tim Boyle and QB Tyler Huntley?) – “I would say that Skylar (Thompson) is more day-to-day, so that’s a little – but at the same time, Chris (Grier) is steadily at work and that’s important to have depth at that position which we’re finding out the absolute most difficult way. So those conversation will continue probably through NFL Tuesday, which is Wednesday.”
(There’s been a couple reports that QB Tua Tagovailoa was going to meet with a neurologist early last week and another that there was a scheduling conflict and now it’s been pushed to this week. Just from you, what is the plan for Tua to be meeting with doctors and specialists?) – “For me, the plan has never changed, and he has a meeting with neurologists this week. The plan hasn’t changed and it’s being executed, so that’s kind of where that stands. I don’t know reports, I don’t know whose sources are who, but people should just talk to me. I get the real information. (laughter)”
(When it comes to WR Tyreek Hill and after watching film, is there something in particular that you caught, maybe something the opponents are doing, something that you guys are not executing?) – “Oh yeah. A lot of the times – this just in: the team likes to get Tyreek (Hill) the ball; I like to get Tyreek the ball and it can be as simple as calling more plays regardless of attention. But I think that the more realistic or what you try to teach in terms of football and how plays relate to other plays is the second tight end on a play can determine how many targets, or if Tyreek can get a target on that drive, or the backside receiver on a play. When you execute football plays and every drive isn’t four or five plays, you can appropriately get the ball to Tyreek and not have some pass plays where he’s No. 1, but maybe the coverage doesn’t present itself and that doesn’t – you have two people doubling him, no force defender and you didn’t run it. So I think the execution of our offense in its entirety has to do with some of the key players that make plays for us and how much they get the ball as well. I think that we’ve never really had an issue getting them, or Tyreek in particular, targets. I think he might have been the No. 1 targeted receiver per route run last year, top three at least, but we also haven’t had – it’s been rare to have a three-game span where you’re as clunky drive-in, drive-out. So there’s a lot to be answered. I think the more that people can see how individual results are tied to the eleven people executing their jobs each and every play, and then how well are their jobs being communicated by their coaches, and then what’s the frequency where I’m calling plays that are putting players in good positions. All of those things are coupled to kind of assess that, but the bottom line is we are better when he is involved and there’s a lot of people that have their hand in his involvement.”
(I don’t think we’ve asked you about WR Odell Beckham Jr. in a while. Where is he at in terms of his progress from his injury?) – “I’ve seen some good progress, and I’m optimistic for when his window opens up and we will see how his body responds. I do know there’s been some very intentional good work and that he hasn’t had the setbacks that we’ve made sure to avoid.”
(If QB Tyler Huntley is your decision this week to be your starting quarterback, do you need to teach this team 20-25 new plays this week? Is there a big change that needs to happen?) – “No, if that would be the direction, which is a possibility for sure, the good news is within the framework of the offense, there’s typically some of those principles that are put in intentionally for the preseason and that’s something that was built within the offense back from 2012 – actually, ode to Robert Griffin III on that one. So that’s kind of the art of the illusion of complexity – can you add some stuff? If you do, the only way that you can is that there has to be some overlap into what you already do. Just because you don’t go in and completely change from ground zero everything you do, it has to be within your verbiage and ways that they’ve learned how to identify people and who you’re reading and all that. I think there’s a balance – you add some stuff that features a player if it’s worth it. If it’s something that can fit within the framework of the other stuff that players do, how to block it and then how can you bridge some of the stuff that people have done in the past to what you’re going to do this week. It’s a fine balance; it’s not an exact science but it’s the same thing as there was plays built within the plan for (Tim) Boyle when he came in to know what his history had been, to have evaluated him on tape to know concepts that overlap with stuff that we do, and you try to call those when those players are in so that guys can perform at their optimal level on the big stage. It won’t be a full sale, but if we were going to go in that direction, we would probably introduce a couple of things that for the coaching staff there’s a lot of familiarity with, specifically from our history with multiple teams. And then for the players, they have gotten a dose of that since they have been here, and I think in the first training camp install, I had a couple zone reads in. And I think, I’m pretty sure that in preseason 2022, Game 2 maybe, Skylar (Thompson) actually ran some.”
(If QB Skylar Thompson is not able to work this week because of his rib situation, does it become an open competition, or do you just have to go with your gut and your decision and go with one guy and build it around them?) – “I think you have to kind of make a decision, for sure, just because of the limited reps and kind of splitting those up. It’s already difficult, and then weighing that against there’s also the scenario of Skylar (Thompson) coming back but in a limited fashion, which kind of makes it even more gray – you’re probably going to have to make a decision before you’d like to just to give the players a chance to adequately perform on Sunday. So those are things while we are very open at this point, there’s some decisions that are to come earlier, and then depending on how Skylar plays out and some of the conversations play out amongst the staff and Chris (Grier) alike, I think we’ll come to a definitive conclusion on how we want to work through the week and I don’t see a scenario where it’s going to be (Tyler) Huntley and (Tim) Boyle, just because of the limited time.”
