Brian Flores – October 7, 2020
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Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I was wondering your thinking on staying with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick as your starter in Week 5.) – “We feel like he gives us the best chance to win. I think he’s had some rough moments like some other players, but we feel like he gives us the best chance to win.”
(I just wanted to get your thinking on the difference between QB Tua Tagovailoa as a backup with his health and Tua as a starter, because you mentioned you obviously don’t want to rush him back, don’t want to feel pressured to put him into a position where he has to play – where he must play. In your mind, what’s the threshold for him? It’s okay for him to be a backup but may not quite be a starter yet?) – “I guess I’m struggling with the question. What’s the threshold? He’s the backup. He could go in right now any snap, so obviously we’re confident he can play just like any backup player. We’re confident in any player who has a backup role to play in the game. So I guess we’re confident from the standpoint that on any snap, he could go in there. As far as him being a starter, we just don’t feel like he’s ready there just yet. That’s kind of where we’re at with him and other players. There are some other rookies who just aren’t ready to kind of take that step just yet, but he’s doing all the right things. Right now, we feel like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) gives us the best chance to win. I would say overall ‘Fitz’ has played pretty well. He’s had some rough patches like I just said earlier, like some other players, but we do feel like he gives us the best chance to win.”
(Just a logistics question – are you guys going to fly out Friday or Saturday? And I did want to ask about the San Fran QB situation. Not sure if 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo is going to return to practice but 49ers QB Nick Mullens and 49ers QB C.J. Beathard are probably two other guys you’re going to have to prepare for. What’s it going to be like preparing for maybe three quarterbacks instead of one or two?) – “We’re going to fly out Friday. As far as the quarterbacks, all three of them are good players. There’s film on all of them. We’re pretty much going to have to watch them all. I think we’ve done that as a staff already. We’re going through that with the players already this morning. All three are good players, but I wouldn’t say it’s just the quarterback. It’s really, it’s everyone on offense – obviously the o-line, the tight ends, they’ve got good backs, they’ve got good receivers. They’ve got a good scheme, so the quarterback is just one part of that; but we’re really preparing for the entire group. It’s a good group.”
(Two-part question, but they’re completely related. They’re not separate. The first one is how long was the discussion regarding a potential change at quarterback on Monday night and then in a related question, how long is QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s rope at this point in the season?) – “Any discussion we have a staff, they’re just going to remain internal. As far as – I don’t even want to use the term; but look, we expect ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) to play well. We expect everyone offensively, defensively and in the kicking game to play well. We’re not putting negative energy into the atmosphere, so we’ve just got to prepare well this week, practice well this week, fly out to California and try to win a football game against a good group – a very good group, actually.”
(I know one thing you suggested Monday was maybe at the quarter mark of the season, how you’d take a look at playing time allocation. Did you emerge from that conversation with your assistants thinking that there would be some changes at some positions? And also, I wanted to ask you about now that the NFL has made basically a six-day turnaround to get a player in the building for a tryout and sign him; does that make you and General Manager Chris Grier less likely to bring in outside guys for looks?) – “Less likely, yeah. I mean it’s hard to bring someone in with the six days. You threw like four or five (questions) at me right at once, so let me try to – I’m trying to backtrack here. (laughter) So yeah, it’s hard to get somebody in, obviously. We’ve already kind of gone through the thought and planning if we’re going to do something really for next week, and I think every team is kind of going through that same process. As far as the meetings with the coaches from a playing time standpoint, like every team, we want to play our best players, our most dependable players. We talked about situations where we want to play different guys and maybe we want to play some guys more, play some guys less; and we’re going to try to probably practice that way today and this week, and then see how things shake throughout the course of the week. But we always want to get our best guys out there, our best group of guys, our most dependable players. I think that’s everything.”
(I have only one question for you. It’s regarding WR Preston Williams. Obviously he looked so good last year, was on pace to set team records for rookie receivers. How does that compare to how he looks this year? I think he’s at roughly 20 yards per game in receiving. How close is he to the Preston Williams we saw last year?) – “I think coming off an injury, you never know how things are going to shake out. I think he’s doing well from a physical standpoint. Preston is a hard-working kid. He’s obviously talented. I think he’s there physically. We’ve just got to find different ways to get him the ball and he’s got to come through for us when we do throw him the ball. So again, we’re four weeks into the season. That’s something that was discussed – part of the discussion with the coaching staff – how to get him more involved and hopefully we do that in the coming weeks.”
(I wanted to get clarification on T Austin Jackson’s status and his practice participation. Also, can you assess how T Julién Davenport played in his role last week, and if your stance is to still start the best five guys, figuring out the combination, however it works?) – “I thought Julién played well last week when he went in there for Austin. I thought he played well. I thought he did a really good job. Austin, as far as practice, he won’t be out there today. Hopefully – he’s still kind of working through some things but hopefully tomorrow, we’ll see. So just from that standpoint, you won’t see him today. But Julién played well. Yes, we’ll always try to play the five best guys. Obviously Julién will be part of that – Rob Hunt will be part of that – conversation. Again, we’ll see how this goes throughout the practice week and we’ll take it from there.”
(You mentioned earlier about QB Tua Tagovailoa not being ready yet to be the starter. I wanted to ask, how do you think he can get there with mental reps? Is that something he can do there or do you have to see him on the field before you know he’s truly ready?) – “I think he has to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s in here every day, he’s working, he’s practicing well. I think he just continues to do what he’s been doing. He’s learning every day. He’s getting better and improving every day. If he just continues to do what he’s doing, he’s on the right path, on the right trajectory. Again, we’re not going to get an opportunity – we didn’t have any preseason games. That’s not going to happen as far as getting a different way or a different look at this. So for him, the only thing he can do is come in, do a good job in meetings, do a good job in the walkthroughs, do a good job in practice and then when his opportunity presents itself, which as the backup could be at any point in the game – I think the 49ers are a great example of that, having played three guys already – that he’s just got to be ready. That’s really it.”
(I wanted to ask about RB Matt Breida. He made a couple of plays in the passing game last week. I was wondering what stood out to you about Breida and how you think he’s coming along.) – “Yeah, he made some good plays the other day. Look, he’s an explosive kid. Fast. He’s practiced well (and is) getting a few more touches. I think he is playing well and hopefully he continues to play well. He’s a hardworking guy and it’s important to him. I think he’s doing a good job.”
(I wanted to get back to QB Tua Tagovailoa. Could him getting any kind of limited snaps in a game kind of help towards his progression to becoming the starter?) – “Potentially that could help. But there’s a lot of other things to that – how the game is going, rhythm of the offense. There are so many things pertaining to the team that you don’t want to do something for one specific person. I guess I’m not – I wouldn’t be in favor of something like that; but I understand the question.”
(Clarify something for me: would you be comfortable playing G/T Jesse Davis at left tackle to get G/T Robert Hunt snaps at right tackle? Or can Hunt play left tackle?) – “Robert can play left tackle. I would feel comfortable playing Jesse at left tackle. I’m also comfortable playing Julién (Davenport) at left tackle. We’ll just see how the week goes. Thankfully we have some guys we feel good about going in and playing left/right (tackle). All of those guys have played both positions. But at the same time, we’re going up against a very aggressive defensive line and a very, very good defense. This will be a tough, tough challenge. But we’ll see how this goes over the course of the week. I’m not saying Austin (Jackson) is out of the question either. Let’s just take it one day at a time. But yeah, I’m comfortable with all of those guys playing really left or right. I think (Offensive Line Coach) Steve (Marshall) will do a good job of getting them ready. We’re going to need to play well from an o-line and really a team standpoint against this team. They’re very good.”
Steve Marshall – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall
(I know you’re not a doctor, but do you have any early feel for how T Austin Jackson is doing whether you’re going to have him this week and how has he played this year do you think?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s a day-by-day thing and we start practice back tomorrow and whoever shows up. Obviously the whole thing is we want him a full 100 percent and ready to roll. So it’s day-by-day and we’ll make our plans with him or without him. We’ve just got to get ready to go. Austin has had a great start to this season. I think he’s learning every time he’s gone out there. I’m very, very excited for his future and I think he can be a heck of a pro offensive left tackle.”
(We had Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey on earlier talking about G Ereck Flowers and calling his start to the season very good – praising both his leadership and on-field performance; but he said that Ereck is competitive but quiet throughout the week. In your experience – all of your years of offensive line experience – how are quiet guys able to lead and how does that apply to Ereck Flowers?) – “Ereck Flowers is a quiet man from talking; but when he does talk, he’s an experienced player. He’s been through some ups and downs in his career, and he’s – Ted (Karras) and Jesse (Davis) and Ereck – you guys have asked a lot about the young guys, but the real credit goes to those guys as far as helping young guys, and Ereck is certainly leadership-wise, and he does it with his play. He has played very well his first four games, and I think he’s done well and he’s exceeded expectations, and we’re going to count on him moving forward as we are the rest of the guys.”
(I wanted to ask you how do you think T Julién Davenport performed and what has he shown you so far early in the season since you joined the franchise?) – “Julién is another guy – a quiet guy. He’s been around the block. He’s in I think his third year, fourth year in the NFL, and came in and played in a tough situation. We were down, we had to throw it and he did a nice job. He’s a smart guy – very intellectual guy and has really worked hard to improve on some of the things we talked about in the offseason, and going forward we’re going to count a lot on Julién.”
(What have you noticed about T Robert Hunt when he’s in the game as that extra offensive tackle or tight end? I noticed he’s been in there a few times in each and also how close to ready is he in terms of understanding the playbook and scheme?) – “Rob has been – he’s in there because he’s a big, strong man, and he has done a great job. He gives us a matchup where he can handle defensive ends and things like that because of his athleticism and run blocking. Rob’s right there. Rob – we’ve got Jesse (Davis) and Austin (Jackson), and Rob’s right there. It’s not anything Rob isn’t ready to handle, but he’s a young player and he’s worked extremely hard here in practice. We’ll see moving forward, but I think the sky’s the limit for the guy. I think he’s a tough guy and he’s learning the pro game, which how do you learn it? You get out and play at this position, like we’ve talked in the past. It’s a repetition position, and he’s performed well in the limited time he had, and moving forward, I see him – we’re counting on him heavily quite a bit moving forward.”
(I always find it funny when T Robert Hunt comes on the field and everybody announces there’s an eligible receiver on the field, and kind of let everybody know that’ hey we’re going to run the ball here,’ but also you guys have done a good job doing some play-action passes, kind of getting TE Durham Smythe and TE Adam Shaheen to kind of leak out with Hunt on the field as well. I just wanted to ask how do you guys kind of deal with that when it’s announced to everybody?) – “That’s the rules. You’ve got to. If he comes in as an eligible receiver, you have to announce it every day and then again, yeah sure, if they want to think we’re going to run the ball all the time; yeah, we are going to run it and then play-action off it. That’s advantage offense in my book. Yeah, that’s one of the things we do to kind of get guys and trying to match up at every position, where we think we can gain an advantage or a win. Putting Rob as an eligible tight end in our ‘heavy’ package or whatever you want to call it, gives us some advantage on certain things we like to do. I think moving forward, again, we’ll see each and every week – each and every week poses different problems as the 49ers are this week. They’ve got a big ol’ athletic front and we’ll see kind of where we think we need to put guys moving forward. That’s what I just left doing before interviewing with you fine gentlemen.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores has always talked about the philosophy of playing his best five offensive linemen. I wanted to know how you feel about that considering if you have to play without T Austin Jackson, it might require some restructuring of your offensive line if you’re playing the best five?) – “That remains to be seen. I think that the philosophy always is, especially in this league and especially – you’re working every day to get your best five guys on the field and there’s no question about that. that’s why going through all the OTAs and the offseason – of course, we didn’t do OTAs this year, but the early camp and things like that, is to put guys in different positions to handle any kind of situation that comes up. It’s a collision sport and some guys get nicked up and you’ve got to try to do your best to get your best five guys on the field to give you the best chance to win. That’s why we practice and we meet long hours is to make sure that we’re in a position to do that when we have to obviously, which is probably 100 percent of the time that we’re trying to get the best five guys on the field at all times.”
George Godsey – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Tight Ends Coach George Godsey
(You’ve known Head Coach Brian Flores a little bit longer than some of the other coaches on the staff, and certainly some of us. How do you think he’s taken this 1-3 start for the team with some high expectations after everything in the offseason and maybe some close games that maybe didn’t go you guy’s way?) – “The close games are what they are and we know sitting at 1-3 with a long season still left to go. It’s a quarter of the season done and we have some things that we need to correct and fortunately we have time; but obviously it’s got to start soon enough. That’s how ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) is. It’s day to day. There is nothing where you look ahead at certain opponents late on. It’s one game at a time, one day at a time. We try to improve on the mistakes that we’ve made, whether it’s playing, coaching, and rectify that during the week. And come Sunday, it’s our time to see where we are at versus that opponent.”
(I saw that all three of you tight ends had over 20 snaps in the game on Sunday. There was one particular catch with TE Durham Smythe where he gained 12 yards. I went back and looked, you guys were in 13 personnel and you guys went empty. How unique is that for a tight ends room to be able to have three guys on the field and be able to spread things out like that?) – “We’re fortunate because those guys do a good job. That’s a good point because they are playing position where maybe it’s a position where usually it’s DeVante (Parker) or Jakeem (Grant) or one of the guys outside as a number one receiver on that particular catch that you’re talking about – No. 1 meaning the most outside extended receiver. Those guys do a good job, and it really started last spring to take the concept and grasp it – not just your particular role maybe for that practice. That’s how we teach it. That’s how we do it in that room because we feel like we’re versatile enough to play those roles. Those guys accepted the coaching and fortunately that was a good play for us. It was a catch and a first down.”
(I noticed that FB Chandler Cox had his first career catch. I know he hangs out with you guys a lot, even as a fullback. Does that catch get credited to the tight end room or the running back room?) – “Chandler is part of the muscle room in there with the blocking. Whether it’s tight ends blocking or fullbacks, we kind of put that together as far as the physicality of our offense. He’s in our room from a teaching standpoint. The guys were happy about that. It was a good catch. It was another third-down conversion. It was a short-yardage play. He’s throwing his head in there and blocking a bunch of guys, so it’s good for him to get that reception for the first down.”
(How have you seen defenses shift to covering TE Mike Gesicki over the last couple of weeks after he had that big day?) – “It’s really a bunch of different sort of defenses. In the passing game, there is more than just the opponent (and) what their actual scheme is. It’s the play, it’s the read, it’s the pass rush, it’s the situation. Is it a downfield route, is it a route at the sticks, depending on the down and distance? There are a lot of things that go into that. I think it’s hard to really just answer with maybe this specific defensive scheme. Certainly, sometimes they are – whether it’s putting a guy underneath and a guy over the top – taking care of his route, so to say, in the progression. But there are other times where maybe we’re open and the pass rush affected us, and the read, we were on the back side of a read. There is a lot that goes into it. We’ve just got to make the most out of our opportunities. We had one early on third down that we converted that was ruled an illegal forward pass. Then he made a good catch on the sideline. Then we had one really close to the end zone for what would’ve been a big play. We stress the opportunities when they are thrown our way, to take advantage of them.”
(Do you and Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey feel like there is any element of surprise when Durham Smythe gets thrown the ball? He is clearly competent at it. Is there an element of surprise? Also, is that a skill he’s gotten better at since he’s been here?) – “I think Durham is really fluid at catching the football. He does a good job on normal downs blocking for us. When it’s a normal down or a run situation and he’s out there on a route, he does a good job of executing his role. We have Mike (Gesicki) in a lot of the obvious passing situations in. That’s really where maybe he’s not getting the amount of targets that maybe Mike would get; but we feel confident about Durham’s ability that if the ball is thrown to him, to catch it and get yards like he did last game.”
(I think it was in the first quarter where it was a third-and-1, where TE Durham Smythe caught the ball. Educate me here, it looked like he was pretending to run block. Is that a strategy increasing in popularity where offensive linemen or tight ends pretend to do one thing such as run block, and then all of a sudden, it turns into a pass? Am I onto something with that?) – “A little bit. It’s kind of more on the eyes of the defender. He sees a block and then goes into his run keys. They’ve got an experienced linebacker group last week with (Bobby) Wagner and (K.J.) Wright. Those guys have played a million games, so certainly we wanted to give them some eye candy to help with that play. There was a little bit of a different formation too, so there was a lot that really went into that play that kind of got them thinking. He did a good job of executing his assignment. That’s not easy to do because there is a lot of trust that goes on in the blocking of that. Then to leak out at the right time, that was well executed. We got a good run after the catch. It was another third-down conversation that as a group, we try to take pride in, whether it’s an obvious passing situation like in two-minute or in the red area. We try to make the most out of those opportunities.”
Robby Brown – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown
(Just a very general basic question. What stood out to you after reviewing the film about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s performance in the last game?) – “As you watch the game – I think that’s the great thing about this organization, the coaches, the players that ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has put together – as you watch the game, you’re looking at, ‘what could I have done better in certain situations? How could I have helped more?’ But I think Ryan (Fitzpatrick) addressed his play after the game, and as the quarterback you get all the credit and all the blame. I think my focus is more on how I can do better. I think he made some good plays, made some throws that there were times that we all could have done better; but I think that’s what stood out to me is I was looking at maybe how I could have helped more in certain situations, maybe in the red zone or something like that – helped him or (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) more or whatever. I think everybody kind of looks inward to start with and that was my focus watching the game.”
(How is QB Tua Tagovailoa coming along in his development? It’s been a little while since we talked to you about it. How is he doing kind of behind QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and with just learning the offense and kind of getting more comfortable?) – “I think he continues to improve every day. He comes in, he works hard from a mental perspective. He works hard from a physical perspective. He’s sitting under a really smart guy right now that helps him out. Like I’ve said in the past – I know I’m not saying anything new to you guys – but ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is very open to helping him. Just different things that he’s learned over 16 years under center, so that helps a lot. I think he asks good questions. He asks good questions during the game sitting there listening to the play. Then when we come over and look at the pictures, he asks good questions, so I think his development – I’ve been pleased with it so far. It’s just keep doing what he’s doing and going in to prepare every single day. He’s done a good job with that.”
(I’m kind of looking for an education here as well as a question for you about the offensive line. I know you coach the quarterbacks room, but the quarterback’s responsible for the entire offense for the most part, right? So I’m curious with regards to the offensive line performance, how do you guys approach evaluating what the offensive line affords you to do in that quarterback room? Does it change based on the way they protect and the way they block as far as how you kind of coach those guys?) – “We have parameters set up so that the offensive line kind of tries to know where we’re going to be. Are we going to be setting up here? Are we going to be setting up here? And there’s a lot of communication that goes on. I remember my first year as a quality control in New York. I sat in on one of the player meetings with the offensive line. They would meet – I can’t remember what day it was – but that was my first go at it. I was maybe three months into the NFL and it was amazing the communication between the center and quarterback. Then the center’s communication to everybody else. So I think it’s very important that those guys are on the same page. They spend a lot of time talking to each other – center, quarterback, everybody talking about different things that are going to happen in the game, this protection versus this player, this protection versus this player or this defense. I think it’s very important that we’re all on the same page; so yeah, it does have an impact and there’s constant communication between those groups as to what they can handle, what they can’t, that kind of stuff.”
(I wanted to see if you could kind of take us maybe into what a week or day is like for a backup quarterback and what you sort of ask from him given that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick may have a little bit more responsibility in the game plan?) – “I would say that it’s very similar. Obviously it’s not the same. To sit here and say it’s 100 percent exactly the same – that would be a textbook answer for you. But I would say you go through – there’s obviously less reps for a backup quarterback – but they come in and they go through the same checklist of watching personnels, watching situations, watching all their defensive personnel. That’s kind of what we start with – what’s the defensive personnel, what are they going to try do? Watch the personnels that are going to be in the game plan. Then you watch the situational football and you try to get all that stuff together, and then towards the end of the week, you look at all that stuff and everybody starts seeing what they’ve got in the game plan; but I would say it’s very similar to a starter. You want them to be prepared to go in and do the exact same things with fewer reps, so you have to do it from a mental perspective. Standing back there, you hear the call in practice as the backup quarterback and you go through the reads, so you have to get every single mental rep that you can possibly get. Whether it’s walkthrough, 7-on-7, whatever the drill may be, you have to get the mental rep and then get your throws in other areas and go through them. It may not be a live rep that you get that throw, but you try to work each individual route at some point and you may throw that individual route to somebody that may not be running it during the game, but you try to get that mental aspect of it and the physical aspect of it.”
(You obviously have a Hall of Fame quarterback in your front office and various Dolphins quarterbacks have said over the years that Dan Marino has at times sat in on quarterback meetings and exchanged ideas. Has he done that much with you and your group this year and has he helped QB Tua Tagovailoa much?) – “I would say that obviously Dan (Marino) is a huge part of this organization and when I first got here, as I was here and there wasn’t hardly anybody in the office – I had just gotten hired, and somebody knocked on my door. You know when somebody knocks on your door, you don’t expect to turn around and it be a Hall of Famer sitting there you know, because I was looking at my computer. (laughter) So I turned around and it was Dan and he sat down, talked with me, talked about who my family was, that kind of stuff and just said, ‘hey man, I’m here if you have any questions.’ He has sat in on some of our meetings and does, and he’s always a great resource to have around. He’s a great human being and obviously was a great player, but he’s been extremely nice to me and it’s been a great situation just to get to know him. I know I’ve picked his brain on some things, so why wouldn’t you with that guy being around the organization and he’s great to have around.”
Eric Studesville – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(We know obviously about all the great intangibles with RB Myles Gaskin. From a skillset standpoint, what do you believe is his above average NFL skill?) – “I think the first skill that he possesses is a tremendous work ethic, because that is something that he’s brought and used, and that’s what has given him the opportunity that he’s in right now. Physically, I think you see him on the field. I think you see his toughness, his ability to get on the edge of tacklers, to finish on some guys at the second level. We’re still working on pass protection and those things, but he’s really, really improved since last year on catching the ball and working and running routes in space, and I think we’re starting to see some of the production possibilities in that. Overall, it’s his work ethic that he brings to work and what he does every day. He’s passionate about it. He wants to be good and he continually is working in that direction.”
(The numbers and production haven’t been there for RB Jordan Howard so far. What can he do to get things going in the right direction? Obviously there needs to be better blocking up front when he’s carrying the ball, but for him personally, what can he do to get things going?) – “I think it starts with me. I’ve got to find ways to help him and get him in positions where he can be more productive for us. He’s doing everything we’re asking. He’s working, he’s practicing hard, he’s preparing. He knows what to do. Things haven’t gone well to this point, so we’re just going to go back and keep working. I’ve got to find ways to help him more and more and put him in a position where we can find some productivity.”
(I know the media and a lot of folks were wondering in the beginning of the year why RB Myles Gaskin was the guy versus some of the veterans. I think now it’s becoming more of a question of how did he get here. I know last year he was inactive for most of the year until he became that guy. What did you see from Year 1 to Year 2 that led him to being able to be where he is now?) – “I think as last year went on, he played in the third quarter of the season right before he got hurt and hurt his ankle. I think what you saw from him is really getting more confidence in that he can perform and play at this level. I go back to what it is, I mean he came in from day one and he has a tremendous work ethic. That has given him a chance. I just believe that that’s a skill that is developed like anything else. He brings that and he uses that, and he’s doing the same thing he did last year, working to learn and prepare and be ready. I think what we are seeing now is the confidence that he can go in and play and perform at a high level. He just continued, he worked on the things we needed him to in the offseason, particularly the space things, catching the ball, running routes in space. Whatever you give him, this kid goes and does it. That’s a credit really to him and how he works every day.”
Josh Grizzard – October 6, 2020
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard
(I wanted to talk to you about WR DeVante Parker. You’ve been here since 2017. To see him go from a 309-yard season up to over 1,200 yards. He spoke to us about just being a little bit more professional and knowing how to manage the nicks and bruises daily. I just want to get a bird’s eye view of your take of WR DeVante Parker from where he came when you first got here to where he is today.) – “It’s a testament to him, that he’s been able to play through some of the things that he’s dealing with lately. Just to go out that early in a game – he’s been having a good year – and gets nicked and comes back, and not only comes back, but has a great game and plays well. It’s good to see from him because you can tell that he’s maturing and that’s the leadership role that we’ve talked about in the past. For those young guys, whether its Lynn (Bowden Jr.) or Malcolm (Perry) or (Kirk) Merritt or Matt (Cole) or any of those guys, just to see that ,I think it’s a great example for the room and not only for the room, but the whole offense and the team in general.”
(You’ve been here for a while – long enough to see the relationship WR DeVante Parker has with WR Jakeem Grant. One, can you describe the relationship? And are you surprised that DeVante made a cartoon based on it?) – “No. Not surprised in the slightest. It’s ‘Unc’ and ‘Nephew.’ I think it is what it is. (laughter) It’s funny. They are connected at the hip. You see them all the time. They enjoy competing together. They keep it light in the room. They’re are guys that can pick on each other and everybody knows it’s good intended. It’s fun to be around. They bring juice. It feeds everybody else, whether it’s our position group or other groups. It’s pretty cool, their relationship.”
(I’m tempted to ask when you’re going to be a part of the cartoon, but my real question is related to WR Preston Williams. He has 17 targets, six receptions. How do you get that percentage up higher?) – “In terms of the cartoon, I’m not sure. We’ve got a lot of work to do in here, so it’s kind of hard to have any free time. But in regards to Preston, I think he’s been improving each week. There are things that we design to try to get him the ball because we know he’s a good player. Whether the coverage dictates it or it doesn’t go to him, it kind of is what it is; but he’s working hard in practice. He’s improving. I know his time is going to come and he’s got the right mindset. We’re moving forward with the process, just stay on track and it will come.”
(On WR Preston Williams, I know he and you guys don’t like to make excuses; but have you seen that knee injury have any limitations early on? Maybe how explosive he’s been able to be as a receiver?) – “I’ll let Preston talk about where he feels percentage wise; but again, I see the improvement there from week to week and practices. I think his time will come. It’s just a matter of when that is. A lot of coverages dictate where the ball goes and things of that nature.”
(Talking about WR DeVante Parker, with us he’s very low key. How is he in terms of his personality with the other wide receivers and how have you seen that grow in the time you’ve been with him?) – “He’s one of the leaders in the room, so any kind of relationship he has with those guys, joking back and forth, especially with Jakeem (Grant) and Isaiah (Ford) and guys that have been around. To your point, he is definitely a man of few words compared to other people we’re around; but I love his personality type. He just goes out there and works. You can tell he enjoys the game, and to see that kind of fighting through injuries and that maturation process is great to see because I can tell that he’s happy. That’s the main thing.”
Danny Crossman – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(What’s impressed you about K Jason Sanders in your nearly two years around him now?) – “I think the biggest thing that jumps out at you is how coachable he is. He’s always looking to try and improve weekly, almost daily, every time we go out on the practice field. He’s willing to try and work on anything you give him and then if you scrap it, you scrap it; but he’s always open and willing to try whatever you may suggest. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
(I wanted to ask you what was that kick that you did that you pinned them inside the 5-yard line? What do you call that and what goes into the thought process of making that kick in that situation?) – “Not to get into what we call it. We’re just trying to change things up, give some different looks, change up what we’re doing. See if we can’t maybe – like it worked out – help ourselves in terms of some field position, but like anything we’re doing, we’re just trying to give them a different look and see if we can’t come up with a play.”
(Just following up, I thought that was real interesting because nobody expects to return kickoffs at this point in time. I guess my question would be how hard is it for the kicker – your kicker – to consistently place the ball within the 5- or 7-yard area when asked and then what is the research showing about whether it makes sense to even try that? You know what I’m saying?) – “I do and this question sort of ties into everything we’ve talked about. I think it goes back to Jason (Sanders) and him being willing to, ‘hey, let’s look at this, let’s look at that.’ But I think as we all know, a lot of those kicks, when it comes down to the end of the day, you’re at the mercy of the bounce. You get a good bounce, then it’s a good kick. If it’s a bad bounce, then it’s not a good kick. (laughter) But having confidence in Jason and obviously anything we do, we work on where we feel the percentages are good enough to attempt it – to put it on during a game.”
(Sort of a two-part question. You mentioned it goes back to K Jason Sanders. I’m curious if he was the first person to bring up that idea? I know a lot of teams do it, but was he the first one to suggest it. And also going back to the previous question, it worked so well for you, I wonder is there is a limit you think as to how often you can pull that off or I can see where some fans might see it and say “why don’t they just do that a whole lot more often?”) – “I think there’s a limit to everything. I think you’ve got to be smart and diligent in terms of what you’re doing and when you’re doing it. If you go to the well too often on anything, I think it’s eventually going to not work out like you hope it would; but in terms of where it developed, I think we’re always looking at things and it’s just something that you work with Jason and you work with Matt (Haack) and you work with any specialist, and you’re just trying to explore, ‘okay, what do we like and what do we not like in terms of what we could possible be able to execute in a game?’ And to be able to do that, you’ve got to be able to do it in practice and it goes from there. It’s a group effort on everything we’re trying to do in terms of trying to make a play to win a game.”
(Going to the onside kick, it looked like a pretty good kick. The guy made a nice catch. If there’s ever a chance in the world that he bobbles and RB Matt Breida is running through there real fast like a – well, real fast, Breida’s fast – I guess what were your thoughts on that kick and the strategy to place it over the first lineman?) – “I think you’re just trying to get numbers. What are the numbers? Where do you think you have an advantage? So it’s like anything you do, what kicks do you like and then what numbers do you have? There’s always a balance; but we liked what we saw. We just weren’t able to pull it off.”
Josh Boyer – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(CB Noah Igbinoghene – what can he do better to prevent what’s been happening from happening again in terms of receivers getting open behind him? What can he do differently or better?) – “I think a lot of it starts with just more attention to detail, a more focused practice. Like I’ve said before, practice is the closest thing that we get to game action, so I think when things become habit and you do it over and over again, and your focus to detail from a play-to-play standpoint – which Noah, he’s a diligent worker. He’ll come in and put a good day’s work in and hopefully things will improve and we ask that of all of our guys. The things that aren’t going so well for guys, we work hard to try to improve that and the things that they’re doing good, we try to build on. So I think a lot of it goes to practice and really just focus on a play-to-play basis.”
(You’ve had some good plays from your defensive tackles. You’ve also had some runs up the gut that have gained sizable yardage. Would you say your defensive tackle play has been good, average, below average?) – “I would say it’s like all positions, whether it’s the defensive tackles, defensive ends, linebackers, safeties, corners – I think we’re looking for improvement. We’ve had some good plays. We’ve had some plays that you’d like to play better. I think our thing is a play-in, play-out consistency, and I think when you can build that over time, that allows you to be a pretty good defense. I would say we’re striving for improvement in all areas, and it really comes down to consistency in our play.”
(I wanted to ask when you guys are playing zone and CB Noah Igbinoghene has a player – a receiver – that kind of runs right by him, maybe even rubs him a little bit, is he supposed to stay in his zone area or is he supposed to trail off with that runner and follow him? And do you think his ability to maybe switch from man to zone from play to play needs some work there?) – “Again, I think you try to be multiple in all things that you do; so whether it’s from a front standpoint, whether from a pressure standpoint or a coverage standpoint, we’re going to ask guys to be multiple in what they’re doing, and then obviously we’ve got to have all 11 guys working on the same page. I would say that starts with me. I need to continue to improve. I need to get our guys – all 11 guys – to be on the same page and know and understand the calls. That’s what we’re working towards.”
(On a similar topic, we talked to S Eric Rowe yesterday and I asked him about what was happening at the back end. He talked a little bit about communication. He talked about checks at the line and when guys go in motion, there seems some communication issues going on. What do you see and how do you solve that?) – “The offenses that we’ll face – and we’re going to see another one this week that motions as much as anybody in the league – so there’s always going to be communication whether it’s from the front or the back end. Again, a lot of that starts with us in practice and I wouldn’t say all of the errors that we’ve had have not been communication. Some of them are just basic stuff that it’s a focus thing from play-in, play-out from multiple players. Obviously for us to good consistently on a down-in and down-out basis, we have to be able to handle motion, we have to be able to know and understand our calls and then once we can get to that point, we’ve shown spurts or flashes of playing good defense from time to time. But on a down-in, down-out basis, we’re all striving to improve; and like I said, that starts with me and that’s what we’re working to do.”
(San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo is dealing with a high-ankle sprain. He may or may not play and 49ers QB C.J. Beathard came in after 49ers QB Nick Mullens and led a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter that Monday night game. I wanted to ask how do you prepare for three quarterbacks instead of maybe one or two and do you think it’s a schematic thing with 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense that will maybe make it a little bit easier for you guys?) – “I think Kyle (Shanahan) does an outstanding job with his offense. We will prepare for all three quarterbacks just like we’ve prepared for everybody that’s on the roster. So you go in week-in and week-out, sometimes you have a better idea that this guy’s going to play a little bit more than the next guy from the quarterback position, so we’ll make our guys aware of all three guys and we’ll be prepared no matter who plays. Like I said, Kyle does a great job with his offense. There’s so many explosive players that they have. Their offensive line is really athletic, so it’s a big challenge for us.”
(How would you describe the challenge of trying to deal with 49ers TE George Kittle and what’s the best way to go about trying to minimize the impact he can have on the game?) – “Again, I think they do a very good job with their scheme. They’ll move him around. They’ll use him in multiple facets. They’ll hand speed sweeps to him. He’ll be a focal point in the passing game. He’s a guy that we’ll obviously need to know and most everybody will need to know where he is and what our plan is on how to handle it, and I don’t think it’s just one way that you do it. Obviously he’s a really good player and I know he’s had the injury, but he didn’t miss a beat last week. So we’ll definitely – and again, they have a lot of other good explosive players. These guys can hit home runs from anywhere, so we’re going to have to do a good job making sure all 11 guys for us defensively are on the same page and we know where their skill position guys are and we know that they’re going to move. We just need to be ready to defend what’s coming at us.”
(I really enjoy watching this DT Zach Sieler. He kind of opens my eyes. He’s all over the place. What are some of the things about his approach that you really like?) – “One thing, and I would say one thing that makes the job enjoyable, is that we have a lot of guys that put in a great day’s work. They come in and they work as hard as they possibly can. They’re constantly striving for improvement. I think Zach (Sieler) embodies that. I think when you watch Zach on the field, he plays with great effort, and that’s probably what sticks out most. Obviously you love and respect that about him, and he’s constantly in coaches’ offices trying to get better, trying to watch more film and then he goes out and practices as hard as he possibly can; and then he’s going to play as hard as he possibly can. And like everybody else, there are some things that are good that he’s doing and then there are some things that we’re working on to try to get better; but Zach is a hard, hard worker and he’s a high-effort guy. He’s really a joy to be around and again, I do, I feel lucky that most of our guys are like that. They’re very highly motivated and they’re very diligent workers. We know the task at hand in front of us and we just need to keep striving for improvement and try to get to a point where we can play down-in, down-out consistently football.”
