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BB: Good morning. We're doing a
little work on third down here today and that's been pretty impressive with
what [Chad] Pennington has done for them this year in those situations. He's
right at the top of the league and he's been extremely accurate and done a
good job of using all of his receivers and options there. They use [Brad] Smith on their third down package. That's something we're going to have to
spend a lot of time on. It's a very important situation for us every week,
but particularly this week in the game. Defensively, handling their pressure
packages on third down. We had a couple of problems in the first game. We
need to get those types of things corrected. That will be a big point of
emphasis for us today. That's where we are.
Q: How has Nick Kaczur's progress
been?
BB: It's been kind of a gradual thing. I know it's been frustrating for Nick and for us. He was out for a while then he came back and then he was
out and he was kind of back and forth there. Last week was his most extended
playing time. It's good to have him back out there. There's really no
substitute for an offensive linemen for game reps and game conditioning and
all of that pushing and pulling and hitting the other 300 pounders. It's
practice, but it's just not the same in practice because you don't have the
same type of intensity. I think he has continued to take steps and he took
another one last week in terms of playing time and game conditioning and all
that type of thing and hopefully he can continue to do that and we can get
him back out on the field on a more consistent basis.
Q: He said he'd really been exclusively on the left side since high
school. How did he look on the right side versus how he looked on the left
side?
BB: Well you know, he started on the right side last year and then when Matt [Light] got hurt, then that's when he went to the left side and he was
there. It's true, the majority of the year he did play on the left side, but
in preseason and even in the early part of the season, he was rotating on
the right side with Tom [Ashworth] and Brandon [Gorin] a little bit. Again,
I think that he could comment on it better than I could. Flipping spots for
some people, as we've talked about, is more of an adjustment than for
others. I'm sure that switching sides is a little bit of a technique
adjustment for sure. You play with your inside hand and your sets and all of
those things. It's such a fine line between being right and being off at
that position, at tackle, that's something that you really have to work on.
He has the ability to play flip and play both sides and he's done that for
us. That gives him a lot of value. He's a good player for us.
Q: Is there some skill that he has, I don't know, maybe it's a little
like being ambidextrous, when you have to play both sides? Is there an
athletic skill that you need to be able to make the switch that easily?
BB: Well, yeah, I think that's definitely true. I think it's a good
point. On the left side you see a lot more of the speed rushers over there.
On the right side, generally speaking, you see the bigger, more powerful
guys, both as pass rushers and in the running game. So, for a player to have
the ability to play both sides says something about his overall physical
strength and also his ability to play in space against quicker, faster, more
athletic players, which you generally see on the left side. We've seen a lot
of them over there. The Justin Smiths and the [Aaron] Schobels and the Jason Taylors, all of those guys. You get a guy like Shaun Ellis who plays
primarily on our right this week or [Dwight] Freeney over on the left side
last week or guys like that or last year when we played against Trevor Pryce over there. Guys like that who are some big, powerful guys over there on
that right side and there are some very athletic, fast, quick, explosive
guys on that left side. It does. It takes a good skill set to be able to
play both spots, no doubt about it. That's probably harder than the actual
learning the two positions and learning the terminology and all that. Odd
and even and those kinds of things. It's probably playing against one type
of player and then playing against another type of player who is very
skilled.
Q: How has Reche [Caldwell] fit in and how is he adjusting to the system?
It seems like he's made some progress.
BB: Reche has been great. He's been great all the way through. He works
hard. He hard in practice. He studies hard. He's well prepared. He spends a
lot of extra time trying to get things right. Our system is a little bit
different than the one that he was in, but we flipped him around a little
bit positional wise at different times this year, but he's really worked
hard to get it down and he's made steady progress. He's been great.
Q: It seems like he's been pretty consistent for you and has a couple of
catches for you every week.
BB: He's been consistently productive in practices and games when he's
had an opportunity. He's shown some ability to run after the catch, like in
the Minnesota game, and break tackles and things like that. He's made some
good catches on third down and the red area. I think he has a good skill
set. He's becoming more comparable with our offense and the plays and what
we're doing and all of that on a daily or weekly basis.
Q: How are you using him differently than San Diego?
BB: The passing game, it was just organized differently. I think that's
probably the main thing. The way it was called, the route adjustments and
the routes that they ran are different than the way we run them and how we
convert them or how they converted them. It was just a different system. I'm
not saying either one is good or bad. I don't mean it that way at all. I'm
just saying for player to go from a system where somebody gives you a number
and you run that route, the number is called, versus trying to learn words
that mean concepts and take one route and adjust it differently than the way
another route was adjusted. We adjust one route differently than the way
they adjust it even though it's basically the same route against certain
coverages. It's a different route against press coverage or a rolled up
coverage or that kind of thing. Those things take a little bit of time to
get everybody on the same page on them.
Q: In regards to the [Rodney] Harrison situation, in the last two years,
there has been so many people lost due to injury in the secondary. It is
almost second nature for you and the staff now where you are used to mixing
and matching. Has it maybe made it easier to adjust to it at this point in
time?
BB: I don't know if it's made it… I wouldn't put it that way. I don't
think easy is the word. You take the resources that you have every week and
you try to manage them the best you can and put the most competitive team
you can on the field, whatever position that is, whatever the situation is.
Q: It just seems like there's been so much at that position. It seems
like you haven't had a lot of stability. So many things have happened.
BB: Yes, I agree with that.
Q: Almost more than any other segment of your team. It's been the most
volatile personnel situation. I'm just asking if you've seen it all, done it
all.
BB: We've seen a lot of different combinations, there's no doubt about
that and we've worked some different combinations. I don't know. Maybe the
fact that we've done a couple of those things with guys like Troy [Brown],
at least when they do it now it's not the first time they've done it. But I
wouldn't use the word easy. I think anytime you lose a significant player, a
good player, a great leader then those players are hard to replace, but
that's something that at some point in the year practically every team deals
with, whatever level you're on in football. Unfortunately, it's not anything
that we'd like to see, obviously, or that you'd want to have happen. But,
when it does happen, you just have to manage it and players have to step up.
Sometimes their roles have to change. Sometimes your schemes get adjusted a
little bit. That's what you do.
Q: On Caldwell, is part of his practice responsibilities this week to
give the defense a little bit of a look on Smith?
BB: Yes.
Q: When you make that decision, why Reche? Why not someone else? What
does he give you?
BB: It could be a combination of things. In some cases depending on what
some of the other guys are doing sometimes it's who is available. Sometimes
it might be a player that kind of replicates that type of an athlete. We
could do it with several different guys, but he's not on a lot of our scout
teams. We have Bam [Childress] and Kelvin Kight and we have [Jabar] Gaffney,
guys like that who also will run the route out there and that's where
they're getting some of their work. Smith is not in there all the time. He's
just in there situationally. They spot him in there from time to time. So
rather than kind of moving two guys around in practice, you just plug one in
and when these plays are called then you jump in there and run them. It's
not about anything special. It's could've been somebody else. Reche can
throw. He was a high school quarterback and so some of the plays that Smith
runs are as a quarterback, or at least he lines up in the quarterback
position. I think Reche gives us a good look at that Brad Smith type of an
athlete.
Q: How are they using Smith?
BB: How do they use them? Which part of the game are you talking about?
Q: Is he taking snaps at all?
BB: Yes. Yes. You mean offensively or special teams?
Q: Do they line him up at quarterback at all?
BB: They line him up everywhere except on the offensive line. He's lined
up at running back. He's lined up at receiver. He's lined up in the slot.
Lined up at quarterback under center, quarterback in the shotgun. He's a
gunner on punt coverage. He covers kickoffs. He's pretty good at both of
those. He's been on the punt return team. Early in preseason he actually
played quarterback and kind of ran their offense. Now, when he's been in
there quarterback, it's been more for a situational type of play. Sometimes Pennington is in there. Sometimes Pennington isn't. In other words,
sometimes Pennington is split out as a receiver and then sometimes he comes
off the field and there are five other guys in there with Smith and he's the
quarterback. They've done all of those different things.
Q: How different a player is Ellis Hobbs at the halfway mark this year
than he was last year?
BB: I think that Ellis has a lot better understanding of our overall
defensive system. I think last year coming from college that, from a
coverage standpoint, our techniques and our coverages and our adjustments
and all of the multiple receiver sets and those types of things that we see,
there was certainly a learning process like there is for any player in the
passing game, no matter which side of the ball he's on. But for a defensive
back to kind of get used to that as well as the skill level and the
different types of receivers that you faces from a Marvin Harrison to a Laveranues Coles to a Chad Johnson to Chris Chambers. They're all great
players and they all have different skill sets and different ways of getting
open and different ways of beating press coverage and different techniques
and all of that. A lot of it is very individual and specific, but then a lot
of it is also, from a scheme standpoint, based on formations and splits and
adjustments in one coverage that are different from adjustments in another
coverage and those types of things. There are a lot of moving parts there, but
I think he's a lot more comfortable with that whole process compared to
where he was last year.
Q: Has a guy like Chad Jackson been able to make up some of that time he
missed in training camp?
BB: You never can replace the time that you missed. That was like
40-something practices. You can't ever get those back, but I think with each
succeeding practice the gap narrows a little bit and I think that he has
made good, solid process on a daily basis when he's been out there. But to
say that you can skip all those practices in training camp and catch up in a
few wouldn't attest to why we're in training camp if that was the case. I
think he has made steady progress and he's certainly improving on a daily,
weekly, monthly basis. He's doing things better this week than he did last
week. He's doing things better now than he was doing a month ago, a lot
better and he's doing more of them. That's part of the progression, but you
never want to lose those training camp opportunities with any player, but
especially a young one.
Q: Was he a pretty polished receiver coming out of college?
BB: Again it would depend on who you were comparing him to, but I would
say certainly better than a lot of guys. He'd been in a pretty sophisticated
passing offense. He played outside two years ago and played in the slot last
year. So at least he had had some exposure to the different positions,
reading coverages and playing in the slot. There's a lot going on in there
outside with the different press coverages, rolled up coverages, off
coverages, quarters, all of those different things. In that conference,
there are a number of teams, like LSU for one, that give you a bunch of
different I would say NFL type of looks, particularly as it comes to press
coverage. I think that's the biggest thing for a receiver coming into the
NFL that they have to deal with on an individual basis is having a guy right
up on top of them. You don't see a lot of that in college. There are some
teams that do it, but for the majority of teams, they don't do a lot of
press coverage and that's something that they have to get used to playing
against here at this level. He'd seen that and he'd worked against it. So, I
think in some respects he definitely had a good background coming into the
NFL, but that being said, there's still a big learning curve too.
Q: His coach used to talk about how hard he works and he was kind of
leader in that sense for them. Do you see that now?
BB: Again, he missed a lot of time there, but when he's had an
opportunity he practices well. He works hard and it's the mental part of the
game for any young player that can be a little bit of overwhelming because
not only is it hard the stuff that we're doing, but then it's also all of
the stuff that they're doing and a lot of things at that position that
happen after the snap. You think you're going to run one route but then when
the coverage declares then that forces you to run something else or slow it
down or speed it up or shorten it or deepen it, those types of things that
happen on individual routes and seeing that happen and making sure that
you're doing the right thing and your timing is consistent with the
quarterback, those are things that are harder to get and no matter how much
time you spend in a meeting or how much time you watch it on film, it's a
little different than when you're actually going out there and doing it and
experiencing it and getting the timing of the play. I think that's one of
the factors in that position in the passing game.
Q: Going back to Ellis for a second, he seems like he has the potential
to be a really good leader. Do you see that in him also?
BB: Well first of all I think every
player on our team has leadership qualities. They have different styles – some guys are vocal, some guys aren't, some
guys lead more by example, other guys get more into groups and kind of work
with groups and kind of bring them
together. So that's an individual type of thing. But I think in terms of Ellis'
work ethic, his toughness, his competitiveness, his real ability to want to
help the team and want to play well and play within the team concept, I think
those things are definitely positives. But I think every player in that
locker room has leadership ability. Any person in any group has the ability
to be a leader, and that leadership comes with their attitude, it comes with
their preparation, it comes with their work ethic. If somebody is prepared
to work and they come in and work hard and they are committed to the group,
whatever it is, then how can the group not respect him and not see that as
positive leadership? That's kind of what we feel about our team. But I would
see that in any group, I think.
Q: In your preparation this week for the Jets, I assume that you'll be
taking another look at the first Jets game.
BB: Sure.
Q: Is there anything that has jumped out or stood our more?
BB: I think both teams have improved. I think both teams have changed a
little bit since that game, but I think that game, from the Jets standpoint
is indicative of the way that they've played in a lot of their games.
They're a big-play team, whether it be a blocked field goal, or a kickoff
return for a touchdown, or an onside kick on special teams, or long passes
on offense, or strip-sacks and interceptions on defense. They have those in
every game, some element of them. Whether it be the 100-yard kickoff return
against Indianapolis, whether it be the strip-sacks against Buffalo, whether
it be the onsides kick against the Colts. You can go right down the line.
Those plays show up in every game. That's who they are. They have a very
explosive group of players in all three phases of the game. [Justin] Miller, Tim Dwight on special teams as return guys. Their receivers, the quarterback
are outstanding. [Leon] Washington's screen against Buffalo
for 50 yards or whatever it is. They make those plays on a weekly basis.
Their leading sacker is their safety, so that tells you something right
there and believe me those aren't the only three times he's blitzed. He's
blitzed plenty of other times too – I'm talking about [Kerry] Rhodes. They have 10
interceptions. They're a team that turns the ball over. They're a team that
pressures the quarterback. They blitz. They change up their looks a little
bit and if you make a mistake they make you pay for it. They're a very
skilled athletic group in all three phases of the game. That's what they
are. So you can say, 'Well if you take those plays out,' well those play
show up in every game. Coles runs a slant-and-go against Miami for 60 yards.
Catches a crossing pattern for 50 yards against us.
Q: Young players like Jackson, do you allow yourself to set any
expectations for them?
BB: No. We try to teach them our system. We try to teach them what the
foundation of what they need to know is and get them to learn and execute
that. Then as that process is going along, then you probably modify it
somewhere along the line, whether it's cut it back, expand it, focus more on
one thing than another. Again that could include a lot of different segments
of it. Offensively we have our one receiver packages, our two receiver
packages, our three receiver packages, you have special teams assignments.
Somewhere along the line you modify that. I'm not saying it's the same every
week either. It could be modified in one phase of the game. It could stay
consistent. It could change in another phase. But I think the more you work
with a player, the more you know about the player and then as your
individual team situation changes, which it frequently does during the
course of the season, then sometimes that affects what a player's
opportunity is as well. I think his role is established by the player. What
he does and how well he does it, that's his responsibility. Sometimes
opportunities come due to other circumstances or don't come due to other
circumstances.
Q: It's obviously different for different situations, but what are some
things that you look for when you're looking for a guy to play a specific
scout team role?
BB: I think it's a combination of things. First of all, I think as much
as you can you try to put the player in a position where he can work on
things that will benefit him for your team. So you want to basically play
him…if a guy plays right tackle for you, then I think you probably want to
get him snaps at right tackle on the scout team. If it's a guy you want to
work at right tackle and work at left tackle, then maybe you swing him at
both spots. Part of it is getting done what you need to get done to help
your team progress and improve individually and collectively as a team.
Then, part of it is giving the other side of the ball kind of the look that
they need. I think you have the balance those two things out a little bit.
Sometimes one is more important than another and that takes priority. In
other cases, you only have so many guys so you pick out the ones that are
the most important, who you want to Coles, who you want to be Washington,
who you want to be [Chris] Baker and then plug in the other guys, even if
it's not a perfect match, which it usually isn't, plug in the other guys
where you can so that you get the emphasis on the guys that you think are
the most important for them to identify.
Q: Getting back to how you set expectations. Obviously it's much
different for veteran players than younger player because of a track record,
is that fair to say?
BB: You're talking about at the beginning of the year?
Q: Yeah, I guess that's right.
BB: I'm not really big on expectations. I think if a player has
historically played in your system, you know something about the level of
play that he's capable of. But I really think each year is, you know, each
one of us has to go out there – player, coach, scout, or whoever you are – you have to
go out there and perform to whatever level you perform to that year based on
your performance, not based on past performance. I don't know what,
necessarily, level that is for everybody individually. It's whatever level
they perform to. I think that when a player is not performing to the level
that you think he's capable of, then that's something that you need to
address. But for the most part, I think those expectations are more a result of
what he actually goes out there and does. Now, when a player goes out there
and does something in training camp and in the season, and you know he's
capable of doing that, then that's really what…I don't know if those are
expectations, to me those are performance levels that he's achieved and
therefore you strive to get him to achieve those on a consistent basis. Now,
if he never goes out there achieves them, then are they false expectations
or are they just what his performance level is? So that's the way I see it.
I don't really think too much about, 'Well this guy's going to catch 90
passes and this guy's going to catch 80, and this guy's going to have 400
yards rushing and this guy's going to have 1300,' I really never
think of it in those terms. I think of it in terms of getting everybody to
learn their position, to understand what we're doing, to know their
assignments and their responsibilities, go out there and start playing and
see what the performance levels are. The guys who perform best play
the most; the guys who don't perform as well, they get fewer opportunities
until they improve and can be more competitive with the guys who are ahead
of him. I'm just saying that's kind of how I see it.
Q: I'm sure you don't particularly concern yourself with what people
think outside of your sphere…
BB: Really?
Q: [Laughter] If fans are looking at a guy like Jackson saying, 'Well how
come he hasn't been more of a factor in games in terms of receptions,
etcetera?' Is there an answer to that question?
BB: I don't know which fans you're talking to out there, but it's
probably some of the same ones that said the same thing about Ty Warren three years ago. So go back and see what the fans were saying about Ty
Warren. You can't put a timetable on young players. You just can't do it. A
lot of it is based on opportunity and a lot of it is based on their
progression and there's no set formula for any player at any position on any
team. You could look at every team in this league, in college football, you
can look at every team wherever you want, you'll see some guys that are
start fast and finish slow. You'll see other guys that start slow and finish
fast. You'll see some guys that start at one level and kind of stay pretty
much at that same consistent level and don't really improve a whole lot.
You'll see other guys that will be up and down for whatever reason, that's
just the way they are. They're inconsistent. They just don't play with the
same kind of consistency that other players play with. You tell me how
everybody is going to do, then it will be easy to say where they're going to
be, but it's a very individual thing. I've been in football a long time.
I've seen guys come in their rookie year, first-round draft choices and
think 'This guys is a bust. He's never going to be able to help us,' and the
next year he's in the Pro Bowl. I've seen guys come in their first year and
have great years and think, 'Wow, this guy is really going to be a great
player. Wait until he improves.' And you know what? That's the best it ever
is and it never gets better from that point. In fact in some cases, it
starts to, for whatever reason, to go the other way. You just don't know
that until you've had enough experience and enough time to get a long enough
evaluation to do that. With all due respect, I can't really worry about how
the fans evaluate our team. I just have to look at it and try to do the best
that I can with our coaching staff and we'll evaluate based on what we see.
We don't always see it the same. You and I aren't going to see it the same.
Not every coach sees it the same. Not every scout sees it the same. That's
why you have discussions and meetings and talk about it and try to get
everybody's perspective and in the end try to make the right decision.
That's all it is.
Q: I suspect the evaluation period is also different for every player.
When it comes time, how do you know ultimately whether you have something or
you don't?
BB: I think as long as the player is
making progress, you want to keep working with that player. I don't think
you ever get into a situation where you say, 'This guy is getting better,
but we don't want to work with him anymore.' Now, sometimes because of the
roster limits, if you're forced to do that, like at the 53 cut, at the final
cut, there are players that every
team releases at that point where if you could keep those players longer and
keep working with them and watch them keep improving, maybe those players
would become a lot better than where they are at that particular point in
time. Players like Keenan McCardell, guys that I've had, Keenan McCardell
and Matt Stover, and Troy Brown, and guys like that who early in their
career couldn't really make or play for the team that they were with and
then went on to become some of the very best players in the league at their
position. As long as they're improving, you want to keep working with them.
Once they stop improving, then I'd say you have to decide how you feel about
their performance level. If their performance level is good enough, even
though they're not improving on a year-to-year basis, then you might be
happy with it, you might not. If it's not, then when you find somebody
better, then you try to get somebody to replace them. Again, I don't know if
there's any specific time frame for that, although I do think with younger
players, you can't wait forever. It's not like college where a guy is on a
four year, five-year scholarship program and he fools around for a couple of
years and red shirts and then plays on the scout team and then he comes in
and plays his senior year. It's hard for us to be on that program in this
league. We just can't. We don't have time for that. |
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