| |
BB: What do you have going this
morning?
Q: Why did you practice in the
stadium yesterday?
BB: Just to kind of get used to it.
It's a little different than it was in the Denver game [and] after
the concert.
Q: How so?
BB: Less sand.
Q: More grass?
BB: I don't know about that. I didn't
say that. Less sand.
Q: Was it better?
BB: There's 50 tons less of sand, or
whatever it was. Just getting used to it.
Q: How important is it to have
situational guys like Kevin Faulk and Jarvis Green?
BB: Situational football is very
important. Every team has them and you try to match them up with other teams
and they're trying to match up with you on some of those situations. I think
it's a big part of the game. The roster limits have increased relative to 20
or 30 years ago. That situational substitution has become more a part of the
game and it's a little bit of a matchup game, particularly on third down but
even on some other matchup situations. So as the rosters expands then the
more of those situational substitutions there are and the more you have to
matchup to. That's kind of been a constant here for a little while, that's
kind of the way it's evolved. I think as the roster expands more, if you had
50 players instead of 45, then you'd probably see maybe more four receiver
sets, maybe more seven defensive back sets, maybe you have a kick off guy,
maybe you have a couple of pure return guys who don't play offense or
defense. You have a couple of those guys in the league now. That's kind of
the way the long snapper has gone, where nobody really has a snapper that
does anything but long snap now. Just as the roster has expanded through the
years, you just get more of that. Everybody has them.
Q: When a guy comes into your system,
do you try to define what he does well and by doing that you find a role for
him?
BB: Well, I think there are probably
a few guys that when they come onto your team, you more than can envision
it, you actually can almost predict that that is what the player is going to
be. In many cases, you kind of hope that's what he's going to be. You hope
that's the way it's going to work out. Maybe a guy like Antwaan Randle El.
When he came into the league you could really see, 'Well, this guy is going
to be really a situational player,' and then he turned out to be probably a
lot more than that. There are the guys that do come in and you kind of hope
that's what they can be. I wouldn't say there are too many of them though,
unless you put them up in that…guys like that where he's a second round
pick. You're paying a high price just to just be situational players, like I
said, it turned out he's really been more than that. You have to be careful
about putting too much into a guy who doesn't play all the time. He has to
be really good at that situation if that's what you want to investment him,
whether it's a high draft pick or free agent money or whatever it is.
Q: Is it at all a challenge when you
get a guy in the draft and you decide that you're going to use him in a
certain role and he's been a full-time player all of his career? Is it a
challenge for him to maybe adjust to that role?
BB: Yes, it can be. But again, I
think when you draft a player, unless you're taking him at the top of the
draft, you're hoping that he can develop into some role, whatever it is. If
you take a guy at the top of the draft, obviously you're taking him thinking
it's going to be a little more than that. When you get a young player, you
just hope that the guy can develop and contribute for you, because really no
matter where you draft not all of them make it. It doesn't matter which team
it is, it doesn't matter which position it is, you just can't say well just
because you take a guy at a certain point in the draft he's definitely going
to develop. You just can't say that. So you hope that the guy can come in
and contribute for you in some way, especially after you get by at least the
first pick, maybe the second pick too, depending on where you're picking.
Q: Can you talk about the strides
that Wesley Britt has made?
BB: He's come a long way, similar to
other offensive linemen that we've had in our system through the years. Wes
came in last year and was on the practice squad. He had a long way to go. He
had a good offseason. He had a really good offseason. He was in good shape
relative to the start of the spring camps this year and training camp,
meaning he had studied up on our system and really worked on a lot of his
individual techniques and fundamentals in the offseason with Dante [Scarnecchia].
As the spring camps went on, and in training camp, he improved quite a bit
and he's a much better football player than he was last year. He's worked
hard, both at his physical training and also his techniques at his position.
That hasn't been anything uncommon around here, but still it's a credit to
him that he's improved as much as he has because he certainly wouldn't have
been able to do this last year at this time. He just wasn't as confident as
what he has grown to be now and I think he has a good future ahead of him.
He's still an improving player and Wes works hard and he's tough and
he has some position flexibility. He played left tackle in college and has
been playing both here for us and played right tackle last week. It's hard
enough to be able to play one tackle, but to have a guy that has the ability
to at least be competitive at both tackle spots, that creates a lot of value
for him and your team.
Q: How does he compare, in terms of
where he is now, to Ryan O'Callaghan?
BB: I would say in general terms it's
comparable. They're a little bit different players. I think they have a
little bit of a different playing style and strengths. I think they're in
the same ballpark.
Q: When you say different styles, can
you elaborate?
BB: For one thing, Wes played left
tackle his whole career at Alabama and Ryan played right
tackle his whole career at California. Wes has shown that he can play
on the right side competitively. I don't think Ryan has shown that he can
play on the left side competitively. I'm not saying that he can't, but to
this point he hasn't really done it and he really hasn't had an opportunity
to do it. I don't know that he's going to get that opportunity in the near
future. Just as an example on versatility. Ryan is big and he's not as tall.
He probably has a little more girth. Wes is a little more linear and that
changes some of their athletic skills that kind of go with that body frame
and build. I think they're comparable. Both tough. They both work hard.
They're both pretty smart. They're both pretty durable in terms of being
able to stay out there on a pretty regular basis. They've been able to take
a lot of snaps and keep going.
Q: Would it be easier for a college
left tackle to make the transition over to right tackle?
BB: It depends on the player. I've
been through so many players. Like I said, some guys make the switch, they
don't care. It's like it's nothing. Other guys make the switch and it's like
watching two different guys. I don't think you really know that until you've
seen them do it. Even if they've done it in another system, whether or not
they could do it in our system, that wouldn't be a given either. Matt [Light] was a good example of that.
Q: Wesley said that Dante spent a lot of individual time with him in the offseason. Is that uncommon
for Dante to do that?
BB: No, I wouldn't say so. No. That's
the way Dante is. He's a good coach in terms of overall schemes and
handling all of the different things that we have to handle in this league,
like what a team like Miami runs, where they run five or six
different fronts just on third down alone. To being a very good fundamental
coach with individual instruction, whether it be rookies like [Dan] Koppen at center or guards like Steve Neal or tackles like Nick [Kaczur], Matt, Ryan and Wes, and guys
that have played for us very early in their career. Guys like [Brandon] Gorin or [Tom] Ashworth that came here that were on the
practice squad like Wes was last year that ended up being regular players
for us at some point in their career. Dante has done that with a lot of
guys. You could look at a lot of our linemen and a lot of them have been on
the practice squad or have been inactive for a long period of time and then
started playing and played at a competitive level. We've had a number of
guys that we can throw into that category.
Q: Does having Dante on your
staff give you more personnel flexibility because you know that he can take
a guy who maybe isn't ready to contribute and get him ready?
BB: Well, I think that's what all
coaches do. I think he's done a great job of it. Just from my experience in
the league, it's something that I've been a part of. Whether it be at Cleveland or New England. Whether it be Orlando Brown or Wally Williams, guys who were undrafted. Herman Harvey was a
fifth round choice. Tony Jones was a free agent. Those guys who
played for us at Cleveland. Steve Everitt was a first round pick, but
a lot of those guys were guys who weren't drafted and didn't play much their
first or maybe second year in the league, but then developed into close to
Pro Bowl players, certainly legitimate, consistent starters and I think
that's just part of having a good line coach, whether it be Dante or Kirk Ferentz or Pat Hill. It's having players that work hard
and buy into the program. Then at some point, having the confidence to put
those players in the game even though they're young and they're
inexperienced and they've been on the practice squad and all of that. You
just have confidence that they'll go out there and play well and then when
the lights come on, then those guys actually step in there and do it,
whether it was a lot of the guys that we mentioned. You can put them all in
that category. The first time we put Orlando Brown out there at right
tackle, there was a lot of, 'Oh my God. I don't know what's going to
happen.' Whether it's Wesley Britt or Brandon Gorin or Tom
Ashworth or any of those guys that have been on the practice squad and
you have a little bit of a memory of them getting run by by our better
players, by Richard Seymour and Rob Burnett in Cleveland and Anthony Pleasant, Ty Warren and guys like that. There were
times when those guys were on the practice squad and it looked like a
turnstile. Steve Neal. He couldn't even get in the way, forget about
blocking them. He just really couldn't even get in the way. Then finally,
you get to a position where you decide to put them in a game for whatever
reason, whether it's because they've improved or you have an injury or
whatever it is, that first game there's a little bit of that apprehension
of, 'Well let's see how they're going to do. We're going to need to get him
help,' and so forth. Really, most of those guys, it's been going pretty well
and again that's a credit to them of being able to step up to the next level
of competition and step up to that challenge and play competitively in it.
Q: Is that the toughest position to
coach and to scout?
BB: I think the offensive line is
probably more of a developmental position, along with quarterback, than any
other position on the field, because you get a 21-year old kid, physically
they're just not as mature, they're just not as developed as a 24-, 25-,
26-year old. Their bodies just haven't matured, generally speaking, like
they will when they get a little bit older and they've had time to train in
the weight room in the offseason program and things like that. One of the
advantages of a player being on the practice squad is that he can really
improve his strength and his strength training, whereas even if the kid is
starting in college, he's playing football all fall and he's playing spring
ball and he's taking a lot of hits at that level and it just holds back the
training. Whereas here, on the practice squad, you're only practicing a couple
of days a week, really. Friday, we're hardly ever in pads. Then you have an
offseason in the regular season and then you have another offseason program
in the offseason. A kid that works hard can make a lot of gains, can make a
lot of strides physically in his physical development. Plus they're maturing
anyway just as an athlete at 21, 22, 23, 24. Those are great years to train
and develop no matter what sport you're in, just physically to mature. A lot
of that goes hand in hand. Then you get some guys who are physically mature
or whatever, the Tony Mandarichs of the world, they're at one level
at 21, but that's the top. They're not really able to improve much because
that's pretty much where they are at. Sometimes that's good enough and then
sometimes other people catch up to them and ultimately pass them. So, it's
kind of hard to see where they are. Whereas if you take a receiver or a
corner in the draft at 21, he's probably, however fast he runs, that's
probably how fast he's going to run. He's probably not going to improve his
speed significantly and it's probably not going to drop significantly four,
five or six years, whatever it is. Speed is kind of a standard in the
secondary or at receiver, not saying it's the ultimate, but it's a big part
of the equation. The size and strength is something that is going to
fluctuate more with an offensive lineman and to a degree with defensive
linemen, too.
Q: Are you going to do more work on Joey Harrington since Daunte Culpepper has landed on the
injury report?
BB: No. We have to be ready for all
of the players that are on the active roster, all 53 of them. Whichever ones
they activate, we have to be ready to play every week.
Q: How has your special teams
improved since week one?
BB: I think everything has improved
from week one. I think we're doing everything better than we did a month
ago. That's all relative to how your opponents are doing it, but relative to
how we're doing it, I think we're ahead in every phase of the game. We
should be. We've had another 20 practice and four games. God knows how many
meetings. So you'd like to think it would improve. I think this is a big
challenge for us this week. Wes Welker, this guy is a really, really
good returner. Punt and kickoffs. We've seen some real good guys like [Terrence] McGee opening day, but he only did kickoffs. Welker is a guy that has
the ball in his hands on both and he's extremely dangerous on both as well
as offensively as a receiver. I think we have a big challenge with him. They
have good coverage people. They're fast. They're very aggressive. They have
good secondary people, safeties and corners that have good size. Miami is a big team in the secondary. Most of their corners are six [feet tall]. [André] Goodman is not quite that tall, but he plays a little bigger. He
plays with a lot of toughness. Will Allen and Jason Allen and
all of those guys. They're a big, physical team in coverage in the
secondary. I think we have a big challenge there. That's really what it's
about. It's just about meeting the challenge week to week. Have we improved?
We have improved, I couldn't put a percentage on it, but I don't know if it
really makes any difference. It's just how well we play against Miami. Last
week it was how well we played against Cincinnati and their kicking
team units. I think this is a big challenge this week. I think it's a little
bit of a different challenge because of Welker. We finally got a little
production out of our punt return unit last week, which was good. That field
position helped us set up a touchdown on Kevin [Faulk's]
return. We got another one called back there at the end of the game where we
could have improved our field position. I'd like to see us being a little
more competitive in the return game on kickoffs. That would help us. I'd
like to return as few of those as possible though. I hope we don't get too
many opportunities. We'd like to see that improve. Of course on the punt
returns, you'd like to see about two dozen of those, but it's not going to
happen. But you'd like to see that.
Q: Why are some guys better at punt
return than maybe at kick return?
BB: Well, it's a totally different
skill. The ball handling is different – punts are harder to handle than
kickoffs. On kickoffs, you catch the ball and run, whatever, 15 or 20 yards
before you really run into any opponents. On punt returns, a lot of times you
have a guy right on top of you as soon as you catch the ball. So
you're talking about a different skill, a different amount of space. Speed
is a factor getting back up the field on kickoff returns. Where a lot of
times on punt returns, speed is not a factor until you can get into the open field
and get running. So quickness is an issue, to be able to make somebody miss who is right
on top of you and get away from the guy in a short space. Obviously, it's
good to have all three. It's good to have strength, speed, and quickness, and
then no matter what you're dealing with, you have a good way to handle it,
if you have the ball in your hands. But if you only have one or two of those – I mean, I'm sure they're all good for all returners, but I'm saying really at the
exceptional level, like with Welker. He's very fast and he's very quick, so
he's tough on kick returns because he builds so much speed and he's so fast
hitting the hole, and he's quick to make people miss. Whereas on punt
returns, he's quick to make people miss and then once he gets a little bit
of space then he's fast, and that's where a fast punt returner is really
dangerous, because when you're covering a punt, you just aren't covering
with as many fast people as you are with a kickoff – you have a snapper, you
have a punter there, you don't have the kind of leverage that you have on
a kickoff, where everybody is balanced and running down the field. You have
guys coming off blocks, and they're trying to get into their lanes, and it's
just not as clean. So you hardly ever start with the coverage fanned out
like you do on kickoffs, where it's all fanned out and then it condenses. On
a punt, you get guys banged around, so you have too many people over here
and not enough over there, and you're kind of trying to weave back into the
lanes. Like I said, you're covering them with bigger players because they
have to protect, whereas on kickoffs you're just looking for guys that can
run and play in space. You have a better team covering kickoffs,
athletically and speed-wise, usually than you do covering punts. Plus, like
I said, you don't have a long snapper out there, so you have one more guy.
Q: Since you've been here, you've
only drafted five wide receivers out of 61 picks. How much of that is by
happenstance and how much of that is by design?
BB: On the draft, I'd say hardly any
of it is by design. You evaluate the draft class. You go to the draft and
you pick where you pick. You have a little bit of, sometimes, ability to
move depending on how you have the players rated. We try to draft the
players that we feel like are best for the organization and best for the
team and have the best value where we pick. Whoever that is, that's who it
is. We need players at every position. I think there's only a couple of
positions that you're really locked out of. That usually has to do with who
else is on your team or who else you drafted. I heard Nick [Saban]
say, and Nick and I have talked about it, they drafted Ronnie Brown with the second pick of the draft last year. Well it would be pretty hard to
come back and take a running back in the middle of the [first] round this
year. Tom Brady is your quarterback, it would be pretty hard to take
a quarterback in the middle of the first round when you have Tom Brady as
your quarterback. I don't think that's really good team management. Other
than a couple of those isolated type of situations, the rest of it, we've
drafted based on who we feel is the best person, the best player that we can
add to our team based on a) what is on the board where we are picking, and b)
what value we place on the players that we are drafting.
Q: When you're putting a guy in on
third down on the goal line and he's only playing that role in the game, is
there any kind of challenge for him to get into the game and play against
guys who have been in there for 10 plays in a row?
BB: I think it's a different type of
game for that person, yes. But I think that to me is kind of like pitcher in
baseball. If you're a starting pitcher then you know every four days, every
five days, whatever it is, you're going to go out there and throw 90 to 100
pitches. You know what that is. You know what you're going to be called on
to do. If you're the starting guard, you know you're going to go out there
and that's what you're going to do every Sunday. If you're a relief pitcher,
now you don't really know. The guy might go nine innings. You might not be
pitching at all. If you're a closer, you might be pitching every night. Try
to get one out. Try to get two outs. If you're a long relief guy, who knows?
You could be sitting back there for a week and then all of a sudden you
don't know which game it is. So we could be on the goal line. We could be
down there at the critical point in the game. We could be down there two or
three times or we could not be on the goal line at all. Whatever the
situation is. Look, you know you're going to punt every game. You know
you're going to kickoff every game. We have the special teams players, there
are those core guys, they do what they do and they're going to have to do it
every game and they know that. It's just a question of how many times you
kickoff or how many times you return a punt. If a guy is truly a situational
player, like a kicker, how many field goals are there? It could be one.
There could be four. It could be none. You're going to have to kickoff. I
think the players who play those kind of positions in sports, basketball,
you're coming in just for a certain role, maybe that role doesn't
necessarily present itself every week. Maybe if presents itself frequently.
It just depends on how sometimes the game goes and what the situation is. I
think it takes a little bit of a different mentality, but again in football
though, those guys who have those roles, are also one play away from [being
in the game]. Matt Cassel is one play away from playing every play at
quarterback. He knows that. We all know that. We have seven offensive
linemen at the game. It doesn't take much for any one of those players to be
in there for 50 or 60 plays. Then again, they may not play at all. It's a
little bit different though when you go to every game like that because your
preparation has to be that you're going to play for every play, of course it
doesn't always work out that way, versus a guy who knows that he's going to
definitely play in these situations. So it's a different mentality. |
|
