Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo
October 29, 2015
Q: Obviously you’re never going to trade the two touchdowns you got on special teams and defense, but how much did the small number of offensive snaps in the second half not allow you guys to get into a rhythm?
A: You said it best. We had three series in the second half. First one was coming out and we ended up putting some points on the board; obviously, we’d like a touchdown there. Second series, we had things going, we were moving the ball fairly well and didn’t convert on a third down, but we felt good about moving the ball and we were winning the down and having some success there. The third series was four minutes. I believe we had 16 plays, 15 or 16 plays there in the second half. But special teams and defense did a great job putting points on the board and we’ll take it.
Q: What did you see in Orleans Darkwa that made you think he deserved some playing time?
A: Orleans has been doing a great job on special teams, he’s a core guy for us, does an outstanding job there for us, we know he has some talent. Had a good skillset to play running back and contribute in that area and his number was called and he responded well.
Q: Do you expect that to continue moving forward after the pretty impressive drive he had there?
A: It’s still early in the week, we’ll see how things go. He had a good day at practice today.
Q: Can you sustain that four running back rotation with each getting touches in a game or would you rather see fewer men in the rotation?
A: I like competition. I like it. I like getting everybody involved and getting their hands on the ball. Different games call for different plans and we’ll have to see how things go this week.
Q: Their run defense is giving up 4.9 a carry, is that a misleading stat? You just look at that and think, well, anybody can run the ball.
A: I think they’re a young defense that has improved quite a bit here as of late. They’ve won three out of four, they’re playing at a high level, they’re playing fast, they’re playing hard, and it’s going to be a tough environment for us to go and play in. We need to be ready to go and handle the chaos. That type of environment is a tough environment to be able to execute there, so we have our work cut out for us.
Q: What is that chaos like down there? You’ve been an opponent down there. Is it different?
A: I coached there for a year, too. It’s an advantage. When that place gets rocking, it’s tough to quiet it down.
Q: Just one more on Darkwa for a second, what do you like about him as a back? What is the thumbnail description of him?
A: I think he has a good feel. He has the vision, he has the instincts where he can find the crevice. They’re tough to find, he can get those tough yards and make them look easy at times.
Q: Are you at the point yet where you are going to try and figure out what you’re going to do with Will Beatty when he comes back?
A: He’s been out here working the last couple days and doing a nice job and doing everything he can to put himself in position to come back as soon as he can. We look forward to having him back when he’s ready.
Q: Do you give him snaps on both sides or are you just trying to focus on one side at this point?
A: He’s doing a nice job out here. He’s working, getting his feet wet, getting his shoulders going. We’ll be ready for him when he’s ready to come back. Excited to get him back.
Q: The offense has scored two touchdowns in the last two games. That’s obviously a level of frustration because this offense is expected to produce a lot of points, isn’t it?
A: Yeah, obviously, we want to execute at a high level. Couple of weeks ago we didn’t do that. We had opportunities to do that and we were in position to do it. We failed to execute at the level we want to execute at. Last week, we credit the defense, we credit the special teams and Dallas, they did a nice job on defense. That’s a pretty good defense and we feel that if we had more opportunities and executed in those opportunities, we would’ve had some success.
Q: You have your two receivers practicing fully this week. Do you expect that to provide a little jolt?
A: Yeah, we expect it. When you practice well, it correlates to success in the games. It’s Thursday, we still have a few days left before the game, so we need to go and take advantage of our opportunities out here on the field. There was good energy out here today on the practice field. It was a much better day today than yesterday, and we’re going to keep moving forward there and have a good day tomorrow, a recovery day, and Saturday will be a big day for us.
Q: How much of a difference do you notice with Odell Beckham this week than the past couple of weeks health-wise?
A: I’ll say this, today he was sticking his foot in the ground, he was coming out of his breaks with some speed and energy and made some nice plays.
Q: Did you not see that the past couple of weeks?
A: I’d have to go back and take a look at the film, but I like what I saw today.
Q: As an offensive coordinator, when a guy like JPP comes back—let’s say he was playing for another team—do you just simply run the same offense or do you have to do things because a good playmaker is out there?
A: In terms of when we see someone like JPP coming back? I think you have to test them out a little bit and see how ready he is to go. He looked good out here today, I’ll say that.
Q: Last week when they flipped Greg Hardy to the other side, away from Ereck Flowers, is it too simple to say it was almost like a sign of respect that Flowers held his own in that situation? What do you see?
A: I think they have five, six pretty good pass rushers on that defensive front, and I think they’re trying to get them all on the field and he does a good job for them on the inside and they were moving him inside a little bit to try and get everyone some reps, everybody some opportunities. That’s how I see it.
