Wednesday Media Transcript: Head Coach Ben McAdoo

Head Coach Ben McAdoo

October 4, 2017

Alright, getting ready for a good football team. Their film is better than their record. They’ve played in a lot of close football games. (Philip) Rivers leads the offense. He does a nice job distributing the ball to their perimeter. He has a quick release and knows how to play the game. They have very good size and length on the perimeter. (Keenan) Allen is a special player and Tyrell and Mike Williams are there with him, talented players. (Antonio) Gates is a future Hall of Famer who we all know and (Hunter) Henry and (Melvin) Gordon are coming into their own at the tight end and running back positions. Their offensive line is gaining confidence as they go. They’re a group that is working well on their confidence and physicality. Defensively, they are well coordinated in the Seattle system of cover 3, they’ll mix in some other coverages in there as well. (Melvin) Ingram and (Joey) Bosa are bookends on a good defensive line group who have some depth and (Jatavis) Brown is a fast run and hit linebacker. Does a good job tackling, he’s the leading tackler in the National Football League. Spent some time with Casey Hayward. Talented player, very smart player, has good instincts and a nose for the football. Special teams wise, Travis Benjamin will put a lump in your throat as a returner, he’s had a lot of success. Alright, let’s open it up.

Q: What’s going on with JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul)?

A: JPP has a shoulder that’s bothering him.

Q: Is that something that happened in the game? Did he play through it?

A: It’s something that crept up here over the last couple of days.

Q: Do you expect him out here at any point this week?

A: We’ll take a look at him tomorrow. See how he responds tomorrow.

Q: How impressed were you with Wayne Gallman’s debut?

A: Wayne’s a young player who plays fast. I think you saw the speed when he jumped onto the field. He has electricity in his game. He’s a talented, young player. He has a lot to learn, but he’s very, very willing and works hard at it.

Q: Last week Bobby Hart was on the inactive list, but he was not on the injury report. Is that a coach’s decision change at that spot?

A: I felt it was best to give Bobby a full week of practice and see how he does with a full week of practice this week.

Q: Is he your right tackle this week?

A: There’s a chance. He’s out there competing for the right tackle spot, yes. He had a good practice today.

Q: With promoting (Jon) Halapio, are you assuming (Weston) Richburg won’t play on Sunday?

A: He’s in the protocol.

Q: On Monday you talked about simplifying things. How do you get the players to simplify things and become more instinctive?

A: Just with the calls and the communication. It starts with the coaches. Just going back and detailing the fundamentals. You don’t want to go back into a training camp mode, but you want to get pretty close. Just make it simple. Let players run, hit, tackle, block, catch, do what they do best.

Q: Where do you stand with your running back rotation?

A: We have very capable backs we have a lot of confidence in. (Paul) Perkins is obviously nicked up. He’s a good back. We still believe in him, have a lot of confidence in him. You saw the energy that (Wayne) Gallman brought to the game. Orleans (Darkwa) is a guy we can throw in and be a big, productive runner for us. And Shane (Vereen) is going to play his role.

Q: How much did Gallman help himself in that rotation with what he did on Sunday?

A: He showed it wasn’t too big for him.

Q: He had a nice blitz pickup. Is that one of the questions that you had on him, not the running but all of the other stuff that goes into it?

A: He’s a guy that came in, there was a lot of new things for him. Pass protection was one of them and working through reads in pass protection is different the way you do, it whether it’s a scan protection, whether it’s an inside out protection or cross key type read form, he’s grown there. He still has some work to do. He’s come a long way as a striker as well. That’s something that he spends a lot of time with, whether it’s special teams and from the running back spot. Learning how to strike for a young back, that takes a little time. But again, he’s a hard worker and he’s willing.

Q: Would you ever go with the hot hand as a running back? Or do you believe guys have to have roles?

A: Every player has a role. They play their role going into game. If somebody gets hot, we’ll ride him.

Q: How much does it concern you that you guys haven’t been able to score in the first quarter?

A: We are studying it right now. We are taking a look at it. Putting time and effort to see what we can do to go out and start a little bit faster and get some confidence early in ballgames.

Q: Why do you think you guys have had trouble against tight ends?

A: I think our corners are good players. I think our safeties are good players. I think we’ve played some good tight ends that create matchup problems. Their yards per catch isn’t outrageous, but they do have some completions against us. I think it’s more than just targets, it’s completions.

Q: What about touchdowns?

A: Some of it, they made a nice play last week obviously on the hide route, he got lost in the wash there. That’s a good scheme. You have to give credit to the opponent. Sometimes matchup problems for tight ends, they create matchup problems for you. I think a lot of teams face it in the league today. You have to pick certain guys each week to play ‘Where’s Waldo?’ You have to look at who you need to stop so they don’t wreck a game. A lot of times tight ends don’t wreck a game, but there are some other players that can and you have to make sure you have your priorities straight when you’re going into a ballgame.

Q: Can you still play fast if you simplify things?

A: You can play faster. The more thinking you take out of the equation, the faster you can play.

Q: What makes you confident in your tackles when they go up against Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa this week?

A: Yeah, the tackles have a huge challenge this week, but it’s not just the tackles. Whether it’s the tight ends who are helping or the backs who are helping, the guard sliding to them. The quarterback in the pass game has to be tied to it. Everybody has to be on the same page. The tackles do have to play well this week.

Q: Can you help both sides?

A: There are times you can help both sides, there are times you can help one, there are times where tackles block ends in this league and that has to happen.

Q: You said that Bobby (Hart) is in the right tackle mix, is that a decision you have to make early in the week? Is that fair to keep bouncing Justin (Pugh) back and forth?

A: I have confidence in both Justin and Bobby. I am not going to stand up here and tell you who’s playing tackle for us.

Q: But you know who’s playing tackle?

A: I am not going to stand up here and tell you who’s playing tackle for us.

Q: Before when you said guys can play faster if you simplify things. There is a downside to that, too, right? The reason why you guys were so complicated on defense was to cause confusion. So, if you simply, guys might be able to run faster, but the opponent also might know what you’re doing.

A: I’m talking all three phases. All three phases, just getting back to the fundamentals, playing simple, fast football, and focusing on blocking, tackling, catching, punting, kicking.

Q: What did you think of the free safety position the other day and how do you plan to move forward with that?

A: We are going to play a variety of different guys. They have all earned opportunities, they’ve shown they’re trustworthy. We need to tackle better at that spot, that’s primary. Communication is a big part of it, too.

Q: Does it seem to you that other teams are attacking Eli Apple a little bit?

A: Early in the game, Eli is getting attacked.

Q: How is his confidence?

A: I haven’t seen him flinch, I haven’t seen him flinch. He’s playing the ball better in the air. He needs to continue to compete at a high level. He needs to give it up on the practice field, that carries over to games.

Q: Has he done that?

A: He’s improving as a practice player and he’s improving in the games.

Q: Were Brandon (Marshall) and Odell (Beckham) both limited in practice?

A: They both did some work today.

Q: How’s Odell feeling?

A: How’s he feeling?

Q: Yeah, he was banged up the other day.

A: Yeah, he did some good practice today. He has some things that are ailing him.