Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo
September 10, 2015
Q: Where do you view your offense going into the season? Maybe in comparison to where you were at the start of the summer or at this point last year?
A: I think we’ve been slowly but surely making progress. We had a good couple days of work here. Monday was nice to get out there, a little bonus day and we’re right in the middle of the preparation phase and got a couple days to go [and] got to take advantage of them.
Q: What do you expect out of Odell coming off his great rookie year?
A: I expect Odell to go out and execute. He’s had a nice couple weeks of practice. You didn’t get to see much of him there in New England, obviously, but he’s had a good couple of days and we’re excited for the season.
Q: How much does Victor Cruz potentially being out, it doesn’t look like he’s going to play, how much does that change the dynamic of the offense?
A: We’re going to take the approach that who’s out here and who’s practicing, we’re going to have a good plan for them. If we get any surprises or bonuses, we’ll be ready for that, too. We’ll roll with the punches as far as that goes.
Q: How do you like the way the offensive line came together over the summer?
A: I think that’s a group that’s working hard. We have a couple different situations and ways we can go there, but they’re working through it, they’re working together. I’m excited for them. I said that earlier, I think I spoke to you once before in training camp and I’m excited for those guys.
Q: You’ll start Geoff Schwartz at guard?
A: We’ll start whoever shows up at right guard when we go out there for the first series.
Q: You worried people will not show up?
A: [chuckles]
Q: When we saw you last time you said you needed to see him out there on the field, you needed to see him stay out on the field. He was just coming back from the foot. What have you seen from him in these last few weeks?
A: What I meant was—I can’t be sure of my quote but I just want to see him out there and playing. Yeah, seeing him out there playing and he’s gotten some reps in. He’s gotten some reps in with the first team, with the second team and on the look team. He’s working his way into football shape and it’s nice to see him coming out the back end of this injury deal.
Q: How close do you see him being to the player you thought you were getting last year? Health-wise, at least.
A: I think he has a pretty good chance to get there this week.
Q: This team has invested a lot in that offensive line, two first-round draft picks, Richburg, who is a high second and you spent a lot of money on Schwartz. Do you feel like it’s ready to start paying off?
A: Yeah, we look forward to those guys. Again, they’re working through some things right now and we look forward to them gelling as the year goes on. We have a solid group.
Q: Does Richburg bring a different dynamic at center than maybe you had last year? If so, what would that be?
A: Weston is a natural center. He has some leadership qualities that we like. He’s a very capable player between the ears and can run the show there. I think Weston has a chance to have a pretty good year.
Q: Did that show up immediately when you guys made the decision to put him in there? Did he show that right from the start?
A: He’s pretty natural with the ball in his hand.
Q: With the talent you have at the skill positions on offense, granted when Cruz gets back, what do you see the capabilities are for you guys offensively?
A: We’re not where we want to be just yet in the pass game that showed up in the preseason. That was the preseason. We’ve had a good couple days of practice and we need to go out and show it on Sundays. There’s been a lot of talk out there but that’s nothing but talk. We need to go show it on the field, what we’re capable of.
Q: Did the preseason worry you at all? Like you said it didn’t show it.
A: No, not one bit.
Q: Last year the run game was inconsistent. Have you seen signs it might be better this year?
A: Yeah, it’s part of the reason why I’m excited about the big guys up front. Rashad (Jennings) is healthy and running well; Andre (Williams), another year under his belt running a variety of schemes that we like to do, he’s improved there with his reads. Add Shane (Vereen) to the mix and Orleans (Darkwa), as well. I feel like we’ll be more consistent there and have a chance to be a pretty good running team.
Q: Is there any apprehension that Weston Richburg is going to play his first game at center in the NFL in an atmosphere like Dallas?
A: No. No. I mean he helped a lot with the communication last year on the road, the guards are a big part of things. It shouldn’t be much of a transition for him.
Q: So that should help in that sense that he is experienced with..
A: Absolutely.
Q: How about Flowers? What have you seen from him?
A: Ereck, the biggest things for these young guys is going out and getting in this crowd noise and getting off on the snap count. If we give any piece of advice to the young guys, I’d say when the ball snaps, you better be moving.
Q: How difficult of a challenge is it to play in this league as a rookie left tackle? There hasn’t been a ton of guys who have been ultra-successful over the past five or six years?
A: We’ve got to go out and we’ve got to help him and we’ve got to get his feet wet. I think any position up front is a challenge as a rookie, especially the tackle positions. You can shelter guys maybe a little bit more inside. But we felt like he’s had a good camp, he’s working hard on his technique and look forward to seeing him on Sunday night.
Q: Does where you’re at offensively allow you to do different things and I’m sure with Eli you guys have progressed significantly in the second year of the offense. Does it allow you to do different things and do you expect to do a lot of different things because you’re further along in the playbook maybe than obviously you were this time last year?
A: What type of different things are you referring to? No, we’re going to do the same exact things we did last year [laughs]. No, we’re going to see what we have personnel-wise. We like the group that we have and it may lend to doing a variety of different things, but we’ll see how that goes when the ball snaps on Sunday night.
Q: How much does Shane Vereen offer as a third-down back coming out of the backfield?
A: You know the challenge that Shane is to be a complete back and we think he can do that and help us there. He’s shown the signs that he’s been able to do it in the preseason and that’s the way we’ll continue.
Q: So it could be several guys carrying?
A: Yeah, it could be a handful of guys out there on third down. It doesn’t necessarily need to be one back.
Q: In New England it seemed like they would use him for specific runs and in-game specifics with their running back. How do you see it going forward? Are you going to lean on one guy in the game going in or are you going to feel it?
A: No, we like to spread the ball around and we’re going to challenge all of our backs to be complete players. Then we’ll start there.
Q: With the passing game in the preseason, do you feel like you fixed a lot of things in the last few weeks of practice?
A: A lot of what things?
Q: The passing game in the preseason. Was it in the preseason games what you would’ve liked to see?
A: It wasn’t as crisp as we wanted it to be in the preseason. We didn’t get a ton of reps with the first group. That’s usually the way it goes. We looked a lot better in practice, but most teams do. We feel that with the last few days of work that we have that we can go out and look crisp on Sunday night and put a good product on the field.
Q: How good do you think this offensive unit can be in your mind?
A: That’s a tough question to answer. That’s a tough question to answer. I like our group of guys, I like the character in the room and that’s all what it comes down to.
