Friday Media Transcript: Head Coach Ben McAdoo

Head Coach Ben McAdoo

November 3, 2017

Q: It looks like you’re going to be pretty short-handed again this week. How much does that surprise you coming off of a bye week?

A: No. We’ll have 46. We’ll have 46 available.

Q: Doesn’t give you many options, though.

A: As of right now, yes.

Q: How much does not having Justin Pugh hurt the offensive line?

A: Again, Bobby (Hart) had a good week of practice. He had a productive day yesterday in pads. Expect him to play his best game as a pro this week.

Q: What’s going on with LB Jonathan Casillas?

A: He’s out this week and we’ll take a look at him again next week. It feels like he’s making progress. He was out practicing this week in a limited role.

Q: Was he able to do contact stuff?

A: We’ll progress to that next week.

Q: Where do things stand with CB Donte Deayon?

A: He tweaked his ankle yesterday. We’ll take a look at him today inside and then tomorrow will be a big day for him.

Q: What will you do if CB Donte Deayon can’t play?

A: If he can’t play, somebody else will play.

Q: Will you use any of your safeties as options?

A: We cross-train some of our safeties inside. So, that’s certainly an option, yes. It’s not ideal, but it’s an option.

Q: You talked about flushing the first half, but how frustrating is it to come off the bye week without so many key guys?

A: You just said it. We flushed the first half. We’re going to play with the players who are available. We can’t control who’s not available for the game.

Q: Did your wide receivers pick up on the offense over the bye week and are they acclimating to QB Eli Manning and the offense?

A: We completed the ball at a high percentage this week in practice. That was encouraging to see. Monday was a good day for us to get out here and get some work. It’s always good to get extra work during the bye week. You look at some wrinkles during the bye. Look at yourself. But, it’s good to get that extra week, especially when you have some new guys and not necessarily the new guys but guys need to develop chemistry with the quarterback.

Q: What constitutes a good practice in your eyes?

A: Physical, heavy handed, good tempo, you win the turnover battle in all three phases, catch the ball cleanly, it doesn’t hit the ground often. On the defensive periods, they catch the ball cleanly, they don’t drop it on interception opportunities. The offense catches the ball cleanly, they don’t put it on the ground. Zero pre-snap penalties, offense, defense and special teams. When it’s the team that you’re playing with in the game is up, tempo is a big part of it, too.

Q: When you have a good week of practice, going into the game you expect it to translate, right?

A: Absolutely.

Q: Why do you think good practice hasn’t translated to the games?

A: That’s what we’re trying to figure out.

Q: In the past, have you experienced that when you practice well you play well?

A: Sometimes. Not always. It gives you a chance to have a chance, though.

Q: Did the bye week give you a chance to put in different things on offense to fit the players you now have at wide receiver?

A: Again, you don’t reinvent the wheel over the bye week. It gives you a chance to get players who are playing in the game healthy. It gives them a chance to get away from things mentally. And look at some wrinkles. But more so, what you do is you flush the things that aren’t going well and you have to make a decision on what things you can fix that can be easy fixes and are you using players the right way.

Q: How much does this Rams team resemble the team you saw last season?

A: Defense, they wreak havoc all over the field, they always have as far as I can remember. They play good defense, they have speed at all three levels. Their defensive line is tremendous, their front seven – they have five of seven of those guys who were first-rounders. Their linebackers can run, they’re really instinctive after the football. [Lamarcus] Joyner’s a hard hitting safety, he was last year. They played him in a different role, their configuration is different on defense, but they’re loaded there. Offensively, they’re a little bit different. They still use some short passing game stuff, but it’s more off of the [former NFL head coaches] Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan families. So, they’ll match up a little bit. [New Orleans Saints Head Coach] Sean Payton in there, as well, they’ll match up their spacing concepts with their downfield stuff and they’ll try to make them look the same. A lot of window dressing in the run game to try to give [running back Todd] Gurley a crease. So, they’re a little bit different that way, on the offensive side of the ball. But Gurley has been a good player for them, you can’t have him wreck the game.

Q: When you look at the Rams offensive line, do you notice the difference tackle Andrew Whitworth has made?

A: Whitworth, yeah, he’s a good player. He’s done it for a long time, has a lot of experience under his belt and he’s coming off of the bye week, so I’m sure that’ll help.

Q: How much of a difference has Jared Goff made in that offense?

A: Yeah, I think this is his 15th start coming up. Obviously, it’s still not a full season under his belt, but you see him learning, you see the confidence that he’s gaining. He understands the system, he understands how to work through progressions, he’s a natural pocket passer.

Q: Over the bye, did you examine your schedule from when you leave the practice field on Saturday to Sunday on game day? Was there anything you could tweak there?

A: Yeah, I went back and looked at was there anything we could do after our Thursday practice from our Friday into Saturday and Sunday, yeah, absolutely. Took a look at some different things when we’re traveling west. Is there anything we can do, but our experience on our quasi west coast trip was pretty good. Took a look at our team hotel and when we get there, is there anything we can do. Maybe get them to bed a little earlier or changing up the routine, but we felt right now the best thing to do is trust our plans. We’ve won a lot of football games doing it, so we’re going to stick with it.

Q: You said that they practiced better this year than last year. How so?

A: Yeah, I feel that we are a better practice team this year than we were last year. The tempo has been consistently better.

Q: What did you think of Curtis Grant on defense? If Calvin (Munson) comes back, do you still have enough faith in him to be your middle linebacker?

A: Yeah, we’re going to take a look at it and give guys opportunities to play in the game. We are a little thin there at the linebacker spot, so guys will have opportunities to play in a variety of different roles. It depends on the packages and personnel on the field.