for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

Wednesday Media Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Eric from BBI : Admin : 9/19/2018 1:54 pm
Head Coach Pat Shurmur
September 19, 2018
 
Opening Remarks: Getting ready for Houston. You probably have some questions about some of the injuries we had. Eli (Apple) probably won’t be out there today, we just have to evaluate him as we go, but I don’t think he’ll be out there today. (Olivier Vernon) will try to do more, I’m not sure how much he’s going to be able to do, so those are the two guys of note.
 
Q: What do you see from (Houston’s) run game? They lead the league in rushing yards, you’d think they would be more of a pass-oriented team, but they’ve racked up the rushing yards.
A: Certainly they’re a good rushing team. Any time you have a quarterback that can attack the perimeter like they have, that puts a little bit more pressure on the rest of the run game, and they’ve got a very good runner. They actually have a couple good runners, and those guys do a good job of running it. There’s no doubt that’s going to be a challenge for us to stop their run.
 
Q: Are you at all concerned about the mobility of Deshaun Watson given that (Dak Prescott) and (Blake Bortles) both had some big runs against you guys?  
A: Until we fix the zone read stuff, we will continue to see it, especially from mobile quarterbacks. Again, it’s another challenge for us. Those are really where the big runs came last week. I thought our guys battled the run pretty well considering the type of runner that we were playing against and type of offensive line. Sometimes those zone reads pop out on you. That’s always the challenge when you have a quarterback that has legs like they do. 
 
Q: What was the issue with the zone reads? Three times there was nobody there.
A: It’s just the way we were playing it, just got a little bit undisciplined with it and that’s what happens, trying to stop the other portion of the run.    
 
Q: Have you coached that?
A: Oh yeah, with (Chip Kelly). 
 
Q: Does that give you any kind of edge?  
A: Having seen it now, we’ve got some ideas of how we want to change and how we’re going to play it.    
 
Q:  When you have a young quarterback (Deshaun Watson) who missed most of the season last year, do you see a drop-off in Watson’s play, maybe he’s off to a slow start?
A: No. I think it’s hard to evaluate a team and a season after two weeks. I really do. The Houston Texans last year, it wasn’t going so well for them, and then at one point there was a stretch where they were lighting up the scoreboard and then he got hurt. I think it’s a little early to draw final conclusions on a team, especially a team like Houston. They’ve got a quarterback, he’s an outstanding player, and he’s got a good arm, he’s got two really good receivers on the outside, he’s got a good running game, and he can get the ball down the field when he chooses to and he can run around a little bit. I’m sure coming back from injury it’s going to take him a little bit of time to get to what he would consider himself to be full strength, but he’s certainly a guy that can play winning football.
 
Q: Even though Eli Manning has been around a few years, is there ever a worry about confidence level when an offense is struggling, and what would a breakout offensive game do for both Eli and the offensive line?
A: When it clicks and those almost-plays or those plays where people say, ‘that was blocked well’, ‘that was a good throw’, ‘that was a good catch’ – when those plays start to hit, then that’s when the confidence starts to build. The good news is we’ve got a lot of high quality guys in our locker room that they understand it, they’ve all been through the ups and downs of a season and we’re embarking on our third game. It’s important that we continue to get better. I know I said that quite a bit yesterday, but I think that’s really where it’s at. 
 
Q: Eli is a very even-keel guy, he doesn’t get too high or too low. How critical is that kind of demeanor in a stretch like this? 
A:  It’s super critical. We’ve watched him play good football here for a very long time. I can remember, I remember this in Philly, I think it was the 2007 season. I can remember seeing the back page of one of the newspapers and it was a split shot of Eli and Tom Coughlin, and it was “Will They Survive?” Then, low and behold, they won a Super Bowl. Now, that doesn’t say what’s going to happen, but you just have to play it out and keep playing. That’s the important piece. That’s, I think, what we as competitors embrace. If this was easy, everybody could do it. Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way we wanted the first two games, but we just get back to work and try to put it all on the table for Houston.  
 
Q: Do you consider it important to get the ball in the hands of your playmakers where maybe they have one man beat, not six?
A: I don’t know about that. I think we need to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers the right way. The first game, Odell touched it a bunch. Last game, Saquon touched it 25 times. Really, it doesn’t matter if we’re running it or throwing it to him, he touched the ball 25 times. We’ve got to do a better job in all areas so there’s a little bit more space, I get that, but it’s certainly important to get the ball to your playmakers and we will continue to do that the best we can.
 
Q: Do you have to make any major adjustments?
A: We’re adjusting all the time. We didn’t play well enough to win. I hope I said that and I’m on the record for that probably 10 times yesterday. I think what’s important here is there were little things that happened. Eli checked to his slide protection the other night, we didn’t slide all the way through it and it was a bad thing, and we had a guy wide open that could’ve gained 30 years – ifs and buts, we understand that. We just fix the little things that happen in there and then we move on, and then the next time it happens, we gain those yards. That’s the way it goes. You’ve just got to keep grinding through. This is a new group, new philosophies, new plays, and we’ve just got to keep grinding through. I’ve been other places where it starts this way a little bit - the defense a little bit ahead of the offense, and then it gets going.
 
Q: Do you think late in the second half when Dak kind of went after (B.W. Webb) a little bit – is that just smart play by them? Do you go after the backup as opposed to…
A: That’s in the handbook. The starter goes out and you do that. That’s in the handbook.
 
Q: Do you protect the guy a little bit?
A: Sure. There are ways to do it and we will be prepared to do it. He’s got to carry his own weight, though, too. That’s the important piece is, you can’t get queasy about it, you’ve got to keep playing, go out there and cover your guy. You’ve got to cover your guy, you’ve got to block your guy, and keep playing.
 
Q: You mentioned everybody not getting the slide protections, it seemed like a lot of those sacks were because of assignments or mental issues-
A: No.
 
Q: So guys running free wasn’t a missed assignment?
A: A guy running free, we missed a couple twists. Right? That’s why a guy runs free, but we had the hat for them. That and the one I talked about on the sack, we’ve just got to keep running through it. It’s a technique thing, and you just do it. We had a hat for the guys that were blitzing. We had one play where it was hot and it was when we tried to throw a screen to the left, and Eli had to dump it to Saquon to the right. That was hot, that was a screen. We ran the same screen later and gained a bunch of yards. It’s just how it goes.
 
Q: How do you make improvements along an offensive line whether it’s assignments or whatever, in just a few days?
A: You get three opportunities to practice and one walk-thru and just keep on working on those fundamentals, and keep trying to get to the plays they can execute better.
 
Q: What does the new fullback (Elijhaa Penny) do for you?
A: He’s a guy that our personnel guys liked on tape. We had a spot and wanted to bring him in and take a look at him. He does what all fullbacks do -- he’s a good blocker, he’s got good hands, he can run the ball in a pinch, all the things you look for in a back.
 
Q: You said two weeks is hard to evaluate teams, do you feel like because of what happened last year here, that’s being done already?
A: See, that’s why I’m answering the questions with fresh eyes. I don’t remember what was here a year ago. I’ve got compassion for the questions and what the experience is, I get that, but we are moving forward with the idea that we’re going to do what we can to get ourselves right. I’m not worried about that.
 
Q: Do you think (people) are evaluating you after two weeks?
A: We get evaluated all the time. I understand when you don’t win, this is what comes with it, I get it. When you do win, you’ve still got to turn your back on what people say and just keep moving. I get that. We’re always evaluating everything, and when the game is over you give praise and assign blame, I get that. But I think what we have to do as a team is not let all that conversation polarize us. We just stay together and move forward. And typically the teams that do pull through in the end.
So it sounds like the post game analysis is the OL difficiencies  
PatersonPlank : 9/19/2018 2:07 pm : link
were based more on talent/technique, than on scheme. Thats how I read "we had a hat for everything, its just technique (or finishing, etc.).

I'm not sure whats worse, sucking on scheme or talent/desire/technique.
RE: So it sounds like the post game analysis is the OL difficiencies  
Reale01 : 9/19/2018 2:29 pm : link
In comment 14085275 PatersonPlank said:
Quote:
were based more on talent/technique, than on scheme. Thats how I read "we had a hat for everything, its just technique (or finishing, etc.).

I'm not sure whats worse, sucking on scheme or talent/desire/technique.


It reads that way, but I THINK he misunderstood the question and thought it was attacking the scheme. I believe he would say that all the blitzing players were accounted for, but the team did not execute the protections correctly.
RE: So it sounds like the post game analysis is the OL difficiencies  
Mdgiantsfan : 9/19/2018 2:56 pm : link
In comment 14085275 PatersonPlank said:
Quote:
were based more on talent/technique, than on scheme. Thats how I read "we had a hat for everything, its just technique (or finishing, etc.).

I'm not sure whats worse, sucking on scheme or talent/desire/technique.


We’ve heard about bad technique for the entire time Flowers has been here. It amazes me that they still can’t get him as well as the rest of the line right. All that practicing and yet still playing with bad technique that result in fatal flaws from a performance perspective.
His offensive line...  
M.S. : 9/19/2018 2:57 pm : link

...in Dallas was as bad as it gets in pro football.

That's on Gettleman, Shurmur and his coaches.


Just an ugly, disgusting display of ineptitude.
Having a hat  
Gman11 : 9/19/2018 3:25 pm : link
means to me that they had enough blockers to handle the number of rushers. If Dallas rushed six, there were six blockers. That means that somebody didn't do their job like they double teamed one guy and let a defender run free.
RE: Having a hat  
Reale01 : 9/19/2018 4:54 pm : link
In comment 14085418 Gman11 said:
Quote:
means to me that they had enough blockers to handle the number of rushers. If Dallas rushed six, there were six blockers. That means that somebody didn't do their job like they double teamed one guy and let a defender run free.


Correct and it did not look like that Flowers was the problem on the missed assignments. He did have some problems with one on one that led to pressures, but not sacks. I would give the line the following grades LT=C-, LG=D, C=C, RG=F, RT=C-, FB=F-, TE=D
Back to the Corner