Saturday Media Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Head Coach Pat Shurmur -- May 4, 2019

Q: Do you see some of the work from David Cutcliffe when you look at Daniel Jones?
A: Absolutely. David has done great work with a lot of quarterbacks. I have always admired coach Cutcliffe and what he has done. He is an outstanding quarterbacks coach, first. That is sort of where he got his start. He has been an outstanding coordinator and an outstanding head coach as well. I think some of the things that he teaches you can see in Daniel already in minicamp. That is probably why all of his quarterbacks have success. They are well coached.

Q: How much are the mechanics and foot work different here than what they were doing there?
A: We are much more under center. There are more things that we are going to do, but a lot of the basic teachings and fundamentals of playing quarterback, Daniel has a good feel for.

Q: Nothing you see when you look at him and say that you need to change it?
A: No, not at all. Part of this is that there is a certain way that this is supposed to be fundamentally. He has pretty good fundamentals. Some of the plays that we are going to ask him to execute are different from what he has done. New drops with some different footwork, but he is pretty well coached.

Q: What did you like about Jake Carlock?
A: He is a very good long snapper. We are always looking for guys at skill positions. He is a very accomplished linebacker as well. Much like Dungey who can compete at different areas, he is going to do the same.

Q: How much does Jones’ mobility bring to your scheme?
A: You have to have all the traits and be able to do all the things a quarterback needs to. When you find a guy that is mobile, that is really special, in my mind. He is a really good decision maker. That is critical for quarterbacks. You have to be a really good decision maker and have a sense of timing. Whatever that sense of timing is, whether you have to get the ball out or decide to run. You have to be an accurate passer. I really believe you have to be able to move. There has to be mobility. Whether you are moving around in the pocket, scrambling, you have to be able to move. He can do that. Then, arm strength. If you don’t have the first few, arm strength means nothing, in my mind. He has arm strength as well. I think you saw that as well.

Q: Why was there so much debate about his arm strength?
A: I don’t know. I was not involved in those debates. We obviously felt differently, so I could not tell you.

Q: When you look at that, you did not see anything with him as far as arm strength?
A: We had many exposures, starting with the Senior Bowl. We were able to see him throw in person and did not see anything.

Q: Did anything change when you got to see him up close?
A: Watching him on tape, I thought he had a strong enough arm. You are obviously looking to confirm it when you see him in person and we felt like he did.

Q: Is his biggest leap going to be the speed of the game at this level?
A: Yes. Obviously, the speed of the game is one thing. There is a lot of really good football being played at the college level. It is just getting the feel. He is very smart and he picks things up quickly. Just getting used to things. Speed is one thing certainly. Getting used to what pro defenses are going to present to him and getting used to what we want him to do schematically. All that runs parallel.

Q: What do you plan to send him home with this week? Or do you just trust him to learn it?
A: We trust him, but we are going to guide him certainly. All the players. That is the reason why I prefer to do the rookie minicamp the week before they can come back. What happens is this weekend we give them a certain amount of scheme. We see how they function. Here is your locker, here is your helmet, here are the meeting rooms. This is how we move around. They get oriented on that. We will be able to give them their iPads and all the materials. Then, they go away and we will be able to monitor how well they look at this stuff. When they come back, we can coach them up on how they can get better.

Q: Do you anticipate coaching Daniel from afar when he is away?
A: That is typically what will happen. At practice, there is an install or a lesson plan. As he gets more and more lesson plans, we will take him through it.

Q: Does Daniel get the entire playbook?
A: When he comes back here he will get it all. This weekend we will just give him a portion of it. The important thing this weekend also is for the guys to be able to come out and get enough scheme where they can still function and we can see them and their movement skills. That is important, too. We have all been doing this long enough where you go to rookie minicamps and it doesn’t even look like football. Balls are on the ground and it is hard to evaluate the players. We have given him a lot of schemes, but I think it is important to run a camp here where you can see everyone function and see what they can do.

Q: What have you seen from Dom Bragalone?
A: He is a powerful guy. He has gotten enough reps where we can see that he has pretty good vision. We haven’t been hitting at all, but it looks like he has really good balance and body control. He catches the ball well too. He has done a nice job.

Q: What did you think of watching Big George Asafo-Adjei move around?
A: We like him for all the reasons we liked him on his college tape. He is a powerful guy that has very good length. You can tell he is a very physical style player. That is important at that position.

Q: Some people were suggesting he may have to move inside to guard. Do you see him as a tackle?
A: Yes, he is going to start at right tackle.

Q: What has been Eli’s response to the selection of the first round quarterback?
A: He has had no response. I will say this again. I have never been around a person that can stay in the moment better than Eli. That is something that is really unique about him. He is staying in the moment and training to have a terrific season. He looks really good out here throwing, moving and doing all the things necessary. It is his second year in the system, so he knows what we are doing. Better than some of the people teaching him.