Head Coach Pat Shurmur -- July 31, 2019
Opening Statement: Wednesday. Training camp. So I will try to take your questions. I had to be reminded (what day it is). You start to lose track a little bit. I’ll try to answer your questions.
Q: What’s the benefit of having Sterling (Shepard) out there running through team drills?
A: All of the physical things that go with playing football. I think it’s a good thing that he’s out there. He can catch the ball with one hand. The yellow jersey means don’t throw it to him. It also means on defense, don’t hit him. I think that part is good. You’ve got to practice football. It’s something that him being out there is a good thing. It also shows it’s a thumb. We’ll worry about that as we go.
Q: But there’s obviously a risk thing, too, though.
A: Yeah. Any player practicing, there’s a little bit of a risk. For anything. That’s why we try to be smart. That’s why we try to watch the players and see individually where they’re at, and then go from there. Because if not, we’d just throw everybody in bubble wrap and we’ll see you opening day. We all understand that that’s not how we do it. Now the challenge is to be smart. Guys that are dealing with injuries, bring them back at the pace that they can come back. But also, then be able to practice.
Q: It’s also him setting an example. He could easily stay inside and use that as an excuse. I would imagine that plays into it as well.
A: Yeah, he wants to be out here. He’s a team player. He knows he needs to work. We all do. Ideally, every player practices every day. You can just look at every team throughout the league. There’s guys on every team that, for whatever reason, aren’t practicing and they’ll be back tomorrow, aren’t practicing and they’ll be back in two days. Then there are guys that are practicing. That’s just the nature of training camp because of some of the physicality that goes with it.
Q: With load management, is that something you looked at in the offseason and decided to do more? It seems like you’re doing it a little bit more this camp than a year ago.
A: No, it’s exactly the same, quite frankly. Our process and what we go through to make sure we’re practicing the guys the right amount is the same as last year.
Q: How much of that is based on the previous day’s GPS or data?
A: That data is part of the equation.
Q: Looking at Oshane (Ximines) and what he can do to disrupt the quarterback, in terms of the length of a guy to be able to get his hands up and whether he deflects the pass or not or getting into passing lanes, how valuable do you view that?
A: It’s important. We’ve said it before, you want the biggest, most powerful, longest players you can get. He’s got some of those attributes. We’ll just wait and see how it plays out, but to this point, he’s done a good job. The length is important. You saw yesterday he batted down an RPO (run-pass option). He’s a good athlete. He was coming around on a stunt earlier in camp and he batted down a down-the-field throw. But with regard to sacks, what you want is pressure on the quarterback and you want to disrupt the quarterback. The sack is the ultimate number we can all measure. But throughout, a good pass rush, if you can disrupt the quarterback and knock him off his spot, make him throw the ball in a way that he doesn’t want to, that can be as damaging for an offense as actually sacking the guy.
Q: Cody (Latimer), Bennie (Fowler), and Russell Shepard all kind of come from special teams backgrounds playing wide receiver. Given the turmoil you guys have faced there, how do those guys separate themselves over the next couple of weeks, when the opportunity might present itself at the top of the depth chart?
A: All of those guys are pros. I’m used to seeing wide receivers, you remember the Hank Basketts and the Jason Avants in the early years in Philly. Those guys were going to be on the roster, and they were excellent special teams players. Then they made plays in the passing game as well. It’s important that our receivers have an impact on special teams, and those guys certainly do that. That’s a good thing.
Q: Considering what you’ve seen in camp so far, what role do you imagine for (Bennie) Fowler?
A: He’s a guy that can play all of the positions. Typically he plays outside, but there are times where he’ll be in the slot. He’s smart, he has good instincts, he picks things up quickly. You saw we’ve had some receiver injuries within practice, and he’s been able to go from being X to Z and Z to X. That flexibility is important.
Q: Is that what’s holding Alonzo Russell back, is special teams? Because it seems like he gets the ball quite a bit when the second team offense is out there.
A: No, I don’t think so. He’s a young player that’s developing and trying to make our team. I don’t think there’s anything at this point that’s holding him back.
Q: With Corey Ballentine, do you see him as an option as a kick returner?
A: Possibly. He’s worked at it. We’re getting to know him a little bit more as we go through this, as he does more and more, both on defense and on special teams. I think he’s got a really bright future, and kick returns could be part of that.
Q: It looks like the last couple of days he’s really been kind of finding his way. He’s in the right spot a lot of the times. Do you see that?
A: Yeah. I think he’s getting better. Yesterday, he made a really nice play on the seam ball. That’s what you expect. You get your hands on the ball and finish it like he did. That was excellent. That was a terrific play. And then he had another pass breakup later. So, when you start to see those guys get their hands on balls, and when we watch the tape, they’re in the right position. But then early in practice, he gave up a slant. As we go through it, we watch it all and we grade it all. He’s definitely, definitely making progress and doing more good things than bad.
Q: What progress have you seen from linebacker Ryan Connelly so far in camp?
A: Quietly improving. Again, the next step for, especially those inside linebackers now, is when we get into the preseason games. But again, he’s in the right spot. He has very good instincts. There is not a lot of false movement to his game. There are some really fine, dynamic linebackers that will take two steps in the wrong direction and then still have the skill and ability to get to the play. The thing with Ryan is you don’t see a lot of false steps. He maximizes his skill and ability. Again, we’re pleased with him as well. We’ll just see, as he takes the next step, putting his good work into use in a preseason game, how it plays out.
Q: Could you see him playing next to (Alec) Ogletree, or in place of Ogletree? How does that work?
A: Possibly. He’s probably more like Ogletree. But we’ll play the best guys, and then you try to throw a net around it the best way you can.
Q: Evan Engram made a terrific catch in yesterday’s practice. Is that what you’re hoping to see from him this year, in terms of him making plays?
A: Yeah. He has wide receiver traits. He’s got playmaking abilities. Certainly, we’d like to see him make as many of those as possible. I think that’s an important thing. It was a good play yesterday, yeah.
Q: What did you like about Daniel’s (Jones) reaction to the interception yesterday?
A: Well, he was pissed. So yeah, I’m good with that.
Q: Will that put more on watching what he does and how he reacts (to plays like that)?
A: Well no. When we look at that play in total, it was an aggressive throw downfield. That’s the thing, when you’re grading the quarterback, when non-coaches are grading the quarterback, they look at it one way. I look at it as that was an aggressive throw and you want that. You just maybe want him to put it in a better spot or whatever. Put it just where the defender can’t quite get it as well as Corey did. But Corey made a nice play on it. It’s aggressive. He took a shot at the end zone. It was a touchdown, a check down mentality. It was an interception. You learn from it and move on.
