Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula -- September 12, 2019
Q: I know it was a limited series, but what does Daniel (Jones) get out of getting on the field last week?
A: Like any other rookie playing at that time, getting his first snaps in regular season, getting a little exposure, doing it on the road—all of that kind of stuff.
Q: You guys used a lot of three wide personnel when it seemed like maybe your best personnel would be two tight ends. Is that scheme specific or is that how you guys see your best personnel?
A: I think we mix our personnel. Sometimes you mix it for matchup, sometimes you mix it for looks and things like that. We feel good about it. Kind of like we’ve done in the past, we’ve got our three wide personnel, we have our two tight end personnel, (and) we have our two back personnel. I think it’s good to have a balance in all that and then have certain things off those where you’re not predictable.
Q: What do you look at last week as—was it a matchup? You said it was dependent on whether it’s matchup or just your desire?
A: I think it’s all of those things. It’s a little bit of everything. I think sometimes there are looks out of three wides that you like to run the ball out of or throw it, sometimes there are looks (where) you have those personnel on the field for matchups or for guys who are good at doing certain things. I think it’s no different than any other week, though.
Q: When you look at last week, 470 yards looks great, but 17 points…
A: Yeah, that’s the biggest…well, losing the game, obviously. As an offense, you have to finish drives. Moving the ball, we did some things that we felt like were pretty good. But then not being able to convert on some third downs, whether or not it was in the red zone or the plus side of the field, those things catch up to you. We’ve done a good job, at least in preseason, of getting points on the board. That’s what we’re talking to our team about, is doing the same thing and getting the ball in the end zone. When we were winning games at the end of last year, we were doing that. But you kind of attack those problems as you go. You try not to generalize, you try to say, ‘hey, this is how we have to be better on this play.’ If we do that, now we’ve got another first down or a whole set of downs and now we have the opportunity to go call what we want to call.
Q: What do you like about the plays where you roll Eli out?
A: I think there is misdirection. It kind of goes back to our personnel. You want to have things where there is stuff that’s up inside, stuff that’s downhill going right at guys, you need to have stuff that’s going outside. You need to have stuff that’s going to be misdirection, whether or not you’re doing it in the run game or whether or not you’re doing it off of misdirection in the pass game. That stuff was really good to us as we got better at the end of last year, and we feel like it’s going to be good to us again.
Q: Why do you think it was so ineffective on Sunday?
A: Well, sometimes they are in good defenses that they play. Every play, there is about that much of a difference between a win or loss on that play. We look at it, and we’re like everybody else, we learn and get better. If we like it again moving forward, or how we can tweak it, and things like that.
Q: What did you think of your offensive line and what can they take from last week now?
A: I think there was some really good stuff in the running game, and that obviously starts with the offensive line— but it takes all 11. I think our receivers did a really good job blocking in the run game as well. That helped free up Saquon to get a one-on-one with a safety down the field, or a corner. I think they did a good job adjusting. Dallas is really good upfront, in both rushing the passer and playing the run. They do a lot of movement. I think they did a good job against some of their movement in the run game. Pass protection-wise, we were good, but we can still get better. I think all of that, kind of going back to what we said all along, I think you’re going to pass protect better when you stay out of third and downs or when you stay out of third and longs. It all kind of ties in, we just have to get the points. We have to do better on third down and then do better at finishing drives.
Q: On game days, I understand Pat (Shurmur) is the one calling the plays, but when something is slipping through the cracks, and obviously I’m talking about Saquon’s touches, do you say something like, ‘hey, I’m noticing this,’ because he has so many other decisions going on in his head? Or do you stick mostly with the quarterbacks?
A: It’s been collective. Coach (Shurmur) calls the plays, no doubt, but we talk about all of those things during the course of every game. You know, ‘hey, this might be good moving forward,’ ‘hey let’s get the ball to this guy or let’s throw it here,’ (or) ‘they are doing something different than what we thought, we might need to look at this,’ ‘let’s talk to our players about that,’ so I think that stuff happens every game.
Q: Saquon’s not the kind of guy to say anything about his limited touches, but do you sense anything from him this week that he wants to be the guy to carry this team?
A: No. I sense that Saquon wants to win, and he’ll do it in whatever role. He is the ultimate team player. He’s locked in just like he’s been since the minute he got here on how he and the other offensive guys can help us win.
