Offensive Line Coach Hal Hunter -- October 4, 2019
Q: What does it mean that you’ve had the same five guys play every snap?
A: Well I think that one of the things, and I know we’ve talked about this before, (is) the continuity. It’s not five guys playing, it’s five guys playing as one. When you have some continuity and you’re used to the guy you’re playing next to, you can get a lot of things done. You’re just kind of are all in sync. I think for an offensive line, the continuity from week in to week out is fundamental. As it goes on, they get more and more comfortable with playing with each other, the communication gets better, you actually know what the other guy is going to do before he does it. All of the combination blocks fit better. The communication in pass pro fits better. It means a lot to have continuity. I have been on both sides of it in this career where I’ve had a bunch of different lineups and then had one lineup the entire season. It makes a lot of difference.
Q: With Zeitler, and he’ll probably never say it, but we’ve seen him get days off of practice and everything. How much is he kind of playing through with that shoulder?
A: It’s like anything. It’s a brutal, violent game upfront. It always helps to practice, but missing a little bit of time, I think the most important thing is to make sure when you hit the field on Sunday you’re ready to play. Throughout the league, there are a lot of guys that miss a day here or miss a day there, just making sure that after you come out of that game that you’re ready to go next Sunday. I don’t think it has really hurt us if he has a little bit of time off. Last Wednesday he practiced, this Wednesday he didn’t practice, but he did the walkthrough reps and he came back yesterday and practiced full speed and did a nice job. So, I think we’re still in sync with that.
Q: How about the communication between the quarterback and offensive line with Daniel being still relatively inexperienced?
A: I think it’s just not with the offensive line, but with the entire offense. In this day and age, you’re always looking to try to get in the right run, the right protection, (and) the right things. The communication is really important. I think even more important, knowing what the quarterback is going to communicate before he communicates it, is even more fundamental. For example, we know when he’s going to make a blitz check or he’s going to make some type of check in the protection. We are anticipating what he’s going to do because we’re all on the same page. That’s why, when you do meetings like blitz meetings and things like that, the quarterbacks are actually in the room with the running backs, (and) the whole protection unit is together to make sure the communication (is there). The communication is really fundamental. I’m not sure I’ve ever been around a better communicator than Eli (Manning). With all of the years, he just really understands the game. I think Daniel is trying to follow in his footsteps.
Q: How much does Eli help him in that regard?
A: I’m not in the quarterback meeting, so I really don’t know that. Just from my outward looking in, Eli has been a champ on that. He’s been a really solid guy. But I don’t really know that because I’m not really in those meetings.
Q: How has Jon Halapio done at center? Even though he was your starting center last year, this might be the most he’s actually played at center for an extended period of time.
A: Yeah, he’s done a really solid job. Of all of the things that we do, he has the toughest job because he gets isolated up on that nose tackle so much one on one. When you play some of these guys Sundays, and the nose tackles we’ve played recently like the ones we played this past week from Washington, they are as good as he’s going to play against. So, every week it’s a challenge. He’s playing really solid. He’s doing a great job communicating to the whole offensive line and he’s done a great job at playing for us at a functional level.
Q: Is that just what you guys choose to do schematically you’re saying?
A: I think that’s what everybody does in the league schematically. I think in terms of this, the center has to throw that ball between his legs before he does anything. He’s got a nose tackle that’s an inch off his face because of the no neutral zone there. It’s everybody in the league, they put their center on an island. The center has to do a lot of one on one type of blocks, but that’s just kind of football in the NFL. He’s a strong, athletic guy that’s been able to do that pretty well.
Q: From an offensive line standpoint, how does Daniel’s mobility affect your guys? Maybe his mobility can make up for some mistakes, but at the same time the plays go a lot longer, so you have to hold your block a lot longer.
A: Well, I think every quarterback is different, every quarterback and how he manages the pocket is different, the depth of his drop is a little bit different. So again, getting used to a new quarterback is what you have to be able to do because there are some differences in that. But again, you work within the system. The people that coach the passing game, in terms of that, do a great job of trying to make sure that he’s disciplined in what he does, he gets rid of the ball on time when he needs to, because that’s really important in the rhythm of the passing game. But again, our guys have to be prepared to play for either quarterback at any single time. It doesn’t really affect us as much as people think.
Q: I know the leap for Will Hernandez was anticipated year one to year two. A month in, if you had turned on the tape last year and watched him Week 4 versus this year, what’s the biggest difference in his play?
A: I think the biggest difference in his play is he’s slowed down a little bit mentally, and that’s a good thing. I think when you play as a young player, sometimes the game speeds up on you. Things are happening so fast. I think he plays fast physically and he’s slow and calm mentally. He’s probably, through the first part of his season with any type of mental situation, he has no mental errors this year because he understands the system. He understands the speed of the game and he’s adjusted to the speed of the game. I think the second year has really, really helped him a lot. It’s like anything, you make your most improvements from the first time you do anything to the second time, you always make your most improvement. Football is just one of those things.
Q: It’s only a quarter of the season in. What have you seen out of the performance of the offensive line? It’s been a weakness for this team the last few years, but it seems like it’s been a strength this year.
A: Last month, one of the questions you guys asked me was what you’re going to see from this offensive line. I said you’d see competitive, tough guys that are going to play hard and be able to technically do things they need to do to be able to run the ball and protect the quarterback. I think it’s the same thing. We are far from the finished product, far from the finished product. One thing that you have to do every week is you have to show up ready to play every single week because everybody’s got good defense. We’ve played really good defenses, everybody has good edge rushers, and you have to be on top of your game every single week. We’re doing some good things. Part of what’s helping us, and it’s not by accident, that the offense is designed to kind of help the offensive line, and the quarterbacks are doing a great job with this. The running back makes us look better. We have played better, and I think it’s attributed to the guys, their work ethic, their toughness, and their attention to detail. We’re in early in the morning and they stay late. They put in a lot of hours trying to make sure they’re on top of things. Again, you have to prove yourself every single week like you’ve never arrived. Every single week we’re going to play good defenses. We’re going to play a good defense against Minnesota—their defense is stout. Then we’re going to turn around in five days and play New England’s defense, and their defense is stout. Everybody’s got good defensive players, so you have to prove yourself every week. You’re only as good as your last performance, or maybe you’re only as good as your next performance. You take each week at a time, and you try to just continue to build on that. There are a lot of things we can get better at, and they know that. We’ll continue to capitalize on what we’re doing good and try to make those improvements in terms of what needs to be improved.
Q: Have you seen more from Mike Remmers at right tackle than maybe you guys even thought you’d see this early?
A: No, I remember when he was with the Panthers and he was coming up on free agency and I was at Indy. I looked at him on tape like that and I was really impressed with how he was playing. Then, of course, he signed with Minnesota. So, for him to come back and play at this level, it’s not a surprise to me because I remember watching him when he played for the Panthers. It was the year they went to the Super Bowl and he played really solid that whole year. He’s playing as I expected— he’s a smart, tough, aggressive, player. He’s got a lot of dependability, you can count on him doing the right thing play after play.
Q: You mentioned mental errors earlier for Hernandez. As a group, do you have the number of mental errors that you guys have had through four games?
A: No, our mental errors are, for me, at an all-time low right now. I give those guys more credit than anything. Those guys, they study so much tape. We always meet early, we meet late, they put a lot of time in, just really grinding things out. I think they all have a really high football intelligence, and their FBI is really high. I think that really helps. I’m pleased. I credit most of that to them for their attention to detail.
