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Transcript: Running Backs Coach Craig Johnson

Eric from BBI : Admin : 11/2/2019 3:47 pm
Running Backs Coach Craig Johnson -- November 2, 2019


Q: Saquon (Barkley) always talks about how pass protection is the biggest thing he needs to work on and he needs to improve. Where do you think he’s at with that right now?
A: I think that as a back, I always talk to him about how there are four phases. One, you have to be able to protect the ball. Two, you have to be able to run it. Three, you’ve got to be able to catch it with routes, and four, you have to be able to protect. We work on that all of the time. Every day, I believe, you have to try to get better in that phase. We give a little time to all of those phases. I’ve learned as a coach, there is always something to work on. Either we’re not quite where we want to be in the running game, we’re not right where we want to be in the route running, or we’re not where we want to be in the pass protection. So, we are going to continue to work on all of our fundamentals. I know that’s usually the biggest transition for a back coming from college to pro, is in pass protection. That’s one of the big things that we’re going to work. I won’t overemphasize that more than others, because then other things fall off once you do that.

Q: There have been a handful moments in the past two games where maybe they weren’t Saquon’s best pass blocking moments. What do you make of that?
A: What I make of that is the coach needs to do a better job, right here, of putting him in situations where he’s going to hold up in protection. Obviously, he gives us a lot in a lot of areas. Defenses are going to try to attack him, I would, and try to keep him in the pocket. He’ll have to make sure he finds a way to hold up and we’ll continue to work on that, as with the other things that we have to do, too. Because again, that’s one part of his game. As I said before, I think that’s the biggest and hardest hurdle for most backs coming out of college to the pros.

Q: Do you think it was more recognition than technique when you looked at those?
A: I think it’s a little bit of everything. He wants to be able to, obviously, know who he’s got to block. But that’s it, know who you’ve got to block in pass protection, and then block. I think you’ve got to be able to do that, just like you have to know who you’re keying in the running game and make sure you can make your runs where you need to.

Q: What does Buck Allen bring to the table?
A: Right now, I haven’t obviously gotten the chance to see him in a game, but he’s a big, strong guy. He’s got a lot of skills, runs really good routes. He has run the ball really well in practice. You have to obviously see that transition to the game, but he is a veteran. He’s got a good history with that. When his time comes, I’ll be interested in seeing how he’s going to do. I think he’ll do really fine, but that time will come because a tape will show everything we need to see, in my mind.

Q: How tough was that stretch when you had really inexperienced guys when Saquon goes down, Wayne (Gallman Jr.) goes down, and you didn’t have a guy like Buck as a veteran to step in?
A: It’s always tough, but guess what? We’re going to play who we have. As a coach, from what I’ve been through, I don’t care who we throw out there, you have to be prepared to play, be ready to play. Every team goes through injuries. We do, too. It’s the next man up. I’ve always believed that. Whoever we have on the field I expect to play at a high level.

Q: What do you say to Jon Hilliman, though? He did get that opportunity, it didn’t probably go how you guys wanted it, and then ends up coming back. What’s your advice to a guy in that situation?
A: Well, I tell him, just keep your chin up, you’ve got an opportunity, you’ve been blessed to get another chance to still be on our team, you’ll get another opportunity hopefully, and when that time comes, as I told my guys all of the time, keep the good. There’s a lot of good things that he did when he played. Lose the bad. If you do that, good things will happen to you in the future. You’re not going to be defined, necessarily, by one game (or) one play. Can you stack success and when you have adversity, can you overcome that— every player has to be able to do that.

Q: It seems hard to do that, no?
A: Well, it is, I don’t really think it’s that hard. The great thing about football, right or wrong, and every football team goes through this, you have success, it’s the next week, you come up short and run out of time, it’s the next week. Regardless of what happens, you have to have the past in the past, and I believe strongly, keep the good but learn from the past. You are going to have some bad moments and you want to lose those moments but you need to learn from those moments or they will be repeated again.

Q: What do you say with Wayne, it’s kind of a different situation than Hilliman. Wayne had success in his opportunity and it looked like this was going to be his chance for three or four games and then he gets hurt. He’s back to the two or three snaps a game because Saquon is back. What do you say to him, because he missed his opportunity through no fault of his own?
A: With the backs specifically and in general in the NFL, injuries are a part of the game. Every back goes through it, every back on every team I’ve been with goes through it. You are going to have to learn how to recover, do the best you can when you play. If and when you get nicked up, get in the training room, get yourself back and continue to play at a high level when you get your opportunities. If you are not the starter, I think you have to have the mentality that when I go in I am going to make something happen without pressing (and feeling like) I have to do something. No, just do what you do and do it well and you will be fine and just continue to play. Keep your confidence up that way because you never know. In this game, everybody is a play away from playing a lot as Wayne and others have found out.

Q: One of the four things you mentioned with Saquon was protect the ball, he’s still never lost a fumble, how crazy is that?
A: I think it’s a tribute to him. Again, he brought that here from Penn State, he’s done a really good job there. When he’s been here he’s done a really good job of taking care of the ball, but I don’t lose that just because he has (taken care of the ball). We still practice that as one of the four phases all the time. Ball security is critical for teams and their success. We’re going to practice that, and we are going to practice to make sure we get in phase with our runs and pass protection and catching the ball. When you’re a back in modern football, you want to be able to do a little bit of each and that’s what I think our guys have been able to do.

Q: I get that you don’t want to take a talent like Saquon off the field, but do you feel the need to give him some more breathers and get Wayne in more? Is that something you would like to do?
A: All the time, as coach when I self-critique, maybe he played too much, maybe he played too little. That’s what you go through sometimes when you have a player with talent like that. We just go through and I really believe that goes game by game. We don’t get into counting plays or how much he should be playing. Obviously most everybody (says) I want to be playing every play but then they are going to get tired, that’s where you have to find that fine line. I think every game situation is a little bit unique and we do the best we can to put them out there, show what he can do and when he needs time to come off, we try to make that happen.

Q: You’re alright with 95% of the snaps, does that bother you when you look at it at the end of day?
A: As I self-critique it, I always wonder how much is too much. You talk to him, it’s never too much. The bottom line is we want to have him be in good shape late in the game that can help us win the game. I think that’s his point and my point and Saquon has always said I don’t care about any stats, that’s why I love this kid. Let’s find a way to win, that’s what he cares about, that’s what I care about and that’s what we’re trying to do.
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