TE Evan Engram
September 18, 2020
Q: I know you’re turning towards Chicago, but how did you evaluate your Week 1 performance?
A: The expectations I have for myself, I definitely want to and need to be better on all phases. I definitely hold myself accountable to improving this week and to come out with more better details and things like that against Chicago.
Q: I know baseball players sometimes talk about if they strikeout, then they take it out on the field and make an error. I’m wondering if you, you had that drop on the first play, a little surprising. I’m wondering if you feel like that maybe compounded and affected your blocking later in the game? Or were you able to shake that one off?
A: It’s always the next play mentality for me. Bad plays are going to happen, things are going to happen, and that’s kind of part of being a football player. You have to play the next play. That’s kind of my mentality going forward.
Q: What happened when you guys had the ball at the three-yard line early in the game after the fumbled punt? It looked like you got open, and with Daniel (Jones) early on the throw and you held up on your break. You know what I’m talking about, that play near the goal line?
A: Yeah, that’s a play that’s designed. Just have to complete it.
Q: From my uneducated eye, it looked like your technique was a little inconsistent in the blocking area. When you went back and looked at the film, did you find that to be the case? Was it a matter of technique and just getting the same kind of leverage every time, or was there something else kind of going on with your game?
A: No, that’s really all blocking is, just using the right technique. Those are details that I have to clean up. Footwork, hand placement, head up, eyes up, leverage like you said, things that I can improve on. Blocking is a lot of small things that I definitely had to clean up.
Q: Do you ever look back at some of the old tight ends, the good blockers in the past? I know the game has changed and rules have changed, but do you ever look back at some of the older tight ends and pick up elements from their game from when they were blockers?
A: I haven’t looked at a lot of old film, but there’s a lot of good film that we watch when we’re game planning. We break down film of guys being successful in the run game. That’s probably the best outlet that I use for my technique to take to the field.
Q: Coach talks a lot about making a big jump from Week 1 to Week 2. What have you seen from the team that makes you believe that that’s about to happen here?
A: We had a lot of urgency this week. Being a short week, the schedule was adjusted. I think we did a really good job this week of flying around with urgency and attention to detail, and getting all of our reps in and work in.
Q: I’m just wondering, you obviously said you need to do some things better. When you have a game that didn’t live up to your standards, I’m curious how this coaching staff kind of approached it? Did they ride you? Did they get on you? Were they patient? What was the approach this past week?
A: Just fixing some details that I needed to get fixed. Just some small things in the game that I could have been better at. When we broke down the film, we highlighted those and I added that to the emphasis of my practices throughout the week, and then we moved on.
Q: Also, you’re going on the road. This is a completely new environment with COVID and travel restrictions. Do you plan to do anything differently or make any changes? What does this do to your routine that you’ve kind of developed over the past few years?
A: No, it really doesn’t change anything. Definitely just following the guidelines, being smart, following the rules that we have on the road, being really cautious and trying to protect myself and my teammates.
Q: How big will it be to get Golden Tate back and to have all of your guys, weapons, at Daniel’s disposal on offense?
A: It’s definitely really good to get Golden back in there. He’s a great player, a good veteran player, makes big plays week in and week out, he made a lot of big plays for us last year. It’ll be good to get him back out there with us and have a full force offense to go compete.
then when we throw him the ball he (1) fucks up an easy route for an easy TD, (2) commits a drive killing OPI, or (3) just straight up drops the ball
they were better off when this loser was hurt
I almost wonder if he's pressing out there. I agree that the idea of just getting him the ball as easily as possible could pay dividends.
Is this just a general observation and comment or is there something specific about the interview to make you raise the point at this particular moment and in this particular thread?
For a tight end - Not mean enough; he has to THINK about his technique (especially blocking), doesn't come naturally. .....
Which as a bad effect on the rest of his game like getting open and catching the ball.
McAdoo, Shurmur and now Judge want him to be a complete tight end; it just isn't in the cards. He'll continue to stink it up till he gets released or get's traded for next year's 7th round pick, somewhere. It's a total shame.
It's the Joe Judge effect. He's holding them accountable. JK. They can't resist bringing up Dallas with Garrett, and he'll never bite, but overall yeah, it does seem they're getting better at asking questions.
Quote:
they can't be rid of him soon enough
Is this just a general observation and comment or is there something specific about the interview to make you raise the point at this particular moment and in this particular thread?
the guy has been in the league 4 years now and doesn't know basic blocking fundamentals?
they asked him about his shit route and his answer was extremely poor
Couple more losses and they will get back to the bullcrap questioning. I think it is more they haven't been able to get anything of substance from the players to try to create controversy........yet.
It's the Joe Judge effect. He's holding them accountable. JK. They can't resist bringing up Dallas with Garrett, and he'll never bite, but overall yeah, it does seem they're getting better at asking questions.
Seems like some folks would only be satisfied if he said, "I suck at everything and this team should trade me ASAP before I do more damage."
At least he’s accepting responsibility in this interview. That’s the first step.
At least he’s accepting responsibility in this interview. That’s the first step.
I doubt he's stupid. Maybe his confidence has just been a bit shot, or maybe he's overthinking. He just might need to see a sports psychologist or something.
Engram is a great character guy with a very good work ethic, he is always the first on the field on game day, and has been a strong vocal leader the last few years.. I think some fans need to temper their expectations and emotions a little here.
I believe the best way to utilize his talent is to use him like Carolina used Greg Olsen. Olsen saw more than 55% of his receptions in the slot. They realized he was much better used to mismatch in the slot as well as a blocker on the edge in space. Matter of fact the Bears traded Olsen because he wasn't a good enough blocker for Mike Martz's offense. Even though he was very competitve, Olsen has always been subpar as a blocker, especially inline but in space or on the move he was more effective where he put himself in position to seal and/or cut guys off. His primary use wasn't statics where he admits himself and refers to it as "fantasy football".
What fans here need to understand is that a Tight End impacts the game with or with out the ball. Their resposiblities almost endless when you get into the specifics of their duties on any given play. Stretch zones, flood zones, rub routes, screens (blocking and catching), blocking in space on the move and in line are all just some of the duties asked.. Few however, are expected to create mismatches in man and stretch zones vertically. Very few have the capability to do that. Olsen was one of those and I think Engram can be as well.
Kerrigan "you got better blocking" 2019 - ( New Window )
But you may have hit on something, Peppers. There are very few players who can do it all. I agree, he's good character guy who works hard, but he's just not good enough to do everything they want him to do, So .... he's presses and it affects his entire game.