Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

Head Coach Brian Daboll

July 28, 2022

Daboll: Just moving right along. Had a good day yesterday – good competition. Like the way the guys moved around. We got a different situation today. Yesterday was kind of a little redzone as you guys saw, and today is really third and medium to a little bit less than that. So, kind of put the guys in tough situations as much as we can. Most of it’s passing situations today with no pads on, so just try to string two good days together

Q: Were you happy with the tempo that you guys practiced yesterday? The tempo was impressive.

A: Yeah, credit the assistant coaches. We got to get from drill to drill. We got to move quickly. We got to get in and out of the huddle. When we go no huddle, it’s got to be quick and crisp, and then we’ve got to play fast. Finish plays. Build our endurance in that regard, but the guys did a good job of running around. Again, first day. We’ll probably have a few sore guys out there just from being off a little bit during the summer. Going to have to push through it and keep building.

Q: That was really your first look at (Wide Receiver) Kadarius Toney on the field since you hadn’t seen him in the spring.

A: In person? Yeah

Q: What were your impressions?

A: Being around him, he’s a smart football player. He picks up things well in the meeting room. You can tell he has instincts even with him out on the field. The questions that he asks and the things that he sees. And we evaluated him when I was at Buffalo. Obviously, we thought he was a good player with quickness and speed and ability to do different things – run different routes. And it was good to see him out there with his teammates.

Q: Did you see that all from him? I mean, obviously, he’s coming back from a little knee procedure.

A: Yeah, I thought he looked good. Now we got to try to string two together now.

Q: He lines up yesterday at outside receiver and makes that ridiculous pure receiver catch. What did you make of that, and what did think of his ability to be more than just a gadget guy?

A: Really, I just go back to one day at a time. It’s practice, and there’s going to be a lot of different things we ask a lot of different players to do. I don’t get overhyped with one play or mad about another play. That’s what practice is for.

Q: You got pretty excited when he made that catch.

A: Well, juice! Right there in the moment, a couple of those guys – that’s important to come together as a team too and show emotion for one another. Player-to-player, coach-to-player, coach-to-coach, that’s part of the team building process.

Q: How did he come out yesterday physically? Good to go?

A: (Yes).

Q: How about (Wide Receiver) Wan’Dale Robinson, he had a nice corner route yesterday. Talk about him a little bit. What do you see from him?

A: Well, that goes back to the draft process of watching him and seeing what he’s done and the vision we have for the kid – young man, I should say. Smart, he’s another smart, instinctive player. We put him through a lot of tests and things like that in terms of before we drafted him – like we do with all our players to make sure they have the qualities that we look for. And we moved him around. We’ll continue to move him around. Again, this is his first training camp practice. So, much to learn. Don’t get too high; don’t get too low. Let’s just try to string them together. But good, young guy to work with. Just needs to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Q: Is there anything that has surprised you about him?

A: No, we did our due diligence on him. He’s done a good job. He’s earning our trust day-by-day.

Q: Obviously a lot of pre-snap motion in this offense. What does that accomplish for you? What are you trying to gain?

A: We’re stationary. Well, no. I mean look, each day we kind of emphasize particular things. I know yesterday there was a lot of that. There will be probably some today. We’re just installing our plays right now. Installing motions, installing shifts so the guys can get used to running them. There’s time to do it, and there’s time not. We got to make sure we’re getting in and out of the huddle when there’s longer plays with different types of motions. So, you’re practicing all those things so that you want to run them when it really counts that you’ve practiced them enough that you feel comfortable with them.

Q: Does that put more pressure on the players? Is it more fun for them, and is it more demanding?

A: Yeah, that’s a good question. I don’t know. You’d have to ask those guys. I’m not really worried too much about fun. But what we’re trying to do is whatever we need to do to help our guys and cause conflicts, issues with the defense. Is it more to learn? Sure because there’s added calls to it. You start on one side and have to be on the other side. You got to start in the backfield and be out here. You know, there’s a little bit of thinking that goes along with it. Again, back to the identity. Smart is the first thing we look for. And we certainly put a lot on these players. One, because I think they can handle it, and if they can’t, we’ll tighten it back and make sure we do the things that they can do. Again, first day of training camp. We’re going to go through another however many of these guys. There’s going to be more stuff added, different things that we do. And that’s all really to prepare yourself when you start playing games. That’s what practice is for.

Q: What did you think of Quarterback Daniel Jones’ decision making yesterday?

A: I thought it was good. I thought it was good. I thought he was crisp in the huddle. He made some really tight throws, good throws. That’s why we worked redzone. Really wanted to get their legs back a little bit. This is an area that we’ve got to improve on. So, we’ll just string two good days together.

Q: Coach, I know that (Corner Back) Aaron Robinson had played a little bit of outside in college, mostly slot though. Now that you have him converting more to the outside, what have you seen from him so far? What makes him such a good fit for the outside?

A: Yeah, he’s done a good job of playing man to man coverage. Good job in the zone stuff when (Defensive Coordinator) Wink (Martindale) calls zone. He’s a smart guy. He’s got good movement skills. He’s a good, young player to work with. It’ll be a good camp for him to keep improving his skill set and compete with the other guys.

Q: Does the move to the outside actually complement his skills better than maybe in the slot?

A: It’s just a little bit of a different game. Outside, there’s usually one guy you’re dealing with if you’re a man-to-man team. Inside, there’s a lot of things that happen with extra players dropping out. It’s a little bit of a different game, but he’s done a good job of doing the things we’ve asked him to do. We look forward to him continuing to improve.

Q: How has the approach of the redzone offensively changed through the years? It seemed like there was a time when the league trend was spread them out, and now it seems like it’s more bunched and flood.

A: I think each coordinator or each play caller, if you will, has their own fingerprint on what they like to do. Whether that’s copycat some other successful plays. What you’re trying to do as a coach is utilize the players in the best way you can utilize them to help them get the ball into the endzone, which is ultimately the main goal of an offense. I wouldn’t say we’re just one thing. We’re doing different things. We have a lot of things we could do and we will do during these training camps to figure out what we’re really good at. But that’s more of a one coordinator might see it a different way, and what you have and how you’re working with it and what abilities your quarterback has play into it.

Q: What is your process throughout this camp to figure out if you and Mike Kafka will call the plays?

A: Yeah, (Offensive Coordinator) Mike (Kafka) has done a really good job in the spring, which he handled the scripts. And again, we talk on a day-to-day basis on plays and things to install. But he’s been on the headset with (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones). And he’ll be doing that through camp. And as we get closer to it, we’ll sit down and discuss it. But I’ve been really happy with Mike. Not just his communication with the quarterback, but how he’s handled the offensive staff, how he’s handled the players. He has a really good demeanor about himself. Once we cross that bridge, which we’ve still got a little bit here to go, you guys will know.

Q: You’ve known Leonard Williams as an opponent and having to scheme against him. What did you think of him all those years, and then what do you think of him now?

A: Well, it’s good to get to know him as a person. One, I thought he was a really good player. Got good length. Causes issues inside. Has power. Has quickness. Athletic. Drafted high for a reason. Really, it’s just getting to know the person and what a great person he is. Cares about his teammates. Smart football player. So, he’s a good guy to work with.

Q: Have you requested that he wear that open shirt?

A: Yeah, took that from Wink in his college days.

Q: Do you know who ripped his jersey?

A: No.

Q: Since Kafka has been the one talking to Daniel all spring and into the summer, would it be jarring if you were on the headset with Daniel in Week 1?

A: I talk to Daniel between every play. I meet with Daniel a lot. We have a good relationship – a working relationship. But it’s good right now for Mike to be able to do those things with Daniel, with the offense.

Q: When you studied your personne, did you look at (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) and say, ‘I need to use him in different ways as a receiver?’ From my perspective, he’s probably running more routes down the field maybe than he has in the past.

A: That’s a good question. When you get to a place, whether that’s as a head coach or a play caller, the first thing you need to do is figure out what makes your players tick the best you can and build relationships with them before anything. And then once you get them out in the spring and see their skillset and what they can do, you have a vision for them, maybe before you got to the place. And then until they’re actually doing things that you are going to ask them to do, or you come up with some new things that they’ve done in the past that they really feel comfortable with, I think that’s the job of a coach. We’re a far way away from that now right now. We’re still experimenting with things and putting guys in different spots and utilizing offensive, defensively and in the kicking game, we’re moving guys to see what they can do. And that’s what you need to do this time of year is build your fundamentals but also figure out exactly what you got in each of your players. How much they can handle mentally. Do you have to pull back? Can you add more stuff? Hey, today let’s add as much as we can add just to put as much pressure on these guys and see if they can pick it up. And if you have a bad practice or things aren’t going well, at least you can put that in your memory bank and say, ‘Hey, Week 1, Week 2, remember now, we tried to do this at the beginning part of camp or the third week of camp, and it didn’t go too well. Let’s have some awareness about ourselves as a coaching staff so we’re not putting these guys in bad spots.’

Q: Did you see that, the receiving part, from him? Or is that just part of your offense?

A: No, you see him. I mean, you saw him coming out of Penn State. You see him running around here; he’s a pretty skilled player. So, our job is to figure out ways to use him, whether he did it last year or the year before, two years, in college. When you’re developing in a system, you kind of figure out what these guys do best, and you challenge them to do more. And if it doesn’t look great, then you see if you want to keep pursuing it. And if you want to keep pursuing it, then you’ve got to get them better. And if not, then you just throw it away and do something else.