Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka
August 18, 2022
Q: I’m sure you were mostly on the sidelines in Kansas City, maybe exclusively, what was it like getting up in the booth? How is that perspective different?
A: You’re right, I was on the sideline for a few years in Kansas City. I was up in the booth, though, my first couple. It was cool, it was good to be back up there and you get a wide view angle of the entire game. You can see the picture a little bit differently.
Q: How was the operation and the experience of calling plays?
A: I thought it went smoothly. I thought the staff and players did a great job communicating. They were concise in what they saw. I think we made good adjustments throughout the game and went with the flow of the game. I thought our guys adjusted well.
Q: Were you pleasantly surprised by the running game? Or do you sit there and say the Patriots were using the second-team defense?
A: Yeah, we’re focusing on us. I thought they did a nice job with it. There was definitely some production there and some good things from all the backs, really, and the o-line – they did a really good job in that game and that was definitely one of the highlights of the game.
Q: What are some of the skillsets you see out of (Quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor) Obviously every player, (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones), everybody has their own skillset. You’ve been around (Chiefs Quarterback) Patrick (Mahomes). Are there any times where you’re trying to blend their skills into some of the things Patrick has done?
A: When you evaluate our offense, we’re always trying to find out where the strengths of our players are and also evaluate what the weakness are of our players. You want to build on their strengths and limit as many times as they are in an unfavorable matchup or situation or play. We try and as a staff we do a good job of working a lot of – how can we put this person in the best possible spot to be successful? Whether it’s adding a motion, adding a shift, putting them in a different alignment. We stress that a lot with the offense.
Q: Specific to Tyrod, what are some of the things you have learned from him in the time you’ve been here?
A: I love working with Tyrod. He puts in all the work. He’s a true pro before practice, post-practice, in the meetings, and on the field. He does a great job communicating with Daniel, giving him some insight – he’s a veteran guy so he’s seen a lot and done a lot. He’s got a great skillset – he’s mobile, he can run around a little bit, he’s a really smart guy and gets the o-line on the same page, and he understands what he wants to get done from a protection standpoint. I’ve been really happy with what Tyrod’s been doing.
Q: We talk about how you took a lot of elements from Buffalo’s offense, others from Kansas City’s offense. How long have you found; do you think it will take for this to become the Giants’ offense?
A: I think that’s what we’re working on right now. I think we’re taking every day one day at a time. Working on what we are going to do with our players. Put them in the best spot. Again, continue to evaluate on how these guys fit within that offense, and then we got to be flexible as a staff to understand – alright, this might not be the best look or the best spot for this player, who is the best person for that spot? Who is the best person to put on this route or this concept or this run scheme? It’s spread out throughout the entire offense.
Q: How long do you think that will take? I guess your only experience would be the Eagles' offense coming from Kansas City. How long does it take for a team to forge its own identity?
A: I don’t think there’s a timetable on that. I think we have to work through that. Every day, we are working on it. I think when we get to Week 1 down the road, that’s when I think you want to be peaking as an offense, peaking as a team, and all that. Right now, we are taking it a day at a time. We’re still working through with our players, being patient with them. Understand that we still have a lot of work to do. We did some good things in the preseason, but that’s in the past. We have to learn from all that, we have to build on top of that as an offense. We’re continuing to work every single day.
Q: We’ve seen a couple days where you’ve struggled to complete passes at practice over the last week or so. What do you think of the idea or the impression that the offense is struggling so far at camp?
A: I don’t look at it like that. I think our guys are coming to work every day. We preach in the offense it’s process, process, process, going through the process. There’s going to be ups and downs in the practices, it’s by design. We’re putting them in situations to face adversity so that they can problem solve on the fly, so that they can work through issues and communicate on the field. That’s all by design. I think when you go through a practice when you go through a training camp – it’s going to be hard. We want them so that they can work through those things early on in camp, and work on it throughout the offseason and the spring so that way when the season comes around, those things are easier and it’s easier to operate as an offense.
Q: If the quarterback is taking too many hits, from your standpoint how much do you want to, are you willing to change the scheme to address that? Or is it more player execution? We know this works but you have to execute it.
A: It’s a combination of both. I think you have to have flexibility and change the launch point and put the quarterback in a spot where he’s not sitting on a dot and guys are teeing off on him. We don’t want to do that anywhere; we don’t want to do that with our quarterbacks. We have to be multiple, have different launch points and have different ways to move the pocket, help the o-line, get some breather plays for the quarterback, get our guys the ball out of the quarterback's hands, put them in space, and let our playmakers go make plays in space. It’s all kind of encompassing, that’s what we work on a daily basis.
Q: Related to that, have you watched tape on the Titans defensive line and pass rush yet? Is anything you’re doing planning for that game?
A: Yeah, we’re really just focused on today, today’s practice. We got a good red-zone, a couple of red-zone periods scheduled for today, some open field stuff. Churning to get ready for this preseason game. Some of our coaches have done some backend work early on but again, as we continue to work and develop, that time will come, and we will be prepared.
Q: In regard to (Wide Receiver) Kenny Golladay, it’s been drilled in Daniel’s head for years – don’t throw into coverage, avoid turnovers. But Kenny, one of his strengths is contested catches, ripping the ball away, and jump balls. Do you almost have to treat one-on-one coverage against Kenny, does Daniel have to treat it like throw it into one-on-one coverage versus (Wide Receiver Kadarius) Toney or (Wide Receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson) might have more space around them?
A: I don’t know if I would say that would be the mindset. I think you want to give our guys an opportunity, any of our playmakers. Kenny is one of those guys where if he’s one on one, he has an opportunity to make a play. I think it’s figuring out the confidence and making sure that we are putting the right people in the right spots again, going back to that. But yeah, you’re right. You want our guys to be able to make plays in one-on-one situations. It’s a one-on-one game. It’s a player’s game and I think those guys, tied in with the scheme and tied in with who we got in those spots, they got to be able to execute that.
Q: The other night, Sunday night, when you’re up there obviously you are seeing things from a different perspective but you’re also working with a limited amount of plays that you guys want to run that night. Is there a benefit that you guys, maybe we’re not seeing, that you’re making notes on the side that when you see how they attacked us this way, we can run this, this, and this? We’re not going to send it in tonight but you’re putting together that bag when you are game planning for real?
Q: Yeah, I think as a coaching staff you kind of vet and put on the call sheet what we want to show, what we want to use on a week-to-week basis. You’re trying to slowly evaluate who we have, what we can do, put plays on there that our guys are good at, and put plays on there that we need to work on or want to get a look at. There’s a balance but I think our coaching staff has done a good job of piecing that together, making that nice and simple and concise for the players.
Q: With quarterbacks in training camp on each play, are you asking them to throw the ball no matter what or if it’s not there, throw it away, or if it’s there, only throw it to where our guy can catch it or what?
A: When we’re practicing, from a mentality standpoint from the quarterback position, you’re playing to practice like it’s a game. You’re trying to play it full speed. If a play breaks down, we’re practicing and preaching, ‘Hey, get in scramble mode.’ Those are all the fundamental things that we preach so absolutely. We want the quarterback playing it like a game. We want the receivers, running backs, and o-line doing their jobs like a game so that the speed is consistent for the queue and that the speed is consistent for what we expect for that play.
Q: How do you think Daniel is doing?
A: Daniel is doing a great job. He’s doing a great job. We’re throwing a lot at him offensively; he’s seen a lot defensively and that’s all just going to help us. I’m really proud of where the staff has come from where we started to where we are now. I’m really proud of where the players are from where we started to where we are at. Again, we’re still going through the process that I keep stressing with those guys. Continue to stay on that process, continue learning, continue throwing and we’ll continue to get better.
