Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka
August 1, 2024
MIKE KAFKA: Morning everyone. Good start to the second week of training camp. It’s been fun. A lot of great competition. Not only individual groups but O vs. D, Coach Bowen has done a great job with the staff and the players. It’s been a really fun couple of weeks so far.
Q: How difficult was the last practice for the offense and what did you guys come of it evaluating about yourselves?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, every day is just an opportunity to learn and grow and get better. That's what training camp is all about. It's what practice is all about. Find the things that we're good at and things that we need to work on. We've got to look at those and go back and see where those things came up, whether it's fundamentals, whether it's scheme, whether it's a certain person in a spot. It's just all about growth and learning.
Q: What are you learning? Where do you see the identity of this offense? In what direction do you see it moving?
MIKE KAFKA: I think we're kind of in the middle of that right now and working through those positions, the schemes, and that's what training camp is about, is learning about yourself. So, we're just in the middle of that process.
Q: What do you see from (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) since he’s come back?
MIKE KAFKA: Coming back from injury isn't easy at all. There's a lot of things you've got to work through, not only just physically but mentally, psychologically, and getting over that injury part of it. I think Daniel is doing a great job of managing that and putting him in those situations with a pocket and with the bodies around him and giving him the live action. I think every single day he's getting more and more comfortable with it, and I think he's doing a nice job.
Q: What has he shown you that’s encouraging that this is the right step as a quarterback?
MIKE KAFKA: He’s not flinching. Whether it’s the plays, whether it's people up and around the pocket, he's stepping up and he's throwing it strong. Those are just every day. Again, he's just getting better and better with those type of things.
Q: How do you put (guard Greg) Van Roten into the mix?
MIKE KAFKA: He just got here a couple days ago, so he's only had a couple meetings now. I know he got caught up over the off day yesterday. So, we'll just see how it goes. He's just going to kind of jump in the mix with the rest of the guys and (Offensive Line Coach) Carm (Carmen Bricillo) and (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll) and myself, we'll go through that and evaluate it.
Q: When (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) has missed on some of the deep balls, he’s generally been throwing short, under-thrown. When you look at that, do you see anything there? Is there anything you attribute that to? Is that something maybe that when you’re coming back from a knee injury and it’s a plant leg that he needs to be cognizant of that and he has to work on?
MIKE KAFKA: I think it's just part of practicing. You can go across the league and you're going to see throws that are overthrown, under-thrown. It's just part of just getting on the same page with everybody and working through those things. That's why we practice it. We throw them in individual periods and we get a feel for it. Football is very fluid. Angles and speeds, those things are all getting changed. Whether it's pushing up in the pocket or getting collision at the second level. You're throwing a ball 50 yards downfield, and it has to be perfect. All of those things, they all happen on one individual play. So, you've got to work through it, and then the more you work at it, the better you get. The only way we're going to get better at it is by trying it and working it with the four or five different guys that we have that have the ability to go downfield.
Q: It sounds like you think its more timing and repping than something physical with him?
MIKE KAFKA: Absolutely. And it's all just gaining familiarity.
Q: We hear a lot about players when they’re off on the side taking mental reps, right? Do you take mental reps when you’re not calling plays?
MIKE KAFKA: Absolutely. You try to put yourself in that play and you know where the power of the play is, what it's designed for. You also know where the bones are buried on that play and what are the things that can make it go wrong. So as a coach, you're putting yourself in that position and you're making sure that we're getting the right things coached, the right fundamentals, and that the scheme that we put out there, and the players that are in those positions, making sure that it's at its best.
Q: Is there time in camp for you and (Head Coach) Brian (Daboll) to talk over those things?
MIKE KAFKA: It's very open. It's a very open dialogue, very open conversation, very collaborative. Like I've said in the past, after each series we kind of regroup and talk about what happened and things that we need to clean up and get fixed and we go and watch it as a staff and talk about those same things and even more specifically, then we get it to the players and go and talk about it. In the afternoon, we'll come back out here in a walk-through setting and go over those adjustments. So it's a constant process of just evaluation and working to get better.
Q: Is there anything you’ve picked up this summer that could help you down the road?
MIKE KAFKA: Can you expand on that?
Q: About play calling. Is there anything that you would say, ‘You know what, that’s good, maybe I need to focus more on that?’
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, I do a lot of studying. Whether it's our own plays and our own scheme and our own players or if it's other teams that are doing good stuff. You always want to have an open mind and a learning mentality and that's the way I kind of approach it.
Q: Sometimes there’s this feeling where if an Offensive Coordinator isn’t calling plays, what is an Offensive Coordinator doing? What are you doing on a practice day, even on an off day, if you’re not the play caller?
MIKE KAFKA: During the week, I'm helping (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll) put together the offense, talking about the scheme, talking about the players, talking about our roster and what that looks like on the offensive side of the football. At the practice field, I'm helping complement the coaches and help coach and orchestrate how we're going to operate on offense as far as practice flow, organizing drills and how we're going to do those things. It's an open communication, and it's things that pass through me to Dabs, and we talk about how Dabs wants to run it, and then we go back and execute it for him.
Q: How do you see your role on Thursday night? What will you be contributing in that role?
MIKE KAFKA: I'll let (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll) hit on that, the role specifically for game day, but it's something we've already discussed.
Q: How does not calling plays help you develop as a coach?
MIKE KAFKA: I think it's your approach. I'm going to take it as a learning approach, learn as much as I can from the people around me, and then contribute as best I can, whether I am calling plays or I'm not. Whatever that situation looks like. I'm going to do my best to help the team win.
Q: How do you feel about the tight end position right now?
MIKE KAFKA: It’s a really diverse group. They're doing really good stuff in the pass pro(tection), in the run game and then downfield as well. We've got some dynamic players that can get downfield. I'm really excited about the group. (Tight ends) Coach (Tim) Kelly has done a nice job of, one, stepping into that group that has a lot of different personalities but also strengths and weaknesses, and then really fitting them to those strengths and weaknesses.
Q: Theo Johnson, he’s a couple practices in now, what have your impressions of him been?
MIKE KAFKA: He's growing. Just like you said, it's been a couple days. First day was in pads, and that was good to see. But, he's on a rep count as we start ramping him up throughout training camp. He's doing a nice job. He's doing a great job in the meeting room and the field.
Q: What have you seen from (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) as this training camp goes on?
MIKE KAFKA: Each and every day, he’s getting better and more comfortable. You can see his confidence is continuing to grow, not that he lacks confidence, but he’s growing. He’s working on his relationship with the quarterback, with Daniel (Jones) and all the quarterbacks. I think that’s part of the relationship quarterback-receiver is getting that confidence and that chemistry early.
