Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka
September 12, 2024
Q: Can you talk about what you saw in (wide receiver Malik) Nabers in his first NFL game?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, it was good to get him out there and give him some opportunities. He did a nice job with his opportunities. Let's continue to build on that in Week 2.
Q: I know you guys want to get him the ball. (Head Coach) Brian (Daboll) talked about it the other day more and more. The fans out there think it's probably easy enough to just throw it to him every time. What is the challenge and the dynamic of trying to not force it to him but increase those targets and try to, and he’s obviously one of your most dynamic weapons.
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, I think when you go through the game plan, you try and put guys in spots where they can be successful, whether it's a receiver, a running back, tight end, any of the position guys, skill guys that we have. And so, we think about that a lot. And then you look at some of the defensive structures that you could get out of that, the different types of coverages they could show. And then you're looking at kind of the strengths and weaknesses of those coverages. And for some routes, it works out well. For some routes, it's probably not as ideal. So, that's kind of the battle but then we have a bunch of dynamic guys on our team and in the skill room that they take away one thing, you got to make sure you reset through your progression and get to the next guy. So, all that kind of ties in as well not just with the routes, but with the protection and with the different schemes you want to show versus potentially different pressures, different front structures. So, there's a bunch of things that go into that, but that's what we talk about on a play-by-play basis.
Q: Daniel Jones talked about being more decisive. He is in his sixth season. How do you work on that this week?
MIKE KAFKA: That's what we talk about on the daily. Like every single day in the quarterback room, we're talking about your reads, your progressions, how you can get through those faster, seeing a movement key. Maybe it's a defender, maybe it's a spot on the field where you're looking for that void in the defense. So, those are things that we just talk about over and over and over again. And on top of core concepts and on top of new things that we want to install. So, it's just a work in progress.
Q: Daniel (Jones) threw a lot of balls in the dirt the other day, more so than you would normally see on not long routes. Is that a footwork issue or what's the deal with that?
MIKE KAFKA: It could be a combination of a lot of things. It could be pressure, rush. It could be timing. It could be route depth, like discipline. It could be just being a little bit further back on your drop or falling off your back foot. So, there's a bunch of things that kind of go into that. I'd say on the whole, like when we come out here and practice, we talk about finishing in a strong position, finishing with your back hip through, finishing those throws. And again, it's 11-man operation on offense. It’s not just one person, but all of those things kind of affect it.
Q: When you looked at the film, was there any one common denominator you think that was going on there?
MIKE KAFKA: I wouldn't say one common thing that happened on every single throw. And playing quarterback in the NFL isn't easy. And I'm not making excuses for anybody, but the pocket's not always going to be clean. That's not the reality of it. A lot of times you're throwing off platform, you're throwing off balance. So, you got to practice that type of stuff. And then when you get the opportunity to go execute it, you got to hit. And if you don't, then obviously it looks bad, but when you do, and Daniel's been able to do that over the course of his career a lot of times. That's what we work for. So, we've got to make those things happen. Moving forward we're going to practice that.
Q: He mentioned specifically his footwork not being right at times. What did you see with that specifically? Was there one thing that you saw there that maybe he needs to fix?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, I know Coach (Offensive Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Shea) Tierney has talked with him about it. I've talked to him about it. That's what we're going to work on today in practice. I won't say one specific thing, but it's kind of the accumulation of all the things and all the different schemes that we have in the run action game. When you're turning around, you're play action faking to the back, turning your back to the defense. Now you got to flip back around and find your movement key. Now there's a little bit of pressure. You got to slide, you got to push up. So just those details in working through your feet and every single play is not the exact same. Like we can go rep it 20 times on the practice field but in the game, it might be a little bit different. So, that's the repetition. We're trying to build a base and build kind of a library of all those movements. And then we can go replicate it in the game.
Q: What was your role on Sunday?
MIKE KAFKA: It was pretty much the same as it's been all year, just minus the play calling, but the communication up in the box, getting down, and working out and working through all those things on offense that we have to talk about in between drives.
Q: With the things you are talking about with Daniel, it almost seems a little bit elementary. Is part of that because he is coming off the injury and the layoff and needs those reminders. In his sixth year, it's a little bit surprising that he needs all of this redo?
MIKE KAFKA: Whether you're in your first year, your sixth year, your 10th year, your 15th year, you're always working on the fundamentals, and you've got to go back to that. So that's what you rely on. That's what we work on in the off season. We work on through training camp, all those little fundamentals. And so, once something goes wrong, that's how you problem solve it. That's how you self-correct is you lean on your fundamentals.
Q: How much pressure is on this offense this week specifically? We know what happened last year. Week 1 for a lot of people says, ‘well, that's sort of like a carryover from last year’. So how much pressure do you take on this offense for them to actually score?
MIKE KAFKA: We're not focused on last year, we’re focused on today. We're not even focused on last week. We have made those corrections. We talked about it. I think it was really good to see some of those guys that are new kind of step up and own it. And so that's where we're at right now. We're focused on today and ready to have a great Thursday practice, a great opportunity for us to get better today and a great challenge with Washington.
Q: The big thing that's being said publicly from Daniel's former teammates who played with him at times when he was at his best and from former quarterbacks who played the position like yourself is that he's playing like he's lost confidence. Do you see that? And how, behind the scenes, do you build up his confidence?
MIKE KAFKA: I'll say I haven't heard those references that you're talking about, but I haven't seen from my position, I haven't seen that in the meeting room, on the field. And again, it's an 11-man operation on offense. It's never just about one person. So, all 11 guys have to play as one. And today is a great day to get that fixed and worked out.
Q: You've been around the NFL a while as both a player and a coach, but have you ever seen a player like Daniel take shots like he kind of has? Not from analysts, but from former teammates, current players, former players, things like that.
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, everyone's entitled to their opinion. I know myself, knowing D.J. and knowing the kind of guy he is, the type of worker he is. He's tough, not only just on the field, but I know he's got to handle all that. Being a quarterback, you have to deal with that stuff, whether it's good, whether it's bad. And so, being a quarterback, that's kind of your role a little bit. And same thing with being a coach, same thing with being a head coach, all those things. It's kind of your role in having to handle that kind of stuff. So, he's done it better than I've probably seen anyone else do it, especially handling some of the things he's had to go through with injuries and things like that. So, I'm proud of him for that. But Daniel's a tough kid. He handles it like a pro. He always has. He handles it like a pro in the meeting room. And I don't think his confidence has ever wavered since I've been here.
