Joemailman
09-11-2007, 10:14 AM
Assistant coaches on....
By Greg A. Bedard
Monday, Sep 10 2007, 05:02 PM
Green Bay - Here are some of the questions and answers we got from assistant coaches the day after the Packers' 16-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles:
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE PHILBIN
When you looked at the film, where did you have the most problems?
There was a little bit of everything. It wasn't one isolated event that was our breakdown. The starting point was initially maybe the course of the running back on the outside zone was maybe a little bit too tight. We felt that wasn't exactly the way we'd like it to be. We got some guys cut (blocked) on the ground, but we'd kind of get them down too fast and the guy would get up and make the play. We have to get that corrected there. There were a few other occasions where we felt the movement at the point of attack wasn't quite enough. Those are three things that we felt caused the most problems in the running game. There were a couple of reads... The first run of the game we felt maybe could have gone outside but I think from a fundamental standpoint: the course of the back, cutting on the backside and movement at the point of the attack were three things we need to get better at, quickly.
Were you surprised that Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher were giving up some of the pressures?
A little bit, yeah. I mean, yeah. We certainly had high expectations going in that we were confident in our ability to protect the quarterback and thought we would do a better job doing that. I'm sure they're disappointed in themselves, which is probably more important than me being disappointed by, yeah, we certainly went into the game feeling those were two veteran players that have played well here in the past and we were counting on them, sure.
When you don't practice cut blocking in training camp, is it natural for it to takes some time to develop?
Well, we don't necessarily cut our own guys but we spend an awful lot of time on it in drill periods. We were in position a number of different times to make the cut and actually at times cut the guy but we didn't finish the block so (Eagles DT Mike) Patterson would get up or (Brodrick) Bunkley would get up and get involved in the tackle.
So Brandon Jackson didn't play a perfect game, but for a rookie did all right?
Was his course perfect every time? No. Did he have the exact read every time? No. But he protected the football, had a couple good runs in there. Considering where he is in his career, we're not disappointed in what he did.
How did Junius Coston do when he replaced Jason Spitz?
He was solid. He came in and did a nice job. There were one or two times when he gave up some pressure on the quarterback where he didn't handle the spike of the defensive tackle very well and there was one twist that he could have passed off a little bit cleaner, but overall he was solid.
How much is his pushing for a starting job?
We all sat down together and watched the film and evaluated the tape but we really didn't talk personnel yet. We'll probably wait until tomorrow when we set the game plan and determine who's exactly available. Obviously Jason has a little bit of an injury issue. How severe that is, I don't know at this point.
How has Coston improved?
He's been more physical at the point of attack, he's moving guys, he's one of the more physical guys that we have. And we like what he's doing. He's always had that good athleticism.
RUNNING BACKS COACH EDGAR BENNETT
How did Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn look in their first game?
Considering it was their first game, I thought they stepped up and made some plays when they had some opportunities they made some plays. There's still room for improvement. Will run through some areas where they need to improve, but for their first time in the NFL, I thought they did a very good job.
Picking up the blitz?
They did a good job. When you factor in DeShawn Wynn on third down, he did a good job. He knew exactly what his keys were and the different pressure looks he had and he made the necessary adjustments and he did a good job with his techniques.
McCarthy and Philbin brought up their route running and reads. What did you see?
Jackson did a good job on his run reads. Where he needs to improve on is his course as far as his initial aiming point. He needs to get better at that. It's something we're focusing on and he will improve going into this next week.
Can you explain more about a RB's course?
It's his initial starting point. Just like the offensive line and they have an initial starting point, the backs have an initial starting point as well. I'll just kind of leave it at that keeping in mind we're about to play the Giants. I don't want to get too far into it. But that's what he needs to improve on, his course.
Provided Vernand Morency is healthy this week, how is his skill set different than the other backs?
He's been in the system for a year so he has experience as well as he's elusive. The bottom line is he can help us win football games. He's a good football player and I know he's anxious to get back out there. We'll see how it goes this week.
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH JAMES CAMPEN
How did Coston play?
He did OK.
Could Spitz have played?
He was limping pretty good out there so I made a judgment call and put (Coston) in the middle of the series because he looked like he was laboring a little bit for him. So I took him out and I'm glad we did at that time.
How did Spitz react to coming out?
No player likes to be taken out of a series. Jason's a very tough, tough kid. But after you get him down and get him looked at, obviously I think it was a good decision to take him. He actually sat down and get it re-taped. He could have come back into the game but we decided not to push it.
Can you kind of explain the zone blocking scheme?
What you're basically trying to do is stretch the play-call side. So if we run to the right, you want to stretch the right side and you want to cut (block) the defense either with body position or you want to cut them down on the ground. So you look at it as building a wall, stretching the defense and insert the running back where his reads take him.
In a perfect world, what kind of linemen are best in that scheme? Is it like the Broncos under Alex Gibbs?
More like Denver. Smaller, quicker guys.
How does your personnel match up with that scheme?
Very well.
What did you see in the first game out of that group?
Our fundamentals weren't sound. We worked tremendously hard on that this whole offseason and training camp. The players feel the same way, the line, that they need to execute better and display what we're capable of displaying.
Can you put your finger on a reason why maybe they struggled on Sunday?
Any facet of football takes all 11 to execute. We were just off. We were off.
McCarthy said some coaches feel Coston should be under consideration to start at RG. Does that include you?
I don't comment on players. On who's better or who's worse, I never comment on those things.
OK. How would you term the competition there?
I think Juice has clearly made himself as the sixth guy and Juice could be pushing at other positions as well. And he is pushing. If his performance continues to increase... He's a young guy who'd doing a good job at all five positions. And that's tough for a young guy. He doesn't get as many reps at one position. But he's done a very good job to put himself in position to compete for a starting job.
What did you see that made you feel that you needed to take Spitz out?
He was limping pretty good two plays prior to the play where I took him out. He did a good job but he was laboring a little bit so we decided to get him out and get him looked at. Apparently it was the right thing to do.
WIDE RECEIVERS COACH JIMMY ROBINSON
How did James Jones do in his first game?
You know, James overall did a decent job for his time out there in a real live situation. He knew what he was doing, he understood the game plan well and really only had one mistake in terms of assignments. There are some technique things that he needs to continue to work on and improve. But that's kind of a week to week thing. You hope that you get a little bit better every week. So I think James is improving. First time out there, OK. It can be better and I know he feels the same way. Precision, route running and other techniques can get better.
Was he able to get sufficient separation?
I don't have any problems about him going against a secondary like that. He's big and strong and physical and there's things that he could have done better, and there's things he did pretty well. Yeah, he understands how to do it. He just has to do it consistently. But they are a good secondary and they do cause you some route disruptions and things that you have to fight through. I think he held his own and we expect to see him get better and better each week.
How much did losing Greg Jennings late in the week affect what you guys had in mind for the Eagles?
I don't think it changed a lot of what we were going to do. But there were probably a thing or two, maybe, that we had planned to do but we didn't when he wasn't in there. But for the most part, Ruvell (Martin) and Carlyle (Holiday), they know all the positions and they can move in and move and know what they're doing. I don't think it changes your thinking a lot. It just affects you because you want to put your best guys on the field. They're starters because they're your best guys.
By Greg A. Bedard
Monday, Sep 10 2007, 05:02 PM
Green Bay - Here are some of the questions and answers we got from assistant coaches the day after the Packers' 16-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles:
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE PHILBIN
When you looked at the film, where did you have the most problems?
There was a little bit of everything. It wasn't one isolated event that was our breakdown. The starting point was initially maybe the course of the running back on the outside zone was maybe a little bit too tight. We felt that wasn't exactly the way we'd like it to be. We got some guys cut (blocked) on the ground, but we'd kind of get them down too fast and the guy would get up and make the play. We have to get that corrected there. There were a few other occasions where we felt the movement at the point of attack wasn't quite enough. Those are three things that we felt caused the most problems in the running game. There were a couple of reads... The first run of the game we felt maybe could have gone outside but I think from a fundamental standpoint: the course of the back, cutting on the backside and movement at the point of the attack were three things we need to get better at, quickly.
Were you surprised that Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher were giving up some of the pressures?
A little bit, yeah. I mean, yeah. We certainly had high expectations going in that we were confident in our ability to protect the quarterback and thought we would do a better job doing that. I'm sure they're disappointed in themselves, which is probably more important than me being disappointed by, yeah, we certainly went into the game feeling those were two veteran players that have played well here in the past and we were counting on them, sure.
When you don't practice cut blocking in training camp, is it natural for it to takes some time to develop?
Well, we don't necessarily cut our own guys but we spend an awful lot of time on it in drill periods. We were in position a number of different times to make the cut and actually at times cut the guy but we didn't finish the block so (Eagles DT Mike) Patterson would get up or (Brodrick) Bunkley would get up and get involved in the tackle.
So Brandon Jackson didn't play a perfect game, but for a rookie did all right?
Was his course perfect every time? No. Did he have the exact read every time? No. But he protected the football, had a couple good runs in there. Considering where he is in his career, we're not disappointed in what he did.
How did Junius Coston do when he replaced Jason Spitz?
He was solid. He came in and did a nice job. There were one or two times when he gave up some pressure on the quarterback where he didn't handle the spike of the defensive tackle very well and there was one twist that he could have passed off a little bit cleaner, but overall he was solid.
How much is his pushing for a starting job?
We all sat down together and watched the film and evaluated the tape but we really didn't talk personnel yet. We'll probably wait until tomorrow when we set the game plan and determine who's exactly available. Obviously Jason has a little bit of an injury issue. How severe that is, I don't know at this point.
How has Coston improved?
He's been more physical at the point of attack, he's moving guys, he's one of the more physical guys that we have. And we like what he's doing. He's always had that good athleticism.
RUNNING BACKS COACH EDGAR BENNETT
How did Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn look in their first game?
Considering it was their first game, I thought they stepped up and made some plays when they had some opportunities they made some plays. There's still room for improvement. Will run through some areas where they need to improve, but for their first time in the NFL, I thought they did a very good job.
Picking up the blitz?
They did a good job. When you factor in DeShawn Wynn on third down, he did a good job. He knew exactly what his keys were and the different pressure looks he had and he made the necessary adjustments and he did a good job with his techniques.
McCarthy and Philbin brought up their route running and reads. What did you see?
Jackson did a good job on his run reads. Where he needs to improve on is his course as far as his initial aiming point. He needs to get better at that. It's something we're focusing on and he will improve going into this next week.
Can you explain more about a RB's course?
It's his initial starting point. Just like the offensive line and they have an initial starting point, the backs have an initial starting point as well. I'll just kind of leave it at that keeping in mind we're about to play the Giants. I don't want to get too far into it. But that's what he needs to improve on, his course.
Provided Vernand Morency is healthy this week, how is his skill set different than the other backs?
He's been in the system for a year so he has experience as well as he's elusive. The bottom line is he can help us win football games. He's a good football player and I know he's anxious to get back out there. We'll see how it goes this week.
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH JAMES CAMPEN
How did Coston play?
He did OK.
Could Spitz have played?
He was limping pretty good out there so I made a judgment call and put (Coston) in the middle of the series because he looked like he was laboring a little bit for him. So I took him out and I'm glad we did at that time.
How did Spitz react to coming out?
No player likes to be taken out of a series. Jason's a very tough, tough kid. But after you get him down and get him looked at, obviously I think it was a good decision to take him. He actually sat down and get it re-taped. He could have come back into the game but we decided not to push it.
Can you kind of explain the zone blocking scheme?
What you're basically trying to do is stretch the play-call side. So if we run to the right, you want to stretch the right side and you want to cut (block) the defense either with body position or you want to cut them down on the ground. So you look at it as building a wall, stretching the defense and insert the running back where his reads take him.
In a perfect world, what kind of linemen are best in that scheme? Is it like the Broncos under Alex Gibbs?
More like Denver. Smaller, quicker guys.
How does your personnel match up with that scheme?
Very well.
What did you see in the first game out of that group?
Our fundamentals weren't sound. We worked tremendously hard on that this whole offseason and training camp. The players feel the same way, the line, that they need to execute better and display what we're capable of displaying.
Can you put your finger on a reason why maybe they struggled on Sunday?
Any facet of football takes all 11 to execute. We were just off. We were off.
McCarthy said some coaches feel Coston should be under consideration to start at RG. Does that include you?
I don't comment on players. On who's better or who's worse, I never comment on those things.
OK. How would you term the competition there?
I think Juice has clearly made himself as the sixth guy and Juice could be pushing at other positions as well. And he is pushing. If his performance continues to increase... He's a young guy who'd doing a good job at all five positions. And that's tough for a young guy. He doesn't get as many reps at one position. But he's done a very good job to put himself in position to compete for a starting job.
What did you see that made you feel that you needed to take Spitz out?
He was limping pretty good two plays prior to the play where I took him out. He did a good job but he was laboring a little bit so we decided to get him out and get him looked at. Apparently it was the right thing to do.
WIDE RECEIVERS COACH JIMMY ROBINSON
How did James Jones do in his first game?
You know, James overall did a decent job for his time out there in a real live situation. He knew what he was doing, he understood the game plan well and really only had one mistake in terms of assignments. There are some technique things that he needs to continue to work on and improve. But that's kind of a week to week thing. You hope that you get a little bit better every week. So I think James is improving. First time out there, OK. It can be better and I know he feels the same way. Precision, route running and other techniques can get better.
Was he able to get sufficient separation?
I don't have any problems about him going against a secondary like that. He's big and strong and physical and there's things that he could have done better, and there's things he did pretty well. Yeah, he understands how to do it. He just has to do it consistently. But they are a good secondary and they do cause you some route disruptions and things that you have to fight through. I think he held his own and we expect to see him get better and better each week.
How much did losing Greg Jennings late in the week affect what you guys had in mind for the Eagles?
I don't think it changed a lot of what we were going to do. But there were probably a thing or two, maybe, that we had planned to do but we didn't when he wasn't in there. But for the most part, Ruvell (Martin) and Carlyle (Holiday), they know all the positions and they can move in and move and know what they're doing. I don't think it changes your thinking a lot. It just affects you because you want to put your best guys on the field. They're starters because they're your best guys.