Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt (11.2.23)
Alex, we’re all trying to assess whether we thought Deshaun (Watson) threw with better velocity yesterday.
“What’d you guys think? What’d you think?”
I thought a little bit.
“Okay. I thought a little bit better, too. Yeah, he looked better. Progressing. He does look better than he looked last time he threw in a practice. So that’s positive.”
Did you think he looked better the Friday before the game?
“Feels like it. It’s just naked eye, but I think he’s feeling better.”
After what you guys went through with Indy, what are you looking for specifically out of him to make the final decision that we feel comfortable that he can start?
“Yeah, that’s probably a question more for Kev (Stefanski), but I think for a quarterback, you just want to be able to make all the throws. If there’s anything that you still can’t do, but as long as you feel confident that you can make the throws down the field, short, accurately, that’s where we want to be.”
Who is your new starting receiver?
“We’re going to play by committee out there. We’ll see who lines up out there first. But big shoes to fill. I mean, just hats off to Donovan (Peoples-Jones). Sorry to see him leave, obviously as a player and a person, but excited for his opportunity. We’ll have to have a couple of guys fill those shoes.”
You think it’s an opportunity for (Cedric) Tillman?
“Yeah, I think he’s one of the guys that definitely will be in the mix there. He’ll find his way. It’ll get him more involved than he has been in the past. Marquise (Goodwin) will be in there. We’ll roll guys through that spot.”
(Cedric) Tillman, since training camp, what have you seen from his practices? Has he improved in any area?
“Absolutely. He’s a guy that we were high on coming out of camp. Made a lot of plays in training camp for us, made plays in the preseason and then just really just starting to ease him back into it the last couple of weeks. Now this is going to accelerate that maturation for him, but big body, big target. Brings a lot in the run game as far as a force blocker and then can make plays, contested plays, high point the ball, the things that he does well. So, he’ll definitely be more involved.”
After we had to leave yesterday, did Deshaun (Watson) throw those balls downfield to your satisfaction?
“Yes, we pushed some balls down the field for sure.”
Do you expect this to be another situation like the Baltimore game where he goes out there before the game and then you decide if he can play?
“I don’t know if it’ll come down to that long, but we’ll see. You know, we’re taking it day by day right now. Yesterday he put a good practice together. We’ll see how it goes today, how he feels today, and we’ll do the same with Friday and all the way up to Sunday but feel better about where he is after yesterday’s work.”
How challenging has it been going through weeks where you’re not sure who your starting quarterback is and you’re trying to get this offense?
“Obviously we’d love to have them out there. We’d love to keep him healthy the whole time and have them out there every game. But that’s the reality of the NFL. It’s not just that position. Obviously, it’s heightened when it’s the starting quarterback, but we go through that at every other position all the time. We’re always plugging guys in, next man up mentality, and that’s across the board. It gets heightened when it’s the QB.”
Does the fact that you guys have the Baltimore game and Steelers game right after this one factor into your decision to play or not play Deshaun (Watson)?
“Yeah, I don’t even know if that plays a role in it right now. We’ll put a healthy Deshaun out when he’s healthy and ready to go. Couldn’t tell you when that’ll be.”
Looking at the Cardinals, they seem to have a lot of different weapons that are productive. They are among the league’s best in sacks, tackles for loss. When you’re playing against a team that seems to have bullets flying from lots of different areas, does that make it more difficult?
“Yeah, definitely. They’re multiple in what they do. Multiple personnel groupings, multiple coverages, structures, their pressure packages good. So, yeah, it’s definitely a week of preparation for us. They present you some different looks that you’re not used to seeing. So, like every other week, you just got to dump out the bucket of stuff you learned the week before and refocus on this defense. And they do present you some challenges. But feel good after coming out of Seattle, our communication was superb. Our operation was great. Had one false start in a bad spot. So, feel like we’re focused in right now. We’re doing a great job of preparation during the week, and we’ll be ready on Sunday.”
We know how competitive Deshaun (Watson) is and how kind of admitted he might have pushed himself a little bit to get back to Indy, what is your strategy with him and knowing his personality, knowing he wants to be out there, to kind of hone him back in and say, hey, we got to take this step by step. How do you kind of do that?
“It’s tough. I mean, it’s tough. He doesn’t want to hear that, for sure. But I think collectively, between AB (Andrew Berry) and Kevin (Stefanski), they’ll make the right decision with his input, obviously, but we’ll see how this week goes. Every day is a different day, and everything’s been moving in the right direction this week.”
Speaking of next man up, do you expect to have Dawand Jones?
“He’s dealing with something now, but I think he feels okay right at this point. We’ll see again day to day with him, but I think you should have a chance.”
With P.J (Walker), how do you keep the aggressiveness and cut down on the interceptions?
“It’s such a fine line. It really is. The interception at the end there, that’s a freak deal. Hits off a helmet, goes 50ft in the air. The one we had earlier was kind of a combination of three different guys. We were a little late on a snap, got edged in protection, had to move them off the spot. Dave (David Njoku) kind of slowed down a hair. The ball flew a little bit. So that’s a tough one. We’d like to get that back. But whatever it is, we talked about it in our team meeting on Wednesday when the guys came back. Just the importance of the ball. We’re terrible at it right now. I’ve been on teams where all you do is talk about ball security and all you do is turn it over. I’ve been on teams, you never talk about it once, never do a drill and you never turn it over. It’s just that fine line. We just have to be hyper focused and when we’re in traffic, whether it be in the pocket or with the ball in our hand down the field, as a runner, we have to make sure we’re doing everything we can with our fundamentals and our techniques to take care of the ball. Decision making for the quarterback is a huge part of that as well. It’s definitely something we’ve addressed. I feel like if we take the turnovers out of the games we’ve lost, we’re going to at least be in a position to have a chance to win them. So, we got to find a way to take care of the ball at all costs.”
With David Njoku, seems like he’s been more involved in the passing game lately. Was that like guys make a concerted effort to do that. Why has he been able to have that?
“Yeah, well, Dave’s one of those guys where you want the ball in his hands. He’s such a violent runner with his speed and his size, any way we could find ways to get him the ball and let him take off is something yeah. Obviously, we’re going to highlight our key players and Dave would be one of those.”
You talked about that interception. He (David Njoku) slowed down a little bit. PJ (Walker) said that after the game. Is that the right decision to slow down because the guy’s sitting there or does, he just have to keep running?
“Yeah, that’s a keep running route for him. We stay on the move on that route. Again, it was a combination of a couple of different factors on that play, but there’s points there in the red zone that we would like to have had. So, we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot. We’re playing good offensive football. I do feel that. I do feel like the guys were productive in the run game last week. We did a great job with our operation. We had a lot of different motions and shifts in a crowded environment, noisy. So, I’m really proud of the way those guys prepared. I think we’re close. I think we just need a game with a clean slate on the turnover side and we’ll feel better.”
When it comes to that. You guys had such a successful screen mean; how much do you guys work that? It sounds like you guys work a ton. Is it more than other places you’ve been?
“Absolutely. I think Coach (Bill) Callahan’s technique and the way he teaches it. We practice know every day in a certain segment of practice. So, it’s something that we’ve been good at here in our four years together, and it’s a strength of ours. The touchdown to Dave (David Njoku) really was a design off of our screen game. So, we showed screen to both sides to try to pull the linebackers. And it’s an old play, it’s been around forever. But when you screen well, you get those kinds of responses, then you can counter back with the kind of change up off of your screen game. So, yeah, we do put time in it. We pride ourselves in being a great screen team. And it was very productive in Seattle.”
I know people always say, like, it takes all eleven on every play, but is that truly one of those plays where it really takes all eleven?
“Absolutely. It’s taught that way since day one. Since we’ve been here. We’ve emphasized screens and we practice screens and we’re pretty good at them. And then what else does it do? It slows down the pass rush. Is this a screen? I don’t know. It could be. So now you’re rushing Dave (David Njoku) as a blocker and you’re not sure if he’s going to screen you or block you. So, it definitely helps. It all comes together in the scheme of things.”
You got 155 yards out of your running backs last week in Seattle, just how do you feel that rotation is going with those three? I know Kareem (Hunt) was a little frustrated h didn’t get any touches in that fourth quarter. But just where are you at with this run?
“Really, it’s by committee right now. Everybody’s going to get their touches. I see all those guys as one A, one B. They could all come in and be productive, which they’ve shown. That was our plan last week going in with Jerome (Ford) coming off of the injury, not sure he was going to make it. So, we just wanted to put him in on third downs early, see how he felt, and then know that we could get him the ball in the fourth quarter with fresh legs. So that’s kind of how that thing unfolded. But really impressed with all the know. Kareem right now is running extremely hard. He had some great runs that weren’t there and got three yards and stuff that we had free rushers. So really proud of the way he’s running with the physicality. Pierre (Strong) has the speed and the vision. He can get on the edge. Did some good things in the wide zone game as far as the perimeter game as well. And then Jerome’s, that’s the sweet feet where he can cut on a dime and make the move. So really losing Nick (Chubb) was big. It took a lot of feet to fill his shoes. So, we’re just going to keep rolling with the guys and really happy with all of them right now.”
Some bad luck on that third and three call. The third and three interception. How did you feel about that call? What was the discussion there during that time out? And then is there anything P.J. Walker could have done differently obviously to not throw it off?
“Yeah, it’s tough. I mean, they brought the pressure. They brought it in the B gap to the throw side and he elevated up and got it. It’s just a day one installation play. Often times you just think of players not at plays in those situations and trying to get Amari the ball in that situation on a day one installation, double slant with a drag slant to the other side. It’s day one install for a million offenses. It was just a core play. Just unfortunate it happened. But I was totally good with the play call. P.J. was on board. Wouldn’t second guess that, if that’s a completion or an incompletion. It’s a different ballgame.”
How about Nick Harris’ skill set? You must trust his athleticism to put him out there as a fullback in situations that may not necessarily be screaming hey we’re going to run the football here.
‘Yeah, very talented, very athletic, very fleet afoot, get around blocks. He can do a lot of things. I like his ability to lead coming out of the backfield. Can help us in protection as well in certain scheme teams. But he’s a guy that can do it all. Really can’t wait to see him catch a pass soon. But he has a really unique skill set and we’re trying to find more ways to use him.”
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