Head Coach Todd Monken (10.7.26)

Kind of saw Elgton (Jenkins) there. Is he out of the protocol?

“Should be good to go today.”

 

What are your plans with (Dillon) Gabriel now being able to practice? Do you feel an urgency to make him active?

“Not really. I mean, we opened up, what is it? The three-week window to kind of see where we’re at. So that’s kind of where we’re at. Get him out there, practice, see where he’s at with his back, and get the reps that we can get. A lot of that will be on the look squad, or it’ll be individual. But I look forward to seeing him back out there.”

 

How do you feel about carrying four quarterbacks on the roster potentially?

“I don’t have to feel anything at this point. We still have three weeks.”

 

Is there anything new you can tell us about Mason Graham?

“I don’t anticipate Mike (Hall Jr.) or Mason practicing today. I don’t anticipate either one of them practicing today. We’ll see how it goes for tomorrow.”

 

Is there a chance that Mason could practice?

“I don’t know that. I just know he’s out today.”

 

Todd, Denzel Boston’s made a favorable impression since the moment he got here. Did you expect him to have this kind of an impact this quickly?

“Well, you’re hopeful. I think whenever you draft a player that high, I mean, I didn’t, not being around him, I didn’t know really how he was wired. I think that’s what allows guys to play really effectively early in their careers, is how they’re wired, and he’s wired the right way.”

 

When he plays like he has, does that make you want to scheme up more plays for him?

“I don’t always decide that. There’s plays we scheme up for individual players, and there’s a number of things we scheme up for what we think we’re going to see defensively. I think the most important thing, when you build a roster, is that you have enough pieces and weapons everywhere that you can equally distribute the ball. I think that’s balance. Balance isn’t just run and pass. It’s defenses having to defend the quarterback run game, all of your skill players. I think that’s when you have true balance.”

 

You talked about having a younger roster, but the ability of this group, in those tight moments, with the pressure on in the fourth quarter, to just be so poised and not rattled by any of that. What is it about this group that has allowed them, especially so quickly with a lot of young guys, to just be so even keeled in those moments?

“Well, it’s still early. We still have a marathon in the rest of the season to go, but up until this point, I think our guys have just done exactly what they’ve done since I’ve gotten here. And that’s just practice and work and believe, stay connected. Some of our non-negotiables, I think, helps you through that. And you’ve got to have enough guys that make plays. It’s not just that. We’ve had Denzel Ward make plays, and we’ve had Deshaun (Watson) make plays down the stretch, and Jerry Jeudy the other day make plays. Those aren’t younger guys. We’ve had some of the younger guys that are certainly capable of making plays, make plays. So, we’ll just continue to push the envelope. They should have confidence in themselves as individual players, in their ability to make plays, and they’ve done that.”

How difficult is that to instill, in a young team, that confidence?

“Well, it’s really not instilling it in them. Someone’s got to make a play. Like, what really turns momentum, what gets it to where it might go the other way? How about a Denzel Boston catch, breaking tackles, and go score, and all of a sudden that changes momentum? Or the other night, when Denzel Ward makes an interception, and then we go down and score and get a stop and score and get a stop and score. Someone’s going to have to make a play and take advantage when the other team makes mistakes, which we did a couple of times. So, you’ve got to have enough playmakers. That’s what gets you excited. And then coaches that scheme up opportunities, rush plans on defense and coverage schemes and plays that are designed to get guys open. So, there’s a lot that goes into it other than trying to instill that in players. But I would hope innately all of our players have a ton of confidence in their own ability to make plays.”

 

With Kalia Davis also being designated to return, is there any possibility that he could play on Sunday?

“I’m hopeful, he’s going to go out there and practice today. So, he’s going to give us a few reps today, and we’ll have a better idea post practice where he’s at.”

 

He didn’t practice at all during training camp after the first day, how can he get out there?

“Just get out there and stretch and loosen up, and let’s go, man. I mean, if we’re going to need him, it’s going to be now, possibly. So, let’s go.”

 

Do you expect to activate some new tackles before Sunday?

“I would anticipate that being a possibility. I don’t know if I said that right. We’ll see how it goes.”

 

Todd, you said after the game last week, something you’ve said before, that 15 years ago wasn’t the time for you to be a head coach, that you’re different now. Why is that?

“Well, it didn’t feel like that 15 years ago. It’s easy to say that now, but I think we all would say that. I’m not the only one that would feel that way. I take anybody that’s a little bit older, and you would look back at the things you did then and what you thought you knew and how you handled things. And God puts you in certain places for a reason, to learn, and not put you in other places. But I think that’s all of us, really, that as you get older, you gain wisdom on how to handle things. Doesn’t mean we’re perfect. Doesn’t mean that I’m still not under construction, because I am. But you’re certainly in a much better place, I am, than I was years ago. Even last year, five months ago, I’m better today than I was then.”

 

What’s something you thought you knew then that has evolved over time?

“Oh, I don’t know. I really don’t. There’s so much, you can’t even put your finger on it, of the people I’ve come across, coaches and players. Even as much as last year. Things you learn in the offseason or on a daily basis being around your players, it’s not only schematically offensively, it’s how to handle players, how to talk to the media, right? Those things that, on a daily basis, you try to learn and adapt and just try to get better.”

 

How about Geno (Smith), what have you seen from him? I know he hasn’t thrown any interceptions. How well has Geno been playing?

“Well, what a great career he’s had. I was all the way back at Oklahoma State when he was at West Virginia, and they came into the Big 12, and they had a couple really good receivers, really fun to watch on offense. And he’s had a terrific career, and to get opportunities, not only in Seattle and then with the Jets, I see a very productive player, a guy that throws an elite deep ball, and he’ll be a handful. We’re going to do a great job Sunday eliminating some of the explosive plays that he’s capable of creating.”

 

When you look at the Jets on tape, just how deceptive is their record?

“Well, I mean, it’s the NFL. Like any team, it can be deceptive. And that’s why all you do, and all we can control right now, is what we do starting in 13 minutes. What do we do today, what do we do then post practice with the meetings, what do we do with our bodies tonight for this weekend? Because we’ve won three one-score games, and those have been close games. We found ways to win, and those can teeter either way. Certain teams are like that. They had a tough loss against the (Green Bay) Packers, that’s one of those, that’s very difficult. And they’ve played on the road a bunch. And what I see is, and I’m looking at both sides of the ball, a team that plays awfully hard. I see a defense that rallies to the ball, plays physically, and they’ve changed over their defense. I think, what is it, seven new starters or something? A little bit like we’ve done on offense. So, it’s still a work in progress. They’re still under construction. I’ve always been a big AG (Aaron Glenn) fan. They play hard, and we went against him when he was in Detroit, running their defense, and he’s wired the right way. He’ll have those guys ready to go.”

 

It seems like with E-Man (Emmanuel McNeil-Warren) that were seeing him more and you guys are using more three-safety looks. How have you seen him come along throughout these first four weeks and some of the big breakups he had the other night?

“Just playing with more and more confidence. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s been nice to be able to bring him along slowly, I think is probably the best way to put it, with Rocket (Ronnie Hickman) and Grant (Delpit) back there. And then as we’ve been able to move him forward, be able to build confidence. And obviously the better he plays, the more his role is going to expand. But it’s been fun to watch. You can see his confidence build, and some of that was on special teams. He’s done a nice job on special teams as well. And sometimes that’s where your confidence builds, anytime you’re able to get on the field and have success, it enables your confidence to build, even in a small little part of the game. Maybe not as much defensively early on, but when you have success and you’re getting on the field, I think that’s a little easier to kind of work your way in.”

 

Speaking of special teams, just how much of a weapon has Corey (Bojorquez) been for you with the way he’s been able to flip the field?

“Oh, it’s been elite. Our coverage has been elite. His ability to place the ball, and the other night, the 81-yard kick, the one that ended up on the one-yard line, where the guys downed it, those are game changing plays that really won’t go down in the stat book. So, I’m going to look at the stats and say, ‘well, they did this on offense, they did this on defense’, but where were those, the game within the game? Right, the game within the game. And those are incredible moments. And when you look at Corey, he comes back, and we’ve got two other punters in camp, and you talk about someone that just kind of – I wouldn’t say weathered the storm, but said, ‘okay, bring them on’, and really happy for him.”

 

Gabriel wasn’t involved in the starting competition, but he ended up having a pretty good game when he got an opportunity to play. Did your opinion of him as a quarterback change over the course of it?

“Not really. I mean, he’s a good football player, there’s no doubt. Just like it didn’t change when he got in there late in some of the other games and didn’t play as well as I know he’s capable of. And then I was happy for him in the last preseason game to play and really operate the offense at a high level. He certainly is, like, another coach on the field, and I’m just excited to get him back. I’m happy for him. I know the injury was frustrating for him, but to get him back, I’m excited to see him out there.”

 

With this mini-bye, were you guys able to, the way that teams usually do, really dig in, break down everything that you’ve done so far and try to make some significant changes or improvements? Did you handle it that way?

“Every week our coaches that have areas in the game plan do a deep dive into where we are from a tendency standpoint, what we do. Some of that, we try to do every week. What’s stopping us from being as effective as we can be? Be that penalties, be that operation, be that plays that we’re running. I think last week was a blessing. When you have a short week, you’re like, ‘all right, we need to shrink what we do and see if we can execute at a much higher level.’ I think that in itself was a blessing. Sure, there’s time to say, ‘hey, we’re going to get an extra Tuesday like we did yesterday, maybe to work on some things.’ But ultimately, I didn’t feel like there was a ton to really look at after only four games, because we’re still trying to find our way. What do we do well? What do our players do well? What is Deshaun comfortable with? I think we’ve come a long ways up front in terms of running off the ball and trying to displace people. I think our receivers have come a long way. I think Deshaun’s going to continue to improve with every week that we do the same things over and over and over, and he gets repeated reps at it. So that’s the hardest part, it’s not really a deeper dive. It’s really like, ‘how do we streamline and just do it better?’”

 

The touchdown by Jaleel (McLaughlin) the other night, that was his only snap of the game. Your receivers were all downfield blocking, KC (Concepcion Jr.) was blocking Patrick Queen, got him a couple times. What does a play like that say about your team?

“Well, first off, JMac should be coming to my office and saying, ‘hey, I’m one for one, for God’s sakes.’ That’s what he should be doing, is ‘I need the ball more, I need more touches.’ He’s not wired that way, but a tremendous job on the perimeter that got us started and then a tremendous play by him to finish it. But you saw selflessness on the perimeter between one (KC Concepcion), 11 (Malachi Corley) and 12 (Denzel Boston), and how those guys are wired to finish. When you get guys blocking on the perimeter, you’re going to get efficient plays. When you get a really good skill player, he takes it the rest of the way. Like your line is going to get you so far, your guys on the perimeter, and then the better your skill players, just like the design at Tampa. We uncovered him, but he broke those tackles and ran the rest of the way. Those guys are the guys that finish it. But it was awesome. It was a play that kind of jump started us, because when you get those plays outside of the red zone, as we all know, whatever the percentage is of getting in there, shoot, you don’t have to run another five, six, seven plays. You scored, whatever it was, 28 yards out.”

 

We talked about Deshaun as a runner, but was there a point during camp and preseason where you felt like he had to get over a hurdle mentally, physically, saying, ‘I’m willing and able to do this when it comes to a game situation’?

“I don’t know that, because we don’t have any game scenarios that we can really fall back on and see. You’d have to ask him about his body and his comfort level and taking the contact and all of those things, because I’m sure that’s going to be in your head when you’ve had the injuries he’s had. But he’s never blinked. All he’s ever said is, ‘hey, I’m willing to run it’, now, he’s got to put the ball away, for God’s sakes. His ball security’s got to improve, tremendously, but he’s shown that ability throughout his career to make plays with his feet, his confidence in getting outside the pocket. And now we’re just trying to do everything we can to be more effective within the pocket, within the scheme of how we do things, and being able to run the ball more effectively to take some of the heat off of him.”

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