Head Coach Todd Monken (11.2.26)
Todd, just wondering, when you went back and you watched the film and you looked at those eight sacks all over again, is it still a function of – coach it better, block it better, get rid of the ball quicker – or is Deshaun (Watson) doing something on a bunch of these sacks that he needs to do a bunch better?
“No, it’s all of the above. The way the game played out is not a recipe for success against any NFL team, let alone the Steelers at their place. Where you get behind, you end up in a drop-back game and it’s not ideal. And so the ideal – just like the reverse of that, was you know, we didn’t have many opportunities to get them in a drop-back game. And when we did, in the red zone, we got a sack. And that was the difference between the two games. Our inability to stay out of the chains. We were behind in the game, and that’s going to lend itself to, you know, added pressure on your quarterback, and we certainly all need to do it better.”
What is the biggest challenge to getting the running game going better?
“Well, it is week-to-week, and you know, it is what it is. I mean, the week before we felt like we had taken some steps forward again, albeit a different team. We never really got in a rhythm, and that can happen. And then we got behind. That’s really, to me, in a nutshell, we got behind, we didn’t really get into a rhythm, and we didn’t get any auxiliary yards. I mean, if you’re behind, your longest run is seven yards. You don’t get any auxiliary runs to the quarterback, through other players, through perimeter game. It’s going to look like that, unfortunately. And, you know, certainly got to scheme it better and got to coach it better and execute better.”
I mean, is the running game right there, do you think, or it just didn’t work as well yesterday?
“Well, obviously, I mean, like I said the week before, again, every opponent’s different in this league. And again, the game went a certain way. Like, we weren’t – in the second half after the first drive. We ended up getting the ball to the five. We ran it three times and didn’t get the first down, and then it was 27 to 6. And at that point, for 25 minutes of the game, you’re really not running the football. So, it just, everything went in that direction, and unfortunately, we didn’t run it well enough when we were early in the game. And that’s something we’re just going to continue to work on, and we’re always under construction.”
And then one more. You had success against their run when the Steelers were here, so what was the difference between that game and yesterday?
“Explosive plays, you know, schemed-up runs against the attack-style front, and we’re certainly going to work to eliminate those. And again, they did a really good job. They’ve got good backs. They broke a number of tackles once they got through the front line. And, you know, there were times we didn’t mitigate the yardage that they got. I mean, it’s one thing to get to the line of scrimmage and get a solid play, but they got explosives out of it. And all you have to do is point to the third-and-extra-long 51-yard gain and the one play right before halftime where they got 23 on two trap plays, and you’re looking at 74 of their yards. And, you know, we just weren’t able to mitigate that. And again, they were playing from ahead. And that’s the difference, is we were ahead in that game, and they were ahead in this game.”
Tytus Howard didn’t practice all week. He had no injury designation, so he started and played. Do you not have a policy about practicing all week to play?
“Well, he practiced Saturday morning. He went through the walkthrough.”
Second thing about the offensive line, you have so many guys that play multiple positions. Are you and (George) Warhop at all talking about shuffling the line somehow, or are you pleased where everybody’s at?
“Well, again, it’s week-to-week. If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have said we’re pleased where we’re at. If you ask me this week, well, we’re not pleased where we’re at. I mean, that’s the nature of what we do. When you play against the best in the business and you play on the road against a really good front and you get behind, that’s, again, that’s not a recipe for any offensive line, and especially against their edge rushers that can wreck the game. So, we certainly have work to do, and we’ll go back to work after we put the game to bed today, on Wednesday, of correcting the things we can correct. Coaching it better, scheming it better, playing better.”
Hey, Todd. Following up on the line stuff, Spencer (Fano), after the game, was disappointed with how he played. Do you think more of that was the matchups and circumstances, or he just had a rough day and didn’t play like he had played in the first part of the season?
“Well, again, we put ourselves in that position. You know, that’s a lot to ask for the eighth game as a rookie left tackle. I mean, it’s hard enough as a rookie right tackle, for any tackle, against the likes of, you know, (Alex) Highsmith and (Nick) Herbig and the guys coming off the edge. And so, you know, we had our times. We were able to chip help, and there’s other times, you know, we had to get the guys out and give ourselves a chance. And that’s a real positive sign of a player that you have that believes he should be playing at a championship level already, playing in his eighth game. I think that’s what you want out of your players, and that’s what you want out of all of us, is we didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough. And it wasn’t just Spencer. We certainly have a lot of areas we need to continue to improve on.”
And then after the game, Deshaun said the Steelers did some things that made him kind of hesitate with the ball, didn’t get it out as fast as he wanted to. I know you mentioned that. Did they switch things from the first matchup to yesterday that made it difficult for him to either see it clearly or just have somebody open early yesterday?
“I think a few things, but it really wasn’t anything that, you know, it wasn’t that extreme. It was just, you know, we got behind in the game, and there are times we could have protected better. There are times we could have called it better, there’s times he could have gotten the ball out, and ultimately, eight sacks are below the line. When you get anywhere near that number, we all got to take a big bite of it and say, ‘it’s not good enough’. Scheming it, calling it, running it, staying ahead of the chains and getting rid of the ball. But that’s just the way it is. I mean, it’s not one individual person. It’s a collective thing that we’ve got to continue to fight to get better at.”
Todd, I wanted to ask you about Jared Verse. You know, no sacks yet, no real big splash plays yet. And, you know, he replaced the guy that I realize they’re not the same player, but could get through double teams, could create havoc in the backfield, strip sacks, forced fumbles in addition to the sacks. Are we being unrealistic as far as what we’re expecting to see from Jared as a person? Is that not the player he is?
“Well, I think it’s too early to say anything. I mean, I love the way Jared works every day since he’s come here, just like all of our guys, he loves to work. He likes being on the field and practicing. And I think it’s a matter of adapting to our style, which is, you know, there are some things that aren’t as similar to what he was used to doing with the Rams and the attack style. And I think it’s just a matter of time before, you know, he really gets comfortable in what we’re doing defensively. And it’s unfair to compare him to Myles Garrett. I think that’s always been unfair. Myles is in an elite category of his own. That’s okay. I mean, that’s who he is. But we just need Jared to be the best version of Jared, and I think we’re going to continue to see growth there. And again, what will help us? Be ahead in games, force the other team to throw it, and I think you’ll start to see his sacks start to pile up.”
And then I want to ask you about the three extracurricular flags. You’re down three touchdowns in a game. I think it was two taunting, and then a third flag was thrown. Just how frustrating and disappointing was that, where guys are getting those type of penalties and you’re down that much in a football game?
“Well, we weren’t very poised, and we didn’t keep our composure. And you are how you play, not how you talk. And that was the message all week. It’ll continue to be the message each week, and that is speak with your play. I’ll leave it at that.”
I want to go back to the running defense. You’ve talked how important that is, both offense, defense. Does it give you any hope when you look and you see how you bottled up Derrick Henry, that it’s just a mindset? Because, you know, I would say Derrick Henry is a Hall of Fame player, and they were all over him, swarming the ball. You just didn’t see that. Is it more their mindset, or is it more than we’re seeing here?
“I don’t see it as a mindset. Our guys play their rear ends off – they’re physical. Every game’s different, every week is different. We played them at home. We’ve got to play better on the road. We’ve got to play from in front. That will give us a chance to play the run better and force them to make calls. But there’s a number of things we’re going to have to do to change, because we’re going to continue to see those type runs, those schematic runs against the attack style, and where we go from here. I mean, the most important thing now is, so what? Now what? Okay. We weren’t at our best the last couple weeks in stopping the run. All right, now what? What are we going to do to stop the run? What are we going to do to put ourselves in position to where you’re always trying to make a team one-dimensional, no doubt, but where we can mitigate those long plays.”
Hey, Todd, wanted to ask you about Harold (Fannin Jr.). Are you noticing things that are opening up more for Harold to have opportunities, the way defenses are maybe playing Denzel (Boston) and KC (Concepcion Jr.), or what has it been when you look at these last couple of weeks with Harold and the opportunities?
“Well, some of it falls into the week before falls into it a little bit on two-minute, you know, when you have a couple two-minute opportunities in the week before, and then this week we’re down. So, there’s going to be more opportunities for your receivers when you’re down, because you’re throwing it more often, and it’s hard to get the run game going when you’re down and when you’re playing catch-up, and so all that falls together. I think Harold is an improving player, really good hands, run-after-catch. He’s a bull. He’s only going to continue to get better as a blocker. So, it behooves us to try and get him the ball more often. And we’ve got a number of those young players that we’re trying to continue to get up to speed, get the ball to him, be it 10 (Quinshon Judkins), be it 22 (Dylan Sampson), be it KC, be it Denzel. All of our younger players that we know have the ability to make big plays. And so, we’re going to continue to work to get all those guys involved as often as we can.”
Also, just a day later, health-wise, did anything concerning come out of the Pittsburgh game that might need monitoring this week?
“Not as of now. All those guys came back yesterday.”
Todd, you covered this a little bit last night and today as well, but just wondering, since you are going to be seeing another healthy dose, I’m sure, somewhere down the road, of trap plays and whams and other things designed to beat the attack-style defense that you guys run, are there effective counterattacks to that, or do you have to do something to change up your looks, your front?
“For sure. No, that’s all part of it. Part of it is that changing up with the looks, part of it is how we fit the gaps. The next is, okay, when it does break, we’ve got to get them on the ground. We had opportunities on the 50-yard gain. It’s the safety to get it on the ground. Right before halftime, they’re going to run a trap. They have one timeout left, and they’re just going to test the water a little bit if they get a play. And not only do they get an explosive, we don’t get him on the ground, he gets out of bounds. So, there’s certain things that we’re going to have to do with our front, definitely with our fits, and then when it does break, our ability to tackle better and get them on the ground.”
And just another quick question. I know it was just a very brief couple of snaps for Shedeur (Sanders), but how do you think he handled just kind of getting thrown into the fire there?
“Well, it’s unfair. I mean, we’re giving him a screen to start off, and they blitz T.J. (Watt) off the boundary. Should have just, instead of getting it downfield, he needs to throw it in the ground. And there was a couple plays he could have helped us out with a check, but again, for a guy that really doesn’t…the backup doesn’t get any reps during the week. I mean, he gets some of the look squad. So, again, I think he’s always composed. I think he did fine. We certainly had an opportunity maybe on the third-and-extra-long, and he had to escape a little bit, but he was fine.”
(Carson) Schwesinger’s been on the injury list with an ankle. Does that show up on film in the last two games?
“I wouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t say that. A few plays that were made be it some of the wheel routes or some of the pumps that they got with Darnell or on the perimeter, I haven’t seen it. I have not seen a difference in his play.”
How much energy and conversation goes into what you do at the coin toss? When do you start that process? Is that the night before, or Tuesday, or what?
“As the week goes on, and depending on you’re trying to…we’re trying to jump-start whatever we can to start fast. We got to a point to where it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s put the defense out there,’ and then you’re giving up a touchdown. And a week ago, we gave up a touchdown, turnover, another touchdown, and we were able to survive that. Well, this week, we take the ball and we turn it over and get a great stop. We get a great stop, and then we turn it over again. And on the road, those aren’t the recipes for being successful. And our guys will battle. You saw it even at the end, we just weren’t within a stone’s throw. You’ll see our guys will battle, and Deshaun will battle. We just weren’t close enough to have it matter. And then we didn’t score touchdowns when we got down there. But we’re certainly trying to jump-start ourselves, to start fast. And I’ll do whatever we can within the week, and whether we take the ball or we go on defense, to give us the best chance to start fast.”
Todd, you mentioned getting the ball to some of your young skill guys. I know Denzel Boston’s targets have been pretty high the last couple of weeks, but the connections haven’t quite been where you want them to be. Have you seen defenses do anything, as the season’s gone on, to try to take him away? Why do you think it hasn’t been as successful as you guys want?
“Not really. It’s a combination of things. At times we’re not on the same page. At times, they cover it. At times, you know, we just don’t make the throw. A number of things. It’s nothing to do with Denzel. He was limited a few weeks ago with, you know, having an issue with his heel, but that hasn’t been an issue. And it’s just a matter of time. He’s doing all the right stuff. He’s working his butt off, and the ball’s got to go somewhere. And it just ended up going to Harold this week a little bit more. And last week it was KC. And I think that’s a good sign. I think it’s a really good sign. You need multiple skill players for a defense to have to defend, and we’re headed in that direction. We’re not there yet. Yet. But we are 5-3, and, you know, again, we haven’t really even scratched the surface yet of where we can be. But I do think it’s a positive sign when you look at the two tailbacks we have, Harold, other receivers we have, I think that’s a positive moving forward, we just got to do it better.”
And then lastly, you mentioned 5-3. How do you balance today dealing with an obviously disappointing loss to division opponent, versus taking the step back and saying, ‘Yeah, it is 5-3?’
“Oh, yeah. Well, today is the day you look at it and say, okay, where can we improve coaching and playing? And that’s when you look at it today and then you flush it and you say, ‘We’re 5-3.’ And it’s good to have high expectations. This is a good spot to be in. To be disappointed that you’re not 6-2 and that you didn’t find a way to win the game on the road and be 3-0 in the division. That’s really cool in my mind. So, I told them, I said, ‘It’s really cool. You’ve earned that. You’ve earned the other five wins. We also earned the way we played yesterday, and we weren’t poised and we weren’t composed, and we earned that. And you earn it every week.’ But what are we going to do? We’re going to circle the wagons, figure out what we can fix, get after it on Wednesday, flush it today, get after it Wednesday, and take another step forward for us to play better football this weekend in New Orleans.”
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