Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt (11.9.23)
The second long pass to (Amari) Cooper. You think just having that on video creates an advantage to let everyone else know that there’s still lots of deep threats despite all the shoulder problems?
“Oh, yeah, there’s no question. I mean, you know, he [Deshaun Watson] threw the ball accurately down the field all day, so that was good. Getting him back out there was awesome. Felt like he was close to back to normal. He missed some things early shorter. But the long balls were indication of where we’re heading. We’re really happy.”
Why might it be almost easier with that kind of an injury to hit the long ball than the shorter?
“It is. I think so. As a thrower, it’s a longer motion. You’re putting more body into it. Your legs are involved more, as opposed to the shorter ones where you may not get your full body into those throws and rely more on just the shoulder strength. But that’ll continue to grow.”
How much difference will it make with your offense to have Deshaun back compared to DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) when he wasn’t really expecting to play that first game?
“Yeah, big difference, I hope. That’s the plan going in. Have a good week of preparation. Deshaun’s played this group before, so know what to expect there. And he played well last time he played them here at home.”
After what you said about the long ball, do you think his shorter throws were not to his satisfaction? Were the result of the injuries on the longer throw?
“I think so. That and just knocking that rust off again. Now, the first couple of throws, I was like, ‘man, he missed those.’ But then you look back on the tape, there’s some circumstances that come up where the receiver maybe took his eyes off and slowed down a hair where it was a little too far out in front. So as I watched the tape, I felt better.”
Alex, now, you had the practice yesterday without Dawand (Jones), like, how are you approaching that tackle spot or full tackle spot?
“Yeah, just you know Kev (Kevin Stefanski) said it best. We’re just working through everything right now, all the different possibilities, and we’ll obviously let that go all the way up to game time to see who’s there. But James (Hudson III) has always worked hard. He’s played both sides, does a nice job when he gets in, but we have other options and we’ll see. We’ll let that go right up to game time.”
How unsettling, is it, against a pass rush like the Ravens?
“Yeah, anybody that goes out there, if you had the full, healthy O line out there, it’s still a challenge. That’s a good defense, and the edge rushers are special. So yeah, it’s always a challenge, and that’s part of football. We got to find a way to make it work.”
Other than the change to quarterback, what do guys have to do to better than that first Baltimore game?
“Oh, man. Not turn the ball over. That’s the first and foremost, really. We had a small victory party on Monday as we got the team back together, literally, we shot off confetti, blew air horns. Yeah, it was cool. Celebrating no turnovers. So first and foremost, we got to take care of the football. And then in the hostile environment on the road, your operation has to be elite. We talk about that often. If we could prepare and get ready for the game the same way we did in Seattle, from an operational standpoint, we’ll feel good then it’s just about outworking these guys and trying to finish. It’s a very physical, good defense. We know that, it’s the AFC North. It’s never easy playing our division opponents, and this won’t be any different.”
How have you seen the running back room kind of grow over the last few weeks? And I know we’ve talked about committee, but the way that they complement one another as a unit.
“Yeah, no, it’s good. You got guys like Kareem (Hunt). That’s just a grinder, man. He’s a hard runner. He makes good cuts, gets positive yards. Jerome (Ford), his ability to catch a ball out of the backfield, his ability to make guys miss, has that speed, the long speed as well. Then you get Pierre (Strong Jr.) into the mix and he’s a true speed guy. Like he can get to the corner and chew up yards quickly. So it’s a good compliment of backs, and they do complement each other. Again, it’ll be giving them all touches and then finding out who’s feeling it that day and maybe giving them a few more.”
What sets their linebackers apart from other groups around the league?
“Freakish athletes. Big bodies, their instincts and their ability to diagnose play schemes, I think is what separates them definitely. Two of the elite linebackers in the league, probably one of the better duos in the league. So it’s a challenge every time you play those guys and we got know be up for it, for sure. They pressure with those guys. They do a lot with those linebackers, and it’s a team that rarely plays dime because they want to keep those two players on the field at all times. I don’t blame them.”
Kevin’s talked about the attention the defenses give Amari week in and week out, yet he’s still having a really productive season for you. So how’s Amari able to do that despite the attention?
“Well, for starters, he has to be patient, I think, and he has been. The last throw to him in the game was something that those guys came up with on the sideline. Every third down, Amari was getting doubled, and oftentimes they were doubling from low and not getting back over the top. So those guys saw that on the tape and brought it to our attention. We dialed it up and drew it up real quickly on the sideline and then executed it in the next drive. So finding ways just to find balls for him, whether it’s moving around, putting them in motion, hiding them in the backfield, whatever we need to do, but very productive player for us, and teams are definitely doing their due diligence and trying to take him away.”
A lot of focus is on Amari as far as his production goes. How do you get more production out of the rest of that receiving core? I know David’s (Njoku) a big part of the pass game, Jerome and that, but just from a receiver standpoint, it just feels like, yeah, other guys get targets, but the production is coming from Amari. How do you improve that?
“Well, anytime you double one guy, you’re going to have to single some other guys up. So we got to win our one on ones there. Elijah (Moore) has done some really good things for us as well, Ced (Tillman) just really getting into it now. Expect to see him have some more productivity and then Dave. I mean, Dave’s playing at an elite level right now from the tight end position both in the run and the pass game. So finding ways to spread the ball, using the backs more in the pass game, all that’s available.”
I know Nick Harris has kind of become your full back, although it’s never really been officially announced like that. Is it fair to consider him on the offensive line this week, given all of the challenges you guys have?
“Yeah, he’s a Swiss army watch or knife for us, really. So he can get in there and do a lot of different things. We’ll still continue to use him in multiple spots.”
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