Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey (10.24.24)
Anything different this week?
“Just trying to win a football game. Just go out and trying to win a game. Obviously, this league’s so week-to-week and you never know what happens. And my situation, I think, is just like players, if somebody takes a step back or is not in there, a player has got to be ready to step up, and it’s the same thing for coaches.”
What was the process from Sunday night to whenever of you guys making this decision to change play calling?
“I think a lot of reflection for us and for Kevin (Stefanski). Kevin’s got a great feel and pulse of this team from day one since he stepped in the building, I feel like. I think it’s a lot of reflection, a lot of just evaluating where we’re at and I think it was a decision that just is made for right now. And again, we take these things week-by-week.”
Does you calling plays change anything materially from an offensive standpoint?
“I think at the end of the day, we’re really going to still just look at ‘All right, how are we going to best attack a defense based off of our personnel and try to utilize our personnel in the best way?’ And that’s just the focus on a week-to-week basis. And so, I think that’s the way I approach it, I think that’s the way Kev approaches it, and I think that’s the best way is, ‘Hey, how can we utilize the personnel that we have based off of what we have available to us that week and what we’re seeing on defense and how can we best attack them?’”
What unique perspective do you think that you can provide in this change as play caller?
“That’s a good question. I feel like I’ve been able to provide perspective to these guys no matter what my role is. I don’t know if there’s a – there’s not a magic coach or a magic pill to play better on offense. It’s going to be work. It’s going to be attention to detail. It’s going to be us at the end of the day, locking in and fighting and going out and playing with extreme physicality, playing with speed, playing with confidence. So, in terms of that perspective, I think I’m taking that same approach as a coach, as every player should be. We want to freaking go out and play fast, physical, accountable football to each other. And I think that’s the approach I’m going to take, and I think that’s the approach that every single player should take that step out on the field.”
Have you guys talked about Kevin handing over played calling duties to you prior to this week, or is that just something that came up this week?
“Again, that was the conversation we had this week. His thoughts in terms of prior weeks, you’d have to obviously ask Kevin about that, but this was the first conversation we had.”
Ken, I know this isn’t your first time calling plays. How much can you take from the previous time and kind of learn from that experience and utilize this time around?
“Yeah, obviously very different scenarios, and I’m so focused on right now, to be honest with you because it’s just two very different situations. From situation, personnel, everything – staff wise, everything. So, you evolve as a coach and you learn and there are different things. And so, I think right now our biggest emphasis and our biggest focus is about our execution. And it’s about us at the end of the day. Obviously, Baltimore (Ravens) is such a good defense, and they pose so many problems, we really got to focus on us and our execution. And I think that’s the biggest focus I have and the thing you learn from in past is if you focus on yourself, if you focus about your execution, a lot of times that other stuff is going to take care of itself because there’s going to be looks that happen in the game that you can’t give an offense every look that the Baltimore Ravens are going to throw at you. So, you got to have rules that kind of handle things and be able to just go out and operate and trust your guys to make plays for you.”
How do you feel about getting back into this role again after kind of what went down with you last year and also taking over a team that you played for, just your feelings on this whole new role?
“Yeah, I think I’ve just kind of honestly been just so focused on the task at hand, more so than any type of reflection or anything like that. I think there will be a time for that, hopefully, probably at the end of the year when things slow down. But I think right now, it’s just been so focused on moving forward, focusing on these guys and the problems they possess. So not a lot of reflection at this point, to be perfectly honest. It’s just, I’m excited for the opportunity for our guys. I’m excited about the opportunity to go out and compete and really kind of get us going in terms of, ‘Hey, let’s go out and execute at an extremely high level.’”
What about just the change of losing Deshaun (Watson) for the season and having Jameis (Winston) here, what have you learned about him? What do you think he can do well in this system?
“Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think Jameis – they’re different personalities, they’re different types of players. So, Jameis obviously has got a lot of great experience in this league and done a lot of good things. And I remember a lot, going back to Carolina (Panthers), when we had Cam (Newton) and Derek Anderson (DA), and DA had to come in and play some games and played at a high level for us, but two very different players. So, it’s about being able to adjust as an offense to guys’ strengths and what they can do best and put them in position where they feel comfortable. And then go out and execute at a high level. And the guys around them know exactly what to do and how to do it so you’re not reinventing the wheel for your offense, but you’re making sure that he’s comfortable and the guys around him are comfortable, can execute at a high level.”
You haven’t scored 20 points in a game and you don’t have any plays that have gone for 40 yards this season. Where can you find a spark at this point of a season to kind of get things going in a positive direction?
“Yeah, no doubt. I think when you look at those things, it’s not what defenses are doing to us, we just got to go out and execute at a high level and play fast, play physical and play with accountability to each other and I think that’s the big thing for us, is focusing on us at this point. If you do that and you’re focused on what you can control, you focus on your attitude, you focus on your preparation, you focus on your effort – you focus on those things, your controllables and not anything on the outside, you’ve got a chance. I think with the guys in this room, there’s a lot of pride. There’s a lot of pride in this building and a lot of guys who want to do the right things for this city, for this fan base, from the players and from the coaching staff. So, we want to go out and prepare our tails off yesterday, today, tomorrow, and so on until game day and so we could go out and play fast, fly around. And what happens on game days is what’s going to happen. But we’re going to put ourselves in position to make sure that we’re doing the right things, to go out and play fast and confident on game day. And that’s what we want to do. We want to go out and fly around and do the right things for this city, for this fan base.”
When you’re on the headset for these first seven games and you’re listening to Kevin call the plays, are you going through it, too, thinking, ‘Okay, in this situation, I would call this play’, or does it feel like it’s been a long time since you’ve kind of gone through that mental process?
“You know, it’s a great question. Obviously, the role is different, so you’re not calling it in your head when somebody else is calling it. You’re kind of thinking ahead and kind of ‘Hey, here are things that I like,’ to give the play caller some options and then being ready when a ‘What are you thinking here?’ You know what I mean? Or, ‘Hey, on third down, what do you like?’ You know what I mean? So, it’s a little bit more sporadic in that way than – because when you’re calling it, you’re really thinking about that play and then also the next plays and planning ahead and, ‘Hey, if it’s a first down or second down, what’s the play call and where do I think I’ll potentially be and then what are the contingencies? So, there is a lot of different aspects of it when you’re a play caller versus when you’re in a support role to the play caller. But obviously, done this before and I’m excited about the chance to go out and watch these guys play like they’re capable of playing.”
If I could piggyback on that, in terms of the mechanics of it all, with the headset on, how much of that is happening in real time? In terms of somebody spots a coverage that you guys didn’t plan for and then you can kind of change on the fly. How much is that happening as the game is going on?
“That’s a great question because I think that’s where… there’s a lot of great coaches out there, there’s a ton of great coaches. And during the week, you do a lot of game planning and put your guys in position to play. But I think some of the elite coaches out there, they’re the ones who can make those adjustments in-game and see those things and not just singular coaches but staffs. Because everybody… you want to utilize all your eyes on game day. And so, I think we’ve been able to do that at a high level and make some adjustments throughout the years in-game. And that’s where you saw some of those second halves, really being able to do some good things and things like that. So, we want to continue that, to be able to make those adjustments and adjust to where you don’t have to come in Sunday and be like, ‘Oh, we didn’t see that.’ And I think that is an important part of coaching, you’re exactly right.”
Jed (Jedrick) Wills, how do you think he’s played this year?
“Yeah, I think coming back off of what he’s had to go through and everything. He’s been battling and he’s been doing a lot of good things. Obviously, with every player there’s some plays that you’re great and there’s some plays that, ‘Hey, I’d love that back, and I could do better either from a decision standpoint or a technique standpoint.’ Whether that’s a quarterback, an offensive lineman, a running back hitting a hole or anything. So, I do think obviously that he falls into that category of, “Hey, there’s been a lot of good stuff, but obviously some things that, like all guys, we can be better at. We can improve.” And where he’s at in his career, he’ll just keep getting better and better, I think, as he goes.”
Ken, at the beginning of the season you talked about being on the sideline, working with the quarterbacks and how important that was for you. As you switch into this role play-calling, do you still plan to be on the sideline, or do you think that’ll change for you?
“Still evaluating. I’ve called it from the box in the preseason this year when we messed around calling it a little bit, called it from the field. So still in the evaluation thought process right now. To be honest, if I’m leaning one direction, leaning toward being up in the box right now. But again, so focused right now on the week and our preparation and making sure we’re ready to play. Haven’t made that decision fully yet.”
Do you think some of the pre-snap issues that have been there this year from, whether it’s communication, lineup, whatever it is, that this change will help streamline some of that and maybe eliminate some of those mental errors?
“I don’t think, at the end of the day, any one thing leads to those pre-snap things. So, at the end of the day, it’s just making sure that our guys are confident in what they’re doing and can go out and execute it. And I think Kevin’s thought process on that all year has been really similar to mine. What do we have to do to make sure our guys know what they’re doing, how to do it, and could go out and play fast. And that mentality is not going to change, and we just got to do a great job being accountable to each other and accountable to every guy on that room and all eleven on the field, hey, to go out, know what to do, how to do it, and be able to play fast, physical and accountable football.”
You mentioned, obviously, Deshaun and Jameis being different players, different people. You came here, part of the main goal is you and Kevin sort of putting your heads together, building the offense primarily for Deshaun. So, what changes from a play calling standpoint in terms of things you want to do with the offense with Jameis under center, if anything?
“Yeah, I mean obviously I don’t think you’re going to be — it’s a good question, I think at the end of the day, it’s all about the evaluation process of what our guys can do in week-to-week scenarios. Obviously, I don’t think with Jameis, we’re going to be running a lot of pin and pull quarterback run type things or anything like that. It’s going to be in the pass game, what he’s got reps on throughout training camp, throughout OTAs, and that he feels comfortable with within the system. The last thing I want to do when we’re putting this plan together is say, ‘Okay, this is stuff we want to put in’, but no one has any reps on it. No one has any experience with it whether it’s training camp or anything like that. So, I think that’s the big thing for us, making sure that when Jameis steps in. Guys feel confident in what they’re doing, and guys feel like we could go out and execute this so you’re not thinking because when you’re thinking, you’re slowing down your play. So, that’s kind of the big focus for me. I don’t know if that necessarily answers your question without getting into the specific X’s and O’s stuff. But to me it’s about, all right, let’s evaluate kind of where we’re at and make sure that we’re staying balanced in how we’re attacking and doing those things.”
How about Dorian (Thompson-Robinson)? How much are you looking forward to maybe having a chance to call some plays for Dorian and helping him develop if he gets back in there this season?
“Yeah, I mean, he continues to grow. I mean, talking about not only Dorian but the whole group, but just talking Dorian, he just works his tail off. You see him out there pre practice doing stuff. He’s locked in the meeting room even when he’s the third guy. Every question you ask him, he’s on top of it. So, he works his tail off and puts himself in position to be successful on game day. So, excited with the direction that he’s going as a player and obviously he’s got to be ready to play for us. If he’s the two this week, which is a continual evaluation for us as the week goes on just see how the injury is kind of healing up and how he feels throwing the ball. I’m sure he’ll be ready to play and be ready to step in and execute at a high level.”
How did he look throwing yesterday with the finger?
“Yeah, I thought it was a good first day for him to come back and look like he felt comfortable with it. But again, it’s an evaluation process to see today versus yesterday if it continues to progress and whatnot. So, we’re not going to jump the gun on him, make sure he feels 100% confident throwing the ball come game day.”