Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey (11.14.24)
Ken, Jameis (Winston) talked about his time in New Orleans, specifically that first year working with Sean (Payton) and Drew (Brees). Where can you, maybe from your own experiences, see the imprint of those two on what you see out of Jameis?
“Yeah, I think the detail of his preparation. He does a great job watching tape, having a good understanding from the moment he walks in the building of kind of why things are going in based off of what he’s seen. So, the preparation piece of it, I think the attention to detail with the game planning of when you run a rep, ‘Okay, I’m throwing the ball here in a walk through, but then I’m kind of mentally going through the rest of my read and progressing through’ like Drew used to do. I think that’s something that pops up in my mind. I think he’s very in tune to, ‘Hey, why are we doing these things?’, ‘Why do we want to run these plays against those looks?’ and whatnot. ‘What are we trying to get done?’ and just those — he really likes that communication back and forth between myself, Kevin (Stefanski) and himself, just like I think Drew and Sean had.”
When you look back at the first nine games, what did you see is the biggest issues with the run game?
“Yeah, I think when you look back at it you evaluate, ‘Okay, what schemes have been effective for us, what schemes have not been effective for us, and why? Is it an execution piece? Is it a versus the looks we’re getting piece?’ That type of thing. So, I think when you go back and look at it, there’s some concepts that we’ve run very well. Whether it was the start of the season till now, and there’s some concepts that we weren’t as effective in. So, it’s curtailing the run game to make sure we’re maximizing those effective concepts and cutting back on the less effective concepts without becoming one dimensional as an offense. So I think when you look at that stuff, yes, there’s things that overall haven’t been as effective, but then there’s also things that have been very effective and we want to obviously lean on those things in terms of what guys are most comfortable running and we can execute at a high level because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. What matters is ‘What can we execute at a high level against whatever look they throw at us?’ Because in the course of the game, there’s going to be those un-scouted looks. There’s going to be things that happen. Maybe that three technique wasn’t supposed to go outside, but he did. And your rules have to be able to account for that and still be able to execute a play at a high level. So, I think that’s the thing that we really looked at is, ‘All right, what do we want to really kind of hang our hat on? What do we want to kind of scale back?’ And then where’s that execution piece on these things to where those guys know exactly what to do and how to do it, no matter what the defense does.”
The (New Orleans) Saints intercept the ball a lot. Why do they do that and is that a little daunting to you as you game plan for this game?
“I mean, I wouldn’t say daunting. I think every defense poses their issues and poses what they do well. Obviously, this one, they do a great job at taking the football away, they’re aggressive. I think the ‘why’ behind it is one: they’ve got, schematically, they create some issues in terms of post snap, doing some different things, showing looks and then running out and giving you different looks up front, especially on third down, I think that’s one big thing. I think the other thing is they’ve got players who are effective at it. They’ve got aggressive safeties, physical corners that’ll come up and press you and get hands on you. And I think that’s the scheme of how they do things is really what they’re taught. They’re taught to be aggressive, and they’re taught to play that way, and they do it effectively.”
What is your messaging to Jameis Winston when you head into a game like this and he’s coming off some picks and some dropped picks, and you’re going into an aggressive secondary like that?
“That’s a good question. I think the big thing that we preach is, ‘We got to trust our eyes, trust what we see out there’. So, I think when you do that as a quarterback and you trust your progressions, everything else takes care of itself. There’s no need to force anything, there’s no need to feel like, ‘Hey, I got to make a play right here’. The plays come through just trusting our eyes and trusting our progression. And at times, yeah, there’s a go route that’s a clear out, but we might take that at times because you get a look that it’s advantageous. So, we want to play smart, not conservative at that position and to do that, you got to trust progressions, trust your eyes and trust what you see on game day so you could play fast.”
What was the biggest difference between the (Baltimore) Ravens game to the (Los Angeles) Chargers game in terms of offensive efficiency?
“I think the turnovers, obviously. I think those things happen and you got to be able to overcome those things. I think that obviously, the Chargers, they’ve done a great job defensively. When you look at them, they have limited teams in points and things like that. I think we had some good opportunities; we just couldn’t capitalize on them. And I think that’s the thought process for us is, ‘Let’s go capitalize on every opportunity’ in terms of just winning that play and having that focus. And then whatever’s happening in the course of the game, whether you’re up, whether you’re down, there’s no need to press, there’s no need to feel like, ‘Hey, this one play is going to make up this point differential’. So, I think that’s the biggest thing for us. You just got to keep chopping wood, you got to keep plugging away and have that mindset of, ‘No matter what’s happening in the course of the game, we’re going to keep freaking plugging and give ourselves an opportunity to win by capitalizing on just that opportunity, on that play that’s presenting itself.”
What’s been the difference you’ve seen in Cedric (Tillman) the last couple of weeks and as you watch his film and critique it, does this kind of look like it’s a little more than just a small sample size of success for him? Do you look at it and really see a high ceiling for him?
“I think his confidence is really kind of growing more and more with the opportunities he’s getting. I think he’s playing extremely fast. I think he’s playing to his size, so he’s playing big at times out there and he’s playing fast. So, he’s utilizing his skill set in a manner that you would like to see for a guy his size and his athletic ability. And I think that’s the encouraging thing about it, we ask him to do a lot for us and he embraces that and he’s doing it at a high level. And he just keeps growing more and more and he’s really taking that growth mindset that you want from every player of continuing to improve each and every week, playing with confidence. And I think you really see that. And the encouraging thing is he’s taken his bumps, and he’s had some negative plays early in the year and some things that I’m sure he would have wanted to do better, but he was able to continue to overcome that, continue to keep his confidence and grow as the season’s gone here and really become a key factor for us.”
We talked to Nick Chubb yesterday and I asked him if the blocking schemes have changed from last year or from the past. He says, ‘No, but we’re just not doing it at the same level’. So why do you suppose the blocking isn’t the same level as it was in the past? I know you weren’t here before.
“Yeah, I think that’s something that we just got to continue to preach as coaches to make sure that we’re operating at the level that we’re capable of. Obviously, when you look at it, we’ve had some guys in and out, some different lineups and things like that, but in this league, that really doesn’t matter. It’s whoever’s out there, you’ve got to go out and you got to execute, and you’ve got to be able to operate as one unit, those five guys. And I think we’re growing there, I think we’re getting better there, and you’ve seen progress. Obviously, it’s not where we want to be right now as a whole offense and from our record and what we’re doing, but I do think that cohesiveness is coming, and you see that at times. We just got to, as coaches, push and preach that there’s a way to do it, and we got to operate at that level on a consistent basis and I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Ken, with you guys trying Dawand (Jones) over on the left side, just how has he graded out and done in those first couple of games? And what do you guys want to see from him as you guys keep starting him over there?
“Yeah, I think the big thing from an offensive line standpoint is if you don’t really notice them, then they’re doing something good. You know what I mean? So, I think that’s been the positive thing for him and Dawand is a young player and every rep that he gets in a game is only going to help him in terms of his development. So, in games and practices — and I think that’s the great part about him, is you see him, he’s out there, he’s working hard, he’s trying to put himself in position to be the best player he can possibly be. So, I think he’s grown and that was something we’ve talked about throughout the year and dating back based off of where we were at, health wise, early in the season. And it’s been exciting for us as coaches to see him take that step over there, not blink, not have any doubt, just go out there and do it at a high level. And he’s played against some good rushers, whether it’s on the left side or right side, he continues to grow and continues to compete over there at a high level.”
I know there’s elite pass rushers on both sides, I know in old days the left tackle was viewed as the guy. Do you still view it like that, that the left tackle is maybe more important than a right tackle for whatever reason, schematically?
“I think to your point, I think it’s kind of balanced out a little bit. I think a lot of teams are starting to put some of those premier rushers on both sides and guys move around so much now as it is. Whether it’s guys jumping from one side or the other or they’re just putting premier guys on the right side. It’s really kind of balanced out in my opinion. You really need effectiveness from both sides. And those guys, fortunately, I think we’ve got two experienced guys that can compete and do that at a high level. But yeah, I think you need both those guys to be effective in a lot of areas nowadays because of, to your point, you got elite guys on either side. Either because they’ll just line them up there or they’ll move guys around.”
Obviously, this season hasn’t gone how you guys expected it, at 2-7 your offense hasn’t looked as good as obviously you want it to. Do you feel that pressure on you specifically, personally, needing your fastball to finish off these last few games here?
“The only thing I’m focused on is this offense operating at a level that we want to get it to. And that’s all I’m worried about. I’m just worried about our guys and competing and going out and executing at a high level and controlling what I can control. Just like I want my players to do. I want my players to control what they can control, go out and give me everything you got during the week in preparation, let it fly on game day and operate at a high level. And that’s what the expectation is for us as coaches in terms of what we ask out of our players. And so, I think that’s the approach that we just have to take day in and day out.”
You have talked so much about the run game, but with Nick specifically, last game it seemed like he had a couple of those bursts where he was kind of breaking out and getting a few extra yards. Does it feel like he’s close to sort of getting back to that version of himself where he’s breaking those even bigger? And how much can that help you guys alleviate some of the problems you’ve had in the running game as well?
“I mean, Nick’s one of the best running backs in this league. So, I think having him out there at a level that you’re starting to see from him is something that we definitely want. And the important thing, whether it’s quarterback or running back, I think sometimes it’s such a reliant position that we all have to do our job executing for those guys to be successful too. But the exciting thing about Nick is if you get him to the second level, he can make guys miss, he can run away from guys. And I think, from our aspect, it’s exciting to see him continue to feel more and more comfortable and like himself and that can only help us as we continue to go here.”
Coming out of the bye, when you are looking at this back half of the schedule, are you expecting guys like maybe Jamari Thrash who haven’t had a lot of playing time to get more playing time? Or is it more about just them playing the waiting game or even just developing in practice before you see them out there getting more reps?
“Yeah, I think every week kind of takes on a mind of its own a little bit. So, we always evaluate those things in terms of who we got out there, route concept wise. And it’s a competitive league, if you’re playing an opponent or within your roster. And all those guys are competing for playing time, so that’s why we want to come out and work. And our organization is about competing. And I think we want to do that in practice against the defense and our guys want to push each other for those roles and for those opportunities. So, we feel really good about that room in terms of receivers and what we have in there. And we’ve got some young guys who I think can contribute and want to, and we’ll just evaluate that on a weekly basis as we continue to go.”