Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees (1.1.26)
Tommy, was that start to the game last week as well as you’ve seen Shedeur (Sanders) play for an extended stretch there?
“Yeah, it felt good there off the jump. Felt like all of our guys, offensively, were in the right spots. It feels like we’ve had a little bit of momentum here, did not sustain it throughout the game, obviously as a group – not just singling out Shedeur, but did not sustain it as a group. But I thought he made really good decisions, made a couple high level throws there. You know, obviously when you start a drive with an explosive like we did on that second series, that breathes a lot of confidence into the group, that breathes a lot of confidence in the quarterback, and usually when you have an explosive, like your percentages of scoring on that drive go up astronomically. And we did – we finished that drive in the end zone with another explosive to Harold (Fannin Jr.). So, I want to build off of that for sure. Want to continue to have confidence, and a lot of the messaging with Shedeur throughout…when we play like that, you’re breathing confidence in the entire group, and we’re going to continue to call it in a way where we’re breathing confidence into you, and allowing you to lead the offense and continue to push the ball to the areas of the field that we need to. And we had one with Rocket (Raheim Sanders) there where it was incomplete, but we had a run action there in that second drive, they played a two-high coverage and we checked it down, similar to what he did against Buffalo, and it’s just continued to build the repetition of making the right decision and taking the ball where the defense allows it to go.”
What’s been the struggle though? You talk about not being able to sustain it. Is there something you can pinpoint has been the thing that’s really kind of…
“There’s always a combination. It’s not one position group or one thing. Like in this game, it felt like we got behind the sticks, whether it was a penalty at an untimely opportunity. Like, we had a couple explosive runs that get called back, maybe we don’t execute exactly the way we want to on an early down, and then we’re behind the sticks, then we’re playing uphill, or there at the end of the game, we’re backed up and we’re in four-minute, not in four-minute and we just don’t sustain the drive there, we get to a third and one and don’t execute the way we want to. So, it comes back to our execution – it’s very rarely something that we aren’t prepared for. It’s just we got to home in on things that we got to execute as coaches, as players to make sure that we can sustain those drives and then avoid some of the untimely penalties as best we can.”
How is your confidence as a play-caller grown as you’ve grown to know more about Shedeur?
“Yeah, I think that relationship’s so important between the quarterback and the play-caller and really being on the same page. I think every week that continues to grow as he gets more comfortable, as we all get more comfortable and trusting in what we’re doing. You know, you feel like you can call games more aggressively, you can call plays in a way that you’re going to solve the issues and you’re going to make the right plays when they’re there and solve the problems when they’re not. And Shedeur’s done a really nice job of that throughout the year, and there’s teachable moments in every game that we want to continue to work on, and there’s certainly those for myself as well, and it’s been a good experience working together and moving forward.”
Tommy, he’s talked about how he’s growing week by week, learning the ‘why’ when he goes out on the field. But when you look at big pictures for the offseason, what is it about an offseason that allows a first-year starter or rookie quarterback to come back and really be proficient in that second year?
“Yeah, I think for any individual, you are able to step away a little bit, right? You’re so in the weeds during the season of the game plan and looking at things through a very specific lens. I think when you step away from the season, you have the opportunity to look at it maybe from a different vantage point. You can take your time a little bit looking at things and where you improve. You know, you face this sometimes when players get injured and they have to step away from being in the huddle and looking at it on the field. Sometimes you have a new perspective of stepping away and seeing things, and it helps you as you move forward. I think when you get out of the rush of, ‘hey, I’m a rookie, I’m playing, I’m preparing, all of this is new to me, all of this is a lot, like I’m trying to manage that’ – I think when you have a little bit more time to be patient, to look at it, to really evaluate the areas, I think you just have more of an opportunity to learn and grow from those than it is in season.
When he’s willing to take those big shots and those explosives and look for those kinds of things, do you sometimes just have to live with the picks here and there or how do you reconcile that?
“I think it always comes back to me first. ‘Do we have the look that we want to take the explosive against or do we not, right?’ And when we don’t, so much of that at the quarterback position is solving the problem and making the right decision. So, for me, my focus is to make sure that we’re giving him all the information, all the education to, ‘hey, this is what we want to attack, this is what – if they play this, this could be an issue, here are your solutions.’ And look, he’s created plays. A lot of quarterbacks create plays off script, and you got to find the balance of, ‘all right, is there something here off script or is it time to take our loss?’ And sometimes a gain of zero is okay in this situation, but those are all moments that we continue to teach off of, and it’s our job, my job as the coach to make sure during the week we’re getting him to understand and getting all of our players to understand, this is what we’re trying to attack and these are the problems we have to try to solve.”
When you talk about balance is part of it…he talks about wanting to give his guy a chance, right? So, are some one-on-one balls okay, but some aren’t?
“Yeah, I would say that’s accurate.”
Is playcalling in the NFL any different from playcalling in college? And if so, how?
“Yeah, I think there are differences. I mean, once you get into a rhythm, you’re in the rhythm. I think there’s not a huge difference there. I think the game planning, the things that you need to prepare for, the things that you need to take into consideration can be a little bit different in college than the NFL. But in terms of in game, once you’re in the flow, I think there’s still a lot of similarities in terms of – outside of the obvious rules differences and all those things. I think in the game planning part of it, there are some considerations – personnel-wise, schematically, things that you can and can’t do at the college level. Those certainly play a factor on the front end. But in game, once you get going, I think it feels pretty similar.”
There are rumors swirling everywhere about what might happen, with Kevin’s (Stefanski) future, which obviously could impact you if something happens. So, I mean, how are you handling all that as you head into this finale?
“Yeah, I think the outside enjoys or pays a lot more attention to it than we do in the building. You know, we take off of Kevin’s leadership, which is excellent. And look, we work long hours, we don’t have a whole lot of time to do a lot else except try to get our guys ready to play and get our guys ready to face the opponent of the week. And look, we’re pretty rhythmic in how our weeks roll, and so a lot of us are in a routine, and we kind of know what we’re doing every hour, every minute of the day, and try not to deviate much from that and try to isolate ourselves from all the noise as much as we can. But we have a great group here, great staff, guys that enjoy being around each other, so kind of just lean into each other, and take after Kevin’s leadership and put one foot in front of the other.”
How much has that changed for you from when you were a player, maybe even in your early days as a coach, being able to block out some of that outside noise?
“Yeah look, this is very separate to our situation right now. When I was playing, Twitter was becoming a thing, so everybody had Twitter. I learned very quickly this is a bad place to be. You throw as many interceptions as I did, you don’t want to be on Twitter as much as a lot of people. And then I would say, probably as a young coach, as a young coordinator, you learn even quicker, you still don’t want to be on that. So, like, the internet for me in the season is almost like a foreign object – I try just to stay out of it. It’s not a great place to live, but I think we all learn our ways to deal with stuff and grow. But I truly mean it – we are so on schedule, on rhythm, like, this is what we do at this time on a Tuesday, on a Wednesday, that really there’s not a whole lot of time to allow distractions to creep in. And I think our focus, again, leadership from Kev, in terms of just where our focus is right now is to finish the season strong. And look, we all know the business we signed up for, that’s not foreign to any of us. So, our focus is how do we get our players ready to go, how do we give ourselves chance to win on Sunday, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Did you work as many hours in college as a coordinator as you do now?
“Yes.”
And so, what is your typical day?
“I don’t want to get in to all that. Although, it’s just our days are so regimented, so scheduled, that again, we are focused on what is the task at hand this week and focus on getting our players to and be ready to play and focused on supporting each other as a staff. That’s really where our focus is right now.”
How challenging for you and for Shedeur to lose Harold Fannin so early on in that game and then also to have the uncertainty of not knowing yet if he’s going to be able to play in Cincinnati (Bengals)?
“Yeah, Harold’s a big part of what we do. Obviously made a great play there right before he got injured, and there’s a lot of confidence in throwing the ball to Harold for Shedeur. And, I thought Sal (Cannella), Blake (Whiteheart) and Batesy (Brenden Bates), they all stepped up to fill that role by committee. And the rest of the guys offensively stepped up. We’ve had a number of players that have needed to be in that role. I mean, Zak Zinter played for us this past week in a similar fashion when guys get hurt. Trayveon (Williams) wasn’t even with us a few weeks ago and now he’s making critical plays for us. Rocket hadn’t been active and now he’s playing in critical moments. So, I think one thing our guys have done a really nice job of is having that next man up mentality and being ready to play when the number’s called. And I’m sure there’s going to be another situation that is unforeseen moving forward that we have to have somebody step up at a critical role for us.”
Specifically, about this game against the Bengals, obviously, you opened the season against them, how have you seen their defense grow over the course of the season?
“Yeah, seems a long time ago that we played them, which it kind of was. I think when you set out for a season, you have an idea of what you want to be offensively, defensively, special teams wise. And then as your season progresses, you kind of home in on who you can be. You know, I think they’ve done a nice job at that throughout the year. You know, their corner, number 20 (DJ Turner II) has really elevated his play and has played at a really high level throughout the season for them. Obviously, they’ve had some injuries, they’ve had some moving parts, but I think collectively as a defense, they’ve really improved and played well. You know, I worked with Al (Golden) for a year at Notre Dame and have a tremendous respect for who he is as a person and who he is as a coach. And I think he’s doing a really nice job now, putting these guys in position to have success and execute at a higher level. You’ve seen that over the last couple weeks, that the defense playing well, and again, a lot of respect for Al and what they do defensively, and I think collectively as a group, they’re starting to home in on who they are.”
What do you make of Dillon Gabriel’s season? Obviously starting in the backup role, getting some opportunities to start, and now, having a concussion and now being back in the backup role. What do you make of his rookie season and the outlook for him?
“Yeah, now is really not the time for the postseason evaluation for us. You know, we have a game to play Sunday. There will be time to reflect, there’ll be time to evaluate individuals and seasons and where to move forward. But like, that’s the furthest thing from our thought right now.”
When you face a team in week and you face them in week 18, is it almost two completely different teams? How much do you carry from that week one prep into this week?
“Yeah, it is a large gap. You know, there’s certainly things that you look at situationally on how they played us and try to find the consistencies on who they still are versus who they were week one. Obviously, our quarterback in that game (Joe Flacco) is there now, so that’s obviously a very different thing to look at. But you just try to find the consistencies in who they are and who they still are, and how they may want to attack you defensively. But look, we probably look a lot different week one than how we look now, from a personnel standpoint. Certainly, there’s some scheme things that might be a little different, but that’s part of the year, that’s part of how you evaluate how the year goes on.”
Coach (Mike) Bloomgren mentioned that this has been the most challenging year of his career because there’s so much changes on the offensive line. Can you speak to how challenging that has been, even in your position as OC and how you’ve learn to may work through those things, especially with a young quarterback?
“Yeah, it is challenging. I mean, that’s part of it though, right? I mean, there’s going to be injuries, there’s going to be things. I think Bloom’s done a really nice job of getting whoever has been available ready to play. I would give him a ton of credit for that. He’s done a really nice job there. Offensive line’s a hard one, because there’s so much continuity that you want from that group, there’s so much synergy that you need to play with up front to make sure that you can have success. So, when you lose guys, you’re constantly trying to find rhythm there with that group. But again, I think Bloom – I’m sure, he felt at times it’s been challenging, but he’s done a really nice job getting that group ready to play, regardless of who’s been available for us. You know, we’ve had to do some things schematically to help and all that, but I’d give Bloomer and his guys a lot of credit for how they’ve come week in and week out. And yeah, it’s been a little bit of a mosh of a group there, but sometimes that’s how it goes, and you got to find solutions and find ways to move forward.”
We saw some frustration out of you late in the fourth quarter in the booth, can you like explain?
“Yeah, without going down the…look, that’s not directed at one person or one coach or one player. Like, we just want to hold our guys to a standard in critical moments, that this is what the expectations are. And we were in a four-minute there, we had to use a timeout, we don’t want to use a timeout in that situation. So, look, we’re striving to raise our play, we’re striving to raise our level of, in critical moments, our ability to execute and play at a high level and frustration got the best of me there. But it wasn’t at anybody individually or specifically. It’s just our standard, and what we want to hold our guys accountable to, is that as such, that we want to execute at those critical moments. And felt like we had a look that we wanted to take advantage of, and it felt like a missed opportunity.”
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