Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees (6.4.25)
It looked like the rookies got more reps today, quarterback wise. Is that just part of the rotation?
“Yeah. Rotation day-by-day has kind of been fluid. These days we have probably the most reps to go around, so we’re able to balance them out. But all those guys have done a nice job coming to work and understanding that each day is going to be a little bit different rotationally. And, you know, it’s an evaluation process for us still, so we’re just working through those as the days come.”
How much different is the structure of everything? Trying to make sure compared to what you’re used to, trying to make sure everybody is exposed?
“I’ve been exposed to two spot, if you will, in the football world. That’s kind of how you call this. I’ve been exposed to it. It’s a great way to maximize, look, it’s not just one position group that’s able to get maximized. You look at young wideouts, young linemen, young skill players across the board that we can get so many reps for now, instead of them just getting the reps from the sideline or mental reps, as coach would say. You know, like now they’re actually out there learning on the fly and things come up. You might run the same play on two different fields, get two different defenses, and now you have two opportunities to coach off of. So I really do think it benefits the entirety of the team.”
I know it’s a small sample size, but what have you seen the most growth between Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders?
“I think just operationally. Like, listen, you come from the college world where very few things are called into the huddle, where you have to command a huddle, operate an offense in the way you’re asked to at this level. So, I think just from an operations standpoint, you continue to see those guys grow and become more comfortable. And what we’re after there is like, there’s going to be a moment where they get to their comfort level and that’s [going to be] when they’re going to be able to maximize and feel confident out there. So they’re doing a great job with their work habits and continuing to push each other in the right direction.”
Tommy, we see a day like today where like, Dillon didn’t necessarily maybe have as many completions as he would have liked to have. What do you make of something like that? I mean, are there days where the lights are on and everything’s falling and then other days or how do you interpret when you have a day to see like that?
“I think for all the position groups, quarterbacks especially, like we want to be as process driven as possible, opposed to results. Like as long as our process is in the right place, our decision making is in the right place. You know, we’ll continue to coach the fundamentals and get the physical to follow it, but we want to focus on, okay, is he processing at the high level, is he making the right decisions, is he making the right reads? And as that happens, now you see growth and continue to push him fundamentally to make sure that we’re executing.”
I’m sure it’s part of the rotation, but Dillon looked like he was first up in a couple of drills today. How valuable is that for a rookie, especially when he’s working with other guys that are probably first team guys?
“Yeah, I mean it’s fluid for all those guys, right. All of them have opportunities up there with the first group. And look, we’re evaluating all the positions, so to say, hey, this is a, you know, first group, second group, like we’re evaluating as we roll, so it matters. I think there’s a certain confidence level, hey, you look across, you see Jerry Jeudy there, that builds confidence, right? You know, you look across, you have Poe (Ethan Pocic) calling the shots up front. That builds certain confidence. So again, all that is part of this process, all of that is part of the development for all those quarterbacks.”
As an FYI for us, there are some periods you don’t have a true seven-on-seven. Is it just a shortage of players or are those designed to be 11-on-8 and 8-on-6?
“Yeah, no, we’re very intentional. You know, when you see kind of a half line of an offensive line, you know, we’re trying to make sure that quarterbacks, the offensive line, that we’re always doing something to gain benefit of it. We run seven-on-seven, you take a three-step drop, you throw the ball great. That’s not real football, right? So can we give a presence in front of the quarterback, so they feel something? Can we work line games? So, the line’s working during that period. So, it’s by design to make sure that we’re continuing to press as much real football as we can.”
Is that period called something different?
“Not really, no.”
When you have three young players, two rookies and then obviously Kenny’s (Pickett) still a young player, how beneficial is it to have someone with Joe’s (Flacco) experience in that room. Not so much to tell these guys what to do, but to basically just kind of set the example of his daily.
“Yeah, you can learn so much by just observing him. And just learning from the way he approaches each day, the way he is in meetings, the way he is on the field. Those guys all gravitate towards him, right. I mean, you get Joe (Flacco) telling a story, though it might interrupt your meeting a little bit. So, he’s been so much fun to work with, so great for those young guys, and he’s out here competing like it’s year two for him. So, it’s been a really fun dynamic that way, and it makes it really rewarding for all of us.”
As you and Kevin Stefanski has kind of used the off season to build out the offense and what that looks like. How do you use this time period to install what you can versus kind of prep for minicamp and then training camp?
“Yeah, there’s a balance, right? We’re installing our offensive system. We want to make sure there’s certain things that fundamentally or from an install schedule standpoint that we’re covering. It’s also a time of the year where you’re looking at things, right? There’s stuff we study. There’s stuff that we want to try. It is the time of year to push the limit limits on those. And you use this as an evaluation period, not only from a player standpoint, but also schematics. Then when you hit training camp, you’re shoring out your identity a little bit.”
As far as Kenny Pickett is concerned, when we talked to him last week, he talked about the fact that he has to learn the terminology. He also has to kind of hone his pocket presence a little bit and, you know, play more under center and all those kinds of things. And he said it takes like two years to really get good in the system. So when I heard him say some of those things, I wondered, is he gonna be ready to go week one, if that’s the way that it works out? And how is he coming on?
“Yeah, he’s doing a really nice job. I think, you know, the terminology in a system, you know, those are fluid. Concepts usually are understood. You know, those are pretty universal at times. So, Kenny’s done a really nice job with everything we’ve asked him to do. You know, we’re pushing certain areas with him continuing to try to improve his game. And, you know, again, he’s done a nice job through the first week and a half, and we expect him to continue to grow.”
Tommy, Joe (Flacco) talked a couple days ago about kind of a renewed toughness trying to be instilled on the team as a whole, but especially on the offense. Can you talk about that process and where you hope for it to show the most?
“Yeah, we just want to hold our guys as coaches, holding ourselves, holding our players, players holding their peers 100% accountable. And not letting details slip through the cracks, not letting things fall by the wayside. A lot of that’s mental toughness, right? So when you talk about callousing the team, having that toughness, a lot of is just mentally making sure that we’re all up to the standard at which we want to hold ourselves to, players and coaches.”
I think Ced (Cedric Tillman) was in a t-shirt today, but we saw him working last week, too. What have you seen from him this offseason after some of the injury struggles he went through last year? What are you expecting from his season this year?
“Yeah, Ced’s done a nice job. He’s a great threat for us. You know, that middle part of the year where he really started taking off and kind of see him pick up where he was. And, you know, we have continued to develop Ced in his role and he provides size and strength and athleticism, something that is really critical both inside and out. Playing wide out, I think he has some flex there. So, continue to develop Ced’s ‘game and get the most out of it.”
What have you seen out of Dawand (Jones) coming off a couple of injuries? Just how important is it for him to, I guess, step up and be the guy for you at left tackle?
“Yeah, Dawand’s been really intentional in what he’s doing and accountable to what we’re asking him to do. Coach Bloom (Mike Bloomgren), Coach Ben Wilkerson, Sanders (Davis), those guys have all done a really nice job of continuing to work on him fundamentally. And look, playing both sides of the line takes some time and development, but he’s bought in and doing things we’re asking him to do.”
How about Shedeur (Sanders)? Just from rookie camp to now, what kind of growth have you seen? What do you like about his game and how’s it all going?
“Yeah, he’s worked his tail off. You know, he’s really putting a lot of work like all those guys are. But you could tell on the mental side of the game and learning the system and calling it and having that rhythm to it. He’s put a lot of work and time and effort into that, and then when you do that, the game starts to slow down and you can focus on finding completions. And he’s done a nice job of that as camps progressed.”
I know you referenced it earlier when we talked about him and Dillon (Gabriel), but just how big of a learning curve is that, especially for somebody who didn’t call a lot of plays in the huddle, right? There were a lot of hurry up.
“It’s a lot harder than you think. Yeah, it’s a lot harder than you think. So, I would just say that, especially just calling it.”
In terms of the install level, especially with three young quarterbacks, have you had to scale it back a bit or are you one of those, just throw it all at them and see how much they can retain?
“We have a good amount of offense in, but we’re very selective with the growth and development and the progression for those young guys. So definitely pushing them and pushing where we want them to go, but also being cognizant of, hey, we want them to go out there with confidence and making sure that it’s beneficial to how they’re learning and the way they’re going.”
How’s their retention level been so far?
“They’ve done a really nice job of really doing everything we’ve asked.”
By the time you guys get done with mandatory minicamp next week, do you kind of need to have a pretty good idea going into camp of who are going to get the bulk of those first team reps and second team reps because camp goes so fast. What’s your view on how sort of the timeline of this whole thing?
“Yeah, I think it’s, you know, it’s going to be fluid. We’re going to continue to work with all the guys we have. We’re going to develop all four of them and, you know, we’re going to push the reps. We’re going to find ways to be creative to make sure that they all have opportunities to develop and put their best foot forward. And, you know, when the time comes, we’ll continue to push guys forward as they are.”
You have a new offensive line coach, I mean, how are installing things and getting things going for you? What do you think that the identity of the offensive line needs to be to accumulate some success this season?
“Yeah, Coach Bloom (Mike Bloomgren) has done a great job. He’s been awesome to work with from a coordinator standpoint for the players. Look, we want our offensive line to play as one. So when you talk about an identity, you want all five guys on the same page, you want that coordinated with the tight ends. You want the running backs coordinated with the offensive line. You want receivers competing in the run game. So when we talk about the toughness of the group, it starts up front with all them being on the same page. And we really want that to run resonate with the entirety of the offense.”
Have you been around quarterback competitions, usually competitions, two guys kind of going at it? Maybe three. Have you been involved in one or just seen one where there’s been four?
“Maybe not four, but three. Three and a half, I guess. Maybe, yeah. Look, I think, like the misnomer is like the quarterbacks get along most places, right? Like everyone’s supporting one another. It’s one group. Everyone’s pushing ahead and everyone’s competing, but everybody’s supporting one another. And that’s the cool part about being in a quarterback room is that relationship and understanding how close those guys are and how much they help one another. And look, we’re in a selfless business here. We want the team to win and we all got to support one another to do that.”
So where was it? Where it was three and a half?
“Probably when I was a player. I was probably the half (joking). I probably wasn’t really involved [at Notre Dame].”
How much will minicamp look differently in terms of reps for the quarterbacks?
“Yeah, we’ll let that play out. We’ll see how it goes throughout the rest of this week and we’ll develop a plan for next week and hit the ground running.”
What about the non-QB rookies? What have you seen out of the two running backs? And then Harold (Fannin Jr.).
“Yeah, really done a nice job for us. I mean, Quinshon (Judkins) and Dylan (Sampson), you know, being multiple in what we’ve asked them to do. You guys saw a little bit of that today with those guys out there and both strong running traits and some versatility to do some different things. But they’ve had great attitude, worked extremely hard and picked it up, bought into what Duce (Staley) has asked them to do and what we’ve asked them to do offensively and really done a nice job picking things up. And Harold has really gravitated to that room at tight ends. You know, CJ’s (Christian Jones) done an excellent job making sure that we’re getting him ready to go and he’s made some plays throughout camp for us and continue to expect him to do so and continue to push to find ways to get him involved in.”
In terms of the quarterback competition, at this point, can you realistically see any one of these four guys winning this job?
“Yeah, you can see them all winning the job, I think, right? And so in terms of the competition, we’re so early in the process. We’re so early in evaluating that. Yeah, I think, you know, we have a good group of guys that continue to push one another, and by the time September rolls around, we’ll be ready to go.”
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