Offensive Coordinator Travis Switzer (10.8.26)
Travis, what were the biggest strides made on that offensive line, you feel like, in Pittsburgh? It seemed like as a collective unit that might have been their best game?
“Yeah, no, I think that the longer that all of our guys are with us, everybody’s continued to improve, and the offensive line is certainly part of that. I think playing together, the more games they get together, the more that they’re going to improve. And then just the buy in and the strain and the finish has improved every week, along with the understanding of what we’re doing both in the run game and protection. So those guys have progressed and improved every week, and it was really good to see them play well last week.”
How about Deshaun (Watson)? I know there were some ups and downs in the game, but what kind of growth or development did you see in him last week?
“Yeah, I think it’s the same. I think it’s just more time getting with us as a staff, with the guys he’s playing with. The one thing I will say, and this really applies to the whole offense, certainly to Deshaun. I mean, are we perfect? No. And we’re not where we’re going to be, but we continue to play. I think we have a resilient group, and I think guys continue to believe and continue to play. And that is certainly Deshaun as well.”
What is it about the late fourth quarter, not just for Deshaun, but collectively, offensively, you guys find a way to come out of a lull in the game, which happens, but to put these game winning drives together when it matters most?
“Yeah, I think it goes back to what I was just saying about just being resilient and continuing to play and continuing to believe. I mean, football is a momentum game. When you have it, keep it, and when you don’t have it, try to get it back. Right. And I think that our guys do a great job of just, hey, next play mentality. Whatever happened previously, there’s a million reasons, right? We try to attack it and fix it, but it’s all about the next play and we’re moving on. Next play is the most important play.”
I know you never want to see a quarterback take a sack, but how much of that is part of a quarterback’s duty to extend plays and how much is that the cost of doing business with a quarterback like Deshaun?
“Yeah, so that’s a good question. I mean, you have to know the situation. I think that’s a huge part of it, because you don’t ever want to take that away from a guy who has that ability. But knowing the situation really goes into that. Like, ‘hey, when are we really thinking of trying to extend here, and when is it ball out or throw it away? We don’t want to lose yards.’ I do believe he was protecting the ball after we watched it on that play. But at the same time, like I said, it really comes down to knowing the situation. You don’t ever want to fully take that away from a guy who can extend plays. I mean, just look around the league. There are so many big plays being made by quarterbacks buying time, either with their legs or getting out of the pocket, buying time and finding people downfield. So, I think it’s just the balance of knowing what situation are we in and when are we in that mode, and when are we in, ‘hey, this is on time and only on time?’”
How do you find that balance?
“I think you just continue to talk about the situational stuff, like where are we at, certainly in that situation, like we made it for a tougher kick, hell of a kick by Dre (Andre Szmyt), but we really don’t want to go backwards there. Obviously now, like I said, after watching it, I do believe he was protecting the ball, which is first and foremost always the most important thing. But yeah, you just continue to talk about what situations are we maybe a little bit more aggressive to extend and make those plays, and what situations are we on time or throw it away.”
What about Denzel (Boston) makes him such a big play threat?
“Obviously, it starts with, physically, his tools, his size and his route running, his hands. But most importantly with him is the way that he’s wired and the way that he looks at football, and the way that he prepares. I mean, it’s been awesome to be around. And I really think there’s a lot of guys with physical tools. What takes you to the next level are those things, and he has all those things.”
When you talk about him as a runner, he’s six-four, feels like he’s able to get a lot of separation. So, what allows him to be able to do that?
“Yeah, I think it’s the mix of his size and his body control. Right? His feet and his speed. When you have a guy that has a good mix of those things, I mean, it’s kind of picking your poison in some ways. He’s either going to have a size matchup on a guy, or maybe he has a speed matchup on another guy. But like I said, it really goes back to his approach and the way that he goes about everything, which has been awesome.”
With the run game in the most recent game, is it starting to come together?
“Yeah, I think that we’ve improved every week in that area and in all areas of the run game. It’s very rarely one thing. Right? I think that our guys have really taken to heart the strain and finish piece of it. I think we’re starting to displace the line of scrimmage, right, more and more every week. That’s shown up. I think our ‘backs are getting a little bit more comfortable with the things that we’re doing, and then us as a staff too, especially in year one, there’s going to be a learning curve through the first few weeks, and just continuing to learn about our guys and what they do well and how do we expand in those areas. Right? So, I think it’s all parts of it, but it’s improved every week and we’re going to continue to do that.”
The touchdown run by Jaleel (McLaughlin), speaking of the run game and learning about your guys, that was his only offensive snap. You have the two rookies and Malachi (Corley) blocking downfield. What did that teach you about your team?
“Well, first off, like you just said, we were blocking on the perimeter. I mean, that is such a weapon if you’re able to get those guys to do that. Especially, when it’s the same guys who are making a lot of plays for you in the pass game, now it’s a lot tougher to defend. You don’t have to sub and put different guys out there to do that. But it started with that, and the skill player takes it from there. The better that we block it, the more space he’s going to have. And if he has space, the rest is on him. And he made that happen, which was great to see. We were all happy for him.”
How has it been with the young rookies and their willingness to block downfield? That’s usually an element of the game that, when they’re coming into the league, coaches want to emphasize and teach and whatnot. These two guys, they come in and that’s just something, they’re willing to stick their hat in there right out of the game.
“Yeah, I think that goes back to just how they’re wired and they want to win, and they want to do the things that help put us in the best situation to win football games and have success on offense. And I think that our coaches have done a great job with that part of it too. CJ (Christian Jones) and Woz (John Wozniak), just stressing the importance of that and coaching it. I mean, just like anything else, you got to coach it and demand it. And I think we’re doing a good job there, and they’re certainly responding. They want to do that. You watch that play, Malachi is fired up. Denzel’s fired up, KC’s (Concepcion Jr.) is fired up. And that’s awesome to see. We talk about this. I love watching O-linemen block people and it’s awesome. But nothing fires a team up like little guys blocking downfield. And that’s infectious, and I think you could see that on that play.”
How much did you appreciate the moment for Jerry (Jeudy) at the end of the game, to make a couple catches, especially in a season where I’m sure he feels like he’s not maybe getting the production he’s used to or wants? And how has he, in that room, worked with the young guys and taken on this new role and kind of embraced that, despite maybe not being exactly what he wanted?
“Yeah, I mean, that was awesome to see him go out there and make, really, some key plays in the game when his number was called. You can’t always control when that’s going to happen, but he’s just going to continue to control what he can control. And next time we call his number, we expect the same.”
What about that throw from Deshaun on the last drive to Jerry?
“I think there were a number of plays in that drive that were huge. And that play ended up being huge for us to be able to get out of bounds, too, I’m assuming that’s the one you’re talking about. And that was – ”
The one up the middle.
“Oh! Yeah, yeah, the end cut. Yeah, the end cut. No, that was a hell of a play. I mean, he stepped up. We talk about him committing and throwing it. I mean, hell, he certainly committed to that one and was decisive and ripped it in there. And Jerry made a great play.”
You’ve only been with Judkins (Quinshon Judkins) four games now, but he’s had one 100-yard game in 18 games. Do you think that number should be higher? Is he a 100-yard back?
“Yeah, I think he’s certainly capable of doing that. I mean, just like with any skill player, there’s a lot of variables that go into the stats. People will talk about, ‘well, when we rush for this many yards, we win.’ And it’s like, well, what came first, the chicken or the egg? I mean, if you’re winning games, you’re going to be running the ball more, so there’s a lot of things that go into the stats portion of it. All we can do is evaluate and look at each individual play and what we’re doing there. And he’s certainly capable of those big number days. But like I said, I don’t think any of our guys really get caught up on the stats part of it.”
That drive that ended in the T.J. Watt kind of punch out, it looked like the guys were starting to get some momentum. Was that something where you came into that drive like, ‘we’re going to run it back-to-back-to-back’, or what kind of happened on that drive before?
“Obviously, yeah, I think we started the drive that way. And then there’s a certain part of the game, too. Like, the run game is often a game of attrition, so sometimes there’s times later in the game when you may feel it, like, okay, we’re starting to move them a little bit, and then you may stay with it. And I think that’s what happened there. Like, obviously, I’m not calling it, but I think that’s what happened in that last drive. And we got to a couple of the things that we had talked about in the break in between series, and they were good for us. And, yeah, we were certainly starting to gain some momentum there.”
Judkins had six catches last week, that’s a career high for him as a pro. How much of that was Deshaun being patient finding the check downs versus maybe that’s another way you can find to get Quinshon the ball.
“Yeah, it was a little bit of both. We had the swing in the red area there where he is really coverage dependent. He could be number one, and he was there. And then he had also some in the checkdown game where, hey, they’re dropping out and now we’re getting it to him underneath. But the guy’s good with the ball in his hand, especially when you get him some room. He’s a bull. He’s hard to bring down. So, yeah, that can certainly be a part of how we’re trying to get him the ball as well.”
When you see Deshaun miss Harold (Fannin Jr.) on that one, or there was a miscommunication between those two guys, are those things fewer and farther between now than they were maybe earlier on? Is it coming just in terms of the communication between him and the skill players?
“No, I think it is, and it’s going to continue to do that. That’s not something that stops the longer that they’re together, and really all the skill players together. But it goes back to, I think I mentioned this last time I was up here, just his comfortability in what we’re doing. And the more comfortable that he is, the more he’s talking to those guys and they’re talking things out, and we’re talking things out in a meeting of what we may, based on the leverage or whatever, how we may run a route or what we may signal or whatever. So, yeah, I think all those things tie into it, and it’s only going to continue to get better the more comfortable the guys are and the more that we’re together.”
The Jets’ pass rush, especially David Bailey, what is it that makes them so good?
“Yeah, I think that they have good players at all three levels of the defense. They do. They’re a very solid group at all three levels. They do a good job schematically too, especially when you get to the third down stuff. They’re pretty game plan specific there, and they do a good job schematically trying to get pressure on the quarterback. So, it’s a combination of both, what they’re doing schematically and then just the talent that they have at all three levels of the defense.”
Do you think it’s kind of Bailey on one side and McDonald (Will McDonald IV) on the other, or do they kind of flip flop?
“Yeah, I mean, McDonald right now is playing a little bit more situationally, I would say, as more of their pass rush type. But they do a good job of moving the guys around. I mean, there might be a little bit of a tendency, like we always look at the numbers just purely. But they do a good job of moving the guys around, and 31 (David Bailey), certainly more on the right. But they move them around enough, and they do a good job within their scheme and then their pressures as well.”
Do you sense at all that some of the inconsistencies in the run game could be attributed to Quinshon, just as he’s coming back from the injury, trying to kind of get his feet back underneath him, maybe?
“I mean, I really haven’t seen anything physically from him where I’m like, oh, yeah, he’s still getting back from the injury. He’s looked healthy to me since the spring. Now, the vision piece of it, I don’t know, maybe. I guess you’d have to ask him about that, but I haven’t noticed that with him. It’s going to be new, because we’re a new system anyway, so I don’t really know, you know what I mean, which one to kind of attribute that to. But physically, he’s looked healthy to me and ready to roll since the spring.”
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