Offensive Coordinator Travis Switzer (11.12.26)
So, a return to Deshaun (Watson), of course, this week. So, what do you need to see from Deshaun? What are you expecting from him as he gets back out there?
“I don’t think it’s changed from the same things that we were looking for before and the things we’ve been preaching. Let’s do a great job with the operation piece. Let’s take care of the ball, make the plays we’re supposed to make and go let it rip. Yeah, I don’t think it’s really changed.”
I know you guys, Todd (Monken) talked about the slow start, right? He says he’s doing everything he can. So, I’m curious, what have you guys tried, and then what is still left to try to kind of jump start this thing in the first quarter?
“Yeah, the first thing as a staff, we looked at everything that we’ve done early in games, and when we looked at it, it was like, man, we’ve kind of tried a little bit of everything as far as, hey, let’s maybe call some can plays early, or we’ve tried running it early. We’ve tried movement passes. So, we looked at that, and nothing really spiked out as far as, hey, this is the direction we should go there. And then we’ve also just stressed it to the guys, especially early in practice, like Wednesdays, the first period is always a tempo period, the first team period, so we’ve tried to stress it there. It’s like, okay, we’re going fast, but also, hey, we’re trying to start fast. That’s the point of this period here. And yeah, I can’t say that it’s been like one thing that jumped out to us. We just got to keep attacking it and try to stress it and just try to get better there.”
It seems like Spencer (Fano)’s had a little bit of a rough go the past couple of weeks with some really tough edge rushers. What can he do to be better, what can you guys do better as a staff and as an offense to put him in some better positions against some of these tough matchups?
“We’re always conscious. I’ll answer the last part of it first. We’re always conscious of the matchups there. And I mean, look, there’s good edge rushers all around the league. And it doesn’t matter who’s at tackle, you’re going to chip and you’re going to do those things for the elite edge rusher. So, that’s something that’s always at the front of our mind of every game plan. But as far as Spencer as an individual, just keep trusting his technique and keep growing his technique. The one thing Hop (George Warhop) mentioned the other day was, there’s now some tape out there on him. So, guys may have a plan, maybe that’s part of it. And then he just needs to keep developing his techniques and really trusting himself, because, he’s shown the ability to be as good as he wants to be, and he wants to be good. He’s wired the right way, he’s very diligent. So yeah, just keep trusting your techniques and keep developing your techniques.”
You’ve had two games in particular where you had the ball in the lead with four minutes to go in the game. How frustrating is that to you coaches that you can’t get a four-minute offense going?
“I think it’s frustrating to all of us. I mean, not just the coaches, the players felt the same way. Obviously last week we had the penalty that kind of set us back. As far as moving forward, you just keep attacking it. And yes, it’s been frustrating, but the more situations that we’re put in there, the better we’re going to be as we move forward. Just like anything, you get what you emphasize. So yeah, you stress it to the guys. You get in the right mindset. Executions at a premium at those parts of the game, and that’s what you stress.”
Does it keep coming back to penalties?
“I mean, certainly the one did last week, and that’s certainly something that we’ve been attacking this week from top down. Coaches’ team meeting yesterday included that type of stuff. So yeah, that’s certainly something that we’re attacking this week.”
Todd was very clear yesterday that he’s not making any lineup changes with the offensive line. Those are the five best guys, and he’s sticking with them. So outside of making a lineup change, how do you course correct on those penalties, so that…there’s just been so many of those drive killers that you had this year, so outside of making a lot of changes, what do you do to get those penalties to come down?
“Yeah, I think, and this is what he did yesterday, I think you got to just be honest. ‘Hey, this is where we are, like, we’re not good in this area,’ and you put up the stats and you show the guys. And so that draws attention to it, and that’s part of it. The other thing is looking at what type of penalties you have. The ones that you have no tolerance for are the ones that take no talent in. It’s pre-snap penalties. It’s snap count things. It’s things that are just focus and diligence from the group. So, those are the ones that you really try to attack. As far as holding and things like that, do you coach guys to keep hands inside? Of course. But some of those are, did they see it? And a lot of those can be 50-50. So, all you can do is coach the technique, so that you try to lower the likelihood as much as possible of all those. But yeah, you just emphasize it, look at which ones they are, and then just try to attack it.”
Knowing that Houston pass rush, how does that affect the game plan?
“It affects everything you do in the pass game. That’s what you have to think about first. And everybody’s got a piece of that. The chip plan that, like I said, we have every week and most teams have every week. And then how you’re going to distribute routes and all that, getting the ball out on time, handling the different protection looks that they give you, because that can hinder your ability to chip at times. So, it’s really all inclusive. But to answer your question, anytime you play premier pass rushers, that’s got to be at the front of your mind when it comes to any pass play, really.”
How has Quinshon Judkins been running the ball for you individually?
“Yeah, I think he’s a very physical downhill runner, and he’s tough to tackle. And he’s been doing a great job of maximizing downhill runs for us, even when it might not look like there’s not a whole lot there. And I think it’s just continuing to try to dip into that as much as we can and then continue to work with him on the other things that maybe are things he hasn’t done a ton of in his career. Different run schemes, I mean, and you just keep attacking it that way.”
The red zone numbers haven’t been great in recent weeks and it’s been a season long trend. What does it take, not just for you guys specifically, not saying to diagnose your issues, but what do good red zone offenses do?
“Well, it starts with, in my opinion, your ability to run the football in. The lower that you get down there, the less room there is to throw. And if you’re able to run it in, now you’re going to force them to do something extreme to stop you from running it, and now there’s more room to be able to throw the ball. So, it starts with being able to run the ball in, and then from there it’s, in the pass game, it’s great anticipation, great timing. Maybe big targets, all those things kind of come into play, but everything there is kind of heightened because of the restricted space. So, the timing, the ball location, and then, like I said, the ability to run the football in is where it needs to start.”
So, specific to the New Orleans game, you had two goal line possessions, and both didn’t go the way you wanted it. Is that unique because you have a new quarterback in there and timing is all messed up, or do you feel that the push you’re getting is not good enough?
“Yeah, I’ll answer the last part first. I wouldn’t say it was the push. I think we do a good job of staying low and grinding our feet and trying to move people. Now, movement got us a little bit on, really on both of them, but certainly the one that was a little bit further out, not the fourth and one play. So that’s something that we’re looking at attacking, just being better against the movement. And then the other piece of it is just the timing and the execution as a group on the fourth down play wasn’t what we wanted there. And you got to tip your hat to them, too, they played it pretty well. They did a good job as well.”
When you think about the success of a run game, for you, how much of it is on the front, the scheme and the protection? How much of it is on the individual half?
“It’s all parts. I think it starts with being able to move the line of scrimmage and I think that we’ve seen growth in that every week. Now, it hasn’t always shown up in the production end of it, but I do think that we’ve seen a lot of growth in being able to displace and move the line of scrimmage, which is where it starts no matter who you have running the ball, no matter what the scheme is, that’s where it starts. And then from there you try to…I mean, the scheme is numbers and angles and matchups. That’s really what you’re looking at. How do we get the best matchups that we can as far as blocking the guys that we want to with our guys? A lot of that comes down to tight ends, and then how do we have numbers and angles advantages by formation? So, that’s a piece of it. And then, yeah, the runner is certainly a piece of it as well. It’s not always the big runs, like I talked about with Quinshon specifically, sometimes it’s like, hey, turning two or three into four, five, six. Because now you’re staying more efficient, which is another huge key piece of being able to run the ball. Everybody wants explosive runs, but the main thing is to try to stay efficient if you can, because now you’re staying ahead of the chains, and it helps your whole offense.”
Travis, with KC (Concepcion Jr.) and Denzel (Boston), especially those 60-plus yard plays that they made, is that sort of a glimpse into how they can complement one another in this offense and just get those explosive plays in slightly different ways?
“Yeah, I mean, sure. Any time you have more than one, which we certainly do, explosive play potential skill players, I think it’s harder to defend. Yeah, so certainly.”
Another short yardage question. Are you guys reluctant to go a little exotic there with a wildcat look, a direct snap look. We saw Harold (Fannin Jr.) direct snaps in training camp. Are you not there yet to do something like that?
“No, I wouldn’t say that. It hasn’t come up yet. But we’re certainly not against that. It’s not like we’ve ruled that out, said, ‘hey, we’re not going to do any of those things.’ Some of that’s week to week. Sometimes those things too are things that you practice for a number of weeks before you actually see him show up in the game, I would say, so that’s another piece of it as well. But no, we’re not against any of that.”
Is there an emphasis on Harold Fannin going earlier? It seems like he opens up this offense when you guys give him the ball.
“No doubt. That’s always getting our best skill players touches throughout any part of the game and certainly early is definitely a part of our thought process. We tried to a little bit earlier in the game, and it just didn’t go his way. We had one that should have and could have, and then we tried to throw a screen to him, didn’t end up getting that completed. But yeah, that’s always something that we’re trying to do.”
With the two-point plays, how vast is the playbook on two-point conversion plays when it’s not something you’re running all the time, obviously? And what are the conversations like when kind of deciding what you think could work in any given scenario, like you mentioned, when a field is so condensed down there?
“That’s a great question. So, you start, obviously, by looking at what the team you’re playing does. And now sometimes it’s a specific deal, so you may have to go back, you know, years to look at what the defense does in those situations. And if there’s a tendency, then, yeah, you try to plan for something and prepare the guys for the looks as much as possible, knowing that, like, just like any play, it could be something different, right? So you try to call plays where, depending on the looks, you know, you think that your better players are probably the primary target, and you try to do something that’s familiar to the quarterback, you know, so that, hey, if it doesn’t go as planned, at least we have reps at this play. And he’s been able, he’s seen it, you know, against multiple looks. So he has some comfort in the play as well, especially if you’re unsure of what you’re going to get. But oftentimes it does involve going back a long time in coordinator history just to try to get enough of a sample there to plan for.”
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