Pass Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Chad O’Shea (12.27.24)
Can you talk a little bit about the Jerry (Jeudy) and just eclipsing 1,000 yards and putting together the nice season that he has?
“Yeah, Jerry’s had an excellent year. I’m not surprised by that, in his production on the field. I’ve seen these things in the offseason, the way he was in the offseason, the way he approached every day. He’s got great intelligence as a player, he’s very instinctive, he works hard, and I think he’s put the team first in everything he’s done. I’m very happy for Jerry’s success and I really believe it didn’t happen by accident. I think it happened through hard work and it’s who Jerry is and I’m grateful that he’s on our football team.”
When you look at Ced (Cedric Tillman) these last few weeks and I know you don’t want to talk specifics about injuries? But I guess just how important would it be to get him back and get a couple more looks at him because it looked like he was ascending before the concussion there?
“Yeah, Cedric prior to the concussion was doing some great things for our offense. He was really improving. Again, another player that I thought this is how it would go just because of the things I have seen in the meeting room and on the practice field. He certainly made the most of his opportunities. Unfortunately, right now he’s in a situation where he’s not out there with us. I think the NFL and our medical staff does an excellent job in regard to the concussion protocol and making sure that players are exactly healthy and in the best condition they can when they come back. So, respect the process there. But Cedric, prior to the concussion, has really done a great job for us and I’m very excited about his future.”
Jerry’s talked about seeing more double teams since he’s been on this really good streak. So how do you deal with that, with him and what are the coaching points there to whatever, I guess beat the doubles and stay positive?
“Yeah, with Jerry’s success that he had over that several weeks, we saw defenses obviously trying to take him away. Obviously, it’s our job as coaches to try to look at those things of how they’re going to play us schematically in regard to coverage specifically, and try to put him in position. We’ve asked Jerry to try not to do too much and I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes that receivers who are given attention, let’s call it double teams and maybe additional coverage or help that they’re providing defensively, is to try to do too much as a player and then just not do your job. So, I think that a lot goes into that from game planning to who we’re playing, and I think the biggest thing is just for Jerry to go out there and continue just to do the things we’re asking him and not to just overthink some of that.”
DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) said yesterday he was still getting open despite some of that extra attention against Cincinnati.
“Yeah, there were times that there was attention devoted to him, maybe an additional player that he was able still to be open. So, it’s again, I thought Jerry does a great job of studying. He spends a lot of time outside the meeting room watching film. So, he uses that to his advantage, and I think he’s a really smart, instinctive football player. He understands what the defense is trying to do to him. And I think that if anybody can get open versus a couple guys, Jerry can.”
Obviously you knew what you were getting in Jerry, but has anything surprised you in that year or so, not quite a year, but the time you spent with him here?
“Yeah, I mean, were really excited when we acquired Jerry. But to see what he’s accomplished, and this has been his best year and very proud of that. Again, this didn’t happen by accident, but I saw this kind of coming just the way he was working in the building. He does an excellent job. He’s a great communicator. He communicates well with the coaching staff, with his teammates. Again, a very smart player who takes advantage of his opportunities. So, to say that I saw this coming, I really did see. My expectation for him was very high, and it’ll continue to be very high because I think a lot of him is a player.”
Elijah (Moore) has a stat that I’m sure you wish he didn’t have. Last time I checked, I think it might have been last week, that he was first in terms of passes intended for him that were intercepted. So, is that somewhat a function of maybe Ced not being in the game, David (Njoku) not being in the game, and maybe he’s getting some balls that should go to like a taller receiver or how’s that breaking down?
“Yeah, specifically talking about some of the turnovers that we’ve had on the targets that Elijah has been. I think that ball security, I think that a lot of people share in that responsibility to include us as coaches, myself, whether it’s a certain technique that we’re coaching on that particular play. But I think that we are all responsible for it and then a lot goes into protecting the ball. It’s definitely an emphasis point that we’ve tried to make here in the last couple of weeks because some of the turnovers that we had. But Elijah has really done a good job of trying to be very detailed in his route running. We place him at different positions across the formation, and a lot of times he’s right in the middle of it. He’s the target. It doesn’t fall all on Elijah that we’ve had a lack of success on some of these balls that have been targeted to him. He certainly has produced on some others as well. So, I don’t think it’s just one person, I really don’t. I think that having Cedric in there, it’s not like that’s really affecting it that much. I just feel like Elijah’s continued to be a detailed player for us. We all share in the responsibility of ball security, and we’ll continue to do that.”
How have you seen your unit kind of grow with Dorian in these past two weeks and get comfortable with him?
“It’s a great question because when you have a change at quarterback, there’s always some learning that goes on. They’ve worked really hard. We’re going to go out there today and we’re going to throw routes on air and we’re going to work hard just fundamentally of being on the same page with him. But it takes time, it really does, to just get on the same page with the quarterbacks. He’s done a great job with us and his communication, ‘Hey, here’s what I need out of you guys,’ and we certainly are going to try to be there for him. And I always tell the receivers with a new quarterback, the most important thing is let’s just fall back on doing our job, our assignment exactly the way we’re asked to do. The coaches, when we put it in the meeting room, let’s go out to the field and let’s be there for the quarterback by just doing our job exactly right. So, we’re going to continue to try to support him and allow him to be the best version of himself. But for him to do that, we just need to do our job really well.”
I asked Jerry about this the other day, that Dorian’s passes sometimes come in with a little extra heat on them. And he admitted they do come in a little hot, but still catchable. Just wondering, is that something that your guys have to adjust to or am I not even seeing that correctly? What’s the situation?
“Yeah, I think that every quarterback has a different way in which they throw, a different spin to the ball, a different velocity. And what I tell those guys, our group from day one receivers, is I don’t care who’s out there throwing it, it’s our job to adjust to that ball. Maybe if it’s a different type of football thrown, but it’s our job to get open and catch the ball and that’s what we’re asking our guys to do. I don’t look that much into that. I know certainly the guys catching it probably can tell you more about the different throws and those things. But, as a coach, what I’m evaluating them on is the ball on the ground or not? Do you catch it or not? So that’ll continue to be the focus for me on that.”
When you’re talking about the adjustment to a new quarterback, is there another element to that when it’s a different style quarterback where Jameis (Winston) was more in the pocket, where Dorian is outside, scramble and that kind of thing?
“Yeah, I do think that you could take any player across the roster and say, ‘Hey, everybody’s different to each other. Everybody’s got different skill sets.’ So certainly true of the quarterback position, too, and just the different styles that they may bring to the table. But there’s so many things, like looking at Dorian, that he does well from an extended play. Like we’re emphasizing right now let’s do a great job in the extended plays, the off-schedule plays where Dorian can do a good job of escaping and get out of the pocket and us to be productive. And I look back at when Jameis was in there, he did a great job in that area too. So, there are some similarities that we’re trying to benefit from as well. Jameis was a player that could extend the play in different ways. It might be not all the way to the sidelines, but he could step up and have great vision down the field and find us and throw us open. So, as different as there may be some things, I think there’s some similarities too, that we’re really benefiting from and that would be one area that I think that both these quarterbacks have done a great job of is giving us opportunities down the field when the play maybe gets off schedule.”