Tight Ends Coach Christian Jones (10.10.25)
The way Harold (Fannin Jr.) has come out over these first five games and not looked like your normal third-round rookie. I mean how early in the process of working with him could you see this type of early success out of him?
“I would say through the process of going to even pick him, we kind of found that out about him. You ask former coaches he’s worked with, players he’s played with, try to do research on the guy to understand how they play, how they work, how they learn. And through that process we kind of already said that he could handle a lot of things. So, the first day he came in the building, kind of knew how to work with him, tried to get him to work that way and walk through a play once, had it down. Put him in a new spot, gets it down. And so, he has really good instincts, he thinks things very well. He’s very detailed in how he works, and it was immediate to see how he’d be.”
When you go look back in his college career, I mean the (Texas) A&M game, the Penn State game, it seemed like the biggest games were also the ones where he seemed to shine the most?
“Let’s say big time players make big time plays in big time games. He wouldn’t lead college in receptions like he did if he wasn’t a big-time player. And if he was afraid of the limelight, then he wouldn’t have shown up in any game, right? Because big time players got to be able to play in games that don’t matter or don’t feel like they matter. And I think he shows up anytime he’s on the field, he’s got that mindset about him. You can see it in how he plays. He attacks every play he’s in on. When he knows he needs to come out, he knows he needs to come out, when he’s going to stay in, he’s going to stay in and give 110 percent – and that’s what I love about him.”
Obviously he’s off to a great start, but how can you see his role expanding even more as he gets more comfortable, just more experience in the league?
“That’s a great question. I think the sky is the limit for him, and it’ll go as far as he wants to take it. I think the game will open itself up to him. The game will show him the opportunities he can take advantage of, and it’s truly on him to embrace the roles, embrace what we’re asking him to do. I mean, we talk to everybody on the team about being selfless and understanding the opportunities that you have coming to you because of the work you put in on plays where you might not be getting the ball, you have to run, block. And his effort in those areas attributes to him being able to show up in other areas of the game, right? Because when he’s in there blocking and blocking and he releases on a route, when it’s an action behind it, they don’t know if he’s blocking for a second level player or if he’s running a route. And that only helps you get open and try and throw the ball, get the ball in his hands. So, it only helps.”
How nice was it to see David (Njoku) get more involved in the game plan last week and what do you see going forward for him?
“It was good to see him get involved. I think it was awesome for him to get a touchdown, and learn like he did, and for him to show up like he did when we were running the ball, blocking – we ask a lot of Dave. We ask him to block, we ask him to pass protect, we ask him to go on the screens, chip the defensive ends that we’re playing against. And he’s done a good job embracing that role, and when that happens, usually the ball finds you a little more, good things tend to happen for you. So, I’m really proud of how he’s embraced everything, and I think that’s going to evolve to him doing even more for us offensively just with embracing the role that he has.”
And this week, I’m sure some of that chipping is going to be imperative. I mean, I know you don’t want to give up the game plan, but just having that under his belt from the last couple weeks, to go into Pittsburgh and have to do some of that stuff at a high level?
“It’s a confidence builder, and I think it’s a confidence builder for him and the team, right? They can see what he can do, and he knows what he can do and can show everybody that. So, now it’s him raising his level for the next week, because no week is the same, every week needs more. And so it’s about understanding what it took to win and what it took for him to play like he did in London, right? But we still came short, and how we can improve our ability, improve our effort and improve our attention to detail to help the team be able to win the next week. So, I think that’s kind of how it will be approached.”
With David’s production and Harold playing well, the two of them together, what can that do for the offense? If you can have two guys getting high levels of production for you as you look to grow and expand this offense?
“I think it does a lot. I think it helps calm everybody down, brings a lot of confidence to offense and I think it brings a lot of advantages to us, whether teams want to set up against us in a bigger personnel or a lighter personnel, right? We have the confidence to run the ball, we have the confidence to pass the ball, and when you’re very multiple out of personnel’s, it only makes it harder on the defense to know how to play. And I think that only makes it easier on offense, if that answers your question.”
I asked you in training camp about 12 personnel, these two tight end sets. And we’ve seen during the season as the season’s going on, just the potential of it. And I think week five in London saw Harold and David in it. Just how exciting for you, as the tight end’s coach, is it to see those two guys succeed, thrive, and be such a large part of the offense?
“I’m just happy for them. My job is to get them to do their job. My job is to relay the game plan, relay their roles and responsibilities, get them to understand it and make it as easy as possible for them to execute. After that, it’s about them going out there and making it happen, and they’ve done a good job of doing that. So that is what’s more exciting to me, is them being able to go out there and show what they can do, and me making sure they know what to do. So, I take no credit for how they play. I just try to make sure they know how to do their job when they go out there. They go out there, they put the effort in and they make the plays. And that’s what I coach for, that’s what I’m here for, and that brings me the most joy.”
The way you guys use 12 personnel, I was curious, how often do you work with Chad (O’Shea) when it comes to part of the receiver part of your personnel package? Are they in the meeting room with the wide receivers, how does that work? That kind of meshing of those positions, especially when you know there’s so much versatility with tight ends?
“That happened a lot in the offseason where CO would do a lot of work with those guys, where we’d be in groups or pods talking about different concepts, how to run certain routes. He’s really good, he’s been doing it for a long time. He’s really good at explaining, really good at teaching, and I try to take something from him every day with how he approaches the game and teaches his guys. So, anytime there’s a route that’s put in, or play that’s put in, and I may not understand it as well or I need guidance, I go straight to him. He gets it cleared up for me and even takes his time to explain to the guys themselves. So, I try to lean on him because he’s been here a long time, he’s done it for a long time, and it’s been very helpful for me and for the players as you can see.”
Mike Tomlin this week was talking about using his multiple tight ends, and he’s got the giant guy. Just how important is the guy with size when you’re playing a 4-3 front? Can you speak to that, and I guess the toll it can take on a tight end, and even this week how important it is with that pass rush?
“Yeah, I would say that when you have a guy with size, you have a lot less of any anxiety of going to having to block a bigger defensive end, right? There’s always a difference in size of defensive players that you play. And just like you said with a 3-4 front, you got two bigs, sometimes outside of the tackle, where the Y is. It’s having to decide where I’m going to block, 330-pound guy or the 260-pound guy. When you have somebody that’s big enough to do those roles, block those guys, work together on double teams or whatever you may have going on, it makes it a lot easier for you to approach that week, and to game plan, and to put guys in the right spots to succeed.”
Christian (Jones), to go back to Harold. I know we talked about in the off-season program, he doesn’t drop many passes, and again, four for four in this last game, like why is he so good at that? I know you guys saw that in his college film too, but how has he made that translate into his rookie season here?
“He does a good job of tracking the ball right through his hands, seeing, getting through. And he has an unorthodox style of catching sometimes where he’ll point the hand at the ball. And it’s a little unorthodox, but what he does is he sees the ball into the hands, and he sees it into the tuck. And he’s very strong, he’s a very strong player and he has very strong hands. So, when the ball usually hits his hands, it doesn’t leave, and he does a really good job. So, I think that’s something you see him play and what he does in college, it’s translated to the league very well.”
I know you guys talk about your pass catchers globally, and it includes obviously the wide receivers and the tight ends. But at a time like this, when the wide receivers haven’t been quite as productive as everyone hopes they would be by now, is this a time where you guys can really focus on those tight ends and let them carry the day a little bit if they have to?
“That’s a good question. I would say that that’s never been our focus or never been what we’re about in the room. We always try to do our job. Whatever play is called, we got to do our job. So, it doesn’t matter where the ball’s going, it doesn’t matter who’s getting it, right? Q’s (Quinshon Judkins) been doing really well, we’ve been doing good running the ball. We got to make sure we support Dillon (Gabriel). So, however we call the play in, and what we’re asked to do is what we do, our job is to show up, and when our numbers call up, show up and do that. So, however the game plays, however the game evolves, because as you know, like, the quarters change – every quarter is different, every half’s different, every play is different. And the only thing we can do is focus on what we can do. If we start focusing on why I’m getting the ball or why I’m not getting the ball, then you start forgetting about what the next play is going to be, and what the play is right now.”
And what were your thoughts on how Dillon operated in his first NFL start?
“It was very encouraging. I thought he did a good job. He was confident, played the game quickly, he got those reads. And I’m not a quarterback coach, so please don’t put any weight on what I’m saying. But it’s good to see a rookie go out there, especially in the environment that he was in. You know, you’re in a whole new country. You know, first game is in an unfamiliar place, and I thought he did a great job. It was very encouraging. I’m very proud of him.”
When we talk about how the tight end position is called, it used to be a guy was either a blocking tight end or a receiving tight end. Does that even exist anymore? Do you even differentiate anymore?
“I would say players have strengths and weaknesses that you try to accentuate, right? You try to build on strengths and hide weaknesses. But as players get more athletic, as training gets to be more advanced, as guys grow in stature, I think the lines always start to kind of change. It’s the same thing with edge players or defensive players, right? You think about defensive ends, they had kind of two categories, now it’s just turning to them, finding the most athletic guys that can go out there and disrupt the game. So, as the game grows, players change, roles change. So, I think the lines have started to blur a little bit in how teams ask their tight ends to perform.”
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