Q: Is Eli taking fewer chances throwing the ball into dangerous spots?A: The three big areas that are constantly areas of emphasis that we discuss are in terms of leadership, accuracy, and decision making. We put those three together in how he's performed, particularly this most recent opponent, Buffalo. We were very, very pleased with his ability to make great decisions, be smart with the football, and be accurate. When he's had time to throw, I'll put his accuracy and his ability to spot the ball against anybody in this league and put it on a target.
Q: Is the fact that he has taken a lot more sacks this year indicative of maybe he's willing to take a small loss instead of forcing it into a tight space?A: Well, I think you never like to see a sack, you never like to see an interception, you don't like to see an incompletion. But ultimately, there's the clock that's going off. If it's not there, you don't want to force it. There's a time and a place where maybe you want to try to push the envelope a bit or take a chance. He has great confidence in his ability -- and he should -- and the ability of his receivers and offensive line. I think when a no-win situation presents itself, it's best to go ahead and move on to the next play. I think he's done a great job with that.
Q: Is it also because of the fact that he doesn't have Steve Smith and Kevin Boss, that maybe he's not forcing the ball as much because of these younger guys?A: We've had a new crew, a new group of receivers, and there's no question there was great dependence and reliance, as you say, on both Steve and Kevin. I think having had so many new faces, you're right, he's had to take a look at overall riding things out, if you will. And maybe there has been a couple of going to a certain receiver on a certain play. And now, the coverage might not dictate that so he has to go elsewhere. The good thing is that even though we've had limited opportunities because of the lack of OTA's and the lack of minicamp and so forth – a lot of the other young receivers have gotten a ton of opportunities. You look at some of our training camp practices, there are some of our young guys right there going with our first team, and so they got experience. I think he got some confidence in them early on and they're getting comfortable with him. So I think that's definitely helped him be more conscious of spreading it out, if you will.
Q: Do you feel Eli reads the receivers differently? Has the pace been different for some?A: I think there is a familiarity that he has with some receivers, maybe more so than others.
Q: But might it be easier for you to read the body language of someone you've had for a few years?A: It depends upon the receiver and depends upon what we're asking the receiver to do. Certain guys, for example going back to talking about a Steve Smith who was such a integral part during his time when he was here, there were some subtleties, things he was asked to do that were beneficial to us that Eli and Steve were on the same page. I think that's what we're trying to get to a position to whether it's a Victor Cruz or Mario (Manningham) or Hakeem (Nicks). Eli being able to anticipate and read exactly some of those finer details that the receiver's going to do, that's going to make a huge difference. That takes reps. It takes time.
