Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: Where you are injury-wise and how (quarterback) is Tommy DeVito. Assuming he's in protocol, what do you expect to do at quarterback this week?BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he's in the protocol, so we'll see where he's at. Again, it's only a day away from where (quarterback) Drew (Lock) was, so we'll see how Drew is. We could potentially do that, but we'll see where these guys are at each day, and Wednesday hopefully they'll be ready to go.

Q: Understanding obviously that winning is the priority, on an individual basis as you try to evaluate players and knowing what you have with guys going forward, how tough is that right now with the situations going on right now? Can you get honest evaluations on your players individually, or no because they're playing with guys that they don't normally play with, and the scores are maybe not competitive points? All the extra stuff going on, how does that make individual evaluations difficult?

BRIAN DABOLL: I don't think it makes it difficult. They go out there and they compete as hard as they can compete, you evaluate their technique, you evaluate their understanding of the schemes, their competitiveness, all the things that they need to do at each position. Everybody that's out there is going to be obviously evaluated, but everybody out there is going out there with that type of mindset.

Q: I wouldn't say (outside linebacker) Brian Burns is the last man standing, but he certainly is standing still and hasn't missed anything. From what you knew about him when you guys were thinking of trading for him to what you know now, exact same, a little different, the player, the person, things like that?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, competitive young man. He's been productive for us. Tough, he's fought through some stuff, nicks and bruises here, done a nice job in his leadership role for us. I'm glad we have him.

Q: You're playing the team this week that drafted a quarterback in (Falcons quarterback) Michael Penix (Jr.), a guy I'm sure you did a bunch of work on, and he's not playing. When you guys were in Buffalo, you guys got (Bills quarterback) Josh Allen. I don't think the plan was to play him right away, but plans change. You played him pretty quickly. In the course of your time with these quarterbacks, what goes into that, and do you think there is a right and a wrong and a best and a worst as far as playing him, not playing him? There's a lot of different ways to go here.

BRIAN DABOLL: I think every situation is unique in and of itself. I can't speak on Penix relative to being in Atlanta. Obviously, they have (Falcons quarterback Kirk) Cousins there who has been a good player for a long time. Every situation has been a little bit different here with some of these guys that have really taken off to, I would say, elite level of quarterback play over the last five or six years since the draft. Again, every situation is different. The consistency there is important, but not knowing the player or the exact situation, I think it's just different.

Q: What did you think of the way (quarterback) Tim (Boyle) played yesterday when you went back and watched the film? Could he step in and be the starter on Sunday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, it depends on how these other guys are health-wise, too. Again, I thought he made some nice throws. He was decisive with the football. He was ready to go. He was prepared. He's worked extremely hard since he's been here. He made the most of his opportunity, the chance he got to be in there.

Q: One of the things that Burns said yesterday after the game was that there wasn't a lot of talking after the game. Nobody gave a fiery oration or whatever, which usually follows these losses. Did you sense that, and what does that tell you about where you guys are at?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I think we've got a lot of new guys in there playing too. Again, these guys laid it on the line as hard as they could possibly lay it on the line. It was by no means perfect. Obviously, we gave up some big plays and missed some opportunities, but their effort and their will, don't question that with those guys. Disappointed that we lost the game and get ready to go this week.

Q: Could you just talk a little bit about what you liked about Penix? Obviously, we saw parts on Hard Knocks with how much you did work on the quarterbacks. What touch points did you have? Did you have a combine? Did you go to pro day? What touch points did you have with him and what did you like about (Michael) Penix (Jr.)?

BRIAN DABOLL: He's a very productive player. He could throw it in all three levels. Very accurate. Obviously, had a lot of good players around him. But I thought he really gave those guys chances down the field. Intermediate throws, threw the ball effortlessly. Was athletic. I wouldn't say they used him on a lot of runs, more of a drop-back, play-action guy. But fairly athletic enough to do a variety of things. Met with him, had a good meeting. Smart. Instinctive. I thought he had a pretty good pro day, I was at his pro day. So, I thought he was a good prospect.

Q: If you look at quarterbacks in the league, I mean you have guys like (Detroit Lions quarterback Jared) Goff and (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe) Burrow and (Arizona Cardinals quarterback) Kyler Murray and (Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew) Stafford and (Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor) Lawrence who are all number one picks. Then you get guys like (Buffalo Bills quarterback) Josh Allen, who's a seventh (overall pick), (Baltimore Ravens quarterback) Lamar Jackson, who's a 32^nd (overall pick) and (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback) Jalen Hurts, who's a 53^rd (overall pick). How do these guys slip? What is the common denominator there?

BRIAN DABOLL: It's a difficult question to answer because it just takes one person on a club or a decision maker that really likes somebody or doesn't like somebody. I think every situation is different for these quarterbacks that they come into. Consistency is important with it. The development of the quarterback is important with it. Every one of those guys you mentioned has a different skill set. All of them are playing at high levels. So, as many guys as you mentioned just now, there's even more you can mention that haven't hit. That's just the nature of that position and the development of it.

Q: In talking yesterday to some of the players, some of the receivers, you've had several opportunities over the last year and a half where you've had a quarterback have to go in a game, whether it's starting or afterwards, that had no reps whatsoever with the guys that he was throwing to. Or, like in the case of (quarterback) Drew (Lock), you would have to go all the way back to the spring. I'm just curious, I know it's the nature of the business and the nature of being professionals, but have you looked at things because you guys have had to do that, that you identify during the week and say, 'If this emergency happens,' and things that maybe you've done to coach that guy, or do you just put it on (quarterback Tim) Boyle and say, 'It's because of his experience that he was able to go and do that yesterday'? Because that's not an easy thing, I would imagine, to do for guys who have not had that time together.

BRIAN DABOLL: What we do is whoever's going to be the starter gets, I'd say, almost all the reps, most of the time he gets all the reps. The backup player will get show team reps and we'll mix some of the third guy in there, so he can get some throws. But I'd say Christian Jones, our Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, does a good job of taking them over to another field when the offense is going or the special teams or whatever it may be. Any extra time he can get post practice or walk through time of going through scripts or meeting extra. Then when we sit down with the quarterbacks, we make sure that you have a call sheet. But each of those guys maybe likes something a little bit different on that call sheet, there's plenty of plays. So, if that particular player happens to go in the game, that you pull out the call sheet that you want to use for him and really focus on the plays that he feels most comfortable with.

Q: So just as a clarification, from my perspective, yesterday when you guys find out that (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) has a concussion and (Tim) Boyle is coming in, you basically have a call sheet that you guys put together during the week that fits what (Tim) Boyle may want to do if he's in that situation?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. So, say you have 100 plays. You don't take those plays out, you just try to call the plays that you feel that quarterback feels most comfortable with. (Tim) Boyle has been a good to work with because he's really picked up everything. So, whether it's the extra meetings or going through the call sheet and understanding the things that we were trying to get done, he's put a lot of time and effort into it, he's a really good pro in that regard. So, there's not much that one guy likes that the other guy doesn't like. He's done a good job since he's been here of picking up the information and being able to apply it.

Q: You've mentioned before that you've had up and down seasons where you go through losing streaks and stuff. I'm wondering, how do you as a coach… What's your mindset through it all? As it keeps extending, do you change anything? Do you try to think of it differently? What's your approach to all this?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, you're always trying to improve. So, each week's a different week and you try to do the best job you can each week.