Head Coach Brian Daboll
Q: Any word on (tackle) Andrew Thomas?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I'll get all that stuff later today and then fill you guys in on Wednesday.
Q: No sense, no nothing? Just straight nothing at this point?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I still have to meet with the doctors and the trainers.
Q: You mentioned a couple of times yesterday, talking about the offense, and 'that's on me. Put it on me, and that's on me, put it on me'. What can you do when you look at it, and you look at it as the head coach, as the play caller, in a self-assessment mode, and you go over every play, and every call, and every decision. If it's on you, which it is obviously, and you admit that, how do you assess it and then correct it?
BRIAN DABOLL: You evaluate the tape, you evaluate each play, what you need to do better, and then you focus on doing those things.
Q: Do you have a list or a chart, or how do you self-assess and say, 'okay, this was good, this I would do this again, this I would do this again, this I wouldn't, this was a bad read, this was good, this was not on me'? Is there like a checklist, or is it just in your mind? How do you do that?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I mean you go back, and you watch the tape. We watch it as a coaching staff together, go through each play with a very fine-tooth comb, make sure that we're getting all the details coached up on the plays that we need to get them coached up. That's really been consistent since I've been doing it. It was consistent in Buffalo, it's consistent here. You look at the plays, you look at the execution of the play, timing of it, and do your best to correct those things.
Q: In that method that you do, is there room for dissent in the group? If somebody says, 'yeah, I don't know what you were thinking there on that third down call,' You're the head coach. But can they come at you and can discuss it and maybe you take their point, their side of it?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, that's what you do as a coaching staff. You meet, you're with each other all the time. Have a lot of confidence in our coaches in all three phases. It's very good communication. And you try to do the best you can on improving the things you need to improve on.
Q: When you look back, what disappointed you maybe more today or maybe less disappointed you more today than yesterday after the game?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, again, you're not happy with the result and you're not happy with the points. Again, there's things that are improving in areas, but the ultimate goal is to score points and finish drives and take care of the ball. And third and fourth and short was productive. Third and six plus was not productive. There wasn't a lot of negative plays. We're staying in the positive for the most part. But our inability, I would say this game, to generate explosive plays, whether that's through the run or through the air is not where I want it to be right now. So, we'll keep doing it. Keep calling them. And we just got to keep on improving in that area. Again, 16 play drives for touchdowns, it's hard to do on a consistent basis. So, couple that with red zone and some missed opportunities in the kicking game throughout, I'd say, the course of the past couple weeks. We got to score more points.
Q: (Quarterback) Daniel's (Jones) been kind of inconsistent. I think played well the last couple weeks, had some ups and downs this week. What can you do to kind of calm him down to get him back to playing more consistently?
BRIAN DABOLL: You're just talking about last game or you're talking about weeks before that?
Q: Just overall. I mean to get him more consistent.
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, that's what you're always trying to do with a quarterback, whether it's completion plays, chunk plays, quarterback runs, move the pocket, screens. Again, you touch the ball on every play and your goal as a quarterback is to come out of that game making a proper decision on every play. Certainly, that's not going to happen all the time. Daniel, like I've said plenty of times, he'll do everything he can to be as good as he can be.
Q: Do you ever have to sit down with him, especially after like a bad mistake or a mistake like that interception where he admitted he'd like that one back? Do you just sit down with him and say, 'Hey, listen, it happens'? How do you approach that?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think each situation is probably a little different. Yesterday we talked about it. We moved on. Look, it was a play that, obviously, he would like to have back. Told him I have a lot of confidence in him. You're always communicating with your players. Quarterback, obviously, when you're talking to him on a play-to-play basis and all the time you spend with him during the week. So, you're going to have some of those, just like every player is going to have some of them. You talk, you coach, you teach, you listen, and you move on.
Q: A couple of quick ones. How did you think (punter Matt) Haack handled the job?
BRIAN DABOLL: I thought for the amount of time that he's been here, he did fine.
Q: With (kicker Greg) Joseph, is there a concern or do you just think that that end of the stadium has that funky wind which blows everything left?
BRIAN DABOLL: He's done pretty good since he's been here. And then, we missed two of them.
Q: With the run game, obviously the numbers don't look that great in terms of yards per carry and percentages, but that second half it seemed like you guys grinded it out the way you like to. How do you strike that balance, the idea of knowing what the numbers say but also knowing what you're seeing really with your eyes in terms of how guys are performing? Because it really seemed like you got on a groove there in that second half, even though the numbers afterwards don't really show that, especially the way (running back Tyrone) Tracy was running the ball.
BRIAN DABOLL: The run game is at times it's going to be hard early on. You'd like to get into a rhythm with it. But it is something I believe you have to stick with. Those runs that are not going for as much early on, you're continuing to lean on them. Hope for better results as the game goes on. You love them all the way through. But I thought (Tyrone) Tracy ran hard again. He was productive in the run game and the pass game for us. Made good decisions. He's coming along.
Q: The other thing I wanted to ask you, just in terms of the explosives, do you look at the personnel? Do you need to make changes in personnel as to where you're using them schematically, or is this just a matter of execution in your mind?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think we threw the ball down the field four times for significant yardage. The crossing route to (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) and then a couple of go routes to (wide receiver) Jalin (Hyatt) and one to (wide receiver) Slay (Darius Slayton). It's something we'll just continue to work on. Again, they can come in different ways, too. Run after catch, things like that. But the vertical element, I think, is important.
Q: Just back to the kicker. Is (kicker Graham) Gano going to be ready this week? Is there any chance he'll be ready this week?
BRIAN DABOLL: Again, I'll have better info for you on Wednesday. We'll talk to the doctors and see where everybody's at here.
Q: If he's not ready, are you comfortable going forward with (Greg) Joseph or do you have to maybe look at bringing other guys in?
BRIAN DABOLL: I'd say we'd stay with Greg (Joseph).
Q: Trying to understand the thought process on 2nd-and-1, a couple of QB sneaks you ran. What's the thought process there?
BRIAN DABOLL: Just go ahead and get the first down, keep another set of downs going. We were 1-of-3 on 3rd-and-1. So, pick it up and keep the clock moving and get another set of downs. We've done that plenty in various spots that I've been. It was something we were going to do this game.
