Kellen Moore

Q. Obviously the slow starts have been an issue. What is it with the scripts you think that haven’t played to the strengths of your players or what you’re seeing defensively? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, we haven’t started games the way we’ve wanted to. This week being a bye week, we are just doing such a deep dive on so many things. This is a really fun for us to task to navigate and find a way to get going sooner, get going quicker because there are moments coming out of second halves we’ve had successful drives. But we’ve got to start faster, so that’s a big focus for us just to continue to evaluate that and find our way.

Q. What is your philosophy towards the opening script? Is it to see what the defense presents? How would you explain it? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Every week can take different paths. In general, usually it’s about identifying the defense and getting touches to your players. Those are really your main focuses there.

We’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to do a better job of finding that for us and allowing us to be more successful there.

Q. Are they consistently different than what you expected in each game so far to start out? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Not necessarily. I think certainly there will be a flavor every game. I think defense did a tremendous job, certainly have seen it the last few years of giving you a little different presentation each and every week.

We know certainly with the way we play, our style, we’re going to get some different looks than we anticipated. So, I think our guys do an excellent job. There are some really good examples of just playing adjustment football within the games.

We’ve just got to start faster. Simple as that.

Q. Is RB Saquon Barkley’s playmaking making you sort of evaluate how quickly you want to get the ball in his hands and how often you want to get the ball in his hands early? (Jeff Neiburg)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, want to get the ball to Saquon as much as possible, just like a lot of these guys. A poor job just finding the rhythm in that game to go three and out, three and out, and three and out, and then putting yourself in a challenging position where you’re going to have to play catchup ball for the rest of the game, and you still don’t want to lose the run game. You still want to try to keep it alive.

We’ve got to get him more touches.

Q. How much did the flow of this game specifically change what the game plan was offensively? (Bo Wulf)

KELLEN MOORE: Just simply didn’t do a good just enough job starting the game. Starts with me just giving ourselves the best opportunity to be successful early in the game and keep ourselves in that balanced attack. We know the way [Buccaneers Head Coach] Todd [Bowles] will play it. He will do an excellent job making it challenging for you up front.

We put ourselves in a challenging situation and have got to find a way to evaluate that and put ourselves in better positions going forward, learn from it, grow from it.

Q. You came out with a bunch of heavy packages early, and by the fourth play of the game you’re down 14-nothing. You’re playing from behind. Was that the plan coming in to be able to lean on that stuff, and then you had to play catchup? (Bo Wulf)

KELLEN MOORE: We went into a point of the game where possessions and time became an aspect of it, just because we understood we had to get this thing going.

It felt like tempo also allowed us to play a little bit faster, a little cleaner. We had that good tempo drive in the second quarter where we were able to drive down and score a touchdown. It just kind of brought some juice and energy back into us.

Then we started the second half off great with Saquon making the phenomenal run. Finish that one off, we’re moving, and then we just weren’t able to finish it.

Q. During the summer it seemed like we saw a lot of quick game with QB Jalen Hurts getting the ball out fast, being the point guard that he talks about. The public metrics say he’s 32nd in the NFL right now with time before throw. What’s happening there? Is that something you need to get back to? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Certainly, part of the bye week process as far as us of what are we doing well, what can we improve on, and really focus on how we can move forward. Pass game-wise, find completions, all that good stuff. It starts with how we design it, how we call it.

We have some great opportunities to grow. It’s exciting because we get four weeks of evaluation and a little chance to reset and then put our eyes forward. We know we’ve got some really exciting, positive opportunities we can grow from.

Q. I imagine that QB Jalen Hurts is involved in the game planning, and you’re going to do what he likes, but what is that process? How much is it more or less versus where you have been previously? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: I think at the end of the day, for all of us it’s just a continuous conversation throughout the week as far as when we’re putting the plan together and then as we’re practicing the plan and going through the paths and navigating and having those conversations. It’s been a really good process. I’ve really, really enjoyed it.

We’re all not where we want to be. That’s part of it. So, we are excited about where we can take this thing.

Q. What was your view of the strip sack and what was the intent of that play? Were you trying to push downfield on first down? (Bob Brookover)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, a position where we kind of got into the high red zone. It felt like potentially we had an opportunity to try and drive it into the end zone based on the coverage they were playing; it didn’t happen. You’re frustrated with the overall outcome of that particular play.

So had a potential opportunity; it didn’t happen. It kind of got late in the process and the guy retraced and made a really good play on Jalen.

Q. Conventional wisdom says, ‘when you fall behind, you throw.’ When your biggest big play weapon might be a running back, how does that change the equation? (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: The biggest challenge is keeping the run game alive in those situations. I think the first drive of the second half, getting that run, getting another run — really that drive we were able to steal a few run opportunities there.

The goal is to keep it alive. The more times we can get it to Saquon and Jalen can run it in situations, the more we’ll have a chance to balance out the defensive attack and not make us one dimensional.

We got to do everything we can to keep that balance.

Q. What were some of the issues with the pass protection as you saw it? (Ed Kracz)

KELLEN MOORE: You know, I think from a protection standpoint, we put ourselves in a lot of really challenging situations. I think you can draw focus on the obvious passing situations, but we’ve got to be clear on first and second down. We’ve got to put ourselves in those situations where we can have the threat of the run game still alive.

A couple of those came in those third and really longs, fourth and longs. When you put those in there and the defense can kind of play pass rush mode, and Todd [Bowles] is going to do an excellent job of game planning it up and bringing combination pressures, you’re going to put a lot of stress on it.

Q. What happened with QB Jalen Hurts the first play the game? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, the first play of the game we’re just trying to get the thing started. For myself, I’m focused on how I can help him in any possible way from a play design and from a play calling sequence standpoint.

The first drive really is a great growth opportunity for us coming out of this bye week. We haven’t been successful in four weeks. That doesn’t mean we have to follow that trend moving forward. We find our solutions and a better way to handle this.

Q. The first play this past game, when you watched it back, the one where he missed RB Saquon Barkley, what’s the message or the coaching point? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Those are challenging situations where you’re rolling out and there is a big play potential opportunity. And from a QB’s vision standpoint– we can see it from a wide camera angle and see that he’s open– but kind of hard to identify where the safety is as the throw goes. You know, it ended up out of bounds unfortunately.

Not the end of the world. We’ve got great opportunities to grow past that.

Q. You mentioned the bye week process. It’s obviously early, not the biggest sample size. Does that complicate things, especially when you don’t have WR A.J. Brown for the majority of that time when you’re trying to study the offense as a whole? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, good discussions. I think it is an awesome opportunity for us collectively as a staff, with the players yesterday, to have those conversations and look at the data, and then look into the context associated with it.

For example, this last game we got into too many pass situations and that can dilute some of the circumstances you’re throwing the football in. Personnel factors into some of those situations. It’s a really great opportunity to grow from this and look at it and see there are certainly some positives within there and some great opportunities to grow.

Q. Does QB Jalen Hurts need to go through his reads faster? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: No, I think Jalen’s doing a really good job handling this thing. For myself, it’s about sequence, when we call the plays, allow ourselves to grow there. I am really excited with where we can take this thing.

Q. Why is it taking so long to get production from WR Jahan Dotson? (Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: Jahan is going about this the right process. He’s done a really nice job as far as coming in here and getting acclimated. Again, like a number of our guys, I think our focus is on how we can give them the best opportunity to be successful, give them more targets, more looks.

He had some in there and we just weren’t able to get to him.

Q. Does QB Jalen Hurts need to work on his ability to trust the receivers who aren’t WR A.J. Brown and WR DeVonta Smith? (Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: No, I think Jalen has handled a number of different guys playing in a number of different roles these past few weeks. Those are situations where the more you spend time around those guys, the more you build that cohesiveness and anticipation and all that fun stuff. That will come.

We’re excited about these guys. We’ve got great depth in that receiver room, and we are going to need these guys as the season goes on. A lot of the guys are going to have to play and be counted on.

Q. How far is the offense from where you want it to be? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Ultimately, I think from a rhythm and a timing standpoint, I think for us, we’ve just got to continue to grow and evolve with that. It starts with me as far as play calling, sequencing, building better rhythm as an offense.

I think we’ve moved it fine for the most part. The stats will tell you we’re moving it okay. We’ve just got to finish in the red zone. We’ve got to put ourselves in more manageable and cleaner third down situations. That goes back to first and second down.

I think we’ve got some great opportunities to grow because there is some production there, and we’re excited where we can take this thing.

Q. What’s your process to correct turnovers? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, continue discussions. We try and drill as much as we can from the ball security standpoint, for the running backs, for the pocket. You know, the interception situation, we’ve had four this year. That’s part play calling and part just how the situations play themselves out.

It’s a big focus for us. It’s gotten us a couple times in a few of these games, and so we’ve got to grow from this and be better.

Q. What’s your philosophy when it comes to making corrections with the quarterback during the week? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, it’s no different than any other position. We all go through the corrections process, talking through it. It starts with the team situations, then goes to the offense, and then goes to position coaches. We go through this process consistently like any other week just like we do with any other players.