Kellen Moore

Q. You’ve been around Quarterbacks Coach Doug Nussmeier at a few places, known him for a long time. How specifically has he had a positive effect on QB Jalen Hurts over the past six months? (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: I’ve been fortunate to be around [Quarterbacks Coach] Doug [Nussmeier], going back to Dallas and L.A. and now here. Worked with him in the quarterback room for a long time.

I think what makes [Quarterbacks Coach Doug Nussmeier] Nuss is his experience. He’s been a longtime coordinator in college football at a lot of big-time schools and had a ton of experience there.

I think he does an excellent job with the details and fundamentals of the position. Hammering that in each and every day, each and every week. Tying the QBs footwork to the pass concepts and making sure we all have the right timing, the anticipation, all that sort of stuff.

He does an excellent job preparing those guys.

Q. What was clicking for you guys in the passing game? You started going with it early and it just kind of kept going. What was working for you guys? What did you see? (Martin Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: I thought our guys did a really good job, just playing with great fundamentals. I thought our receivers did a great job with route discipline, coming of the ball. [QB] Jalen [Hurts] did an excellent job working through his progressions, getting the ball out of his hands. The protection was excellent.

I thought our guys did a really good job early in that game finding that rhythm and playing at a high level.

Q. With zone read being a big part of what you guys do, how are you managing with QB Jalen Hurts’s finger – he said it was influencing his play on Sunday – and the other aspects of the offense for him? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Jalen’s ability to run is a crucial aspect for him. There’s still an element of it. Obviously he showed that on Sunday, that he can still play at a really high level with it.

There are circumstances, situations we’ve got to be aware of as we go through this. Each and every week there are different things that come up. Maybe it’s his hand this past week, but I thought he did an excellent job, handled it well. He was under center for sneaks, so it didn’t limit us too much.

Q. On the empty sets, why were they effective, and what do you like about them? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Empty does a really good job of defining the defense. Certainly, there are pros and cons to every formation. There’s not as high of a likelihood of you running the football. Jalen does have the ability to run it, which helps us in the empty package.

I thought our guys did a really good job spacing them out. We kind of made the decision as the week went on. Just felt like it was a good thing [versus] that particular opponent based on how they were playing empty, so it worked out well.

Q. Was that about rhythm as well, using a little bit more empty? QB Jalen Hurts talked about getting in that kind of rhythm after the game, you just mentioned it. Is that a part of that set, using that a little bit more? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: You get one more guy immediately out on the pass concepts, so you’re in five wide. So there’s an element of the picture being a little bit more defined.

Again, there are pros and cons to it. Some teams might stress you in empty, and you don’t want to use it as much. We felt like there were some positives going into that game, and our guys did an excellent job.

Q. How much of a luxury is it, especially with those empty sets, to have T Lane Johnson there being able to handle one-on-one matchups in protection? (EJ Smith)

KELLEN MOORE: Going back, the protection aspect is a key aspect for this thing. The way we started, [T] Lane [Johnson] and [T] Jordan [Mailata] on the edges and the interior guys, I thought our protection was phenomenal. On that two-minute drill stretch right before half, we kind of had a little lull there. But outside of that, those guys did a big-time job there.

Q. In terms of the passing game, WR DeVonta Smith said afterward that it was just kind of a matter of time until a game where you all needed to do that. QB Jalen Hurts talked about watering certain parts of the grass. In between games where you’re more bent toward the run and the pass game is not there, how do you work that out in between the time to make sure certain parts of your offense don’t atrophy? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: That’s a great question because each and every week takes its own path. Fortunately for us, we’ve found a formula that’s been fairly successful for a number of games over the course of our time. We were running the football, playing in the play-action world, and playing third downs when we had to. Naturally, we know every game is going to take a different course.

It felt like [in] this game from the start, the passing game caught rhythm. They did an excellent job from a run-game standpoint of having that extra guy in the box. They’re obviously really stout, they’ve got premier players all over that front, so it was going to be a challenge for us up front. I thought our guys did an excellent job of anticipating that, being prepared, and just executing at a really high level.

We know [in] every game throughout the season, there will be different courses you’ve got to take, different paths. Empty may be a big emphasis one week, and maybe the next week, there are more challenges than are worth it. But each week we’ve got to take a different path, and we’ve got to lean in also to what we do really well. So there’s a fun balancing act between those two.

Q. Does that mean sometimes in the middle of a week of practice when you may not be using a certain part of your passing game, that you may want to practice it? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, certainly. Every week, we follow a similar formula as far as how we prepare, the reps we have associated with the run game and the pass game. It’s all very, very similar. We understand that games sometimes lean one way or the other based on circumstances, but we want to prepare the right way each and every week.

Q. Both WR DeVonta Smith and WR A.J. Brown talked about how sometimes you have to have uncomfortable conversations to get things corrected. From your perspective, what are those conversations like, and what is this team, and how do they deal with it? (Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: We’ve just got a bunch of really competitive guys who play at a really high level. And when we want to improve, when we want to get things right, I think it’s a great group that’s willing to have conversations about it and not isolate ourselves.

It’s a really fun group. It’s a really awesome group. I thought we had a really fun week this past week, just working together, having as many conversations as we could, getting everyone connected. It was a really good one. Very successful.

Q. Can you boil down the benefit, as a playcaller and offensive designer, of having WR A.J. Brown as part of the group? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: [WR] A.J. [Brown] is one of the premier receivers in this league. One of the top ones. We all know that.

His ability to win one-on-ones is rare. He does a phenomenal job. I think he has a great feel for the defense, and how they’re attacking him, and how he can counteract that. That’s what I enjoy.

I enjoy those conversations with him through the week and on gameday with him and [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty and Jalen and all these guys as we all team up on this thing. He had an excellent game. I thought Smitty had an excellent game. Those guys did a really, really good job.

Q. When you’re backed up inside your own 10 or inside your own 5, how important is it to stay aggressive in those situations? (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: Backed-up is a situation we spend a lot of time on because it’s challenging. You’ve got to put yourself in the situation, first and foremost, to protect the special teams aspect of it because when you’re backed up, it compromises the punt unit.

It’s a big opportunity. If you get that first down, then you can get yourself rolling. I think we spend a lot of time going through those in situational football. [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni] does an excellent job of throwing those situations out on us on Wednesdays and Thursdays and having us prepare.

I thought our guys did an excellent job. The first down, we were a little bit aggressive. The second down, we got the run to put ourselves at least in a manageable third down. And then to hit the slant to A.J. was a big time play, and it progressed into a really long drive.

Q. Head Coach Nick Sirianni spoke very highly of RB Kenneth Gainwell. Obviously doesn’t get a ton of opportunities usually, two big third-down conversions. What has he meant to your group as a whole? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: [RB Kenneth Gainwell] Kenny is the best.

Just to have a guy behind [RB] Saquon [Barkley] like Kenny, who’s played very valuable roles in this league for a number of years now. A guy who, in a lot of other circumstances, is probably getting a lot more touches, a lot more opportunities. The way he handles himself and the way he prepares is second to none.

And the way he and Saquon team up on this thing and rally together, and [RB] Will [Shipley] is in that equation as well, I think it’s a really special group. There are no egos. They’re all in it for each other.

I think Kenny has done an excellent job when he is called upon and given that opportunity, he takes advantage of it. His ability to play in space, he made some big-time plays.

Q. At the start of that 21-play drive, did you think it was possible to take the whole thing off the clock? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: We’re not projecting out that far. You take it circumstance by circumstance.

It started with a backed-up scenario, got a few first downs, played some third down football. As we approached that midfield line, that’s where four-minute football started to present itself, and we had to make those adjustments. Now we’re playing the clock and all those situations.

I thought it was a really good job by our guys of understanding there were a lot of circumstances that played out throughout that whole drive. A lot of situational football that happens on the fly. And to have it all in one 21-play drive is very rare.

Q. So as a playcaller, is it all really segmented in terms of situations on a drive that long? (Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, there’s a lot of communication that has to go on as far as, you’re in a situation where you’re looking at it from a backed-up perspective, then we get going. We played some third downs where you’re on that script.

Then as we progressed and got to that mid-field range, the clock is approaching five, four minutes. Now we’re into four-minute football. Now we’re really trying to play that situation.

I thought our guys did an excellent job. We were trying to run the football, trying to use the clock, but still throwing it. We had some critical third down conversions in there, some big-time catches. To have a second and really long, and A.J. makes a completion, him and Jalen, that’s big time.

So big time football out there for those guys.

Q. With RB Saquon Barkley, obviously the yards weren’t easy to come by on Sunday. What kind of impressed you with the way he ran the ball despite only having – for him – 65 yards? (Martin Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: Saquon just does an excellent job. He’s right there each and every play. Sometimes the production isn’t what you want, but I think he hangs in there. He does it the right way. He understands there is a process associated with this.

More often than not, we’ve been able to eventually get those explosive plays. He was still contributing in the protection game and the pass game. He does a number of good things.

And Kenny hopping in there for a few more snaps than normal is a huge opportunity for him as well.

Q. Now having taken off that much time on a drive, can you project that far in future game plans? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: With the long drive?

Obviously, it’s a huge benefit if we can have the ball for the last ten minutes of the game. But all these situations come up, and you’ve got to adjust on the fly. That’s the biggest thing. You project things out, and then you have to make you adjustments as you go.

Q. What makes you prefer the sideline to the booth? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Just the interaction and the communication. I think that’s the biggest thing. You’re able to interact with the players, with the coaches, have a great feel for the game. The viewpoint from the box is second to none, but we have great people up there who communicate really, really well.