Kellen Moore

Q. QB Jalen Hurts, since the bye week, hasn’t had a turnover. Four games without an interception. What’s clicked for him as far as that? It was obviously a concern there for a while. (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: [QB] Jalen [Hurts] has just done an excellent job with the football, certainly in the last few weeks. I think he’s doing a really good job making great decisions while still being aggressive. He’s playing at a really good level.

Q. You guys used trips to one side and tight on the backside early on in the game. You guys had a lot of success doing that. What did you see in the Bengals offense? Is it something we could see more in the future? (Chris Franklin)

KELLEN MOORE: Just a game plan thing. Certain formations, we felt like we had a few indicators that allowed us to get to plays that were ideal versus certain looks.

Every week is going to have different flavors. Certainly, we utilized that and emphasized it early in the game to get some clean plays off.

Q. What are you guys getting out of under center snaps right now? Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: By game plan and by situation, there’s certainly some really good value to it. The run game and the potential of action game as we go.

So there has been some good stuff in the run game that has allowed us to get downhill the last couple weeks. We’ll see where it takes us.

Q. You guys have added some wrinkles to the run game in the last few weeks. How much of that is Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland’s input, and what’s that process been like working with him, evolving? (EJ Smith)

KELLEN MOORE: We have an awesome process of really collaborating with the whole entire staff. [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout does a tremendous amount of the work as far as initially during the week.

We’re constantly talking through this thing, finding different ways that we can navigate this, while still hanging our hat on certain concepts and presenting different flavors week in, week out.

Q. QB Jalen Hurts said he was pushing for under center snaps. Why do you think players respond well to that increase? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: I think it’s just something we’ve talked about as a collective group. There will be different opportunities throughout games. It’s come up the last few weeks, and there have been some positives with it, so we’ll see where it takes us.

Q. He said he’s also pushed for more of the offense coming out and imposing its will on a defense rather than having everything predicated on what a defense is doing. What have those conversations been like with him? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: It’s a balancing act each and every week. You have a lot of respect for your opponent and all the things that they can do. You’ve got to account for all the possibilities and prepare the right way while also still doing what you do and what you invest a lot of time in.

So you’re balancing those two elements week in and week out. We’re constantly in that tug-of-war. I think that’s how most teams game plan. You have stuff you feel really comfortable with that you can blindly walk out there and just run, while still understanding that they have a presentation that’s going to challenge you in different ways. And you’re trying to find what balance is best when you create a game plan.

Q. When you have a long drive like the 7 minute, 37 second drive in the fourth quarter, what’s it like from a playcaller’s perspective? What does that feel like? (Chris Franklin)

KELLEN MOORE: That was a big time drive for our guys. I think it was awesome. It was really cool because that was that four-minute ball, but it wasn’t just run, run, run, run, run. We would sneak in some passes here and there when we got into certain situations.

I thought our guys did an excellent job. It was really crisp. We ate a lot of time off the clock. Finished it the right way with a touchdown.

I thought there was really big time football in there. There were third down conversions. It was just a really clean, big time opportunity for our guys.

Q. The WR DeVonta Smith touchdown, can you walk us through that play, and why that was the right situation to call that play right there? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Just an action play. Sometimes that sits on your call sheet a little too long, so we were trying to find the place for it. We ran it once earlier this year. Those guys did an excellent job.

At the end of the day, the protection aspect of it was incredible. [TE] Jack Stoll was blocking the edge rusher for what felt like about ten seconds. The action was great. They got movement up front. The routes did a really nice job, and then Jalen and [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty just making the play. It was a big time play.

Q. Did you get what you wanted with the safety? Is that what you’re trying to do with the action specifically? I guess it’s kind of like a fake RPO. (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: A little boot action. You’re trying to get your receivers on safeties and get downfield. There is a little bit of a matchup thing there. Those guys have done a tremendous – they’ve thrown it so many times the last few weeks in practice.

For those guys to have the confidence to go for it, I thought it was an awesome play by those guys.

Q. TE Grant Calcaterra, half his catches this year have been 19 yards or more. What makes him so proficient at those big plays? (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: [TE] Grant [Calcaterra] has got a great feel for space. He’s got a great understanding of the passing game. Hats off to him, hopping in here since [TE] Dallas [Goedert] went down. For him to take the workload, the volume that he’s taken in the run game, he’s done a tremendous job. And then still being viable in the pass game. He seems to make big plays in critical moments, and he’s very reliable, and we feel very fortunate to have these tight ends that we do.

Q. How important is it to have a tight end involved in the offense? Last year, when TE Dallas Goedert went down, they really lacked that contribution. How important is it to still have that guy to be able to make catches, like you just talked about? (Bob Brookover)

KELLEN MOORE: Tight ends are really valuable because they play in all aspects of the game. You want to have them be viable in each situation. So, Grant and Jack and those guys, they’ve certainly done that.

Q. In the run game, what makes the O-line so good at the combo blocks? (Jimmy Kempski)

KELLEN MOORE: Time invested. They’ve invested a lot of the time in it. They’re on the same page. They work a lot at it. Those are certain things that, when we put the time and effort into it, we want to invest and give ourselves as many opportunities at the bat. And then have your little change-ups here and there when you need to, just to protect it.

Q. Do you see difference here, with those blocks, than you did at other stops? (Jimmy Kempski)

KELLEN MOORE: Every place is different. You’re going to emphasize different things. Certainly, it’s something that we do a tremendous job, and we embrace, and we certainly love it. Our guys have just been playing at a really, really high level in those combination blocks.

Again, as you build game plans, you’ve just got to protect it. You’ve got to protect it with different looks, whether it’s action game or different run concepts, just to protect it. We will continue to emphasize it.

Q. Are you finding that WR A.J. Brown and WR DeVonta Smith are getting more 1-on-1 opportunities because of RB Saquon Barkley’s presence, and possibly QB Jalen Hurts also as a threat in the run game? Do you think teams are focusing on that and giving them more 1-on-1 opportunities? (Martin Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: There is potential there as you look at it. When you’re in mixed downs which allow you to say, hey, we can run or throw it in these situations, we can play, at times, what the defense gives us. Certainly, when they give us 1-on-1 opportunities outside, we feel great about those guys.

The run game is doing a really good job in the first and second down game, so we like the mix we have.

Q. I assume Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson was on the forefront of your mind coming into that game. To have somebody like T Fred Johnson be able to step up and perform like that in that type of situation, what did that mean to the offense on that day? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: Going into the game, we were very aware that we couldn’t let him get going. At the end of the day, though, there are moments and opportunities where [T] Fred [Johnson] is 1-on-1, and he does a tremendous job. Big time, big time football. Some play-action plays where he was truly 1-on-1 with him. Just can’t say enough good things about what Fred did on Sunday.

Q. What was your biggest takeaway from your bye week analysis that helps explain what we’ve seen since? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Just finding our rhythm. You’re able to evaluate four weeks of the season. In the old days, that would be a quarter of your regular season. So it’s great. You reemphasis the things that you’re doing well, identify the things that maybe we can evolve or correct.

So everyone goes through those processes. I feel like we have been heading in the right direction.

Q. Do you remember the first time it was suggested that LB Ben VanSumeren play some fullback? (Bob Brookover)

KELLEN MOORE: I don’t recall the first time. But it was before the regular season.

Q. And how well has he adapted? Why do you think he has adapted so well? (Bob Brookover)

KELLEN MOORE: He’s done a nice job. He’s playing both sides of the field on offense and on defense, and there is a workload capacity associated with that.

I think he’s done an excellent job of having a role and embracing that role. He’s been ready, and he’s been fired up.

Q. Head Coach Nick Sirianni said the ball didn’t touch the ground in Thursday’s practice. QB Jalen Hurts said the way he practices instills confidence in the coaches about the game plan. What do you look for from QB Jalen Hurts in those practices in particular, and what do you recall from that session? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Thursday was our third down day. I thought we did an excellent job, and it showed up. We were on the same page, we got completions. I think the real big aspect was we also put ourselves in more favorable third downs, which allowed us to play in those situations that we’d prepared for.

I thought our guys did an awesome job. Jalen did an awesome job. I thought out week was a really, really positive week on the practice field, and it showed up on Sunday.

Q. Are you modifying the call sheet based on what you see in that session? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: Every week, you go through an initial game plan. And then as the week plays out with practice, with more conversations, you narrow your focus going into each game as far as specifics. You’re going to have more plays in situations than you need, but you narrow your focus on what you really are ultimately going to focus on.

Q. Scoring on the last possession of the first and second halves, what went into the preparation that led to that? What did you glean from that? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, I think the starting point of games has been something where we’re just trying to find our groove there. The two weeks before, we got a first down, and then we kind of stalled out. In this one, our guys executed.

I think the big thing is when you look at opening drives, a lot of times it’s first down, second down, first down, second down, a couple third downs in there. I thought our guys did a really good job on first and second down to put ourselves in those positions.