Kellen Moore
Q. First of all, the Saints through a lot of stunts at those guys, even though T Fred Johnson mainly plays left tackle and on second team and G/T Tyler Steen at right guard — they haven’t gotten a lot of reps together. How are they able to pick those up so effectively? Part one. Part two, G/T Tyler Steen and G/T Mekhi Becton, they run those plays where they pull to sell the play-action. In your experience, can most guards, not do that but they can because they have a tackle background? And then three how do you think T Fred Johnson and G/T Tyler Steen both played? (Jimmy Kempski)
KELLEN MOORE: I’ll start with the last one because I think those guys played phenomenal. I think this was a huge example of next man up game in many positions. Certainly with the offensive line, those guys did a phenomenal job, [T] Fred [Johnson], [G/T] Tyler [Steen], just popping in there and just playing ball. At times, you know, you play these situations out and you never know when your number is going to be called and to hop in there.
And in Fred’s case, maybe play right tackle where he’s played left on the one rep he got in practice and now he’s on the right side and those guys did a phenomenal job. That front was going to be a really challenging front for us especially from a protection standpoint, they do a lot of movement, a lot of games, they create a lot of stress and challenges.
For those guys to communicate at that high of level with that limited amount of exposure together was a really, really cool example of how much time and effort those guys put into individual, the film room, all those things, it adds up. Those guys did a nice job. Like you’re saying, the gap schemes, when you pull guys and you’re selling a run with the ability to pass, obviously it’s a different launch point for the quarterback in many ways.
So those guys have to have an excellent feel of anticipating where the rusher is going to be, being able to adjust just because different than when you’re stationary and you snap the football, the edge rusher’s usually in close proximity. You have to be able to navigate that. Those guys did a nice job of it, gave really clean pockets and used some of those actions to get the ball downfield.
Q. How did T Fred Johnson and G/T Tyler Steen work so well together despite the lack of playing next to each other in practice? (Jimmy Kempski)
KELLEN MOORE: I think obviously [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout does a great job, those guys are constantly rotating throughout practice or whether be on scout team or whether it be on first team and because not every single guy is going to get every single rep.
So they are constantly rotating, spending time around each other because like all of our guys, we don’t know how these lineups are going to play out. Sometimes you have to make those different adjustments, different positions may — you may need to play multiple positions and so they are constantly rotating to put themselves in ready position.
Q. When Head Coach Nick Sirianni says he wants to call a play like fourth-and-one, how does that happen? (Jeff McLane)
KELLEN MOORE: I think it’s just a collaborative aspect to this thing. From an offensive staff perspective and really from a staff perspective in general, we are constantly talking about all these different scenarios: When can we call a particular play.
Short yardage plays, we’ll have a number of them and it’s a matter of us teaming up on when is the right time to call a particular one and so those are constant conversations, [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout is heavily involved in the run game. Guys in the box, you trust their eyes on certain looks when you are using tempo and trying to identify a defensive look, I think it’s a big team effort and obviously in those situations, obviously we’ve talked a lot about them, when can we make this decision to go for it.
You know and sometimes [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni] is going to be a part of that, sometimes Stout is going to be a part of that. It’s really a collaborative effort.
Q. Head Coach Nick Sirianni has final say because he’s a the head coach, Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland doesn’t, so the hierarchy is different there. How does it change when you do get the information versus when you get it from Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland or Tight Ends Coach Jason Michael? (Jeff McLane)
KELLEN MOORE: I think no different than any place I’ve ever been. We are all teaming up on this thing and we’re trying to get the calls in as fast as possible and at the same time playing situational football and making decisions at a critical time very quickly.
We all lean on each other. I think we have an excellent process here. It’s been a really fun process just because of how much work we’ve put into it during the week to prepare ourselves for those situations.
Q. When it comes to a key moment in a game, Nick Sirianni being the head coach, if you have a play how much do you feel you have to push if you have to — if you feel the play should go a certain way? (Brooks Kubena)
KELLEN MOORE: We spend a lot of time during the week talking through every possible scenario. Again similar to short yards, for example, you’re going to carry a number of players and it’s a matter of what’s the right time to call that one and usually we are bouncing ideas off each other throughout the game, not just those situations but first and second down. You know, I think we have a really fun, collaborative group on our offensive staff and Nick is certainly a part of that heavily and so what it allows us to do is really team up on all these different situations, talk through the possible outcomes and make the best decision possible.
Q. There’s a possibility that you’ll be without your top three wide receivers on Sunday, without knowing exactly where those guys are but can you talk about where WR Parris Campbell is, WR Jahan Dotson and WR Johnny Wilson? (Reuben Frank)
KELLEN MOORE: Excellent job of guys being able to play adjustment football. Those guys ran around, probably ran a few plays they never ran necessarily other than watching other guys run them over a number of weeks. To be able to hop in there and play those adjustments in positions they probably didn’t anticipate lining up in and being able to execute those plays.
Towards the end, [WR] Jahan [Dotson] handling some of those mesh plays, and doing really well, doing a great job with those, that’s an awesome example. That was [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty earlier in the game, and now all of a sudden Jahan is in there and able to execute at a really high level. We feel really confident and comfortable with those guys. Especially you give them a few extra days, they can keep continue to develop and handle all the different adjustments through a game plan and so we feel very fortunate to have those guys.
Q. Alongside of TE Dallas Goedert, What made that the right time to call that? You mentioned the mesh aspect of it, what’s the coaching point for WR Jahan Dotson going to make sure he doesn’t draw the penalty? (Dave Zangaro)
KELLEN MOORE: The critical aspect is it’s still a route, we’re not going to truly create a rub. You’re going to run a route and create a little bit of traffic the best you can and ultimately it’s about trying to stress the defenders in so many ways and force those guys to communicate at a really high level. And ultimately that’s the challenge, when those guys are man-to-man, they have to play it perfectly.
By Jahan running his route and creating movement and force those guys to be in the same lane and create traffic and run into each other, it’s a great example of the time he put into it through the week to prepare and run that play.
Q. The question about the receiving core, how challenging is it to game plan with guys that are a little further down the depth chart in a short period of time? (Ed Kracz)
KELLEN MOORE: You just understand circumstances as far as who may or may not be available for a game. I think what — [Wide Receivers Coach] Aaron [Morehead] does an excellent job with that group is we have a foundation of how we anticipate the game going with the players but they really have to have a great understanding of the big picture of the concepts and understand that they may have to make an adjustment based off who is available during the game. It’s a big picture group. It’s a really special group.
You know, for us to have guys like [WR] Parris [Campbell] who can hop in here, have played a ton of football, [WR] Jahan [Dotson] has played a ton of football, [WR] Johnny [Wilson] we’re so fired up to have. For those guys to hop in there and play ball, we feel confident and comfortable with them.
Q. You talked before the season about how important it was going to be to sort out pressure looks. You expect teams to throw a lot at you. How do you feel you’ve been in that area and how important is that going against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles defense? (E.J. Smith)
KELLEN MOORE: It’s always one of the biggest challenges each and every week in the NFL is these pressure plans are really challenging, really hard and you put the players on top of it and it can be a challenge. We are constantly trying to make the adjustments each and every week, each week you’re going to use different tools in your toolbox.
I think our guys have done a really nice job the first few weeks, by no means perfect but utilizing different tools and handling those different things and we’ll continue. Obviously this one will be a big challenge. Todd is one of the best in this league at bringing pressure, stressing your protections and are trying to break your rules. It’s going to be a fun week for us to try to sort this out.
Q. On the broadcast, Fox Broadcaster Greg Olsen kept saying that the game plan was to force QB Jalen Hurts to his left. What does Jalen Hurts need to do to be as effective to his left as you want him to be? (Zach Berman)
KELLEN MOORE: Obviously any quarterback that is right handed, you’re naturally going to roll out at times when you get off-schedule to your right. [QB] Jalen [Hurts] has done a phenomenal job of continuing to build confidence and comfort level in that. I thought he had a few good examples.
Again, this is a couple weeks in a row where not getting out-of-the-pocket, hanging in the pocket within time and when he has to scramble, he scrambles, and he found [RB Kenneth Gainwell] Kenny on one down the left sideline. He found [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty on the left side. Both good examples of when he got into a scramble drill to his left, found a completion and still remained a passer. Those were big-time plays.
Q. Why did you guys decide to go to the variation of the Tush Push on that fourth-and-one and why didn’t it work? (Bob Brookover)
KELLEN MOORE: We certainly feel really good about the quarterback sneak and there’s a few plays off of it that we obviously feel like we can build a package and so ultimately, you know, did not work. Didn’t execute in the right situation, and so that’s on us. That’s on me to try and put ourselves in the best situation in those circumstances and those things, unfortunately happened.
Q. On the interception, what’s the teaching point on both ends of that? (John McMullen)
KELLEN MOORE: Really challenging situation there. Obviously we’re trying to throw an in breaker across the safety’s face.
Obviously in a perfect world, you cross the safety’s face and make a play there. I have thought the DB made an excellent play. Kind of taking a chance on that thing and jumping that. We’re really close the week before against Atlanta, he throws one and we score a touchdown on it. There’s an element of confidence in that and trust. Something we’ve just got to keep growing and building on.
Q. The play-calling dynamic with Head Coach Nick Sirianni, you said it’s no different than where you’ve ever been. The collaborative nature, was that your understanding coming in or did y’all spend much time during the hiring process talking about that? (Brooks Kubena)
KELLEN MOORE: Oh, yeah. No, no, this has been our goal and our process through this whole thing. I think it’s awesome. You know, I think we have a really, really good group. We’re able to team up on this thing, invest a lot of time. You know, not losing any of the things that’s been in place that we can continue to build off of and continue to evolve and utilize different tools that, whether it came from my past or anyone else’s past, continue to evolve from an offensive perspective.
Q. When you were watching the game, the playoff game from last year, in preparation for this week, what jumped out to you? (Bo Wulf)
KELLEN MOORE: Obviously they had a pressure plan associated with stopping the run and putting a lot of stress on the protection game.
So [Buccaneers Head Coach] Todd [Bowles] is always going to have his different flavors. He’s going to play us, there may be some stuff that falls back on that and there may be some new components that he’ll pull out and try to stress you in different ways because he knows you’ll be anticipating those.
He does an excellent job. When I was at other places, we’ve played him multiple times and every game seems to be a different flavor. It’s not necessarily whether he won or lost, it’s going to be a different flavor and different challenge each and every week. We have to do a good job of having our answers and understanding our tools and the adjustments that we may or may not need to make.
Q. Continuing in a collaborative process, how do you feel you’re evaluated for offensive parts of the game? (Brooks Kubena)
KELLEN MOORE: Ultimately, I think in those situations, from my standpoint, my focus is trying to give us the best possible play call to execute in those situations. We’ve had a couple the last few weeks where the fourth down situations we have not converted. We went one for three, I believe, in this past game. One of them works, two of them don’t.
Yeah, you don’t feel very good about the two that don’t convert. So you’re constantly reevaluating. How can I put us in the best possible situation in those plays.
Q. You don’t see many 65-touchdown runs in the NFL. What were some of the keys that led to that? (Ed Kracz)
KELLEN MOORE: Up front, phenomenal job. There’s some movement. The guys are able to work in combination and get to the second level. I thought [TE] Dallas [Goedert] on back end cut one of the defensive lineman off, gave us a chance and obviously once [RB] Saquon [Barkley] got to the second level and burst, it the was pretty remarkable seeing him run away from people.