Kevin Patullo

Q. They play a lot of press man. Did they do what you expected, or did you think that they would do what a lot of teams have done and kind of give you unscouted looks? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: They mixed it up a little. I mean, I think they still stuck to their core a little bit. They tried to do a few things to keep us off balance, but for the most part, they stuck with what their plan was going in.

Q. Do you feel like you countered what they do in terms of man defense well enough in terms of having man beating routes, pick routes, that kind of stuff? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: I think when you look at it, obviously when we reflect back on the game, there’s always things you want to try to see if you can do more of and exploit after you play them. That’s kind of the process we went through yesterday as a staff and with the players. But in the moment, just trying to get a feel for what they’re doing and how it’s coming about when it’s happening, certain coverages. You always look back and say, ‘Okay, the next time, if we play them again, what are we going to do?’ That’s what we went through the other day.

Q. Looking at the last two games, is there any one thing in particular that is most frustrating that you guys haven’t been able to do or that you really need to fix? (Reuben Frank)

Kevin Patullo: Like everything, when you look at the situations we have when we’re on track, we do a pretty good job. If we get off track a little bit, whether it’s a negative play or a penalty, that puts us in a hole. We’ve had some trouble with that. It starts with us as a staff to make sure we’re in a good play and we’re executing at a high level and we’re all detailed up, and then if something happens like a penalty, sometimes those happen. We’ve got to be able to overcome that.

That’s been the thing a little bit. We’ve had opportunities, we just haven’t made the most of them at times. We know we’re capable. The guys are excited about it, and they feel like we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve just got to continue to push through that and explode when we need to.

Q. After review, what are your takeaways of QB Jalen Hurts’ performance? (Tim McManus)

Kevin Patullo: I thought Jalen played well. I mean, it was a difficult game. It was a different kind of game the way it played out. He took care of the ball and that’s a major priority for us, obviously, but he did a good job and the game kind of went the way it went. The field position was different at times. We had two red zone opportunities. I know the one, the short field, we came with a field goal. We need to do a better job there. Then the other one, we were down in the red zone. We had a negative play and something else, and we kind of got out of it. Then we had to get back in the red zone and kick the field goal. So, those two drives right there. If you come away with touchdowns, it feels completely different, the whole entire outlook of the game for the offense. He did a pretty good job.

Q. We saw quite a few negative plays. How do you balance some of those play calls that might lend themselves to negative plays versus knowing that if you hit them, they’ll be big gainers? (Dave Zangaro)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, that’s always the gamble. If you’re trying to do something and it doesn’t work out, that could happen. When you reflect back on the game, you’ve just got to see, what was it? Was it a breakdown by scheme? Was it a breakdown by something they did? Try to correct it to make sure those things don’t happen and we can stay on track as best we can.

Q. What makes you and the players feel encouraged that things are heading in the right direction, as you mentioned? Is there a sense of urgency now since it’s Week 12 to find that consistency? (Cayden Steele)

Kevin Patullo: I think each game has been so different when we go out there and we have found a way to win and ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do. I think that’s obviously been the encouraging spot, but ultimately, we know as a staff we’ve got to do the best we can to put the players in position, and they know they want to do their best as well. I think collectively we want to do everything we can to be operating at a super high level at all times, but we also know there’s going to be moments in the game where it doesn’t go that way. How we overcome that and make the play when we need to or move the ball when we need to or score when we need to is really the most important thing.

Q. WR A.J. Brown had a high volume of targets. Was there a concerted effort to get the ball to him and how did you feel like that impacted the flow of the offense? (EJ Smith)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, it was no different. I think the plan was pretty much similar to how it was every other game with him and the ball found him a little bit more, which is great. He made some critical plays for us when we needed it. Made some really tough catches in traffic and that’s what he’s awesome [at]. He’s a phenomenal player and did a really good job from that standpoint.

Q. It was your lowest percentage of 11 personnel since you’ve been here, and it was against a defense that seemed to like to stay in base and was missing some DBs. What was the thinking behind that? (Zach Berman)

Kevin Patullo: Well, without getting too much into schematics, when people want to play that style of defense, there’s some things you have to make sure [of] when you’re in 11 personnel that you’re covered. There are some things that you’ve got to be cautious of. That’s why sometimes other personnels can benefit you from that standpoint.

Q. What’s been your evaluation, though, when you guys have been in 12 in terms of the run blocking from those extra tight ends? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: It depends on the scheme. This past week, we were able to do some other things and then pull guys and do some different things, so the point of attack blocks were different. I think just keeping those guys on the move and continuing to find new ways to put them in position to block, supplemented with the linemen when we can, too, and keep things off balance with play actions. That’s what we’ve got to continue to do and just mix it up for them.

Q. Seems like every week you’ve had a different offensive lineman leaving the game. How much has that impacted the lack of consistency throughout the season on offense? (Reuben Frank)

Kevin Patullo: I mean, [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout does a great job having all those guys ready. They work extremely hard and we trust anybody that’s out there. But it is different, I guess you could say. It has been a different thing from week to week. We’ve had different guys in and out of there, but they’ve all played extremely hard and they know what to do. We expect to keep it going the way it’s been going, and whoever’s available we will roll with. I know everybody’s eager to do what they need to do to help us win.

Q. How would you describe the run game in general on Sunday and RB Saquon Barkley in particular in that game? (Bob Brookover)

Kevin Patullo: If you look at what it was, we knew it was going to be a very physical game. A lot of guys in the box, that kind of slugfest a little bit at times. For the most part, if the run efficiency was good, it was a different kind of game from that standpoint. We were able to get him on the edge and on the perimeter. He had some nice runs on the perimeter at times, which was good. I think when you look at what they were doing defensively, going in, we knew what it was going to look like a little bit. We were able to take advantage of a few things with that, like I said, and kind of get them on the perimeter.

Obviously, you always want to try to get more out of it and when you look at it after and reflect, what else can we do differently to get him out in space more? There were a few that were really close, and I think that’s what we felt like after the game. I know I talked to a lot of the guys in the locker room, the O line. They knew it was so close and even Saquon on a few plays, and that’s why we’ve just got to continue to stick with it and find ways to get him in space and do what we need to do.

Q. RB Tank Bigsby has been someone that’s always, it seems like he’s always provided a spark on the offense. Is that a guy you want to get more touches to as well? (Cayden Steele)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, when he comes in, he brings a lot of energy. I think we talked about this a week or two ago. The energy and the juice that he brings is awesome. He runs extremely hard and Saquon does a great job of knowing when he needs a break and when he doesn’t. [Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal [Singleton] does an unbelievable job having all those guys ready for anything that’s in the plan, and he runs hard and it’s been a really good spark for us.

Q. A lot of guys on the offensive side of the ball have said many times throughout the season that the defense has really bailed you guys out or has carried the team. Can that be frustrating sometimes on the offensive side if you feel like you’re not the unit that’s in control and you have to rely on the defense? (Gabriella Galati)

Kevin Patullo: I don’t know if it’s frustrating. I think it’s exciting to know that we have a defense that can do that for us. I think the cool part about it is we’re playing as a team together, and I think it just goes back to all of us as coaches and players, everybody wants to contribute. So, you feel like, ‘Hey, if I can do more, I want to do more and I want to express it and show everybody that I can do more to be a part of this.’ They’re playing phenomenal on defense right now, and we as an offense have to continue to find ways to do what we need to and take games over and not just do it in certain spots. We need to do it throughout the whole game.

Q. The shot play to WR A.J. Brown in the third quarter down the left sideline. It looked like maybe he slowed up. Is that what you saw? What is the teaching point, if any, on that play? (Tim McManus)

Kevin Patullo: It was a third-and-long, I believe. He got kind of tangled up with the DB. I’m not so sure he located the ball wholeheartedly, but we’ve just got to continue to find ways to connect on those kinds of things and work on them in practice. Really throughout the history of it, Jalen and A.J. do an unbelievable job of connecting on those kinds of things. We’ll continue to throw them to him because he’s going to do his job and get open and we usually hit them.

Q. There was a play in the second quarter where WR A.J. Brown and TE Dallas Goedert, the ball went through both of their hands. They were both in the same area of the field. Was that executed how the play is designed with them? (Olivia Reiner)

Kevin Patullo: What happened on that one was the balls in the middle of the field, and we got kind of compressed on the way the spacing happened and the way the coverage happened. It was probably one of those plays where it’s one out of a hundred that could ever happen, and it just happened to happen on that one. It’s unfortunate because we had an opportunity to make a huge play on that.

Q. The players have talked about the self-inflicted wounds hurting you guys. As a coach, how do you coach out self-inflicted wounds? What’s your strategy there and what have you found in your career helps fix those mistakes? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Kevin Patullo: I think going back to throughout the season and yesterday, that’s something we immediately talk about as a whole unit in here as an offense and show them and talk about them and why drives are stalling out. We went through each drive and showed all those self-inflicted things, but it’s all of us, too, right? It’s the coaches, the players. We all have to be on the same page, whether it’s a penalty, whether it’s an assignment issue, whether it’s a detail issue. We know they can’t happen, and we know that’s what’s really getting us right now. We’ve got to continue to work on those together and really just understand that’s where we’ve got to stop those things.

Q. We saw a couple successful draw plays out of QB Jalen Hurts, but overall, the run numbers for him have been down. I feel like I’ve been beating this drum, but you said earlier this year that we’ll see more of it. Can you give us the thinking about why it just hasn’t been as much? Are you guys just saving him or is this something that you don’t think that he does as well as he did in the past? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: No, I think he still does a great job. I mean, he’s made really good plays for us with his legs when we need him, especially in the last couple games. I think if you look at some of the plays, there’s a few where it could be him running or him throwing. It’s happened a little more this year where the throws happen more than the run. I think we’ll continue to use that because it is a dynamic part of the offense when he’s running the ball. He does a great job with it.

Q. T Fred Johnson, the way he built in last year, what did that show you and the fact that you have that experience, how does that cover how you plan a game and call a game with him in there? (Zach Berman)

Kevin Patullo: I think the history of Fred is he’s going to work extremely hard. He’s going to know what to do. He’s playing tight end for us, and all of a sudden, he’s got to play tackle. There’s a lot of confidence in that. I mean, he’s a really good player, extremely big person and personality, fun to be around and he cares. It’s cool to see a guy like that get an opportunity. Like you said, the history of knowing he did it last year and he’s done it before. If he’s got to do it again, we know he is going to give it all he has, and he did a really good job Sunday night.