Sean Mannion

Q. You’re possibly down to your sixth — I guess a two-part question, possibly down to your sixth and seventh running backs. How do you kind of process just all these different backs, different skill sets and kind of figuring out what they like to do and what they’re good at? I guess, part B of that question would be, what have you seen from RB Jaydon Blue and RB Elijah Mitchell that you like? (Reuben Frank)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think where it really starts is we’re constantly coaching every member on the roster. So when we get Elijah here, and I think it was midway through the offseason program, it’s not, ‘Hey, we’re going to wait and get you up to speed until it’s your time to be up on game day.’ We’re constantly priding ourselves on developing every member of our roster. [Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal [Singleton] does an outstanding job with that room. I know we’ve had some new faces. Blue, we picked up later on. Elijah, he was here in the offseason, then away, and then back. But it’s a credit to all of our position coaches, Jemal specifically with the running backs, that with some roster turnover, with guys needing to step up, they’re all mentally capable of stepping in there and executing. I think that’s the first part.

I think with any position group, the running back position specifically, you’re always assessing the things that they do well and the things that you maybe need to work a little bit more on in practice or you want to kind of guard them from within the plan. What’s nice is the depth that we’ve had at that position, really since I got here, it’s been a position group that’s been really strong top to bottom. Even with the new faces, we’ve brought in some quality players. Elijah’s been a really, really productive back in this league. So to have him ready to step in and play a role for us is a real luxury for us to weather these storms of injury that are unfortunate. You hate when guys are out, but it equips you to kind of pick up where you left off, so to speak. Same thing with Jaydon, he’s an exciting young talent. He’s been getting better each week and I’m confident that they’ll both step in and be productive for us.

Q. Does it make it more challenging for a quarterback like QB Tanner McKee finding his way here to not know who the running backs might be on a week-to-week basis? (Ed Kracz)

Sean Mannion: I think throughout the week, especially for Tanner, at the beginning of the year, he was getting a lot of work on the scout team. Elijah wasn’t with us at that point, but he had gotten work with Jaydon on the scout team. Anytime we go through any of our individual drills, he has an opportunity to hand them a ball off. They have an opportunity to hear his cadence. He can work the route tree with them. I think it’s probably less of an impact to what you’re speaking about than you might think when you consider the scout team work, the work in individual. I really feel like it’s been seamless for Tanner and those guys have all been getting work with him incrementally throughout this season.

Q. What steps forward did you see from WR Makai Lemon from Monday night? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I thought his catch and run was awesome in the game. I think that’s one of his strongest attributes. He catches the ball so confidently. He doesn’t break stride. He’s got great instincts. He’s got great feel for space over the middle of the field, and it came to light during the game. He had some tough catches in traffic where if you don’t catch the ball confidently heading towards the middle, those are ones that can sometimes get jostled loose or you might lose on the way to the ground. He has really strong, confident hands. He’s a great route runner. Like we’ve been saying, really, I think since the season started, his confidence grows every time he steps out there.

Q. What did you think about TE Eli Stowers and your first chance to see him in game action? (Dave Zangaro)

Sean Mannion: I thought Eli did a good job. He stepped in there as his first opportunity to wear that jersey and be out on an NFL field. He’ll never forget that. We felt comfortable with Eli jumping in and wearing multiple hats for us. Similar to Makai, he’s still catching up on some of those reps that are lost due to injury, which is unfortunate, but he’s smart. He really works at it. He’s got great movement skills. I really think with more time, he’s going to continue to grow. I thought when we asked him to go in there and step in and play a role, he did everything we asked of him.

Q. Going back to WR Makai Lemon, what have you seen from him behind the scenes that have sort of made up for that time he missed over the summer? (EJ Smith)

Sean Mannion: I think it’s his approach. He’s extremely, extremely coachable, engaged in every meeting. When he’s out on the walkthrough field, he’s super engaged. He knows exactly where to line up. Usually has a good question for you, which is always — you can tell he’s trying to think about, ‘Hey, what’s the next step of my development with this particular play?’ So, he really works at it. He’s really intentional with his approach mentally in the meeting room and on the walkthrough field. I think with the more time he gets with those full speed reps at practice and in the games, you can see the production really start to come to light.

Q. What did you make of the overall offensive operation? (Tim McManus)

Sean Mannion: I thought the execution was much cleaner. I know that sounds maybe like a bland answer, but I really think when you look at these first few weeks where we haven’t gotten out of the gate the way we wanted to or we haven’t executed, it’s just been the little things, the simple stuff, communication, fundamentals, the things that are really within our control. That was the message to the group going into last week is, ‘Hey, if we just own our end of things, we’ve got the talent, we’ve got the ability. I know our group’s going to play extremely hard, that we’re going to be able to move the football if we just handle our own stuff and we’re sharp on our end.’

I thought we took it to the field. We played clean football. Obviously, there are always things to improve on. We want to get the win and want to get a better result, but I thought there was a lot of things to be encouraged by and the message this week is let’s keep building off that. Let’s get better from where we left off with some of the things we did. There are always corrections to make. It was, I thought improved, but still room to grow.

Q. You guys opened the second half, touchdown drive, just what did you think led to the success in that based on previous things that you were working on this season? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Again, I think it is cleaner execution. I think we had a good short yardage conversion there. We made some third downs. We were good on third down. On that drive, I think we had two or three conversions. And then when we got in the red zone, we were able to capitalize. So, I think it really was a little bit of everything, but generally speaking, I thought our communication was clean. Our operation at the line of scrimmage was clean. Tanner made good decisions with the football. Again, we were physical upfront. We ran hard with the ball. The other thing I’d like to highlight is just the way our receivers blocked in that game was awesome. When we opened in April, the first thing we said was, ‘If you want to see the makeup of your team, watch the receivers block in the run game.’ I thought those guys worked their tail off in the run game, Makai, [WR] Coop [Darius Cooper], all those guys in there, they take pride in every phase of the game. I think it’s a real testament to the character, the football character of our unit.

Q. Last week on Monday, you got the team together, it sounds like, for an extra film session. A, what made you decide to do that and how did you see a positive impact? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I thought it was good for us. Anytime we’re here together as a unit, I think there’s kind of an unspoken power to that where everyone knows that we’re all part of the same unit. It’s not just, ‘Well, I’m worried about the route tree or I’m worried about the blocking unit.’ I think it really brings to light how all the different position groups interact with one another. When we’re on a run play, it’s, ‘Hey, this is the track. This is what the quarterback has to manage at the line of scrimmage. This is the footwork for the back. These are the combinations and this is how the receivers help us lead to an explosive play.’ And within that, there’s a lot of corrections you can do. I think it was a good opportunity for us to really paint the picture of, ‘Hey, we can all do the little things a little bit better.’ And then you can also speak to, ‘Hey, if we just do this, we’re a lot closer than maybe it might feel sometimes.’ I thought it was a good opportunity to highlight that.

Q. Is this something you think you’ll keep doing? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I think so. It was productive. Obviously, there’s short weeks, things like that where you may need to adjust, but I was really satisfied with it and I felt like it was a good change up for us. I though it worked well.

Q. What kind of growth have you seen from T Markel Bell since he got thrown in there that first game? (Reuben Frank)

Sean Mannion: His confidence continues to grow. He’s such a unique frame with his length, his size. I think he works so hard on his pad level and really being able to move people in the run game with his frame and his ability to move his feet. I think the pass protection has been something that’s come naturally for him. But again, similar to Makai, similar to Eli, he really works at it, and I think he’s getting better each day. I think the thing is, he’s got a plan for the things he wants to work on. He knows the things he needs to attack, and he does great work with Kup [Offensive Line Coach Chris Kuper] and G [Assistant Offensive Line Coach Greg Austin], all of our staff every day, really attacking the areas of his game that he wants to improve.

Q. The profiles for you and QB Tanner McKee are somewhat similar: 6’6′, 230, from the Pac-12. Having worked with him, do you see, I guess part of yourself in him? (Zach Berman)

Sean Mannion: I guess so. There may be some parallels there. Certainly I guess our frame and height, the Pac-12, Oregon State, we’re still there. Stanford left us, but I won’t hold it against them. But anyways, no, he’s a smart kid. He works really hard. I try to always attack each day [to] the best of my ability when I was in his role as a player. I’m really proud and happy [with] the way that Tanner’s attacked just day-to-day improvement. He does an awesome job with that. I think, again, it’s the work that no one sees. Even early in the year with [QB] Jalen [Hurts], he was attacking his development, his growth each day. It was before he got to see the field, but he was really working at it. I think what we’ve seen is from week one to now, even before he was starting for us, he was getting better. It’s a testament to his approach and the way he works. I think even through his time playing for us now, you can feel his confidence growing. Again, I think when you have the makeup he does and you work at it and you’re a good teammate, you’re going to get better and better. It’s just going to happen.

Q. You mentioned upfront before, how important was it to get G Landon Dickerson and C/G Drew Kendall back into the mix from your perspective? (John McMullen)

Sean Mannion: That was big. Landon, obviously, tons of playing experience to have a veteran like that up there and really the communication, I thought — Landon’s a great communicator, Drew’s a great communicator, and so are those other guys that were stepping in for us as well. But I think to have those guys in there together, it was really kind of a compounding effect. You could feel the confidence upfront. Even throughout the week of practice when they were healthy, they were in there, you could just feel kind of a sense of momentum there and they took it to the game field.

Q. Now that you’ve had QB Joe Milton in the building for more than a week now, what’s been your early impressions of him as the backup in that role? (Cayden Steele)

Sean Mannion: He’s getting better and better each day, a very talented player, excited to get to work with Joe. I know he’s had some game experience in this league and has done well. He’s had strong preseasons and he’s very talented. He’s got a really strong arm. Similar to Tanner, he’s come in and it’s a tough situation coming in mid-year, especially, you don’t necessarily have the same runway for a true teaching progression. [Quarterbacks Coach] Parks [Frazier] and Gummy [Offensive Assistant/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Montgomery VanGorder] are with him and it’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve got three days to get you ready for game day.’ That’s a tall order for anybody. He’s spending a ton of time studying, getting caught up to speed with the playbook. He does a great job for the look team out there at practice and he’s a talented player. I feel like we’re just getting started getting to work with him, but you can see things to be really excited about.

Q. [On WR Darius Cooper and the wide receiver screen game.] What have you liked about the execution on that and the overall part of your offense with that so far? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: I thought it started with the fundamentals. With any time you’re working on the screen game, it starts with the offensive linemen and how they’re setting those down linemen. You need to get them to rush up field because usually those are the guys that kill screens is the defensive line retracing out of there. I thought it was good fundamentals to start with, really to set the hook. Then I thought our angles out to get to our landmarks on the field to have the proper spacing for the ball carrier, where the linemen are going and you create those creases in the screen game. I thought we were detailed with that. And then, it was good strain down field. Coop kind of took it cross country on that one kind of up in the fringe area, the strike zone area. So, I think it started with good fundamentals on the line of scrimmage, good angles and detail with our landmarks, and then good effort because it was a little bit of an extended kind of — I don’t want to say off schedule, but the ball kind of wound back differently than maybe you draw it on paper. I thought the effort was there till the whistle.

Q. It’s your first time game planning for the same team a second time. What’s that like for you? (Zach Berman)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, it’s been a good experience. You can tell right away, and we knew it going into week one, but this is a good defense Washington has. They’re well coached. [Commanders Defensive Coordinator] Daronte [Jones] does a great job. They’ve got a lot of talented players really in every level of the defense. The linebackers up front, they’ve got some edge defenders that can be really disruptive. [Commanders DT Daron] Payne has a long track record. I think when you have the opportunity to have your own game tape against them, that’s always really valuable. You have a sense, for me as the play caller, of how I called the game, how it felt in the moment, how Daronte was calling the game against us. You have those experiences for yourself as opposed to through the tape. So, that’s been super valuable. Again, they’ve had a lot of good games against tough opponents and gives us tons of film to study.

Like I said, they’re a very well coached unit. They have really good players really at every level of their defense and it’ll be a good challenge for us this week. I feel like between playing them week one and then the time in between, we’ve got a lot to study for and prepare for, and it’ll be a good test for us this week.