Sean Mannion

Q. I probably asked you this last week, but the second halves, you guys haven’t scored the last two weeks in the second half. Any common themes you’re seeing there? (Reuben Frank)

Sean Mannion: I think, looking at the tape over these past two weeks, it’s never any one thing. I think it’s just cleaner execution in general. It’s something we’re studying relentlessly. We’re looking at it. I try to just be as objective as possible and look at each play in a vacuum: Where did things go wrong on this play [or] that play with the execution, if it was something, a curveball that a defense threw at us? Obviously, it’s something we got to correct. We’re working to correct it. I think the big thing we’re doing as a staff is looking at each play kind of in a vacuum and saying, ‘All right, was there something that went on here that maybe we weren’t expecting? Is it something that just comes down to the execution or fundamentals?’ It’s something we’re attacking each day.

Q. Speaking of one play, why did the third and two play at the goal line go wrong? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: We obviously had a miscue with our ball handling, the exchange into the handoff. It’s a shame. We felt good about the call and the little details, the fundamentals like that are always so important. Obviously, a miscue at the worst possible time.

Q. If I could follow up real quick, was that a play that you had specifically in for this week? Is that a play that you’ve practiced a lot? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: I mean, every play that’s in the game plan, we practice relentlessly. It’s something we’ve had up for several weeks. It was nothing to do with a lack of time on task with that. It was just an unfortunate error with the ball handling.

Q. In the season, how do you balance sticking with a process that you’ve developed versus making bigger changes to try to jumpstart the offense? (Dave Zangaro)

Sean Mannion: We’re here and we’re implementing something that we absolutely believe in. You’re always looking, like we’ve said, throughout this process, to make it as good as it can be and add tweaks and add wrinkles here and there. We believe in the things that we’ve installed and that we’ve implemented from a fundamental perspective in terms of the structure of our offense. We’re going to keep leaning into that and make it as good as it can be. Like always, you enter each week saying, ‘Is there something new that we can add? Is there a different way of doing this that helps us and puts our guys in the best position to succeed?’ Really nothing’s changed in terms of our outlook on our offense, and our identity and what we want to be offensively. But each week, you’re always looking to attack in the best way possible, either by looking at yourself and the things that you can add and tweak or looking at your opponent and what needs to be tailored to that.

Q. How much did plan attack on Sunday change given the last-minute change at right tackle? (Bo Wulf)

Sean Mannion: Nothing changed. [T] Markel [Bell], he’s been working his tail off. He’s been up every game so far this year and stepped in and did some nice things. It was obviously kind of thrust in the moment, his first NFL start, but he’s been preparing. He’s been ready to go all year.

Q. You mentioned the second half struggle, so I’ll add third down to that as well. The process of correcting things during the week, has that changed or is that consistent from week to week? (John McMullen)

Sean Mannion: No, we have a good process. I think, as a staff, we get together on it and we put together our third-down plan. I feel really good about how we’ve been building the third down plan. I don’t think there’s any issue with that. I think again, you try to look at each play in a vacuum. A few weeks ago, against Tennessee, we were really, really good on third down. I think you try to always look at it and say, ‘OK, what led to maybe the play not working here? Was it a defensive call that they got us with? Was it something in protection? Was it something in our route discipline or execution of it?’ I think you always, again, try to look at things in a vacuum, try to be as impartial as possible and not look at the whole totality of third down and say, ‘Hey, on this play, what’s the correction? On this play, what’s the correction?’ And attack it that way.

Q. On the third and mediums, it seemed like you guys were getting some press coverage on the targets you had there. How much did you see in terms of separation you were getting and how did you feel about the calls in those situations? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Obviously, we want to and need to be better on third down. There’s no question. I think defenses will attack you differently from one week to the next in terms of press or not press. The good thing is, I think, as we get going in the season, I feel confident that we have the guys to win the matchups regardless of how they play us. Again, that’s something we always look at in terms of how are we putting our guys in the best position possible. From a defensive back perspective, like you’re asking about, sometimes they’ll press you, sometimes they won’t. It’s our job to put our guys in a position to win versus either.

Q. What are you seeing in RB Will Shipley, especially if he has to be the number one running back this Sunday against the Jaguars? (Martin Frank)

Sean Mannion: Will’s done a great job. I think you look at all those preseason games, he’s a natural runner. He’s great in pass protection. He’s been someone who has had a valuable role for us from the outset. Obviously with [RB] Saquon [Barkley] going down early in that game, [RB] Tank [Bigsby] carried a heavy load. Will came in and performed well when he was called upon, but we have a ton of confidence with all of our backs throughout the whole roster. I think you saw with Will and some of the other guys on the — [RB] Dameon [Pierce], [RB] Carson [Steele], all the guys on our roster, they’ve all performed well in the preseason when called upon.

Q. Four games into this, we haven’t seen much of the under-center play action game and when you guys have run it, it’s been among the worst in the league. Is this something that you believe that QB Jalen Hurts is playing to his skillset in doing that or is the fact that you’re not doing it telling us that you don’t think he can do it consistently? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: No, he absolutely can do it. Like I said, each week you’re attacking a different opponent. Sometimes that calls on a different strategy in terms of how you’re going to align your formations, the layering of plays that you have up in the plan. He absolutely can do it. We believe in it. I think some of the things that maybe you’re referring to are more week to week and how you attack a specific opponent and how we build the plan that week so that everything layers off one another.

Q. Four weeks into this, you’re saying for the first four weeks, that’s why it hasn’t — all four game plans required not to do much of it? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: Each team’s different. The down and distance changes your philosophy; the field position changes your philosophy. There’s a multitude of factors that lead to each play call. There’s obviously a lot of different things that go into each call when you’re calling it: What’s the down and distance? What’s the field position and the opponent? I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as any one thing. We believe in it. We work it relentlessly. It’s a part of our offense, there’s no question. We’re confident that everyone on our team can execute it. I think there’s different challenges, different scenarios that come up in each week.

Q. Third-and-one inside the 10 is historically a tush-push moment for this team. What’s changed with that play? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Nothing’s changed. We felt good about the call we had up. Obviously, we’ve got stopped on one of them, but we have total belief and faith in the play. It’s something they’ve executed a high level. In the Tennessee game, we executed it well twice. Still feel good about it.

Q. There’s been a lot of talk about identity this week. It seems like a lot of the core tenants that you brought was the wide zone scheme under center, heavy play action, west coast style passing. I mean, is that still where you’re driving towards? Is the goal to have that as the core and as the identity of this football team? (Tim McManus)

Sean Mannion: Absolutely. Like we said, those are things that we absolutely believe in. We absolutely lean into. Each opponent presents a different challenge. Some of the things that teams do defensively against that, you have to adjust and be flexible. Ultimately, it all goes back to putting ourselves in the best position possible. But yes, that’s absolutely still something we believe in. That is not wavered at all. I think it’s just on a week-to-week basis on a certain situational basis in terms of down and distance. Sometimes it calls for a different backfield set or a different way to align, a different adjustment. Those are the things that can kind of make things look different than maybe people might expect.

Q. On your first down in the second half, you ran the ball up until that desperation drive at the end on each first down, you called run. Why was that the play in this game, the second half? (Zach Berman)

Sean Mannion: Well, there’s a couple different factors. I think the weather was certainly one of them. Just seeing the game from the box, communicating with the coaches on the sideline, you could see the Rams, they were having their share of struggles just with throwing and catching. You’re always factoring in those considerations to your play calling and then felt like that was the best way to attack our opponent, best way to put our guys in a position to succeed.

Q. When you were hired, Head Coach Nick Sirianni said one of the things he liked about you was your conviction. When you talk about these principles that you’re pushing towards when there’s not success, what are the things that keep your conviction there in terms of, and not turning to something else? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, because it is what I believe in. It’s unwavering in that regard. It’s like you said, I have the same conviction when I interviewed here and when Nick hired me. I have total faith in what we’re doing schematically, and our ability to coach it and teach it, and our players’ ability to execute it. That doesn’t mean that you don’t look at things every week and say, ‘How can I make this better? Is there something the defense is doing that we can tweak or do a little bit differently?’ The core tenants of all that, I’m still steadfast in all that stuff.

Q. What were some of the issues picking up the blitz with the third down stuff the Rams were doing? (Ed Kracz)

Sean Mannion: It’s never one thing. I think, again, you try to look at each of them in a vacuum. Some of them are fundamentally, some of them are from a communication perspective. I think we try to look at them as impartially as possible. Certainly, we want to be better there. We’re attacking that as a staff, putting our guys in the best position to succeed is always paramount from the protection plan, as far as that goes. Usually, what you find is it’s never one thing. It’s usually a couple things that go wrong. Maybe our fundamentals weren’t quite as clean as they need to be. Maybe the communication wasn’t quite as good. Maybe they had a challenging call on for that particular snap, maybe an unscouted look or something like that. So certainly, [it’s] something we’ve got to improve and be better there. As we’ve studied, it’s usually, it’s not just one thing happening over and over again. It’s usually kind of a little thing here, a little thing there that adds up to a result that you want to fix.

Q. It looks like you could be down six offensive starters this week plus key backups. What kind of toll does that take on you? (Zach Berman)

Sean Mannion: It’s part of the game. It’s part of the game and feel good about our roster from top to bottom and guys have been practicing hard, guys have been stepping up. I feel confident with all the guys that have been thrust in action. There’s no flinch in them. They don’t blink. They’re ready to go in and execute. They’re well prepared by our staff. They put in a ton of hard work and effort every day in practice. They’re attentive in the meetings. It’s the unfortunate part of this game is guys may go down, but guys are right behind them, and they’ve been working quietly, preparing themselves and they’re ready to go.