Shane Steichen

Q. What was the process like in the bye week? Obviously, you’ve got to get ready for the Giants, had the luxury of interviewing for some head coaching jobs. How did that work for you? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: It was good. We went through a lot of self-scout stuff, looked at what we had done well throughout the year, things we need to improve on. Did a lot of stuff that we felt comfortable with.

I think we got better from that, and we went from there. So ready to go.

Q. How did interviews go this weekend? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: Just focused on the Giants right now. That’s it.

Q. You are wearing a shirt that says, ‘A Fan Of Change’. (Bo Wulf)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah. Not like that. I love it here.

Q. Where do you feel like you guys are? You guys didn’t run the ball as well late in the season, maybe the last few games, as you had earlier. I know RB Miles Sanders had the knee, obviously QB Jalen Hurts not being out there, but where do you see the running game right now? (Reuben Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think we’re in a good spot. It’s week to week. I think with everything, you look at what you’re doing well, if you’re doing something successful you stay with it. If you need to improve on some things, you have to look at what you need to improve on, and we went through that self-scout process last week. I feel like we’re in a good spot right now.

Q. What’s the challenge of facing a defense that’s really kind of changed its MO throughout the course of the season? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think you have to adapt and change, too, offensively for what they’re doing defensively. Every game is its own new identity, so we have to be ready for whatever they’re going to throw at us defensively, and if there’s something new, we have to make the adjustments quickly.

Q. How have they changed? What stands out the most since the time you played them? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: They’re continuing to grow defensively. I think with anything, you’re around certain guys for a while throughout the season, you start to grow, make the adjustments needed that they feel needed. Same with us offensively what we feel needed, but they’ve been doing a good job defensively.

Q. When you build a game plan for that, do you try to anticipate? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think so. You have to be ready for anything. I think teams play us differently, so we try to put ourselves in all these different situations to what could happen. Not necessarily thinking, it might not happen, but you have to be ready for it.

We go through that process every week in our meetings and try to get certain looks in walk-throughs that we think we might get.

Q. Speaking of the run game, what has RB Boston Scott brought to this offense, and why do you feel like he’s had so much success against the Giants? (Chris Franklin)

SHANE STEICHEN: [RB] Boston [Scott] is awesome. The way he prepares week in and week out, goes about his business, he’s the ultimate pro, smart, tough, all those things. He has really good vision. Just a great, great player that we’re happy to have.

Q. When you face a team three times in six games, is it a little bit of a bonus for you guys that maybe you didn’t have to have your full-fledged game plan against them in the final regular season game? You had some elements of your offense scaled back. (John Clark)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, a little bit, but with anything, each game is its new game. You know what I mean? I think you have to go into those things saying, hey, this is a whole new deal, and we have to be ready to go, and we have to make the adjustments, things that we saw on tape that we think we need to be better at against them.

I’m sure they’re doing the same thing with us. They know us, we know them. It’s going to be a heck of a battle on Saturday night.

Q. That week 14 game was your highest scoring output of the season. As you watched the film this week what jumped out about the way the offense played and the way you called the game? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think there was a lot. We executed at a high level. I think that was the biggest thing. We took care of the football. Guys executed. We got into the right plays. [QB] Jalen [Hurts] made some good checks. We ran it efficient. We threw it good early.

There was a lot of good things. I think it just comes down to execution.

Q. When you have a player like RB Boston Scott who has had success against one team first, is there any explanation for that? (Ed Kracz)

SHANE STEICHEN: I can’t answer that, but yeah, he’s been really good against them, so hopefully we can keep that going.

Q. As a coaching staff when you build your game plan, are you cognizant of having a player like that, and do you try to get him involved a little bit more maybe than you would in other weeks? (Ed Kracz)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think we try to get everyone involved, really. I think it’s the way the game is going. If someone has got the hot hand, you roll with it and you go.

Q. What happens when Giants DL Leonard Williams is in there beside Giants DL Dexter Lawrence? You guys didn’t see Williams the first time. (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: Both of those two guys are really, really good players interior. We have to have a plan for them. Like I said, they’re really good, and we have to execute against them.

Q. You know them, they know you, there’s such familiarity. In your prep, do you have to be wary of overanalyzing things because of that, or do you just say – (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, sometimes. We have to go out and do what we do. The things we’ve done well, we have to go execute those things more than anything. That’s what it comes down to, execution and taking care of the ball.

Q. Because you had that extra time leading up to the game, did you spend more time with QB Jalen Hurts talking through what he might like in this game plan than you would have otherwise? (Bo Wulf)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, we always have those conversations. Those are always ongoing. Obviously, we had the bye week, we went through some things. We did some good-on-good stuff versus our defense, and then obviously we were preparing. We didn’t know who we were going to play. It worked out.

We looked at the Giants, we were like shoot, maybe on Monday, then we’ve got to get ready to play Dallas, Tampa Bay. There are a lot of things that were going on.

It worked out to where we did some work on the Giants, and they ended up winning.

Q. You’ve spoken about this mental catalog that quarterbacks build I guess the more times they see a defense or a coach. In QB Jalen Hurts’ case, have you seen the benefit of when he plays a team a second time, third time, things of that nature? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think so. I think with any position, especially the quarterback position, the more you see, the more you play, the more experiences you have, the accelerated vision is going to pick up, especially from a personnel standpoint, too, their DBs, linebackers, mannerisms, all those different things.

Absolutely, I think it’s just like when you go against our defense in training camp, you kind of know how [CB Darius] Slay plays routes, you know how [CB James] Bradberry plays routes, all those different things. The more you go against a team, you’re going to have a good feel for them.

Q. The biggest difference for you personnel-wise from the last time you were in a playoff game is WR A.J. Brown. What does that mean for you as you’re getting ready for this game, and can you sense what this moment means for him? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: I know he had a playoff experience with Tennessee. I know they had the first-round bye. He’s been in this situation before. But anytime you have a player like that, again, he raises the bar of everyone around him. So, I know he’s fired up. I know our whole team is fired up. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday night.

Q. QB Jalen Hurts talks all the time about even keel and being the same every day, every week. In a playoff game, is he different this week? Do you see a different Jalen in any way? (Reuben Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: He’s the same. He’s always just right here. His preparation, the same thing he did throughout the first 17 weeks of the season, he’s doing the same thing this week. He’s locked in. He’s ready to go, just like our other guys. We’ve had really good prep so far, and we’re excited about practice today.

Q. He’s used the term “triple threat quarterback” with us in reference to his mind. How have you seen his mind and his decision-making factor into the success of the offense? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think it’s exactly what you said. The decisions he’s been making throughout the season have been terrific. He’s playing at a high level. We have to keep that going on Saturday. But the way he’s seeing the game right now has been awesome, and we have to continue to just execute.