Shane Steichen

SHANE STEICHEN: I’ll just start off saying thoughts and prayers for [Bills S] Damar Hamlin. I can’t imagine what he is going through, what his family and friends are going through, but I heard there are some good signs that came out today that he is moving around and stuff, which is awesome to see. Just continuing to think about him, and hopefully he continues to get fully healthy.

Q. Going back, I know it’s been a while for you guys looking back at Sunday, but three-and-outs on the first four drives. What did you feel like was happening there? Why did it take so long to get started? (Reuben Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: It’s a great question. You go back and look at the film and really look at yourself, and I just didn’t think I did a good enough job putting our guys in position with the calls. We got in some second-and-pass situations, got some sacks, and then you get in some third-and-long situations that we weren’t able to overcome there in the first half.

It was tough. I didn’t do a good enough job putting our guys in position, bottom line. So, I have to do a better job.

Q. What did you see on the pick six? You’ve been really successful with the call back going back to certain plays. What do you think went wrong? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: That was on me. I think really honestly when I called it too, I was, like, shoot, we’re in a four-by-one. I know Coach [Head Coach Nick Sirianni] already hit it on it too.

To call that there, [WR] A.J. [Brown] singled up. Probably should have had something off it, honestly. A double move or something, and I didn’t call a double move off of it, and the guy was sitting inside, and he jumped the route and made the play. It was on me. Shouldn’t have called the play.

Q. If you look at the Saints statistically, they’re giving up a decent amount on the ground. Second best pass defense in the NFL. Was it as simple as you should have run it more, or were they kind of enticing you to pass? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: We probably could have run it more. Obviously, looking back, when you don’t do a lot of good things on offense, you are, like, what could we have done? Should we have run it more? Yeah, probably.

I didn’t get into a rhythm calling the game early. So, I think the only time we really had some rhythm was the third quarter drive to come out in the third quarter.

But we just didn’t get a first down. Once you get a first down, maybe you can get some momentum, but the three-and-outs killed us. Four in a row there. I haven’t been a part of that in a while, so we have to get back on the right track and take care of business this week.

Q. If QB Jalen Hurts is back, do you curtail the offense just to account for the shoulder? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: I mean if he is playing, yeah. We always will have a plan for that, yep.

Q. With RB Miles Sanders, he didn’t play very much in that game. Fewest snaps of the season. Was that related to the shoulder, or is that something you have to monitor? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think early on, what did we have? 17 plays in the first half? Right? And then how many did we have in the second half?

Q. Even his percentage was lower than it has been. (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: I got you. Yeah, we always want to mix those guys in. [RB] Miles [Sanders] is obviously our guy, and we just rotated those guys. That’s how it went.

Q. Pre-snap penalties, what was the reason for those? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: Just some communication errors, and that’s on us. That’s on me as a coach. We can’t have that. That’s happened a few times. I mean we always get it corrected, but we can’t keep letting it happen because pre-snap penalties, turnovers, that’s what gets you beat in this league. We have to do a better job as coaches, myself, leading that charge.

Q. What’s the process like this week where you don’t know the personnel that you are going up against given the uncertainty whether the Giants are going to be playing their starters or not? Do you game-plan for starters and go from there? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, absolutely. We’re all preparing for the starters, no question about it, and then adjust off that. It’s an NFL football game, and no matter who they put out there, we have to go operate.

I’ve been a part of games where you go in and some teams don’t play their guys, and some teams will walk in and are like, oh, we’re going to beat them because they’re not playing their starters. Then next thing you know you lose. I’ve seen it happen before.

Our mindset has got to be the same no matter who is on that field playing for them. We’re preparing for their starters, and we have to be locked in ready to go. Everything we do, we have to do we a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose this week.

Q. How do you think T/G Jack Driscoll held up? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: I thought he did a good job. I really did. He battled. He did a nice job. Obviously, he was firm in there at times, and then in the run game he was solid too. Feel good about [T/G] Jack [Driscoll], where he is at.

Q. Why T/G Jack Driscoll versus last year in similar circumstances you moved T Jordan Mailata? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: We just felt comfortable with him over on the right and keeping [T] Jordan [Mailata] on the left. That was it.

Q. You guys had 14 quarterback sneaks last year. 30 so far this season. Yesterday Head Coach Nick Sirianni said you would be surprised how much detail goes into planning each one of those. I’m wondering how much time do you guys spend on those plays, designing them? And I know they’re hard to practice, obviously, because you don’t want to get people injured. How do you practice them? How much time do you spend on them? (Kalyn Kahler)

SHANE STEICHEN: We always have our third down day, so we go through that. A lot of those are in the walk-through periods. We, obviously, set them up and do different formations off them, however it is, but there is a lot of detail that goes into it.

Then once you get into a rhythm like we have been doing it, guys have a really good feel for it. The offensive line has a really good feel for it. [QB] Jalen [Hurts] has a good feel for it. The guys that are behind pushing know where to go, their stances, all those different things. Then protecting the edges on the outside are huge.

Q. How did does it compare to other teams and offenses that you have been a part of, like the amount of focus and attention that you spend on those here versus elsewhere in prior experience you’ve had? (Kalyn Kahler)

SHANE STEICHEN: It’s been a ton. I have probably ran five. Five is probably more than I’ve ever been a part of in the last ten years of my career with the other guys that I have been a part of.

But, yeah, it’s been a successful play for us. Our guys are really good at operating the play.

Q. That was just a walk-through yesterday, but how did Jalen Hurts do? What did you see? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: He was good. He was locked in. Like I said, if he is ready to play, he will play. We’ll go from there, but he looked good.

Q. You mentioned you struggled to get into a rhythm as a caller. Are there plays that you go back to that …? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, it’s crazy. On the sidelines thinking about those things, like, hey, we have to get something going here. Something easy for the quarterback or a run or whatever it is or a quick pass. There are a few things, I tried to get a screen going to [TE] Dallas [Goedert]. They covered it. Then it was second and ten, and it was a sack, and then it was third and long.

It was just one of those days that we have got to move on from. I have got to move on from and put behind us, and we have to go and get ready to beat the Giants.

Q. Kind of a big-picture question, but from your perspective what makes a good play caller in this league? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think a feel. A feel, a rhythm of the game. Knowing their tendencies on first down, second down, third down, having a plan for it and then knowing when to be aggressive and attacking.

Without getting into too detailed of how I see it, I do think that you need to be aggressive and attacking at all times. Especially when you can get the defense on their heels and guessing and go a little bit. I think that definitely helps.

Q. What part of play-calling did you not appreciate five years ago when you didn’t do it compared to these past few years when you have done it? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think it’s not always going to be perfect. I mean, what happened last week. In 2020 I might have had a game similar, but not as similar as this one. This one was probably the worst one for me personally that I’ve been a part of.

But bouncing back from those games that aren’t always going to be perfect, especially when you are struggling trying to find something to get it going and then getting out of that rut.

Then really just looking at yourself. Looking at yourself in the mirror and going back and saying what could I have done better as a play caller in those situations? Then go forward from there and make the corrections.

Q. You guys have turned the ball over four times against Dallas. Do you feel like there was an overcorrection, whether it be by QB Gardner Minshew or in the play-calling in the Saints game to try to counteract that? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: No, I think some of those things, like in the Cowboys game, both interceptions were kind of bang-bang plays. Those things happen. We just can’t have a ton of them happen in a game.

You don’t want any regardless. You don’t want any, but if they do happen, you don’t want them to be blatantly bad throws or just the fumbles. We have to take care of the football, all those different things.

We’ll always have a plan for trying to take care of the football. I mean, that’s the most important thing is taking care of the football.

Q. In the big-picture type of thing, how would you evaluate the way QB Gardner Minshew has played these past two games? Obviously, you put up a lot of points against Dallas, struggled against the Saints. How would you say overall he has played? (Martin Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think [QB] Gardner [Minshew] has been solid. I didn’t do a good enough job for him on Sunday. That was on me. That game that first half, second half, all of it, I didn’t do good enough calling it and putting these guys in position. I didn’t do a good enough job for Gardner. I didn’t do a good enough job for the line, the receivers, tight ends, backs, everybody. I have got to be better.