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Press Pass | Liam Coen Discusses Assembly of the Final Roster, Practice Squad · Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's that?
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 0:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: So, you know, just want to continue to create the
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: competition in the room. And I thought watching some of
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: the stuff he did last year when he got some
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: ops to go play, I thought he showed some signs of,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: you know, being able to spread the ball around to
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: different spots on the field, has some arm talent. You know,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I liked him coming out of Texas. I think Sark
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: does a really good job with quarterbacks. And, you know,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: he's a young player that you can, you know, kind
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: of pour into and see what that looks like as
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: we can go. And so he's obviously having to get
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: up to speed right now. You know, wanted to make
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: sure we kept Nick as well here in terms of like, hey,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: week one.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: What does that look like? And is he up to speed?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: But also the amount of work that Nick puts in
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: to the rest of the guys, the crew, but, you know,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: wanted to make sure that like, hey, are we putting ourselves,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: continuing to put ourselves in the best position to be
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: successful as an offense, if and when, you know, something
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: were to happen to Trevor.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: When did you maybe remember the first time you looked into, okay,
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: he's got a shot to get on this roster?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, early, actually in OTAs, when you just saw him
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: like hit bags, like really early on when we had
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: no pads on, no nothing, You could just see an explosiveness, twitchy, loose,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: just some natural pass rush skills that, you know, it's
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: a knack.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: It's a feel.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Some guys have it. Some guys it takes a little
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: while to get there. And we were really excited about
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: getting them in here post-draft. And then, obviously– Once he
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: got into some of the preseason games and you started
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: to see it, we were seeing it in practice, but
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: maybe not to the extent. Like BJ was obviously having
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: a really good training camp and did some really good things.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: And so he was still eating and taking a lot
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: of those reps with the twos. And so once Brian
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: got some ops in the preseason, got into some of
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: those moments, you know, need to continue to see it
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: versus obviously better competition and But pleased with where he's
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: at and think he can help us as we go
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: throughout this season. Good thing that maybe you couldn't sit
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: here right now and say, this guy's definitely going to
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: lead us in catches because it means.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: You've got so much stuff to spread around.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, wait, were you talking about the rusher or the wideout?
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I was talking about the rusher. You were talking about
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the rusher. You were talking about BT as the wideout.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Just all the wideouts. Yeah, I got you.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I know, I know. The thing we should call Brian...
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: thomas jr the rusher brian and we'll call btbt that'll
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: help me um no you know i think uh it's
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: a it's obviously sometimes a good problem to have it's
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: on the understanding of these guys know that every every
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: one of them is going to have plays schemed for
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: them right there's no question um all those guys will
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: have that. And then it's just within the play, within
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: the progressions, within the alerts, they're going to have to
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: eat as well. Like on the plays that aren't designed
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: to them, are they winning on the backside? Are they
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: winning as the number two or three guy in the
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: progression to where Trevor can, can trust to be able
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: to move on, say a place designed for Parker, but
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: BT is on the backside of the concept. Like, He's
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: got to go run that route like he's going to
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: get the ball, right? And I think that's the good
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: thing about the group all being talented and having their
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: own roles is within any given play, especially the way
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Trevor scrambles, every eligible is alive, like every single one.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: It can't just be, all right, hey, number one's open
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: or not open. The play sucks. We have got to
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: be able to progress. We've got to be able to
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: scramble and run around. and I think all three of
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: them specifically have put some really good stuff on tape
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: from spring to now, and the trust and reliability factor
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: with Trevor and those guys is in a good place,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and I'm excited to see BT roll and see that
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: next level of confidence continue to show, right, play one
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: of the Tampa joint just runs by the whole defense,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: and so we need that. We need him to continue
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: to ascend, and I think Trevor's excited about the group
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: of guys he has to throw to.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: How are both Jacoby and BTJ injury-wise?
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: All good. Yeah, they'll be good. Jacoby should be going today.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: He went yesterday.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: You know, it was just limited in terms of catching
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: it a little bit. And then BT was full go yesterday,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: no issues. last week that practice squad decisions might be
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: some of the tougher ones.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Are you happy or just happy to get together how
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: many guys you're able to get back.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I am yeah i think that you look at practice
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: squad last year to this year and i would say
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: we improved um i would say that it's more competitive
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: there's a mix of some guys that you feel like
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: you can um elevate and there's some guys that you
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: feel like maybe need a little bit more time to
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: keep pouring into and keep working with and maybe that
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: time is a little later. I think the cool thing
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: about the roster is when you have the examples of Danny, BJ,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Matt Dickerson, who came in, was on practice squad for
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: all those weeks, and then now he's one of our starters,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: if you will. I think the guys on the team
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: know that it's earned and that if they do perform
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: in practice, they do all the little things right. And
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: an op presents itself, we will elevate. Quentin Morris, for instance,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: same thing. So I think that's what's cool and attracting also,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: you know, you want your guys to stay, but also
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: attracting maybe and recruiting some of.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: The guys that we were able to go get outside.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Of the building and they see some of those examples
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: from last year, and now it's like, okay, well, there
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: is an op. There is a path and an avenue
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: for me to potentially get on the grass.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: Liam, Trevor Lawrence last year, second most passes of at
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: least 20 areas with 24 completion, going all the way
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: back to OTAs. Do you see a progression there and
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: be able to hit those shots outside?
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think in the spring it definitely improved. Started
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: off hot in training camp as well. Um, you know,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: and then things always level off, especially when you're playing
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: your defense and they see it and they know it,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: what's happening, our BTs over there, this guy's, they start
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: to get clues. And so I think, um, we worked
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: at them yesterday again, like hitting, trying to hit some
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: down the field ones, get some big ones. And it's always, uh,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: based on the team you're playing.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Like, uh, saints, like they don't let anything go over
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: their heads, typically structurally. Carolina, they play all too high,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: and it was all like that. Tampa, okay, they play
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: a little bit more man. They play a little bit
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: less just safeties, deep corners off, and we were able
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: to get past the third level of the defense. And
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: so we're going to need it. I do feel better
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: about it. I think they've been working at it going
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: all the way back to the spring. And so we
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: all have more confidence, I think, right now with being
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: able to get the ball down the field and for
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: those guys to connect on some of those plays.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: You guys kept Nick, but you also kept Joey.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Why was that important to bring him back.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: After what you saw?
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I thought he did some nice things and kind of
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: has a little gamer in him.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: He's got a little feel.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: The game kind of makes sense to him. We want
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to keep working with him, keep developing, keep getting him
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: in our system because it's very different than what he
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: was doing in college. Some of that stuff has been
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: a work, but He's calm on game day, man. Like,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: he's got a good demeanor. I've really liked working with
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: him thus far. I think he's gotten better. So, you know,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: it's good. And what's really good is at practice, like,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: we don't have to have coaches who can't throw throwing
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: to people. You know, like, to the tight ends, to
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: the receivers, to the backs.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Like, we can.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Actually use quarterbacks to throw to those guys so we're
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: getting more efficient, better work. in the practice setting, you
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: wouldn't think that that's a deal. But a lot of
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: guys bring quarterbacks in just to be an arm at
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: practice so that you get better individual work, you get
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: better group work. And so I like having them.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: Worst arm.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Who? Gosh. Well, Heath has to throw a lot. Heath's
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: got a decent arm. He's solid. I would say– Rich
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: probably don't throw it great.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I would say Tim throws a lot, but just not
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: very accurately to the linebackers.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: It's probably a battle between Rich and Tim.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: For the worst.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Who was the guy that got benched in the spring? Oh,
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I benched a few guys this spring. Yeah, I benched
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: multiple of the coaches, and we're kind of trying to
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: rotate guys in. John Van Dam's been throwing a little
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: bit more to the tight ends, and now he's got
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: some elbow issues. So, yeah, it's been a little bit
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: of a challenge, but we're getting there.
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: Trevor Scramlin earlier, he was so willing and effective last year,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: but unconventional.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Is that still going to be his– methodology is head first.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah i mean he's.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Doing the same thing head first yeah yeah.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: No we're trying to obviously not dive head first if
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: if at all possible we'd like to be able to
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: you know slide feet first and but i i also
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: know in some instances like i personally did dive a
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: lot as a player more so um you know i
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: just felt like it kind of protected me a little
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: bit more as opposed to being somewhat exposed when you
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: do slide here But I think, like, the best part
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: of what Trevor did in terms of that back half
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of the season last year was just go be an
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: athlete and go run around and make plays a little
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: bit when things aren't quite perfect. And, like, you watch
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Russell Wilson all those years, and it was like there
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: was one part of a play, and then there's, like,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: a whole other part of a play. And that's, I think,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: exciting for us as coaches. It's also exciting for the
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: receivers because they're like, oh, I didn't get the ball
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: on time and in rhythm.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: I can still get the ball. Like I can still
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: get ops. And I think I saw some pretty.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Cool stat of like Trevor rolling to his left specifically
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: and what the accuracy looked like and how many completions
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: and explosives were created when going to his left. Obviously
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: a lot of quarterbacks are more, you know, right-hand dominant, up, out,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: and they go right. Well, he has the ability to
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: kind of baseball turn out to his left or slide up,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: go to his left. I don't want to take that
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: away from him. We try to continue to educate these
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: guys about when's the time to slide, when's times to run.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: But that's so instinctive at that moment, right? It's so
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: much like I can't really be in his ear in
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: some of those times. And so you just got to
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: trust the guy to make the right decision.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: A year in a row, you've brought in veterans later
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: on in the process, Skardak last year, Amir Abdullah and
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: Tavai this year. How rare is that for guys to
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: make the team that join in the offseason?
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's typically challenging to make those teams
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: in some of those instances. And so credit those guys.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: They're the right type of ones, right? Like mentally, pros
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: do it the right way. Amir Abdullah is one of
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: the first guys in our building every single day.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: The way that he.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Prepares his body, the way that he prepares for practice. Jelani,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: the way that he goes about his business.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: He's a great teammate. Everybody loves him.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: He does all the little things the right way. Will
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: help us on special teams as well. And so, yeah,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: it's rare, but I think that when you find the
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: right type of guys and you start there, that's always
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: going to help the cause, right? Because they've seen a
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: lot of ball. have played a lot of ball. There's
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: a lot that they can pour into some of the
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: other guys, but it helps them in their process. And
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: for us, all of them have gotten onboarded fairly quickly.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: And so been really appreciative of getting those guys on.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: You're so involved in the offense. How have you found it?
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: What is your best practice in terms of getting a
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: vibe for what the defensive players are thinking and connecting
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: with those guys?
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, early in the week, we
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: always do on Wednesday, like, how they play, how we
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: win tape. And so I get with Campy before that
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: meeting and I get a really, not brief rundown, but
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I get a good rundown of, all right, here's some
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: of the things that we have to be ready for
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: that could leave us susceptible. Or, you know, and these
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: are some of the things that we're going to play
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: to react and adjust to some of the things they do.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: So I get a good rundown of, of the entire
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: game plan, specifically to the early game plan, we meet
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: and talk about each phase of the game plan. So like,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: all right, that meeting is for normal D & D,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: sprinkling some third down and red zone. But then after
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: every day, kind of we connect on it, talk, all right, hey,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: what is in the plan this week in these windows
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and in these situations?
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: And then with the.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Players, you know, I try to be deliberate throughout the
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: course of the day go in the meetings, pop in
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the defensive side, let, you know, Grant's running one meeting.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I can go into the defensive meetings and be able
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: to be available and be around those guys. And then
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: at practice, just trying to be intentional about making sure
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: that I connect with them because I'm around the offense more.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: And so that's a balancing act for sure. But I
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: feel like, you know, I feel like I have a
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: really good relationship with a lot of the defensive guys
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: and it matters to me.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: So.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: What's your expectation for Van Landen, LaQuinn? Do you think
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: they'll be ready to go week one?
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think if anybody can do it, it'll
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: be those guys because of the way that they attack
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the rehab, the way that they attack their process. I
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: know Cole's looked good. I know he's looked really good.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: I know he got some confidence. You know, the preseason
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: game the other night, he did one-on-ones against the some
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: of the defensive players, and he felt really good doing that.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: So, you know, I'm hopeful. You always want them.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: To be able to go, but you also have to–
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: all right, it's a long year, a lot of football
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: to play, and make sure that you're putting both the
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: player and our team in the best position. And then LeQuint,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: you know, look, we definitely missed the presence for sure.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, the physicality, the edge, the toughness, all that stuff.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: You know, I would– I'd be pleasantly surprised if he
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: was ready to go, but I know that this guy
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: has attacked it, as you guys would probably imagine, just
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: attacked it in the right way. I'm sure that both
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: of those guys are probably going to be more like
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: game time, like get up there. If Cole's ready and
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: can go, great. If not, can he be active and
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: can he be up as a potential guy to go in?
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Those are some of the things we have to weigh.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: And then I think that the backs have done a
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: nice job of like, okay, LaQuint we know has been
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: our third down back pass protector. Who's going to fill
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: that void and be able to do some of those things?
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: I think all of them have been working at it.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I think C-Rod's done a great job in pass protection specifically.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: And then Amir, I.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Think, can help us in some of the pass game
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: and things that we wanted to do with LaQuint as
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: we go. I think he can kind of help fill
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: that void as well.
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: Negative Nelly, but what if, worst case scenario, Cole is inactive?
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. What's your swing? Oh, Wyatt Milam. Yeah, yeah.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: He'll do, you know, he's been, he got a ton
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: of reps at tackle this summer. Unfortunately, in some ways, right,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: he was competing at guards, but it gave him great experience.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, the whole mock game, that scrimmage, he had
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: to play tackle, and I thought he did a nice job.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: And Jonah's been able to swing inside. Daniel, obviously. can
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: swing inside for us and I think in a pinch
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: go out to right tackle if we really needed him to.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Ezra can pop out to tackle if we really needed
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: him to, which he did this summer as well.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: So we'll see what happens.