Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass: Doug Pederson: "It's Kind of an All Hands on Deck Type Mentality"
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: You've sort of been in this situation before, obviously with
- 0:04Speaker 1: Nicholes back in the past. What does it sort of
- 0:07Speaker 1: take in order for the team to sort of come
- 0:10Speaker 1: together and quarter rawick phind the back of the quarterback
- 0:13Speaker 1: rally clind the team as you're trying to make this
- 0:15Speaker 1: playoff push.
- 0:18Speaker 2: Well, you know, the biggest thing is that, uh, whether
- 0:23Speaker 2: whether you know, if Trevor can go, if CJ goes.
- 0:28Speaker 2: If CJ goes, then I think there's a I think
- 0:32Speaker 2: there's a.
- 0:34Speaker 3: More of a sense of urgency. I think a little
- 0:36Speaker 3: bit for everybody to kind of.
- 0:38Speaker 2: Do a little bit more on their part, you know
- 0:40Speaker 2: what I mean to kind of support you know, your
- 0:43Speaker 2: back up that way, you know.
- 0:46Speaker 3: But there's not a lot of things you got to
- 0:48Speaker 3: do out of the ordinary.
- 0:50Speaker 2: You still got to do your job right and and
- 0:52Speaker 2: focus in on what you do.
- 0:54Speaker 3: And and you know, the.
- 0:56Speaker 2: One thing about CJ and Trevor both, I mean, they
- 0:59Speaker 2: they both prepare as if they are both starting.
- 1:03Speaker 3: That's just what the backup does, you know.
- 1:05Speaker 2: And I know that role having been in it myself
- 1:08Speaker 2: and then obviously coached that role. So but I don't
- 1:12Speaker 2: think you have to do anything out of the ordinary.
- 1:15Speaker 2: I just think there could be a little more sense
- 1:18Speaker 2: of it.
- 1:18Speaker 3: And it's really at any position.
- 1:19Speaker 2: I mean, you know, you know, we talked about Trey,
- 1:24Speaker 2: you know, possibly being he's you know, obviously he's in
- 1:26Speaker 2: the in the protocol, and so the next man up.
- 1:28Speaker 3: It's always the next man.
- 1:29Speaker 2: Up mentality, and and we got to make sure that
- 1:32Speaker 2: as coaches, we prepare those guys to to go play.
- 1:36Speaker 3: Is going to practice? Ay, he won't practice today. Yeah,
- 1:39Speaker 3: it's too soon after the game.
- 1:41Speaker 4: So do you is there any thought to moving in
- 1:44Speaker 4: tont less at all?
- 1:46Speaker 3: Not not this late and not right now.
- 1:48Speaker 5: No, h you talked about the number of guys that
- 1:54Speaker 5: might be out like Trey. I know we look at
- 1:57Speaker 5: kind of the guys that are going to fill in
- 1:59Speaker 5: those roles, but as leaders, like what do you need
- 2:02Speaker 5: to see out of maybe people who to better help
- 2:06Speaker 5: those guys?
- 2:07Speaker 4: What do you need to see I know you've.
- 2:08Speaker 2: Mentioned coaches, but a players, I think as players you
- 2:11Speaker 2: just have to, uh, you have to embrace them.
- 2:15Speaker 3: You have to kind of you got to help them through.
- 2:21Speaker 2: Possibly you know, showing them how to how to study,
- 2:24Speaker 2: how to prepare mentally. More than anything, A lot of
- 2:27Speaker 2: these guys too have played, so they know how to play.
- 2:30Speaker 2: It's just a matter of you know, and just embracing them.
- 2:33Speaker 2: And and again it's it's it's kind of an all
- 2:35Speaker 2: hands on deck type mentality. The surrounding you know, whoever,
- 2:40Speaker 2: whoever it might be, you know, as a backup, who's
- 2:42Speaker 2: who's playing. And and you know, the goal is you
- 2:46Speaker 2: don't want to miss a beat. You just you just
- 2:47Speaker 2: keep clipping along and and you know, you still you
- 2:52Speaker 2: still got to go out and execute and play at
- 2:54Speaker 2: a high level. And you know, we have total confidence
- 2:58Speaker 2: and all the guys that go out there and and
- 3:00Speaker 2: dress and play.
- 3:02Speaker 4: Challenges that you face as a head coach for roster, makeup,
- 3:08Speaker 4: game planning, all this tiff where does whether to play
- 3:13Speaker 4: starting quarterback during the December playoff push rank? In terms
- 3:17Speaker 4: of just trying to navigate that and making the correct call,
- 3:21Speaker 4: trying to balance the player's health with the team's needs.
- 3:25Speaker 2: The biggest thing is, as you mentioned, player health, that's
- 3:28Speaker 2: the biggest thing.
- 3:30Speaker 3: You know, our.
- 3:31Speaker 2: Jobs as a medical staff head coach. We're not going
- 3:36Speaker 2: to put players on the field that can that aren't
- 3:39Speaker 2: one hundred percent, that aren't healthy, that that could maybe
- 3:43Speaker 2: even further risk more damage you know, to the area
- 3:47Speaker 2: that's that's injured, and it's our jobs to protect those
- 3:51Speaker 2: players and make sure you know, it's it's not at
- 3:54Speaker 2: the cost of winning a football game, obviously, and yes,
- 3:59Speaker 2: we are in this this last sort of month of
- 4:01Speaker 2: the of the year where we're making making our run.
- 4:05Speaker 2: But we also know too that if, for instance, if
- 4:08Speaker 2: if Trevor can't play in this game, there's there's going
- 4:11Speaker 2: to come a time at some point where he is
- 4:13Speaker 2: and you know, we've got to we've all got to
- 4:16Speaker 2: come together to to kind of weather this storm a
- 4:19Speaker 2: little bit so that when you know, if there's a
- 4:25Speaker 2: time when he does return, so to speak, that that
- 4:28Speaker 2: you know we make we make that push with him.
- 4:30Speaker 2: And we've kind of gone through this period of you know,
- 4:36Speaker 2: playing playing some backups.
- 4:38Speaker 4: I want to take you back to what you said
- 4:40Speaker 4: though about one hundred percent. Listen, we all know there's
- 4:43Speaker 4: plenty of players that go out there that are not
- 4:44Speaker 4: one hundred percent, so.
- 4:47Speaker 2: Well they're not listen, then percent is the risks to
- 4:53Speaker 2: that injury. The players physically are not one hundred percent
- 4:57Speaker 2: that they're all sore and banged up, but whether it's
- 5:00Speaker 2: a knee, an ankle, a shoulder, an elbow, that injury
- 5:04Speaker 2: they're talking about specifically that injury. If there's a chance
- 5:07Speaker 2: that he can risk further damage, we're not that's the
- 5:10Speaker 2: one hundred percent we're talking about. That's where we're not
- 5:13Speaker 2: going to put that player on the field.
- 5:16Speaker 3: Obviously, there is never a.
- 5:17Speaker 4: Good timing, but be a month that.
- 5:19Speaker 3: You just had and having really.
- 5:21Speaker 4: Can even the last week it looked like offensively, you
- 5:24Speaker 4: guys are really starting to.
- 5:26Speaker 3: Take off these last few weeks. I mean, does that
- 5:29Speaker 3: upset a lot of the rhythm of that potential? I mean,
- 5:32Speaker 3: you hope not.
- 5:34Speaker 2: You know, you you you know, you look at things
- 5:39Speaker 2: and you know, obviously, yeah.
- 5:41Speaker 3: You were, you were in a bit of a rhythm.
- 5:43Speaker 2: Things were kind of clicking a little bit, and and
- 5:47Speaker 2: you know, you'd still try to do things that are
- 5:51Speaker 2: going to try to keep that same rhythm, you know.
- 5:54Speaker 2: But now again, if you're if you you know, we're
- 5:56Speaker 2: talking about the quarterback position. You got to play to each.
- 6:00Speaker 3: One's strengths too. You know, if it is CJ, you know,
- 6:04Speaker 3: he can't be.
- 6:04Speaker 2: Trevor, and Trevor's not obviously gonna be CJ. And things
- 6:07Speaker 2: like that, and so you try to tailor things according
- 6:12Speaker 2: to their strengths, right, and and the things that they
- 6:15Speaker 2: do well, and a lot of input from the player
- 6:19Speaker 2: obviously in this you know, in this situation, the quarterback
- 6:22Speaker 2: and making sure that he's comfortable with the game plan
- 6:25Speaker 2: and and even the guys around him, you know, they have.
- 6:30Speaker 3: To do their part too, right. They they've got to
- 6:32Speaker 3: be where they need to be in a particular route.
- 6:36Speaker 2: Protection has to hold up all those things, uh to
- 6:39Speaker 2: to make sure it continues to you know, move forward.
- 6:42Speaker 3: And you know went through this in seventeen and you know,
- 6:49Speaker 3: we didn't miss too much. I mean it was it
- 6:52Speaker 3: was different.
- 6:53Speaker 2: It was a different look, but we didn't miss a beat, right,
- 6:55Speaker 2: and we continue to improve as a team.
- 6:59Speaker 4: Team.
- 7:00Speaker 2: Are there similarities to it that you can make, Yeah,
- 7:03Speaker 2: I mean there's there's similarities, you know.
- 7:05Speaker 3: If that's the case.
- 7:07Speaker 2: You know, again, it just goes back to the the
- 7:10Speaker 2: strength of the player really and making sure he's comfortable
- 7:14Speaker 2: with what we're doing. And again, it may it may
- 7:17Speaker 2: look different to people, you know how you go about it,
- 7:20Speaker 2: but the bottom line is you still got to go
- 7:23Speaker 2: out and compete and execute and try to win that game,
- 7:26Speaker 2: you know, and and focus on that and however that
- 7:29Speaker 2: gets done, it doesn't really matter. It's just you know,
- 7:33Speaker 2: that's the that's the main, the main focus. So like
- 7:35Speaker 2: in seventeen, you know, I had to focus on what
- 7:38Speaker 2: nick Fole's strengths were as opposed to carson strengths back then,
- 7:42Speaker 2: and and making sure that the guys around him again
- 7:47Speaker 2: did their part right and and it worked out as.
- 7:52Speaker 6: The value of a good backup quarterback. No offense changed
- 7:56Speaker 6: over the years. I mean, like you didn't even have
- 7:58Speaker 6: I mean you played behind them iron man, right, So,
- 8:01Speaker 6: but like has it changed with the We talk about
- 8:03Speaker 6: it all the times, both the quarterbacks getting injured more
- 8:05Speaker 6: often seemingly.
- 8:07Speaker 3: You know, I think.
- 8:11Speaker 2: I don't ever, you know, for me, I don't ever.
- 8:14Speaker 2: I don't want to overlook that position and say, okay,
- 8:18Speaker 2: we got our starter now.
- 8:19Speaker 3: You can't.
- 8:21Speaker 2: When you do that, it's gonna bite you at some
- 8:23Speaker 2: point and you're not going to have a backup and
- 8:25Speaker 2: or a backup that's ready. And so having a veteran guy,
- 8:30Speaker 2: you know, like we do, and and I would say
- 8:32Speaker 2: most teams, I mean, that's that's pivotal, you know, because
- 8:36Speaker 2: I mean you see it, this is a it's a
- 8:38Speaker 2: it's a tough sport. You see how many quarterbacks have
- 8:40Speaker 2: gone down or at least out for a period of time,
- 8:43Speaker 2: And and having a guy that's been around and and
- 8:46Speaker 2: and played meaningful games in this league helps guys.
- 8:49Speaker 1: Kind of change that.
- 8:50Speaker 4: In seventy with Bowls and what you hate them and
- 8:53Speaker 4: how you guys did after that and all that.
- 8:55Speaker 2: I mean, I think I think it maybe started a
- 9:00Speaker 2: little bit of a trend in that direction, you know,
- 9:03Speaker 2: But there's always been even the teams I was on
- 9:07Speaker 2: in Green Bay, you know, even when I was the
- 9:10Speaker 2: third we had we had guys like Jim McMahon and
- 9:13Speaker 2: Steve Bono and.
- 9:14Speaker 3: You know, guys like that up there.
- 9:15Speaker 2: And when I was in Miami it was you know,
- 9:18Speaker 2: as Bernie Cozar was the backup and you know, stuff
- 9:20Speaker 2: like that. So there's always been teams that have had
- 9:22Speaker 2: veteran guys in those in those.
- 9:24Speaker 7: Roles gonna be your team's dominee for Man of the Year.
- 9:29Speaker 7: And the time you've coached him, can you speak a
- 9:31Speaker 7: little bit to the leadership in the locker room and
- 9:34Speaker 7: and and especially in light of a pretty long recovery
- 9:38Speaker 7: to come back and play.
- 9:40Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, since I've known him, just uh just
- 9:44Speaker 2: a great person, a great man, you know, just uh
- 9:49Speaker 2: really someone that I've leaned on, you know, on the team,
- 9:53Speaker 2: uh from a leadership standpoint, and actually you know, made
- 9:56Speaker 2: him a captain this week going into this game too,
- 9:59Speaker 2: so h you know, just just says a lot about
- 10:02Speaker 2: you know, who he is as a person off the field,
- 10:04Speaker 2: obviously being a Man of the Year Award nominee.
- 10:09Speaker 3: And and then you.
- 10:11Speaker 2: Know, to speak on the fact that the adversity that
- 10:18Speaker 2: he just went through right from the end of last season,
- 10:20Speaker 2: all of off season, missing camp several weeks to start
- 10:23Speaker 2: the season and be in this position now says a
- 10:27Speaker 2: lot about him and his character and who he is.
- 10:29Speaker 2: And you know, he was one of those guys in
- 10:33Speaker 2: the off season. If if he's healthy, you know, maybe
- 10:35Speaker 2: he's not here right, maybe he's a free agent, maybe
- 10:38Speaker 2: he's you know somewhere else you know, and playing. But
- 10:41Speaker 2: we're just fortunate to have him and have him on
- 10:45Speaker 2: our team. And you know, he's playing, he's playing good,
- 10:48Speaker 2: he's playing better each week and and I'm excited to see,
- 10:51Speaker 2: you know, where this nomination goes.
- 10:54Speaker 3: This Browns defense so good.
- 10:58Speaker 2: It really starts with coach Schwartz, which Jim honestly, and
- 11:01Speaker 2: the way the way he uh, the way he coaches
- 11:04Speaker 2: these guys, you know, and what he says to them
- 11:06Speaker 2: and how he says it to him and and you know,
- 11:09Speaker 2: it's a it's an aggressive style that goes all the
- 11:10Speaker 2: way back to his days when he coordinated in Tennessee,
- 11:14Speaker 2: you know, back in those days, and and the type
- 11:16Speaker 2: of defenses that he had, and and it starts up front,
- 11:20Speaker 2: starts with those front four and you know, he feels
- 11:24Speaker 2: like if he can put pressure on your quarterback with four,
- 11:27Speaker 2: now he's got seven guys back there with with eyes
- 11:30Speaker 2: on the quarterback that can make plays on the ball
- 11:32Speaker 2: in the run end pass game.
- 11:33Speaker 3: And and that's what you see with this defense.
- 11:35Speaker 2: And the strength is obviously you know this D line,
- 11:40Speaker 2: they're they're they're aggressive. Obviously we know Miles Garrett heck
- 11:45Speaker 2: of a player, A lot of respect for him and
- 11:47Speaker 2: and the way he plays the game. But the other
- 11:51Speaker 2: guys are you know, as talented as well. And that's
- 11:54Speaker 2: where it starts. It starts up front, but it really
- 11:56Speaker 2: starts with how you know, uh, Jim sort of messages
- 11:59Speaker 2: with these guys.
- 12:00Speaker 6: Do you know him?
- 12:01Speaker 2: A lot of familiarity there, I mean just knowing him
- 12:05Speaker 2: and how he how he coached, and how he coached
- 12:07Speaker 2: our defenses in Philly.
- 12:10Speaker 3: You kind of know the structure a little bit.
- 12:12Speaker 2: Think you know, he's changed some things, you know, uh,
- 12:14Speaker 2: schematically over his time and and uh but but you know,
- 12:19Speaker 2: he's got a talented defense right now and they're playing
- 12:21Speaker 2: playing really good.
- 12:23Speaker 4: I know it's not the same situation because Mahomes had
- 12:26Speaker 4: I guess, eight days in between games. But you know
- 12:29Speaker 4: he played on the high angles pray right high angles
- 12:31Speaker 4: rain in that asc Tole game.
- 12:33Speaker 5: So is there a part of you that's holding out
- 12:35Speaker 5: hope that, yeah, Trevor can do the same thing, or
- 12:37Speaker 5: is the time between the two games for the complicated stuff.
- 12:41Speaker 2: I don't want to compare two injuries two different people,
- 12:44Speaker 2: but in the circumstance of playing in a conference championship
- 12:49Speaker 2: game versus a regular season game or are two different things.
- 12:52Speaker 2: But obviously they felt they being the Chiefs, felt like
- 12:56Speaker 2: he was he was good. He couldn't you know, hurt
- 12:59Speaker 2: himself further, and obviously he played. But you know, and
- 13:04Speaker 2: that's that's the case here. We want to make sure
- 13:05Speaker 2: that before we put him on the field that as
- 13:08Speaker 2: this week goes that he's capable of not re injuring himself.
- 13:13Speaker 4: You've played with quarterbacks, coach quarterbacks who have injury issues,
- 13:20Speaker 4: and you have to sort of one of the things
- 13:21Speaker 4: you have to navigate is is the player telling you
- 13:26Speaker 4: the truth or is he or is he just so
- 13:29Speaker 4: wanting to be out on that field that maybe he's
- 13:31Speaker 4: just taking some I mean, Brett started a game every
- 13:35Speaker 4: year for like seventeen straight years, and I'm sure you
- 13:38Speaker 4: saw things that, you know, going into a game where
- 13:41Speaker 4: it didn't look like he.
- 13:42Speaker 3: Might play or whatever.
- 13:43Speaker 4: So how tough is it to sort of take a
- 13:46Speaker 4: player at his word and balancing you know, sometimes either yeah,
- 13:50Speaker 4: and I.
- 13:50Speaker 3: Know, I know what you're You're you're getting it, you know.
- 13:54Speaker 3: For me, obviously, I gotta I gotta listen.
- 13:57Speaker 2: Now, you listen to the player, obviously, But but it's
- 14:00Speaker 2: the medical staff, it's the it's the doctors who are
- 14:03Speaker 2: who who evaluated him and have had years of experience
- 14:07Speaker 2: working through these different types of injuries, and you know,
- 14:11Speaker 2: and and for me, it's asking you got to ask
- 14:13Speaker 2: the right questions, right and and not so much with
- 14:16Speaker 2: the player, but to the doctor, like what's the risk
- 14:18Speaker 2: of re injury? What is the you know, risk of
- 14:22Speaker 2: injuring something another body part because of something else is weak,
- 14:26Speaker 2: you know, and things of that nature.
- 14:27Speaker 3: And I have to lean on that just a little bit.
- 14:30Speaker 2: And then you got to make you got to make
- 14:32Speaker 2: a tough decision and say, you know, either yes, let's
- 14:37Speaker 2: go and you're you're fine. You know, you're you're gonna
- 14:40Speaker 2: be a little sore and and and all of that.
- 14:43Speaker 2: But then you on the other side go, you know what,
- 14:46Speaker 2: you got to make the tough decisions, say no, I'm
- 14:48Speaker 2: gonna I'm gonna keep you down this week and give
- 14:50Speaker 2: you another, you know, another week of rest and not uh,
- 14:55Speaker 2: you know, not put the player out there to harm him.
- 14:58Speaker 4: What's your comfort level with with c J. Bethard. I
- 15:01Speaker 4: mean he seemed to move, you know, except for the fumble.
- 15:04Speaker 4: He seemed to report himself really well the other yeah, yeah, no,
- 15:09Speaker 4: and had a long pass take No.
- 15:11Speaker 2: Uh, you know, we got a lot of confidence in CJ.
- 15:13Speaker 2: You know what he's done here obviously, his his history
- 15:16Speaker 2: it you know, and you know, again you look at
- 15:23Speaker 2: the week of you know, he didn't have any snaps
- 15:26Speaker 2: with our off He hasn't any snaps with our offense
- 15:28Speaker 2: really and and you go out there, and that's part
- 15:31Speaker 2: of being the backup quarterback. You've got to be ready
- 15:33Speaker 2: to go, you know.
- 15:34Speaker 3: And and you know.
- 15:36Speaker 2: If if the case this week where he you know,
- 15:39Speaker 2: he'll get all the snaps today and we'll see how
- 15:41Speaker 2: the week goes. And you know, but I think the preparation,
- 15:45Speaker 2: you know, that's why you prepare like a starter. So
- 15:49Speaker 2: if if your numbers called, you're obviously ready to go,
- 15:52Speaker 2: and and you uh, you know, you don't miss a beat.
- 15:57Speaker 4: Thanks