Speaker 1: Let's last minute injury report. So, UM, let me update
Speaker 1: you on injuries from the game yesterday. Uh, Kenyon Barner,
Speaker 1: it's got a hamstring strain. He'll actually miss this game
Speaker 1: because just with the Thursday night and not being able
Speaker 1: to get back in time, so he'll he'll miss this game. Um,
Speaker 1: everybody else here on this this next list will be
Speaker 1: will be good. Alan Barber, Brent Sellick, Jordan Matthews. Isaac
Speaker 1: who sustained a high ankle in the game, is actually okay.
Speaker 1: Darren Sprowles is good. Um. Everything everything he uh had
Speaker 1: to go through it was positive. So he'll be ready
Speaker 1: this week and then uh we'll see where Big V is.
Speaker 1: But he should be Uh, he should be ready to
Speaker 1: got going into this game considering the nature of the
Speaker 1: injuries that we've had and everything, and with Lane being
Speaker 1: back today, Lane will doing as a starter. Have you
Speaker 1: been able to see him. I haven't seen him yet today.
Speaker 1: I know he's been here in the building and he's
Speaker 1: been with UH coach Statlin and Eugene and um, of
Speaker 1: course I've I've been game planning and and and been
Speaker 1: in my office all morning, so I haven't had a
Speaker 1: chance to see him. Yet, which is the is the
Speaker 1: injury risk to hire for a guy who hasn't played
Speaker 1: in that long? You know, it's it's possible. Um, you know, Uh,
Speaker 1: I just have to kind of see when I put
Speaker 1: my eyes on Lane, just to see where he's at
Speaker 1: physically and what he's been doing over the last ten weeks.
Speaker 1: But uh, um, he's such a tremendous athlete that um,
Speaker 1: you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't expect, um, anything too
Speaker 1: too traumatic to to happen in the next next couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. But obviously it is possible. And back at
Speaker 1: left guard now something we're gonna evaluate. I gotta see
Speaker 1: where he's at healthwise, see if he's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. Um. Obviously, these last two weeks we're
Speaker 1: kind of getting getting our offensive line back to full strength.
Speaker 1: So um, that's something that we'll evaluate in these next
Speaker 1: couple of days. I know you've been a part of
Speaker 1: a lot of Thursday night games as a player and
Speaker 1: as a coach. What's the best approach as far as
Speaker 1: getting these guys off their feet as much as possible
Speaker 1: but still preparing the way you need to. Yeah, you know, today, Um,
Speaker 1: being a Monday and playing on Thursday. We want the
Speaker 1: guys in the building to begin the initial installation process
Speaker 1: for the Giants. And and you know, there is a
Speaker 1: fine line between what you can do on the field
Speaker 1: and making sure they're fresh and ready to go. So
Speaker 1: you spend a lot of time in meetings. You spend
Speaker 1: a little amount of time as possible on the field,
Speaker 1: but it's more walk through situations, you know, to keep
Speaker 1: these guys as fresh as possible, because again, they're they're
Speaker 1: they're coming off a game, you know, less than twenty
Speaker 1: four hours. So we just gotta make sure and I
Speaker 1: gotta make sure that we do the right thing by
Speaker 1: these base players. What were some of the issues with
Speaker 1: trying to throw the ball downfield early in the game.
Speaker 1: There was it the guys weren't getting open. Was it
Speaker 1: the defense or was Carson? Some of it was the weather,
Speaker 1: you know, the wind obviously when the wind picked up
Speaker 1: and the weather weather, you know, um, uh was able
Speaker 1: to move that ball a little bit. Some of it
Speaker 1: was uh, you know a little bit of the protection.
Speaker 1: A couple of issues early in the game. You saw
Speaker 1: Carson moving around, you know, guys were they they Baltimore
Speaker 1: had a nice little pick stunt with uh, their their
Speaker 1: front and caught us a couple of times and made
Speaker 1: Carson move and um. And but you know, once we
Speaker 1: were able to kind of get those kind of settled
Speaker 1: down on the sideline, then then you started seeing some
Speaker 1: of the deeper you know, short I say that it
Speaker 1: was intermediate throws, um, you know, to to Earth's and
Speaker 1: and a couple of couple of shots there, um to
Speaker 1: really get the kind of the ball moving. But a
Speaker 1: lot of it, to be honest with you, um, for
Speaker 1: half the game at least, it was a lot of
Speaker 1: weather you know involved. Now that you've better chance to
Speaker 1: go back and watch it, do you have any thought
Speaker 1: in terms of the play call in the two point
Speaker 1: conversion to maybe some clarity as to why it was
Speaker 1: Byrn Marshall and not you know, Ryan Matthews on the
Speaker 1: field at that point listen, Yeah, I mean there was
Speaker 1: there was zero in my mind, there was zero opportunity
Speaker 1: to run because what what we anticipated is what we
Speaker 1: got defensively. They they gapped out, they zero blitzed us.
Speaker 1: They there was not going to be a lane. It
Speaker 1: was going to be a one yard loss if we
Speaker 1: tried to run the football at that time, and in
Speaker 1: those situations, it's as I mentioned after the game, you know,
Speaker 1: as as a defensive coordinator, I mean you you, you go,
Speaker 1: you you you know, storm the castle and you know
Speaker 1: that's what they did. And uh, then you try to
Speaker 1: create the matchup one on one, which we had a
Speaker 1: good one on our slot receiver Jordan Matthews and and uh,
Speaker 1: just unfortunate the one extra guy I got his hand
Speaker 1: on the ball and tipped it. So you know, it
Speaker 1: wasn't it going to be a didn't matter who was
Speaker 1: in the backfield at the time, you know, the fact,
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter was we weren't going to
Speaker 1: run the ball in that situation with him not after
Speaker 1: Doesn't that kind of give it away a little bit
Speaker 1: more than if you have a rookie out there playing
Speaker 1: this first game. When you say that, I listen from
Speaker 1: a from a football coaching standpoint, It maybe from layman's terms,
Speaker 1: it might look the peer that way, but when you're
Speaker 1: when you're in the heat of the battle like that, Um,
Speaker 1: they're gonna do what they do. We're gonna do what
Speaker 1: we do. I know what we did the first two
Speaker 1: point conversion. It was in the first half of the
Speaker 1: game when really, I decided to go for two then
Speaker 1: because of the weather, and I didn't want to take
Speaker 1: points off the board necessarily with a potential missed extra point,
Speaker 1: you know, with the way we were kicking into the
Speaker 1: wind at that time. So that's a different that's a
Speaker 1: different situation, different scenario. This was a true guy to
Speaker 1: have a situation. And and you know we had our
Speaker 1: we had our best play at that time against against
Speaker 1: that defense. So you don't think the Ravens would have
Speaker 1: any any more notion that you're gonna throw the ball
Speaker 1: with a rookie playing in his first game at running back.
Speaker 1: Then they knew we were throwing the ball. Yeah, when
Speaker 1: you mentioned that Barber, you're not sure about him at
Speaker 1: left guard? Does seeing more Semalu factor into that decision
Speaker 1: at guard? You know it? Um it does a little bit.
Speaker 1: Again this week, it's gonna be tough. He does have
Speaker 1: the ankle sprain, and you know it's just gonna be
Speaker 1: a day to day with him to see where he's at.
Speaker 1: But you know, Isaac came out of this game, I
Speaker 1: mean playing he played played well. First first right tackle,
Speaker 1: star he played, He played extremely well, and and um,
Speaker 1: you know we got a great player, and Isaac and
Speaker 1: a versatile player. You know, they can play any of
Speaker 1: those positions now along the line. So um gives us
Speaker 1: a little more depth now on these last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: But he'll definitely factor in all of those lines. You
Speaker 1: had mentioned earlier that once the team was officially eliminated
Speaker 1: from playoff contention, you think about UM playing some more
Speaker 1: young guys and kind of seeing what you have. Is
Speaker 1: that the plan? Now? Will you try to see what
Speaker 1: you're having some younger guys in the last two games,
Speaker 1: we're playing all our young guys now, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: who are you referencing? Um? You know, if you look
Speaker 1: at defense, c J Smith or on offense, you haven't
Speaker 1: seen a lot of Bryce Trade And yeah, CJ has
Speaker 1: been active every week and played a lot of teams.
Speaker 1: Jalen Mills has been getting a lot of reps. You know,
Speaker 1: guys like Jalen Watkins. Um. You know, even though he's
Speaker 1: not a not a rookie, he's been playing quite a bit.
Speaker 1: You know. On offense, I guess you know Bryce Trade,
Speaker 1: Paul Turner, you know guys that have played this season. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the only one that's unfortunate is when Dale
Speaker 1: not getting not getting you know, some carries in the
Speaker 1: next two games. But for the most part, most of
Speaker 1: our young guys have played extensively throughout the season. But
Speaker 1: I would say that, uh, you know, we still we
Speaker 1: still want to win these next two games. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: And so that's our approach, and um you know we're
Speaker 1: gonna play. We're gonna play the best eleven you know,
Speaker 1: these next two weeks' report on Lane, what have you
Speaker 1: hard worries yet? Weight wise, conditioning wise? Um, well, again,
Speaker 1: I haven't seen him, so I can't. I can't really
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, Um yeah something, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know something that Isaac's hurt and Big V's coming
Speaker 1: off a knee injury, and Alan Barber's injured. So what
Speaker 1: else do I have left? Yeah? Sorry, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So if I'm just going Lane, you're the guy,
Speaker 1: I don't care if you're you know, X weight, I mean,
Speaker 1: you gotta play and listen, Lane, I'm sure you know
Speaker 1: he's an athlete, and uh, I'm sure he worked out
Speaker 1: and kept himself in shape and stayed you know, stayed
Speaker 1: relatively around. You know, he was about three eighteen three
Speaker 1: nineteen when he left us. So you know, expect to
Speaker 1: see him about that weight. I guess, uh later today.
Speaker 1: And you know, with the injury situation, you gotta go.
Speaker 1: So my percentage is yesterday too, the overtime. And how
Speaker 1: much have you come to look at or rely on that,
Speaker 1: you know, statistical analysis. You know, it's it's it's become
Speaker 1: it's it's something as the season's gone on. Um, obviously
Speaker 1: we've looked at it, and I looked at it more
Speaker 1: and more. You know, it's something that's a UM something
Speaker 1: you you're taking the consideration obviously at early in the season.
Speaker 1: You know, as I've mentioned before, on fourth downs and
Speaker 1: and going from you know, two point conversions and all
Speaker 1: that we understand you know, uh, all the situations that
Speaker 1: are you know, where you're at on a field defense,
Speaker 1: punt versus a field goal, all those things going to
Speaker 1: going to play, and UM we take into consideration to
Speaker 1: the UM. You know, you're on the road, you're the underdog.
Speaker 1: You know, what are the what are the what are
Speaker 1: the scenario what are the classics scenarios? And and uh
Speaker 1: and so you know I rely on those guys to
Speaker 1: to to you know, give me the right information and
Speaker 1: and UM, you know, it's like calling calling timeouts or
Speaker 1: challenge flags. We're getting all the information. It's part of
Speaker 1: our process that we talk about each week. And and um,
Speaker 1: you know, these guys are given given great information during
Speaker 1: the game and and uh you know. Um, and that's
Speaker 1: why that comment was made, you know, postgame the most
Speaker 1: important downs in the gaming in the league this season
Speaker 1: third most two punk versions? Is that important for you
Speaker 1: as a coach that have have have that aggressive major? Um?
Speaker 1: I think so, I you know, I, um, you know
Speaker 1: you want to stay aggressive. You want to trust your players,
Speaker 1: and that's what I've done and I feel like I've done,
Speaker 1: you know, this season. And uh, um it was no
Speaker 1: different yesterday. It was evident yesterday. Um. You know. And
Speaker 1: again it just comes down to to rely on a
Speaker 1: lot of times on on the information, the data that's
Speaker 1: that's given and and and your your chances for success,
Speaker 1: and you know a lot of factors go into that.
Speaker 1: But um, you don't want to necessarily be in that
Speaker 1: many fourth downs, you know. Um. And or if you're
Speaker 1: going for two a lot, it's uh, either because you're
Speaker 1: behind and you need the two points, or or sometimes
Speaker 1: you know, like in Pittsburgh's case, they sometimes they go
Speaker 1: for it early in the game and they want to
Speaker 1: get that eight to nothing score as opposed to a
Speaker 1: seven nothing score. So those are all things to consider necessarily, um,
Speaker 1: coming from any one person. It's things that we talk
Speaker 1: about in our analytical team. You know, they study all
Speaker 1: the numbers and they crunch all the numbers throughout the
Speaker 1: league and the percentages over the course of so many years,
Speaker 1: and and usually you can go back five years and
Speaker 1: get all the statistical data and and uh, you know
Speaker 1: what what is kind of you know, in your favor
Speaker 1: you know, as an offense, and then it's broken down
Speaker 1: by field position and the actual down and distance and
Speaker 1: where you are. So um, those are all things that
Speaker 1: we rehearse and practice and talk about during the week.
Speaker 1: Is you know, the previous five games, when he's an
Speaker 1: opportunity to drive, looks to the victory, you guys to
Speaker 1: call him short this one although thinking a victory, he
Speaker 1: did potentially score the game winning game time touchdown, I
Speaker 1: can got going for two. What what does it mean
Speaker 1: for him at least get one of those as the
Speaker 1: way during his rookie season, as opposed to let's say,
Speaker 1: you know, he didn't wasn't able to least lead you
Speaker 1: guys too, well, yeah, I mean it would, it would.
Speaker 1: These last couple of weeks have been great to have
Speaker 1: finished UM with a win, you know, in these last
Speaker 1: two weeks. And I just think it shows the one
Speaker 1: the resiliency of him and the and and the team
Speaker 1: you know overall. Uh, you know how how well the
Speaker 1: defense played at the end of that game yesterday with
Speaker 1: with Jordan Hicks turnover and then stopping them with the
Speaker 1: punt and you know, offensively taking the ball and going
Speaker 1: down and and and potentially you know, winning the game,
Speaker 1: getting us to with with within one. I think as
Speaker 1: a quarterback and a young quarterback, those are those are
Speaker 1: valuable experiences that you'll that you'll cherish and you'll remember
Speaker 1: and you'll lean on the rest of your career. UM.
Speaker 1: And and for the guys to see him do that
Speaker 1: just show was the leadership capability that he has to
Speaker 1: to lead the football team and put us in those
Speaker 1: in those situations last two drives. Just the way he
Speaker 1: was poised in a pocket, he commanded, you know, he
Speaker 1: was communicating in a loud stadium, loud environment, whether everything
Speaker 1: that could affect you as an offense was was in
Speaker 1: that you know, besides having you know, precipitation, there was um,
Speaker 1: everything was kind of against the offense because we were
Speaker 1: going into that wind and for him to be able
Speaker 1: to communicate and uh, you know standing there and deliver
Speaker 1: the football and do the things that that uh you know,
Speaker 1: we we put him through um and then eventually scramble
Speaker 1: and and you know, uh take on a really good
Speaker 1: safety Eric Weddle and and and you know make him
Speaker 1: miss and score the touchdown. I think is just uh
Speaker 1: just shows his grit and toughness and willingness to uh,
Speaker 1: you know, sacrifice himself for the team. You guys have
Speaker 1: you guys have one play of thirty yards or more
Speaker 1: than the less six games, and that was Paul Turner's
Speaker 1: forty one yard catch when you were down twenty six
Speaker 1: nothing in Cincinnati. What's preventing you guys from getting those
Speaker 1: big plays on offense? Well, Um, you know, the week
Speaker 1: before against Washington, we took a shot to Nelson. We
Speaker 1: got the past interference. It was a big you know,
Speaker 1: you're not going to get the game, but that was
Speaker 1: an opportunity there. You know, we've had some shots that
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, whether it whether it be protection or
Speaker 1: M Carson going somewhere else with the football. You know,
Speaker 1: all those things kind of factor in. You know, the
Speaker 1: one thing that M by design sometimes and not necessarily
Speaker 1: down the field, but but just designing shots for Carson
Speaker 1: play action pass has been and we'll always probably be
Speaker 1: one of carson strength and and for us as a
Speaker 1: staff to to be able to to design those fifteen
Speaker 1: to twenty yard completions, you know, catch and run and
Speaker 1: you know, make a guy miss and go thirty plus
Speaker 1: is is very beneficial. It's it's hard to complete a
Speaker 1: lot of those throws down the field because it takes
Speaker 1: a little more time. A lot of times, you know,
Speaker 1: protection you either have to go six or seven man
Speaker 1: to um. You know, throw the ball down the field.
Speaker 1: I don't mind throwing a slant and letting the guy
Speaker 1: run for twenty five yards. I mean, that's that's all
Speaker 1: part of it too. So it's a little bit of
Speaker 1: a little bit of everything. But something that will address
Speaker 1: in the offseason when we get a chance to evaluate
Speaker 1: our our our system and see how we can better
Speaker 1: improve that area. On the Rodney mccleoud play dog on
Speaker 1: the rushing touchdown, UM, I went back and looked at
Speaker 1: it this morning, and and uh, you know, I think
Speaker 1: as a safety, you know, he's always kind of prided
Speaker 1: himself and just you know, sticking his nose in there.
Speaker 1: I just think there was a situation where, um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of a one on one, one on one situation.
Speaker 1: And I get it from a player's standpoint too, that
Speaker 1: that you know, you're trying to maintain inside leverage. You
Speaker 1: don't want to get beat inside. Um. You know, I
Speaker 1: haven't talked to Rodney, so I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: if there was a an awareness, you know, where you
Speaker 1: are in the field type thing. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I think he would uh uh you know, he'd probably
Speaker 1: want that play over again to do um and uh
Speaker 1: and and he's listen, he's been a he's been a
Speaker 1: great part of our defense. He's been a you know,
Speaker 1: a steady, consistent player for US all season long. And
Speaker 1: and by no means there's one play gonna define him
Speaker 1: or or the way he's you know, the way he's
Speaker 1: played for US this season. Thanks guys,