Shane Steichen Media Availability : September 3

Shane Steichen Media Availability : September 3

All right, I’ll start off. Um, obviously super excited to kick week one off uh at home uh against the Dolphins. Uh I know it’s going to be electric atmosphere in there with our fans and honoring Mr. Ers in the Ring of Honor is going to be special. So, uh honor him this season, put in the work, uh the preparation, have a great week of practice and excited. I know our guys are excited, you know, for this opportunity uh come Sunday at 1 o’clock. Sean, I know you talked about it before, but Jim Mercy giving you your first opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. What does that mean to you? The word that comes to mind when I think about it is just gratitude. Um, just thankful. You know what I mean? Anytime, you know, you’re in this league, you never take it for granted. It’s a blessing to be a part of this thing. And for him to, you know, give me the opportunity to be here and not only me, but every single person that’s in this building, um, says a lot about, you know, who he is, um, just like we always talk about the generosity and the person he is and how he treated people the right way, uh, consistently and was, it’s always pulling and had everyone’s back. Um, so to honor him this season will be big for us. Do you do you do something to ackn I mean you guys are playing the Dolphins, you have to worry about the Dolphins. Do you do something to acknowledge the Ring of Honor and obviously the team’s already been through just everything? Yeah, we have some stuff that you guys will see here uh coming out, but uh yeah, definitely we’re going to honor them with a whole bunch of different things this year for sure. This your third year as a play caller. Do you feel any differently entering this year? Like do you feel like things more open for you with this squad? Yeah, I think with anything as a play caller, obviously you try to attack the defense any way you can and put our guys in position to make plays. And obviously having a feel for the game, I think is a big part of play calling. Uh when to call certain things from a down and distance standpoint, run pass. Um obviously we have tendencies as play callers just like defensive coordinators have tendencies. So you know, you obviously you want to try and hit it at the right time on certain things. um but feel really confident um in our guys abilities to go make plays and obviously it’s our job to put those guys in position to go make those plays. When you don’t have film on the Dolphins defense this year, how well how big is that challenge building a game plan and figuring out where to attack and everything? Well, I think schematically um looking at their defense, I think they do a good job. I got a lot of respect for their D coordinator and what he’s done um there and obviously him being in Baltimore. Um I think he does a good job of mixing things up on the back end. You know, they got good rushers. Obviously, they signed Jude on. Um Chubb’s been there. Uh good rusher. Phillips, I know he’s had some injuries, but when he’s healthy, he’s going pretty good. And Chop Robinson’s a hell of a player, too. And then inside, you know, obviously with Syler, he’s a veteran player that’s really good. And Jones, and they got Grant, you know, from Michigan. So, that Dline’s really solid. So, we got to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage, but from a schematic standpoint, obviously, you know, him being there, you know, with his scheme and how he does things. Um, it’s really just like the personnel, some of those guys coming back. Shane, as a head coach, not just a player, where do you feel like you needed to grow coming into year three? Um, I think just everything like you you learn as you go, right? Some some things you learn um and you want to tweak. Um, you know, just like even this morning in the team meeting, just being more precise on how we’re going to win the game. You know, I always talk about how to win the game, but it’s like, hey, here are the main things, right? You can have like six or seven things, but here are the three things that we need to do on offense and defense and special teams to win the game. Uh, and be very clear and direct in that. Um, and like I said, the messaging’s got to be on point every single week on how we need to win the game. Um, and continue to be a leader, right? I always talk about leadership. It’s an inspire, empower, and guide. Uh, and that’s my job as a head coach. One of those three things you got to do on offense. You know, I’m not going to tell you that because I’m telling the Dolphins. Good opportunity for Daniel QB1 for you guys. What do you What do you hope to see from your quarterback this week? You know, his with him. I I’m excited for his opportunity. Stay steady, find completions, keep us on track, you know what I mean? And at the at that position, that’s what it is. It’s finding completions, moving the football, not making bad plays worse. Um, and I talk about the operation. and feel very confident in his operation at the line of scrimmage, uh, getting us in and out of the right plays and, uh, I know the team feels confident in that as well. What sticks out to you about the way he sees football? That’s good. I think from a cerebral standpoint, just talking to him, when you talk to him in the meeting rooms, when you talk to him on the practice field, he sees things and there’s always little side discussions like, “Hey, if I see this, hey, I might get to this cuz there’s no one covering that guy.” You know what I mean? And obviously that comes with experience and uh but those conversations that I’ve had with them and that he’s had with his teammates um have been really solid. So I think that’s going to pay dividends for us. We talked a lot about pre- snap stuff, the operational stuff, just postnap like playing the actual game, throwing the ball. What stands out to you about his ability to make those? Yeah, I think obviously you got to see, you know, the defense, the shell coverage, how they’re rotating, all those different things. And that comes with a lot of film study um that he puts in. So, I think seeing the rotation, you know, middlefield closed, middle field open, seeing how the defense is playing it. Um, and then you go from there and then you make your throws off this. Obviously, you have your reads, but you got to have a little feel to it, too, on, you know, how guys are playing, whether they’re playing tight coverage, man, or spot drop zone, all those different things. Um, you know, you got to have good feel for that. Shane, it’s it’s a week toe league. We always talk about that, but is there any symbolism to winning week one? Like, is that a tone setter at all? Yeah, I think so. I think it’s big. You know, we obviously want to win week one. Um, obviously we want to, you know, break that streak that we’ve had here for a long time. So, I think it’s important for all teams to start off 1 and0. Um, and I just told the guys too, start fast and finish strong. I talked about creating edge and, uh, you know, we got to play with an edge, you know, come Sunday. When you say stay on track or keep us on track with Daniel, what kind of altered your thinking of like, all right, it’s not just going to be the home run hitter, quarterback, the self creator. It’s going to be more of the methodical keep us on track. Yeah, I think with that is just like when I think about keeping on track, it’s like, hey, you know, it could be, you know, whatever first and 10 and we have a shot called and it’s not there and he gets it, you know, do a check down or whatever and gets us to second and two instead, you know, instead of being in second and 10 uh in those passing situations. So, that’s that’s keeping us on track, finding those easy completions, too. You’ve been really high obviously on Daniel’s cerebral. You said a lot. Yeah. Maybe more focus than anything else. I don’t hear you talk a lot about how the ball look coming out of his hand. How’s he just physically? How’s he? Yeah, great. Um, he throws with great touch, uh, anticipation. Uh, seeing that through training camp, obviously seen it the last couple weeks since we’ve been back here. Um, like I said, he finds completions and, uh, I think that’s a big part of this thing. Um, is, you know, knowing how to throw it, when to throw it, and where to throw it. And I think he’s done a really nice job of that. One quarterback who find completions better than Tua on the other side of the ball. what do you have to do to limit what they do just kind of methodically working the ball downfield? Yeah, no question. I think obviously it starts, you know, the quarterback does a great job of getting the ball in his hands very quick. Um, he throws the spots and Wadd and Tyreek are really good players. Um, so obviously having a plan for those guys and the running back’s a good player. Um, I think they do a good job with a lot of the things they do on offense. So, we just got to be on our P’s and Q’s um, with all the stuff that they do and make sure we’re detail oriented going into this game. How big will it be for Lee’s development to have Daniel specifically as the quarterback? Yeah, I think it’ll be good. Obviously, there could be good communication between those two guys, which I’ve seen obviously through training camp and just how they talk about protections and certain things and getting to the right calls and the right checks. So, I think it’ll be good for Bour. How do you uh evaluate Daniel as a runner? I know we talked a lot about his passing, which is obviously important, but there’s an other element, too. I’m reminded that when he’s had successful lead Yeah. No, I think he’s a sneaky runner. I think sometimes obviously you know when he was in New York you know some of those zone read things he did uh were very beneficial for him and I think there’s a time and a place for that um you know when the opportunity presents itself but I think he does a good job and knowing you know when to pull it and whatever that may be and within the scheme um but I think like I said I think he’s averaged like 4.6 six yards a carry in his career. So, um he he can run the football. Um and that’s another element to it. When a guy is is good at finding, like you were saying earlier, you know, if this happens, this guy’s going to be open back here. What does that say about, you know, how they play and how how they um kind of keep all that information in the right spots? Um I think it’s just knowing, you know, what the defense is doing, you know, at all times. Obviously, you’ll get tricked every once in a while. That’s part of football. Um, but like I said, when the when the coverage picture changes, um, just knowing where to go to with the football, like we may have reads and it’s, hey, we’re one, two, three, check down, but it’s like, I don’t know, that guy’s way off over here and no one’s covering that guy and I’m going to throw it to that guy. And that’s just having a feel and seeing the game. Your history in the league, do you notice week one trends at all? Like, I don’t know, more penalties, uh, consistency with Yeah. No, that’s a good question. I think too, week one, you know, some teams, I don’t know, it’s different, right? I mean, some teams can come out firing, some teams start off a little slow. I mean, it’s I think there’s a little mix of all that. Um, people trying to find out, you know, who they are early. Um, but I don’t have anything, you know, real tendencies there. Do you get much based on it earlier with the play making that Miami has just over the years with with Mike there? You guys are have had some explosive plays too over the years. Can imagine heading into week one if it gets into a situation where it’s big play after big play keeps happening. Do you feel comfortable staying with that? And on the other side, because it is week one, if it becomes one of those, let’s ride this thing out. You got to feel pretty good about that as well. Yeah, I think so, too. I think it’s I always say like if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Like if you’re, you know, getting, you know, explosive plays, keep going after them. And same thing, you know, um, run game, pass game, whatever that may be, situational stuff. Um, and we go from there. Do you get a sense from Daniel that this is an opportunity to I don’t prove something, but he’s a competitive guy. New opportunity here in Indianapolis to show that he can still play. Yeah, absolutely. A new environment, new opportunity for him uh to go out and prove it. You know what I mean? He’s had success in this league. He’s had his ups and down like I said, but it’s a great opportunity for him on Sunday um in this season to go prove

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