Brian Schottenheimer: It’s About More than Just Micah | Press Conference

Brian Schottenheimer: It’s About More than Just Micah | Press Conference

Are you ready? I’m trying. I’m trying to get there. Okay. Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News. Uh remember when you traded Michael Parsons, you said you addressed the team now on the return. Will you talk to them about the anticipation and all those kinds of things? No. Um again, they, you know, they’re all excited to see Micah. Like I said, I’m excited to see Micah before the game. uh maybe not on the field uh because he’s such a good player, but uh no, I mean the guys know Mike is coming back. It’d be great to see him and uh but uh no, it’s a normal week, another champ show opportunity. What would you say to when people say without him, your defense has not been the same. It’s not been as good. Uh I would say that, you know, we have not been um playing to the standard we want to play to, but if we had Micah, you can’t predict that we’d be playing any better. you know, you can’t predict we’d be playing any any better, any worse. Uh are you three and 0? Are you 0 and three? You don’t know. I mean, those are projections. So, um again, we’re focused on the things that we need to get better at. We realize we got to get more uh pressure on the quarterback, but we also have to cover and communicate better and uh those things don’t change and they’re not going to change. When we play well, they’re not going to change, you know, and so um our job as coaches is always look for solutions. when you’re doing things poorly and when you’re doing things well, you find different and better ways to sustain that success. So, uh, process never changes. Client Hill DLLS Cowboys, uh, we talked yesterday, uh, Monday about solutions and possible lineup changes, roster changes. Have you made any of those decisions yet? We’ve started the process. Uh, we’ve had some, uh, discussions. Um, you know, but part of those discussions and decisions will be based off how practice goes. So, um you know um we’ll see how today goes. Good padded practice uh today. Another practice tomorrow obviously before we have the final dress rehearsal on Friday. But um yes, we’ve had those discussions. Uh no, I’m not going to share those with you. Um but that the reason I’m not sharing them is because they’re not finalized until we get through this week of practice and finalize Friday afternoon. Hey, yeah, let’s let’s do this. Let’s make this move. And um uh but uh they’ll there’ll be some things that feel a little different to the guys just from a rotation standpoint. You talk about the loss of Tyler Booker, you know, and and the plans to replace the TJ Bass. So you look at some other guys. Yeah. Uh again, you know, Book’s been playing well. He’s been growing. Um again, you know, the biggest thing for a young rookie like that is just the the leadership that he brings. And uh you know, there’ll be guys that have to step up in that regard, but uh we’ll try a few guys over there. TJ will get some shots added, some ops. You know, I got Trevor Keegan who we’re excited about. Hakee Den, he’s got some flex, but uh you know, we’ll see how those guys compete, but um you know, yeah, tough break for us. Brian, Todd Archer with ESPN. Does it help that your tackles have practiced against Micah the last, you know, couple years with Gayton and Steel and getting ready for a guy like this? Uh, I mean, I think at the end of the day, our guys all know Micah and again, I hope um because they they know him, but guess what? He knows us and he knows, you know, he knows the way they set. So, look, Mike is a great player. Mike is going to make plays. I I’ll just put that out there. Like, Mike is going to make plays. Does he get a sack? I hope not, but he might. He’s pretty good. Um, but uh I think our guys will go in knowing we’ve got a good plan. Uh it takes more than one guy to block Micah, but let’s not forget Rashan Gary’s a hell of a rusher, too. I mean, this is a defense that’s got incredible speed with Cooper uh and Walker and Micah and Rashan. And I mean, they’re they’re deep and they’re fast. And so, uh our ability to have success against the Packers defense will be about a whole lot more than just Micah. uh because Mike is a great player, but just adding Micah to the mix doesn’t negate the fact that they’ve had really good players there before Micah got there. And without CD uh likely this week, how much does it fall on Dak to elevate guys even more around him in your mind? Uh you know, I think, you know, Dak Dak has to worry about Dak. Um, you know, we’ve got a good plan for how we try to maneuver the personnel groupings, Todd, but uh it’s hard to replace CD, you know, and uh but injuries are part of the game and you know, they’re probably going to be out there tackle, you know, and so you lose players and next man up, you move up and well, the one thing it’s never can be and never will be is an excuse. Uh we’re good enough to beat the Packers without CD and Book and the guys that we could be missing, but the only way you do that is if you play well and you execute. And if you don’t, you put yourself in in a tough spot. So, we have to do that and that starts with today’s practice. John Machoto with the athletic. Uh what’s the plan this week for Jade Deb and Clowny? Will he be a full go and and be ready to go for Sunday? Again, not going to put that timet yet, uh John, but again, he’ll work more. You know, this is the second week. He’s more comfortable with the things we’re trying to do. Uh we’re working to get him active, but we’ll see. Um there’s the numbers game and things that you have to look at. Obviously, we’ve got to make some decisions about IR. Do we put somebody to IR? Do we not? We don’t have to make that decision today. We’re not going to make that decision probably today. Um, got to get through a day or two, but Javian’s doing everything and trending towards playing. Now, that being said, let’s see how today’s practice goes. Let’s see how this week of prep goes. Let’s see how he is in the meetings. Let’s see how he’s retaining uh the information. Uh, but uh the hope would be to get him out there, and if we can, we will. And if we can’t, we won’t. You obviously have a lot on your plate as the head coach and offensive play caller, but when there’s defensive issues like this the last couple of weeks, is there anything about your schedule or anything that you do that changes to where maybe you are looking maybe some more at the defense than you normally would be? Um, you know, I think, you know, I always try to spend some time with the guys. I always watch a game with them. Uh, I’m very involved on game day with ideas and and suggestions and I’m on top of the issues that come up. Um, I had some really good conversations with Flu. That’s no different this week. Uh Floose gets the fact that we need to play better. You know, he’s, you know, very honest. You know, he’s he’s not been through this before, you know, and and had, you know, a string of two games like this where you’re just kind of, you know, hurting yourself and you’re having self-inflicted wounds and you’re doing some of it as a coaching staff and some of it as players. And, um, you know, part of that is, okay, well, let’s look at it. Let’s talk about it. Had some great, you know, feedback with the defensive staff and we’ve got a good plan in place. Um, you know, we’re going to simplify a few things. Like I said the other day on Monday, I mean, doesn’t mean we’re going to play one front, one coverage. Uh, but, uh, you know, we are going to simplify some things in a good way. And, you know, we’ve looked very closely at what we do well. There’s things that we do well and, um, we have to do more of those. And, uh, that’s what we’re kind of looking at. And, again, we’ll, uh, implement a lot of stuff today. What would you say you guys are doing well on defense? Um, you know, I would say we’ve had uh stopping the run would be the first thing that jumps out. You know, you had a guy like Kenny Clark that was important to us. You know, you guys know that going back to the trade. Uh I think we’ve forced some third down and longs. Uh so we’ve won some on first uh down. Uh the areas that we’re struggling um would be obviously getting off the field on third down. I think we’re worst in the league at that. That needs to get better. It will get better. Uh and then the turnovers have to come. We have to generate takeaways. Momentum building plays um are really important when you play this style of defense and you play the way we want to play as a football team in terms of running the football as an offense. You know, stopping the run on defense, taking the ball away and protecting the football. Obviously, the standard of protecting the football has not been good enough either. Nick, Nick Harris, Fourstar Telegram. in 2022 when you had that role with Dan Quinn, working with him, using the opponent’s offensive game plan and scheme to figure out the weaknesses with the Cowboys defense. Is there anything you can draw from that experience to help in game planning against Micah Parsons this week? I mean, I think I know Micah pretty well. Um, you know, they move him around a lot, which is great. Um, I’m not going to give away our game plan for Micah, but you know, we’ll pay a lot of attention to Micah, but like I said, you know, um, they’ve got other really good players as well. Um Mike is a Mike can be dominant, you know, and we know that. But um we’re going to hit him, you know, we’re going to put multiple people on him and uh you know what, he’s uh it’s going to be a a long day for for us and the guys trying to block him because he’s that talented. But it’s not just about Micah. It’s about their entire defense. But really, it’s about us. It’s about us controlling what we control. and uh those guys out there on defense, including Micah, Rashan, Gary, and those guys, they’re great, great players, man. But if we get caught up too much on them, then you lose focus on what really matters, which is your execution. Is there a plan today for uh yeah, see if we can work him back in today. It’d be good day to get him out there and see how he uh how he does. But I think he’s trending towards playing hopefully. And uh um let’s see how today goes. Tommy Tommy, Dallas Cowboys.com. Jordan Love, where have you seen him kind of take the next steps as a starter since I don’t want to remember 2023, but since since you guys last saw him? He looked pretty good in 2023. Uh that last game I saw him play. Um you know, I think the command of it, you know, he’s been in the system now for a while. Um you see him getting through progressions. You see him, you know, knowing where everybody is, checking the ball down. The guy’s really an excellent passer. Um but I just think, you know, you see a mastery in the system a little bit. you know, really good at the play action stuff. They obviously run the ball very well because of of the back. Josh is a great player and um I I I I like what they do. I think what they’re doing with Jordan, the system is is excellent. Um because they can run the ball, but the play passes are off are excellent off of it. And um I just see a guy that’s that’s maturing. You see his eyes move, his progression. He’s balancing the defense in zone. He does a good job of moving people to the right knowing he wants to go back to his left. Um, and for a guy that loves watching quarterback play, it’s uh it’s been fun for me to to watch his evolution. Gareth Podell, CBS Sports. Brian, you talked about in week one, you showed CD your call sheet. It was the CD plays, then the George Pickins plays. Is it as simple with CD trending toward not playing that all the Pickkins plays get pushed to the top of the call sheet where CDs were? Um, well, we add more rows for more guys. You know, Fergie’s gonna have a big section this week. You know, Fergie’s playing really well right now. I think I really like the way all of our tight ends are playing. Um Jaylen Tolbert’s a guy that, you know, you guys all know led us in touchdowns last year with seven touchdowns. He’ll have to step up if Sidi doesn’t play. Um Turpp will have his, but um you know, George is always going to be a focal part of what we’re doing whether Sidi’s out there or not. And uh that really doesn’t change. I would say George’s role doesn’t really change. It’s more of some of the other guys around him that will change. How do you feel like George’s onfield relationship with Dak has progressed and where it’s at and three weeks into the season? No, I think it’s great. I think those guys have a great relationship. I think they talk all the time. Um, you know, and I couldn’t ask for more. Skyler Skyler Dix went the AP. Can’t imagine that training camp you were thinking you’d be game planning against Michael Parsons. How do you reflect on the Micah saga and and how weird is it to be in this week where you’re game planning against him? Um, you know, I really haven’t thought about Skyler. That’s a it’s a good question. I mean, you really don’t have time to think about it. You know, it’s just, you know, it’s like we play Micah this week in the Green Bay Packers and this next week we play Kenan Williams and, you know, I mean, like it’s like, you know, that’s what this league is about, you know, and um, you know, so you really don’t take the time to think about it. Like if you truly do believe, which I truly do believe that each week is its own week and you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low, then I literally haven’t spent a lot of time going, man, can’t believe we’re playing Micah this week. It’s like, damn, who’s number one? He’s really good. You know, he’s fast. Wow. You don’t do that. You just, okay, he’s a good player, and oh, who’s 52 or Sean Gary? He’s really good. So, it’s each week you have to separate that. And that I think that’s where teams have success is when they’re able to do that. you compartmentalize and you focus and you say, “Okay, who we got to stop this week.” Well, the list is pretty long in Green Bay on defense and on offense with the weapons that they have and the quarterback and then next week the Jets present a different problem and then whoever we play next, maybe Carolina, whoever it is, I don’t even know. Um, you have the same issues. So, I don’t I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about that. And you’ve said that a couple of times after just another week. Was your dad kind of an influence on that when you sort of watched him in the high-profile weeks? Were there other guys that you kind of observed when it was a high-profile game and how they kind of treated the week? Well, I appreciate you bringing that up. Uh, yesterday was his birthday, so I love you, Dad. I know you’re looking down on me. Um, but um, yeah, he was he was that way. He was very much a theme of the week guy. I don’t think I’m as much of a theme of the week guy. He had Raider week and he had different things that he would talk about. Um, but he was very matterof fact. And I actually used one of his things today. I said, you know, to the guys in team meeting, I said, “Our goal this week is to go 1 and0, and it’s really your goal every week, but like you can’t look back on Chicago. You can’t look back on the Giants. The goal is to go one and0 this week.” Well, how do you do that? Well, you focus on today’s meeting, then you focus on today’s practice. You pay attention to details. But, um, I think that was a strength of his, the fact that he was going to I mean, he’d put his blinders on, man, and he’d like even, you know, when I was a kid, he’d come home and it’d be, you know, whatever, 10:30 at night or whatever, and he’d be in the zone and I’d be like, “Dad, dad,” and he’d be, “Oh, yeah, sorry, sorry, sorry.” You know, I mean, that’s what that’s what happens to us because uh we just uh we get going and uh your mind doesn’t stop. Joe Hoy, Dallas Morning News. Building off the scouting mic question, obviously you know him. Do you when you turn on the film say, “Hey, I’m going to wipe the slate clean and just see what the film says or do you kind of build up what you know about him and kind of pair that with what you see on film?” Uh, it’s a good question. Uh, no. I mean, I think, you know, knowing Mike, it keeps you up even more at night because I’ve seen him do things that I haven’t seen him do yet in Green Bay. It means it’s in there. I know he has it. I know he has those tools. Um, but u like I said, man, I can’t wait to see Mike. Uh, I really I really can’t. I I really um they’ve been a huge part of this organization and um just uh be great to see him before the game kicks off and then hopefully after the game, you know, you guys have been running the ball well and I know game situation, score time down and distance can affect play calling, but is there an element of maybe perseverance where say, “Hey, like you know, I know this situation might say, you know, we probably should pass the ball a little bit more, but we’re running the ball well.” Is there an element of perseverance when it comes to that? Maybe you invoke. Yeah, I mean I would say last week I mean we made the decision uh when they finally made it 31 to 14 and um I think it was early in the fourth quarter maybe right after the interception we knew we had to go. That’s the word I would use. You know we had to go. I mean like you got to speed the game up. You can’t you know you need possessions. You know you need three you’re down three scores. You got to go. And so it’s not how you want to play it. But if you wait too late then you’re never going to have a chance to do the things you do. It’s a fine line. um it’s not what you want to do, but at that point I think it was the right thing and uh we were close in a few situations. It would have been great to get a touchdown in there and make them have to kind of play and um but it’s it’s a decision that you kind of have to do but to me you can’t be half in half out. You got to be like all right we’re going to go or yeah let’s take it one more series and I’ve been on both sides of those where it works and then where it doesn’t. Sad use of the athletic Brian um you spokely about Conor Lipkkey, he has limited offensive snaps so far this season. What have you seen from him in terms of his abilities and how is he best used in the offense? Yeah. Um, number one, his ability is amazing. You guys know I talk about him all the time very glowingly. Um, he is just the perfect Swiss pocket knife, if you will. He can play fullback, he can run the ball. Um, he can play tight end for us. Uh, but we also have a couple very good young tight ends that we like as well. And um the thing that doesn’t get talked about with Hunter is when he’s not playing 20 snaps for us, 25 snaps for us, which quite honestly, he probably won’t play that many snaps for us. You know, I mean, him playing 20 snaps is probably a good number for him that you’d want to get for him in a 70play game. He’s also playing 30, 28 to 35 plays on special teams. So, the value of Hunter Lepkkey is that that there’s nothing he can’t do. He ensures you of whatever you ask him to do, he’s going to do it at a high level. And that’s where the confidence comes in in Hunter. And you spent a lot of time throughout the offseason establishing relationships with in various ways this week coming off of that loss. Have you seen that manifest itself and and kind of pay off the way that you’ve kind of approached the job? Um, I think so. I think our guys are in a good spot. you know, I mean, I, you know, this is not going to be the last adversity we deal with this year. And, um, I do believe that that the culture and the strength of the culture that we have here is what’s going to allow us when the next setback happens to overcome. There’s a belief in this locker room in one another. There’s a belief in the brotherhood. There’s a belief in the fact that we do love and care about one another and we will lay it on the line out there for us to have success. And that will pay dividends. Is it going to be this week? I don’t know. I think our guys are in a good spot. You know, usually on Monday, you come in, you grade the film, and you know, by the time they get back in there on Wednesday, they’re ready to go knowing that there’s a new op. Sydney, Sydney Staples, teacher T Sports, coach, it’s only week four, and yes, this game is getting a lot of media attention, but does the outcome of a game this early on in the season, do you think it’ll have an impact on what the following weeks will look like? How much does it play into that? Uh, I don’t think so. I mean, it’s a big game because it’s the next game. uh the media and the fans want to build it up because of Micah coming back and I understand that. I mean, I’m not I’m not naive enough to think that people don’t want to talk about that. Um but it’s just another opportunity. It’s another chance for us to go out and play well. We did not play well enough against Chicago to beat them. So, we lost. We found a way to play well enough at the right times against the Giants and we beat them. And then Philadelphia, we had them where we kind of wanted them and then we didn’t finish it. But you literally take each game one at a time and you say, “Okay, we have to play well. Are we gonna win this game?” I hope. I expect. But again, I’m never going to be the guy, oh, this is a must-win game. You have to do that. They’re all must wins. They are all must wins. But the last time a team went undefeated was 1972. Did I get that right? Yes. That’s the last time it ever happened. and it’s all about finding a way to qualify for the playoffs and getting in the tournament and learning how to win. You talked about maintaining focus and you just mentioned just a lot of noise coming around into this week. Um, can you just tell me like kind of what that message is to the team to just kind of block out all that periphery noise and kind of maintain focus on just this one? Yeah, it’s a good question. I mean, basically we always try to focus on us. Like when we do our scouting report onto the Packers, you know, I don’t go deep into, okay, Matt Laflur did a coach whatever, been there seven years, you know, blah blah bloom. Okay, offensively, this why I mean the focus should be on us. It should be on Dak Prescott, Javvante Williams, Kenny Clark, Kenneth Murray. Uh, we’re playing cover three, we’re playing cover two, we’re going to play run zone scheme right, zone scheme left, whatever those things are. Um because if you truly believe it’s about you and your execution is what’s going to matter and the opponent is out there to give you resistance, which I do, then you should spend more time worrying about yourself, knowing enough about the opponent that um uh they’re able to go out there and and understand this is how our jobs might change based off of the opponent that we’re playing. All righty. All right. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Yeah.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer shares the team’s mentality on Micah Parsons returning to face off against the Cowboys, game planning for him and the rest of Green Bay’s talented roster, players stepping up in place of Tyler Booker and CeeDee Lamb, if we can expect Jadeveon Clowney to play, and more.

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