Kevin O’Connell: I Love The Fight At The End But Not Good Enough To Win Overall

Kevin O’Connell: I Love The Fight At The End But Not Good Enough To Win Overall

Uh we knew coming into the game uh that this team uh had won all their games by winning the turnover margin and we lost that. Um two to zero and and did a lot of things that did a lot of things as a football team to try to battle and continue to overcome uh the adversity that that we kind of faced in many cases, you know, caused by ourselves and and just some certain aspects of the game today. um proud of the way they competed, but uh not good enough to win overall and I love the fight to get the lead at the end and they made a play uh to get the ball in field goal range on the kickoff return. Um and and they made that play which ended up being a winning play in a game that was uh quite honestly something that uh you know we we did a lot of the things that we talked about not doing. Um, and the main thing being the turnovers and got to take a look at them obviously, but uh, I was proud of the way we ran the ball, you know, tried to stick with it as much as we could. Ended up with a couple of two-minute drives there, um, where we had to go and maybe became one-dimensional, but for the most part, the guys up front felt like we protected. Um, think we had we limited the negatives for the most part. Uh, we just felt like we were a play away all day. just JJ’s accuracy, I guess. How did you evaluate that throughout the game? You know, obviously, um, you feel certain things when you’re, you know, when you’re calling things, seeing coverages kind of express themselves, um, and you think maybe there’s, you know, some ops out there, but I always have to, uh, really evaluate it from a standpoint of of of what it looked like on the tape and if there were, um, it felt like protection wise, outside of a few plays I can think of, um, you know, we tried to keep them clean. And I like the protection plan we had against some looks that we that have caused some people problems on some of those third downs. Um and then overall just, you know, felt like we were one or two pitching catches away um from from maybe, you know, having a little bit different dynamic to the game throughout. So, uh, I don’t want to pinpoint one particular area, but, um, yeah, there was there were some plays you think of, uh, as you kind of roll through the game from, you know, start to finish, but I also thought there were some plays we could have made for him, um, as well. and we just got to, you know, stay the course and continue to coach the principles that we believe in wholeheartedly and and uh continue to try to pave the path for improvement and and like it starts with the pitching and catching and and how we’re putting things together and trying to make it, you know, as as quarterback friendly as we can while still, you know, being able to run the football and and stay efficient throughout the day. Kevin, how hard is that where you have to give him the time to just progress through what he needs to progress, but going into that locker room after that game where, you know, the final margin was one play this week either. Yeah, and that’s what I told our team. Um, we’ve learned some uh we’ve learned some hard lessons on that margin, you know, that that razor thin margin of what these games come down to. Uh, you know, I I think there’s a lot of things whether that field goal goes through at the end or not that, uh, for us to become the team we want to be. Um, we’ve got to work towards those things in all three phases. And, um, one thing I know for sure is this team, uh, you know, I gathered them up at the end and and had every eyeball and every guy in that in that circle. And we’ve got great leadership and we’ve got great fight. and just the examples of our practice weeks and what we’ve felt like coming out of our practice weeks into these games with a lot of confidence because of the work that gets put in. Um, that’s exactly what we’re going to keep doing. It started to look like it just was snowballing on JJ, the incompletions, the wild throws. What were you seeing on the sideline as you talked to him in between series? Yeah, it was uh you know, just a couple of those plays, you know, he he was he was frustrated and I just I just kept telling him, you know, feet and eyes, feet and eyes and and the and the things that we saw throughout the week on the practice field, uh you know, make it about that and and I thought he did some nice things, you know, checking the ball down a couple times. Yeah, we might have, you know, missed some chances down the field in the play pass game or missed some chances, you know, maybe to convert on some third downs and get a new set of downs and can continue with the rhythm, but it’s just about the next play in that moment. You can’t. You’re obviously coaching principles and I know Josh is coaching u you know footwork and technique and I’m trying to call things that I feel will have the best chance to give him rhythm throws but uh you know at the same time just find different types of throws that I know he I’ve seen you know him hit and start stacking them. And then um I will say I was really proud of the way he finished uh that drive uh throwing throwing some uh completions. you know, the fourth down, you know, they brought a a kind of different kind of zero than than what we had saw. He sped it up to Addison and then we were able to kind of finish that drive for a touchdown. Um, yeah. So, there’s there’s going to be, you know, with a with a young quarterback, there’s going to be a lot of things that we’ll uh we’ll pinpoint and continue to highlight and tie that preparation throughout the week and our plans to u you know, what he does well and and continue to coach the things that uh where we feel the emphasis needs to be on. But, um, it’s part of the the young QB journey. It just results like today and especially when you’re able to kind of fight through it all, get the lead. Uh, you would love to be making a lot of those growth coaching points and development coaching points with a one-point win, but credit the Bears for getting it done in the end. You only had just the one false start, but it goes from third and two to third and seven at a kind of a point where you third and two would have been good for you. Yeah. U, does that change your call? Do you remember like what cuz I think he threw kind of wild high. Uh I think it was it did not change the call. Um other than the fact that um you know the the cadence changed a little bit you know you know we were on a smooth quick cadence you know which uh in a lot of ways is essentially like walking up to the line of scrimmage and saying set hut. um not to give all of our information out there, but um that’s what you know uh there’s there’s teams at different levels of football uh that uh are that that run that cadence and and uh we in a big moment didn’t uh didn’t execute that. Uh it looked like our tackles got off the ball on the cadence and whether it was just not loud enough or whatever it was um it looked like we were navigating our way through the day without any of them after the work that had been put in. So that was very frustrating. Kevin, you mentioned the young quarterback journey and just what is the balance for you right now trying to manage that while also just the the result the final result. Yeah, it’s it’s there, you know, what’s uh what’s best for the young quarterback, what’s best for our offense, what’s best for the team. Uh that’s my job to manage all those things and I’ve got to do a better job of that. What was your thought process today on that on that balance? Obviously, I think it’s 16 to three at some point there and he’s really scuffling and I mean I know you want to win the game too. So like how do you kind of decide okay he’s going to keep going or are we going to Yeah. you know, it’s all those things you’re you’re kind of working through. Um, knowing that uh, you know, I think when we got that that big- time return from from Miles, you know, to score, you know, I ran it two times, you know, directly off of that sudden change, which is, uh, which is unique, you know, if you’re if you’re looking back over the the catalog over the years, but our guys responded and put the ball in the end zone. So, uh, you know, I liked I like the fact of how our early downs matched with how we wanted to play the game. We didn’t have ne I think we I think we had one the one pre- snap that that Mark was referencing and then I think we had maybe one negative play all day. I can’t I can’t remember too many times where um I was kind of getting out of the rhythm of what we wanted to get to and I think that’s where some of the explosive plays chances uh maybe presented themselves and uh what you know when you can hit one or two of those and and we did we you know we married up a couple things and hit some play pass uh just you know had a few more opportunities and um you know we didn’t take advantage of them and uh there will be tremendous growth opportunities from this tape uh for our whole team. It’s not just our young quarterback for our whole team, but it’s week 11 and, you know, the uh the division games and the home games and those things that are so important, you know, make you have to manage all those things to try to just show up here today and try to go one and0. And that’s not just at the start of the game, that’s throughout. It’s the second half when you’re trying to navigate your way to just get in the lead. And then uh you know, there was a great feeling there when we had it, but like I said, credit them for finding a way to win the game. put a finer point on it. Is there a level of performance that he would get would need to get to for you to consider whether he’s just to be replaced in the game? Yeah, I don’t I’m not going to get into any of that right now. Can you do you see a theme with any of the drops? Like how much Sorry, I can’t hear you. theme with any of the drops? Like is any of that tied to just passing game rhythm you feel like in terms of timing? No, I mean, um, like I said, I would have to go back and look at it like what we’re deeming, you know, a true drop versus, you know, are the guys having to work, you know, to make frame, you know, catches consistently outside the frame of their body. I mean, I thought some of some of our best completions of the day, um, you know, were were wellthrown footballs and, um, guys made some plays for him as well. you know, maybe on some plays where either uh we were, you know, um a little out in front or a little it got away from us a little bit, but um I think it still just comes back to, you know, each individual play is going to be magnified. Um especially when you are, you know, running things and setting things up and um you know, trying to maintain a rhythm for the for the offense. Uh part of maintaining that is just finding a way to to pitch and catch on a couple of those looks where maybe you get what you want, maybe you don’t, but um when you do, you know, it’s the pitch and catch element that has kind of made this offense, you know, uh you know, kind of fit. So continue to strive for that and learn huge, like I said, huge growth learning opportunity out in front of us. That doesn’t make um any of this easier, but at the same time, it is the it is the truth. And um we’ll continue to coach as hard as we possibly can and I know for a fact everybody on our team is going to continue to work like crazy to uh try to go one and0 every week. JJ said earlier this week uh when sometimes you get in heated battle bad habits creep back in. Is that means fundamentals and that’s why you’re constantly saying feet and eyes and bounce. Yeah, it’s you know whether it’s just the initial uh posture uh where we’ve just learned that when he has great posture um you know at the top of drops uh he throws the ball really well. He did it Friday, did it Thursday. I think I even referenced on Friday the type of practices we had. Uh it’s the consistency factor of a, you know, navigating through four quarters of a game. You know, when you when you uh you maybe miss one and feel some push here somewhere in an NFL pocket. That’s what it is every single Sunday for every single player that plays the position in this league. Um and then on top of that, you you start talking about pocket movement. And what is uh pocket movement? It’s continuing to try to exhaust your progression or maintain number one, you know, if there’s a little bit of movement here and there. And how do I get and and contain continue to have that posture while there is a, you know, a place in the pocket to work through it. And then if you’re going to get moved off the spot, like what happens to many quarterbacks, you uh you know, move off the spot and and find your checkdown elements or make a play with your legs, working an off schedule play, there’s there’s the you know, we’ve got to continue to get better at the the play as is, as it’s called, and and we’ve certainly seen him use his athleticism uh to make some plays as well. But uh to me it comes down to a lot of core principles of just you know consistently every snap whether it’s number one all the way to you know however many we got today 54 which isn’t enough but one through 54 uh we control what we can from a standpoint of techniques and fundamentals and uh our decision- making. Did you see any uh trouble with his fundamentals at Michigan? Is this something that came about sitting out a year or No, I think it’s just um you know I I I think the the element of you know moving forward into you know an NFL offense and and u you know just the types of throws, the tighter hashes, the more space in the middle of the field. Um the game’s different, but but no, I I thought some of uh some of his most impactful plays uh were on some of those weighty downs and and he’s had some very impactful plays on those weighty downs for us as well. Just looking for the consistency factor um to be, you know, from a standpoint of just what is what is my job? What what am I being asked to do? And and and when he when we start there and we check those boxes, there’s normally been some good uh good football that follows. And that’s just the journey and the path of a young player learning that lesson um and and and applying it as we move forward here. On their return, did you just get out have a guy out of his lane there? Yeah, I got to take a look at it. Um you know, those are always tough for me to judge. Um but yeah, that was a massive massive play in a in a day where the special teams units have had had such a role in helping us win the the field position battle. I mean, you know, I I think our average drive start was the 32 and there were some quality returns that that uh you know, that contributed to that. I think we had one holding call that forced us to start a little bit backed up on a nice return by by Miles. Um but then that one play and it’s just the nature of when you’re losing the turnover battle and and and maybe you’re leaving some plays out there, your margin of error becomes very razor thin for your whole team. Um, and that just becomes each and every snap, no matter whether it’s offense, defense, or in the kicking game are massive and and one play uh one play that they make or one play that you don’t could uh could alter your chances of winning the game. Last one. Does it feel like it’s been harder to hang on to momentum like either game to game or in that instance where you take the lead and one play later they had the momentum right back? Yeah. You know, you could feel it in the building, you know, when we’re and you could feel the the momentum. That’s a great way to describe it. Uh when JJ throws the touchdown to Jordan, two-minute drill, you know, as I told him earlier in the game, no matter what this day has been like, I’m going to tell you at the end of this, uh you just you just move the ball down the field to help us win this game, and I’m proud of you. And I told him that. Uh just once again the result uh the result didn’t end up staying 1716 and and they they beat us by making a play there and then making the kick.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from U.S. Bank Stadium following the Week 11 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.

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