Kevin O’Connell on Second Half Struggles vs. Packers, ‘Small Margin For Error’ Right Now

Kevin O’Connell on Second Half Struggles vs. Packers, ‘Small Margin For Error’ Right Now

I told our team we uh you know after Will made that field goal we go in at the half 106 pretty even time of possession even in the turnover battle um whole half ahead of us and then we did not play in any way shape or form the the type of half we uh that would give us a chance to compete uh in the second half uh two turnovers and three punts on offense and then um defense got the stop that we kind of talked about at halftime. Hey, getting us getting going. and they got that stop to start the second half and then we had a uh you know that was you know pretty catastrophic turnover um to to give them a free chance at seven points. So um you’re not going to come to Lambo Field and win a game especially playing like that in the second half and um absolutely not uh you know in any way shape or form giving ourselves a chance uh to win the football game. Uh just injury updates. Christian Darol had an ankle um that uh he tried to play through and and eventually uh we uh he he came out of the game. Donovan Jackson, I believe, also had an ankle and a foot um and was trying to come back in the game, but uh trainers thought it would be best u to uh to hold him out as well. And then Matelis had a shoulder but was battling through that and able to return. turn it over to you guys. With the offensive performance in the second half, um how difficult is it right now trying to call what you think JJ can perform and and just keep the offense, I guess? Yeah, I I think, you know, there’s there’s things that uh by running the football pretty efficiently in the first half, um you know, you think you might might be able to get some plays uh off of plays to to generate some uh some, you know, explosives, but at the same time, we wanted to come back out and run the football. And we had, you know, a negative run, you know, have to uh get get Jordan down there. Uh give him a chance to get down there to to, you know, get that buzz safety on a negative run. um called a quick game uh to start the half, you know, trying to see if we can just get a completion play to get it going and and we took a sack on that play and then um had a you know, back-to-back negatives are very very hard to overcome, especially against that group. Uh when you end up third and 12, third and 15, third and 17, whatever we were. Uh not the formula in any way, shape, or form. Uh tried to uh you know, I thought we did a good job committing to the run early on in the game. um you know, stack some plays on plays and and starting to feel uh kind of what uh you know, what that can do for you along the line of scrimmage. But then we get to a you know, after running the ball pretty well consistently on a drive, we get to a third and third and inside one and and uh don’t get it on the sneak, you know, that we’ve practiced a lot and then don’t get it on fourth down, end up going backwards really. So, no matter what you do um running the football-wise, if you can’t continue to get those new sets of downs, we’ve got to uh then have the marriage of the run and the pass, you know, try to come to life. And there were some chances I thought, you know, JJ got tripped up coming out of center uh one time, um where uh you know, we had a good look for a play and there was just a bunch of little things like that. Our margin of error is clearly pretty razor thin right now. Um but what we can’t do is lose the turnover battle three to nothing, significantly lose the field position battle. um and then have negative plays on offense that gives you really no chance against one of the better defenses in the league. But um you know as as as our guys know and you know already hearing uh you know just the players in the locker room and and they want to go back to work and and all and and and and fix it and us as a coaching staff we got to give them um the best possible plan to do that. Uh we’ve got to have some things corrected uh that uh are, you know, proving to be somewhat fatal um in certain areas of our team right now, you know, well beyond just, you know, having a young quarterback in there. So, uh that’s my job and and I’ve got to do the things that that uh you know, we think will fix some of those problems. Special mistakes, three weeks in a row now, pretty big ones. What do you need to do to get those things cleaned up? Yeah, we’ve got some, you know, we’ve got some rookies, uh, part of that part of that phase where, you know, to a certain extent, you kind of know there’s going to be some variance to that, but at the same time, you know, it’s just what are we doing as coaches? What are we doing, you know, to emphasize how to play smart football, you know, as the starting point? And, you know, on that play, I know what Miles is trying to do. He’s trying to fair catch and then, you know, see if he can get a piece of the gunner to to try to help the ball have time to get in the end zone. Um, but first and foremost, uh, you know, we’ve got to be able to make the initial play, which was the decision not to to catch that ball and and then we’ve got to get all Minnesota Vikings away from it. And if they end up downing it, you know, like we were able to do a couple times with Ryan having a great day punting the ball um to try to help with the field position. But if we end if they end up downing it down in there tight, uh, then it’s on the offense to try to sustain a drive and at least flip the field field position wise. Um, but yeah, we’ve got to get some of those things um handled. What do you think JJ is just in terms of handling this because this is a couple weeks where it really seemed like it snowballed and Yeah, I think uh you first of all, yeah, the formula cannot be uh to, you know, end up being down double digits in the in the second half and and at least, you know, knowing where, you know, it kind of takes you out of the game that you want to play. uh when you’re in coming in at halftime 10-6, you know, thinking a defensive stop and then uh you know having a chance to go possibly take the lead uh there in the third quarter and then the game can kind of stay uh where where you want it whether where we’re really close in the first half time of possession. and we’re really close uh you know yards and and able to kind of uh every single one of those positive run plays should hopefully be setting up either another positive run or some plays off of it and we just can’t quite get to that point um without having some you know uh some things happen around JJ or you know some variance to having a young quarterback in there where and when you’re playing a good defense and and just understanding timing of pockets and things like that getting the ball out the power of completions um where it’s still definitely Definitely a work in progress for sure, but um I still believe, you know, he’s he’s absolutely uh under control from a play call standpoint. Um there’s little things, you know, that happen like a quarterback getting tripped up, you know, on a play pass where where you might have a look at something or um you know, just maybe the dialogue and the huddle, making sure all 11 are on the same page. just little things that come up here and there uh that just continue to limit your chances of having uh ultimate success enough against a good defense to go put points on the board. But um it is one of those things where I do believe wholeheartedly that you know it takes a drive or two of confidence building to uh to truly cement kind of what we want to be as an offense. and moving the running the ball is great and got a play pass to Justin early and um ended up kind of stalling out from there where you know we call you know call a pass on first and 10 and then kind of run play on second down with the chance to you know throw that run solution and and it’s not really the look to do that and early in the game young quarterback maybe wants to try to get an easy completion and we throw that ball and it’s just little things like that where uh you know I got to do a better job kind of eliminating eliminating some of those uh things that uh you know maybe can can be left for chance. Appreciate it’s not just the quarterback obviously, it’s the whole team. But I mean can you can you win with what he’s doing right now? I think you can. I I do believe that. But it it does require, you know, as a football team not doing things um that uh that that loses games and special teams turnover. Um I believe in, you know, two out of our last three games and then um ultimately, you know, the defense is out there battling. Um they’re they’re uh they’re trying to get the ball back for us as much as we can. Um but then there’s, you know, some things where you can’t have breakdowns around that player uh to consistently sustain. So, as of as some of those things happen or you start stacking negatives, uh that becomes incredibly difficult for any quarterback, never mind uh you know, a guy just still in his the single digit world of of career starts and and all that. So, um, we got to keep putting together plans that give us a chance to express what we want to be as an offense with, um, some some talented players in that huddle while also giving him a chance, um, to grow, but but not, you know, putting the game totally in his hands where, you know, the variance of a young quarterback will cost our whole team. Um, and I think there’s a there’s a a needle to thread there. And uh we got to just keep on building um the foundation of of playing the position, but also all 11 guys in that huddle doing their jobs and and then special teams is got to play the phase where I thought Will unbelievable with two those two field goals. Um and those are the types of plays where you know or drives where if you you get points there, you got to you’re staying in the football game, staying in real football without having to go all pass likely against a team with that kind of front. Were you surprised at just the amount of pressure they were generating up front? Yeah, you know, we we we had a pretty good plan even, you know, I know JJ’s first interception, you know, there’s there’s two tight ends, you know, helping on the edges and um I got to go back and look at it, but didn’t particularly feel like we were like, you know, that was I I believe one of the the first few attempts for, you know, with with Justin stepping in there for CD at left tackle and we’re trying to help as much as we can on the edge, but I got to the gen the general feel sometimes is are we using that help? Are we, you know, fundamentally jumping on, you know, right off that jumping on that player right off those those bumps and those protections? Because outside of, you know, calling calling plays where you’re doing that, um, you’re essentially when you’re down points, you’re, you know, there’s that that that call sheet can shrink in a hurry. Um, and we’ve experienced it at times this year with guys having to step in, you know, either early in games or in the second half of games. Um, and we didn’t handle it well today whatsoever. Kevin, Brian O’Neal was talking in the locker room about a need for urgency and guys just understanding what their job is on every single play. As you think about urgency for these players, where where does that express itself to you that you need to see it? Well, I think it’s a mix, right? I think we’ve seen examples of guys pressing uh maybe to try to make a play here and there second and long and we’re just trying to put the ball in play and we get a drop on a second and long play that creates, you know, where where hey, maybe you have a chance to make that third and manageable right there and it’s a guy trying to catch the ball and and make a play and see if he can get more and more and and that’s where you feel pressing at times, but then there’s other times where it’s got to be technique, it’s got to be strain, it’s got to be fundamentals and the 11 guys in the huddle doing their jobs, you you know, no errors, no uh you know, we don’t really we don’t you don’t get chances for doovers. So, when those things turn into negatives, um especially when your team needs to kind of sustain a drive, uh maybe we pick up the the special teams after that turnover. I know the defense is going out on that field wanting to pick up everybody and and say, “Hey, we’re going to hold them out right here.” And they punch it in. Big deal. let’s go take the ball and and let’s put a drive together and and uh go get right back to where we want to be in this game and just keep applying pressure to the opponent. Um but we can’t allow that that feeling to allow the execution and the detail and some of those things to slip. Um and that’s not really referencing the quarterback in any way, shape, or form. But he’s still an inexperienced guy that’s building it up as he goes. And uh there’s, you know, just too much bad football today, specifically in the second half, uh really second half only. um that just didn’t give us a chance whatsoever. Ben, just in terms of um JJ and his confidence, take him, you know, one on the chin today. I mean, how how do you kind of keep him flying even when he’s kind of gone through with it last couple weeks? Yeah, it’s all about uh it’s all about his preparation. It’s all about uh you know, going back to work and understanding, hey, this is a new week, very, you know, tough road trip ahead of us. Uh we’re going to need, you know, our quarterback to have the best week of preparation um out of anybody on our team. But then we also need all, you know, the the other phases of our team and the other guys in that huddle with them to do the same and just keep on um staying the course and and and when we find improvement, when we find consistent examples of it, let’s not, you know, be in a position where we’re ever going to be a team that celebrates that short-term success. We’re going to be a team that needs to just continue uh to press onward and uh execute even better and and do your job even better. Um and and that’s just where our team is at right now. Um you know, I think that there is definite possibilities of within, you know, when these guys watch the tape and when they see just how close things are to going totally one way or the other and and and then when you eventually do have a loss of a half of three turnovers in a in a half, you really don’t give yourself a chance whatsoever to win that game. But let’s not let’s dive into it to a point where I told all of our players grade sheets beside how I played all those things. Look at it as a collective football team and say what more can I do? How, you know, where can I find those uh little uh edges for us to for me to do my job at that elite level which will only help the guy next to me and and the guy under center um is is how our team views it. That’s how our leadership views it. And I think that’s why you hear from Brian O’Neal and and guys like our captains, you know, saying not only saying the right things, but those guys are doing the right things. And uh I have total faith that we’re going to continue pressing pressing onward and improving um as we go. Is it too early for you to have any sort of sense of whether you might not have Donovan or Christian? Yeah, it’s probably too early. I both those guys will be evaluated. Um, you know, I know DJ Donovan really, you know, you know, he was doing everything in his power to to try to get back out there, tape it up and and we just wanted to make sure he could um, you know, not only do his job, but for the sake of him just not sustaining something a lot longer um, than maybe where it’s at right now. And then with CD, he, you know, he he tried to fight through it, got it earlier on in the game and, uh, was able to, you know, go and then at one point Tyler told me he was done. So, we’ll evaluate both those guys. Uh hopefully, you know, getting a guy like Jonathan Gernard who was close uh back next week will will help. And uh you know, we’ll uh we’ll see where we’re at. And I’ll update you guys soon as uh soon as I get a little bit more clarity.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from Lambeau Field after the Vikings’ Week 12 23-6 loss to the Packers.

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