Kevin O’Connell on Offensive Line’s Strong Performance, Plan for J.J. McCarthy, Injury Updates

Kevin O’Connell on Offensive Line’s Strong Performance, Plan for J.J. McCarthy, Injury Updates

All right, good afternoon. Good to see uh everybody. Um you know, obviously made it back uh late last night. Just want to once again compliment our staff and and the folks that put together uh that trip both with the league, but but most importantly, people in house here um that allowed us to uh you know, have a smooth trip and and able to win a game yesterday and go into the by-week off of a victory. Um, a lot of things to really, you know, touch on from the game. Um, but I have to start out and just compliment our offensive line. Um, the group we had out there, uh, to start the game and then obviously, you know, had some guys, you know, some moving parts there throughout, but I thought Blake Brenell for his first time playing center. Um the tape uh really, you know, personified everything we think of Blake and have uh from a versatility standpoint, but uh for him to step in and run the show the way he did, communicate and and played with physicality and technique um was a real positive for Blake. I thought Joe Huber, you know, really getting his first significant snaps against a really really good opponent and and some good interior players to go along with the edge guys that they had. um he played well and and Justin School’s versatility to start out the game on the right side and then finish on the left um gave us some critical snaps. We tried to have a very calculated and detailed plan of a variety of different ways of how we were going to, you know, kind of handle um one of the best defenses in football and and try to, you know, limit some of the the damage that they routinely caused against most teams that they played. But it required our players taking that plan um and making it come to life. And I thought Justin had some critical snaps where um either you know certain players were moving around and trying to avoid some of the things we were um you know deploying and uh had some one-on-one reps that allowed us to make some big big time plays in the game. And then Walter Ralph stepping in um as well um was uh was good to see him ready to kind of meet that meet that moment. Um, you know, Ryan Wright with his tied his career along with the 77 yarder and a huge moment to kind of flip the field um was critical. You know, Justin Jefferson was outstanding as we as we talked about uh last night. I thought Carson being very gritty um kind of battling through um his left shoulder and and kind of uh h having a a really productive night and and that last drive was efficient. it was calculated and and really just total trust and commitment from the group to to do what was required there uh to win the football game. So, a lot of other performances wrapped up when you when you uh find a way to win a game like that under the circumstances we were in. So, um thought our coaching staff, you know, handled the week very well uh from a standpoint of prep preparing and it wasn’t um exactly the normal week we prepared that we hoped it would be. Uh but our our entire group um handled it in a really mature way, professional way and and we were able to get the uh get the win. Uh just to give you guys an update on Carson, we did get back um pretty late early, you know, really actually early this morning. Um so he’s still getting further evaluation, but he’s pretty sore uh in that left shoulder. So that will be something that we’ll be taking a look at uh throughout the throughout this week. Um on a uh kind of a a different a different note, we do expect uh you know hopefully uh four players to return uh to practice in in different capacities next week, but JJ McCarthy, Donovan Jackson, Blake Cashman um will have his 21-day window opened and then Michael Jurgens should be able to uh you know come back to the practice field uh as well. So getting uh getting some positives here at the buy it comes at a big time moment for us where we’ve obviously had some adversity from an injury standpoint and we’ll continue to work through that. But I like the way guys have stepped up and uh the way our team has battled um throughout this uh this first five weeks and and we go into the buy um at a critical time where there’s still a lot of things we can improve on. Uh but most importantly getting healthy will be a critical thing. Kevin, you’ve had uh 17 game-winning drives since taking over. Um, is there something in terms of your philosophy when you have those opportunities of play calling or how you manage the quarterback in those situations that you feel like has really worked for you? Yeah. You know, Matt, I think it’s a it’s a it’s a circumstance of a few things, right? Like a lot of times in the game, things are expressing themselves uh throughout. you’re kind of answering some of the maybe not necessarily unknown questions, but either unscouted looks or unique ways Justin’s being defended or pressure plan, whatever it might be. Um, and then being able to kind of take all that information and put it together in a way where all I want the quarterback to do in that moment, really all 11 guys, is just to to be able to communicate at a high level. Uh, if we’re in the no huddle, how fast and efficient can we operate? how on top of uh rules of, you know, catching the ball inside the numbers and getting vertical, catching the ball outside the numbers and trying to get out of bounds. Little things um how we spot the ball, how we try to use our no huddle offense that we have different phases of it and kind of layers to it to be able to apply in those moments. I think it gives us a pretty extensive menu to choose from. Um, and then we’re able to kind of, you know, the the final piece of that is the trust, uh, specifically of the quarterback to just kind of trust in each play is its own, not trying to, you know, not trying to, you know, think that there’s a need to overcome the play call and find the deep element in the play if we’re just trying to get the ball out. Um, we’re trying to have a unique aspect, specifically yesterday, of a protection plan. Um, and then just methodically use the time. I think we got the ball with three minutes uh left and and uh you know Kevin used his three timeouts and there was whatever was left on the clock there at the end. So it was efficient. It was you know a lot of uh in some cases sometimes you know shorter completions just to ensure ourselves a new set of downs and then be able to reset. I thought a couple guys made some pretty critical plays, run after catch or getting out of bounds that that just kind of allowed us to, you know, move in chunks of yardage or in some cases small chunks of yardage, but then reset and try to, you know, play that next sequence of downs that way. And I think that’s kind of how I’ve always looked at the that phase and and we put a lot of time into it. And um we know games are going to be close. a lot of ours have been close, so we’ve had plenty of opportunities to kind of make that number go and and it’s been uh it’s been something that’s helped us win a lot of football games. Do you plan to ramp up JJ physically next week to to try to get him ready to start? Yeah, it’s not it will be this week as well. he’ll be here. Um, we’ll be able to, uh, you know, get him some extensive work, you know, kind of as a leadin to next week. And then, uh, you know, I anticipate, uh, his workload building up. We’re going to really take advantage of that bonus Monday. Um, not only with him, but with with our whole team. We’re going to spend some time as a coaching staff making sure we’re self scouting and taking a look at exactly, you know, what we’ve been um, how much of what we are is tied to the adversity we’ve kind of dealt with with injuries. And then what do we want our identity to be as a team here as we attack the the post buy part of the season? And uh we’ve a lot of work to be done for sure. Uh but yeah, I’m excited to uh you know get get back here um you know JJ got some work today and he’ll get some work throughout the rest of the week. We got some other guys he’ll be you know getting some work with um on the field and then we’ll uh we’ll we’ll pick it up officially next week. But I’m encouraged about where he’s at right now. Going back to those late game situations, um, in those moments, how important is it for you to sound regular or composed or normal when you’re calling in place so the quarterback doesn’t hear any signs of stress or excitedness out of you? Yeah, I think um, you know, I you know, the the it’s a weird type of communication, right? They can hear my voice, but they’re hopefully they’re not looking over at me to to see the way I’m delivering it. So, it it is a, you know, it is something I think about from a standpoint of how I’m delivering information. And what gets hard is when the play clock starts to creep towards that 15 number and you’re trying to give the information that’s in my head to the quarterback so they could best execute the play. And it might not even be for that play. It might be, you know, making sure that they know to give the if we are huddling, give the huddle a reminder of what could be coming. So, if I’m a receiver that ran a 20 yard route to the left out near the sideline and I’ve got to get to a certain spot rather quickly, I would rather them have at least a preview of that ahead of time. So, it’s all those little things and it’s hard to put your finger on one thing, but that’s a that’s a great that’s a great aspect of it that I I don’t think gets talked about enough, but I try to be as poised as possible in the moment. I don’t always do it. I’m sure the, you know, one of the the many quarterbacks we’ve had play in those situations would say that they can tell I’m trying to do it, but it’s not always consistent. Um, so that’s always something you’re trying to get better at as a play caller, making sure that I I think you get the most value received when you can operate like that. Ken, watching the game back, what did you see on Will’s field goal attempt? Because there was some video angles where it looked like it might have hit something. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s it’s I I didn’t notice anything um during during the game. That’s a that’s a pretty tough angle normally for us anyway. Um you know, most of the time I’m just trying to gauge the crowd reaction of, you know, depending on if the video board in the stadium is in real time. Sometimes it’s on a slight delay, so you you can’t watch that, but you’re really trying to just gauge the crowd reaction. Um, and we did have a lot of purple uh in at Tottenham Stadium. So, it was uh it was one I did not notice it. I did not see it in the moment. Um, you know, I would defer to the league on, you know, if if that’s something that uh that that there should be some protocols in place that I that I should know about, but um other than maybe somebody in the booth alerting me that they saw it or uh you know, Will himself is is going to be a critical guy in that moment. But a lot of times a kicker is a lot like a golf swing. They’re keeping their head down and they might not even see it initially. Um he he told me he thought he hit it well and you know Will doesn’t uh doesn’t end up that far off line you know historically since our time having him here. But yeah, not not really sure what what to say on that one other than uh you know that was unfortunate if it did happen and if it didn’t um so be it. Kevin, what’s your quarterback assessment of Cam Acres? Um, and what do you just think of his execution on that play? Yeah, we, you know, I I think, uh, you know, Cam has always been a guy that I’ve known could throw the football. Um, but what makes Cam so unique that was really his one play on offense and he comes in the game and executes the play perfectly exactly from the details of uh, you know, where we wanted how we wanted him to sell it, the track he took when he initially caught the ball uh, and then his ability to kind of understand that there would probably be a little push and it would have to be a little bit of a kind of a fadeaway jumper and and he spun that thing and right right in right in stride to J and felt like it was the time uh to try to see if we could pop that one for a touchdown. The guys made it come to life. But yeah, Cam’s Cam’s fantastic from a standpoint of you know exactly what you’re going to get from him and you can put a play like that in front of him and he just has a big smile on his face and attacks it throughout the week and then he made it come to life exactly I will say that was his best throw of of his ops we got to see on but he did complete them all leading into it. So he saved his best one for the game. Have you been wanting to do that since overlapping with the Rams with him or is it Yeah. And we, you know, we had him, we had him throw a couple times in LA. Um, I do remember that. And I just remember, uh, when I was doing the evaluation process, uh, Thomas Brown at the time was like, you got to see his YouTube clips cuz he’s got all of his touchdown throws from Florida State or his completions from Florida State were on YouTube. And then we got to know him a little bit through the process. And uh I found out quickly from Cam that he threw for 3,000 yards as a high school quarterback. So uh just ask Cam, he’ll tell you. But uh but no, I you know, look, you you’re you’re you’re trying to find ways to score. We felt like there was an opportunity that presented itself from some previous clips and and it it played out at center. Um do you plan to just try to plug Michael back in when um next week or does Blake still kind of stay in the mix there? Yeah, I think what we learned is is we have a another high, you know, high quality center option um with uh with Blake and you know getting Jurgs back practicing again will give us a chance to assess what the best five looks like and that’s that’s what we’ll go with and and we’ll work through that accordingly. But Blake did Blake had a really really strong day. Coach, what is it maybe about I guess Blake’s demeanor or just his approach to the game that that you did feel confident and especially the communication piece? Yeah, I think uh his one his one comment coming out of the game was just how much fun he had. You know, he had a blast going out there and doing it. I think he’s got great, you know, football intelligence. I think it it applies to playing the center position cuz there’s a lot of moving parts that that go and you need your center to be able to kind of uh direct in many ways. You know, he’s the quarterback the way we handle our offense. he’s the quarterback of the run game to be able to identify some things and and and at least starting points and then the quarterback can solve some problems maybe from an external landscape. Uh but you know for a guy that has played tackle, he’s played guard, he’s been he’s literally played almost every spot besides that during our time with him here. Um for him to step in and perform like that, uh it was uh it was a big moment and we needed it for our team. I don’t think our group as a whole, I don’t think the O line group could have played as well as they did without Blake having the performance he did. Just uh in terms of JJ getting back to practice, what are you looking for from him over these next week and a half, two weeks? Yeah, I think it’s a it’s a good opportunity to get back to um you know the the the SK he’s had some real moments of growth through this time. I think watching Carson, I think watching the way Carson’s kind of gone through progressions quickly, uh just the value of putting the ball in play, even when it’s not your first progression. Um even when it’s not, um, you know, the the most exciting completion of all time, you know, and you’re getting to TJ off of a, you know, a little nudge and a protection to help here or there. And TJ’s kind of the checkown element. TJ’s catching some of those ball. He had one on that, you know, the the touchdown drive at the end where he caught just a simple ball over the middle and went for 14 with some really good run after catch. So, I think he’s kind of taken a lot of that of just watching it closely and my dialogue with him. Um, but I think it’s going to be the most critical part is going to be technique and fundamentals of playing the position, the way he works so hard to build up throughout the spring and the summer. um getting him back into um kind of the the mandatory nature of of certain things from a fundamental standpoint that will only help him perform at a high level. So, I think it’s going to be more more about the physical side of of his lower body mechanics and and then uh just trying to put together a game plan uh for him throughout the practices of like how much can he do, what’s the soreness level coming out of practices to be able to try to have the most consistent level of a ramp up we can with him. Kevin, there have been times when Justin lines up in the back field like his first catch yesterday. Um what kind of advantage does that give an offense? but also like what kind of informs you that maybe that’s like the right opportunity for that kind of moment. Yeah, I think uh you know I kind of pulled that play from a different area of the call sheet. that probably caught the coaches off guard a little bit in the moment with that, but it was uh I think we got nine yards uh or it ended up being a a second and one and um just with the unique nature of being the play caller, you know, with a game like that where every play against that defense is a riskreward proposition. So, um, second and one, great chance sometimes to maybe push the ball downfield, great chance to get another run off and get the first down, or it can be, uh, a time where you can, you know, pull the pull the card of a unique look. We went unbalanced. We, there were some unique things that married up with something we had done previously, um, that, you know, teams are going to have carded up and have on tape, and then it’s a nice counter to that. So, there’s a lot of elements to to go into it. But yeah, he’s a hard guy some games to to find those easy touches for him. So, you know, normally when we can get him going, and we’ve been able to the last couple weeks, it coincides with our offense able to find some rhythm. Um, if we can avoid the negatives and avoid, you know, uh, obviously put the ball on the ground twice yesterday, which we’ve got to find a way to stop. Um, you know, especially when we’re moving the ball consistently against a really good defense like like we played against yesterday. But I I think Justin touching the getting his touches and and having the ability he’s a you know obviously we know what he is as a route runner and a ability to ma to make uh catches but to me it’s uh his run after catch is is dynamic as well. So how many times can we get a really good guy a really good player with the ball in space to to be able to get some yards after the catch? [Music]

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from TCO Performance Center following the team’s Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns.

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