Kevin O’Connell Talks About False Start Penalties Against Ravens, Run vs. Pass Balance on Offense

Kevin O’Connell Talks About False Start Penalties Against Ravens, Run vs. Pass Balance on Offense

All right. Um, you know, to have the football with a chance to tie the game there at the end was an encouraging thing considered considering how many things we did um that uh we can’t do if we want to beat a good football team like that. Um, you know, it it the players fought, they tried to overcome in many cases uh things we we did to ourselves. Um, defense kept us in it all day long by their battle against a really really good offense. um but lose the turnover battle three nothing and then the penalty situation which we’ve got to get fixed immediately. Um specifically the eight uh pre- snaps, whatever was going on with the cadence or you know whatever it may be um just not acceptable in any way and we’ve got to get it fixed and we will. Um but uh the penalty situation and the turnover situation being what it was, um you know, when you average over six yards a play on offense, it’s all for not if you’re going to be giving back so many of those yards in in different capacities. Um you know, we’ve got to we’ve got to find a way to first and foremost correct whatever uh the issue was. Normally, um, we can do that in game if there’s an issue, but there just seemed to be a flinch here and there way way way too much. So, if there was any uncertainty of what we were doing, um, that obviously something we’ve got to get corrected, uh, no matter who’s in the game and all those things, um, something we’ve got to do. Uh, we we are right back here in a week with a division game, chance to go 3 and0 in the division. Um, but to me, we will, uh, you know, consistently build on the good practice week we had. Uh, this team is not a resultsbased team that will prepare any different. But, uh, you know, they’re obviously very an upset group in there to that that thought we, you know, could have done a lot of things better in the game to win the game while also doing a lot of things that were um, that gave us a chance to win a game when when the circumstances were in many cases caused by us against a good football team like that. Jonathan Gernard did have a left shoulder uh injury. Um he’ll get assessed later, you know, today and and into tomorrow. Um but be able to give you guys an update on that. Um and outside of that, that’s all I I have for for you guys right now from an injury standpoint. Did you uncover any themes throughout the game of why the frequency of those penalties were happening? Well, I think uh you know, a couple of them a couple of them came when we were, you know, motioning from one side to another. Uh maybe there was some a little bit more of a hard count emphasis by JJ at certain times. I don’t I don’t uh you know, we have we have, you know, some we have multiple cadences and and guys have really had not a very large issue with the cadence this year. Um but uh for whatever reason Beck, you know, JJ obviously his first start on the road from post injury was last week. Uh so we didn’t have him a lot of cadence in Detroit. So whatever was unearthed today needs to get fixed immediately. From what you could see, did you have any indication that the Ravens were simulating snap? I I have not had a chance. I I did ask our guys um you know unless there was some calls on some of the motions maybe that uh that that were happening but I did not get any indication from our guys they were doing that. Kevin, did you guys make any in-game adjustments to cadences? Did you find one that wasn’t working and go to a different the pro? Yeah, we we we tried to simplify it down as much as possible. Um and and you want to make sure you at least give yourself a couple variations um so they’re not teeing off on you, you know, on every snap and and they’ve got some exotic looks on third down. They’ve got some things where maybe it’s a a requirement, but um some of those things after a positive run, we were hoping to maybe stack some runs on a drive and then you you go right back to a you know, kind of a get back on track situation via your own doing. Those are the ones that are very unfortunate, especially then when you end up with more third and longs uh than you ever should when you’re averaging six yards a play. Kevin, the quick three and out at the end of the first half and then going forward on or throwing throwing deep on third inches. It was it was a yard and and it was four down territory. Um, so we knew that was going to be zero coverage one-on-one with with Justin and then a chance to, you know, if we didn’t get the look for the play, we we we were going to, you know, get a run off and, uh, I was planning on going for it regardless on fourth down. Situations like that, I mean, obviously it’s good to be aggressive against the way the league is going. What’s JJ’s parameters like, you know, I guess, you know, the play calling at the end of the first half and then the deep ball there. What what kind of guidelines did you give? Yeah, we, you know, we were um there’s there’s definitely some parameters there, uh, Mark, from a standpoint at the end of the the one thing about the end of the half, the the the the throwaway, you know, where we really had nobody over there. Um, you know, it was just that’s a situation where, you know, you’re almost in a if it’s not there, we’ll go ahead and keep that clock running. At least make them use a timeout. The the third and one, I mean, that ball’s already left his hand uh when when Justin and and Humphrey’s feet get tangled up. Um, things like that happen in football and I’ll take Justin Jefferson one-on-one down the field in zero coverage, you know, as as much as we can possibly do it, especially when you’re going to have the ability to then take that shot and then with the field position we’re at go uh, you know, go get that yard um on on fourth down in that throwaway. Is it you just he should probably just take off running or what? Yeah, it’s it’s just one of those things where you’re trying to get that first first down um and and see if you can potentially get some points. It had been since the our first drive and then we had a field goal in there, but you’re trying to see if you can manufacture in some cases a double up chance. Um and we just didn’t do that, you know, between um between that sequence and then how we started the the second half and then and had the turnover. That was a that was a critical, you know, part of the game, I thought, from a from a standpoint of an opportunity lost where we’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to try to get JJ some chances. Um, both, you know, Justin Jefferson and uh JJ because, you know, part of the growth and development is, you know, we’ve got to let him play a little bit as well. And we’re trying to figure out that balance that that gives you a chance to at least have a chance to win the football game in the end. I thought he competed. Um, but, you know, there’s there’s ab every snap right now. Um there’s major growth and learning and teaching going on. Um you know, for a guy that was really making his fourth start. What did you make of his accuracy just throughout the game? Um I I thought he was pretty dialed in early on. Pretty pretty good throw uh to Jaylen Naylor for the big play on third down. Um I thought there was a lot of tipped balls, you know, for a variety of reasons. Those are always hard for me to tell in real time. I think we had four or five uh you know block shots by their Dline. Um that that uh you know there was there were some opportunities and and then you’re you know those are incompletes regardless of how you look at it. Um and then just as we were getting into the no huddle trying to make our way back from two scores. Um it’s you know we may have made the play on third or fourth down fourth down like to convert but you know some of those early down plays where um you know he can he can be a little bit more pitch and catch even you know on some of those opportunities. Um, so between some a couple of those and and and the tip balls, you’re you’re looking at six or seven incompletions for him that all of those are touches for our guys and the ability to register the ball going forward with, you know, to try to keep the momentum on your side. What’s the process like now trying to get cadence issues and false start issues corrected? What how do you go about that this week? Well, I think we got to have a we got to have a conversation as a group. what what transpired, you know, were it doesn’t feel like all eight of those um were the the same scenario, the same sequence. You’re going to have, you know, we try to eliminate them all. Uh that’s been a huge point of what we think it’s going to take to win the game every week, whether it’s Monday or Wednesday or Friday, talking to the team about eliminating those self-inflicteds, and we didn’t do that in any way, shape, or form. So, we’ve got to, you know, we’ve got to fix it. We’ve got to understand what was different today um than what had been something we felt like we eliminated from maybe early on in the season. Can you point to anything in terms of why maybe JJ and Justin Jefferson weren’t able to get on the same page? It kind of felt like Yeah, I think there was some there was some uh obviously try, you know, Justin had a good amount of targets today, but one of uh not many completions and and I think it goes, you know, when you consider, you know, he gets his legs caught on one one of his one-on-one chances. I thought JJ gave him a chance on second and long kind of in the high red fringe area right there and u you know we weren’t able to connect on that one. Uh there were some plays where you know I think whether it’s a combination of coverage you know Justin you know working to to uniquely find openings in some zones on some things and then there was a couple times where I thought we had him and didn’t hit him. Uh you know pressure moved off the spot. There’s a lot of things that that go into it, but yeah, we want to always keep his target uh share up there just cuz he’s, you know, obviously our best player. Um, but at the same time, a guy like Jaylen Naylor having the day he did is because of a lot of the things that Justin generates um coverage-wise and things going his way. But I thought a lot of the times where we were working, Justin um was the right decision and and uh you know, either a block shot or an incompletion probably keep us from three or four other uh chances on the day. What did you make of the run game just in general you guys run game? Yeah, it felt like early on it was, you know, first probably, you know, quarter and a half it was, you know, they were they were doing a good job up front being physical and stout and then uh we kind of made some adjustments there to to to attack some certain things. Um, and then just as we, you know, spec specifically the first uh the first sequence of the second half, two two good runs in a row and then uh we took the shot there versus zero on third and one. knowing that, you know, we felt pretty good about getting it on fourth and one if that ball hits the earth. Kevin, how much did the pre- snap penalties affect your ability to run? Yeah, I think it’s just those times where it’s, you know, even second and second and seven or six. Uh, you know, you you feel like, uh, you know, there was a few times early on in the game where getting us to those third and manageable situations were were uh were were good formulas for us to sustain on that first drive. Um we didn’t necessarily have anything explosive, but we just kept moving the ball forward and then hit a couple plays on third down to to to kind of move the field and then eventually score. Um but yeah, it’s just hard for your entire offense to get in a rhythm. It had nothing to do with, you know, when you average six yards a play, it’s it’s functioning without, you know, shooting yourself in the foot. Uh to be able to get those clean snaps off to continue your average of six yards of play, um is kind of how I look at it. And you would love to be in a game where um you none of those penalties happen. You probably get another three, four conversions and and in addition to some more runs off and and then you can maybe start wearing the opponent down a little bit. But um you get into the kind of you let you let the Baltimore Ravens play multiple third downs in a row, either a second and long into a third and long. It’s just not the formula, especially with a young quarterback to try to play against that team. Kevin, when you guys lose Jonathan Bernard, how did that impact some of the things they were trying to do in the run game against your defense? Yeah, I I you know, I I think it’s it’s one of those things the guys that stepped in there, um, you know, did did a a very, you know, a very good job for the most part. It just they they had us, you know, a couple a couple plays there where it looked like we got our edge taken away from us. Flo made some adjustments and then that’s what helped us, I think, on that final final stop that they made to force them to throw it on third down. And then um we at least got an opportunity coming back at him there. Uh just didn’t get it done.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from U.S. Bank Stadium after the team’s Week 10 27-19 loss to the Ravens.

#MinnesotaVikings #Vikings #NFL #MN #Football #Skol

Subscribe to the Minnesota Vikings YT Channel: https://goo.gl/VTGqAS
For more Vikings videos: https://goo.gl/f9Ppj3

For more Vikings action: http://www.vikings.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minnesotavikings
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vikings
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikings/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vikings
Get the App: https://apple.co/2uPFQkP
Subscribe to our podcasts: https://apple.co/36BX1on