Passing game coordinator Jason Vrable
On WR Matthew Golden in clutch moments:
Since training camp, and going back to his last year of college, it’s his hands. He has tremendous hand-eye coordination. He keeps his feet on the ground when he catches. Some guys will jump and move, all different things. He does such a good job of running through the football and attacking it. You saw that one against Dallas, it was tight windows and he came back and plucked it. I can’t say he hasn’t had a drop because he has had one, in practice one time. So I saw it once. There’s been some bumps and bruises and figuring things out. He’s a rookie, so we knew there’d be some growing pains, but I think if you really watch the tape the last couple weeks, it’s starting to look like a great product out there, and it’s starting to slow down for him. I think our whole staff is confident and our quarterback has built some trust lately with him, the way he’s catching the ball for us.
On WR Romeo Doubs off the field, after last year’s incident:
What everybody said is that was like an outlier, whatever happened, and I think everybody’s moved past it. For four years, and I’ve been here for a while now, I think he is the most consistent player that I’ve been around in this building. Every single day he’s the first one at the JUGS machine. As soon as we break the meetings, he’d go over there. It’s him and maybe Tucker Kraft are fighting over it, or Ben Sims to get there. Every single thing he does is to get better and be a great teammate. Truly, his excitement for Christian right now coming back, they already started having a dance going. It’s genuine, he missed him out there.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans
On RB Josh Jacobs being in the zone, or flow state:
When he sees this is now a time of urgency, he’s not a guy to press from a negative standpoint. He’s a guy that understands how to, I guess, ignite himself, and when he ignites himself in those situations, because he knows that the team needs him, that pushes him to having the flow that I’m not going to be denied. It’s on, you’re not going to stop me. Sometimes the situations at hand help to put him in the flow.
Wide receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey
On WR Christian Watson‘s pending return:
Just seeing him and the time he’s put in to get himself into the position he’s at right now, very happy to have him back out there. Listen, he’s a tall, physical, fast athlete who’s extremely bright, and anytime you’re able to add that type of person to the practice field, I think it just brings a lot of infectious energy. You’ve seen his progression as a leader, him being able to help other guys and how cerebral he is with the way he’s able to process the game. It’s been a real joy to see him back out there running around.
Quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion
On the fourth-down pass to WR Romeo Doubs that was incomplete:
It’s a long shot downfield. You can miss it by just a tiny bit and it can still be a pretty good throw. Unfortunately didn’t connect. I love the decision. I love that he got it up early. A lot of times on deep balls you just want to get it up early with air, and I think Jordan’s done a really nice job of that. I just loved how decisive he was getting to it and getting to it on his first hitch there. We work those every day in practice. You’d love to hit them all. Unfortunately we were just a tick long on that one.
On QB Jordan Love using his legs:
That’s been great. It’s come up really in every game we’ve played, where he’s been able to move the chains with his legs or extending outside the pocket. I think about the one late in the Cincinnati game, where he hit MG on that one, because I think that’s where he’s really dangerous, both as a runner and being able to extend and keep his eyes downfield.
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus
On T.J. Watt vs. RT Zach Tom:
You play a guy like T.J. Watt, you gotta be ready for him. It’s gonna be a great challenge. Everybody knows where he’s gonna line up. It’s gonna be a challenge for Zach to get ready to block him, but again it starts with our fundamentals, our sets, our footwork, our hands. He’s relentless in everything he does.
On Jordan Morgan taking over at RG:
Some good, some bad. I think that’s a snapshot of everything we’ve done this year. We need to be more consistent overall. As a unit, it’s not where we need to be. It’s not the standard that we set here over the past few years and over the years before we got here. I think every man in that room will tell you the same. There’s a standard we have in that room and we gotta live up to it.
Tight ends coach John Dunn
On TE Tucker Kraft becoming a go-to guy:
All that stuff starts in practice. Obviously you want to see it come through in games and the more times that you come up with those plays, normally the more opportunities, the more trust you get. Every game is different. They’re not all built the same in terms of maybe how you’re attacking defenses, what their coverages are. There’s a lot that goes into it