Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. talks about the red zone efficiency and getting off to better starts.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [Laughter]
00:02 Yeah, I think we came out of the first game thinking, "Ah, we got to get the ball in his hands more."
00:26 I think that, you know, however the game plan comes together each week, there's obviously opportunities where,
00:32 regardless of ball in his hands or on the field, you know, he's the guy that we want out there.
00:38 Whether he's blocking, receiving, playing the quarterback position, he's the guy that we feel good things happen when he's out there.
00:51 Yeah, I think there's growth every day really. Obviously, for him, the process has been, everything I think is positive.
01:00 I think there's, with the whole situation, being smart and just making sure that when it's his time, he's ready to go.
01:09 Well, I don't know if I want to compare guys to each other, but I think obviously he's had a lot of success when the ball's been in his hands.
01:20 But I think there's some power and there's some elusiveness to his running.
01:24 Yeah, I think that obviously there's nothing more valuable than the actual experience and being on the field.
01:34 Obviously, they can be in the meetings, they can be on the field watching and gathering some mental reps.
01:40 But obviously, the most important thing is when they can get the actual rep themselves.
01:45 You kind of mentioned that one of the things that you all wanted to see from Kendrick over the offseason was a greater development of subtlety in route running.
01:51 Have you seen steps ahead in that with Tommy's been available?
01:54 Yeah, I think in the opportunities that he has had, he's proven that he's been able to get open and catch the ball.
02:00 So I think that part of it was just coming to us really with not much work in that and nothing against, that's just the style of offense he was in, which was pretty, they were pretty good.
02:12 There can't be any complaints, but I think that he's proven to us that he can get open and catch the ball when he's given the opportunity.
02:18 And where do you feel like he is route diversity wise in terms of being able to run that tree from that field?
02:23 I think that there's certain things that we feel good about him doing.
02:27 There's probably some things just with time on task that maybe it needs more work on.
02:32 [inaudible]
02:42 I think it was just a product of what coverages we ended up seeing and where we felt like the ball should go by the natural progression of the quarterback.
02:51 [inaudible]
03:16 Yeah, I think that defense is, they do such a great job really mixing up kind of their calls and what they're doing.
03:23 And so I think there's part of it that as you're doing the game plan study or preparation game plan throughout the week, there's opportunities like, hey, these are the times where we think that those opportunities might present themselves.
03:36 And sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, and maybe the quarterback has to find a check down or somebody in the flat.
03:42 But I think that going into the game, there's obviously times where you feel like, hey, here's a situation where it'd be a good time to take a shot.
03:51 Is the protection playing into that? It obviously takes a little time for those plays.
03:55 It absolutely does. And I think that, you know, that's all part of the preparation for the week is, you know, what protections do we want to be in?
04:03 Where we feel gives us the best opportunity for the quarterback to have time and be able to get the ball downfield.
04:08 Did you see that the protection was better when you played the game?
04:13 You didn't have to make it too far ahead, but how much did you look forward to getting out of it?
04:34 Yeah, I think that we're looking forward to it, believe me. Yeah, it'd be good to get him out there and get going.
04:40 But like you said, that'll be next week.
04:43 I think you go into the mindset with what you've studied, what you've prepared.
04:54 And then as the game's progressing, you might make some adjustments.
04:58 Hey, let's get to, you know, like on the sidelines, there's constant communication of, hey, this is what, you know, Doug or Kevin might like in the run game.
05:06 Or talking to Ronald and a couple of those guys.
05:09 Hey, let's think about what, you know, what's mainly on the call sheet very rarely.
05:14 But at times you might come up with something on the sidelines that, hey, we're seeing this.
05:18 Let's put this in. Sometimes those you might see some of the first half you're saying, hey, let's wait to halftime and make sure we're coaching that up with our players.
05:26 But I think there may be some adjustments during the game.
05:30 But going in kind of with the thoughts of, again, it kind of to that question, like, hey, when you want to call certain plays.
05:39 [inaudible]
06:03 I think that you could go into a game and try to get him 20 carries.
06:08 I think that, you know, physically he's a hard runner.
06:12 And so sometimes there could be some wear and tear in that situation.
06:16 But I think, you know, if he came out of a game and he had 20 carries, you'd probably be excited about the results.
06:21 I think that there's just, you know, there's other things that we're doing.
06:24 There's other guys on the field that we feel deserve, you know, opportunities to get the ball.
06:28 So I think, believe me, when he's out in the field and having those opportunities, it's a good thing.
06:34 [inaudible]
06:42 I think that was more, that was the scheme by Doug and Kevin, those guys kind of with the run game and just felt like in that situation, the action of the toss was better.
06:52 And it doesn't necessarily mean it was just for him.
06:55 There was other guys that maybe could have got that same play.
06:58 It just worked out at that time of the game.
07:00 He was the guy that we were tossing it to.
07:02 [inaudible]
07:06 Well, I'm going to say it every week.
07:08 This team is disruptive.
07:09 They're athletic.
07:10 They can rush the quarterback.
07:12 I think they have excellent ball skills in the secondary.
07:15 You see them take the ball away.
07:18 And so, you know, I say it every week, but obviously, you know, they're a big challenge.
07:22 It doesn't get easier week to week.
07:24 It's just you obviously see them all over the place, you know, flying around, playing fast, physical, and like I said, rushing the passer.
07:33 They're long, athletic, disruptive, all those things that, you know, create challenges.
07:38 [inaudible]
07:47 Well, that's a good question.
07:48 So we'll say he was because the ball, he kind of, you know, dropped the ball there, but it's a good question.
07:57 I think we'll have to get the TV copy.
07:59 [inaudible]
08:02 Probably a warning lesson.
08:03 Hey, get up, run it, finish the play, and definitely don't put the ball on the ground.
08:08 [inaudible]
08:11 Yeah, once you hear the whistle blow in that case, then --
08:14 [inaudible]
08:16 It would have to be a review, but the whistle blew, and then, you know, you just have to be -- any player, just be careful with what you do with the ball after the play, because they could also call it the way of game.
08:26 [inaudible]
08:33 Yeah, I think that -- I think obviously that we started out one for three the first week, one for four if you count the last series, but we weren't at that time trying to score.
08:41 But then started out over two, I felt like we put together two pretty good drives, and then, you know, in the first half and just didn't finish in the red zone, a lot of times I come away from that same play selection by me.
08:53 [inaudible]
09:01 Yeah, I think there's obviously some coaching going on and saying, hey, this is -- you know, the ball's going where it's supposed to go, and then just making sure those guys are on the same page about the running back, getting his head around quicker, and expecting that ball.
09:18 Okay.