Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 18, 2022

Q: Mac, in a lot of ways, physically, mentally, how much different was today?

MJ: Yeah, it feels good. I think, obviously, we wanted to improve a lot of things. And we had a chance to do that throughout the week, really. That’s where it all started. And just a great team win. It just wasn’t one phase of the game. Offensive line played amazing. Didn’t even really get hit. So, hats off to them. Run game, pass game, they made it work. So that was something I was really proud of. And we just got to keep doing that.

Q: Mac, can you touch on Nelson Agholor? Do you know you had him when you had him?

MJ: Yeah, I think it was kind of one of those plays moving the ball and running our two-minute offense and I have good comfortability with that. And, you know, when it’s — we’ve worked on that play through the offseason and 50/50 balls.

And he’s one of those guys that I put in the throw it up to him category. And he’s going to have make the play. So if it’s one-on-one, I’ll give him a shot. Obviously, had time with the offensive line and I think all our receivers can do that, if they’re one-on-one, I’m going to give them a chance. Different philosophy, but that’s what we need to do.

MJ: Yeah, I think the coaching staff did a great job with preparing us throughout the week. And, obviously, like you said, they put really good stuff on film. It’s a really good defense and we just went out there and executed as best we can.

We, obviously, wish we had plays we wish we had back. But they’re just good players all around. But I think we competed really hard and like I said, hat’s off to the offensive line and the backs running hard and the receivers making plays.

Q: How significate can that last drive be? You guys get it with 6:33, end up running the clock.

MJ: Yeah, I completed a few passes and then run the ball. That’s every team’s goal. The teams that win in the NFL do that. You try to watch the weekly NFL and see what teams did that well. If you can close out a game and if you do that and you don’t have to score, you just got to move in and get first downs and the time just runs out. That’s usually how it goes.

So NFL games come down to the wire almost every week. And I learned that, obviously, last year and this year. So, great job Damien [Harris] and Rhamondre [Stevenson] running the ball and the offensive line for opening the holes.

Q: And how significant can that be for you guys? Obviously, you’re not where you want to be.

MJ: Yeah, of course. I think we did some good stuff in the run game. And we have to build on it and do that all the time and throw the ball whenever we want, pass the ball — you know, run the ball. It doesn’t really matter, just to be able to do it whenever however we want to do it. So definitely stuff to build on. But it’s just one game and got to continue to do it every week.

Q: (Question concerning indiscernible offensive lineman’s name.)

MJ: Yeah, he’s very — like, very stoic. But very competitive in his own way. And he’s always hustling to that ball. And he’s doing a great job learning the offense. He’s really done a great job. It’s hard coming in as a rookie and starting. And he’s done a great job. And he’s just got to continue to grow and improve what he wants to improve on. That’s what I’ll tell him.

If it’s a few things on your footwork, Hey, I’m a little slow on this, let’s fix it. So, he’s done a good job, and we just got to continue to grow and let those guys mold with the five guys.

Q: Mac, how do you feel in the shotgun? It looks like that was a big plan.

MJ: I like the shotgun. I like under center, too. I think they’re both interchangeable. You can run the same plays out of either one. But, yeah, I think it was a good idea and we can do either one. It’s just the difference of a word.

You’re either under center or in the gun. So we can do whatever we want. And every time has both. So that’s important as an offense, to be able to do both.

Q: Do you feel like you guys are finding what you’re good at? I know it’s still early in the season here. But have you streamlined things to the point you’re forming an identity?

MJ: Yeah, I think the coaching staff has done a good job laying out our rules for us and what we want to follow. And, hey, on this play do this, that play, do that. So really done a good job there cleaning everything up. And we just got to execute better and we’ll get — have even more points and it won’t be as close of a game. So that’s the big thing, just put more points on the board and continue to grow.

Q: When you get that turnover, how important was it to answer the second, not settle for a three there, maybe give them a little bit of life? How important was it to punch it into the end zone then?

MJ: Yeah, I think any time we get a turnover, points are good. Moving the ball is good. But you, obviously, want points, three or seven. And great job by the defense and we just got to, you know, do that. It’s complementary football.

And when they do something good, we got to respond and do something good, too, and vice versa. So they played really well and they just got to — you know, like us, work on the things they want to work on to get better. But they looked pretty good out there and we got to grow together.

Q: Mac, last week you didn’t run the ball that much. Do you feel more comfortable in an offense where there’s people to run the ball?

MJ: I don’t really care. I just want to score points and I think we need to be able to do both. And that’s important; run, pass, RPO, play action, whatever you want to do. We have a really good offensive line and we need to have the ability to do that whenever we want. Like I said, every offense does that. Really good offenses do that, they run when they want, play action, pass, et cetera. So it all plays into each other.

Q: Minkah Fitzpatrick said today that they played a lot of two-high safeties. Were you surprised by that? I remember a coach last year for you guys saying, “We don’t really see two-high safeties that much.” I think it was a reference to the fact that you guys run the ball well, generally. So was {that a} surprise to you that they showed that sort of defense?

MJ: There’s a spin and dial on defense. So they run a bunch of different coverages. And, yeah, they definitely played a lot of that. But they have good, good players. So they know how to run, you know, different things, different ways. So that was good.

And I think we responded well. The one interception wasn’t good by me. But I’ll get that cleaned up and make sure we see it all the way through. What we wanted to do that with that play. It’s all good. That was one of those split safety ones, but, you know, every play is different. It could be post-high when you go to the middle or split safety. It doesn’t really matter for us.

Q: (Question concerning man coverage.)

MJ: Yeah, I think, like you said a lot of different coverages today. Spin the dial. And we just got a good offense that everyone can get the ball whenever. So it’s not like we’re scheming for one specific thing. We can go out there and just get the completions.

And like today, offensive line gave me plenty of time to go through my reads. So that’s the important part and got to keep doing it. Every defense is different and every defense runs different coverages. So, we have to be ready for everything.