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This is a transcript of Schonert's weekly press conference with the media.
I like the fact that he pulls no punches and makes no excuses.
This shows that he's not always calling the kind of game many assume/think he is. He says they tried to go deep to Hardy twice (one onthe first play of the game) and that it may have been six had the protection been better.
Some other good stuff in here, too:
I like the fact that he pulls no punches and makes no excuses.
This shows that he's not always calling the kind of game many assume/think he is. He says they tried to go deep to Hardy twice (one onthe first play of the game) and that it may have been six had the protection been better.
Some other good stuff in here, too:
BUFFALO BILLS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TURK SCHONERT
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
On the mounting injuries:
Injuries don’t have anything to do with it. Guys have to step up and play. One, we are turning the ball over too much. We are making mental errors and turning guys free on the quarterback and he is getting hit. I think we are leading the league in fumbles, I don’t know, but it seems like it. We just have to stop doing that. We can’t turn guys free on the quarterback when he is expecting us to be blocking, we have to block them and that is the bottom line.
On not being happy:
I feel like we let two games get away. We should have had 400 yards of offense last week, but because of mental errors and mistakes we didn’t get it done. We should have had a lot more points too that we left on the field and that is what is disappointing.
On the running game:
We haven’t run the ball badly up until last week. We looked last year after seven games and we have won more games so we have had a lot more kneel downs. You have to look inside the numbers and we did that. We were averaging 4.1 and we had more yards, less carries than we did last year after seven games. We had eight touchdowns all of last year. Everyone is all down on the run game, but is has been functional. We have got eight rushing touchdowns, we had eight all of last year and we had it in seven games. Our average was better and up until last week they stymied us and they beat us in the run game. We have to be a lot better running the football than we were last week.
On the offensive line:
Like all of us, up and down. Good things and not so good things. We are all in this thing together and it is not just the offensive line, believe me, it’s not just the o-line. Can they play better? Yes. Can the quarterback play better? Yes. Can I call better plays? Yes. Receivers can play better, tight ends, everybody can play better especially the last two weeks. We just had too many mental errors that stopped us. It wasn’t them stopping us as much as ourselves.
On the defenses crowding the line:
We had (James) Hardy twice deep, one maybe two touchdowns, didn’t get the ball off, we got pressured. We take shots, we call them, but they might not get thrown because we don’t protect it long enough and that is what happened. First play of the game Hardy beat his guy, it was a double move on a safety and we had him, but we had to dump it off to Marshawn (Lynch). We had another one in the corner of the endzone that we had to dump off to Corey (McIntyre) because we got pressure. People don’t see that. They look at numbers and think they don’t throw the ball downfield. They don’t do this, they don’t do that. If you sat there and watched that game and understood football you would know what I am talking about. We could go through it and you guys would go, wow, you guys had a lot of things going for you that didn’t materialize. I know everyone was saying James didn’t catch any balls, but he beat his guy. He had a couple mental errors, but he beat his guy, but he didn’t get the ball. That’s just sometimes how the game goes.
On turning things around:
We have to quit turning the ball over. That is it. Seven in two games, you are not going to win against good teams especially in your division. We have to stop there first and then we have to get better running the football. Our pass game has been fine. We have been pretty efficient in the pass game and have made a lot of big plays. We have to protect a little better and we have to run the football better. If we do that and just eliminate turnovers… We had turnovers all three times in a scoring area. If we just kick those three field goals, that is nine points and they don’t get seven. Do the math because we win. It is not hard, nor is it difficult. We have to keep battling, we have to keep working and learning. We are young and if we keep working together and growing each and every week and not be a rookie every week, I think we are going to be OK.
On evaluating QB Trent Edwards:
He has played well. He has done a lot of good things. He is learning too, there are a lot of things he can do better and he will be the first one to tell you that. He has missed some things. Part of it is our division plays a certain way on defense and our defense doesn’t play that way. We don’t see this type of defense the whole off-season, not in the OTA’s, training camp and we haven’t seen a lot of teams play the way our division plays. When you first get into it, it seems like it is something new to you and this will be our third straight week. Our division plays very similar on defense and we have to be able to master it and execute against it. Trent (Edwards) does too. He has to be able to see things, read things and go to the right guys. He has to be accurate, they cover you tight, that is what they do, they match up in zones and you have to make accurate quick throws and quick decisions. Like I say, he is like all of the rest of us. He has done a lot of good things, but he can get better.
On playing against 3-4 defenses:
You have to study and that is what our division is. They are a match-up zone and may send some man coverage teams, pressure team. The Jets pressured us and we were open downfield. We had some opportunities to get some big plays. We missed, we missed some throws, and we ran the wrong route. Our protection didn’t hold up a couple of times and guys were open downfield for big plays, so it is a combination of all of this. We have to keep working through it, keep learning and film study. New England plays the same way. They are a physical, veteran, match-up team that plays with great technique and great intensity. We have to match their intensity and their technique.
On teams double covering WR Lee Evans:
It is nothing new. We see it every week. We have to move him around, gameplan and do all of those things. When he gets those opportunities, we have to get him the ball. He will make plays. It is no different than what the Jets did. They doubled him the whole game. Other guys have to step up and make plays. You just can’t call every route to him so we have to use everybody. I think we have done a pretty good job of getting everyone involved in the offense and using them. We have to continue to do that.
On Bill Belichick’s defenses:
They have great players. When you have great players it gives you a lot of flexibility. They have smart, veteran players. They can do a number of things with the same people and you have to be sharp. I just got in watching last year’s film and again they went to a four-man line and we didn’t execute hot reads. They just brought one more guy. It wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before, but we fell asleep because we were used to a 3-4 and it takes two guys to make us hot on certain protections and now it only had one. Those are the little details you have to execute and that is what makes it hard against this team because they have the flexibility to go three-man, four-man and give you the different looks.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
On the mounting injuries:
Injuries don’t have anything to do with it. Guys have to step up and play. One, we are turning the ball over too much. We are making mental errors and turning guys free on the quarterback and he is getting hit. I think we are leading the league in fumbles, I don’t know, but it seems like it. We just have to stop doing that. We can’t turn guys free on the quarterback when he is expecting us to be blocking, we have to block them and that is the bottom line.
On not being happy:
I feel like we let two games get away. We should have had 400 yards of offense last week, but because of mental errors and mistakes we didn’t get it done. We should have had a lot more points too that we left on the field and that is what is disappointing.
On the running game:
We haven’t run the ball badly up until last week. We looked last year after seven games and we have won more games so we have had a lot more kneel downs. You have to look inside the numbers and we did that. We were averaging 4.1 and we had more yards, less carries than we did last year after seven games. We had eight touchdowns all of last year. Everyone is all down on the run game, but is has been functional. We have got eight rushing touchdowns, we had eight all of last year and we had it in seven games. Our average was better and up until last week they stymied us and they beat us in the run game. We have to be a lot better running the football than we were last week.
On the offensive line:
Like all of us, up and down. Good things and not so good things. We are all in this thing together and it is not just the offensive line, believe me, it’s not just the o-line. Can they play better? Yes. Can the quarterback play better? Yes. Can I call better plays? Yes. Receivers can play better, tight ends, everybody can play better especially the last two weeks. We just had too many mental errors that stopped us. It wasn’t them stopping us as much as ourselves.
On the defenses crowding the line:
We had (James) Hardy twice deep, one maybe two touchdowns, didn’t get the ball off, we got pressured. We take shots, we call them, but they might not get thrown because we don’t protect it long enough and that is what happened. First play of the game Hardy beat his guy, it was a double move on a safety and we had him, but we had to dump it off to Marshawn (Lynch). We had another one in the corner of the endzone that we had to dump off to Corey (McIntyre) because we got pressure. People don’t see that. They look at numbers and think they don’t throw the ball downfield. They don’t do this, they don’t do that. If you sat there and watched that game and understood football you would know what I am talking about. We could go through it and you guys would go, wow, you guys had a lot of things going for you that didn’t materialize. I know everyone was saying James didn’t catch any balls, but he beat his guy. He had a couple mental errors, but he beat his guy, but he didn’t get the ball. That’s just sometimes how the game goes.
On turning things around:
We have to quit turning the ball over. That is it. Seven in two games, you are not going to win against good teams especially in your division. We have to stop there first and then we have to get better running the football. Our pass game has been fine. We have been pretty efficient in the pass game and have made a lot of big plays. We have to protect a little better and we have to run the football better. If we do that and just eliminate turnovers… We had turnovers all three times in a scoring area. If we just kick those three field goals, that is nine points and they don’t get seven. Do the math because we win. It is not hard, nor is it difficult. We have to keep battling, we have to keep working and learning. We are young and if we keep working together and growing each and every week and not be a rookie every week, I think we are going to be OK.
On evaluating QB Trent Edwards:
He has played well. He has done a lot of good things. He is learning too, there are a lot of things he can do better and he will be the first one to tell you that. He has missed some things. Part of it is our division plays a certain way on defense and our defense doesn’t play that way. We don’t see this type of defense the whole off-season, not in the OTA’s, training camp and we haven’t seen a lot of teams play the way our division plays. When you first get into it, it seems like it is something new to you and this will be our third straight week. Our division plays very similar on defense and we have to be able to master it and execute against it. Trent (Edwards) does too. He has to be able to see things, read things and go to the right guys. He has to be accurate, they cover you tight, that is what they do, they match up in zones and you have to make accurate quick throws and quick decisions. Like I say, he is like all of the rest of us. He has done a lot of good things, but he can get better.
On playing against 3-4 defenses:
You have to study and that is what our division is. They are a match-up zone and may send some man coverage teams, pressure team. The Jets pressured us and we were open downfield. We had some opportunities to get some big plays. We missed, we missed some throws, and we ran the wrong route. Our protection didn’t hold up a couple of times and guys were open downfield for big plays, so it is a combination of all of this. We have to keep working through it, keep learning and film study. New England plays the same way. They are a physical, veteran, match-up team that plays with great technique and great intensity. We have to match their intensity and their technique.
On teams double covering WR Lee Evans:
It is nothing new. We see it every week. We have to move him around, gameplan and do all of those things. When he gets those opportunities, we have to get him the ball. He will make plays. It is no different than what the Jets did. They doubled him the whole game. Other guys have to step up and make plays. You just can’t call every route to him so we have to use everybody. I think we have done a pretty good job of getting everyone involved in the offense and using them. We have to continue to do that.
On Bill Belichick’s defenses:
They have great players. When you have great players it gives you a lot of flexibility. They have smart, veteran players. They can do a number of things with the same people and you have to be sharp. I just got in watching last year’s film and again they went to a four-man line and we didn’t execute hot reads. They just brought one more guy. It wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before, but we fell asleep because we were used to a 3-4 and it takes two guys to make us hot on certain protections and now it only had one. Those are the little details you have to execute and that is what makes it hard against this team because they have the flexibility to go three-man, four-man and give you the different looks.
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