Press Pass: Frank Reich

use it. We thought this was the week, you know, Coach Coach made a comment to me early last week like he felt watching the tape early, just knowing the situation, he felt like this was the week. He we wanted to do it, and it was effective and we executed well with it. It certainly has its advantages. I don't think it's a every plaything, but it is certainly it does afford you if you can execute rhythm. But that's the whole key. You got to execute to have rhythm.

The past three years in the quarterback I see, yeah, I think there's I think there's some help to that. I mean, they're, you know, the guys that have been here, we're used to it. You know, I think Carson is really likes it and handles it well. So I think there was some benefit to that Carson game drive. Yeah, I mean, you know, finishing these games. I mean, obviously it's a team thing. You know, your quarterback, you're gonna when you win it, it's gonna be you one it.

So there's all we all get that, you know, I think, uh, in general, you know, I think over the years, just making a general statement about it. I don't know the exact stat, but it's remember a couple of years ago here in the stats saying like seventy five percent of games are decided by one score or less. Maybe you guys can check that stat or something, but so it's not a surprise that games are going to come down

to a last drive. You're either going to be almost if that stat's right, seventy five or eighty percent of games, that's the norm that is coming down to the last drive. What's probably a little bit of the different is we've had some of the margin of some of our victories.

So back to your question, which is a great question, it's you know, it's just execution and it's a team thing, and experience tells me, been in hundreds and hundreds of close games that I don't know eighty or ninety percent of it is just execution, staying on the field long enough, making enough good plays so that somebody can make a great play to win the game. You gotta just play

good football. Eighty percent of it, make a play, make another first down, boom, and then somebody on your team, you know, ten percent of it or twenty percent of it is somebody making a play that they shouldn't make, breaking a tackle, making a catch, making a throw that you shouldn't be able to make. And that's what ends

up winning those games a lot of times. All those lines Carson talked yesterday about, there was so much focus on them, not on you guys not being able to get the ball down the field and the passing game against Dallas. But if you had been able to like convert that third down when you were ready to kick a field goal to up ten late in the fourth quarter, you know, nobody would be talking about that if you'd won the game. What's your perspective on that? Yeah, well,

and that's that's true. I mean, there's no question we want to get the ball down the field. Um, you know, I will say, going into let going and we had stuff called and they're plan soft, and there's other times there are other things are happening. But still we you know, we want to we we talk about it each week. How do we get our matchups? How do we get the ball down the field? And in general, most most most offensive teams going say, you want to take one

shot per quarter. That's usually a general mindset that most play callers have. We want to get one deep shot of quarter that you want to at least call one of those, and sometimes you don't, but you don't want to force it. But back to your back to your question. You know, we go up against a game. You know, when you're going up against a team that we were going up against last week, a prolific offense, an explosive offense, a team that had been controlling the ball maybe number

one in the NFL and time of possession. One school of thought that I think is legitimate that we were talking about his offense. Let's turn the tables, let's us run the football, Let's us control the ball and see how this team does playing from the other side of it. That would be nice thing. We know we have the D and for three quarters of that game. It was playing out not perfectly. We left a lot of plays

on the field. We could have scored more points. It wasn't pretty, but we were controlling the time of possession, our defense was playing good, and it was a pretty good formula. We were, you know, but it's not good enough. That's where at the end of the day, you're sick and there's no answer. I mean, there's no answer that gonna make any of us feel any better and make

our fans feel better. We just as a team, as a team, we just have to finish those whatever it takes, whatever it takes, We just have to keep fighting and scratching and clawn and finish these games and win and win a close one. Your receivers lead the league in jobs. And my question to you is, as a quarterback, how do you mean keep Carson have confidence in throwing to them? And I'm wondering if it does affect his psyche when guys are putinue driving balls and a lot of them

actually are coming down the field. Yeah, yeah, I mean as a quarterback, you know, if you have a drop out, Yeah, I mean, there's sometimes you get frustrated, especially when you're you know, when we're trying to make a play down the field, there's no question. But Carson is such a he's such a team guy. Uh for a guy who a guy who's got you know he's young, but he's not a stat guy. You know, he wants to win. He's really a team more any guys, so as much

as any quarterback I've been around. I know he's very early in his career and maybe he'll get tainted as he gets down the road a little bit further, but right now it doesn't seem to face him very much. You know, he's extremely positive and supportive. UM, as are we as coaches. I mean, you know, our guys are our guys, and we all realize that we you know, each one of us make a mistake and we're never

happy about it. And you're pressing your press and your press. Um. But as a quarterback, I know from experience, you can't let it affect your psyche. As far as thrown to the guy, you have to read the play out, you have to attack the defense, UM. And I think Carson does that and I think he has the confidence in our receivers. Did Wiznski looked once he came in last week and Housing, as I thought was, did exactly what we thought he would do. He came in and he

played well, smart, dependable, Glad to have him. Right. When you look at the Giants defense, let tape, why haven't they been more successful getting to the quarterback? Um? You know, that's a good question because you know, Spaggs has man. He brings every kind of pressure imaginable. They have great disguise, they have good personnel. You know, Vernon is a great pass right you know, in my opinion, I played against him a couple of years ago and he wrecked the

game with his pass rushing ability. We know Jpp's an excellent pass rusher. So yeah, I mean, I think other teams have just done a good job of getting the ball out quick. It's a fair statement say that Carson and zach Ertz haven't gotten in sync yet. What do you see going? What's your theory behind it? What's what's going on there? Yeah? I think it's a fair statement, you know. I mean, yeah, I think it's a fair statement.

I just think that we have to continue. I think we have to stay the course, stay the course, stay the course, have a sense of urgency, keep thinking about it keep trying to get the ball to him and just have a breakthrough one of these games and get things back on track. But I think that's fair, and I think that, you know, we're pushing to that, We're

thinking about it, we're planning for it. I can tell you each week you go in and there's X number of players geared to go to Earth since he's been back, and then the flow of the game or they're holding him at the line of scrimmage on one or two of them, and you know it's ridiculous, but whatever, um it's the NFL. And then too, you know, the flow of the game. And I know that seems like an out that you hear a lot the flow of the game, and guys are probably tired of hear and flow of

the game, But uh so are we. We just gett need to make more first downs and get him the ball. He's a great he's a great tight end, and that's our plans. I think that's I think that's a part of it. Yeah, I mean, I you know, I do think you know, early on, you could tell I felt like they had a natural connection. It's easy to have a natural connection with Earths. It really is because he's such a good route runner, and he's so smart and he understands leverage and how to get open. So um,

he's a kind of guy. And Carson's equally smart and understands all that stuff. So those two, uh, you know, should hit it off. You know, they should hit it off. And we need more production and so that's what we'll keep fighting for that. Have you noticed about the way Doug is kind of handled look like off the field incidents that were Josh happin also you know, urn the game on a Sunday criticism for that screen pass as

fall as a lost specials. But how is he kind of delab You know, I've been around a lot of great leaders in football, not in football, a lot of great coaches. And I do not exaggerate one bit when I tell you, when I look at our head coach, he has all the qualities that you want to see in a leader and in a head coach. He's steady, he's unfazed by it all. He's competitive as all get out. He can't you know, he works as long hours as anybody else in this building. He's grinding, but yet he's steady.

He's he's a very self disciplined man. He requires a lot of himself. I think you're around him, you rub should with him, that just rubs off on you. But it's just like raising Hafam. You know, things don't happen overnight. I mean you can't control everything overnight. I think what coach can control is doing a great job. And he's

the kind of guy that you want to follow. Of being a wide receivers coach as well, what kind of involvement do you have in helping them and where do you think some of the intension more attension needs were

placed on to help those young guys out. Yeah, coach receivers a few years and as as the coordinator, especially with having the head coach that we do, who is you know, really the big coordinator and so yeah, I try to be hands on with the receivers as much as I can, you know, out on the field and

in meeting room. We watch tape together after every practice we go in there and coach allows me to kind of show a tape of some of the passes that we threw to kind of coach some stuff up, you know, post practice in meetings with the quarterbacks and receivers and tight ends and backs all in there together, and that's kind of I get to say out there talk out in the field. Greg and I are always talking pull receivers aside one on one and talking. Uh. That's a

fun part about it. You know, that's a fun part of you know, being a coordinator and being a past quarterback and a receiver coach. You know, I feel like I have something to offer there and just got to keep coaching guys up and it's a fun group to coach the wide receiver. US see a change coming in terms of maybe activating a Brice Tracks or moving up and Paul Turner, or just changing the way that you know, if you're rotating guys on Sunday. UM. You know, I

mean I think that it's a very competitive league. You know, coach ultimately makes those decisions. It's a league where sometimes you get injuries and you know, you only put four or five receivers up normally. Sometimes in rare cases you only put three up, but usually it's four or five. Have been on a lot of teams that have had five up. UM. So that's a week end and week out decision based on what coach thinks, based on the injury situation, based on performance. Of course, this is a

performance business, so that's always a factor. But yeah, those are all all considerations. What have you seen from them so far? And what makes you confident that the guys you have in the room right now we'll be able to get better as a season goes on. I've just seen a lot. I seem to make a lot of plays out in the field. I know how hard they work. I know what it means to them, you know. I

see the effort they're putting. I know this sounds crazy, but I see the effort for instance, that Nelson is putting in all of our receivers, but in the run game. I mean, Nelson is blocking as good as any receiver in the NFL right now. And you say, well he's a receiver, Well yeah, but you need eleven guys in the run game. And the intensity that he's putting into the run And I say this all time and receivers.

I think it's just my personal philosophy that when you put the effort into the run game, good things are going to come to you when you will give of yourself. A Stout always says to the when you give of yourself to your teammates, when you lay it on a line for them in the run game. I just think over the long run, I might be wrong, but I just think over the long run, good things will come to you and you've got to make the plays come

to you. And um, So that's just what I believe, and I believe in the guys that we got in that room. And we've had a few bumps, but there's still are guys and we still believe. You don't seem to have any concerns with using Darren the way he had twenty touches. Can you talk about why you don't have concerns about that. I mean, you know, probably last week might be the max that you you know, that's a lot. But he's a I mean this in the

most complimentary way possible. He's a freak, you know, as they say, Um, he is a genetic and physical specimen the guy. You know, we all know the size thing, but he's probably the strongest guy pound for pound on the team and that's something to be said. There's something to be said for that. So he can handle he can handle a lot. Now, as you said, his age,

is that a factor? Absolutely? And I know, I'm sure I know coaches mentioned that to me, I mean, that's probably the max we want to use Darren in the game, but he needs to stay in the mix. He's an explosive playmaker. It's fun to see him out there. He creates energy for the whole team. I think he creates energy for our fans. You see him, he draws attention from defenses. So he's got to be on the field, his line share, and when he can't handle anymore, I'm

sure he'll retire. But in the meantime we have to find that blend of how much can we use him without overusing him? And so yeah, that is a factor.