Press Pass: Frank Reich

quarterback central of it. I think by and large, Carson's still doing a lot of really good things, still a lot of positive even in a bad stretch. Two people can look at the same thing and see different results, and we have to own the negative results, but still feel good about a lot of the things that he's doing,

even in the adversity and in the bad stretch we're in. However, do you feel he is one coverage of recognition in terms of he sees a guy's he's beating his man, he's got a window, but doesn't either see the linebacker or the safety or wherever else it might be. In secondary coverage. I think Carson's vision is coverage recognition is way beyond his years. There's very few plays where he's fulled in coverage. You know, Um, you've seen that. You

see that time and time again. Quarterbacks get fulled by disguise. I think he has really good vision. He's shown good vision. Um, every quarterback is going to make a bad decision every now and then, you know, throw the ball down the middle and cover two when maybe you should have come underneath. That happens all the time. I mean all the time. It's not acceptable. You don't want to do it, but sometimes you're trying to make a play and it happens.

But I think overall, his his vision, his recognition, his recognition of coverages has been very good. Now you watch mechanically Elliott, Yeah, I mean, you know, as a as the offensive coordinator and helping out and trying to help in that regardless a lot Again for every player, mechanics technique fundamental, critically important. You're always working at it. The higher level you get, the more you work on it. I think he's still completing a very high percentage of

his passes. You know, when you look at it in the big scope of things. Am I ever satisfied with it? No? I mean, but I've never satisfied with myself as a quarterback. I've never been satisfied with any quarterback I've ever coached. You're always pushing them to get better. You gotta get better. You got And as long as a guy has the mindset that he's trying to get better, that's the key. And I think he and he has that mindset and

he's proven that time and time again. What's been the common thread at all the interceptions that when you look at them, you know, I think it's a mixed bag. A couple of them are could be a decision, you know, like the one going down the middle of this last week. Every now and then it's a bad throw, same for every other quarterback. And I'm not trying to defend the guy, but just trying to have a realistic perspective about what happens playing that position with everything going on around you.

So you have to you have to learn from it. I mean, you know, you got to take it hard. I mean, it's got to hurt because it hurts the team when we make it. You know, when you're a quarterback and you make a mistake, it's amplified. It's not just like you missed a block or drop the balls. When you play quarterback, you understand that it's the mistakes

are amplified. So you've got to have thick skin fight through it, but very happy in a lot of respect, but also still have a sense of urgency to keep working with him to get better pass This thing has been kind of common theme that we've seen since the spring rookie quarterbacks. I guess go I'll go through this. I mean Pete Mane through like twenty interceptions in this first year. But what's the expectation of when that needs to stop? I mean, you know when does that need

to stop? Do you need another full off season? You stop now? I mean, you know, as far as you know, you need to have the mindset that it needs to stop now. It can't go another game. I mean there's no and as far as the past sailing, um, I guess it's true with every player has a you know, I like I like golf, so you watch golfers and everybody has a miss. You know that, you know I tend to miss right you know you tend to miss

with a little bit right of the fairway. And you know, right now, if Carston's miss is a little bit of a high ball, Um, is it? I don't think it's anything out of the acceptable range. You guys still playing a lot of good football and completing a lot of passes. Um, do we need to work on it? Do we need to get it corrected? Yeah, and we are doing that

and he is doing that. It seems like earlier in the year though, those high passes weren't really happening to unt the first three games especially, I mean like it might have been a problem like during the summer and everything, but it seemed like you got fixed and then and now it's happening on How to explain that maybe to some degree? I mean, you know, I still see the practice always, even even during the hot stretch, you know where there weren't very many missed Um, you know there's

still balls in practice. I mean, just go through a good stretch, you get in the zone. I mean, you get even the great players get in the zone and get even better. So I don't discount it at all. I really don't. Um, there's a sense of urgency to get better. But he has that. We all have that really responsible guy, like he takes responsibility for what's going

up there. Is there any extent that you are concerned that he says to himself, I might not have my best receiver, I might not have my best running back. My offensive line is patched up a little bit, that he takes more responsibility on himself to make things happen. Then you know it as a kid, if they do that sometimes, can you see anything? Yeah, there's no question. I mean, I think that's why we got to stick together as a team, and that's why we you know, we have to and he trust me. This guy's a

mentally tough guy and and very mature guy. He's mentally and physically very tough, and he's very mature. So that's a good formula for us because you got to be to play the position and certainly to play you know here in this city. And he well, and we welcome that. We're glad we have them. So, but do you still have a sense that you know, you want to protect your teammates, you know, and you have a sense that

he could take on you know, you hear it so much. Hey, you I've seen the best of them get broken down. You know, the most confident quarterbacks in the world lose their confidence and get battered. Okay, so that you don't take it for granted. You know, these are these are our guys, these are our team. That's why we have to stick up for each other. Um, you know, especially inside this building and we stay we all stick together here with our fans and that whole deal. But inside

in that locker room, it's it's a special bond. And I don't know any other way to do it. Was I guess I didn't state it's properly. Was Is he translating that into trying to do too much on the field himself occasionally? Yeah? Probably, at times, every quarterback tries to do too much, especially when you know you're not generating the points that we want to generate. Um, are there going to be times where you try to do

too much? Yes? Absolutely? MS. Has it happened yet, But I don't think it's happened as much as it could have. To be honest with me, I think he's handled it pretty well. I mean, I think during this past game on the sideline, when you when you get down points, you know you've got a head coach who's played a lot and coach d Filippo, we've all been around the block a few times. You get behind him, we're on the sideline time, Okay, one play at a time, don't

let's not go crazy here. We can't get it all back in one play. Those things were all being talked about it on the sidelines. We've all been around the block, m But when you're out there doing it, it's it's hard. It's that's a hard position to play. And I think he's handled it very well. He's already experienced more losing, you know, on this level than he did in college. Essentially, how is he What have you noticed behind the scenes in that respect of kind of absorbing, you know, repeated

defeat for the first time. Well, you know, for for a while, I thought he seemed, you know, totally unflappable. I mean I know, I mean it was like there was you know, now in some of the more recent losses, do I sense that this is okay, he's feeling this one. He's feeling this one. Yeah, I mean we're all feeling it. And uh, you know, I think he was that that young naive in a good sense, but still very mature guy who came in and it was like, nothing's going

to get this guy down. But even you know, but it wears on you, It wears on you. Losing wears on you in this league, and you get that's why you got to have the mental toughness. You got to have the mental toughness because it's a grind, and especially a grind when you're not winning the games that you want to win and you lose close games. You have to have the tenacity to fight out of it and not get too down. And he has that. Let's be

made about Zach Hurtz. Is failure to block on that one backside playing that Lissa Gramvill will lead to thank on it is he trying to avoid a penalty there? You know, I have learned over the years to trust the player's instincts um you know, I look back on it, you know after you know, it didn't really jump out of me honestly the first time, but because Carson was so near to the sideline, it was a non fact. The block was a non factor in the play. Sometimes you get a shot like that and you take it.

Other times, to be honest, I played with a guy Hall of Fame, Barry Sanders, who was famous for avoiding hits. You know, that's why he played all the time. It was never hurt and you saw when perfect hit DGB. You know, he got as hurt almost as DGB did. And so there was a side of me when I look back when I won Zach plant last four games, so did he. It was a non factor in the play. You want to you want to tell the player, hey,

go ahead and knock him out. But sometimes you have an instinct as a player, and over the years I've just learned to trust the instinct as a player. It seems like you guys are like in a ten nothing forteen nothing at all, a lot. What can you do to get the rhythm back in the offense that you had late and get it in the first quarter. There was no other answer than to execute one play at a time. I mean, it's there's no magic formula. I think we've had good energy at practice. I like the

way we practice. I feel like we're putting together good plans. We're showing flashes of being a good football team. We need to be more consistent. We need to make more big plays. It's hard to sustain four team play drives. We've missed a few plays here and there. We just all coaches, players together, just need to make it work one play at a time. Ye