Highlights from our interviews with coaches and players.
OC TEE MARTIN
--on Max Browne
"I think Max is operating good. He knows the offense, he knows where people are and he knows how to manage what we’re trying to get him to manage. I just want to continue to see him play the game. Sometimes it’s hard. It was hard for me when I had been a backup for a couple years. Now it’s live, now these are real bullets, play the game every snap. He’s continuing throughout the spring at making real game type decisions. (Tuesday) I thought he took a step forward. There was a lot of pressure coming, I saw him stand in the pocket, keep his vision downfield and make some incredible throws. That was good to see."
--on what he means exactly by play the game
"If you’re going to scramble, scramble. At practice he’s not getting tackled but don’t play like that. Play like the guys are coming and will knock your socks off and make in-game type decisions, in-game type timing and accuracy, those types of things. That’s what we’re asking him to do. There’s no way to simulate game reps other than to put him in those types of reps in practice."
--on whether he feels like he’s on the same page with Browne
"Yeah, Coach Tyson Helton has been unbelievable with the way we communicate. We always take into consideration before we install anything how that will be for the quarterback and how does it fit what we already do. Does it complement what we’re already doing? Is it something new in terms of a concept? And we put it all out there and see how they respond. Ultimately I’m not in the quarterback room but I have unbelievable staff members that allow me to talk to their players and have my input on what we’re doing and how we want it."
--on what the biggest adjustment has been as OC
"When you’re a position coach you worry about your position, recruiting that position and ultimately how am I going to coach it, and that’s it. And then as a coordinator, you’re watching O-line 1-on-1s, you’re watching 9 on 7. Sometimes as a receivers coach you watch 7-on-7 but you don’t watch 9-on-7. I’m watching everything. I’ve always watched everything but now as a coordinator you gotta ask the questions and make a decision on if that’s what we want to do, if that’s what’s best for us, or do we need to try another way that best fits us."
--on whether the O-line is being more physical, which he noted when he became OC was priority No. 1
"Yeah, I think they are. I think they are playing with better technique. That’s a credit to them. Coach Callaway works them hard and they’ve all responded in a positive manner. We’re going to continue to push that. We want to play physical, we want to run the ball and be explosive in the passing game. But it all starts up front. I’ve seen great improvement in the offensive line."
--on whether there is a plan for Dom Davis
“He’s one of our running backs. We do certain things with his skill set that are different than some of the other guys. But we call the same plays with him that we call with all of our other running backs.”
(It should be noted Davis almost never carries the ball in practice and isn’t targeted much either, which is in large part why I asked this question.)
QB MAX BROWNE
--on Saturday’s scrimmage
"I felt like I started off a little rough. The offense wasn’t getting where we needed to be and that’s on my shoulders. I got to get us in the right position to succeed. But we finished strong. I felt like we kind of settled down. When we were able to get into our tempo, we executed well and dominated the end of practice."
--on what the focus of the scrimmage was for the offense
"I don’t really know. I think it was just going out there and repping the plays that we had executed. The difference is when we’re in shorts you can’t get as much run game in, so they try to do a lot of pass game. It seems to be a little more physical, which means more run game, when we have leg pants on, so that’s the only thing I can walk away from with that. Maybe they wanted to get some of the run looks in."
--on where he’s at after two weeks of spring
"I feel comfortable. I’m feeling right where I want to be. We’re halfway done. I feel like I’m leading well, executing well, being efficient out there."
--on where he’d like to take a step forward before the end of spring
"I think I’m doing a good job of just executing and putting the ball where it needs to be but I think just making the next level throws. Those types of throws are what’s going to take our team to the next level, take our offense to the next level, and that falls on my shoulders, so that’s the next step I need to take."
--on whether he’s learning where to go with the ball before the snap
"One-hundred percent. That’s one of the Coach Clay Helton’s big things, you play the play in your head before you go out there and actually play it. It’s my fourth spring and I’m definitely doing that and knowing where I’m going with each scenario and each coverage, which is where you need to be as a quarterback here."
--on incorporating the tight ends more in the passing game
"That’s just a testament to what they’re doing. Tyler Petite and Daniel (Imatorbhebhe) are great route runners and T-Mac (Taylor McNamara) has been around for a while. They’re getting open and executing and being where they need to be, which is awesome for me and a play-caller and offense."
--on whether there’s a benefit sometimes to not having JuJu Smith-Schuster in practice
"That’s a fair statement. You kind of saw two springs ago they limited Nelson (Agholor). Everybody knows what Nelson can do, everybody knows what JuJu can do. Going out here and getting guys like ‘Quan (De’Quan Hampton) and Isaac (Whitney) and D-Rog (Darreus Rogers), younger guys like Josh (Imatorbhebhe), it’s great for us. Don’t get me wrong, we miss 9 out there, but it gets back to spreading the ball around and making sure everyone’s getting looks, which is awesome moving into the season."
TEs COACH JOHN BAXTER
--on Daniel Imatorbhebhe
"He’s coming along really fast and he’s doing a good job blocking the line of scrimmage and he’s really a threat in the passing game. We’ve had six practices and he’s gotten better in every single practice. He’s developing really quickly. I’m impressed with his progress. Some days, some drills, he looks like a true freshman, some says, some drills, he looks like a veteran. What he is is a really good athlete."
--on how far along he is as a blocker
"That’s where they all have to develop. Every time you usually give him something to correct he corrects it by the next practice. By the time we play he’ll be just fine."
TE DANIEL IMATORBHEBHE
--on his redshirt experience
"Last year was such a huge year of development for me, getting to going out there on the scout team, getting clamped up by Su’a every day. That’s definitely made me a lot better. Coming out here you feel comfortable. I remember when I came out for camp last year even going with the threes, the ones go so fast. Now I’m running with the ones and it’s normal."
--on how much he is working at the F position (in the backfield)
“It’s about half and half, especially with me and Tyler. Taylor just focuses on the Y stuff. The stuff that Soma (Vainuku) and Jahleel (Pinner) did, me and Tyler and Reuben (Peters) are getting to do. I definitely feel a lot more confident going out there with all the run game stuff."
--on whether the tight ends appear to have a bigger role in the playbook than last year
"I think all the tight ends are really excited to play in this offense."
--He said he was a flex Y in high school while playing in a spread offense modeled after Tony Franklin’s system.
--He weighs 240 pounds and wants to be between 240-245 for the fall.
OC TEE MARTIN
--on Max Browne
"I think Max is operating good. He knows the offense, he knows where people are and he knows how to manage what we’re trying to get him to manage. I just want to continue to see him play the game. Sometimes it’s hard. It was hard for me when I had been a backup for a couple years. Now it’s live, now these are real bullets, play the game every snap. He’s continuing throughout the spring at making real game type decisions. (Tuesday) I thought he took a step forward. There was a lot of pressure coming, I saw him stand in the pocket, keep his vision downfield and make some incredible throws. That was good to see."
--on what he means exactly by play the game
"If you’re going to scramble, scramble. At practice he’s not getting tackled but don’t play like that. Play like the guys are coming and will knock your socks off and make in-game type decisions, in-game type timing and accuracy, those types of things. That’s what we’re asking him to do. There’s no way to simulate game reps other than to put him in those types of reps in practice."
--on whether he feels like he’s on the same page with Browne
"Yeah, Coach Tyson Helton has been unbelievable with the way we communicate. We always take into consideration before we install anything how that will be for the quarterback and how does it fit what we already do. Does it complement what we’re already doing? Is it something new in terms of a concept? And we put it all out there and see how they respond. Ultimately I’m not in the quarterback room but I have unbelievable staff members that allow me to talk to their players and have my input on what we’re doing and how we want it."
--on what the biggest adjustment has been as OC
"When you’re a position coach you worry about your position, recruiting that position and ultimately how am I going to coach it, and that’s it. And then as a coordinator, you’re watching O-line 1-on-1s, you’re watching 9 on 7. Sometimes as a receivers coach you watch 7-on-7 but you don’t watch 9-on-7. I’m watching everything. I’ve always watched everything but now as a coordinator you gotta ask the questions and make a decision on if that’s what we want to do, if that’s what’s best for us, or do we need to try another way that best fits us."
--on whether the O-line is being more physical, which he noted when he became OC was priority No. 1
"Yeah, I think they are. I think they are playing with better technique. That’s a credit to them. Coach Callaway works them hard and they’ve all responded in a positive manner. We’re going to continue to push that. We want to play physical, we want to run the ball and be explosive in the passing game. But it all starts up front. I’ve seen great improvement in the offensive line."
--on whether there is a plan for Dom Davis
“He’s one of our running backs. We do certain things with his skill set that are different than some of the other guys. But we call the same plays with him that we call with all of our other running backs.”
(It should be noted Davis almost never carries the ball in practice and isn’t targeted much either, which is in large part why I asked this question.)
QB MAX BROWNE
--on Saturday’s scrimmage
"I felt like I started off a little rough. The offense wasn’t getting where we needed to be and that’s on my shoulders. I got to get us in the right position to succeed. But we finished strong. I felt like we kind of settled down. When we were able to get into our tempo, we executed well and dominated the end of practice."
--on what the focus of the scrimmage was for the offense
"I don’t really know. I think it was just going out there and repping the plays that we had executed. The difference is when we’re in shorts you can’t get as much run game in, so they try to do a lot of pass game. It seems to be a little more physical, which means more run game, when we have leg pants on, so that’s the only thing I can walk away from with that. Maybe they wanted to get some of the run looks in."
--on where he’s at after two weeks of spring
"I feel comfortable. I’m feeling right where I want to be. We’re halfway done. I feel like I’m leading well, executing well, being efficient out there."
--on where he’d like to take a step forward before the end of spring
"I think I’m doing a good job of just executing and putting the ball where it needs to be but I think just making the next level throws. Those types of throws are what’s going to take our team to the next level, take our offense to the next level, and that falls on my shoulders, so that’s the next step I need to take."
--on whether he’s learning where to go with the ball before the snap
"One-hundred percent. That’s one of the Coach Clay Helton’s big things, you play the play in your head before you go out there and actually play it. It’s my fourth spring and I’m definitely doing that and knowing where I’m going with each scenario and each coverage, which is where you need to be as a quarterback here."
--on incorporating the tight ends more in the passing game
"That’s just a testament to what they’re doing. Tyler Petite and Daniel (Imatorbhebhe) are great route runners and T-Mac (Taylor McNamara) has been around for a while. They’re getting open and executing and being where they need to be, which is awesome for me and a play-caller and offense."
--on whether there’s a benefit sometimes to not having JuJu Smith-Schuster in practice
"That’s a fair statement. You kind of saw two springs ago they limited Nelson (Agholor). Everybody knows what Nelson can do, everybody knows what JuJu can do. Going out here and getting guys like ‘Quan (De’Quan Hampton) and Isaac (Whitney) and D-Rog (Darreus Rogers), younger guys like Josh (Imatorbhebhe), it’s great for us. Don’t get me wrong, we miss 9 out there, but it gets back to spreading the ball around and making sure everyone’s getting looks, which is awesome moving into the season."
TEs COACH JOHN BAXTER
--on Daniel Imatorbhebhe
"He’s coming along really fast and he’s doing a good job blocking the line of scrimmage and he’s really a threat in the passing game. We’ve had six practices and he’s gotten better in every single practice. He’s developing really quickly. I’m impressed with his progress. Some days, some drills, he looks like a true freshman, some says, some drills, he looks like a veteran. What he is is a really good athlete."
--on how far along he is as a blocker
"That’s where they all have to develop. Every time you usually give him something to correct he corrects it by the next practice. By the time we play he’ll be just fine."
TE DANIEL IMATORBHEBHE
--on his redshirt experience
"Last year was such a huge year of development for me, getting to going out there on the scout team, getting clamped up by Su’a every day. That’s definitely made me a lot better. Coming out here you feel comfortable. I remember when I came out for camp last year even going with the threes, the ones go so fast. Now I’m running with the ones and it’s normal."
--on how much he is working at the F position (in the backfield)
“It’s about half and half, especially with me and Tyler. Taylor just focuses on the Y stuff. The stuff that Soma (Vainuku) and Jahleel (Pinner) did, me and Tyler and Reuben (Peters) are getting to do. I definitely feel a lot more confident going out there with all the run game stuff."
--on whether the tight ends appear to have a bigger role in the playbook than last year
"I think all the tight ends are really excited to play in this offense."
--He said he was a flex Y in high school while playing in a spread offense modeled after Tony Franklin’s system.
--He weighs 240 pounds and wants to be between 240-245 for the fall.
