Q. Would you say that first half is the best you've seen Jalen play?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, he played really good football. And I think the whole offense in whole played the best offense we played in the first half.
Everyone was on the same page. That's three weeks in a row we didn't have any penalties, too. You know, the self-inflicted wounds, not getting any of those.
The offensive line played exceptionally well. Receivers blocked, tight ends blocked, backs ran it well, and Jalen played well.
Q. What areas do you think he's improved the most?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think just within the pocket. He's making those plays outside the pocket but stepping up in the pocket.
He had one in the two-minute drive he threw to Reagor, a stop route. He stayed in there and got drilled. I mean, that's great strides right there, seeing that, making those big time throws.
Q. How do you coach that out of somebody, the tendency he has to sometimes take off?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think it's repetition. You do it in practice over and over. Like Coach says, The repetition, the preparation part of it, seeing those things and trusting it.
The timing, the anticipation he threw with there, it was a big time play and we got to keep doing that.
Q. How much has the shift of a little bit of a run game benefited?
SHANE STEICHEN: It definitely helps. It definitely helps. Obviously, we're not throwing it as much. I mean, you got -- you know, what, did we have 23 pass attempts? I think we only through it three times in the second half.
That first half, he was lights out. That's good to see and we got to keep working on that.
Q. Some of your performances have come without your starting running back. When Miles is back, how do you navigate that?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, you know, I think we got a lot of good backs and we'll work through that this week and see how it goes.
A lot of guys can do good things for us out of the backfield running the football. It's a good problem for us.
Q. How much has Jordan Howard helped with that physicality aspect that Nick was talking about pregame and postgame?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, he's a big back. And you could see it again this week. He sees the holes and he hits it. And he's physical and breaks tackles. He did a great job of ball security.
Q. When a receiver runs as precise routes and technically sound as DeVonta Smith is, from a quarterback perspective, how much does that impact your confidence throwing the ball to him and knowing he'll be there?
SHANE STEICHEN: Oh, no, that's big time. And I think that definitely helps. Those guys played together in college. Coming in, they were kind of on the same page when they got here.
But then keep repping it through the springtime, when we drafted him, and now going in midway through the season. And you can just see the timing from those guys, the ball coming out, timing out of the breaks, that definitely helps.
Q. I assume you watched the film of last year, Hurts versus the saints. What did he do then that was successful?
SHANE STEICHEN: I mean, he ran it well. They ran it really well last year. You look at the run game, they ran it well. When to keep it, not to keep it in the run game. And he made some big time plays.
Q. What do you like about having different backs with different skill sets and kind of committee-type thing as opposed to one guy getting 22 touches?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think within the scheme of what we're doing and going through the game plan, I know Coach talked about it the other day, we rotate those guys but also have specific plays that we want those guys in. You know, certain runs we want them in, passes we want them in. What those guys do best, we cater that to them.
Q. Nick spoke last week of having Brian Johnson on the sideline. How has that affected you and kind of helped you in terms of communication with Nick?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, it's been fantastic. Brian Johnson is a heck of a football coach. We're really happy to have him here.
Obviously, him and Jalen's relationship is big and that definitely helps on the sideline with him talking with him, that way I can talk to Nick. So it's really good.
Q. In those first seven games, how much time did you spend with Jalen opposed to Nick?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, I spent some time, obviously, with Jalen going through the pictures and then I was going through the pictures, and then the next series getting ready to go, and then we're trying to get the next series ready. So it's been a great help having Brian down there.
Q. What did you see from Jack and Tyree getting that extended time with Dallas out?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, those guys keep improving every week. Obviously, Tyree, his second game in, he did a really nice job. And Jack's continuing to get better. And that's credit to those guys. Their weekly preparation and Coach Michael does a heck of a job with those guys.
Q. What have you seen with the growth of Landon Dickerson?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no doubt. Landon was drafted where he was for a reason. Obviously, Howie saw that in him. I think, obviously, everyone knew he was a good player and what he's been able to do these last couple weeks and keep improving and grinding.
He's a big, physical guy. When he's double-teaming guys, when you can get 600 pounds on 300 pounds, it's going to help.
Q. Phillip Rivers was on the Manning Cast last night and he said that he would send you and Nick plays of his offense in high school. What was kind of the extent of that and is he a resource for you by any chance?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, we still stay in contact all the time. He sends us little clips and the tidbits that he runs with his high school football team. And they use the terminology we use. Hey, we hit this play and, obviously, we know what this is. So it's pretty cool to see that.
Q. He's using your offense?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, the terminology. Not as in depth, but the terminology is similar.
Q. It seemed like there were maybe a couple plays you got late in the play clock in the first half. I think you had to use a time-out in one and the other one looked like Jalen was -- was there an issue with the communication?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think we just wanted to get in the right play there. It was one of those we wanted to get in the right play. We said, Let's just take a time-out here and talk about it.
Q. To be able to run the ball 20 out of 23 snaps I think it was in the second half, a lot of those against stacked box where they knew you were going to run it, what does that say about the way the running game is?
SHANE STEICHEN: It's, obviously, a credit to the guys upfront. Those guys are doing a heck of a job. And any time you have the element of a quarterback runner, you know, an extra guy we can read in the zone read game, so it definitely helps. Even if they stack the box, we can still be accounted for unless they have a zero blitz.
Q. Is it difficult sometimes for a defense to play Jalen just because there aren't a ton of quarterbacks in the league like that?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, that's a great question. Because, obviously, he's a unique player. They're going to play him different than a typical dropback quarterback that's not going to do the zone read game.
So I think we got to look through those things and expect the unexpected week in and week out with him at quarterback.
Q. What's the way you've seen the biggest improvement of Jalen in the course of the season?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think he's starting to see it really good. The checks he's starting to make. I think, again, that's the repetition of going over and over and starting to see it and feel comfortable.
We said it the other day, he's in his 13th and 14th start and getting comfortable and seeing things defensively that he's seeing.
Q. How much is it of you guys getting to know him?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no doubt. Getting to know him, what he does really well. And I think that's starting to show on Sundays, what we're doing with the offense. So we got to keep improving on that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports