Q. Just thoughts on J.J. not being here now?
SHANE STEICHEN: You know what I'll say this about J.J. J.J. is a great person, had a great work ethic and you know, did he some good things here for us but I'm really excited about his new chapter in Seattle and wish him nothing but the best.
Q. Why is that transition so tough, from wide receiver to tight end?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think you're outside wide and now you go inside to start blocking defensive ends. It's a whole new world in there. He battled and did a nice job while he was at it but like I said, wish him nothing but the best in seat.
Q. With those numbers down in tight end, what's been the difference for him going into this year?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think, you know, going into year two here with coach Michael and he's had some experience with Jason in Indianapolis, he knows the system well and then just keep improving every day. That's what we are all about is getting better every day and he's been doing a nice job.
Q. What has he gotten better at doing?
SHANE STEICHEN: The pass game, the pass game he's gotten really good. His routes were looking crisper and obviously the run game in line. Blocking defensive ends is a tough challenge in this league and it's all about leverage with those big guys and he's been doing a good job.
Q. Our first time talking how since the game. What stood out about Jalen's performance?
SHANE STEICHEN: He was flawless in the game, six for six. He was great, moving in the pocket on the first play, he got out and made the explosive play on that one. And he came back and checked the ball down to the back and got a another 11 yards there. And then hit the pivot over the ball to Jack and hit the chip screen, and he scrambled and scored a touchdown and got called for holding. And he had a beautiful pass to Dallas. Really impressive, and it was a really good start.
Q. How was the play calling?
SHANE STEICHEN: It was great. We threw it six times, and on that drive, that's how it played out. We hit the big one and hit another one and hit another one, I was like, shoot, let's keep throwing it. That's what we did, and it worked out.
Q. The RPOs, did he have an option?
SHANE STEICHEN: Straight pass game.
Q. Shane, with the 28-yarder to start the game, how do you go about improving accuracy --
SHANE STEICHEN: I think those are things you work out in practice and individual. With anything, you have to rep it over and over again, and he's been doing a nice job. And Coach Johnson has done a nice job in individual with him and getting out of the pocket and working those throws, and it's starting to work out big time.
Q. Jalen's completion percentage when he threw the ball down the field was towards the bottom of quarterbacks. Are there any tangible teaching points you've worked on?
SHANE STEICHEN: That's a great question. We looked at a lot of things. We looked at something yesterday with the receivers and quarterbacks and balls down the field and how and when we want to throw them.
And I think a lot goes into that, when you catch the right coverage on certain deep balls, because when you throw it deep, the percentages of throwing the deep ball are high anyway, but when you create those explosive plays, sometimes they are wide open, and sometimes you have to make contested catches. But those are things we have to work on.
Q. Was he better in this camp than he was last year?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, you've seen it in practice, he hit a big one other day in Quez down the sideline and hit another one to Reagor on the post so it's showing up.
Q. What did they show you --
SHANE STEICHEN: Jason is an explosive player, and some of that showed up. There's some things we need to clean up from a detail standpoint that we talked to them about the explosiveness, the speed he shows. And Kennedy is a powerful runner, he can get in there and get you those tough yards through the tackles, so excited about both those guys.
Q. Looking to establish against the Browns, and specifically Jalen, what are you looking for?
SHANE STEICHEN: I love the joint practices. It breaks up camp. Gives our guys another opponent, and it's about competing and going out. You get two practices and they are in a controlled environment, but you know, you get that true competition, the situations you can set up with them, script it, and then sometimes you have the call-it periods.
But it's just good to go against another opponent. You go against our defense for however long it's been, for two and a half weeks, just to see new faces out there in practice will be good for those guys.
For Jalen, same thing, treat it like a game-like atmosphere, just like we do here. Same thing when we go into Cleveland, and we are looking forward to it.
Q. The battle that got your attention --
SHANE STEICHEN: I can't say specifically one position. I think we are always competing at all positions. Guys are doing a hell of a job. I like the mindset of all the guys and iron sharpens iron, and that's what we always say. Every day we come out here and we're competing and we're competing today.
Q. Six throws Jalen had Friday night, how many were progression throws?
SHANE STEICHEN: There's a couple where he got like one, he had Quez on the shallow right and he was coming, he was third in the progression there, nice to see on that. It's saw and good to see. They take away the first read, and that's what's going to happen, they take away the first read and he goes to the second read.
We have great skill positives, the wide-outs, the tight ends, and then you've got the offensive line who I believe is the best offensive line in football, and we have got a great running game. Each week it could look different, whether we are running it or throwing it. It's going to look different every week.
Q. Nick said something the other day about how Jalen sometimes gets criticized for leaving the pocket when it's clean but the receivers are all covered and it makes sense. Can you expand on that and what that means?
SHANE STEICHEN: He leaves the pocket when it's clean? If guys are covered, right, you're going to hit -- that's one of his super powers is that he can get out on the move and create plays. So when guys are covered, let's go create the big play on the move.
And he did a heck of a job on that on the first play. We don't want to take that away. And like I said sometimes guys are going to be covered. Don't stand there; he's a great runner, we have all seen that, and he's going to make great plays that way.
Q. What's the benefit of getting out of the pocket, different angles?
SHANE STEICHEN: It puts the defense in a bind, right because scrambles are hard to defend, they have to find guys and if we work to scramble and get to our spots, those plays are hard to defends because their defensive coverage, they play -- here is four, here is three, it's scramble, boom, and I have to go find my guy and get on him.
Q. Is the downside that it cuts the field in half?
SHANE STEICHEN: It does. That would be the downside, but again, guys are going to get to their spots to where they need to get to.
Q. What happened with Andre in practice?
SHANE STEICHEN: Sometimes guys get heated up and there's just a little scuffle there, and we're over it now and he's over it and we're good.
It happens in training camp, it's long days, you go against the same guys. It happens.
Q. What can Carson do to improve --
SHANE STEICHEN: It's the mental side, too, when we are out here. And he's doing a hell of a job in the meetings, and we do these walk-throughs, he's getting those reps, and continually, as we go, see how it continues to go with him. But he's doing a good job.
Q. (Inaudible.)
SHANE STEICHEN: When a guy has been out -- and DeVonta is a heck of a player. We want to get those guys touches. And that's the beauty, we have three, four, five really good skill guys on the outside. And if we can get those guys the ball, it's all going to be better.
Q. What have you seen from Grant the first two or three practices --
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, Grant has done a nice job, from a pass standpoint, he runs really good routes. The first couple days, he ran the bender down the middle, I think it was the first, second day of practice. But you can just show he's a savvy route runner, really savvy, and he knows how to find the dead spots and get in the zones.
Q. On defense, you're going up against them every day in practice; there a guy that's stood out?
SHANE STEICHEN: There's a lot of guys that stand out. We have really good DBs: Slay, Bradberry has been a nice addition, a smart, veteran player. And it's tough. You go against these guys Slay and Bradberry every day in practice, the wide-outs, they know the demeanor and they know the receivers' demeanor. It helps us. And those guys are talking day-in and day-out. Jordan Davis, you can see him improving every single day what he's doing defensively. He's a huge human being and he's been really good inside on defense. He stood out.
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