Q. You guys emphasize ball security so much.
SHANE STEICHEN: It's important.
Q. Is that just one of those days? (Indiscernible.)
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, I think it continues to be talked about all the time. Any time you turn over the ball like we did it's going to be tough to win any type of game obviously.
We got to take care of the football as much as we can, because ultimately that is a lot of the determining factor in winning football games in this league, is taking care of the football and creating the explosive plays.
Q. (Regarding last possession/second and third down.)
SHANE STEICHEN: On second and third down, yeah, we were backed up there. I think there was like three minutes left and I went 13 personnel there. They showed only tendencies on tape from a coverage standpoint. I thought we would get the first to Dallas on a shallow; they didn't play the coverage we thought.
Looking back, probably want that call back there in that situation.
And then third down, just didn't convert. Got to execute there, starting with myself.
But we'll get better from it and we will learn from it.
Q. Speaking of Dallas, Shane, obviously that's a big loss from a personnel standpoint. You were just talking formationally. Does that affect you there as well?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think any time you lose a player like Dallas it's going to hurt. He is hard t replace. He is one of the best tight ends in the league.
It's a good opportunity for Jack and Grant and Tyree to step up, so looking forward to those guys getting the reps this week and we'll go from there.
Q. How is Tyree doing?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, doing good. Obviously he is getting back into the flow of things and we'll see how it goes, but he has been progressing well.
Q. As far as the way you use Dallas, is it unique to him or is that role in the offense? I ask specifically about the tight ends...
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, Dallas is a special player. You can pretty much do whatever you want with Dallas. Obviously we throw his screens, we throw him vertical, we throw him intermediate routes. We do a lot with him because he's a special player.
So when you have that type of talent and you're able to do a lot of different things, you're going to utilize those talents in ever way you can.
Q. ...Dallas' game is the run game blocking and the run game, you know, how are Grant -- you know Jack can do it? Right?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah.
Q. How is Grant and Tyree?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, Grant has been progressing. Obviously he will probably get some more reps. He's been battling in practice. It will be a good test for him this week. We are going against a really good defense. I believe they're fifth in total defense. They are really good on third down. I believe they are fourth on third down.
I got a ton of respect for Gus Bradley, the coordinator. Worked with him for four years in LA. Hell of a football coach, hell of a human being. Looking forward to the challenge. I know our guys are excited for it.
Q. Saw a lot -- not a lot, but a fair amount of throws to Kenny last year as a rookie; not as much this year. Has another drop on Monday night. Is that what's holding him back and why you're not using him as much?
SHANE STEICHEN: No, not necessarily. I think obviously you add a player like AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, you got Dallas Goedert, I mean, you got guys that you need to get the ball to, and Kenny is part of that, too, but obviously those are our threes guys that we got, and obviously Quez had some big catches in the game.
We'll continue to look at those things week in and week out with Kenny.
Q. That jump pass we saw, it seemed like that was a play that was set up, that you guys did most of the year. How far in advance do you think of those wrinkles, and how did that ine unfold?
SHANE STEICHEN: We're always doing that. After every game we go through when we're watching the game, Nick does a heck of a job going through like, hey, what can we marry from last week, certain things throughout the season. We are always looking at different wrinkles to put in. And obviously does it fit that week. That fit versus the coverage down there they were playing, and we got the exact look that we thought we would get and it worked out pretty good.
Q. Jeff asked about Gainwell particularly, but really you guys haven't thrown to the backs much at all this year. We've seen Miles have a (indiscernible) catch season earlier in his career. Kenny obviously; Boston can catch the ball. Would you like to get the backs more involved, or is kind of the way you all...
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah. I think right now, the backs, we'll have stuff up for the backs, but sometimes those catches happen organically. Right now, like I said, we got three, four really good players on the outside that we're getting the ball to in the pass game.
And then when it comes time for those guys to catch it, they will.
Q. (Regarding Linval Joseph affecting the game plan.)
SHANE STEICHEN: Linval is a big human being. I got a chance to be with him in LA in 2020. To add him to the defensive line with the rest of those guys we got up front is going to be special. He's a hard human being to block.
Q. You guys saw Ngakoue last year and he gave you fits. What's the key to slowing him down?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think we just got to be fundamentally sound with him and just knowing his rush lanes and where he's trying to get to. I think we'll have a plan for him going in. He is a really good football player, someone we have to be prepared for.
Q. (Indiscernible) over the past four weeks or so; is that by design or is that just sort of how the game...
SHANE STEICHEN: That's kind of how the game has unfolded. We always you have runs in for him, and obviously we'll look at that week in and week out. If it gives us an advantage to run -- I mean, I know we popped a big one to start the game with him. If we have those tendencies and we can get big runs with him running the ball, we'll do that.
Q. How did you view your play selection in the first half? I know it was kind of a funky half with the time of possession and everything.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah.
Q. What was your takeaway from that?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think just looking at it in total, I don't know exactly their run-pass ratio. We had 21 plays I believe, and then three of those were that two-minute drive. The defense did a heck of a job to start game to get the turnover and you go three plays and score, and then we had the good drive on the second drive to go down.
We hit the third down to Devonta for, I don't know, a 15-yard gain, and just in my mind I was like, hey, let's go after him here a little bit and tried to take the shot. We threw the interception, but that was just kind of thought process.
Just attack early in the game. Try to get the lead early. That's what I was thinking there.
Q. Does limited snaps affect the way you call a game?
SHANE STEICHEN: Not necessarily. Any time we get the football we got to execute and we got to score. No matter whether we have 70 plays in the game or 40 the plays in the game, like it's our job as an offense to go score.
We did at times, but then we didn't. So we got to execute at a high level. We had an opportunity to go score in two-minute drive and we didn't execute. We went three and out and punted it back. So we got to be better in that situation.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
SHANE STEICHEN: He's doing awesome. He's a good learner. Studies his butt off. He practices hard. Jason does a heck of a job with him. It's a tight knit group in there. Those guys take advantage of their opportunities on the practice field, and be good to see him Sunday.
Q. AJ rolled his ankle pretty early in the game. Did that affect the way you guys called it? He clearly wasn't his typical self.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, he wasn't 100%, but, still, I mean, you got to take that into account when you're calling things. There are certain things, you know, we hit that post to Quez, which was good. Threw some things to Quez there.
But AJ, he's an ultimate competitor. He's going to want the football. We want to give him the football. And even if a 90% AJ isn't 100%, he's still pretty darn good, so we got to get him the ball.
Q. How did you view that interception? Did Jalen do the right thing? What's kind of the coaching point? The one that was down to AJ, yeah.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah. Yeah, well, I think pre-snap the safety is pretty low, and then AJ was running that post and the guy was right there. I mean, it was a bang-bang play. It was a good play by the DB. It was a tight window.
Q. What does Goedert's absence mean, not just for the other players, but Quez and Zech, particularly, Zech, not necessarily as an inline guy, but... (indiscernible.)
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think it's what you said. Any time you lose a premier player another guy has got to step up. Obviously Devonta and AJ and Quez and Zech and all those guys are going to need to step up, and obviously the tight end room will step up as well. We're looking forward to the challenge.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports