Q. What was the process like in the bye week? Obviously you've got to get ready for the Giants, had the luxury of interviewing for some head coaching jobs. How did that work for you?
SHANE STEICHEN: It was good. We went through a lot of self-scout stuff, looked at what we had done well throughout the year, things we need to improve on. Did a lot of stuff that we felt comfortable with.
I think we got better from that, and we went from there. So ready to go.
Q. How did interviews go this weekend?
SHANE STEICHEN: Just focus on the Giants right now. That's it.
Q. What do you feel like you guys are -- you guys didn't run the ball as well late in the season, maybe the last few games, as you had earlier. I know Miles had the knee, obviously Jalen not being out there, but where do you see the running game right now?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think we're in a good spot. It's week to week. I think with everything, you look at what you're doing well, if you're doing something successful you stay with it. If you need to improve on some things, you've got to look at what you need to improve on, and we went through that self-scout process last week. I feel like we're in a good spot right now.
Q. What's the challenge of facing a defense that's really kind of changed its MO throughout the course of the season?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think you've got to adapt and change, too, offensively for what they're doing defensively. Every game is its own new identity, so we've got to be ready for whatever they're going to throw at us defensively, and if there's something new, we've got to make the adjustments quickly?
Q. How have they changed? What stands out the most since the time you played them?
SHANE STEICHEN: They're continuing to grow defensively. I think with anything, you're around certain guys for a while throughout the season, you start to grow, make the adjustments needed that they feel needed. Same with us offensively what we feel needed, but they've been doing a good job defensively.
Q. When you build a game plan for that, do you try to anticipate?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think so. You've got to be ready for anything. I think teams play us differently, so we try to put ourselves in all these different situations to what could happen. Not necessarily thinking -- it might not happen, but you've got to be ready for it.
We go through that process every week in our meetings and try to get certain looks in walk-throughs that we think we might get.
Q. Speaking of the run game, what has Boston Scott brought to this offense, and why do you feel like he's had so much success against the Giants?
SHANE STEICHEN: Boston is awesome. The way he prepares week in and week out, goes about his business, he's the ultimate pro, tough, smart, all those things. He's got really good vision. Just a great, great player that we're happy to have.
Q. When you face a team three times in six games, is it a little bit of a bonus for you guys that maybe you didn't have to have your full-fledged game plan against them in the final regular season game? You had some elements of your offense scaled back.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, a little bit, but with anything, each game is its new game. You know what I mean? I think you've got to go into those things saying, hey, this is a whole new deal, and we've got to be ready to go, and we've got to make the adjustments, things that we saw on tape that we think we need to be better at against them.
I'm sure they're doing the same thing with us. They know us, we know them. It's going to be a heck of a battle on Saturday night.
Q. That week 14 game was your highest scoring output of the season. As you watched the film this week what jumped out about the way the offense played?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think there was a lot. We executed at a high level. I think that was the biggest thing. We took care of the football. Guys executed. We got into the right plays. Jalen made some good checks. We ran it efficient. We threw it good early.
There was a lot of good things. I think just comes down to execution.
Q. When you have a player like Boston who has had success against one team first, is there an explanation for that --
SHANE STEICHEN: I can't answer that, but yeah, he's been really good against them, so hopefully we can keep that going.
Q. As a coaching staff when you build your game plan, are you cognizant of having a player like that, and do you try to get him involved a little bit more maybe than you would in other weeks?
SHANE STEICHEN: I think we try to get everyone involved, really. I think it's the way the game is going. If someone has got the hot hand, you roll with it and you go.
Q. What happens when Leonard Williams is in there beside Dexter Lawrence? You guys didn't see Williams the first time.
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, both of those two guys are really, really good players interior. We've got to have a plan for them. Like I said, they're really good, and we've got to execute against them.
Q. You know them, they know you, there's such familiarity. In your prep, do you have to be wary of overanalyzing things because of that, or do you just say --
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, sometimes. We've got to go out and do what we do. The things we've done well, we've got to go execute those things more than anything. That's what it comes down to, execution and taking care of the ball.
Q. You had that extra time leading up to the game. Did you spend time with Jalen talking through what he might like in this game plan than he would have otherwise?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, we always have those conversations. Those are always ongoing. Obviously we had the bye week, we went through some things. We did some good-on-good stuff versus our defense, and then obviously we were preparing. We didn't know who we were going to play. It worked out.
We looked at the Giants, we were like shoot, maybe on Monday, then we've got to get ready to play Dallas, Tampa Bay. There's a lot of things that were going on.
It worked out to where we did some work on the Giants, and they ended up winning, so yeah.
Q. You've spoken about this mental catalog that quarterbacks build I guess the more times they see a defense or a coach. In Jalen's case, have you seen the benefit of when he plays a team a second time, third time, things of that nature?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think so. I think with any position, especially the quarterback position, the more you see, the more you play, the more experiences you have, the accelerated vision is going to pick up, especially from a personnel standpoint, too, their DBs, linebackers, mannerisms, all those different things.
Absolutely, I think it's just like when you go against our defense in training camp, you kind of know how Slay plays routes, you know how Bradbury plays routes, all those different things. The more you go against a team, you're going to have a good feel for them.
Q. The biggest difference for you personnel-wise from the last time you were in a playoff game is AJ Brown. What does that mean for you as you're getting ready for this game, and can you sense what this moment means for him?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, I know he had a playoff experience with Tennessee. I know they had the first-round bye. He's been in this situation before. But anytime you've got a player like that, again, he raises the bar of everyone around him. So I know he's fired up. I know our whole team is fired up. It's going to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday night.
Q. Jalen talks all the time about even keel and being the same every day, every week. In a playoff game, is he different this week? Do you see a different Jalen in any way?
SHANE STEICHEN: He's the same. He's always just right here. His preparation, the same thing he did throughout the first 17 weeks of the season, he's doing the same thing this week. He's locked in. He's ready to go, just like our other guys. We've had really good prep so far, and we're excited about practice today.
Q. You've used the term "triple threat quarterback" in reference to his mind. How have you seen his mind and his decision making factor into the success of the offense?
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think it's exactly what you said. The decisions he's been making throughout the season have been terrific. He's playing at a high level. We've got to keep that going on Saturday. But the way he's seeing the game right now has been awesome, and we've got to continue to just execute.
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