Q. What has it been for you seeing Jalen's star rise?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Obviously it's a very exciting time for him. I'm sure he's ready to get into a routine of playing games and getting into his weekly routine throughout the course of the season.
It is nice that he's been able to consistently perform, consistently get better at his craft. His mindset has not changed in terms of how he attacks every single day, the purpose that he has, the passion that he plays with, and his desire for becoming the best player he can possibly be.
Q. In what ways have you seen the team take on his personality, if it has?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I think I mentioned this the other day. We have so many great leaders on this team. Jalen is obviously one of those leaders. I think any time you have guys who are your best players set that type of example in terms of their work ethic, their habits of how they conduct themselves, how they get themselves ready to play on a consistent basis, I think it permeates throughout the entire organization and the team.
To me it's been no surprise to see him kind of evolve into this because you see the daily deposits that he puts in, every single day, to be the best that he can be.
Q. When it comes to the running back rotation, do you have an idea of how that's going to go or are you trying to see what it looks like?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure. We obviously talk about that. Coach Singleton does a great job of getting all those guys the reps they need to be ready to go out there and perform.
But it is a little bit of feel, as well. I talked about adaptability, just trying to create different matchups. A little bit of it depends on flow of the game. We're confident in all of those guys that they can go out there and help us.
Q. DeAndre and Rashaad have shown you something this summer maybe you didn't know about them or expect?
BRIAN JOHNSON: We really like both of those players. They've done a fantastic job of coming in, getting acclimated to the system, how we do things. They've provided energy and a great spark to that room along with Kenny and Boston.
We feel really, really confident in their abilities, what they bring to the table.
Q. The unpredictability, does that change the amount you want to change the script on offense?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Not necessarily. I think it's just how quickly can you identify what's going on 'cause every team in the NFL is going to have new wrinkles week one and stuff that they've been working on that they haven't shown. We just have to be ready and trust our roles, trust our assignments and be ready to execute at a high level.
Q. The new (indiscernible) rule, how much did it affect what you did last year as opposed to this year? What challenges are there?
BRIAN JOHNSON: The new what?
Q. The new rule. How much does that change what you did last year versus this year?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, it hasn't really changed much for us at all.
Q. Nick was talking about that adaptability earlier this week, he specifically mentioned Jalen and Jason, about being sort of a luxury because they can handle things, live fire. Is that a luxury for you as a play-caller to know that those guys, if they see something...
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, absolutely. Jason Kelce has played so much football, he's seen so much defense. So that definitely is a luxury in terms of being able to handle un-scouted looks. You're going to get a bunch of un-scouted looks in week one. Guys have been working on week one for a really long time. There's a lot of things we have to be ready for that probably aren't on tape.
But I think that just goes to having the trust in the system, trust in your players, to go out there and execute with great details and fundamentals.
Q. We saw last year, talking about surprise game plan, you guys got blitzed a lot. A lot of those blitzes, the line wasn't prepared for, Jalen had to scramble. How did he progress? Also the offense, being able to diagnose blitzes?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I think it just goes back to being able to trust your rules and trust your eyes and what you're seeing, then just really diagnosing how you're getting played defensively.
So much of that is done in the week leading up to the game. There's always going to be new wrinkles, new adjustments that show up on game day that you have to be prepared for and you have to be able to show that you can handle and that you have answers for.
Q. (No microphone.)
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, we turn over every stone, whatever we can do, to try to get ourselves ready to play. Having Matt here, he's been awesome. He's had so many different roles throughout his career. It almost feels like everybody in the organization can kind of pick his brain in terms of whatever their specific role may be because he's probably done it.
Any time that you have peers that you can learn from and learn from their experiences, I think is really, really important. I think it's really, really helpful when you have a setup like that.
Q. What is your view on game scripts, scripting the first X amount of plays?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I always go back to it being kind of part science in terms of there are certain stuff that you want to get looked at early. At the end of the day I think it's always going to come down to how fast you can adapt and adjust and diagnose what's going on in terms of calling the game.
We put in a lot of work in terms of trying to get the players in the best position possible to execute what they do well. That opening script is definitely part of that.
Q. Once you diagnose what the defense is trying to do to you on the sideline, who's collaborating on that?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I mean, that's the entire staff. I mean, we're all collaborating with each other, with our position groups, and with the players. I think that the players in that regard are sometimes your greatest resource in terms of what they're seeing on the field.
You come back and you got the iPad, you can look through the pictures and stuff, but sometimes there is a difference in looking at that and then it happening in real-time.
It takes great communication, it takes a great operation to be able to be on the same page with the staff, with the players, so you can get problems answered and corrected in-game.
Q. When it comes to rotational positions, back to running back mainly for you, are you going to let Jemal handle the rotation as far as that or do you come in with a set plan? You said 'part feel'.
BRIAN JOHNSON: It's both. It's both. I think a lot of it depends on how the game is going, as well, in certain matchups that we want to try to create offensively.
Jemal is an excellent coach, and he has a great feel for his room. I think for us, it's being able to find that balance of keeping those guys fresh, creating the matchups that we need to create, and riding the hot hand.
I think all three of those things really play a part in that rotation as the game moves along.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
BRIAN JOHNSON: Appreciate it, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports