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Q. What do you think is going on with the running back the last few weeks?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I think the biggest thing is we have to continue to put the guys in great spots and keep pounding at it. The run game can be unique at time. It can be tough sledding for a while and then you continue to push and pound and then you break one and that evens kind of out your yards-per-cary.
But for us, what we want to accomplish is really to try to be both efficient and explosive in the run game. We have to continue to find ways to put guys in great spots. Make sure our landmarks are right and make sure we are doing a great job of making plays once we are blocked up to the second and third level.
Q. Is it a little bit of a box count kind of contributing to the RPO calls being passed rather than runs?
BRIAN JOHNSON: That's the beauty of the RPO stuff is it plays out how it plays out. Earlier in the year when we were calling them, we were getting a lot of hand-off reads and as of late, you know, it's kind of been reversed. So you know, we always talk about playing each play independently when it comes to that stuff and being able to make the correct decision in that game because there is in gray area that goes into some of the RPO stuff. But you know, that's obviously a huge part of what we do and we just have to continue to keep refining it.
Q. It's been awhile but two years with Dak, if you look back at that, did you envision him becoming sort of the player that he's become?
BRIAN JOHNSON: For sure. He's obviously someone who I've spent a lot of time with, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, someone who I consider close. You know, he's gone a great job to this point in his career, and there is -- I really dent expect anything different from him. So ever since I've known him, he's always been extremely intelligent and really, really good player. He works extremely hard at it. So you know, him having the type of success that he's had, you know, throughout his professional career, it really isn't surprising at all.
Q. A.J. Brown has been out the last six weeks. Have you seen anything like that before in your time? And also, do you think the more teams focus on trying to stop him that will open up things for the running game?
BRIAN JOHNSON: AJ has been on a tremendous tear the last couple games. He's obviously a great player. He's making the most of his opportunities when the ball comes his way. I would imagine that defenses start to even put a little bit more focus and attention on him. And you know, once that happened, I think that's kind of the beauty of our offense is we do have guys who can make plays at a bunch of different spots.
For us achieving that balance of being able to use all five positional players in a manners that contributing to the offense is obviously the ultimate goal and that can look a little bit different each and every week. So you know, fortunately for us, AJ has been playing great and hopefully we continue on that path.
Q. What stood out most about Jalen's performance on Sunday?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Well, I think we settled down. Obviously we didn't have a great start. We went three-and-out on the first drive, which was not good but the cleanliness that he played with, the conviction that he played with, you know, the accuracy, it was -- he played a really, really clean game. Guys did a great job of making plays. I thought our protection was outstanding. I thought the guys did a fantastic job of blocking their front four, which is a really, really good unit, and the guys played clean. The guys made plays it. Was good. It was a good effort.
Q. Micah Parsons has had limited production to this point. What does it take to keep him contained? What goes into it?
BRIAN JOHNSON: He's obviously one of the best players, best pass rushers in this league, and you know, for us, that matchup, it's obviously going to be something that is heavily discussed in our offensive staff room of ways to try to put our guys in a position to have success. Because when you have a great player like Micah is, and you play against that guy multiple times throughout the course of the year, there becomes like a sense of familiarity.
I think there is always an exciting challenge to when you go against elite players and our guys will be ready for that challenge.
Q. It's only been a couple games but how much has Jones impacted you guys in the red zone?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Well, he mad a fantastic catch for a touchdown in the red zone against Washington. He's been great to be around. I mean, unbelievable person. He works extremely hard. He fits in the room. I don't know -- when I was watching the film Sunday night on the way back, and you just saw the reaction of our team once he scored and everybody kind of ran out and celebrated, it was awesome to see. Just kind of showed the amount of respect, the amount of connection that we have as a team; that when guys go out there and practice well and play well, you know, it shows how locked in everybody is.
Q. The eye test says that Jordan is playing his best football since he's been here. Do you see that, and if so, what's kind of led to that?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Well, I think this is a rep game. It's about getting the necessary reps and I think usually in any profession, generally the more you do it, the better you get at it. I think playing left tackle is really no different.
Jordan obviously has a tremendous amount of talent. He works extremely hard. But you know, he's getting comfortable in what he needs to do, and I think that shows not only on game day but throughout the course of the week. Being at practice and having to go against Swifts and Hasaans and things of that nature, it truly is iron sharpening iron. You get reps against really good players throughout the course of the week, and that shows up on Sunday.
Q. In the off-season, were you getting signals that AJ was about to take his game to another level? Any practices or moments that you remember, feelings around that?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think AJ has always been very talented. He's always been a very hard worker. But I think you just saw his level of comfort grow in the system, as opposed to 22. You know, he really worked on his game in the off-season. For as good of a player as he is, he made it a point to become even better. You know, not only off the field, but you know, how he trains, how he takes care of his body, things of that nature. He looks awesome. He's playing great. He's on an unbelievable historic tear right now and it's a testament to him, who he is as a person, to how serious he is about perfecting his craft and making the most of his opportunities.
Q. Seeing how successful you are with the QB sneak, for you guys to be successful with the sweep there to swift, how much of an issue does that create for the opposing?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Well, you always want to protect your plays, and the quarterback sneak play has been a huge part of what we've done here. You know, you always try to find unique ways to create conflict for the defense and add little wrinkles that make your main plays better. We've had that kind of greased up for a couple weeks and we finally got the right opportunity to get it called. It was good to see it get executed.
Q. Nick kind of mentioned Marcus Brady helps with those wrinkles. He's the one responsible for sort of cultivating stuff from other games, college. How is that collaboration process, and when you get a wrinkle like that, somebody brings it, is that a multi-week thing that you're trying to install to potentially use?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure. There's a bunch of plays that, you know, of cool play ideas that we see and that may be in a particular game plan and they just never come up to get them called in the right situation. So you know, that's something that for us in terms of research and development, okay, what are some unique ways people are doing things, how can we implement it, if it will help us at all, but you do, you get a chance to see throughout the course of a season a couple of those ideas get brought into the fold and you're able to hit them for huge plays.
It becomes kind of contagious throughout the staff. I can't tell you just over the summer, you know, people not even on our staff have seen people run crazy quarterback sneak plays and send them to your phone and stuff. You get a big bank of ideas of guys doing stuff. I think some of that news travels fast. You know, any time that we feel like we have something that can make us better, we always try to get that implemented.
Q. What's the most usual way you've gotten a play?
BRIAN JOHNSON: The most usual way? That's a great question. You see some stuff -- social media is really sometimes like a gift and a curse, right. You get some really cool ideas and you get to see some highlight plays, just that's kind of the world we live in. So you see a lot of really cool ideas on like just a ten-second clip of a play.
And then it forces you just to go do some more research of you try to go find that play in the game and then just really dissect it and then you start pulling how many times they run this. You know, the technology that we have now to be able to see a clip on the Internet and be able to pull from it and go find multiple examples of it and really dissect and all and learn about the play is something that makes the job fun.
Q. What did you see wrong when you watched the film on the q sneak play?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Just a detail error we have to continue to clean up.
You know, for us, obviously that has a huge momentum swing that we have to clean up we have a lot of confidence in trust in but obviously that can't happen and it was really, really disappointing to not finish that drive would touchdown. Happened twice, actually. Fumbled in the red zone twice. We have to continue to clean that up all the details on that play.
Q. Inaudible -- when have you seen from him behind the scenes?
BRIAN JOHNSON: He's worked extremely hard in his rehab process. You tee him in the training room and weight room working, and I know he's really, really eager to return. He was playing at a really good level for us before he got hurt. So excited to see him make that progress and hopefully we'll see where it goes from there. But he's a really, really good player and we'll be happy to have him back.
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