Q. Are you still calling plays?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yes.
Q. Tendency thing about the red zone, I think you guys have the highest run percentage in the red zone in the league. Is that like a wise man avoids all extremes, or is that one of your strengths?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I think that's something we've done here for the last three years is philosophical. Just being able to to run the ball in the red zone and give yourself a chance. Oftentimes we're in four down mode down there, so trying to play for all four downs.
I think that's just a part of who we are and what our identity is offensively, and that's what it's been the last three years.
Q. When teams are playing cover four and stuff like that, (indiscernible) how do you balance the patience and take what the defense gives you, and also trying to be aggressive down field.
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, that's a line you definitely have to walk, right? I think the biggest thing is you want try to create as many explosive as possible, right?
And I think you definitely have to balance that because when you have to go on 12, 13, 14, 15 play drives to score, it just magnifies everything.
The easiest way to score is to create big plays, so we got to do a great job, I have to do a great job putting us in situations to create some more chunks and not have to take so many plays to go score.
Q. As a fellow coordinator, what was your reaction when Sean and Matt switched positions?
BRIAN JOHNSON: My first reaction is I think the biggest thing for me was control what I can control. I've learned this a long time ago, is mow your own grass, man. You got a lot of stuff to worry about, a lot of stuff to take care of that directly pertains to you. Focus on your job and your process and what you needed to in order to make things go.
Q. How would you assess Tyler Steen's development, and how do you think the exposure he had in that early game...
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, he started in the Dallas game. Thought he did a great job. Obviously our offensive line and those guys have so much experience. He's able to learn from some really, really good players.
I think the way that thing is structured puts him in a position where he can go in there and have success. He's a very talented player. He's worked at it. You know, he's definitely got a bright future.
Q. On the interception at the end of the game, how do you balance going for a chunk play like that with how many yards do we need to get into...
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, you got to the get to the line. With two timeouts there you got to just -- we got to put ourselves in a position. Fortunately, or I guess unfortunately in this particular case, we ended up having an interception there and ended the football game.
Those two-minute situations with the game on the line is really what this league comes down to often so many weeks, so being able to execute in those situations and give yourself a chance.
Q. On the shot play to Quez, was that a result of a check based off what the defense was doing? Did AJ make the check? Did Jalen make the right decision?
BRIAN JOHNSON: It's a three-level pass concept, so it's something that we've run a ton. Sometimes coverage dictates where the ball goes. In that particular case, you know, you got a one-on-one shot with the safety with some speed running down the field.
All of these plays really have like multiple options and the ball can go to a bunch of different places based on how the defense is presented.
You got to credit him. He made a great play on the ball.
Q. Did he change the play at the line? Is that what you're saying?
BRIAN JOHNSON: No, I didn't say that.
Q. Quez and AJ were communicating before the snap, almost through the snap. Just trying to get clarification.
BRIAN JOHNSON: No, no, yeah, they didn't do anything wrong.
Q. Why do you think you guys have had so many problems with the outside screen passes. Almost seems like they're sniffing them out before.
BRIAN JOHNSON: With the RPO screens?
Q. Yeah.
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is guys are doing a good job of forcing the block. You got to do a great job of keep complementing that and continue to run some of those plays like we ran against Buffalo where you get the fake bubbles and things of that nature and continue to set them up.
I think this is also a credit to some of the defenses in terms of being able to be stout and set edges in the run game.
Q. Talking about the response to the coaching change, did that change create urgency for you? You said mow your own grass.
BRIAN JOHNSON: I don't think anything -- I mean, urgency never needs to be created in this profession. Everything that we do is urgent. There is always an eagerness and desire to get the best result possible.
So independent of anything else, that's who I am, that's who we are as people in this building.
I think that's internal.
Q. Longest pass completion of the game was early on, Dallas over the middle. Numbers over the middle haven't been great this year. Why has that been, and is there an opportunity to take that completion and build off it?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Any time you have Dallas Goedert working the middle of the field that's a huge positive for us. Being able to turn some of those plays into explosives in the middle of the field is obviously really important like I talked about in terms of being able to create some scoring drives, 5, 6, 7 plays as opposed to 13, 14, 15 plays.
It's something that we are really, really working on to try to make sure that we can put ourselves in the best position every trip out.
Q. When you look at the Giants, what has Thibodeaux been doing that is making him so much more of a factor this year?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Kayvon is an excellent player. He's got a ton of sacks, ton of production in his pass rushing. Our guys, we played him three times now and he's a guy that is very, very active, moves around, plays both sides.
He's a guy that definitely we have to be ready for on Monday.
Q. When it comes to these explosive plays, how much work can you do throughout the game when you're calling it to make sure you set them up?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, no, I think that's what the whole deal is, is being able to have that feel and being able to mix and match so you can try to create some chunks based off a couple things, right? Based off pass, based off other runs, play-action.
Just trying to create those chunks and give yourself an opportunity to get down in the red zone quicker.
Q. Did Jalen's condition -- he was sick and all that, seemed to be getting worse as the game was going on. Did that impact the playcalling?
BRIAN JOHNSON: No, he was out there. Jalen is a competitor, a tough warrior, and obviously somebody that I have a tremendous amount of respect for. You know, for him to go battle what he was battling and go out there and play, that says everything about him, about the type of person and leader he is, type of competitor he is.
So he's someone that will always rise to the occasion.
Q. How is your history with him coming in handy as you're in a bit of a rough stretch as an offense?
BRIAN JOHNSON: I think you get to have very direct conversations. Like all of this is built around -- coaching is all built around trust. Regardless if you have a relationship prior to becoming someone's coach or the relationship as you get to know people as you start to coach them, I think those -- everybody wants the same thing. Everybody wants to have success. Everybody wants to do their job to the best of their ability.
It's just a matter of making sure we're all getting there.
Q. Going back to the second interception, Nick talked about the other day kind of the idea of looking for (indiscernible.) How do you reconcile...
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think you control what you can control. Obviously AJ Brown is one of the best players in the NFL, and you get some one-on-one opportunities with him. He's definitely made his fair share of plays in that regard.
We got some great players on the perimeter, great quarterback, and trust those guys to go out there and make plays one-on-one.
Q. How big of a factor is Quez's speed, not only just going deep, but opening things underneath for AJ, DeVonta, Dallas, those guys?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, he has rare speed. I think you just mentioned it, right? It's not always necessarily primary in terms of blowing the top off the coverage, but it does create space. That's what this game is about, trying to create as much space as possible to give guys an avenue to make plays with the ball in their hands once they get it.
Q. Is there any one thing over the last three weeks that that's bothered you the most that you feel like you need to address the most?
BRIAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think when you look at it and you kind of go through it, and it's been a not good three weeks, not very good production, definitely not up to the standard that we expect, but, again, it's about action and problem solving, how do you fix it.
That's the question that I continuously ask myself every day after every single game. How do you get better and how do I fix it. I think it's very simple. Comes down to a couple things. For us, essentially I think what we have to do is we have to create some more explosive plays. We have to.
We have to take care of the football. We have to score touchdowns in the red zone. I think that's what you have to do. Now, how do you do that. That's the next question you have to answer.
That's the task. That's the challenge for us. I accept that. No one is running from that. It's just very matter of fact in terms of, okay, this is what needs to be done. There is no doubt in my mind -- I say this with 1000% certainty -- that these people in our offensive room, myself, are all made of the right stuff to get that done. Looking forward to going through that.
Q. Because the Giants blitz so much...
BRIAN JOHNSON: They do a great job with their blitz package. Coach Martindale is obviously known for that. We've played him I think three times last year. They have every blitz package you can think of. We definitely have to be ready to go out there and execute at a high level and make sure our communication is on pointe.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports