Q. Has A.J. expressed frustration with you about his involvement in the offense, the amount of targets he's getting?
KELLEN MOORE: I think each and every week we're always having conversations throughout this whole process. I don't think it's any different this week, last week, any other week. I think we all get the opportunity on Mondays to evaluate how we did, the things that we can improve on.
Just like any other week, we all have conversations. I have conversations with A.J. plenty and Jalen and Saquon and the offensive line. So we're going through a process similar.
Obviously this past game from a production standpoint, the passing game is something that we'd love to grow on, and I think we've got excellent opportunities to grow in that capacity.
Q. What's going on with Jalen? The time to throw he's spiking, but he's not throwing down the field, and his pressure rate is not high. What's the problem there?
KELLEN MOORE: That's a good question. I think obviously something we'll continue to evaluate and give ourselves the best opportunities to be successful. I think there's a ton of good in there. Some situational football, I think we did really well. On first and second down, obviously there's some growth opportunities coming out of this game for us, just to play cleaner and more efficient football.
On my side, I'm going to focus on how I can help from the play design, from sequencing within a game. All of those things just to give us a chance. Obviously there's plenty of good throughout the season and throughout even this past game in some situational football that we did a really good job.
Q. During the bye, was there a concerted effort -- because Jalen had turned the ball over so much in the first four games -- to reel back on that, and has an overemphasis on that made him a little more trigger-shy in terms of throwing balls in situations that could lead to turnovers?
KELLEN MOORE: Great question. I think Jalen has done an excellent job, first and foremost, of protecting the football. Having one turnover since the bye week, he's done an incredible job of that. You still see aggressive throws. You still see him throwing downfield.
Obviously this game from a production standpoint in the passing game we didn't hit the explosives and all those things. Sometimes unfortunately those types of games happen, and this is the challenge in the NFL. You have slugfest games like this, and you find a way to win, and that's ultimately the number one objective.
I think first and second down probably can find ways to improve there, but I think situationally credit to our guys of hanging in there, two-minute drive, four-minute, first downs and passing situations, red zone, two touchdowns. There's plenty of smaller, little details I thought we performed at a high level.
Q. How much of that has been what the defense has done the last four weeks? It seems like taken downfield, there's only been like two attempts there. With those things aside, how much is that maybe what opportunities are there and what he's seeing?
KELLEN MOORE: In what situation specifically?
Q. In throwing downfield.
KELLEN MOORE: Downfield, yes. Obviously I think it's something we'd love to give ourselves more opportunities. Naturally there's a game flow and there's a defense that you play, and you've got to balance out what you love to do and what you need to do to perform and win games ultimately. It's something we'll continue to find different ways to attack and give ourselves those chances.
Q. Jalen mentioned like a lack of synchronization in the passing game. From your perspective, why do you think that's popping up now? And what can you do either during the week or in a game to help solve some of that?
KELLEN MOORE: Again, the flows of seasons. Any time we have games where you feel like -- and it's going to come up in many capacities throughout the season. Each and every week, you're going to find something. It's always a chance to kind of reset a little bit just to give ourselves opportunities to focus on the fundamentals, focus on the techniques.
A lot of times as the season progresses, it comes down to details. For us, I think we've got great opportunities to grow through this. I don't think anyone's overreacting necessarily. I think it's just a bunch of competitive guys who want to give themselves the best chance to help the team win and perform at their highest level.
We've got a bunch of really good dudes. They all work really, really well together. I think that's the beauty of it is we get to spend each and every day together doing this thing. I think we got the best of the best.
Q. After spending some time with them, what observations do you have about the relationship between A.J. and Jalen?
KELLEN MOORE: I think they work each and every day together. It speaks to just how much work these guys put into this thing. Ultimately, everyone's competitive. Everyone wants to help the team the best possible way.
For players it's usually about their ability to perform and help the team in some capacity in that way. We've got a special group. I think they work really, really well together -- A.J., Jalen, Saquon, Smitty, the whole group. When you spend each and every day around the building, you see these guys connecting, working in meetings, after meetings, in practice. We've got a special group, and we're excited about the opportunities we have ahead.
Q. What did you attribute A.J.'s lack of involvement, especially early in the game? What did you attribute that to?
KELLEN MOORE: Just a combination obviously. I'm going to focus more on trying to find different ways of increasing the likelihood of the ball going to him. Ultimately the quarterback has to play based on the reaction of the defense and trust that there's progressions within a play.
For us we're always going to evaluate how we can get it to him sooner and create those opportunities. It's really about probability. Not every play is going to be able to say 100 percent of the time it's going to one player in particular, but how can we improve our opportunities there?
Q. Was it something the Panthers were doing to try to take A.J. away that kind of led to Jalen moving off of him?
KELLEN MOORE: I think there's, yeah, flows to the game. Sometimes there's aggressive opportunities, and then there's other plays. Just the way it played out, unfortunately, it didn't go until that two-minute drive essentially at the end of the half. So something for us to improve on.
Q. Has the success of the running game perhaps inadvertently impacted the passing game?
KELLEN MOORE: That's a great question. I don't think so. I think our guys do an excellent job obviously in the run game. It's a strength of ours and the ability for Saquon, for Jalen to be a part of it, the perimeter guys, how they block. We're playing at a really high level there.
The diversity of the schemes have been really, really good. So it's, again, just tying that in with the action game and the movements and all those sorts of things and giving ourselves opportunities on first and second down.
Q. How much of the offense, your offense, has changed over the course of the season to accentuate Jalen's needs?
KELLEN MOORE: I think every season takes its own ebbs and flows. I don't think any season you look at and you say it necessarily has to be like the previous season. I think this has been an awesome opportunity for me just to grow and learn. I think what is awesome about our run game is the ability to run the quarterback. Jalen's really, really special at it. Our ability to use the movements in the action game has been really, really good.
Obviously we've got some players outside who do an exceptional job in the isolation game, and they've done a really, really good job there. We're trying to put ourselves in whatever best situation we can to be successful. I think, when you look at this from a wider lens, I think our guys have done a really, really good job.
Q. Would you say the passing playbook has expanded or contracted over the course of the season?
KELLEN MOORE: I think it stayed pretty steady. I think lean on a lot of the core principles that we do, and each and every week you're going to have some sort of flavor. That's the fun challenge of the NFL is that you're going to have core principles you believe in and you've repped a lot of times while still being creative enough to stress the defense with different looks, different presentations, and give them different things to deal with.
Q. How quickly does that change, those core principles? You're going into weekly game plan. How different does that change when the bullets start flying, for lack of a better term?
KELLEN MOORE: For what, game day?
Q. Yeah, game day. For your game plan, you talked about the slow starts a lot. How quickly do you generally get off script? Do you get off script? How does that sort of work during the game?
KELLEN MOORE: I think we go into the game with obviously a blueprint of how we want to attack the game early. That doesn't go just for one drive. Really it almost plays out all the way through the first half, just the way it goes.
So you usually have your early third downs. In each situation you have your first and second down calls as you anticipate it. Obviously by situations there's ebbs and flows within that, and you've got to adjust based off the circumstances of the game and the field position and stuff.
Usually we try and map it out close to about the end of the first half, and then second half you make your adjustments, and then you go from there.
Q. A comment we keep hearing each week is that you guys are getting looks early in games that you weren't expecting. Is that happening at an atypical rate this year? If so, why?
KELLEN MOORE: That's a good question. I don't know if it's totally not typical. I think every defense, they have a week to prepare as well. They're going to give you challenging looks. They're going to give you something different. Obviously for us they're going to do things to stop certain components of our offense and make it a focal point.
So I think the beauty of it is the adjustments that our guys make I think is really, really good. The first run of the game, we got a hold, but our guys played it a little bit different than we anticipated, and that coincided with us making some adjustments. Our guys just really reacted and played ball at a really high level in some of the gap schemes and the run game, for example.
Q. How can you help Jalen, especially with getting -- seeing guys down the field and making the throws on time?
KELLEN MOORE: I think Jalen's done a really nice job. I think, again, you look at it in one week versus the season. I think he's done a really good job protecting the football, still being aggressive down the field, still giving ourselves opportunities in the passing game.
Again, core acquisition is really hard in this league. Obviously he gets it all when it goes well, and when we don't have those huge, luxurious passing games, it's always the other side of it. So I think Jalen does an excellent job of handling the week-to-week of this NFL. I think he's done a really good job, and I'm excited where our growth opportunities are and where we're going. I've been having a ton of fun doing this thing with him.
Q. In terms of the play call or what Jalen is seeing that there's gray area with what he's seeing, or do you feel like there's confidence in the decision that's are happening?
KELLEN MOORE: I think he's doing a nice job. I think obviously all of us, we all want to grow. That's the beauty of the NFL season is we all want to continue to grow and evolve. That's the fun of the NFL. We're going to continue to do that, and this week will be another excellent opportunity.
We're playing a premier defense. These guys have guys all over the field that play at a really high level. So we're excited about this one.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports