BOBBY SLOWIK: It was really exciting, really all the rookies in general came in from the get-go with a mindset of they were going to attack this thing. I mean, they've all been mentally in the classroom, they've been getting after it as far as putting the time in. They came to work. They've been buying in to what we're telling them to do on the field.
It's similar to what Burke had just said when he was talking about the overall philosophy. Everything we do really as a football team starts from minutiae and grows up into an offensive side of the ball and then from there into a team. There's a lot of fundamentals and techniques that go along with that at every position, so quarterback, receiver, back, all the way across the offense, and they've all really came in and attacked it as a group, which is probably one of the coolest things to see with CJ is it's not just him alone. They're all doing it together.
He's been awesome. He's been putting the work in. They've all been coming in for some extra work and doing stuff on their own when they're away from here. They've been doing great.
Q. In teaching CJ the offense and building it first, did you have an idea of what you wanted to build with him, and talk about that process of building and also teaching him and how have you approached that?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, I think every player you have before you're really empowered to teach or coach them, I think you have to have a vision for what they're going to do and who they are and what's going to make them the best they can be. So you kind of start there.
Then you branch off into, okay, we need to attack this, this is your strength. Let's make sure we emphasize this. We struggled a little bit with this aspect, let's try to work on this to get that improved so that the totality of what we do then fits into what the guys around us are doing, which then fits into the offense. So it's kind of been the same for everybody in that regard, CJ included.
Q. The majority of the people you're (indiscernible) dealing with a young quarterback. Obviously I'm guessing you still talk to some of the guys in San Fran. What have you learned that you can apply teaching CJ the quarterback position?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, I've been fortunate in that, like you said, I have a lot of connections and people that I'm friends with that I know across the NFL that have been through this process and I'm also fortunate that I went through it really the last two years with Trey and with Brock in a different way, and just getting like the different ways and the different styles guys play, guys learn, they put things together, and the process they have to go through to get to where you envision them getting to and the patience that's required when you do that, while at the same time like the urgency that's required when you do that. It's always a balancing act.
Being able to bounce ideas off guys or have guys tell you their experiences and what they went through and what to watch out for, which may or may not apply to the situation you're going through, but it's always beneficial when you have people around you that have been through it.
Q. Early on in this process, what have you learned about Tank and Xavier?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, again, it's going to sound like a broken record, but the first thing that jumps off about all these guys is just they come in and they're hungry and they are come in ready to work. Tank comes from a very different offense at Houston, very, very productive, efficient, but it's just a different style to what we're really doing here.
There's a bit of a learning curve, and when he's out on the field, he doesn't blink. I don't think anyone has noticed how big of a leap it is because he's been on it, and he's been working. Same thing, he's taking what we're telling him as far as coaching, as far as what we see in the fundamentals of route running. He's a pretty natural separator, but to also apply, okay, how does this fit within the offense when I know the quarterback has to look at me at this time, and there's a lot that goes into that for him.
It's been hitting the ground running for him. It's been not an issue.
Q. What were the differences that CJ Stroud had from Ohio State to here? What have you seen?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, it's required that he reaches out to learn more for me, so that's happened a lot. But he wants to have command of what's going on, as anyone who's in that position should. They want to feel comfortable in what they're doing, what direction they have to go, what answers to have to have on every play, and every play is a little different.
For him, being able to tie things back to other experiences that are the same is kind of what we grind through over and over again, and it's really a lot of, again, our offense and our defense as we do the minutiae, branch out from it, and then at the end of the day we kind of point back to things we've already talked about and said, hey, this is the same as something else you've already done, and that just helps them hone in on specific.
Q. Local fans are familiar with the Gary Kubiak offense many years ago and the Kyle Shanahan running the offense. What are the main differences or similarities between the offense that they used to run and what you're running now?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, I was a youngster back then, but the roots are all there. I still remember watching when I first got the offense in San Francisco, all these Houston Texan cut-ups and Andre and Schaub and David Anderson and all these guys just running the same stuff we're running right now, and the principles and the foundation of what they did is all there, but like everything, it kind of evolves as it goes.
Where it's at right now, the core is all the same and probably the edges have branched off maybe a hair, like the league has just changed. There's some different defenses you see. There's some different issues you get. So you find different ways to adjust to that.
But again, it's cool because it ties back to the previous question. You just point to something else that they did back then and be like, hey, this is the same as that was, but now we're doing it this way. That was really neat when I first got to throw on some Houston Texan film and see all of them play.
Q. What have you seen from Dalton Schultz and what's the vision for Dalton?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, he's just a professional. All the vets we've brought in have really helped a lot in bringing their position group along and kind of bringing the young guys with them, showing them what it's like to work, to be a professional as far as what you've got to do every day, mentally, physically, on the field, how you work, how you go about your business, and he's been awesome in that regard.
Then you just see a guy who knows how to run routes. He's got a big frame. He knows how to catch. He's fully invested in the run game.
He's been doing a great job.
Q. It wouldn't be fair to Coach Burke if I didn't ask you a question about the defensive side of the ball, what you've seen from those guys as far as Derek Stingley and Jalen Pitre?
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, it's hard. Their secondary makes it hard on our receivers. They make it hard on our quarterback. We've got to be able to get the ball out on time against these guys when you're running routes where we know we can separate because they're not going to give you one, which has been great teaching for our whole crew of quarterbacks as far as knowing where to go with the ball, keeping Pitre in the middle of the field when he's in the middle of the field, just things of that nature. They really strain you. It's been really fun to watch. As we keep going through OTAs and will build training camp, how their defensive system evolves and then all of a sudden it gets really difficult for us to know what they're doing and where they're going to be.
Q. Talk a little bit about the offensive line, what you're seeing so far.
BOBBY SLOWIK: Yeah, I think every offense in the NFL, you want to be solid up front, and thankfully we have a group up front that's talented, they have the skill set, they have the mindset, they work, they're invested in what we're doing. They have everything that's needed to be able to perform at a level that we want them to perform at so that everyone can kind of work as a unit.
The run game is a huge part of kind of this system and this offense and how everything ties together, and it's a little different from the guys that have been here and what they've done in the past, and they're all in on learning the fundamentals of how that works, and they're bought in on it.
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