SHANE WALDRON: Good afternoon. How is everyone doing?
Q. What do you see from Drew?
SHANE WALDRON: I love seeing Drew get out there and compete. Right from that opening drive right there, guys rallying around him. Going through the ins-and-outs of the week leading up to it with kind of a late-in-the-week adjustment we had to make for an unfortunate set of circumstances.
But saw the guys rally around him and saw him go out there and compete and have fun doing it.
Q. The run-pass numbers, not 50/50. What goes into making a decision on the number of runs per game?
SHANE WALDRON: In terms of that, like the number of runs per game is always going to be predicated upon how the drives go, how everything's going.
We know in a perfect scenario, especially when you're in a lead in the game, when you get a chance to get more runs going in the fourth quarter, there's also chances throughout the course of the game in those first, second down scenarios. Then mixing and matching 'em in some of the situational football right there.
So for us, again, it will always be about being efficient on first and second down. The more times we can do that, the more we can execute on third down, the more balanced our final numbers in the run game each week will be.
This past week was indicative of some struggles on third down where you get behind the chains and then late in the game when you're down a couple scores, throwing those numbers off. We're always going to be striving for that balance. Really coming back to that execution on first and second down, playing consistent football for four quarters.
Q. Did anything really have to change at all when you had to switch to Drew at that point?
SHANE WALDRON: I think going through, like we would do with Geno, as well, when you go through the final call sheet on some of the things that are his favorite plays and really leaning on those.
But really in terms of the system and the scheme that we went with, that's what we love about Drew and Geno together, you got two guys that can really operate in a similar fashion. Week in, week out, their ownership of the game plan, whether it was Drew going to be the starter or the backup, his approach each week, just like when Geno was in that backup role, Hey, I might be the starter this week, I'm not doing it just to do it, I really believe it, got to prepare like this.
I think that will pay dividends and did pay dividends for Drew in the first start. I think we need to keep improving overall as an offense around him and around the quarterbacks as we keep moving forward here.
Q. What are some of the things that, if and when he does get a chance to play again, you want to see corrected?
SHANE WALDRON: The number one thing is always going to be for every one of our guys on offense taking care of the football, giving us a chance to be in the plus on the turnover margin at the end of the game. We know that's going to be one of the major factors in winning and losing football games. Starting with the quarterback position who has the most chances in the game for the potential for the ball to be in peril, doing a good job with some of those things.
There's always going to be things that come back and say, Hey, what was the result? Why did a turnover occur? Sometimes it's one specific reason. Sometimes it's a multitude of things.
For Drew's confidence level and everything where he's able to make every single throw, just understanding the accuracy, the downfield decisions, some of those things that come into play.
Did a great job with it, which he continued to do. Did a great job with his decisions. There's a couple times, one is a tip, one is a left inside type of throw. If we can eliminate those type of things, we know at the end of the game we're going to have a better chance to win those contests.
Q. What did you see from him on the plays where he got out of the pocket and made throws on the run?
SHANE WALDRON: One of Drew's strong traits is being able to work off schedule. I think the one they blitzed us on a third down and he's able to break contain on the right side, find a completion to Tyler right there. I think it's always going to be one of Drew's strong suits, to be able to use his athletic ability and get out and extend plays.
Q. The first interception, were you good on the decision?
SHANE WALDRON: Yeah, he just left it inside. He knew it came right off. He left it inside on a throw that's an outside-the-numbers to the sideline throw right there. Being aggressive with that mindset to DK, who had a little edge right there.
It's one of those things he learns from and takes the accountability and comes right off and learns from it for the next time that play might come up down the road.
Q. His patience when he's out, can you talk about that? How special is that? He comes out of the pocket, he's looking downfield...
SHANE WALDRON: I got it. The patience when he's breaking contain?
Q. Yes.
SHANE WALDRON: I agree, he does. He has a good feel for once he gets out on the edge right there where it's not a panic scenario right there. He's really got good, big field vision. I know probably say it goes back to his basketball days right there. He can really operate off schedule.
He really has an understanding of when it comes off the field, we talk about a series, might be a scramble play, he can articulate, Hey, where were the other 21 guys on the field? He has a great sense of where everything's happening and what's going on around him.
Having his patience, having a good decision there, really finding some of those off-schedule plays, especially in the third down or in the red zone, to me as an offense as a whole, that's something that we can help progress and keep progressing upon to steal a few of those conversions each game.
Q. What are you emphasizing most or what's the one area to improve to turn this around offensively?
SHANE WALDRON: Yeah, I think the one area by far and away has been consistency. It's something we've talked about where we've had these great moments. You come off of a game where we're over 50% on third down, then you roll into the next game and we're back to struggling on third down right there.
It's not just the third down. I know that's been a major area we've talked about. But it's that consistency throughout four quarters every single week.
We've had games where we've done a really good job, starting fast, come out with a touchdown drive. We've had games, whether it's Cleveland or some of those games, Washington, down at the end in the fourth quarter where we've really finished strongly.
For us on offense, it's how do we find that consistency through four quarters in everything that we're doing.
Q. You haven't felt that in one game yet?
SHANE WALDRON: Haven't felt that in one game yet. Feel like we've been a little bit up and down. But that's going to be part of it. We know the plays that the defense makes, the plays that the other team makes, we know in the NFL everybody's good. Everyone's got play-makers. We're not expecting -- we are expecting everything to be perfect, but we know that's pretty unlikely through the course of a game. We know the other players are going to make plays throughout the course of the game.
Our ability to stay consistent mentally where we're not riding emotional highs or lows, to execute at a high level through four quarters, knowing there's going to be good things coming, there's going to be some bad things that might occur, then keep bouncing back, keep playing the next play, the next drive. I think that's a good challenge for us.
There's still a lot of season left right here with these four games right here, and we know as an offense there's still plenty of time to stay on an improving mindset right here and keep getting better at the things we're trying to get better at.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports