Q. Do you like the history as much as we all did, the back-to-back weeks, touchdown in the final minute with two different quarterbacks?
COACH WALDRON: That was a good piece of history to be part of right there. I know with going back to the Marino and Huard deal there, and those guys were complementary of Geno and Drew. There's the common denominator of Larry Izzo obviously being a major factor being part of all four of those on the right side there.
It was fun to be a part of, and credit to those guys and staying calm and staying poised each week in a similar scenario where it takes all 11 that are on the field every snap to be locked in and being resilient and tough and finishing the game the right way.
Q. The different playmakers on each of those final drives, what does that speak to most in either practice habits or character or quarterbacks or anything about the organization?
COACH WALDRON: I think from an organizational standpoint, starting with Coach Carroll and the relentless pursuit of perfection in two-minute scenarios that we take part in every day here in the VMAC and going through a million different scenarios, all the different things that can come up. And the players all being locked in, bought into those. And multiple quarterbacks getting to work in those scenarios. And guys communicating, talking through situations.
And those things happen, and there's so many different scenarios that can happen in such a short period of time that the players' ability to adjust and adapt as a drive is going on, their conditioning, their mental toughness, I think all those things are built in through Coach Carroll's philosophy on practicing a two-minute, how we go about it. And I think those have been some positive results this year.
Q. How did Geno look physically in his first game back and how he played?
COACH WALDRON: I think he did a great job of having a tough-luck injury, but then doing everything in his control to get his body back right. And I know he felt like he was ready to go.
And I think the sooner than maybe he went, but it was a good job of also trusting the people around him to make the right decisions to protect him from any sort of long-term things going on there. So when he was back on the field, he was back and ready to go.
And I thought he did a great job from a physical standpoint of handling the game, avoiding the rush or doing any of the things he needed to do to show physically he was back and he could protect himself, along with playing the game of quarterback there from the mental side of it.
Q. To be the devil's advocate, you had four touchdowns the last two weeks, and three of them were in the fourth quarter, (indiscernible). Is there something that works better there that (inaudible) earlier in games or something?
COACH WALDRON: I think you get to those scenarios because of the situation in a game. We've had games where we've started fast and we were doing a pretty good job of scoring early in the first quarter and that had been something we go to.
I think for us as an offense, it still goes back to the thing that we're really trying to pursue and try to accomplish as an offense is really that four-quarter consistency. And I think some of the two-minute drives are obviously a result of having some of those inconsistencies showing up early.
And surely we'd like to get into a game where maybe we can be ahead in those scenarios right there, but knowing that, hey, every game is going to be tough. Everybody in the NFL is good. Every team is good. All the players and coaches are coaching and playing at a high level.
So each week you don't know what the final scenario is going to come down to. But you do know around the league that most games are going to come down to some sort of a fourth-quarter drive to come out on the right side of the victory right there.
So for us it's going to be that commitment. We're still trying, even though it's late in the season, doesn't mean we can't keep improving. That's what we're striving to do for the consistency throughout four quarters right there.
Q. What type of challenges does T.J. Watt present?
COACH WALDRON: T.J. Watt, down in down out, is relentless on the edge there. Going against him two years ago, he was able to create turnovers. And his ability to create turnovers, obviously 17 sacks on the year, that goes without saying.
But the creating the turnovers, the batted balls, the pursuit in the run game, he really is able to do it all. He's one of those players that plays at an elite level. Like some of the other guys we've had to go against, you have to be careful about knowing, understanding, and respecting him but knowing they also have 10 other guys on the field that are playing at a high level. So you can't take all your focus to one player and then you have all these other good players that can come to life at any given down.
Q. With where you coached and learned, where is this emphasis that Carroll has on the two-minute, is that unusual, unique?
COACH WALDRON: Just the attitude we bring and go about it every day and the amount of practice time that we've allocated towards it, has been a really great thing for me to be a part of and to learn from.
I know it's really benefited Geno and Drew to be able to do that. Benefited -- Russ really did a good job with it as well. Just from the quarterback spot, just the style in which we do it had some good long-term benefits.
Q. Geno talked today about when Jackson had earned his trust in the offseason. But when did Jackson earn your trust as a play caller?
COACH WALDRON: I think in terms of the physical ability and his mindset of being so level-headed throughout the course of every game, the trust was really there right away. Seeing him in the offseason, seeing his ability to track a football and catch it.
As what we're seeing now is his ability to really line up everywhere and fully own the offense and knowing where he's supposed to be on every single thing that we're doing. He started that in training camp. Started that when he first got here.
As a guy in year one versus other guys that Geno has had a rapport with multiple years, you have to earn that as the season goes. You earn more and more trust with the way the plays go with the more and more reps you put out there. I think Jackson has continued to work hard and improve every single day and the results are on the field.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports