Q. How is the preseason for you calling plays and getting used to that again? What was that like for you at this point?
MIKE KAFKA: It was fun. It was fun. It was a good experience. Any time you get in there to call and a game situation in a competitive environment, it's always cool to watch the players go compete. It's awesome.
Q. Was it tricky to get back into the rhythm after last year not calling plays? Is there any tricky parts to that at all?
MIKE KAFKA: No, it's the game I've been planning to be a part of for a long time now. It's just about getting with the players, giving them the stuff that they like, and then just going through evaluation. The preseason is obviously a bigger evaluation too, but just getting back into the flow of it.
We've been doing it throughout training camp and the spring. Just making those reps.
Q. Dabs said you did a great job. He has a lot of confidence in you. It's one thing to do it in the preseason. What's it mean to you, you're going back into regular season, that you are going to do it this season in particular?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, just continue to go through our process and work through each day, what that emphasis is first and second down --
Q. To you personally. What does it mean to be back as a play-caller, personally?
MIKE KAFKA: I haven't really had a whole bunch of time to think about that. I've just been thinking about the players, thinking about the guys and how we can make them great, thinking about our coaches and the coaching staff and how I can help them and be a servant to them, how we can make this organization better and how I can make our offense better.
That's really been my focus. Then, you know, obviously all hands on deck for Washington this week.
Q. Do you like the hubbub of the sideline and the emotion of the sideline calling plays, or do you like to be in a sterile environment where you can think?
SHANE BOWEN: Next to you guys (indiscernible). No, it was good to be on the sidelines. It's always fun to be right there with the players and see it eye-to-eye and communicate with them more directly. You can do certain elements of that up in the box, but there's really no substitute for being on the field.
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. I think guys obviously operate a bunch of different ways . So I thought it was cool. It was fun.
Q. But do you like it on the field?
MIKE KAFKA: I enjoyed it.
Q. If you had your choice -- you may have your choice -- do you want that? You can talk to Malik or grab somebody, do this, versus being up there?
MIKE KAFKA: I think that's been productive. Training camp, because you're on the field, you're going to use the same voice and talk to the quarterback and look them in the eyes, go down to the offensive line and hit each position group. I think there's a certain element of, you know, leadership and just being a part of -- being down in there with them that's been fun. We'll see how it shapes out.
Q. Do you think it's been even more important -- you have a rookie on the roster, Jaxson, who is trying to be there and given your experience there too as a --
MIKE KAFKA: I don't know if it's an advantage or not. I think Jaxson and Jameis and the quarterback room, everyone has to be ready to play. In terms of just the communication part of it, it would be the same as we are in the meeting room. We're building that relationship out. We have been the entire offseason.
So whether we're on the field for the game or in the box, I would say and assume the communication would be very similar.
Q. Do you sense any disappointment from Jameis when he was put third on the official depth chart this week?
MIKE KAFKA: I know Dabs -- I'm not going to get into depth chart stuff. I know Dabs will probably give you a more elaborate, detailed answer of the depth chart.
Q. How ready do you feel like Jaxson is for his first NFL game?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah, we're in Thursday, so not everything is in yet. Each day everyone is working to get better and learn the game plan, learn the focus of that day. He's prepping to play and prepping to get ready to roll and just being on schedule with everybody, just like everybody is.
I think he's right on schedule. I think we're right where we're supposed to be in terms of the game plan and tomorrow. Today is the most important day. Tomorrow is another big day. That prep will continue to go all the way up until game time.
Q. This is your first game with Russ, obviously. It's the first game with the Giants. You don't know what his stats are going to be, how he's going to do. What do you feel confident you know you're going to get from him on Sunday?
MIKE KAFKA: I think you see it in the meeting rooms. You see it in the building. You see it off the field with the players, with the guys in the community. I think you get a really consistent player. Russ has been doing that all camp. We need his leadership and his consistency, and just go play quarterback and do your job, and let the game come to you.
I'm excited to see Russ play and excited to see everybody play. I think it's going to be a fun year, and we're all excited about it, but we've got to get to work today, and we have a lot of things we've got to get cleaned up before we get ready for Sunday.
Q. The benefits of being on the sideline, but obviously there's a reason why you're up in the box for three years. What are some of the drawbacks of being down there?
MIKE KAFKA: The drawbacks... it is more quiet up there. I don't know if that's a drawback. I'm just trying to find some of the things that are differences, I would say.
The differences is it's definitely quieter up there, and you can see the field a lot, like the width of it. You see everybody. When you are down on the field, you have to have -- you trust the eyes upstairs to make sure they say, Hey, check out the back side corner on this play or what the safety is doing.
You can verify via the pictures and stuff like that, but you know, it's just probably more dialogue upstairs saying, Hey, check this out, my eyes are over here, your eyes are over there. Just the communication with the staff is probably a little bit quicker, because they're working to do their job. They have their substitutions. They have their players, their guys. Who is on the field? Who is off the field? That needs to happen a little bit quicker.
But there is a certain element of having the guys right there next to you and being able to just communicate with them quicker.
Q. Who are you relying on your eyes up there?
MIKE KAFKA: There's a group of guys up there. There's a group of guys up there. I'm not going to detail who is up and who is not. Dabs will talk about the exact specifics, but about half of our staff is up there in terms of the game management, in terms of the offensive side that give us all of the information.
Q. Dabs has talked about this a little bit. How did you feel like Jaxson handled it the couple of times he was thrown into the fire? I can think of a practice here where he came in for Jameis in the red zone, the Jets game, where he came in for one play for Russ. I know Daboll said that was part of his plan. How did you feel he handled those times when it was unexpected, you're in the game?
MIKE KAFKA: I thought he did a nice job. He did a nice job just stepping in executing. Yeah, I thought he did a nice job.
Q. Is that a hard thing to do?
MIKE KAFKA: Yeah. Certainly when you're thrown in at a whim, it's not necessarily easy, but I think he's prepared himself. He's prepped, and he went in there and just executed. It wasn't too big for him, and he just went in and played.
Q. How different is it to go in in preseason action like that versus the regular season?
MIKE KAFKA: You know, this is not his first game. I would say he's been playing football for a long time, so getting in, I think that's part of the game. It can happen at any position.
That's why you prep and you study and you spend hours and hours and hours looking over this stuff. You walk around the building in the late afternoon, and there's guys here that are meeting together and talking together. They're studying and writing their notes. So you see that. You see the work, prep. Then when you get an opportunity, it pays off because you're so prepared for it.
Q. A lot of guys have said Russ is very consistent and has been since he got here. I'm curious, with preparing for this game, what's it been like working with him for the game preparation as far as his demeanor, his approach?
MIKE KAFKA: It's been very, very consistent throughout since the day he got here really. Just the communication, the consistency in the meeting rooms and his preparation, getting guys on the same page, communicating with the players, communicating with the coaches. It's been real impressive, really good, and that's something that we would expect from a veteran of his stature.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports