Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly

[Q: Can you point me to the ocean?

KELLY: I think it's that way, I don't know. I got myself to second guessing it after that. You know, that was wild. But, yeah, holy smokes. I heard that from my family, from everybody. And I was like, guys, come on, I'm a football coach.

Q: I think that's the river, actually.

KELLY: I mean, if we go far enough that way, we're going to run into the ocean, correct?

Q: Yes.

KELLY: Which is the direction I was pointing, so.

Q: You getting a map for Christmas then?

KELLY: I'm sure somebody will give me a map. There's no doubt about it. My smartass family, there's no doubt about it.]

(First four questions in reference to a scene from the first episode of Hard Knocks)

Q: On the football side, what do you want to see from (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) over the final four? What can he get out of this final stretch here?

KELLY: Game reps are invaluable. So being able to go and see different defenses, different schemes, going out and getting into different situations, third down, first down, four-minute, two-minute, everything that comes along with it, and continuing to see good decision-making, protecting the football, and doing everything you can to lead us down and to score points and win games. No matter what the record is, those opportunities and those games and that experience that he's going to be able to gain is going to be invaluable.

Q: He talked yesterday. He's been happy with his situational awareness and not trying to force things. What have you seen that he's not forcing?

KELLY: Yeah, he's done a really good job protecting the football, hasn't really exposed the football, and has made good decisions as far as when to extend plays, being able to go and scramble for a first down, or does he have to scramble and keep his eyes down the field and showing all those different play-making abilities that make him so unique. The biggest thing for me, especially with a young quarterback, is really his ability to still be aggressive without being reckless, and I think he's done a really good job of toeing that line.

Q: When you went back and saw the hit that Dart took, what did you see as far as his decision-making? What did you see on that play, and how did you react and talk to him about how to move forward from that?

KELLY: Yeah, I talked to him about it. He's got to get out of bounds. He's got to get everything he can and make sure he's clearly out of bounds so he's not exposing himself. That was a clean hit. Those guys were playing hard. We were playing hard. Our guys went to protect him, which you love to see. Obviously, it hurt the team because of the penalty, but if we can do a better job of being able to go ahead and get out of bounds there, we're not exposing ourselves to that penalty because we're not going to get that reaction from the defense. Again, it comes down to, we talked about the awareness a little bit ago of having that ability to go and get everything you can and then make sure that you're protecting yourself and protecting your team and getting out of bounds. That was the biggest take that we took from that.

Q: Do you feel he fully understands that? Because when we talk to him, he's kind of like, no, I wouldn't do anything different.

KELLY: Yeah.

Q: When you talk to him, does he seem to take it?

KELLY: He does. And again, that's part of his game that makes him unique and makes him the type of player that he is. And you see it throughout the league with other young quarterbacks that are coming through with a similar play style is learning when to say when. When is the journey over? And that's clear as day when the journey was over. The guy's got you dead to rights. You're on the sideline already. Just duck out of bounds six inches earlier, and we're not having this conversation right now. We don't get flagged. It's a third and two instead of a third and 17. It changes a lot of things. We still want him to protect himself, obviously, but we never want him to lose an aggressive nature. And again, it's a fine line. So, I do, with the conversations I've had with him, I do think that that message is becoming clearer for him.

Q: If I'm not mistaken, you didn't have any designed runs for him in that game. Was that based on coming back from a concussion? What went into that rather than trying to…

KELLY: Yeah, I wouldn't say that was 100% accurate, just based upon how the game played out and how they played certain things. But no, that was just more so the scheme that we were going against and the versatility of the fronts and the different unique coverages and things along those lines.

Q: (Tight end) Theo's (Johnson) obviously had a lot of touchdowns, but I feel like (tight end Daniel) Bellinger's been pretty steady for you guys too. Can you just talk about what he's provided from an all-around tight end perspective that maybe isn't as flashy as some other guys?

KELLY: Yeah, he's very reliable in both the run and the pass. You can throw him in at any position, really. He's been here, this is what year four for him. So, he knows the offense inside and out, the details of it, not just necessarily the tight end position. If something were to happen and we needed to throw him in another identity, he'd be able to go and do that without skipping a beat. As far as his ability to come in day in and day out and prepare, it's one of the best I've been around. Really, the whole room. I've been fortunate with the guys that I've had in there. But yeah, he's reliable. Like you said, he may not be flashy in terms of some of the stats don't necessarily reflect how productive of a player he is, but he's a damn good football player.

Q: Who steps into your room when you have OC duties? How do you balance that?

KELLY: Yeah, (offensive assistant, game manager) Cade Knox has been in there with me. He's done a great job. We've got such a good staff to where when we're together as a unit, I'm up in front of the room, (offensive line coach) Carmen's (Bricillo) in front of the room, (running backs coach) LB's (Ladell Betts) in front of the room, so everyone has their position of focus where they're able to go and present and do things along those lines. And then when we break, everyone's doing a great job with their own position room. There's not much time where I have to get pulled out of the tight end room to go handle other duties.

Defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen

Q: Charlie, you've had (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) all year. Do you think the message is getting through? Obviously, we haven't talked to you since he got benched for the first quarter. Do you think the message is getting through on being where you need to be for team responsibilities?

BULLEN: I think it's getting there for sure. I mean, obviously Abdul I think would like to have those moments back and wish they didn't happen. But the thing I'll say is he's a young player learning the process of the NFL. And I think that's important for any player. And he's in the middle, back half of his rookie season. So, he is still learning. But the one thing that I would say is moments like that that you wish didn't happen, personally and again, I'm sure Abdul wishes they didn't happen. But to me, they did happen. They're in the past. And I look at it like how is he going to respond moving forward and how has he responded? And his response, quite honestly, has been incredible after both of those moments. I mean, he's taken ownership publicly, in the building with his teammates and coaches. And then, honestly, just in terms of, like, pattern behavior, he's doing more. He's watching more film. He's coming in earlier and staying later. So the response is what I focus on. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody needs to learn the NFL process, which he's learning right now. But his response to those moments has been awesome. It's been pro-like. And that's all you're asking a young player to do is just become a pro as they grow in their game. And he has.

Q: You mentioned watching more film, being here earlier and later. Anything else stand out? Like you said, it's been incredible. Does anything else stand out? A specific example.

BULLEN: Yeah and then taking that extra time in the classroom and extra time to prepare and then applying it on the field in drill work and in team settings. He's done all of that. I think it was ironic that his first sack came on short yardage from a six technique. But I mean, look, all those productive moments will come. But to me, for really any player, but especially a young one, I focus on the process. And, again, just looking at players in all stages of their career, I've said it before, (outside linebacker Brian) Burns is entering a level of his career he's never hit before, and he's in year seven. And (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) has become a more complete player in years three and four. So, there's always stuff to learn. There's always stuff to add. And you really can't take it all in in one moment, especially early on. And so, again, I look at how he's moved forward after each of those examples, and it's been really impressive to me. That's what I focus on.

Q: You've probably been around him more than anybody. What ways have you, like what steps have you taken to kind of get through to him to understand, like you said, be a pro. Like how do you get to a young kid to understand that?

BULLEN: The biggest example or the biggest teacher a lot of times is the film, is showing examples. So, showing what the technique looks like in games and/or showing how if a player has success based on a piece of preparation they picked up during the week. You know, if Burns picks up a nugget based on his film study of a tackle and it pays off in a game, illustrating, hey, this didn't happen on a prescribed meeting time or during a prescribed meeting. This happened on his own study at home, and he applied it to the game. So, whatever it is, I think just using examples to show him as opposed to tell him. I mean, of course, as coaches, we think we have all the answers, and we're telling them stuff all the time, right? But experience is the greatest teacher. You know, he's 22. He just turned 22. He was 21 when he got in the league, and he's been playing the position for a year and a half. So, the learning curve is going to be what it is. So in that regard, it's understandable. It's no excuse for showing up late or anything like that. But in terms of understanding the timeline of developing a pro process, it will take time.

Q: What are you looking at with that process? What do you want to see from him these last couple of weeks, and how can he build on that?

BULLEN: I would say just committing to the process off the field, film study, practice, in meetings and then just applying what he's learning in those moments on the field with urgency. Like that's part of execution is how you do it and how urgently you can execute and just understanding how it all ties together. But each step of the process has its own importance, and it's just sequencing it all together. And then this is the next part of it: over and over and over and over again. I mean, that's what execution at a high level is in this league. The consistency is part of it. So, it's taking all those pieces and putting them together and then just replicating it time and time again.

Q: Bring up the urgency more like urgency of the process or like what he's doing and is that something he's lacked?

BULLEN: Yeah, no, I just think for all these guys, it's just the urgency. Like you pick something up in a meeting, then you go out to a walkthrough being urgent with the detail that was discussed or learned or observed in the meeting, applying it in a walkthrough and taking it to the practice field and coming back the next day or on a Friday if we don't hit an early down part of the game plan specifically. Typically that part of the game plan happens on a Wednesday. So, using that as an example, hey, something that we put in on Wednesday, now we had to move away from it to focus on other areas on Thursday. Now we show up on a Friday, can you apply that detail with the same amount of urgency on the day that we installed it for the first time?

Q: Charlie, for you, what was it like when you look back at your first game calling plays? Like what did you gain from that? What was that like? And just how do you learn from that now going forward these next four games?

BULLEN: Yeah, I would say probably the coolest thing for me or biggest not unforeseen thing about it is there's a rhythm and a flow that I felt myself get into in the game that felt pretty comfortable, and you can't replicate that until you go through it. Not knowing what that would feel like or what that actually becomes in game, I just didn't have that feel last week. So, in the preparation two weeks ago leading into the New England week, I mean, I was chasing everything, looking at everything, the volume, scripting everything, and it was a lot. Now having been through that and knowing how the game goes and how the flow goes and getting a feel for the opposing play caller, that's actually shaped how I've approached this game week process. So that was the biggest unforeseen part of it, but it was actually pretty cool, and I'm glad that I now have that experience.

Q: (Offensive coordinator) Tim (Kelly) was just out here talking about how all the other position coaches have had to pick up slack and maybe do more presenting on the offensive side of the ball with him in an interim role. I'm wondering how it's been with you and your position coaches.

BULLEN: Yeah, no doubt. Everybody's had to pick up slack. It's been all hands-on deck, which it has been all year. I think mainly for the young guys, (defensive assistant) Steve Ferentz and (defensive assistant) Grant Morgan, they've had to pick up the most, but they've done a great job with it. And then just the other coaches as well, just even helping me more big picture, just tying it all together, especially some of the front stuff with the back-end coverages. I've really leaned on (secondary coach, pass game coordinator) Marquand (Manuel) a lot, and he's been great and obviously has experience. So, I'm really appreciative of him and how he's approached it and just his expertise.

Q: What did you see from the self-scout this week when you went back in, what did you see from your unit?

BULLEN: Really, it was nice to have a chance to go back and look at all that. And I think just where we're at, we've fallen short of the mark in too many areas. So, it's been a lot. It's been a little bit of everything. I think execution is part of it. Tackling is part of it. And just getting swarmed to the ball, speaking of the tackles, getting more guys to the ball, something like that is part of an area we can improve in the run game. But again, any time you're where we're at, it's a little bit of everything. So, as we had time to take a step back and look at it all, that's been our focus this week is where are those areas and what can we do to improve them?

Q: Obviously, Bryan (Cox) was fired last week. A week ago today at this point. What was your role in that? I know it was (interim head coach) Mike's (Kafka) decision, obviously, but where do you, one of your assistants, a guy that was working under you at that point, so how do you factor into that?

BULLEN: Yeah, I mean, look, that was an organizational decision. I have love and respect for Bryan as a man and a coach, so I'll miss him. He's got great energy. But no, I mean, my role in that was what, that was an organizational and coach Kafka decision. So, I found out when everyone else did and my approach, again, I had a moment with Bryan. We shared a conversation as men about that after the fact. And my approach has just been focusing on moving forward. Nothing in terms of what we're tasked to do has changed. So obviously, Bryan's not here, and I miss him, and we'll miss him. But we've got a job to do, and we've just got to keep pushing. So that's been my approach.

Q: Was that addressed that with that room? Like, is that something that you felt the need to do?

BULLEN: It was addressed as a team. So, I just kind of let it be handled there and then individually have had some conversations about it.

Q: What do you mean? You said you and Bryan had a conversation. You talked about before he got let go or after he got let go?

BULLEN: After. I mean, he got let go, so I just called him as a man and just shared my thoughts with him. So, yeah.

Q: How has this been? (Brian) Daboll gets fired mid-November, (Shane) Bowen gets fired, you take over. This happens. How are you just handling that as a coach and a person this year?

BULLEN: Change is always tough. It's never easy. But, in moments like this, the people that you're in the battle with and in the grind with, that's where I draw my motivation and resolve and grit from is just focusing on the people that are here. Again, I have love and respect for all three of those people. Dabs and Shane gave me opportunities, which I'm forever grateful for, and I have a friendship with Brian. So, again, on a personal level, even on a coaching level, I miss all three of them and will. But, again, our job moving forward hasn't changed, so we can't dwell on that and/or dwell on who isn't here. We've got to focus on the job we have to do. And the people that are here I have great relationships with, obviously, as well, the players and coaches. So that's what I lean into. I just lean into my love for the players, the coaches, and what our job is and just try to give it everything we can every day to make it better.

Q: How will it be defending for (Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus) Mariota, obviously, because (Commanders quarterback) Jayden (Daniels), obviously, has a lot of tape on him, but so does Mariotta. How do you plan for defending him this week?

BULLEN: Yeah, it's a tough task. He's playing good ball. I think the turnovers are something that he probably, that they'd probably like to clean up. But he's playing good ball. He's an experienced player. And (offensive coordinator) Kliff's (Kingbury) offense doesn't change based on the quarterback. They still run it with him. He can still scramble. He can make all the throws. He has experience. He can read it quickly. So, there's really minimal game plan change because the offense doesn't change. There's some nuance with how they scramble and how they avoid sacks and that type of thing. But for the most part, game planning against this offense doesn't change based on the quarterback.

Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial

Q: In that situation that happened last game, is the higher percentage play to do what you guys did and just have a scramble drill or just to kick it anyway?

GHOBRIAL: Number one, we need to be cleaner with the full operation of it. Snap, hold, kick. Not one person out of those three guys can have success without the others. At that point, you're trying to minimize the damage and there have been moments where you can extend a play. You're certainly trying to come out of that play with points. It's a situation that we practice, but obviously we've just got to be cleaner on the operation and it wasn't clean enough.

Q: What do you make of that game in general? Your units have been pretty good this year. It seemed like whatever could go wrong in that game kind of went wrong for you guys. When you went back and looked at it, what did you think and what did you make of it?

GHOBRIAL: Yeah, very uncharacteristic of our group. Like you said, we have been playing good special teams throughout the majority of the year. Last game, credit to New England and (Patriots special teams coordinator) Jeremy Springer. He did a good job coaching up his guys. They did a good job executing. We certainly didn't live up to our standard and we could argue on every unit. That's where we've got to be better, I've got to be better, the players got to be better. We're all in this together. When we came back and watched the tape, we all owned it. That's the beauty about having a group that's had success throughout the season is when they see the instances on tape that aren't necessarily a reflection of what they've done throughout the entirety of the season, they're like, well, that's not our standard, and everybody's owning that. We certainly are going to use that game to fuel us and just get back to what has made us great, and that's the fundamentals, that's the attitude, the effort, the enthusiasm. After the bye week, I think our guys have responded and we're excited for the opportunity to go against a really good special teams unit in the Commanders.

Q: Have you ever seen anything like what happened with (kicker Younghoe) Koo's attempted kick?

GHOBRIAL: Yeah, it doesn't happen very often, but you do see missed snaps, you do see missed holds, and sometimes there's just a variety of different outcomes when it comes to that. Sometimes the kicker sees that the ball is replaced and is able to kick through it. Sometimes they kick through it and it hits the o-linemen in the back of the head because it's not placed the proper way. Sometimes there's a fire drill where they're obviously trying to just throw the pass and sometimes guys just dirt the ball. So, it does happen. It's certainly something that we don't want to happen and we've certainly got to be cleaner in that regard. Very unfortunate, but our guys are true pros and have responded the right way. Had a good day of practice yesterday.

Q: Did (punter) Jamie (Gillan) outkick the coverage on the return touchdown?

GHOBRIAL: So, I've always talked to our guys about ball placement and depth of kick and that saying is true. You want to necessarily be able to match hang and distance, but at the end of the day, there are 10 other guys on the football field that need to be able to tackle. We do want better ball placement, Jamie understands that, but we've also got to be able to win a one-on-one. That's what this game is rooted on is winning your one-on-one matchup, having proper coverage fundamentals, not following the same color, being able to get off blocks if you are engaged. Other people got to step up when things don't necessarily go to plan with a kick direction, and I think that's across the sport on any unit. Sometimes you draw it up to be perfect outside the numbers, in the middle of the field, in the alley, but what happens if it doesn't? We play in a weathered game. We've got to be able to adjust and somebody's got to be able to make up for it. Certainly, all 11, including myself, we've got to be better in terms of that instance.

Q: What determines from week to week if (outside linebacker) Abdul Carter is part of special teams?

GHOBRIAL: He is every week. He is every week. It's just sometimes to be able to get him in the game depends on the flow, the volume of snaps, score differential, but he understands fully all our unit's game plans. Obviously, he excels in rushing kicks. He has a knack for get off. He has really low pad level. He does a great job whenever we ask him to be out there and obviously, he's had success this season every time he's been out there. There have been a couple of games this season where he hasn't been out there, but it's not necessarily that he wasn't on the unit, it's just feeling the flow of the game in terms of that.

Q: Where are you with your punting situation at this point?

GHOBRIAL: Obviously, (interim head coach Mike Kafka) Kaf is going to handle all injury questions, but I know Jamie's going to do everything in his power to play. He's tough, he wants an opportunity to obviously respond after last game as well. We signed (punter Cameron Johnston) Cam to the practice squad. He's a great veteran presence that has done it in this league. He spent the majority of his time in Houston indoors, but because he's been in the league so long, he's been able to visit a variety of different stadiums. So, you have a guy on roster that this is what the practice squad is for. If his opportunity arises, he'll be ready for it. But other than that, we're obviously going to continue to practice and get guys ready.

Q: How is he adjusting to the room and the guys?

GHOBRIAL: Cam?

Q: Yeah.

GHOBRIAL: Great. Great. He's a great personality, true pro. I know he's had a little bit of a rough past season and a half just with injuries, but he's been able to bounce back and he's hungry. He just wants the opportunity to be back in it. It's good to have him in the building. He's a guy that obviously is good enough to be one of 32 punters in the league, and he's done that for a while. So, I know he's excited to be here.

Q: You mentioned mostly indoors, but has he kicked in weather before?

GHOBRIAL: Absolutely. That was one of the things that I talked to all our guys after the bye week. We've obviously got four games left and three of four, you can guarantee it, let's put a stamp on it, it's going to be some bad weather. Whether it be really cold, whether it be windy, we've just got to be the storm and weather it.

Q: You brought (wide receiver Xavier) Gipson back. Obviously the big issue with him has been fumbles. What have you seen there and how do you fix that?

GHOBRIAL: Some of it's time on task and some of it is addressing the issue, not just from the coaching perspective, but from the player as well. He obviously owns it. He understands that he's got to take care of the ball better. We'll do everything in our power to help transform that and get him back to a very accountable returner, because he does have a really special skill set. You can't argue that his elusiveness, his speed could be impactful to the game. He's scored in this league in big time games. I'm excited for X because I know he's a great person that is truly humble and wants to do everything in his power to help the team. He understands the number one way he can help the team is by holding onto the football. So, he's going to work tirelessly at it, he's going to watch tons of film at it and we're going to work many drills every day. It's not something that we could kind of disconnect from. I think when you have ball handling issues, whether it be catch mechanics, whether it be fumbling, it's kind of a reflection of staying away from the fundamentals that allow you to have success. He's got to stay connected every single day, but we've got to do a good job as coaches of bringing it to attention every single day.

Q: We saw (wide receiver) Ihmir (Smith-Marsette) do it last year. What does he have to show you that he's capable of doing it again?

GHOBRIAL: Full confidence in Ihmir. I've said it before, you guys have heard me, Ihmir is a true pro. He did a great job for us last year. He would relish the opportunity to play in this game, and I know he would do a great job. Like I said, you have a guy that has scored in this league multiple times, both on punt return and kick return and kind of a fearless mindset, which is awesome to have. I know he's wanted to play every single week and that's how it should be when you're on the practice squad, especially when you've had the amount of production that he's had in the National Football League. If he gets that opportunity, I know our guys would be very hungry to block for him and he'd be ready to relish in that opportunity.