Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator

KAFKA: As you guys know, we made a move at the quarterback position to go with (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart). I'm excited for Jaxson and his opportunity. He's been preparing for this, putting together a great week of practice. So I'm excited for him. (Quarterback Russell Wilson) Russ has been nothing but a pro. It's never easy to get in that situation. But he's a great teammate. He's a captain of our team and the leadership he possesses, it feeds through the rest of the team. So, he's done a really good job with managing that, handling that. He's a competitor. I know he wants to be out there. But I know he's also going to help the team and do what's best for the team. Again, I just can't emphasize how excited I am for Jaxson and his opportunity. I know (head coach Brian Daboll) Dabs kind of expressed his decision to make it. I fully support it, and I'm right there with him and excited for Jaxson. That's really all I have to say on that matter and situation. If there's anything else you have on the Chargers and the task at hand there, then I'm open.

Q: What tells you that Jaxson is ready for this?

Kafka: You just see it on a daily basis. The preparation, you saw him in the meeting rooms, you see him on the practice field doing the scout team reps and you can really take a lot from that, just how he's operating as a leader on the team and in the huddle. You've obviously got to go out there and play. He did it in the preseason. Now it's the regular season, so every single level, things start speeding up and ramping up for him. But he's been very productive as a player, and I'm excited to go see him go out there and roll it.

Q: Is there a tangible difference for you as a play caller on Sunday, calling plays for a guy who's never made an NFL start versus a guy who's been in the league 14 years?

Kafka: You're certainly mindful of that. You're certainly mindful of that. I've been in that position before as a rookie. So, you understand kind of what that approach is, kind of the lead up to the game, the first play, the first quarter. I remember starting my first game in high school and my first game in college and getting in the mix as an NFL player as well. I know what that feeling is like. So yeah, absolutely, I have some experience in that, having dealt with a rookie quarterback before and kind of the ebbs and flows of what happens in a game. I think giving him the stuff that he knows, he likes, then just let him go out there and play ball.

Q: What is he like in the meeting rooms, Jaxson?

Kafka: As it pertains to…?

Q: Asking questions, etc.

Kafka: He's very attentive. He's just one of the guys that's in there. He's learning, he's asking great questions. He spends a lot of time after, extra, trying to answer some stuff so he doesn't kind of hold down the meeting sometimes. But he's all about the extra work. He's looking to kind of get some clues and any kind of tips and things that he can get from the veteran guys or from the coaches. He does a great job in the meeting room.

Q: Why was it such a challenge to get (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) the ball against the Chiefs last Sunday?

Kafka: They did a nice job. Hats off to them. They did a nice job of giving him a couple different looks. I think we can do a better job as a staff of just getting him more involved. I thought you saw (wide receiver Darius Slayton) Slay had a couple opportunities. The backs ended up being underneath. I know (running back Cam Skattebo) Skatt had a bunch of targets and catches. Sometimes those games kind of declare like that, so you've got to be able to adjust. I think in the second half, we kind of opened it up a little bit. Whether it was the call or whether it was just where the ball went, it just didn't find him. But obviously, Malik, you want to be able to have him in the front of your mind in terms of getting him the football. So, we've got to have a good plan and a better plan for that as we go and move forward.

Q: When you had (Chiefs quarterback Patrick) Mahomes, I'm curious, for his first start, what was that like getting him ready for that first start? When was it, 2017?

Kafka: It was in 2017. It was one of the last games of the regular season. I mean, he had the same approach, whether it was Week 1 or Week 16, Week 17. He kept on working through his routine, worked how the game plan and how he saw it and how he built it. His favorites, his thoughts, his likes, because they're different. He was different than (Chiefs quarterback) Alex (Smith) and so he had different favorite plays than Alex did. And that's fine. Just like Jaxson and (quarterback) Jameis (Wilson) and Russ, they all have different plays that they really like and really know. I know as a coordinator, putting together the plan with the staff, it's like, all right, well, what stuff is he really good at? What stuff does he like? And then how can we dress it up and how can we match it up to make him feel good about the plays?

Q: With Jaxson, do you see a similar temperament, I guess? I know it's two different people. But Mahomes' first game, Dart's first game, just their approach, like, okay, here we go, let's get ready. Do you see a similar temperament?

Kafka: It just all starts with the open lines of communication between, whether it's the play caller, the head coach, the quarterback coach and then the players. So open lines of communication, I like this. Hey, add this. This would really help me with this motion. Or hey, this is our vision for this play and why we have it set up this way. Anytime you can open up those lines of communication, that's going to make everyone better.

Q: So he gives suggestions for what he likes to you?

Kafka: Absolutely, and every quarterback does. When you have the quarterback room that we have, and they're so dynamic and they're so verbal, it's really great as a coach, because you get in and they're always talking ball, always talking about different ideas. That room does a great job in general and Jaxson has done a great job, too, in terms of this week.

Q: With that being said, how different do you expect the offense to look? Because he has different strengths, different weaknesses, different plays that he likes. It looked different, to be honest, in the preseason. A lot more RPOs, zone read type of stuff. In your opinion, how different does it look?

Kafka: I think there'll be certain elements of just things that Jaxson has done well, whether he was in college or in high school. You want to fit the system to that player, any player, really to what their strengths are. So I think Jaxson is going to do a nice job, and we'll put together a plan that he can work with.

Q: At some point, I'm sure you will run the ball some with Jaxson. We've seen him in the summer take hits, sometimes slide and sometimes not slide. Will you ever say to him, look, we need you in the game, we need to finish the game, you need to be careful, even though we want you to be aggressive?

Kafka: Yeah, I mean, he's an aggressive player, so when he's on the field, it's hard to take away that part of his game. I think he's got to be smart. I think he knows that. Taking hits in preseason and just getting hit in general, he did in college. I know he's a tough player. It's a different level here, obviously, but he's a smart player, and I trust he'll make the right decision.

Q: Any concerns about the limited reps that he's had with Malik and (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) and everybody else?

Kafka: They'll have to get on the same page. That's a good thing about when we meet after practice, we're all in the same room. We watch all the same tape. Receivers are talking, quarterbacks are talking. So there's a dialogue there that at least allows you to be on the same page in terms of seeing it the same way. When we get on the practice field, there'll be some catching up to do, but that's real, and I think the guys have been doing a good job of trying to get as much as they can.

Q: A few of the guys have talked about Jaxson's swagger. Where do you see that in the meeting room, on the field, while you've been working with him?

Kafka: Yeah, Jaxson has a lot of confidence, and I think that's good. That's what you want in a quarterback room. That's what you want in a quarterback. Swagger, confidence, I think they're kind of one and the same. How you want to define it, I just think Jaxson has that. All the guys in our quarterback room have that. I think a lot of guys on our team have that swagger, confidence in themselves. It's hard to play at this level if you don't have that. I mean, you're talking about the best of the best. I like our room. I like where our guys' minds are at. They're focused on today and I think that's the best approach.

Q: How have you seen Russ handle being benched?

Kafka: I've seen it. Again, like I said earlier, I think he's handled it about as well as you can, as far as being a leader. That's not easy for someone to do that. So, I feel for him, and I think he's going to continue to be a great leader and a great person in the room and help Jaxson as best he can. I know he came out and said that yesterday. I think that's true and that's real, and that's the kind of guy he is and that's why we wanted him here.

Q: What is calling tempo like as a coordinator? Do you build certain calls ahead of time? Like if we get seven yards on second down, Jaxson knows the play already? Or are you just getting the calls in quicker?

Kafka: That's a good question. I think there's a little bit of both. I think there's some anticipatory things that we can set up during the week. I think a lot of times, because you just really don't know what's going to happen till the play's over. You might catch it for five, but break it for 20, you know? But a lot of times, it's just getting it in quicker to him so that he can play and have a lot more time on the shot clock for him to go operate at the line of scrimmage, if we end up doing that. If there's elements, he did that in college. We've done that in the past here with whoever was playing quarterback. We've done it with Russ at times too. So, I think there is an element of that. We saw it in the preseason, we were able to test it. I think our guys are comfortable with it. But it's just a matter of getting it to him a little bit quicker, getting him some more information on maybe an alert or an adjustment that we need to do at the line of scrimmage. But using all that shot clock, if you can, in a no-huddle situation is what's important.

Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen

Q: What did you think about (linebacker) Abdul (Carter)? Obviously you used him as an inside linebacker more in that game. What did you think about that and tell us what went into the decision there to go in that direction?

BOWEN: Yeah, appreciative of him. He put a lot of work in last week to get ready to go and I thought he played well. Just where we were at numbers wise with the injuries kind of piling up at that position. Him having experience there, finding ways to get him on the field, maximize getting all three of those guys on the field as best we could. But I felt like he was impactful when he had some opportunities. And again, to really take it in in one week and to be able to go out there and execute like he did, I was really pleased and impressed with him for what he was able to do for our defense and our team.

Q: What is the balance there? I think he's at his best obviously rushing off the edge and if (inside linebacker) Darius (Muasau) is back, maybe you just go back to him more of a defensive front. Getting him on the field but putting him in the best position.

BOWEN: Yeah, it's the battle you wage, right? Just trying to find ways to get these guys in the positions where they can most impact. I think trying to be creative when he is off the ball at times. What we're able to do with him, whether it's send him or whatever that might be, just where he can still have that same type of impact. It is different from the edge to inside and what that looks like. That's something we're going to continue to kind of evolve here. But it's something we consider as we go. Obviously, it's something we've got to be mindful of going into a game like last week.

Q: There was a couple plays that were there to be made for you guys. I think off the top of my head, like the (inside linebacker) Bobby (Okereke) fumble. (Cornerback) Paulson (Adebo) had his hands on the ball. From a coaching perspective, how do you go back and coach that? What do you do?

BOWEN: We've got to make them. We've had a bunch of opportunities these past two weeks. In Dallas, I think we had four or five. We had our hands on the ball with a chance to come up with it and we weren't able to come up with it for whatever reason. The one with Debo in the end zone. (Safety Tyler) Nubin has it and Debo's hand knocks it away late. The two when they're both diving. Nubin has it and Bobby dives and knocks it away. So, continue to emphasize being tight and getting our hands on the football. But we've got to come down with them and make the play when we have our opportunities. I think we dropped two last week where we had a chance at them for whatever reason. The fumble play, I mean, I don't fault Bobby for trying to scoop and score it. There's space. He's there. He actually does get it scooped. I actually thought it was a really, really good play by (Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick) Mahomes. Just the effort and to be able to take it away from him. I mean, coaching-wise, it's see if we can scoop it quicker and secure it quicker. But, again, he made a really good play, but we've got to find ways to take advantage of those situations and come away with the football.

Q: What have you seen from (cornerback) Dru Phillips?

BOWEN: Yeah, I think just continue to work on the technique and fundamentals with him. I mean, he was trying to be disruptive, disrupt some of those routes. He was a little too far off to do it. ICT is a point of emphasis in this league, and it has been for years. He got called on a couple of those where he was a little too far off and the contact happened late. Those guys, they know how to play the game on that side too where they can kind of initiate it to some degree but not directly at us where we're still kind of moving our feet. That's why those things get called because you're not in a static position and you're trying to move your feet to stay on body. I think just being mindful of that, the technique and fundamentals of man coverage. I think part of that too is to make sure we get (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott some work in there. At some point he's going to have to go in there and play and do some things for us as well. That plays a role in it too. Continue to improve day in and day out. That's the biggest thing for all these guys, not just Dru. Let's get back to making sure we're focusing on the fundamentals. That way we're able to make the plays when they're there.

Q: I think he's been targeted like 30 times in the first three games. Do you feel like teams are singling him out? How do you answer that?

BOWEN: Yeah. I think the Dallas game has showed up a little bit just based on what we were playing. It's the middle of the field and you're kind of one-on-one with how things sorted out there with our scheme with (Dallas Cowboys' wide receiver) CeeDee (Lamb) and (Cowboys' wide receiver George) Pickens. It's a viable option at that point just based on the one-on-one. It seems like they are. I think part of that could be personnel related. It could be scheme related. Something we continue to look at, finding ways to do that. Again, this week with (Los Angeles Chargers' wide receiver Ladd) McConkey in there, what's that going to be? I think that's something we're going to have to evaluate as the game's going as well.

Q: With (defensive lineman) Dex (Lawrence), I'm just curious. Are you seeing him start to kind of run into shape a little bit following the injury in these first three games?

BOWEN: Yeah, I am. I think every day is a new day. He's still working through it. Any injury is a tough injury. Again, he's a fighter. You're starting to see some flashes of him, what it is when he has those opportunities one-on-one. I think late in the two-minute and another time on the guard, he's getting some push. He's going to win if the ball is not out. With all those guys up front, just continuing to stress, very similar to Dru, the techniques and fundamentals that come into play with the run game, with the pass rush, and then ultimately when we get our one-on-ones, finding ways to win.

Q: I don't know if you would say this to your defense, but there's a new quarterback this week. Do you present that to your defense? Look, we've got a guy making his first start. We've got to do things to make it better for him, give him a better field position, pick up, you know what I mean? Or is it like the quarterback is the quarterback and we play defense?

BOWEN: Yeah, I mean, I think for us that kind of goes hand-in-hand with the takeaways. It's something we've always tried to preach, like let's do a good job seeing if we can get the ball away so we can set these guys up with some better field position. Doing our part, it's a team game. It's not always about just stopping them, keeping them from scoring. It's about being able to set up the offense regardless of who the quarterback is. And that's one area we haven't done a good enough job in, and we've got to work too. I mean, they all know, obviously, that (quarterback) Jaxson's (Dart) going in there. We've got to go play defense and make sure we're doing our job and doing everything we can to hopefully take the ball away against a team that doesn't really turn it over a whole lot.

Q: Do you have any sense of Jaxson from competing with him in training camps?

BOWEN: Yeah, he's done a great job for us, he has. He's done a great job for us running the show team. Obviously, training camp and the stuff he's done and stuff in the preseason. So, excited to see him go out there and compete on Sunday.

Q: How have you seen him develop?

BOWEN: Yeah, I mean, just against us, he's out there. A lot of times on the show team, you're on cards. You kind of have an idea of what's coming and everything else, but just the ability to cut it loose and make plays. So, again, I'm excited to see him go out there and compete on Sunday and see how he does.

Q: How much of an emphasis would some of the throws that (Chargers' quarterback Justin) Herbert has put on tape in his career is making sure that the back line of defense knows?

BOWEN: Yeah, he's playing at a really high level right now. (Chargers' wide receiver Quentin) Johnston's coming on for him. He's finding ways to get him the ball. Really, all three of those receivers are involved in the passing game. They're all a little bit different. I think understanding that is a big part of it. But, I mean, they're throwing the ball more than what they've done, but the threat and the run packages and all that is there. So, they're able to complement the run and the play action and the things that come with that. And, again, you've got to make sure you stay on top and hopefully don't give up the big ones to them as we go and make them earn it. Herbert's been so decisive with where he wants to go with the ball. He gets the ball out of his hands quickly. So we've got to find some ways to disrupt and see if we can get him to possibly get off his first look and be able to transition some of this play action game where we can get some pressure on him.

Special Teams Coordinator Michael Ghobrial

Q: Have you ever quite had something like that happen with your kicker getting injured in warm-ups there and kind of being stuck in a tough situation?

GHOBRIAL: No, that was the first time. I think a few years ago, that happened to some other team as well, and I can't remember which exact team. But that's really where the value of trying to create flex and practicing the backups every week is very important.

Q: Where do you stand with (punter) Jamie (Gillan)? When you're in those situations as a kicker, what approximately is his range? What do you feel like he can do when he has to step into that role?

GHOBRIAL: Obviously with that not being his primary position, it's going to be more limited than a National Football League kicker that's trained to do that. But it will depend on, obviously, where we're kicking in terms of the range, whether it's windy, the home game, away game. But it's definitely a little bit more restricted just with that being his secondary trait.

Q: What do you like about (kicker) Younghoe (Koo)?

GHOBRIAL: He's a veteran kicker that's kicked in this league for a long time. Has kicked at a Pro Bowl level. You can tell just a little bit of - I've got to know him. There is an authentic confidence that you see with him. That the situation is not too big for him and you see that amount to success. To me, it's a no-brainer why he's had so many game-winning kicks. There's a level of confidence he goes out there (with) knowing that he can execute at a high level.

Q: Does that confidence help then when things go wrong. I've heard you say it. You hear guys talk all the time about when things go bad for kickers, and then you have to turn it around. That fight to try to get it back. Does that help?

GHOBRIAL: Absolutely. To me, the best kickers in this league are the ones that have a next-snap and clear mentality, good, bad, or indifferent. So, you make a kick, although you'll gain more confidence going into it, that's not a declaration that you're going to make the next one. Whether you make it, miss it, have an issue on it, you've just got to learn from it and then you've got to move on and go play the next kick.

Q: Is this a straight competition for the next few days?

GHOBRIAL: Yeah, always is. I think the biggest thing in the National Football League is any opportunity you have to create competition at any position, I think, is critical. It ultimately elevates the level of the people competing and it ultimately gives you a better idea of who can give us the best chance to win.

Q: And you want to pick one for Sunday?

GHOBRIAL: Since only one can play, yeah, I believe so.

Q: When you look back at Younghoe's tape last year, when you're bringing him in for the tryout, was there an injury involved to the amount of misses that he had? What did you attribute to that?

GHOBRIAL: I'm not really privy to what went down in the building over there. I do know that he is healthy now. Again, I put a lot of stock into the culmination of his career. When I see him kicking well when he got here, I'm like, OK, that's Koo. That's a guy we know. He seems healthy and he's doing a good job.

Q: It obviously didn't end well for him in Atlanta, right? When he comes here, your approach is just let him be, like let him do what he's done throughout his career? Or you feel like there's something you guys need to fix?

GHOBRIAL: No, no, no, there's certainly always going to be an acclimation process to where he has to learn the way we do things here. That operation changes from organization to organization. Him learning Jamie, him learning (long snapper) Casey (Kreiter), I think those are two things that are critical. Now, do I think that it could be a seamless transition for a guy that's kicked seven years in this league? Yes, because he knows what to look for. He knows what he's going to ask those guys to do. So, I think that that learning process has to happen, but it could happen fairly quickly.

Q: With (running back Tyrone) Tracy (Jr.) down, probably (running back Devin) Singletary will have more of an offensive role. Does that change your kick return personnel?

GHOBRIAL: Potentially. We always practice all those guys today, and we'll take a look at who gives us the best opportunity to return on Sunday.

Q: Everybody seems to be kicking away from (wide receiver) Gunner (Olszewski) on those plays. Are there ways to outmaneuver that?

GHOBRIAL: There could be, yeah. At the end of the day, to have the range to cover 53 1/3 with one single returner is difficult, especially when you're seeing these hang times lower and lower. Kickers are doing a great job of hiding intentions on which direction they're going, so it makes it more difficult to feature a primary returner. But at the end of the day, you practice it, and when you get those kicks your way, you want to take advantage of it. I think the biggest thing when a guy seems like he's being somewhat restricted from those return opportunities, you've got to make certain that you still rely on your fundamentals, because the nature of it is, if you don't get the ball, that off-returner has to be an active blocker anyway. He's an integral part of the return having success. I think when you look at it the past few weeks, whoever was beside Gunner has done a nice job, and that's a credit to Gunner as well. A great communicator, a great blocker, and then the other 10 guys on the football field. Just making certain that the blocking is correct, the vision, all that stuff has amounted to some success on that unit.

Q: If you could just pick any guys you want on the roster for game day, would it be in an ideal world, two actual returners? Or would you prefer running backs? Would you like both, one of each? What would be your preference for that? I'm talking about kickoff.

GHOBRIAL: In terms of the returner position, I think on the forefront of everything is always good decision making and catch mechanics. To me, that's where I don't necessarily get into, I want a running back there for sure, or I want a receiver there for sure. I look at whoever has the best catch mechanics and decision making. If it's all equivalent, then obviously you want the guys with the best run skill.

But as you look across the league, it's very unique because some guys are using a lot more running backs, some guys are using more receivers, and it depends on who you surround them with too. So the scheme, does it feature more of a running back body? Does it feature more of a receiver body? Then also, just playing into the catch mechanics and decision making, it's what suits that returner well. Just being in this league and designing these returns, you're like, OK, this suits this returner better. This suits this returner better, or this returner can do both returns. It all depends on the schematics and all that and I think you're seeing that across the league as well.

Q: I was just interested because the way it worked out, it just kind of is returner, running back, and I was wondering if that was a preference for you.

GHOBRIAL: No, it wasn't necessarily a preference. I just think we've had the luxury of our running backs having good ball skills and that's been a big component of why they could be back there. I always assimilate what running backs are asked to do is be able to diagnose blocks, be able to set up blocks on offense. Then you see the same attributes show up on kickoff return as well. The other thing is, you see receivers sometimes when they've had a running back background, whether it be in college or high school, that vision still shows up. So, the versatility of those guys has been great.