Taco John
10-17-2006, 12:17 AM
Just a peek at our start looking at it through the words of Mike Shanahan...
Before the Rams game:
On what improvements he hopes to see in QB Jake Plummer
“Probably to improve some every year. Jake (Plummer) did a lot of good things last year. What we do in the offseason is we study all of the plays and go through the things that he did right and the things that he did poorly. We go through the constant evaluation in the OTA days and hopefully put him in the same situation this year to improve from a year ago because he is more comfortable in the system and more comfortable in the supporting cast protection.”
On how well QB Plummer performed last season
“He played very well. (The Broncos) turned the ball over 16 times on offense, which I believe is first in the NFL, which is pretty impressive when a quarterback (leads an offense that has) only has 16 turnovers. Jake has gotten quite good at avoiding sacks as well. He has to be able to not turn the football over and avoid sacks like he has been able to do.”
On whether there is a learning curve with QB Plummer and new addition WR Javon Walker
“I think that normally you are talking about young wide receivers coming out of college where there is more of a learning curve. A receiver from the NFL has already played in game situations. He has played bump coverage and has played all types of safety ‘D’ and blitz situations. They have a pretty good feel. A lot of times the depth and stem of the run will be a little bit different, but for a guy like Javon (Walker) to go through all of our OTA days and camp, you are pretty much on the same page."
After the Rams Loss
On what he said to QB Jake Plummer after the game
“You don’t have to say anything to Jake. Jake knows his first assignment is protecting the ball. Any time you have five turnovers, regardless of how they happened, he knows he’s got a job to do. His first job is protecting the ball.”
On whether he was surprised the team came out flat
“Yeah, I think sometimes you get too comfortable and forget that you’ve really got to have the mindset that you can’t be too secure in your feelings. If something’s not there, you can’t make a play when it’s not there. Sometimes when the quarterback has been very successful like Jake has for a lot of games, obviously that’s in your mind. You forget about not taking a chance, and you start taking chances.”
On what happened on QB Jake Plummer’s fumble
“That was a flow pass and the tailback has the responsibility to cut him and he kind of got pushed back and didn’t get a chance to cut him. That is one of those situations where given the right tackle, you are supposed to stay and cover and he (RB Mike Bell) didn’t. But sometimes that happens to the quarterback and he still has to hold on to the football but that is what we are talking about, whose fault is it. It is a team situation. Everybody has got a responsibility, and ultimately we have to protect the ball.”
Before the Cheifs game
On how confident he is that QB Jake Plummer will bounce back against Kansas City
“I am confident. Jake has bounced back and it is always tough when you go through and you don’t play one of your better games. You have to acknowledge the fact to look at what you did poorly and present it with the same situation and hopefully not make the same mistakes. You like people that are accountable and they understand that they didn’t play one of their better games and then they go on.”
Before the Patriots game
On his confidence in the offense and in QB Jake Plummer
“It was very similar to what happened last year. We started out a little shaky and then played against San Diego and they (the offense) played very well and our defense stepped up. Very similar to the way we played at the start of last season. You have got to look at your mistakes and try to correct them and then you go in to the next game, hopefully very positive and hopefully he (Jake Plummer) plays like he did last season.”
On why he went with a conservative offensive game plan against Kansas City
“You better (have a conservative offense) against a defense like that.”
On if he thinks QB Jake Plummer is having a slow start this season
“I don’t know. Why did he start slow last year? If I did know I would have corrected it. Obviously I don’t know the answer.”
On if he would consider at any point putting rookie QB Jay Cutler in the game to give the offense a spark
“No. Same thing happened last year and it is going to happen. It happened when John Elway was here, it happened when I was in San Francisco with Joe Montana and Steve Young. This is football and it is great. It is great for talk radio, it is great for TV but Jake (Plummer) has won a lot of games and just because we start out a little slow, like we did last year, doesn’t mean it is the end of the world. We are going to keep on working to correct our mistakes, and Jake has proven that he can play at a certain level so let’s get behind him and hopefully do that. We are all accountable-coaches, players. It is a team game and you have to do the little things right. Everyone looks at the quarterback and thinks it is totally his fault and that is never true. You have to put a lot of that responsibility on the coaches and the supporting cast. That is just part of the game. If you can not take it as a quarterback, you are not going to last very long. People forget very quickly about the tough games that John Elway had here. It is just the nature of the profession.”
On improving the offense
It’s not one thing. It’s a number of things. It’s third down. It may be a missed assignment. But it takes 11 guys playing together. If one guy’s off just a little bit, all of a sudden it looks like the offense is not very productive, which is not true. What you have to do when you’re held accountable for a team, either you get it done or you don’t. We did some good things in that game, and we controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter. We had a number of drives and the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter. They got a little tired, and we moved the football and did what we needed to do to win. [It was] very similar to what we did last year in San Diego, but we need to improve in that area. We’re not satisfied with where we’re at, but we have been there. We know what it takes. Hopefully if we keep on working like we’ve worked in the past, we can get there.”
On why he put Plummer in the shot gun formation
“Just to give him a little more time to see downfield on that last drive. I thought he did a good job when we put him there with our base personnel in the game. He had a couple nice throws – one to Javon that he underthrew, which he had to do. Nice throws to David Kircus to get us out of a couple of long yardage situations on second down.”
On whether being without former offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has required an adjustment period
“Since I’m involved with that, it’s the same thing as before. It’s always tough to lose coaches, especially great coaches like Gary. But I think Mike [Heimerdinger] has done a great job. I’m still involved. Rick Dennison, our offensive line coach, is here. Bobby Turner is here. Last year, we started off slow for some reason. We had a great preseason. We led the league in offense in the preseason, which doesn’t mean anything. But we started out two years in a row pretty good, and for some reason we started out [the regular season] slow on offense. The good part about it is that our defense has played well. That’s a good sign. Our defense played fairly well. Offensively, we’re doing some good things in the running game. Our passing game’s not there yet. Hopefully it will be.”
On whether slow offensive starts have made him consider giving the first team more preseason playing time
“I’ve been doing this for 22 years, so I’ve kind of gotten in a rhythm. You understand that you’re going to go through some cycles. We started off pretty good at times, too. Our preseason philosophy is pretty close to the same.”
On small things preventing the red zone offense from clicking
“That’s what I’m talking about. Those are the type of things that you know that you can correct. The hard part is getting down there. We got down there first-and-goal from the one and came up short. We’re inside the five-yard line, and we wound up short. Those are the things you work on. That’s part of the game.”
Prior to the New England game
On if the New England game will show how good the Broncos are
“Well, we think that every week. If you don’t think that every week then you are not made of the right stuff. In reality, you go back, as we have talked about before, the things you have done very well and the things you have done poorly and you look at those things. We would sure like to put a game together.”
Prior to the Ravens game
On whether the bootleg will be in the game plan against the Ravens“
I think people forget that with the bootleg, sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not. There have been many years where we have not used the bootleg in three games but we have been effective offensively and no one has ever mentioned it. But when you have not been productive on offense, in point production or yardage, there is a reason why and a lot of people tend to talk about the bootleg. We are going to adjust just like we have through the years and hopefully we will be more productive and this will be a great challenge for us because of what a great job Baltimore is doing on defense, at least in the first quarter of the season and obviously the stats speak for themselves.”
On any theories of why the offense has not scored in the first quarter yet this season
“We just thought that we would try it different this year. We got tired of being so good for so many years that we decided to say the heck with it, we will go the other way and still try to find another way to win. So far it is working. You said I didn’t have a personality, no I’m just joking.”
Prior to the Oakland Game
On if having a successful defense changes his offensive strategy
“No it really doesn’t to be honest with you. I think that was evident in some of the things that we did in the fourth quarter against Baltimore that we are going to go and play our game. We missed a few opportunities and we are going to just keep on working to try to take advantage of those opportunities. When you have got a philosophy and you feel like you have got the players you are going to stick with that philosophy.”
On the Jake Plummer run that was used against Baltimore
“A lot of quarterbacks can pull that one off because people were expecting the pass. Rod Smith had to make an excellent block. He is one of our better players. (Tony) Scheffler did an excellent job blocking their defensive end. We had a really tough defense and normally that play is a little bit easier to execute because we were expecting, not necessarily a blitz from the weak side because they had been blitzing strong side for most of the game. I was pleased with the effort but Jake (Plummer) can make plays. He can make plays off balanced and he is one of the few guys that you would call because you know he has the athletic ability to make the play.”
Before the Rams game:
On what improvements he hopes to see in QB Jake Plummer
“Probably to improve some every year. Jake (Plummer) did a lot of good things last year. What we do in the offseason is we study all of the plays and go through the things that he did right and the things that he did poorly. We go through the constant evaluation in the OTA days and hopefully put him in the same situation this year to improve from a year ago because he is more comfortable in the system and more comfortable in the supporting cast protection.”
On how well QB Plummer performed last season
“He played very well. (The Broncos) turned the ball over 16 times on offense, which I believe is first in the NFL, which is pretty impressive when a quarterback (leads an offense that has) only has 16 turnovers. Jake has gotten quite good at avoiding sacks as well. He has to be able to not turn the football over and avoid sacks like he has been able to do.”
On whether there is a learning curve with QB Plummer and new addition WR Javon Walker
“I think that normally you are talking about young wide receivers coming out of college where there is more of a learning curve. A receiver from the NFL has already played in game situations. He has played bump coverage and has played all types of safety ‘D’ and blitz situations. They have a pretty good feel. A lot of times the depth and stem of the run will be a little bit different, but for a guy like Javon (Walker) to go through all of our OTA days and camp, you are pretty much on the same page."
After the Rams Loss
On what he said to QB Jake Plummer after the game
“You don’t have to say anything to Jake. Jake knows his first assignment is protecting the ball. Any time you have five turnovers, regardless of how they happened, he knows he’s got a job to do. His first job is protecting the ball.”
On whether he was surprised the team came out flat
“Yeah, I think sometimes you get too comfortable and forget that you’ve really got to have the mindset that you can’t be too secure in your feelings. If something’s not there, you can’t make a play when it’s not there. Sometimes when the quarterback has been very successful like Jake has for a lot of games, obviously that’s in your mind. You forget about not taking a chance, and you start taking chances.”
On what happened on QB Jake Plummer’s fumble
“That was a flow pass and the tailback has the responsibility to cut him and he kind of got pushed back and didn’t get a chance to cut him. That is one of those situations where given the right tackle, you are supposed to stay and cover and he (RB Mike Bell) didn’t. But sometimes that happens to the quarterback and he still has to hold on to the football but that is what we are talking about, whose fault is it. It is a team situation. Everybody has got a responsibility, and ultimately we have to protect the ball.”
Before the Cheifs game
On how confident he is that QB Jake Plummer will bounce back against Kansas City
“I am confident. Jake has bounced back and it is always tough when you go through and you don’t play one of your better games. You have to acknowledge the fact to look at what you did poorly and present it with the same situation and hopefully not make the same mistakes. You like people that are accountable and they understand that they didn’t play one of their better games and then they go on.”
Before the Patriots game
On his confidence in the offense and in QB Jake Plummer
“It was very similar to what happened last year. We started out a little shaky and then played against San Diego and they (the offense) played very well and our defense stepped up. Very similar to the way we played at the start of last season. You have got to look at your mistakes and try to correct them and then you go in to the next game, hopefully very positive and hopefully he (Jake Plummer) plays like he did last season.”
On why he went with a conservative offensive game plan against Kansas City
“You better (have a conservative offense) against a defense like that.”
On if he thinks QB Jake Plummer is having a slow start this season
“I don’t know. Why did he start slow last year? If I did know I would have corrected it. Obviously I don’t know the answer.”
On if he would consider at any point putting rookie QB Jay Cutler in the game to give the offense a spark
“No. Same thing happened last year and it is going to happen. It happened when John Elway was here, it happened when I was in San Francisco with Joe Montana and Steve Young. This is football and it is great. It is great for talk radio, it is great for TV but Jake (Plummer) has won a lot of games and just because we start out a little slow, like we did last year, doesn’t mean it is the end of the world. We are going to keep on working to correct our mistakes, and Jake has proven that he can play at a certain level so let’s get behind him and hopefully do that. We are all accountable-coaches, players. It is a team game and you have to do the little things right. Everyone looks at the quarterback and thinks it is totally his fault and that is never true. You have to put a lot of that responsibility on the coaches and the supporting cast. That is just part of the game. If you can not take it as a quarterback, you are not going to last very long. People forget very quickly about the tough games that John Elway had here. It is just the nature of the profession.”
On improving the offense
It’s not one thing. It’s a number of things. It’s third down. It may be a missed assignment. But it takes 11 guys playing together. If one guy’s off just a little bit, all of a sudden it looks like the offense is not very productive, which is not true. What you have to do when you’re held accountable for a team, either you get it done or you don’t. We did some good things in that game, and we controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter. We had a number of drives and the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter. They got a little tired, and we moved the football and did what we needed to do to win. [It was] very similar to what we did last year in San Diego, but we need to improve in that area. We’re not satisfied with where we’re at, but we have been there. We know what it takes. Hopefully if we keep on working like we’ve worked in the past, we can get there.”
On why he put Plummer in the shot gun formation
“Just to give him a little more time to see downfield on that last drive. I thought he did a good job when we put him there with our base personnel in the game. He had a couple nice throws – one to Javon that he underthrew, which he had to do. Nice throws to David Kircus to get us out of a couple of long yardage situations on second down.”
On whether being without former offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has required an adjustment period
“Since I’m involved with that, it’s the same thing as before. It’s always tough to lose coaches, especially great coaches like Gary. But I think Mike [Heimerdinger] has done a great job. I’m still involved. Rick Dennison, our offensive line coach, is here. Bobby Turner is here. Last year, we started off slow for some reason. We had a great preseason. We led the league in offense in the preseason, which doesn’t mean anything. But we started out two years in a row pretty good, and for some reason we started out [the regular season] slow on offense. The good part about it is that our defense has played well. That’s a good sign. Our defense played fairly well. Offensively, we’re doing some good things in the running game. Our passing game’s not there yet. Hopefully it will be.”
On whether slow offensive starts have made him consider giving the first team more preseason playing time
“I’ve been doing this for 22 years, so I’ve kind of gotten in a rhythm. You understand that you’re going to go through some cycles. We started off pretty good at times, too. Our preseason philosophy is pretty close to the same.”
On small things preventing the red zone offense from clicking
“That’s what I’m talking about. Those are the type of things that you know that you can correct. The hard part is getting down there. We got down there first-and-goal from the one and came up short. We’re inside the five-yard line, and we wound up short. Those are the things you work on. That’s part of the game.”
Prior to the New England game
On if the New England game will show how good the Broncos are
“Well, we think that every week. If you don’t think that every week then you are not made of the right stuff. In reality, you go back, as we have talked about before, the things you have done very well and the things you have done poorly and you look at those things. We would sure like to put a game together.”
Prior to the Ravens game
On whether the bootleg will be in the game plan against the Ravens“
I think people forget that with the bootleg, sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not. There have been many years where we have not used the bootleg in three games but we have been effective offensively and no one has ever mentioned it. But when you have not been productive on offense, in point production or yardage, there is a reason why and a lot of people tend to talk about the bootleg. We are going to adjust just like we have through the years and hopefully we will be more productive and this will be a great challenge for us because of what a great job Baltimore is doing on defense, at least in the first quarter of the season and obviously the stats speak for themselves.”
On any theories of why the offense has not scored in the first quarter yet this season
“We just thought that we would try it different this year. We got tired of being so good for so many years that we decided to say the heck with it, we will go the other way and still try to find another way to win. So far it is working. You said I didn’t have a personality, no I’m just joking.”
Prior to the Oakland Game
On if having a successful defense changes his offensive strategy
“No it really doesn’t to be honest with you. I think that was evident in some of the things that we did in the fourth quarter against Baltimore that we are going to go and play our game. We missed a few opportunities and we are going to just keep on working to try to take advantage of those opportunities. When you have got a philosophy and you feel like you have got the players you are going to stick with that philosophy.”
On the Jake Plummer run that was used against Baltimore
“A lot of quarterbacks can pull that one off because people were expecting the pass. Rod Smith had to make an excellent block. He is one of our better players. (Tony) Scheffler did an excellent job blocking their defensive end. We had a really tough defense and normally that play is a little bit easier to execute because we were expecting, not necessarily a blitz from the weak side because they had been blitzing strong side for most of the game. I was pleased with the effort but Jake (Plummer) can make plays. He can make plays off balanced and he is one of the few guys that you would call because you know he has the athletic ability to make the play.”