ABC News Today

Post-match press conference
Friday, August 19, 2022

BB: Well, it was good to see our guys go out there and compete tonight. I thought in all three areas they put in a good effort. There are certainly things we can do better and clean up, but I thought there was progress. We had a good week here, a couple of good days of practice against Carolina, and then some of the guys that didn’t get as many reps in practice got more reps tonight, so we got a pretty good look at everybody. We’ll watch the film here and see how it went. You know, one more step in the process, and we’ll keep grinding it out here. We look forward to the week in Vegas, working with the Raiders and Josh [McDaniels] and the coaching staff there. Another opportunity to continue building and evaluating our team. Feels like we’ve had a good week here. Ready for another.

Q: Mack Wilson has made a huge difference since coming here. How did you feel in the last two preseason games?

BB: Mack has really come on in the spring and then the preseason. When the pads are on, he is an explosive player, contact player and adds speed to our team both on defense and in the kicking game. It’s good to have him, and I think he’s getting a little more comfortable out there every day, every game with the guys he’s playing with and the communication, things like that. It has been a good addition.

Q: Last week you described the process of finding an offensive player, you said you were in the middle of a process. Matt Patricia seemed to be calling all the plays tonight. Would you describe this process as somewhat complete at this point?

BB: No, it’s still a process.

Q: To Kendrick Bourne, why isn’t he dressed tonight?

Q: The third offensive drive, what did you see that made the offense flow better than the first two?

BB: Well, we just lost a couple of plays in the first two. You know, this is football. I don’t think there’s been any big issues, just our execution and just, if we don’t get first place, obviously it’s a short trip.

Q: Just to follow up on this, for this group to end in this third unit, how important is this to — I guess it was Mac, some of the players stayed there, but for his night to end in that, how important was it?

BB: Yes, it’s good to chain some works together. I wish we had done it sooner, but it was good to finally do it.

Q: As someone who has a lot of respect for special teams and the punt game, how did you think special teams went tonight?

BB: You know, we had our moments. He didn’t do a very good job in the return game, punt return game. This worried the gunners. He didn’t handle the ball well. As long as you don’t handle the ball well, you won’t have a good return game. Our coverage was fine. Made a couple of field goals, missed one. Surely it could be better. We can train it better. We can execute it better. But the return leg was disappointing. We haven’t really done anything about it. He had a break when they had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and added 15 yards on the last lap there, but he should be better, he’s got to be better.

Q: How would you describe the aspect of the communication between the player and the quarterback tonight?

BB: How would you describe it? normal

Q: Cole Strange played well into the third quarter today. What did you see of him?

BB: Well, again, for all the guys that don’t have a lot of experience, I would definitely fall into that category, just the more playing time, the more opportunity you get, the more they learn, the more they build their conditioning. and see things other than defense. Carolina did a good job tonight mixing things up with some pressure, some man pressure, some zone pressure, mixed up the fronts. They have a good defensive front, which is good for our offensive line. Obviously we had some guys out. But that gave some other players opportunities. Again, the more shots these guys get, the better they’ll be and the better chance we’ll have of evaluating them, and hopefully we can get our group together this week in Vegas and try to play as many players as we can. . There were several players that we would have liked to see out there tonight that were not available. It’s usually like that. But the sooner we get them out again, the more consistency we can achieve.

Q: Was Matt Patricia calling the offensive plays all game tonight?

BB: Communication with the quarterback, yes. As for calling the plays, there is an “other process”, but yes.

Q: How would you rate how he made the plays communicated to the quarterback?

BB: It was normal. it was fine

Q: Is the process still between you, Joe and Matt when selecting the plays?

Q: So does it fall to someone else or is it between the three of you?

Q: Talk about what you’ve seen from Lil’Jordan Humphrey during training camp and tonight. He seemed to make some good plays in the passing game and in the kicking game.

BB: Yeah, he’s made some plays for us since he’s been here. He’s a big kid that’s tough and he’s got really good hands and he’s kind of a big receiver, tight end guy, he’s got a good feel, really good instincts in the passing game, he handles the middle of the field well. with collaborators under him, above him, among him. He does the right thing there and helps the quarterback out and is a great target. Get some tough yards after the catch. Did a decent job blocking on some of the perimeter plays. He then appeared in the kicking game. He was a player we got late, he wasn’t with us in the spring, signed him in July or late June, whatever. He’s coming off an injury last year, but he’s come in, worked hard and made a really positive impression here. We are glad to have him.

Q: Mac has described some of the frustration he’s had so far in the preseason and training camp. Do you feel confidence that he needed to see the kind of success he saw in that third unit, or is that unrelated to his growth?

BB: It’s always nice to do well. That’s always good. But I don’t think Mac lacks confidence, no, if that’s the point.

Q: Understanding that you don’t want to tell us much about the offensive call situation…

BB: I never said that. I mean, don’t put words in my mouth. I never said that.

Q: I’m not quoting you, I’m just snooping…

BB: I appreciate it. Just trying to set the record straight here.

Q: How aware or unaware are your offensive players of this process?

BB: I don’t know. Ask them.

Q: With Kendrick Bourne, do you expect him to be available in Vegas this week?

BB: I expect probably all of our players to be available this week with maybe the exception of Wilkerson. We’ll see what happens, unless someone comes in with something today, but I think we should be pretty close with everyone. Hopefully. We’ll see how it goes.