Q. I'd like to start with your impression of the atmosphere at Croke Park for the first NFL regular season game in Ireland. How did it compare to a regular season game in the United States?
A. It was special, for lack of a better description, on a lot of fronts. First of all, I was amazed at what a horizontal city Dublin is. You know, I kept expecting to come into downtown Dublin and see some skyscrapers and so forth. The stadium was the biggest thing in sight. And the number of fans just along the sidewalk and in the pubs and so forth was impressive. The closer you got to the stadium, there were probably just as many people outside the stadium all day as inside the stadium. It was an unbelievable environment. And within the stadium, just their level of engagement at everything all game was really awesome. It was a humbling experience to be a part of.
Q. Did you get the sense that the fans inside the stadium really understood the sport based on how they were reacting and acting?
A. Yes, and at other times I think they were just excited. But I don't know that you felt the astute awareness sometimes that you feel in stadiums regarding certain circumstances, but it was an awesome atmosphere, nonetheless.
Q. In terms of the on-the-field back-and-forth in the win over Minnesota, how much of an impact was Aaron Rodgers' ability to utilize cadence and to go late into the play clock before snapping the ball when it came to deciphering what Brian Flores was trying to do with disguising the defense?
A. It certainly was helpful in the stadium, but I tell you, I think his reputation for those things that you mentioned probably was the most help. I think schematically, Coach Flores was less aggressive than he normally is. And no question that ability of Aaron's was one of the core reasons why. Aaron has a reputation for handling a lot of things at the line of scrimmage, for weaponizing cadence, for getting in and out of perfect plays and so forth. And I think largely Coach Flores didn't want to test that, and so he was less schematically aggressive than many weeks that you see his units perform.
Q. Another asset Aaron Rodgers is said to have is that he "operates on time." What does that mean, and how does that help an offense?
A. He moves with great fluidity through his progression, sometimes deciphering components of the progression prior to the snap, prior to getting the ball in his hands. And all of that leads to fluidity in operation time. He gets the ball out quick. There's a thing that we call in this business – TTT – time to throw. His time to throw is elite, and usually it means his ability to process defense and deliver the ball and deliver the ball to the correct target. And as I mentioned, it's not only about pure progression for him. It's his ability to eliminate potential throws or options prior to even the ball being snapped, because he just is great at gathering information in a variety of ways aids in that TTT.
Q. During your Tuesday news conference, in going over the injury situation you said that Jalen Ramsey and Calvin Austin had been really aggressive with their rehabilitation during the bye. What does it mean to be aggressive with rehabilitation?
A. Simply time spent. I've seen those guys in the building quite a bit. "We're not paid by the hour" is a cliche that we use in this thing, and I think it's reflective of those guys' attitude regarding rehabilitation. They were really aggressive, man. They spent a lot of time with our training and rehab staffs, and I think it's been helpful.
Q. With Calvin Austin inactive today, what do Roman Wilson and/or Scotty Miller have in their repertoire that could enable them to help fill that void?
A. They're talented guys, and particularly in the case of Roman, he just simply lacks experience. But the only way to get experience is to play, and so he's worked extremely hard. I've been pleased with his progress generally, in terms of his growth and development. He has more good days than bad. Opportunities like this are big for young, developing players. Oftentimes, we say one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, and you're looking at it today in terms of those two guys getting an opportunity to step up and elevate their roles within what we do offensively.
Q. You often talk about expecting a big jump from players in their second seasons. That's a description of Roman Wilson. He's in his second season. What have you seen from him?
A. I've seen dramatic growth and development in him day-to-day. It hadn't necessarily panned out in-stadium, but again, I watch day-to-day, I know that what happens day-to-day invariably turns up in-stadium, and so it's simply a matter of time. And sometimes it takes an opportunity such as this, the lack of availability of Calvin Austin, to generate that. He's had really good days, he was really good in the preseason, and so it's a natural progression, from my perspective.
Q. Today's opponent is the Cleveland Browns, and in assessing their offense you mentioned that their interior offensive linemen — center Ethan Pocic and guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller – set the pace for that unit. How can an interior offensive line set the pace for the unit, and how does that trio do it specifically?
A. In terms of volume in non-situational moments, the core of their run game is centered around that group. They'll zone-scheme you. They'll gap-scheme you. They pull both guards. Those guys are experienced individually and collectively, and so in non-situational moments, the vast majority of their plays run through the exploits of those guys. In situational moments, passing circumstances and so forth, they're just really solid up the middle. And when you have a short quarterback, you need a group that's really solid up the middle for clarity. I just think that oftentimes in general football discussions, we spend a lot of time talking about eligibles, passers, runners, receivers and so forth, and there's certainly a lot to talk about regarding Cleveland. They've got a lot of interesting, exciting young people who are playing significant roles for them, but quietly behind the scenes. Pocic, Bitonio, Teller are the nuts and bolts in that unit, not only in terms of talent, but experience. And you'll feel that. Cleveland is a very good short yardage team, because the short yardage runs through the center and the guards. And so there's a lot of situational moments, some subtle, some not so subtle, where their talent and experience comes to the forefront. And I'm just not going to allow our team or our defensive unit to miss the forest for the trees.
Q. When it comes to how the Browns utilize TE David Njoku, plus his importance to their offense, is he similar to how the Ravens utilize Mark Andrews and his importance to the Baltimore offense?
A. He's that and then some to be quite honest with you. He certainly does the vertical things that Mark Andrew does – runs deep overs, and in seams. He's a red zone target. I remember we played both teams last year. Both of those guys had three, four or five game streaks where they had caught touchdowns. But the different component of Njoku's game is the tight end screen game, and the check-down game. He is a weapon after the catch in some of those low risk propositions. They throw tight end screens on second-and-long to him, and they get back to third-and-manageable. You get them in long yardage situations, and they get in max-protection and dump him check downs, and you've seen a lot of highlights of him dragging smaller defenders and running over and through secondaries in an effort to create yards after the catch. I think his run after catch is something that distinguishes him in that comparison and discussion regarding his relevance to his unit.
Q. Browns Coach Kevin Stefanski calls the offensive plays. What kind of a play-caller is he, and is it different when it's the head coach who's the play-caller as opposed to a coordinator?
A. I don't know the differences, particularly as it pertains to when that unit is on the field. There's certainly some consequences in terms of the totality of dealing with all three phases. But specifically in terms of dealing with the offense, I doubt there's very many differences. In terms of describing him as a play-caller, he's practical. As Kevin Colbert would say, "If he's got red paint, he paints his barn red." He's not going to expose that young quarterback to too much. He's going to play behind that interior offensive line that I mentioned earlier. He's going to let that runner try to control the game. And he's going to take calculated risks associated with producing victory. He is very practical. I've known Kevin (Stefanski) a long time. We worked together in Minnesota in 2006. He's a helluva football coach. He is going to work to accentuate the strengths of the unit, individually and collectively, and he's certainly going to do a nice job of minimizing things in areas where they may fall short.
Q. Besides Myles Garrett, who is Cleveland's key guy or guys on defense?
A. I'd say, Grant Delpit, because he does so much. He plays safety on first and second down. He's a good blitzer in run circumstances. oftentimes they bring him off the edge on the open side. He plays dime linebacker on third down or in passing circumstances. He's capable of playing big-nickel when you've got a tight end who's a challenge for linebackers to cover in 12-personnel. He'll come down and from the nickel position he'll cover a tight end like Jonnu (Smith) on first and second down when they're in man-to-man. His versatility and all the things that he does for them really makes me want to highlight him as the No. 2 guy, because of all the things that he does. He's also the personal protector on the punt team, which speaks to his versatility. And obviously Denzel Ward is a top-notch global corner, who has done it at a high level for a long time.
Q. Is there such a thing as "October football" in the NFL, and if so, how is it different than "September football?"
A. You should see those who lack experience, gaining experience. So if you put a gun to my head and make me describe October football, particularly in the special teams game, guys like Carson Bruener and Jack Sawyer, they're not wet behind the ears anymore. They've been in some circumstances, and it's reasonable to expect them to display that awareness in that snap experience. I think that's what October is about. Those who are going to do it and be able to sustain in our business for a significant period of time, their experience and the lessons that they're learning from September are starting to show. And those who don't learn lessons, their lack of progress starts to show. And as coaches and leaders and decision-makers, as people who divide the labor up, we better recognize those who are elevating and those who aren't.
Q. Your record in games played the weekend following the bye is 14-4. What do you think has led to that kind of success?
A. I don't know, man it must have been four failures, to be honest with you. I'm trying to win in all circumstances. I'm trying to do what's best for our unit. Each bye week sometimes dictates different behavior. A lot of things factor into it. The age and experience or lack thereof of your collective. The level of health of your collective. When the bye week falls in the calendar. And so all of those games that you mentioned, they all have their own individual stories. And if I'm doing my job, I'm teeing the group up relative to that specific thing. And so, that's what I'm always trying to do. And so when I hear that, I think about the four failures.
