- 18 hours ago
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer joined Shan, RJ, and Bobby ahead of their game against the 49ers. Schotty discussed San Francisco's offensive schemes, scripted plays, the latest injury updates, and more.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Let's preview with the head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, here on Sean and RJ with Cowboys Insider, Bobby Bell.
00:05Good morning, coach. How are you?
00:07Morning, guys. How are we doing?
00:08Doing pretty well. Did last night put a little, I know you're 100% either way, but a little extra
00:13pep in the step
00:15considering Washington came back to beat the Giants, who were leading the division?
00:19Yeah, I saw the last few minutes of the game and a great back-and-forth game, but yeah, it
00:24was nice to see the Giants lose for sure.
00:26What is your usual NFL intake? Give us that for an NFL head coach of how you stay caught up
00:34on the league
00:35and how many hours throughout the week you think you watch of the other games.
00:40Shoot, I tell you what, I don't really watch that much football. It's usually on in my house Thursday night
00:47when you get home
00:47if there's a Sunday night game, but we usually travel so much. We're just playing so many damn primetime games
00:53and things like that,
00:54but I love to just kind of keep up with the internet and the scores and things like that.
01:00But I'd say overall watching games on TV, probably less than a few hours, 90 minutes maybe.
01:08Shadi, you've got San Francisco this week, and obviously you just took over as head coach last year,
01:14but you had been here for a few years before that when San Francisco felt like a real thorn in
01:19the side.
01:20I know typically you've not wanted to put overemphasis on a game and said that this game is more important
01:24than this one,
01:24but when it comes to San Francisco, has it felt like in these meetings you guys have had over the
01:29last five years or so
01:30that this has been a game that guys get up for and are really locked in on?
01:36Yeah, I think you look forward to playing a team that's got the tradition that they have,
01:40and we all know they're a very good football team.
01:42We've talked this week about embracing the challenge.
01:45Kyle and John Lynch have done an incredible job of building this over the past 10 years.
01:50Again, you look at them, and really they're so talented on all three units,
01:55and it's going to be a hell of a ballgame.
01:59Shadi, when a team has so many injuries to a skill position, like a receiver, and they've got some,
02:05does that change a game plan at all?
02:07Like, even though the system's the same, the coaches have been there for a while,
02:11does it matter who the players are to change the system in terms of the game plan,
02:15or do you not alter that at all with that?
02:19No, it definitely does.
02:21You know, again, the bigger thing for us is, you know, sometimes you just don't know in terms of,
02:25okay, he's limited or he's questionable or whatever it is,
02:28but you look, Mike Evans is a hell of a player.
02:30If he's not out there, then there's certainly things that we would do a little bit differently.
02:35And, you know, you kind of take it up through today just like we will on our side with some
02:39injuries.
02:41But it absolutely changes the game plan based on when some of their premier players are questionable
02:46and same thing, you know, on our end.
02:48Yeah, to that point, when you're talking about on your end and game planning for things,
02:53for instance, when George Pickens is questionable and then you get out there against Indianapolis
02:58and he's not able to go, what is that, what's that constant evolution like for you?
03:04And specifically as a play caller, are you in the back of your head just saying,
03:08hey, I'm going to assume I don't have him and if I get him, then that's gravy?
03:11Or how do you approach that just from, like, the design and attack?
03:14No, I mean, the thing with George is we always count on having him.
03:17I mean, he loves football.
03:18He's really, really tough.
03:20And, again, that's the way you kind of approach it.
03:22But, you know, again, we'll be going into today to deal with, you know, same thing,
03:26let some guys move around, see how they're doing.
03:28But, you know, when it comes to certain guys, you kind of – you bank on having them
03:32just because you know how important it is for them to get out there and be out there.
03:36You guys get the big victory over the Colts last week and get back on the right track.
03:41It looked like, you know, passing game, I think this was Dak's deepest average depth
03:46of target on the season.
03:48And did you guys feel like you fell into any sort of a rhythm with some of the deep
03:52passing game this past week and stuff that you'll be able to build on moving forward?
03:55Yeah, I felt like, you know, they did adjust some things.
03:58I mean, they came in.
03:59We were expecting them to play a bunch of man-to-man.
04:01You know, they've got the two corners, you know, with Ward and Sauce Gardner.
04:05And, really, I mean, they came out and they wanted to play us in a bunch of too high
04:09or shell defense as we refer to it.
04:11And so we had to adjust, you know, early in that game with some things.
04:15But I just thought he threw the ball really well deep.
04:17We hit a couple double moves.
04:19We had some things where we got on top of people.
04:21Obviously, CD had a monster game.
04:23But, again, maybe the throw and the catch of the night was Ryan Flournoy on the deep,
04:28deep post route there to start the two-minute.
04:31And what an incredible throw.
04:32But the catch was just dynamic and so happy for a guy like Ryan Flournoy who just continues
04:38to always put great tape out there and is an incredible, incredible teammate.
04:43Brian Schottenheimer joining us here, 105, 3 The Fan.
04:45And, Coach, I want to ask you about Brock Purdy, famously Mr. Irrelevant.
04:50Why do we seem to overlook quarterbacks that don't have that big arm, that don't have the big body?
04:55They're brain-first players.
04:57But they get overlooked and they don't get valued in the draft process.
05:01Why is that?
05:03Yeah, I do think that, number one, everybody does it.
05:06I don't think it's something that's not a perfect science.
05:08Again, you know, but you do start with measurables at most positions just as a, okay, you know,
05:13where does this guy stand in terms of height, arm length, things like that, speed, whatever.
05:19But, you know, the vision aspect of it is real.
05:22When you're a shorter quarterback, which Brock is, the vision aspect of it is real.
05:27You know, I've experienced it some with Russell Wilson, with Drew Brees, guys like that.
05:31But they see the game differently in the pocket.
05:34But what Kyle and his staff have done a great job of, right, is they know how to spread the
05:39field horizontally.
05:40And if you watch them, I think they lead the league in certainly motion or one of the top there
05:45is.
05:45And they're also big into what we call five out.
05:48Most people call it scat protection.
05:50They get people out.
05:51And he's a little bit, I'm talking about Brock now, he's a little bit like a point guard.
05:55He's just out there, you know, dishing and assisting and getting the ball in his hand quick.
05:59And that's why he's so hard to sack.
06:02But incredible player.
06:03And there's a ton of moxie with this guy.
06:07Shadi, you know, everybody talks about the running game for San Francisco and the run designs that Kyle Shanahan has
06:13used and things like that.
06:15And, you know, we've heard the phrase before, nothing new under the sun.
06:19And I think a lot of people are like, well, what does Kyle Shanahan do that's so different from a
06:24league that's run the ball for so many years?
06:26How has he found something new to tap into?
06:28What do you see when you look at the Kyle Shanahan run concepts and the way that San Francisco runs
06:32the ball?
06:33Yeah, I mean, Kyle, he came from, obviously, his dad was an incredible run game designer.
06:38Talking about Mike, of course.
06:39And, you know, Kyle's been around this a long time.
06:41You can't talk about the Niners run game without mentioning Chris Furster, who's just an elite, elite, you know, offensive
06:48mind and run game guy.
06:50He's been doing it at a high level for a really long time.
06:52But, really, the way they use, you know, Kyle Jusek, I mean, just it's unique.
06:59And it was interesting for us, one of the – actually, it's been really cool.
07:03You know, Curtis Robinson was in San Francisco for a while.
07:06And so the way they use some of the, you know, cross the ball motions and then he'll loop back
07:11into the backfield and he'll come back.
07:13So, just, you know, they're doing different things to grab, you know, and confuse your eyes.
07:18We have to play with great eye discipline.
07:20But he's always looking to attack on the angles.
07:22And really the number one thing I think that they do, guys, is they do a great job of, number
07:26one, getting the ball in the perimeter with toss-crack schemes.
07:29And then number two is the wrap schemes where Kyle is either leading or he's starting to lead and then
07:37he seals back for misdirection.
07:38But, you know, and then, you know, McCaffrey just – he runs so damn hard and he's a load to
07:44tackle because he builds up so much speed.
07:46How much can you glean – you mentioned Curtis Robinson there and you guys obviously have D-winners.
07:51How much can you glean from guys like that who have been in San Francisco recently and are familiar with
07:57some of their stuff versus, hey,
07:59they maybe have probably changed some things up that, you know, they would have known
08:02and we can't necessarily bank on everything that they understood from that system?
08:07Yeah, everybody evolves.
08:09I think, you know, Kyle and his staff obviously evolve based on their people.
08:11We've already talked about, you know, again, some of the injuries that they're dealing with on the perimeter with their
08:16receivers.
08:17But, again, I think that, again, it's not a small thing to say.
08:22Like, Curtis has given us an incredible look over these last two days and heading into the day with some
08:27of the motions and things
08:28because he's seen them, he knows it, whereas it sounds silly.
08:31But a team that doesn't, they just throw some random person out there to try to do it,
08:35and it's hard to simulate it at the speed that it's going to happen.
08:39So it's been awesome to watch Curtis do that for us and, again, shows you what a great teammate he
08:43is.
08:44Brian Schottenheimer, every Friday here on Sean and RJ 105.3 The Fan.
08:48Coach, it feels like the peanut punch is at an all-time high.
08:52Green Law, Fred Warner, experts at it.
08:56We saw it again last night.
08:57Is that an extra emphasis this week with how much Sam Fran seems to punch it out?
09:02Yeah, we showed a bunch of clips.
09:04I think, you know, Fred Warner might be the next Charles Peanut Tillman.
09:08I mean, he is incredible, this guy.
09:11When you watch him, man, I mean, I think I showed six or seven clips, whatever it is, of him,
09:16you know, punching the ball out.
09:17This guy comes from any angle, man, and he's learned the ability to, you know, get that right arm in
09:23there.
09:23His right arm is like an elite boxer, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, you name him, a heavyweight champ.
09:28But, like, these guys were able to just go in there and do an incredible job.
09:31And then, really, the game last week, you know, turned on a turnover down at the goal line where the
09:37nickel upped and stout.
09:39You know, as the tight end was getting ready to go in and dive into the end zone, he gets
09:42a great punch, catches the bottom tip of the ball.
09:45And that's really where the game changed because it was about to become a one-score game.
09:48But everyone teaches it the way that it was, you know, not taught, you know, 15 years ago.
09:55You know, everybody's got the same clips.
09:58They're all showing it.
09:58They're all emphasize it.
09:59But, man, you know, this defense and specifically Fred Warner, if he's not the best, he's up there around Peanut.
10:07Ball education time.
10:09We're getting all nostalgic.
10:11Cowboys, Sam Fran, I'm going back to Bill Walsh.
10:14I'm re-watching The Gambler, all this stuff.
10:16And the scripted plays, can you explain, Coach, the first 15, are they just like the plays you absolutely like
10:24the most?
10:25And you kind of go, they're not scripted like we're running one, two, three, four, five early in the game.
10:31How does it change?
10:32Can you just kind of talk about West Coast, first 15, and how married you are to it to start
10:38off games?
10:39Yeah, I think, number one, it's changed a lot over the years.
10:42I know I've certainly done it, you know, in my time.
10:44I've done it a number of different ways.
10:46What it went back to was, you know, Bill Walsh, when he first started doing it, he wanted his players
10:50to be able to anticipate, okay,
10:52play one is going to be regular personnel, 21 personnel.
10:55We're going to do X, Y, Z, you know, 22 Hank, whatever.
10:59And then I'm going to come back and I'm going to send 12 personnel.
11:01And we're going to get in .right, 66, splash, alert, whatever.
11:06The way I think it's changed is, like, the way we look at it now is there's things that you're
11:10trying to do to the opponent to get answers.
11:13Okay, if we get in this formation, what are they going to do to it?
11:16If you put this personnel grouping out there, what are they going to do to it?
11:20Okay, how do I, second thing, how do I get the ball into my playmaker's hands early?
11:26Third, okay, these are some of my favorite plays.
11:29So you kind of build it that way.
11:30You actually build it through the week, guys.
11:32You kind of, as you go through Wednesday practice, you're like, ooh, that could be a good opener.
11:36Ooh, yeah, man, that one probably doesn't fit there.
11:38That one's more for, you know, as the game flow gets going.
11:41And then everyone does it different.
11:43Some guys do it where they literally call it, you know, right down the line, one, two, three, four, five.
11:47We don't really do it that way.
11:48We kind of have our top thoughts, if you will.
11:51It's 15 plays, but, you know, really, you know, top six runs, top six passes,
11:55and then the top couple third down thoughts.
11:58Coach, is it similar coming out of halftime?
12:01It is.
12:01Yeah, you get it in there, and you talk about, you know, the issues and the problems,
12:04and, hey, these are things we want to do, and you kind of get the same thought process.
12:08I would say, you know, the only thing that's different is the flow of those move around a little bit
12:15more
12:15because you actually have some things that you have slated before the game even starts
12:20that you kind of think, okay, this would be a really good second-half opener
12:23because you kind of have an anticipation of what you're going to call in the first half,
12:26and this would complement that.
12:28So the blending of those is a little bit more complicated, and you're doing it, you know, on the move.
12:33Coach, one more on some play design, play calling stuff before we get to some injury questions.
12:39We'll have Nick Eatman from DallasCowboys.com at 920 today,
12:42and his favorite play in the NFL is the flea flicker,
12:45and he complains all the time that it's gone away and that it doesn't exist anymore.
12:49Why isn't that something we see around the NFL much anymore?
12:53Again, I think everybody has it in their offense.
12:56It's a unique play, and I think the way that defenses now are trying to control the line of scrimmage,
13:02it's a high-risk, high-reward play, but I will say this, it's like anything.
13:06You know, the more things get shown and seen, the better people play it.
13:11You know, shoot, I can't remember the last time I've called a couple,
13:15but I can't remember the last one.
13:16I was like, oh, yeah, that was a laugher.
13:17I don't think there's any more laughers on the flea flicker.
13:19Now it's some of the throwback passes and things like that that you're seeing.
13:23But, you know, every once in a while, a good flea flicker is good for the soul.
13:27How many trick plays have you called this year that you would define as a trick play offensively?
13:35Definitely.
13:36Yeah, I mean, definitely in the single digits.
13:38I mean, again, you know, our thought is more about the execution.
13:41You know, we have a staple of them that we have.
13:43We kind of run them until we use them.
13:45When you use them, then you pull the next one over.
13:49But probably in the single digits, you know, we feel, you know,
13:52that we're able to move the ball pretty well without them.
13:55But there's definitely times you're like, yeah, we need them.
13:58Shadi, you've got a number of injuries piling up for you here this week.
14:03Specifically curious about what the outlook is right now for George Pickens and Joey Porter.
14:07But anything else you can share about your injury report right now?
14:10Yeah, again, a lot like last week, guys.
14:12You know, I mean, today we'll go out there today.
14:14You know, we've got a bunch of guys kind of dealing with some stuff.
14:16They're bumped around a little bit.
14:17Yeah, I think, you know, George and JPJ, you know, moved around really good yesterday.
14:22So I think that's really good for us.
14:25Demo's doing great.
14:26Trying to think the other guys that are on there.
14:30You know, Ezraku, we'll see, you know, how he does.
14:35But, you know, we've got a lot of guys that need to move around.
14:37And it's this time of the year.
14:39You know, you're getting into middle of November, and this is what you're kind of dealing with.
14:43And it's really around the league.
14:44I know San Fran's dealing with the same exact thing as they head out to their Friday practice going,
14:48okay, we've got to see this guy move around, that guy move around.
14:50And this is the time of year you really start paying a ton of attention to the injury report across
14:55the league.
14:55Coach, I think the hope for a lot of Cowboy fans in the second half,
14:59it was helped out last night by that game, is, all right, can the defense click?
15:05Can a corner be turned at some point in time by Christian Parker's side of the ball?
15:12And some encouraging signs against Indianapolis and what you all did against that run game.
15:17Where do you think we are in that process?
15:20We were impatient, Jerry and Steven included, and expecting it from week one, week two.
15:25Where do you think we are in maybe having things kind of really click into place with the understanding
15:31and the way you all want to play there?
15:33Yeah, I think you're seeing it.
15:34I think, you know, really, guys, I think, you know, honestly,
15:37seven of the last eight quarters that we've played, it's been, you know,
15:41the defense that we expected to see.
15:43Of course, I'm talking about the first three quarters against Arizona.
15:46Then really the game that they played against Indianapolis.
15:50You look at the three and outs we were able to get.
15:52Again, what I thought was so cool in this last game was just the situational football,
15:56them getting the big stop defensively in four minutes, holding them to a field goal,
16:00us going down, getting the touchdown to take the lead back,
16:03and then the defense getting the Caleb Downs interception.
16:06But, again, I'm very encouraged.
16:09We're going to be challenged this week because this is an elite offense coming in here
16:12that can really hurt you a lot of different ways.
16:14They've got great players across the board.
16:16And, again, what's so unique about this team is when you say McCaffrey
16:20and you say Kittle and guys like that, they're not halfback, you know, tight end.
16:25They're weapons.
16:25And so we'll be challenged, but I'm very encouraged.
16:29Coach, thank you so much for the time and the knowledge.
16:31We really appreciate it.
16:32Best of luck on Sunday.
16:34Thanks, guys.
16:34Always enjoy it.