Here's everythingHouston Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caleysaid ahead of Week 9's matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, including his thoughts on the Chargers' defense, the role for Tank Dell and overall changes made during the bye week.
Q: On utilizing WR Nico Collins more
Nick Caley: "I think the goal is always to make him a focal point of our offense. I think being able to move him around, being able to do some different things with him positionally, schematically and just trying to put him in different spots. Certainly, I could do a better job of that, but we're always going to have Nico as a focal point. He's a huge piece of what we do, obviously, so that's always the focal point for us."
Q: On utilizing the ‘JUMBO’ package
Caley:
"I would just say this, it is week to week. There are certain times from a grouping standpoint what we're trying to do, how we're going to combat different front structures and what advantages we feel it may or may not give us from week to week. It ties into a bunch of different things like relative to the run game, protections; we can do a lot of different things out of it. We've used it a decent amount. You're not wrong in that at all and I think just it has helped us in moments and I think that we've got quite a bit of skill players too to be able to offset some things, so the key is just trying to have balance. If I just start with myself like I'm always going to do, probably didn't get into any kind of rhythm that I would have liked to last game and not mixing the groupings as much as obviously I would have hoped for, so just got to do a better job of that."
Q: On WR Tank Dell
Caley: "Just have him be him. He has versatility. He can play really all three spots for us, there have been no restrictions from that. I think he's done a really good job of just being on top of all the details and we'll be able to utilize him and be able to move him around in quite a few places if needed."
Q: On if WR Tank Dell will have more snaps
Caley: "I'm not going to ever sit there and say one thing definitively, because you never know how these games go. He's picking up steam and I would say he's done a great job dating back to the time we had this window opened up for us."
Q: On losing WR Jaylin Noel
Caley: "Obviously, you feel terrible for the guy. He made a lot of progress. He's a hard worker. I was really proud of the gains he had made just continuing to get better. I think I said it a couple weeks back, just gaining more confidence, being able to go out there and just build off of things from week to week. I was really proud of him and so you feel bad for the player because he's a team guy and wants to be out there with us, but he'll be back. He'll be back strong and he'll work his ass off to get back, but certainly, you feel for a guy like that."
Q: On an overall assessment of the offense
Caley: "We just have to do a better job of just playing clean going forward and staying on schedule more. Again, starting with myself, starting with the staff and then down to the players. All of us just continue to be more efficient, eliminate unforced errors, the pre-snap penalties and things like that and try to play our cleanest game and go out and compete and play our cleanest game for 60 minutes and polish some of the things that we need to work on here moving forward. Eliminate the penalties, clean up some of the techniques, see some different things that we can put some guys in different positions here and try to move the needle in some different areas there."
Q: On TE Marlin Klein's progression
Caley: "He's made a lot of progress. All those guys have done a good job. [Tight Ends coach] James Ferentz does a really good job with those guys. He's getting better every single week. It's like anything else, just focusing on the process, trying to get better, putting him in different situations, getting him exposure to different areas in the C-gap or off the ball, run game and then being able to move him around. It's like anything else. It's a continuous build for a guy like him, but it is for all of us."
Q: On planning the formations
Caley: "It's through the week of the game plan. You look as you start looking at the opponent on Monday evenings; you work through the game plan, base downs you call it through Tuesday. You try to finalize that midday Tuesday into dinnertime and that's just for early downs. It's all segmented in terms of the progression and the flow of the week and that's when you decide from a game plan standpoint, a roster usage standpoint, et cetera, what we're going to do. That's pretty standard, I would say, in terms of how we're building the game plan, what packages we're going to deploy, what we're going to see, what groupings elicit certain responses from defensive personnel groupings, et cetera. throughout the week."
Q: On who is part of the game planning
Caley: "It's a staff. As an offensive staff, we have our areas of responsibility. It's been like that every place I've been where people have certain responsibilities, but collectively, we come together and when we talk through the game plan and what we want to ultimately do. Ultimately, I'll make the decision on how we're going to go ahead and what we're going to put on the call sheet. You don't have a finite amount of calls you're going to bring into a game, but that's going through the process of studying the film, studying the defense and being able to see what we feel helps us, you know, gives us the best chance to have success and put our guys in the best position."
Q: On if Executive Vice President and General Manager Nick Caserio is apart of the offensive meetings
"No, it's an offense. I'm talking as an offensive staff. It's our offensive staff."
Q: On balancing explosive plays and taking care of the football
Caley: "From a starting-point standpoint, before you talk about any plays, you talk about ball security and you talk about possessing the football and not giving defenses opportunities to steal possessions. You look back, I was proud of last year. I think this year we're near the top of the league in terms of fewest giveaways. I'm proud of that. I think the guys are really conscientious. I think before any play, run, pass, whatever you're doing, I think it's paramount to be able to protect the football and it extends to protection from an offensive line standpoint, chipping the edges, being friendly as a route runner to win the catch point. It's everything and it really encompasses all 11. That's a starting point. Then you talk about the aggressiveness and stuff like that. You understand the importance of the ball, if we're pushing the ball down the field, to go be aggressive to win at the catch point, but before that happens, you have to have a pocket established. You have to have the quarterback be able to step up in the pocket and be able to deliver an accurate football. The routes have to be at the right depth, et cetera. For us, it's all those things and I think when you talk about like being able to push the ball down the field, I think C.J. [Stroud] has done a good job with the offense of being able to bring all those things to life and its trust. It's being able to trust the guys that you're delivering the ball to down the field and then being able to protect the football. If we're talking about in the pass game, pushing it a little bit more down the field, it's the trust that whoever, we have the protection and when the ball goes up, it's going to be us or nobody and we're going to protect the football. I think our guys have done a really good job of that and have embraced that."
Q: On if he favors the right side of the offensive line in the run game due to more experience on that side?
Caley: "You're probably not right in terms of being more right-handed in terms of generally speaking, but I think most of the time it's more coincidental. There are some game plans throughout my career for the last year and a half here where we'll end up going, 'Okay, where do we know certain guys are going to be, how can we attack them,' et cetera and that's not just on short yards, it could be on early downs, it could be in goal line situations too, but that's what we're trying to do. We're always trying to find out what gives us the best advantage in those situations and how can we go. Some plays are alerted, you can go either way with it, et cetera."
Q: On the Los Angeles Chargers utilizing a two linebacker set similar to the Texans
"I think it's week to week, scout to scout. Like what are they doing out of those sets, what pressures are they bringing, what types of blitz zones, where are they aligning, are they getting guys, are they walking guys up and mugging them? Every team, I would say, has their own unique identity and flavor that we're going to see. They do a good job, they do a really, really good job, they're aggressive at all three levels, they don't give up a lot of explosive plays. I know you're not asking me for a run, but they're a really good defense, a really well coached defense, starting with the front and the linebackers have a big part of that. They're violent on contact, they play downhill, they blitz the hell out of you and they'll hit you. You have to be ready to go and you have to be able to step up and protect and do those things too. Do a good job in the pick-stunt world, working in conjunction with the defensive linemen, so they're really well coached, they're a really good defense."
Q: On T Aireontae Ersery and C/G Keylan Rutledge
Caley: "I see more consistency, better overall understanding. 'Tae' has been pretty consistent, settling in, has some good moments. Certainly, everybody has some plays they want back and same with Keylan; growing in the role, I think he's done a good job. Like anything else, I think the more we've had a chance through the first seven weeks or seven games of the season, those guys have built a pretty good camaraderie and chemistry with one another. Even starting with the communication piece of it, from a front ID standpoint, communicating, being on the same page, et cetera and I've seen growth there, for sure."
Q: On RB Woody Marks having a majority of his runs to the right side
Caley: "I'm not sitting there intentionally trying to run right every single time, I can promise you that. It's a fair question, I get it, you get the numbers, relative to the 73% or whatnot, but I think we try to have balance. If it's a left formation and we're going to the close side, the ball should go left unless it gets cut back and vice versa. Never trying to be one way that much or specific to that."
Q: On what he did during the Bye Week
Caley: "Moved rugs around my house. Did a lot of domestic stuff that I didn't anticipate, but I have four little girls, so I spent time with them. That's my world, my wife and my girls."
Q: On RB Woody Marks' role in the offense
Caley: "He can play on all three downs. He's explosive with the ball in his hand, he can put his foot in the ground, he can slash run, does a good job with the ball with the run-after-catch piece out of the backfield as a route runner and he's a really good protector in blitz pickup. I don't see any limitations. He can play on all three downs, he did that as a rookie last year for us and got better as the year went along."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud handling pressure
Caley: "We're pretty intentional about going through what defenses present each week, what pressure looks they're at, is this a zero team, what type of zero is it, is it a fire zone team, is it an exchange pressure team? Every single week, we go through and try to have an airtight plan every single week and then C.J. certainly has the opportunity and he has great examples throughout the year of being able to move mic points and be able to redirect protections. He's got really good command and feel for those things, so it's a combination. Certainly there are unscouted looks and moving targets that'll show up from time to time, but we have the tools within our system to be able to handle those and he does a really good job and he has a great understanding of that. I think he's done a really good job this year having command at the line of scrimmage and being able to communicate and get us into different things if need be based on the call, some of the alerts, or some of the audibles that we can go to."
Q: On WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Caley: "I just see a consistent guy. who goes to work every single day. He's got a good way about him, he's in here all the time, sun up, sun down. Every meal I have in the cafeteria there's a chance I see Marvin he's in here so much. He's a worker, he goes out there, he's a consummate pro and he's just continued to be steady since he's gotten here. Certainly the longer that he's been here, the more opportunities he's had to just continue to do a deeper dive in things and I think he's got a great grasp of everything we're asking."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans OC Nick Caley said ahead of Week 9 game vs Chargers
