Tag: play call

Saints players changed the play call to score late touchdown vs. Falcons

Saints players changed the play call to score a late touchdown for their teammate Jamaal Williams:

Sunday’s New Orleans Saints game stumbled into some late-afternoon dramatics when Jameis Winston and his teammates agreed to change the team’s play call. As head coach Dennis Allen said after the game, they wanted to score a late touchdown for their teammate Jamaal Williams.

It’s a nice gesture, but it undermined their coaches, and it goes to show little respect there is for Allen in the locker room — as well as how weak his grasp on what’s important to his players is. They first asked Allen if they could call a run for Williams, but were shut down, at which point they chose to take matters into their own hands.

Quarterback Jameis Winston and the offensive line agreed to audible into a run instead of the kneel-down as called. Right guard Cesar Ruiz shared his perspective to Nola.com’s Rod Walker, saying “I couldn’t go home without getting him one. Whatever heat that comes with that, put that on the O-line.”

Winston told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell that he apologized to Allen after the game for undermining his authority, though not all of his teammates felt the same way. To Walker, Winston said “We made a collective decision.”

It was a popular decision for some players like Cameron Jordan, who questioned the pushback when speaking with Terrell: “What do you mean? I loved it! I was mad Tyrann took so long to decide whether he wanted to score or not. Then we wouldn’t have had the little ‘How dare you score on us.’ It’s Atlanta Saints hate week”

It’s disappointing that Allen has had his job for two years — and spent much longer than that in the organization and in the city of New Orleans — and he still is so far off from being on the same page as the players and coaches. He’s out of touch. What the consequences of that may be are unclear. For now, Allen can take some solace in the fact that he’s finally ended a season with a winning record after five years as NFL head coach.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Ravens reportedly denied interview with Jaguars OC Press Taylor for OC vacancy

The Jaguars reportedly denied the Ravens request to interview Press Taylor for their offensive coordinator position

The Baltimore Ravens have been leaving no stone unturned in their search for their next offensive coordinator. The team and now-former offensive coordinator Greg Roman parted ways a few weeks ago, and while they have interviewed plenty of candidates, there’s one name who was reportedly blocked from interviewing with Baltimore.

According to a report from Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, the Ravens’ request to interview Jacksonville Jaguars’ coach Press Taylor for their vacant offensive coordinator position.

The news broke after a weeks-long search for their next offensive coordinator has, to this point, been a fruitless endeavor. Though the Ravens have reportedly scheduled several candidates for a second round of interviews, they have been unable to zero in on anyone who might fill the role next season.

Whomever the team decides on will find themselves in a great situation in 2023 with the weapons that Baltimore currently has at its disposal. Assuming that the Ravens are able to hammer out a long-term deal with quarterback Lamar Jackson in the coming months, any of the various candidates that Baltimore has interviewed would be hard-pressed to underperform in their capacity as the team’s primary offensive strategist.

While the Ravens’ search for a new offensive coordinator doesn’t seem to be heading for an end in the immediate future, the thorough nature of their pursuit is commendable for a team that has playoff aspirations and plenty of talent under contract. Surely, fans would rather Baltimore take their time to find the best candidate to maximize their situation rather than hire somebody that doesn’t have a clear vision to bring the team to serious playoff contention.

With Taylor off the board, the Ravens will continue their search for the ideal candidate, and will almost certainly hire a new coordinator by the beginning of the new league year on March 15th.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby9dgr2e1eyts4 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

Patricia confirms DC Cory Undlin will call the Lions defense

At his morning press conference, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia confirmed that defensive coordinator Cory Undlin will call the defense.

At his morning press conference, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia confirmed that defensive coordinator Cory Undlin will call the defense in 2020.

During a virtual press conference with Lions media on Sunday, Undlin was discussing where he would be coaching on game day — in the booth or on the field — and he mentioned said “I’ll be on the field, calling the defense, obviously”.

That caught the media’s attention because previously both he and Patricia had declined to commit to a stance on who would call the plays. But with the regular season rapidly approaching, the pair decided to get us up to speed with their plans.

“Cory and I had some great conversation before he jumped on the media (Zoom) with you guys yesterday,” Patricia said this morning. “I knew that was going to be a topic that everybody wanted to talk about. Look – there’s nothing really to hide here. Cory has been grinding away. He’s our defensive coordinator. He’s been working to understand everything that we’re doing defensively and obviously has his input.”

The Lions never divulged who was calling defensive plays during Paul Pasqualoni’s stint as a defensive coordinator, but Patricia has always claimed to want to have the freedom to operate in all phases of the game.

“He’s the defensive coordinator”, Patricia continued. “But certainly the best part of it for me as the head coach, if I want to jump in on offense, special teams or defense, I kind of have that ability at any time, which is always fun. It’s really nothing more than that. We talked about it yesterday and said, ‘Look, they’re probably going to ask, so just tell them. We’re going to be on the sidelines. We’re an operation like normal, and we’ll go forward from there.’”

NFL rules prevent us from divulging and schematic observations during training camp, but there have been some modifications that could possibly be attributed to Undlin. If these alterations carry over to the regular season, it should be a good indicator of Undlin’s influence on the defense.