Slow day. Notes on today's practice to come later. For now, a few more quotes about the no-huddle offense that were made after Saturday night's loss.
Willie Parker
What can you tell me about that no-huddle offense?
We've been doing it ever since I've been here but we just never really got to it in the game. We did it one time with Maddox last year, in the Jacksonville game, but we never got a chance to do it with Ben in there. This year we've been practicing it. It's smooth. We've got a lot of stuff and didn't really do half the plays we have in it. Hopefully we can get a lot of practice next game.
How much in command is Ben?
He's in command. He puts people in the right places. One time the receivers were in the wrong spot and he directed them to the right side of the field and then he turned around and let me know everything. He made sure everybody was on the same page.
Ken Whisenhunt
What do you call the no-huddle attack? The Whis-Gun?
No. It's Ben's. We call it Texas.
Did you just want to take a look at it?
It's been in our package. Tommy had a lot of effectiveness with it during his tenure here, and it's something we've always had in and we've worked on it. We worked on it with Ben last year. We worked on it in training camp this year and Ben has expressed interest in wanting to do some of that, and that's the key. When he wants ownership in that, then that's when you can take that step and start doing some of those things.
What advantage does it give Ben?
He can check to plays he thinks are good against the defense. The advantage of it is trying to see what they're going to do; make them line up and call a play based on that. A lot of teams have done it and had success with it, and it'll be part of our package. It's another dimension that somebody else has to work on.
Do you feel more comfortable with a third-year quarterback running it?
No question. Ben has progressed. This past spring, the work he did in the spring was fantastic as far as understanding what we're trying to get done, and even anticipating things. It's nice to see him do that in a game. This is the first time he's done it for us. He's done the two-minute drill, but not the no-huddle drill. It was something we wanted to look at, give him some opportunities, and he did a very good job with it.
The no-huddle is not the hurry-up?
No. This aspect of it tonight is not the hurry-up. We're not like we're at the end of the game and saving the clock.
So what's the advantage?They'll play a little bit more base defense, but you make them line up because you give the threat of running a play, and that gives you an idea of what the defense is and you can call a play based on that.
Did your personnel change in those five plays?
No. The formations changed but not the personnel.
Does it compare to the K-Gun?
That's a whole different thing. That's all they did. We're not going to lose touch with the other things we do like running the football and our play-action game. This is just one aspect of it that gives Ben another element.
Does Ben call it?
That's where we're progressing to; Ben is calling a lot of those plays but we'll still call some in by the communicator.
*Judging by the poll results, I'm in the minority about the no-huddle. I just think we would have so much additional learning and trial by error in order to make it an effective weapon during the regular season. I'm all for adding to our offensive arsenal, but I worry about losing ballgames while we learn the ins-and-outs of the scheme. As Parker said, they only had a chance to run a small fraction of their no-huddle plays. There's simply lots of learning and mistakes to me made before we get to a point where I'd legitimately feel comfortable with it.