Colts HC Shane Steichen was asked what QB Daniel Jones is doing well as the team finds success with him as the starter early on in the season.
“I think the consistency that he brings, his preparation, and it’s coming to life on the field on Sundays. He works at it,” Steichen said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think he’s doing a really nice job of going through his reads. If the first read is not there, he’s getting to his second, third reads. The offensive line is doing a hell of a job for him. I think he’s communicating well with the receivers throughout the week — different looks that could come up, route adjustments, all those different things throughout the course of a week of preparation. Then to see it happen on Sundays has been good, so we’ve got to continue that.”
“I think when you start playing at a high level, obviously your confidence grows and builds, not with just Daniel, with any player,” Steichen added. “And obviously, we want to continue that trend each and every week, and he’s been doing a hell of a job. So, we’ve got to continue that this week. The preparation is going to be a big part of it.”
The Texans failed to score after having three snaps at the Buccaneers’ one-yard line in their 20-19 loss on Monday Night, resulting in two incomplete passes to WR Nico Collins. Houston HC DeMeco Ryans explained their decision, saying they felt like they had good matchups to attack.
“We went to try to throw the ball,” Ryans said, via the team’s YouTube. “Thought we had some matchups. I thought we had opportunity to hit Nico in the corner. The ball was out of bounds.”
Ryans points out that they also went two for nine on third downs and need to watch film to determine what exactly went wrong.
“I have to look at the film, but, obviously it’s a collective effort, we go two for nine on third down,” Ryans said. “What do we expect if we can’t get the ball in at the goal line? What do we expect is going to happen? Our guys, everybody on offense, have to make plays.”
Only former Texans QB David Carr was sacked more in his first two games than Titans QB Cam Ward. Ward understands that the team needs to limit their mistakes and win division games, while HC Brian Callahan hopes to improve the running game to make things easier for Ward.
“Some of the commitment to trying to run the ball is the defenses we were playing,” Callahan said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “How do you keep the defense from teeing off? You’ve got to be able to run the football and put yourself in more manageable spots on third down, in particular.”
“We’ve put ourselves in some tough third downs over the course of these two games on a first-down sack or a penalty or things of that nature,” Callahan added. “You want to run the football well. That’s how you help your line, too. Keep it balanced and work your play-actions off of it. So it’s still an evolving process, and he’s getting better from a footwork and timing perspective.”
“We just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Ward said. “Offensively, we have got to stay on schedule. I think the biggest thing is us staying behind the sticks. It’s hard to overcome that. We’ve got to stay on schedule. The more we do that, the more successful our drives are. Every time we don’t stay on schedule, it’s always a bad drive. We’ve got to turn it around fast. That’s a must-win game. Every game is a must-win game, but especially in the division.”
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