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00:00Texans mandatory minicamp today, boys, and there was a lot of work being done.
00:05They were out there, I would say, 9.30 to about 11.20, almost two hours, getting that work in.
00:14And, you know, we've heard a lot, and I advise people to pump the brakes a little bit,
00:20both in this building and outside the building.
00:22We've heard a lot about this offense and how this offense has taken the next step.
00:29They're light years ahead of where they were last year, I believe,
00:32is one of the comments that's been made multiple times.
00:36I tried to get folks to temper their expectations by playing the head coach,
00:40saying, well, when I say we're light years ahead of where we were last year,
00:44you've got to realize last year we were having a hard time getting a snap.
00:46We were having a hard time working inside the play clock, communicating some things.
00:50So we're light years ahead, but we've still got a lot of work to do, right?
00:54And then, Ron, I go out there today.
00:56And as I've said, we've heard a lot about communication, about the offense
01:05and the command that CJ's showing, the ownership that CJ's showing, and yada, yada, yada.
01:11And, you know, I told you, I said, man, I'm not going to listen to anything they're saying.
01:15I'm just going to – I want to go out there and see it with my own eyes.
01:18I like hearing it.
01:18I like hearing that CJ's taking the next step and this offense is going to run smoother
01:26because the communication across the board is better, CJ and beyond.
01:30And I like the thought, but I really want to witness it myself and hear it myself before I buy
01:38in.
01:38And I'm going to tell you, Ron, there was one moment today that was very, very telling.
01:47And I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, Ron,
01:50but I can't help but think that this situation would be – should be – should be totally different.
01:57All right?
01:58I'm going to give you the scenario or the situation.
02:03At the end of one of the team periods, they run – I think it was Davis Mills and Graham
02:08Mertz were getting their run.
02:09And at the – you know, they got the clock running down.
02:12And at the, like, 1.20 mark, the period, on the clock, one minute, 20-something seconds left,
02:19they say, all right, two minutes, jump in there.
02:21So the ones jump in there.
02:24All right?
02:26And they work the ball down the field.
02:28They throw a couple of balls away and then he completes one over the middle.
02:30And they get to a point on the field, I believe they're on the 40-yard line going in,
02:35and there's 12 seconds on the clock.
02:38All right?
02:41And it's very clear what you're trying to do.
02:44You're trying to – they're trying to work, get a completion inbounds,
02:49get the team to the line of scrimmage, snap the football clock.
02:52You don't have a timeout.
02:54They're not giving you the sideline.
02:55We want to go get five or six more yards to get the field goal closer.
02:58So complete the little slant right over the middle to the slot receiver.
03:02I believe it was Jalen Knoll.
03:03Complete the little slant right over the middle and run up there, snap it, boom, clock it.
03:09You got three seconds left on the clock.
03:10We kick the field goal.
03:11We win the game.
03:11Tie ball game, by the way.
03:13All right?
03:15They snapped the ball the first time in rhythm.
03:17This is without anybody really saying anything.
03:18They snapped the ball the first time.
03:20I believe he held the ball and ended up completing it to Woody Marks on some kind of little check
03:24down or something.
03:25So the quarterback held the ball longer than he should, completed it to Woody Marks,
03:28and Woody Marks takes off running.
03:30By the time the play ends, they don't get it clocked in time.
03:33So clock expires.
03:34We go to overtime because the game's tied.
03:37And so we tried to get an extra five yards, and instead we bled the clock out,
03:41and now we've got to go into overtime.
03:42Didn't even get an attempt.
03:43So that's number one, right?
03:44Well, to D'Amico's credit, D'Amico raises his hand and says,
03:48Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
03:50Run it again.
03:51All right?
03:53And...
03:56Same play in.
03:57And CJ sells it over the head of Jalen Noel in the slot running a little slant.
04:05And there's some suspect, what I would say suspect body language, staring at the ground,
04:09kind of throwing hands up at the coach, like in some kind of communication.
04:13And again, to D'Amico's credit, D'Amico said, Whoa, whoa, whoa.
04:16Run it again.
04:18And at one point, Nick Cayley has to go up to the guys and go,
04:22Hey, guys, huddle up.
04:23Get in the huddle.
04:23Tighten up.
04:25CJ's standing there the whole time and he said,
04:26Hey, that doesn't appear to have said a word in this deal.
04:31And I'm going to tell you right now, if what we've been led to believe,
04:34all this conversation about taking ownership and taking command and communicating,
04:41if that were true, or let's say if it were to a level of like,
04:44Hey, man, we're going to see it.
04:45We're ready.
04:45We're going to see a real difference.
04:47Nick Cayley, his ass shouldn't have been within 25, 30 yards of that huddle.
04:53I'm not saying that you don't, Hey, you messed it up.
04:55No problem.
04:55CJ, Hey, fellas, man, get in the damn huddle.
04:58Let's go.
04:58Hey, Woody Marks, you got to get on the ground.
05:00You know the situation.
05:01Get your ass on the ground.
05:02Guys, we got to get on the ball.
05:03We got to clock it.
05:04Get in the huddle and let's do this right.
05:05But instead, D'Amico and Nick Cayley and everybody's having to do it.
05:08And they had to end up doing it three times.
05:10When I saw Nick Cayley say, Hey, guys, like he was the one communicating, guys,
05:14with his hand gesture and getting close to the huddle to get them in the huddle
05:17and get them in a position, get them ready to hear the play.
05:22I said right there to myself, like, this is – they're nowhere close.
05:29They're nowhere close.
05:30Because I can't – I was talking to Reggie earlier before the show.
05:33It was actually after our show.
05:37I can't help, Ron, but look.
05:39And when you see – we had a joint practice last year with the Rams, didn't we?
05:46Yep.
05:48Was it last year with the – I think it was.
05:49Was that the year before?
05:51It might have been two years ago.
05:52Because I think it was – maybe it was with the Lions last year?
05:55You're right.
05:56It was two years ago because Matthew Stafford was actually participating.
06:00And he was hurt all last year.
06:02Because where I'm going with it is I remember seeing Matthew Stafford or somebody.
06:07It was a veteran quarterback somewhere along the way.
06:10And, like, their control of a two-minute situation, good, bad, or indifferent,
06:16whether it ends good or ends well or not, the control of that situation is absolutely 100 –
06:23that's the one time when you're a quarterback when you're like,
06:25hey, coaches, shut the hell up and back up.
06:27This is my deal.
06:28I got this.
06:29I know what we're trying to get accomplished here.
06:33I feel like you should be that way from the jump.
06:35Definitely the second time you rep it.
06:37Definitely the third time you rep it.
06:39I just – when I saw that, for me, I was – it wasn't even about getting it done.
06:45You know what I mean?
06:45It wasn't even about having success necessarily as much as the –
06:50how much hands-on Nick Kaley is in this offense, and I'm talking about in the moment,
06:55damn near in the huddle, how much hands-on he is in this situation is what's surprising to me.
07:02And it put me in a spot where I was like, you ain't got command of –
07:05you ain't got complete command of this offense, and you're not –
07:07there's not complete ownership of this offense, and there's not, like, a confidence in –
07:12whether it's Jake Andrews or Keelan Russ center, like, there's not a complete trust by this coaching staff
07:20to just back up and let them do their work the way that the teams that we're going to be
07:25competing with are.
07:26You know what I mean?
07:27That's the thing that I can't help but go back.
07:29When I watch the – even the Jared Goffs, but the Matthew Staffords of the world
07:33and the top quarterbacks in this league, and you watch them command the situational stuff –
07:39I know where it was.
07:40I'm thinking of the Rams game out of the box last year, the first game of the season.
07:46But when you watch those guys command that huddle, it's their huddle.
07:51It's my huddle.
07:51It's – I got this taken care of.
07:53Fellas, tighten your ass up and get in here and let's go.
07:56Like, the offensive coordinator shouldn't have to be the one to walk up here and do that.
07:58But – and when I see that, man, I'm just like, gosh, dang, man, I was hoping –
08:05like I told you, I was hoping, you know, you show up and it's like,
08:08hey, this is a C.J. Stroud show.
08:09Everybody else shut up and listen to what the quarterback's got to say.
08:11And we're just not – we're just not – doesn't appear that we're there yet.
08:16Yeah.
08:16So instead – so during this time, C.J. was just kind of just off to the side?
08:24No, no, he was in the huddle.
08:26I mean, he was there, but – and it's not – this isn't even as much a C.J. thing
08:30to me
08:30as just the overall – it is C.J. because he's the one that should take command,
08:35you know, I guess is what I'm – but the reality of it is, is it's – to me,
08:39it's more of like a disappointment in the whole process, the whole thing of just like,
08:44how are we not at a spot in year two where the situation is manufactured anyway
08:51by the head coach?
08:52Like today, there was a lot of blitzing going on.
08:54Imagine that.
08:55Right?
08:56So they're working on some level of blitz.
08:58They're working on some level of communicating, changing the protection.
09:03But how are you in year two and the offensive coordinator is still like basically
09:11in the huddle with you in situational football?
09:13Hey, man, there's 12 seconds on the clock.
09:15We ain't got no timeouts.
09:16We need five yards.
09:17Get you a completion and spike the ball.
09:19That's football – that's quarterback 101.
09:20You've got high schools all over the state of Texas that are ending practice
09:24with those kind of moves.
09:25So it almost seemed like – I'm just trying to get an understanding.
09:29It almost seemed like Nick Kaley, that is, felt like he was so hands-on that he was right there,
09:36that he is so involved, or is it that he felt he had to be so involved,
09:42or is it just – or is it the plan that he is just so involved anyway?
09:46Well, I don't know if he's got like control problems and don't want to let go,
09:50or if they just –
09:50That's what I'm trying to get.
09:51Was it a him control-like thing, or was it a, man, well, you know,
09:57CJ ain't doing nothing.
09:58Well, somebody in that moment, somebody player-wise should have been getting in somebody's ass
10:04talking about you've got to get down, we've got to clock this thing.
10:08And then if there was a need for everybody to get in the huddle
10:11and tighten up in the huddle, a player should have been doing that,
10:14not the offensive coordinator at this point, year two.
10:17It just shouldn't – because that's – this is different to me than –
10:21if we're working team, if we're working a team drill,
10:24and it's 11-on-11 or even 7-on-7, and, you know,
10:29there's a lot of communication that needs to take place with me and my coach
10:32in terms of, hey, man, did you see that strong side safety wide at the snap?
10:37So did you see – did you go tight end up the seam, back down to the cross
10:42or back down to the swing, or like kind of how did you see –
10:44like there's some of that that needs to happen.
10:46But when you're in a two-minute – that's the one time in a drill where, again,
10:53it's the one drill where, Coach, I got this.
10:57This whole thing is mine.
10:58Take your ass back there to the 20-yard line.
10:59We'll be on the 50 going in.
11:01You just get me to play in my ear and let me run with it.
11:04Instead, you've got the head coach having to start it over three times,
11:07and you've got the offensive coordinator having to tell guys to huddle up.
11:11I don't know if it's a control thing.
11:13I don't know if it's a lack of trust thing.
11:14I don't know if it's – there has to be a level of frustration
11:17with that kind of situation, even in OTAs, even in mandatory minicamp,
11:23that has got to be a pressure point for D'Amico Ryans.
11:27I just wish they were further along with that particular situation
11:32because it wasn't a complicated situation.
11:34It's a very obvious situation that they've all been doing since high school.
11:39You know what I mean?
11:39This isn't some kind of – like there were certain situations that were introduced to me
11:43when I was with Bill Parcells where it was like, you know,
11:46I've never really thought about, hey, man, you've got two plays
11:49and you need – you've got to score a touchdown and you're on the 30 coming out.
11:52Like, okay, these are the two plays that we've got to bang out
11:55and this is how they've got to happen or we're not going to score.
11:58Like it wasn't that like extreme situational.
12:00It was just let's get a quick five, six more yards and clock this thing.
12:05And it was – I don't know, man.
12:07It was just one of those for me I was just like –
12:09Disappointed, huh?
12:10Yeah, you can't – they can't tell me.
12:12You can't – I mean, I don't want to hear nothing else about controlling.
12:16controlling command and all that.
12:17This is – this is a – the entire offensive unit,
12:21if Nick Cayley can't get this offensive unit to a point where going into year two
12:26they're executing independently of the offensive coordinator in that situation.
12:31And, again, even if – I don't care if you've got to – if you've got to –
12:34if you've got to pull that thing back and run it three, four, five times,
12:37I don't give a damn.
12:37I'm cool with that.
12:38But if they can't be hands-off more and just let them boys ride,
12:43it's hard for me to buy into having command of what's going on.
12:46All right.
12:47That's what happens when you're out there and you get to put your eyes on the situation.
12:54That's probably what the one big thing that you were looking at this year
12:58and the first impression.
13:01Yeah.
13:02You didn't like what you saw.
13:03Well, you brought – this just has to be – I don't care what anybody says.
13:06This has to be C.J. Stroud barking.
13:09This has to be C.J. Stroud barking.
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