49ers
Following their Week 4 matchup, Jaguars HC Liam Coen told 49ers DC Robert Saleh to keep his name out of his mouth after Saleh praised their legal signal-stealing. San Francisco HC Kyle Shanahan doesn’t think it should have been as big a deal as Coen made it.
“I don’t think he should be that sensitive about it, but it is what it is. Not too worried about it,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone.
Seahawks
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold is currently completing 70.3 percent of his passes and is one of three quarterbacks in the NFL who are averaging over nine yards per attempt, including 22.1 percent of his throws going for at least 16 yards. Los Angeles WR Cooper Kupp said their explosive plays are a product of OC Klint Kubiak‘s system manipulating coverages.
“Guys have made plays when it’s come up,” Kupp said, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. “Klint has done a good job activating plays against some coverages that allow the ball to go over the top. We’ve had some opportunities where we’re having underneath throws and being able to run for explosives. There’s a mixture of both of those things. It comes back to guys just playing fast and decisive.”
Kubiak praised Darnold for executing their play-action passes, their offensive line for protecting him, and their receivers for doing well to get open.
“Same thing with our guys up front protecting him, and our receivers,” Kubiak said. “(Receivers) coach Frisman Jackson has had our guys ready to go every week, and they’ve made some really important, explosive plays for us.”
Kupp also pointed out that Darnold is escaping the pocket to extend plays.
“Sam has done a great job being able to escape,” Kupp said. “It’s a great reminder for us at receiver that we’ve got to keep playing through the down, because Sam is going to extend plays. Those become big-time plays for us, and we’ve done a good job creating explosives off of those plays. We have to continue to work that and continue to practice it as well, because it is something that does take practice, extending plays like that.”
Seahawks
The Seahawks are 2-1 and are currently ranked as the fifth-highest scoring team in the league. Seattle HC Mike Macdonald is sure OC Klint Kubiak still has a lot of things he has to work on, but is excited about the offense’s growth so far this season.
“We’re on our way,” Macdonald said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “If Klint was standing right here, I’m sure he could rattle off about a dozen things that he wants to improve on, and that’s the mentality we want. We’re excited about the growth that we’ve had. We love our guys. We love going to work. But we understand that we can be a really good football team, and we’re determined to get there.”
Kubiak thinks their offense’s production has to do with their protection doing well, Sam Darnold making quick decisions, and receivers creating separation.
“I think it’s a team deal,” Kubiak said. “It’s protection. It’s Sam making quick decisions. It’s our receivers getting open. The guys have worked well together there.”
Seahawks WR Jake Bobo points out that Kubiak’s offense has receivers running on the “same path” for the first 10 yards, which makes things difficult on opposing defensive backs.
“It’s really cool what Kubs is doing,” wideout Jake Bobo said. “At least for just receivers, we’re all on the same path for the first 10 yards of a play, whether we’re running outside zone or we’re running boot action, play-action off of it. I obviously have not been in their shoes, but I think that’s really difficult on a defense, DBs especially, safeties that are getting cracked all game, then all of the sudden you’re going to boot action off of it, you’re going to run a deep in route off of that same route stem. I think that puts defenses in a bind.”
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