Blue White Illustrated

S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 7 C O A C H S P E A K • E X C E R P T S F R O M J A M E S F R A N K L I N ' S P O S T G A M E P R E S S E R A!er last week's game, which was so grueling and took a lot of energy to win, were you concerned about the team's physical and mental condition going into tonight's game? I think you're always concerned, a?er coming off the road and things like that, in an emotional tough game against a tough opponent. But I thought we han- dled it the right way this week. We lim- ited reps for some guys, we did a lot when it comes to rejuvenation and things that we typically do. We talked about hydration, nutrition, talked about sleep and all of those things. We also modified practice a little bit. I thought we handled it the right way. Saquon Barkley took a kickoff back for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. How much fun does he have, and how much fun do you have – the coaches, the players – seeing him involved in all these different facets? That's the thing to me that I'm im- pressed by in watching us play. We're not just one of those teams that's going to line up in the "I" and smash it down your throat. … We're going to make big plays in the run game, and if not, we're going to pull it out and throw it on the perimeter. Saquon can hurt you as a re- turner. He can hurt you as a receiver as we've seen a lot this season. He's also obviously one of the better true running backs in terms of carrying the ball in traditional running game. So once again, the game has evolved and you have to take advantage of your playmakers in a variety of different ways. Saquon makes it easy to do that, because you have some running backs who are really good runners but are not good out of the backfield when it comes to receiving the football, or whatever it may be. He's got so many tools in his toolbox, and every week for us, it's [a question of], how do we take advantage of him to give the de- fense and our opponents issues? How much do you want to settle on one right tackle between Chasz Wright and Will Fries, rather than having those guys rotate every couple of series? I would always like to settle on one group and one guy, but the game of football doesn't work like that. You're going to have bumps, you're going to have bruises, and it's a next-man-in mentality. The next guy has to go in and do a really good job. I think long-term it's going to help us, but yeah, I would love to go all season with the same five starters on the offensive line. I've heard of some teams that have done that, but I've never really been apart of it in my 23 years where you have the same five offensive linemen play all year long.

• Cover