Read the full transcript from Alec Ingold's press conference on September 24, 2024.
Q: It's got to be a humbling from an offensive standpoint. You guys – best offense in the NFL for the past two years, one of the best offenses to now one of the worst offenses. How do you rectify that?
"That's a great question. I think during training camp we had talked – you had asked a similar question about what did you do last year, how are you going to carry that over into this year; and I feel like that response was, we have to re-identify who we are this year. And right now 1-2 through Week 3, we have to look at this offense as nothing like what happened last year. You start 3-0, everything is great, everyone is happy and now it's like we've got adversity right out the gate as an offensive team, and that can be seen a bunch of different ways and it really just comes down to your perspective of it. Like we're going to learn a whole lot more throughout the next 15 weeks about the type of guys in the room, the type of character in the room, the type of offense that we want to create throughout a season, the type of progression that we can develop as a group playing together. And from last year to this year, you can make a whole bunch of comparisons on stats, on the ups and downs, on the roller coasters; but how I see it is off to a slow start, that gut check time right off the bat allows for guys to truly find the whys and the hows of an offense so that all these problems coming down the stretch, you've had to solve them before. You've had to communicate before. You've had to deal with problems before rather than just executing and just doing it because that's just what happened. So I think we're having to answer a lot of the whys and the hows early on and it's really just how we respond with these opportunities."
Q: What were your impressions of both QB Skylar Thompson and QB Tim Boyle in the huddle?
"It was definitely loud for both. It was a lot of adversity in this huddle and I think that they did their part in commanding the huddle, the operations. I think the other 10, we all can step up. I think all 11 on offense – it's no secret, you score three points in a game, everybody can execute better – and that starts with hearing the play call in the huddle, figuring out your assignment, your alignment, being on that stuff with a sense of urgency. And being able to kind of fall victim to the circumstances, last week I don't think we really gave ourselves a chance, and I don't think it's fair for either of guys to wear the burden that all 11 had on the results of that game."
Q: What do you think if it is QB Tyler Huntley – and obviously Head Coach Mike McDaniel said it could very easily be QB Tim Boyle, outside chance of QB Skylar Thompson he indicated – if it's Tyler Huntley, skills he brings out that could help you, would be what?
"I think any time you get a new fresh face in the offense, it comes with this idea, right, we're thinking about who can come save the day whether it's Tyler Huntley, whether it's Tua (Tagovailoa) after bye week, whatever the timeline is. And at the end of the day, what we're focused on, the guys in the huddle and the guys in the building, is how could we be better so that whoever shows up and is calling that play can be the best version themselves with confidence, conviction and all 10 other guys are humming all together. That's got to be the focus. I don't think you can dive into (or) dissect skill sets between one or another. I think as a team, we need to be better and we need to be problem solvers together before looking for some savior to come down. Like it's the guys in the room being better, being more competent, being more convicted, preparing better, executing better. And it's a lot of clichés that I'm throwing out here, but I think that's real stuff. I truly believe in it."
Q: I wanted to talk about the red zone offense efficiency – really good last year, not as good this year. Is there anything that you notice that you guys – aside from I know a lot of the clichés you mentioned – but is there anything you've noticed specifically that you guys need to do better of in that area?
"Situational football, it's a fun topic to talk about because it's not just the plays anymore. Everything changes, right? The horizontal length of the field is all of a sudden a lot wider than the vertical length of the field, so the game, the dynamics, the play calls all change. And when you have that change, when you have that uncertainty, when you have a new opportunity in that red zone, it's about really getting that play call and being able to execute, knowing that it's a different circumstance, that we're in that red zone and you have width and you can attack run game or pass game in a little bit different windows. So I feel like that progression of red zone offense, of situational football; I think that's a small piece of the pie that we're all working towards right now. So being able to understand that, master it, talk about it, so that when we get into those spaces, when defense gets us ball on the six, there's no hesitation. We know the situation. We know the circumstance. We know the new rules. We know the new circumstances to take advantage of it. So I think it really goes back to being able to touch the paint when we need to."
Q: The websites that break down this stuff say that the outside runs haven't had as much success per carry average as last year. As you watch the tape, what's happening on the majority of those plays? Is it just needing to block better?
"Yeah, when you talk about outside zone, especially in the backfield perspective, those edge defenders and how defenses – whether you have two-high shell that everyone wants to talk about right now, one-high, what the force block is – all those different situations. At the end of the day, it's playing violent and physical on the edge and you can talk about, 'Man, we need to run power to really be explosive and run off the ball.' It's that same concept for outside zone; it's really creating the point of attack wherever we're at. If you can dent an edge and then there's a backside pressure or there's a front-side pressure, being able to manipulate those edges in a number of different ways; those are all pieces of the pie to an outside zone scheme team. Being able to run convicted, hit that pad level, stay on blocks, playing with elite technique and straining to finish, that allows for speed to run. And right now, I just don't know if we're taking advantage of the space because of a lot of technique stuff that we just need to hone in on and we need to develop as a unit so that we're trusting one another."
Q: That early fourth-and-1, you guys kick a long field goal. I was thinking maybe go for it. Would you have wanted a chance there to go for that short yardage situation?
"I think that's above my paygrade. When you get your number called at any time, you're ready to execute that play, but I think it goes down to trusting the execution – offense to special teams, to defense, back to offense, right? That's the progression of playing a team playing together. So the more trust and faith you have in the guys around you, whether you're on the field with them or you're on the sidelines watching them execute; I feel like we all have to remove a little bit of hesitation and just continue to trust each other more."
Q: Mentally how do you overcome the last game, the game before that, two-game slide? Tennessee is coming on Monday. How do you mentally overcome that? I know WR Jaylen Waddle mentioned the offense is a little bit frustrated because you guys are kind of performing under your expectations, so how do you mentally just kind of put that aside and it's like, go for the next opponent?
"Yeah, I mean, if you say you're underperforming, right, that means that there's a high expectation. There's a high potential. There's a high level of talent. And when your execution over a short period of time is below that, I think the only way that you can raise that execution, the only time you can raise to meet that potential, the only time you can raise the execution to reach the talent, is through your process, through the standard through the daily habits. Like I don't think you can change – if we've built a process since April for the last two years and we're starting off slow for the first time since I've been here, I don't know if you can change that process, overcompensate because you aren't seeing the results. Now, that's a high standard that we carry and we have to all reflect and say, are we all keeping that standard? Are we all accountable to that level? But it starts with that mirror. And if I'm not doing that, if the running back room isn't doing that, we need to fix it in our room before we can try and change everything. I think that's where we're at. We're trying to reflect internally, and then we're able to move forward with that higher level of accountability to help raise that bar from execution to meet the potential that we have, because we all know it's there. There's no secret sauce there – I think that's just the work. That's the courage that it takes to put yourself out there and lean into that uncertainty of what's to come on Monday Night Football."
Q: You had a big hit on the special teams play. How much do you value that as an offensive player, to deliver some punishment?
"Yeah, man, I think that's like the only taste of wrestling that I ever get anymore, is when you get tackling like that down the field. So obviously you didn't want to have to punt three times in a row, but when you have to do that and you get to make a play and give the defense a chance to defend a long field, I think we get a chance to get the ball back so complementary football. Need to be better at that, and it was good to get a little fired up after a nice tackle."
