Koetter on protection, Porter and play-making

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by NewsGrabber, Sep 25, 2008.

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  1. NewsGrabber

    NewsGrabber Guest

    Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky Jacksonville offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is a good explainer.
    He met with Jacksonville media today and thanks to the media relations department I got a copy of what he said.
    His thoughts on the Jaguars passing game, which has lacked big plays during a 1-2 start that hasn't included Jerry Porter, and the team's pass protection with a line that's lost three starters were especially interesting:
    Our passing game is coming around, it is, but there are a lot of moving parts. Obviously it all starts with the pass protection. Let's face it, we got off to a rough start by reasons well documented by you all. We got off to a rough start in Tennessee from a protection standpoint, it starts with that. You've got to be able to protect. Now, sometimes that means, if we're having issues, that we have to keep the tight end in to help block, or we have to keep the back in to help block, whatever the situation is. Then it goes to your quarterback. Is your quarterback making the right reads and the right throws? Thirdly, it goes to the guys that are catching the passes. I'm a big believer in that if you're doing a good job in protection, and your quarterback is making good reads, then whoever is playing receiver is going to eventually beat their guy or get open in the zone. That's if you have enough time to find him and the quarterback, based on what coverage they're playing, knows where to go with the football. So, I want to go on record, I do not agree that we don't have any receivers. I like our receivers. They're all out there working hard. We have had some injuries at receiver and you guys have documented that. We have injuries at receiver and when a guy is injured; how can we expect a guy that is injured to play like this visual image we have of him. Like how I have a visual image of Jerry Porter from when we watched him, I've got that visual image in my head. I saw that image of Jerry Porter in OTA's. Jerry Porter had surgery on his hamstring, and he's not that guy...today. He's getting closer to that guy and when that guy gets back we're going to like what we see. But when he's hurt he's hurt...."
    "If you guys brought any one of those wideouts in here, any one of them, and ask, 'can you get behind the defense?' every one of them is going to say yes, I have been, they just haven't hit me. So why haven't we hit them? Either we haven't been looking at him because the coverage said look over here, or we haven't had time. It's not like those guys are being blanketed the whole time."
    "Well, I looked at more than last year [of Porter on tape]. I saw a smooth, powerful, explosive, sure-handed, tough wide receiver on film. We can go watch it now on NFL film. I've been coaching for twenty-five years, and I've been through what we used to call a sprained ankle that now we call a high-ankle sprain. You name the injury I've seen it. In all my years I've never seen a guy have hamstring surgery. Has anyone? We've all heard of a pulled hamstring, right? How long does that take, maybe six weeks for a pulled hamstring? Well, I got a call on vacation this year that Jerry was going to have hamstring surgery, four to six weeks. And I go, 'four to six weeks for a hamstring surgery?' That's how long it takes for if you sprain your hamstring. He had surgery on his hamstring. What's a receiver's number one thing? It's his legs, that's his money right there, his legs. I've never seen a hamstring surgery before so I don't know how long it takes. What is he missing? He can't be smooth, powerful, and explosive if his legs aren't one-hundred percent. Now, I don't know what he is right now. I know that when I've seen him at one-hundred percent that he's that guy I've seen on NFL film and OTA practices. We'll see it again when he's healthy."

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