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It looks like Bill O'Brien is sharing the podium. I suppose seven days of OTAs and seven different variations of the same questions would get tiresome. Quarterbacks coach George Godsey took his turn with the media yesterday. You can learn more about Godsey (and all the new coaches) in Capt. Ron's superb "Extreme Makeover" series.
Read some of what he said yesterday and react below. Read the full transcript here.
(opening statement)
"On the quarterbacks in general, they are competing every day. I think we’ve got four that are really into football. They spend extra time, they ask questions and they text me all throughout the day. They are very good and very detailed at trying to learn the information. I think every day, I think when they come in, our expectations are that they put their time in the night before and when they get out on the field it is time to execute what they have learned. A credit to all of them and a new offense and a new coach they are dealing with, they’ve really accepted the challenge."
(on the strengths of T.J. Yates and Case Keenum)
"Like I said, coming from another system and to really take it in the way they’ve done, it is a credit to their hard work. Both of them are really working hard at the system. They’re also helping Tom (Savage) as a young quarterback. When you bring in a young quarterback, that could be something that may go overlooked, but it’s a credit to a veteran quarterback in the NFL to help a rookie. That is part of the position. Not just to quarterbacks, but other positions, too because the quarterback sees the whole picture and I think that ultimately everybody needs to be on the same page and it starts with them."
(on Tom Savage’s improvements)
"I think for a rookie quarterback it is very difficult, just bottom line. We’re not holding much back from him either. I’m going to coach him hard and Coach O’Brien is going to coach him hard and the rest of the coaches are, too. The thing I like about Tom is that he just looks you back in the eye and he wants to get more reps and he wants to learn. He’s a hungry young man. He wants to come in on the weekends and learn, too. I think that is the most important ingredient for a young quarterback."
(on the level of freedom the quarterback will have to change plays at the line of scrimmage)
"Ultimately it is on the coaches to say, ‘Hey, this is what we want to put on you on the line and this is what we want to hold up back and go ahead and just call a play and run it.’ We’re going to change that up throughout the game. We’re never going to be one dimensional or one way. As much as they can handle, we’re going to put on their shoulders. If it is a time to go ahead and call some plays and get up there and run them, then we’ll do that to."
(on Ryan Fitzpatrick cutting down on his interceptions)
"It’s a new year and it’s a new system for him. Whatever has happened in the past, in my opinion, we’re trying to coach what we know. He’s done a decent job of protecting the ball. It’s hard out there now because it’s pretty much a passing camp with no pads and everything. I think the main thing is when the defense gives you something short, you take something short. When they give you a big opportunity, then you take the big opportunity. But don’t try to force things. I think that goes for all of them."
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Well, Godsey said a lot, but offered very little information on what the pecking order will be at quarterback. Nor did he give any indication on who might be the odd man out. It is nice to read about how much they're pushing the quarterbacks and putting a lot on their plates. It seems to be a sink-or-swim type of situation where their mental capacity ultimately decides who stays and who goes.
Leave your thoughts on Godsey's quotes from yesterday and on a scale of 10 to 20, (skipping 1-9 because I'm assuming your minimum is already at a 10) tell us how eager you are to see Case Keenum as the starter in 2014.