Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media before practice on Dec. 12. Here is a full transcript of the press conference.
On losing WR Noah Brown:
"He's done a great job in all phases, run game, obviously had some big catches. Anything we asked him to do, he got done at a high level. So, it's tough and everybody loves him and phenomenal human, phenomenal person, teammate. So, anytime you lose a guy like that it's hard to replace. But some young guys will get some opportunities and we'll kind of see how we do."
On WR K.J. Osborn and on how he'll fit into the offense:
"Yeah, I've liked him. Evaluated him when I was in Arizona and liked what I saw. I've heard tremendous things about the type of person he is. So, he's a guy who can play inside, outside and give you a lot. And so, we gotta see kind of how he fits in with us and try to get him up to speed. But from what I've seen on tape, he's definitely a guy that we can use."
*On how he gameplans for a cornerback that stays on one side of the field: *"Yeah, I think it's always week to week kind of game plan. If there's certain things you think you can do matchup wise, attack one or the other, that's really the biggest thing you can glean from it. Does one guy like to tackle? Does one guy not as interested in tackling, maybe setting things up that way, but not a huge deal. I think philosophically kinda like, we want to play no huddle, so most of the time the X is on the left and the Z is on the right. It's just how does it fit your scheme and you getting lined up."
On Bill Belichick going to coach North Carolina:
"I will have to see him on the sideline to believe that's happening [laugh]. We'll see how the NFL job search goes and all that. I will have to see him on the sideline coaching in Chapel Hill to believe that's happening."
On having to deal with NIL and on the landscape of college football today:
"I got to just sit around and observe last year and no, I don't see my man going in any home visits or doing like the cocktail hour after the visits. I just don't, maybe he'll set it up like an NFL deal, but I have to see that to believe it."
On what he learned about the offense during the bye week:
"Yeah, we did a bunch of self-scout. I think looking at the lull we had, we wanted to go back and be like, 'Hey, what did we do good? What did we do bad? What can we do better moving forward?' And consistently being able to practice and have guys healthy I think is a big part of it. And to be able to show the improvement we had against Tennessee when we had multiple weeks of good practices, I think that helped our mentality and what we needed to do moving forward and coming back off the bye being healthy, being fresh. We've really pushed it this week and are going to continue to push it. I think that that's the biggest thing, is like when we practice at a high level, we play it at a high level and we've got to become accustomed to doing that and that's what the great teams do."
On WR Luke McCaffrey and on what's preventing him from having more production:
"Yeah, I mean he's a talented young man. We've asked him to play inside and outside because he can handle it. And that's a lot on a young player. And then we've just had the addition of Noah took some of those reps away and then other guys have stepped up. OZ [WR Olamide Zaccheaus and [WR] Dyami [Brown] and it's a loaded receiver room that there's a bunch of guys that can do a bunch. I know they don't get the notoriety that some people talk about, but the way they play, the way they perform, it's been a good group for us. And I think that's the biggest thing is just other guys have made plays and he's done everything we could have asked from him, but other guys have made plays and it's just a crowded room right now."
On the timeline to get Osborn on the field:
"Yeah, we'll try and do as much as we can with him this week and see if he'll be game ready and then, if not, we'll cram all through the road trip and get him as much information as he can and try to get him going. But from all accounts, everybody we've talked to, he's very conscientious, understands football, great with X's and O's so usually about a week and they're ready to have some sort of role and we want to make sure when he goes in, he's confident and understands he can play fast. So, we won't overload it, but he'll definitely have a role soon."
On how they will try to replace Brown and RB Austin Ekeler:
"Yeah, I that's the kind of million-dollar question. You gotta see, where does that come from, that extra offense? Do we need to have different sets and run the ball more or can we take more shots now? Is that something that's going to help us get those yards back and maximize the guys who will be playing. And that's what we gotta figure out over this next couple game stretch is where does that come from? But it's hard to replace two guys like that, the production they had and just the type of teammates and the effort they played with. But young guys get the opportunity and was kind of see where it fits."
