Q.  What do you see as the problem with the offensive line’s blocking?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, I think the other night, we didn’t do anything well.  And [the Cowboys] did a good job against us.  I think most of the reason we didn’t have success running the ball, is [because they] got penetration: a couple times it was from the edge, a couple times it was from the inside and a couple times it was from the linebacker level.  We’ve just got to clean that up.

Q.  Why wasn’t the offensive line ready for what Dallas was doing in terms of stunts?
COACH SHURMUR:  We were ready for it.  We just didn’t execute at a good enough level.  We didn’t execute well enough to consistently run the ball well and we’ve just got to get better.
 
Q.  What were the problems in execution?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, we got penetration and we can’t allow that.
 
Q.  Do you have the guys what are capable of executing?
COACH SHURMUR:  Absolutely.  Absolutely. 
 
Q.  How do you know?

COACH SHURMUR: Because we’ve seen it before.  We’ve seen it before.  It was not a good outing for any of us on offense, and we’ve got to flush it. We’ve made our corrections and now we’re moving on to the Jets, and I think that’s the message.
 
Q.  What have you seen it before from G/T Allen Barbre?
COACH SHURMUR:  We’ve seen it in the training sessions; we’ve seen it when we played against Green Bay.  We’ve seen him play at a high level, and we expect he will do so this week.
 
Q.  It seems like you made a bunch of in-game adjustments. You brought TE Brent Celek in more and you went under center. How many more options are there to get this thing right?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, we are continually looking.  If you start the game and things are going well, you kind of stick with it and you move on to other things if it feels right.  If things don’t go right [initially], then you start making changes to get it going.  So we went through a list of things and it just was a struggle.
 
Q.  What do you say to somebody like C Jason Kelce, who has had a lot of success in the league, when he has a game like that? How do you get him back on focus and back on target?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, I think they are very prideful.  Every player in our locker room is very prideful; they want to go on the field and perform well. You know, it really comes down to the specifics of each play and that’s what we go through.  The corrections are being made throughout the game, because often times you’ll not run a play correctly, it gets fixed, and then later on you do.

So the corrections are constantly being made and then after the game, you kind of watch it in total, and that’s sort of what we did this morning.  Make the corrections, now we’ll come out here and fix them on the field.  It’s just the process you go through and that’s the same process you use when you’re playing well, as well.  You correct the mistakes consistently.
 
Q.  What is Kelce not doing now that he has done in the past?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, I think he’s doing a lot of the same things well that he’s done in the past. He had a lot of good plays out there. There are just some mistakes that, you know, are very correctible that we just got to make.
 
Q.  What kind of challenges does the Jets defensive line present?
COACH SHURMUR:  Yeah, they are a pretty sturdy group.  I think you saw that last night [against the Indianapolis Colts]. But they are very good pass rushers.  They are big, sturdy guys, and they are sort of one‑gap players, but they are thick, so they can almost appear as two‑gap at times.  So it’s going to be a challenge for us.  When you look at the games, probably Cleveland blocked them a little better than they got blocked last night, I would say.  So it will be a challenge for us.
 
Q.  The tempo that you’ve played at in the first two games seems a little slow.  Is that merely a function of plays not working the way you want them to work?
COACH SHURMUR:  No, some of the ways we tried to line up the other night — the way we were getting the receivers organized — was just a little bit slower. Then there were other tempo plays where we were actually trying to ‑‑ actually we were playing faster.  So in total, it just depends on how we’re trying to line up.
 
Q.  Why haven’t you guys been able to throw the deep ball?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, we haven’t thrown the ball deep, although we had some explosive plays in the first game.  Nothing went right this past week.  So I don’t think there’s a theme there.  We’ve got receivers that can get deep and if you look at it in total over the course of the year, we’ll be able to throw it deep.
 
Q.  Who are the receivers that can get deep?
COACH SHURMUR:  I think everybody we put on the field. I think Nelson [WR Nelson Agholor] can get deep; [WR] Josh Huff; Coop [WR Riley Cooper] has proven that he can go down the field and make a play, and then certainly Jordan [WR Jordan Matthews]. Then Miles [WR Miles Austin] had one the other night where he got down the field deep, we just didn’t make the catch.
 
Q.  What about predictability? It seems like you have a handful of running plays at are your bread and butter that you go to. Do you feel like the predictability is too much right now?  Do you care whether the opposite team knows what’s coming or not? 
COACH SHURMUR:  No, I don’t think ‑‑ when we look at just this past game, they didn’t do much on defense, really. They were the opponent and we tended to be the enemy the other night. We made mistakes that kept us from being able to execute and sustain drives.

I think sometimes, predictability — if you’re good at something, you do it over and over, and then your plays typically have answers. If they are taking something away on a certain part of the play, the ball goes here or there.  So we just keep working on those things and get better.
 
Q.  Did QB Sam Bradford have the option to audible in St. Louis?
COACH SHURMUR:  He did, yeah.  We function very differently here than other places. Although there are elements of our offense that are very similar to what Sam has done in the past, there’s a lot of what we do that’s very different.
 
Q.  When Bradford can’t audible out of a play and check to a new one when he has recognized the defense, what does that do to a quarterback?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, I think we have options within our plays that are dependent on whether they are going to play a big zone or if they are going to come after you.  So usually you audible when there’s extremes.  We have things built in that he can take advantage of.
 
Q.  Has he audibled here yet?
COACH SHURMUR:  We actually audibled the other night on a couple plays.
 
Q.  Bradford did or was that from the sidelines?
COACH SHURMUR:  Absolutely. Where he had to make changes to a play, sure.
 
Q.  Some of the in-snap options would be from the zone-read that you guys previously seemed to run more. With that not being as big a part of the offense, does that present a challenge where there are not as many branches for the offense or the quarterback to go to?
COACH SHURMUR:  I don’t think so. You try to do what your players can do well.  We still zone-read; we just pick our spots with it.
 
Q.  Why was there penetration in this last game? Is there any one reason? Are you getting beat off the ball or are there just missed assignments?
COACH SHURMUR:  No. There were a couple times, like I said, when the linebacker level would shoot through and then kind of disrupt and knock our guys off of our double teams. Then there were other times when we got split, whether it be the double team or the edge block with the tight end.  So there was no consistent one reason.  It’s just areas where if we just block better, I think we’ll get it fixed.
 
Q.  Were the Cowboys doing things that you just didn’t account for?
COACH SHURMUR:  No. We just didn’t do things well, that’s all.
 
Q.  Do the Jets have the most dangerous corners that you’ll face?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, three are actually three of them. We know the outside two guys pretty well.  I was with the inside guy, [CB] Buster Skrine, in Cleveland; we drafted him, I think in 2011, in the fifth round. I know he’s a feisty guy and he’s a really, really good slot defender because he’s tough.  It’s going to be a challenge for our receivers.  They play a good bit of man‑to‑man, although they play a little bit more zone than you might think. But it’s going to be a challenge for our guys, for sure.
 
Q.  If you’re not certain about the solidity of the offensive line, is it natural to go to earlier check downs and are you seeing any of that with Bradford in his progressions?
COACH SHURMUR:  No, I don’t think ‑‑ I think he keeps a downfield focus.  In the passing game, some of the things that happened negatively to us [were] we had some drops, we had a couple of miss‑fires and then there were a couple of times when Sam was rushed, but there was nothing consistent.  I think Sam does a good job of keeping a downfield focus and then if the time is right or if they take something away down the field, I think he’s very good at hitting the check down.
 
Q.  Why is Cooper playing less this season?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, we’ve got a mix of guys. I don’t think that has anything to do with Riley.  We’re getting Miles in there.  We’re getting Josh in there.  We’ve just got a mix of guys and we are trying to keep good, fresh players in there and try to use the whole roster.
 
Q.  Chip Kelly said yesterday that the only way that you can get the vertical passing game going is by running the ball better.  Is there any other way to do that without being able to run it? Are there adjustments that you can make if you can’t run the ball?
COACH SHURMUR:  Yeah, we have concepts that are deep-to-short that don’t involve play action.  But I think ‑‑ I’m not going to speak for Coach [Kelly], but I think yesterday and today, you know, globally, we’re just thinking we need to get the running game going. Certainly that will allow us the play-action component of throwing the ball deep.
 
Q.  What’s been different with T Jason Peters from last year to this year?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, I think he’s playing pretty well, actually.  He’s had a handful of bad plays, like everybody on offense, but I think he’s gotten himself in shape.  He knows what we’re doing at a higher level this year.  I think I’ve said this before, but he knows not so much the ‘whats,’ but he knows the ‘whys’ now.  I think he’s doing a good job.
 
Q.  Do you think his production is where it has been in the past?
COACH SHURMUR:  I think he’s doing a good job. I think everybody on offense needs to eliminate those handfuls of bad plays that are showing up.  We need to play consistently better, which will allow us to stay on the field, and then I think when you watch us play, as we get more plays and get going, that’s when we kind of get rolling, and that’s going to be the challenge.
 
Q.  So from your perspective, is it a handful of bad plays or is it mostly bad plays with a handful of good plays?
COACH SHURMUR:  Just a handful of bad.  I think everybody out there has more good plays than bad, but we have to just all eliminate the bad ones.  I think that’s the case.
 
Q.  Are you noticing anything with RB DeMarco Murray? Obviously, the line has something to do with it, but is he not hitting the holes quick enough? Are the holes just not there?
COACH SHURMUR: No. I think we have a small sample size right now; it’s two games. And I know everybody’s concerned, so to speak; I can tell by your line of questioning here.  But we just need to just keep getting better at what we do and put a good effort on the field where we are playing good football. [We need to get to a point where] we are running the ball efficiently, we are being physical up front, and then when we throw the ball we are efficient, and in some way, get some explosive plays. That is what you’re looking for.
 
Q.  Are you concerned at all?
COACH SHURMUR:  No I’m not concerned because like I mentioned already, the group of guys in there is very prideful.  They are outstanding players and they want to put a good effort on the field.  So I’m not concerned because we are going to come out here today and we’re going to train well.  We’re playing an opponent that ‑‑ the Jets are an outstanding defense and our guys will feel challenged.  We’re pretty confident that we’ll go out and put out a good performance.
 
Q.  Have you seen anything from Bradford in these first two games that you can pinpoint and say, ‘That’s a guy who went almost two years without playing; give him some time and he’ll pick up on that?’
COACH SHURMUR:  I don’t know. I think — maybe, but nothing particular.  He knows what we’re doing. He’s executing pretty well.  But he’s just like everybody; he’s got to eliminate that handful of bad plays.
 
Q. On a slightly different topic, QB Thad Lewis started for you and came into the league with you.  What do you like about him and why did you want to bring him in here?
COACH SHURMUR:  Well, we’ve been together two places.  He came out of Duke and came to St. Louis with us. That lineup that year was Thad, Sam and A.J. Feeley: those were our three quarterbacks.  Then when we went to Cleveland, he was available and we picked him up. Then actually in my last game there, he started the game and actually played pretty well.  He had one bad play throw where [former Steelers S Troy] Polamalu picked him off, but he had a pretty solid performance. So he’s been a lot of places, he’s played in games and he’s won games in this league.

You know, I think the thing I like the most about Thad is he’s a gritty guy. He’s a tough, tough player. He throws the ball well and he’s got a good understanding of the game.  So he’s just a guy that we thought would be smart to bring in.
 
Q.  Are there running backs that function better when the quarterback is under center as opposed to in the shotgun? What’s the difference from a running back’s vantage point?
COACH SHURMUR:  I don’t know. I think most running backs can play from the Q or the dot position, and then also I think every running back now runs the ball from an offset, shotgun‑type set.  We run a downhill, inside-zone play that’s very similar to when you’re in the dot.  But I would say, all running backs can do both.
 
Q.  How do you explain the pass drops, especially from sure-handed guys like Matthews, at least from what we’ve seen.
COACH SHURMUR:  Again, it’s a little bit out of character.  I think, it’s just, I don’t know, some of it’s a little bit hard to explain, but I know they will be out here training to get it corrected.
 
Q.  Former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins was on the radio yesterday and he was talking about Bradford.  Dawkins said Bradford looked like he was playing nervous on Sunday. Do you disagree with that?
COACH SHURMUR:  I don’t think he was nervous.  I thought he was playing pretty confident.  You know, there were a couple times, I think, he rushed his footwork just a little bit, but I don’t think that had anything to do with being nervous.  I think when guys are out there trying to make a play, sometimes you press, but I don’t think it was nervousness.
 
Q.  With run blocking, are there times when the defense is making it hard for the wide receivers or tight ends to get to where they need to go in order to get the block by moving before the snap?
COACH SHURMUR:  Sure. Sure.
 
Q.  Is this something new for you guys this year?
COACH SHURMUR:  No, I think you always have to block movement and each defense is a little bit different.  Dallas is a team that moves around quite a bit.  They have got a four‑man front and so what they try to do is create and distort the gaps, as opposed to the teams that kind of play five on the line and firm it up with five guys. They do it with four and just move around. But it’s not uncommon or something that we haven’t practiced or are not aware of.