Advertisement
Published Aug 20, 2024
Jeff Grimes talks about the offense at media day
circle avatar
Jon Kirby  •  JayhawkSlant
Publisher- Football Editor
Twitter
@jayhawkslant

Jeff Grimes spoke with reporters during the media day session on Tuesday. Watch everything Grimes had to say and his comments on where the offense stands.

Here are a few comments from Grimes as he talks about the offensive line still needing to figure things out and the experience at the skill positions.

What’s it been like getting Arnold, Grimm, and Skinner back healthy with Jalon Daniels…

It's fun to watch. Yeah. You know, you've had one guy out here for a couple of days, another guy back then, another guy out a little bit. So to see all of them doing their thing together is a lot of fun. And, you know, between the things that Coach Z and myself are trying to do with those guys, you know, I think they have so much experience, and they have not only experience, but experience together.

And there's a chemistry there that you want to allow to show up on the field. And like, I talked to these guys about allowing them to have their own personality on the field within the structure of a system.

But I'll be honest with you, we're giving a little bit more freedom to those guys than what I would normally do just because I trust them so much. Great instincts typically just do the thing that they should do based on the coverage that they see, and somehow, they get open and Jalon just makes it work.

Calvin Clements was a guy who was committed to you guys at Baylor. What have you seen from since coming off the injury…

I think he was certainly making progress in the spring and making steps in the right direction, but he's still not quite himself yet. He's getting back, but still not quite there, and so it did set him back. Missing that much time certainly sets anybody back.

And he's like a lot of big linemen that the bigger you are, typically the longer it's taken, takes to develop. It's kind of like a big dog, a Great Dane, or a St. Bernard. They don't look like much for a while, but when they're fully grown, and they're developed and they become coordinated. Wow, that's an impressive animal. And he's still in that awkward teenage stage a little bit in terms of his body and just learning how to make it all work right.

But I like him, and I think he's going to be a really good player for us.

You mentioned those veterans and the trust you have with them, short time with them. Is that, is that tape, is that time spent? How have you, in this short period of time, been able to develop that trust with those guys?

You should ask them that. I trust them just because I've seen that trust is a two way street, right? And so I guess from my perspective, I would say I trust them because when I asked them to do something, they do it. And when I challenge them, they step up to the challenge. I trust them because they're just the type of athletes that seem to make the right decision. There are guys that you have to coach into figuring things out, and I'm not saying that's not the case with them to some extent as well, but really good athletes just kind of tend to figure things out on their own most of the time.

It just makes sense to them where the open space is or they recognize the leverage of the defender that's covering them and they alter our route just a little bit and it helps them get open. And so, I just see those instincts that show up with those guys all the time. And so, yeah, I mean, that trust for me just comes from watching them do their thing repetitively.

Coach Leipold mentioned you were close to having your starting five up front kind of figured out and pieced together. How many offensive linemen right now would you say you have that you feel good about…

Yeah, I would just say the line is still a work in progress. I'll just say that. I don't want to give a specific number. I would just say it's not what we need yet. We've got a couple of guys who do have some experience, but we're also replacing some good players on that line and learning how to play and how to play together without a guy who really sort of ran the group.

I think it's been said probably a few times that missing Novitsky and the leadership and the communication that he brought is something that we're still trying to find our way with. We're still trying to develop the sort of leadership and communication that we need in that group. And it has not become overly apparent yet how that's going to take shape.

Can you comment on what it means to have two experienced running backs (Neal and Hishaw)...

I mean, it's unusual to have one running back on the team that's as good as either of them are. So to have two at the same time is a blessing and a challenge. It's a challenge for me to make sure that we get those guys enough touches so we'll, you know, we'll have times where we got both those guys on the field at the same time and try to be creative and creating ways to get the ball to both of them.

And then the nice thing is you just feel like you can keep rolling those guys in a game and not feel like either of them are going to get worn down. And in some ways, running back can be the most physical position in football.

Watch below to see everything Grimes had to say at his media day press conference.

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings
Advertisement
Advertisement