OC Matt Nagy on J.J. McCarthy's first start: 'The moment wasn't too big'

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Matt, I feel like every week I read around the NFL about teams struggling to get their number one receivers' targets.

What do you do? Everybody knows you're going to throw the ball to Malik neighbors.

Whether it's him or you, or what is it about the two of you that are able to, even though he, everybody knows where it's going, he's still able to get 100 yards and seven catches every game.

Matt Nagy (0:19)

He's, I guess some of that goes to the beginning of the season when he threatened me early on.

So when you get threatened, you have to be able to make something happen. No, but in all seriousness, he does make it easy because he's such a good playmaker. And the other part of this too is you see some teams where you run into maybe one guy that doesn't have complementaries on the other side. So some of the credit without a doubt has to go to these other players that we have to help get open. So whether you double team, you don't double team. That's been a big part of it. And probably also just learning what routes he does well, what he likes so that we can put it all together. And he inevitably has to make the plays.

SPEAKER_3 (1:01)

This running back room is going to be an interesting one without Tracy. So I guess, what do you like about Greg and some of those other guys you brought in to kind of help with Scott and Singletary?

Matt Nagy (1:09)

I would start off by just saying that, you know, for us, the confidence there, you know, it's been a point of emphasis all year. We talk about the run game to the actual players and we had the four running backs. And so for us, we want to be able to just lock in on whoever those guys are, make sure that we give them a great opportunity to succeed in the scheme.

And so whoever that is, you know, whether it's Scott, whether going back to weeks ago with Tracy, with Singletary, or some of these other young guys that are here now, put them in a spot to where we can use their strengths. But then they also too got to be able to help us out schematically. So we'll see where all that goes, you know, again, early in the week. But for us, it's going to be the utmost importance to keep the run game going. You saw, we talked about that in Houston, like you can't be one-dimensional and just be dropping back throwing. You got to be able to keep that run game going. So no matter who's back there with the carries, we got to be efficient with the run game.

SPEAKER_4 (2:06)

Matt, I understand with the quarterback, we talked just about JJ and the playbook and how much can you give him? Can you give him piecemeal during the week? When it comes to a running back, and Greg comes in last week, you know, the idea, I mean, I know Eric Gray was here, but if you need him to be out there, can it be a situation where you just have a, you know, sub package of plays that he's learned and he's ready for? Is it easier to do that with a running back than it is another position?

Tell me about that perspective from your...

Matt Nagy (2:38)

I would say to answer your question, like, whoever it ends up being or whoever it is, like, that person, that player has to, they have to know everything. It's a little bit different than the quarterback position like we've been talking about.

So, it's Coach Taggs' job as a running back coach to have a new guy come in or you have somebody that hasn't played to get them up to snuff and get them ready. And that's the challenge. That's our job. And those guys will do it. We'll get massive reps at practice with those guys. And so far, you know, the last couple of days that we've seen these guys, and mentally, physically, they've done a good job. And it's kind of the state of the NFL right now. There's a little, you know, injuries are a part of this game and there's every team is going through it. And if that's where we're at, then we lock in on that and we have ultimate trust in the end with those guys.

SPEAKER_5 (3:27)

What do you appreciate most about a guy like Singletary?

Matt Nagy (3:33)

The story I'll give you with Motor, Singletary is, you know, this is a kid that's been in this game for a long time. And he's a savvy vet.