Avery Johnson pregame Tulane Press Conference | 09.02.24

what kind of comes to mind when you went back and kind of watched your week one performance really it just we didn't really have a lot of opportunities um I think I took 43 snaps Saturday and walking off the field it was like man we had a lot of good plays that we just really didn't get to get called and I had no idea um how low our snap count was Saturday so that kind of plays a factor in it and then I mean at the end of the day like the number one um stat that I look for every week is just did we win or did we lose and we came off with the win obviously we have some things we want to improve and clean up going into this next week but that's just that's how it's going to be every week so I'm excited to get out and and play again this week but um really just was just kind of let down that we didn't really get as many snaps as we'd want to Saturday um when you went back and looked at the film what was your assessment of the offense I just feel like the first half was kind of flat we really didn't do too much um and then the second half I feel like we kind of picked things up and I know we had a bunch of explosive runs and I think we had three explosive passes 10 explosive runs so 13 explosives on 43 plays it's not as bad as it seems we had a bunch of yards in total offense for how limited our snap count was on Saturday I feel like we did a really good job and I feel like just this week is there's know playing with a little bit more Tempo playing a little bit faster and ultimately just just taking advantage and of every opportunity that we get your interception you thre take me through what you saw live in the play and then what you saw when you went back and looked at it um live it looked like they started in like a a two high look and live it looked like they were trying to trying to spin to a one High um like three or three strong kind of look and that's kind of what I had W evaluated on film as well um but ultimately like my eyes were where they were supposed to be the ball was just flat I feel like if I I could have layered it over that linebacker and got it to DJ and then if I felt like the safety could have made a play on it then just play outside of it but um I wasn't really too hard on myself for that because that's a throw that um I I'm going to be able to make as the season goes on it was just a little flatter than than it needed to be do you go into games thinking you have a preferred ratio of how much you personally pass it versus run it I don't really mind um I kind of feel like you just kind of have to uh kind of see how the game's going and then I just kind of let you know whoever R is calling the plays um I trust him to to be able to know like Hey when's the right time to run when's the right time to pass you know the plays just get signaled into me and then then I run them so ultimately um I don't really I don't really mind whatever ever is we're having more success with that week it might be a heavy run week it might be a heavy pass week and it might be more balanced so um I think there's percentages on it I don't really know how the the percentages work I think we're trying to be like 5050 or like whatever I don't really know how it all works out but um ultimately like whatever is successful that week that's what we're going to do give me your thoughts on playing your first uh College College Road game that you're going to be starting in uh it's exciting just being able to go on the road and and play I love playing at home more than anything just because you have the support of your fans and um just the Traditions that we have even before the game and after the game but Road games are fun too because you kind of get to be a villain and and go in and um experience new adversity and I have a lot of fun with that type of stuff how much does your success when you guys played at Texas Tech last year and you you played so much and so well how much is that experience excuse me going to help you with with this first road start I mean just being able to play in hostile hostile environment I think that'll help but as far as um the success that we had at Texas Tech that doesn't really translate over because Tan's a whole different team and I've never played against tane but um I know they played here a few years ago so we're just excited to be able to go out there and line it up versus another team this week have you heard from any of the older guys who were on that team that that lost to two lane wanted to wanted to get get this one as as kind of a Revenge Factor yeah I mean a lot of people were not too happy that we lost that game a couple years ago and I think that'll be a big point of emphasis going in this week to to not Overlook anybody and I feel like a lot of people still have that bad taste in their mouth going into the game this week so we're going to attack it how we attack any other team um we're just looking to go out there and compete and and find a way to win Saturday I want to ask about the sideline tablets uh how often did you use them and and how did they sort of help you after drives uh I guess see what went wrong or or what went right I think they're really beneficial anytime I needed to see a play after a drive I would just come to the sideline and sit down with Coach Wells and we were trying not to go over every single play and sit there and do what we do on Sundays on Saturday during the game G cuz you don't want to you know touch on too much stuff or start thinking about technique and footwork and stuff in the game because then you're starting to think about a lot of different stuff but it's definitely good to see pictures and and see um how the shs and stuff match up to you know kind of how what I was seeing on the field and and kind of how Stuff translated over how' you feel your first game action with Sam under Center went I think Sam did a really good job and I I knew coming into the game I wasn't going to have really anything to worry about just because of how much he's grown and how good he's looked um in the spring and and fall but it was it was really good to be able to go out there and and kind of you know compete with him and the and the other four guys that were up there anything else through that kind of that wasbe yeah uh so he was running kind of like a bullet down the sideline and I have the option to to give it to DJ or throw it to Loft in there then we have a guy also coming in the flat that I could dump it down to but right there it was just kind of the the defense end was giving me more of a give read but seeing through everything and and kind of have having big Vision in that play being able to see through and and how the um secondary was playing it the corner blitzed so the person that was going to have to take our receiver was the the boundary safety and then that LE nobody for for Lofton the the linebacker would have to match Lofton and I just like like my match up right there and nobody ended up running with them so it was easy pitch and catch to get to get our season rolling last one over here uh give us your thoughts as your back pardon me kind of give us your thoughts as you're now playing in the back field now with Dylan Edwards uh it's a lot of fun just you guys got a small glimpse of what he can do on Saturday and he's just explosive when you get the ball in his hand so trying to get him the ball in space as much as we can and he's he's a hard person to stop if you're a Defender especially in space um and he plays with so much passion and grit he's just really fun to to be able to to have on my side and and being able to pair him up with DJ and and Jo Jack and and Jimmy we have really good running back room that um I feel like we'll start to get more more and more noticed as the year goes on