Ben McAdoo Previews 49ers, Batted Passes, Rhule's Influence on Offense + More
Batted balls being an issue
"Yeah, we've been watching them as a staff and taking a look at them, and really, they happen for a variety of reasons. When you look at them, each play tells its own story. You'd like to sit here and say it's this one thing that's showing that's leading to a batted ball but that's not the case. So that's something we're diving into, we're studying. Each one has its own reason for it happening."
Impact of the batted balls
"Well, when you have 52 plays a game, every play is more impactful than if you have 72 plays a game. We need to have more productive plays and get those out of our game. We're going to have to work on it. It's easier said than done."
Matt Rhule's weekly influence on the offense
"Matt is the head coach of the football team. He's not per se an offensive guy or defensive guy or special teams guy. He's the head coach of the team. From my vantage point, I think he does a great job of making himself available to all three coordinators. We're always communicating on things that we can do to help ourselves be successful. Whether it's personnel or schematics."
Receivers and tight ends catch percentage
"Obviously, we need to be better in the passing game. And the first thing I do is look at myself. I got to call it a little bit better. We've got to throw it a little bit better. We've got to catch it a little bit better. We've got to block them a little bit better. It's not just one thing. When you're struggling, you can look at it and if we can keep from pointing fingers at each other and just point fingers at what we need to fix, we'll be better."
How much of the issues are on Baker Mayfield
"When things go well, they get too much credit probably and when things go well they get a little too much blame. I think it's easy to sit back and point fingers at Baker and say, 'oh, Baker is doing this and Baker is doing that'. Baker doesn't get enough credit for what he's been able to do. He's come in training camp and has half the reps with the ones, learned a new system that he's never been involved in. He keeps getting better in practice, so we just need to keep working and carry that over into the games. The guy is a fighter and I believe in him. I'm looking forward for it to start clicking."
49ers defensive front
"It's going to be a challenge for us. First and foremost, I have a ton of confidence in our guys up front. Those guys are going to battle. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game. [Nick] Bosa is a really good player. There's a combination of things you can do whether you try to help or try to spin the ball out. There's things you can do to change it up but he is a good player and he's not the only one. They're deep. It's not just their starting line. They've got a lot of depth up there that you have to account for."
Ikem Ekwonu's progression
"Yeah, Ickey continues to take steps. Thursday practices are good for him. Get a chance to get the pads on. Whether it's third down, a little bit of red zone, or whether it's short-yardage or goal line. He's growing and he's learning the pro game. We just need him to keep coming slowly and steadily."
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