Everything Michigan OC Chip Lindsey said during his pre-Washington press conference

On whether he wants to get the tight ends more involved in the offense

I think sometimes the coverage dictates where the ball goes. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. I think (Marlin) had a good first game. We got a lot of single high coverage, cover three, and up the seam, different things. So, you know, I think he had one catch the other day or something. So, I just think game by game, probably the coverage dictates that more than anything, and still expect those guys to be (involved).

We’re getting Hogan back, too, so now we’re splitting some reps. One guy’s not getting all the tight end reps and mixing Z-Marsh in there and some other guys. So, hopefully, as the season goes, those guys will become more involved.

But at the end of the day, I think you can’t determine, hey, we’re going to throw the ball at this guy. I think the coverage probably dictates that more than anything.

On skipping your read and throwing to a wide open player like Jordan Marshall was on the Donaven McCulley touchdown

That play is built for man coverage. That’s what they were in. Bryce knew that. And Jordan would be your check-down if the other two aren’t open. So, no, it was a good read by Bryce. Great throw, great catch.

On Bryce Underwood’s progression with his reads

Bryce? Yeah, he’s doing great. I mean, there’s a couple. I think there’s five plays, six plays maybe the other night he’d probably wish he had back after watching the film with him. But for a guy his age and the experience he has, I think he was pretty good.

These defensive coordinators do a better job than ever of showing one look and getting to something else. That’s just something you’ve got to deal with, and it comes with experience. But, yeah, no, I thought he did a lot of really good things.

I mean, the turnover, obviously, in the red zone, something that really sticks out, taking the sack. We weren’t quite in the red zone on both, but we were in the score zone, which is right outside of that. With our kicker, we can’t make those mistakes, and he understands that.

We’ll clean that up. But, no, I thought he was really good other than a few things here and there.

On his assessment of the receivers

Yeah, I like – obviously McCulley is still playing really well for us. He’s a guy that’s a big guy that has some matchup advantage for us, for sure. Andrew Marsh is coming on and, with him being a freshman, just more and more comfortable with the offense.

The position he plays requires a little more from the standpoint of moving around and lining up in different spots, having to block support sometimes, not block support sometimes. So I just think his natural progression of being a freshman and when you come here and you have to learn all those things at the next level, it takes a little time. But, man, the moment’s not been too big for him.

When he’s got opportunities, he’s made the catch, and I think that’s the biggest thing. He and McCulley both, when the ball has come to them and they’ve got their hands on it, they’ve caught it for the most part. And that’s kind of what we need.

On opening things up as Underwood and Andrew Marsh get more integrated with the system

Yeah, I mean, some of the RPO stuff I think he pulled through the other night because the look was for that, which is good. And some teams play those. Obviously, everybody plays them a little different.

But, yeah, I definitely think so. I think as we get more and more advanced and the season keeps going, hopefully we’ll have some more opportunities for those guys.

On the key for Underwood to improve his completion percentage

Well, I think he’s played really well for a freshman, honestly. Again, there’s a handful of plays in each game that we all want back. They don’t care if you’re him or you’re a four-year starter or whatever.

But, no, I think I’m really pleased with the progress he’s made. From where he was when he got here to now, that’s a big jump. And the best thing about him is he wants to be really good, and he’s always trying to improve and get better.

You see him here all the time staying early and late, trying to get extra film and stuff. So, again, it’s just a maturation process of him getting more and more comfortable and being a first-year starter. And I think you see that around the country, whether you’re a freshman or you’re maybe the third year in school, and now you’ve become the starter. I think there’s some growth there that they all make. But, yeah, I like what he’s doing so far, for sure.

On Underwood’s footwork being key to improving his accuracy

Yeah. I mean, his footwork the other night, I think he got loose in the pocket twice the other night, the week before, maybe another time. So some of that, I think, you know, as a young guy, sometimes seeing rush or thinking you’re getting certain pressures does that. But, yeah, that’s something we’re working on every day, for sure. But, no, it’s not something that’s a total issue. You’ve got to remember, too, in practice, you know those guys don’t get hit. Everything’s good in practice, right? Footwork’s good. Drop’s good.

But as far as the type of drop he took the other night on certain concepts, whether it was quick game, intermediate, or drop back, they were all good. It’s just we’ve got to make sure we continue to work on pocket presence, which I think some of that comes with experience.

On Todd Blackledge saying that Underwood looked better on off-platform throws

Yeah, I don’t know. Some of these guys, not him, I like him fine, but some of these people make comments that are interesting. But, no, he’s fine. I mean, he can make off-platform throws for sure. I mean, you have to be able to in this day and age that D-line are so good whoever you play. They’re athletic. You can’t just be a statue. So the ability to throw from different angles and all those things are good, and continue to keep a base. And he’s extremely athletic in that respect. More than I’d say, a lot of guys that I’ve had in the past. Drake was that way a little bit at Carolina. But those guys, they give you a chance when the play breaks down.

I think Bryce does that. Sometimes, too, young quarterbacks, they’re thinking really fast and their bodies just relax, slow down a little bit, and they rush things. I think sometimes that happens. But I like where he is. He’s making progress each and every week, and we’re playing some good teams, obviously, on the road, which is a learning experience for all young guys. But he’s in a good spot, and we’re continuing to work on all those things, to be honest with you.

On whether he likes Underwood going off-platform

If the play requires that based on the look, yeah, definitely. You want a guy that can give you chances to get out of tough situations.

And as far as that goes, the off-platform stuff, he’s definitely – you’ve seen him roll left and throw, which some guys struggle with that. You’ve seen him go right. He’s right-handed. It should be easier. But, yeah, he does a great job with those things.

On what he’s pitching to recruits when selling this offense

I think when you look at what we’re trying to do offensively, is create explosive plays each and every week. We’ve done some of that. We’ve done a better job with those in a lot of respect. But, you know, from a recruit standpoint, I think building relationships and showing kind of how we’re going to develop those guys really is the important thing. But from our standpoint offensively, third downs is the big thing for us. We have to improve in those areas.

And that’s all the way around from protection to catching the ball to making the right throw to knowing their coverage. So it’s just, something that, obviously, the other night, I think we had ten drives maybe and only nine third downs. And we weren’t good on third downs.

And we had two long play drives that we didn’t get any points because we turned it over or we took a sack. So those situational things are probably the biggest focus for us on offense. The recruits or the guys that we talk to, when they come to visit, we lay out a plan. This is what we’re going to look like. This is what we want you to do here when you’re here and all that. But at the end of the day, really focused on trying to improve offensively each and every week in some critical areas.

On discussions with Mikey Keene about redshirting this season

We’ll see how it plays out. With Mikey being an older guy, he’s willing to do whatever it takes for the team. And if that means he has to play, I think he’ll do that.

And if it doesn’t, then we’ll see how that plays out. I mean, he’s an older kid, so we’ll have to figure that out as we go. But we don’t have to make that decision right now for sure.

On when things aren’t going well, does he consider more designed runs for Underwood

Yeah, there were a couple designed runs, yeah. And they forced him to give the ball for sure. But I think when you get in a game like we were in, we were right there. I think we had the throw down to the one. We didn’t finish the catch, and he threw an interception two plays later. You cut that to a one-score game, get a stop, get the ball back, and we didn’t do our part on scoring that touchdown.

But I just think the design runs that you come up with, I mean, some people are claiming that we had design runs in one game when he took off on passes. So there are design runs in there, 100%. When you’re reading the end or you’re kicking guys out and running a counter scheme, and it’s something like that, but all those things are part of what we do. At the end of the day, they have to fit each week depending on the defense you’re seeing and so forth.

On addressing situational fixes in practice

Yeah, it’s hard. You try to simulate as much as you can. Scout team’s different playing against, say, USC’s defense or somebody, even Washington or whoever, but you’re trying to simulate the things that they do on film and try to put your guys in those situations.

And when you design the play, you’re trying to give them the look you think they’re going to see, but also maybe a look that’s hard on that play. So he’s seen that before. It’s just a constant balancing act of putting our guys in those situations and emphasizing it. I think that’s the key for us. All 11 have to play clean for us to execute, and that’s kind of what we’re focused on right now.

On balancing Underwood’s production vs. other problems that might be causing the production

Yeah, I think that’s what you do each day as a coach. You’re trying to evaluate and fix things. That’s kind of your job and based on the best opportunity for your team to score points and so forth. As far as — I don’t really think about those things that you mentioned earlier, we’re trying to win the football game and put us in the best position. And there’s things that we can do to do better to do that if we’ll just execute a little better. And then maybe I think sometimes too, as a coach, you’ve got to figure out, okay, are we putting our guys in the best position?

That’s something that’s definitely fair for someone to ask. I think we’re continuing to work through those things. But at the end of the day, every time you call a play, you have a plan where the ball should go and we’ve got to make sure we do that and we’ve got to make sure when we get the opportunity, we catch it and we’ve got to protect. I mean, it’s a lot of things, not just one person or one guy.

At the end of the day, our job is to score points. We haven’t done a good enough job of that in a couple games here for sure. So that’s what we’re striving to do.

On Justice Haynes’ status

We’re hopeful. I don’t know. You know, it’s probably a wait-and-see thing. I don’t really know, to be honest with you, yet.

On not relying enough on technique in the loss against USC

Up front, it is a very technical position, the O-line, from a standpoint of footwork and pad level and hand placement. Versus this look, I’ll take this step. Now we’re getting this look, I have to do this step. So I think for us, and Sherrone’s been stressing this as well, is fundamentals. Let’s get back to the basics, the fundamentals. And what you do every week, you reset, but at the end of the day, I think that’s the key to us.

Because really, when the bullets start flying, you have to trust your preparation, right? You have to go back to what you build as something that you do consistently from a fundamental standpoint. And I think that’s what I know we’re focused on at every position, but for sure on the O-line too.

On assessing if he’s putting his players in the right position to be successful

I think at times we are. I think at times we are, but at times we can all do better, including myself. I mean, you know, that’s just the nature of the business we’re in, right?

We’re here to try to get our guys to play the best offense we can. In some areas, we’re doing a solid job. But, for me, when you look at the games that we’ve struggled in, the third downs show up, and we have to improve in that area and do a better job of executing and getting first downs.

On using two tight-end sets this season

I think that’s a huge part of what we do. I think some of it depends too how the other team sees your guys. In other words, some of our tight ends, they may see as, quote, receivers and play nickel defense instead of base defense.

So to answer your question, I think each and every week you evaluate, okay, who are the players we’re trying to get the ball to, and then how does that fit into the game plan based on the looks we’ll get in those personnel groups. I wouldn’t know the stats on 12 and 11 and 13 and so forth, but I think we do – we try to have a good mix of those things and try to do our best to keep guys’ defenses off balance and use those guys in different ways. And a lot of it depends on their skill set, what they’re good at doing, I think.

On how Andrew Marsh’s emergence helps the offense

I think it helps because it gives you a guy on the opposite side of McCulley that you feel pretty good about making plays. He’s proven that. I think he had nine targets the other night and caught eight of them is what I saw somewhere. So I think for us, continuing to get those opportunities outside. And we talked about the tight ends as well. They’re going to be a huge part of what we’re doing.

They have been early in the season, but the last few games, the ball just hasn’t found them. But I think any time you get another player that can emerge and become – it makes you harder to defend. And I like the progress he’s making, for sure.

On why the ball hasn’t found the tight ends

Yeah, I’m not necessarily thinking that we really call plays for certain positions. They’re in the progression of the play, and either sometimes we’ve thrown the ball to the first or second progression and didn’t get to them or whatever. But I think early in the season, there were some looks that were good for that. But I think you’ll see it happen again, too.

On the challenges Washington presents

Yeah, I’ll tell you, they do a great job of challenging the receivers. They’ve got two good corners. I think they’re really good players. The safety is also a good player. They muddy the front up with different looks, some odd looks, and some even looks. So make you communicate up front from an offensive line standpoint.

They’re just really talented. They run to the ball well. They’re very well coached and they’re playing well right now. So I think those are the things. They’ve got a lot of confidence, I’m sure, and a huge challenge for us. Get them at home, which I think is really a huge advantage for us. But also we need to go out and play better, and it’s going to take a great effort for us to get that win on Saturday.