Chris Ballard In-Game Interview

[TKnight24]

 

 

 

Chris Ballard: "You have to raise the bar and make them come and get it. And if you don't come and get it, we'll find guys who can" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TKnight24]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TKnight24]

 

 

 

[TKnight24]

 

 

 

[Superman]

 

That's not what Ballard said. He specifically said "strength levels," not arm strength levels. That's a hedge, and I'm not taking anything from it. That could mean that Luck has been able to lift without pain better than he was able to last year.

[life long]

13 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

That's not what Ballard said. He specifically said "strength levels," not arm strength levels. That's a hedge, and I'm not taking anything from it. That could mean that Luck has been able to lift without pain better than he was able to last year.

Exactly my thoughts as well. Still it is a good sign that he is actually recovering. I would feel better about early this season, if we soon hear he is actually throwing a football. 

[The Peytonator]

Man I hope our quick passing game is better and more utilized this year. The way Luck hangs out in the pocket for five seconds trying to make a big play and ends up taking unnecessary hits, it's gonna shorten his career and he'll constantly be dealing with issues like this year. Thing is, we have the personnel to make it work. TY is quick and shifty and can get open in a second. Moncrief is big and strong and can outmuscle little DBs to make catches. Our supposedly bad pass blocking Oline is being forced to protect for more seven step drops than any other team, its ridiculous. If Chud has another poor year of play calling, I really hope he's replaced next year. 

[chad72]

5 hours ago, TKnight24 said:

 

Chris Ballard: "You have to raise the bar and make them come and get it. And if you don't come and get it, we'll find guys who can" 

 

 

Now, that is an avatar quote I can get behind. 

[Superman]

6 hours ago, life long said:

Exactly my thoughts as well. Still it is a good sign that he is actually recovering. I would feel better about early this season, if we soon hear he is actually throwing a football. 

 

Irsay said today that he's throwing the football, but that he's not going full strength yet. So I'm inferring that Ballard wasn't talking about Luck's arm strength, not in terms of throwing the ball.

[life long]

16 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Irsay said today that he's throwing the football, but that he's not going full strength yet. So I'm inferring that Ballard wasn't talking about Luck's arm strength, not in terms of throwing the ball.

For sure, Andrew was able to throw the ball fairly deep last year. If he had more "arm" strength now than at any point last season he would be practicing 1st team.

[superrep1967]

6 hours ago, The Peytonator said:

Man I hope our quick passing game is better and more utilized this year. The way Luck hangs out in the pocket for five seconds trying to make a big play and ends up taking unnecessary hits, it's gonna shorten his career and he'll constantly be dealing with issues like this year. Thing is, we have the personnel to make it work. TY is quick and shifty and can get open in a second. Moncrief is big and strong and can outmuscle little DBs to make catches. Our supposedly bad pass blocking Oline is being forced to protect for more seven step drops than any other team, its ridiculous. If Chud has another poor year of play calling, I really hope he's replaced next year. 

 Those are some very points Luck does need to get rid of the ball quicker, sliding and getting out of bounds. If not he will be dealing with the same issues again if not worse. 

[superrep1967]

30 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Irsay said today that he's throwing the football, but that he's not going full strength yet. So I'm inferring that Ballard wasn't talking about Luck's arm strength, not in terms of throwing the ball.

Yeah, unless he let it slip out.

[Jdubu]

8 hours ago, life long said:

For sure, Andrew was able to throw the ball fairly deep last year. If he had more "arm" strength now than at any point last season he would be practicing 1st team.

At private practices, he may very well be throwing with the first team. I don/t believe for a second these coaches believe even Luck or Manning could have an entire offseason away and come back with less than a week of practice to operate an NFL caliber team. If Luck isn't reported by next week as throwing with the team in practices, he isn't starting 1st week IMO, which would be horrific if we look this bad come week one. 

[WERC82]

What I heard that concerns me in regards to Pagano was Ballard saying if you can't meet the expectations we'll find someone that can. When I watch Pagano on the sidelines and in interviews he seems like a "give us your best" guy and is not nearly as demanding as he needs to be.

[TKnight24]

53 minutes ago, WERC82 said:

What I heard that concerns me in regards to Pagano was Ballard saying if you can't meet the expectations we'll find someone that can. When I watch Pagano on the sidelines and in interviews he seems like a "give us your best" guy and is not nearly as demanding as he needs to be.

Bingo! Yahtzee! UNO! And all that other good stuff lol 

 

For that reason right there is why I like the Harbaughs, Mike Tomlin, Belichick, Arians, Payton, & Coughlin back in his day 

 

Pagano is too soft. Players mess up he just smiles & claps his hands. I've always favored the more aggressive coaches that demand more. That raise the bar and expect you to reach it 

 

The slow starts with Pagano in recent years have to stop. And it's annoying cause this year he has an excuse cause Luck is hurt so no one is gonna blame him for a Tolzien lead offense having a slow start or any start for that matter 

[TKnight24]

1 hour ago, Jdubu said:

At private practices, he may very well be throwing with the first team. I don/t believe for a second these coaches believe even Luck or Manning could have an entire offseason away and come back with less than a week of practice to operate an NFL caliber team. If Luck isn't reported by next week as throwing with the team in practices, he isn't starting 1st week IMO, which would be horrific if we look this bad come week one. 

Best case for week 1 is go ground & pound 

 

I loved Pope yesterday. Gore, Turbin, Pope, & Mack as the 4 RB's, I like that backfield 

[DaColts85]

1 hour ago, TKnight24 said:

Pagano is too soft. Players mess up he just smiles & claps his hands. I've always favored the more aggressive coaches that demand more. That raise the bar and expect you to reach it 

 

The slow starts with Pagano in recent years have to stop. And it's annoying cause this year he has an excuse cause Luck is hurt so no one is gonna blame him for a Tolzien lead offense having a slow start or any start for that matter 

I agree about everything except I do believe he will be held accountable regardless who is taking the snaps.  Ballard has preached that this team is not just Luck.  If we for some reason start without Luck and play 4 games with Tolzein and end up 0-4...Pagano is still on the chopping block in my eyes.  Everyone on that roster and coaching staff will be evaluated each week IMO, this is why I truly love Ballard and the atmosphere he is producing.  I just hope it continues and he is true to it.

 

I will add a little caveat, there is not a large list of great coaches knocking at our door or even available.  The greats you mentioned are solidified with there current team.  Best case scenario is you hope for a solid up-and-comer who is a Coordinator now and Ballard is familiar with them (enter the Toub convo lol).

[shasta519]

18 hours ago, Superman said:

 

That's not what Ballard said. He specifically said "strength levels," not arm strength levels. That's a hedge, and I'm not taking anything from it. That could mean that Luck has been able to lift without pain better than he was able to last year.

 

That's how I took it. And if you saw that shot of Luck during the game, he definitely looked much bigger/stronger than he has all offseason. So I think it's safe to say that he has been able to do strength training without limitations. But that doesn't mean he can throw at that level yet.

[#12.]

I assumed Ballard was talking about shoulder strength - stability in the shoulder.  If his shoulder feels better than at any time in the past year and he has 7 weeks to throw and prepare, I'm guessing he's going to play.  He still has a month to throw and prepare.

[TKnight24]

26 minutes ago, #12. said:

I assumed Ballard was talking about shoulder strength - stability in the shoulder.  If his shoulder feels better than at any time in the past year and he has 7 weeks to throw and prepare, I'm guessing he's going to play.  He still has a month to throw and prepare.

31 touchdowns & 13 interceptions on a torn labrum, Luck might be a God in disguise

 

Imagine a 100% Luck

[Dingus McGirt]

49 minutes ago, TKnight24 said:

31 touchdowns & 13 interceptions on a torn labrum, Luck might be a God in disguise

 

Imagine a 100% Luck

Maybe, just maybe - we'll see one of them again!

 

[Dingus McGirt]

5 hours ago, Jdubu said:

At private practices, he may very well be throwing with the first team. I don/t believe for a second these coaches believe even Luck or Manning could have an entire offseason away and come back with less than a week of practice to operate an NFL caliber team. If Luck isn't reported by next week as throwing with the team in practices, he isn't starting 1st week IMO, which would be horrific if we look this bad come week one. 

If he is on the PUP - he cannot practice with the team - even "in private" - can he?

[Carlos Danger]

20 hours ago, The Peytonator said:

Man I hope our quick passing game is better and more utilized this year. The way Luck hangs out in the pocket for five seconds trying to make a big play and ends up taking unnecessary hits, it's gonna shorten his career and he'll constantly be dealing with issues like this year. Thing is, we have the personnel to make it work. TY is quick and shifty and can get open in a second. Moncrief is big and strong and can outmuscle little DBs to make catches. Our supposedly bad pass blocking Oline is being forced to protect for more seven step drops than any other team, its ridiculous. If Chud has another poor year of play calling, I really hope he's replaced next year. 

 

I agree with this.. The issue, at least at first, will be that Luck hasn't practiced with the team all off-season so I assume that the timing stuff will be rusty. I don't know how long it will take to iron out, hopefully a quarter or a half, maybe a couple weeks, but we should probably expect some communication issues in both sides of the ball with so many new faces on defense and the offense being used to Scotty T. 

 

The flip-side is that Luck has had to build his strength back up from practically zero. This should have given him a bunch of extra time to work on the short passing game. He has probably only been throwing short for weeks now (and hopefully is beyond that stage of his rehab). I'm sure that the QB coach has used some of this time to work with Andrew on quick progressions and dump offs. 

 

I'm hoping we can win ugly early on until our patience can be rewarded. I think #12 is going to have his best overall season to date, regardless of whether he misses a game or two to start the year. 

[Jdubu]

9 hours ago, Dingus McGirt said:

If he is on the PUP - he cannot practice with the team - even "in private" - can he?

yeah, I think you are right on that. My error. conspiracy theory am I lol

[a06cc]

Honestly everyone Luck hasn’t really been asked to make bombs during his Stanford career. You can find a few highlights, but he has always had a run game.