Well, my work here is done. Sean McVay is on Line 2.
In O’Connell’s defense, there were reasons on Sunday that Hockenson disappeared. K.O. spelled them out.
There was a third down when McCarthy “was playing fast and just got off of” Hockenson as the primary target while converting with a pass to Jalen Nailor.
There were four “blocked shots” — O’Connell’s term for passes batted down at the line of scrimmage — that could have resulted in McCarthy finding Hockenson.
And, of course, there were those eight false starts. Yes, eight.
“The biggest thing is T.J. is a major part of what we do, but a couple of the false start penalties he was the primary [target] on those more manageable D&Ds,” O’Connell said, referring to downs and distances. “We’re just putting ourselves in a tough spot that gets you out of those D&Ds where T.J. has always been pretty significant for us.”