📰 Kafka named tight ends coach Tim Kelly as his new offensive coordinator. Kafka, who was the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator, will continue to call plays. Kelly has twice been an offensive coordinator in his 11-year NFL coaching career.
📰 Kelly is a "really smart coach to help us tie in the run game and the pass game." He has a lot of experiences to bank on.
📰 Quarterback Jameis Winston will start this Sunday with Jaxson Dart in the concussion protocol. Russell Wilson will be the backup.
"I have a lot of confidence in Jameis, have a lot of confidence in Russ, and he'll be the backup as Jaxson works through the concussion protocol. I think our players are pros. They're pros. So, my job is to get them in the best position to be successful and work through the week here and continue to make adjustments with the staff as we're going to continue to prepare for Green Bay, which is the most important thing. So really taking our time, making sure we cross our T's, dot our I's, put together a great plan for the players because that's really, at the end of the day, those are the guys that have been on my mind the last 48 hours."
📰 When asked if he sees this an audition, Kafka said his "only focus is just the players." He added: "It would be selfish of me to think about anything else but the players. So, getting these guys on the same page, getting them a great plan with really decisive calls, a decisive game plan so they can go execute at a high level, that's most important."
📰 The biggest message from the coaches to the players: "We need to make sure as a group, as a staff, we come together, put together a great plan, and really just focus on what the most important thing is. That's today, our practice, our prep, the meetings that we're in, the communication, and then just working through the details of the game plan because things are going to change and we've got to be able to have some flexibility and adapt to it."
📰 Kafka is "very sensitive" to the "human element" to this situation. He wishes Daboll nothing but the best, and they will continue to stay in touch because "he's a great friend."
📰 Kafka has a "good feel" for the quarterback room, and Winston will do "a heck of a job." Winston was excited when he told him the news. "I think he'll run with it."
📰 The quarterback move was Kafka's decision. "It was mine."
📰 Kafka doesn't anticipate any more coaching staff changes, aside from Kelly. "I have a lot of trust in our group and being around these guys for the last several years. A lot of trust, a lot of confidence, and now we can kind of get together and come together with a great plan for the players."
📰 Kafka was asked about his confidence level in defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. "Collectively, as a unit, we've met several times over the past couple of days, getting on the same page, the communication, talking about some of just the minor little tweaks that we would do throughout the week to make it more efficient and to clean up some communication stuff. So that would be, for us, that's probably the biggest thing is me getting on the same page with them. I'm not, up until this point, haven't been privileged to those conversations, so getting caught up to speed and communicating what I like and what I like to see and then them going and doing it."
📰 Dart is "right on track and right on pace in the program" as he works through his concussion.
📰 Kafka is leaning on past mentors and current staff members to put together a plan. "You certainly have a few more meetings, the scheduling of stuff, and there's a lot of details that go into it that you have to make sure you make a good decision on, a well-thought-out decision, and not just take it for granted. You want to be able to set up the players. It's all built around the guys. How are we getting them to maximize the most amount of football time, the most amount of rest so they can have their bodies to be fresh, and then the most efficient way to get the game plan so they can go out and play. So just as going through it and leaning on mentors and leaning on people in my past and putting together a plan and talking with the experts that we have already on the team, what the best way to approach that is, that's what I've been dealing with the last couple of days."
📰 There will be some "minor tweaks" to the practice schedule. One of the things that Kafka stressed to his players and staff is he won't change anything just for the sake of it. There has to be a reason.
📰 Director of coaching operations Laura Young is doing "a great job" helping Kafka get organized these last couple days.
📰 Wilson handled the latest quarterback news like a "true pro." He is "one play away" from coming into the game.
📰 What makes a best coach in Kafka's mind? "I think the best head coaches I've been around are guys that are confident, poised, have a direction, have a plan, and then go execute the plan. If something goes just a little bit differently, then you go back and you adjust. You have flexibility to adjust. Accountability, holding guys accountable to the highest standard. If it's not right, fix it, don't wait and let things just kind of trickle and snowball. You want to be able to do that. Guys that empower players to be their best. Those are things that I've learned over my past that I think are great qualities in a head coach and things that I try to mirror."