Eagles’ Brian Johnson wants to get the ‘best players the ball in space’
After Shane Steichen called plays the past two seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles are embarking on a new year with a new offense coordinator, Brian Johnson.
But just because there is a new play-caller, doesn't mean there is a complete overhaul in offensive philosophy taking place in Philadelphia, but it doesn’t mean Johnson won't add some new wrinkles to the offense.
Johnson’s mindset is simple: Get your best players the ball in space with favorable match-ups.
How does he plan to achieve that?
"I think the biggest thing is you want to create as many issues as you can for the defense, and using all five positional players in a manner that puts stress on the defense," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.
"I think throughout the course of the week, just trying to figure out ways to deploy those types of match-ups, whether it be at tight end, receiver or running back and having all those guys be viable options to make plays when the ball comes their way."
So while he did call plays while at the University of Florida, this will be the first time he will get the opportunity to do so at the professional level, something he is looking forward to doing this season and this camp has given him a huge opportunity to prepare for the season.
"I think Coach Sirianni does a great job of setting the schedule in training camp and allowing for some of those call-a-periods in setting up practice in a manner where you have to have some reactionary calls," Johnson explained. "He'll blurt out situations and you've got to be ready to go. To me, that's not just on the practice field. That happens, same thing in the meeting room and team meetings. I think the organization is set up in a way to where it helps you and gets you ready to go."
"I'm extremely comfortable calling plays, but ultimately we're executing the vision that we have for the offense throughout the course of the week. Being here the last two years and understanding exactly how things are operated, understanding exactly how Coach Sirianni wants things done I think has been vital for me for sure."