Quarterback Jake Fromm spoke with reporters for approximately nine minutes Monday afternoon.
Below, here’s what he had to say:
What's happening to the offense when the team is getting inside the opponent’s 5-yard line?
Fromm: It’s a tighter area, and there’s a lot of bodies in there. But we’re not really executing at the level we need to, right now. It kind of is what it is—the chips aren’t falling for us at this point. Hopefully, they will here soon.
How have you been able to grow a thick skin considering the criticism you’ve faced this year?
You just don’t worry about it. You put your head down and keep working. Whether it’s good things or bad, you keep working. You really don’t focus on what's being said outside. I do know what my family says about me and what my teammates say about me.
Do family members take the criticism harder than you?
They definitely take it a lot harder than I do. It doesn’t bother me much, and they know that, but some of my family members don’t have as thick of a skin as I do.
Why have you had so much success running the two-minute and hurry-up offense?
As a quarterback you love those situations. It’s something you practice, and we’ve done a really good job of working on through the season. It’s really something I did in high school, a high-tempo offense, throwing every down, it’s something I really enjoy, and it’s proven to be really successful for us.
How much has the team progressed since the bye week?
The team is definitely taking strides right now, as you can tell with the caliber of opponents we’ve been playing and how well we’ve been able to run the football. The defense is playing at a very high level right now. We’re stopping the run, and we're getting off the field on third downs. We’re just going to keep chopping away at it, so hopefully it will pay off for us in the end.
What does it do for the offense when D’Andre Swift is as healthy as he seems to be now?
You get these runs where he gets 6, 7, 8 yards, and now they’re starting to break off for larger chunks. He’s making guys miss. We always like to think he’s going to win that one-on-one, and right now he’s winning a majority of them.
You're often described as a "game manager." What are your thoughts on that?
That’s not really something for me to decide. For me, I’m just trying to go out and make the right tracks and do what I have to do to give the offense the best chance to succeed. Whether that’s throwing it 80 times a game or handing it off 80 times, it doesn’t matter to me. As long as we’re playing well and winning, I’m fine with it.
