SERBY’S SUNDAY Q&A WITH ... Phil SIMMS
Giants Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms takes a timeout from his duties as an analyst on CBS’ “NFL Today” pregame show for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What makes 2023 Lamar Jackson different?
A: Everybody acts like they mistreated him when he was young. He was on the best running football team in history. I think this year with [offensive coordinator] Todd Monken — show me a successful quarterback, and I’ll show you an offensive coordinator that’s designing everything that fits his talent. I knew he could throw. I’ve watched him at Louisville. I’m from Louisville, all of my friends constantly talked about Lamar. So I was keeping up with him. He’s a human highlight reel when you watched him at Louisville. The NFL, you got to slowly translate into a passer, and not just an athlete/thrower. He has made steps little by little, but this year, this was a big step.
Q: So how would you rate him right now as a thrower?
A: He is a top-notch thrower. He’s got great action with his hand, very compact motion. There’s two categories: There’s throwers, then there’s passers. And he might not be as high on the passing list, but he’s gained. His throwing, when he needs to step on the gas, he can step on the gas with no effort at all, so that’s not a problem.
Q: How impressed are you that he’s able to avoid big hits?
A: He has an advantage over everybody, because not only is he fast, he might be the quickest quarterback I’ve ever seen. Kyler Murray’s close to it, too. Not many quarterbacks in the NFL can drop back, not like what they see, and then just start backpedaling just to stay away from the rush four or five yards, then reset and then either make a throw or dodge whoever’s rushing him . ... All you can do is laugh. People can say Mike Vick and say all these other names — no, we’ve never seen a quarterback like Lamar. Lamar’s small-area quickness is better than Michael Vick’s, and small-area quickness really works for a quarterback in any league at any time . ... Everybody always says he’s going to get hurt running. Greg Roman — who was the originator, designer of their great running offense — I said something to him one time, he goes, “You don’t understand, Phil. Lamar determines what punishment he wants to take.” ... And if you think about it, he never really gets blindsided or blown up or hit real hard not knowing it.
Q: What intangible trait stands out to you about Patrick Mahomes?
A: The intangible trait is the fact that he’s been throwing since I’m sure he was a kid. He’s a natural thrower. You could tell he’s a baseball player, I’m sure he could shoot baskets and knock anything down about 8 out of 10 from 3-point range. He’s played this way his whole life, and so that went right into the NFL. People don’t realize how big he is. He’s got long arms, and he grips the football like it’s a baseball, so he manhandles the crap out of it, and it’s just part of his greatness.
Q: How would you evaluate Brock Purdy?
A: He’s probably been told at every level, “You’re not good enough, you’re not this and all this.” So that just lights his rear end on fire, I’m sure. So he plays with an attitude. I think he’s tough. When I look at the four quarterbacks and all that, I say he’s in the toughest position of all of ’em for the fact that there’s just such a group of people that don’t want to give him credit, and sooner or later they’re going to give you the ammo that you want. I feel like that he’s under the most scrutiny of all the four quarterbacks playing this weekend how he does . ... Because he doesn’t look like the big-time quarterback when you see him standing on the field ... he was drafted late, it’s everything. It makes people mad that he had great success: “He’s got so many weapons!” Yeah, the rest of them have no weapons. “Who couldn’t play well behind that team with all those weapons?” I’ve only heard that since the start of the season probably about 200,000 times. It’s an ongoing question about him. A big portion of the media doesn’t think he deserves this . ... On the radar gun, he’s not going to register with a lot of NFL quarterbacks. But his accuracy, for the most part, all the time he’s played has been very good. He’s been a very good decision-maker. Now, he’s had a couple of rough games this year where the decision-making was not good. I think he’s the guy of the four that he really needs to get off a good start and have confidence and the team confident and the play-caller Kyle Shanahan confident.
Q: Jared Goff ?
A: He’s made a lot of people eat their words. I would be included in that. As the team got better, he got better with it. He’s light on his feet. I love the fact that he gets about 10 yards behind the center a lot to throw the ball with play-action fakes and all that. He throws a ton of great inside moving routes and drops ’em in there with power. And he makes all those same throws to the outside, too. It’s been fun watching him evolving from the quarterback I saw in Los Angeles to the one he is now, and it’s a great transformation. He’s running an offense that fits his style of throwing and who he is as an athlete and everything.
Q: What were your reservations about him?
A: I just didn’t think he was a top-notch thrower of the football at times in L.A. It tells you a lot about him. He’s not a celebrity quarterback. You just don’t see him, you don’t hear him, he doesn’t give speeches to the team every two seconds and all that. I’m sure [coach] Dan Campbell and people there had some reservations about him, and those reservations are gone. He has put himself in cement in Detroit.
Q: Describe Dan Campbell.
A: Loves his players. Ex-player. His feelings for the players is undeniable, and that has to make ’em all feel good. They know he’s one of them. He knows what it’s like, and he celebrates with them and he bleeds with them. It’s great for ex-players, and it’s great for football that Dan Campbell’s with the Detroit Lions.
Q: Kyle Shanahan.
A: Kyle is the “Nutty Professor.” Who knows how late he stays up at night? He just never stops thinking of designing plays that could work for his offense. And he’s got a great eye for players, too. His system — wherever he’s been, no matter what the team — they’ve done well. When they start copying your plays and your thoughts and all that means you’re a pretty damn good coach. He knows how to get the quarterback off to good starts and makes it simple and doesn’t try to have him read five different guys to find a completion. I think everybody associated with the NFL realizes what a good play-caller and play designer he is.
Q: Andy Reid.
A: I don’t know if I can even describe Andy Reid. I know everyone thinks, “Oh, he’s the grandfather guy, he’s this and that.” But there’s a toughness to him, of course. And it’s real. And they practice hard in training camp. They practice hard every week. So it’s not all that, “Oh, he’s just a loveable guy.” He’s a leader of men.
Q: Is he a Hall of Fame coach?
A: They might have to make a special exemption for him and [Bill] Belichick when this is over. They can’t wait five years, we got to get them in now.
Q: Chiefs-Ravens: What kind of a game are you expecting?
A: I think it’ll be pretty emotional. And what I mean by that is it can be really physical early, and I think this ... I think we got two coaches, and coaches on offense and defense for both teams — they can play one way and beat you and play you another way and beat you. I think I’d be a little surprised if they go up and down the field against each other. We’re talking about a lot of good defensive players now on both teams. [Chiefs defensive coordinator] Steve Spagnuolo is going to have many different ways to try to slow Lamar down, if it comes to that. And the same goes for the defense of Baltimore. If Patrick Mahomes just gets hot and all this, you go to find a way to cool him off. And if you don’t, you lose.
Q: Lions-49ers?
A: This game could be what a lot of fans want. It could be scoring, big plays, a lot of action on and on. Both offenses have the ability to be really good, they’re aggressive in playcalling, aggressive the way they throw the ball, they have running backs that could take a handoff and score touchdowns from anywhere on the field. I don’t think San Francisco’s defense is as good this year as it was last year, and this Lions offense, they’re not shy.
Q: John Harbaugh?
A: He knows what he wants in a football team. I reminder his father [Jack] winning the national championship at Western Kentucky. It’s ridiculous what they do as a family when you talk about the coaching. He has a great way with the players. He’s tough, but he understands where they’re from too, so he doesn’t overdo it either way. He has a great feel of how to manage the football team, the players, him and Lamar are side by side. He’s part of a great organization ... from [executive] Ozzie Newsome all the way down, they can pick players.
Q: What advice would you have for the players 60 minutes from the Super Bowl who have never been in this position?
A: Once a few plays go by, it’s just another game that you played. Will you play better in this game than other ones? Yeah, you could, because you take better care of yourself. It’s just all about the game, the practices, the meetings, you’re on high alert. You feel the energy of the meetings, and you pay attention like you never paid attention before. That’s what makes it so awesome.