Thursday, 15 November 2012 14:27

Written by Gerry Dulac

Offensive coordinator Todd Haley said today after practice that it’s not about Byron Leftwich adapting to his system and whether or not he is good fit for the way Haley likes to run his offense.

Haley said it’s more important to adapt the offense to Leftwich’s strengths.

Here’s what Haley had to say:

“It’s very important that we and he understand that he can’t go out there trying to be Ben. He needs to go out there trying to be Byron. It’s why I make the point about ‘Haley’s offense.’ It’s not my offense. We’re going to do things to cater to the strengths of our players and obviously that will be critical when you talk about the quarterback position.

“We’re going to do our best to cater to Byron’s strengths as opposed to trying to force square pegs into round holes, so to speak.

“It’s not this offense. Byron is the guy. Byron is in there. We’re going to cater to Byron’s strength, no different than we cater to Emmanuel Sanders and [Maurkice] Pouncey’s and all the guys out there.

“When I say that it’s not a system, it’s not a system. It’s the way I was brought up to coach and the way you maximize the players you have -- you better play to their strengths. So when Byron is in there, we’re going to do our best to cater to his strengths -- and he has a lot of them. Same with Charlie.”

When asked what he likes about Leftwich, Haley said, “There’s a lot to like about him. He’s a backup here, but he’s obviously shown he can start in this league and be productive. But, first and foremost, when you’re around Byron for a very short time, you understand he’s just got that ‘it’ factor. “