Declan Doyle has more important things to do than celebrate.
The Ravens' first-year offensive coordinator had such a stoic expression during Zay Flowers' 54-yard touchdown in the season opener that even CBS color analyst Logan Ryan exclaimed, "C'mon Coach, smile."
Turns out, it was insight into how Doyle operates – detailed, calculated, and aggressive.
"The mindset when you're calling the game is you try to eliminate any emotion. You eliminate anything that would cloud your judgement or what's going to happen next," Doyle said.
"I'm watching it and I'm basically thinking, 'If he gets tackled and we're at the 8-yard line, I need to have a play as fast as I possibly can to get in to 'L' [Lamar Jackson]. That's kind of the mindset. As soon as he scores, you immediately flip to foot on the gas. Everybody on the staff, we have to get our guys back right now. Don't stop, we've got to keep going. You don't smile until [the clock] hits zeros."
The Ravens hit a 49-yard pass to Flowers on Doyle's first career play-call as offensive coordinator, scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives, piled up 506 total yards, averaged 7.9 yards per play, and, most importantly, scored 41 points.
While Doyle took some time immediately after the game to chat with his brother, Dillon, a defensive assistant coach for the Indianapolis Colts who was trying to decipher Doyle's attack, he quickly turned the page.
"You celebrate real quick and you've got to get onto the next team real fast. That's the way I think you have to be," Doyle said.
"You're never trying to fight a two-front war. We're fighting an opponent on the field. The more emotional I get, the more people have to deal with me. All of our energy should be towards fighting our opponent."
Doyle Likes His Communication With Jackson During Games
Part of Doyle's decision regarding whether he would call plays from the booth far above the field or from the sideline was about how well he would be able to communicate with Jackson.
Doyle explained Thursday that he has a "direct line" to Jackson and can watch him on TV as he's talking to him.
"I see his responses and stuff like that," Doyle said. "That was great. I felt connected to him. I felt like he was able to see the game how I saw it. That's a byproduct of spending time together and that relationship only continues to grow the more time we spend together."
Doyle said Jackson "operated at a high level" in their first game together. Jackson threw for 324 yards and one touchdown and ran for another score.
After the game, Doyle told Jackson in the locker room, "It's so fun calling plays for you, dude."
Jackson responded: "It's just the beginning, Coach."
Doyle Tried to Get Rashod Bateman the Ball More
The Ravens' first offensive play of the season went to Flowers, but Doyle thought there was a good chance beforehand that it would end up in Rashod Bateman's hands.
Bateman finished the Ravens' season opener with zero catches (one was called back by a penalty), raising questions this week about his involvement in the offense.
Bateman said Wednesday that it's just one week and he isn't concerned about his stats. A day later, Doyle explained that he was trying to get Bateman the ball more, but it just didn't work out.
"He has certainly earned trust with myself, the rest of the staff. He's done a really good job," Doyle said, noting Bateman's "seriousness of his preparation."
As scripted as Doyle tries to be, he said he does want to have a feel for when certain players haven't touched the ball.
"As the game gets going, you're like, 'Man, I've got to get Bate a touch here,'" Doyle said. "He played really well away from the football. That was the thing I was most excited about. … Guys that play like that, that play the way we want to play, you want to try to feed them and get them going."
