9/21/09
Opening Statement:
“(I am) still trying to get hydrated from yesterday. That was brutal. It was tough conditions. I was very pleased with how our team handled it. I think going out early and getting acclimated helped. The guys did a very good job of hydrating before the game and I think that was critical. Plus, the ability to rotate guys, which is a by-product of having better depth, certainly helped us in those conditions. With all of the rain that we got before the game and then the sun coming out with all the moisture in the ground, it was really tough out there.”
On how important the win was for the team:
“I think anytime you win on the road, it is an important win. Especially for us in the history with being on the east coast in the one o’clock game, it was good to start out the way we did with an opening drive for a touchdown and then to sustain it through the game was big for us. Obviously, after the way we played the first week, it was something that would be good for our confidence as we go forward. It was really good for our team to get that win yesterday.”
On the offensive line’s improvement from the first game:
“Well, they answered the challenge. We got on them hard last week and it was a tough week of practice for those guys. But, they stepped up. It is a unit that I thought played well in training camp and in the preseason. They did not play that well in the first game. What you would like to see is them respond the way they did. They certainly have their hands full this week. Hopefully, we can continue to play at that level.”
On what other factors besides the improved offensive line play led to QB Kurt Warner’s record-breaking day:
“I think we have all seen Kurt (Warner) enough to know that there are some days when he is especially sharp. Yesterday, it appeared, was one of those days. Kurt, week in and week out, has been very good in the 33 games that he has started for us. I think the big thing yesterday was that we had some big plays that we made early in the game. Anquan (Boldin’s) first down on the second play of the game where he ran back in there on the quick screen for a first down really got us going. We had a couple of nice catches. A couple of the early passes were maybe a little high and guys went up and made the catches. When that happens, we kind of build on that. There is no question that Kurt was accurate with the ball. He knew where he wanted to go with it. He was very decisive and he made some good plays for us. We just built off of that.”
On if having WRs Steve Breaston and Anquan Boldin healthy played a major role in QB Kurt Warner’s success:
“I think it was more about practice last week than anything. We had a good week of practice as far as the timing of some of our routes and the planning that we had in and we executed it. That is what we didn’t do the first week. To me, if you look at anything, when we execute things the right way we have chances to win games and that is what we did yesterday.”
On if he was still angry with the offensive line:
“Somebody asked me this morning if I was happy with the way our line played and I said, ‘No, I think I’m going to stay mad at them, because it seemed like we played a little bit better when I was mad at them last week.’ I think we will try to keep that same mentality going.”
On how he feels about the evolving running game:
“If we didn’t have the fumbles I would feel really good about our running as far as some of the plays we have made. The thing that I like is that we had some plus 10, plus 20 yard runs, which is not something that has happened a lot in the two years previous to this. I really liked the fact that we had a better balance of runs yesterday. We had 32 passes to 28 runs which to me is pretty good. The thing that I like is that we are getting some pretty good chunks in the running game. That really sets up the play action. It helps us in the protections. I have been really pleased with the way that Tim Hightower has been running the ball. Obviously, if we can get Beanie (Wells) to hang onto the ball, we have got a very good mix there. LaRod (Stephens-Howling) has done some things for us as has Jason Wright. We have a good little stable of backs there that are very versatile. I think that has helped us.”
On if he feels that RB Beanie Wells is more susceptible to fumbling the ball when he runs inside or outside:
“Well, he had both yesterday. He had one inside down on the goal-line and one where he broke it outside in the other part of the field. I think it is really about squeezing the ball. We have been on him about ball security every day in practice. Believe it or not, he has actually gotten better. When you are getting into the games, the speed of the games, especially for a young a player, he doesn’t understand what is going on. Now, there were a lot of fumbles in that game yesterday. I don’t know if some of it was in part a function of the weather or guys getting tired. When that happens, they have a tendency to wave the ball outside a little bit. That has been a problem with Beanie (Wells), not carrying the ball tight enough in his grip. I think we all remember (former Giants running back) Tiki Barber talking about high and tight. One of the things he did to reduce his propensity for putting the ball on the ground was to keep it high and tight. That is a little about what we are talking about with Beanie.”
On if RB Beanie Wells will continue to carry a football around all week, even after practice:
“I believe so, yes. Since it is my call, I would have to say yes.”
On if the Jaguars comeback in the second half was a result of fatigue in a hot and humid climate:
“I think more of it was dropped passes on offense. We had opportunities to keep drives going and keep our defense off the field. A lot of times in those situations, you are playing to not give up the big play early so you can make them use time off the clock. Being down four touchdowns, as we have seen, is a hard road to comeback from. I think we had a couple of passes that we could have caught offensively that would have made the difference in the game. They would have given us two first downs which would have allowed us to take more time off the clock. It wouldn’t have been an issue. I’m not so much concerned about what happened with our defense, even though I can’t accept the fact that we let them score two touchdowns. We should have been able to keep them from scoring the touchdowns, but I think that part of the onus has to go on the offense too because in those situations, we have to get the first downs when we have the opportunity to make plays. It wasn’t as if they stopped us on the run or we didn’t get anything going. We had opportunities to make first downs with catches that should have been made. We didn’t do that.”
On what he thought of QB Matt Leinart’s performance:
“First of all, he was very poised. He understood what we were trying to do. He was calm in the pocket. I think the two balls that could have been caught, if he has those, now he is five-for-six, he has moved the offense, and everyone feels good about that. I think from the standpoint of being able to manage our offense, having confidence with having him in there, I feel much better about it than I ever have because he had tremendous amount of poise and he was very excited to get in there and play. It was actually very good that he got in a quarter of play in a regular season game. Would I have liked for it to have been better? Sure. Could two of those throws have been a little better? Yeah, but these are NFL guys and they have to make those catches too.”
On if, in hindsight, he would have left QB Kurt Warner in the game longer:
“Actually, yesterday there were two plays in the game. The first one was when he had the corner blitz and he got hit. He got a little bit of a stinger when that happened, but he recovered. Then, on the one fumble, on the Beanie Wells’ fumble, when Anthony Becht touched him down and (Rashean) Mathis picked it up and ran it back, Kurt (Warner) was out in front and trying to tackle. He got pushed to the ground and landed on his shoulder. His shoulder was a little sore. At that point in the third quarter, I didn’t want him to have to suffer any effects this week of dealing with a sore shoulder, so that is why I took him out. That is really what it was about, to protect him and to hopefully put him in the best position to practice this week and not have any lingering effects from it.”
On how QB Kurt Warner is feeling today after hurting his shoulder on Sunday:
“I haven’t seen him today. But, on the airplane going home yesterday, he said he felt okay.”
On why QB Kurt Warner was warming up on the sideline in the fourth quarter after being taken out in the third quarter:
“Just in case. That was just in case. I wanted him to test it out and see how it felt. He obviously felt okay. I think at that point, when you are up four touchdowns, it was more about being smart and giving Matt (Leinart) a chance to play.”
On if he is second-guessing his decision to play reserve players on defense during much of the second half:
“No. I think those guys had to play. In that kind of weather, if you are out there for extended plays, which our defense was at times, especially in that second quarter where they had that drive and then they blocked the field goal and went right back out there, especially after running 83 yards trying to block for Antrel (Rolle), that will wear you out. I think you have to have (reserves out there) and you have to be able to play. Would I have liked to have seen Rashad (Johnson) play the ball better at the end? Absolutely. That is something we can learn from.”
On if there is truth to the idea that a player who has a reputation for fumbling the ball will get attacked differently by defenses:
“I hate to reference (former Giants running back) Tiki Barber again, but look at that. Tiki was a guy who put the ball on the ground a lot and then he changed the way he carried the ball and then he never put the ball on the ground. I don’t really buy into that as much. We are aware of what Beanie (Wells) was doing carrying the football that he needs to improve. If he does that, I don’t think he will put the ball on the ground.”
On if he sees a difference in his defense in regards to stopping the run from last year to this year:
“Even pass defenses were a lot closer on balls in the defensive secondary with chances. Bryant McFadden had four or five pass breakups yesterday. Obviously, we had some opportunities to get the ball. Dominique (Rodgers-Cromartie) had one. Probably on that fourth down and ten, he had chance to get the ball there. I think what I saw yesterday was better depth that can play and get a rotation. I saw guys getting up off the ground and chasing plays yesterday. In that type of weather conditions, to see Alan Branch, Gabe Watson, Bryan Robinson, and those guys working hard. To me that is a sign that we are getting the team defensive concept down. If you look at the number of guys that had plays yesterday, whether it was Clark Haggans or Calais (Campbell) on his sacks or Bertrand Berry and Karlos (Dansby) and Adrian (Wilson). You can name a whole bunch of guys who made plays in the game. That to me is a sign that we are playing better team defense. Obviously the sack production is a lot better and keeping them out of the end-zone. Let’s look at the first two possessions that (the Jaguars) had. (The defense) held them to a field goal in the first one and forced them, after we had the turnover, to kick the second one which we blocked and returned for the touchdown. That to me is improvement.”
On who he would like to see returning punts:
“I am partial to Steve (Breaston) because Steve has had success with us. If you look at what we did in the first game, we averaged 11 yards a punt return which put us in the top-five or top-10 in the league in punt returns. That is not a place we have been in the past two years. To me, going in after the San Francisco game I felt very good about our punt return unit with Antrel (Rolle) back there because he was productive. Obviously, that perception has changed a little bit because of the decision making. It wasn’t physical as much as it was the decision making. That is something with a guy who hasn’t done it consistently. To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t know.”
On if Antrel Rolle’s hurt leg had any effect on his struggles returning punts:
“I have no doubt that affected him as far as being able to go get the ball. From everything I have seen from him in the preseason and in practice and even in the first game about being able to field those balls and not being afraid to take chances, which is tough. Running up to catch a punt is probably one of the hardest things anybody has to do, especially with those guys screaming down the field. To me, I have no doubt that affected him. The only thing you worry about now is his confidence because of that yesterday. Antrel (Rolle) is a confident young man, so I don’t anticipate that being an issue.”
On if he would try putting LaRod Stephens-Howling back to return punts:
“He has been working back there. Once again, he is a guy who has even less experience doing it. Especially with the fact that he is a rookie, that is not something you would do unless it was a necessity.”
On if it was the design of the offense to distribute the ball to nine different players:
“I think that is the quarterback operating. We have a number of different things he has to read out and go through his progressions and he did that. When we are operating, that is generally what happens. A lot people say, ‘why can’t you get the ball to this guy?’ The way we are set up is the quarterback has reads and he is going to go based on what the defense is giving us. Kurt (Warner) is one of the best in the league at doing that. If you see totals like you saw yesterday where the ball is spread out and we are efficient, then we are operating pretty well as an offense.”
On what he would say about DE Calais Campbell’s performance:
“Tackle. That is what I would say. Especially on sacks. I don’t know how many sacks he would have right now if he could get guys down. As far as filling a role of which we lost a pretty good player in Antonio (Smith), I think Calais (Campbell) is doing a very good job. He is a young player who will continue to get better as he progresses, but he has an ability to (make plays). Just look at yesterday. He had a chance to have a sack right down there inside the five-yard-line. He blocked a field goal. He has made significant contributions. I am excited about that as a young player we drafted and have expectations for who had to step in. I am very pleased with what he is doing and as he improves.”
On how his preparation for next week’s game changes because their opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, are playing tonight on Monday Night Football:
“It is a little bit more difficult because we don’t have as much information on them. They have only played one regular season game. Let’s just take Jacksonville for an example. They had only had one regular season game. We didn’t know if we were going to see a three-four defense or a four-three because they had played both. Now, Indianapolis has a different defensive coordinator. It used to be they always played the Tampa-two. That is what they were famous for. In the little bit of tape that I have seen on them so far that has changed. They play a little different of a defensive scheme. The question is, is that what they are doing or is that not what they are doing. I guess tonight, we will see. We will have an opportunity to see. It is a little bit more difficult because usually, in this type of situation, you have four games on an opponent. You have an idea. You just kind of double-check it against what they did on a Monday night game. The information that we get from the game tonight will be more valuable to us as far as game planning. It does change it a little bit. We would already have three games broken down. If it was a Monday night game, we would just be using that as extra information. Okay, they did this. Okay, they do that. We would check it out. We only have one regular season game with this team. Just knowing what we did defensively in the preseason, we are a completely different defense in the regular season. Those are the kinds of things you think about when you face a team that you are not that familiar with that has a different coordinator that may be doing different things.”
On if teams are defending the Cardinals’ offense different after the team’s success in last year’s playoffs:
“What happens is like what happened in the first game against San Francisco. You end up throwing to the back or you end up throwing to a number of different receivers. (The Jaguars’) corner, who is an outstanding player, (Rashean) Mathis said after the game yesterday, ‘We weren’t going to give up any deep balls. We weren’t going to let anybody get behind us.’ That, to me, is no doubt a function of some of the big plays in the playoffs where we got behind guys or made the plays down the field. What is going to happen, we are going to have to continue to take the shorter plays or the check downs and move the ball. The one thing that we did yesterday is we made big plays on first and second downs and we moved the chains. There were a lot of times that we got the first down on second down which didn’t put us in third down a lot. We have to get better in our third down conversions because we weren’t great on it yesterday. Because we were so efficient on first and second down, that was why we were able to move the ball and sustain drives. That, to me, is a function of being smart and taking what is given to us instead of trying to force the ball downfield.”
On if he is concerned about having to try to force the ball to WR Larry Fitzgerald to make him happy:
“Not after what I saw from him yesterday in the latter part of the game, being excited about winning. The one thing that I am most impressed about Larry (Fitzgerald), we all know he is a great player and the strides he made last year as a player, but the leadership strides that he has made this year. First of all, he was elected a captain by his teammates, which is a pretty significant step and then the way he handles himself on the field as a leader now. So no, I am not concerned about that. But make no mistake about it, he is a good player. We want to get him the ball. He will tell you that, but it is never done in a way that is anything other than kind of kidding around.”
On if he has had a conversation with K Neil Rackers about him making tackles on special teams:
“I try to have as few conversations with Neil (Rackers) as I possibly can. When you are dealing with the guys who kick the ball like Neil does, and he has been in a very good place lately, I don’t want to get him out of it. We did have a conversation about sticking his head in there sometimes because he has been kicking the ball really well for us, so you would hate to lose him. Neil is a physical football player who sees himself as a cover guy. I have to say this; he has made some huge plays for us.”
On K Neil Rackers being right in the middle of special teams tackles:
“Most of the time he is unblocked. So it is easier to run down the field knowing really that nobody is coming to block you. Maybe that is a little bit different. I think Neil (Rackers) is a very strong minded person. He is a very competitive person. He has a lot of pride in the kickoff coverage unit. He wants them to be one of the best in the NFL. He recognizes that his contributions to that can help make us that way. To me, you can look at it however you want. To me, that is an unselfish part of Neil. He is willing to sacrifice his body to help his team. Even though sometimes we have to be a little bit smarter in those situations, it is hard to fault Neil for that.”
On if he is getting more comfortable with the new coaching setup on offense and calling the plays on offense:
“It has been comfortable. It is good to have a little bit of success doing it that way and getting back in the flow. Like I said earlier, there were times in the preseason when I felt we were operating pretty well. We came out in the Pittsburgh game with the first unit and moved the ball on a very good defense. During the preseason games, up until the last one and a little bit of the Green Bay game, I felt like we were operating well. Last week obviously was a disappointment. There were a number of factors that led to that. As far as the communication goes with how we are doing things, we feel very good about it and I think the players do as well.”
On if there is anything he has found particularly challenging about calling the plays on offense:
“It is still early. It is always exciting to have the opportunity to call plays in this league. That to me is fun and is a bonus. We have a good football team and we have a number of good football players. That makes it a lot easier as well, especially when they play the way they did yesterday. I don’t necessarily know if there is anything harder about juggling it. It is exciting for me so I enjoy it.”
On how he feels about Kurt Warner being considered over the hill one week and youthful in the next:
“I tell you what, that is life in the NFL. One of the things that comes with being one of the most popular sports is that you have people interested in it. I am just glad that we have people interested in the Arizona Cardinals. Hopefully, we can continue to play well so it will be positive interest.”
On if he is surprised that San Francisco beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday:
“No. I wasn’t surprised. They played a good game against us. They were a physical football team. They are playing good ball. Fortunately for us, we will get a chance to play them again.”
miércoles, 23 de septiembre de 2009
martes, 22 de septiembre de 2009
WEEK 3 - HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK - Ingles
Week 3, 2009, 09/21/2009
BILL BELICHICK
Well, I don’t think a lot of things have changed since we talked yesterday afternoon. Just overall we need to do a lot of things better than we did yesterday down in Giants Stadium: coaching, playing, offense, defense, special teams, big guys, skilled guys, you name it. [There are] too many little things that need to be better. [We are] just not doing things as well as we need to do them; in a close division game like that, that ends up being the difference. They did them better than we did and I think the results speak for themselves.
What did you see from Joey Galloway?
BILL BELICHICK
I think overall in the passing game we’ve got to do a better job of throwing the ball, getting open, catching it, protecting and all the things that are involved in the passing game that includes everybody. We made some plays, but we didn’t make enough of them. I’d say the same thing about Joey and all the rest of the receivers and everybody involved. Really, you can say the same thing about everybody on that team. Some things were good. Some things could have been better. Overall, we need to get better. There’s no other way to put it.
Is it normal to expect some of that adjustment when you add two new guys to the team like Julian Edelman and Joey Galloway?
BILL BELICHICK
Sure. There are always things to work on, but we need to do them better. There’re no excuses. We just need to do a better job. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to be able to perform better in games like that. We’re going to go back to work and that’s what we’re going to do.
What went into the decision of playing five defensive backs?
BILL BELICHICK
We thought that was the best way to match up against them. We used a combination of different defensive personnel groups over the course of the game, so some of that changed by situation and personnel groups they had on the field and things like that.
Is it nice to have a player like Shawn Springs who can play defensive back and safety?
BILL BELICHICK
Yeah, we have a number of versatile players on defense that can do different things. We’ll try to utilize them in the overall scheme and certainly Shawn is a smart guy. He can do a lot of different things; he has a good skill set.
Did you like what he did at safety?
BILL BELICHICK
Again, it’s the same thing for every guy you want to ask about, some good things. We gave up 16 points – that wasn’t the worst defensive effort we’ve ever had around here, but it wasn’t good enough, and it needs to be better, and that goes for everybody who played and coached in the game. Some things were OK. Some things were good. Some things weren’t good [and] need to be better. Was it terrible? No. Was it good enough? No. So that’s where it is.
In general, are you happy with the tactic of using the grease board, having the plays on the arm? Was it just a lack of execution yesterday?
BILL BELICHICK
Yeah. I don’t think that was a problem. No, I don’t think that was a problem.
How important is it after a loss to not get too low on the guys?
BILL BELICHICK
Whenever you win, there’re things that aren’t good. Whenever you lose, there are things that are good. Sometimes it’s within a play. You could have a bad play and there could still be good things within that play. We try to break that down and point those things out, whatever they are – good or bad. [We] make our corrections, win or lose, good play or bad play, and try to keep working with the idea of getting, back and improving things that we didn’t do right and reinforcing the things that we did do. That’s a part of it every week. It shouldn’t change whether we win, or lose, or have a good play, or have a bad play. We try to do the same thing. Everything’s important.
What about inside the red area yesterday? Was there one thing you can say went wrong?
BILL BELICHICK
No. I don’t think it was one thing. I think it was a combination of things.
What it related to being that down and distance?
BILL BELICHICK
No. I think that transcended the whole game. There were things during the game; sometimes it was good, sometimes it was OK, sometimes it wasn’t very good. That happened on all downs. That happened on all field position. It happened in all three phases of the game. It just wasn’t consistent enough. Overall, it just wasn’t good enough.
Are you concerned with the fact that Tom Brady has thrown the ball over 100 times in two games?
BILL BELICHICK
Well, I think the most important thing is that we function efficiently, move the ball, get in the end zone and keep them out. That’s what we’re going to try to do. Whatever that entails, we’ll do.
Were you OK with the running/pass splits or would you like to see it more balanced?
BILL BELICHICK
I’d like to score more points. That’s what the offense is out there for – to score points. If that’s throwing the ball seven or eight times a game, if we score a lot of points, that’s good. If it’s running the ball 70 times a game and we score a lot of points, that’d be fine with me, too. If it’s some combination in the middle and we score a lot of points, that’d be good. But don’t turn the ball over. However we can put points up on the board when the offensive unit’s on the field, that’s what our goal is, whether those are runs, or pass or whatever they are. If points are scored, then we’re doing our job. If they’re not, then that’s not what good offense is.
What did you see missing in the red zone offense?
BILL BELICHICK
We just didn’t do a good enough job: coaching, playing, running, passing, protecting, everything. It just wasn’t good enough.
What was your assessment of Darrelle Revis?
BILL BELICHICK
He’s a good player.
With all the new faces on defense and now with Jerod Mayo out for a little bit, has communication been a problem?
BILL BELICHICK
I would say it’s probably better than it was last year, that wouldn’t take much. Is it as good as it needs to be? No. There’s always room for improvement. But I would say it’s definitely improved over last year, not that that was a real high bar.
BILL BELICHICK
Well, I don’t think a lot of things have changed since we talked yesterday afternoon. Just overall we need to do a lot of things better than we did yesterday down in Giants Stadium: coaching, playing, offense, defense, special teams, big guys, skilled guys, you name it. [There are] too many little things that need to be better. [We are] just not doing things as well as we need to do them; in a close division game like that, that ends up being the difference. They did them better than we did and I think the results speak for themselves.
What did you see from Joey Galloway?
BILL BELICHICK
I think overall in the passing game we’ve got to do a better job of throwing the ball, getting open, catching it, protecting and all the things that are involved in the passing game that includes everybody. We made some plays, but we didn’t make enough of them. I’d say the same thing about Joey and all the rest of the receivers and everybody involved. Really, you can say the same thing about everybody on that team. Some things were good. Some things could have been better. Overall, we need to get better. There’s no other way to put it.
Is it normal to expect some of that adjustment when you add two new guys to the team like Julian Edelman and Joey Galloway?
BILL BELICHICK
Sure. There are always things to work on, but we need to do them better. There’re no excuses. We just need to do a better job. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to be able to perform better in games like that. We’re going to go back to work and that’s what we’re going to do.
What went into the decision of playing five defensive backs?
BILL BELICHICK
We thought that was the best way to match up against them. We used a combination of different defensive personnel groups over the course of the game, so some of that changed by situation and personnel groups they had on the field and things like that.
Is it nice to have a player like Shawn Springs who can play defensive back and safety?
BILL BELICHICK
Yeah, we have a number of versatile players on defense that can do different things. We’ll try to utilize them in the overall scheme and certainly Shawn is a smart guy. He can do a lot of different things; he has a good skill set.
Did you like what he did at safety?
BILL BELICHICK
Again, it’s the same thing for every guy you want to ask about, some good things. We gave up 16 points – that wasn’t the worst defensive effort we’ve ever had around here, but it wasn’t good enough, and it needs to be better, and that goes for everybody who played and coached in the game. Some things were OK. Some things were good. Some things weren’t good [and] need to be better. Was it terrible? No. Was it good enough? No. So that’s where it is.
In general, are you happy with the tactic of using the grease board, having the plays on the arm? Was it just a lack of execution yesterday?
BILL BELICHICK
Yeah. I don’t think that was a problem. No, I don’t think that was a problem.
How important is it after a loss to not get too low on the guys?
BILL BELICHICK
Whenever you win, there’re things that aren’t good. Whenever you lose, there are things that are good. Sometimes it’s within a play. You could have a bad play and there could still be good things within that play. We try to break that down and point those things out, whatever they are – good or bad. [We] make our corrections, win or lose, good play or bad play, and try to keep working with the idea of getting, back and improving things that we didn’t do right and reinforcing the things that we did do. That’s a part of it every week. It shouldn’t change whether we win, or lose, or have a good play, or have a bad play. We try to do the same thing. Everything’s important.
What about inside the red area yesterday? Was there one thing you can say went wrong?
BILL BELICHICK
No. I don’t think it was one thing. I think it was a combination of things.
What it related to being that down and distance?
BILL BELICHICK
No. I think that transcended the whole game. There were things during the game; sometimes it was good, sometimes it was OK, sometimes it wasn’t very good. That happened on all downs. That happened on all field position. It happened in all three phases of the game. It just wasn’t consistent enough. Overall, it just wasn’t good enough.
Are you concerned with the fact that Tom Brady has thrown the ball over 100 times in two games?
BILL BELICHICK
Well, I think the most important thing is that we function efficiently, move the ball, get in the end zone and keep them out. That’s what we’re going to try to do. Whatever that entails, we’ll do.
Were you OK with the running/pass splits or would you like to see it more balanced?
BILL BELICHICK
I’d like to score more points. That’s what the offense is out there for – to score points. If that’s throwing the ball seven or eight times a game, if we score a lot of points, that’s good. If it’s running the ball 70 times a game and we score a lot of points, that’d be fine with me, too. If it’s some combination in the middle and we score a lot of points, that’d be good. But don’t turn the ball over. However we can put points up on the board when the offensive unit’s on the field, that’s what our goal is, whether those are runs, or pass or whatever they are. If points are scored, then we’re doing our job. If they’re not, then that’s not what good offense is.
What did you see missing in the red zone offense?
BILL BELICHICK
We just didn’t do a good enough job: coaching, playing, running, passing, protecting, everything. It just wasn’t good enough.
What was your assessment of Darrelle Revis?
BILL BELICHICK
He’s a good player.
With all the new faces on defense and now with Jerod Mayo out for a little bit, has communication been a problem?
BILL BELICHICK
I would say it’s probably better than it was last year, that wouldn’t take much. Is it as good as it needs to be? No. There’s always room for improvement. But I would say it’s definitely improved over last year, not that that was a real high bar.
viernes, 18 de septiembre de 2009
WEEK 2 - Eagles Quarterback Kevin Kolb -Ingles
9-16-09
On getting reps with the ones:
“It felt great. That’s the first time in a long time I’ve gotten to do that. I did it once last year, but just the thought of coming back tomorrow and getting more comfortable with everybody, it’s a good feeling. You get to run the huddle the way you want to and, all of those things that have been running through my head for two years, trying not to change too much because you want the same continuity, but you want put your own little twist on things. We’re looking forward to it. It was a great feeling.”
On adding his own twists to the offense:
“Just tempo and using the cadence a certain way, the guys getting used to the way that you call plays—maybe it’s faster or slower—everything is different. The guys did a great job of receiving it today as far as it probably being a little bit different and that’s just a tribute to the type of guys we have and the type of guys [head coach] Andy [Reid] always brings in.”
On whether cadence will be the biggest factor in regard to the offensive line adjusting to him as a quarterback:
“Yeah, I mean obviously as you guy know it’s an issue already because we’ve had so many false starts in the preseason and this last game. So without me being thrown in the fire it was still an issue and obviously it increases whenever I come in there. That’s a point of emphasis this week. We’ll get it hashed out though, it won’t be a problem and we’ll be at home so noise probably won’t be a problem, and we can get rolling and keep those drives going.”
On getting his game sharp this week:
“You try to duplicate it in the scout team but it’s hard because you aren’t getting a chance to set your feet a lot of the times with the defensive line rush. But you’d be surprised at how fast it comes back. It’s just like second nature. Luckily this happened when it wasn’t too far away from training camp so it was still fresh in my mind. If this comes in week ten, week eleven it might be midway through Thursday till I feel comfortable. But today I felt really comfortable, never thought about my feet, didn’t have to give it an extra thought, that’s what you want. You want to just focus on the defense and obviously reading it out and making the play.”
On whether he is worried that this game will define his career up to this point:
“No not at all. That’s just the situation I’m dealt. I’ve gotten opportunities and haven’t done the best job with them. No excuses. If I’d come out and had five touchdowns and zero interceptions and zero fumbles this wouldn’t be an issue. But, because I haven’t had much success it’s totally fair and I look forward to the challenge.”
On whether he thinks their defense will blitz a lot:
“I would assume that. They’ve done that to us in the past and they did that last week against [Lions QB] Matthew Stafford. I’m sure they’ll treat me pretty much the same as him because I haven’t had a lot of experience. We assume I’ll get a lot of pressure and get the ball out quick. We have plenty of playmakers out there that can make plays one on one, so we look forward to that challenge.”
On whether the talent on this team makes him more comfortable in feeling that he doesn’t have to do it all by himself:
“Absolutely, I think I told you guys before that that was one of the problems with Baltimore last year, not to bring it up again. I just pressed too much, tried to show everybody right now, hey I’m ready. You just press and you can’t press as a quarterback. In the forefront of my mind is just relax, play smooth, let the guys that are out there make the plays and like you said we have plenty of athletes to do it.”
On the off the field part of his job being different for him this week:
“Somewhat. Film study, we do a lot anyways so it’s not that much different. This media part is obviously increased a little bit. Besides that, when I go home I do my best to block it out, same routine. Since I’ve been here I’ve heard [head coach] Andy [Reid] talk about it and some other guys [say] going to the Super Bowl and when things get rough, watch how guys start to change things. So, I’ve really thought about that and I said ‘okay if I ever get in that situation I’m just going to keep everything the same, never change anything’ because that’s what your body is used to, that’s what your guys are used to. That’s what I’m going to try to do this week. Just keep it the same, make sure I prepare plenty, which I have and I will, and we’ll be ready to rock.”
On whether he is leaning on QB Jeff Garcia and QB Michael Vick leading up to this game:
“I’ve leaned on them a lot already. Jeff and I have talked just in the short time that he has been here quite a bit. That’s amazing really. [Quarterbacks Coach] James [Urban] and I were talking about that last night, the 12 Pro Bowls with those three guys [including McNabb] and you just never think you’re going to be in the same room with all three of them. So, that’s a blessing and I’m glad I’m the guy that’s in there.”
On whether he thought he would get his chance to play in Philadelphia:
“I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t really think too far into the future, think too far in the past, I try to live in the here and now. I didn’t set those plans because if you set those plans, especially in this league, they are going to change on you. I’m just rolling with the punches. I’m glad if it happens. I’m glad if I get to start, I’m glad to be there and I look forward to leading our team to victory. If it would have been my rookie year, if it’s this year, whatever, I’m just glad it’s finally here and I’m getting a shot.”
On what he thinks about the team signing QB [Jeff] Garcia:
“We had to have a backup. We had to have a guy that was experienced in this offense. [QB] A.J. [Feeley] went to Carolina, Jeff [was] still out there, so they brought Jeff in. That’s the way I looked at it.”
On the advice that he has received from the veteran quarterbacks:
“Jeff, he’s good about, like I talked about before, tempo, how to run a huddle. Jeff has all the intangibles and when you are stepping in behind a guy like [QB] Donovan [McNabb] you have to have all of those intangibles. Donovan has always helped me out with you guys and helped me out with the team and just the way he sees it. He never forces his opinion on anybody. He just kind of says, ‘hey look, this is the way I look at it. Do what you feel comfortable [doing].’ And [QB Michael] Vick is kind of a laid back guy. He just kind of says, ‘hey don’t let it get to you, just keep rolling with it.’ They all have their own little piece of advice.”
On what New Orleans does defensively:
“Well they run a lot of Cover 2, when they bring a blitz they leave their corners on islands and some other guys in some man situations, which we like, but they do a good job of – their stuff isn’t extremely difficult or extremely complex it’s just what they do, they do great. They play fast and I’m going to have to get the ball out quick. Like I said, they are going to bring some blitzes on us. I’m sure they are going to bring some we haven’t seen, we’ll just adjust and let our guys go make some plays and hopefully put a lot of points on the board because we know we’re going to have to.
On whether he has prepared himself for the impatient Philly fans:
“Yeah definitely, and I think Andy said it best the other day. ‘You’d be surprised how much you don’t hear when you are on the field.’ The preseason game I got booed and I didn’t even know it. My dad told me after the game and I was like, ‘wow.’ That’s just the way it goes and you do have to prepare yourself for that some but I’ve done that and hopefully I’ll [start] 2-for-2 [completing passes] and they’ll be the other way.”
On what running the huddle entails:
“[You] definitely [have to] inject your personality. Everybody does it a little bit differently. Some guys want the relaxed mode. They want everybody to feel calm. I’m the kind of guy who – I want to get the play in and boom get the huddle sharp, get it called and let’s run it to the line and let’s get set because I want the defense thinking and not reacting. That’s why I like shifts and motions and those style of things because I want them out of their comfort zone. Like I said before, the Saints are very good at staying in their comfort zone and playing fast. You get those guys thinking and not reacting and all of a sudden things slow down a little bit on their side of the ball and we get a big play.”
On what has caused the number of sacks that he’s taken in the past:
“Probably the one against Detroit was me not just having that clock in my head and I can’t really remember those too well. The other day when [Carolina DE] Julius [Peppers] got me, I should have just kept running and gotten out [of bounds]. I tried to turn back and make a play in the ball and didn’t feel him. Hopefully the more comfortable you get the more you’ll feel guys like that in your peripherals. [It was] just a bad play on my part. The other one they kind of gloved us a little bit. They had it covered pretty well and [in a] fourth down situation you just have to get the ball out. Both of them were my fault, no doubt about it, but I’ll fix that and we are working on that right now. We’ll take the least amount of sacks as possible because we know how that kills a drive.”
On how this compares to his first college start:
“It’s funny you say that because I think back to that. To be honest, I was a lot more nervous in that college start because I came in there right away and I was a freshman. But, you can learn off of things like that. I remember when I came in I did the same thing, I didn’t try to make a big play and we had a lot of athletes then, and I got a couple of completions and all of a sudden the game started to slow down for me. So, I’ll look to that as comfort when I get out there, just like a golf shot, you don’t go out there and hit your driver the first time, you hit the pitching wedge and get comfortable and then work your way through the bag.”
On whom his first college start was against:
“Rice.”
On getting reps with the ones:
“It felt great. That’s the first time in a long time I’ve gotten to do that. I did it once last year, but just the thought of coming back tomorrow and getting more comfortable with everybody, it’s a good feeling. You get to run the huddle the way you want to and, all of those things that have been running through my head for two years, trying not to change too much because you want the same continuity, but you want put your own little twist on things. We’re looking forward to it. It was a great feeling.”
On adding his own twists to the offense:
“Just tempo and using the cadence a certain way, the guys getting used to the way that you call plays—maybe it’s faster or slower—everything is different. The guys did a great job of receiving it today as far as it probably being a little bit different and that’s just a tribute to the type of guys we have and the type of guys [head coach] Andy [Reid] always brings in.”
On whether cadence will be the biggest factor in regard to the offensive line adjusting to him as a quarterback:
“Yeah, I mean obviously as you guy know it’s an issue already because we’ve had so many false starts in the preseason and this last game. So without me being thrown in the fire it was still an issue and obviously it increases whenever I come in there. That’s a point of emphasis this week. We’ll get it hashed out though, it won’t be a problem and we’ll be at home so noise probably won’t be a problem, and we can get rolling and keep those drives going.”
On getting his game sharp this week:
“You try to duplicate it in the scout team but it’s hard because you aren’t getting a chance to set your feet a lot of the times with the defensive line rush. But you’d be surprised at how fast it comes back. It’s just like second nature. Luckily this happened when it wasn’t too far away from training camp so it was still fresh in my mind. If this comes in week ten, week eleven it might be midway through Thursday till I feel comfortable. But today I felt really comfortable, never thought about my feet, didn’t have to give it an extra thought, that’s what you want. You want to just focus on the defense and obviously reading it out and making the play.”
On whether he is worried that this game will define his career up to this point:
“No not at all. That’s just the situation I’m dealt. I’ve gotten opportunities and haven’t done the best job with them. No excuses. If I’d come out and had five touchdowns and zero interceptions and zero fumbles this wouldn’t be an issue. But, because I haven’t had much success it’s totally fair and I look forward to the challenge.”
On whether he thinks their defense will blitz a lot:
“I would assume that. They’ve done that to us in the past and they did that last week against [Lions QB] Matthew Stafford. I’m sure they’ll treat me pretty much the same as him because I haven’t had a lot of experience. We assume I’ll get a lot of pressure and get the ball out quick. We have plenty of playmakers out there that can make plays one on one, so we look forward to that challenge.”
On whether the talent on this team makes him more comfortable in feeling that he doesn’t have to do it all by himself:
“Absolutely, I think I told you guys before that that was one of the problems with Baltimore last year, not to bring it up again. I just pressed too much, tried to show everybody right now, hey I’m ready. You just press and you can’t press as a quarterback. In the forefront of my mind is just relax, play smooth, let the guys that are out there make the plays and like you said we have plenty of athletes to do it.”
On the off the field part of his job being different for him this week:
“Somewhat. Film study, we do a lot anyways so it’s not that much different. This media part is obviously increased a little bit. Besides that, when I go home I do my best to block it out, same routine. Since I’ve been here I’ve heard [head coach] Andy [Reid] talk about it and some other guys [say] going to the Super Bowl and when things get rough, watch how guys start to change things. So, I’ve really thought about that and I said ‘okay if I ever get in that situation I’m just going to keep everything the same, never change anything’ because that’s what your body is used to, that’s what your guys are used to. That’s what I’m going to try to do this week. Just keep it the same, make sure I prepare plenty, which I have and I will, and we’ll be ready to rock.”
On whether he is leaning on QB Jeff Garcia and QB Michael Vick leading up to this game:
“I’ve leaned on them a lot already. Jeff and I have talked just in the short time that he has been here quite a bit. That’s amazing really. [Quarterbacks Coach] James [Urban] and I were talking about that last night, the 12 Pro Bowls with those three guys [including McNabb] and you just never think you’re going to be in the same room with all three of them. So, that’s a blessing and I’m glad I’m the guy that’s in there.”
On whether he thought he would get his chance to play in Philadelphia:
“I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t really think too far into the future, think too far in the past, I try to live in the here and now. I didn’t set those plans because if you set those plans, especially in this league, they are going to change on you. I’m just rolling with the punches. I’m glad if it happens. I’m glad if I get to start, I’m glad to be there and I look forward to leading our team to victory. If it would have been my rookie year, if it’s this year, whatever, I’m just glad it’s finally here and I’m getting a shot.”
On what he thinks about the team signing QB [Jeff] Garcia:
“We had to have a backup. We had to have a guy that was experienced in this offense. [QB] A.J. [Feeley] went to Carolina, Jeff [was] still out there, so they brought Jeff in. That’s the way I looked at it.”
On the advice that he has received from the veteran quarterbacks:
“Jeff, he’s good about, like I talked about before, tempo, how to run a huddle. Jeff has all the intangibles and when you are stepping in behind a guy like [QB] Donovan [McNabb] you have to have all of those intangibles. Donovan has always helped me out with you guys and helped me out with the team and just the way he sees it. He never forces his opinion on anybody. He just kind of says, ‘hey look, this is the way I look at it. Do what you feel comfortable [doing].’ And [QB Michael] Vick is kind of a laid back guy. He just kind of says, ‘hey don’t let it get to you, just keep rolling with it.’ They all have their own little piece of advice.”
On what New Orleans does defensively:
“Well they run a lot of Cover 2, when they bring a blitz they leave their corners on islands and some other guys in some man situations, which we like, but they do a good job of – their stuff isn’t extremely difficult or extremely complex it’s just what they do, they do great. They play fast and I’m going to have to get the ball out quick. Like I said, they are going to bring some blitzes on us. I’m sure they are going to bring some we haven’t seen, we’ll just adjust and let our guys go make some plays and hopefully put a lot of points on the board because we know we’re going to have to.
On whether he has prepared himself for the impatient Philly fans:
“Yeah definitely, and I think Andy said it best the other day. ‘You’d be surprised how much you don’t hear when you are on the field.’ The preseason game I got booed and I didn’t even know it. My dad told me after the game and I was like, ‘wow.’ That’s just the way it goes and you do have to prepare yourself for that some but I’ve done that and hopefully I’ll [start] 2-for-2 [completing passes] and they’ll be the other way.”
On what running the huddle entails:
“[You] definitely [have to] inject your personality. Everybody does it a little bit differently. Some guys want the relaxed mode. They want everybody to feel calm. I’m the kind of guy who – I want to get the play in and boom get the huddle sharp, get it called and let’s run it to the line and let’s get set because I want the defense thinking and not reacting. That’s why I like shifts and motions and those style of things because I want them out of their comfort zone. Like I said before, the Saints are very good at staying in their comfort zone and playing fast. You get those guys thinking and not reacting and all of a sudden things slow down a little bit on their side of the ball and we get a big play.”
On what has caused the number of sacks that he’s taken in the past:
“Probably the one against Detroit was me not just having that clock in my head and I can’t really remember those too well. The other day when [Carolina DE] Julius [Peppers] got me, I should have just kept running and gotten out [of bounds]. I tried to turn back and make a play in the ball and didn’t feel him. Hopefully the more comfortable you get the more you’ll feel guys like that in your peripherals. [It was] just a bad play on my part. The other one they kind of gloved us a little bit. They had it covered pretty well and [in a] fourth down situation you just have to get the ball out. Both of them were my fault, no doubt about it, but I’ll fix that and we are working on that right now. We’ll take the least amount of sacks as possible because we know how that kills a drive.”
On how this compares to his first college start:
“It’s funny you say that because I think back to that. To be honest, I was a lot more nervous in that college start because I came in there right away and I was a freshman. But, you can learn off of things like that. I remember when I came in I did the same thing, I didn’t try to make a big play and we had a lot of athletes then, and I got a couple of completions and all of a sudden the game started to slow down for me. So, I’ll look to that as comfort when I get out there, just like a golf shot, you don’t go out there and hit your driver the first time, you hit the pitching wedge and get comfortable and then work your way through the bag.”
On whom his first college start was against:
“Rice.”
WEEK 2 - Bengals Quarterback Carson Palmer -Ingles
Sept. 16, 2009
You mentioned on Sunday that they played that deep cover-2. What percentage of the time do those defenses play that coverage against you?
“Quite a bit. It’s a coverage we’re used to seeing with Chad (Ochocinco). It’s a coverage that Larry Fitzgerald, Chad (Ochocinco), T.O. and Calvin Johnson see typically a good majority of the time.”
In that coverage, you probably want to hit the underneath stuff and have those safeties come up, right?
“In a perfect world, you just run the ball at that side. But the defense also understands that it’s a weakness of the defense, too. They try to do different stunts and schemes to try to slow you down that way. The best thing to do is, if you’re not running the ball, to get the ball to other guys to make them come out of a double coverage situation to worry about other offensive players. If it’s your tight end, your slot receiver, your strong-side receiver, try to get the ball and spread the ball around a little bit more and make them play a little more true to the rest of the receivers and not so much focus the defense around Chad (Ochocinco)”.
You guys ran the ball a lot in the first half and were pretty successful, but you didn’t run the ball as much in the second half. Did Denver make a halftime adjustment?
“We were successful running the ball, and we tried to do it in the second half, and they made some really good adjustments to slow us down. I’m not sure exactly what the numbers statistically were run to pass, pass to run, but we just weren’t getting the same bigger hits in the run game that we were in the first half. A six- or eight-yard run here. They were more two, three, four-yard runs. We just weren’t as successful. We weren’t executing as well as were in the first half.”
There has been a theme since the beginning of the season where you guys can move the ball between the 20s, then can’t finish. Is it a mental block? How do you rectify that?
“It’s been a number of things. A turnover, a penalty, a sack. We really don’t look at it as something that’s been happening since the preseason, because so many guys were playing in the preseason. We’re going to look at it as Week 1, that’s what we struggled to do. We have to do better than we did in Week 1. I wouldn’t start calling it a trend or anything like that, because there were so many different players and so many different circumstances that went on in the preseason. I just think it’s something we struggled with this last week, and it’s something we’ve already started working on this week in our walk-throughs and we need to get it corrected. We will. We’ll keep working on it until we do.”
Is this a must-win game?
“Everybody talks about must-wins. Every game is a must-win when it comes down to it. At some point in the year, if you don’t make the playoffs or if you don’t have home-field advantage in the playoffs or you don’t win the Super Bowl, you look back at one game, or two games, or three games, or four games and say, ‘We should have won that game.’ In the grand scheme of things, we’re not looking at statistics as far as how many teams have made the playoffs, or won a playoff game starting with a season record. We look at it as we have to win every week. After this week, it’s Pittsburgh, and we’ll move on throughout the season. The game we must win is Green Bay, and the only reason we must win is because it’s the next game.”
How is this Green Bay defense different from years past with the 3-4?
“They’re very good. I haven’t played them in a couple years, other than the preseason, but very, very good. They have two of the better corners in the league, one of the best tandems. They don’t get the credit they deserve because everybody says they’re getting up there in years. But I’ve felt for a long time that Al Harris, if not the best corner in the league, is the second-best corner in the league. He’s extremely fast and quick, and he comes up and hits people. He’s tough. Charles Woodson, for a long time, has been an outstanding corner. They also have a very good linebacker corps – they have some high picks in that linebacker corps – and up front, they have two very good d-tackles and a top-10 pick that’s backing both of them up. He (draft pick B.J. Raji) is having a hard time seeing the field because the two guys in front of him are so good.”
Why have the Packers been so good at getting turnovers? What do you have to look out for against them?
“They've had picks from confusing quarterbacks, from making quarterbacks force throws. They've created turnovers by hitting people hard and knocking the ball loose. They've broken up a lot of balls in the passing game. They've done a number of things. It's a really good unit. You've got to be on your game. You've got to see what's coming at you. They bring a lot of corner pressures, a number of different blitz zones, and do a really good job of disguising. So you've got to be on your A-game and recognize things as they're happening and make sure your eyes are on the right spots before the snap and after the snap to confirm what you've got coming at you and make sure the ball's going in the right place.”
Is their defense similar to Pittsburgh?
“It's similar. No two teams are alike, just because they run similar running plays or similar pressures. The personnel's so different and the coordinators are different. It's similar stuff that Pittsburgh's done. But like Pittsburgh, it's a very good unit top to bottom.”
You liked playing in Dallas because of the tradition there. Is Lambeau Field like that too?
“Definitely. I've played at Lambeau once, so it won't be my first time. It's exciting. It IS the NFL. When you think of the Green Bay Packers, they're one of the teams that have been around forever and won a ton of championships. It's that same stadium; there's been some renovations and some changes, but it's that same stadium, which makes it cool, too. A lot of history has happened on that field. It's exciting. It's a great atmosphere for a game. It's very intimate. It's not real hostile, because it just seems like all the fans are really nice. But it's really loud. They understand football. Their football IQ is tremendous as far as when to be loud and how quiet they can get when the offense is on the field so the offense can communicate. So it's a fun place to play, and I'm looking forward to playing a regular season game there.”
Do you expect to see more of the deep cover-2 that Denver played this year?
“I have no idea how other teams are going to play us. The only way you can try to figure it out is to look at some things they did against you the previous years that were successful and guess. But you go into a game plan with what they've put on film, and we're looking at Chicago and their four preseason games. That's what Green Bay has played this year. So you can't really go into a game plan and know this is exactly what you're going to get, but we'll go in and we'll see what they're going to do and try to get a feel for it and try to make adjustments if we need to make adjustments and get to some (long passes) if we feel we have a good assessment of what we're getting and we can take some shots. If they're not going to let us take shots, we're not going to throw the ball downfield just to throw the ball downfield, because these safeties are very good. When the ball's in the air, they make a lot of plays. We've got to take what they give us and be really good up front and be able to run the ball and give us some opportunities to take some shots downfield.”
Since you missed the three preseason games, do you feel in regular season rhythm, or are you still in more of a training camp rhythm?
“I practiced most of training camp, and then we broke camp, and with the ankle issue I was out for a little bit going on three weeks. Now, with a regular season game under my belt, I'm excited and ready to play and feel like I've got my rhythm and timing going. I'm going to keep developing that this week with the receivers and tight ends and backs and keep moving forward.”
After looking at the tape what did you like, and dislike, about your performance?
“It's very easy to find a lot of things you don't like after a loss, but there's a number of areas we need to improve on. There's some good things that happened for me and a number of guys on our team, and there's some bad things that happened for me and for a number of guys on our team. We've spent a lot of time going through it and figuring those things out and making adjustments. We'll continue to get better as the season goes on. With a couple new guys, in game experiences, you find out guys' strengths and weaknesses, guys like Laveranues (Coles) and Cedric (Benson) being here for this whole year and Andre Caldwell coming along, we've got the two tight ends that are kind of switching in and out, some guys that are going to get better as the season goes on. You try to get better in the OTAs and the offseason, but once you get to the regular season, you really see strengths and weaknesses. You try to play to each other's strengths, and we'll continue to grow together and get better as the season goes along.”
The offensive line seemed to be giving you a lot of time ...
“Yeah, they've really set up nice pockets for us all through the preseason and this first week. They take a lot of pride in that. They take a lot of pride in keeping hits off the quarterback, and they've done a great job and will keep doing a great job. Whatever the injury situation is, with Nate (Livings) being banged up, and we've got different guys coming in and out, it's a group that has good leaders with Bobbie and Whit and Kyle coming along. Just a good group of guys that's going to get better as we go, just like the other positions. So it's exciting to know that they're very stout up front. They do a good job against bull-rushes, and we're athletic on the outside, which is a good combination to have.”
You ran a couple of rollouts against Denver. What do you like about that?
“I like it anytime you have a chance to get the ball downfield, and we did on both of those. There were some errors made on the plays, and we'll keep working on them and hang onto those and wait until we get better at them, because there were two mistakes that really shouldn't be made, but we'll continue to get better, like I keep saying. It's a group that doesn't have a lot of experience playing together, and the more you play together the better you get.”
What does the rollout do for you, and the offense?
“It just changes up where the quarterback's setup point is. You get a chance to get a little bit of a run action with some bite on the defense, and moving the hit point that the defense is setting up for quarterback sacks and getting pressure on the quarterbacks.”
In preseason, and against Denver, Brian Leonard took some short passes and turned them into long gains. How do you like having someone like that in the backfield with you?
“He's really special because in those two-minute situations and third-down situations, he can pick up anybody in the pass protection because he's a big, physical guy, but he has really good hands. He has surprisingly good hands. So it’s a good combination, being able to put him in there and pick up a 260-pound D-end or a big linebacker with a bull-rush, and then put him in with some screens because he can catch the ball and on check-downs. You're so confident that he'll catch the ball, and then you combine that with he's got some speed and moves. He's a big threat for us on third down.”
Does he have surprising speed?
“His speed's surprising, but he's real shifty. He's really good in the open field breaking tackles and making people miss, too.”
Do you buy into the notion that some teams just know how to win, and others don’t? And why is it that some teams seem to have wacky endings go against them? How do you change it?
“I'm not sure what you do to get over the hump, but it does seem that some teams get luckier breaks than others. Our break was definitely unlucky. You look at the Patriots' break with the fumble, it was lucky. But you just keep working, and that's the only thing I know is to keep working, keep trying to find ways to win.”
Is it luck?
“I don't know. I'm not very philosophical, so I'm not sure about that one.”
You mentioned on Sunday that they played that deep cover-2. What percentage of the time do those defenses play that coverage against you?
“Quite a bit. It’s a coverage we’re used to seeing with Chad (Ochocinco). It’s a coverage that Larry Fitzgerald, Chad (Ochocinco), T.O. and Calvin Johnson see typically a good majority of the time.”
In that coverage, you probably want to hit the underneath stuff and have those safeties come up, right?
“In a perfect world, you just run the ball at that side. But the defense also understands that it’s a weakness of the defense, too. They try to do different stunts and schemes to try to slow you down that way. The best thing to do is, if you’re not running the ball, to get the ball to other guys to make them come out of a double coverage situation to worry about other offensive players. If it’s your tight end, your slot receiver, your strong-side receiver, try to get the ball and spread the ball around a little bit more and make them play a little more true to the rest of the receivers and not so much focus the defense around Chad (Ochocinco)”.
You guys ran the ball a lot in the first half and were pretty successful, but you didn’t run the ball as much in the second half. Did Denver make a halftime adjustment?
“We were successful running the ball, and we tried to do it in the second half, and they made some really good adjustments to slow us down. I’m not sure exactly what the numbers statistically were run to pass, pass to run, but we just weren’t getting the same bigger hits in the run game that we were in the first half. A six- or eight-yard run here. They were more two, three, four-yard runs. We just weren’t as successful. We weren’t executing as well as were in the first half.”
There has been a theme since the beginning of the season where you guys can move the ball between the 20s, then can’t finish. Is it a mental block? How do you rectify that?
“It’s been a number of things. A turnover, a penalty, a sack. We really don’t look at it as something that’s been happening since the preseason, because so many guys were playing in the preseason. We’re going to look at it as Week 1, that’s what we struggled to do. We have to do better than we did in Week 1. I wouldn’t start calling it a trend or anything like that, because there were so many different players and so many different circumstances that went on in the preseason. I just think it’s something we struggled with this last week, and it’s something we’ve already started working on this week in our walk-throughs and we need to get it corrected. We will. We’ll keep working on it until we do.”
Is this a must-win game?
“Everybody talks about must-wins. Every game is a must-win when it comes down to it. At some point in the year, if you don’t make the playoffs or if you don’t have home-field advantage in the playoffs or you don’t win the Super Bowl, you look back at one game, or two games, or three games, or four games and say, ‘We should have won that game.’ In the grand scheme of things, we’re not looking at statistics as far as how many teams have made the playoffs, or won a playoff game starting with a season record. We look at it as we have to win every week. After this week, it’s Pittsburgh, and we’ll move on throughout the season. The game we must win is Green Bay, and the only reason we must win is because it’s the next game.”
How is this Green Bay defense different from years past with the 3-4?
“They’re very good. I haven’t played them in a couple years, other than the preseason, but very, very good. They have two of the better corners in the league, one of the best tandems. They don’t get the credit they deserve because everybody says they’re getting up there in years. But I’ve felt for a long time that Al Harris, if not the best corner in the league, is the second-best corner in the league. He’s extremely fast and quick, and he comes up and hits people. He’s tough. Charles Woodson, for a long time, has been an outstanding corner. They also have a very good linebacker corps – they have some high picks in that linebacker corps – and up front, they have two very good d-tackles and a top-10 pick that’s backing both of them up. He (draft pick B.J. Raji) is having a hard time seeing the field because the two guys in front of him are so good.”
Why have the Packers been so good at getting turnovers? What do you have to look out for against them?
“They've had picks from confusing quarterbacks, from making quarterbacks force throws. They've created turnovers by hitting people hard and knocking the ball loose. They've broken up a lot of balls in the passing game. They've done a number of things. It's a really good unit. You've got to be on your game. You've got to see what's coming at you. They bring a lot of corner pressures, a number of different blitz zones, and do a really good job of disguising. So you've got to be on your A-game and recognize things as they're happening and make sure your eyes are on the right spots before the snap and after the snap to confirm what you've got coming at you and make sure the ball's going in the right place.”
Is their defense similar to Pittsburgh?
“It's similar. No two teams are alike, just because they run similar running plays or similar pressures. The personnel's so different and the coordinators are different. It's similar stuff that Pittsburgh's done. But like Pittsburgh, it's a very good unit top to bottom.”
You liked playing in Dallas because of the tradition there. Is Lambeau Field like that too?
“Definitely. I've played at Lambeau once, so it won't be my first time. It's exciting. It IS the NFL. When you think of the Green Bay Packers, they're one of the teams that have been around forever and won a ton of championships. It's that same stadium; there's been some renovations and some changes, but it's that same stadium, which makes it cool, too. A lot of history has happened on that field. It's exciting. It's a great atmosphere for a game. It's very intimate. It's not real hostile, because it just seems like all the fans are really nice. But it's really loud. They understand football. Their football IQ is tremendous as far as when to be loud and how quiet they can get when the offense is on the field so the offense can communicate. So it's a fun place to play, and I'm looking forward to playing a regular season game there.”
Do you expect to see more of the deep cover-2 that Denver played this year?
“I have no idea how other teams are going to play us. The only way you can try to figure it out is to look at some things they did against you the previous years that were successful and guess. But you go into a game plan with what they've put on film, and we're looking at Chicago and their four preseason games. That's what Green Bay has played this year. So you can't really go into a game plan and know this is exactly what you're going to get, but we'll go in and we'll see what they're going to do and try to get a feel for it and try to make adjustments if we need to make adjustments and get to some (long passes) if we feel we have a good assessment of what we're getting and we can take some shots. If they're not going to let us take shots, we're not going to throw the ball downfield just to throw the ball downfield, because these safeties are very good. When the ball's in the air, they make a lot of plays. We've got to take what they give us and be really good up front and be able to run the ball and give us some opportunities to take some shots downfield.”
Since you missed the three preseason games, do you feel in regular season rhythm, or are you still in more of a training camp rhythm?
“I practiced most of training camp, and then we broke camp, and with the ankle issue I was out for a little bit going on three weeks. Now, with a regular season game under my belt, I'm excited and ready to play and feel like I've got my rhythm and timing going. I'm going to keep developing that this week with the receivers and tight ends and backs and keep moving forward.”
After looking at the tape what did you like, and dislike, about your performance?
“It's very easy to find a lot of things you don't like after a loss, but there's a number of areas we need to improve on. There's some good things that happened for me and a number of guys on our team, and there's some bad things that happened for me and for a number of guys on our team. We've spent a lot of time going through it and figuring those things out and making adjustments. We'll continue to get better as the season goes on. With a couple new guys, in game experiences, you find out guys' strengths and weaknesses, guys like Laveranues (Coles) and Cedric (Benson) being here for this whole year and Andre Caldwell coming along, we've got the two tight ends that are kind of switching in and out, some guys that are going to get better as the season goes on. You try to get better in the OTAs and the offseason, but once you get to the regular season, you really see strengths and weaknesses. You try to play to each other's strengths, and we'll continue to grow together and get better as the season goes along.”
The offensive line seemed to be giving you a lot of time ...
“Yeah, they've really set up nice pockets for us all through the preseason and this first week. They take a lot of pride in that. They take a lot of pride in keeping hits off the quarterback, and they've done a great job and will keep doing a great job. Whatever the injury situation is, with Nate (Livings) being banged up, and we've got different guys coming in and out, it's a group that has good leaders with Bobbie and Whit and Kyle coming along. Just a good group of guys that's going to get better as we go, just like the other positions. So it's exciting to know that they're very stout up front. They do a good job against bull-rushes, and we're athletic on the outside, which is a good combination to have.”
You ran a couple of rollouts against Denver. What do you like about that?
“I like it anytime you have a chance to get the ball downfield, and we did on both of those. There were some errors made on the plays, and we'll keep working on them and hang onto those and wait until we get better at them, because there were two mistakes that really shouldn't be made, but we'll continue to get better, like I keep saying. It's a group that doesn't have a lot of experience playing together, and the more you play together the better you get.”
What does the rollout do for you, and the offense?
“It just changes up where the quarterback's setup point is. You get a chance to get a little bit of a run action with some bite on the defense, and moving the hit point that the defense is setting up for quarterback sacks and getting pressure on the quarterbacks.”
In preseason, and against Denver, Brian Leonard took some short passes and turned them into long gains. How do you like having someone like that in the backfield with you?
“He's really special because in those two-minute situations and third-down situations, he can pick up anybody in the pass protection because he's a big, physical guy, but he has really good hands. He has surprisingly good hands. So it’s a good combination, being able to put him in there and pick up a 260-pound D-end or a big linebacker with a bull-rush, and then put him in with some screens because he can catch the ball and on check-downs. You're so confident that he'll catch the ball, and then you combine that with he's got some speed and moves. He's a big threat for us on third down.”
Does he have surprising speed?
“His speed's surprising, but he's real shifty. He's really good in the open field breaking tackles and making people miss, too.”
Do you buy into the notion that some teams just know how to win, and others don’t? And why is it that some teams seem to have wacky endings go against them? How do you change it?
“I'm not sure what you do to get over the hump, but it does seem that some teams get luckier breaks than others. Our break was definitely unlucky. You look at the Patriots' break with the fumble, it was lucky. But you just keep working, and that's the only thing I know is to keep working, keep trying to find ways to win.”
Is it luck?
“I don't know. I'm not very philosophical, so I'm not sure about that one.”
WEEK 2 - Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis -Ingles
Sept. 14, 2009
Opening Comments:
“The crowd yesterday was really outstanding. I thought they did a great job and had a real effect on the game. It was great to see. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it finished off so they could go home and enjoy it. Hats off to them. Our players noticed it and commented on it. It obviously has an effect. You only get eight home-field games to begin with, and we let one get away. They were outstanding as a group yesterday. Very loud and vocal. It has an effect on the other team’s offense. I know we know about it when we play on the road a lot of times. We spend a lot of time practicing with noise when we’re on offense, because of the concentration level you’ve got to have. Even at midfield, I noticed, (Denver) nearly got a delay of game.
“I think we came out of the game pretty healthy. We may have lost Nate Livings with a knee. I don’t know if we’ll have his services this week. Brian Leonard was the other guy that got banged up in the game, but Brian should be fine. It happened toward the end when we were moving the ball down there on them. He was able to stay in, I think, for one more play before we were able to get him out. David Jones should be working his way back as he expands his rehab and gets back more into the on-field stuff. Carson seemed to come through the game well. I’m sure he was sore today.
“We will have to bring Andre (Smith) to the roster at 4 p.m. today, so we will waive DeDe Dorsey (to open a spot).
“As far as the game goes, as I said yesterday, there were a lot of very good plays to build upon. Before you play a regular season game, you really don’t know where you are. You kind of know, but now we know. And I was somewhat excited about a lot of that. Where I was disappointed was the execution of some of it. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times offensively. Whether it’s the dropped balls or the four penalties, that hurts. We squandered a couple opportunities. We got run by on a pass rush. We got overpowered on a pass rush. On special teams, there was our failure to have a perfect snap, handle the snap, get the ball down and kick the field goal. So it came down to a play late in the game.
“ What I liked, again, is that the offense hung in there and they were able to drive the ball 90-plus yards to go ahead in the game. So a lot of the things we talked about on the sidelines in the heat of the battle, it all came true. Defense, don’t let them score and you’ll win the game, even though you’re down 6-0. Offense, score one touchdown and you’ll win the game, even though you’re down 6-0. Those things pretty much came to light until the end. All that being said, we did some good things on defense. Guys had some outstanding plays, but we’ve got to be more consistent. We allowed a couple of “chunk” plays that changed field position and enabled them to get the long field goals. We had a chance to keep them backed up in the one minute situation before halftime, get the ball back, and have an opportunity for our offense to have the ball. And we let them squirt out of there on the crossing route. So some correction was made today. You know, you don’t feel good. It was kind of like getting kicked in the ‘you know where’ yesterday. But it is what it is, and we have to learn from it and come back to be a better prepared, a better planned and better executing football team this week in Green Bay. “
Can you explain what happened when they reviewed the Andre Caldwell catch at the one-yard line?
“It was a booth challenge. The mechanics didn’t make sense, but it doesn’t matter. That had no affect on the football game. Other than the fact he did not start the clock on the “ready for play.” But again, what happens in the past doesn’t really matter. Maybe call the league office and figure that out, because I’m not going to worry about that.”
So you wanted to call time out to get everything squared away, right?
“Yes. I wanted to make sure we had four opportunities to win the game. About eight seconds per play.”
Did you get to look at the play where Johnathan Joseph may have intercepted the pass right before the big play?
“That’s a booth review. It was inside of two minutes. It really doesn’t matter what we think about any of that. You can’t coach this game, nor play this game, worried about what the officials do, or don’t do. You’ve got to go play the next play. We can’t worry about it, we’ve got to play. The game is in the hands of those people. Whether he gets one foot down, or two feet down, it doesn’t matter. It’s what is called out there, and that’s what matters.”
Does a loss like the one yesterday sting more than a normal loss would because of the way it ended?
“Every loss stings, so it doesn’t sting any more, or any less.”
Since you don’t get a chance to practice the sort of thing that happened at the end of the game, what can you tell your guys to do differently in that situation?
“We do practice that kind of thing, and we have some improvement that could have been made on that particular play. But I thought the guys at the point did exactly what they want to do on that play. Leon (Hall) goes up to try and intercept the ball, and unfortunately it bounces off his hands. Guys come over to take the receiver out just like they are supposed to do, and the other guys have to do a better job of finishing it. There were some things that can be done differently, but it’s a play that happened. I don’t know what you call it, but it’s a good play by them, and a not-so-good play by us.”
You guys have had issues with finishing drives and untimely penalties throughout the preseason with the first team, and it continued yesterday. Is that a physical issue? Is it concentration?
“It’s not a physical issue. I can’t even point to it as a youthful issue. It’s an issue with discipline and not trying to do more than you need to do. We’re talking about guys finishing. We have guys downfield on pass plays, because they’re chasing a linebacker, they’re chasing the guy down the field they were blocking on. They have to understand the timing and the scope of those plays. Those are new plays for us. It’s one thing when you have that with guys like Jason Shirley, or whoever it was in the preseason. It’s different when it’s your regular center or right guard. And we’ve told Chad (Ochocinco), OPI (offensive pass interference) is a point of emphasis this year. You can’t have the pushing down the field by the receivers. The defense has struck back, and they’re trying to get on a level ground.”
The offensive line was a point of emphasis coming into this game with running the ball and protecting Carson Palmer. How do you think they did?
“I thought we did a good job. There were a couple plays where we didn’t protect him as well as we should have. I thought in running the ball, we got off to a good start. Because of some of those negative plays we’ve been harping on, it got us off track for being able to run the ball more effectively. We have some things to clean up with Cedric (Benson). We have some things to clean up with our quarterback to get us in the right runs at times. We will. We’ll continue to do that and work hard at it. It was (Palmer’s) first game of playing after a while, and I thought he came out of it pretty well. There’s some things we I‘d like him to do better. He had a couple throws that he normally makes that he missed. We’ll just keep working and be sharper with it.”
You were running the ball more effectively in first half, but went away from that some in the second half. Why do you think that was?
“You have to play some of it by down and distance. Some of the tendencies that were occurring in the game were them getting a lot of pressures. We wanted to take advantage of some of those things as well. The play-calling happens as you go through. If you don’t win, people are going to question what you did.”
Why the decision to cut DeDe Dorsey?
“We had 53 guys, and we needed a spot. We were one heavy at running back. DeDe did a lot to stay here, but at this point, where we are, DeDe was the guy we needed to release today.”
Is Andre Smith progressing physically?
“Yes, he’s doing fine.”
Do you have any idea when he could be back?
“As I’ve said, I don’t usually put a timetable on injured players. That wouldn’t be fair to me, you or them.”
Sept. 16, 2009
Opening Comments:
“With the Packers, it probably starts with their quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He’s in his second year as a starting player. He has a very strong arm, he’s very athletic and he has very good foot-speed when he does move and run out of the pocket. They have a fine runner in Ryan Grant. Their receiving corps is very talented, with Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Donald Lee and Jermichael Finley, the second year player from Texas. . So it’s a talented group of guys. They want to push the ball vertically quite a bit, and work it off of the action passes, and things like that.
“Defensively, they’re in a new system with the 3-4. But I thought last week, Cullen Jenkins had a great start to the year. They’re athletic up front, and they have some big, strong, physical guys. With the linebacker group, it’s a good pass rushing group. So when they come with the pressures, I think they do a very good job of trying to get matched up versus a running back, and winning. In the secondary, they’ve got some guys who have played well throughout their careers in the NFL. So it’s a really athletic group defensively running around. They’re similar to what we saw last week from Denver. Scheme-wise they’re just a touch different, but similar. Their special teams is a really athletic group, and they’ve been playing together for a while.
“So it’s a good challenge going up to Green Bay and playing at Lambeau Field. It will be a fun thing with the great crowd. We’re excited and looking forward to the challenge of the game.”
You had a good pass rush last week. How important is that against Aaron Rodgers?
“Well, it’s important to put pressure on the football, whether it be the running game or the passing game. That’s a given.”
Kevin Huber did a nice job pinning Denver deep a few times. Can you speak to what he was able to do and how important that is?
“I thought Kevin did a good job and I think Kevin will do much better as the year goes on. It wasn’t his best day punting the football. By our standards, it was good, but Kevin is even more talented than that and will do better as time goes on. It was his first opportunity, so I’m sure he was a little nervous going into the game, but he’s not one to carry much of that with him for very long. He’s been a pretty cool customer. He did a good job. He had a great punt when we were backed up. He was good when we were into the wind. He did a lot of good things. I would expect Kevin to do nothing but continue to get better and better as we go. He had a little block there on the fake punt, he stuck his nose in there.”
Even though Andre Smith isn’t practicing, how much has he progressed just from being here?
“He’s doing well, really doing well.”
Obviously there’s a big learning curve.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s that big. He was here for every OTA, every coaching session and minicamp. He’s a smart guy, and he’s playing the position he’s played his whole life. His learning curve is just going to be on what happens with NFL defenses and the changes and so forth. He played at a very good school, very well coached there. It’s just a matter of repetition.”
It looks like Carson is getting comfortable with Andre Caldwell, and he looks a little like T.J. (Houshmandzadeh), making the tough catches on third down and over the middle.
“He’s done a good job vertically for us, which is the key and what we’re looking to get more of out of from that position. Andre has been able to do that, and then get the tough catches and the tough yards, as well as getting dirty blocking in some situations. I really think Andre continues to get better and better in a lot of areas. So we really are getting a lot of quality snaps out of that position, maybe more than we were.”
You worked with Dom Capers in Pittsburgh. What does he bring to a defense, and what did you learn from your experiences with him?
“They’re doing a lot of the 3-4 things that we started doing back in ’93 in Pittsburgh, some of the pressures and things like that, and they’re trying to do some of the new things that are happening this year, in the 2008 and 2009 NFL. So you can see all those parts of the equation as they line up and go. But they’re starting from ground zero with some of the fundamental things we did. You see it on tape.”
You coached Kevin Greene and had him here for a training camp. What does he bring?
“Kevin is really making his first full transition into coaching. He was obviously a very smart player. When I was coaching those guys, it was a mutual coaching going on most of the time, probably, because they were getting mad because they had to do certain things and I was the college coach. But I think as things turned out, they all had fine careers. Kevin was a really smart player, and he made our other players better, and I think that’s going to show up in what he’s able to bring to this group of linebackers he’s coaching in Green Bay. As a player, he was able to uplift the guys he was playing with and help them, help the young guys, he and Greg Lloyd. There was quite a challenge there. That’s why I had Kevin here in training camp. Kevin was a walk-on at Auburn and was a late-round draft pick and he just kept doing it. I think he is the all-time leading sacker as a linebacker in the NFL, which is quite a record for a guy who rushed primarily from the left side for most of his career. Averaged 10-plus sacks a season. What he has done stands alone.”
How much does experience benefit the cornerbacks Green Bay has?
“Charles (Woodson) goes inside on third down, plays their nickel, so he’s getting a chance to blitz a lot as their nickel corner. Al Harris is a fine player. He’s a smart guy who plays the ball well. So it’s going to be good. It’s going to be a great matchup on the perimeter on both sides -- our corners against their receivers and their corners against our receivers. I think that’s going to play a lot to the outcome of the game. But we have to do a good job up front on both sides of the ball and along the line of scrimmage.”
Opening Comments:
“The crowd yesterday was really outstanding. I thought they did a great job and had a real effect on the game. It was great to see. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it finished off so they could go home and enjoy it. Hats off to them. Our players noticed it and commented on it. It obviously has an effect. You only get eight home-field games to begin with, and we let one get away. They were outstanding as a group yesterday. Very loud and vocal. It has an effect on the other team’s offense. I know we know about it when we play on the road a lot of times. We spend a lot of time practicing with noise when we’re on offense, because of the concentration level you’ve got to have. Even at midfield, I noticed, (Denver) nearly got a delay of game.
“I think we came out of the game pretty healthy. We may have lost Nate Livings with a knee. I don’t know if we’ll have his services this week. Brian Leonard was the other guy that got banged up in the game, but Brian should be fine. It happened toward the end when we were moving the ball down there on them. He was able to stay in, I think, for one more play before we were able to get him out. David Jones should be working his way back as he expands his rehab and gets back more into the on-field stuff. Carson seemed to come through the game well. I’m sure he was sore today.
“We will have to bring Andre (Smith) to the roster at 4 p.m. today, so we will waive DeDe Dorsey (to open a spot).
“As far as the game goes, as I said yesterday, there were a lot of very good plays to build upon. Before you play a regular season game, you really don’t know where you are. You kind of know, but now we know. And I was somewhat excited about a lot of that. Where I was disappointed was the execution of some of it. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times offensively. Whether it’s the dropped balls or the four penalties, that hurts. We squandered a couple opportunities. We got run by on a pass rush. We got overpowered on a pass rush. On special teams, there was our failure to have a perfect snap, handle the snap, get the ball down and kick the field goal. So it came down to a play late in the game.
“ What I liked, again, is that the offense hung in there and they were able to drive the ball 90-plus yards to go ahead in the game. So a lot of the things we talked about on the sidelines in the heat of the battle, it all came true. Defense, don’t let them score and you’ll win the game, even though you’re down 6-0. Offense, score one touchdown and you’ll win the game, even though you’re down 6-0. Those things pretty much came to light until the end. All that being said, we did some good things on defense. Guys had some outstanding plays, but we’ve got to be more consistent. We allowed a couple of “chunk” plays that changed field position and enabled them to get the long field goals. We had a chance to keep them backed up in the one minute situation before halftime, get the ball back, and have an opportunity for our offense to have the ball. And we let them squirt out of there on the crossing route. So some correction was made today. You know, you don’t feel good. It was kind of like getting kicked in the ‘you know where’ yesterday. But it is what it is, and we have to learn from it and come back to be a better prepared, a better planned and better executing football team this week in Green Bay. “
Can you explain what happened when they reviewed the Andre Caldwell catch at the one-yard line?
“It was a booth challenge. The mechanics didn’t make sense, but it doesn’t matter. That had no affect on the football game. Other than the fact he did not start the clock on the “ready for play.” But again, what happens in the past doesn’t really matter. Maybe call the league office and figure that out, because I’m not going to worry about that.”
So you wanted to call time out to get everything squared away, right?
“Yes. I wanted to make sure we had four opportunities to win the game. About eight seconds per play.”
Did you get to look at the play where Johnathan Joseph may have intercepted the pass right before the big play?
“That’s a booth review. It was inside of two minutes. It really doesn’t matter what we think about any of that. You can’t coach this game, nor play this game, worried about what the officials do, or don’t do. You’ve got to go play the next play. We can’t worry about it, we’ve got to play. The game is in the hands of those people. Whether he gets one foot down, or two feet down, it doesn’t matter. It’s what is called out there, and that’s what matters.”
Does a loss like the one yesterday sting more than a normal loss would because of the way it ended?
“Every loss stings, so it doesn’t sting any more, or any less.”
Since you don’t get a chance to practice the sort of thing that happened at the end of the game, what can you tell your guys to do differently in that situation?
“We do practice that kind of thing, and we have some improvement that could have been made on that particular play. But I thought the guys at the point did exactly what they want to do on that play. Leon (Hall) goes up to try and intercept the ball, and unfortunately it bounces off his hands. Guys come over to take the receiver out just like they are supposed to do, and the other guys have to do a better job of finishing it. There were some things that can be done differently, but it’s a play that happened. I don’t know what you call it, but it’s a good play by them, and a not-so-good play by us.”
You guys have had issues with finishing drives and untimely penalties throughout the preseason with the first team, and it continued yesterday. Is that a physical issue? Is it concentration?
“It’s not a physical issue. I can’t even point to it as a youthful issue. It’s an issue with discipline and not trying to do more than you need to do. We’re talking about guys finishing. We have guys downfield on pass plays, because they’re chasing a linebacker, they’re chasing the guy down the field they were blocking on. They have to understand the timing and the scope of those plays. Those are new plays for us. It’s one thing when you have that with guys like Jason Shirley, or whoever it was in the preseason. It’s different when it’s your regular center or right guard. And we’ve told Chad (Ochocinco), OPI (offensive pass interference) is a point of emphasis this year. You can’t have the pushing down the field by the receivers. The defense has struck back, and they’re trying to get on a level ground.”
The offensive line was a point of emphasis coming into this game with running the ball and protecting Carson Palmer. How do you think they did?
“I thought we did a good job. There were a couple plays where we didn’t protect him as well as we should have. I thought in running the ball, we got off to a good start. Because of some of those negative plays we’ve been harping on, it got us off track for being able to run the ball more effectively. We have some things to clean up with Cedric (Benson). We have some things to clean up with our quarterback to get us in the right runs at times. We will. We’ll continue to do that and work hard at it. It was (Palmer’s) first game of playing after a while, and I thought he came out of it pretty well. There’s some things we I‘d like him to do better. He had a couple throws that he normally makes that he missed. We’ll just keep working and be sharper with it.”
You were running the ball more effectively in first half, but went away from that some in the second half. Why do you think that was?
“You have to play some of it by down and distance. Some of the tendencies that were occurring in the game were them getting a lot of pressures. We wanted to take advantage of some of those things as well. The play-calling happens as you go through. If you don’t win, people are going to question what you did.”
Why the decision to cut DeDe Dorsey?
“We had 53 guys, and we needed a spot. We were one heavy at running back. DeDe did a lot to stay here, but at this point, where we are, DeDe was the guy we needed to release today.”
Is Andre Smith progressing physically?
“Yes, he’s doing fine.”
Do you have any idea when he could be back?
“As I’ve said, I don’t usually put a timetable on injured players. That wouldn’t be fair to me, you or them.”
Sept. 16, 2009
Opening Comments:
“With the Packers, it probably starts with their quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He’s in his second year as a starting player. He has a very strong arm, he’s very athletic and he has very good foot-speed when he does move and run out of the pocket. They have a fine runner in Ryan Grant. Their receiving corps is very talented, with Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Donald Lee and Jermichael Finley, the second year player from Texas. . So it’s a talented group of guys. They want to push the ball vertically quite a bit, and work it off of the action passes, and things like that.
“Defensively, they’re in a new system with the 3-4. But I thought last week, Cullen Jenkins had a great start to the year. They’re athletic up front, and they have some big, strong, physical guys. With the linebacker group, it’s a good pass rushing group. So when they come with the pressures, I think they do a very good job of trying to get matched up versus a running back, and winning. In the secondary, they’ve got some guys who have played well throughout their careers in the NFL. So it’s a really athletic group defensively running around. They’re similar to what we saw last week from Denver. Scheme-wise they’re just a touch different, but similar. Their special teams is a really athletic group, and they’ve been playing together for a while.
“So it’s a good challenge going up to Green Bay and playing at Lambeau Field. It will be a fun thing with the great crowd. We’re excited and looking forward to the challenge of the game.”
You had a good pass rush last week. How important is that against Aaron Rodgers?
“Well, it’s important to put pressure on the football, whether it be the running game or the passing game. That’s a given.”
Kevin Huber did a nice job pinning Denver deep a few times. Can you speak to what he was able to do and how important that is?
“I thought Kevin did a good job and I think Kevin will do much better as the year goes on. It wasn’t his best day punting the football. By our standards, it was good, but Kevin is even more talented than that and will do better as time goes on. It was his first opportunity, so I’m sure he was a little nervous going into the game, but he’s not one to carry much of that with him for very long. He’s been a pretty cool customer. He did a good job. He had a great punt when we were backed up. He was good when we were into the wind. He did a lot of good things. I would expect Kevin to do nothing but continue to get better and better as we go. He had a little block there on the fake punt, he stuck his nose in there.”
Even though Andre Smith isn’t practicing, how much has he progressed just from being here?
“He’s doing well, really doing well.”
Obviously there’s a big learning curve.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s that big. He was here for every OTA, every coaching session and minicamp. He’s a smart guy, and he’s playing the position he’s played his whole life. His learning curve is just going to be on what happens with NFL defenses and the changes and so forth. He played at a very good school, very well coached there. It’s just a matter of repetition.”
It looks like Carson is getting comfortable with Andre Caldwell, and he looks a little like T.J. (Houshmandzadeh), making the tough catches on third down and over the middle.
“He’s done a good job vertically for us, which is the key and what we’re looking to get more of out of from that position. Andre has been able to do that, and then get the tough catches and the tough yards, as well as getting dirty blocking in some situations. I really think Andre continues to get better and better in a lot of areas. So we really are getting a lot of quality snaps out of that position, maybe more than we were.”
You worked with Dom Capers in Pittsburgh. What does he bring to a defense, and what did you learn from your experiences with him?
“They’re doing a lot of the 3-4 things that we started doing back in ’93 in Pittsburgh, some of the pressures and things like that, and they’re trying to do some of the new things that are happening this year, in the 2008 and 2009 NFL. So you can see all those parts of the equation as they line up and go. But they’re starting from ground zero with some of the fundamental things we did. You see it on tape.”
You coached Kevin Greene and had him here for a training camp. What does he bring?
“Kevin is really making his first full transition into coaching. He was obviously a very smart player. When I was coaching those guys, it was a mutual coaching going on most of the time, probably, because they were getting mad because they had to do certain things and I was the college coach. But I think as things turned out, they all had fine careers. Kevin was a really smart player, and he made our other players better, and I think that’s going to show up in what he’s able to bring to this group of linebackers he’s coaching in Green Bay. As a player, he was able to uplift the guys he was playing with and help them, help the young guys, he and Greg Lloyd. There was quite a challenge there. That’s why I had Kevin here in training camp. Kevin was a walk-on at Auburn and was a late-round draft pick and he just kept doing it. I think he is the all-time leading sacker as a linebacker in the NFL, which is quite a record for a guy who rushed primarily from the left side for most of his career. Averaged 10-plus sacks a season. What he has done stands alone.”
How much does experience benefit the cornerbacks Green Bay has?
“Charles (Woodson) goes inside on third down, plays their nickel, so he’s getting a chance to blitz a lot as their nickel corner. Al Harris is a fine player. He’s a smart guy who plays the ball well. So it’s going to be good. It’s going to be a great matchup on the perimeter on both sides -- our corners against their receivers and their corners against our receivers. I think that’s going to play a lot to the outcome of the game. But we have to do a good job up front on both sides of the ball and along the line of scrimmage.”
WEEK 2 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Ingles
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009
HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
Opening statement:
“Today we started on some Buffalo preparation. They are a good team, a lot of good players. They are kind of like us a little bit. They have some talent on their team; everyone kind of underrates them a little bit. They went out Monday, put up a really good performance. I know you don’t get any moral victories in this league, I know they felt the same way we do. Whenever you lose a game, whatever the score was, it doesn’t matter how close you were, you lose a game. None of that stuff matters, but they are a really good team, a really well coached team, I have a lot of respect for Dick Jauron. Roster moves, you guys already know about Sean Mahan back. We are still looking for the best 53. We have a bunch of guys in here that are working out for us. Injuries, E.J. Biggers is still out, he did not participate today. Antonio Bryant was limited today. Jeff Faine today is out. He obviously did not participate. Kyle Moore did not participate and John Gilmore was limited with his back today. We are getting a little healthy, we lost a couple. Not bad for your first week.”
On whom the starting center would be this week:
“Well, of course we didn’t rep Faine. Obviously it won’t be Faine so we repped Mahan today and we repped Compas. Those two will be working at those positions, I don’t want to help Buffalo out too much but we’ll get one of those guys more than likely.”
On keeping LG Jeremy Zuttah at guard:
“I want to keep Zuttah at home. That thing is working out too well. It is kind of like the old deal with the move of Michael Jordan to point guard because the point guard got hurt. I’m not saying that Zuttah is Michael Jordan but it’s one of those deals, moving a guy that is doing pretty well. To get another guy in there and plug him in, you go from two C players and let him remain at his B plus, A [grade] that he is playing and plug in the other guys.”
On if he is concerned about the hits that Bryon Leftwich took:
“I overexaggerated that deal, just like you are right now. When I went back and looked at the tape, you are right, he took seven hits. Four of them came in the last drive, that last touchdown drive. He had three up until that point. It’s just when Byron gets hit, it’s so obvious because he is so big and tall, he lumbers down and falls slowly. You kind of put more into it. He’ll be sore. He is always going to stand in there. He’ll be the guy that stands in there and delivers the football. He is going to hold it a little longer than he should. He is going to do a whole bunch of stuff like that but he is also going to make the play when he holds onto it. He’ll make a dynamic throw down the field for a big time completion like he did with Clayton on the one right there before the half. I would like to get out of a game and my quarterback’s jersey is clean. The reality of that and the reality of that with Leftwich, that’s not what it is. He only got hit seven times, but that is seven too many. Four of them came in that last drive. That is kudos to the offensive line, kudos to those backs. When you go back to look at the tape, there were big time chips from the backs and big time chips from the tight ends.”
On what surprised him the most about watching the game tapes:
“I can’t say I was surprised about really anything. I’ve seen Cadillac coming along the whole time; I’ve seen him be dynamic in practice. It’s just a matter of time when he got the opportunity to get out there. I’ve seen Derrick Ward being dynamic in practice and it was just a matter of time until he got out there and people had to tackle him for a whole game. I guess the surprise, it wasn’t a surprise but to see Leftwich go out there and handle it as well as he did, us protect as well as we did, us communicating, moving down the field as well as we did, as often as we did. I guess it was a little surprising because we haven’t done it during the preseason. They put it all together that day and we played pretty well on offense. I wouldn’t say I was surprised but it was nice to see.”
On the amount of time Leftwich holds the ball:
“He is not watching the guys coming to hit him. He is watching down the field, looking down the field, waiting for somebody to get open. He stands in there, you have to give him a lot of credit. It takes a grown man to stand in that pocket. I’ll stand back there in practice some days and I’m a coach, I have to go back to my normal side with the DB’s. It’s an uncomfortable feeling with guys rushing around you. You have to trust your people around you. You have to play the game when you fall off the ledge and you fall backwards into your friend’s arms. It’s kind of one of those deals. He does it consistently and all those guys do. Josh Johnson, he keeps his eyes down the field and doesn’t scramble, even though he can. Freeman is the same type of person, same body type. Those guys can do that stuff, they make big time throws on the field. Romo did it to us a couple of times, sat in that pocket, held on and threw a dagger.”
On the play of the defensive line:
"They played pretty well in the run game. [Chris] Hovan, [Ryan] Sims and Roy Miller, that was a nice combination in there to stop the inside run. They did a really nice job at that. Any time you hold Marion [Barber] to…I guess his average was pretty good but he had a couple breakout runs. He had one on a blitz and kind of got that [average] out of whack. But for the most part, they pretty much contained Marion. He's a hard guy to tackle with one guy. I saw Roy get him on the ground a couple times and Chris Hovan get him on the ground a couple times. We just didn't have the pass-rush yet. We need a guy to have a two-sack game, whether it's going to be Gaines [Adams] or whether it's going to be Jimmy [Wilkerson]. I can't ask Ryan Sims to do that; I can't ask Chris Hovan to do that; I can't ask Roy to do that. The inside pass-rush right now is either going to be Greg White or it's going to be Jimmy Wilkerson. We need one of those guys to step up in pass-rush situations. They played pretty well in the run, including Gaines and including Jimmy and including Greg White. When it comes to that passing downs, when it comes to those situations and I've got to step up and beat somebody and make a play, those are the guys you're looking for to do it first. Not to say that the other guys can't, it's just that's the guys that you want to do it first. They understand that. They know the severity of it. They've got to get better. And we will. We will."
On if he's confident that they've figured out what went wrong in the secondary:
"It wasn't a 'what-went-wrong.' It was four plays. One was a bad technique. One was another bad decision by Sab [Piscitelli], one was a bad technique by E-Mack [Elbert Mack] and one was a miscommunication deal with Sabby and Ronde [Barber], and that was just a dynamic play by a receiver. It's not a 'what-went-wrong.' We can do things to help them and we will. We can do things to play better on defense, with fundamentals and technique."
On bringing Sean Mahan back:
"We've got two guys in the building that have worked with us. We've got four guys in the building who have worked at center. Not to say you're not going to miss Jeff Faine, because you are. He is your team leader, your captain. He's a stud, but it's good to have Sean Mahan, especially since [he was here] in the preseason. I'm not in here saying, 'Oh, woe is me. The offense is done. Faine is out.' It happened in the preseason and Sean Mahan went in and played the whole half for us, three weeks in a row. Unfortunately he wasn't one of the best 53 at the time; now he is."
On why Byron Leftwich has missed some throws high:
"He's 6-5. One play he missed really high, and I guess it was to a wide-open [Derrick] Ward in the flat, it was a great progression of reads. We had a deep threat on and it wasn't there. He went to the intermediate level and then he came down and tried to get to that flat. The rush was coming and he tried to get it out and threw it right over D. Ward's head. It could have been a big play. Everybody sees that stuff but they forget the progression part you've got to go through to get there. He had a couple of what we call awkward throws, the one he kind of threw underhanded to Kellen [Winslow]. Another one he kind of shuffled out there to Derrick Ward. That's kind of the development of Byron Leftwich with Greg Olson because I've never seen him do that before in Jacksonville or in Atlanta and didn't know he could do it. He's trying to show you guys that he's got nimble feet. He's got his basketball background coming back out. So I was happy with what he did and how he moved the offense and how he came out with his first showing. We've just got to build on that. He's still got things he has to work on. Obviously, he's still got things he can get better at, and he will."
On if he's seeing Winslow wouldn't come out of the game after he was told to:
"No, no, no. He just wanted to stay in there. He was tired and he just wanted to stay in there, so he just did it. He's trying to fight through the heat, trying to embrace Tampa. He maybe listened to his coach too much, but we're getting better. That's my guy."
On no huddle Buffalo ran against the Patriots:
“A lot of stuff with that is to keep you from switching personnel groups. When the guy doesn’t huddle, they’re at the line of scrimmage you’re scared to run in a different personnel group, so you have to have all your calls ready to go, whatever they put out there. These guys they came out, they do a lot of the same stuff and they do it over and over and they do it well. That’s what they want to do and that’s a good strategy, so we have to be prepared to deal with that. We have to be prepared to go out there and look at that. We have to be prepared to deal with what we want to deal with. We have to be able to handle them, stand on the field, trying to wear us down, which we shouldn’t be able to get worn down dealing with what we deal with everyday that’s just the challenge that it presents.”
On how he would have the lineup in that case:
“Well usually we match with people, most of the time. A lot of people match and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we kind of go on our own base but they try to stop you from matching. That’s the purpose of it. Nobody wants to see Ronde Barber in the slot, so you can stop us from doing that if you want to, maybe.”
On if CB Aqib Talib covers WR Terrell Owens:
“T.O. is a really good football player and I don’t know. T.O.’s special, but they have Lee Evans too. You forget about the guy on the other side of the ball. He’s fast, he’s dynamic, he can run. He’s from Wisconsin, he’s young. He’s hungry. They have a new offense, have a new quarterback, new offensive coordinator and they’re fired up. Pick your poison. They have Roscoe Parrish, their return man, fast, quick, dynamic. Talib’s only one guy, only can cover one of them. The rest of the guys have to step up.”
On cornerback play:
“They did. I was proud of them. Ronde and Talib came out and played really well.”
On Buffalo’s loss to the Patriots:
“That’s unfortunate. You hate to see stuff like that happen. I don’t know if they feel any worse then we do. A loss is a loss. There are no moral victories. There is no way to go into a stadium and come out of there saying ‘we lost that game but we feel really good.’ You don’t. You go home, you sit on your couch and you go ‘woe is me’ for 12 hours. You get up and you come back to work. I’m sure they’re worried about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like we are worried about the Buffalo Bills. That’s what you have to do. You can’t go in there and think about how you just lost or what could have happened, what should have happened or you lose the next week. I don’t think they are. I don’t think they have that in them. They have a mentally tough coach and they’ll bounce back. I’m sure they’ll be ready to go for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
On how it takes a toll on a quarterback:
“Yes, obviously any quarterback that gets hit a cumulative amount of times week to week depending on how the hits are, it’s going to take its toll, take its effect. It just wears you down. It’s happened around here that last couple of years. It got Jeff Garcia at one point. It’s gotten Bruce [Gradkowski]. It’s gotten Brad Johnson. All those guys, it’s the hardest position in football. Perhaps the hardest position in maybe professional sports and it takes a toll on all of them. They all go through it. They all deal with it. I guess the answer to your question is yes, it takes an effect. You have to do the best you can do to protect them.”
DE GAINES ADAMS
On playing Buffalo this Sunday:
“We just have to prepare this week and work hard. We have another tough game going up to their place. We just have to be prepared, cut down on the missed assignments and play hard.”
On what they need to improve on to get to the QB:
“Overall, it was just missed assignments. That’s the whole thing that it boils down to and big plays. We have four big plays and I think three of them resulted in touchdowns, you aren’t going to win the game. Our pass rushing, we did some good things. Obviously, we didn’t have any sacks between the four of us so we have to elevate that.”
DT CHRIS HOVAN
On what the defense needs to work on:
“Technique, fundamentals and communication, the basics of football. Once you get the basics of football down, it allows you to play that much faster. It allows you to see the field, to have vision of the field that much quicker. It’s because you aren’t thinking, all you are doing is reacting. That’s what defense is all about, it’s reaction. Once we get our calls, once we get lined up, we are all good. We are ready to play football and ready to react.”
QB BYRON LEFTWICH
On how he feels after Sunday’s game:
“I’m great, I’m okay. It feels like any other week during the season. I’m okay.”
On how the offensive line performed:
“I think the good thing is, we got a head on a hat. Anytime you are playing a 3-4 team with the things that they do defensively, especially with the players they have, you want to get a hat on a hat. We did get a hat on a hat and with that said and done, I think we are all fine with that.”
On what makes him most confident about the offensive line:
“I just see what we do everyday. I see what we do everyday in practice. Every time we go out there, we get better. We get better as a team and that’s all you can ask for. I see it every day so I have no real worries with the offensive end. I’ve been on good offenses and I’ve been on bad. I feel like we still have a lot to accomplish, we still have a lot to do because no one is going to give us anything. On paper, it says we should have a legitimate offense, but we still have to go out there and work our tail off, which we have been doing. What we do everyday gives me the confidence to go out there and be successful.”
On the pressure:
“I was born slow so I really have no choice. I’m not a guy that really runs around in the pocket. I understand my game, I understand what I can do out there on the football field and I understand that I’m the guy that has to get the ball in the right guys hand. Sometimes that is going to mean taking one. I’m fine with that, that’s the way I’ve always played football, that’s really the only way I know how to play football. I think we will be okay with that.”
On what defenses plan to face him:
“Believe me; I know what teams try against me. Like I said, when you are a pocket guy, teams will try certain things against you. You have to think, I’ve been slow all my life so I have been going through these types of things all my life. I know what I have to do and can’t do when guys bring pressure, what I can get away with and what I can’t get away with. It’s not a surprise to me when those things happen because I have been going through this my whole career, understanding where guys are going to bring pressure and what they are going to try to do to me as a quarterback. I’m fine with that. We just have to try to keep making plays.”
On Greg Olson putting up offensive numbers:
“That was great because it was tough for him. All last week he was running around, I know he wasn’t getting any sleep at night because his responsibility changed like that in a weekend. For us to go out there and play the way that we played offensively is great, knowing that it is 10 days. Now we are at the point where we have more than 10 days, let’s try to keep adding to what we did last week. I think we have a chance because we still made mistakes out there. Even though we did a lot of good stuff, we made mistakes out there that could have been big plays. We left some things out there that we will try to correct and hopefully we can capitalize on it this Sunday.”
On Buffalo’s defense:
“They have good players on their defense and that’s the thing. They are a team that’s not going to do a whole lot. They aren’t going to do a lot so from a standpoint of trying to prepare for all these different kind of things, you don’t have to do that this week. I think what they believe in is that they do what they do very well. You guys saw the game; they are a very good defensive football team. We have to make sure we execute well on offense in order to have success against these guys and we’ll start that preparation today.”
DT ROY MILLER
On what stands out with Buffalo:
“They are very balanced and they run the ball and throw it. They have two weapons outside at receiver and the running back is really good also.”
On the game plan:
“Number one, we just have to stop their run and we have to get after the quarterback. Like I said, they are a very balanced team.”
RB CARNELL WILLIAMS
On if his experiences made him unselfish and mature:
“I think they do. You look at the other guys and they were some guys that didn’t get drafted. I was a guy that was drafted high, came in with all of the glory, rookie of the year but I had to fight back from injury. It all balances. We have all been through high points and low points in our careers. We want to help one another and have a successful season.”
HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
Opening statement:
“Today we started on some Buffalo preparation. They are a good team, a lot of good players. They are kind of like us a little bit. They have some talent on their team; everyone kind of underrates them a little bit. They went out Monday, put up a really good performance. I know you don’t get any moral victories in this league, I know they felt the same way we do. Whenever you lose a game, whatever the score was, it doesn’t matter how close you were, you lose a game. None of that stuff matters, but they are a really good team, a really well coached team, I have a lot of respect for Dick Jauron. Roster moves, you guys already know about Sean Mahan back. We are still looking for the best 53. We have a bunch of guys in here that are working out for us. Injuries, E.J. Biggers is still out, he did not participate today. Antonio Bryant was limited today. Jeff Faine today is out. He obviously did not participate. Kyle Moore did not participate and John Gilmore was limited with his back today. We are getting a little healthy, we lost a couple. Not bad for your first week.”
On whom the starting center would be this week:
“Well, of course we didn’t rep Faine. Obviously it won’t be Faine so we repped Mahan today and we repped Compas. Those two will be working at those positions, I don’t want to help Buffalo out too much but we’ll get one of those guys more than likely.”
On keeping LG Jeremy Zuttah at guard:
“I want to keep Zuttah at home. That thing is working out too well. It is kind of like the old deal with the move of Michael Jordan to point guard because the point guard got hurt. I’m not saying that Zuttah is Michael Jordan but it’s one of those deals, moving a guy that is doing pretty well. To get another guy in there and plug him in, you go from two C players and let him remain at his B plus, A [grade] that he is playing and plug in the other guys.”
On if he is concerned about the hits that Bryon Leftwich took:
“I overexaggerated that deal, just like you are right now. When I went back and looked at the tape, you are right, he took seven hits. Four of them came in the last drive, that last touchdown drive. He had three up until that point. It’s just when Byron gets hit, it’s so obvious because he is so big and tall, he lumbers down and falls slowly. You kind of put more into it. He’ll be sore. He is always going to stand in there. He’ll be the guy that stands in there and delivers the football. He is going to hold it a little longer than he should. He is going to do a whole bunch of stuff like that but he is also going to make the play when he holds onto it. He’ll make a dynamic throw down the field for a big time completion like he did with Clayton on the one right there before the half. I would like to get out of a game and my quarterback’s jersey is clean. The reality of that and the reality of that with Leftwich, that’s not what it is. He only got hit seven times, but that is seven too many. Four of them came in that last drive. That is kudos to the offensive line, kudos to those backs. When you go back to look at the tape, there were big time chips from the backs and big time chips from the tight ends.”
On what surprised him the most about watching the game tapes:
“I can’t say I was surprised about really anything. I’ve seen Cadillac coming along the whole time; I’ve seen him be dynamic in practice. It’s just a matter of time when he got the opportunity to get out there. I’ve seen Derrick Ward being dynamic in practice and it was just a matter of time until he got out there and people had to tackle him for a whole game. I guess the surprise, it wasn’t a surprise but to see Leftwich go out there and handle it as well as he did, us protect as well as we did, us communicating, moving down the field as well as we did, as often as we did. I guess it was a little surprising because we haven’t done it during the preseason. They put it all together that day and we played pretty well on offense. I wouldn’t say I was surprised but it was nice to see.”
On the amount of time Leftwich holds the ball:
“He is not watching the guys coming to hit him. He is watching down the field, looking down the field, waiting for somebody to get open. He stands in there, you have to give him a lot of credit. It takes a grown man to stand in that pocket. I’ll stand back there in practice some days and I’m a coach, I have to go back to my normal side with the DB’s. It’s an uncomfortable feeling with guys rushing around you. You have to trust your people around you. You have to play the game when you fall off the ledge and you fall backwards into your friend’s arms. It’s kind of one of those deals. He does it consistently and all those guys do. Josh Johnson, he keeps his eyes down the field and doesn’t scramble, even though he can. Freeman is the same type of person, same body type. Those guys can do that stuff, they make big time throws on the field. Romo did it to us a couple of times, sat in that pocket, held on and threw a dagger.”
On the play of the defensive line:
"They played pretty well in the run game. [Chris] Hovan, [Ryan] Sims and Roy Miller, that was a nice combination in there to stop the inside run. They did a really nice job at that. Any time you hold Marion [Barber] to…I guess his average was pretty good but he had a couple breakout runs. He had one on a blitz and kind of got that [average] out of whack. But for the most part, they pretty much contained Marion. He's a hard guy to tackle with one guy. I saw Roy get him on the ground a couple times and Chris Hovan get him on the ground a couple times. We just didn't have the pass-rush yet. We need a guy to have a two-sack game, whether it's going to be Gaines [Adams] or whether it's going to be Jimmy [Wilkerson]. I can't ask Ryan Sims to do that; I can't ask Chris Hovan to do that; I can't ask Roy to do that. The inside pass-rush right now is either going to be Greg White or it's going to be Jimmy Wilkerson. We need one of those guys to step up in pass-rush situations. They played pretty well in the run, including Gaines and including Jimmy and including Greg White. When it comes to that passing downs, when it comes to those situations and I've got to step up and beat somebody and make a play, those are the guys you're looking for to do it first. Not to say that the other guys can't, it's just that's the guys that you want to do it first. They understand that. They know the severity of it. They've got to get better. And we will. We will."
On if he's confident that they've figured out what went wrong in the secondary:
"It wasn't a 'what-went-wrong.' It was four plays. One was a bad technique. One was another bad decision by Sab [Piscitelli], one was a bad technique by E-Mack [Elbert Mack] and one was a miscommunication deal with Sabby and Ronde [Barber], and that was just a dynamic play by a receiver. It's not a 'what-went-wrong.' We can do things to help them and we will. We can do things to play better on defense, with fundamentals and technique."
On bringing Sean Mahan back:
"We've got two guys in the building that have worked with us. We've got four guys in the building who have worked at center. Not to say you're not going to miss Jeff Faine, because you are. He is your team leader, your captain. He's a stud, but it's good to have Sean Mahan, especially since [he was here] in the preseason. I'm not in here saying, 'Oh, woe is me. The offense is done. Faine is out.' It happened in the preseason and Sean Mahan went in and played the whole half for us, three weeks in a row. Unfortunately he wasn't one of the best 53 at the time; now he is."
On why Byron Leftwich has missed some throws high:
"He's 6-5. One play he missed really high, and I guess it was to a wide-open [Derrick] Ward in the flat, it was a great progression of reads. We had a deep threat on and it wasn't there. He went to the intermediate level and then he came down and tried to get to that flat. The rush was coming and he tried to get it out and threw it right over D. Ward's head. It could have been a big play. Everybody sees that stuff but they forget the progression part you've got to go through to get there. He had a couple of what we call awkward throws, the one he kind of threw underhanded to Kellen [Winslow]. Another one he kind of shuffled out there to Derrick Ward. That's kind of the development of Byron Leftwich with Greg Olson because I've never seen him do that before in Jacksonville or in Atlanta and didn't know he could do it. He's trying to show you guys that he's got nimble feet. He's got his basketball background coming back out. So I was happy with what he did and how he moved the offense and how he came out with his first showing. We've just got to build on that. He's still got things he has to work on. Obviously, he's still got things he can get better at, and he will."
On if he's seeing Winslow wouldn't come out of the game after he was told to:
"No, no, no. He just wanted to stay in there. He was tired and he just wanted to stay in there, so he just did it. He's trying to fight through the heat, trying to embrace Tampa. He maybe listened to his coach too much, but we're getting better. That's my guy."
On no huddle Buffalo ran against the Patriots:
“A lot of stuff with that is to keep you from switching personnel groups. When the guy doesn’t huddle, they’re at the line of scrimmage you’re scared to run in a different personnel group, so you have to have all your calls ready to go, whatever they put out there. These guys they came out, they do a lot of the same stuff and they do it over and over and they do it well. That’s what they want to do and that’s a good strategy, so we have to be prepared to deal with that. We have to be prepared to go out there and look at that. We have to be prepared to deal with what we want to deal with. We have to be able to handle them, stand on the field, trying to wear us down, which we shouldn’t be able to get worn down dealing with what we deal with everyday that’s just the challenge that it presents.”
On how he would have the lineup in that case:
“Well usually we match with people, most of the time. A lot of people match and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we kind of go on our own base but they try to stop you from matching. That’s the purpose of it. Nobody wants to see Ronde Barber in the slot, so you can stop us from doing that if you want to, maybe.”
On if CB Aqib Talib covers WR Terrell Owens:
“T.O. is a really good football player and I don’t know. T.O.’s special, but they have Lee Evans too. You forget about the guy on the other side of the ball. He’s fast, he’s dynamic, he can run. He’s from Wisconsin, he’s young. He’s hungry. They have a new offense, have a new quarterback, new offensive coordinator and they’re fired up. Pick your poison. They have Roscoe Parrish, their return man, fast, quick, dynamic. Talib’s only one guy, only can cover one of them. The rest of the guys have to step up.”
On cornerback play:
“They did. I was proud of them. Ronde and Talib came out and played really well.”
On Buffalo’s loss to the Patriots:
“That’s unfortunate. You hate to see stuff like that happen. I don’t know if they feel any worse then we do. A loss is a loss. There are no moral victories. There is no way to go into a stadium and come out of there saying ‘we lost that game but we feel really good.’ You don’t. You go home, you sit on your couch and you go ‘woe is me’ for 12 hours. You get up and you come back to work. I’m sure they’re worried about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like we are worried about the Buffalo Bills. That’s what you have to do. You can’t go in there and think about how you just lost or what could have happened, what should have happened or you lose the next week. I don’t think they are. I don’t think they have that in them. They have a mentally tough coach and they’ll bounce back. I’m sure they’ll be ready to go for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
On how it takes a toll on a quarterback:
“Yes, obviously any quarterback that gets hit a cumulative amount of times week to week depending on how the hits are, it’s going to take its toll, take its effect. It just wears you down. It’s happened around here that last couple of years. It got Jeff Garcia at one point. It’s gotten Bruce [Gradkowski]. It’s gotten Brad Johnson. All those guys, it’s the hardest position in football. Perhaps the hardest position in maybe professional sports and it takes a toll on all of them. They all go through it. They all deal with it. I guess the answer to your question is yes, it takes an effect. You have to do the best you can do to protect them.”
DE GAINES ADAMS
On playing Buffalo this Sunday:
“We just have to prepare this week and work hard. We have another tough game going up to their place. We just have to be prepared, cut down on the missed assignments and play hard.”
On what they need to improve on to get to the QB:
“Overall, it was just missed assignments. That’s the whole thing that it boils down to and big plays. We have four big plays and I think three of them resulted in touchdowns, you aren’t going to win the game. Our pass rushing, we did some good things. Obviously, we didn’t have any sacks between the four of us so we have to elevate that.”
DT CHRIS HOVAN
On what the defense needs to work on:
“Technique, fundamentals and communication, the basics of football. Once you get the basics of football down, it allows you to play that much faster. It allows you to see the field, to have vision of the field that much quicker. It’s because you aren’t thinking, all you are doing is reacting. That’s what defense is all about, it’s reaction. Once we get our calls, once we get lined up, we are all good. We are ready to play football and ready to react.”
QB BYRON LEFTWICH
On how he feels after Sunday’s game:
“I’m great, I’m okay. It feels like any other week during the season. I’m okay.”
On how the offensive line performed:
“I think the good thing is, we got a head on a hat. Anytime you are playing a 3-4 team with the things that they do defensively, especially with the players they have, you want to get a hat on a hat. We did get a hat on a hat and with that said and done, I think we are all fine with that.”
On what makes him most confident about the offensive line:
“I just see what we do everyday. I see what we do everyday in practice. Every time we go out there, we get better. We get better as a team and that’s all you can ask for. I see it every day so I have no real worries with the offensive end. I’ve been on good offenses and I’ve been on bad. I feel like we still have a lot to accomplish, we still have a lot to do because no one is going to give us anything. On paper, it says we should have a legitimate offense, but we still have to go out there and work our tail off, which we have been doing. What we do everyday gives me the confidence to go out there and be successful.”
On the pressure:
“I was born slow so I really have no choice. I’m not a guy that really runs around in the pocket. I understand my game, I understand what I can do out there on the football field and I understand that I’m the guy that has to get the ball in the right guys hand. Sometimes that is going to mean taking one. I’m fine with that, that’s the way I’ve always played football, that’s really the only way I know how to play football. I think we will be okay with that.”
On what defenses plan to face him:
“Believe me; I know what teams try against me. Like I said, when you are a pocket guy, teams will try certain things against you. You have to think, I’ve been slow all my life so I have been going through these types of things all my life. I know what I have to do and can’t do when guys bring pressure, what I can get away with and what I can’t get away with. It’s not a surprise to me when those things happen because I have been going through this my whole career, understanding where guys are going to bring pressure and what they are going to try to do to me as a quarterback. I’m fine with that. We just have to try to keep making plays.”
On Greg Olson putting up offensive numbers:
“That was great because it was tough for him. All last week he was running around, I know he wasn’t getting any sleep at night because his responsibility changed like that in a weekend. For us to go out there and play the way that we played offensively is great, knowing that it is 10 days. Now we are at the point where we have more than 10 days, let’s try to keep adding to what we did last week. I think we have a chance because we still made mistakes out there. Even though we did a lot of good stuff, we made mistakes out there that could have been big plays. We left some things out there that we will try to correct and hopefully we can capitalize on it this Sunday.”
On Buffalo’s defense:
“They have good players on their defense and that’s the thing. They are a team that’s not going to do a whole lot. They aren’t going to do a lot so from a standpoint of trying to prepare for all these different kind of things, you don’t have to do that this week. I think what they believe in is that they do what they do very well. You guys saw the game; they are a very good defensive football team. We have to make sure we execute well on offense in order to have success against these guys and we’ll start that preparation today.”
DT ROY MILLER
On what stands out with Buffalo:
“They are very balanced and they run the ball and throw it. They have two weapons outside at receiver and the running back is really good also.”
On the game plan:
“Number one, we just have to stop their run and we have to get after the quarterback. Like I said, they are a very balanced team.”
RB CARNELL WILLIAMS
On if his experiences made him unselfish and mature:
“I think they do. You look at the other guys and they were some guys that didn’t get drafted. I was a guy that was drafted high, came in with all of the glory, rookie of the year but I had to fight back from injury. It all balances. We have all been through high points and low points in our careers. We want to help one another and have a successful season.”
WEEK 2 - Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew - Ingles
9/16/09
On both teams coming off a loss but knowing there is still 15 games left in the season:
“Honestly, it was a close and tough game for us. We saw some great things. We don’t take anything as moral victories, we lost, we weren’t good enough that day. We saw some things that we definitely can improve on. We saw some great things and sometimes you have to make a play. There was some times when plays were open that we just didn’t capitalize on. As an offense that is what you have to do to score points. Especially playing against the Colts and now Arizona with the high powered offenses. We have to be able to score points. Granted the Cardinals defense does a great job of causing confusion, so we have to be on the same page. That is the thing, us being on the same page and working things out as a unit.”
On what he sees from the Cardinals defense:
“Everybody’s quick and they have great athletes out there. That is the tough thing about facing a three-four team, is the athletes they have. The two inside backers are very athletic, always around the ball, leading tacklers from last game. So there is definitely some things we have to look out for but we are going to do our game plan, our scheme and we are going to execute to the best of our ability.”
On if he expects to carry the ball more now that RB Fred Taylor is gone to a different team:
“It is whatever the coaches want. It doesn’t bother me. I just want to win. At the end of the day, wins are what count. That is what I’m trying to do. If I can’t win, why play the game. We’re doing whatever it takes to win here. If that means we have to throw the ball 100 times or run it 100 times, whatever it is, that’s what we’re going to try to do. We have to execute as an offense. That is the main thing that we have been focusing on and zoning into, just that execution.”
On how the Jaguars’ two rookie offensive tackles are playing so far:
“They are doing a great job. To start off with your first game, your welcome to the NFL, that would be the best way to do it against two of the best. They did a great job. They are really excited to have another tough challenge this week. Week to week, we just want to keep getting better. That is all we can do, get better and win games.”
On if it is difficult for the team to focus on football with all of the team’s ticket sales problems:
“It’s really not hard. We may blackout but there will still be 60,000 fans there. We have a college stadium, so it is pretty tough. We are just focusing on the team we have to play. We know that if we win, and when we win, the more fans will come. That’s how it is everywhere. We’re just going to keep playing ball. The fans have been great. We had a little ‘support the movement’ deal going on here. Everybody was growing out beards here and it was fun. We had a good time with it and we are trying to get people to come and be excited about the Jaguars. That is what we are going to be, an exciting team.”
On the fact that people are actually growing beards to support the team:
“Yeah. You guys didn’t hear about it on the west coast? You have to expand your horizons over there. It started with the offensive line and running backs were going to grow a bunch of beards. Then it trickled over to the tight ends and the receivers. David (Garrard) and the quarterbacks took it on. Then it just exploded. Then it was all over the country. I’m surprised that Arizona didn’t get it. I know it was in California. It’s a time thing. You guys don’t switch your time in the zones. When it’s daylight savings, you don’t switch. That’s the problem.”
On if he had been waiting to break out his touchdown dance that he performed on Sunday:
“You know, it was the shopping cart. I didn’t really get a good chance to do it, but I was asking everyone. You have to ask the offensive linemen what they want from the store, grab it off the shelf and put it in the cart. I did little things like that. We had a good time with it. (NFL Network’s) Rich Eisen wanted it to be done, so we did it for him.”
On what former Arizona State head coach and current Jaguars’ offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has meant to the team:
“I played against Coach (Dirk) Koetter in college, so I knew what his offense was about. It was always about scoring points, putting up big numbers. We were really excited when he got here and his passing game elevated our running game to a certain extent. Obviously last year was tough because we had a bunch of injuries and things like that. This year, we are starting to open up the playbook a little bit. We are running the ball and throwing the ball really well. Last week, we were a little hesitant on some things, but we feel we that we have some plays that we need to call that we are going to call and execute.”
On if he feels that most teams’ offense is usually not in top form during the first week of the season:
“Really what I think is a lot of guys stick with their base plays that you have run in OTA’s, the ones you know you can do in your sleep. You try to execute, then you try to adapt on the run in the first game. Sometimes that does tend to make the offense start out slow because you might miss a few things, might not adjust quick enough and things like that. We know every week, everybody is going to improve. Obviously, with the offense that the Cardinals have, they are definitely going to improve. That is what we are trying to do as an offense. We are going to do our best to improve every week and put points on the board. We have a tough task this weekend. Your safeties are out of control. You whole defense and secondary is ridiculous. We have a tough one on our hands, but we are ready to step up to the challenge.”
On if he likes having offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter down on the sidelines this year instead of up in the booth:
“Yeah. We can talk to him and he can see what we see. It is more verbal and more vocal back-and-forth instead of trying to talk to him on the phone. When you talk to him on the phone, you can’t really see his facial expressions to see how he’s thinking and what he’s thinking about. Now you can see him. We can talk. A little give and take session.”
On both teams coming off a loss but knowing there is still 15 games left in the season:
“Honestly, it was a close and tough game for us. We saw some great things. We don’t take anything as moral victories, we lost, we weren’t good enough that day. We saw some things that we definitely can improve on. We saw some great things and sometimes you have to make a play. There was some times when plays were open that we just didn’t capitalize on. As an offense that is what you have to do to score points. Especially playing against the Colts and now Arizona with the high powered offenses. We have to be able to score points. Granted the Cardinals defense does a great job of causing confusion, so we have to be on the same page. That is the thing, us being on the same page and working things out as a unit.”
On what he sees from the Cardinals defense:
“Everybody’s quick and they have great athletes out there. That is the tough thing about facing a three-four team, is the athletes they have. The two inside backers are very athletic, always around the ball, leading tacklers from last game. So there is definitely some things we have to look out for but we are going to do our game plan, our scheme and we are going to execute to the best of our ability.”
On if he expects to carry the ball more now that RB Fred Taylor is gone to a different team:
“It is whatever the coaches want. It doesn’t bother me. I just want to win. At the end of the day, wins are what count. That is what I’m trying to do. If I can’t win, why play the game. We’re doing whatever it takes to win here. If that means we have to throw the ball 100 times or run it 100 times, whatever it is, that’s what we’re going to try to do. We have to execute as an offense. That is the main thing that we have been focusing on and zoning into, just that execution.”
On how the Jaguars’ two rookie offensive tackles are playing so far:
“They are doing a great job. To start off with your first game, your welcome to the NFL, that would be the best way to do it against two of the best. They did a great job. They are really excited to have another tough challenge this week. Week to week, we just want to keep getting better. That is all we can do, get better and win games.”
On if it is difficult for the team to focus on football with all of the team’s ticket sales problems:
“It’s really not hard. We may blackout but there will still be 60,000 fans there. We have a college stadium, so it is pretty tough. We are just focusing on the team we have to play. We know that if we win, and when we win, the more fans will come. That’s how it is everywhere. We’re just going to keep playing ball. The fans have been great. We had a little ‘support the movement’ deal going on here. Everybody was growing out beards here and it was fun. We had a good time with it and we are trying to get people to come and be excited about the Jaguars. That is what we are going to be, an exciting team.”
On the fact that people are actually growing beards to support the team:
“Yeah. You guys didn’t hear about it on the west coast? You have to expand your horizons over there. It started with the offensive line and running backs were going to grow a bunch of beards. Then it trickled over to the tight ends and the receivers. David (Garrard) and the quarterbacks took it on. Then it just exploded. Then it was all over the country. I’m surprised that Arizona didn’t get it. I know it was in California. It’s a time thing. You guys don’t switch your time in the zones. When it’s daylight savings, you don’t switch. That’s the problem.”
On if he had been waiting to break out his touchdown dance that he performed on Sunday:
“You know, it was the shopping cart. I didn’t really get a good chance to do it, but I was asking everyone. You have to ask the offensive linemen what they want from the store, grab it off the shelf and put it in the cart. I did little things like that. We had a good time with it. (NFL Network’s) Rich Eisen wanted it to be done, so we did it for him.”
On what former Arizona State head coach and current Jaguars’ offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has meant to the team:
“I played against Coach (Dirk) Koetter in college, so I knew what his offense was about. It was always about scoring points, putting up big numbers. We were really excited when he got here and his passing game elevated our running game to a certain extent. Obviously last year was tough because we had a bunch of injuries and things like that. This year, we are starting to open up the playbook a little bit. We are running the ball and throwing the ball really well. Last week, we were a little hesitant on some things, but we feel we that we have some plays that we need to call that we are going to call and execute.”
On if he feels that most teams’ offense is usually not in top form during the first week of the season:
“Really what I think is a lot of guys stick with their base plays that you have run in OTA’s, the ones you know you can do in your sleep. You try to execute, then you try to adapt on the run in the first game. Sometimes that does tend to make the offense start out slow because you might miss a few things, might not adjust quick enough and things like that. We know every week, everybody is going to improve. Obviously, with the offense that the Cardinals have, they are definitely going to improve. That is what we are trying to do as an offense. We are going to do our best to improve every week and put points on the board. We have a tough task this weekend. Your safeties are out of control. You whole defense and secondary is ridiculous. We have a tough one on our hands, but we are ready to step up to the challenge.”
On if he likes having offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter down on the sidelines this year instead of up in the booth:
“Yeah. We can talk to him and he can see what we see. It is more verbal and more vocal back-and-forth instead of trying to talk to him on the phone. When you talk to him on the phone, you can’t really see his facial expressions to see how he’s thinking and what he’s thinking about. Now you can see him. We can talk. A little give and take session.”
WEEK 2 - Jaguars Head Coach Jack Del Rio -Ingles
9/16/09
On how hard it is to prepare for the Cardinals, especially since they only play once every four or five years:
“Obviously, we got to see them play in the Super Bowl last year. We have been hard at work getting prepared for them. They are not an opponent we play all the time. We are doing our best to study them and learn what they like to do and who they like to do it with. We understand that they have a lot of talent. They have eight Pro Bowlers on the squad. It is a very strong football team. We are getting ready to do well in our home opener.”
On if he agrees with Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt’s assessment that team’s get off to a slow start in week one because you haven’t seen much film from the other team:
“I think both of us experienced a weekend last week that did not go the way we wanted. From that standpoint, we would like to be a week better and find a way to get a victory this week.”
On if it was disappointing that the Jaguars had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win but could not deliver:
“Sure it was. Not winning period was. We expected to go out and play well and find a way to win that game. We had some opportunities that we did not execute well enough to capitalize on. That is the way it goes. You get your chances and you have to execute when you get those opportunities.”
On his decision to bring offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter down from the booth to the sidelines:
“That was something I welcomed. Dirk (Koetter) was the one who initiated it and I supported it. On the sideline, you get a chance to really feel the game and look in the eyes of the players you are working with. It just depends on the comfort level of the coordinator. Some like it in the box where they can see everything. Some like it on the sidelines. I’m comfortable with however the coordinator is most comfortable. He was excited about getting down there. I think we’ve liked that so far.”
On what he liked about offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter when he hired him and what made him think that Koetter could make the transition from college head coach to an NFL coordinator:
“He is a very bright guy. He has done a great job throughout his career. Offenses everywhere he’s been have been very productive. I actually met Dirk (Koetter) through (Bengals head coach and former Ravens defensive coordinator) Marvin Lewis years back. I actually went out there to clinic their defense a little bit. Our staff with the Ravens went out there and met with their staff when he was with Arizona State. I met him then. Then I started tracking him. Also, (Eagles head coach) Andy Reid is a friend of Dirk’s and a friend of mine. In getting background and research and what not, Andy spoke very highly of Dirk. He talked about how (Dirk’s) one of the smartest guys he has ever worked with. I brought him in for the interview and he was outstanding. I thought he was going to be a good fit for us and he has been.”
On if the decision to move RB Maurice Jones-Drew to a feature running back was a result of the team evolving or just trying to get Jones-Drew into that role:
“Probably both would apply. One, as a football team we are certainly evolving. I believe we had 22 new players on our roster last week going into that ballgame. There has been some dramatic turnover. I think part of that is recognizing that this is Maurice’s time to be more involved. (Former Jaguars RB) Fred Taylor is a great player and was a great Jaguar, but it was time for Maurice to be the guy. It was difficult to see Fred in a support role. Really, that was the crux of what we did there. Maurice is our guy. He got off to a solid start last week. He is a real fine player.”
On how the Jaguars try to replace DE Reggie Hayward, who was injured in last week’s game:
“We are going to work it the best we can. Atiyyah Ellison has had some snaps in Reggie’s spot. We will just fill in with the guys we have and do the best we can to carry on. That is what you do. We had more than our share last year. We certainly don’t want to see anything like that. Heck, last year, in our pregame warm-ups, I lost a guy. By the first quarter, I had three of my interior linemen out. Certainly, we didn’t have that kind of problem this week. We don’t want to have that kind of problem going forward.”
On how his two rookie offensive tackles performed against Indianapolis last week:
“In pure have to pass situations, not so good. The rest of the time, I thought they were solid. Those guys are pretty good that Indy has. That turf with the crowd noise in obvious passing situations, they can make life tough for you.”
On if it is important to have success on first and second downs:
“In Indy, you better. If you’re in third and long, you are going to see (Dwight) Freeney and (Robert) Mathis all day. That is not good for anything you are trying to do offensively. That is as stiff a challenge as you will get, no question.”
On the problems the team is having with ticket sales and potential television blackouts:
“The way I feel about it is that the people who are able to come are fantastic. They are very supportive. They make a lot of noise. I appreciate them. Those who can’t make it, it is unfortunate. It is a tough time right now economically. Some people are faced with tough decisions and they are doing the best they can to do that. From my end I want to appreciate the ones who are here, hope that we put out a good product, and people will find a way somehow to get out there and support us. My focus really has to be on working on our football team.”
On what he sees in film from the Arizona defense:
“Not much room to run. They did an unbelievable job against a pretty good running football team in San Francisco. To have 25 rushing attempts and get 21 yards, that was a pretty solid effort. It was a pretty good way to start your season. I know they didn’t get the ‘W’, and that’s what we’re all after, but they played pretty well.”
On if he will be reliving stories of the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe in which both he and Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt participated:
“He might. I won’t. He is the one who played well. I didn’t.”
On how hard it is to prepare for the Cardinals, especially since they only play once every four or five years:
“Obviously, we got to see them play in the Super Bowl last year. We have been hard at work getting prepared for them. They are not an opponent we play all the time. We are doing our best to study them and learn what they like to do and who they like to do it with. We understand that they have a lot of talent. They have eight Pro Bowlers on the squad. It is a very strong football team. We are getting ready to do well in our home opener.”
On if he agrees with Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt’s assessment that team’s get off to a slow start in week one because you haven’t seen much film from the other team:
“I think both of us experienced a weekend last week that did not go the way we wanted. From that standpoint, we would like to be a week better and find a way to get a victory this week.”
On if it was disappointing that the Jaguars had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win but could not deliver:
“Sure it was. Not winning period was. We expected to go out and play well and find a way to win that game. We had some opportunities that we did not execute well enough to capitalize on. That is the way it goes. You get your chances and you have to execute when you get those opportunities.”
On his decision to bring offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter down from the booth to the sidelines:
“That was something I welcomed. Dirk (Koetter) was the one who initiated it and I supported it. On the sideline, you get a chance to really feel the game and look in the eyes of the players you are working with. It just depends on the comfort level of the coordinator. Some like it in the box where they can see everything. Some like it on the sidelines. I’m comfortable with however the coordinator is most comfortable. He was excited about getting down there. I think we’ve liked that so far.”
On what he liked about offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter when he hired him and what made him think that Koetter could make the transition from college head coach to an NFL coordinator:
“He is a very bright guy. He has done a great job throughout his career. Offenses everywhere he’s been have been very productive. I actually met Dirk (Koetter) through (Bengals head coach and former Ravens defensive coordinator) Marvin Lewis years back. I actually went out there to clinic their defense a little bit. Our staff with the Ravens went out there and met with their staff when he was with Arizona State. I met him then. Then I started tracking him. Also, (Eagles head coach) Andy Reid is a friend of Dirk’s and a friend of mine. In getting background and research and what not, Andy spoke very highly of Dirk. He talked about how (Dirk’s) one of the smartest guys he has ever worked with. I brought him in for the interview and he was outstanding. I thought he was going to be a good fit for us and he has been.”
On if the decision to move RB Maurice Jones-Drew to a feature running back was a result of the team evolving or just trying to get Jones-Drew into that role:
“Probably both would apply. One, as a football team we are certainly evolving. I believe we had 22 new players on our roster last week going into that ballgame. There has been some dramatic turnover. I think part of that is recognizing that this is Maurice’s time to be more involved. (Former Jaguars RB) Fred Taylor is a great player and was a great Jaguar, but it was time for Maurice to be the guy. It was difficult to see Fred in a support role. Really, that was the crux of what we did there. Maurice is our guy. He got off to a solid start last week. He is a real fine player.”
On how the Jaguars try to replace DE Reggie Hayward, who was injured in last week’s game:
“We are going to work it the best we can. Atiyyah Ellison has had some snaps in Reggie’s spot. We will just fill in with the guys we have and do the best we can to carry on. That is what you do. We had more than our share last year. We certainly don’t want to see anything like that. Heck, last year, in our pregame warm-ups, I lost a guy. By the first quarter, I had three of my interior linemen out. Certainly, we didn’t have that kind of problem this week. We don’t want to have that kind of problem going forward.”
On how his two rookie offensive tackles performed against Indianapolis last week:
“In pure have to pass situations, not so good. The rest of the time, I thought they were solid. Those guys are pretty good that Indy has. That turf with the crowd noise in obvious passing situations, they can make life tough for you.”
On if it is important to have success on first and second downs:
“In Indy, you better. If you’re in third and long, you are going to see (Dwight) Freeney and (Robert) Mathis all day. That is not good for anything you are trying to do offensively. That is as stiff a challenge as you will get, no question.”
On the problems the team is having with ticket sales and potential television blackouts:
“The way I feel about it is that the people who are able to come are fantastic. They are very supportive. They make a lot of noise. I appreciate them. Those who can’t make it, it is unfortunate. It is a tough time right now economically. Some people are faced with tough decisions and they are doing the best they can to do that. From my end I want to appreciate the ones who are here, hope that we put out a good product, and people will find a way somehow to get out there and support us. My focus really has to be on working on our football team.”
On what he sees in film from the Arizona defense:
“Not much room to run. They did an unbelievable job against a pretty good running football team in San Francisco. To have 25 rushing attempts and get 21 yards, that was a pretty solid effort. It was a pretty good way to start your season. I know they didn’t get the ‘W’, and that’s what we’re all after, but they played pretty well.”
On if he will be reliving stories of the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe in which both he and Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt participated:
“He might. I won’t. He is the one who played well. I didn’t.”
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