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Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians–Conference Call – November 5, 2014
(On his general feeling on how the team has performed this season)
“I think that we’ve played hard for 60 minutes and kind of found ways to win games. I don’t think we’re anything special, but we’ve managed to win ball games in fourth quarters. That’s very hard to do. It started at the end of last season kind of, the belief has carried over into the locker room this year.”
(On the team’s fourth quarter performances and what is it about that time of the game that motivates the team)
“I think they’ve learned that’s when games are won and lost. Most teams, it’s very hard to teach a team how to win. You find ways to do that and then you start believing that it’s going to happen. Very similar to what happened for those guys up in ‘Frisco’ (San Francisco) last week, they found a way to win it at the end.”
(On how the team has dealt with the injuries)
“It’s a part of the game. Everybody goes through it. You talk about in OTAs and training camp. The most valuable players on your team are your second string and your third string. It’s not the superstars. It’s the guy that had to replace him and not drop a standard of play. When you get an injury, the next man it’s just a great opportunity for you to get a job.”
(On QB Carson Palmer and his performance this season)
“Carson started playing…the light went on about Week 8 last year and it is really the guys around him started playing a lot better too and the trust factor was built. They had a heck of an offseason together, the receivers, tight ends and Carson putting time in and building trust. We don’t hold on to balls now to see a guy come open, we’re throwing them open. So your interceptions are down. That and you quit forcing the ball to one guy and starts spreading around to eight or nine, which he’s done a great job of and just taking what a defense gives him.”
(On if there was a moment late last season when things clicked for the team)
“Yeah, it was the loss in San Francisco. A game that we played really, really well in for three-and-a-half-quarters and then found a way to lose it. In that locker room after the game, it was very obvious that we didn’t have 53 guys that believed we were going to win that day. Just made a basic statement that if you don’t come out of the locker room with that mindset from here on in, then you’re not going to be on this team anymore. Guys started believing it and we started winning games. Obviously, the game in Seattle was a big game. Winning up there last year because we did have four turnovers and still found a way to win.”
(On if the team has surprised him with the best record in the NFL)
“Yes and no because I still don’t think we’ve played up to our ability, especially on offense. Defensively, I knew (Defensive Coordinator) Todd (Bowles) would have our guys in a position to be successful, whatever guys we had left. Again, we’ll play hard for 60 minutes. But, I’m not surprised by where we’re at. I am a little bit surprised by the ramifications of losing so many players and then still being here.”
(On how Coach Bowles has been able to overcome injuries on defense)
“Well, (Cardinals General Manager) Steve (Keim) kind of did a great job of finding a couple veterans in (DE) Tommy Kelly and (LB) Larry Foote. We got our young guys ready to play and (DE) Eddie Stinson stepped in. (DT) Dan Williams expanded his role from just a traditional noise guard when (DE) Calais (Campbell) was down. (DE) Kareem Martin’s played good at times, everybody, (DT) Frostee Rucker’s having a heck of a year. Our defensive front, just they play with really good technique and play hard.”
(On what’s it been like working with General Manager Steve Keim)
“Steve’s great. We grew up about 20 miles apart. I’m a lot older than he is (laughs), he’s a redneck from the county, I’m from the city (laughs). He’s a great guy, does a fantastic job. Has a great eye for talent. When we first got together we said, ‘Man, we don’t have any egos. Let’s just win and whoever gets credit, gets credit.’ But, it’s a team, the organization gets the credit. Every decision that we make is an organizational decision, so it’s great working with him.”
(On how important it is for the head coach and general manager to have a good working relationship)
“There has to be a great trust factor. When we say we need a player and he says, ‘This is the best available guy.’ I say ‘Let’s go, let’s roll. Let’s get him in here and find him a role to play on Sunday.’ That’s all you can do. You go on teams and put 11 and 12 guys on IR, you’ve got to have a great trust that the personnel department is going to give you the best available guys.”
(On how he enjoys being a head coach)
“It’s a lot of fun. Just to do it every single day and I never thought this would ever happen. Obviously, when it did it was something I was going to relish every moment of and so far, so good. We’ve got a great staff and last year we were very fortunate in keeping everybody on a staff. This year it’s going to be even tougher, I think.”
(On how he got his team to believe that they could play with anybody particularly within the NFC West)
“I think it’s a matter of going out and doing it. The one thing about our division is everybody’s got a physical, excellent defense. It all comes down to your quarterback play and Carson for us half way through last season began playing very, very well. I look at the whole division and everybody has offense, defensive lines, and the quarterback play usually separates everything. Now, I’m really impressed with (QB) Austin Davis. I know a lot about Southern Mississippi, when you break (QB) Brett’s (Favre) records you’ve done something special. I really think this kid has a great future.”
(On what he likes about Davis’ game)
“He can make every throw. He’s mobile, but he’s not looking to run, he’s looking to throw. He played in that up-tempo offense over there so he knows how to play fast. Most of those young kids today they play better spread out because that’s what they’re used to. He’s done a good job and (Offensive Coordinator) Brian’s (Schottenheimer) done a nice job with him of putting a nice running game around him and having explosive players and getting them the ball and run with it.”
(On if he was impressed with the Rams’ defensive play against San Francisco)
“There’s no doubt in that. I didn’t have to wait for them to wake up to know how good they are. With the addition of (DT Aaron) Donald and the other guys, I mean they…(Defensive Coordination) Gregg (Williams) does a great, great job. You can see his footprint all over that thing now. (Head Coach) Jeff (Fisher) has always had that type of defense, having going against him all those years at Tennessee. They’re going to play fast. They’re going to play physical and they’re going to have a great front four. So, you’ve got your hands full.”
(On how he thinks his offensive line has performed this season)
“I think we’ve been solid. (LT) Jared Veldheer was a huge upgrade for us to solidify that last tackle. But probably just as important was the growth of (LT) Bobby Massie. We knew we had a talent, we just needed that light bulb to click and it did. He has come on really strong for us, so the two tackle positions have helped us a bunch. Interior, (OG) Jonathan Cooper’s going to be a great player, but he just kept getting hurt on us and so (C/G) ‘Teddy’ (Larson) was a great find by Steve Keim. I like our guys. They’re smart. They’re technicians. Not overly talented, but they’re physical.”
(On if it ever seems like work to him when he’s driving into the building)
“No. First of all you wake up in paradise every day, the sunshine. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face. Then, with an owner like Michael (Bidwill) who wants to win badly and a general manager like Steve - I’ve got an easy job. We’ve got a great group of guys and a good coaching staff so this is a fun organization to work at.”
(On what rookie WR John Brown brings to the offense)
“John is an explosive player. He can take a short pass and take it to the house or he can just take the top off the coverage. But he’s fearless, I was shocked he dropped a ball over the middle for the first time last Sunday. It was like ‘Whoa. Maybe he is human for a rookie,’ you know? Because he has a very mature attitude, just like a five year vet when it comes to preparation already.”
(On his coaching staff philosophy)
“It’s a very eclectic staff. We’ve got some guys born in the 30’s and 40’s and some guys born in the 80’s. I think our ages range from 78 to 28. We have a large staff because I believe in small classrooms and a lot of eyes on players. Fundamentals win games, it’s not schemes. Too many young coaches get caught up in schemes, it’s blocking and tackling and you’ve got to have eyes on everybody out there on the practice field. With that many guys, we have eyes on our show team guys so they’re getting coached constantly when they’re putting on the other teams plays. So that if and when an injury occurs they’re ready to play.”
(On what it was like to coach under former Alabama Head Coach Bear Bryant)
“It was a valuable learning lesson every single day coming into the office. Master of personnel and people. He could read people like no one I’ve ever seen. A word from him would uplift somebody who was having the worst day of their life and they’d feel great. Then you take a cocky young coach like me, he loved to rip my ass all the time, so I needed it.”
Cardinals QB Carson Palmer – Conference Call – November 5, 2014
(On the season the Cardinals have had so far and having to overcome some injuries)
“I think we were tested early, losing some key guys and having some injuries. Having young guys kind of forced into the spotlight, forced into getting reps in practice and then all of the sudden somebody doesn’t come back for the game. They’re forced into games. It’s been a next man up mentality here. That’s something that’s preached about, talked about all the time. We’ve been fortunate to have young guys come in and play well and really not skip a beat on either side of the ball. Basically, what good teams are made of, is when you lose a star like (Cardinals DT) Darnell Dockett or whoever it might be, a young guy comes in and plays and plays well.”
(On how much fun it is to play for Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians)
“It’s great system. I really enjoy playing in his system. It’s a quarterback friendly system. There’s enough runs where you can focus on the run game and you can still get people with some play actions. There’s tons of opportunities to throw the ball down the field. It’s a great system. I’ve heard phenomenal things about (Head) Coach (Jeff) Fisher. So, I’m sure it’s a pretty similar situation just as far as getting the most out of his guys. All of the things that I’ve heard from buddies that played for Coach Fisher, just how great of a guy he is to play for. It’s pretty similar in both places here right now.”
(On how Arians’ personality has helped change the culture for the Cardinals)
“He’s a straight shooter. There is no something he’s hiding or no two-faced anything like that. He tells it like it is. Whether you’re playing well or bad, you’re going to hear about it. He doesn’t make any exceptions who you are. It’s something the guys really respect. It’s easy to respect and play for a coach that…he wears his emotions on his sleeve and just tells it like it is every day.”
(On if he’s surprised with the Cardinals’ recent success and having the best record in the NFL)
“A little bit. We expected to be good this year after the way we finished last year. Had a great offseason, and a great camp, and a great start to the year. I don’t know if three months ago you look at our schedule, and say, ‘I bet we’re 7-1 at this point.’ I’m not surprised. You always look at the schedule thinking you can beat everybody, but to pretty much have done that thus far, it feels good. You hate to say it, but we’ve expected to win these games. What we’ve done a good job is beating the teams we’re supposed to and then we close games against good teams.”
(On the Cardinals’ ability to play their best football in the fourth quarter to finish off games)
“I don’t know. We’ve been, the last two years, we’ve really been a fourth -quarter team, especially last year. It’s always kind of taken us a little while to get going. Taking us a while to get going a little bit this year. It’s not a different mindset. It’s not different play calls. It’s probably just better execution when it comes down to it.”
(On going 10-6 and missing the playoffs last year and the mindset going into this season)
“Definitely, we learned our lesson last year. The early loss to the Rams that we had in Week 1. Just a couple games here or there that you look back on, and you kind of kick yourself in the butt and say, ‘What are you doing? How did we lose that one?’ We ended up paying the price for it as the year went on. We talked about that a lot at the beginning of this year about how important it is to start off fast. How important is to come out and execute early in games, early in the year and we’ve been fortunate enough to do that and put ourselves in complete opposite situation than we did last year.”
(On the emergence of Cardinals WRs John and Jaron Brown)
“John Brown, the young rookie, he’s just done a phenomenal job. He’s extremely smart. He’s come in and learned the offense really fast and it’s not a very simple offense, especially for a receiver that plays multiple situations. He’s coming in and really just picked up everything quickly and asked the right questions and done the right things to warrant play time. Then Jaron, it’s been tough for him to find a spot on the field. There’s so many good receiver and higher draft picks or higher paid guys. It’s just kind of one of those things that you want to get them on the field, but who do you take off the field? But, he’s done a really good job when he’s his opportunities. He’s made his plays.”
(On if he was uncertain about when he would return from his injury earlier in the season)
“Yeah it was. I didn’t know much about it. There’s not a ton of research on it. There’s not a ton of history with it. I never felt like I wasn’t going to be back. I always felt that I’d be back, I just didn’t know when. Obviously, injuries always take a little longer than you want, but I’m fortunate to be back, blessed to be back and just happy to be playing football again.”
(On playing with Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald)
“Larry’s just a true pro. He comes in, he works his butt off every day. He leads by example and shows the young guys what it takes to work and what it takes to be great. Then when he gets in games, he’s just been playing so strong—Running through tackles and breaking tackles, stretching defenses out and shows some speed that some people doubted he had. He’s had a really great run here for the last couple weeks.”
(On what challenges the Rams defense present)
“It’s a really good defense. I knew it was a good defense, kind of a dark horse in our division. I’ve been talking about them for a while and talking about how talented this team is, but they get kind of lost and shuffle with the San Francisco’s and obviously Seattle. It’s an extremely talented defense. They do a ton. For a young defense to do as much as they do, you don’t see it very often. If you do see it, typically you see blown coverages and guys running wide open. You just don’t see that against this group. It’s very well-coached, very well-disciplined. They do a ton. They can just rush the passer with four and wreak havoc and put coverage behind it, but they don’t. Every possible coverage you can think of, they show. Different pressures, every pressure you could possibly think of, they’ve shown. It’s a very talented group. Young, they play hard, they’re well-coached, and the scheme is phenomenal. The scheme is proven. This has been a great scheme (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Gregg) Williams has run for a long time. Pairing him, obviously, with Coach Fisher—two of the more well-respected coaches, and I know Coach Fisher probably, is one of the most respected coaches I can think of for myself. It helps that he’s an (University of Southern California) ‘SC’ guy, of course, and I always support our SC guys. I have great amount of respect for the way Coach Fisher gets the most out of his teams. He gets these guys playing hard. There’s a reason they’ve won the last couple games because they just flat out outplayed their opponents.”
(On if the Rams’ variety of looks and fronts means that he has to take longer to recognize what he’s actually seeing on the other side of the line of scrimmage)
“No doubt. They do a ton of different stuff. They bluff things very well. It’s really hard to get a beat on them on what’s coming and when it’s coming. That’s because they have smart players, but it’s also because they’re very well prepared and they’re well-coached. You don’t ever get a look where you go, ‘I know what this one is or I know what that one is.’ You’ve got to keep your eyes up. You’ve got to see safeties move. You’ve got to see the fronts change. You’ve got to see the linebackers, which way they’re flowing. It’s a very, very good scheme. A lot of times when you see a scheme like this, the players aren’t that good or you scheme like this because you don’t have very good players. That’s not the case with these guys. The scheme is very complicated and there’s very good players all over the field.”
(On if he’s had any impressions on QB Austin Davis’ performance so far)
“I really haven’t. We just haven’t played any like opponents yet, which is weird being in the same division. He just hasn’t come up on film against teams that are showing up on our cut-ups. From everything I’ve heard, I’ve heard he’s very accurate. He can run around and make plays, very smart with the ball. It sounds like he’s the right guy running the show there. We’ve got to play really, really well defensively to get out of our own place with a win.”
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(On his general feeling on how the team has performed this season)
“I think that we’ve played hard for 60 minutes and kind of found ways to win games. I don’t think we’re anything special, but we’ve managed to win ball games in fourth quarters. That’s very hard to do. It started at the end of last season kind of, the belief has carried over into the locker room this year.”
(On the team’s fourth quarter performances and what is it about that time of the game that motivates the team)
“I think they’ve learned that’s when games are won and lost. Most teams, it’s very hard to teach a team how to win. You find ways to do that and then you start believing that it’s going to happen. Very similar to what happened for those guys up in ‘Frisco’ (San Francisco) last week, they found a way to win it at the end.”
(On how the team has dealt with the injuries)
“It’s a part of the game. Everybody goes through it. You talk about in OTAs and training camp. The most valuable players on your team are your second string and your third string. It’s not the superstars. It’s the guy that had to replace him and not drop a standard of play. When you get an injury, the next man it’s just a great opportunity for you to get a job.”
(On QB Carson Palmer and his performance this season)
“Carson started playing…the light went on about Week 8 last year and it is really the guys around him started playing a lot better too and the trust factor was built. They had a heck of an offseason together, the receivers, tight ends and Carson putting time in and building trust. We don’t hold on to balls now to see a guy come open, we’re throwing them open. So your interceptions are down. That and you quit forcing the ball to one guy and starts spreading around to eight or nine, which he’s done a great job of and just taking what a defense gives him.”
(On if there was a moment late last season when things clicked for the team)
“Yeah, it was the loss in San Francisco. A game that we played really, really well in for three-and-a-half-quarters and then found a way to lose it. In that locker room after the game, it was very obvious that we didn’t have 53 guys that believed we were going to win that day. Just made a basic statement that if you don’t come out of the locker room with that mindset from here on in, then you’re not going to be on this team anymore. Guys started believing it and we started winning games. Obviously, the game in Seattle was a big game. Winning up there last year because we did have four turnovers and still found a way to win.”
(On if the team has surprised him with the best record in the NFL)
“Yes and no because I still don’t think we’ve played up to our ability, especially on offense. Defensively, I knew (Defensive Coordinator) Todd (Bowles) would have our guys in a position to be successful, whatever guys we had left. Again, we’ll play hard for 60 minutes. But, I’m not surprised by where we’re at. I am a little bit surprised by the ramifications of losing so many players and then still being here.”
(On how Coach Bowles has been able to overcome injuries on defense)
“Well, (Cardinals General Manager) Steve (Keim) kind of did a great job of finding a couple veterans in (DE) Tommy Kelly and (LB) Larry Foote. We got our young guys ready to play and (DE) Eddie Stinson stepped in. (DT) Dan Williams expanded his role from just a traditional noise guard when (DE) Calais (Campbell) was down. (DE) Kareem Martin’s played good at times, everybody, (DT) Frostee Rucker’s having a heck of a year. Our defensive front, just they play with really good technique and play hard.”
(On what’s it been like working with General Manager Steve Keim)
“Steve’s great. We grew up about 20 miles apart. I’m a lot older than he is (laughs), he’s a redneck from the county, I’m from the city (laughs). He’s a great guy, does a fantastic job. Has a great eye for talent. When we first got together we said, ‘Man, we don’t have any egos. Let’s just win and whoever gets credit, gets credit.’ But, it’s a team, the organization gets the credit. Every decision that we make is an organizational decision, so it’s great working with him.”
(On how important it is for the head coach and general manager to have a good working relationship)
“There has to be a great trust factor. When we say we need a player and he says, ‘This is the best available guy.’ I say ‘Let’s go, let’s roll. Let’s get him in here and find him a role to play on Sunday.’ That’s all you can do. You go on teams and put 11 and 12 guys on IR, you’ve got to have a great trust that the personnel department is going to give you the best available guys.”
(On how he enjoys being a head coach)
“It’s a lot of fun. Just to do it every single day and I never thought this would ever happen. Obviously, when it did it was something I was going to relish every moment of and so far, so good. We’ve got a great staff and last year we were very fortunate in keeping everybody on a staff. This year it’s going to be even tougher, I think.”
(On how he got his team to believe that they could play with anybody particularly within the NFC West)
“I think it’s a matter of going out and doing it. The one thing about our division is everybody’s got a physical, excellent defense. It all comes down to your quarterback play and Carson for us half way through last season began playing very, very well. I look at the whole division and everybody has offense, defensive lines, and the quarterback play usually separates everything. Now, I’m really impressed with (QB) Austin Davis. I know a lot about Southern Mississippi, when you break (QB) Brett’s (Favre) records you’ve done something special. I really think this kid has a great future.”
(On what he likes about Davis’ game)
“He can make every throw. He’s mobile, but he’s not looking to run, he’s looking to throw. He played in that up-tempo offense over there so he knows how to play fast. Most of those young kids today they play better spread out because that’s what they’re used to. He’s done a good job and (Offensive Coordinator) Brian’s (Schottenheimer) done a nice job with him of putting a nice running game around him and having explosive players and getting them the ball and run with it.”
(On if he was impressed with the Rams’ defensive play against San Francisco)
“There’s no doubt in that. I didn’t have to wait for them to wake up to know how good they are. With the addition of (DT Aaron) Donald and the other guys, I mean they…(Defensive Coordination) Gregg (Williams) does a great, great job. You can see his footprint all over that thing now. (Head Coach) Jeff (Fisher) has always had that type of defense, having going against him all those years at Tennessee. They’re going to play fast. They’re going to play physical and they’re going to have a great front four. So, you’ve got your hands full.”
(On how he thinks his offensive line has performed this season)
“I think we’ve been solid. (LT) Jared Veldheer was a huge upgrade for us to solidify that last tackle. But probably just as important was the growth of (LT) Bobby Massie. We knew we had a talent, we just needed that light bulb to click and it did. He has come on really strong for us, so the two tackle positions have helped us a bunch. Interior, (OG) Jonathan Cooper’s going to be a great player, but he just kept getting hurt on us and so (C/G) ‘Teddy’ (Larson) was a great find by Steve Keim. I like our guys. They’re smart. They’re technicians. Not overly talented, but they’re physical.”
(On if it ever seems like work to him when he’s driving into the building)
“No. First of all you wake up in paradise every day, the sunshine. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face. Then, with an owner like Michael (Bidwill) who wants to win badly and a general manager like Steve - I’ve got an easy job. We’ve got a great group of guys and a good coaching staff so this is a fun organization to work at.”
(On what rookie WR John Brown brings to the offense)
“John is an explosive player. He can take a short pass and take it to the house or he can just take the top off the coverage. But he’s fearless, I was shocked he dropped a ball over the middle for the first time last Sunday. It was like ‘Whoa. Maybe he is human for a rookie,’ you know? Because he has a very mature attitude, just like a five year vet when it comes to preparation already.”
(On his coaching staff philosophy)
“It’s a very eclectic staff. We’ve got some guys born in the 30’s and 40’s and some guys born in the 80’s. I think our ages range from 78 to 28. We have a large staff because I believe in small classrooms and a lot of eyes on players. Fundamentals win games, it’s not schemes. Too many young coaches get caught up in schemes, it’s blocking and tackling and you’ve got to have eyes on everybody out there on the practice field. With that many guys, we have eyes on our show team guys so they’re getting coached constantly when they’re putting on the other teams plays. So that if and when an injury occurs they’re ready to play.”
(On what it was like to coach under former Alabama Head Coach Bear Bryant)
“It was a valuable learning lesson every single day coming into the office. Master of personnel and people. He could read people like no one I’ve ever seen. A word from him would uplift somebody who was having the worst day of their life and they’d feel great. Then you take a cocky young coach like me, he loved to rip my ass all the time, so I needed it.”
Cardinals QB Carson Palmer – Conference Call – November 5, 2014
(On the season the Cardinals have had so far and having to overcome some injuries)
“I think we were tested early, losing some key guys and having some injuries. Having young guys kind of forced into the spotlight, forced into getting reps in practice and then all of the sudden somebody doesn’t come back for the game. They’re forced into games. It’s been a next man up mentality here. That’s something that’s preached about, talked about all the time. We’ve been fortunate to have young guys come in and play well and really not skip a beat on either side of the ball. Basically, what good teams are made of, is when you lose a star like (Cardinals DT) Darnell Dockett or whoever it might be, a young guy comes in and plays and plays well.”
(On how much fun it is to play for Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians)
“It’s great system. I really enjoy playing in his system. It’s a quarterback friendly system. There’s enough runs where you can focus on the run game and you can still get people with some play actions. There’s tons of opportunities to throw the ball down the field. It’s a great system. I’ve heard phenomenal things about (Head) Coach (Jeff) Fisher. So, I’m sure it’s a pretty similar situation just as far as getting the most out of his guys. All of the things that I’ve heard from buddies that played for Coach Fisher, just how great of a guy he is to play for. It’s pretty similar in both places here right now.”
(On how Arians’ personality has helped change the culture for the Cardinals)
“He’s a straight shooter. There is no something he’s hiding or no two-faced anything like that. He tells it like it is. Whether you’re playing well or bad, you’re going to hear about it. He doesn’t make any exceptions who you are. It’s something the guys really respect. It’s easy to respect and play for a coach that…he wears his emotions on his sleeve and just tells it like it is every day.”
(On if he’s surprised with the Cardinals’ recent success and having the best record in the NFL)
“A little bit. We expected to be good this year after the way we finished last year. Had a great offseason, and a great camp, and a great start to the year. I don’t know if three months ago you look at our schedule, and say, ‘I bet we’re 7-1 at this point.’ I’m not surprised. You always look at the schedule thinking you can beat everybody, but to pretty much have done that thus far, it feels good. You hate to say it, but we’ve expected to win these games. What we’ve done a good job is beating the teams we’re supposed to and then we close games against good teams.”
(On the Cardinals’ ability to play their best football in the fourth quarter to finish off games)
“I don’t know. We’ve been, the last two years, we’ve really been a fourth -quarter team, especially last year. It’s always kind of taken us a little while to get going. Taking us a while to get going a little bit this year. It’s not a different mindset. It’s not different play calls. It’s probably just better execution when it comes down to it.”
(On going 10-6 and missing the playoffs last year and the mindset going into this season)
“Definitely, we learned our lesson last year. The early loss to the Rams that we had in Week 1. Just a couple games here or there that you look back on, and you kind of kick yourself in the butt and say, ‘What are you doing? How did we lose that one?’ We ended up paying the price for it as the year went on. We talked about that a lot at the beginning of this year about how important it is to start off fast. How important is to come out and execute early in games, early in the year and we’ve been fortunate enough to do that and put ourselves in complete opposite situation than we did last year.”
(On the emergence of Cardinals WRs John and Jaron Brown)
“John Brown, the young rookie, he’s just done a phenomenal job. He’s extremely smart. He’s come in and learned the offense really fast and it’s not a very simple offense, especially for a receiver that plays multiple situations. He’s coming in and really just picked up everything quickly and asked the right questions and done the right things to warrant play time. Then Jaron, it’s been tough for him to find a spot on the field. There’s so many good receiver and higher draft picks or higher paid guys. It’s just kind of one of those things that you want to get them on the field, but who do you take off the field? But, he’s done a really good job when he’s his opportunities. He’s made his plays.”
(On if he was uncertain about when he would return from his injury earlier in the season)
“Yeah it was. I didn’t know much about it. There’s not a ton of research on it. There’s not a ton of history with it. I never felt like I wasn’t going to be back. I always felt that I’d be back, I just didn’t know when. Obviously, injuries always take a little longer than you want, but I’m fortunate to be back, blessed to be back and just happy to be playing football again.”
(On playing with Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald)
“Larry’s just a true pro. He comes in, he works his butt off every day. He leads by example and shows the young guys what it takes to work and what it takes to be great. Then when he gets in games, he’s just been playing so strong—Running through tackles and breaking tackles, stretching defenses out and shows some speed that some people doubted he had. He’s had a really great run here for the last couple weeks.”
(On what challenges the Rams defense present)
“It’s a really good defense. I knew it was a good defense, kind of a dark horse in our division. I’ve been talking about them for a while and talking about how talented this team is, but they get kind of lost and shuffle with the San Francisco’s and obviously Seattle. It’s an extremely talented defense. They do a ton. For a young defense to do as much as they do, you don’t see it very often. If you do see it, typically you see blown coverages and guys running wide open. You just don’t see that against this group. It’s very well-coached, very well-disciplined. They do a ton. They can just rush the passer with four and wreak havoc and put coverage behind it, but they don’t. Every possible coverage you can think of, they show. Different pressures, every pressure you could possibly think of, they’ve shown. It’s a very talented group. Young, they play hard, they’re well-coached, and the scheme is phenomenal. The scheme is proven. This has been a great scheme (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Gregg) Williams has run for a long time. Pairing him, obviously, with Coach Fisher—two of the more well-respected coaches, and I know Coach Fisher probably, is one of the most respected coaches I can think of for myself. It helps that he’s an (University of Southern California) ‘SC’ guy, of course, and I always support our SC guys. I have great amount of respect for the way Coach Fisher gets the most out of his teams. He gets these guys playing hard. There’s a reason they’ve won the last couple games because they just flat out outplayed their opponents.”
(On if the Rams’ variety of looks and fronts means that he has to take longer to recognize what he’s actually seeing on the other side of the line of scrimmage)
“No doubt. They do a ton of different stuff. They bluff things very well. It’s really hard to get a beat on them on what’s coming and when it’s coming. That’s because they have smart players, but it’s also because they’re very well prepared and they’re well-coached. You don’t ever get a look where you go, ‘I know what this one is or I know what that one is.’ You’ve got to keep your eyes up. You’ve got to see safeties move. You’ve got to see the fronts change. You’ve got to see the linebackers, which way they’re flowing. It’s a very, very good scheme. A lot of times when you see a scheme like this, the players aren’t that good or you scheme like this because you don’t have very good players. That’s not the case with these guys. The scheme is very complicated and there’s very good players all over the field.”
(On if he’s had any impressions on QB Austin Davis’ performance so far)
“I really haven’t. We just haven’t played any like opponents yet, which is weird being in the same division. He just hasn’t come up on film against teams that are showing up on our cut-ups. From everything I’ve heard, I’ve heard he’s very accurate. He can run around and make plays, very smart with the ball. It sounds like he’s the right guy running the show there. We’ve got to play really, really well defensively to get out of our own place with a win.”
@Blue and Gold
Articles posted here need to have a link.
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