Jeff Fisher Monday Presser (video)
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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – News Conference – December 30, 2013
(Opening remarks)
“Today’s a tough day from the standpoint of you wrap up and send them on their way, and I thought we had a very productive meeting. It included a lot of different things earlier today from the standpoint of kind of going back through what happened this year and why and where we’re headed next year and what’s going to take place in between, that being the off-season program. That’s not something that they necessarily want to hear about, but it’s something that we discussed and how important it is to take responsibility for your actions during this time off and let’s get through the offseason without any off the field incidents. So, we covered everything. I think physically and talking to most of the players, they had a few games left in their bodies and disappointed, but we’ll learn from what happened this year. I told them how proud that the staff was from the standpoint of how they rallied around ‘Kell’ (QB Kellen Clemens). When (QB) Sam (Bradford) went down, we said that the quote, ‘Let’s give them hell with Kell,’ and we did. We beat some good teams and we played hard right to the end, so now we’ve got a lot to look forward to. Overall, I think we’ve improved over last year. The record doesn’t reflect it, but I think we’ve got a team moving into the off-season program that’s significantly better than the team that we took in last year.”
(On the team awards)
“The rookie of the year went to (RB) Zac Stacy. The (Carl Ekern) Spirit Award went to (LB) James Laurinaitis. The MVP, as I told them, went to about 12 left tackles in the National Football League, but it went to (DE) Robert Quinn.”
(On the team’s resurgence in the second half of the season)
“We played some good opponents and we played them well, especially here at home and that was good to see. We had some near mistake-free games, and I think we can draw from those. And the games that we made mistakes, we were not successful. The games we turned the football over, we were not successful. The games we had too many penalties, we were not successful and that was addressed, as well. Again, as a team you get better through an off-season program, working with the individual players, helping them to maintain their strengths, work on their weaknesses. You get better through acquiring better personnel through the draft and free agency, and, to me, I told them the focus today, the third area that we have to get better is penalties. We’ll address that and we’ll correct that – we’ll get it fixed.”
(On a lot of teams with winning records also having a lot of penalties being able to overcome the obstacles)
“Well, that has to do with it but Seattle led the league in penalties. And then I think you have Kansas City or Denver at 117, Seattle having 128, but you had a lot of teams under 100. You had three of four at 95, one at 86 and one at 80, I think it was New England. So, they have to come down, but, I think, looking at it we’re also the youngest team in the league and young players are going to make mistakes. I’m not including yesterday into that because yesterday was a little different, as we talked. We had two or three games in the last month where we didn’t have an offensive penalty at all and we played well. So, just one of those areas that we have to dwell on and emphasize from the day that they come back.”
(On the NFC West and having to continually improve to remain competitive in their division)
“Like I said, I think we’re closing the gap. We’re not there yet but I think with a year of improvement we’ll be much closer. Anything can happen. All three teams play really good defense, and we’ve got to play better offense and score more points to compete with them. I think defensively we can compete with these teams.”
(On if the need to improve is aided by their 2014 NFL Draft positioning)
“Yeah, you draft basically, from the standpoint where we are, from need but also you have to take strong consideration competing in the division.”
(On if he anticipates less roster turnover than last offseason)
“I would expect that we would have less, yeah. But there’s always going to be turnover. In good teams, there’s 15 or 20 percent turnover in rosters, so I think we’d have less than we had last year. Certainly significantly less than two years ago.”
(On if he is anticipating changes in the coaching staff)
“I’m not anticipating anything, no.”
(On Sunday’s penalties)
“They were playing hard and they were just a little chippy. They went out to play a physical, physical ball game. Our emphasis was between the snap and the whistle – no more – but compete, don’t back down. And that’s what they did. We had things get a little out of hand. I discussed (DT) Kendall’s (Langford) situation. It was unfortunate that it went down the way it did. I don’t think he’s going to be fined for it. I don’t think he should have been ejected for what happened. Then, obviously, there was frustration after when he found out. There were a lot of penalties. There were a lot of offsetting penalties and there were a lot of penalties on both teams.”
(On if he would like to continue to trade draft picks for additional picks in the future)
“I’m not going to get into the draft right now. We all know we’ve got two picks. The draft’s in May. So, we’ve got a lot of time to massage that and look at that.”
(On if he takes extra pride in finishing the season ranked in the top-10 in run defense based on how the season started against the run)
“Yeah. There’s a lot of things we take pride in. I thought that was one thing in particular. The defense settled down and we changed some things. Again, I go back to those two games in five days. That was hard, but we played some excellent run teams. I thought we did a nice job, especially in the average per carry. The things that took place in our special teams room this year and on the practice field and in games was outstanding, for us to be able to set that record (net punting average in a single season) – it was really a great effort on behalf of (Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (John) Fassel and (Special Teams Assistant Coach Paul F.) Boudreau and that group. I was really impressed. Then I believe we had another one, where we had (for) the third game in a row, we did not give up any return yards on either phase.”
(On what positions he would like to address in the offseason, in general terms)
“In general terms, there will be some on offense and some on defense.
(On if there will be addition on special teams)
“They’ll probably play special teams as well, yeah.’
(On if the team needs to get faster)
“We need to get faster. We need to get stronger. We need to become more physical, score more points, and keep points off the board.”
(On how abrupt the final day of the season is)
“You can’t really plan for it. There are things that you need to share with them, but it is. All of a sudden it’s done. Like I said numerous times, there’s really one team that’s going to have a wrap-up meeting after a win. That’s going to happen in February. But it is. It’s one of those days. You want to send them out feeling good and looking forward to coming back to the offseason program. So, you appreciate their effort, which was consistent the whole year. They had fun. They respected each other and it was a great locker room. Unfortunately, as I told them last night, last night was the last time that we would be in the locker room together as this group because there’s turnover and there’s change. They enjoyed each other.”
(On the job that Offensive Line Coach Paul T. Boudreau did with the numerous offensive linemen combinations that played throughout the season because of injuries)
“He did an outstanding job. We didn’t track how many combinations of guys and who was playing here, but there were a lot of people playing. With respect to yesterday, (G) Brandon Washington goes into the game and plays his first snap in a regular season game up there and played pretty well. So, there’s a lot of good things that happened there. It was a good group. He puts together a really unique group in the classroom and they enjoy working together. They get close. They’re very disciplined and, for all intents and purposes, each one of them really wants to come back, which is good.”
(Opening remarks)
“Today’s a tough day from the standpoint of you wrap up and send them on their way, and I thought we had a very productive meeting. It included a lot of different things earlier today from the standpoint of kind of going back through what happened this year and why and where we’re headed next year and what’s going to take place in between, that being the off-season program. That’s not something that they necessarily want to hear about, but it’s something that we discussed and how important it is to take responsibility for your actions during this time off and let’s get through the offseason without any off the field incidents. So, we covered everything. I think physically and talking to most of the players, they had a few games left in their bodies and disappointed, but we’ll learn from what happened this year. I told them how proud that the staff was from the standpoint of how they rallied around ‘Kell’ (QB Kellen Clemens). When (QB) Sam (Bradford) went down, we said that the quote, ‘Let’s give them hell with Kell,’ and we did. We beat some good teams and we played hard right to the end, so now we’ve got a lot to look forward to. Overall, I think we’ve improved over last year. The record doesn’t reflect it, but I think we’ve got a team moving into the off-season program that’s significantly better than the team that we took in last year.”
(On the team awards)
“The rookie of the year went to (RB) Zac Stacy. The (Carl Ekern) Spirit Award went to (LB) James Laurinaitis. The MVP, as I told them, went to about 12 left tackles in the National Football League, but it went to (DE) Robert Quinn.”
(On the team’s resurgence in the second half of the season)
“We played some good opponents and we played them well, especially here at home and that was good to see. We had some near mistake-free games, and I think we can draw from those. And the games that we made mistakes, we were not successful. The games we turned the football over, we were not successful. The games we had too many penalties, we were not successful and that was addressed, as well. Again, as a team you get better through an off-season program, working with the individual players, helping them to maintain their strengths, work on their weaknesses. You get better through acquiring better personnel through the draft and free agency, and, to me, I told them the focus today, the third area that we have to get better is penalties. We’ll address that and we’ll correct that – we’ll get it fixed.”
(On a lot of teams with winning records also having a lot of penalties being able to overcome the obstacles)
“Well, that has to do with it but Seattle led the league in penalties. And then I think you have Kansas City or Denver at 117, Seattle having 128, but you had a lot of teams under 100. You had three of four at 95, one at 86 and one at 80, I think it was New England. So, they have to come down, but, I think, looking at it we’re also the youngest team in the league and young players are going to make mistakes. I’m not including yesterday into that because yesterday was a little different, as we talked. We had two or three games in the last month where we didn’t have an offensive penalty at all and we played well. So, just one of those areas that we have to dwell on and emphasize from the day that they come back.”
(On the NFC West and having to continually improve to remain competitive in their division)
“Like I said, I think we’re closing the gap. We’re not there yet but I think with a year of improvement we’ll be much closer. Anything can happen. All three teams play really good defense, and we’ve got to play better offense and score more points to compete with them. I think defensively we can compete with these teams.”
(On if the need to improve is aided by their 2014 NFL Draft positioning)
“Yeah, you draft basically, from the standpoint where we are, from need but also you have to take strong consideration competing in the division.”
(On if he anticipates less roster turnover than last offseason)
“I would expect that we would have less, yeah. But there’s always going to be turnover. In good teams, there’s 15 or 20 percent turnover in rosters, so I think we’d have less than we had last year. Certainly significantly less than two years ago.”
(On if he is anticipating changes in the coaching staff)
“I’m not anticipating anything, no.”
(On Sunday’s penalties)
“They were playing hard and they were just a little chippy. They went out to play a physical, physical ball game. Our emphasis was between the snap and the whistle – no more – but compete, don’t back down. And that’s what they did. We had things get a little out of hand. I discussed (DT) Kendall’s (Langford) situation. It was unfortunate that it went down the way it did. I don’t think he’s going to be fined for it. I don’t think he should have been ejected for what happened. Then, obviously, there was frustration after when he found out. There were a lot of penalties. There were a lot of offsetting penalties and there were a lot of penalties on both teams.”
(On if he would like to continue to trade draft picks for additional picks in the future)
“I’m not going to get into the draft right now. We all know we’ve got two picks. The draft’s in May. So, we’ve got a lot of time to massage that and look at that.”
(On if he takes extra pride in finishing the season ranked in the top-10 in run defense based on how the season started against the run)
“Yeah. There’s a lot of things we take pride in. I thought that was one thing in particular. The defense settled down and we changed some things. Again, I go back to those two games in five days. That was hard, but we played some excellent run teams. I thought we did a nice job, especially in the average per carry. The things that took place in our special teams room this year and on the practice field and in games was outstanding, for us to be able to set that record (net punting average in a single season) – it was really a great effort on behalf of (Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (John) Fassel and (Special Teams Assistant Coach Paul F.) Boudreau and that group. I was really impressed. Then I believe we had another one, where we had (for) the third game in a row, we did not give up any return yards on either phase.”
(On what positions he would like to address in the offseason, in general terms)
“In general terms, there will be some on offense and some on defense.
(On if there will be addition on special teams)
“They’ll probably play special teams as well, yeah.’
(On if the team needs to get faster)
“We need to get faster. We need to get stronger. We need to become more physical, score more points, and keep points off the board.”
(On how abrupt the final day of the season is)
“You can’t really plan for it. There are things that you need to share with them, but it is. All of a sudden it’s done. Like I said numerous times, there’s really one team that’s going to have a wrap-up meeting after a win. That’s going to happen in February. But it is. It’s one of those days. You want to send them out feeling good and looking forward to coming back to the offseason program. So, you appreciate their effort, which was consistent the whole year. They had fun. They respected each other and it was a great locker room. Unfortunately, as I told them last night, last night was the last time that we would be in the locker room together as this group because there’s turnover and there’s change. They enjoyed each other.”
(On the job that Offensive Line Coach Paul T. Boudreau did with the numerous offensive linemen combinations that played throughout the season because of injuries)
“He did an outstanding job. We didn’t track how many combinations of guys and who was playing here, but there were a lot of people playing. With respect to yesterday, (G) Brandon Washington goes into the game and plays his first snap in a regular season game up there and played pretty well. So, there’s a lot of good things that happened there. It was a good group. He puts together a really unique group in the classroom and they enjoy working together. They get close. They’re very disciplined and, for all intents and purposes, each one of them really wants to come back, which is good.”
Fisher gives first glimpse as to his utmost desire to draft Sammy Watkins: "All three teams play really good defense, and we’ve got to play better offense and score more points to compete with them." :lol:
HE WITH HORNS
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I'm getting warmed up to the idea of taking him, even if we don't trade down. If he is really THAT good, then he needs to be a Ram next season.
bwdenverram
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Yeah, I caught that. I think it also means OL. He said we need to get more physical.
I could see OL and WR in the 1st. Maybe Watkins/Lewan or something like that. He said we can compete in our division on D, so I would be shocked if Clowney is the pick.
Although Long didn't do as much this year. But still think we need to beef up the OL. Dahl and Wells aren't getting any younger.
Imagine (if healthy) Long, RG, Wells (or younger stud a C), Saffold and Matthews. Would be a pretty good OL. Hell, if Dahl comes back healthy maybe Saffold at RG.
Long and Saffold together would be a pretty beastly combo protecting Sam's blind side.
I could see OL and WR in the 1st. Maybe Watkins/Lewan or something like that. He said we can compete in our division on D, so I would be shocked if Clowney is the pick.
Although Long didn't do as much this year. But still think we need to beef up the OL. Dahl and Wells aren't getting any younger.
Imagine (if healthy) Long, RG, Wells (or younger stud a C), Saffold and Matthews. Would be a pretty good OL. Hell, if Dahl comes back healthy maybe Saffold at RG.
Long and Saffold together would be a pretty beastly combo protecting Sam's blind side.