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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post-Practice – September 12, 2013
(On the problems Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez presents)
“Over the years, he’s created the match-up problems for defenses. Very, very difficult to cover with linebackers if you’re lucky. Then, he’s got such good size and he bodies you out and keeps drives alive against the DBs. He’s been a great red zone target all of his career. I think one of the things people don’t realize is that he’s a good blocker. He’s a solid blocker on the end of the line of scrimmage, so he helps in their run game as well.”
(On the challenge Falcons DE Kroy Biermann presents)
“Kroy, for most of his career, was an edge rusher and a very good one. He’s a high motor guy. They’ve got him kind of playing some linebacker, so now when they rush him at linebacker, you’ve got five good rushers rushing on the quarterback. He’s lining up all over the place, as you say. He’ll match-up outside on a back and end up playing the corner spot in their zone concept. So, he’s obviously very intelligent and a high motor guy. He’s a big play guy.”
(On how LG Chris Williams played against Arizona)
“Chris played well. He was solid. He and (LT) Jake (Long) are only going to get better and better together. But, he stepped in there and played well. He anchored well and I thought he graded out well.”
(On if he sees weaknesses in the Atlanta pass protection)
“We’re going to have to find a way to get to (QB) Matt (Ryan) whenever possible, but it’s easier said than done. They’re going to get whatever issues they had last week fixed, I’m sure. We’ll just be prepared to adjust accordingly. It’s a very well-coached offense that doesn’t make any mistakes. You have to take advantage of the second-and-10s if you’re lucky to get into them to try to create third-and-longs and get off the field because they’re very, very efficient.”
(On the talented Atlanta receiving corps)
“It’s week after week after week. We saw good ones last week, we’re going to see good ones this week, we’re going to see good ones next week. You just have to match-up and play team defense and just don’t give up the big plays, is what we’re trying to do.”
(On his philosophy of not having noise during practice before a road game)
“We talk about it, but I think our philosophy is the more you make of it, the more the players go in there and they’re looking for it. So, we just – crowd noise is not going to be a factor. We’ve got to communicate well, we’ve got to use silent cadence or silent snap counts like everybody else. But, we worked on it two or three times during camp and backed up and then we just go from there.”
(On the defense allowing a long drive to set up for a field goal at the end of the first half against Arizona)
“We had a couple coverage breakdowns and you don’t like to see the completions, and we did and we learned from it. That’s one of the things that we talk about having to learn from in the opener.”
Rams Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer – Post Practice – September 12, 2013
(On the Atlanta Falcons)
“It’ll be fun going against them. (Defensive Coordinator) Mike Nolan does a great job. Obviously, I know (Head) Coach (Mike) Smith is real involved as well. Going down there for their home opener, it’ll be loud. It’ll be fun.”
(On the how the game against the Cardinals went overall)
“I thought it went good. We started fast, did a really good job. Kind of had a little bit of a lull there, we get the sudden change there to start the second half. Should’ve been able to punch that in, but didn’t, but I’m real proud of the guys. Young guys, nobody lost their composure, stayed real poised, calm. (QB) Sam’s (Bradford) kind of made that his deal. He can bring us back when we’re down, and I thought there were just some great plays. (TE) Jared Cook, what can you say about him? Kind of what we thought would happen, and certainly Atlanta will be looking at him this week. We’ve got other guys if they take care of him that will show up.”
(On WR Tavon Austin’s first NFL game)
“I thought he did a good job. We move him in a lot of spots. He’s got a big burden, and I thought he did a very, very good job. He got some catches, and again it doesn’t take much for him to catch a ball and get loose. I think that will continue to show up throughout the course of the season.”
(On if there was a reason WR Stedman Bailey didn’t record any plays from scrimmage against the Cardinals)
“No, it’s hard to get five guys going. Again, those guys are in great shape. They’re ready to roll, but Sted’s had a good couple weeks of practice, and when called upon he’ll be ready to go.”
(On taking advantages of sudden change opportunities to score)
“Well, again we just got a good look from them. First down the ball got batted, had a chance maybe to hit a completion to (RB) Daryl (Richardson). A guy jumped and tipped it, made a nice play. Second down they got us with a blitz, just a really good blitz. We didn’t have much of an answer. Sam left the run on. Then, third down they kind of bluffed us and fooled us. Just execution – we’ve got good plays down there. We’ve been good down there working all spring and training camp. It just comes down to execution, taking one play at a time.”
(On if Bradford has the option to audible on the goal line)
“Yeah, absolutely, but there really wasn’t many good things for him to go to in the formation we were kind of in. So, kind of thought maybe the ball would have a chance to squirt through, which sometimes it does. Give them credit. They did a nice job stopping us.”
(On if the interception return for a touchdown was a fluke play against Arizona)
“It was. We brought ‘Cookie’ (Cook) over to try to protect the edge. Sam snapped it a little bit early, so ‘Cookie’ kind of slipped and stumbled. The guy came up the field, got on Sam a little fast. He has to try to beat that guy, and of course, the ball gets batted up in there air. You don’t think a 340-pound defensive lineman is going to catch it and score. Again, came off the field, nobody lost their composure, just talked about the issue. That’s kind of a fluke deal and let’s bounce back.”
(On what Arizona did to limit WR Chris Givens last week and how much it helped to distribute the ball to other players)
“It did. Obviously they matched (CB) Patrick Peterson on him, and again it’s not one of those things where we were going to try to stay away from him. It’s just that he did a good job. Got him early in the game on the shallow cross, kind of ran through some traffic, Chris. He made a nice cut and made Patrick miss, but again when you do that and you isolate on one guy trying to stop him, they certainly saw the big plays Chris was making in the preseason. That opens up the window for ‘Cookie’ to have the kind of day he did, and Tavon to have the six or seven catches that he did.”
(On if the Arizona defense was playing a ‘soft’ coverage)
“Yeah, they mix it in. Everybody in the league is going to have different packages and stuff. Like we try to adjust offensively, they try to adjust. When we hit a couple of the big plays to ‘Cookie’ they started trying to soften things up. But, I thought Sam did a great job of taking what was there.”
(On how the offense’s yards after catch last week is encouraging)
“Well, I think obviously when you upgrade the speed like we did I think you expect that. Again, it’s important, the hidden yards that show up. You can through a shallow cross to Chris for what should be a three or four-yard completion. He makes a guy miss and makes 18 (yards). You get ‘Cookie’ down the middle on a play and he’s hard to catch. So, it’s something we talk a lot about, and again because of our speed, we’ve been able to upgrade it. But, we’ve got to continue to do that and then certainly secure the ball running with it.”
(On the challenges that Atlanta’s defense presents)
“One-gap penetrators, fast run-and-hit linebackers, good tacklers. They do a great job with trying to strip the ball out. Then, obviously on third down Mike Nolan does a great job mixing things up and trying to confuse you. It’ll be a good challenge for us. The thing for us, hopefully we start fast, but it’ll be a great challenge going down there. I guess they’ll get (CB) Asante (Samuel) back this week. That helps them because they’re pretty young in the secondary. We’ve faced these guys quite a bit – just the people, Asante, Mike Nolan, guys like that – and it will be a tremendous challenge.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Tim Walton – Post-Practice – September 12, 2013
(On how the defense played in Week 1)
“We did a solid job. We still have a lot of work to do on some things, but we made plays when we needed to pull the game out. Obviously, the guys up front played really well and they came through. They got some sacks and pressured the quarterback and helped get the ball out quicker at the end.”
(On DE Robert Quinn)
“He had an outstanding game. He flew around and he had sacks, he had quarterback pressures, quarterback hits. He affected it really good and that’s the strength of our team, those guys up front. But, he did an outstanding job.”
(On if he told Quinn that he now expects three sacks a game)
“No, we go out and play. We take each week one at a time and go out and try to play to the best of our ability. I’m pretty sure he’ll do that next week.”
(On LB Alec Ogletree)
“He had a good game. All those guys played solid. We adjusted to some of the stuff they were doing and he ended up flying around. There’s going to be things that we’ve got to see, that he’s going to see on the run. But, overall I’m pleased with his performance.”
(On tightening up the defense at the end of the half to not allow a chance for a field goal)
“We have to clean it up. We’ve just got to match that stuff up better underneath and deny those balls. We can’t allow them to go down and hit three passes and drive right down the field. They ended up missing a field goal, but we can’t put ourselves in that position. So, we’ve just got to snug up all the coverages and take away all the inside seam routes.”
(On safeties T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod’s performances)
“They did well. They came and they made some nice tackles and they did a good job. They got the first game to get their feet up under their belt and get the anxiety out of them. Like I said, we’re excited with those guys. They work hard, they tackle well. They’re physical players and they made some nice plays also in some clutch times.”
(On if he was happy with the push from DTs Kendall Langford and Michael Brockers)
“Yes, and that’s what’s the big thing in the second half. Those guys pushed the pocket and the quarterback couldn’t really step up. They were able to get him to have to throw the ball outside a little bit more and not down the middle.”
(On if the pressure from the D-line led to the interception by CB Trumaine Johnson)
“Yeah, he couldn’t step up and he was trying to throw the ball off the back foot a little bit. Not being able to step into it, and then ‘Tru’ was able to pick the ball because he couldn’t get a clean read on it.”
(On the challenges the Falcons’ offensive weapons present)
“They have a balanced attack. They have an outstanding quarterback, they have an All-Pro tight end. They have a good running back, and then they still have the wide-outs. They’re very balanced, so we’re going to have to play well in the run and the pass game, all game and try to make them one-dimensional.”
(On Falcons RB Steven Jackson)
“I faced him a few times. Good back, downhill power guy. Tough guy to tackle. We’re going to have to work because he’s a load and he’s a good power guy that’s been playing for a long time. So, he understands how to play the game and he runs with a lot of power.”
(On CB Cortland Finnegan)
“He’ll rebound and have a great game this week. That’s why it’s a team sport. We all do it together. We all combine and work to try to get better as a group, and he’ll bounce back this week and have a good game. That’s a part of it. The other guys kind of helped make up for that stuff with their play and the D-line stuff. So, each week he’ll turn around in the next couple weeks and hopefully make some plays for us that will help us win – so it’s good.”
(On the problems Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez presents)
“Over the years, he’s created the match-up problems for defenses. Very, very difficult to cover with linebackers if you’re lucky. Then, he’s got such good size and he bodies you out and keeps drives alive against the DBs. He’s been a great red zone target all of his career. I think one of the things people don’t realize is that he’s a good blocker. He’s a solid blocker on the end of the line of scrimmage, so he helps in their run game as well.”
(On the challenge Falcons DE Kroy Biermann presents)
“Kroy, for most of his career, was an edge rusher and a very good one. He’s a high motor guy. They’ve got him kind of playing some linebacker, so now when they rush him at linebacker, you’ve got five good rushers rushing on the quarterback. He’s lining up all over the place, as you say. He’ll match-up outside on a back and end up playing the corner spot in their zone concept. So, he’s obviously very intelligent and a high motor guy. He’s a big play guy.”
(On how LG Chris Williams played against Arizona)
“Chris played well. He was solid. He and (LT) Jake (Long) are only going to get better and better together. But, he stepped in there and played well. He anchored well and I thought he graded out well.”
(On if he sees weaknesses in the Atlanta pass protection)
“We’re going to have to find a way to get to (QB) Matt (Ryan) whenever possible, but it’s easier said than done. They’re going to get whatever issues they had last week fixed, I’m sure. We’ll just be prepared to adjust accordingly. It’s a very well-coached offense that doesn’t make any mistakes. You have to take advantage of the second-and-10s if you’re lucky to get into them to try to create third-and-longs and get off the field because they’re very, very efficient.”
(On the talented Atlanta receiving corps)
“It’s week after week after week. We saw good ones last week, we’re going to see good ones this week, we’re going to see good ones next week. You just have to match-up and play team defense and just don’t give up the big plays, is what we’re trying to do.”
(On his philosophy of not having noise during practice before a road game)
“We talk about it, but I think our philosophy is the more you make of it, the more the players go in there and they’re looking for it. So, we just – crowd noise is not going to be a factor. We’ve got to communicate well, we’ve got to use silent cadence or silent snap counts like everybody else. But, we worked on it two or three times during camp and backed up and then we just go from there.”
(On the defense allowing a long drive to set up for a field goal at the end of the first half against Arizona)
“We had a couple coverage breakdowns and you don’t like to see the completions, and we did and we learned from it. That’s one of the things that we talk about having to learn from in the opener.”
Rams Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer – Post Practice – September 12, 2013
(On the Atlanta Falcons)
“It’ll be fun going against them. (Defensive Coordinator) Mike Nolan does a great job. Obviously, I know (Head) Coach (Mike) Smith is real involved as well. Going down there for their home opener, it’ll be loud. It’ll be fun.”
(On the how the game against the Cardinals went overall)
“I thought it went good. We started fast, did a really good job. Kind of had a little bit of a lull there, we get the sudden change there to start the second half. Should’ve been able to punch that in, but didn’t, but I’m real proud of the guys. Young guys, nobody lost their composure, stayed real poised, calm. (QB) Sam’s (Bradford) kind of made that his deal. He can bring us back when we’re down, and I thought there were just some great plays. (TE) Jared Cook, what can you say about him? Kind of what we thought would happen, and certainly Atlanta will be looking at him this week. We’ve got other guys if they take care of him that will show up.”
(On WR Tavon Austin’s first NFL game)
“I thought he did a good job. We move him in a lot of spots. He’s got a big burden, and I thought he did a very, very good job. He got some catches, and again it doesn’t take much for him to catch a ball and get loose. I think that will continue to show up throughout the course of the season.”
(On if there was a reason WR Stedman Bailey didn’t record any plays from scrimmage against the Cardinals)
“No, it’s hard to get five guys going. Again, those guys are in great shape. They’re ready to roll, but Sted’s had a good couple weeks of practice, and when called upon he’ll be ready to go.”
(On taking advantages of sudden change opportunities to score)
“Well, again we just got a good look from them. First down the ball got batted, had a chance maybe to hit a completion to (RB) Daryl (Richardson). A guy jumped and tipped it, made a nice play. Second down they got us with a blitz, just a really good blitz. We didn’t have much of an answer. Sam left the run on. Then, third down they kind of bluffed us and fooled us. Just execution – we’ve got good plays down there. We’ve been good down there working all spring and training camp. It just comes down to execution, taking one play at a time.”
(On if Bradford has the option to audible on the goal line)
“Yeah, absolutely, but there really wasn’t many good things for him to go to in the formation we were kind of in. So, kind of thought maybe the ball would have a chance to squirt through, which sometimes it does. Give them credit. They did a nice job stopping us.”
(On if the interception return for a touchdown was a fluke play against Arizona)
“It was. We brought ‘Cookie’ (Cook) over to try to protect the edge. Sam snapped it a little bit early, so ‘Cookie’ kind of slipped and stumbled. The guy came up the field, got on Sam a little fast. He has to try to beat that guy, and of course, the ball gets batted up in there air. You don’t think a 340-pound defensive lineman is going to catch it and score. Again, came off the field, nobody lost their composure, just talked about the issue. That’s kind of a fluke deal and let’s bounce back.”
(On what Arizona did to limit WR Chris Givens last week and how much it helped to distribute the ball to other players)
“It did. Obviously they matched (CB) Patrick Peterson on him, and again it’s not one of those things where we were going to try to stay away from him. It’s just that he did a good job. Got him early in the game on the shallow cross, kind of ran through some traffic, Chris. He made a nice cut and made Patrick miss, but again when you do that and you isolate on one guy trying to stop him, they certainly saw the big plays Chris was making in the preseason. That opens up the window for ‘Cookie’ to have the kind of day he did, and Tavon to have the six or seven catches that he did.”
(On if the Arizona defense was playing a ‘soft’ coverage)
“Yeah, they mix it in. Everybody in the league is going to have different packages and stuff. Like we try to adjust offensively, they try to adjust. When we hit a couple of the big plays to ‘Cookie’ they started trying to soften things up. But, I thought Sam did a great job of taking what was there.”
(On how the offense’s yards after catch last week is encouraging)
“Well, I think obviously when you upgrade the speed like we did I think you expect that. Again, it’s important, the hidden yards that show up. You can through a shallow cross to Chris for what should be a three or four-yard completion. He makes a guy miss and makes 18 (yards). You get ‘Cookie’ down the middle on a play and he’s hard to catch. So, it’s something we talk a lot about, and again because of our speed, we’ve been able to upgrade it. But, we’ve got to continue to do that and then certainly secure the ball running with it.”
(On the challenges that Atlanta’s defense presents)
“One-gap penetrators, fast run-and-hit linebackers, good tacklers. They do a great job with trying to strip the ball out. Then, obviously on third down Mike Nolan does a great job mixing things up and trying to confuse you. It’ll be a good challenge for us. The thing for us, hopefully we start fast, but it’ll be a great challenge going down there. I guess they’ll get (CB) Asante (Samuel) back this week. That helps them because they’re pretty young in the secondary. We’ve faced these guys quite a bit – just the people, Asante, Mike Nolan, guys like that – and it will be a tremendous challenge.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Tim Walton – Post-Practice – September 12, 2013
(On how the defense played in Week 1)
“We did a solid job. We still have a lot of work to do on some things, but we made plays when we needed to pull the game out. Obviously, the guys up front played really well and they came through. They got some sacks and pressured the quarterback and helped get the ball out quicker at the end.”
(On DE Robert Quinn)
“He had an outstanding game. He flew around and he had sacks, he had quarterback pressures, quarterback hits. He affected it really good and that’s the strength of our team, those guys up front. But, he did an outstanding job.”
(On if he told Quinn that he now expects three sacks a game)
“No, we go out and play. We take each week one at a time and go out and try to play to the best of our ability. I’m pretty sure he’ll do that next week.”
(On LB Alec Ogletree)
“He had a good game. All those guys played solid. We adjusted to some of the stuff they were doing and he ended up flying around. There’s going to be things that we’ve got to see, that he’s going to see on the run. But, overall I’m pleased with his performance.”
(On tightening up the defense at the end of the half to not allow a chance for a field goal)
“We have to clean it up. We’ve just got to match that stuff up better underneath and deny those balls. We can’t allow them to go down and hit three passes and drive right down the field. They ended up missing a field goal, but we can’t put ourselves in that position. So, we’ve just got to snug up all the coverages and take away all the inside seam routes.”
(On safeties T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod’s performances)
“They did well. They came and they made some nice tackles and they did a good job. They got the first game to get their feet up under their belt and get the anxiety out of them. Like I said, we’re excited with those guys. They work hard, they tackle well. They’re physical players and they made some nice plays also in some clutch times.”
(On if he was happy with the push from DTs Kendall Langford and Michael Brockers)
“Yes, and that’s what’s the big thing in the second half. Those guys pushed the pocket and the quarterback couldn’t really step up. They were able to get him to have to throw the ball outside a little bit more and not down the middle.”
(On if the pressure from the D-line led to the interception by CB Trumaine Johnson)
“Yeah, he couldn’t step up and he was trying to throw the ball off the back foot a little bit. Not being able to step into it, and then ‘Tru’ was able to pick the ball because he couldn’t get a clean read on it.”
(On the challenges the Falcons’ offensive weapons present)
“They have a balanced attack. They have an outstanding quarterback, they have an All-Pro tight end. They have a good running back, and then they still have the wide-outs. They’re very balanced, so we’re going to have to play well in the run and the pass game, all game and try to make them one-dimensional.”
(On Falcons RB Steven Jackson)
“I faced him a few times. Good back, downhill power guy. Tough guy to tackle. We’re going to have to work because he’s a load and he’s a good power guy that’s been playing for a long time. So, he understands how to play the game and he runs with a lot of power.”
(On CB Cortland Finnegan)
“He’ll rebound and have a great game this week. That’s why it’s a team sport. We all do it together. We all combine and work to try to get better as a group, and he’ll bounce back this week and have a good game. That’s a part of it. The other guys kind of helped make up for that stuff with their play and the D-line stuff. So, each week he’ll turn around in the next couple weeks and hopefully make some plays for us that will help us win – so it’s good.”
