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<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/media-center/videos/Head-Coach-Jeff-Fisher-Press-Conference/43df1b85-e29f-4e02-8340-d3345a141f33" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stlouisrams.com/media-center ... 345a141f33</a>
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – August 9, 2013
(On RT Rodger Saffold’s shoulder injury)
“We’re still doing tests. He’s a little sore. He’s going to miss some time. He may miss a preseason game or two. But, I think we’ll have him back here in a couple weeks.”
(On if Saffold’s return will require getting strength back in his shoulder)
“Yeah. It’s going to be sore. Specifically, it subluxed, it was dislocated, came out backwards. So we got it right back in place. He’s very sore. In these instances there’s going to be some swelling, some pain and you just have to work through that and then re-strengthen that. You just want to make sure the integrity of the joint is OK and based on all indications it is. We’re lucky.”
(On how RT Joe Barksdale did filling in Saffold’s role in Thursday night’s game)
“Joe did fine. He did fine. When Joe played last year, a couple games, he did well. Joe’s lining up against some good defensive ends here at practice every day and he got on the field and did well – knew what to do. We’re totally comfortable with Joe doing that.”
(On how Saffold’s time out of practice will affect his development in switching from left to right tackle)
“He’s really had a good camp. He’s doing well out there. A lot of it is footwork. A lot it is understanding the stuff taking place inside the meeting room. It’ll be a setback, but I don’t think it’s going to hurt him. He’s a smart guy and he and (RG) Harvey (Dahl) are working real well together. We’ll get him back as soon as we can.”
(On how the starting offensive line played on Thursday night)
“I thought they did a good job. Unfortunately, if we don’t put the ball on the ground I think you look at the offense and say, ‘Had a pretty good day’ considering what we were up against and the type of things we were getting out of them. (QB) Sam (Bradford)’s third down completion to (WR) Chris (Givens) – there’s eight guys and gaps and overload blitzing and Sam hung in there and made the play. I thought overall the first group did good. (LT) Jake (Long) was good. Jake and (LG) Chris (Williams) did well together. I thought (C) Scott (Wells) was good. Considering we didn’t do a lot of game planning, I thought they handled things pretty well.”
(On if there’s any kind of agreement between opposing head coaches before preseason game to disclose what kinds of things they plan on working on throughout the game)
“No there’s not, and the league frowns on it and we just play. Sometimes you prepare for the worst and then if it’s a basic, vanilla-type approach defensively based on your opponent then so be it. We looked at things, we just didn’t work them on the field. Looked at a lot of tape and anticipated some things. That gave us a chance.”
(On never knowing what the opposing teams will show in preseason games)
“You don’t, no. But what you do in at least the first week you carry in enough to where if you need to draw on some things you can. We were prepared to max protect. We did quite a bit in the second half. That means you’re not getting a lot of people out in routes. It means sometimes it’s difficult on the quarterback. I think you saw that as the case with (QB) Austin (Davis) – where we’re keeping people in because they’re bringing people from all over. He’s only got a couple options down the field. As a result, there’s an aborted play here and there. At the end of the day, you want to keep your quarterback from getting hit during the preseason.”
(On how the offense picked up blitzes)
“I thought our backs did a good job. Tight ends were involved in it, and we didn’t have any glaring mistakes. Late in the game, we had a couple things go on with the offensive line, but that’s typical when you’re playing guys that haven’t been in the system very long. But, just overall my thoughts on the game itself – we got a lot of good work from the standpoint of two-minute drives, those kinds of things on both sides of the ball. We put our defense in some difficult situations on third down to see if they could make some plays. We, obviously, gave up the one touchdown pass. But, when you sit back and look at all three phases – the offense, defense, and special teams – there’s a lot of things to learn from, a lot of mistakes to correct. As coaches you would rather have it that way than the other way where you play a perfect and you just move on to the next one. Overcoming a punt return for a touchdown and why that happened. I think it’s important that the young guys understand that we have rules and responsibilities and we have coverage lanes and we have guys that have to contain and guys that have to go to their landmarks, and when you don’t this is what happens. In addition to that, we had a long punt with no hang time. (P) John’s (Hekker) been hitting it very, very well, but he just cut one loose and that’s what happens when you bang one like that.”
(On not wanting to punt to the middle of the field)
“Correct. If you’re going to go that long with no hang time, it’s got to go out of bounds. But, he comes back with a 5.0 hang time and a 50-yard punt, you saw what happened – it was a catch and an immediate tackle. So, he’s been punting very well, but it’s those kinds of things. We can’t have that ball in our opener against that returner, so a lot of good things to learn from.”
(On how RB Isaiah Pead responded after his fumble)
“He did. I think he shook it off and he ran well. Considering the opportunities that he had, he made plays. He hit the trap good, he found daylight slightly off the point of attack on a trap, which is a very instinctive move for a young runner, which is good to see.”
(On rookie RBs Benny Cunningham and Zac Stacy)
“They got carries and they ran hard. And we’re going to continue to give them carries. As I said, our hope is to try to get them some carries behind the starting offensive line over the next couple weeks to fairly evaluate them.”
(On if expectations about the season will change after the loss and injury to Saffold)
“It’s the first preseason game, so if expectations are affected just based on the production or lack of production the first preseason game, my recommendation would be just be patient.”
(On WR Chris Givens progress in running intermediate distance routes)
“Yeah, he’s doing that on the practice field and didn’t have a lot of opportunities last night, but he knew what was going on. It was a really good adjustment, it was a fine throw. We have to try to get the ball in the hands of other people. (WR) Tavon (Austin) had one opportunity – tough catch but it was a great throw, should have made that catch. So, we want to get him involved more so in the offense.”
(On TE Jared Cook not being targeted often)
“It’s just the way it is – it just happens. When you’re going to play your starters, however many, 12 to 15 to 18 plays, it’s hard to get everybody a couple targets and/or catches and still hand the ball off. It’s just wishful thinking.”
(On the coaching staff involving around 80 players throughout the game)
“I thought from an operations standpoint – substitution, play calling and everything – I thought we did a good job. And I’m talking about the entire staff and the players because you have to put the responsibility on them. We had one situation where we had 10 guys on the field on an extra point and it was after the punt return for touchdown, and a couple of guys that were supposed to be on had just been told that they were done playing. So, we’ll take that responsibility, but it’s quite a challenge when you have that many players playing.”
(On if he was pleased with how the team handled the National Anthem)
“They did fine. Did you notice?”
(On if he would have gone for the 2-point conversion had they scored a touchdown at the end of the game)
“Yes, of course. You play these games to try to win and two points at least gets you into overtime, and you get to keep playing your young players.”
(On his thoughts and awareness of the ‘smack cam’ game the players are involved in)
“Yeah, I was aware of it. I just wanted to make sure it stayed under control, that it didn’t get out of control. But he (DE Chris Long) says it’s pretty much over? If I was (CB) Cortland (Finnegan), I would have my head on a swivel. He (Long) said it’s pretty much over. I think he’s taking advantage of his relationship with you to get back at Cort.”
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/media-center/videos/Head-Coach-Jeff-Fisher-Press-Conference/43df1b85-e29f-4e02-8340-d3345a141f33" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stlouisrams.com/media-center ... 345a141f33</a>
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – August 9, 2013
(On RT Rodger Saffold’s shoulder injury)
“We’re still doing tests. He’s a little sore. He’s going to miss some time. He may miss a preseason game or two. But, I think we’ll have him back here in a couple weeks.”
(On if Saffold’s return will require getting strength back in his shoulder)
“Yeah. It’s going to be sore. Specifically, it subluxed, it was dislocated, came out backwards. So we got it right back in place. He’s very sore. In these instances there’s going to be some swelling, some pain and you just have to work through that and then re-strengthen that. You just want to make sure the integrity of the joint is OK and based on all indications it is. We’re lucky.”
(On how RT Joe Barksdale did filling in Saffold’s role in Thursday night’s game)
“Joe did fine. He did fine. When Joe played last year, a couple games, he did well. Joe’s lining up against some good defensive ends here at practice every day and he got on the field and did well – knew what to do. We’re totally comfortable with Joe doing that.”
(On how Saffold’s time out of practice will affect his development in switching from left to right tackle)
“He’s really had a good camp. He’s doing well out there. A lot of it is footwork. A lot it is understanding the stuff taking place inside the meeting room. It’ll be a setback, but I don’t think it’s going to hurt him. He’s a smart guy and he and (RG) Harvey (Dahl) are working real well together. We’ll get him back as soon as we can.”
(On how the starting offensive line played on Thursday night)
“I thought they did a good job. Unfortunately, if we don’t put the ball on the ground I think you look at the offense and say, ‘Had a pretty good day’ considering what we were up against and the type of things we were getting out of them. (QB) Sam (Bradford)’s third down completion to (WR) Chris (Givens) – there’s eight guys and gaps and overload blitzing and Sam hung in there and made the play. I thought overall the first group did good. (LT) Jake (Long) was good. Jake and (LG) Chris (Williams) did well together. I thought (C) Scott (Wells) was good. Considering we didn’t do a lot of game planning, I thought they handled things pretty well.”
(On if there’s any kind of agreement between opposing head coaches before preseason game to disclose what kinds of things they plan on working on throughout the game)
“No there’s not, and the league frowns on it and we just play. Sometimes you prepare for the worst and then if it’s a basic, vanilla-type approach defensively based on your opponent then so be it. We looked at things, we just didn’t work them on the field. Looked at a lot of tape and anticipated some things. That gave us a chance.”
(On never knowing what the opposing teams will show in preseason games)
“You don’t, no. But what you do in at least the first week you carry in enough to where if you need to draw on some things you can. We were prepared to max protect. We did quite a bit in the second half. That means you’re not getting a lot of people out in routes. It means sometimes it’s difficult on the quarterback. I think you saw that as the case with (QB) Austin (Davis) – where we’re keeping people in because they’re bringing people from all over. He’s only got a couple options down the field. As a result, there’s an aborted play here and there. At the end of the day, you want to keep your quarterback from getting hit during the preseason.”
(On how the offense picked up blitzes)
“I thought our backs did a good job. Tight ends were involved in it, and we didn’t have any glaring mistakes. Late in the game, we had a couple things go on with the offensive line, but that’s typical when you’re playing guys that haven’t been in the system very long. But, just overall my thoughts on the game itself – we got a lot of good work from the standpoint of two-minute drives, those kinds of things on both sides of the ball. We put our defense in some difficult situations on third down to see if they could make some plays. We, obviously, gave up the one touchdown pass. But, when you sit back and look at all three phases – the offense, defense, and special teams – there’s a lot of things to learn from, a lot of mistakes to correct. As coaches you would rather have it that way than the other way where you play a perfect and you just move on to the next one. Overcoming a punt return for a touchdown and why that happened. I think it’s important that the young guys understand that we have rules and responsibilities and we have coverage lanes and we have guys that have to contain and guys that have to go to their landmarks, and when you don’t this is what happens. In addition to that, we had a long punt with no hang time. (P) John’s (Hekker) been hitting it very, very well, but he just cut one loose and that’s what happens when you bang one like that.”
(On not wanting to punt to the middle of the field)
“Correct. If you’re going to go that long with no hang time, it’s got to go out of bounds. But, he comes back with a 5.0 hang time and a 50-yard punt, you saw what happened – it was a catch and an immediate tackle. So, he’s been punting very well, but it’s those kinds of things. We can’t have that ball in our opener against that returner, so a lot of good things to learn from.”
(On how RB Isaiah Pead responded after his fumble)
“He did. I think he shook it off and he ran well. Considering the opportunities that he had, he made plays. He hit the trap good, he found daylight slightly off the point of attack on a trap, which is a very instinctive move for a young runner, which is good to see.”
(On rookie RBs Benny Cunningham and Zac Stacy)
“They got carries and they ran hard. And we’re going to continue to give them carries. As I said, our hope is to try to get them some carries behind the starting offensive line over the next couple weeks to fairly evaluate them.”
(On if expectations about the season will change after the loss and injury to Saffold)
“It’s the first preseason game, so if expectations are affected just based on the production or lack of production the first preseason game, my recommendation would be just be patient.”
(On WR Chris Givens progress in running intermediate distance routes)
“Yeah, he’s doing that on the practice field and didn’t have a lot of opportunities last night, but he knew what was going on. It was a really good adjustment, it was a fine throw. We have to try to get the ball in the hands of other people. (WR) Tavon (Austin) had one opportunity – tough catch but it was a great throw, should have made that catch. So, we want to get him involved more so in the offense.”
(On TE Jared Cook not being targeted often)
“It’s just the way it is – it just happens. When you’re going to play your starters, however many, 12 to 15 to 18 plays, it’s hard to get everybody a couple targets and/or catches and still hand the ball off. It’s just wishful thinking.”
(On the coaching staff involving around 80 players throughout the game)
“I thought from an operations standpoint – substitution, play calling and everything – I thought we did a good job. And I’m talking about the entire staff and the players because you have to put the responsibility on them. We had one situation where we had 10 guys on the field on an extra point and it was after the punt return for touchdown, and a couple of guys that were supposed to be on had just been told that they were done playing. So, we’ll take that responsibility, but it’s quite a challenge when you have that many players playing.”
(On if he was pleased with how the team handled the National Anthem)
“They did fine. Did you notice?”
(On if he would have gone for the 2-point conversion had they scored a touchdown at the end of the game)
“Yes, of course. You play these games to try to win and two points at least gets you into overtime, and you get to keep playing your young players.”
(On his thoughts and awareness of the ‘smack cam’ game the players are involved in)
“Yeah, I was aware of it. I just wanted to make sure it stayed under control, that it didn’t get out of control. But he (DE Chris Long) says it’s pretty much over? If I was (CB) Cortland (Finnegan), I would have my head on a swivel. He (Long) said it’s pretty much over. I think he’s taking advantage of his relationship with you to get back at Cort.”
