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- The Dude
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post Practice – 12/11/15
(On how he plans to make it right Sunday)
“Well, we’re going to have to play good football, protect it and try to get it back. Again, as explosive as this offense is, you’re going to have to hold them to field goals and make sure that (Lions WR) Calvin (Johnson) doesn’t do what he does to everybody in the league. (Lions QB) Matt’s (Stafford) playing good. Like I said, he’s throwing the ball around really well and their defensive front is outstanding. Linebackers are playing good. Safeties and corners are covering. I’ve just been really impressed with how they’ve played the last couple of weeks.”
(On how the team’s psyche is)
“The team’s great. Yeah, they’re great. We’ve bounced back. They’re looking forward to the challenge. I think it’s important that they understand that if you make a big deal on the fact that we’ve got two games in five days, then you lose focus on this one that’s important. I gave them the schedule. They understand what’s going to happen next week, but the most important thing is Detroit Lions and playing against an unfamiliar opponent.”
(On CB Janoris Jenkins status)
“He did not practice today. He’s in the protocol and we listed him as doubtful.”
(On how much he looked at the Lions before they made the change at offensive coordinator to what are they doing differently now)
“I went back and looked at a couple (games), but you really have to focus on what they’ve done the last four weeks. They’re running the ball a little bit. They’re protecting the ball. I mean, (Lions QB) Matt’s (Stafford) not turning it over as much and that’s partly because of the commitment to the run game and then the play action game. They’re doing a good job protecting them with play action, so that’s been the biggest difference. Then, defensively, I think they’ve just gotten better, and better, and better with their younger players. (Lions DT) Haloti’s (Ngata) playing really good inside and they’re pass rushing well. When it’s time to throw it, they’re going to collapse the pocket very quickly.”
(On if it looks like CB Trumaine Johnson will be in the lineup Sunday)
“Yeah. He had a good day today, so I expect him to be back.”
(On if K Greg Zuerlein’s kicked well at practice today)
“Greg didn’t have any issues today, so we expect him…we limited his numbers today, but he kicked field goals. He kicked off a few times and he’s got the leg strength back.”
(On Zuerlein’s status for Sunday)
“He’s probable, yes.”
(On if he’s been surprised or impressed with anything from Assistant Head Coach/Offense Rob Boras now that’s he has a week of practice under his belt as a player caller)
“Well, I’ve just been pleased with the player’s response. That’s the most important thing is how the players respond. They’re pulling hard for him. They don’t want to let him down. He’s sleep deprived but he’s got some time between now and noon on Sunday, so we’ll get him caught up. He’s done a good job from an organizational standpoint, from a game plan standpoint and the staff has really rallied around him.”
(On if he’s excited to see QB Case Keenum back out on the field)
“Yes, I am. I mean, I love his energy and he’s going to need his legs in this game. He’s going to have to extend some plays because of the way they rush.”
(On if any of the coaches will start game planning for Tampa Bay)
“The assistants will, yeah. We have a philosophy – we don’t permit the coordinators to do so because you could start confusing opponents. But, the assistants will start, yeah. So, we’ll come back in Sunday after the game.”
(On how impressed he’s been with DT Aaron Donald these last few weeks)
“Well, I mentioned the point I was trying to make, despite the fact that we’ve lost consecutive games, he’s playing at a level that I’ve not seen in other defensive linemen play, inside like that. It’s just been overshadowed just because of the five losses, but he’s playing really, really well.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams – Post Practice – 12/11/15
(On if he likes the color rush uniforms)
“I did see them. I’m more concerned about what the coaches have to wear. I’m hoping we don’t have to go down that same…I don’t think I would look good in all of those yellows. I think it may be a little bit plump.”
(On how DE Eugene Sims has done in the absence of DE Robert Quinn)
“He’s done well. Each week he’s done better and better. Again, I keep on telling you guys some stories from behind the scenes, Eugene may be the toughest individual in that entire building. If a fight broke out, I’d want to go stand behind him. If you ask any of his teammates on either side of the ball - you’ll talk about that - he’s a very tough individual. As he has developed his skill development, he’s gotten better and better and better. I really did, and I mentioned this to him two days ago, I thought he’s had his best week of practice this week. There’s not a whole lot of fall off as far as just from the toughness aspect of it. Robert’s a rare pass rusher. There’s not very many people that can do the things he can do in the league on how he can turn the corner so quick. I’ve measured pass rushers for so long. I’ve been blessed to have a couple of them in the years I’ve been coaching other places and stuff. Whenever you see a guy that can, with a man on him can turn the corner at six yards or less. And you can see at times when Robert will turn the corner at five. It’s amazing. You can’t coach that. He’s blessed.”
(On this being a chance for DE Ethan Westbrooks to get back in the mix)
“And he will. He’ll get back in the mix. You’ll see him do that. His versatility on being able to play inside and outside, he’s a very powerful man too. The big thing with him is I just don’t want to try fill his head up with too many things that he has to overthink, so that he can just play fast. He’s done some really good things while we’ve been here. He fits in very well in that whole group and that whole classroom. So, you’ll see him. We’ll get him rotated in and give him some time also.”
(On if DE Matt Longacre passed Westbrooks up)
“You know what, we wanted to see what we had in Matt and he brings a great smile to my face. I love Matt. I think he’s done very well. He’s proven why we did our research on him and did very well. So, no, no, no. It was just a couple of things going down. We wanted to make sure we gave him a chance too. It’s important that when you have the culture that we have in our room in there, is that they know that we’re watching. They know that we want to give opportunity. Matt had been practicing very, very well and we wanted to give him opportunity. We wanted to reward that work ethic that he was showing. He did very well. The time he’s been in there, he’s done very well.”
(On having so few defensive backs due to injuries)
“Those are the things that wherever I’ve gone, I’ve tried to make sure that you fix the secondary first when you go different places because the ball travels faster and further through the air. We’ve done very good here. I thought that our ‘DB’ coaches have done a great job with whoever has to go in. I don’t know if you guys saw in this last ball game, all of the different things that were going on. Guys flipping positions and having to get in and out of positions. We had to simplify a few things about what we’re doing. From a call structure, just to make sure that we didn’t hang a few of those guys out to dry. I’m really mad at myself that I hung ‘Rod’ (S Rodney McLeod) out to dry on that one third down when they ran a little trick short route, deep route. He got caught on a long ball. That was my call. I shouldn’t have hung him out to dry on that. But I was real proud of how the secondary coaches and those guys got through the injuries within a game. Each one of our guys, whether it’s an end has to play some tackle, a tackle that has to play some end, all of the linebackers have to be able to play multiple positions. And you’ll see the safeties, as you’ve seen (S) Mark Barron have to play some linebacker spots. Some corners have to play some safety spots. I’ve even been in some games where I’ve had to use the safety to actually play a corner position because we didn’t have anybody else. That’s what we have to do. We’ll continue to do that. They’ve done a very good job this week as we’ve kind of mixed and matched around. You see (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) is up and ready to roll. I’m anxious to watch him play again. He’s been playing very well all year. We’ll be fine.”
(On going against a high-powered Lions offense)
“They do very well. It keeps you on your toes. We’ve got to paint different pictures to try to cause the quarterback to reset. Can we get him to hold the ball a little bit longer? Maybe not. They do a lot with the versatility they have. We’ve been playing a lot of different teams that have those type of match-up things. Our guys have done a very good job in some of those match-ups. We’ll trick a few coverages things. But, the big thing is that we have to understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, in what area of the field. I’m looking forward to our guys playing because they have had a good understanding this week of practice.”
(On Lions QB Matt Stafford having a rare arm)
“He does have a rare arm. I’ve been a few games when he was very young in the league. I’ve seen him grow each and every year. We had a stat come out the other day, and I talked about this in our last night’s staff meeting, after 89 games in his career, he’s ahead of every quarterback in yards per game that’s ever played. All of those other guys, with Montana, Marino, Elway, all of those other guys, that little stat service that someone came up in my room with, you had to have at least 100 games. So, he’s 11 games short, but if he was in there right now, he’s ahead of all of those guys. We’ve got our work cut out for us. But, there’s opportunity there too. Can we go make some breaks on the ball? Can we do a good job on separating the ball in coverage, pass breakups? Can we rush the passer very well? So, all of that works hand-in-hand. Coverage and rush work hand-in-hand. We’re playing our best when we’re able to do that. We’ve had a few plays get away from us. But, we’ve played so many dominant plays. The last couple of weeks we’ve had to play an inordinate amount of plays and it just gives some opportunities that maybe we don’t normally have to play. We need to do better in that case too. Especially on some of the pass interference things that we did last week.”
(On moving DT Aaron Donald both inside and outside)
“We’re trying to do some things with Aaron because the same way that you possible would with a receiver or a running back, people are starting to, you’ll see, plan him. So, if they’re going to do that, I want to see if that quarterback or if that offensive line coach has a check system to find him. Sometimes we can force the declaration of what they’re going to run when all of the sudden they notice he’s in a different spot, what does that check system do? Are we smart enough, am I smart enough to see what’s going on? We’re moving him around just so we can continue to have him as an advantage. And we can affect some thought processes going on in their huddles by the multiple positions he’s playing. There’s another complimentary thing with that is, you wouldn’t be able to do that if he wasn’t as sharp of a kid as he is. He’s a sharp kid and he takes a lot of pride in being kind of a young coach on the field. It’s been good for us and we’ll continue to do that with him.”
(On how he plans to make it right Sunday)
“Well, we’re going to have to play good football, protect it and try to get it back. Again, as explosive as this offense is, you’re going to have to hold them to field goals and make sure that (Lions WR) Calvin (Johnson) doesn’t do what he does to everybody in the league. (Lions QB) Matt’s (Stafford) playing good. Like I said, he’s throwing the ball around really well and their defensive front is outstanding. Linebackers are playing good. Safeties and corners are covering. I’ve just been really impressed with how they’ve played the last couple of weeks.”
(On how the team’s psyche is)
“The team’s great. Yeah, they’re great. We’ve bounced back. They’re looking forward to the challenge. I think it’s important that they understand that if you make a big deal on the fact that we’ve got two games in five days, then you lose focus on this one that’s important. I gave them the schedule. They understand what’s going to happen next week, but the most important thing is Detroit Lions and playing against an unfamiliar opponent.”
(On CB Janoris Jenkins status)
“He did not practice today. He’s in the protocol and we listed him as doubtful.”
(On how much he looked at the Lions before they made the change at offensive coordinator to what are they doing differently now)
“I went back and looked at a couple (games), but you really have to focus on what they’ve done the last four weeks. They’re running the ball a little bit. They’re protecting the ball. I mean, (Lions QB) Matt’s (Stafford) not turning it over as much and that’s partly because of the commitment to the run game and then the play action game. They’re doing a good job protecting them with play action, so that’s been the biggest difference. Then, defensively, I think they’ve just gotten better, and better, and better with their younger players. (Lions DT) Haloti’s (Ngata) playing really good inside and they’re pass rushing well. When it’s time to throw it, they’re going to collapse the pocket very quickly.”
(On if it looks like CB Trumaine Johnson will be in the lineup Sunday)
“Yeah. He had a good day today, so I expect him to be back.”
(On if K Greg Zuerlein’s kicked well at practice today)
“Greg didn’t have any issues today, so we expect him…we limited his numbers today, but he kicked field goals. He kicked off a few times and he’s got the leg strength back.”
(On Zuerlein’s status for Sunday)
“He’s probable, yes.”
(On if he’s been surprised or impressed with anything from Assistant Head Coach/Offense Rob Boras now that’s he has a week of practice under his belt as a player caller)
“Well, I’ve just been pleased with the player’s response. That’s the most important thing is how the players respond. They’re pulling hard for him. They don’t want to let him down. He’s sleep deprived but he’s got some time between now and noon on Sunday, so we’ll get him caught up. He’s done a good job from an organizational standpoint, from a game plan standpoint and the staff has really rallied around him.”
(On if he’s excited to see QB Case Keenum back out on the field)
“Yes, I am. I mean, I love his energy and he’s going to need his legs in this game. He’s going to have to extend some plays because of the way they rush.”
(On if any of the coaches will start game planning for Tampa Bay)
“The assistants will, yeah. We have a philosophy – we don’t permit the coordinators to do so because you could start confusing opponents. But, the assistants will start, yeah. So, we’ll come back in Sunday after the game.”
(On how impressed he’s been with DT Aaron Donald these last few weeks)
“Well, I mentioned the point I was trying to make, despite the fact that we’ve lost consecutive games, he’s playing at a level that I’ve not seen in other defensive linemen play, inside like that. It’s just been overshadowed just because of the five losses, but he’s playing really, really well.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams – Post Practice – 12/11/15
(On if he likes the color rush uniforms)
“I did see them. I’m more concerned about what the coaches have to wear. I’m hoping we don’t have to go down that same…I don’t think I would look good in all of those yellows. I think it may be a little bit plump.”
(On how DE Eugene Sims has done in the absence of DE Robert Quinn)
“He’s done well. Each week he’s done better and better. Again, I keep on telling you guys some stories from behind the scenes, Eugene may be the toughest individual in that entire building. If a fight broke out, I’d want to go stand behind him. If you ask any of his teammates on either side of the ball - you’ll talk about that - he’s a very tough individual. As he has developed his skill development, he’s gotten better and better and better. I really did, and I mentioned this to him two days ago, I thought he’s had his best week of practice this week. There’s not a whole lot of fall off as far as just from the toughness aspect of it. Robert’s a rare pass rusher. There’s not very many people that can do the things he can do in the league on how he can turn the corner so quick. I’ve measured pass rushers for so long. I’ve been blessed to have a couple of them in the years I’ve been coaching other places and stuff. Whenever you see a guy that can, with a man on him can turn the corner at six yards or less. And you can see at times when Robert will turn the corner at five. It’s amazing. You can’t coach that. He’s blessed.”
(On this being a chance for DE Ethan Westbrooks to get back in the mix)
“And he will. He’ll get back in the mix. You’ll see him do that. His versatility on being able to play inside and outside, he’s a very powerful man too. The big thing with him is I just don’t want to try fill his head up with too many things that he has to overthink, so that he can just play fast. He’s done some really good things while we’ve been here. He fits in very well in that whole group and that whole classroom. So, you’ll see him. We’ll get him rotated in and give him some time also.”
(On if DE Matt Longacre passed Westbrooks up)
“You know what, we wanted to see what we had in Matt and he brings a great smile to my face. I love Matt. I think he’s done very well. He’s proven why we did our research on him and did very well. So, no, no, no. It was just a couple of things going down. We wanted to make sure we gave him a chance too. It’s important that when you have the culture that we have in our room in there, is that they know that we’re watching. They know that we want to give opportunity. Matt had been practicing very, very well and we wanted to give him opportunity. We wanted to reward that work ethic that he was showing. He did very well. The time he’s been in there, he’s done very well.”
(On having so few defensive backs due to injuries)
“Those are the things that wherever I’ve gone, I’ve tried to make sure that you fix the secondary first when you go different places because the ball travels faster and further through the air. We’ve done very good here. I thought that our ‘DB’ coaches have done a great job with whoever has to go in. I don’t know if you guys saw in this last ball game, all of the different things that were going on. Guys flipping positions and having to get in and out of positions. We had to simplify a few things about what we’re doing. From a call structure, just to make sure that we didn’t hang a few of those guys out to dry. I’m really mad at myself that I hung ‘Rod’ (S Rodney McLeod) out to dry on that one third down when they ran a little trick short route, deep route. He got caught on a long ball. That was my call. I shouldn’t have hung him out to dry on that. But I was real proud of how the secondary coaches and those guys got through the injuries within a game. Each one of our guys, whether it’s an end has to play some tackle, a tackle that has to play some end, all of the linebackers have to be able to play multiple positions. And you’ll see the safeties, as you’ve seen (S) Mark Barron have to play some linebacker spots. Some corners have to play some safety spots. I’ve even been in some games where I’ve had to use the safety to actually play a corner position because we didn’t have anybody else. That’s what we have to do. We’ll continue to do that. They’ve done a very good job this week as we’ve kind of mixed and matched around. You see (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) is up and ready to roll. I’m anxious to watch him play again. He’s been playing very well all year. We’ll be fine.”
(On going against a high-powered Lions offense)
“They do very well. It keeps you on your toes. We’ve got to paint different pictures to try to cause the quarterback to reset. Can we get him to hold the ball a little bit longer? Maybe not. They do a lot with the versatility they have. We’ve been playing a lot of different teams that have those type of match-up things. Our guys have done a very good job in some of those match-ups. We’ll trick a few coverages things. But, the big thing is that we have to understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, in what area of the field. I’m looking forward to our guys playing because they have had a good understanding this week of practice.”
(On Lions QB Matt Stafford having a rare arm)
“He does have a rare arm. I’ve been a few games when he was very young in the league. I’ve seen him grow each and every year. We had a stat come out the other day, and I talked about this in our last night’s staff meeting, after 89 games in his career, he’s ahead of every quarterback in yards per game that’s ever played. All of those other guys, with Montana, Marino, Elway, all of those other guys, that little stat service that someone came up in my room with, you had to have at least 100 games. So, he’s 11 games short, but if he was in there right now, he’s ahead of all of those guys. We’ve got our work cut out for us. But, there’s opportunity there too. Can we go make some breaks on the ball? Can we do a good job on separating the ball in coverage, pass breakups? Can we rush the passer very well? So, all of that works hand-in-hand. Coverage and rush work hand-in-hand. We’re playing our best when we’re able to do that. We’ve had a few plays get away from us. But, we’ve played so many dominant plays. The last couple of weeks we’ve had to play an inordinate amount of plays and it just gives some opportunities that maybe we don’t normally have to play. We need to do better in that case too. Especially on some of the pass interference things that we did last week.”
(On moving DT Aaron Donald both inside and outside)
“We’re trying to do some things with Aaron because the same way that you possible would with a receiver or a running back, people are starting to, you’ll see, plan him. So, if they’re going to do that, I want to see if that quarterback or if that offensive line coach has a check system to find him. Sometimes we can force the declaration of what they’re going to run when all of the sudden they notice he’s in a different spot, what does that check system do? Are we smart enough, am I smart enough to see what’s going on? We’re moving him around just so we can continue to have him as an advantage. And we can affect some thought processes going on in their huddles by the multiple positions he’s playing. There’s another complimentary thing with that is, you wouldn’t be able to do that if he wasn’t as sharp of a kid as he is. He’s a sharp kid and he takes a lot of pride in being kind of a young coach on the field. It’s been good for us and we’ll continue to do that with him.”
