TRANSCRIPTS: Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher Press Conference (10-20-14)

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Blue and Gold

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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – October 20, 2014

(Opening Statement)
“We did some good things yesterday, obviously, in all three areas. We looked at the tape extensively this morning. Russell Wilson is an outstanding quarterback and he really came alive in the second half and obviously put them back in the game. I was really pleased with the way the guys hung in there. Like I said yesterday, I thought they did a nice job. We made the plays we needed to make. Our 80-yard drive on offense in the fourth quarter was a huge drive for us. The throw to (WR) Chris (Givens) was a great throw and catch. Give Chris a lot of credit for having been inactive for a couple weeks and just working hard every day. We called on him and he came through, so I’m proud of him from that standpoint. Then you saw the special teams performance was outstanding. I think what was a little overshadowed yesterday post-game was the fact that (RB) Benny (Cunningham) had an outstanding kickoff return and had a lot of help. It changed really field position for us and gave us a chance to get points. Overall, I thought teams graded out well. We had a lot of production and we’re moving on to Kansas City.”

(On the decision to release WR Austin Pettis)
“We appreciate Austin’s contribution, everything that he’s done here. He’s made a lot of plays for us, but we need to make some moves with respect to some other positions. I’m not going to go into detail what we’re going to do, but we needed a roster spot.”

(On the decision to have Givens active Sunday)
“It was a short-term thing that he had to be flexible. He understood that. Nobody likes being inactive, especially if you’ve been a contributor like he has been, but he worked right through it. Some guys can just mope around and not work hard and he worked even harder, which was good to see. It wasn’t a message. It was by no means intended as a message sent to him. It was just the way things worked out when (WR) Tavon (Austin) was down and Tavon came back up, it was the way things worked. We usually keep six receivers, but we have some other areas that we need to look at.”

(On if the release of Pettis means the receiver group has improved)
“I believe that they’ve stepped up. They’ve stepped up. Brian (Quick) is stepping up and making plays. Kenny (Britt) is doing good things for us. Stedman (Bailey) is going to get more involved. Obviously you can see, we’re trying to get Tavon the ball as well.”

(On where RB Zac Stacy fits in the running back group)
“We’ve got three outstanding runners. As I mentioned, we think Trey Watts can also help us, so we’re going to use them all. It’ll be a week-to-week thing. Zac could get 25 carries this week. We had some things in early this week. It was working so we decided to stay with ‘Mase’ (RB Tre Mason). It’s nothing that Zac has done or hasn’t done. He’s been a little banged up the last couple of weeks, but obviously he’s an outstanding runner as well. We clearly have significant depth there at the position.”

(On if Stacy’s lack of playing time vs. Seattle was due to his health)
“Well, he missed some practice time the last couple of weeks. Had the calf and then had some other things working. The good thing about this is he’ll come back and should be 100 percent this week and just see where it goes.”

(On if he liked what he’s seen from Mason the last two weeks)
“Yeah, with the exception of the last play. That’s a lesson to be learned.”

(On if he spoke with Mason about the fourth quarter fumble)
“They weren’t in today, but (Running Backs Coach) Ben (Sirmans) talked to him. He talked to him after the game. Like I said, when you break through like that in a critical moment, running backs are thinking, ‘Let’s go!’ He didn’t see the pursuit coming from behind him, but still, the ball has to be protected. Under no circumstances can that ball come out.”

(On if he’d rather have Mason go down after picking up the first down in that situation)
“Yeah, but that’s...for a young back and as aggressive as he is, yes. A perfect world would be for him to get the first down and go down and the game is over. The only way you can potentially lose the game is if you turn the football over.”

(On the play of G Greg Robinson vs. Seattle)
“Greg played a little better. He was physical. Had a few mistakes but was really physical. He’s got to clean some things up with his hands a little bit. I think he got away with a couple potential holds, but he was dominant in there. He did some good things. That’s an outstanding front, an outstanding front four, and he hung in there with them.”

(On if Robinson is most comfortable on the move)
“No, he’s actually pretty good when he’s doubling, coming off second level and doing things with (T) Jake (Long) or (C) Scott (Wells), but he’s also a natural puller. Like I said, as is (G) Rodger (Saffold), Rodger is a natural puller as well.”

(On if DT Aaron Donald’s was tremendously disruptive)
“Very disruptive, yeah. He played very well. He tied blocks up. He had tackles for loss, obviously had the sack. He played well, had some flushes. He got the quarterback off the spot numerous times. We couldn’t get him down but he was responsible for getting Russell (Wilson) moving.”

(On how much Donald and DE Eugene Sims’ sack influenced field position and if that contributed to the call made on the following punt return)
“It did. Had we not gotten the sack we would not have made the call, because we had basically discussed between the 45s. We probably wouldn’t have gotten the same punt, so it added a lot to it. It was a perfect storm, everything had to work perfectly and it was really fun to watch it on tape too.”


(On if he emptied the bag of trick plays and he did he has to wait a while to call another trick play)
“No. If the opportunity’s there, that’s how we are. That’s what we do.”

(On how CB Marcus Roberson did given the opportunity)
“Marcus came in, had a couple tackles. He knows what to do. He’s doing well on special teams. It’s interesting, at one point against the world champs we had three rookies in the secondary. They hung there. He’s a good, solid backup that’s ready to play, that’s important. It’s the hardest thing to do, is to prepare and be ready to play. But, he was fine.”

(On if he saw anything more revealing on the coaches tape about the fumble on where it went and who got it)
“No. It’s what you saw. ‘Hark’ (TE Cory Harkey) had it, lost it, and then (Seahawks’ CB) Richard (Sherman) had it and obviously lost it in the pile.”

(On struggling to defend in the second half)
“The second half was Russell. Russell had a 52-yard carry. Their running backs, we held their running backs under three-yards a carry the whole game. (Seahawks’ RB) Marshawn’s (Lynch) going to make plays, he’s going to bounce out, and he had one called back. I thought for the most part we played consistent against the run. We did that as well last week. It was the quarterback’s legs with the quarterback’s arms that were the difference in the game for the second half.”

(On if there is a pattern to change in defensive performance in the second half)
“No. Teams are going to adjust. I haven’t really looked at it. We gave up plays in the second half. But, if you’re talking about the run game I think we’ve been pretty consistent, with the exception of the quarterback stuff.”

(On if he has discovered something in terms of the run defense and the challenge of facin Chiefs’ RB Jamaal Charles)
“Completely different challenge this week in the run game. It’s unique. It’s a lot of read-option, a lot of that stuff, so I wouldn’t compare them. Now, they’ve got a big back too they go to every once in a while. This challenge is going to be a lot different. We were building ourselves to play the power running game in our division, because there’s a lot of similarities between San Francisco and Seattle. This run game this week is going to be a big challenge for us.”

(On if it’s been better run fits or better techniques on defense)
“Well yeah. We’re matching up against the division. We’re settling down. We’re getting people in the right places. But again, to me that’s past. This thing is going to be a big challenge for us. A huge challenge for us.”

(On if he can point to any reason why they have struggled to stop outside runs)
“No we’ve just got to play better defense. We’ve just got to play better run defense. We’ve got to play better pass defense. There’s people taking turns making mistakes. For example, we anticipated ‘boot’ yesterday. We put our defense in position to defend the ‘boot.’ (LB Alec) Ogletree’s responsibility was the quarterback and he couldn’t get him down and Russell just made a move and walked in. It’s not all ‘Tree’ (Ogletree). It’s at different times it’s somebody else’s responsibility on the edge.”

(On how much Hekker’s arm factored into their interest in signing him)
“We knew that he was that type of athlete when we signed him. I think that if you have a preference you would prefer to have a guy that could do things like that, that can throw because he’s a weapon. He can take advantage of things. His arm had a lot to do with the record-setting performance that he had last year, that our punt team had last year. Because our gunners as you get punt safe teams and eight man boxes defending different throws and our gunners go down and make plays. Obviously, it’s kind of funny talking to guys, when the call went in they really didn’t believe it. Then I guess (RB) Chase (Reynolds) said it’s real, let’s do it.”

(On his interest in being involved with special teams)
“I’ve always been involved in teams, as a head coach. There’s other coaches in this league that are involved too. Obviously, Coach (John) Harbaugh in Baltimore was a special teams coach, but I think the exciting part about special teams is you get to work with both sides of the ball. Everybody’s involved. There’s an opportunity for some creativity. I’m just really proud of the way they executed that thing. It was a great concept and they did a great job with respect to both of them.”

(On the origin of his love for the use of trick plays)
“I don’t know the origin. Just, if you have the reputation that you’re fearless from the standpoint of making those calls then you’re going to be able to dictate some things. That’s what we try to do, dictate with respect to special teams, particularly your punt team.”

(On if he performed any of those plays when he played and if it influenced him today)
“They didn’t have any influence on it, no. It didn’t have any influence on the coaching philosophy, no.”

(On the response from around the league to his fake punt call)
“Yeah, you would expect, I got a lot of notes, texts, and things like that. It’s not me, they executed. At the end of the day you want to give yourself a chance to win. In my mind, that was the best chance we had to win the football game was to execute that play.”

(On if WR Tavon Austin’s selling of the fake was too much)
“No, I don’t think so. I thought both (DB) Cody (Davis) and Tavon did a great job. There’s a rumor that one of our players as they were running down the field was yelling, ‘Right, right, right, right.’ That’s what happens when the punt is hit in the opposite direction because everybody is directional punting now. This punt was going to left and our guys were yelling, ‘Right, right, right’ to convince the guys to keep running away from the ball.”

(On if there was any yelling during the fake punt like the rumor suggests)
“There may have been. I haven’t seen players so I don’t know. I’ll ask them tomorrow.”

(On if it was part of the game plan to take the pressure off of QB Austin Davis)
“It’s their (Seattle’s) defense. Their defense is outstanding. Their pass rush is good. We emphasized protection. We emphasized the run game. We had an opportunity to take some shots. If they’re not there he takes a check-down. He knew where to go with the football and extended them. We had no sacks. We had two offensive penalties and one was mine, I took a delay. We ran the football and he played a good football game. He managed that game. That drive was outstanding, the 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter.”

(On the 80-yard touchdown drive)
“We got into a flow. (Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) ‘Schotty’s’ doing a great job with Austin. He’s doing a great job with the play calling. We got into a flow. They missed (Seahawks MLB Bobby) Wagner. Obviously some other injuries in the secondary, but Austin knew where to go with the football and it was just good decision making on his behalf.”

(On if player that got hurt will in the game miss any practice time)
“There’s a chance a couple guys might miss some practice. It’s only Monday so we’ll see.”