I normally don't watch these either, but I wanted to see his take after this game.
Here's my thoughts on a couple things coach Fisher had to say:
"We came back off a long road trip and had a really good week of practice *takes shot* and expected to play much better than we did."
You and me both, Jeff.
"We had a glimmer of hope when we found out their two most explosive players weren't going to be available and thought we'd have a good match-up defensively."
Excuse me? Jeff, you're the head coach of a professional football team (term used loosely) and you basically said you thought we didn't have a chance if Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu played today. Granted, Julio is tops in the league and I'm a fan so if I said that it wouldn't mean shit. How is that going to sit with the you're defensive backs?
"The fans have every right to be disappointed as well."
He sounds defeated to me. I'm sure he's well aware of the general opinion of him, and I do feel for him because he really does try. I'm sure we do look pretty good in practice and we do have a really good game plan going into each game. But something just isn't clicking between the coaches and the players and I think Jeff sounds a little tired from the outcome of this season.
Q: How do you talk to Jared to keep him motivated and pressing on down this tough stretch?
"We're not pressing on Jared by any means, he's gaining valuable experience for his career. He's going to be our QB for a long, long time. He's not happy; he doesn't like losing, but you can see improvement each week."
Not a direct answer, but a good one none-the-less. Hard to see the improvement today with all the other dumpster fires, but Goff keeps impressing me with his accuracy (aside from the miss to Austin on what looked to be a big gainer). Eventually, someone has to catch the ball for him.
Q: You've now had three lopsided losses in a row. Do you get the sense that things are spiraling out of control?
"No. You go to practices during the week and watch them practice and watch them prepare - no. I don't think so. We had a muffed kickoff and gave them a quick seven points and those things happen."
Kind of a dumb question from the reporter. I mean what do you think Jeff is going to say? "Yes we're sinking please help?!" I would also agree with Fisher about the muffed kickoff and quick deficit, but this is becoming an every game occurrence where something doesn't go our way and we have no answers.
Q: You went through a week where we asked you about your relationship with Les and the game starts that way (a quick turnover and surrendered TD) what's going through your mind as things started off so poorly?
"Uh... I was focused on the game. The offense, the defense, the special teams, and the opponent. That's where my focus was."
What a dumb fucking question. As if Jeff would answer this any differently or would possibly be thinking about his relationship with Les immediately after the kickoff happened. Who finds these reporters?
Q: How much did you miss Benny (Cunningham) out there on the field and for kickoffs? I know he would have been out there on the opening kickoff and then Malcolm fumbled...
"You know Benny might be 2nd or 3rd in the league in kickoff returns. He makes good decisions and has good ball skills and Malcolm is usually pretty solid about not putting the ball on the ground. Credit them for ripping it out, but we can't allow that to happen. We miss Benny, and we miss Rob, and Harkey."
He's 2nd or 3rd in the league because of how many kickoffs he returns each game. Granted he's a good player, but dang! Then Jeff names the players unrelated to the question that were injured for us. Might I mention Atlanta didn't have Julio or Sanu today...
Q: Is something not carrying over from practice to the game?
"It's offense. Yeah, it's offense. We're not moving the ball, converting on third downs and we're not putting points on the board."
You're kidding! What about the defense, Jeff? These past three weeks- actually, the entire season they haven't been themselves.
Q: Some of the players are saying that they place all responsibility for this on you. How do you feel about that?
"I have great respect for every player in that locker room and develop relationships with them and my job is to help them to maximize their strengths, identify their weaknesses, and help them be as good of players as they can, and have one-on-one relationships with them. So if they're saying that I appreciate them."
Interesting take on this, but I admire the class he answered this with. Could have taken this a couple different ways, but I liked his answer.
Q: How much responsibility do you feel you bare for what's happening?
"Well I have to take it- the head coach takes it. You know? It's obvious. It's the National Football League. Yeah, I feel responsible for this."
Kind of another obvious answer, but at least we have Fisher owning up to direction this season is taking.
What I wanted to gain out of this was how Jeff was feeling about his team's performance today and this year and the confidence about his job security. To me, Jeff is feeling the heat of an unfulfilled promise left on Hard Knocks. I think the wear and tear of a failing season is leaving him tired and desperate, but if he's fearing for his job, I'm not so sure I see it. Not to say he isn't, but he does a good job hiding it when talking about Goff as our quarterback for a long time. I feel bad for him and if this is his last stand, I hope we do get a couple more wins before the end. I think Jeff deserves it.