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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher
(Opening Remarks)
“I don’t know what to say. That was great. Really, I think it was a tremendous effort. Number one, contribution from all three phases against a real good football team. We didn’t play particularly well. We did the things that cost you games: the penalties, the turnovers, those kinds of things. But we overcame them, which is pretty good considering we’re the youngest team in the league again. This win should take us a ways, particularly if we learn from our mistakes, and there were some. But we’ll grade the tape and go on. Just some of the things that took place, great plays, (WR) Tavon (Austin’s) return and great efforts on defense. CB (Trumaine Johnson) Tru’s interception was a great play. We got to (QB) Russell (Wilson) at times, but you could see him start to take the game over, and that’s what he’s really good at, in that third quarter. We’re up by 11 and all of a sudden we’re trailing, and that’s Russell and company. Just a huge play there at the end on the fourth down stop.”
(On the team responding with a touchdown after a bad play before the drive)
“You could hear (the team) talk and they’re talking, ‘Let’s go answer. Let’s go. Let’s put the ball down the field and get points.’ So that’s kind of been their attitude. We go back to preseason and show you we’re doing a little bit more on the offensive than we did in the preseason and (QB) Nick (Foles) has a good feel for it.”
(On Foles’ play against the Seahawks)
“I thought he played well. I don’t know what happened between him and (C) Tim (Barnes) on the fumble. We’ll get to the bottom of it and learn from that, make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s a new relationship that’s developing right now and so we’ll get those things fixed.”
(On if the Seahawks running a run play out of the shotgun limits what the team can do on defense in short yardage situations)
“There’s different options and they’re really good at 3rd-and-short, 4th-and-short. By the way they use different formations and then they’ve got Russell’s legs as well, and that’s always a concern. You’ve got to edge them, but you have to be firm inside and if you edge them and firm them inside, then you’re putting everyone else in 1-on-1 situations.”
(On the strangeness of the beginning of overtime)
“I wouldn’t call it strange. I think it shocked people, and I’m sure Pete (Carroll) would tell you, everybody gets an opportunity to possess. If you get the onside kick and go down and score a touchdown, the game’s over. If you get a defensive stop and kick a field goal, then they get an opportunity to possess. It was his choice. I don’t think it’s that unusual.”
(On WR Bradley Marquez’s play to recover the short kickoff)
“I’ve been talking about him, he’s a very mature player right now as a rookie. We trust him. We trust him to play personal protector, we trust him to play offense. He’s just a real heads up kid. It’s a great effort.”
(On the play call to go deep on the game-tying touchdown by TE Lance Kendricks)
“I think the defender fell down and Lance was wide open, so (Foles) threw him the touchdown pass. You’re not going to turn that stuff over. I was managing the game with the hope I wouldn’t have to give them the ball back, as Russell had two timeouts and 53 seconds left. Fortunately, we played good defense, because a shot down the field with a timeout and a field goal, we wouldn’t have a chance to go to overtime.”
(On if Seattle would have recovered the onside kick and kicked a field goal, would the Seahawks have won the game)
“I don’t believe so, no. And I don’t know what (referee) Jeff (Triplette) was getting at on the onside kick that we recovered. Bradley waived fair catch and clearly fielded the ball, and then he was hit. So he should get fair catch protection on the play. It should have been a penalty that put us in better field position.”
(On what it says about talent level of the team to win despite making many mistakes)
“I believe we’ve improved. Our younger players are showing now what they can do. But we can’t play with those kind of mistakes and win consistently.”
(On if this team can overcome mistakes better than teams past)
“We’re going to take it one game at a time, but we’re going to enjoy this win, look at it and get ready for next week.”
(On the conversation with officials about the onside kick)
“I wanted to get an explanation and I was a little confused when they initially said they had to re-kick. That didn’t make any sense to me. Defense jumps offside, yes. You recover the ball and the returner on the receiving team is offside prior to the recovery, then you re-kick. But we clearly fielded the ball, so I wasn’t sure as to what was going on.”
(On Austin’s play against the Seahawks)
“We’ve been trying to get Tavon some touches so he got some and it clearly shows what he can do. That’s a good defense. That’s a really good defense and it’s hard to find creases and find holes. But, it was a great run and it caught them off guard. It was a great run, touchdown run.”
(On if kicking the ball into the ground on the onside kick was reviewable)
“No. It might be next year.”
(On if Seattle’s choice not to run at end the Super Bowl made the Rams think they were going to run on the final fourth down)
“No. Did you see the way RB (Marshawn Lynch) was running today? He’s a good back. It was 4th-and-1, we’re expecting the run.”
(On the decision to have RB Tre Mason out against the Seahawks)
“He was close. He had a really good pre-game warm-up. And that was also the case with (LB) Daren Bates. There are a few things we’ll know better tomorrow. Trumaine (Johnson) didn’t pass the concussion protocol and (DE) Eugene (Sims) got a little knee thing we’ve got to look at, but that doesn’t look too awfully bad. (RB) Chase Reynolds I think has something wrong, too.”
Rams QB Nick Foles
(On if he’s always been one to encourage his teammates)
“Yeah, if there’s time on the clock, the game’s never over no matter what the score is. That’s been my mentality as a little kid, something my parents instilled in me…my dad…just to fight to the end no matter what because you want to leave it all on the field. You don’t want to go back in the locker room and say, ‘I wish I coulda.’ You want to say, ‘I gave it everything I had.’ Our guys gave it everything they had tonight. Seattle came out and played a great game. They gave it everything they had. We just finished. We needed to finish. The fans were tremendous. Our fans were causing havoc. I could tell there was times where they had to burn timeouts, delay of games, communication…I recognize that stuff watching their offense and that’s huge. Our fans had a huge impact in this game. I’m thanking everybody that came out to support us. We heard them loud and clear and it really helped us get this victory.”
(On if he thought the Rams are better than he thought they would be since being traded from Philadelphia)
“I always had a lot of respect for the Rams. I remember when I played them when I was in Philadelphia, I had the utmost respect. They played with a lot of heart and they fought til the end. Everything I had heard about (Head) Coach (Jeff) Fisher was always positive. Then now I get to be a player for him and I can see why. He’s a guy you want to go out there and you want to play hard for. You want to give it everything you have and that’s for our coaching staff. They do a tremendous job during the week of preparing us. Our guys go out there and we stick together. We did a great job when adversity hit because it did. Several times throughout the night, we stuck together, leaned on each other and that’s what it takes to win. That’s what it takes to win in the NFL. To me, that’s Ram football right there.”
(On his view of the touchdown pass to TE Lance Kendricks)
“I’m very fortunate to have some tremendous tight ends. They make a lot of plays. So to me, I had a matchup. It’s a matchup I took and Lance gave him a little move and ran right by him. He tripped up a little bit. Lance and ‘Cookie’ (TE Jared Cook), those guys, (TE) (Corey) Harkey, they do a great a job of really creating a lot of diversity in our offense. They made some big plays today.”
(On if the win is an indication of how good this team can be)
“I think that’s what’s in your heart. That’s what’s in your mind. That’s caring about one another. That’s playing with your brothers right there. That no matter what, if something does happen like that, the game’s not over. You have to lean on each other and have each others’ backs to win the game and that’s what the guys did tonight. That’s what we have to continue to do. Of course, you want to play cleaner. You don’t want to have turnovers. You don’t want to do that, but to me, the character of the team right there when you don’t play clean football the whole 60 or however many minutes we played, 72 or whatever it was, that shows a lot of character of the team, the guys we have. So I was really proud of each and every one of my teammates tonight.”
(On what he thinks the three touchdown drives says about the offense)
“We have to get that rhythm. We can do a lot of different things and I think it’s just one play at a time and mentality, executing that play. Not all the plays were positive, but we were able to convert third downs. We were able to convert third and long. Running backs did a tremendous job on check downs, really cutting it up and getting those first downs. That’s a big part of our game and we just have to continue to work on that…eliminate the mistakes. That’s a big thing. We can’t have those mistakes and expect to win every week, but it felt good to come out on top today.”
(On what he thinks about the Rams’ ability to rush against Seattle)
“You have to have a diverse offense. It’s important to spread the ball around. That way it’s difficult for them to defend, but that’s a tremendous defense. That’s a great team. It’s very well coached. That’s why the game went like it did. It was back and forth, a hard fought battle as it should’ve been. Hats off to them for fighting.”
(On how he thinks his ‘young’ offensive line performed today)
“They’re resilient. Those guys come to work every day…they hear people. They know what the media says. I don’t…those guys are tremendous. Those guys fought their butt off for me tonight and I will continue to fight for them. I can’t say enough. Every single one of them did a great job tonight. Really, that’s the heart and soul of our offense. It starts with them and it always does. We have a great offensive line with depth. Great offensive line coach who does a tremendous job. We have to continue to improve, but I was really proud of the young guys. I was really proud of our O-Line tonight for how they played.”
(On the offense’s success today and if that speaks to the depth of his offense)
“Absolutely. The guys know when they’re out there I count on them, no matter who’s over them, to make plays because we do have depth. We do have guys that believe they can play. They showed it tonight and we just have to continue to work and improve. This was the first game. We have another game coming up. That’s just the beauty of it all, so we’ll learn. We had a lot of mistakes in this game that we’ll go back and learn from. We’ll go and assess it this week throughout practice and get ready for the next one.”
(On if the fumble caused during the center exchange was a result of a delayed blitz and him not being able to get the ball off)
“It’s something that I’ll asses and look at in film. The game was going, so I was just trying to get back out there and make sure everything was good. I’ll look at it and have more details later.”
Rams DE Robert Quinn
(On his first thoughts after the win today)
“As a team, I think we just finished the game. We started off hot. Seattle made great plays on both sides of the ball to get themselves back into the game. They made plays, like I said, to keep themselves alive. The guys just finished the game. We’ve preached that the past few years – finish, finish, finish. We were able to finish. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, we got the ‘W’ and that’s what we look for. We know we can always get better at things. As long as we keep winning and we still improve, the sky is the limit. It’s a great way to start a season. That’s a great Seahawks team and we’ll take it from here.”
(On the defense’s six sacks today)
“Of course we want to start fast. We’re definitely far from last year. We don’t want to start like that. The guys got on a roll, we kind of got our energy and the guys are feeling great. So once we started getting back there, we just try to stay consistent. ‘A.D.’ (Rams DT Aaron Donald) started it off and after that, guys just tried to follow him. We’ve got a special guy in (No.) 99 so I guess we just need to follow his lead.”
(On what he saw on Donald’s game saving stop on 4th down in overtime)
“(No.) 99 in the backfield. Like I said, if you put one guy on him, you’re asking for trouble. (No.) 99 is a special player. There’s no limit for him if he realizes the true potential he has to be a great player.”
(On the team pulling it together and overcoming adversity in the 4th quarter)
“The game wasn’t pretty. They made a huge comeback, getting themselves back in the lead and they could’ve taken the game away. But, (QB) Nick (Foles) made a great throw to (TE) Lance (Kendricks) to tie the game up, and give us an opportunity to go out there and try to win the game. I’m excited about this season. These guys just don’t quit. It’s never going to be the way you want it, but as long as you can finish the right way and get the ‘W’, nothing else really matters.”
Rams WR Tavon Austin
(On his getting more touches)
“That’s what it’s all about…just opportunities. Coach (Jeff) Fisher believes in me, my team believes in me. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that I had. I’m just glad I made the play for us. It was multiple plays made out there, not just by me. I’m just thankful right now that we got the win.”
(On QB Nick Foles performance)
“Oh man, that’s big bro. He comes in the huddle, he takes charge of the huddle, lets us know what he wants. You know, he always tells us that adversity is going to come. It’s all how we’re going to fight back and that’s what we did.”
(On Foles responding after the strip sack)
“We were on the sideline just screaming ‘It’s definitely not over.’ We believe in him and he believes in us. On the field, him and (TE) Lance (Kendricks) hooked up on a good go route. And that’s how it was.”
(On lining up in the backfield so much)
“I really don’t know what Coach (Fisher) said…got in store for us. Right now we are down in depth, so you know, they called my name and I’m just glad I was able to make a play for us.”
(On if he likes taking handoffs from the RB position)
“You know running back is my first love, always, but my size and stuff had me back off of it a little bit. But, anytime I need to get back there, I’ll get back there.”
(On his punt return for a touchdown)
“It just wasn’t me. I caught the ball and it was a straight lane. I just took it and had some great blocks by Stedman (Bailey) and those guys and I’m just thankful that we start the season with that first touchdown. You know they usually get called back on me.”
(On looking for a flag on the punt return)
“It was a flag down there too, but they picked it up. I didn’t know who it was on. I was pretty worried, but I’m just thankful it turned out our way.”
(On getting a chance to show what he can do in different positions)
“I just said it before…it’s all about opportunities. The previous two years, I’m not going to say it’s my fault, not saying it was anybody’s fault, it just wasn’t the right time. I believe my time is now and any opportunity I get, I’m going to take advantage of it.”
Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll
(Opening statement)
“I think in pretty typical fashion, it was hard to get started here. We struggled early in this game and we were fortunate to be tied at halftime. I think it was a fantastic game by the Rams. There were all kind of cool plays to give them a chance and a chance to win when they had to. We had our shot in this game. I think all three phases and coaches, we need to do better, we need to play better. I am disappointment across the board that we weren’t sharper than we looked out there. There were times, we had our moments, but it was not enough. When we had a chance to finish the game, we didn’t finish it. I will go back and look at film and find out what happened in particular instances. In general we didn’t play sharp enough to get a win today and they did. Normally when we get three turnover and they get one, we win. We have been doing that for a long time. We did capitalize on the turnovers effectively, but it still didn’t spell the win that we needed. Tough day for us. We will regroup and get going. We will do all of that.”
(On the onside kick)
“We just didn’t execute that. That is not what was supposed to happen. We just didn’t execute properly on the kick.”
(On if the kick was supposed to be longer down the field)
“Yes.”
(On if the kicker made a decision)
“No, we were kicking the ball to a certain area of the field and we didn’t hit it right. So we didn’t execute the kick right, that is all. As simple as that.”
(On where they were kicking the ball)
“We were kicking the ball way down the field.”
(On the last play with RB Marshawn Lynch)
“I can’t tell you, but they got penetration on it. We had been making two and three yards on that all day long. That was a play we had been making all throughout the day, and it worked well. I don’t know how they got the penetration, but they did and we weren’t able to knock it in.”
(On the effect sacks had on the team)
“This is as athletic a group as we are going to face. They had an edge on us early. I think once our guys settled down, they played a lot better. We felt more confident as we were working during the second half. I think we played with confidence all day long. We thought we were going to win the game. We never thought we weren’t. It just didn’t happen. This was a great challenge for our guys and they kind of righted it and with the tempo change we implemented it seemed to help us and we played better with that. I am really anxious to see (inaudible) open up.”
(On the Seahawks offensive front)
“I have to look at the film. Whenever we give up four (six) sacks we have a heck of a fight. We will wait and see. I have to evaluate the film first.”
(On the tying touchdown)
“ We just got beat one-on-one up the sidelines. It was the next ball for them and the next play and I guess he stumbled and wasn’t able to return the play.”
(On if Kam Chancellor’s absence today was noticed)
“That is not where my focus is now. We had a lot of aspects of this game. Where we could have played better football and we are going to try and clean that stuff up.”
(On using TE Jimmy Graham more during the second half)
“We got knocked around a little bit on the pass rush and we didn’t get the chances. We had him in the gameplan throughout and he did an excellent job I thought when he got his chance. He made a great catch on the touchdown pass and he made some really good come-through plays for us. I thought the receivers did an excellent job at catching the ball and making things happen. They did a really cool job. WR Jermaine Kearse came through and made his plays and gave us a chance.”
(On CB Cary Williams and his sack-fumble)
“They had been bracketing us early and we were just trying to put pressure on them as opposed to trying to cover them. You know pressure first, and it was a great call by (Defensive Coordinator) Kris Richard and very perfect execution by Cary. Just an exquisite play. The best thing you can do in football is to force someone and make a touchdown on it.”
(On QB Russell Wilson facing pressure)
“Again I want to look and see. I thought he was competing. He got us ahead in the game and got us a chance to win the football game.”
(On WR Tyler Lockett’s touchdown)
“That was something. I haven’t seen the replay of it at all, so I just watched it on the field. It looked like there was a lot of space, so we must have blocked well. You give him that kind of space, he is going to do something with it. We knew halfway through the kick that he was going to score, because we have seen him do it already.”
(The officials’ explanation of the onside kick regarding the fair catch)
“It is common for onside kicks to bounce and hit the ground first and then you can’t make a fair catch signal once the ball hits the ground. They had to figure it out. They had to talk about it and figure it out. It was a blooped kick so it was legal to make the signal. It was not an invalid signal. The missed that. They figured that the ball had bounced, the kick was so off that they misread the kick. One of the other officials or the other sideline did a good job of clearing that up.”
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson
(On how difficult it is to play in St. Louis)
“Yeah, it’s always a battle. Facing these guys, it’s always a tough game and we look forward to these games. That’s what it’s about. The NFC West is such a challenging division and the goal is to go 1-0 every week. We came up a little short, but I love the way we fought back in the second half. That’s what it’s about, especially going into the first game against a very tough team—arguably one of the best teams we’ll play all year—in our opinion, at least. It’s one of those things where you keep battling and keep facing the challenges and we just came up short.”
(On playing with an up-tempo offense)
“Yeah, the up tempo, the no huddle, just putting pressure on their defense and making plays, that was huge for us. It’s something that I think we’ve done extremely well for the past three years, really. It’s been a lot of fun doing that and I think it’s something where we may consider hopping into that if we’re having a bit of a lull. Like I said, their defense is a challenging, challenging defense and they make a lot of plays. It was a battle and we knew it was going to be a battle to the end. That’s what it’s about.”
(On the pressure by the Rams’ defensive front)
“They’re one of the best defensive lines in the National Football League. They made some plays. I think a little bit of it is on me, just to see if I can find a way to get the ball out a little quicker and to just continue to work. I think the offensive line did a tremendous job, especially in the second half. They did a great job. There’s a lot of positives to it. I’m excited for (C) Drew Nowack, in his first game. I thought he did a phenomenal job and battled with some of the best guys you’re going to face. That was the exciting part for him. You look forward to the next challenge and look forward to getting back to practice.”
(On how the no-huddle approach helps the offense)
“The no-huddle helps just because it puts pressure on the defense and tires them down, especially when you have a defensive line that runs that well and makes plays. It wears them down a little bit. I think also, when you get in a rhythm—offense is such a rhythm game, so once you get in a rhythm, you want to continue to make plays.”
(On if there was an effort to go with the hurry-up offense on the final two plays)
“No, I think we were just going with what we had been doing the whole game. I think it was third down and maybe six or seven, and so they did a good job. I tried to step up (and was) just short. I thought I was going to get that first down and reached out, but they made a good play. The next play, we handed it off and thought it was going to work and they made a great play.”
(On if there was a concerted effort to throw the ball to TE Jimmy Graham in the second half)
“The goal is to throw the ball to the right guy at the right time. Jimmy did a great job getting open. He made a lot of great plays. Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin. I’m excited about little (Tyler) Lockette making some plays, and that punt return that he had. There are so many play makers. Chris Matthews and Ricardo Lockette. To have that many guys, it’s a lot of fun to play with them. In the backfield, Fred Jackson and Marshawn (Lynch), it’s a lot of fun playing with these guys.
(On the performance of the offensive line)
“I think the line is doing a great job. They faced a great defensive line. Like I said, some of those plays were on me, too, and so you just need to go back and study the film and see what you can do better and see what you did well and just continue to grow.”
(On what happened on the final play)
“I’ll have to look at it on film. I think they just penetrated and made a good play, made the tackle.”
(On if the play was a good look from the pre-snap read)
“Yeah, I think it was a good look. It was a tough look, but a good look. I think we can definitely make that play, and they just made the play.”
(On if he could have changed the play from the line)
“I always have the option to change the play. That’s always the case for the most part. It’s a good play. It’s 4th-and-one, and we have the best running back in the National Football League. We’ll see if he can get it, and unfortunately, he didn’t.”
Seahawks DE Michael Bennett
(On if today’s loss was disappointing)
“Every loss is disappointing, but you have to learn from the losses and look at the mistakes. When you come in together and you have young players in there, and you have a good (running) back … this is growth. Every game is growth when you’ve got young players in here. That’s all we’re looking for is to keep improving and I think we can improve very well as long as we stay together. Whenever you lose everyone is going to turn around saying this and that, (Safety) Kam Chancellor this … but we still were in the game. Regardless of what the situation was, we had more opportunities during the game but we just didn’t. Those things happen in the NFL but you’ve got to be strong and keep going after it.”
(On both defenses giving up a lot of points)
“It’s one of those things where both offenses were out doing stuff they normally don’t do. We were doing plays they haven’t seen and they were doing a lot of trick plays … throwing the ball and you’re thinking they’re running it. That’s how it is when you play against them and the first game is always like that in the NFL. The first game is where teams come out and they do things they haven’t done because you haven’t studied the plays. Then you get
(Opening Remarks)
“I don’t know what to say. That was great. Really, I think it was a tremendous effort. Number one, contribution from all three phases against a real good football team. We didn’t play particularly well. We did the things that cost you games: the penalties, the turnovers, those kinds of things. But we overcame them, which is pretty good considering we’re the youngest team in the league again. This win should take us a ways, particularly if we learn from our mistakes, and there were some. But we’ll grade the tape and go on. Just some of the things that took place, great plays, (WR) Tavon (Austin’s) return and great efforts on defense. CB (Trumaine Johnson) Tru’s interception was a great play. We got to (QB) Russell (Wilson) at times, but you could see him start to take the game over, and that’s what he’s really good at, in that third quarter. We’re up by 11 and all of a sudden we’re trailing, and that’s Russell and company. Just a huge play there at the end on the fourth down stop.”
(On the team responding with a touchdown after a bad play before the drive)
“You could hear (the team) talk and they’re talking, ‘Let’s go answer. Let’s go. Let’s put the ball down the field and get points.’ So that’s kind of been their attitude. We go back to preseason and show you we’re doing a little bit more on the offensive than we did in the preseason and (QB) Nick (Foles) has a good feel for it.”
(On Foles’ play against the Seahawks)
“I thought he played well. I don’t know what happened between him and (C) Tim (Barnes) on the fumble. We’ll get to the bottom of it and learn from that, make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s a new relationship that’s developing right now and so we’ll get those things fixed.”
(On if the Seahawks running a run play out of the shotgun limits what the team can do on defense in short yardage situations)
“There’s different options and they’re really good at 3rd-and-short, 4th-and-short. By the way they use different formations and then they’ve got Russell’s legs as well, and that’s always a concern. You’ve got to edge them, but you have to be firm inside and if you edge them and firm them inside, then you’re putting everyone else in 1-on-1 situations.”
(On the strangeness of the beginning of overtime)
“I wouldn’t call it strange. I think it shocked people, and I’m sure Pete (Carroll) would tell you, everybody gets an opportunity to possess. If you get the onside kick and go down and score a touchdown, the game’s over. If you get a defensive stop and kick a field goal, then they get an opportunity to possess. It was his choice. I don’t think it’s that unusual.”
(On WR Bradley Marquez’s play to recover the short kickoff)
“I’ve been talking about him, he’s a very mature player right now as a rookie. We trust him. We trust him to play personal protector, we trust him to play offense. He’s just a real heads up kid. It’s a great effort.”
(On the play call to go deep on the game-tying touchdown by TE Lance Kendricks)
“I think the defender fell down and Lance was wide open, so (Foles) threw him the touchdown pass. You’re not going to turn that stuff over. I was managing the game with the hope I wouldn’t have to give them the ball back, as Russell had two timeouts and 53 seconds left. Fortunately, we played good defense, because a shot down the field with a timeout and a field goal, we wouldn’t have a chance to go to overtime.”
(On if Seattle would have recovered the onside kick and kicked a field goal, would the Seahawks have won the game)
“I don’t believe so, no. And I don’t know what (referee) Jeff (Triplette) was getting at on the onside kick that we recovered. Bradley waived fair catch and clearly fielded the ball, and then he was hit. So he should get fair catch protection on the play. It should have been a penalty that put us in better field position.”
(On what it says about talent level of the team to win despite making many mistakes)
“I believe we’ve improved. Our younger players are showing now what they can do. But we can’t play with those kind of mistakes and win consistently.”
(On if this team can overcome mistakes better than teams past)
“We’re going to take it one game at a time, but we’re going to enjoy this win, look at it and get ready for next week.”
(On the conversation with officials about the onside kick)
“I wanted to get an explanation and I was a little confused when they initially said they had to re-kick. That didn’t make any sense to me. Defense jumps offside, yes. You recover the ball and the returner on the receiving team is offside prior to the recovery, then you re-kick. But we clearly fielded the ball, so I wasn’t sure as to what was going on.”
(On Austin’s play against the Seahawks)
“We’ve been trying to get Tavon some touches so he got some and it clearly shows what he can do. That’s a good defense. That’s a really good defense and it’s hard to find creases and find holes. But, it was a great run and it caught them off guard. It was a great run, touchdown run.”
(On if kicking the ball into the ground on the onside kick was reviewable)
“No. It might be next year.”
(On if Seattle’s choice not to run at end the Super Bowl made the Rams think they were going to run on the final fourth down)
“No. Did you see the way RB (Marshawn Lynch) was running today? He’s a good back. It was 4th-and-1, we’re expecting the run.”
(On the decision to have RB Tre Mason out against the Seahawks)
“He was close. He had a really good pre-game warm-up. And that was also the case with (LB) Daren Bates. There are a few things we’ll know better tomorrow. Trumaine (Johnson) didn’t pass the concussion protocol and (DE) Eugene (Sims) got a little knee thing we’ve got to look at, but that doesn’t look too awfully bad. (RB) Chase Reynolds I think has something wrong, too.”
Rams QB Nick Foles
(On if he’s always been one to encourage his teammates)
“Yeah, if there’s time on the clock, the game’s never over no matter what the score is. That’s been my mentality as a little kid, something my parents instilled in me…my dad…just to fight to the end no matter what because you want to leave it all on the field. You don’t want to go back in the locker room and say, ‘I wish I coulda.’ You want to say, ‘I gave it everything I had.’ Our guys gave it everything they had tonight. Seattle came out and played a great game. They gave it everything they had. We just finished. We needed to finish. The fans were tremendous. Our fans were causing havoc. I could tell there was times where they had to burn timeouts, delay of games, communication…I recognize that stuff watching their offense and that’s huge. Our fans had a huge impact in this game. I’m thanking everybody that came out to support us. We heard them loud and clear and it really helped us get this victory.”
(On if he thought the Rams are better than he thought they would be since being traded from Philadelphia)
“I always had a lot of respect for the Rams. I remember when I played them when I was in Philadelphia, I had the utmost respect. They played with a lot of heart and they fought til the end. Everything I had heard about (Head) Coach (Jeff) Fisher was always positive. Then now I get to be a player for him and I can see why. He’s a guy you want to go out there and you want to play hard for. You want to give it everything you have and that’s for our coaching staff. They do a tremendous job during the week of preparing us. Our guys go out there and we stick together. We did a great job when adversity hit because it did. Several times throughout the night, we stuck together, leaned on each other and that’s what it takes to win. That’s what it takes to win in the NFL. To me, that’s Ram football right there.”
(On his view of the touchdown pass to TE Lance Kendricks)
“I’m very fortunate to have some tremendous tight ends. They make a lot of plays. So to me, I had a matchup. It’s a matchup I took and Lance gave him a little move and ran right by him. He tripped up a little bit. Lance and ‘Cookie’ (TE Jared Cook), those guys, (TE) (Corey) Harkey, they do a great a job of really creating a lot of diversity in our offense. They made some big plays today.”
(On if the win is an indication of how good this team can be)
“I think that’s what’s in your heart. That’s what’s in your mind. That’s caring about one another. That’s playing with your brothers right there. That no matter what, if something does happen like that, the game’s not over. You have to lean on each other and have each others’ backs to win the game and that’s what the guys did tonight. That’s what we have to continue to do. Of course, you want to play cleaner. You don’t want to have turnovers. You don’t want to do that, but to me, the character of the team right there when you don’t play clean football the whole 60 or however many minutes we played, 72 or whatever it was, that shows a lot of character of the team, the guys we have. So I was really proud of each and every one of my teammates tonight.”
(On what he thinks the three touchdown drives says about the offense)
“We have to get that rhythm. We can do a lot of different things and I think it’s just one play at a time and mentality, executing that play. Not all the plays were positive, but we were able to convert third downs. We were able to convert third and long. Running backs did a tremendous job on check downs, really cutting it up and getting those first downs. That’s a big part of our game and we just have to continue to work on that…eliminate the mistakes. That’s a big thing. We can’t have those mistakes and expect to win every week, but it felt good to come out on top today.”
(On what he thinks about the Rams’ ability to rush against Seattle)
“You have to have a diverse offense. It’s important to spread the ball around. That way it’s difficult for them to defend, but that’s a tremendous defense. That’s a great team. It’s very well coached. That’s why the game went like it did. It was back and forth, a hard fought battle as it should’ve been. Hats off to them for fighting.”
(On how he thinks his ‘young’ offensive line performed today)
“They’re resilient. Those guys come to work every day…they hear people. They know what the media says. I don’t…those guys are tremendous. Those guys fought their butt off for me tonight and I will continue to fight for them. I can’t say enough. Every single one of them did a great job tonight. Really, that’s the heart and soul of our offense. It starts with them and it always does. We have a great offensive line with depth. Great offensive line coach who does a tremendous job. We have to continue to improve, but I was really proud of the young guys. I was really proud of our O-Line tonight for how they played.”
(On the offense’s success today and if that speaks to the depth of his offense)
“Absolutely. The guys know when they’re out there I count on them, no matter who’s over them, to make plays because we do have depth. We do have guys that believe they can play. They showed it tonight and we just have to continue to work and improve. This was the first game. We have another game coming up. That’s just the beauty of it all, so we’ll learn. We had a lot of mistakes in this game that we’ll go back and learn from. We’ll go and assess it this week throughout practice and get ready for the next one.”
(On if the fumble caused during the center exchange was a result of a delayed blitz and him not being able to get the ball off)
“It’s something that I’ll asses and look at in film. The game was going, so I was just trying to get back out there and make sure everything was good. I’ll look at it and have more details later.”
Rams DE Robert Quinn
(On his first thoughts after the win today)
“As a team, I think we just finished the game. We started off hot. Seattle made great plays on both sides of the ball to get themselves back into the game. They made plays, like I said, to keep themselves alive. The guys just finished the game. We’ve preached that the past few years – finish, finish, finish. We were able to finish. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, we got the ‘W’ and that’s what we look for. We know we can always get better at things. As long as we keep winning and we still improve, the sky is the limit. It’s a great way to start a season. That’s a great Seahawks team and we’ll take it from here.”
(On the defense’s six sacks today)
“Of course we want to start fast. We’re definitely far from last year. We don’t want to start like that. The guys got on a roll, we kind of got our energy and the guys are feeling great. So once we started getting back there, we just try to stay consistent. ‘A.D.’ (Rams DT Aaron Donald) started it off and after that, guys just tried to follow him. We’ve got a special guy in (No.) 99 so I guess we just need to follow his lead.”
(On what he saw on Donald’s game saving stop on 4th down in overtime)
“(No.) 99 in the backfield. Like I said, if you put one guy on him, you’re asking for trouble. (No.) 99 is a special player. There’s no limit for him if he realizes the true potential he has to be a great player.”
(On the team pulling it together and overcoming adversity in the 4th quarter)
“The game wasn’t pretty. They made a huge comeback, getting themselves back in the lead and they could’ve taken the game away. But, (QB) Nick (Foles) made a great throw to (TE) Lance (Kendricks) to tie the game up, and give us an opportunity to go out there and try to win the game. I’m excited about this season. These guys just don’t quit. It’s never going to be the way you want it, but as long as you can finish the right way and get the ‘W’, nothing else really matters.”
Rams WR Tavon Austin
(On his getting more touches)
“That’s what it’s all about…just opportunities. Coach (Jeff) Fisher believes in me, my team believes in me. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that I had. I’m just glad I made the play for us. It was multiple plays made out there, not just by me. I’m just thankful right now that we got the win.”
(On QB Nick Foles performance)
“Oh man, that’s big bro. He comes in the huddle, he takes charge of the huddle, lets us know what he wants. You know, he always tells us that adversity is going to come. It’s all how we’re going to fight back and that’s what we did.”
(On Foles responding after the strip sack)
“We were on the sideline just screaming ‘It’s definitely not over.’ We believe in him and he believes in us. On the field, him and (TE) Lance (Kendricks) hooked up on a good go route. And that’s how it was.”
(On lining up in the backfield so much)
“I really don’t know what Coach (Fisher) said…got in store for us. Right now we are down in depth, so you know, they called my name and I’m just glad I was able to make a play for us.”
(On if he likes taking handoffs from the RB position)
“You know running back is my first love, always, but my size and stuff had me back off of it a little bit. But, anytime I need to get back there, I’ll get back there.”
(On his punt return for a touchdown)
“It just wasn’t me. I caught the ball and it was a straight lane. I just took it and had some great blocks by Stedman (Bailey) and those guys and I’m just thankful that we start the season with that first touchdown. You know they usually get called back on me.”
(On looking for a flag on the punt return)
“It was a flag down there too, but they picked it up. I didn’t know who it was on. I was pretty worried, but I’m just thankful it turned out our way.”
(On getting a chance to show what he can do in different positions)
“I just said it before…it’s all about opportunities. The previous two years, I’m not going to say it’s my fault, not saying it was anybody’s fault, it just wasn’t the right time. I believe my time is now and any opportunity I get, I’m going to take advantage of it.”
Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll
(Opening statement)
“I think in pretty typical fashion, it was hard to get started here. We struggled early in this game and we were fortunate to be tied at halftime. I think it was a fantastic game by the Rams. There were all kind of cool plays to give them a chance and a chance to win when they had to. We had our shot in this game. I think all three phases and coaches, we need to do better, we need to play better. I am disappointment across the board that we weren’t sharper than we looked out there. There were times, we had our moments, but it was not enough. When we had a chance to finish the game, we didn’t finish it. I will go back and look at film and find out what happened in particular instances. In general we didn’t play sharp enough to get a win today and they did. Normally when we get three turnover and they get one, we win. We have been doing that for a long time. We did capitalize on the turnovers effectively, but it still didn’t spell the win that we needed. Tough day for us. We will regroup and get going. We will do all of that.”
(On the onside kick)
“We just didn’t execute that. That is not what was supposed to happen. We just didn’t execute properly on the kick.”
(On if the kick was supposed to be longer down the field)
“Yes.”
(On if the kicker made a decision)
“No, we were kicking the ball to a certain area of the field and we didn’t hit it right. So we didn’t execute the kick right, that is all. As simple as that.”
(On where they were kicking the ball)
“We were kicking the ball way down the field.”
(On the last play with RB Marshawn Lynch)
“I can’t tell you, but they got penetration on it. We had been making two and three yards on that all day long. That was a play we had been making all throughout the day, and it worked well. I don’t know how they got the penetration, but they did and we weren’t able to knock it in.”
(On the effect sacks had on the team)
“This is as athletic a group as we are going to face. They had an edge on us early. I think once our guys settled down, they played a lot better. We felt more confident as we were working during the second half. I think we played with confidence all day long. We thought we were going to win the game. We never thought we weren’t. It just didn’t happen. This was a great challenge for our guys and they kind of righted it and with the tempo change we implemented it seemed to help us and we played better with that. I am really anxious to see (inaudible) open up.”
(On the Seahawks offensive front)
“I have to look at the film. Whenever we give up four (six) sacks we have a heck of a fight. We will wait and see. I have to evaluate the film first.”
(On the tying touchdown)
“ We just got beat one-on-one up the sidelines. It was the next ball for them and the next play and I guess he stumbled and wasn’t able to return the play.”
(On if Kam Chancellor’s absence today was noticed)
“That is not where my focus is now. We had a lot of aspects of this game. Where we could have played better football and we are going to try and clean that stuff up.”
(On using TE Jimmy Graham more during the second half)
“We got knocked around a little bit on the pass rush and we didn’t get the chances. We had him in the gameplan throughout and he did an excellent job I thought when he got his chance. He made a great catch on the touchdown pass and he made some really good come-through plays for us. I thought the receivers did an excellent job at catching the ball and making things happen. They did a really cool job. WR Jermaine Kearse came through and made his plays and gave us a chance.”
(On CB Cary Williams and his sack-fumble)
“They had been bracketing us early and we were just trying to put pressure on them as opposed to trying to cover them. You know pressure first, and it was a great call by (Defensive Coordinator) Kris Richard and very perfect execution by Cary. Just an exquisite play. The best thing you can do in football is to force someone and make a touchdown on it.”
(On QB Russell Wilson facing pressure)
“Again I want to look and see. I thought he was competing. He got us ahead in the game and got us a chance to win the football game.”
(On WR Tyler Lockett’s touchdown)
“That was something. I haven’t seen the replay of it at all, so I just watched it on the field. It looked like there was a lot of space, so we must have blocked well. You give him that kind of space, he is going to do something with it. We knew halfway through the kick that he was going to score, because we have seen him do it already.”
(The officials’ explanation of the onside kick regarding the fair catch)
“It is common for onside kicks to bounce and hit the ground first and then you can’t make a fair catch signal once the ball hits the ground. They had to figure it out. They had to talk about it and figure it out. It was a blooped kick so it was legal to make the signal. It was not an invalid signal. The missed that. They figured that the ball had bounced, the kick was so off that they misread the kick. One of the other officials or the other sideline did a good job of clearing that up.”
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson
(On how difficult it is to play in St. Louis)
“Yeah, it’s always a battle. Facing these guys, it’s always a tough game and we look forward to these games. That’s what it’s about. The NFC West is such a challenging division and the goal is to go 1-0 every week. We came up a little short, but I love the way we fought back in the second half. That’s what it’s about, especially going into the first game against a very tough team—arguably one of the best teams we’ll play all year—in our opinion, at least. It’s one of those things where you keep battling and keep facing the challenges and we just came up short.”
(On playing with an up-tempo offense)
“Yeah, the up tempo, the no huddle, just putting pressure on their defense and making plays, that was huge for us. It’s something that I think we’ve done extremely well for the past three years, really. It’s been a lot of fun doing that and I think it’s something where we may consider hopping into that if we’re having a bit of a lull. Like I said, their defense is a challenging, challenging defense and they make a lot of plays. It was a battle and we knew it was going to be a battle to the end. That’s what it’s about.”
(On the pressure by the Rams’ defensive front)
“They’re one of the best defensive lines in the National Football League. They made some plays. I think a little bit of it is on me, just to see if I can find a way to get the ball out a little quicker and to just continue to work. I think the offensive line did a tremendous job, especially in the second half. They did a great job. There’s a lot of positives to it. I’m excited for (C) Drew Nowack, in his first game. I thought he did a phenomenal job and battled with some of the best guys you’re going to face. That was the exciting part for him. You look forward to the next challenge and look forward to getting back to practice.”
(On how the no-huddle approach helps the offense)
“The no-huddle helps just because it puts pressure on the defense and tires them down, especially when you have a defensive line that runs that well and makes plays. It wears them down a little bit. I think also, when you get in a rhythm—offense is such a rhythm game, so once you get in a rhythm, you want to continue to make plays.”
(On if there was an effort to go with the hurry-up offense on the final two plays)
“No, I think we were just going with what we had been doing the whole game. I think it was third down and maybe six or seven, and so they did a good job. I tried to step up (and was) just short. I thought I was going to get that first down and reached out, but they made a good play. The next play, we handed it off and thought it was going to work and they made a great play.”
(On if there was a concerted effort to throw the ball to TE Jimmy Graham in the second half)
“The goal is to throw the ball to the right guy at the right time. Jimmy did a great job getting open. He made a lot of great plays. Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin. I’m excited about little (Tyler) Lockette making some plays, and that punt return that he had. There are so many play makers. Chris Matthews and Ricardo Lockette. To have that many guys, it’s a lot of fun to play with them. In the backfield, Fred Jackson and Marshawn (Lynch), it’s a lot of fun playing with these guys.
(On the performance of the offensive line)
“I think the line is doing a great job. They faced a great defensive line. Like I said, some of those plays were on me, too, and so you just need to go back and study the film and see what you can do better and see what you did well and just continue to grow.”
(On what happened on the final play)
“I’ll have to look at it on film. I think they just penetrated and made a good play, made the tackle.”
(On if the play was a good look from the pre-snap read)
“Yeah, I think it was a good look. It was a tough look, but a good look. I think we can definitely make that play, and they just made the play.”
(On if he could have changed the play from the line)
“I always have the option to change the play. That’s always the case for the most part. It’s a good play. It’s 4th-and-one, and we have the best running back in the National Football League. We’ll see if he can get it, and unfortunately, he didn’t.”
Seahawks DE Michael Bennett
(On if today’s loss was disappointing)
“Every loss is disappointing, but you have to learn from the losses and look at the mistakes. When you come in together and you have young players in there, and you have a good (running) back … this is growth. Every game is growth when you’ve got young players in here. That’s all we’re looking for is to keep improving and I think we can improve very well as long as we stay together. Whenever you lose everyone is going to turn around saying this and that, (Safety) Kam Chancellor this … but we still were in the game. Regardless of what the situation was, we had more opportunities during the game but we just didn’t. Those things happen in the NFL but you’ve got to be strong and keep going after it.”
(On both defenses giving up a lot of points)
“It’s one of those things where both offenses were out doing stuff they normally don’t do. We were doing plays they haven’t seen and they were doing a lot of trick plays … throwing the ball and you’re thinking they’re running it. That’s how it is when you play against them and the first game is always like that in the NFL. The first game is where teams come out and they do things they haven’t done because you haven’t studied the plays. Then you get
