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ams Head Coach Jeff Fisher- Press Conference- 8.30.2015
(On last night’s game)
“There was a lot of good things. All three phases, especially with the early groups. We missed some plays offensively. We had some opportunities, we missed some plays, some big-play potential, but both teams were determined to one, try and run the ball and then two, try and stop the run. We had some difficulty running the football, but all of those things can be corrected. I was impressed with (QB) Nick’s (Foles) decision making, his versatility to move in the pocket, which was good to see. It was a great throw, great timing throw to (WR) Chris (Givens). We did some good things at some other positions. I thought (T) Rob (Havenstein) played well. He got beat off the snap on one, gave up the one sack, but he’ll learn from that. (T) Greg’s (Robinson) coming on. Greg had a good week at practice, he’s improving. I thought he and ‘JB’ (OL Jamon Brown) worked good together while JB was in, which is a good thing. Going to over to the other side, inside we were really good. We know we’re good there. (DT) Aaron (Donald) played really well, especially when we needed a stop down, we had them backed up. I thought (DL) Ethan (Westbrooks) played well. (DE) Rob (Quinn) got his snaps, (DE) Chris (Long) got his snaps. Chris is feeling better. We tackled well. We just have to score more points. The penalty thing has been addressed and will be continued to be addressed. Like I say, there’s probably closer to 70 percent of the penalties I don’t disagree with, but nonetheless we did have a couple that we have to learn from. Late in the game, (T) Isaiah (Battle) got beat inside and he’ been coached not to get the quarterback hit, so he was called for holding. I’ll live with that. We have to teach him to do better with technique and his hand placement, but at least he understands the importance of not getting the quarterback hit. Special teams wise, the group did a nice job. I thought early on we covered well. Like I said, I was a little surprised at the surprise onsides. It’s a dangerous play, but that’s his choice. Unfortunately we didn’t get it, so they grabbed an extra possession from us. So, that took it away from the offense. Beyond that, we addressed penalties. Obviously, we have some tough decisions to make here. We’ve had discussions. We have a good feel for where we are going to go and how we are going to get to 75. We will be informing our players over the next couple of days. On that, (RB) Tre (Mason) won’t play this week. He probably will be questionable for the opener. JB looks like he’s going to be okay. We will probably hold him out, depending on how he responds the next couple of days. We will have a number of players not playing in this preseason game, mostly just from a protection standpoint, guys that we think need some extra time to get ready for the opener.”
(On some of the pros and cons of showing on onside kick in the preseason)
“Well, the cons are, there was a lot of collision on that play. I’m going to assume their purpose was to show that they’ll do it so their upcoming opponents are going to be aware of it and looking for it and not running out of there to set up their returns. You won the toss and you defer and then come back and onside kick, I was a little confused about that. Preseason, you win a toss you take the ball and you go, but that’s (Colts Head Coach) Chuck (Pagano. Chuck and I are friends and I talked to him about it. He’s done a great job there, so there must have been a reason for it.”
(On how C Barrett Jones played)
“Barrett was good. He had the one issue, he had the one hold. Other than that, he was sliding well and communicating well. He did some things on the second level well. I was pleased with him.”
(On if there were any specific penalties he disagreed with)
“No there was 11 or 12 and I would disagree with four or five of them. The OPI (offensive pass interference) on (WR) Tavon (Austin), they could’ve called illegal contact because the defensive player made the contact, but those things happen. In the game, it’s really good for the players to see it, because in order to completely avoid it you have to keep your hands down. Even though you didn’t push off, you extend your hands sometimes, they’re going to see it differently, so it’s a good learning experience.”
(On if you’d rather have an offensive lineman grab something than have the quarterback get hit if they’re beat)
“Well, you don’t want to grab facemasks anytime, that’s a big penalty. Holding is 10, a facemask is 15. Sometimes they’re just reaching out to protect and it happens. If we do some things different earlier in both downs, we don’t have the penalties. So if we execute earlier in the down, if we make a decision to get rid of the ball here as opposed to go through your progression and scramble out of it, not that I’m blaming Nick - that’s part of the learning experience - then that doesn’t happen. The penalty doesn’t take place.”
(On if he plans to keep OL Jamon Brown on the left side)
“We’re going to consider it, yeah. I think (T) Rodger’s (Saffold) really comfortable on the right. It’ll be a consideration and that’s particularly why we did it. Line him up and let him work with (OL) Greg (Robinson) and then put Rodger over next to (T) Rob (Havenstein).”
(On T Rodger Saffold’s return status for practice)
“He’s close, yeah. He’s feeling pretty good.”
(On if he wants to separate the two rookies)
“No, I have no problem with playing them side-by-side. Just feel for the entire offensive line and communication standpoint we’re probably better that way.”
(On if that personnel group is something he would have liked to have done sooner)
“No, just something that we decided to do. You can see we’re playing people at all different positions. They have to have the versatility. Look at (OL) Garrett (Reynolds). Garrett’s playing all over the line right now. I think that’s important. (C/G) Barrett’s (Jones) got guard snaps. (OL) Demetrius (Rhaney) has center guard snaps. We’re just trying to get them settled down. It just helps them once they settle into the one position because they’ve got the experience.”
(On if he wants to settle on the five pretty soon for the sake of continuity)
“Well we’re going to settle soon, yeah. The opener is around the corner so doesn’t mean to say we’re going to settle this week because I don’t…we haven’t decided who’s going to play and how much.”
(On his philosophy of playing starters some years in preseason and not in other years)
“Well every camp’s different and you have to just. As you refer to the injury situation, the experience, the snaps that they’ve had, how they’re doing in practice. We’ll be flexible again this week and we’re having extensive talks about play time and some guys are going to play more than others. Some starters will play more than others and some starters probably won’t get a snap.”
(On if RB Tre Mason was injured before he got hit)
“He pulled up a little bit, yeah. He felt it, so he shut it down on the play.”
(On if Mason’s injury has been a concern at practice)
“No, he’s been fine. He had a good week at practice. He’s a quick healer, so we’re optimistic.”
(On what he thinks of DT Michael Brockers return performance last night)
“Did good. He pushed the pocket, used his hands well. We kept his hands inside and didn’t want to get him overextended. He got the strength back, so yeah he played pretty well considering the plays.”
(On how he feels the younger corners like Marcus Roberson and Imoan Claiborne are doing as they compete for the fourth and fifth spots at their position)
“Marcus has the fourth obviously right now, but we’ll look at the younger guys this week. But Marcus is playing well, made some nice plays. Made some plays on special teams and has played in games as well.”
(On how he feels QB Sean Mannion has performed throughout camp and last night’s game)
“He wants that throw back obviously, but he’s been good. He’s making the right decisions. He’s decisive. Great arm strength and has got mobility and is seeing things and is learning things really well. Probably see him quite a bit this week.”
(On the offensive penalties in last night’s game)
“Well the big thing, I mean, there’s no telling what would’ve happened had we not got the offense, the OPI call. We overcame the first-and-25, which is hard to do. But the OPI was one of the things that set us back just a little bit and then we lost the series. Then we had the one play series. You throw a touchdown pass on the first play of the series, you’re not going to get the reps that you want to have.”
(On what he’s seen from DT Louis Trinca-Pasat in camp and recently)
“Both he and (DE) Matt (Longacre) have been really impressive. Matt’s playing both ends. Trinca-Pasat’s playing both tackles. They just make plays. They shock and shed people and get off blocks and penetrate and put pressure on the quarterback, so it’s been great to have them here.”
(On if it will be a tough round of decisions coming up for him at that position)
“Yes, it will be difficult.”
(On what he thinks about the back-up linebacker position)
“Well (LB) Marshall (McFadden) came back, so it was good to get him back. (LB) Bryce (Hager) is getting better and better each week. He’s playing both inside and outside and on (special) teams for us. The rest of the guys are plugging along. Unfortunately, (LB) Korey’s (Toomer) missed his time because of injury, but that’s giving some of the younger guys an opportunity to show what they can do. They’ve been productive on teams, and that’s where it starts.”
(On LB Daren Bates return status)
“’Batesy’ won’t play this week. Yeah, he’ll be questionable for the opener.”
(On RB Todd Gurley’s status)
“He’s probably a step…a day closer than he was yesterday.”
(On last night’s game)
“There was a lot of good things. All three phases, especially with the early groups. We missed some plays offensively. We had some opportunities, we missed some plays, some big-play potential, but both teams were determined to one, try and run the ball and then two, try and stop the run. We had some difficulty running the football, but all of those things can be corrected. I was impressed with (QB) Nick’s (Foles) decision making, his versatility to move in the pocket, which was good to see. It was a great throw, great timing throw to (WR) Chris (Givens). We did some good things at some other positions. I thought (T) Rob (Havenstein) played well. He got beat off the snap on one, gave up the one sack, but he’ll learn from that. (T) Greg’s (Robinson) coming on. Greg had a good week at practice, he’s improving. I thought he and ‘JB’ (OL Jamon Brown) worked good together while JB was in, which is a good thing. Going to over to the other side, inside we were really good. We know we’re good there. (DT) Aaron (Donald) played really well, especially when we needed a stop down, we had them backed up. I thought (DL) Ethan (Westbrooks) played well. (DE) Rob (Quinn) got his snaps, (DE) Chris (Long) got his snaps. Chris is feeling better. We tackled well. We just have to score more points. The penalty thing has been addressed and will be continued to be addressed. Like I say, there’s probably closer to 70 percent of the penalties I don’t disagree with, but nonetheless we did have a couple that we have to learn from. Late in the game, (T) Isaiah (Battle) got beat inside and he’ been coached not to get the quarterback hit, so he was called for holding. I’ll live with that. We have to teach him to do better with technique and his hand placement, but at least he understands the importance of not getting the quarterback hit. Special teams wise, the group did a nice job. I thought early on we covered well. Like I said, I was a little surprised at the surprise onsides. It’s a dangerous play, but that’s his choice. Unfortunately we didn’t get it, so they grabbed an extra possession from us. So, that took it away from the offense. Beyond that, we addressed penalties. Obviously, we have some tough decisions to make here. We’ve had discussions. We have a good feel for where we are going to go and how we are going to get to 75. We will be informing our players over the next couple of days. On that, (RB) Tre (Mason) won’t play this week. He probably will be questionable for the opener. JB looks like he’s going to be okay. We will probably hold him out, depending on how he responds the next couple of days. We will have a number of players not playing in this preseason game, mostly just from a protection standpoint, guys that we think need some extra time to get ready for the opener.”
(On some of the pros and cons of showing on onside kick in the preseason)
“Well, the cons are, there was a lot of collision on that play. I’m going to assume their purpose was to show that they’ll do it so their upcoming opponents are going to be aware of it and looking for it and not running out of there to set up their returns. You won the toss and you defer and then come back and onside kick, I was a little confused about that. Preseason, you win a toss you take the ball and you go, but that’s (Colts Head Coach) Chuck (Pagano. Chuck and I are friends and I talked to him about it. He’s done a great job there, so there must have been a reason for it.”
(On how C Barrett Jones played)
“Barrett was good. He had the one issue, he had the one hold. Other than that, he was sliding well and communicating well. He did some things on the second level well. I was pleased with him.”
(On if there were any specific penalties he disagreed with)
“No there was 11 or 12 and I would disagree with four or five of them. The OPI (offensive pass interference) on (WR) Tavon (Austin), they could’ve called illegal contact because the defensive player made the contact, but those things happen. In the game, it’s really good for the players to see it, because in order to completely avoid it you have to keep your hands down. Even though you didn’t push off, you extend your hands sometimes, they’re going to see it differently, so it’s a good learning experience.”
(On if you’d rather have an offensive lineman grab something than have the quarterback get hit if they’re beat)
“Well, you don’t want to grab facemasks anytime, that’s a big penalty. Holding is 10, a facemask is 15. Sometimes they’re just reaching out to protect and it happens. If we do some things different earlier in both downs, we don’t have the penalties. So if we execute earlier in the down, if we make a decision to get rid of the ball here as opposed to go through your progression and scramble out of it, not that I’m blaming Nick - that’s part of the learning experience - then that doesn’t happen. The penalty doesn’t take place.”
(On if he plans to keep OL Jamon Brown on the left side)
“We’re going to consider it, yeah. I think (T) Rodger’s (Saffold) really comfortable on the right. It’ll be a consideration and that’s particularly why we did it. Line him up and let him work with (OL) Greg (Robinson) and then put Rodger over next to (T) Rob (Havenstein).”
(On T Rodger Saffold’s return status for practice)
“He’s close, yeah. He’s feeling pretty good.”
(On if he wants to separate the two rookies)
“No, I have no problem with playing them side-by-side. Just feel for the entire offensive line and communication standpoint we’re probably better that way.”
(On if that personnel group is something he would have liked to have done sooner)
“No, just something that we decided to do. You can see we’re playing people at all different positions. They have to have the versatility. Look at (OL) Garrett (Reynolds). Garrett’s playing all over the line right now. I think that’s important. (C/G) Barrett’s (Jones) got guard snaps. (OL) Demetrius (Rhaney) has center guard snaps. We’re just trying to get them settled down. It just helps them once they settle into the one position because they’ve got the experience.”
(On if he wants to settle on the five pretty soon for the sake of continuity)
“Well we’re going to settle soon, yeah. The opener is around the corner so doesn’t mean to say we’re going to settle this week because I don’t…we haven’t decided who’s going to play and how much.”
(On his philosophy of playing starters some years in preseason and not in other years)
“Well every camp’s different and you have to just. As you refer to the injury situation, the experience, the snaps that they’ve had, how they’re doing in practice. We’ll be flexible again this week and we’re having extensive talks about play time and some guys are going to play more than others. Some starters will play more than others and some starters probably won’t get a snap.”
(On if RB Tre Mason was injured before he got hit)
“He pulled up a little bit, yeah. He felt it, so he shut it down on the play.”
(On if Mason’s injury has been a concern at practice)
“No, he’s been fine. He had a good week at practice. He’s a quick healer, so we’re optimistic.”
(On what he thinks of DT Michael Brockers return performance last night)
“Did good. He pushed the pocket, used his hands well. We kept his hands inside and didn’t want to get him overextended. He got the strength back, so yeah he played pretty well considering the plays.”
(On how he feels the younger corners like Marcus Roberson and Imoan Claiborne are doing as they compete for the fourth and fifth spots at their position)
“Marcus has the fourth obviously right now, but we’ll look at the younger guys this week. But Marcus is playing well, made some nice plays. Made some plays on special teams and has played in games as well.”
(On how he feels QB Sean Mannion has performed throughout camp and last night’s game)
“He wants that throw back obviously, but he’s been good. He’s making the right decisions. He’s decisive. Great arm strength and has got mobility and is seeing things and is learning things really well. Probably see him quite a bit this week.”
(On the offensive penalties in last night’s game)
“Well the big thing, I mean, there’s no telling what would’ve happened had we not got the offense, the OPI call. We overcame the first-and-25, which is hard to do. But the OPI was one of the things that set us back just a little bit and then we lost the series. Then we had the one play series. You throw a touchdown pass on the first play of the series, you’re not going to get the reps that you want to have.”
(On what he’s seen from DT Louis Trinca-Pasat in camp and recently)
“Both he and (DE) Matt (Longacre) have been really impressive. Matt’s playing both ends. Trinca-Pasat’s playing both tackles. They just make plays. They shock and shed people and get off blocks and penetrate and put pressure on the quarterback, so it’s been great to have them here.”
(On if it will be a tough round of decisions coming up for him at that position)
“Yes, it will be difficult.”
(On what he thinks about the back-up linebacker position)
“Well (LB) Marshall (McFadden) came back, so it was good to get him back. (LB) Bryce (Hager) is getting better and better each week. He’s playing both inside and outside and on (special) teams for us. The rest of the guys are plugging along. Unfortunately, (LB) Korey’s (Toomer) missed his time because of injury, but that’s giving some of the younger guys an opportunity to show what they can do. They’ve been productive on teams, and that’s where it starts.”
(On LB Daren Bates return status)
“’Batesy’ won’t play this week. Yeah, he’ll be questionable for the opener.”
(On RB Todd Gurley’s status)
“He’s probably a step…a day closer than he was yesterday.”
