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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post-Practice – October 20, 2016
(Opening statement)
“Good Thursday practice session. I was really pleased with the energy. Meetings started at a decent hour this morning and we got a lot done. They’re flying around. What’s interesting is as the week goes on, as coaches we have more opportunity to study the opponent and I’m becoming more and more impressed with our upcoming opponent, which is not necessarily a good thing for us. They’re playing really good on defense. Their secondary’s playing really well together. They’re flying around and not giving up a lot of points. We’re going to have to be on par, offensively. Then defensively, (Giants QB) Eli (Manning) is Eli, he can make it happen. We’ve got our work cut out. We’ve got some match up concerns going in – the obvious ones are our secondary and our young corners against (Giants WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.). You go back and look at everybody that’s played them, they’re playing close attention to where he is and they’re giving them help. So, we’re going to have to do the same. But great respect for their skilled players on offense. As we move further into the week, it just becomes more apparent that it’s going to be a great game. It’s going to be a great ball game.”
(On adjusting to the eight hour time difference)
“The guys are fine right now. We talked to them in advance and we told them today is the day you’re going to feel better. When you tell them you feel better, then they feel better. That’s kind of our approach. But they had a great day today. We need to finish up tomorrow with a good practice and then excited about going over to the stadium and doing the walk-thru on Saturday.”
(On what he’s seen with Giants CB Janoris Jenkins on film)
“I mentioned in the conference call yesterday, I’ve got great respect for some of the top corners in the league, but it would be hard-pressed to find someone playing better than he is right now. He’s playing within the scheme. He’s challenging receivers, not within the scheme. I’m talking about, if he’s left or right and he’s playing their zone stuff and their matchup stuff, he does a great job. They’re also, if need be, matching him up on the best guy and he’s winning. He’s got a lot of PBU’s, which is pass breakups and he’s tackling well, he’s running well. It looks like he’s in great shape.”
(On DE Robert him injury status)
“He was full practice today.”
(On whether he expects him to play)
“I expect and am hoping. But full practice today is encouraging.”
(On what happens to the defense when he’s not available on game day)
“The attention goes to (DT) Aaron (Donald). I guess that’s most obviously stated. It goes right to Aaron. They feel like they can win the one-on-ones outside. Now we’ve won outside without him – (DE) Will’s (Hayes) won outside, (DE) Eugene’s (Sims) won outside, and the other guys have won as well. But basically, when he is on the edge, the fire power on the edge is going to require help, so that takes one more person offensively out of the routes of distribution.”
(On what he thinks is the best way to handle a player like Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. – a player who displays so much passion that it may sometimes boil over)
“I think they did a good job up there. He’s an emotional player, that’s why he’s so talented. Every play is important to him. He blocks, he’s into the offense and everything. He had his issues, if you watched a couple games, especially the Green Bay game, he settled down completely. He was helping opponents up off the ground, slapping them on the rear end, you know that kind of thing. I think he’s learned. He’s got a chance to go down as one of the all-time bests. He’s really, really special. We have respect for him but we’re going to have to cover him. We’re going to have to tackle him. That’s just what we do.”
(On why he likes Odell Beckham Jr. can become one of the best wide receivers to play the game)
“If he stays healthy over the next five or seven years, he takes a slant and goes 70 yards, just like he did right at the end of the game. There’s not a whole lot of guys right now playing the game, rather than (Falcons WR) Julio (Jones), and some guys that can do that. He can make all the catches and runs all the routes, and the run-after-catch stuff is pretty impressive.”
(On if he believes Beckham is a different player from two seasons ago, from a mental standpoint and with specific regards to a scuffle involving him and Rams players last time the teams played)
“That was his rookie year and I think he’s learned from it. We’re not anticipating anything this week. We’re just going to line up and play. But, something got out of hand there, with respect to both teams. We’re not dwelling on that, we’re not showing that. We’re just dwelling on what they’re doing offensively.”
(On if he’s spoken to his defensive backs about controlling their temper against Beckham)
“What you do is, and it’s a weekly discussion, is just don’t hurt our football team. Regardless of what happens out there, regardless of what is said, or regardless of the reaction out of an opponent, don’t put yourself in a position to hurt the football team. Now, again, I think Odell learned last week when a big touchdown play that shift the game, and he let loose of his emotions, took his helmet off, and now they’re kicking off from the 20-yard line. Those things are hard. I think the whole league needs to learn from that. Give yourself a chance to win. That could’ve cost them a victory last week. So, we don’t want to put ourselves in a position to where those kinds of things happen to us.”
(On if he ever engaged emotional players while he was a defensive back)
“I wasn’t very good. I was just trying to survive (laughs). There’s a lot of stuff that goes on out on the field, that you guys don’t know that’s said. Sometimes the verbal confrontations – they end up in physical confrontations, and you don’t want that to happen. We went out and just tried to win the game.”
(On what stood out to him about the Giants on tape)
“All three phases. Their special teams is just very well coached. I’ve got great respect for Mike Solari, their offensive line coach. He’s done a good job. They’re going to continue to improve in their run game, offensively. The passing game is up to Eli (Manning). Eli knows what is going on. He puts them in the right situations all the time. I guess most importantly, defensively, it’s a stacked defense. It’s a secondary that’s loaded. (S) Landon (Collins) is playing really, really well right now, in addition to Janoris (Jenkins). (CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) Rodgers is playing well. They have depth, linebackers are running, defensive line is stout. They’ve got what you need to win in the NFC East.”
(On if he foresees a big game out of RB Todd Gurley)
“Yeah, it’s coming. There’s going to be that busted open run. Whether if the ball is handed off to him, or not, or whether it’s thrown to him. He’s in great shape right now. He feels good, he’s patient, and that’s the important thing. He’s not pressing. Patience, it’s a valuable asset as a running back. His time is coming.”
(On if he thinks DT Aaron Donald can go down as one of the all-time greats and something about Donald that doesn’t show up in the box score)
“I think, as coaches, you have to be careful about praising your own players. I may step out of the box here – he’s really good, he’s really good. And he’s been there week after week. He’s very, very disruptive. His sack numbers, as we said, they’re not there, but the pressures and the hits and the disruption and the tackles for losses are all there. He’s special.”
(On if he’s ever had a player as strong as Donald in the interior)
“I’ve had some good ones. I’ve been around some good ones. When I was around the defensive line in Philadelphia with Jerome Brown inside, Reggie White, we put him inside – they were good ones. He’s just getting started, let me just say that. He’s young in his career and he’s just getting started, and I think his production over the last couple of years speaks for itself.”
(On how far in advance he needed to prepare for the London game and how different it is)
“If I hear your question correctly, I didn’t involve the coaching staff and the players with it. But as a head coach, you work with our operations department, you have to plan well in advanced. We had people here at this facility and at the stadium back in March and April. But as far as scheduling is concerned, I personally did that over the last, probably, a month beforehand. It’s important, the scheduling, the little things are important. You have to put the players first and you have to put yourself in the eyes of the player, with respect to every minute of the day. It’s working out, it’s working out good. Again, the time and effort that everybody put in, outside of the coaching staff, with respect to the operations and everything, it’s worked out. So the players are in good shape right now.”
(On if hype associated with the time zone difference and logistics is justified and if it’s a major shift for the players)
“It’s different. I think it’s unique for our standpoint because we went Pacific Coast Time to Eastern Time and then we came here. So, it was a huge shift. So it’s all about what you do before you adjust to Eastern Time with the Detroit game and then what we do here. There’s a lot involved and people have taken different approaches, as well. Sometimes teams just come in on Fridays and they pound on player’s doors and say, ‘Wake up,’ and let’s go play. Our first experience here, we thought we were doing the right things and after the first series on offense, things were really good – we had a four or five or six-play drive against New England and thought ‘Alright, they came here Friday, we got here Monday, everything’s good,’ and we lose (45-7). But I think to give the players the best chance to be successful, three things are key – and that’s rest, recuperation, recovery and then, of course, adjusting to the time change.”
(On what he thinks will be important to see from the team on Sunday to get the win heading into the bye week)
“The win is the ultimate thing. We’ve shown improvement over the last couple of weeks offensively, we’ve not played to our standards on defense. We’re kind of trading back-and-forth on special teams. We need all three phases, and we need big plays. For all intents and purposes, if you compare the two teams, I think you’re, in all likelihood, it’s going to come down to the end, a play at the end.”
(On if he would agree with the players who say they’re going into the game with a chip on their shoulder)
“Yeah, they’re disappointed. From our perspective, a coaching perspective and the player’s perspective, we’ve let two slip that we potentially could have won. They feel like this one’s really important. I don’t know if the chip on the shoulder is the thing, but they’re doing all the extra little things that they need to do – and they’ve done that all year, it doesn’t matter.”
