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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – 12/14/15
(Opening statement)
“So we just finished our Thursday practice. Tomorrow is a ‘Fast Friday’, so you’re all welcome to watch that as well. But, things went well. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time on the game for obvious reasons, but we did go through it late last night. We gave out some game balls this morning, and then we got right on to the Bucs. Things are good. Guys are excited. They respect their opponent. Tampa is playing really well. I think they’re eleventh in offense and eleventh in defense. They’re making a lot of plays.”
(On what Wednesday is like then if today was Thursday’s practice)
“There’s no such thing as Wednesday. We just finished a Thursday practice. Tomorrow is Friday. Then Wednesday is a Saturday. We lost Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. That’s how it is on Thursday games.”
(On if he went back to the office last night after the game)
“Yes.”
(On if his staff came back to the office too)
“Yes.”
(On coming back to the office after a game not normally being the case)
“Oftentimes. Sometimes after road trips we’ll come back in. But no, last night we had to come back to work. So we left the stadium and came back to work.”
(On Assistant Head Coach/Offense Rob Boras)
“Coach Boras, I thought he was sleep deprived last week. I don’t have a description for you right now for him. He did a great job. Really happy for him. He was calm, worked hard all week. Players were excited. He got a game ball. He just moved on to the next game.”
(On if Boras was nervous at the game)
“I wasn’t upstairs, but someone told me he threw up about four times upstairs. But no, he was fine. He’s really into the situations because we had prepared all week. He was on top of it. He understands the difficulty of play calling. As a play caller, you want every play to be a touchdown or every play to be a first down, but it doesn’t always happen that way. I thought he was in really good rhythm. He was good with the situational type stuff. We had gone through a lot of that. He’s just going to get better at it.”
(On if he had to calm Boras down on the headset)
“No, no, no. He did a nice job. Players were excited for him.”
(On how much of a relief it was to get the losing streak behind him)
“Well again, as I’ve said every week, the players are working hard. They’re doing everything we ask of them. The wins didn’t come, but it finally did. It was rewarding. Especially to get it at home. It’s our goal to do everything we possibly can to get back-to-back wins at home. This will be our last home game here this year. We’ve got a tough road trip through the holidays and so our focus is on Thursday night. The guys understand that it’s a unique challenge and when it’s over, there’s a couple of days to recharge and recover and a couple of days off. It’s almost like that second bye week. And then we just get ready and go on to the next one.”
(On if he’s thought about the possibility of this being the team’s last game in St. Louis)
“It has not crossed my mind, no. As I’ve said to you oftentimes throughout this process, my focus is on this football team and the next game. I’m sure all of those things will be addressed once the season is over, but it’s not crossed my mind. What’s first and foremost right now is the Bucs and the uniforms. You’ve seen the uniforms, right? You’ve seen the uniforms, so that’ll be a little different. But no, that’s not an issue with me.”
(On what he thinks of the uniforms)
“I said this to the team and I’ve oftentimes said this before, I’m just glad it’s not baseball where I have to wear the uniform as well.”
(On there being no color rush coaches outfits)
“No, I really have not asked about what we’re going to be wearing.”
(On if the players look faster wearing the yellow shoes)
“Well, they’re wearing them in right now and working them in so they’re comfortable.”
(On how the secondary played in yesterday’s game)
“Really pleased. We went into this game without (CB) Janoris (Jenkins) obviously and (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) coming back. For (CB) Marcus (Roberson) to line up and play and make the plays he did and then for (S) Maurice (Alexander) to step in for (S) T.J. (McDonald) and play and run and hit and tackle in addition to doing the special teams stuff, I was pretty impressed with the way they played. (CB) Lamarcus (Joyner) also was involved in some plays. He got challenged. Even (S) Cody (Davis) got a chance to play a little bit. I thought the staff did a good job. (S) Mark (Barron) was all over the place. You saw Mark’s play and his production. You can’t say enough about what (DT) Aaron (Donald) did in the game and how disruptive he was. I was just impressed with those guys that have played a lot of snaps. Special teams wise, we got it done. Really disappointed for (WR) Tavon (Austin) and that return, it was not a foul. First time I’ve ever given a player a special teams game ball for a play that didn’t count, but he deserved it as did his teammates. ‘Hekk’ (P Johnny Hekker) did a great job punting the ball. All of our guys, they covered well and it was important to him. I thought it was a good win.”
(On why he thinks it wasn’t a penalty)
“Just because it wasn’t a penalty. Holding was called and it was not a hold. Their legs got tangled. So, it was not a penalty. It’s unfortunate. I mean, it’s an 80-yard punt return for touchdown. He’s had a number of things called back that have been questionable, but this one was not a foul. I was just disappointed for him, but it just shows you what he’s capable of doing. He’s special.”
(On Austin having a lot of his punt returns called back in his first year)
“I’ve not forgotten them, but this was a great return. The thing that’s hard and you all will appreciate this is the time and effort that we put on the practice field to be able to execute something like that and it was executed to perfection, then it just didn’t work out. But, that’s part of the game. In retrospect, as I said yesterday, you find the positive in things and had it not been called back, then (Lions QB) Matthew (Stafford) would’ve had the ball in his hands. The ball was put back on the 10 yard line. We ran four minutes off the clock and scored a touchdown and that was four minutes that Stafford didn’t have the ball.”
(On the offense making a statement especially QB Case Keenum, with the longest drive of the season after the return was called back)
“Go right down the field. Yeah, it was good stuff. (Assistant Head Coach/Offense) Rob (Boras) did a good job with it.”
(On if he still thinks about playoff hopes with this game against the Buccaneers)
“No, it’s just all Bucs. It’s all Bucs and what the Bucs have done and how far they’ve come and the way (Bucs QB) Jameis (Winston) is playing and the way (Bucs RB) Doug’s (Martin) running and the way (Bucs DT) Gerald’s (McCoy) rushing the passer. I mean, it’s a good football team. He’s (Bucs Head Coach Lovie Smith) got a good team down there. They’ve beat some good teams as well.”
(On how big of a challenge it is going up against a quarterback like Bucs QB Jameis Winston)
“Well, we know him well. We worked him out. We spent a lot of time with him and knew he was going to be a very good player. Thus far, he’s done a great job with that offense. Defensively, we’re going to have to just kind of challenge him a little bit and give him an ever changing look and try to make some plays.”
(On if he saw the Saints give Winston different looks this weekend)
“Yeah, he gave them some different looks. I mean, they didn’t beat New Orleans because of their quarterback play. So, New Orleans just made plays on the other side of the ball.”
(On CB Janoris Jenkins status)
“He was limited today in practice.”
(On if Jenkins has a chance to play on Thursday night)
“Yes.”
(On if Jenkins has passed the concussion protocol)
“He passed all the tests today. He’s got one more phase, which is the exertion phase. So, we expect that to happen tomorrow.”
(On if he sees any similarities between DT Aaron Donald and former Rams DT D’Marco Farr)
“Yeah, D’Marco was a great player. I mean, he played every play and he played every play hard. He was a sideline to sideline, great effort player. That’s where Aaron is right now. People have lined up and attempted to double team him and scheme him, yet he still continues to make play after play.”
(On Farr making a comment that Donald is stronger than he was)
“I don’t make a habit of comparing people. I have to go on a radio show with D’Marco on Monday, so I’m not going to go there.”
(On if the reason he didn’t kick the 55-yard field goal yesterday was because of concern with K Greg Zuerlein)
“No, it was a field position thing. It had nothing to do with Greg. Greg’s leg strength was there. You saw his kickoffs. You saw his PATs. His leg strength was there. It was just a field position thing.”
(On RB Todd Gurley’s status)
“He’s fine, yeah. He was fine today. He was limited. We have to project today, but he was limited. There’s no issues with Todd other than he had 16 carries for 140 yards.”
(On if he has any new updates on WR Stedman Bailey)
“He’s improving. We’re hoping to get some news here in the next couple of days, but he’s improving.”
(On if Bailey is still in the hospital)
“He’s still in the hospital, yes. He’s more in the rehab phase right now than he is in the recovery phase.”
(Opening statement)
“So we just finished our Thursday practice. Tomorrow is a ‘Fast Friday’, so you’re all welcome to watch that as well. But, things went well. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time on the game for obvious reasons, but we did go through it late last night. We gave out some game balls this morning, and then we got right on to the Bucs. Things are good. Guys are excited. They respect their opponent. Tampa is playing really well. I think they’re eleventh in offense and eleventh in defense. They’re making a lot of plays.”
(On what Wednesday is like then if today was Thursday’s practice)
“There’s no such thing as Wednesday. We just finished a Thursday practice. Tomorrow is Friday. Then Wednesday is a Saturday. We lost Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. That’s how it is on Thursday games.”
(On if he went back to the office last night after the game)
“Yes.”
(On if his staff came back to the office too)
“Yes.”
(On coming back to the office after a game not normally being the case)
“Oftentimes. Sometimes after road trips we’ll come back in. But no, last night we had to come back to work. So we left the stadium and came back to work.”
(On Assistant Head Coach/Offense Rob Boras)
“Coach Boras, I thought he was sleep deprived last week. I don’t have a description for you right now for him. He did a great job. Really happy for him. He was calm, worked hard all week. Players were excited. He got a game ball. He just moved on to the next game.”
(On if Boras was nervous at the game)
“I wasn’t upstairs, but someone told me he threw up about four times upstairs. But no, he was fine. He’s really into the situations because we had prepared all week. He was on top of it. He understands the difficulty of play calling. As a play caller, you want every play to be a touchdown or every play to be a first down, but it doesn’t always happen that way. I thought he was in really good rhythm. He was good with the situational type stuff. We had gone through a lot of that. He’s just going to get better at it.”
(On if he had to calm Boras down on the headset)
“No, no, no. He did a nice job. Players were excited for him.”
(On how much of a relief it was to get the losing streak behind him)
“Well again, as I’ve said every week, the players are working hard. They’re doing everything we ask of them. The wins didn’t come, but it finally did. It was rewarding. Especially to get it at home. It’s our goal to do everything we possibly can to get back-to-back wins at home. This will be our last home game here this year. We’ve got a tough road trip through the holidays and so our focus is on Thursday night. The guys understand that it’s a unique challenge and when it’s over, there’s a couple of days to recharge and recover and a couple of days off. It’s almost like that second bye week. And then we just get ready and go on to the next one.”
(On if he’s thought about the possibility of this being the team’s last game in St. Louis)
“It has not crossed my mind, no. As I’ve said to you oftentimes throughout this process, my focus is on this football team and the next game. I’m sure all of those things will be addressed once the season is over, but it’s not crossed my mind. What’s first and foremost right now is the Bucs and the uniforms. You’ve seen the uniforms, right? You’ve seen the uniforms, so that’ll be a little different. But no, that’s not an issue with me.”
(On what he thinks of the uniforms)
“I said this to the team and I’ve oftentimes said this before, I’m just glad it’s not baseball where I have to wear the uniform as well.”
(On there being no color rush coaches outfits)
“No, I really have not asked about what we’re going to be wearing.”
(On if the players look faster wearing the yellow shoes)
“Well, they’re wearing them in right now and working them in so they’re comfortable.”
(On how the secondary played in yesterday’s game)
“Really pleased. We went into this game without (CB) Janoris (Jenkins) obviously and (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) coming back. For (CB) Marcus (Roberson) to line up and play and make the plays he did and then for (S) Maurice (Alexander) to step in for (S) T.J. (McDonald) and play and run and hit and tackle in addition to doing the special teams stuff, I was pretty impressed with the way they played. (CB) Lamarcus (Joyner) also was involved in some plays. He got challenged. Even (S) Cody (Davis) got a chance to play a little bit. I thought the staff did a good job. (S) Mark (Barron) was all over the place. You saw Mark’s play and his production. You can’t say enough about what (DT) Aaron (Donald) did in the game and how disruptive he was. I was just impressed with those guys that have played a lot of snaps. Special teams wise, we got it done. Really disappointed for (WR) Tavon (Austin) and that return, it was not a foul. First time I’ve ever given a player a special teams game ball for a play that didn’t count, but he deserved it as did his teammates. ‘Hekk’ (P Johnny Hekker) did a great job punting the ball. All of our guys, they covered well and it was important to him. I thought it was a good win.”
(On why he thinks it wasn’t a penalty)
“Just because it wasn’t a penalty. Holding was called and it was not a hold. Their legs got tangled. So, it was not a penalty. It’s unfortunate. I mean, it’s an 80-yard punt return for touchdown. He’s had a number of things called back that have been questionable, but this one was not a foul. I was just disappointed for him, but it just shows you what he’s capable of doing. He’s special.”
(On Austin having a lot of his punt returns called back in his first year)
“I’ve not forgotten them, but this was a great return. The thing that’s hard and you all will appreciate this is the time and effort that we put on the practice field to be able to execute something like that and it was executed to perfection, then it just didn’t work out. But, that’s part of the game. In retrospect, as I said yesterday, you find the positive in things and had it not been called back, then (Lions QB) Matthew (Stafford) would’ve had the ball in his hands. The ball was put back on the 10 yard line. We ran four minutes off the clock and scored a touchdown and that was four minutes that Stafford didn’t have the ball.”
(On the offense making a statement especially QB Case Keenum, with the longest drive of the season after the return was called back)
“Go right down the field. Yeah, it was good stuff. (Assistant Head Coach/Offense) Rob (Boras) did a good job with it.”
(On if he still thinks about playoff hopes with this game against the Buccaneers)
“No, it’s just all Bucs. It’s all Bucs and what the Bucs have done and how far they’ve come and the way (Bucs QB) Jameis (Winston) is playing and the way (Bucs RB) Doug’s (Martin) running and the way (Bucs DT) Gerald’s (McCoy) rushing the passer. I mean, it’s a good football team. He’s (Bucs Head Coach Lovie Smith) got a good team down there. They’ve beat some good teams as well.”
(On how big of a challenge it is going up against a quarterback like Bucs QB Jameis Winston)
“Well, we know him well. We worked him out. We spent a lot of time with him and knew he was going to be a very good player. Thus far, he’s done a great job with that offense. Defensively, we’re going to have to just kind of challenge him a little bit and give him an ever changing look and try to make some plays.”
(On if he saw the Saints give Winston different looks this weekend)
“Yeah, he gave them some different looks. I mean, they didn’t beat New Orleans because of their quarterback play. So, New Orleans just made plays on the other side of the ball.”
(On CB Janoris Jenkins status)
“He was limited today in practice.”
(On if Jenkins has a chance to play on Thursday night)
“Yes.”
(On if Jenkins has passed the concussion protocol)
“He passed all the tests today. He’s got one more phase, which is the exertion phase. So, we expect that to happen tomorrow.”
(On if he sees any similarities between DT Aaron Donald and former Rams DT D’Marco Farr)
“Yeah, D’Marco was a great player. I mean, he played every play and he played every play hard. He was a sideline to sideline, great effort player. That’s where Aaron is right now. People have lined up and attempted to double team him and scheme him, yet he still continues to make play after play.”
(On Farr making a comment that Donald is stronger than he was)
“I don’t make a habit of comparing people. I have to go on a radio show with D’Marco on Monday, so I’m not going to go there.”
(On if the reason he didn’t kick the 55-yard field goal yesterday was because of concern with K Greg Zuerlein)
“No, it was a field position thing. It had nothing to do with Greg. Greg’s leg strength was there. You saw his kickoffs. You saw his PATs. His leg strength was there. It was just a field position thing.”
(On RB Todd Gurley’s status)
“He’s fine, yeah. He was fine today. He was limited. We have to project today, but he was limited. There’s no issues with Todd other than he had 16 carries for 140 yards.”
(On if he has any new updates on WR Stedman Bailey)
“He’s improving. We’re hoping to get some news here in the next couple of days, but he’s improving.”
(On if Bailey is still in the hospital)
“He’s still in the hospital, yes. He’s more in the rehab phase right now than he is in the recovery phase.”