- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Messages
- 35,576
- Name
- The Dude
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post Practice – 12/4/15
(On why he’s wearing shorts today)
“Yeah, why not? Wear them when you can.”
(On if he saw the ending of the Packers vs. Lions game last night)
“I did, yeah. Wow.”
(On if he’s ever seen an ending like that)
“Well, there’s been a few of those. That’s every head coach and defensive coordinator’s nightmare is the last throw to the shot to the end zone. It’s happened before. It was a great effort by Green Bay. Obviously, disappointed for a lot of reasons for Detroit because they played really well, but yeah, it was a great effort. That was a tremendous throw.”
(On if he’s expecting the same game plan from Arizona)
“I mean, they know us and we know them. We kind of know what to expect. It’s a matter of just execution now. From our standpoint, it’s a matter of figuring out a way to minimize the big plays in the run game. Then, just make them drive the football. Again, when you’re playing an offense like this, I mean, field goals are wins. We’ve said that before. Field goals are wins for your defense. We have to get off the field on occasion on third down. We keep (QB) Carson (Palmer) on their sideline, then we have a chance.”
(On how much the team misses having DE Robert Quinn)
“We miss him, but (DE) Eugene’s (Sims) playing well out there and the other guys are rushing hard. He’s a difference maker. He’s one of those guys that can change the game at any point in the game. So, definitely, we miss him, but as most teams miss their Pro Bowl quality players.”
(On K Greg Zuerlein’s status)
“He didn’t kick today. He’ll probably be a game time decision. Zach (Hocker) kicked well, kicked off well, so we’ll see.”
(On if he has confidence in K Zach Hocker)
“Yes, I do.”
(On if Zuerlein kicked today)
“Greg did not kick today. He did not kick today, yeah.”
(On QB Case Keenum’s status)
“Case was limited practice. No change from yesterday. We’ll see how he is tomorrow and make a decision on whether he’s (No.) two or (No.) three. If he’s (No.) two, he’s been completely cleared and ready to play. If he’s (No.) two, he’s (No.) two because he’s been cleared, one, and two, he hasn’t had sufficient reps to practice during the week. Makes sense.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams – Post Practice – 12/4/15
(On if Arizona’s offense is different from two months ago)
“They’re the same. They’ve got very good personnel. They’re very well-coached. I really like the way (Arizona Head Coach) Bruce (Arians) goes about all of the different places he’s been, all of the different places where we’ve competed against each other. He gets his style of players. He also does a few tweaks to go to their personnel. But basically, he’s got a good system on how he goes about doing things. We’ve had a couple of really big time offenses we’ve had to go against this year and I’m looking forward to our opportunity again this year. Our guys understand the personnel because it’s within our division. They understand that aspect of it. So now, it’s going out and understanding leverage, understanding space, what they’re trying to do, where they’re trying to create their opportunity to move the ball. Can our guys defend it? We’ll see.”
(On how much they miss having DE Robert Quinn)
“Robert is a great guy. I love him just around for his intensity and his big-play ability. Like I did say before, one of the things I’ve always taken great pride in and we’ve always taken great pride in is next man up. And we’ve had some guys really shine. Last year, (DE) Will Hayes just did a phenomenal job shining when (DE) Chris (Long) was down. Look at (S) Mark Barron right now shining with ‘Tree’ (LB Alec Ogletree) down. Look at (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) coming back and having his season with (CB) E.J. (Gaines) down. We’ve had a lot of those kinds of situations. I think the best group of defenders, maybe the best coaching staffs have always taken great pride in being able to adapt to what we have to do with who we have to coach. These guys are fun. They’ve taken ownership with it. They understand why we do what we do. And we do make minor week-to-week, series-to-series, we make changes on who has to play for who because of what they can do strong-wise. Really, not hiding weaknesses much as highlighting strengths that guys can use.”
(On the importance of stopping Arizona in the red zone)
“They’ve done a great job, no matter who it’s been against all year long, with their big playmakers, they’ve moved the football. We did a really good job down there. But, you know, knowing Bruce and how they go about doing things, they’ve probably spent a lot of time in practice this week down there. Coaches always make adjustments that way. We spend an inordinate amount of time in the red zone also throughout the course of the week. Learned that a long time ago. We’ve got to take the ball away. Got to play stout against the run, but you’ve got to do a great job in the red zone, got to do a great job on third down. Looking forward to another opportunity because they have a lot of weapons and they do a lot of different concepts down there and our guys need to be able to recognize that. And they’ve had a good week right now.”
(On Arizona RB David Johnson)
“He played well and got all of our attention the last time we played them. And I really didn’t know a whole lot about him. I’ve read all the things, saw on film, but until you’re actually on the field with him and get a feel from being on the field, being live right there. Our guys have a lot of respect for him. He’s very powerful. He’s got some shiftiness to him when he needs to. But, he’s a very good receiver in the passing game too. Not only does he do everything they want in the running game, but when you put the ball in his hands, he’s made some big plays in the passing game. I don’t think they’re going to miss a beat. I think they’ll do fine.”
(On what makes Arizona QB Carson Palmer so good)
“I don’t think you can ever discount the fact when you have an instinctive, veteran quarterback that has seen so many things that he has seen through all of his practices, through all of the games he’s played. There’s a very minimal amount of disguises that we can present to him. He sorts through things so fast, he’s still going to go ahead and win, even if we have an advantage in the defense, his accuracy is outstanding. I’ve been very impressed with how accurate of a thrower he is. And again, what we have to do as a defense is make him uncomfortable in the pocket. When quarterbacks are uncomfortable in the throwing pocket, they are not quite as accurate that way. He’s done a very good job of moving around, buying extra time. If he has a concept in mind that he wants to do – boom - he goes ahead and does it. He’s done a very good job on being consistent. A quarterback is a good leader by example first, voice second. And you can see the example that he’s set throughout his whole career. I’ve had a lot of respect for him. A lot of different places that we’ve played against him. A lot of different games that we’ve played in against each other. I think he’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play.”
(On if the defense has reached a point where it’s wearing down)
“We don’t ever, ever think that. We really don’t. It doesn’t make a difference if we’ve got to play 150 snaps, if we’ve got to play 35 snaps. That doesn’t make any difference. One of the things we take great pride in as you see when we play in sudden-change situations. If there’s an adverse situation we have to go into, an extra situation we have to go into, look at the guys rally. Look at the guys rally on the sideline and how they take the field. All of that is mental toughness. When we’re mentally strong, we understand that our job is playing no matter what the situation is, no matter how many snaps we have to play. We have to keep on doing that. So, we’ll never use that for an excuse at all. No, we’ve got to play.”
(On why he’s wearing shorts today)
“Yeah, why not? Wear them when you can.”
(On if he saw the ending of the Packers vs. Lions game last night)
“I did, yeah. Wow.”
(On if he’s ever seen an ending like that)
“Well, there’s been a few of those. That’s every head coach and defensive coordinator’s nightmare is the last throw to the shot to the end zone. It’s happened before. It was a great effort by Green Bay. Obviously, disappointed for a lot of reasons for Detroit because they played really well, but yeah, it was a great effort. That was a tremendous throw.”
(On if he’s expecting the same game plan from Arizona)
“I mean, they know us and we know them. We kind of know what to expect. It’s a matter of just execution now. From our standpoint, it’s a matter of figuring out a way to minimize the big plays in the run game. Then, just make them drive the football. Again, when you’re playing an offense like this, I mean, field goals are wins. We’ve said that before. Field goals are wins for your defense. We have to get off the field on occasion on third down. We keep (QB) Carson (Palmer) on their sideline, then we have a chance.”
(On how much the team misses having DE Robert Quinn)
“We miss him, but (DE) Eugene’s (Sims) playing well out there and the other guys are rushing hard. He’s a difference maker. He’s one of those guys that can change the game at any point in the game. So, definitely, we miss him, but as most teams miss their Pro Bowl quality players.”
(On K Greg Zuerlein’s status)
“He didn’t kick today. He’ll probably be a game time decision. Zach (Hocker) kicked well, kicked off well, so we’ll see.”
(On if he has confidence in K Zach Hocker)
“Yes, I do.”
(On if Zuerlein kicked today)
“Greg did not kick today. He did not kick today, yeah.”
(On QB Case Keenum’s status)
“Case was limited practice. No change from yesterday. We’ll see how he is tomorrow and make a decision on whether he’s (No.) two or (No.) three. If he’s (No.) two, he’s been completely cleared and ready to play. If he’s (No.) two, he’s (No.) two because he’s been cleared, one, and two, he hasn’t had sufficient reps to practice during the week. Makes sense.”
Rams Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams – Post Practice – 12/4/15
(On if Arizona’s offense is different from two months ago)
“They’re the same. They’ve got very good personnel. They’re very well-coached. I really like the way (Arizona Head Coach) Bruce (Arians) goes about all of the different places he’s been, all of the different places where we’ve competed against each other. He gets his style of players. He also does a few tweaks to go to their personnel. But basically, he’s got a good system on how he goes about doing things. We’ve had a couple of really big time offenses we’ve had to go against this year and I’m looking forward to our opportunity again this year. Our guys understand the personnel because it’s within our division. They understand that aspect of it. So now, it’s going out and understanding leverage, understanding space, what they’re trying to do, where they’re trying to create their opportunity to move the ball. Can our guys defend it? We’ll see.”
(On how much they miss having DE Robert Quinn)
“Robert is a great guy. I love him just around for his intensity and his big-play ability. Like I did say before, one of the things I’ve always taken great pride in and we’ve always taken great pride in is next man up. And we’ve had some guys really shine. Last year, (DE) Will Hayes just did a phenomenal job shining when (DE) Chris (Long) was down. Look at (S) Mark Barron right now shining with ‘Tree’ (LB Alec Ogletree) down. Look at (CB) Trumaine (Johnson) coming back and having his season with (CB) E.J. (Gaines) down. We’ve had a lot of those kinds of situations. I think the best group of defenders, maybe the best coaching staffs have always taken great pride in being able to adapt to what we have to do with who we have to coach. These guys are fun. They’ve taken ownership with it. They understand why we do what we do. And we do make minor week-to-week, series-to-series, we make changes on who has to play for who because of what they can do strong-wise. Really, not hiding weaknesses much as highlighting strengths that guys can use.”
(On the importance of stopping Arizona in the red zone)
“They’ve done a great job, no matter who it’s been against all year long, with their big playmakers, they’ve moved the football. We did a really good job down there. But, you know, knowing Bruce and how they go about doing things, they’ve probably spent a lot of time in practice this week down there. Coaches always make adjustments that way. We spend an inordinate amount of time in the red zone also throughout the course of the week. Learned that a long time ago. We’ve got to take the ball away. Got to play stout against the run, but you’ve got to do a great job in the red zone, got to do a great job on third down. Looking forward to another opportunity because they have a lot of weapons and they do a lot of different concepts down there and our guys need to be able to recognize that. And they’ve had a good week right now.”
(On Arizona RB David Johnson)
“He played well and got all of our attention the last time we played them. And I really didn’t know a whole lot about him. I’ve read all the things, saw on film, but until you’re actually on the field with him and get a feel from being on the field, being live right there. Our guys have a lot of respect for him. He’s very powerful. He’s got some shiftiness to him when he needs to. But, he’s a very good receiver in the passing game too. Not only does he do everything they want in the running game, but when you put the ball in his hands, he’s made some big plays in the passing game. I don’t think they’re going to miss a beat. I think they’ll do fine.”
(On what makes Arizona QB Carson Palmer so good)
“I don’t think you can ever discount the fact when you have an instinctive, veteran quarterback that has seen so many things that he has seen through all of his practices, through all of the games he’s played. There’s a very minimal amount of disguises that we can present to him. He sorts through things so fast, he’s still going to go ahead and win, even if we have an advantage in the defense, his accuracy is outstanding. I’ve been very impressed with how accurate of a thrower he is. And again, what we have to do as a defense is make him uncomfortable in the pocket. When quarterbacks are uncomfortable in the throwing pocket, they are not quite as accurate that way. He’s done a very good job of moving around, buying extra time. If he has a concept in mind that he wants to do – boom - he goes ahead and does it. He’s done a very good job on being consistent. A quarterback is a good leader by example first, voice second. And you can see the example that he’s set throughout his whole career. I’ve had a lot of respect for him. A lot of different places that we’ve played against him. A lot of different games that we’ve played in against each other. I think he’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play.”
(On if the defense has reached a point where it’s wearing down)
“We don’t ever, ever think that. We really don’t. It doesn’t make a difference if we’ve got to play 150 snaps, if we’ve got to play 35 snaps. That doesn’t make any difference. One of the things we take great pride in as you see when we play in sudden-change situations. If there’s an adverse situation we have to go into, an extra situation we have to go into, look at the guys rally. Look at the guys rally on the sideline and how they take the field. All of that is mental toughness. When we’re mentally strong, we understand that our job is playing no matter what the situation is, no matter how many snaps we have to play. We have to keep on doing that. So, we’ll never use that for an excuse at all. No, we’ve got to play.”
