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Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher- Press Conference- 8-24-15
(Opening Statement)
“We just finished a staff meeting and we spent about a part of the day going through the tape. As you would expect, there were some good things and they’re some things that need to improve. That’s usually the case in preseason games. Bottom line is this - we need to have a great week of practice and we need to play well. We’re all looking forward to finally playing here at home. I know the players are and we’ll have some normalcy to our week. You know, we have some guys that are healing up. (OL) Cody Wichmann has been taken off of PUP and he’ll be allowed to practice tomorrow. (RB) Todd Gurley has been cleared for practice, so that’s good news. Now we’re going to progress him slowly, but he’ll be able to participate in the 7-on-7 and the team drills. Up to this point, he’s just been participating in the 1-on-1’s. So we’ll take it slow, but it’s going to be fun to get him on the practice field. So we have a couple of guys that we held out. A couple of guys…you know, (G) Rodger (Saffold) and (DT) Michael (Brockers). They have a chance this week, we’ll just see. As I mentioned after the ball game last night, we did not have a player in the training room, which is a good thing in a preseason game.”
(On the last time he didn’t have a player in the training room after a preseason or any game)
“You usually have something. There’s usually an MRI or there’s an X-Ray or, 'we’ll check him out tomorrow,' but Week 2 of the preseason I think is significantly different than last year’s Week 2. It’s good news.”
(On if he plans to play RB Todd Gurley in the preseason)
“No. No, we don’t have the intention of doing that. We’re just going to slowly increase his reps and see how he progresses. He may need a day off here and there, but it’s good news. Dr. (James) Andrews was really pleased with his progress, so he’s cutting him loose. He’ll be with a brace. He’ll have to continue to wear the brace.”
(On if Gurley went back to Dr. Andrews for a check-up)
“No, he didn’t see Dr. Andrews. We have a testing protocol that we do here that we forwarded to him. He was pleased with the results.”
(On if he anticipates Gurley playing on opening day)
“Don’t know. Don’t know. We’re going to bring him along slow.”
(On how Gurley feels about participating in team drills)
“He’s excited. He’s really excited. He had a blast in the warm-ups last night. Then his fun stopped when the game started because he wanted to play, but he understands the situation that he’s in.”
(On if he feels WR Brian Quick is ready to play)
“I think he’s got a chance to play this week, yeah. We’re taking his yellow hat off of him. I’m going to take the yellow hat off of Brian and put it on Todd. The yellow hat says don’t hit me on the practice field.”
(On what the yellow hat symbolizes)
“The yellow hat tells the defense, ‘Don’t hit me.’ I may have a ceremony tomorrow and let Brian graduate and pass it over to Todd. The yellow hat is like a red jersey.”
(On what he saw the starters do well the first half of Sunday’s game)
“Oh, we played physical on defense. Now we had some gap misfits and things like that and we had a coverage breakdown. We saw some formations that we hadn’t seen yet. (CB) Tru (Johnson) got caught up in a play action, gave (QB) Marcus (Mariota) a chance to connect with the tight end down the field and things like that. We had some really good tackles. We had some good pressure on the passer. On special teams I thought we protected well. We covered well. Some young guys are showing up. (WR) Bradley Marquez was showing he’s got some skills to play in this league on teams. Then the second half, we exploded. We had 226 yards or something like that. We had some big plays. Great throw. Great throw and catch, with (QB) Case (Keenum) to (WR) Chris (Givens) and some other big plays. (RB) Malcolm’s (Brown) run was…caught him a little off guard. I think they thought he was out of bounds, but certainly replay showed otherwise. It’s nice to have some explosive plays. Then with (RB) Trey (Watt) averaged about eight yards a carry.”
(On if it’s bittersweet to have RB Trey Watts out for the first four games with how well he’s producing)
“He’s going to continue to run the ball in the next two games. To answer your question, we’re all disappointed. We addressed that. We’re disappointed, so we’ll see where that goes.”
(On what he’s seen from DL Ethan Westbrooks)
“He’s played every position thus far in the preseason and that would also include against the Cowboys. So he’s playing left and right end and both tackles. He’s playing all positions well. I’d like for him to go when the brown thing moves rather than beforehand, because he’s been offsides three times I think already this preseason. He needs to slow down. Other than that, he’s explosive, he’s playing the run very well, and he’s shown he can rush the passer.”
(On how DT Nick Fairley is progressing)
“Good, good. He’s getting his weight back and he made some plays yesterday.”
(On what type of camp WR Chris Givens is having)
“Really good camp. Had a good offseason, had good OTAs, very patient. He’s actually playing an expanded role on special teams for us right now, which is good. You saw what he can do. He can do it. Against Dallas he had a number of catches and then he had a number of intermediate, kind of short route, good possession-like catches against the Raiders.”
(On Givens’ resilience)
“Well, he’s one of a number of guys, particularly, not just in his class, but some other guys that stayed here this offseason. They stayed here, they lived here, they worked here and it pays off. Those rookies, you can tell them, ‘Hey you need to be here,’ but it was a long hard road their rookie season and they take off. He stayed here and he took advantage of it. He took advantage of the weight room. He took advantage of his training and then really focused in on the offensive change.”
(On if anyone has grabbed ahold of the center spot)
“It’s going to be a really good race. (C) ‘Timmy’ (Tim Barnes) didn’t play because he had a sore lower leg, so he’ll get a chance to play this week. I think (C) Barrett (Jones) is coming on, just with the play time, because Barrett hasn’t played much in games. And then (C) Demetrius (Rhaney) I thought played pretty well last night, so we’ll continue to evaluate the position.”
(On if he’s going to need all four preseason games to decide who the starting center is)
“Yeah, we probably won’t make a decision until the opener or until kickoff.”
(On if C Tim Barnes will start this week)
“He’ll play this week. I don’t know if he’s going to start or not.”
(On further thoughts on the first team offense)
“If you go back a year from now, or two years from now, or three years from now, you guys all asked me the same questions, ‘What’s up with your offense?’ We keep it basic. Our philosophy is to just play and work on fundamentals during the preseason. (QB) Nick (Foles) wants that ball back. He’d love to have that ball back. That wasn’t a good decision by Nick and that’s not the first interception he’s thrown and not the last one he’s going to throw. He’s had a great camp and no concerns whatsoever. Our offense is coming. It’s coming. We saw a lot of good things out of our offense against the Cowboys.”
(On how Foles reacted to the interception)
“Same way he acted when he got hit in the mouth: he would come up and throw a rope for a first down, either the next series or the very next play. That’s how he is. He’s unique in that he has a very short memory and that’s good.”
(On if there is a bit of road weariness after being on the road for 10 days)
“I think it’s a contributing factor. That’s why I said it’s great to be back home to get some normalcy to our week.”
(Opening Statement)
“We just finished a staff meeting and we spent about a part of the day going through the tape. As you would expect, there were some good things and they’re some things that need to improve. That’s usually the case in preseason games. Bottom line is this - we need to have a great week of practice and we need to play well. We’re all looking forward to finally playing here at home. I know the players are and we’ll have some normalcy to our week. You know, we have some guys that are healing up. (OL) Cody Wichmann has been taken off of PUP and he’ll be allowed to practice tomorrow. (RB) Todd Gurley has been cleared for practice, so that’s good news. Now we’re going to progress him slowly, but he’ll be able to participate in the 7-on-7 and the team drills. Up to this point, he’s just been participating in the 1-on-1’s. So we’ll take it slow, but it’s going to be fun to get him on the practice field. So we have a couple of guys that we held out. A couple of guys…you know, (G) Rodger (Saffold) and (DT) Michael (Brockers). They have a chance this week, we’ll just see. As I mentioned after the ball game last night, we did not have a player in the training room, which is a good thing in a preseason game.”
(On the last time he didn’t have a player in the training room after a preseason or any game)
“You usually have something. There’s usually an MRI or there’s an X-Ray or, 'we’ll check him out tomorrow,' but Week 2 of the preseason I think is significantly different than last year’s Week 2. It’s good news.”
(On if he plans to play RB Todd Gurley in the preseason)
“No. No, we don’t have the intention of doing that. We’re just going to slowly increase his reps and see how he progresses. He may need a day off here and there, but it’s good news. Dr. (James) Andrews was really pleased with his progress, so he’s cutting him loose. He’ll be with a brace. He’ll have to continue to wear the brace.”
(On if Gurley went back to Dr. Andrews for a check-up)
“No, he didn’t see Dr. Andrews. We have a testing protocol that we do here that we forwarded to him. He was pleased with the results.”
(On if he anticipates Gurley playing on opening day)
“Don’t know. Don’t know. We’re going to bring him along slow.”
(On how Gurley feels about participating in team drills)
“He’s excited. He’s really excited. He had a blast in the warm-ups last night. Then his fun stopped when the game started because he wanted to play, but he understands the situation that he’s in.”
(On if he feels WR Brian Quick is ready to play)
“I think he’s got a chance to play this week, yeah. We’re taking his yellow hat off of him. I’m going to take the yellow hat off of Brian and put it on Todd. The yellow hat says don’t hit me on the practice field.”
(On what the yellow hat symbolizes)
“The yellow hat tells the defense, ‘Don’t hit me.’ I may have a ceremony tomorrow and let Brian graduate and pass it over to Todd. The yellow hat is like a red jersey.”
(On what he saw the starters do well the first half of Sunday’s game)
“Oh, we played physical on defense. Now we had some gap misfits and things like that and we had a coverage breakdown. We saw some formations that we hadn’t seen yet. (CB) Tru (Johnson) got caught up in a play action, gave (QB) Marcus (Mariota) a chance to connect with the tight end down the field and things like that. We had some really good tackles. We had some good pressure on the passer. On special teams I thought we protected well. We covered well. Some young guys are showing up. (WR) Bradley Marquez was showing he’s got some skills to play in this league on teams. Then the second half, we exploded. We had 226 yards or something like that. We had some big plays. Great throw. Great throw and catch, with (QB) Case (Keenum) to (WR) Chris (Givens) and some other big plays. (RB) Malcolm’s (Brown) run was…caught him a little off guard. I think they thought he was out of bounds, but certainly replay showed otherwise. It’s nice to have some explosive plays. Then with (RB) Trey (Watt) averaged about eight yards a carry.”
(On if it’s bittersweet to have RB Trey Watts out for the first four games with how well he’s producing)
“He’s going to continue to run the ball in the next two games. To answer your question, we’re all disappointed. We addressed that. We’re disappointed, so we’ll see where that goes.”
(On what he’s seen from DL Ethan Westbrooks)
“He’s played every position thus far in the preseason and that would also include against the Cowboys. So he’s playing left and right end and both tackles. He’s playing all positions well. I’d like for him to go when the brown thing moves rather than beforehand, because he’s been offsides three times I think already this preseason. He needs to slow down. Other than that, he’s explosive, he’s playing the run very well, and he’s shown he can rush the passer.”
(On how DT Nick Fairley is progressing)
“Good, good. He’s getting his weight back and he made some plays yesterday.”
(On what type of camp WR Chris Givens is having)
“Really good camp. Had a good offseason, had good OTAs, very patient. He’s actually playing an expanded role on special teams for us right now, which is good. You saw what he can do. He can do it. Against Dallas he had a number of catches and then he had a number of intermediate, kind of short route, good possession-like catches against the Raiders.”
(On Givens’ resilience)
“Well, he’s one of a number of guys, particularly, not just in his class, but some other guys that stayed here this offseason. They stayed here, they lived here, they worked here and it pays off. Those rookies, you can tell them, ‘Hey you need to be here,’ but it was a long hard road their rookie season and they take off. He stayed here and he took advantage of it. He took advantage of the weight room. He took advantage of his training and then really focused in on the offensive change.”
(On if anyone has grabbed ahold of the center spot)
“It’s going to be a really good race. (C) ‘Timmy’ (Tim Barnes) didn’t play because he had a sore lower leg, so he’ll get a chance to play this week. I think (C) Barrett (Jones) is coming on, just with the play time, because Barrett hasn’t played much in games. And then (C) Demetrius (Rhaney) I thought played pretty well last night, so we’ll continue to evaluate the position.”
(On if he’s going to need all four preseason games to decide who the starting center is)
“Yeah, we probably won’t make a decision until the opener or until kickoff.”
(On if C Tim Barnes will start this week)
“He’ll play this week. I don’t know if he’s going to start or not.”
(On further thoughts on the first team offense)
“If you go back a year from now, or two years from now, or three years from now, you guys all asked me the same questions, ‘What’s up with your offense?’ We keep it basic. Our philosophy is to just play and work on fundamentals during the preseason. (QB) Nick (Foles) wants that ball back. He’d love to have that ball back. That wasn’t a good decision by Nick and that’s not the first interception he’s thrown and not the last one he’s going to throw. He’s had a great camp and no concerns whatsoever. Our offense is coming. It’s coming. We saw a lot of good things out of our offense against the Cowboys.”
(On how Foles reacted to the interception)
“Same way he acted when he got hit in the mouth: he would come up and throw a rope for a first down, either the next series or the very next play. That’s how he is. He’s unique in that he has a very short memory and that’s good.”
(On if there is a bit of road weariness after being on the road for 10 days)
“I think it’s a contributing factor. That’s why I said it’s great to be back home to get some normalcy to our week.”