Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – December 5, 2016
| December 05, 2016 04:40PM |
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Press Conference – December 5, 2016
(Opening Remarks)
“We’ve taken a close look at it, after a long flight back. The issues, with respect to this game, were offensive issues – we’re struggling. We’ve got to get better there. You can’t do what we did in this game against a quarterback like (Patriots Q
Tom (Brady). For example we were just one-of-12 on third down and that just doesn’t get it done. We had three third down drops that would have probably ended up being conversions. But because of inefficiency on third down, he keeps the ball for thirty-six minutes. Our goal defensively was to make them kick field goals, we made them kick four. We gave up the first drive which was disappointing, but they’re going to score points. Four penalties in the third quarter, six drops, three on third down, and then you get behind and you have got to throw it – you basically take (R Todd (Gurley) out of the running game. We anticipated a lot of stunting, a lot of eight-man front, taking the run game away, and then a lot of pressure on our young quarterback and that’s what we got.
I can’t blame (Q Jared (Goff). I thought Jared did some really good things in this game. I thought he took another step against a difficult defense. I thought he adjusted well – he moved around and made some plays with his legs. Great throw to (WR) Kenny (Britt) at the end, with pressure in his face – recognizing the coverage. Again, our special teams played well. We’re on a record-setting pace with our punt team.
A disappointing loss, but we’ve moved on. I thought the guys handled things well this afternoon in the meetings – looking forward to another challenge defensively as far as quarterbacks are concerned and an Atlanta Falcon offense that is very, very explosive. We got some work to do. We’re happy to be back. Three of our next four games are at home and we don’t have to leave Pacific Standard Time anymore this year. Our guys are committed – they’re going to play hard and we’re looking forward to the practice week.”
(On what he’s likes about QB Jared Goff, and where he needs to improve)
“Each week he’s getting better. It certainly hasn’t reflected in the wins. But each week he’s getting better, from a preparation standpoint, seeing little subtle things that we ask of him on the line of scrimmage – changing protections, getting people lined up, those things. He got hit way too many times yesterday. Sacked four times, hit way too many times, but bounced right back. Moved around – his mobility is starting to show. You’re seeing him extend plays and run around. He got on the edge at the end of the game with the touchdown pass, and made a really good throw on the run.”
(On the reaction he received regarding his contract extension)
“The players were, by and large, really, really excited. But, I think a lot of players knew that this had been done previously. So, it didn’t appear to be a big deal. I spoke candidly about it yesterday. I don’t think I need to go into it again. We’re moving on.”
(On if he received any congratulatory texts from former players or coaches)
“Yes, yes I did. I’ll name one, and that’s (former Rams Head Coach) Dick Vermeil. I got a great text from Dick. He absolutely loves (Rams Owner/Chairman) Stan (Kroenke), and he said congratulations.”
(On where the team goes from here, from an offensive standpoint)
“We go back in the room. We game plan, and we try to put ourselves in the best position to make plays, and that’s what we do. We understand the need to get ball in Todd’s hands. We understand the need to run the football. I can give you an example, in the last four games, we’re rushing for just right about 85 yards a game, and 3.5 (yards) a carry, that’s our offense, Todd has less. Defensively, we’re giving up about 144 yards rushing. Those things have to flip as we move forward. We want to see those things just completely reverse themselves just to give Jared a chance. Their defense is committed to not allowing Todd to get going, and we got to find a way to get Todd going, and then find a way to be more productive on third down, because our defense has been on the field way, way too long here in the last few weeks.”
(On what he saw from LT Greg Robinson a week after being benched)
“He was – I wouldn’t say benched – he just took a timeout. But, he was fine. He was productive, he battled. He got beat on an inside move by (Patriots DE) Chris (Long). Obviously, Chris knows him. He got beat there, but he battled. Overall offensively, our entire offensive line has to play better. That’s been a problem for us here the last couple of weeks. We got to play better. We got to minimize the mistakes. We got to finish blocks. We got to be more in sync. So, those are some of the things we talked about as a staff to get them going. We’ve had some changes. By my choice, Greg, and then (G Rodger) Saffold, then Rodger got hurt, and then (T) Andrew (Donnal) goes in, and then (G) Jamon (Brown) comes back. So, we need to settle in to a group and finish strong with that position.”
(On if it is tough, personally, being one loss away from the NFL record)
“No, I actually don’t look at that. I’ve had a few wins in my career, as well. I’ve also been able to be very, very fortunate and have a long career. You can look at it as is the glass half full or half empty – I look at it as half full. I’m just honored that I still have an opportunity to coach in this league.”
(On where the state of the franchise is at right now)
“Each and every game is different. Coaches, we don’t like making excuses, we just move on from week to week to week. We didn’t have (DE) Rob Quinn yesterday, we didn’t have (WR) Tavon Austin, we didn’t have (OL) Rodger Saffold yesterday and we played the New England Patriots. If you’re going to have a chance to beat them, you need to go in there with all hands on deck. We’re building this team, we’ve extended players, we’re building this team for the future, we’ve made a commitment to our young quarterback and he’s playing now. In my opinion, I think there’s a lot of things to be excited about.”
(On if there is a long way to go with the team)
“I fully expect us to finish strong. We’re going to play hard, we’re going to compete. We have challenges, from a defensive standpoint, with respect to the quarterbacks that we’re playing. But I fully expect us to finish strong. This team is very, very close, it’s very close. We need some more offensive production, we hope in the very near future that’s going to be satisfied by Jared. Obviously there’s needs, we have to address some needs – we need some speed outside at receiver and those kind of things – but I think we have a group that’s capable of competing. We’ve been successful in the division, that’s where it starts. We’ve got three division games left and we’ll be able to have a better gauge when it’s all said and done.”
(On if he feels the team is capable of winning the final four games this season)
“Yeah, I’m not going to stand up here and say no. Yeah, we do, I feel good about it. We get guys back in the lineup, Jared keeps progressing, we make appropriate adjustments offensively and score some points. I think our defense can bounce back. Every once in a while, you’re going to have an issue – we had an issue at New Orleans last week, but I thought they bounced back and they’re ready to play. There’s a lot of pride in that locker room right now.”
(On the outlook for DE Robert Quinn, WR Tavon Austin and CB E.J. Gaines)
“Rob looks good, we’ll know at the end of the week. Tavon, probably the end of the week and then E.J. left with a quad strain, and he still has a chance to get on the field.”
(On OL Rodger Saffold’s injury outlook)
“Looks good. All four of them look good by the end of the week.”
(On his sense of the locker room and if there is any confidence wavering)
“No. They go into each game expecting to have a chance to win with a great deal of energy. Look at the last play – Jared, his touchdown pass to Kenny (Britt), the whole offensive line met Kenny in the back of the end zone. They’re excited. They understand how important it is to keep wins and losses in perspective, they know the direction we’re heading. They practice real hard – if you’re here every day, you see them. There’s a lot of enthusiasm in the building.”
(Opening Remarks)
“We’ve taken a close look at it, after a long flight back. The issues, with respect to this game, were offensive issues – we’re struggling. We’ve got to get better there. You can’t do what we did in this game against a quarterback like (Patriots Q
Tom (Brady). For example we were just one-of-12 on third down and that just doesn’t get it done. We had three third down drops that would have probably ended up being conversions. But because of inefficiency on third down, he keeps the ball for thirty-six minutes. Our goal defensively was to make them kick field goals, we made them kick four. We gave up the first drive which was disappointing, but they’re going to score points. Four penalties in the third quarter, six drops, three on third down, and then you get behind and you have got to throw it – you basically take (R Todd (Gurley) out of the running game. We anticipated a lot of stunting, a lot of eight-man front, taking the run game away, and then a lot of pressure on our young quarterback and that’s what we got.I can’t blame (Q
Jared (Goff). I thought Jared did some really good things in this game. I thought he took another step against a difficult defense. I thought he adjusted well – he moved around and made some plays with his legs. Great throw to (WR) Kenny (Britt) at the end, with pressure in his face – recognizing the coverage. Again, our special teams played well. We’re on a record-setting pace with our punt team.A disappointing loss, but we’ve moved on. I thought the guys handled things well this afternoon in the meetings – looking forward to another challenge defensively as far as quarterbacks are concerned and an Atlanta Falcon offense that is very, very explosive. We got some work to do. We’re happy to be back. Three of our next four games are at home and we don’t have to leave Pacific Standard Time anymore this year. Our guys are committed – they’re going to play hard and we’re looking forward to the practice week.”
(On what he’s likes about QB Jared Goff, and where he needs to improve)
“Each week he’s getting better. It certainly hasn’t reflected in the wins. But each week he’s getting better, from a preparation standpoint, seeing little subtle things that we ask of him on the line of scrimmage – changing protections, getting people lined up, those things. He got hit way too many times yesterday. Sacked four times, hit way too many times, but bounced right back. Moved around – his mobility is starting to show. You’re seeing him extend plays and run around. He got on the edge at the end of the game with the touchdown pass, and made a really good throw on the run.”
(On the reaction he received regarding his contract extension)
“The players were, by and large, really, really excited. But, I think a lot of players knew that this had been done previously. So, it didn’t appear to be a big deal. I spoke candidly about it yesterday. I don’t think I need to go into it again. We’re moving on.”
(On if he received any congratulatory texts from former players or coaches)
“Yes, yes I did. I’ll name one, and that’s (former Rams Head Coach) Dick Vermeil. I got a great text from Dick. He absolutely loves (Rams Owner/Chairman) Stan (Kroenke), and he said congratulations.”
(On where the team goes from here, from an offensive standpoint)
“We go back in the room. We game plan, and we try to put ourselves in the best position to make plays, and that’s what we do. We understand the need to get ball in Todd’s hands. We understand the need to run the football. I can give you an example, in the last four games, we’re rushing for just right about 85 yards a game, and 3.5 (yards) a carry, that’s our offense, Todd has less. Defensively, we’re giving up about 144 yards rushing. Those things have to flip as we move forward. We want to see those things just completely reverse themselves just to give Jared a chance. Their defense is committed to not allowing Todd to get going, and we got to find a way to get Todd going, and then find a way to be more productive on third down, because our defense has been on the field way, way too long here in the last few weeks.”
(On what he saw from LT Greg Robinson a week after being benched)
“He was – I wouldn’t say benched – he just took a timeout. But, he was fine. He was productive, he battled. He got beat on an inside move by (Patriots DE) Chris (Long). Obviously, Chris knows him. He got beat there, but he battled. Overall offensively, our entire offensive line has to play better. That’s been a problem for us here the last couple of weeks. We got to play better. We got to minimize the mistakes. We got to finish blocks. We got to be more in sync. So, those are some of the things we talked about as a staff to get them going. We’ve had some changes. By my choice, Greg, and then (G Rodger) Saffold, then Rodger got hurt, and then (T) Andrew (Donnal) goes in, and then (G) Jamon (Brown) comes back. So, we need to settle in to a group and finish strong with that position.”
(On if it is tough, personally, being one loss away from the NFL record)
“No, I actually don’t look at that. I’ve had a few wins in my career, as well. I’ve also been able to be very, very fortunate and have a long career. You can look at it as is the glass half full or half empty – I look at it as half full. I’m just honored that I still have an opportunity to coach in this league.”
(On where the state of the franchise is at right now)
“Each and every game is different. Coaches, we don’t like making excuses, we just move on from week to week to week. We didn’t have (DE) Rob Quinn yesterday, we didn’t have (WR) Tavon Austin, we didn’t have (OL) Rodger Saffold yesterday and we played the New England Patriots. If you’re going to have a chance to beat them, you need to go in there with all hands on deck. We’re building this team, we’ve extended players, we’re building this team for the future, we’ve made a commitment to our young quarterback and he’s playing now. In my opinion, I think there’s a lot of things to be excited about.”
(On if there is a long way to go with the team)
“I fully expect us to finish strong. We’re going to play hard, we’re going to compete. We have challenges, from a defensive standpoint, with respect to the quarterbacks that we’re playing. But I fully expect us to finish strong. This team is very, very close, it’s very close. We need some more offensive production, we hope in the very near future that’s going to be satisfied by Jared. Obviously there’s needs, we have to address some needs – we need some speed outside at receiver and those kind of things – but I think we have a group that’s capable of competing. We’ve been successful in the division, that’s where it starts. We’ve got three division games left and we’ll be able to have a better gauge when it’s all said and done.”
(On if he feels the team is capable of winning the final four games this season)
“Yeah, I’m not going to stand up here and say no. Yeah, we do, I feel good about it. We get guys back in the lineup, Jared keeps progressing, we make appropriate adjustments offensively and score some points. I think our defense can bounce back. Every once in a while, you’re going to have an issue – we had an issue at New Orleans last week, but I thought they bounced back and they’re ready to play. There’s a lot of pride in that locker room right now.”
(On the outlook for DE Robert Quinn, WR Tavon Austin and CB E.J. Gaines)
“Rob looks good, we’ll know at the end of the week. Tavon, probably the end of the week and then E.J. left with a quad strain, and he still has a chance to get on the field.”
(On OL Rodger Saffold’s injury outlook)
“Looks good. All four of them look good by the end of the week.”
(On his sense of the locker room and if there is any confidence wavering)
“No. They go into each game expecting to have a chance to win with a great deal of energy. Look at the last play – Jared, his touchdown pass to Kenny (Britt), the whole offensive line met Kenny in the back of the end zone. They’re excited. They understand how important it is to keep wins and losses in perspective, they know the direction we’re heading. They practice real hard – if you’re here every day, you see them. There’s a lot of enthusiasm in the building.”
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 | Blue and Gold | 429 | December 05, 2016 04:40PM |
