Post-Game Quotes, Redskins-Cowboys

[TK]

http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12193

Post-Game Quotes, Redskins-Cowboys

11/03/2003

HEAD COACH STEVE SPURRIER

Opening Statement:

“Right now, we’re struggling a bit. Offensively, we just couldn’t stay on the field enough to let our defense rest. Our defense was out there most of the game. Dallas played well. We had a chance to get back in it with about 2:30 left. Usually you say kick it down there and hold them, we had a couple time outs left, but it was a bad call on my part."

On the Cowboys' numerous blitzes:

“We’re struggling on offense. We’re trying not to get Patrick hit, we called a bunch of max protections. I guess we got confused or they brought a guy from a different area and we weren’t smart enough to pick it up. We all accept responsibility if we can’t find out where they’re coming from. That’s the way it happened. Dallas completely outplayed us. We hung in there and had a chance."

On the number of hits Ramsey is taking:

Patrick got hit a few times. We wish he didn’t, but that’s where we are. There were a lot of guys back there and most of the time he’d see that. He’d try to throw it pretty quick. But somebody’s got to block somebody."

On the players' effort:

"A lot of guys played with a lot of effort. I think some of the inside linemen played very well, but we expected them to blitz and we certainly didn’t handle it very well until we got the ball right at the end of the game to Taylor Jacobs against the blitz. But we were hoping to get into the shotgun and catch it and throw it. It seemed like we couldn’t even communicate our route downfield. We thought a guy was running straight downfield and he was running a post at times. So we had some communication problems."

On where the team stands:

"Certainly we’re behind the eight ball, but right now we just need to concentrate on playing a lot better, trying to concentrate on blocking, tackling, throwing. We’re struggling right now."

On protecting Patrick Ramsey better:

"We’re trying to give Patrick protection. But sometimes we just have a tough time getting those guys blocked. Give Dallas credit. They brought them where we didn’t think they were coming from."

On whether there’s any hope for making the playoffs:

"We’re not going to toss in the towel. We got a few guys nicked up today. We have to keep playing and keep throwing. We can’t run it all the time, although we ran the ball decently in the first half. We tried to make something happen."

On the team not being able to gain any momentum:

"We thought we had a good solid game plan. We thought we were ready to play well. We had a few turnovers early in the game there. We had Patrick on a flea flicker play there that he got sacked on. That was another maximum protection call that didn’t work out. That happened to us several times."

On where the team goes from here:

“We just need to play one game at a time. I don’t think we should worry about anything except playing better and having a go at Seattle.”

On the defense:

"Obviously we need to find some way to put pressure on their quarterback and cover a little tighter in our zone coverage. We need to do some things differently on defense and on offense."

On Dallas’s blitzing schemes:

“We thought we had them coached up. But they had eight guys up in there—sometimes nine guys around up in there. Occasionally the running back would come off and say ‘My fault, I didn’t check off over there.’ So that’s the way it happened.”

KIM HELTON, OFFENSIVE LINE COACH

On the Dallas pass rush:

"They blitzed us and we hit some plays and we didn’t hit some plays. They did the same thing against Philadelphia; they sacked the QB six times. They didn’t get to be the best defensive team in the NFL because they can’t play. They’re a good rush defense and they’re a good blitz team. Their blitz schemes are good. I thought our guys most of the time actually picked up all of the blitzes that they could pick up."

On the blocking schemes:

“We tried a little bit of everything.”

PATRICK RAMSEY (QB, #11)

On facing Dallas’s intense pass rush and coming back into the game despite injuries:

“That’s my job. If I can go in there and throw the ball, I will. It just took us entirely too long today.”

On whether the team expected the pressure:

“It was definitely in our game plan for those guys to play Cover 0 and blitzes. We just needed to block them and throw down the field."

On whether he expected the team to play better:

“I expected us to perform better than we did. I'm not going to call out any guys, but we could have done better.”

On why the offense is ineffective:

“I can tell you what they’re doing to stop us. They’re blitzing, and we’re not beating it. And until we beat it, they’re going to do it.”

JON JANSEN

On the early turnovers:

“We had some great opportunities. We had the momentum with us so many times and didn’t capitalize on it. Whenever you have that many opportunities and you leave a team in the game like that, bad things are going to happen. And they did.”

On what’s next for the team:

“We’re going to focus on beating whoever we play next. We’ll tackle that one on Monday.”

On the team’s postseason hopes:

“Every loss makes it a little bit harder. Hopefully this week we can patch some holes and fight for a win next week.”

On the team’s effort:

“I think the team responded. I think there were a lot of questions after the Buffalo game, but after we looked at the film, I think those questions were answered in our minds that nobody was loafing around.”

On his frustration level:

“This is frustrating on so many levels. It's about as frustrated I've been in my career. We have so many players we can get the ball to and it’s so frustrating not winning. We just have to watch the film and figure out what will stop the bleeding. If anyone had the answers, we would have made the adjustments to get this thing turned around.”

JESSIE ARMSTEAD (LB, #98)

On whether the Redskins are desperate:

“It’s a desperate situation. People need to realize that we’re 3-5 and there’s no way to flip that or say it differently. We’re 3-5 and we need a win badly.”

On whether the players are soul-searching:

“Just check yourself. You know deep down inside if you’re the one. You know. It might not be pointed out, but you know. We are what we are. But we also know we can get better.”

On Patrick Ramsey’s toughness:

“I take my hat off to the man. I’m a linebacker and I can take that kind of hit. But that’s some brutal stuff going on out there. So I take my hat off to him. We have to have that attitude of keep on punching and keep on fighting.”

ROD GARDNER (WR, #87)

On the offense:

“We didn’t execute on offense that well. I don’t know the reason but we’re going to have to go watch film and figure out what the problem is.”

[LaRou]

Man, they make it sound so easy to win. What gives?