Redskins.com:Quotes From Redskin Park, Nov. 5

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http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12211

Quotes From Redskin Park, Nov. 5

11/05/2003

HEAD COACH STEVE SPURRIER

On the team’s injuries:

“We have a bunch of guys hurt. John Simon, the running back we acquired yesterday, looked pretty good out there today. So we’re going to try and get him ready to play some this week. Trung Canidate is back practicing at that position. With Rock Cartwright, we feel that we have enough players at the running back position. Larry Moore is banged up in the foot, so Lennie Friedman might get his first start. Other than that, we have a few bumps and bruises here and there. But we’re not too bad off.”

On Simon’s role:

“He’ll possibly play on special teams. He and Pat Johnson, with Chad Morton out, will be the return guys right now.”

On Patrick Ramsey’s health:

“He’s pretty good. He threw the ball pretty good today. He was banged up and bruised a little bit. We put some ice on [his finger/forearm]. He’s a quick healer. He’s taking way too many hard hits, we all know that. We’re trying to protect him and find a scheme that will help him.”

On the losing streak:

“We just have to keep coaching. You try to encourage the guys and stay positive, and try to get better. We’re all trying to improve as we go.”

On how he deals with losing:

“It’s no fun on anybody to lose. But we’re where we are. We’re not very good offensively, defensively or special teams. We’re going to try and play better. Every aspect of the team needs to improve.”

On whether he has enough players that fit his system:

“I don’t have the answer for that right now. Certainly we approached the season as if we were going to have a very good offense. It hasn’t turned out that way yet. Hopefully it will later on.”

On the criticism the team is receiving from media right now and whether it bothers him:

“No, that’s expected. When it goes bad, I’m probably an easy target. I don’t listen to them. I don’t read many newspapers. Hopefully it’s not affecting us. That’s about all I can say.”

On Patrick Ramsey’s development:

“He’s still learning. And we’re trying to help him out some. We need to protect him. There’s no question that when he gets hit, we wince. I feel like I’m getting hit. We’re trying not to let that happen. But we’ve got to protect him.”

On whether the hard hits have taken away from his development:

“He’s not comfortable in the pocket. We need to give him more room to throw. When you watch these other quarterbacks around the league, they can stand in there and nobody’s within three yards of them, they can make the throw. Patrick hasn’t been in that position all that much.”

On quarterback rollouts:

“We have a little bit of those [play calls]. Certainly we should probably be doing more.”

On last year’s Seattle game, a 14-3 victory:

“It was a game where Seattle had a lot of yards and didn’t score. They got down there and went for it on fourth down a couple times and didn’t convert. It just worked out we didn’t do much offensively. We scored the same amount of points we scored against Dallas last Sunday. 14 points was a winner that day.”

On running backs helping out with protection schemes:

“Rock Cartwright was playing fullback and tailback last week so it was probably hard for him to learn all that. But they haven’t been all that bad. It was a combination of everything.”

On whether he expects Seahawks defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes to blitz the Redskins next Sunday:

“I think so…although they haven’t been a big blitzing defense. We have proven that we haven’t handled blitzing very well. Until we handle it, I think that’s what we’re going to see.”

On how badly the team needs a win:

“Yes, we need a win. We haven’t had one in a long time. It’s been well over a month. Hopefully our guys will be hungry to get one. And the Redskins fans out there—they deserve one. I know that. They’ve been super all year. They’re the best group of fans in all of pro football. They’re what really makes this franchise.”

On whether Bruce Smith will start on Sunday:

“I’m leaving that to the defensive coaches. They watch him every day. I’ll just say there’s a good chance that he will.”