Mike Holmgren's Wednesday Media Session

[TK]

http://www.seahawks.com/ardisplay.aspx?SecID=45&ID=3149

Mike Holmgren's Wednesday Media Session

11/5/2003

Matt Hasselbeck | Steve Spurrier | Patrick Ramsey

Q: Does playing another team on the verge help you to help fire up the team?

Mike: "I think it's a huge challenge to get your team ready to play, first of all. They're human and they read the stuff and they follow it way more than coaches do, won-loss records, statistics and things like that. To get them to believe every week you have to be ready to play your best game, otherwise there's a good chance you're going to lose a football game. That's the challenge of coaching for me or anybody else. Washington is a better football team than their record, I would argue that. People will do whatever they say to that, but I know the players, we know the players on that the team way better than anybody except for Washington. You have to be ready to play and I think teams get in desperate situations and a desperate team comes out battling emotionally very hard. We were that type of team last year and we didn't always win, but in the second half of the season we beat some people and were able to do some things, I think, because of that desperate and uncomfortable feeling you get when things aren't quite going your way. It's a huge challenge, it is."

Q: They have a lot injured players on the list.

Mike: "Yeah, but I would say that's the NFL. Injuries factor into every team and you deal with it as best you can, trying to avoid the losing streaks if you can. I know this, the stadium will be full. They'll have 86,000 people there. They have good football players on that team. They have a fine head coach and have an owner who desperately wants to win. You put all that together and you're going into a little bit of a hornets nest. But as I told our team this morning, the second half of the season, for us, every game we play, we have to approach hopefully how we're going to approach this game this week. We have to be a little desperate ourselves to continue doing good things on the field. I hope they're listening and we'll see how they respond."

Q: Is it a case where every time you win the ante goes up exponentially?

Mike: "That's kind of what I talked about today. Recognize where you are, recognize the possibilities, understand what it took to get here and then understand with each game down the stretch everything gets a little bit more exaggerated and exciting. I feel if I looked at my roster I think 75% of our guys get that. Now, the other 25% are very valuable and very important to our team and I have to make them understand and their teammates have to make them understand; that might be as important as anything."

Q: Is the play of the quarterback magnified on the road?

Mike: "I think it definitely is. The two games we've lost on the road we had seven turnovers with five interceptions, and it was the difference. It becomes harder for the offense because there's a noise problem. There's an audible problem. There's your offensive line getting off on time problem, but that's what it is. Everyone knows that and you better work on it, learn how to deal with it, and the good teams learn how to deal with that. You might lose a game on the road, but you get to the point where you don't beat yourself. It's hard to win on the road, but you don't beat yourself and you get a couple."

Q: How specifically does your quarterback play into that?

Mike: "He's your leader. On our football team here, Matt's clearly the leader of the football team. That's a given. Now, in the system that we run, you've heard me say it many times, I feel the quarterback has a chance to reach his potential in the system, but at the same time there's a huge responsibility because if he doesn't play well it's hard to do well on offense. We can run for some yards and do some things there, but if he doesn't play well it's difficult."

Q: How would you rate Matt's performance on the road?

Mike: "I think he's been pretty good. You mean this year? I think since he's been starting the second go-around midway through last year, I think he's done some really good things. What can't change-home game, road game, playoffs, Super Bowl-for the quarterback is his approach to decision making. All of a sudden we go on the road and so we have seven turnovers and we play the last four games at home and we don't have any. That doesn't make any sense. Why should that happen? It shouldn't happen, so don't let it happen. That's something we have to focus in on and get better at."

Q: How important is pass protection in this?

Mike: "My confidence in Matt doing the correct things is as good as it has ever been. That will just get better as we're together more. He's really playing very well. Could he play better? Certainly. I'm always pushing him. Our protection? We gave up five sacks last week, and I thought three of them were quarterback...I thought we didn't have to give up three, and I thought they got us on two. That's really how I thought that broke down. I didn't think-even though it seemed like there was a fair amount of pressure last week-last week I didn't change anything. There are games there where I say, OK, I can't do that. I have to make those decisions during the game, maybe even during the quarter. All of the sudden, we're better in the third quarter. I'm constantly doing that part of it during the game."

Q: Do you have any concerns about the defensive line?

Mike: "No. I don't, no. I really am not concerned. We have pretty good continuity in the line. And the tipped balls, you couldn't hang that on the line. They made a couple nice plays. No. I don't have any complaints that way. Although I will say this: I don't think we've played our best defensive football game, too. I'm looking forward to expanding some of the things we're doing, keep it going, keep it challenging the players to get better. That's how I would like to play the second half of this season."

Q: How do you approach changing the play-calling?

Mike: "You have to identify, first of all, the great players on the other side of the field. And you do that every week. And you have to be honest about it. That's a hard thing for coaches to do. As an assistant coach, you're not afraid of anybody. I'd rather put a little realism in this thing. And I was the same way. But I learned a valuable lesson as an assistant coach. I told this story before - trying to test Deion Sanders with Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, two players I would trust. Had Deion caught a ball we would have lost the game. I got too ****y and I almost lost us the football game. That was out. That was a dumb thing for me to do right there. You kind of file these things away. But a guy like Champ Bailey or LaVar Arrington, Trotter is an excellent football player, Bruce Smith, I have tremendous respect for him. You don't want to...you don't have to test those guys. There are other ways to go about things. Then maybe you get the chance to do something when they over-pursue or they get frustrated or things like that. As a signal-caller or play-caller and as an offensive guy setting up the scheme for any particular game, you're going to evaluate that stuff the best way you can and then don't beat your head against the wall. Try to go the other way. If you think that guy is a bad matchup, then you go over here. We've done it before when we have injuries. You don't like the matchup. Pork Chop, when we played the Giants with a club on his hand and Michael Strahan. That was not a good deal for us. So you do something else. That's my job."

Q: What is the toughest position to defend on the field?

Mike: "A Ray Lewis-type linebacker, who is right in the middle of the field. So you can't put him on one side. You put him over there, you can run away from him. You can't avoid him. You just try and make your team understand that you've got to block him or that he's a very valuable part of their defense. You can't avoid those guys really scheme-wise. You might be able to take advantage of his aggressiveness at times and, what you try and do, is plant a little doubt or a little uncertainty in a real aggressive player's mind. You can't just let them tune in. Because when they tune in, and you've got one of those great players, it's pretty hard to block them."

Q: Can you compare the Redskins first four games to their last four games?

Mike: “I haven't spent too much time on their first four games, because we get the four games prior to our game. They played real close games, their last game against Dallas was a real close game. They played in some close ball games that could have gone either way, and that at times heightens the frustration. I know this is going to be a tough ball game for us and we have got to be ready. And so their record in the last four games, I'm not even talking about or thinking about that. I'm thinking about what I see on film, how their players are playing, what we have to do to try and get this thing done. I know last year we played them here, and we played a real stinker, I mean a bad football game. And so we have got to improve our play against this team.”

Q: What are the injury updates on Koren and Norman Hand?

Mike: “I think Norman has his, he's probably in there right now with the medical people, and I suspect I'll have an answer probably after practice on him. I don't think that doctor, Dr. Andrews, is going to tell me anything different than our guys did. It's a torn bicep tendon and he's got to decide, Norman will have to decide, if he surgically repairs it, in which case we lose him for the year, or if he decides to not do that and then we'll get him back near the end at some time. With Koren, he was not out there this morning because we're treating his foot hard. He'll be out there this afternoon. He won't do any running but he'll catch the balls and kind of be involved in practice that way. But I think he's feeling better each day, so I kind of feel pretty good. Questionable? I'm looking at that rather optimistically for Sunday.”

Q: What are your options if you lose Hand?

Mike: “(Cedric) Woodard's playing very, very well. Rashad Moore, thank goodness we kept him. I talked about him a little bit in the last couple of weeks. It was a position, if you remember going all the way back to the draft, that we knew we needed to do something with. And so we did a couple of things that kind of built the pile up, and it appears as though we needed every single one of them. I'm glad we did that.”

Q: Wasn't Moore among the last cuts?

Mike: “Yeah, if you remember, or close to it. We had extra defensive linemen, and when you're getting numbers and cutting you roster down to the size, you remember, I'm sure you didn't ask me this Scott, but words to the effect of how could you only keep four wide receivers? But that's why. We kept an extra big guy. Because he's a big guy and those guys are hard to find. So that's what I mean. We normally haven't done that in the past. We've kept the five receivers, but in that respect, it's good that we did that this year.”

Q: Moore seemed to start getting it after looking a little lost at training camp.

Mike: “Yeah, in fact he was Dwaine Board's personal, wow, that got hard for that young man in training camp, if you remember. But, to his credit, he stayed with it, took the criticism, got in better shape. I'm not sure he's ever been pushed like he was pushed in training camp. I don't know that for sure. Because he is a big man who is gifted who played the game maybe three out of four plays. Maybe. Now, we're asking him to play every play and he's just showing some good things. He's quick for a guy his size. He accepted the harsh reality that was getting him ready to play. I was proud of him for that, because that was tough. In fact, I remember in our meetings I would say, 'We've got to ease up on this young guy a little bit.' They didn't want to, and it probably turned out to be a good thing.”

Q: Will he start this week?

Mike: “No. But he'll play more.”

Q: How do Matt’s audibles work?

Mike: “I'm talking to Zorn all the time during the week. Jim does a really nice job of preparing Matt, and Trent, and Seneca, to get out of bad plays. That's really what our audible system is, to get out of a bad play. If I call something and they have too many guys in the hole, we expect Matt to get out of the play. I have a frustration level in the game if that happens too much. It's really that I'm frustrated with myself because I've called too many plays where they're either guessing with me or I'm not going good. Fortunately, I have a quarterback who gets me out of jams. And that's what you want. But if he has to audible more than half a dozen times in a game, then I think it's too many, and I think we as coaches haven't really done a good enough job in what we put in. Now, having said that, I'll come in every Monday and in my offensive coaches meetings - it's not fun for them - because we go over audibles first thing. Why did we do it? Was it the right thing? And what happened? That's just what we do. That last column better be good things should happen. If too many bad things happen, then I get upset with everybody. But they've been doing a great job. Jim prepares them beautifully. They're smart guys, and they do the right thing. It's necessary in this day and age, particularly when you're running an I-formation like we are. Running an I-formation where the running game is a lot out of that, if they have too many guys over there we have to be able to go over there and vice versa.”

Q: Is it harder to call audibles on the road?

Mike: “It certainly adds to the problem. A big thing that I can help - and I get frustrated because I feel I'm not helping Matt enough - what I can do is get the play in quickly. That will be a challenge for me. To get the play in quickly so he has time if he has to do something, because now all of a sudden you can't hear and you have to signal things. It takes a little longer. But if I can get the play in fast enough, then he should be OK.”

Q: Who will be the starting cornerbacks?

Mike: “We'll do the same thing. Springs and Marcus will start. Kenny Lucas is coming off an injury, but he had a very fine football game. I just have to make sure Ken understands. He is a good player, we need him to play well, and he will play a lot of snaps in the game. You have two cornerback positions in base, and we have three guys who can play. I feel very comfortable about any of them playing the two positions. But they can't all play two positions. So no one gets their feathers ruffled, I've got to talk to him. That's part of my job. And he's handling it OK. They have a lot of pride, these guys. What you want him to do, he's got to go in there and show me, hey, you're wrong, I should be starting. And that's how he has to play. We need three of them, all three of them, to play well.”

Q: Why is Springs starting over Lucas?

Mike: “We'll always do it that way. It never comes to, well, will I hurt his feelings more than that guy? Everyone has feelings. I've said from Day 1, it's never personal. Ever. What we want is the best combination on the field at a particular time. And you earn that right. You earn that. It's not given to you. Any player that's not starting could say anything. In fact, there's too much said in this day and age. But it's never personal, and it's always team-oriented. If you preach that, like I do so much, then I'm hoping they believe me.”

Q: Is keeping players happy a part of coaching?

Mike: “Yes it is. I kid around, saying I put my shingle out every week. Because they're thoroughbreds. They have come into this league as stars. Wherever they were, they were the star. To all the sudden not be the star, it's hard on some of them. And you couple that with their youth and inexperience, and you couple that with all the money that's floating around, who's getting what and the ability to earn the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All that stuff factors in. Part of my job, in fact a pretty good part of my job, is to make sure they're not off-balance. They might not like what I tell them. But, one, don't be dishonest with them. And then don't surprise them. All of a sudden Sunday, 'Hey, you're not starting.' That doesn't work. I'll jump a coach for that. You cannot do that to those guys. It's not fair. Now, on Wednesday or Thursday or something, if you see what's coming, you better bring them in and tell them. I don't expect them to be happy about any of that stuff. It's hard. But you tell them why. And then most of the guys I've ever been around: 'OK. I don't like it, but OK.' That's all I can really ask for. But then, if you do get into the game, you had better play. Don't be moping and pouting around. You had better play. That's all you can do. Just be honest with them and don't surprise them.”

Q: Are teams throwing away from one of the corners yet?

Mike: “No, not yet. We haven't played long enough as a group. I expected people, and still expect people, to test Trufant. As I've said, he's been our most consistent man in the secondary, and I think that's true. They might test Shawn a little bit because he's injured and there's still a little rust perhaps. But I haven't really noticed where one guy gets all the work.”

Q: Are close games a reality of the league?

Mike: “I mentioned Monday that I thought our record should be better, first of all. Offensively, I think we can be a better offensive football team. If we had done that, then maybe some of the games wouldn't have been so close. But at the end of the day, and at the end of the year, your record is what it is. And you're either happy with it, or you're not. Right now, I'll take this. I feel pretty good about it. But there were a couple games, too, where I don't think our defense came out and played with as much enthusiasm as they have shown in most games. That happened too. When we put it all together, I think we could have a chance to win most games. But I'm very happy we won those close games.”

Q: Are you feeling good about your record despite not playing your best football?

Mike: “Yeah. That's kind of how I'm looking at it. I feel very good that we're 6-2. I don't have to read or hear people say, 'You know, you've won a lot of close games. You should have scored some more.' I kind of feel that way too. I know we've won close games, and I believe we should have scored more. So I'm with you on that. But, heck. Last year at this time, we were 2-6. This is a lot better, believe me. This is a lot better feeling.”

Q: The defense hasn't created any turnovers lately.

Mike: “Those things come in bunches as a rule. There's no question, when we get turnovers it creates more chances for our offense and a lot of good things happen. So, yeah, you want that. But to think that we would have that plus-10 with no turnovers on our side, that was a little unrealistic. We started off hot, which was good, it got us off to a good start. You'll see with Kansas City, who is undefeated, they might be leading the league, and their turnover thing has really helped them to this great start. Most of the time it kind of settles in so you're not turning it over a lot, but you're not creating a lot. That's what I think we did. As long as we don't turn over the ball on offense, I'll live with whatever the defense does. And we've been very good in six of the games and very bad in two of them, in the turnover thing.”

Q: Does Mo Morris have the talent to be a starter?

Mike: “I think he could be a No. 1 guy. We're trying to get him in the game in spots, and when he has gone into games he hasn't done a single thing that would make me hesitate on calling his number. I think he's fine, he's a good football player. We're in one of those situations where we have a halfback in front of him who is really good, and Mo would like to play more. He's a young man and you need to have some depth on your roster. We're fortunate at that position. I like him. I think he's a good player.

Q: Can Mo handle 25 carries a game?

Mike: “I don't know. I won't say I don't know about him. I don't know how many running backs could handle 25 carries week after week after week. If you look at the guys, they get banged up pretty good when you get those pounders. Some guys are built a little differently. He's not a huge, huge guy. I probably wouldn't use him that way if he was our No. 1 guy.”

Q: The players want to wear different pants.

Mike: “Yeah, yeah. We had the big fashion meeting the other day with my players committee.”

Q: Will they wear white pants?

Mike: “I think so. It will make us faster, I'm sure.” (laughter)

Q: Do you make the call or is it a democracy?

Mike: “No, I get to make it. But they did it in a very respectful way and they sent in the right guys to talk to me, and they had a nice presentation.”

Q: Did they bring in charts and graphs?

Mike: “Yeah, Powerpoint and the whole deal.” (laughter)

Q: Who was the most persuasive?

Mike: “Chad Brown.”

Q: What did he say?

Mike: “I don't know...you know. We're wearing white pants. Let's just leave it at that.”

Matt Hasselbeck comments

11/5/2003

Q: Your brother is now playing for the Redskins.

Matt: “I'm happy that he's back in the league and has another opportunity. But it’s a little bit like when we faced Philadelphia last year and he was with them. It's going to be fun and I’m going to enjoy seeing him, but I have a job to do. That is to help the Seahawks win a game, and he has a job to do too. You can’t mix business and pleasure.”

Q: Will the family reunion be toned down this time?

Matt: “It will be toned down. Maybe my Mom and Dad.”

Q: Your thoughts on the Redskins.

Matt: “They’re good. I think the strength of their team is probably their two corners. They have two great corners. Champ Bailey is always in the Pro Bowl and is usually the leading vote getter at cornerback, and he's playing well. And obviously they have some guys who can run at linebacker. It’s going to a tough challenge for us.”

Q: The last game at Washington wasn't a pretty one.

Matt: “No, no. I don’t remember a lot. I played about one half and that was about it.”

Q: Was it a learning experience?

Matt: “It was. I think that's one thing, it's tough to go play on the road. They were a team that I think started out 0-5 that year. We went in there thinking we would take it to them and they took it to us. You learn from that experience, you learn to play on the road, which we are hopefully getting better at, and this is an opportunity for us to go get a win.”

Q: The Redskins have a lot of tradition.

Matt: “They have a lot of tradition and history. There are certain teams around the league like Green Bay, Washington, Pittsburgh, where there is so much of that and their fan base goes back forever. I think Sam Huff and Sammy Jerguson are their radio guys. It's an unusual situation. There is a lot to the tradition and history there.”

Q: What do you expect from their corners?

Matt: “Well, they're going to be physical. They're going to be up in our face. They're not going to let our receivers off the line cleanly. Our receivers are going to have to do a great job this week studying the technique that these guys use, working on their releases and not letting them disrupt the timing of our routes.”

Q: Is it a measuring stick for a young receiver to play against good corners?

Matt: “I think so. I think if you look at the great receivers it doesn’t matter if a guy is playing off them or pressing up there or have bump and run on them, it doesn’t matter. All receivers get excited when a guy does that because they think it is an opportunity for a big play, especially the great ones.”

Q: How big of an impact would it be if Koren doesn't play?

Matt: "It would be tough. There's no question he's a great player and he has helped us out quite a bit. But we have played without him this year. We played against Arizona this year without him and he has gotten hurt a few games this year where he hasn’t practiced. It would be tough, but I think that is one thing good teams do, somebody gets hurt and the next guys steps up and hopefully plays well.”

Q: Did having a lot of home games early in the season help the team?

Matt: “We knew that going into this and that’s why we knew our games at home were so important, we needed to get wins early because we do have some tough road games coming up. We also have some tough division games; we have to go to San Francisco and to St. Louis, so it's going to be tough for us. But I think, again, one thing good teams do is go out and win games on the road. That's something, hopefully, we can get better at.”

Q: What makes it so difficult to play on the road?

Matt: “I think, offensively speaking, the crowd noise is huge. So much of your communication in today’s football is audibling, there is so much communication going on with the offensive line and the snap count. If you have a team with a great pass rusher who gets a jump on the snap count then you can no longer use the snap count to your advantage. That’s tough, it is tough to pass protect and it’s just tough every way that way. But, that is something you have to overcome. It's a reality that you have to go on the road and win.”

Q: What kind of tricks do pass rushers like Bruce Smith use?

Matt: “Well, the good ones use your snap count on you. They’re crafty and a little dirty. The good thing is we have a couple of those guys on our team too.”

Q: How important are turnovers on the road?

Matt: “Well, I think it really gets the crowd back into the game. Sometimes when you're controlling the ball, you’re running the ball and not turning the ball over, it kind of deflates their crowd and keeps that momentum or energy-swing to your advantage. Obviously turnovers, field position, all that stuff counts, especially when you’re not at home.”

Redskins Head Coach Steve Spurrier

10/5/2003

Q: How are things going in Washington?

Spurrier: “Well, we've lost four in a row, so you can figure. If the Seahawks lose four in a row I am sure they would be catching the same grief we're catching, I guess. I obviously try not to read too many newspapers, but we have struggled and really haven’t played really well. I guess we haven’t coached very well either; it all goes together. But at the halfway point we have to re-group and try to get us a victory this week.”

Q: Are the same problems occurring every week?

Spurrier: “You would have to watch our team play and do your own analysis of why we are three and five. We are not very highly ranked on offense, we are not highly ranked on defense, and special teams-wise we have not had a big play all year. You look at all that and sort of say, well, that's the way they are, they're three and five. Hopefully we’ll start playing better on offense, defense and special teams, or else we’ll stay where we are.”

Q: What's you situation at tailback?

Spurrier: “Yeah, we signed John Simon yesterday, who was with the Tennessee Titans last year. He's a pretty good player, tailback, running back prospect. Plus Trung Candidate should be back playing this week at tailback.”

Q: You're sitting Bruce Smith at times.

Spurrier: “Bruce, as you know, is either 39 or 40 right now, I think he may be 40. Anyway, basically we thought he would be sort of be the third-down rush guy. Of course he's close to the sack record so we just thought starting Regan and giving him most of it but still getting Bruce in there was the way to go. Regan didn’t play particularly super the last game so there is a chance Bruce may start again. But again, they’re sharing time and we try to split it up fairly evenly.”

Q: Did Bruce have more energy on third-downs when splitting time last week?

Spurrier: “Oh, he has been okay. I don’t know if there was a lot of exceptional play on the whole team. He did okay. He was competing.”

Q: Talk about the Seahawks offense.

Spurrier: “I like everything about their offense. I like theirs, Kansas City’s, St. Louis’. I like all those guys that can pitch it around. Of course with Alexander as your running back it mixes it up in there. We just haven’t been able to do that thus far. But they have Hasselbeck and we got his brother Tim now, so you have the brotherly rivalry thing going this week. They are just good, they throw it, they run it, pass block, run block, they’re a good offense.”

Q: How is Tim Hasselbeck doing?

Spurrier: “Tim has done very well. He came in during the open date for a tryout, we signed him that day and decided to make him the backup after he showed that he can learn quickly. We had a young man on the practice squad who we thought maybe could be our backup, but we thought Tim was ready. He actually went in the game last week against Dallas and hit two out of three. The one he didn’t hit he took the ball from the shotgun and threw it about exactly where we asked him to, but the receiver bolted inside instead of outside. He is a talented, good quarterback who is going to help us down the road here.”

Q: What are your difficulties with the offense?

Spurrier: “Tough question. Obviously we are not playing near what some of the offenses we had down at Florida or even at Duke. We're not close to that. I don’t want to get into speculation of why we are not. People watch us play and make their own analysis of why we are struggling.”

Q: Is the system changing in the NFL at all?

Spurrier: “We're always trying to add something that will help us. But other than that, I don’t know how much has changed.”

Q: Patrick Ramsey got a little banged up last week.

Spurrier: “Yeah, he got hit too many times. We're trying to get him back to having confidence in his protection, and obviously you can’t play quarterback unless you have complete trust that your guys are going to block them up front. He's been hit too many times while he's throwing and sacked. Sometimes we wish he would throw it away on those sacks, but other than that we have too many guys running right at him. So it's time to tighten our protection and protect him better.”

Q: Talk about Seattle’s defense.

Spurrier: “They’re a solid defense. Fundamentally sound. Their zones are played well, their man-to-man and their blitzes. They have a good combination package and they can throw it all at you. We have to be prepared. We know they will be blitzing, it seems everybody wants to blitz us a little bit more. We know that will be a part of their package. Dallas did it too, and when they started we acted like we didn’t know they had it sometimes. But they are a very good defense and they play zones, man and blitz, they can do it all.”

Q: Did Darrell Jackson go through a phase of dropping the ball in college?

Spurrier: “He was pretty consistent. Did he go through a phase there?

Q: He's going through it now.

Spurrier: “Oh, I really haven’t watched the offense that much yet. I have been watching their defense. I just noticed that he's still the leading receiver on the team, anyhow, isn’t he? He's a very good player and he has developed into one of the best wide receivers from Florida in the NFL. Some of my guys haven’t done all that super but he and Ike Hilliard are certainly two guys who have done very well.”

Q: When did you know Darrell could play in the NFL?

Spurrier: “Oh, he and Travis Taylor both had outstanding junior years and they both decided to go pro. What round was Darrell drafted? Third. Okay. I think at one time we tried to tell both of them that they might improve their draft status by coming back, but they were ready to go.”

Q: Was Darrell more of a possession guy at Florida?

Spurrier: “Nah, he could go deep. I think he caught some 80-yarders out there. I know he caught at least one 80-yarder for a score. Nah, he could go deep.”

Redskins QB Patrick Ramsey

11/5/2003

Q: What hurts more, your body or your psyche?

Ramsey: “Well, neither one, really. I feel okay today, my finger is the only thing that is sore. We’re seeing some things that we can fix, we’re trying to work on them, and I think we’re going to be able to."

Q: Do you mean that protection-wise or just in general on offense?

Ramsey: “We’re just trying to iron-out some things. A lot of guys haven’t been on the same page and we’re taking some steps forward.”

Q: What’s been the difference between the first four games and the last four?

Ramsey: “Well like I said, we haven’t been on the same page, we haven’t been executing offensively, and we just haven’t been giving ourselves a chance. Even when we did put ourselves in good positions we would turn the ball over and we would just do bad things. So those are things we’re going to focus on and try to get better at.”

Q: How different is the system this year compared to last year?

Ramsey: “I would say that it’s a bit different. We have some flexibility to run the ball, and if we don’t think a play has a chance to get to the run and things of that nature. We’ve got some more complex things built in, but they’re very conducive to what we do, and conducive is how they play in the NFL.”

Q: What is Tim Hasselbeck like?

Ramsey: “He’s a great guy. One thing that I’ve noticed about him is that he comes in here with me on Tuesdays, watches tape with me, and he prepares just like I do. I like having him here to bounce ideas off him. When coaches are in their meetings he is in here with me preparing.”

Q: How difficult was it for Tim to play at the end of the game last week?

Ramsey: “I think it was tough, and he did a good job. He was 2 for 2, and until I was able to get my finger fixed and get back in the game he did a good job.”

Q: Why did you get your finger fixed?

Ramsey: “It was dislocated and it popped out. They popped it back in place, and it wasn’t that painful. It was a little uncomfortable but once they got it back in it wasn’t that painful.”

Q: What was the hardest part, taking the snap?

Ramsey: “Yeah, I would say so, and that’s why I was in the gun the majority of the time after the injury.”

Q: What have you noticed about Marcus Trufant?

Ramsey: “He’s a good player and a real good cover. They’ve got two guys over there that can cover well and I think he’s confident in his talent and he knows he can jump some things and make things happen.”

Q: Does Trufant play like a rookie?

Ramsey: “I think he’s playing like a veteran and like a guy who’s played a long time. He has a lot of confidence in his ability and that's the reason he’s playing the way he has.”

Q: Is that a general rule for quarterbacks to test rookie defensive backs?

Ramsey: "If what we have called, and all things being equal, maybe, but not necessarily. But we’re not going to just pick on that rookie, because he has played so well.”

Q: Is it tough with Coach Spurrier bringing in so many people?

Ramsey: “No, I feel pretty steady. I understand this offense and I know they’re committed to letting me run it as long as I’m healthy. I feel good as far as knowing and expecting what to do in this offense.”

Q: How nice has it been to have Lavernues Coles?

Ramsey: “It’s been great, he’s a great addition. He can make things happen with short passing plays and he brings a great attitude. He’s a great guy to be around, he’s a great teammate, but most of all he’s a great player.”

Q: Have you fixed the problems that you had with the Cowboys blitzing and holding the ball too long?

Ramsey: “Well, those guys brought a lot of guys and I was trying to get rid of it as quickly as I could, and we’re going to work on how to fix it.”

Q: What is it like to be in D.C. at a time when you’re struggling?

Ramsey: “You know, guys are looking for reasons to give up on us, but we feel like we can take this thing one game at a time and pull ourselves out of it.”

Q: How are you handling all the distractions about Bruce Smith and the rumor about Coach Spurrier’s job?

Ramsey: “Well, the first I heard about Bruce Smith’s situation was today, but we don’t read a lot of it. That’s an individual concern with Bruce and we’ll let him handle it and just try to take care of our business.”

Q: Where are you at personally with Spurrier making it as an NFL coach?

Ramsey: “I think coach can certainly coach here. He’s adjusting and we’re all going to be fine around here.”

Q: Does Seattle’s defense remind you of another team?

Ramsey: “Yeah. They look a lot like Dallas did on third down. They storm the gates and really come and we’re just going to have to be ready for it.”

[Stone Cold]

great nuggets of info in there. thanks for the post. holmgren does an admirable job talking us up to get his players motivated. but, i think there is a lot of truth to his statements. right now, we're one of the most dangerous teams in football...a wounded animal if you will. sooner or later (sooner hopefully) all of this talent we have will play together as a team and not as a bunch of individuals. that, i believe, will come with time. once again, patience is being preached. hard to be patient when dallas is 6-2 with arguably inferior talent. we are what we are...time is needed. i'm chained to the wagon!

[Om]

I can't help it ... SS reads like Gomer Pyle sometimes.

[Montilar]

Well that question to Ramsey about Tim hasselbeck is revealing I think.

Hasselbeck comes into the film room and studies with Ramsey, which Ramsey likes. Kind of implies that Rob Johnson didn't.

Could be why he was dumped. And if so he deserved it.

[PCS]

"But a guy like Champ Bailey or LaVar Arrington, Trotter is an excellent football player, Bruce Smith, I have tremendous respect for him. You don't want to...you don't have to test those guys. There are other ways to go about things. Then maybe you get the chance to do something when they over-pursue or they get frustrated or things like that. As a signal-caller or play-caller and as an offensive guy setting up the scheme for any particular game, you're going to evaluate that stuff the best way you can and then don't beat your head against the wall. Try to go the other way."

It's always good to hear that from other coaches. They are the ones gameplanning against the Skins and it's a good to hear who they identify as being someone to maybe stay away from.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooollee. (Sorry Om. Couldn't help it )

[Stone Cold]

looks like surfer dude johnson will be scrambling in oakland this week

[TK]

You don't like the matchup. Pork Chop, when we played the Giants with a club on his hand and Michael Strahan.

Please tell me Holgren didn't order a pork chop during the interview:doh:

[bubba9497]

Originally posted by Om

I can't help it ... SS reads like Gomer Pyle sometimes.

:mad:

Growing up in East Tennessee I take offense to that Mr. OM!

I know from personal experiences that when you meet people outside of the South East, after they hear you, at first many have a condesending attitude, or look at you like "Hey Jethro" It doesn't matter what your IQ is, people assume DUMB!

[dchogs]

holmgren gives a better interview than spurrier. then again, a winning record might do that for a coach...

[Om]

It's not the accent, bubba. It's the barely engaged-sounding, uber-casual, utterly-non-coach-speak he employs.

You read Holmgren, and you're in a coat the tie sharing ****tails at a D.C. fundraiser.

You read Spurrier, and you're sucking down a Blue Ribbon around the backyard grill where the burgers are a-sizzlin'.

Not saying one is better than the other, or necessarily reflects on intelligence ... just noting the seriously stark difference.

[bubba9497]

Originally posted by Om

It's not the accent, bubba. It's the barely engaged-sounding, uber-casual, utterly-non-coach-speak he employs.

You read Holmgren, and you're in a coat the tie sharing ****tails at a D.C. fundraiser.

You read Spurrier, and you're sucking down a Blue Ribbon around the backyard grill where the burgers are a-sizzlin'.

Not saying one is better than the other, or necessarily reflects on intelligence ... just noting the seriously stark difference.

again that is an east tennessee trade mark, the slow lazy draw, not using any big words, kind of a laid back way of talking. Plus the extra adjectives, like: a little, a bit, kinda, coach'em up... etc.

I really belief that is one of the reasons he is getting laughed at in the press so much. They are acting like he is just an old Good Old Boy, that came to the big city, and lost his shirt by a bunch of City Slickers.

I know, Gawd, do I know :doh:

[Om]

Fact is, I LOVE his speaking style ... did from Day One. Love the vocabulary, love the sense of fresh air he brings to the often stuffy clubroom atmosphere of the NFL ... AND I love the content.

It just makes you wince at times when the team is not only losing, but looking silly and unprepared in doing so. It's hard not to imagine people on the outside listening to the folksy tone and concluding the man is just the bumpkin you describe.

When he starts winning ... it's going to be that much more fun to imagine them wondering just how the hell this good ol' boy got the better of them again.

Can't wait.

[BG]

Might be Bubba. But he does dance around his questions and is quite vague. Also the kind of alomst condesending responses he gives in his first sentences "like, well gosh that's a great question" or "you know it's funny you ask that." It speaks to ME that he doesn't want to answer the question at all. But I understand. My first responses would be more on the lines of "Gee that's a great question...coming from a dog-f*cking moron such as yourself," or the more toned down, "funny you should ask that because I was just thinking of f*cking your wife.......Yes, the Seahawks have a good team"

Being down south here now, I like the fact we got a casual spoken coach who speaks on my level. Problem is at times, you sense the frustration and it comes out a bit different. Like Om's Gomer Pile comment.....

[TC4]

we are what we are...time is needed. i'm chained to the wagon!

Me too Stone Cold, me too.............