Skins.com:Quotes From Chicago: Jauron, Grossman

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http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12422

Quotes From Chicago: Jauron, Grossman

12/18/2003

Chicago Bears Conference Call

With Washington, D.C. Reporters

BEARS HEAD COACH DICK JAURON

On Rex Grossman (Bears QB, #8), and the decision to name him the starting quarterback:

“There were a couple factors. When we ended up losing in Green Bay, we lost our opportunity to go to the playoffs. I did not want to do a couple things to Rex. I did not want to play him too early, and in that way, affect him for who knows how long. That’s a very difficult thing to tell. I don’t know how you tell that. At this point in the year, he’s had a really good year. He’s worked very hard. I think he’s come a long way, in our opinion. We just felt it was the right time, under the right circumstances to get him on-the-field experience in the NFL and get him ready for his future. He handled it extremely well.”

On what pleased him about Rex Grossman’s performance last week against Minnesota:

“The fact that he handled the game itself, the situations in the game and the checks at the line of scrimmage, put us in the right situation at the right time. He didn’t turn the ball over. We had no turnovers. He recognized the schemes in terms of the degree that he has to. He called the protections and dealt with the protections. All of those issues he handled very well. Clearly, he needs to be more accurate with the football, but we definitely feel that he has the ability to be accurate. He is an accurate quarterback and he has been in practice. We believe those things will come. I hope they come soon. We know that he’s going to have a stiff test this week. Hopefully, he’ll step up and answer the bell again.”

On Rex Grossman’s adjustment from Steve Spurrier’s (Head Coach) offense in college to the Bears’ offense:

“I never really talked to him specifically about their offense. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that he felt like he was very well prepared to make the jump to the National Football League after playing for Steve. He speaks very highly of Steve, how he helped him in terms of organization and understanding the game of football. Clearly, he had those skills when he came here. The professional game is a little bit different, and our system is different, so it took him time to get used to it.”

On his team’s resilience during this season:

“I’ve always felt very strongly about the caliber of player we have on this team—high character people, hard working people, people that really do want to win football games. They’re a great group to be around. When you’re in this business, you have to love to be around a football team. They are a good one to be around—practice-wise, game day, meetings. They do definitely work at it.”

On how the decision to play Rex Grossman at quarterback affects what the Bears try to do offensively:

“We don’t have any intentions of expanding what we do. What we have to do is get more consistent with what we do. Execute what we do better and better every week. We have gotten better. There’s no doubt that we’ve gotten better. Are we good enough at this point? No, our record indicates that. The guys have certainly worked hard at it and worked hard at becoming more consistent. If you can keep the same players on the field, as everybody in the business knows, week to week, you stand a real good chance of becoming a good football team and becoming a consistent team.”

REX GROSSMAN (BEARS QB, #8)

On how Steve Spurrier (Head Coach) helped his development as a quarterback:

“He really helped me a lot about understanding coverages and all the little details of playing quarterback. Everything was pretty simple in high school, and he definitely prepared me to play in the SEC. I think the jump from high school to college is bigger than the jump from college to the pros, so, especially coming from Indiana and going to the SEC, he really helped me out on my learning curve as far as playing quarterback and defenses and everything involved with the game.”

On his relationship with Steve Spurrier while they were both at the University of Florida:

“I had a great working relationship with him. He was fun to work with. I thought he was a really funny guy. Everything was pretty loose and relaxed, and he was very creative, which made him fun to play for. There was not much more I could really ask for.”

On whether he is surprised that Spurrier has not enjoyed much success in the NFL:

“A little bit. I thought he would, especially after the preseason his first year, win the Super Bowl. Then, things kind of went south. He needed a [offensive] line and had a rough year last year, and this year has kind of been the same. I’d love to see him stick it out and make it work because I know it can.”

On the differences between Coach Spurrier’s offense and the one he runs in Chicago:

“I think Coach Spurrier takes some calculated risks that a lot of other quarterbacks aren’t used to. He’s got a lot of creative ways of getting people open. You have to do it exactly his way, or it doesn’t really work. I think it takes a little time for people to understand what he wants. If you get a rhythm going with receivers that know what he wants and a quarterback that knows what he wants, that’s when we started having a lot of success at Florida.”

On whether he was anxious to get into a game this season:

“A little bit. I was itching to play all year. Then, when I finally got my chance to play, I studied even harder and I tried to make the best of it. I was so anxious to get out there that I made sure I was ready to go.”

On whether the Steve Spurrier he sees in the pros is the same one he knew in college:

“The only way you can have fun is if you have success. I think he’s struggling to get some wins. Like I said, I’d love to see him stick it out because I know that offense can work in this league. He needs to have everyone on the same page and have everyone understand what he wants. I really don’t know the situation down there, but it’s no fun to lose that’s for sure.”

On his relationship with Spurrier after he left Florida:

“I talked to him a lot as soon as he left. I was curious whether or not I should go out. I tried to get it out of him if he was going to draft me or not in the first round, but I never really got a clear answer from him. I know he liked me a lot as a quarterback. I like him a lot as a coach. I respect him. I think he’s been one of the best college coaches, period. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, so whenever I approach him about things like that, I don’t want to be too blunt about it. I definitely think we had a good relationship. I talked to him every once in a while. Last year, he would call before the big games—Miami, Tennessee—or right after the games and see how I felt or what happened. He was curious about a lot of the guys on our team. I would talk to him every once in a while and check in with him. I definitely called him after I was drafted by the Bears and thanked him for getting me prepared to be at this level of play.”

On whether this Sunday’s game is more important to him because he is playing Spurrier’s team:

“Not really. I’m getting prepared to play Washington’s defense and that’s not really what he’s in control of. If he was coaching the defense, it would be highly competitive—at least from my point of view. He’s doing his thing on offense and I’m going to try to do my thing on offense. It will be kind of weird to see him on the other sideline.”

On whether he went to U of F because he wanted to play for Spurrier:

“Yeah, I pretty much did. I gave Florida my highlight tape from my junior year in high school. He showed me his highlight tape, the 1997 touchdown pass highlight tape, and it really opened my eyes to what he was doing. He was getting receivers open in a creative way and it made it fun for the quarterback. I definitely came to Florida for a lot of reasons, but the main reason I came was to play for Coach Spurrier.”

On what defenses would do to give Spurrier’s offense problems at the University of Florida:

“The only trouble we really had, sometimes, was protecting the quarterback because there’s nobody better than Coach Spurrier at beating a coverage or defense. Whenever we would get in trouble, sometimes, was protecting the quarterback and being patient when they’re not giving you the deep ball. I got in trouble sometimes. I would get anxious to throw deep when they weren’t really giving us the deep ball. They were letting us throw it short. I would get impatient, sometimes, and force one in there when I didn’t need to.”

-- Compiled by Rich Campbell

[JerseyGator]

When the FNG was clicking at UF, you couldn't stop it even though you knew the general plays that were coming. It was like a Mariano Rivera fastball.

Spurrier won with smart players, not necessarily the most talented.