Gibbs with George and Sonny, 9/20

[Fitz]

Joe Gibbs is looking serious as he sits down at Redskin Park with George and Sonny...

GM: "Coach, I couldn't help but wonder, if yesterday as you were watching things happen, you thought, 'I've never liked the Meadowlands, there's nothing good happens here.'"

JG: "I've got a lot of bad memories, I'll say that, about the Meadowlands. But yesterday I think it was our own fault. I think we played...we wasted some great efforts. I feel so bad for Marcus Washington, Antonio Pierce, Cornelius Griffin...some guys that just played great - and that's the short list, but there's a lot of guys played great on our football- they played hard, but what we did not do is play smart. And offensively we turned the ball over time after time after time...we didn't take what was there, and as a consequence, in the NFL - you can play great, you can play real hard...but you've got to play real smart. And I felt we played hard, but we didn't play smart, and you can't win up here doing that."

SJ: "Coach, it's amazing to me that after seven turnovers, to only lose a game by six points, and in the fourth quarter, you still had a chance to win the thing."

JG: "We did have a chance, a matter of fact we were a foot or two away on a couple of plays where we could have scored and made it 21-20. But really, when you make those kind of mistakes and mentally kill yourself, it would have taken a miracle. Because to just be minus one, your going to lose most games, and we were minus six. So figure it out. And I think our players - they want it, I think they'll hopefully learn from this...I think it showed up a little bit like this in our first game. Now we got off to a real good start, which we got off to a good start in this game, and then we go into a lull and give another opponent a chance to build up a head of steam and come back on us, and then we come roaring back and try to win the ball game."

GM: "Mark Brunell. Talk to us about his health."

JG: "I think he's got a pulled ham, and I think...talked to him today, had him come up, and so I think this will be real- you know, we're probably going to have a better idea on Thursday, really, what it's going to be like for him. You know, Right now I'm probably saying that Patrick's got to be ready."

GM: "What about Tim Hasselbeck?"

JG: "Tim Hasselbeck is- we like Tim Hasselbeck. He'll play behind Patrick."

SJ: "Coach, second quarter, tied seven apiece...Clinton Portis, not known as a fumbler at any time, right?"

JG: "No. Never."

SJ: "And he comes up with two of them here. Carrying the ball strangely."

JG: "Actually, I've gotta tell you, Clinton does a real good job as a general rule in practice of protecting the ball - and that's where you can really work on this - and it's really knd of unexplainable. I mean, he played hard, he made so many real good plays for us, and yet, you know, we let the ball get away. I think that's a good example of somebody that's playing extremely hard, extremely tough, and - we're not doing the smart things that we really need to-"

GM: "Second week in a row, a touchdown on a fumble return."

JG: "Yeah, we're leaving the ball on the ground, which -- and if you do that, you shorten the distance to the goal line, or you give them a touchdown, which we did there..and that's two weeks in a row."

SJ: "Coach, your kicker, John Hall, is banged up, he pulls another hamstring, and -- are you going to rest him, or what do you plan to do here?"

JG: "Sonny, I think on all of those it'll be Thursday when he gives us a better idea - you know, we'll see how he feels by then. He had a sore hamstring last week, and he bounced right back at the end of the week and looked fine. So we'll just have to see what he's like on Thursday."

GM: "You had a game where you gave the ball away, you didn't play what you call smart Redskin football. But with 6:30 to go in the game, you can win this thing. And there's a pass that's thrown down and ends up getting intercepted at the ten yard line. And I'm just curious, what is Joe Gibbs thinking, what are you seeing...and you've got a guy wide open I thought there maybe in Clinton Portis..."

JG: "Well, I thought this was an example - and this wasn't the only time in the game - that we made bad choices with the football. And I know nobody hates that more than Patrick. You know, he comes off and- that's an example...and we saw them right there on your tapes...we fumble the football and give them touchdowns and give them the ball back, and then we throw the ball poorly and make some bad decisions. And when you do that, you can play great...Patrick came right back and made a play that I thought got us right back in the game - made a real good touch pass, got it to Clinton Portis to score a touchdown - so he made some real good plays. He fired a long one to Rod gardner that was a heck of a play. So we're making plays, but we're not real smart right now, and as a consequence, we turn the ball over and we hurt ourselves."

SJ: "Coach, you had the ball seven consecutive times in Giant territory...three interceptions, a fumble, a missed field goal, a punt...and only one touchdown out of seven consecutive times. That's not winning football, is it?"

JG: "No, it's not. And, you know, when you get the ball turned over like that -- like I said, we wasted some great efforts, some guys really played hard. To even be in that game in the fourth quarter, when you turn it over seven times, was a miracle. I think guys kept slugging away. I looked on the sidelines, and in the fourth quarter guys are still looking- you know, they're saying, 'Hey, we're going to win this thing somehow, some way', and I think everyone was feeling that, but, you know, we were our own worst enemy, and we couldn't overcome a lot of those mistakes."

GM: "With Coach Joe Gibbs and Sonny Jurgensen, I'm George Michael..."

[codeorama]

Thanks for posting!

[cphil006]

very informative. sounds like Gibbs will get to the bottom of this.

[Kyle]

Thanks for taking the time Fitzman!

[Mr. S]

he definitely seems a bit angered at the play of his offense, im hoping hes working them well right now.

[PCS]

I love it when he does this. Thanks Fitz.

[JMac]

Thanks Fitz as usual!!

I dont know why, but I would love to hear someone ask him the question "What are your plans for Gardner after dropping that TD catch and all the other easy balls thrown at him?"

It has to be time for Thrash or Jacobs to start at the #2 and see what they can do. We KNOW what 50/50 does and its hard to stomach each week. I cringe when the ball is thrown his way.

[Saqs]

I really hate some of the obvious questions George & Sonny ask sometimes. "That's not great football is it?" What the hell do you think?

Seriously though, great post Fitz. Thanks!

[skins0128]

Originally posted by 5Arrington6

Thanks Fitz as usual!!

I dont know why, but I would love to hear someone ask him the question "What are your plans for Gardner after dropping that TD catch and all the other easy balls thrown at him?"

It has to be time for Thrash or Jacobs to start at the #2 and see what they can do. We KNOW what 50/50 does and its hard to stomach each week. I cringe when the ball is thrown his way.

In his coaches report on 980 on Monday. I think it was a fan that asked a similar question to this. He said Rod made a heck of a play on the deep ball. A play most receivers would not have made.

So we know he can make plays, he just needs to work on some things. Like everyone on offense does.

[Utah]

Thanks again Fitz.

[Potato Sack]

skins0128,

How many years must Rod "work on things"? They're the same mistakes EVERY f-cking year. I'm sorry, Rod will be our achilles heel as usual. If he does change and becomes one of our best players this year it WILL be because of Gibbs. But I still question Rod and his huge mental mistakes year in and year out.

Now we got off to a real good start, which we got off to a good start in this game, and then we go into a lull and give another opponent a chance to build up a head of steam and come back on us, and then we come roaring back and try to win the ball game."

That quote, to me, pretty much summarizes the Redskins for the last dozen years. We get ahead and then we get in a lull like we're these badasses that just can't be beat. At what point do our players start, as Gibbs puts it, play smart AS well as play hard.

[Anne The Fan]

Great recap, Fitz! Thanks very much for posting it. :notworthy

[Jimbo]

GM: "Mark Brunell. Talk to us about his health."

JG: "I think he's got a pulled ham, and I think...talked to him today, had him come up, and so I think this will be real- you know, we're probably going to have a better idea on Thursday, really, what it's going to be like for him. You know, Right now I'm probably saying that Patrick's got to be ready."

GM: "What about Tim Hasselbeck?"

JG: "Tim Hasselbeck is- we like Tim Hasselbeck. He'll play behind Patrick."

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Has anybody else noticed how often Joe Gibbs stops what he's saying mid-sentance and sometimes mid-word and says something else entirely? He must be one of those guys whose mind goes a mile-a-minute and he can't spit his thoughts out into words fast enough.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Fitz, you're the man!

I say it again and again: there's no individual contribution to this forum outside of the mods that's more valuable than your terriffic transcripts of these interviews. It's the detail, the exact words, that conveys the nuance of the coach's thinking. You're a master transcriptionist, and I really appreciate the work you put in. It's as good as watching the interviews themselves.

[ZkinsFan]

i dont care what the player's name is, as long as we are winning, thats all that matters

[spanishomelette]

Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan

Fitz, you're the man!

I say it again and again: there's no individual contribution to this forum outside of the mods that's more valuable than your terriffic transcripts of these interviews. It's the detail, the exact words, that conveys the nuance of the coach's thinking. You're a master transcriptionist, and I really appreciate the work you put in. It's as good as watching the interviews themselves.

Can't say it better than that...Thanks, Fitz.