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Jeff Fisher – Post-Practice – Dec. 10, 2014
(On DE Chris Long)
"He was okay. We were comparing him to where he was last Wednesday, so he looked okay. We’ll see how he is in the warm-ups tomorrow. Very optimistic about it."
(On if he was in charge of everything would he do Thursday night games and have the short weeks)
"We’ve done all the study and all the research the league has. It is a challenge to get there, but once you get there it’s okay. The bonus is you get extra time after. We pick up another bye week so guys will make the most of that."
(On if outscoring opponents 59-6 in the first quarter of home games is due to extra energy)
"We’re prepared. Wish we could carry that on to the other three quarters. That’s what we’re working towards is just to play consistent throughout."
(On if getting to .500 would mean anything or is it just game by game)
"Right now it’s just game-to-game. We’ll be able to look back when it’s all said and done and see what happened and why and so on. Right now we’ve got a little momentum and we just have to keep it. Really outstanding opponent we’re playing and they’re one of the top seeds right now. This will be a good chance for us to really see how we match-up with some of the elite teams in the league."
(On if he can see the team turning the corner)
"Yeah, we’re getting there. I think it’s apparent, if you go back and look at that stretch. I think you guys called it the ‘gauntlet,’ we didn’t. It was challenging. It’s the next week up, the next team up. We got through that and we played some good teams and we played them well. We don’t have the number of wins we’d like to have right now, but we still have three left and it’s worth beating the next one."
(On if he feels the team has learned to finish)
"We’ve finished. We found ways in the last couple weeks. It’s about playing consistent throughout the game. Respecting your opponent and not paying particular attention to the score board. I don’t think the guys really started last week until about two and a half minutes left and then all of sudden it was. ‘Hey let’s see if we can get another shutout.’ It’s just play and make plays. That’s how you win games. You don’t concern yourself with the score or anything else. You just go out and execute."
(On if he sees anything from Arizona and QB Drew Stanton on why they haven’t been as good on the road)
"No.They’ve played some good teams…turnovers and such. They’ve got a lot of injuries too, that can affect the team. We’re not judging them based on what they’ve done in the past on the road. We’re judging them based on match-up. "
Gregg Williams – Post-Practice – Dec. 10, 2014
(On if the short week affected preparation)
"It really doesn’t affect it too much at all. I smile when I talk to the staff about the fact of you realize how much time you waste during the other weeks when you go ahead and get everything done in this short amount of time. It’s all a joke. The experience on the staff helps us. We’ve been through this before. I’ve been through a lot of short weeks. (Head Coach) Jeff’s (Fisher) been through a lot of short weeks. I really like the schedule that we had and how Jeff set us up for recovery and everything. Our players have done an outstanding job of from the time when we hit the ground coming in Sunday night on putting that one to bed and getting onto the next one. That’s what you’ve got to do as a real pro and they’ve done a good job. From a recovery aspect, from a health aspect and from a mental preparation aspect they’ve done a very nice job. Now it’s time to play."
(On Cardinals QB Drew Stanton)
"I’ve had a lot of respect for him throughout his career and I think he’s been undervalued a lot of different times at other places he’s been. He’s got good mobility. Very well-coached out there. I think the experience on that staff…not only I’ve known (Cardinals Head Coach) Bruce (Arians) for a long time and gone against him for a long time, but there’s an awful lot of offensive and defensive but really experience on that staff that helps people on the next man up. I’ve always used that next man up philosophy also, and you’ve got to be able to affect the ball game by the best way you can by whoever’s playing the game. They’ve done some good things on tailoring the game plan to him. Calling things and shots that are appropriate for his skill set. He’s going to pose a really good task for us. He played well at the end of that ball game the last time. We’ve got our work cut out for us."
(On the play of the defense these past few weeks)
"They’re playing very well and I kind of smile when I go back early in the year when people wanted to pick them apart. I’ve said this every single week, it’s been a consecutive week. This is a good, young group. There’s a play here or there early in the games, early in the year that you wish you had back, but they’ve played very dominant in most of the games, in almost all of the games. We’ve eliminated some of those miscommunication things from a young standpoint, from an experience standpoint. They’re playing very well. We’ve got to take the next step. We’ve still got to put whatever it is behind us. It’s ‘What have you done for me lately and how have you played for me today?’ We’ve got to get ready to play the next one."
(On how having multiple versatile players that can be used in coverage or on the line of scrimmage helps him)
"Wow, is that a lot of fun? When he first came in here, when you’re talking about No. 26 (S Mark) Barron I had that smile in the back of my mind the whole time. Didn’t want to show too much of it. Not only him, but all of them. These guys here like the fact that they get an opportunity to do a lot of different things defensively. We’ll play behind the ball. We’ll play on the ball. We have linebackers playing as defensive linemen if you’ve seen us do some of those packages and stuff. The ability to affect different protections, the ability to rush the passer with different kinds of guys, not only your defensive linemen, we’ve got some safeties, even some corners and got some linebackers that can all do those kind of things. What we’re trying to do is paint the picture for the quarterback that who knows whose coming and they’ve done a very good job with that."
(On Cardinals RB Kerwynn Williams)
"Solid. Really he’s caught all of our eyes in the meetings rooms this week. We’ve really focused quite a bit on this pass game on what they were able to do against a pretty good defense. They were able to lineup and run the ball, especially at the end of the ball game in what we call a four-minute situation. A third of his yards came in that one drive alone. We’re going to have to do a great job, play gap control. We’re going to have to do a great job of tackling and hopefully not get into those one-on-one tackling situations because he fits right in with what they’re doing."
(On DE Robert Quinn’s sack production since Week 7)
"You know what? He’s sacked a lot of people before I got here. He’s always had that. The guys have knocked the pocket his direction a little bit too and he’s been able to finish some plays. I wish I could take credit for that, I can’t. Robert’s an unusual talent in that area and he’s just scratched the surface with how good he can be. Really, I’m serious with that. I think he’s going to continue to improve with years to come."