 }})
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2009
- Messages
- 49,339
- Reaction score
- 7,227
- Points
- 2,244
- Location
- Greensboro, NC
- Military Branch
- Alma Mater
September 17, 2012
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On the injuries to defensive end Adam Carriker, linebacker Brian Orakpo and cornerback Josh Wilson:
“Adam will be gone for the season… [It is a] quad tendon tear right at the face of the knee. It will be about a five-month recovery time. Orakpo tore his pectoral in a little different spot on the right side. He’ll be about a four-month recovery time, so he’ll be gone for the season as well. Concussions have a certain protocol that we go through and that starts tomorrow, so I’ll have more information [about Wilson] on Wednesday.”
On Orakpo’s pectoral injury in relation to the one he suffered in Week 17 last year:
“It was the same pec, just a different area.”
On the defense without Carriker and Orakpo:
“We have young guys like Jarvis Jenkins, who now gets the opportunity to start. A year ago, we lost Jarvis and Adam took over and did a great job last year… Played a very high level. Jarvis will get his opportunity. Kedric Golston, Chris Baker, we’ve got a guy like Doug Worthington from the practice squad. Now, obviously, he [Worthington] gets activated, at least that’s the direction we’re thinking about going right now. And then at outside linebacker you’ve got guys like [Rob] Jackson, Chris Wilson, they both have to step up and play at a very high level because we all know what Orakpo has been for our defense and how well he played. Both of those guys will play at that position and hopefully they play well.”
On if Orakpo’s surgery is the same as last season:
“I don’t think they’ll know for sure until they go in there. They just know that it’s a different part of the pectoral. The recovery time is about three- or four-month range, closer to four.”
On if Orakpo’s injury is a byproduct of not completely healing from his last injury:
“They feel like he tweaked some scar tissue. Obviously, he felt good enough to play and played very well in the beginning of the game. He just did something during the game and if you take a look at the MRI, it’s a different part of the pectoral. I’m sure they’ll know for sure once they go in and look at what happened, but according to the MRI, it’s a completely different area than the initial tear.”
On speaking with wide receiver Joshua Morgan after the game regarding his fourth quarter penalty:
“I talked to our team and Josh was in the room. I did not talk with him specifically. I think the actions spoke volumes and we had talked about keeping your poise before the game. Obviously, there are a number of reasons why. Coaches go over the film.”
On dealing with a player after he commits a costly penalty:
“You always play the best players. You play the guys that you think give you the best chance to win. What you’re trying to do is make sure that it doesn’t reoccur again… for our whole football team. It could mean the difference between winning and losing, guys keeping their composure. A lot of these veterans set these guys off with a little push or hit at the end of the play and all of a sudden a guy loses his composure. He has to be smart enough to get up and walk away. That happens within the National Football League and you have to be smart enough to keep your composure.”
On if Morgan apologized to the team:
“No. There is no need to. We’ll take a look at the film and there are probably eight other scenarios we can use in the game besides that one about people keeping their poise and composure.”
On if Morgan is emotionally explosive in practice:
“There are a lot of guys that are emotionally explosive. There are some guys who aren’t explosive at all. When you get hit, your first reaction as a football player is to retaliate. One thing you have to learn in the National Football League is they normally catch the second guy, not the first guy. Every once and a while the first guy will get caught. More times than not, the second guy gets caught. If you take a look at the film, you see guys pushing guys in the face, all of a sudden a guy loses his composure and the other guy is walking away, and when you throw the football at him, he’s laughing. That’s part of a guy growing up.”
On the hit to tight end Fred Davis’ head:
“Looking at that hit to the head, if he does not [have a concussion], then he should have one. That was a pretty good hit. Probably as a hard of a hit as you’re going to get to the head.”
On the growth in Orakpo’s game:
“He’s a guy that can do it all — he can cover, he can rush, he can play the run, he’s very physical, very smart, he’s a team player — all of the things you look for in a Pro Bowl player. Obviously, we’ll miss him.”
On if linebacker Rob Jackson is ready to replace Orakpo:
“We’ll have both Rob and Chris [Wilson] working at the outside linebacker position to see who is the best. They both have a lot of ability. They both have natural pass rush ability. They can both stop the run. It will be interesting to see who wants the job.”
On if the hit to Davis should have resulted in a flag:
“No question. It was helmed to helmet. There’s no question about that.”
On the labor situation with NFL officials and its impact on player safety:
“I said that after the game – I’ve never been in a situation where you feel that there is going to be an explosion on the field. You’re hoping that doesn’t happen. It was very close to losing control.”
On the impact of NFL referees on the outcome of a game:
“You have to keep control of what’s going on on the field, and once you get used to doing something, it’s second nature and you go about your business. Everyone is professionals in this league in their own right. Sometimes you don’t make those calls right away and all of a sudden people do lose their composure.”
On his concerns about the defense not making stops:
“We’re going to work on it. We didn’t play one of our better games yesterday – that’s for sure. You take a look at our run defense and you take a look at our pass defense and them controlling the football, we’re going to work on the things we did poorly and hopefully improve quickly.”
On what he says to fans who are upset with the special teams unit:
“Last year, if you take a look at the blocked field goals, we lost a number of offensive linemen. In every scenario, there’s a different person. You just keep on working to eliminate those problems. I think we’ve done much better. We’ve stayed healthy in the offensive line. What happened yesterday is what I told you after the game – some person was more concerned with coverage than they were protection and all of sudden, you take off too quick and there’s another mistake. It compounds. You have to protect first and cover second. That starts with me. We’ll go back and keep on working on it.”
On how he would make it known to the NFL if he was unhappy with officials:
“You talk to the league. You let them know how you feel.”
On if he considered asking for a measurement on Morgan’s fourth-quarter reception:
“No, I knew what it was going to be. I was right there. It would’ve been fourth-and-a-foot. We would’ve gone for it.”
On his decision to attempt a 62-yard field goal:
“There’s a lot involved in a scenario like that. It’s fourth-and-16 or fourth-and-15, 15-and-a-half – whatever it was. You have the crowd noise, they have a time-out and they see what set you’re in. I’ve watched [Billy] Cundiff kick off, I’ve watched him kick field goals. We’ve kicked them from 50 or 52 [yards]. You just go with what your gut is. I’ve done it before both ways. I’ve kicked field goals at 63 and I’ve gone Hail Mary’s at 63. It all depends on what your gut is at that time — the wind, the environment, indoor/outdoor — all those scenarios.”
On if he talked to Cundiff before the kick about his range:
“I watch him. I watch him in practice. We get a chance to evaluate these guys when they are kicking 52-yarders, 55-yarders in practice, or you watch them in warm-ups – how far it goes over the bar.”
On how much he talked to Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith about the 62-yard field goal:
“I just followed my own instinct on that one. I always talk to Danny and say 'What do you think? Can he make it?’ You’re always asking that. You don’t put a guy in a situation that you don’t think he’s ready for. But when you see somebody do it in practice and you see how far it goes over, you look at the environment, you look at his kick-offs, you know the strength of the leg. I’ve had Jason Elam when I was with him, Matt Prater, kick 72-yarders in practice in Denver – obviously, it’s a little bit more elevation – and make it by a couple yards. These kickers that can kick-off have the ability. They’re not put in that situation very often because obviously where the ball is spotted. You only do it at the end of the half or the end of the game – or else there would be a lot of field goals. I think I saw [Sebastian] Janikowski one time in Denver kick a 57-yarder and I think it would’ve been good at 75 or 78. It went over the top of the crossbar, but how often do they get a chance to kick those?”
On the chances of safety Brandon Meriweather and Josh Wilson playing Sunday:
“As for Josh, I said he will go through the tests. There’s a concussion protocol. Meriweather, we’ll find out on Wednesday. I really don’t know. He’s still a little bit sore. We’ll get a chance to evaluate him.”
On if he has talked to the league about the officiating:
“No, I haven’t. I haven’t called them.”
On running back Alfred Morris’ performance Sunday:
“I thought he did great. He can make the first guy miss. There are not a lot of running backs that have the ability to make people miss like he does. I thought he did a great job.”
On Morris’ areas of improvement from Week 1:
“I thought he played pretty good last week. His angles, we talked about some of his angles, play-action passes and some of the runs that he was little off on. I thought he was much-improved this week. Again, he’s pretty relaxed for a rookie. He’s got intensity but it doesn’t seem like the game is too big for him. I really like the way he handles himself.”
On adjustments he made in the secondary against Saints wide receiver Danny Amendola:
“We had to make some adjustments. How many catches did he have? Fifteen, 12, something like that? Sometimes when you give up some of those short passes, the key is not to give up the third downs. Obviously, they were better on third downs than we would have liked. You always make adjustments here or there. They did do a good job of executing and that’s something we’ll keep on working on.”
On if he talked to Rams head coach Jeff Fisher after the game about the officiating:
“No, you’re getting on to next week’s opponent. I think the thing I was most upset about was the flag coming out. Anytime a flag comes out, there’s a 15-yard penalty that goes with it. That wasn’t called and the official told me he would have done the same for me. I said, 'If you would’ve done the same for me then I would expect you to throw a flag if I threw a flag in that situation.’ Anyway, there was no penalty.”
On if he has ever been part of a game where, when the team is in victory formation, the guards and centers get charged and pushed back into the quarterback:
“I’ve seen it a few times – mostly in the college ranks more so than the pro ranks. I’ve seen it happen.”
On if not charging the victory formation is an unwritten rule in the NFL:
“I’ve seen penetration. I’m not sure if you’re referring to the [Giants] play. I don’t think I’ve seen it quite like that before. I can’t say I have. But I’ve seen penetration before and somebody swiping at the ball – not quite like that.”
On if he would have taken offense to that call:
“I think [Giants head coach] Tom [Coughlin] spoke for himself. It’s kind of a fine line when you’re making decisions as a head coach – what you think you should do. Personally, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On the injuries to defensive end Adam Carriker, linebacker Brian Orakpo and cornerback Josh Wilson:
“Adam will be gone for the season… [It is a] quad tendon tear right at the face of the knee. It will be about a five-month recovery time. Orakpo tore his pectoral in a little different spot on the right side. He’ll be about a four-month recovery time, so he’ll be gone for the season as well. Concussions have a certain protocol that we go through and that starts tomorrow, so I’ll have more information [about Wilson] on Wednesday.”
On Orakpo’s pectoral injury in relation to the one he suffered in Week 17 last year:
“It was the same pec, just a different area.”
On the defense without Carriker and Orakpo:
“We have young guys like Jarvis Jenkins, who now gets the opportunity to start. A year ago, we lost Jarvis and Adam took over and did a great job last year… Played a very high level. Jarvis will get his opportunity. Kedric Golston, Chris Baker, we’ve got a guy like Doug Worthington from the practice squad. Now, obviously, he [Worthington] gets activated, at least that’s the direction we’re thinking about going right now. And then at outside linebacker you’ve got guys like [Rob] Jackson, Chris Wilson, they both have to step up and play at a very high level because we all know what Orakpo has been for our defense and how well he played. Both of those guys will play at that position and hopefully they play well.”
On if Orakpo’s surgery is the same as last season:
“I don’t think they’ll know for sure until they go in there. They just know that it’s a different part of the pectoral. The recovery time is about three- or four-month range, closer to four.”
On if Orakpo’s injury is a byproduct of not completely healing from his last injury:
“They feel like he tweaked some scar tissue. Obviously, he felt good enough to play and played very well in the beginning of the game. He just did something during the game and if you take a look at the MRI, it’s a different part of the pectoral. I’m sure they’ll know for sure once they go in and look at what happened, but according to the MRI, it’s a completely different area than the initial tear.”
On speaking with wide receiver Joshua Morgan after the game regarding his fourth quarter penalty:
“I talked to our team and Josh was in the room. I did not talk with him specifically. I think the actions spoke volumes and we had talked about keeping your poise before the game. Obviously, there are a number of reasons why. Coaches go over the film.”
On dealing with a player after he commits a costly penalty:
“You always play the best players. You play the guys that you think give you the best chance to win. What you’re trying to do is make sure that it doesn’t reoccur again… for our whole football team. It could mean the difference between winning and losing, guys keeping their composure. A lot of these veterans set these guys off with a little push or hit at the end of the play and all of a sudden a guy loses his composure. He has to be smart enough to get up and walk away. That happens within the National Football League and you have to be smart enough to keep your composure.”
On if Morgan apologized to the team:
“No. There is no need to. We’ll take a look at the film and there are probably eight other scenarios we can use in the game besides that one about people keeping their poise and composure.”
On if Morgan is emotionally explosive in practice:
“There are a lot of guys that are emotionally explosive. There are some guys who aren’t explosive at all. When you get hit, your first reaction as a football player is to retaliate. One thing you have to learn in the National Football League is they normally catch the second guy, not the first guy. Every once and a while the first guy will get caught. More times than not, the second guy gets caught. If you take a look at the film, you see guys pushing guys in the face, all of a sudden a guy loses his composure and the other guy is walking away, and when you throw the football at him, he’s laughing. That’s part of a guy growing up.”
On the hit to tight end Fred Davis’ head:
“Looking at that hit to the head, if he does not [have a concussion], then he should have one. That was a pretty good hit. Probably as a hard of a hit as you’re going to get to the head.”
On the growth in Orakpo’s game:
“He’s a guy that can do it all — he can cover, he can rush, he can play the run, he’s very physical, very smart, he’s a team player — all of the things you look for in a Pro Bowl player. Obviously, we’ll miss him.”
On if linebacker Rob Jackson is ready to replace Orakpo:
“We’ll have both Rob and Chris [Wilson] working at the outside linebacker position to see who is the best. They both have a lot of ability. They both have natural pass rush ability. They can both stop the run. It will be interesting to see who wants the job.”
On if the hit to Davis should have resulted in a flag:
“No question. It was helmed to helmet. There’s no question about that.”
On the labor situation with NFL officials and its impact on player safety:
“I said that after the game – I’ve never been in a situation where you feel that there is going to be an explosion on the field. You’re hoping that doesn’t happen. It was very close to losing control.”
On the impact of NFL referees on the outcome of a game:
“You have to keep control of what’s going on on the field, and once you get used to doing something, it’s second nature and you go about your business. Everyone is professionals in this league in their own right. Sometimes you don’t make those calls right away and all of a sudden people do lose their composure.”
On his concerns about the defense not making stops:
“We’re going to work on it. We didn’t play one of our better games yesterday – that’s for sure. You take a look at our run defense and you take a look at our pass defense and them controlling the football, we’re going to work on the things we did poorly and hopefully improve quickly.”
On what he says to fans who are upset with the special teams unit:
“Last year, if you take a look at the blocked field goals, we lost a number of offensive linemen. In every scenario, there’s a different person. You just keep on working to eliminate those problems. I think we’ve done much better. We’ve stayed healthy in the offensive line. What happened yesterday is what I told you after the game – some person was more concerned with coverage than they were protection and all of sudden, you take off too quick and there’s another mistake. It compounds. You have to protect first and cover second. That starts with me. We’ll go back and keep on working on it.”
On how he would make it known to the NFL if he was unhappy with officials:
“You talk to the league. You let them know how you feel.”
On if he considered asking for a measurement on Morgan’s fourth-quarter reception:
“No, I knew what it was going to be. I was right there. It would’ve been fourth-and-a-foot. We would’ve gone for it.”
On his decision to attempt a 62-yard field goal:
“There’s a lot involved in a scenario like that. It’s fourth-and-16 or fourth-and-15, 15-and-a-half – whatever it was. You have the crowd noise, they have a time-out and they see what set you’re in. I’ve watched [Billy] Cundiff kick off, I’ve watched him kick field goals. We’ve kicked them from 50 or 52 [yards]. You just go with what your gut is. I’ve done it before both ways. I’ve kicked field goals at 63 and I’ve gone Hail Mary’s at 63. It all depends on what your gut is at that time — the wind, the environment, indoor/outdoor — all those scenarios.”
On if he talked to Cundiff before the kick about his range:
“I watch him. I watch him in practice. We get a chance to evaluate these guys when they are kicking 52-yarders, 55-yarders in practice, or you watch them in warm-ups – how far it goes over the bar.”
On how much he talked to Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith about the 62-yard field goal:
“I just followed my own instinct on that one. I always talk to Danny and say 'What do you think? Can he make it?’ You’re always asking that. You don’t put a guy in a situation that you don’t think he’s ready for. But when you see somebody do it in practice and you see how far it goes over, you look at the environment, you look at his kick-offs, you know the strength of the leg. I’ve had Jason Elam when I was with him, Matt Prater, kick 72-yarders in practice in Denver – obviously, it’s a little bit more elevation – and make it by a couple yards. These kickers that can kick-off have the ability. They’re not put in that situation very often because obviously where the ball is spotted. You only do it at the end of the half or the end of the game – or else there would be a lot of field goals. I think I saw [Sebastian] Janikowski one time in Denver kick a 57-yarder and I think it would’ve been good at 75 or 78. It went over the top of the crossbar, but how often do they get a chance to kick those?”
On the chances of safety Brandon Meriweather and Josh Wilson playing Sunday:
“As for Josh, I said he will go through the tests. There’s a concussion protocol. Meriweather, we’ll find out on Wednesday. I really don’t know. He’s still a little bit sore. We’ll get a chance to evaluate him.”
On if he has talked to the league about the officiating:
“No, I haven’t. I haven’t called them.”
On running back Alfred Morris’ performance Sunday:
“I thought he did great. He can make the first guy miss. There are not a lot of running backs that have the ability to make people miss like he does. I thought he did a great job.”
On Morris’ areas of improvement from Week 1:
“I thought he played pretty good last week. His angles, we talked about some of his angles, play-action passes and some of the runs that he was little off on. I thought he was much-improved this week. Again, he’s pretty relaxed for a rookie. He’s got intensity but it doesn’t seem like the game is too big for him. I really like the way he handles himself.”
On adjustments he made in the secondary against Saints wide receiver Danny Amendola:
“We had to make some adjustments. How many catches did he have? Fifteen, 12, something like that? Sometimes when you give up some of those short passes, the key is not to give up the third downs. Obviously, they were better on third downs than we would have liked. You always make adjustments here or there. They did do a good job of executing and that’s something we’ll keep on working on.”
On if he talked to Rams head coach Jeff Fisher after the game about the officiating:
“No, you’re getting on to next week’s opponent. I think the thing I was most upset about was the flag coming out. Anytime a flag comes out, there’s a 15-yard penalty that goes with it. That wasn’t called and the official told me he would have done the same for me. I said, 'If you would’ve done the same for me then I would expect you to throw a flag if I threw a flag in that situation.’ Anyway, there was no penalty.”
On if he has ever been part of a game where, when the team is in victory formation, the guards and centers get charged and pushed back into the quarterback:
“I’ve seen it a few times – mostly in the college ranks more so than the pro ranks. I’ve seen it happen.”
On if not charging the victory formation is an unwritten rule in the NFL:
“I’ve seen penetration. I’m not sure if you’re referring to the [Giants] play. I don’t think I’ve seen it quite like that before. I can’t say I have. But I’ve seen penetration before and somebody swiping at the ball – not quite like that.”
On if he would have taken offense to that call:
“I think [Giants head coach] Tom [Coughlin] spoke for himself. It’s kind of a fine line when you’re making decisions as a head coach – what you think you should do. Personally, I wouldn’t have done it.”
