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September 19, 2012
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On if wide receiver Pierre Garçon practiced:
“He was limited.”
On if safety Brandon Meriweather and cornerback Josh Wilson practiced:
“They both were limited.”
On tight end Fred Davis’ status:
“Fred is fine.”
On if Wilson was cleared to play:
“Yes, he was cleared.”
On teams trying to get in quarterback Robert Griffin III’s head:
“As I said after the game, I felt like the officials didn’t control the game which is a mistake you have to have people take control. There was no control in that game and I was disappointed in that. Hopefully, the officials next week will take control. That is what you have to do as an official. That is a part of your responsibility.”
On leading the league in penalties:
“Well you have to look at the penalties. We are a very disciplined football team. There were a number of those calls that shouldn’t have been called and a number of calls that should have been called. We will work on those things, but I guarantee you at the end of the day we won’t have those penalties.”
On if the penalties were legitimate:
“[Kory] Lichtensteiger got called for two penalties in one game and didn’t make either one of those penalties and there have been a few situations like that. [I’m] not saying we didn’t make penalties, but it wasn’t as bad as it was thought out to be.”
On defensive end Jarvis Jenkins and linebacker Rob Jackson potentially making their first starts:
“They’ve got an opportunity to show what they can do. We’ve got a lot confidence in them because they are on our football team and that is what they are paid to do – play at a high level. I’m not sure which guy will win that position [between Jackson and Chris Wilson] because both guys have got ability and both guys shown at times that they are capable of playing well.”
On Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson:
“They both will get a lot of playing time because of the 3-4 scheme and the nickel scheme, there is a bunch of personnel groups that they could both go into.”
On if he expects Griffin III’s number of carries to decline the rest of the season:
“I can’t tell you that, it all depends on that game. It depends on what defenses are doing.”
On Griffin III being on pace to run 160 times this year and his comfort level with that:
“I can’t tell you. It all depends on how games are going. We are going to do what we think we need to do to win. Obviously, we want to protect Robert as well.”
On if he has had conversations with Griffin III about ways to protect himself when running:
“Well, he has been doing a pretty good job not getting sacked. [Redskins running back] Alfred Morris got two sacks in the first game and he only has one other sack so he has been doing a pretty good job there.”
On death threats being made towards wide receiver Joshua Morgan:
“We have security that will take care of those issues. They will look at it and see if it’s serious or not.”
On what attributes have helped Griffin III succeed so early:
“It has only been a couple of games and we are 1-1. But, Robert has a big upside. He has everything that you look for in a person. He’s got all the physical characteristics as well. But the thing I have been most impressed with is how he is grounded. He comes to work every day and wants to do the best job he can for our football team. He is a natural leader and he wants to improve every day. That gives him a chance with the type of ability and intelligence that he has got to get to the next level.”
On leading the league in points scored:
“Well, it’s after two weeks. At the end of the season, just like penalties… you want to do it over the long run. We have made some strides and I think we are getting used to what we are doing from an offensive perspective. I think every week is a growing experience for us. We are getting a better feel for one another and hopefully we keep it going.”
On NFL teams scoring a record amount of points through the first two weeks this season:
“Usually it averages out at the end.”
On the Bengals and Head Coach Marvin Lewis:
“Last year they went to the playoffs. They ranked seventh – defensively, they have been very consistent with Marvin. He is an excellent football coach and his players play hard and are very well coached. Offensively, they have made strides, obviously, with their quarterback and wide receiver. They added another offensive lineman in the first round so they are a lot more comfortable with themselves after that rookie season. A lot of people picked them for the playoffs, and it’s obvious why they did.”
On his impressions of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton:
“Very smooth, very heady. You can tell he has a great feel for the game. He is a natural thrower and you can see why he went to the Pro Bowl.”
On winning the home opener:
“You want to win every game. Obviously you want to win the opener at home for our fans. We get some great support and I’m sure hoping we can play our best football… We have struggled at home and on the road, so hopefully we can change both of those.”
On Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green:
“He has got everything you look for. He has got speed, he’s got size. He was so impressive coming out [of college] and you never know if guys are going to make the transition right away, and he has. Everything he has done has been spectacular and the game is not too big for him.
On if he was disappointed with the amount of pressure the team got on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford:
“Bradford did a good job getting rid of the football. He played extremely well. Obviously you play to win and we didn’t win. We didn’t get the job done. Hopefully we get some more pressure on any quarterback. You want to get a bunch of sacks if you can, a bunch of turnovers. Normally, when you win the turnover war, you win the game. But then we have a punt blocked, and made some mistakes there as well. We just have got to play better in order to win.”
On linebacker Ryan Kerrigan’s productivity in a four-point stance:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s four-point or if it’s two-point. People use different techniques. Kerrigan is very physical and he has the power to run over you and he has got the quickness and agility to run around you.”
On getting linebacker Markus White back:
“Well, it was one of the reasons we let him go initially. We were hoping to get him on the practice squad and people talked him into him maybe being better suited for a four-man front. Obviously, when Rak [Brian Orakpo] went down, he looked at our situation and knew he would get a chance to come in here and play and play quickly. So I’m glad he is back and I think he will help us out.”
On if Kerrigan is ready to be 'the guy’ as a pass rusher:
“I think Ryan has been 'the guy’ since he has been here. I think it is a learning experience for a guy that was a defensive lineman in college to make the transition but he made it very quickly. I think he helped Brian [Orakpo] with the type of year he had and I think Brian helped Kerrigan as well. But, these guys are guys that are going to compete every down. We always talk about being one or two plays away from being a starter and these guys are going to get an opportunity to show us what they can do and I think they will play well.”
On if defensive end Jarvis Jenkins is ready to be a starter:
“Now Jarvis has the ability to show us – has the opportunity to show us – what he can do being a starter, in both a three-man and four-man fronts. I think he is looking forward to that opportunity. He is very talented. Obviously unproven, but I will be surprised if he doesn’t play well. We still have got Kedric [Golston]. He gets a chance to play a little bit more. He has played extremely hard and well. I’m sure he’s biting at the bit to show us that, 'Hey, maybe he should be the starter.’ Then you have Chris Baker at the nose tackle position. He’s going to get a chance to play a little bit more. You take [Barry] Cofield and you take a look at [Stephen] Bowen; they are going to want to play at a higher level than they are playing because they lost one of their teammates, one of the starters. When you lose a couple of guys like we did, you lose a three-time Pro Bowl player and another guy who has been a starter, everybody has got to pick up their game a little bit and that’s what I expect them to do.”
On if he has to alter the offense because of the defense:
“I think if you look at the games, each game we were right there… We didn’t have to go to our two minute attack or something like that. When you are down 14 or 17 points, then sometimes you have to change but we haven’t had to do that.”
Quarterback Robert Griffin III
On the biggest adjustment to the NFL:
“Speed of the game is a big one. Learning the system – you have to learn a whole new language from college. You have to throw that all away and pretty much learn something new. That’s pretty challenging. Other than that, after two weeks, we’re pretty much acclimated to the league. Not necessarily ready for everything, but we felt the speed of the game in the first two games and how offense is going to operate on gameday – just when it’s live and guys are going all out because they know it means something. I think you can feel that after the first two games. The next learning curve will be playoffs and the speed of the game when you get to the playoffs. For now, you just have to take it one play at a time.”
On the pressure to get the first win and how it feels to have it out of the way:
“It’s huge. It’s good for a team. It doesn’t make you relax, but at least you have one win on the books. Right now we’re .500 or 1-1 trying to get to 2-1. There are a lot of 1-1 teams in the league right now and everybody is trying to do the same thing.”
On Colts quarterback Andrew Luck:
“I haven’t seen him play since our preseason game. I saw a couple highlights of him. He’s played well. He’s done a good job leading his team. I think they got their first victory this past weekend. Hats off to him. I’m glad that he got his first win out of the way. [Here’s] to a great career for him.”
On being under more pressure last Sunday than in Week 1:
“Like I told you guys, you never watch the rush. It’s something you have to feel. [Tackle] Jammal [Brown] was talking to me when we got back and he said I was letting the guys get extremely close to me before I actually moved. That’s probably because I wasn’t looking at them. You just kind of feel things. You have that pocket presence. We were able to move around and make some off-schedule plays. You want to be able to sit in that pocket a little more comfortably and then throw the ball around. We made it work with what we had to do. We moved the ball the whole game, so I’m not mad about that at all.”
On passing in the pocket in the NFL versus in college:
“These guys are good. Offensive linemen are good, but defensive linemen are some of the best athletes in the league. These guys are doing a great job getting pressure. The one thing I always told offensive linemen is as long as they can stay on them, I can make them miss. It’s when you get clean guys that you have problems in the NFL. It’s not necessarily just being on your toes. You have to be ready to throw at any time.”
On if he thinks other teams will push the limits like in last week’s game:
“There was some extracurricular stuff going on after the plays last week. They were doing a lot of dirty things. I still think they have an extremely good team and that doesn’t take anything away from them, but the game was unprofessional. Who am I to talk? I’ve barely been a pro very long, but from what I experienced against the Saints compared to that game, it was definitely unprofessional. It does need to be cleaned up.”
On if that changes the way he does things:
“No, you can’t. It’s something you can respond to. You don’t go into a game saying, 'Well, if they’re going to let it go, we have to be the first ones to do it.’ You don’t do it that way. It’s just something you can respond to. Hopefully, going against the Bengals, they’ll be a lot more professional.”
On if he thinks teams will continue to go after him:
“They made it a point – obviously all week – to hit me. Some of the shots were cheap in that nature, but it’s nothing I can control. Like I said, teams are going to try to hit me because they don’t think I can take a hit. I think I’ve proved over my career that I can. It’s football. I remember one play, after the play, the guy said 'We’re going to hit you every play.’ I said, 'Isn’t this football?’ It’s nothing that I’m not used to. It was extremely weird the way they [the Rams] went about it, though.”
On if the offense feels more pressure to put up points following injuries to the defense:
“I think it would be a disservice to our defense to say that – the guys that we have, the depth that we do have. You can’t replace [defensive end Adam] Carriker or [linebacker Brian] Orakpo. Those are two staples of the defense. I think it would be a disservice to them to say we have to score more points because they went down and our defense isn’t very good. I think our defense will still be able to go out and do the things they plan to do. We just know as an offense, our job is to move the ball. We have to try to move the ball every time we go out there.”
On the first home game:
“It’s going to be fun. The preseason opener – there were a lot of people there, a lot of excitement but nothing like the regular season where things matter. The fans are definitely going to show up and we’re going to show up for them.”
On the forearm to his head after he was taken down:
“It was a forearm to the head. It’s just…They say they want to get the quarterback out. I don’t want to tip-toe the lines of anything that’s happened like bounties or anything like that, but they were definitely going after me.”
On his memories of growing up in Okinawa, Japan:
“I know my sister ended up speaking Japanese fluently. I was there for three years. I want to go back. I haven’t been back since. I plan to do that sometime soon.”
On if his first exposure to football was in Japan:
“My mom wouldn’t let me play football when I was a kid. She didn’t want me to get hurt. I know people are going to take that and run with it. I didn’t play until I was in seventh grade, so I didn’t play there. I played basketball there, though.”
On if he is proud to represent Japan:
“Yes, I definitely am. I think I’m one of the only, or the only, one in the NFL who was born in Japan. It’s a great honor. I’d like to thank my mom and my dad for having me over there. “
On dumping the ball versus running to avoid being hit:
“I tried to. On designed runs I can’t really give it to anyone. I just have to go out there and try to make something happen. On some of the runs where I break the pocket, I do try to dump it off to guys. I also try to stretch it out as much as I possibly can to let guys get open. There are always ways to avoid hits. Some of the hits that I was getting in the past game were unavoidable.”
On concern about his number of carries:
“I think it’ll die down over the course of the year. I think from game to game it will be different. Sometimes I’ll carry the ball 10 times, sometimes I’ll carry the ball two times. It’s just a matter of how defense are going to play. Our coaches will get more and more creative with the game plans we have going in. I don’t expect to carry that many times.”
On the performance of the offense against the Rams:
“I thought it went well. It was very chaotic out there. We had a lot of broken plays, but we had to move the ball to where we could get the chance to make a play at the end of the game. We got to where we needed to be and had an unfortunate penalty. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good.”
On passing situations:
“Not very many teams will just run the ball consistently in those situations, so they’re going to drop eight guys and try to cover. That’s when you have to make broken plays happen. Not very often can you throw anything in rhythm with those kind of coverages.”
On the first coach to tell him to protect himself when scrambling:
“In high school, I just ran. Guys were a lot smaller. In college, they tried to temper that down. I ran my sophomore year. Coach taught me to get what I can, but protect myself when I get down. That’s how I’ve become pretty good at avoiding hits or avoiding the bigger hits. There’s a couple times they were leading with their helmets and I had to dodge them on the sideline. That’s just something I’ve become accustomed to – being able to move my body that way.”
On wide receiver Joshua Morgan’s penalty:
“We were trying to not let one thing affect another so we were going to go for it on fourth-and-16 so I was out there worrying about the next play. And then after we came off the field, when we were going to attempt the field goal, I just went over and talked to him and told him he’ll learn from that mistake. With these professionals you don’t have to tell them, 'Hey, it’s okay. Learn from that. Don’t let it happen again.’ They know that. He apologized to me for the mistake. The one thing I told him was I will ride or die with him. He’s my receiver. He’s a guy on this team and I’m never going to throw him under the bus.”
On putting up more points to keep up with the NFL game:
“You want to score points as an offense. I was under the impression in the NFL you can win games 14-7 but it’s whatever the game calls for. Sometimes there’s defensive struggles, and you have those kind of games sometimes when the offenses are clicking and you have those shootouts. It’s funny, 31-28 is a shootout in the NFL. In college, it’s a low-scoring game. So, I’m used to it. You’ve just got to do what you have to try to win the game.”
On how a reverse affects a defense:
“The one thing teams don’t want to give up is the big play, but they also don’t want to give reverses up. Reverses can turn into touchdowns easily so we saw that. They were jumping on that so we decided to go over the top, but it’s always a part of the scheme. If Hank [Leonard Hankerson] wouldn’t have been open, there was someone else that I could’ve thrown the ball to, and he just happened to be open. I threw it to him. He caught it. Touchdown.”
On how he feels after taking many hits in Sunday’s game against the Rams:
“I thought I was going to be sore but I actually wasn’t sore. Thank God I’m fine today. That was one hit I thought I would be sore from. Usually when you get hit in the neck/back area, it takes a couple days to show up but it hasn’t shown up and prayerfully it won’t.”
On what he sees looking back at the interception made by Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan:
“Just me trying to make a play when I shouldn’t have. Sometimes in games you have to take those sacks. I was getting ready to get sacked and I tried to make an off-balance throw and Finnegan made a good play. He’s a good player. There’s good players all around the league and I’ve just got to realize that sometimes I’ve got to take sacks in those situations.”
On if the fan base’s desire for a winner surprises him:
“You have to be ready for it. Once the 'Skins made the trade to get me here, the fans were going nuts ever since then. I’ve always said it’s like a much, much bigger Baylor. Once I got to Baylor, I was deemed a savior of that program and it’s the same thing here. What I tell people is it’s not just me out there. I tell the team that too, and they realize that. They know that all of them have to go out there and help me win the game. So, that’s the big thing. As long as the team knows that it’s not just me, the fans are going to do what fans do. They’re going to cheer for you. They’re going to boo you if things aren’t going well.”
On ways he notices the fan base’s desire:
“I can’t go anywhere without a hoodie or a hat on. The fans want a piece of me. They want to talk to you. They want to let you know that they’re behind you all the time no matter what. I’m going to hold them to that. Hopefully, we won’t have those bad times but we’re looking forward to winning for them and for ourselves.”
On how difficult it is to be a leader as a rookie:
“I think it’s a lot easier when it starts in rookie minicamps, OTAs, things of that nature when you come out and show who you are, rather than trying to come out and tell guys, 'Hey, you need to run that route harder,’ when you don’t even know what you’re doing on your drop backs. You’ve got to learn your stuff, show them you’re going to work hard, be the first guy in and last guy out, and then you can show them on the field in live action. I know our first preseason game we played a few snaps. But a lot of guys were excited about that and I could feel them growing as far as them looking at me as a leader and then after the first regular season game, we beat the Saints. Now, everyone’s bought in. It’s a lot easier for me to go out there and say something. I’m not ever really going to chew anybody out but I can also just lead them. I think they’ll listen to me now. So when it comes to guys like [wide receiver] Josh [Morgan] or other guys that make plays or didn’t make plays during the game, they’ll listen to me when I tell them, 'Hey, it’s okay. You’ve got to make up for that and I know you will.’”
On the Bengals:
“They’re better than the numbers show. I was telling this to the Bengals’ press. They’re better than the numbers show. They’re 31st in the league right now in total yardage but if you look at the games they played in, they’ve had big plays on them but they’re a very stingy defense. Good linebackers. Good D-line. Good secondary. A lot of big names in the secondary, guys that have played for a while and have done a good job at doing it. So, you’ve got to take them seriously and don’t really look at those numbers. And we didn’t [against the Rams]. We’re focusing on us, knowing that we’ve got to go out and execute. If we execute to a T, then we can go out and move ball to score touchdowns.”
On how to bounce back from a loss:
“Some guys say you’ve got 14 more to get over that one, but for me, I always take it one game at a time because you never know if you’re going to get that next one. For me, I just try to go back and pay attention to detail. I’m usually not in a great mood after losses. We had a day off so I was able to get that out of my system and just be able to smile for you guys. But for me, it’s just about getting back to details, paying attention to details and make sure you continue to work hard. Change what you need to change. Learn from mistakes during the game and never be satisfied.”
On eye black:
“It looks really cool. It’s supposed to help with glare so I wear the eye black strips on my eyes whether it’s a nighttime game or a day game. I wouldn’t know if there are any effects because I never play without them.”
On if the amount of coverage he gets, nationally and internationally, pressures or focuses him:
“It makes you focus. I know when I was in college during my earlier years, I could watch ESPN and SportsCenter and all those things because I was never on it. Then last year, I learned by talking to some vet guys in the NFL that you can’t watch it anymore because you’re always on it talking about something. If you made a bad play, they’re talking about that bad play. If you made a great play, they’re talking about that great play. So, you never want to get too high or too low. You’ve just got to make sure you do what you have to do to calm yourself down. I go home. I chill out. I watch TV but I don’t watch any kind of sports things. I just relax and do what I have to do to make sure I get my mind off football for just a few hours so when I go back to work the next day, I’m totally locked down.”
On leading the team in last-minute situations:
“You know you have to make plays but you still try to stay within the offense. When we got that fumble late in the game, all we needed was 20 yards to get in field goal range and I think we got 10 or 12 on my run and then we had 9 after Josh’s catch. So, we did our job. We did what we had to do to tie the game and get it into overtime and if we got that first down, then we probably would’ve went for a touchdown for the win. But I don’t feel the pressure in those situations because you just know that you’re going to be successful. One of my coaches at Baylor would always say, 'You choose to think positive.’ So, if you think in a negative light, 'I don’t think we can do this,’ then you’re probably not going to do it. But if you say, 'Hey, we can go do it,’ we will.”
Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis
On the keys to success last season with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton:
“I felt like the rest of the football team realized where we were and that we really had to do a fine, fine job of defense – limit plays, limit explosive plays, limit the score, get the ball back as often as possible for the offense. Secondly, be able to run the ball effectively to get the pressure off of him.”
On tailoring the offense to Dalton’s strengths like the Redskins have done with Robert Griffin III:
“It’s a very similar situation because the Redskins have done a great job of creating the offense with their quarterback. That was the same thing we were doing. The quarterback is your offense. There was no preconceived offense or anything because we were starting from scratch. He was the offense. The offense unfolds and it’s a vision through the eyes of our quarterback and his abilities and so forth. To answer your question, there were really no limits. Yet, we were all starting from scratch learning a new offense and everything that we do unfolds through the quarterback.”
On the challenges Griffin III poses to his defense:
“You really have to play very, very disciplined football. Everybody has to get their job done and you have to make a play when you’re put in the position to make a play. They isolate you and use the entire field. They’ve done an effective job of creating an offense different than what they showed – a lot of it different, one-third of it different – in the preseason. It came out against New Orleans and showed the veer run game, read option-type plays and so forth; then, the plays that came off of it when they didn’t run any of that during the preseason. They obviously worked hard on it without putting it out there in a real game.”
On scoring a record number of points over the first two weeks of the NFL season:
“Offense is doing a good job. They’re clicking. You got quarterbacks that are – even if they’re down by a bit in the first half – they’re coming back and having good second halves. People are throwing and catching the football very well right now. We’ve not played well enough on defense, but I think it’s kind of been a trend somewhat around the league thus far.”
On outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan:
“He’s really done a nice job. We got an opportunity to get to know Ryan and coach him in Mobile [Alabama]. I think he’s a gem. The defensive coaches there have done a great job helping him make the transition from a down guy at Purdue to a game-changing type outside rusher. I’m really happy for him because he was such a great guy. I know he’s had to put a lot of work into it and so forth. He seems knowledgeable about the game and what they’re asking him to do defensively. He’s been very effective in his first two years.”
On why he thinks the Redskins have given up so many points on defense:
“I think they’re doing a good job of defense. I think [Defensive Coordinator] Jim [Haslett] has a lot of good schemes – from pressure to the trap coverages. The things that they’re doing…They give you some different looks. They’ll sink down and give you a little 46-type look. They do some different things to get you moving and going on offense. Again, it’s early in the year and I wouldn’t be as critical to judge where they are right now. We know we have to go play against a really physical football team – a team that’s been optimistic. They scored a touchdown in the first play of the game against St. Louis’ offense last week. I think they’ve got a lot of good players who play hard and play physical.”
Bengals Quarterback Andy Dalton
On if the Bengals’ running game and defense helped him succeed as a rookie:
“Your rookie year there’s a lot of new stuff happening. It is nice to have those things but we were pretty balanced offensively. Off runs, it was just making big plays when we had the chance to. I feel like we did that for the most part last year.”
On the transition from running a college offense to a pro offense:
“I was fortunate. The way we did things at TCU really helped me coming into the offense that we’re running here. There’s a lot of similar stuff that we were doing. I think it made the transition a lot easier for me.”
On advice he would give quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season. Just stay the course. It’s a long season. You can’t put too much into one game. Just go play the best you can.”
On if he thought Griffin III could be an NFL quarterback when they played in college:
“You know he’s a talented guy. You can see that then. It really showed a lot for him to win the Heisman and do the things he did his junior year. You can tell the kind of talent he has.”
On feeling prepared in his first NFL game:
“I felt like going into it I was given every opportunity to come in and be the starter. For me, I felt like I was prepared. You never know what you’re going to expect. It’s the first regular season game. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to be new for you. It’s just how you react and how you handle the things. I felt like I was ready for it. I felt like my knowledge of the offense and the way I carried myself – I felt like I was well-prepared for it.”
On if his success last year validated the Bengals decision to start him early:
“I think it definitely validates it. For me personally, we got a lot bit of credibility around here now. It shows that guys know what they’re going to get out of me. I think it definitely helps with that.”
On if his offense ever has to pick up the defense:
“I think so. You never know what kind of game it’s going to be. The goal is to win by one point – whether it’s 3-2 or 45-46, it doesn’t really matter. You just have find a way to win. For us, we feel like we have to score. I think that’s what every offense is trying to do – score every time they have the ball. We’ve had to score a little bit more than we usually had to and we’re finding ways to get the win. It doesn’t really matter. We’ve got full confidence in this defense that they’re going to pick it up. You never know what kind of game it’s going to be.”
On the benefits of working alongside wide receiver A.J. Green:
“It’s been good. Everybody is going to talk about us together just because of the quarterback-receiver combo. We came in together. He’s a special talent. We’ve got a lot of other guys around here too that have been making a lot of plays for us, as you can see last week. It’s been nice to have the group of receiver and skill guys we have here.”
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On if wide receiver Pierre Garçon practiced:
“He was limited.”
On if safety Brandon Meriweather and cornerback Josh Wilson practiced:
“They both were limited.”
On tight end Fred Davis’ status:
“Fred is fine.”
On if Wilson was cleared to play:
“Yes, he was cleared.”
On teams trying to get in quarterback Robert Griffin III’s head:
“As I said after the game, I felt like the officials didn’t control the game which is a mistake you have to have people take control. There was no control in that game and I was disappointed in that. Hopefully, the officials next week will take control. That is what you have to do as an official. That is a part of your responsibility.”
On leading the league in penalties:
“Well you have to look at the penalties. We are a very disciplined football team. There were a number of those calls that shouldn’t have been called and a number of calls that should have been called. We will work on those things, but I guarantee you at the end of the day we won’t have those penalties.”
On if the penalties were legitimate:
“[Kory] Lichtensteiger got called for two penalties in one game and didn’t make either one of those penalties and there have been a few situations like that. [I’m] not saying we didn’t make penalties, but it wasn’t as bad as it was thought out to be.”
On defensive end Jarvis Jenkins and linebacker Rob Jackson potentially making their first starts:
“They’ve got an opportunity to show what they can do. We’ve got a lot confidence in them because they are on our football team and that is what they are paid to do – play at a high level. I’m not sure which guy will win that position [between Jackson and Chris Wilson] because both guys have got ability and both guys shown at times that they are capable of playing well.”
On Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson:
“They both will get a lot of playing time because of the 3-4 scheme and the nickel scheme, there is a bunch of personnel groups that they could both go into.”
On if he expects Griffin III’s number of carries to decline the rest of the season:
“I can’t tell you that, it all depends on that game. It depends on what defenses are doing.”
On Griffin III being on pace to run 160 times this year and his comfort level with that:
“I can’t tell you. It all depends on how games are going. We are going to do what we think we need to do to win. Obviously, we want to protect Robert as well.”
On if he has had conversations with Griffin III about ways to protect himself when running:
“Well, he has been doing a pretty good job not getting sacked. [Redskins running back] Alfred Morris got two sacks in the first game and he only has one other sack so he has been doing a pretty good job there.”
On death threats being made towards wide receiver Joshua Morgan:
“We have security that will take care of those issues. They will look at it and see if it’s serious or not.”
On what attributes have helped Griffin III succeed so early:
“It has only been a couple of games and we are 1-1. But, Robert has a big upside. He has everything that you look for in a person. He’s got all the physical characteristics as well. But the thing I have been most impressed with is how he is grounded. He comes to work every day and wants to do the best job he can for our football team. He is a natural leader and he wants to improve every day. That gives him a chance with the type of ability and intelligence that he has got to get to the next level.”
On leading the league in points scored:
“Well, it’s after two weeks. At the end of the season, just like penalties… you want to do it over the long run. We have made some strides and I think we are getting used to what we are doing from an offensive perspective. I think every week is a growing experience for us. We are getting a better feel for one another and hopefully we keep it going.”
On NFL teams scoring a record amount of points through the first two weeks this season:
“Usually it averages out at the end.”
On the Bengals and Head Coach Marvin Lewis:
“Last year they went to the playoffs. They ranked seventh – defensively, they have been very consistent with Marvin. He is an excellent football coach and his players play hard and are very well coached. Offensively, they have made strides, obviously, with their quarterback and wide receiver. They added another offensive lineman in the first round so they are a lot more comfortable with themselves after that rookie season. A lot of people picked them for the playoffs, and it’s obvious why they did.”
On his impressions of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton:
“Very smooth, very heady. You can tell he has a great feel for the game. He is a natural thrower and you can see why he went to the Pro Bowl.”
On winning the home opener:
“You want to win every game. Obviously you want to win the opener at home for our fans. We get some great support and I’m sure hoping we can play our best football… We have struggled at home and on the road, so hopefully we can change both of those.”
On Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green:
“He has got everything you look for. He has got speed, he’s got size. He was so impressive coming out [of college] and you never know if guys are going to make the transition right away, and he has. Everything he has done has been spectacular and the game is not too big for him.
On if he was disappointed with the amount of pressure the team got on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford:
“Bradford did a good job getting rid of the football. He played extremely well. Obviously you play to win and we didn’t win. We didn’t get the job done. Hopefully we get some more pressure on any quarterback. You want to get a bunch of sacks if you can, a bunch of turnovers. Normally, when you win the turnover war, you win the game. But then we have a punt blocked, and made some mistakes there as well. We just have got to play better in order to win.”
On linebacker Ryan Kerrigan’s productivity in a four-point stance:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s four-point or if it’s two-point. People use different techniques. Kerrigan is very physical and he has the power to run over you and he has got the quickness and agility to run around you.”
On getting linebacker Markus White back:
“Well, it was one of the reasons we let him go initially. We were hoping to get him on the practice squad and people talked him into him maybe being better suited for a four-man front. Obviously, when Rak [Brian Orakpo] went down, he looked at our situation and knew he would get a chance to come in here and play and play quickly. So I’m glad he is back and I think he will help us out.”
On if Kerrigan is ready to be 'the guy’ as a pass rusher:
“I think Ryan has been 'the guy’ since he has been here. I think it is a learning experience for a guy that was a defensive lineman in college to make the transition but he made it very quickly. I think he helped Brian [Orakpo] with the type of year he had and I think Brian helped Kerrigan as well. But, these guys are guys that are going to compete every down. We always talk about being one or two plays away from being a starter and these guys are going to get an opportunity to show us what they can do and I think they will play well.”
On if defensive end Jarvis Jenkins is ready to be a starter:
“Now Jarvis has the ability to show us – has the opportunity to show us – what he can do being a starter, in both a three-man and four-man fronts. I think he is looking forward to that opportunity. He is very talented. Obviously unproven, but I will be surprised if he doesn’t play well. We still have got Kedric [Golston]. He gets a chance to play a little bit more. He has played extremely hard and well. I’m sure he’s biting at the bit to show us that, 'Hey, maybe he should be the starter.’ Then you have Chris Baker at the nose tackle position. He’s going to get a chance to play a little bit more. You take [Barry] Cofield and you take a look at [Stephen] Bowen; they are going to want to play at a higher level than they are playing because they lost one of their teammates, one of the starters. When you lose a couple of guys like we did, you lose a three-time Pro Bowl player and another guy who has been a starter, everybody has got to pick up their game a little bit and that’s what I expect them to do.”
On if he has to alter the offense because of the defense:
“I think if you look at the games, each game we were right there… We didn’t have to go to our two minute attack or something like that. When you are down 14 or 17 points, then sometimes you have to change but we haven’t had to do that.”
Quarterback Robert Griffin III
On the biggest adjustment to the NFL:
“Speed of the game is a big one. Learning the system – you have to learn a whole new language from college. You have to throw that all away and pretty much learn something new. That’s pretty challenging. Other than that, after two weeks, we’re pretty much acclimated to the league. Not necessarily ready for everything, but we felt the speed of the game in the first two games and how offense is going to operate on gameday – just when it’s live and guys are going all out because they know it means something. I think you can feel that after the first two games. The next learning curve will be playoffs and the speed of the game when you get to the playoffs. For now, you just have to take it one play at a time.”
On the pressure to get the first win and how it feels to have it out of the way:
“It’s huge. It’s good for a team. It doesn’t make you relax, but at least you have one win on the books. Right now we’re .500 or 1-1 trying to get to 2-1. There are a lot of 1-1 teams in the league right now and everybody is trying to do the same thing.”
On Colts quarterback Andrew Luck:
“I haven’t seen him play since our preseason game. I saw a couple highlights of him. He’s played well. He’s done a good job leading his team. I think they got their first victory this past weekend. Hats off to him. I’m glad that he got his first win out of the way. [Here’s] to a great career for him.”
On being under more pressure last Sunday than in Week 1:
“Like I told you guys, you never watch the rush. It’s something you have to feel. [Tackle] Jammal [Brown] was talking to me when we got back and he said I was letting the guys get extremely close to me before I actually moved. That’s probably because I wasn’t looking at them. You just kind of feel things. You have that pocket presence. We were able to move around and make some off-schedule plays. You want to be able to sit in that pocket a little more comfortably and then throw the ball around. We made it work with what we had to do. We moved the ball the whole game, so I’m not mad about that at all.”
On passing in the pocket in the NFL versus in college:
“These guys are good. Offensive linemen are good, but defensive linemen are some of the best athletes in the league. These guys are doing a great job getting pressure. The one thing I always told offensive linemen is as long as they can stay on them, I can make them miss. It’s when you get clean guys that you have problems in the NFL. It’s not necessarily just being on your toes. You have to be ready to throw at any time.”
On if he thinks other teams will push the limits like in last week’s game:
“There was some extracurricular stuff going on after the plays last week. They were doing a lot of dirty things. I still think they have an extremely good team and that doesn’t take anything away from them, but the game was unprofessional. Who am I to talk? I’ve barely been a pro very long, but from what I experienced against the Saints compared to that game, it was definitely unprofessional. It does need to be cleaned up.”
On if that changes the way he does things:
“No, you can’t. It’s something you can respond to. You don’t go into a game saying, 'Well, if they’re going to let it go, we have to be the first ones to do it.’ You don’t do it that way. It’s just something you can respond to. Hopefully, going against the Bengals, they’ll be a lot more professional.”
On if he thinks teams will continue to go after him:
“They made it a point – obviously all week – to hit me. Some of the shots were cheap in that nature, but it’s nothing I can control. Like I said, teams are going to try to hit me because they don’t think I can take a hit. I think I’ve proved over my career that I can. It’s football. I remember one play, after the play, the guy said 'We’re going to hit you every play.’ I said, 'Isn’t this football?’ It’s nothing that I’m not used to. It was extremely weird the way they [the Rams] went about it, though.”
On if the offense feels more pressure to put up points following injuries to the defense:
“I think it would be a disservice to our defense to say that – the guys that we have, the depth that we do have. You can’t replace [defensive end Adam] Carriker or [linebacker Brian] Orakpo. Those are two staples of the defense. I think it would be a disservice to them to say we have to score more points because they went down and our defense isn’t very good. I think our defense will still be able to go out and do the things they plan to do. We just know as an offense, our job is to move the ball. We have to try to move the ball every time we go out there.”
On the first home game:
“It’s going to be fun. The preseason opener – there were a lot of people there, a lot of excitement but nothing like the regular season where things matter. The fans are definitely going to show up and we’re going to show up for them.”
On the forearm to his head after he was taken down:
“It was a forearm to the head. It’s just…They say they want to get the quarterback out. I don’t want to tip-toe the lines of anything that’s happened like bounties or anything like that, but they were definitely going after me.”
On his memories of growing up in Okinawa, Japan:
“I know my sister ended up speaking Japanese fluently. I was there for three years. I want to go back. I haven’t been back since. I plan to do that sometime soon.”
On if his first exposure to football was in Japan:
“My mom wouldn’t let me play football when I was a kid. She didn’t want me to get hurt. I know people are going to take that and run with it. I didn’t play until I was in seventh grade, so I didn’t play there. I played basketball there, though.”
On if he is proud to represent Japan:
“Yes, I definitely am. I think I’m one of the only, or the only, one in the NFL who was born in Japan. It’s a great honor. I’d like to thank my mom and my dad for having me over there. “
On dumping the ball versus running to avoid being hit:
“I tried to. On designed runs I can’t really give it to anyone. I just have to go out there and try to make something happen. On some of the runs where I break the pocket, I do try to dump it off to guys. I also try to stretch it out as much as I possibly can to let guys get open. There are always ways to avoid hits. Some of the hits that I was getting in the past game were unavoidable.”
On concern about his number of carries:
“I think it’ll die down over the course of the year. I think from game to game it will be different. Sometimes I’ll carry the ball 10 times, sometimes I’ll carry the ball two times. It’s just a matter of how defense are going to play. Our coaches will get more and more creative with the game plans we have going in. I don’t expect to carry that many times.”
On the performance of the offense against the Rams:
“I thought it went well. It was very chaotic out there. We had a lot of broken plays, but we had to move the ball to where we could get the chance to make a play at the end of the game. We got to where we needed to be and had an unfortunate penalty. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good.”
On passing situations:
“Not very many teams will just run the ball consistently in those situations, so they’re going to drop eight guys and try to cover. That’s when you have to make broken plays happen. Not very often can you throw anything in rhythm with those kind of coverages.”
On the first coach to tell him to protect himself when scrambling:
“In high school, I just ran. Guys were a lot smaller. In college, they tried to temper that down. I ran my sophomore year. Coach taught me to get what I can, but protect myself when I get down. That’s how I’ve become pretty good at avoiding hits or avoiding the bigger hits. There’s a couple times they were leading with their helmets and I had to dodge them on the sideline. That’s just something I’ve become accustomed to – being able to move my body that way.”
On wide receiver Joshua Morgan’s penalty:
“We were trying to not let one thing affect another so we were going to go for it on fourth-and-16 so I was out there worrying about the next play. And then after we came off the field, when we were going to attempt the field goal, I just went over and talked to him and told him he’ll learn from that mistake. With these professionals you don’t have to tell them, 'Hey, it’s okay. Learn from that. Don’t let it happen again.’ They know that. He apologized to me for the mistake. The one thing I told him was I will ride or die with him. He’s my receiver. He’s a guy on this team and I’m never going to throw him under the bus.”
On putting up more points to keep up with the NFL game:
“You want to score points as an offense. I was under the impression in the NFL you can win games 14-7 but it’s whatever the game calls for. Sometimes there’s defensive struggles, and you have those kind of games sometimes when the offenses are clicking and you have those shootouts. It’s funny, 31-28 is a shootout in the NFL. In college, it’s a low-scoring game. So, I’m used to it. You’ve just got to do what you have to try to win the game.”
On how a reverse affects a defense:
“The one thing teams don’t want to give up is the big play, but they also don’t want to give reverses up. Reverses can turn into touchdowns easily so we saw that. They were jumping on that so we decided to go over the top, but it’s always a part of the scheme. If Hank [Leonard Hankerson] wouldn’t have been open, there was someone else that I could’ve thrown the ball to, and he just happened to be open. I threw it to him. He caught it. Touchdown.”
On how he feels after taking many hits in Sunday’s game against the Rams:
“I thought I was going to be sore but I actually wasn’t sore. Thank God I’m fine today. That was one hit I thought I would be sore from. Usually when you get hit in the neck/back area, it takes a couple days to show up but it hasn’t shown up and prayerfully it won’t.”
On what he sees looking back at the interception made by Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan:
“Just me trying to make a play when I shouldn’t have. Sometimes in games you have to take those sacks. I was getting ready to get sacked and I tried to make an off-balance throw and Finnegan made a good play. He’s a good player. There’s good players all around the league and I’ve just got to realize that sometimes I’ve got to take sacks in those situations.”
On if the fan base’s desire for a winner surprises him:
“You have to be ready for it. Once the 'Skins made the trade to get me here, the fans were going nuts ever since then. I’ve always said it’s like a much, much bigger Baylor. Once I got to Baylor, I was deemed a savior of that program and it’s the same thing here. What I tell people is it’s not just me out there. I tell the team that too, and they realize that. They know that all of them have to go out there and help me win the game. So, that’s the big thing. As long as the team knows that it’s not just me, the fans are going to do what fans do. They’re going to cheer for you. They’re going to boo you if things aren’t going well.”
On ways he notices the fan base’s desire:
“I can’t go anywhere without a hoodie or a hat on. The fans want a piece of me. They want to talk to you. They want to let you know that they’re behind you all the time no matter what. I’m going to hold them to that. Hopefully, we won’t have those bad times but we’re looking forward to winning for them and for ourselves.”
On how difficult it is to be a leader as a rookie:
“I think it’s a lot easier when it starts in rookie minicamps, OTAs, things of that nature when you come out and show who you are, rather than trying to come out and tell guys, 'Hey, you need to run that route harder,’ when you don’t even know what you’re doing on your drop backs. You’ve got to learn your stuff, show them you’re going to work hard, be the first guy in and last guy out, and then you can show them on the field in live action. I know our first preseason game we played a few snaps. But a lot of guys were excited about that and I could feel them growing as far as them looking at me as a leader and then after the first regular season game, we beat the Saints. Now, everyone’s bought in. It’s a lot easier for me to go out there and say something. I’m not ever really going to chew anybody out but I can also just lead them. I think they’ll listen to me now. So when it comes to guys like [wide receiver] Josh [Morgan] or other guys that make plays or didn’t make plays during the game, they’ll listen to me when I tell them, 'Hey, it’s okay. You’ve got to make up for that and I know you will.’”
On the Bengals:
“They’re better than the numbers show. I was telling this to the Bengals’ press. They’re better than the numbers show. They’re 31st in the league right now in total yardage but if you look at the games they played in, they’ve had big plays on them but they’re a very stingy defense. Good linebackers. Good D-line. Good secondary. A lot of big names in the secondary, guys that have played for a while and have done a good job at doing it. So, you’ve got to take them seriously and don’t really look at those numbers. And we didn’t [against the Rams]. We’re focusing on us, knowing that we’ve got to go out and execute. If we execute to a T, then we can go out and move ball to score touchdowns.”
On how to bounce back from a loss:
“Some guys say you’ve got 14 more to get over that one, but for me, I always take it one game at a time because you never know if you’re going to get that next one. For me, I just try to go back and pay attention to detail. I’m usually not in a great mood after losses. We had a day off so I was able to get that out of my system and just be able to smile for you guys. But for me, it’s just about getting back to details, paying attention to details and make sure you continue to work hard. Change what you need to change. Learn from mistakes during the game and never be satisfied.”
On eye black:
“It looks really cool. It’s supposed to help with glare so I wear the eye black strips on my eyes whether it’s a nighttime game or a day game. I wouldn’t know if there are any effects because I never play without them.”
On if the amount of coverage he gets, nationally and internationally, pressures or focuses him:
“It makes you focus. I know when I was in college during my earlier years, I could watch ESPN and SportsCenter and all those things because I was never on it. Then last year, I learned by talking to some vet guys in the NFL that you can’t watch it anymore because you’re always on it talking about something. If you made a bad play, they’re talking about that bad play. If you made a great play, they’re talking about that great play. So, you never want to get too high or too low. You’ve just got to make sure you do what you have to do to calm yourself down. I go home. I chill out. I watch TV but I don’t watch any kind of sports things. I just relax and do what I have to do to make sure I get my mind off football for just a few hours so when I go back to work the next day, I’m totally locked down.”
On leading the team in last-minute situations:
“You know you have to make plays but you still try to stay within the offense. When we got that fumble late in the game, all we needed was 20 yards to get in field goal range and I think we got 10 or 12 on my run and then we had 9 after Josh’s catch. So, we did our job. We did what we had to do to tie the game and get it into overtime and if we got that first down, then we probably would’ve went for a touchdown for the win. But I don’t feel the pressure in those situations because you just know that you’re going to be successful. One of my coaches at Baylor would always say, 'You choose to think positive.’ So, if you think in a negative light, 'I don’t think we can do this,’ then you’re probably not going to do it. But if you say, 'Hey, we can go do it,’ we will.”
Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis
On the keys to success last season with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton:
“I felt like the rest of the football team realized where we were and that we really had to do a fine, fine job of defense – limit plays, limit explosive plays, limit the score, get the ball back as often as possible for the offense. Secondly, be able to run the ball effectively to get the pressure off of him.”
On tailoring the offense to Dalton’s strengths like the Redskins have done with Robert Griffin III:
“It’s a very similar situation because the Redskins have done a great job of creating the offense with their quarterback. That was the same thing we were doing. The quarterback is your offense. There was no preconceived offense or anything because we were starting from scratch. He was the offense. The offense unfolds and it’s a vision through the eyes of our quarterback and his abilities and so forth. To answer your question, there were really no limits. Yet, we were all starting from scratch learning a new offense and everything that we do unfolds through the quarterback.”
On the challenges Griffin III poses to his defense:
“You really have to play very, very disciplined football. Everybody has to get their job done and you have to make a play when you’re put in the position to make a play. They isolate you and use the entire field. They’ve done an effective job of creating an offense different than what they showed – a lot of it different, one-third of it different – in the preseason. It came out against New Orleans and showed the veer run game, read option-type plays and so forth; then, the plays that came off of it when they didn’t run any of that during the preseason. They obviously worked hard on it without putting it out there in a real game.”
On scoring a record number of points over the first two weeks of the NFL season:
“Offense is doing a good job. They’re clicking. You got quarterbacks that are – even if they’re down by a bit in the first half – they’re coming back and having good second halves. People are throwing and catching the football very well right now. We’ve not played well enough on defense, but I think it’s kind of been a trend somewhat around the league thus far.”
On outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan:
“He’s really done a nice job. We got an opportunity to get to know Ryan and coach him in Mobile [Alabama]. I think he’s a gem. The defensive coaches there have done a great job helping him make the transition from a down guy at Purdue to a game-changing type outside rusher. I’m really happy for him because he was such a great guy. I know he’s had to put a lot of work into it and so forth. He seems knowledgeable about the game and what they’re asking him to do defensively. He’s been very effective in his first two years.”
On why he thinks the Redskins have given up so many points on defense:
“I think they’re doing a good job of defense. I think [Defensive Coordinator] Jim [Haslett] has a lot of good schemes – from pressure to the trap coverages. The things that they’re doing…They give you some different looks. They’ll sink down and give you a little 46-type look. They do some different things to get you moving and going on offense. Again, it’s early in the year and I wouldn’t be as critical to judge where they are right now. We know we have to go play against a really physical football team – a team that’s been optimistic. They scored a touchdown in the first play of the game against St. Louis’ offense last week. I think they’ve got a lot of good players who play hard and play physical.”
Bengals Quarterback Andy Dalton
On if the Bengals’ running game and defense helped him succeed as a rookie:
“Your rookie year there’s a lot of new stuff happening. It is nice to have those things but we were pretty balanced offensively. Off runs, it was just making big plays when we had the chance to. I feel like we did that for the most part last year.”
On the transition from running a college offense to a pro offense:
“I was fortunate. The way we did things at TCU really helped me coming into the offense that we’re running here. There’s a lot of similar stuff that we were doing. I think it made the transition a lot easier for me.”
On advice he would give quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season. Just stay the course. It’s a long season. You can’t put too much into one game. Just go play the best you can.”
On if he thought Griffin III could be an NFL quarterback when they played in college:
“You know he’s a talented guy. You can see that then. It really showed a lot for him to win the Heisman and do the things he did his junior year. You can tell the kind of talent he has.”
On feeling prepared in his first NFL game:
“I felt like going into it I was given every opportunity to come in and be the starter. For me, I felt like I was prepared. You never know what you’re going to expect. It’s the first regular season game. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to be new for you. It’s just how you react and how you handle the things. I felt like I was ready for it. I felt like my knowledge of the offense and the way I carried myself – I felt like I was well-prepared for it.”
On if his success last year validated the Bengals decision to start him early:
“I think it definitely validates it. For me personally, we got a lot bit of credibility around here now. It shows that guys know what they’re going to get out of me. I think it definitely helps with that.”
On if his offense ever has to pick up the defense:
“I think so. You never know what kind of game it’s going to be. The goal is to win by one point – whether it’s 3-2 or 45-46, it doesn’t really matter. You just have find a way to win. For us, we feel like we have to score. I think that’s what every offense is trying to do – score every time they have the ball. We’ve had to score a little bit more than we usually had to and we’re finding ways to get the win. It doesn’t really matter. We’ve got full confidence in this defense that they’re going to pick it up. You never know what kind of game it’s going to be.”
On the benefits of working alongside wide receiver A.J. Green:
“It’s been good. Everybody is going to talk about us together just because of the quarterback-receiver combo. We came in together. He’s a special talent. We’ve got a lot of other guys around here too that have been making a lot of plays for us, as you can see last week. It’s been nice to have the group of receiver and skill guys we have here.”
