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Mangini Press Conf. Transcript

10.19.2009

Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 10-19-09

(Opening statement)- "Good afternoon everybody. In looking at the tape, talking to theteam, I really feel that what I saw, or what I talked to them about after the game is pretty

consistent. I thought that it was another example of playing hard throughout the course of

the game. I thought the best examples of those were, we had the turnover, then were able

to generate a turnover in our area. We had another turnover, we were able to generate aturnover after that, then be able to have the drive that we had, leading to what would have

been a one score game at that point. Those things are good, and that's what I expect each

week, regardless of what the situation in the game is, for us to be able to deal withadversity, come back from it and then respond to it in a positive way. I thought another

good example of that was when we went down 14-0, came back with a kickoff return for a touchdown or come out after halftime and have the drive that we had and score pointsand make it a three point game. Those things are positive. Things that we have to

continue to address, and what hurt us this weekend, were the turnovers. It's hard to turn

the ball over and be successful, and defensively, some of the big plays. Unfortunately,

Ben (Roethlisberger) was able to do some of the things that he's done to a lot of people. Ithought we had some good answers for that, but they weren't quite what they need to be,

whether they be scheme or execution or other. We're going to correct those things. I think

that the style of play is moving forward. The execution needs to continue to get better.We'll watch the film here today. The guys are in the process of doing that now, then we'll

move on to next week."

(On using the Wildcat formation and if he is hesitant to let Josh Cribbs throw the

ball)- "With that, it's been part of our package. It will continue to be part of our package.How much we use it each week will vary. I'm not gun shy in terms of him throwing the

ball. It's like anything else, you take calculated risks. If it's not there, him keeping the ball

is never a bad option."

(On the flu is going around the team)- "Kamerion (Wimbley) was sick on Saturday.We were hoping that he'd be okay for Sunday. We kept him as isolated as we could. He

just wasn't able to go. Big Baby (Shaun Rogers) started feeling it on Sunday morning.

Those are the only two that we've had. We're taking every measure we can to make sure

that we stop it at that. I talked to the guys about that, how important it was to continuallywash your hands, continually sanitize, all the things that we all know about trying to

prevent things like that. Anytime a player has those symptoms, we'll try to get them therest and the care they need and not put them in a position where they could potentially

pass it on or someone else can catch it."

(On if another player was sick early last week)- "[It was] not the same thing. It wasn't

the same. It happened and then kind of got through pretty quickly. It wasn't the same."



(On if flu shots have been given to the team)- "We've had flu shots available. I think it

was a couple weeks ago. It's that time of year. Everybody just has to be extra vigilant

with passing, whether it's picking it up, cleaning their hands. I'm not an expert on it, butsome of the things we can do, we need to do."

(On if he can order players to get a flu shot)- "I never have advocated that. I think it'sone of those things that you have to make a decision on, and everybody is different. Some

people feel like when they take the flu shot, they get sick. Other people feel like it's thegreatest thing. I just try to educate them on it and let them make the decision."

(On if the quarterback needs to be on the field in Wildcat formation)- "No, he doesn't

necessarily need to be. Miami does it sometimes where there's no quarterback on the

field. You can do it however you want to do it."

(On why Derek Anderson was on the field in Wildcat formation)- "I think it just

disguises the fact that it could be that or could not be that. When you break the huddle,

depending on how many seconds, it may be 20-16 seconds, usually a huddle breakssomewhere around there. That's different then the 45 seconds or the 50 seconds, however

it works out."

(On if Anderson calls the plays on Wildcat plays)- "Yes, he'll call the play."

(On if he is hesitant to reach a new deal with Josh Cribbs because he does not want

to set a precedent)- "With all those contract things, those are internal. Like I said, Ireally like Josh. I think he's done a great job. I like him, obviously, for his special teams

value, but the things that he's able to do, offensively, I think, have been very good. I've

liked the way he's worked at wide receiver as well. You really haven't seen as many

numbers there, but it's not something that we've stopped working on. He's still workingon that and I think he'll continue to develop there."

(On his thinking behind keeping Derek Anderson at quarterback)- "I think that there

have been times where we've moved the ball really effectively. I think the drive that wehad at the beginning of the second half is indicative of things that we can do. We have to

do a much better job of not stopping ourselves, whether it be with the dropped balls or

some throws a little bit off. It could be tightening up the protection or tightening up theroutes, all those things. I think we can get better at that, but there are some positive things

I've seen throughout the course of Derek working at quarterback that I think will get

better."

(On what they can do to stop dropped passes)- "It's like any skill set, you have to keepworking at it. Something's not just solved by doing it a little bit, it's deliberate practice.

It's consistent. It's every single day. It's not focusing on the end result, as much as it's

focusing on the process to get to the end result and not getting tied up with, ‘We've hadthis many drops, that many drops.' It's, ‘Okay, what can we do to practice that skill?' It's

like tackling, defensively. We do the tackling drill every week as a group, offensive and

defensive guys together. We'll do it towards the start of practice, you guys have seen that



a bunch of times, and then guys will do it in their individual periods as well. It's such a

fundamental skill, but you have to keep sharpening the saw with something like that.

Blocking, hand placement, all the fundamentals, it's easy to get away from those things,especially in pro football, where your time allocated to that stuff isn't probably as large as

it would be in college football, but it's not any less important."

(On what he does when he believes dropped passes are more mental than physical)-

"I think sometimes it's understanding where you have to improve. You saw Mohamed(Massaquoi), where he had some outstanding catches yesterday and then there were a

couple of them that I think he was looking to run before he actually got the ball. That's

something that you can't do. You take your eyes off the ball for a split second, or startthinking about the next step before you finish that step, and you don't get a chance to get

the next step without being able to get the ball. I thought Brian Robiskie had a couple of

nice catches yesterday. His first one there on the in cut late, the one on the sideline, hewasn't able to come down inbounds, but it was pretty close. Those things are positive. I

think as we go and continue to work together and continue to get opportunities and really

continue to work on the process, that'll help."

(On who he attributes the dropped passes to)- "I think everybody can improve. I think there are some things we can do with ball placement that can get better. You work on that

with the quarterbacks and you work on the things you can work on with the receivers

with them. Everybody isolates the things related to their area to get better."

(On the progress in the secondary against Pittsburgh)- "There were some big playsthat shouldn't' have been nearly as big as they were. They had an opportunity on Santonio

Holmes' catch, we just didn't execute the tackle after he caught the ball and he picked up

another, whatever it was, 15 or 20 yards. Even on Hines Ward, Hines' catch, where he

kind of stepped in front of Santonio on the over. We had a couple guys there. We didn'tquite leverage him correctly. Those are all passing yards. The catch is one element of it

and you want to get better at stopping that and then the second element is tackling once

he's in space. We can improve the consistency of the pass rush. I thought there were sometimes where he was able to step up and get the ball off. I'd like to see us take better

advantage of some of the opportunities that we had. Brodney (Pool) had the interception

and I think we had a chance for another one, it would have been tough, but had a chancefor another one there. Linebackers play a role in that, too. A lot of those plays, some were

zone, some were man. In zones, everybody has to be in the right spot."

(On if Brandon McDonald's shoulder bothered him during the game Sunday)- "He

and I didn't talk to about it, specifically to that. We'll see where he is. I think everybodyhas got some nicks here as we go. We'll see where he is for Wednesday, but I anticipate

him to be able to practice."

(On D'Qwell Jackson's shoulder)- "We're going to find out a little bit more here today.

I have to see where that is."



(On Bernie Kosar's role with the team)- "I've enjoyed getting to know Bernie and

spending some time with him. I really like some of the insight that he's able to give,

whether it be from a quarterback's perspective, and talking about it in that context, froman offensive perspective, or even better, to talk to him from a defensive perspective on

things that maybe were frustrating to a quarterback. There's a lot of different ways that

our conversations have gone. He gives some good insight and I've enjoyed spendingsome time with him."

(On if Kosar will be in meetings regularly or work with the quarterbacks)- "No,

that's not really what it's been. It's more informal than that."

(On developing chemistry between Derek Anderson and Chansi Stuckey)- "Chansi's

caught a lot of balls from him in practice, in the short time that he's been here. I'd saywith all of our third down routes, we can sharpen those up and do some things to improve

there. We've had some good opportunities on third down; some we haven't converted on,

a couple were batted. I think there's a lot of room for us to continue to improve there.

Sometimes it's reading the coverage and being able to understand exactly where you haveto fit. There are signs of things that I like and stuff that still has to get fixed."

(On if it seems like Mike Furrey has dropped off)- "No, not at all. Mike probably

didn't play as much as he should have this weekend. He still works on both offense anddefense. I anticipate him playing more between the two this week."

(On if he will call the NFL to get further explanation on the fourth-down

measurement call during the Pittsburgh game)- "I think the official talked about it

after the game. It's his call."

(On if he can ask the NFL to review the measurement call)- "Yes. We'll get somemore clarity on it, but nothing can change. Nothing can really happen from that. You just

deal with the next situation and move on."

(On if he has looked at the measurement on film)- "The coach's copy, you don't havethe measurement on it, so it would just have to be off the TV copy. I haven't watched the

TV copy of the game, so I'm not sure. I don't know if you guys have watched it or not,

but what do you think?"

(On if he anticipates any moves before the trade deadline)- "I haven't really beenlooking at any of that. I really haven't. This morning's been all Pittsburgh and

transitioning to Green Bay. There's nothing, I'd say, that's imminent, but you never know.Things happen. I'm not saying that it isn't possible, but like anything else, a call comes inand we listen. I'm not out there pushing forward with anything specifically."

(On if Corey Williams could be traded)- "Corey's played more and more as we've gone

here, not just in sub, but in base. I think he's done a good job with the things that we've

asked him to do. Like I said, [there is] nothing imminent."



(On what the team needs to fix immediately)- "What I'm looking for is continually

focusing on us. That's been something that I've been emphasizing over and over again, is

that we understand what the game plan is, we understand what we have to stop from our opponent, and those two things are huge, but it's how we execute. It's the things that we

need to improve on. Some of that could be catching the ball better. Some of that could be

continuing to improve the communication with protections, things like that, theadjustments, defensively. As we make strides within the room, then the other things are

better and better. You have to understand those two things, those are key to winning the

game, but we also have to keep improving the areas where we need to improve on,whether it's third down offensively, third down defensively. We actually got third down-

and-one stop and we were pretty close on that fourth-and-one stop. That's an area that we

hadn't been effective in, in the early part of the season, so minor progress there. [We]

continue to have very limited penalties, which is something I'm looking for. [We] did abetter job turning the ball over this week, than we had been doing, and that's positive. We

had three sacks, but I think there were some sack opportunities that if we had just done it

a little bit differently. Even right at the start of the game, I thought we had a great

opportunity, just weren't able to close the offensive tackle down enough to let the edgerusher come clean. Instead of that being a sack, it's a 25-yard completion. It was just that

much of a difference in the detail. If we had just shortened that edge and let the guy comeclean, which he would have, we had held the guard long enough, but the tackle was able

to pop out, get a bump on him, the guard recognized it late, came off and Ben

(Roethlisberger) was able to step up. That's the difference between a sack and a 30-yard

completion. Those small things become big things. We've addressed a lot of them, andthere's been progress in a lot of them, but it's constantly making progress in all those

areas. It doesn't happen overnight, but we have to keep going forward with it."

(On if the team has the talent at wide receiver to have a productive passing game

this season)- "Yes, I think that we've shown, [at] a lot of different points, that we're ableto do some things effectively in the passing game. I thought even the drive towards the

end of the game there, four-out-of-five of those plays were plus-10 plays. They were all

passes and they were all positive passes. The start of the second half, things like that, yousee those things, everybody sees those things, but now it's being able to do those things."

(On if using Hank Fraley as an eligible receiver limits what Anderson can do)-

"There are pluses and minuses. One of the plusses is you get a more efficient blocker.

You get a bigger body. If you want to run the ball, those two things are positive. It's moreof an indication that you're going to run the ball, so play-action tends to be more

effective. A lot of times, with play-action passes, you're not releasing multiple receivers,

you're really trying to get the defense to come up and bite on the run and you're lookingfor the separation between the linebackers and the safeties. Having a bigger body in there

sells that more. It gives you some more options in the running game. If you did want to

get everybody out, Hank's caught the ball a couple times, but he wouldn't be the firstoption."

(On if Steve Heiden aggravated his knee)- "To me, it's a good example of kind of how

the injuries go during the week. I really thought that he'd be able to go, or hoping to, and



just wasn't able to when we looked at it. I thought the situation with Kamerion is a really

good example of how things can change dramatically in a hurry. He just came in, was

sick, and suddenly Jason (Trusnik) and Alex (Hall) have to pick up the slack there. BigBaby, that was not a predictable thing, but it happens, right on down the line. A lot of

young guys had to play a lot yesterday. There were some young-guy mistakes. The good

thing is they get some experience and grow and if they have to do it again, hopefully,they'll be able to take advantage of the opportunity even better."

Mangini press conf. 10/21

10.21.2009

Eric Mangini press conference: Wed. Oct. 21

(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Just in terms of

practice today, we're going to cut practice down a little bit. We just have to make someadjustments. We had the flu cases and some more guys have come down with it. We're

actually working with quite a few less players. It'll probably shorten the player

availability, in terms of not as many guys to interview. Guys that won't be here today:Jerome Harrison, Alex Mack, Anthony Madison, Brodney Pool, Shaun Rogers, Robert

Royal, Chansi Stuckey, Jason Trusnik, Brian Schaefering, Lawrence Vickers, Corey

Williams, Kamerion Wimbley. We're trying to, the first signs of any type of illness, getthe guys home and out of the building. We're working as hard as we can to promote

things to prevent the illness, obviously stressing important things like sleep and hands

and things like that. It's that time of year and unfortunately we have quite a few guys whoare dealing with it. We'll adjust practice. We'll work around it and continue to move

forward on Green Bay.

"Looking at Green Bay, this is a team that presents a lot of challenges. Offensively, I

think they're playing really well. Aaron Rogers has been very efficient throwing the ball.He has a 104 quarterback rating. They do a nice job, not just hitting the receivers, but

then the receivers do a nice job with the run after the catch. They're able to get a lot of

guys out quickly and he's able to get the ball to them. They've moved it efficiently against

everybody they've faced. Defensively, I don't know Dom (Capers) that well, but I'vealways respected and admired the job he's done. I think they're playing very well

defensively. One of the things they do an outstanding job with is turning the ball over.

That's always a point of emphasis for us offensively, and this is a team that's very good at

it defensively. It's the 3-4. It's not exactly like our 3-4, but there are elements that we'veseen before, throughout the course of the season or the preseason, obviously, the first

time we played them, but that's evolved since we played them. I think they're gettingbetter each week. On special teams, I thought just looking back at the preseason game, I

think we've made strides since then on special teams. I thought they did a nice job against

us on special teams in the preseason. Especially their coverage units, I think are solid, andthey create a lot of pressure on things like PATs and field goals. You saw in our



preseason game, with the holding penalty and got quite a bit of push. They blocked one

already this year. That's something that we'll have to deal with."

(On how he will adjust practice because of the flu)- "We'll cut back on some reps. Wemay keep it the same time, increase the amount of time in between plays, but take some

plays off it, extend the walk through a little bit. I'm going to talk to Brad (Seely) and thecoordinators maybe about the post-practice meetings. [I am] just trying to get them some

extra rest, give them a chance to just be as vigilant as possible with this."

(On if the players with the flu have undergone H1N1 testing)- "A lot of these were

really new this morning. It wasn't something that was apparent on Monday, so it's new.

We'll go through all those things. With HIPAA, things like that, we can't discuss it, but

we will go through and see where we're at."

(On if the team is taking more preventive measures against the flu than normal)-

"We're being really aggressive preventatively. If there's any sign of it and we think it's

heading that way, we'd much rather try to minimize the effects on the player and also thepossible exposure to the rest of the group."

(On if they are seeking league guidance on the flu)- "We're researching that now.

Houston had a similar situation. There are provisions if a team is hit by quite a bit of flu

cases. We will continue to research that and go through the process and see where we'reat."

(On what he means by ‘provisions' for teams hit with the flu)- "The exact rule, I don't

have all the specifics, but there are roster exemptions where you can bring up practice

squad guys to play in the game, without having to release somebody. Things like that,

that they've put in place."

(On if any of the players with the flu are in the building)- "They're all home."

(On if any of the coaches have the flu)- "No, they may not feel great, but that's typical

for a Wednesday. A little tired, but nothing that I've seen where we'd send them home

right now."

(On if any of the players with the flu had received a flu shot)- "I'm not sure. I didn't go

through player by player with that. I'm not sure."

(On if there are any positions completely affected by the flu)- "No, we'll have peoplefor each position. Vickers, we'll have to adjust there, fullback."

(On how he will adjust the defense without having D'Qwell Jackson)- "We have acouple different options. I actually thought that Kaluka (Maiava) did a pretty nice job for

his first extended exposure inside. David Bowens started last year inside, five games, so

he's played there. Jason has played there some, Jason Trusnik. Barton can play withMIKE or WILL, so that gives us some flexibility, depending on if you wanted to go with



a bigger guy or wanted to go with a not as big guy. It gives us some flexibility there, just

because he's played both spots."

(On if he knows how Jackson injured his shoulder)- "It might have been on one of thecatches by (Heath) Miller."

(On if Jackson finished the first half with the injury)- "I'm not sure exactly where it

was. It was pretty late in the half."

(On if he has spoken with Jackson)- "Yes, I talked to him yesterday, texted with him a

little bit last night. I know you're shocked by my savvy, but yes, did a little bit of that.D'Qwell's such a good guy. Even though he's not playing the field, he'll be very active in

meetings. He'll work with the young guys. He'll work with whoever. That's who he is.

His concern isn't him. His concern is getting ready for Green Bay. When I texted back and forth to him, he's like, ‘Don't worry about me, let's go on [to] Green Bay.'"

(On if Jackson has surgery scheduled)- "Yes, the timeline exactly, I don't have rightnow."

(On why he did not include David Veikune in the list of players who could play

inside linebacker)- "I made a mistake, Tony (Grossi). I should have added him to thatlist as well. David's made a lot of progress inside, playing the MIKE. Because he's been

there, I didn't think to list him with the group."

(On why he moved David Veikune from defensive end to inside linebacker)- "I saw alot of parallels with him and (Tedy) Bruschi, in terms of body type, in terms of the ability

to rush from an inside position, which is unique in itself. Tedy in 2000, when he first

moved inside, [there was] quite a bit of transition, because it is. It's a different world.Once he got used to it, he was very effective. I'm not saying that the lines are going tofollow exactly the same way, I'm just saying body type, past experience, speed, the

ability to come up and take on guards, all those things I thought David would do a real

nice job with. Even height, some of that, [inside linebackers] tend to be not quite as tall asthe outside [line]backers."

(On why Maiava went in during the second half at Pittsburgh instead of Veikune)-

"Kaluka plays the WILL and that's what D'Qwell plays. It was the easiest, based on the

reps that we had allocated during practice. It was the progression that we had set, if something happened to D'Qwell. [They play] the same position."

(On if Veikune will get reps at WILL)- "No, what I was saying is could move Barton to

WILL and Veikune to MIKE. Barton's played both. He's advanced enough where he

could play either at any point."

(On if it is disappointing that Veikune has not gotten many defensive reps during

games since he was as second round pick)- "No, not necessarily. As we've talked about

before, everybody develops differently. That's not an easy spot. You have to be able to



get in, run the huddle. You have to be able to call out all the adjustments. You have to be

able to make all the run-pass reads. There's a lot of stuff going on there. It is a big

transition going from end to that spot, but you have to do it at some point. I thought thevalue of him getting that experience, working at that spot, looking at it, again, short term

and long term, thought that would be best for his development."

(On if Michael Gaines was signed because Steve Heiden is still hurt)- "I think it's

going to be the same as last week, where we have to go through the week and see wherehe is. The thought process was to bring somebody in at the beginning of the week and

just have another person available should it not go the way we want it, hopefully it will.

That was really the thinking there."

(On Greg Jennings and Donald Driver)- "They're outstanding. They run really crisproutes. Especially with Jennings, his ability to make people miss after the fact, even when

we were looking at Brett (Favre) in New York, there were a lot of big plays, what you

consider big plays 40-yard plays, 50-yard plays, and the reality was they weren't actually

40-yard throws down the field. It might have been a slant to Jennings for 10, where hebroke it for 40. He has good strength, good change of direction, things like that. Driver's

made some unbelievable catches, a couple one-handed grabs on the sideline. He hasexcellent hands, speed. They're good size guys as well."

(On Aaron Rogers)- "That's a tough draw when you have to replace Favre in Green Bay.

He, obviously, has tremendous maturity. You can see the development that he's made

over the course of time. It's a pretty impressive quarterback rating, his efficiency, in termsof completions. I don't know him personally, but just in watching him, I image he's a

pretty hard worker and really has developed his craft over the years."

(On if the Browns were interested in Clay Matthews before the draft)- "I liked Clayand spent a lot of time with him, out at USC. [He's a] smart kid, actually talked a lotabout the Browns, talked about his dad. [He is a] really interesting guy, too. [We] talked a

little politics, talked [about] a lot of topics that you don't traditionally have in an

interview with a player. He's a very intellectual guy. He's a tough guy. He's a physicalguy, all those things."

(On if Clay Matthews is like his father)- "Yes, pretty good genetics."

(On if Ben Roethlisberger picked on Maiava when he went in)- "I wish it was just

him. He's picked on a lot of people. I don't think it changed his approach that

dramatically."

(On the importance of team speed on defense)- "It just depends on how you're built.

Some teams are built really small and fast and some teams are built bigger. Both have

merit. Both have some great things to them. Some of the issues we had this past weekendwere run after the catch. There was the play to Santonio Holmes, which was a comeback

for about 15 yards. It ends up going for 30 more yards after that. The over route the Hines

Ward stepped in front of. We had some chances to tackle him at that spot, but he gained



some extra yards. Those things, it's not about speed or anything. At that point, it's about

leveraging the player and getting him down. Those yards all count towards passing yards.

You can't let at a 15-yard completion be a 40-yard completion. You saw it in Denver,same thing. You have to be able to take your hit, whatever it is, but minimize it to that

and not allow it to mushroom into something more."

(On if Brandon McDonald relapsed against Pittsburgh)- "I don't think it was a

function of that, Tony (Grossi). I think we had other opportunities too. Sometimes as acorner, you are going to miss a tackle, and that's the reality. You're sitting there on an

island, you're trying to breakdown. It's going to happen. There are other guys that need to

help you at that point. I think it was a group effort."

(On if he hopes to see Coye Francies at cornerback more)- "We give him a lot of repseach week. He needs to continue to develop and that's what I'm looking for. I think there's

been some progress. It's a little bit like when we were talking about Brian (Robiskie)

early in the season, there are certain roles on special teams that he plays and he has to

play them better than the next guy that we're bringing, otherwise, if you're not a starter,that other guy wins."


10.22.2009


(Opening statement)- "How's everybody doing? Good. Anybody have a cold? I thought

yesterday that the guys did a good job, in terms of adjusting to the players that we weremissing. We scaled down practice some. I didn't have the afternoon meetings yesterday.

We were able to get the film work done here this morning. I thought as a group, [they]adjusted well to the changes that we had. We should get Kamerion (Wimbley) back today

and Shaun Rogers back today. There really haven't been any new cases, so that's positive

as well. In terms of the timetable for the rest of the group coming back, not totally sureyet, but we're going to just be as cautious as we can with this to make sure that we don't

go into the weekend and put the group that hasn't had it in a position where they could get

it. That's kind of where we are with the state of affairs, in terms of the flu relatedsymptoms.

"In terms of Green Bay, which we're working on, for us, again, it goes back to what weneed to get done on third down. Defensively we have made some strides and offensively

we need to continue to. We did some different things last week running the football, that Ithought were real positive. It will be a good compliment to the other things that we're

trying to get done on third down, but we're pushing forward on that today. We'll do a

little bit of two-minute work as well."



always looking for way to teach off something. It's a good reminder to the practice squad

guys. You don't know. You don't know when you'll get your chance. We do a lot of work

with those guys, whether it's post practice or additional meetings, to always try to keepthem up-to-date and ready to assume a role if a role should open up. I think situations like

this are a really good reminder to them [of] how close they are. You're on a team and

you're on the practice squad. You have a chance at any point to make your case to playand things change dramatically week-to-week, sometimes day-to-day and you get a

chance that maybe you didn't anticipate. The worst thing for anybody is to not be ready

for that chance when it does show up."

(On Aaron Rodgers)- "He has the ability to move in the pocket, whether the protectionbreaks down and he gets out. They'll use him on some moving routes, boots, where he

fakes one way and roles the other way, sometimes dashes, where he just sprints out one

way. He can move pretty well. He can throw on the run and he can create some time. Yousaw in the first preseason game, we had a three-man rush on, we actually had a little

pressure, but he was able to sidestep the pressure and then the play went too long and he

was able to hit it down the middle early in the first quarter there. That's some of thethings that he can do. Now, you take some chances when you hold the ball a little bitlonger, but he's made a ton of good plays there as well."

(On if he learned how to defend Rodgers in the preseason)- "That was really early in

the process for us. You look back at that, but the amount of really meaningful stuff thatyou can take from the game isn't too significant. You do look at it, because it is a lot of

the same players, a lot of the core parts of the scheme, but things have changed for them,

things have changed for us and now you just try to get what you can from it."

(On Derek Anderson not letting dropped balls bother him)- "I think he's gotten better

moving on to the next play. That's a skill set that you try to teach everybody, players andcoaches, because if you're worried about that, you lose the next one. I've been impressed

with his work ethic. He's here late each night. He's really involved in all the different

things that are going on and I've been extremely happy with that."

(On Anderson saying there are about 15 plays over the course of the season he

would like to have back)- "When you try to put something that you want a person to

improve on, if you can put things together and then show them, ‘Okay, here are some of the plays and this is what happened,' and you sit with the player and say, ‘Is this

correctable? Is it not correctable?' And the realization that all of these things are

correctable, then it's not as much of an inherent problem as it is something that can be

worked on and improved. It's a big distinction. It's an understanding, ‘Okay if I do thesethings, the result will be better.'"

(On how he deals with receivers who drop balls)- "Sometime it depends on who the

guy is. Sometimes you can get in a guy's ear and that's it. They shut it down and it's over.

Sometimes you have to get in there and explain the importance of moving on to the nextplay. Everybody responds differently. I've had DBs like that, where you're just hoping to

God that they don't get beat early, because it's over. At that point, you might as well put



(On if he worries about the continuity on the offensive line)- "What I like about that

group is guys can be plugged in and they've done it so much that there's a comfort level

with it. Hank, he can play any spot. I mean, Hank could probably play DB. He's thataware. He's that knowledgeable. He's impressive that way."

(On if they are especially high alert against the Packers for big pass plays)- "Wewere on high alert last week. That didn't sneak up on us. We just didn't do it very well.

The other thing with the Packers is they're able to, especially with a guy like (Greg)Jennings, he takes some really small completions and turns them into big plays, because

his yards after the catch, the way he's able to make people miss. He's a strong runner.

Some of that is being able to make the tackle at the point of reception, as opposed togiving them an opportunity to pick up another 15 to 20 yards."


10.23.2009

The transcript of Eric Mangini's Friday 10/23 press conference

(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Eric Wright wasin a car accident last night. He was in this morning and we sent him just to get some

further tests. I talked to him about it. I'm really hopeful that he can play. I am really

happy that he is safe. That's where that is.

"In terms of the guys that had been out with the illness, we've got almost all of themback. What I did yesterday, I didn't have the afternoon meetings. What I wanted to do

was make sure that we watched the tape with the group of guys that got back so theywould be familiar with Thursday's practice. Watch that as a group and have the guys that

did participate in practice, they can help them out. Coaches can make the points there andthey can hear them and then they will get together with coaches, as well, after practice

today to get caught up on Wednesday and the other game plan specific things. Hopefully

we are over the hump with this now. There really haven't been any new guys out withillness. That's what I'm looking forward to, is to be able to get past this part of it, get

everybody caught up and move into the weekend."

(On if anyone is still out)- "Corey (Williams) is still out."

(On if Wright's accident violates any personal conduct policy)- "He was in anaccident. It was wet. There's really nothing else to it. I never want anyone to be an

accident."

(On if it bothers him that Wright was out until 2:10 a.m.)- "I wouldn't necessarily be

out at 2:10 in the morning, but you don't have curfew year round. That's not somethingthat we have. I'd much rather everybody be home but guys do go out. You don't want to



see anybody in any kind of accident or any kind of situation like that. I'd much prefer that

guys were in, that's each person's decision."

(On if a lot of players went to the Jay-Z concert)- "They didn't invite me. I like Jay-Z.I don't know any more about that honestly."

(On if there was any substance involved)- "The information that I've gotten, which I

think is good information, it was just an accident. That's really all there is to it."

(On if Wright will be practicing)- "I have to see where we are with tests and things like

that. I am hopeful that he should be okay and ready to play."

(On when he finds out about situations like this)- "It depends, sometimes it rings at

2:30 a.m. sometimes you find out the next morning. I've had the whole range. I've been

off with the family sometimes hanging out and you get a call. The first thing you want to

do is make sure everybody is safe and then understand exactly what happened and

hopefully use that educate people moving forward."

(On when he found out about Wright)- "This morning."

(On if players who are out late have character issues)- "As I said, I'd much rather

everybody be in and studying and doing those types of things but everybody is different.There are no team based rules on those things, but my preference would be everybody is

preparing at all times for the game."

(On if Wright will start on Sunday if he is healthy)- "Yes."

(On if he is planning to discipline Wright)- "He was in a car accident. There were noother things involved with it. He was in a car accident. Like I said, I'll talk to him further about best practices, but I'm glad he's healthy. I'm glad no one else was hurt. I don't ever

want to see anybody in that situation. Sometimes experiences like these are the best

teachers for the person involved and for those around him."

(On if Wright is up and moving around)- "Yes, I just talked to him 10 minutes ago."

(On if the team had to scale back on the game plan this week)- "We didn't scale it

back that much. No, usually what we do is, you start with a bulk of things that you want

to do and you look at how it goes. You tend to pull back some stuff anyways because

how you thought it was going to play, it didn't really play that well, or just didn't feelright as you went through it, didn't look right as you went through it. That's actually

pretty common. What the guys are getting that are in here today is, sort of, the final

approach, or pretty close to the final approach. Now it's a function of, like I said, they hadthe film here this morning. One of the things that I talked to the group about is we're all

going to work with them to get them up to speed and they're going to work at it as well.

None of them wanted to be out. This wasn't anybody's desire. They'll work with thecoaches, too. Today is a little bit earlier day, as Friday's typically are, so they'll spend



some time with the coaching staff afterwards to go through Wednesday, the scouting

report, questions they have. We extended the walk through a little bit. We'll maybe

extend it a little bit tomorrow, try to get some extra time there. It doesn't usually happenon this scale, but guys do miss time at different points for different reasons, then you

have to figure out the best ways to get them caught up. Really, as you look through

preseason and you look through training camp and OTAs, again not to this volume byany stretch, but that's the reason I like to work different combinations of people. It's the

reason I like to work practice squad guys into practice at different points, or guys that

maybe are on the back end of the roster, get them some reps at different points. This iswhy we do the work post-practice with the young guys. You just don't know when you're

going to have that opportunity to play or when you're going to need to play. You don't

want to let a month go by where they haven't worked on the Browns specific things and

then suddenly say, ‘Hey, by the way, you're playing.'"

(On if he thinks the team will be where they need to be on Sunday)- "It was a little

different week. I think we'll be in the best place we can be, based on the situation that we

had. I don't think we're going to go into the game without making sure that everybodyunderstands what they have to do, without answering all the questions. Sometimes thatmeans reallocating time, like today post-practice. Typically, you don't meet with the

players post-practice, but we'll do some work with them post-practice today and you just

adjust. Things happen and you have to adjust. We have to move forward and be ready onSunday."

(On if he feels like he has aged this week)- "This week, huh? There have been a few

challenges here along the way, but they're going to happen. When I'm talking to the group

next year about the ability to be able to deal with adversity, or the ability to adjust tothings that happen that are unexpected, this is a good example of situations like that. It

comes up every year, where you weren't planning for something and it pops up and youhave to go. We just have to adjust."

(On if the team is thin at tight end)- "We signed Michael (Gaines). He's been workingand Greg (Estandia) has gotten more familiar with the system since he's been here. That

gives us a couple guys at that position. We have our secret weapon, Hank (Fraley), which

he'll probably be running down the middle of the field, wide open this week."

(On the media asking Hank Fraley if he has caught passes at practice this week)-

"He's keeping it under wraps. I am sure they are repping it in Green Bay right now. The

Hank package (joking). We've used bigger guys at tight end before. I think he's done a

good job with the things that we've asked him to do there. Then you can build somedifferent personnel groups. We have the ability to do that as well."

(On how he handles criticism from the media)- "I don't read Rolling Stone. I've never

had a subscription to it. I don't really know what they have to say. Everybody is entitled

to their opinion. I respect everybody's opinion. That's really where I'll leave it."



(On if he thinks the national media is unfair to him)- "What I really focus on is us. Us

making progress, us moving forward, us winning games, knowing this is a process and

like any other process it takes time. I don't spend a lot of time on the national sites or things like that. I believe that the things that we are committed to are right. That's what

we're going to keep doing and over time we'll keep making progress and that's the

important thing."

(On if he views Derek Anderson's play as an audition to see if he can be the long-

term quarterback)- "I've never classified it as that [an audition]. Derek's done a lot of

things that I've been happy with. There are a lot of things that offensively we can

improve. I don't think that's specifically the offense. I like the way that he's worked. I likethe commitment that he's shown. I think that as we keep going, we'll keep improving."

(On Anderson's passer rating in the fourth quarter)- "We've got a lot of room to

grow. [There's] a lot of room to get better there. What I want to do is, be able to move the

ball in all four quarters. That's what we have to focus on, not the passer rating, but the

ability to move the ball more efficiently through the course of the whole game."

(On if he knew how hard Anderson worked before he became the starter)- "I have

only been with him this one year. I thought that he worked well during the preseason.

Since he has been the starter, I've liked the way he's worked as well. That's my frame of reference. In terms of my experience with him, I've been happy with that."

(On if a quarterback's preparation increases once he becomes the starter)- "You'd

like all three guys to work at the same level. You'd like all your guys to work at the same

level. Just going back to the other events of this week with the flu and things like that,you don't know when you are going to be there. You want to be ready when you do have

that chance."

(On if the secondary has struggled more in zone or man coverages)- "It's a little bitdifferent. There was a play last week where we got picked on the crossing route. That

was man-to-man coverage and when you get picked on those crossing routes, the rest of

the coverage is also in man-to-man, so everybody has their back turned. Often times,

those catch and run plays go for longer yardage. We also had the play where Hines(Ward) came over, he was running like a deep-over route, stepped in front of Santonio

(Holmes), I think that was the one, and then kind of spun out. That was a function of

better leverage by the group that came in and understanding where he is, understandingwhere the other defensive back is and trying to funnel it so that you have two edges to the

wall and then a point guy to the wall. What you don't want to ever do is have two guys

with this leverage and a point where the guy can break out. You'll see that sometimes onoutside runs, where a back will hit the sideline, there will be a DB out there and the DB

will take a step inside and get sealed off by the wide receiver and now you've given them

the whole sideline. What you want to do is maintain that outside position, force the back

to cut back in, because all of the pursuit is coming inside out. It's a small point, but it's ahuge point, because if you give them that sideline the pursuit now has to take this type of

angle, as opposed to forcing them back in to where everybody's coming. Little decisions



like that are the difference between really big plays and plays that aren't as significant. It's

the same thing that we use to teach our receivers about how important their blocking is in

the perimeter, because if they can seal that DB inside and we get the edge, it's the samething."

(On if there are any more confirmed cases of swine flu)- "All that stuff, Mary Kay(Cabot), is still pending. With everybody back, it's really not as much of an issue now, in

terms of the NFL exemptions, things like that."

(On if he said he spoke to Wright 10 minutes before his press conference)- "Yes."

(On if Wright has already been through the testing he spoke about)- "Yes, he's been

down, tested and back."

Mangini press conf. 10/2610.26.2009

Transcript: Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 10-26-09

(Opening statement)- "Good afternoon everybody. After watching the tape and looking

at the things that we didn't do very well in the game, there are plenty of things from an

execution standpoint that I thought we could do much better. What I really wanted to seeis if a play doesn't go the way that we want it to go, being able to limit the gain,

especially defensively, to what it should be and I don't think that we tackled very well.Plays that may have been a 15 yard hit or a 10 yard hit ended up going for much longer than they should have. That's something that we've talked about, defensively. That's

something that we've worked on, defensively, and we need to continue to work on it,

defensively. We have to be able to minimize the amount of damage any given play does

and that comes with sound execution in tackling, good job of leveraging the football andforcing the ball back to where your help is coming from, and things along those lines.

"I thought, offensively, too many times the ball was on the ground. The quarterback

center exchange, whether it was on the goal line or the screen play that we had set up for

Josh (Cribbs). A point of emphasis was how good Green Bay is at creating turnovers and

our emphasis on being able to protect the football and every drive ending with some kindof kick, whether it's a field goal punt or a kickoff; that's the goal every time. In terms of

running the football, there were flashes where we did it effectively and then other pointswhere we just didn't get a hat for a hat, which you need to have after you get the

movement on the first level. I thought, too, there were opportunities in the passing game,

especially for some big plays where we were a little bit off. Some of that was the route,some of it was the throw, some of it was the protection. We took some shots. I thought

we had some chances for those plays and couldn't quite get it to where we needed o get it



to. There were some decent drives, but to end up with only three points on those drives,

it's going to be hard to put the type of points that you need to put together against a team

like Green Bay.

"On special teams, I thought it was a good day. I don't think it was as good a day as it

could have been for us. We had a couple nice returns that I think probably had a chanceto go the distance on. [We] didn't quite do that. I thought the coverage overall was pretty

sound, both on kickoff and punt coverage. That's been a real strength for us. It could havebeen even more of a strength yesterday. I'm looking forward to a normal week of practice

this week, focusing on what's important for us every week, which is a style of play and

then, incorporating the corrections that we need to incorporate to execute the game planspecific things related to Chicago."

(On if he will consider a quarterback change this week)- "No."

(On what he can build on from the beginning of the season until now)- "I think, Jeff

(Schudel), there have been times where we've done things very well. I think we've run thefootball, at times, extremely effectively, whether it was Jamal (Lewis) or whether it was

Jerome (Harrison), back-to-back 100 yard rushers, different players. I think we've done

some good things in the passing game, in terms of being able to get the ball down the

field. Those things have to be put together and those things have to be consistent. Really,there were some chances yesterday that may not have been the deeper throws, although

we had shots on the deeper throws, but some plays where they could have been better

catch and run plays. Get the ball to the receiver, they were in man coverage, just didn'tget it quite to the right guy, and he would have gone for a lot further than the initial catch,

but we didn't do it. I think that, defensively, we had the fourth down stop, the six plays

there on the goal line. It's hard to stop them for three. It's a lot harder to stop them for six,

and it was close there on the last one. We gave them three more downs on the passinterference penalty; some progress there. There were a couple other scoring drives

where I thought we held up pretty well. They missed a field goal. They were down there

deep and (Eric) Barton made a play right there on the goal line. There have beenmoments where we've done all those things effectively. There have been moments where

we've been able to apply pressure on the quarterback and disrupt the passing game, but

it's week in and week out being able to do that and being able to correct the problems thatare there and not have those create new problems."

(On if he thinks that once you show you can do something once that you should be

able to do it consistently)- "It may manifest itself differently against that opponent, but

I've seen all those different things at different points. It's being able to do it week in andweek out, even on special teams. I think we played a good game yesterday on special

teams, but I don't think it was as good as we could have played yesterday. I think there

were some blocks that, just a little bit tighter on those blocks, Josh has a chance to go thedistance and we weren't. It only takes one there, but that's an area where I think we have

the ability to score at any point and we had made a lot of strides there. It's not like the

numbers were poor by any stretch, but they could have been a lot better. There is a lot of that in all the different areas."



(On his reasoning for keeping Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback)- "I think

he gives us the best chance right now to move the ball. I know his numbers have not been

impressive, but I don't think he's been alone in producing those numbers. I think therehave been a significant amount of drops. I think there have been times where we've had

chances and there have been some breakdowns in protection, but I've also seen him

complete some balls that they were well thrown and well caught. Even the throw to(Michael) Gaines yesterday, it was a good throw, good catch, a place where only he could

get it. There have been a lot of those. I think there was a shot there on the deep ball to

Mohamed (Massaquoi), just a little bit out of his reach over on their sideline. I've seenhim complete those plays, not just in the games, but also in practice."

(On if not playing Brady Quinn has anything to do with the 70 percent of snaps he

needs to take to earn his bonus)- "Nothing, zero, nothing to do with it."

(On why he thinks good practices are not translating into game performance)- "I

think last week, the difficulty with practice is we had a significant number of people miss

two out of the three days. I think considering the challenges we faced there, it was a goodweek of practice, far from a typical week of practice, whether it be in terms of reps,

looks, meeting time. I think with what we had, there were positive things. I thought theguys tried to rally, tried to give the best look they could, tried to execute the things the

way we needed to execute them, worked to catch up there on Friday and Saturday. Then,

there have been other weeks where there have been good things, but sometimes the look changed a little bit. The important thing to me is, you're going to get certain things in

practice, you're going to get certain looks, certain pressures, all those things, but there are

going to be things that change in the game. It's going to be a little bit different and you

really have to understand the concept of what you're trying to get done in order to addressthe difference between what you've seen and what actually shows up. The ability to

reference things that maybe you practice a couple weeks earlier, and be able to go back tothat without the reps and be able to execute that. That comes up every week, offensivelyand defensively. They played a little bit more of the bear front then they had show. Really

they had maybe used it two percent of the time over the first part of the season, and they

ran it about 20 percent of the time yesterday. You work on the bear front, and you'vedone work on that prior to this week, but if it's going to be 20 percent of the game, you

have to be able to adjust to that and react to that and really recall some of the learning

that you had prior."

(On the reason for not using the Wildcat yesterday)- "I think that we probably couldhave used it more than we did yesterday. That's the type of package that I'd like to, not

like to, we're going to have up each week. In terms of what the percentage will be, that'll

change weekly. I thought the look that they gave us, in terms of the way they respondedto it, was actually a good answer, but we had some other things that we could have tried

and probably should have tried."

(On if he comes to the conclusion that they should use a certain part of the offense

more during the game or after watching film)- "Usually it's during the game.Sometimes it's the type of situation where you can get back to it and it makes sense from



(On if he considers this to be the low point in his head coaching career)- "No, I

wouldn't consider it to be that at all. I think that anytime you take over a new situation

with a new group, you understand that it's a process. You can't lose sight of that. Youcan't lose sight of what is important. To me, that's improvement, that's progress, and I

really felt that over the last three weeks we had made a lot of progress, in terms of how to

play the way that we want to play. I think this week, was unique and I appreciate that andI respect that, but they don't change the game. We have to play the game, and we need to

play the game the same way regardless of whatever things have happened leading up to

that point. Understanding how to be a consistent player, understanding how to be aconsistent team, it's a skill that's learned. You just don't become consistent. You have to

work at being consistent and you have to make good choices every day and be able to go

out and execute when you have that one opportunity a week to do that. It's going to be the

challenge that we had this week. There will be a bunch of challenges coming up and youdeal with them and you move forward."

(On if he thinks the team will get back to playing how they did the previous three

games before Green Bay)- "That's the only football that we're going to play here. That'sthe style with which we're going to play and that's the style that you have to play with tobe effective. You can't do it part of the time. You can't approach a game part of the time

that way, or a few games that way and not the other games that way. Every game

situation is going to be different. Every challenge is going to be different, but thatapproach can't be different."

(On if the team needs a talent upgrade)- "I think that we can perform a lot better with

the group that we have. The group of players, the group of coaches that we have, I think

that we can perform better than we have. We've shown that we can perform better thanwe have and we can improve individually. We can improve collectively, and that is what

I am looking for with these guys, is to make progress and to play a certain way."

(On what they can do to improve on the tackling)- "I think it's like anything else, you

work at it. You work at it, and you keep working at it. It's like a lot of things that youwant to do better in any arena. It doesn't just happen. It's doing it, improving it, coaching

it, doing it again and it's a fundamental skill. Being aware of the different types of

situations you're going to be in when you are tackling, all that stuff is important. It's likeanything else, you just have to keep working at it."

(On what encouragement he can give to the fans)- "I don't think that anybody is

pleased with where we are right now. We are going to work at it as diligently and as

deliberately as we possibly can. The mistakes are going to be addressed. The mistakes aregoing to be analyzed. We're going to put a plan in place to fix them. There is a

commitment to that. That's not going to change. There is no sense of, ‘things are ok.' It's a

sense of, ‘we need to do things better than we're doing things.' And it has to beconsistently that approach, and it will be. It always will be. Win, lose, it's always going to

be trying to approve for the next week."



(On if he has any sense of how long it will take to get the team where he wants it to

be)- "I don't have a timetable set up, but what you are looking for is continued progress.

That's how we approach it, is, what do we have to do today to improve and understandingthat there are things that are going to improve more as we go. What can we do right now

to be better than we are?"

(On people outside the organization thinking it seems like Quinn has no future

here)- "The conversation that I had with Brady is really the approach. You need to, likeanybody who is not playing currently, you need to keep working at the same level. You

need to continually address the areas of improvement and you need to be ready when

your opportunity strikes, because you don't know when it's going to happen. That's what Itold D.A. when he wasn't the starter and that's what I talk to any of the players about who

aren't currently starting, is what can you do to improve? Not lose sight of those things,

not change your approach, because it changes quickly, and suddenly you have thatopportunity again and you always want to be able to maximize that opportunity when you

get it."

(On what he thought yesterday about fans leaving the game early)- "It's important for

us to give them something to cheer about. That's what we have to do. It's a passionategroup, and I respect that. We need to continue to move forward and make sure that

nobody wants to leave the stadium. "

(On if there is more work to do with the team than he originally thought)- "When I

took over, it was really the same sort of approach, it was understanding that are a lot of things that need to be addressed and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. There are

some things that you can do short term and some things that you can do long term. Some

things that you can address today or tomorrow or the next day and other things that you

have to move towards as you go. Being part of this experience in three different places, Iguess it would be four, I understand it's different everywhere you go and there are

different challenges everywhere you go. It is a process."

(On what is different between this team and his Jets team his first year as head

coach)- "I don't think you can look at one factor. Every place that I have been, where

you've transitioned to, it's different. It's a different group of players. It's a different

schedule. There are variables upon variables. In terms of saying, ‘this one thing wasdifferent.' I don't think it ever comes down to one thing."

(On if he began the season thinking the team was going to be successful this season)-

"I approached it the same way, in terms of working to win every single game. That's how

we approach next week, working to win that game and in the process, improving andnever losing sight of improvement and how we can improve and what areas we can

improve and appreciating improvement in whatever style or form that takes. That has

been the approach. [It is] really an approach that I experienced firsthand and also learned

being part of that with other head coaches."



(On if he has ever coached in a home game where you can hear the other team's fans

above your own)- "Yes, I've been in plenty of those games. I've been in other stadiums

where our fans were drowning out their fans. I've been on both sides of that spectrum."

(On if he thinks they are a better team now than at the beginning of the season)- "I

think we are right where we've played ourselves to be. That's what the record indicates. Ithink that there are plenty of opportunities for us, with the rest of the season, to win the

games. We're looking tow in each one, but the record is what it is and that's a reflectionof what we've been able to do to this point. Do I think that we've made some strides? At

points, yes, and we're not going to stop doing that."


10.28.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? In getting ready

for Chicago, some of the things we talked about, even in the preseason, anytime you play

one of Lovie's (Smith) teams, he's led the NFL in turnovers. In terms of being able tocreate turnovers since he's been there, 30 percent of their points have come off of

turnovers. You know that they work on it consistently, because you see it. Whether it's

the defenders who are sacking the quarterback, their awareness of the football, the guys

down the field making the tackle, their ability to not only identify the football, but get itout. It's been something consistent since he's been there and it's helped them. The amount

of points produced off those has won a lot of games for them. I think defensively, even

though this is a different scheme than what we faced last week, they create somechallenges in terms of the pressures that they use, like we saw last week. There's some

variation in what they do and who comes, so we're going to have to do a good job

identifying those things, being able to pick it up and then executing the pattern on theback end. Even in the running game, some of the movements, some of it could be purely

off pressure, some of it could just be part of the overall scheme, but there is quite a bit of

moment that you have to adjust to as an offensive line.

"[Offensively], I really liked Matt Forté coming out. I thought he did a lot of good thingsin college and that translated into pro football with the production that he had last year,

especially out of the backfield, leading all backs in receptions. I think he has the ability to

really dig it out and get inside, but he's also shown the ability to, when that's clogged up,get to an edge and create some big plays. I know his average isn't what it was, but he still

hit the 61-yarder and he has the ability to do that at any point. He gets the bulk of their

carries. With (Jay) Cutler, I've faced him several times in Denver. He, like a lot of the

guys we've faced thus far, can create plays. He has the natural arm strength. He has greatconfidence. He'll put the ball into tight spots, but he also can extend plays with his feet,

whether it's sliding up in the pocket, moving out of the pocket. He'll scramble some. He

had a touchdown scramble. His ability to get the ball in some tight spots, I think is



impressive and also, his ability to extend plays like we've seen is something that we need

to adjust to and do a better job with than we have been doing. I think their skill position

guys, (Devin) Hester, [is] really impressive in the return game, but he's developing moreand more as a receiver. The nice thing they can do with him is, he can get vertical, so he

creates those problems. They can run him on the reverses, the Wild Cats, he creates those

problems, and then he can take a slant, break a couple tackles and just like if he had inpunt return, he's in the secondary, he can make something happen. I think that Johnny

Knox has done a nice job with the way that they've used him vertically. He's created a lot

of pressure there. Earl Bennett made some impressive acrobatic catches over the courseof the season. There's one on, I think it was third-and-25 against Atlanta that he went up

in got. He had a couple that game that [were] similar to what you saw out of him coming

out of college. Then you have Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark, two tight ends that are

bigger guys, really good hands, with Greg having above average vertical speed for a tightend.

"On their [special] teams, put whoever you want back there, whether it's Knox, Hester,

(Danieal) Manning, they can all score. Whether it's punt return, kick return, they can allscore, and they have. They all get some opportunities. Bennett's been back there a littlebit too, but that's going to be probably our biggest challenge to date, from a special teams

perspective, coverage unit perspective with the way that these guys can not only hit the

return but then also change field and make something happen that's not necessarily theway it's drawn up."

(On if he thinks Green Bay kicked the ball out of bounds so Joshua Cribbs couldn't

return it)- "You know Tony (Grossi), I don't think they were trying to kick it out of

bounds with those. I think they were trying to pin it in the corner of the end zone andthen, just based on the way that they covered, overload the coverage, so it gets six guys

on that side, anticipating a sideline return because it was so tight to the sideline. I don'tthink that the goal there was to kick it out of bounds, but to start on the 40, that's a prettygood situation as well."

(On Jay Cutler's interceptions)- "Brett (Favre) has supreme confidence. Brett will

throw the ball into tight spots. Jay's like that too. He'll throw the ball into some tight spots

because he has great arm strength. He has excellent accuracy and he usually gets those in.He can thread the needle. Every now and then, when you do have multiple bodies around,

you're going to get some that go the other way. There's great upside and there's some

downside there as well, but he's made a lot of plays doing what he does. You just need tounderstand that there are some risks there. More often than not, he hits on the plus side."

(On having to play the Bears at home)- "They play well at home. I think that anytime

you're coming off a loss or a tough loss, we all have the same approach. We want to get it

corrected. We want to get the things fixed that we need to fix. We want to create and beconsistent with the style of play. I'm sure they weren't happy with the result last week,

like we weren't happy with the result last week. It's a tough environment to play in."



(On if Rex Hadnot is getting more reps)- "Yes, we've been trying to increase that each

week to get him to a place where he can handle more and more reps. We didn't want to

create a situation where it was too much right off the bat and have had a plan for that andwe're moving forward with the plan. He gets a little bit better each week. I thought he

played better this game than he had his first opportunity. We'll keep moving with that,

Tony (Grossi)."

(On if Steve Heiden is a candidate for injured reserve)- "No, I think, Mary Kay(Cabot), that he's actually making some progress here. [We] have a real good shot to see

him here today practicing."

(On Hank Fraley)- "I really like Hank for a lot of reasons. I like the way that he

approaches everything. He has great professionalism. He's willing to play whatever rolehe can play. He's helped Alex (Mack) throughout this process. He's an excellent

communicator. Last week, we were in a really unique situation to go into the game

without Steve or Robert (Royal) and really working with Michael (Gaines), who was new

this week and Greg (Estandia), who's been here, but hasn't had any kind of extensive role,and those were our two tight ends for the game. Hank had been playing some in those

packages. We had to use him a bit more, but he's happy to do it. He does well. Heapproaches it the same way he approaches his offensive line play."

(On if Fraley was in danger of not making the team before Hadnot got injured)-

"Rex went down fairly early in the process. I don't think I was looking at it that way,

Tony (Grossi), at all. I think that getting to know those guys through the course of training camp, and as you get to know Hank more, you really respect his versatility. An

offensive lineman that can play three interior positions has a lot of value."

(On how he assesses the offensive line protection)- "I think, Jeff (Schudel), there havebeen some packages that we've done a really good job with. I think one of the importantthings, too, is our ability getting in and out of the huddle, assess what's happening, get it

communicated, make sure everybody sees it the same way. When we've done that, we've

been in good shape. When we haven't, that's where you get hit with something that couldhave been communicated out more effectively. That's something that we have to do

better, is give ourselves some more time to assess what's happening. I think there have

been some individual cases where we haven't held up as well, whether it be against again, or the back against the blitzing linebacker. Those things are technique errors that

can improve, hand placement, leverage, where you have a hat for a hat, but your hat

doesn't hold up against their hat. That, often times, just comes down to technique, which

is something we'll focus on too."

(On Mike Furrey in the nickel package)- "I thought he played pretty well. A lot of

people have been beaten by Donald Driver in the slot. It's a tough duty. I thought on that

play, he could have played a little bit more in the trail position, something that we talked

about. There is somewhat of a learning curve there, but overall I thought he did prettywell."



(On what is says about the secondary that he uses Furrey in the nickel)- "With Mike,

it's a little unique, because he has started and played a lot of games on defense. It's not

where we were with Troy Brown, with a guy that had never played defense. He hadplayed defense. He had played pretty well on defense. Being able to use that to help us, I

think is a good thing. He's a smart guy, so he can get the things that he needs to do

offensively, as well as defensively, without it being an overload situation."

(On Kaluka Maiava's play against Green Bay)- "I think there were times he did reallywell. I think that the personal foul penalty is something that I wasn't real fired up about

and he'd like to have that play back. Overall, for his first start and extended action, I

thought there were some things to build on and he'll get some more chances. I don't knowif it'll be every package or a variation of packages. David Bowens played in there as well,

where David went to MIKE and (Eric) Barton went to WILL, so that's another option that

we've worked with. I think (David) Veikune could get some opportunities, just have tosee how he does through the course of the week. There are some different matches that

we have there."

(On what happened on the play in the second quarter near the goal line when

Jerome Harrison appeared to be open)- "What happened is, when he initially went tothe flat, where Harrison was going to, that initial look, the corner was sitting there and

then the corner came off and squatted on Furrey. I think if we had held maybe a beat

longer on the flat, when that corner came off on Furrey, he could have had a chance. Theway that play's designed is, you try to go to the flat right now, based on whether or not

he's open or not happen. Then it goes from the flat to the inside player in the progression.

Derek (Anderson) went to the flat, looked there initially, had the squat corner, probably

could have stayed a beat longer with it, but then went to his second read and that's whenthe corner fell off on Furrey."

(On if Anderson is able to see the field)- "You are able to see the field, it's just with

bunch patterns, with patterns where you have multiple receivers tight, things as they

distribute could take a little bit, I'm not talking about a significant amount of time, but alittle bit longer to clean up, because they have different combination coverages based on

you being bunched up. It's not as quick of a read, as say, you might get if they were

extended. It's really effective against a lot of man-to-man coverages because they have todeal with leverage and things like that."

(On if Anderson could have gotten the ball to Cribbs earlier on the play Cribbs

fumbled on)- "On that particular play, he came back to Cribbs later. Could he have come

earlier? Yes, you could have, but each route has a progression, so I think he stayed on thefirst progression and was looking for that, thought he had a chance there for a bigger play

down the field and then came back to Cribbs. We got the first down. We ended up losing

the ball on the fumble."

(On if there is a trend in the NFL of coaches going for it on fourth down)- "I don'tknow what the numbers are. I'd say it's a little different based on who you're playing

against and how confident they feel with what they have there. I'm not sure what the



numbers are. There's definitely something to be said, numerically or statistically, for

going for it on fourth down, but there's also the risk-reward factor. You go for it on your

30, that's a scoring play. Essentially at that point, if you don't get it, odds are they'regoing to score. Where statistically the percentage is high, statistically the percentage of

them scoring if they stop you is also high. You have to look at those two things when

you're evaluating it."

(On if his approach has changed on fourth down)- "No, I've gone for it on fourthdown a lot of different times. Sometimes, it worked out really well. Sometimes, it worked

out really poorly. Those are decisions that, if it works you look really good. If it doesn't,

you talk about it the whole next week."

(On Michael Gaines' 21-yard catch against Green Bay)- "Mike is the guy that caughtthe touchdown pass against us in the preseason game. You remember that as well. He has

good hands. We're getting to know him here. He made some nice catches during the

course of the week. Really Greg (Estandia), since he's been here, has made some nice

catches as well. I thought he made a couple, they weren't necessarily big gains, but Ithought they were well caught in contested areas. That was positive as well. We'll see

where both those guys are, and also have to see where we are with Steve and Robert."

(On if Phil Dawson will try to play on Sunday)- "He'll work through the week. I'd liketo think we have a good shot at that."

(On if they need to maximize what Jerome Harrison can bring to the offense)-

"Jerome's gotten a significant number of carries this season, especially compared to the

previous years. His role is always going to be defined by the game plan and the things hecan do in the game plan. I think he's made some nice plays and I think there are some

plays that he can improve on and he knows that. I think he needs to continue to work onhis pass protection and he's been doing that as well. There have been some goodopportunities for him and there will be some other good opportunities for him as we go.

I'm not opposed to any breakdown of carries in any game."

(On if it was disappointing that Abe Elam was not in some of nickel packages

against Green Bay)- "No, we'll keep working different people in different spots to seewhat the best spots are. Some things we felt that we could do a little bit better with

somebody else. It's not a knock on Abe and it's never a knock on somebody when you

transition them in. It's just, you feel like the matchup is better or the things that you'redoing in that scheme, it works out better for that person."

(On if Coye Francies is close to getting on the field defensively)- "I talk to Coye quite

a bit. We have a lot of rookies that are playing or contributing. He needs to find a way to

do the same thing. Just like when we were talking about with Brian (Robiskie), he has todo it on special teams first and he has to show us that he's better than the guys that are in

his spot right now. Defensively, he has to keep trying to make a case for himself. You're

looking for continued progress from that spot. I talk to him about how important that is.



I've played with a lot of rookie defensive backs in the past and I don't think that he's any

different than those guys, he just needs to make his strong case to do that."

(On Chansi Stuckey's development)- "He's been playing in a role and he'll continue toplay in a role. He took a little bit of a step back last week. He was part of that group that

missed two days of practice. Ideally, this week will be a normal NFL week of practice.I'm looking forward to him to keep carving out spots. He works, whether it's him or Mike

or Brian, you have some different packages. Cribbs has different packages. You're alwaystrying to use their strengths."

(On if the week off affected the way Kamerion Wimbley had been playing)- "Each

guy I'm sure responded differently to not being here. Practice is important. You want

everybody there. There's nothing we could do about it and it wasn't a situation where youwanted to go out with coming off an illness and rep a lot of stuff. I think that would have

been counterproductive, but you do want to be able to get all the reps that you can get

during the course of the week and it helps. It helps a lot."

(On if there have been any new cases of the flu since last week)- "No."


10.29.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? One piece of housekeeping, David Bowens, who missed yesterday for personal reasons, he had a little

boy, David Jr. It happened late Tuesday night, so he's back with us. Everybody's happy

and healthy, so that's good news. In terms of today, what we're going to be working on is

our third down package, offensively and defensively. We spend a lot of time on this,trying to make sure that we have a plan in place that: 1) is going to be effective against

what they do and 2) emphasizes the things that we think we can really improve on and

carry over, not just this week but week-to-week.

"I thought yesterday overall was a good start to the week. We added some tackling drills

to continue to emphasize that. We'll do that again today. [We are] just continuallyfocusing on fundamentals and improving those things to make sure that even after we

execute the scheme or there's a completion or whatever it is, that we're doing thingsfundamentally sound to either limit the production or to maximize the production

offensively."

(On if Steve Heiden will be able to play on Sunday)- "I think we have a good chance

there. I want to go through the week, because there was a week there where he got a little



bit of time and wasn't able to participate like we hoped he would. I think the same thing

with Phil (Dawson), made some progress there. I think there's a real good shot, but we

have to get through the rest of the week and make sure everything responds the way wethink it's going to respond and we hope it responds. Ideally, he'll be back as well."

(On if he thinks Dawson would be back already if his injury had been to his plantleg instead of his kicking leg)- "I didn't look at it that way. I'm not sure how that would

have affected it from a timeline perspective."

(On if he would be more inclined to keep Dawson out this week since the bye is next

week)- "We wouldn't put him out there if we felt that there was a chance that it could be a

big setback, or anything along those lines. Whenever he is out there, that's when we feel

that he's able to do it. With the bye week next week, it's not something that we're rushing,but we wouldn't do that whether it's the bye week next week or not."

(On if he pays much attention to statistics)- "No, what I'm looking at is where we can

improve the execution, because the stats will come if we improve the execution, and howwe can improve the execution. That, to me, is the most important thing. Defensively, I've

been a part of situations where the numbers weren't very good, but the point total is low.

Traditionally that's been consistent with this style of defense. At the end of the day, that's

the goal. Turnovers for us is a stat that I do look at, because it's been significant. Theamount of points that we've given up as a result of turnovers, I think we're net minus 56,

so points we've generated from our turnovers versus points that the opponent has

generated from the turnovers we've given up. That stat is significant. It's something thathas to improve and until it does, it's hard. It's hard each week."

(On Jay Cutler's ability to keep plays alive and how the secondary will have to

defend against it)- "It feels like we've dealt with that every week. Carson (Palmer), he'sanother guy that is able to move around in the pocket in create some different things.(Joe) Flacco, he has good mobility. Not that stationary quarterbacks are easier to deal

with, depending on what kind of passer they are. Peyton (Manning) doesn't move around

a lot in the pocket, Tom (Brady) doesn't move around a lot in the pocket, but they put uppretty big numbers. It's different on the back end because the defense that you have called

to cover the play that you anticipate getting run, when it breaks down, the fits on the

break down have to be consistent. Each team has a set of scramble rules and each team'sscramble rules are different, so then you have to cover your scramble rules based on man-

to-man defense, which is easier because you stay with the guy that you're on, or zone

defense and understanding where you have to fit, based on is the outside receiver going to

run a come-back, or is he going to continue down the field. Is the closest receiver goingto be the low level guy or is he going to be the deeper level guy. There's a bunch of

different things that happen and as a defensive line, it's critical that you keep those guys

in the pocket so you don't get to that next level. It all works together and you have toprepare for what they run, what happens if it breaks down and it adds some preparation."

(On how useful Michael Gaines is when preparing for Chicago)- "He does give some

insight. John is here as well, St. Clair, who has some experience with the Bears as well.



They know both those guys are here, too, so I'm sure they're taking that into account.

Maybe the traditional audibles, the traditional checks, the things like that, odds are, those

aren't going to stay the same through this week. Typically, when you get to this point inthe season, every team changes it up, maybe every couple weeks, or enough every couple

weeks so that it's not following the same pattern. There is so much movement that you

usually have somebody who knows something about that team."

(On what he sells the team on when they are 1-6)- "I don't really look at it as sellingthem on anything. To me, it's on understanding what's important to get fixed and the

difference between the right approach and the wrong approach. There have been a lot of

weeks in the recent past here where we've had the right approach and I didn't think weplayed the way we should play on Sunday, in terms of our style of play and that's the

starting point. The scheme, the calls, those things are going to change week-to-week.

Those things are going to be different based on which individual you're playing against,but the style of play has to remain consistent, and the level of preparation has to remain

consistent. It's always easy to come in after a win and prepare. It's just as important to

prepare the same way after a win as you would any other week. It's really the sameapproach if you aren't winning, is the only way to win is to be consistent and to fix thingsand understanding that. It's more teaching that element as opposed to selling any sort of

miracle cure. There isn't one. It's hard work. It's commitment. It's dedication. It's

consistency. That's the formula."

(On the problem with running the ball inside the five yard line)- "Last week, one of

the problems was we had the fumbled exchange. We had a play that, I think, had a real

good chance to get home and we had that exchange and we ended up losing a little bit of

yardage on that. I thought we had a chance on the other one, the puller got knocked off,as we he was coming around, kind of hit his hip so he couldn't get in the hole to get the

linebacker he was assigned to. We didn't have a hat for a hat on that and he just gotchipped. His pull could have been a little bit deeper and I think it would have avoided thecontact. That's the difference between having a hat or not having a hat, is maybe eight

inches on the pull. We have to get that fixed."

(On if he has ever thought about putting a defensive lineman in on offense when

inside the five yard line)- "Yes, I used to put (Richard) Seymour back there some. (Dan)Klecko, when we had him, little Klecko, not big (Joe) Klecko. He's not that little, he's 300

pounds. You've done some of that. It's a different world though. Everybody wants to be

back there. Everybody talks about being back there and you get back there and it getsnoisy, especially on the goal line. When you're used to hitting someone, and even though

you are, kind of, with the blocking, it's still, it's different. We're willing to try different

people there. It's not the same world, I think, and guys figure that out pretty quickly whenthey're back there."

(On if Mike Vrabel is successful at playing on offense because he is so smart)- "He

has great hands, too. He's made some really impressive catches. We've worked a couple

different guys as tight ends. I thought you were talking about more the fullback spot. The



other thing that happened, Seymour ended up getting hurt. Klecko ended up getting hurt.

I kind of moved away from the d-lineman/fullback role a little bit from that."

(On if Seymour and Klecko got hurt playing fullback)- "Yes, in that role, both of themdid."

(On if two defensive players getting hurt on offensive will change your mind about

using them in that role)- "Yes, it does."

(On if not feeling confident enough to run the ball inside the five affects how a game

is called)- "We felt confident last week that we could run it in and we did call two of thethree plays there to do that. I think we had a shot, probably more so on the first one than

the second one, to get it in. It wasn't a question of not having confidence there, it was just

the fumbled exchange hurt us at that point."

(On the draft day trade for Kenyon Coleman)- "I think he's done a good job in the role

that he's had. Really, when we were looking at other defensive linemen that wereavailable in that range, I think he probably has more play time and production than guys

that were drafted in that spot. That's a positive. Alex (Mack) has been able to play 100percent of the snaps and I think he's making some real strides there as well."

(On Kenyon Coleman specifically)- "That was really part of the trade. When you were

looking at the range, or the defensive linemen that were available in that area and then

look at Kenyon's production versus that group, I think in that context, it's been positive.Kenyon's a pretty consistent guy. He's performed how I envisioned him to perform. He

has a sack this year, I think, which is higher than his normal total."

(On if they adjust the playbook when the offense is not playing well)- "We've done alot of that. Sometimes it's taking the core plays and getting to them in a different way thatcreates the defense that you want to run those core plays. It may be the same concept, but

you put the tight end outside the receiver and he runs the number one position's route and

the number two, then you get a little bit different match up. Same concept, same route,same read for the quarterback, it's just some different matchups. There's been some

scaling back with some of the stuff we do. Some of it I've liked. Some of it I haven't

liked. Some of the things I think that we need to reengage in and reincorporate into thescheme, so we'll do some of that too."

(On Brian Robiskie)- "Brian, the numbers don't really show it, but I think he has done

some better things over the course of his time of playing more. Route depths, stick at thetop of the routes, really understanding the different coverages, I think there's beenprogress, just he hasn't gotten a lot of opportunities to get the ball. The few opportunities

that he has had, he caught the one on the sideline, he wasn't in bounds, [he] caught the

other in-cut. Hopefully, we'll keep getting him more and more involved as we go."

(On if the team loses confidence when they get in the red zone and aren't able to

score)- "You always want to get seven. I think there's an approach that we need to



continue to take, in terms of being able to get the ball into the end zone. You really

understand how important the smallest details are, because there's not a lot of margin for

error. You have everybody jammed up inside. Like I was talking about with the puller,it's the difference between a very small amount of distance, but one he gets knocked off,

the other one, if he had gone deeper we probably would have had the hat that we needed.

I think it's more about understanding how subtle the differences are down there and beingable to capitalize on those things. Ideally, too Terry (Pluto), you get down there more

often. That would help too, just law of averages."

(On if not being able to score when in the red zone becomes more magnified when

you are not in the red zone a lot)- "Yes, and really I'm looking to get down there moreoften to increase the averages of getting in."


10.30.2009


(On what his kids are going to be for Halloween)- "Let's see, we have Puss in Bootsfrom Shrek. Yoda, that's the one year old and Luke Skywalker, that's Luke. Luke loves

Luke Skywalker. The two oldest, they are big Star Wars fans. Jake is Han Solo and Luke

is Luke Skywalker. I am usually either Darth Vader or the Emperor. It's great. I have a

Darth Vader mask in my office. I am sure the players are wondering what that is for. [It'sfor] when I Skype with them, I hope nobody ever walks in when that is happening. It's

fun. I know the Star Wars Symphony is coming to Cleveland. I had to watch that

documentary last Friday about the making of. Good times, good times."

(Opening statement)- "Today what we are going to do, you saw yesterday, continuing toemphasize tackling. We got it a couple days this week. We have been doing it since

training camp. We are going to keep doing it. That, to me, is such a fundamental skill. It's

something that can improve and needs to improve across the board. It also helps our offensive players with running with the football, understanding where a defender's

leverage is, how to attack it. [I] have been doing that for years, all of the different places I

have been and [I] believe in it. I thought that defensively we had a good day. I thought wehad a really good day yesterday with the communication. I can't stress that enough. I can't

emphasize that enough. The ability to identify what they are in, what the check is, what to

anticipate, and [to] do it quickly is key. I thought they did a nice job with that. Everybodyhas to understand it. Everybody has to take part in it. That, to me, is another skill that is

developed and as it improves, we improve.

"Offensively, I think there are some things that we need to clean up from yesterday that

we will do here today. In all three areas whether it be the routes, the protection, the reads.It is a little bit different package than what we have seen over the last couple of weeks. I

feel like we are getting closer in understanding how to deal with it. It's a different type of



front in terms of the way they penetrate versus some of the other teams that have been a

little bit more reacting. We are making some strides there as well. What we will do today

is, clean up those things, work on the red zone and ideally finish the week, practice wise,on a good note."

(On the notion of using Josh Cribbs as a running back)- "I've done some of that in thepast, and I don't love making comparisons between guys, but with Brad Smith where you

could get into multiple wide receiver set. Say you had four wide receivers on the fieldand a tight end, traditionally that would be an empty formation, everybody would be out

because you don't have a running back. We would take Brad, at times, motion him back

in the backfield and now you are in a three wide receiver, tight end and running back set.You can run those types of plays with a guy like that, so they have to deal. It's one

personnel group which presents one set of issues, but you are creating another one

because that guy does have some running back skills. It takes time. It takes a lot of work by the player and the group to get that. It's something that we have done a little bit of.

Josh has played a lot of different roles with the Wildcat, the receiver so you have to build

the package as you go."

(On why he chose to play Cribbs at wide receiver instead of running back)- "He doeshave really good hands. He is strong when he is running his routes. He's good with run

after the catch. It's not that you don't think that he's going to be as good in the other role,

but you think that he has a chance to keep developing, potentially be really good in thatrole, and also, our receiver group when we first got here was in a bit of a state of flux. I

thought that was an area where we needed to develop depth."

(On how the trade for Kenyon Coleman has worked out)- "I like the players that we

got. I think that if you look at Kenyon's production versus the other d-linemen that were

available high in the draft, where our initial spot was, and the production that he's hadand the play time that he's had, that's been a plus decision. Alex (Mack) has started every

snap and I think he gets a little bit better each week. I don't think last week was his best

week, but as a young guy, we all need to practice. We all need that and I think especiallywith the younger guys, at a position that has as much communication as the center does

and as many variations as the center does, it's hard to get those days back that you miss in

practice. Some of the veteran guys who have years of experience can relate things back.He's building that experience each time he plays and each time he practices. I've liked the

things that he's done. Same thing with Abe (Elam). Brett's (Ratliff) been in his role and

that's really the role that I saw him having when he came here. I think there are a lot of plusses with it."

(On if it was determined before the draft that the team did not need to draft a

quarterback)- "You look at all the players available, but having D.A. (Derek Anderson)

and Brady (Quinn) here, it was important to me to see those guys. I liked working withthose guys and I liked the things that they brought to the table. It wasn't really our

mindset, in terms of that position going into the draft. That wasn't part of the equation."



(On if he saw enough from Anderson and Quinn before the draft to have a good

idea of what they are capable of)- "It's like anything else, you look at what they've done

based on the systems they were in and getting to know them and going through thatexperience. You also have to then, see them in your system, the things you're asking them

to do, getting to know them through the course of the season, all those things come into

play. You may feel like you have a really good handle on a guy, but as you go throughthe season, you know them much better than you did coming into it."

(On if there is a possibility of a player earning playing time by performing well

enough at their primary position, but not on special teams)- "Yes, you look at both

sides of it, but they really have to beat somebody out at their position in order for that tobe the dominant part of the decision making process, or play a role on substituted

defenses that is significant. If they're not doing either one of those things and you bring

them to the game and they're not giving you reps on [special] teams, you can't do it."

(On if a player's playing time can be decided solely on his performance at his

primary position)- "Yes, definitely. If you've carved out a role somewhere else, the mostimportant thing is what is the role? What is the game day role? The role can take a lot of

different shapes. If you're the star, the third defensive back playing in the slot. Are you asubstituted safety? Are you the third wide receiver? What is your role? How are you

contributing on game day? You want to be able to make sure that the 45 guys that you

bring there are all adding value to the game. Some of the reps that you take off somebodyelse, allows them to play better at their spot. What you don't want to do is, bring someone

to a game, give them reps because you feel like they should have reps, but it's not what's

best."

(On how much the health of the tight ends affects the game plan)- "It was tough last

week, I can tell you, because we had both those guys (Robert Royal and Steve Heiden)down. Greg (Estandia) had played, had been here a little while. With (Michael) Gaines,

he had just come in. Hank (Fraley) had played a role there to some degree, sort of hoping

that one of those other two guys, whether it be Robert or Steve, could go, [we] we're sure,we had the flu element. (Lawrence) Vickers was out, so Gaines had to play some

fullback, as well as play some tight end. There were a lot of moving parts. Now, the good

news is, for Gaines, he's been here an extra week and he has some exposure to thosedifferent spots. We've gotten Lawrence back. Steve's been able to go to some degree.

Robert's been able to go to some degree. Greg has been able to go to some degree. Is it as

clear as you would like it to be? No, but at least it's moving in that direction, which isgood."

(On if he has separate game plans depending on how many tight ends will be able to

play)- "There's not really a group that you have where you can [plan for not having a

tight end], 21 there's a tight end. 12 there are two tight ends. 11 there's a tight end. You'rekind of down to 20 personnel, which is two backs, three wide receivers, or 10

[personnel], one back, four wide receivers. That's what you're working with at that point.

You try to build some flexibility with the plays. Hank may be able to be an in-line guy,like he has been. Going back to a long time ago, and I've said it a lot, the whole concept



(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. In terms of the decision that was made

yesterday, I can tell you that anytime a decision like this is made it is difficult personally

and professionally. George (Kokinis) is a friend of mine and I respect him and I wish hisfamily well. I can tell you that for a variety of reasons things didn't work out. You never

go into a situation like this with the intention of it not working out. We felt that,

organizationally, this was the best decision in order to move forward. We have a strongstructure in place on both the pro side and the college side and things will continue to

operate effectively on a day-to-day basis. I understand that you all have a lot of questions

and there is really nothing that I'm going to add to this. I hope that you can respect that.What I will talk about are the things that we're doing as a team over the course of the

week in order to improve.

"What we did this morning and last night is, as a staff last night, we went through the first

and second down packages. We really analyzed the things that we did well, the thingsthat, as part of that, that we think we can continue to improve on, whether it be scheme,

technique, whatever the case may be, things that we want to remove from the various

packages and some things that we want to add. The coaches put together clips to reflectthat, a scouting report, sort of a Browns scouting report and adjustments. [We] presentedthat to the players and then we'll go out and practice that here this afternoon.

"Today was first and second down. Tomorrow will be more of a third down emphasis,

like a typical Thursday. As a coaching staff, as individual coaches and as players, we'reall looking to focus on things that we can get better at and collectively doing that so that

we can move forward after the bye week and make the progress that we're looking for."

(On if a new General Manager will be hired this season)- "As I said, in terms of this

topic, there's nothing else that I'm going to add. What I will talk about is anything that is

to do with the things that we're doing this week and things directly related to the teamthat we're working on."

(On why he won't talk about the General Manager situation)- "This is really, for a

variety of reasons, all that I can say at this point."

(On why he did not mention the General Manager change yesterday)- "In terms of the timetable, things like that, it's the same thing. I've really said all that I can say, Jeff

(Schudel)."

(On who will address the General Manager situation if he will not)- "I understand,

Mary Kay (Cabot), and I appreciate the questions that you guys (the media) have. Icompletely appreciate that, but I hope you can also respect that I've added all that I can

add right now. What I can talk about are the things that we're doing here today."

(On what having two dismissals in the past week says about the stability of the

organization)- "We've had one situation where that was the case. What I can say is that I

feel like we have a very strong structure in place on the personnel side and I'm confident

that day-to-day we'll be able to execute the things that we need to execute."



(On if Bernie Kosar will fill some on Kokinis' responsibilities)- "Mary Kay (Cabot), I

understand the question, but really, this is all that I can say. I hope you can understand

that as well."

(On if there are legal reasons why he can't talk about Kokinis)- "There's really a

variety of reasons, Tony (Grossi), and I'll just leave it at that."

(On if Randy Lerner plans to address the situation)- "I think that you have to talk to

Neal (Gulkis) about that. I can just tell you what I'm addressing."

(On if he understands why fans want to know what is going on within the

organization)- "I completely understand the questions and I respect that. I can just tell

you the things that I can address and it's for a variety of reasons. I hope that you can

understand that as well."

(On how he keeps this from becoming a distraction to the players)- "In talking to the

team, the important thing that I've stressed, whether it be today or yesterday or at anypoint, is the important thing for us is to be able to focus individually first on what we can

improve, and then collectively what we can improve. Those things are the importantthings that we need to do. We need to get that done this week and that's what we're

focused on, all of us are focused on. I spent a lot of time with the coaching staff

yesterday, this morning and trying to really work through the different things that wethink need to be addressed short term, need to be addressed long term. We'll meet more

on personnel, in terms of player performances and evaluation and things like that on

Thursday, but that's also a component of this. [I have] historically made a lot of strides

during the bye week. It is a unique time where you can put some more emphasis onindividual technique, can sit down with the players one-on-one and either address their

performance, address their concerns, address what they're hoping to achieve over thecourse of the rest of the season. I look forward to those meetings. We have, like I said,point of attack tapes made on each guy, whether it be actual game tapes or whether it be

practice tapes, where they can look at that individually to help them get a better feel for

what they've done or with their position coach, with the coordinator, with myself, wherewe can go really share some time and I can give them my perspective on things. Just from

my experience over the last three years, those meetings have been very valuable."

(On if he has made any further conclusions about possible changes)- "No, Tony

(Grossi), what we're going to do is, like I said, we're looking at it from a schemeperspective and also from a personnel perspective. We will spend some more time as a

coaching staff going through, player-by-player, areas where we think either that player

can improve, how we can help him improve, some of the points of emphasis that we needto really work on with them. Whether it be during the individual periods, however we're

going to get that in place and really formulate a plan for each guy and also look at the

ways that we can develop them into bigger roles or into different roles that we think can

help us."



(On if Brett Ratliff will get more reps)- "Over these practices and things like that, we'll

try to work all three guys to some degree. What we do still do, Tony (Grossi), is the

opportunity periods. That's often a time for the third quarterback, in this case Brett, to getsome of those reps that he may not get during the course of a normal practice. It's our

stuff. It's our packages. It's obviously our players."

(On if Ratliff is a candidate to start after the bye week)- "No."

(On what he thinks the image of the Browns is around the league)- "You'd have toask people around the league. I know that the things that we're doing, the way that they

players are working, the way that they coaches are working, the way that the organization

is working, is all based on one end goal and that is to win, first and foremost, but also to

improve at every level at all times. That's not going to change. I've been part of thisprocess before. I've been part of it with different head coaches. I've been part of it as a

head coach myself and there's not one specific pattern that it follows. It does take time. It

does take a lot of hard work. It does take deliberate practice. That is consistent with every

place that I've been, every experience I've had."

(On if this is harder than he thought it was going to be when he took the job)- "I

didn't look at it in terms of how hard it would be. I looked at it in terms of how important

the process was and understanding that each place is going to have different challengesthat are unique to that organization, that are unique to that group of players, that are

unique to that coaching staff. There isn't a set pattern. Even when I was in my third year

in New York, there are things that come up every day that aren't on the agenda. Theyaren't on the schedule, there's no blue print for how to deal with those things, but it is

stuff that you have to look at, you have to try to make good decisions on and you have to

move forward. Each year's been radically different. Each group of guys has been

radically different, but the consistent thing is the way that you have to approach it.There's no substitute for hard work. There's no substitute for constantly analyzing ways to

improve and being committed to doing that. There just isn't. It was true with my

experience in New England with Bill (Belichick). It was true with my experience in NewYork with Bill Parcells. It was true with my experience as a head coach with the Jets.

There's no substitute for that. It may be a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason, because

that's the truth."

(On his thoughts on final personnel decisions being given to someone else in the

future)- "My goal is to win and my goal is to improve. There's never opposition to

someone that can help us achieve that goal. That's true here. It was true in New York with

the Jets. I remember my early experiences with Bill (Belichick) as a young guy. Billwould always listen to anybody's opinion and anybody's ideas, as long as there was a

rational to it, as long as it was well thought out. [He] was open to it and was willing to

introduce those things or try those things. I really respected that and learned a lot fromhim from that perspective. It was the same thing with Bill Parcells. You appreciate the

feedback. You appreciate the honesty. You appreciate people trying to constantly

improve at what they're doing or constantly help the group improve. You want to hire asmany people as you possibly can like that. You want as many players around like that,



just individuals that are intrinsically motivated to be the best at their craft and to make

sure that the organization is as positive and as productive as possible. Every mentor that

I've had has had that approach, regardless of how much success they've had and that'sprobably why they've had the success that they have had."

(On if this was an organizational decision he signed off on)- "Really it's what I said,it's an organizational decision that we felt gave us the best chance to move forward.

There's really nothing else I can add."

(On if it was a difficult decision)- "You never go into any situation with the intention of

it not working out and that was true in this case. The organization felt this gave us the

best chance to move forward."

(On how many of the players he brought in this season he thinks have the potential

to be franchise impact players)- "I think that everybody who's here right now is

contributing to the things that were doing now and hopefully the things that we're

building towards in the future. Everybody contributes to that process. I feel comfortablewith the guys that we've brought in and their contributions, their approach, their work

ethic, things like that. It's all part of what you continue to grow."


11.09.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? [My bye week]was good actually. I spent a lot of time with the boys yesterday and the day before. That's

always rejuvenating. I think the players, it's nice for them to get some time with their

families or get away. That's the nice thing about the week.

"In terms of what we're doing here today, it's really an extension of the bye week for us.What I've traditionally done, what I decided to do this week as well, is we had the two

days last week where we covered each phase, first and second down, third down. Today,

our focus will still be on us and the concentration will be in the red area and goal line andthe areas that you'd normally cover on a Friday during a typical week. Following that

process leading up to it from a preparation perspective, you go through it, you analyze it,

you look at the thing you're going to carry through, you install if you're going to addsome things or correct some things, review the tape and then go out and practice the

things that you want to get corrected. That's what the emphasis is here today.

"One thing that we did housekeeping wise, which is always positive to be able to do, is

we elevated Marcus Benard from the practice squad to the active roster. Marcus, to me, isa good example of what we're always trying to do. He was an undrafted free agent. He

was a hand in the dirt guy, who always had his hand in the dirt in college, nickname was



King Kong. He had a lot of production in college at a smaller school and then, to come

here, to stand up, to have to learn how to play linebacker and all the other things that go

with transitioning from college to pro football as an undrafted guy. I think he's done anoutstanding job. He was our [practice] player of the week against Buffalo. The thing

that's been consistent with him is his work ethic. You'd like to be able to always elevate

off your practice squad and we were able to do that here today and I'm happy for him.Now, in talking to him, I said, ‘That's the first step. The next step is to get to the 45-man

roster.' That will be dependent on his play on special teams, or his role on special teams

and then, what other roles he can play for us defensively. It's good to have the playersback in. It's good to be able to get out there together. The weather's been pretty amazing

over of the course of the weekend and it looks like we have another day like that today,

so that's what we'll be doing."

(On if he has made a decision at quarterback)- "What I'll do is I'll let you guys knowabout that on Wednesday. We'll talk about that more and our preparation for the Ravens.

I know where I'm headed, I'd just rather talk about it on Wednesday. We'll talk about that

in conjunction with our work on the Ravens."

(On Eric Barton)- "I think we'll know more, we'll at least have some real clarity either later today or tomorrow. Once we do, even if I'm not talking [at a press conference], I'll

let Neal (Gulkis) let you know."

(On if he has told the quarterbacks his decision yet)- "I haven't sat down with the

quarterbacks, so that's part of it, Mary Kay (Cabot)."

(On what linebacker position Benard plays)- "He's outside. I'm going to keep himoutside. I think, similar to keeping David Veikune inside, really letting him concentrate

on one spot. I think he has the ability to where he could play inside from his athleticism,his strength, things like that. I think his best chance to contribute is outside."

(On if there is still one roster spot open)- "Yes, we do."

(On if he knows what position will be filled with the roster spot)- "We'll have some

more guys in for workouts tomorrow. I have an idea where we're heading, but want to go

through the workouts and see where those are."

(On if they will need another inside linebacker if Barton can't play)- "(Jason) Trusnik has played in there, so he could be a potential candidate from a MIKE perspective,

similar to David Bowens and David Veikune, so you have those three there. You haveKaluka (Maiava), who's worked as a WILL, (Blake) Costanzo who's worked as a WILL.Ideally in a 3-4, those positions are mirrored. We have a little variation in body types, but

you can have combinations based on the package, based on what you're seeing. It doesn't

have to be filled by one guy all the time in all the different packages."

(On if Jamal Lewis is okay)- "Yes, he'll practice here today. That's the other nice thingwith the bye week, it's easy to lose track of how long these guys have been working and



hitting and things like that. It does give you an opportunity to get some guys some extra

rest. He'll be back here today."

(On if all of the players made it back)- "Yes, everybody else made it back. Everybodyelse was on time in making it back. You're always looking forward to that attendance

sheet coming through."

(On his message to the team coming out of the bye week)- "When you look at it, and I

think the players have an appreciation for it, when you look at where we've fallen short indifferent areas, again it comes down to things that are correctable, like ball security, our

consistency in catching the ball, placing the ball, depths of routes, depths in coverage,

rush lanes defensively. There are a lot of things from a fundamental perspective that if we

improve on, then the outcome will be different. I experienced this in New York all threeyears, to take a step back to look at it, to look at it, to look at it objectively, be able to

spend some time on it, show the players it and have the realization that, if we correct

these things and do these things better, then the outcome will be different. Often times, a

long play versus an intermediate play versus a no gain comes down to a small techniquething. There was a play against Green Bay late in the game, where Robaire (Smith),

who's really been outstanding, especially over the last couple weeks, just got caughtinside a little bit. The softness in the c-gap, the back was able to get through and that

ended up being a significant play from amount of yards gained, but that's correctable.

He's played that a lot of times, he just kind of bit a little early. It wasn't him alone, it wasalso the outside linebacker getting a little bit of width. To be able to see those plays and

understand how that small amount of softness can translate in to a big gain, it's positive

from the perspective of it is correctable."

(On how many players met with him during the bye week)- "There were different

guys at different points. The other thing is, that is really open today as well too. I'll gettogether with some more of those guys here today. The exact number, I'm not sure what

the total number was, but it's good. It's positive. I also had the opportunity to spend some

time with coaches, where you don't usually get a chance to sit down with a lot of guysand say, ‘Here are some things I really like. Here are some things I think you can

improve.' Get their feedback on things, on a one-on-one basis, that they think we can

improve, they think they can improve. It was a coach in New York who actually broughtthat to my attention. He had done a lot in college and it really was nothing that I had ever

been exposed to. In pro football, I had never sat down with a head coach for a one-on-one

to talk about things I could do better, usually those came in a very loud fashion andpublicly. I thought it was positive and I thought it was a good idea and incorporated it."

(On meeting with the coordinators)- "Interestingly, with the coordinators, you do spend

more time with those guys. I'll spend, probably, the most of my time with Rob Ryan and

Brad (Seely), just because each week you're going through the game plan, you're goingthrough the corrections on a daily basis. That's a little different, I guess, than the meetings

I was talking about, with more the assistants."



(On what he talked about with Brian Daboll during the bye week)- "I guess what I'm

getting at is that wasn't that type of meeting, because we meet quite often. It's more time

spent day-to-day then say, the other position coaches."

(On what they can do to get the offense going)- "I really believe there are a lot of

things that we can do to make the offense more effective. I think the starting point for usis protecting the football. The amount of opportunities is always going to be limited by

the times we have the football. We're giving it away too often. It's not purely in the formof interceptions, it's ball security. We need to do a better job as a show team constantly

pressuring the ball, almost to the point where it's overkill, because that's the amount of

emphasis that you have to put on it. Whenever the running back is finishing the run, youwant to have two, three guys tearing it away to keep giving that awareness to the running

back, to the receiver. Every play getting those guys pressuring the football, because the

better we protect it, the more chance we'll have to score, the more chance we'll have tosustain drives and that, to me, is the starting point. Then, it's being able to take advantage

of the opportunities that are there, whether it's throws or catches, being able to execute

those. That's the second thing. I think from a scheme perspective, there's a range of thingsin the different areas, first and second down, third down, red zone, that we have looked atthat we'll incorporate moving into the second half."

(On if they will do more fumble drills now than in the first half of the season)- "It's

been a point of emphasis, but obviously we're not doing it effectively enough. We dotrack all those things during the course of practice. I thought the show team guys, last

week, did a really nice job. They were all over the football every play, regardless of

where the guy was. They were knocking it out on his way back to the huddle. Sometimes

that's what you have to do, is over emphasize it, to get what we need to get done, done."

(On if the GM rumors are a distraction)- "It's not going to be a distraction for me, or any of the coaches or any of the players. There are so many things that come up during

the course of a season, whether it's this or any of the other elements that come up, or have

come up, that really, like any other part of what you're teaching, it's very important thatyou can focus on what's important. What's important for us is what we're doing on a daily

basis and our preparation for the next opponent. Being part of different programs and

seeing the way distractions can affect, or aren't allowed to affect things, has given megood insight into how important that skill is. The emphasis is always going to be on the

things that we need to do on that day and not the things that are happening externally."

(On the rumor about Mike Holmgren)- "With any of the names that come up, I'm sure

there's been a range of names that have come up. I talk to Randy (Lerner) all the timeabout different things. Again, my emphasis, my focus, is going to be on what we're doing

here day-to-day getting the team ready."

(On if there is a sense of urgency to bring in a GM-type person before the end of the

season)- "What I believe in is that anybody that can help us be successful, anybody thatcan help us move forward, I'm always open to, whether it's in that role or any other role.



Whether it's a player, coach, whatever it is, I'm open to anybody that can help us

improve. We're always looking to do that individually and organizationally."

(On if he talked to any GM candidates last week)- "What I've been focused on is theteam and the things that we can do to improve the team. That's what I'll continue to focus

on."

(On if there is anything he wants to change about his approach for the next eight

weeks)- "You're always going through that self-reflection and looking at the way Iapproach squad meetings, the way I approach staff meetings, preparation for the next

opponent, practice schedules, the outline of practice, distribution of personnel, all those

things are things that I'm looking at. I like to think that we change those as we go and

there are some things that we'll continue to change as we go."

(On if he is going to make any changes in his approach)- "Yes, and there have been

throughout the course of the season. It won't stop this week. It will keep going each week.

Looking at it, what did we do well? What did we do poorly? What were preparationerrors? What are things that we want to emphasize? What's the best distribution of time?

All those things are things that you look at."

(On if the use of the Wildcat was looked at during the bye week)- "That was a

component of it. We've been running elements of the Wildcat since the first week. Weran it in the Minnesota game. We've run it at different points throughout the season, some

with greater frequency, some with greater success. It's a good package. It's something that

I like, that Brian likes. Obviously, Josh (Cribbs) really likes it. It's going to be different

based on how the team plays it, how they adjust to it, but it is a good package that we'llcontinue to carryover and continue to have available each week."

(On how the practice schedule will change with a Monday night game)- "It's different

coming off the bye as well, because today is really a Browns-centered day, not a Ravens'day. There have been elements of Ravens prep throughout all three days, but it's really

Browns-centered. In terms of the daily schedule, that will be pretty consistent, with the

extra day (Saturday) being more of a review type day than anything else."


11.11.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? A couple things,

we signed Josh Stamer to the active roster. We currently have one roster spot open and

[there are] some things that we're looking at in terms of filling that, but I'll let you knowwhen we do that as we move forward. In terms of the quarterback situation, I had a

chance to sit down with both guys, which is what I wanted to do before I shared the



decision with anybody else and Brady (Quinn) will start this week against Baltimore. I

think that he's had some good weeks of practice. I liked what he did over the bye week

practices. I think that he's worked hard since the first transition was made and I respectthat. That's what I asked him to do. I look forward to him taking advantage of this

opportunity and helping us improve offensively.

"In terms of Baltimore, one of the things that happens is, as you play conference

opponents for the second time, there's more familiarity. You go back and you look at thefirst game. You look at the opportunities that were there and there were opportunities in

all three phases that I didn't think we did a very good job capitalizing on. On special

teams there were three guys that we identified that we needed to control in order for our return game to be effective and they have five out of the nine special teams tackles. You

have to protect the football, we had four turnovers. Defensively, it's a very good running

game and we weren't very good there. (Joe) Flacco, I think, continues to improve and[we] didn't disrupt him very much. His quarterback rating was outstanding and they

generated some big plays. All three of those things will kill you. I think it's a creative

pressure package that they have defensively, and even when they don't pressure, they'vegot players that can cause problems. We have our work cut out for us. The positive thingis having the exposure that we've had with some of the new guys, even from my

perspective, the coaching squad's perspective, I think that familiarity should help us and

the work that we did over the bye week should help us as well."

(On if he will stick with the quarterback decision for the rest of the season)- "With

any of these decisions, I'm not looking to change. That's never the intention when a

decision like this is made."

(On what makes him think Quinn will play better than he did the beginning of the

season)- "I like to think that throughout the course of the season guys continue toimprove. He's had more time in the system. I think he's done some good things in the role

that he was playing, which is what I asked of him. I think that he's worked at the same

level that he worked at when he was the starter and prior to becoming the starter and, tome, that's the key for any type of improvement. That's what I'm looking for."

(On if Derek Anderson will be the backup quarterback)- "Yes."

(On where Quinn has improved the most)- "It's hard to put it in a long term context,

because this is my first experience with him. I watched him some in college when he wascoming out and things like that. I think his comfort level in the system has gotten better. I

think that his overall control of the offense has gotten better. I think especially over the

last two to three weeks he's been very efficient as a passer and I've liked the things he'sdone. That's one of the things that he and I talked about last night. There are a lot of tools

in this offense that are available and I'm looking forward to him using those and I think

he can."

(On what Quinn needs to do better than he did the first two and a half games)-

"Collectively, believe me, there's plenty all of us can do better in all three phases, starting



with myself and the coaches and moving right on down. There were times where I feel

like he really knew where to go with the ball and maybe didn't go there as quickly as he

could of. Sometimes that comes with being more comfortable and I've seen that comfortlevel increase and I'm anticipating that will translate."

(On if Quinn was hesitant to make certain throws earlier in the season)- "Sometimesit's a function of just going through your read progression and going with what you know.

I've seen him make a lot of good decisions and what I want him to do is be comfortablewith his thought process, be comfortable with his reads, be comfortable with what he

knows. If you make a mistake, you make a mistake. That's going to happen, but just be

comfortable with what you see and go with what you see. I think that helps."

(On what happened with Anderson)- "In fairness to Derek, I think that there were a lotof things that played a part in this. Even last game where we moved the chains and put

the ball on the ground, that's hard. Where the ball was in a place where it could have been

caught and it wasn't. Were there throws that he missed? There were some of those and

there were some reads that could have been better. I really like Derek and I really likedthe way that he handled himself. I like the way that he's worked. I've enjoyed getting to

know him. I don't think that, by any means, this is some sort of final statement on who heis. I think that it's an opportunity to continue to grow and I'm sure he will."

(On Quinn's completions earlier being mostly shorter passes)- "To me, it's not going

to be a function of, ‘We have to throw it to this place, this many times because you're

only completing short balls.' Throw it to the open receiver. That's what I'm looking for,whether it's a hitch, whether it's a check down, whether it's a tight end on a five-yard out

or whether it's a go route to somebody, throw it to the guy who's open. I've played against

a lot of really successful quarterbacks. We played New England one time, they threw 10

hitches because of the way we were pressuring and killed us, because we couldn't getthere with the heat and they just kept being patient, taking it and taking it. When you

come out of it, then that creates some other opportunities. It's a function of getting it to

the right guy, getting it to the open guy, moving the chains and scoring points."

(On if Quinn is over thinking things)- "I think that anybody who has a lot of decision to

make has to go through those quickly. Brady approaches everything in a very serious

way, in a very detailed way, and I think that's a great quality, I really do. As you get intothe games, you've done the work, you've done the homework, you've prepped and now

it's a function of going with what you see and sometimes you're right and sometimes

you're wrong. We've all experienced that. You just have to go with what you know. It

happens a lot of times defensively, too, where the secondary will see something. Theyfeel like it's the right adjustment, they're slow to make it and you have some guys doing it

and some guys not doing it. At the end of the day, you just have to go with the things that

you've learned and I anticipate him doing that."

(On if Anderson lost confidence in the players around him)- "I never got that sense atall. I know it wasn't felt by me. It wasn't felt by the coaching staff. I never saw that from

any of the players. I think these guys have worked really well together. Obviously, we



want it to translate into a lot more production, but this is a good group of guys. They're

committed to getting the things fixed that we need to get fixed and I appreciate that work

ethic."

(On if Quinn would have developed more if he had stayed in all season)- "Anything

like that is hypothetical. My feeling with any decision is, you make the decision at thetime based on the information that you have and you're always trying to make the best

decision at that point. That's the way that I approach it and that's any decision. Youevaluate it. You look at it and you move forward based on the information that you have

and how you feel."

(On Quinn's mindset while he was the backup)- "He's been consistent throughout this

whole period, same as D.A. was when he wasn't starting. That's what you want. That'swhat you expect. It doesn't always go the way that you want it. It doesn't always go the

way that you anticipate it going, but you deal with the decisions and you work to

improve. You're going to get another opportunity and when you get that opportunity, now

you're on the best chance to maximize it. He and I talked about that when we had our initial conversation, how important it was to not let the preparation drop off, to not let any

of the things that he's done tail off and he didn't."

(On if he anticipates Anderson getting another opportunity to start)- "My comment,Jeff (Schudel), was more big picture. I think that in any situation you're in, regardless of

whether you're the starter, you're the backup, you need to prepare at the same level week

in and week out because you don't know when things are going to change. Look at theinside linebacker position, we've lost both our inside linebackers. Guys are getting

opportunities that maybe they wouldn't have gotten had we had both Eric (Barton) and

D'Qwell (Jackson) here. With that opportunity, it's a great chance."

(On if Barton will need surgery)- "It's something that he's looking at with the doctorsand discussing. That decision will be made at some point."

(On if Barton's injury is career-threatening)- "Again, there are a lot of different

opinions on all injuries. The important thing to me is [to] keep talking to Eric and keep

working with him and make the best decision for him."

(On using David Bowens as an inside linebacker and Jason Trusnik as an outside

linebacker)- "That was our base set. Bowens has played inside. He started inside last

year for five games, so he's played inside quite a bit. He's worked inside quite a bit. Even

with Jason, similar to David Veikune, he was a guy who had only had his hand in the dirtand then worked outside, and then has learned inside. There are a lot of guys in this

system who can play both. Ideally, those four linebacker spots, to have to flexibility to

move those guys around based on need or depth is a good approach. I'm trying to think of some of the other guys. We've had probably about four or five guys like that who've

played both outside and inside. Cody Spencer was another guy, Brad Kassell, right on

down the line, Roman Phifer."



(On Trusnik's play at outside linebacker)- "I thought he did a really good job. [We]

weren't anticipating initially when we made the trade for him to be thrust into that type of

role so quickly, but he was and he took advantage of it. I sent Mike (Tannenbaum) a textjust telling him he'd be proud of Jason's progress."

(On if he thinks the receivers will be more reliable the second half of the season)-"I'm looking for all of us to increase our consistency. I really am. When you look at the

body of work, there's a lot of plays that could be there, but you can't deal in ‘could've,should've.' You have to deal with what's there and what our opportunities are and how do

you change that."


11.18.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Today with the

short week, we spent a little bit of time on the Baltimore game with the group and then

really moved right into Detroit and the preparation that we have for them. [It is] a littledifferent with the short week, in terms of how much time you can really spend watching

the tape of the previous opponent. You try to go through and get the most important

points and then during the course of the week as there are some parallels or things that

you can draw on from the last game in the teaching of the game plan for the next game,you do that whenever possible. With Detroit, just knowing Jim (Schwartz) and spending

time with Jim and working with Jim, I know how they're working, how they're preparing.

Jim's a really smart guy. I like the things that he did in Tennessee. I like the things thathe's doing there as well. I can see improvement from the team as the weeks have gone by.

"I think offensively with (Matt) Stafford, he has really made a lot of nice throws through

the course of the season. [There have been] some times where, whether it's the fade route,

[he] has hit some of those, whether it's stutter-goes, hitting the hole shot in between thecorner and the safety in cover two, his poise in running the offense. I think all those

things have improved. He's had some games where he's struggled, but that's pretty

common with a rookie quarterback like he is. I like the presence that he's had. I spentsome time with him before the draft. [He is] really impressive, the way that he could

almost answer questions before you asked the question and his control of the Georgia

offense and things like that. I'm sure he has that same control over Detroit's offense. Youlook at Calvin Johnson, he's a guy that can ruin the game. He's had some impressive

plays this season, [he has] been a little bit banged up. At the start of the Chicago game,

they hit that stutter-go that I was talking about. [He] had the 64-yarder, 67-yarder against

New Orleans, made some outstanding catches throughout the course of the season. [Heis] obviously a guy that they can go to and rely on. Even with his partner on the other

side, the other member of the Johnson tandem (Bryant Johnson). He's made some really

nice catches as well, two fade routes for touchdowns, really tight coverage one-handed



grabs, things like that. With Brandon Pettigrew, I think that he's a big, physical guy with

good hands and he seems to be getting more and more comfortable in their offense as

well. In the running game, [they have] three different types of backs. I think that the styleof running offense that they have, there's some changes for them to generate some big

plays, some gap-trap type things, things that we've seen at different points throughout the

course of the year.

"Defensively, with Jim, he's going to stop the run. They're about eighth in the NFL rightnow in generating negative plays in the running game. I know if you look at their average

it may not seem that way, but 11 percent of their plays in the running game are negative

plays. This is another week where you're dealing with multiple blitz packages. It could bethe corner coming, it could be the safety coming in rolled up cover two, mixture of

linebackers, different combinations. That's something that we'll have to do a good job

with."

(On if he expects Joshua Cribbs to practice today)- "We'll probably going to hold him

out today, but expect him to practice later this week."

(On if he thinks Brady Quinn is mentally prepared to go on)- "What Brady did, in

terms of running the no huddle offense the whole game, that's not easy to do and I

thought he did it well. Multiple personnel groups, different formations, even the playswhere Josh went into Wildcat, all those things were done out of no huddle. I thought that

he did a really nice job with that. There were times in the game, and I've talked about

this, but different tools that you have within the offense, I thought that he tried to usethose as well. There were points where we got things going and until we eliminate the

self-inflicted stuff it's going to be hard to sustain much. What he did with running the

offense and the approach that we had, I thought he did well. In terms of the injury that

happened, personally it looked like he was trying to make the tackle. Knowing Brady,he's a good person. I don't think he'd look to ever hurt someone deliberately."

(On if he is comfortable with Quinn going forward)- "Yes, I am. I think the fact that

he is such a good person and his confidence in who he is, that helps anybody when theygo through times that may be frustrating."

(On the team's performance the second half of the Baltimore game)- "I just think that

when you play a team like Baltimore, who is really good at turning the ball over, and they

always have been, it's that much more important to really protect the football. I don'tthink that anybody was trying not to protect the football. The throws that we had and the

opportunities that we had to catch it, we didn't do well enough. When you bounce the ball

up, usually not good things happen. Defensively, I think a couple weeks ago againstChicago, where it was more of a stationary offense, we were able to get to a lot of

adjustments and I thought the communication was very good. This week against

Baltimore we were able to do the same thing and what I really liked is there's a lot of

shifting, there's a lot of motioning. There's a lot more movement then we had againstChicago and I thought overall the communication was sound. It just takes that one play,



and that's what we had, where it was a miscommunication on the deep ball and in a tight

game, you can't have those."

(On if he thinks the Lions can prepare for the no huddle)- "It's like anything else, youprepare for what you've seen on tape. I think our ability to go in and out of it at any point

is very helpful. It's not the easiest thing in the world to simulate during the course of aweek, defensively, because the show team is working off of cards. You're trying to go

through no huddle and the other side's trying to show the look that you want and get theguys in the right place. You do the best you can. You simulate it the best you can. I'm

sure they'll work on that. I'm sure they'll work on Wildcat-type things. I'm sure they'll

work on some of the things they've seen us do throughout the course of the season."

(On the reason for Chris Jennings' extended playing time)- "I've liked what Chris hasdone in practice. Really, his role isn't as significant on third down. J.C.'s (Jerome

Harrison) done most of that stuff, so in order to kind of maintain the roles and what we

thought was the best guy for each role, and when I say third down, Tony (Grossi), we use

some of those plays on early downs too, but that package. I wanted to be able to get himactive, to give him a chance to see what he can do, give him some chances for carries.

That was the thought process."

(On how Jennings played against Baltimore)- "I thought he did well. I thought he hada couple runs that were good runs and one that I think he lost a yard or two, or whatever

it was. There really wasn't a lot of space for him to work on that. The thing with Chris is,

he's gotten a little bit better each week. The next step for us was to give him a chance tocarry the ball in games. He had a carry early in the season, I forget who it was against,

but made a guy miss, picked up eight yards. [He] had a catch earlier in the season. This

was trying to work him in to the rotation."

(On if he expects Jennings to be more involved for the rest of the season)- "I want tosee, again, how he does this week. The other thing that Chris has to continue to do is help

on [special] teams. If he goes to the game and takes a spot of a guy who maybe plays

more of a [special] teams role, he has to be able to fill that role in way that's either at thesame level or higher."

(On if Jennings penalty on the kicker was legit)- "I mean they called it, so it's legit."

(On if he spoke to Cribbs about him handling the end of the game differently)- "Yes,

I talked to Josh about that I talked to the team about that. That's really how I felt. If you

get in that situation, in retrospect, I'd probably do it differently. You don't traditionallykneel down in those situations. It's natural for everybody to be competitive, but I'd have

probably approached it differently. I talked to Josh about that and told the team the same

thing. I never want to see anybody hurt at any point on either team and never want to putanybody in a position where that could happen."

(On if Cribbs said anything about his lateral)- "Again, that's Josh being competitive as

well. He got caught up in the moment and the play. That's what all the guys are like.



When they're in for a play, whether it's the last play of the game, the first play of the

game, the 50th play of the game, they're going to try to do what they can do to achieve the

goal of the play."

(On if the play call was a hook and ladder)- "No. The way the route was designed, it

had the shallow crossers. It wasn't designed hook and ladder."

(On how he keeps the player's confidence at a high level)- "When you go through the

tape, you identify the areas where there have been problems. I have been involved in thisin different areas. One year it could be sacks, how many sacks you're getting, another

year it could be picks, another year it could be forced fumbles, whatever the area is. You

have to go through the process of how do you generate more of those, how do you

generate, obviously for us, more points. You look at the missed opportunities, whether itbe turnovers, dropped ball, the self-inflicted wounds. It has to start there. It's really got to

start there. Then you're giving yourself the best opportunity to score those points, when

you're taking away extra drives, when you're taking away third down conversions and the

amount of plays in a game decrease, the odds of you being very productive decrease aswell."

(On if he spoke to the team about the union coming in)- "No, I didn't say a word to

them about it because I'm completely comfortable with the way that we practice."

(On if the union coming in is something he would talk to the captains about)- "I'm

open if they want to talk to me about it, but I am completely comfortable with what we

do."

(On if he has thought about reducing Jamal Lewis' role in an effort to develop the

younger players)- "That's not really how I'm looking at it. I think that part of that has tobe earning the right to get those reps. With Chris, it wasn't a function of here's a young

guy, let's just put him in because he's a running back and Jamal is retiring, that's not theapproach. It's more, here's a guy who's worked really hard. Here's a guy who's shown day

in and day out that he deserves an opportunity. He's improved on special teams, now let's

give him a chance. It's more that than the other."

(On if Jerome Harrison missed a block on Ray Lewis' sack)- "I don't think that washim whiffing. I think that they just didn't get back inside, it was a call, a middle dog cross

two inside linebackers, and the way that they formed it, Alex (Mack) took the first one

and J.C. was offset over here. He tried to come back inside, because usually the way it

hit, he would take the guy that was coming to his side, but he ended up getting the guy onthe other side, the way that they ran the stunt, so he wasn't in great position to pick that

up."

(On if they have to average better than 2.1 yards per pass)- "Yes, it has to be better than that. You're not looking to average 2.1 yards a pass or anything like that. Ideally you

have some catch and run type plays. You're able to be a lot more effective in that."



(On what has to be done to make the passing game more effective)- "Like we talked

about, protecting the football so you can have more drives, be able to get the ball to the

places we need to get it to. When we do have those opportunities, catch the football.Protection, there are some areas there where we can improve. There are some shots that

we had down the field where we would have taken a shot but didn't hold up as well as we

need to in protection. That's a pretty good defense that we played. I'm not making anyexcuses or anything like that. It wasn't good enough. That is a pretty stout defense."

(On if Mike Holmgren was interviewed by the organization yesterday)- "That's not

really something that I'm going to talk about. Randy's (Lerner) really handling that, so I'll

let him talk about that."

(On LeBron James saying he could help the team)- "I think he should come on down. Iknow he's pretty busy right now, but if he wants to give it a shot, the guy is gifted

athletically, competitive and tough. I'm sure whatever he applied himself [to], [he would]

probably be good in baseball or soccer or swimming. The guy is a freak athletically."

(On if Steve Heiden and Dave Zastudil will practice today)- "No, neither one will

work today. I think with Zastudil, it doesn't look great for the weekend."

(On what can be done to the protection in order to give Quinn more time)- "There

have been times where I thought it's been very good. It's unique when you play theRavens, because it doesn't matter who's in their front, they all can rush the passer, then

they have multiple blitzes. With that veteran group of guys, they run the same blitz, just

guys are in different spots. That's a great thing when you're a defensive coordinator, when

you have guys that have worked together for that long, who you can run the same conceptbut give a completely different look to the offense. Anytime you play those guys, you

have to deal with them rushing four, you have to deal with them rushing three and thenyou have to deal with the different packages. They combine the front there, but then theyalso bring a combination of the star, the safeties. There are a lot of things that they do that

as you have a system in place for a long time, you can keep adding and building, because

the reps are there with the group."

(On if the pressure on Quinn was a function of the protection or the Ravens'

defense)- "Like I said, I thought that there were times that we did do a good job in terms

of identifying it, sliding the protection over, getting things picked up. There were other

times where, whether it was the play that we were talking about with J.C., the differentblitz pattern and where he was located versus where he had to get to. It's not easy to slide

over, get Ray Lewis with a full head of steam and they got us on that one."

(On what his long term process is and how the players he has acquired since

becoming head coach play into that process)- "I think the short term process is gettingready for each week and playing each game. That's one element to it and that's the most

important element right now. The long term process is understanding how you're going to

prepare for a game, understanding how you have to practice to get ready for games,understanding the concepts that you run offensively and defensively, so a year from now



these aren't new things in relationship to the defense that you're facing or the offense that

you're facing. There's some reps built up in that, like we were talking about with the

Ravens' defense. It's the young players that are here, understanding what it means to be apro. A lot of these guys typically would be getting ready for bowl games now. It's

different. There's a lot of football left. There are no teams on the schedule that you

schedule to, you know how it works in college football, it's not like that. Every week you're going to face somebody that's talented. Often times for the young guys, someone

that's older than themselves. That's a process. Look at Alex Mack, he's played quite a bit

of football and I think he's gotten little bit better each week. Kaluka, (Maiava) I thought,did a really nice job this week in a significant, significant role and working with a guy

who wasn't playing inside. [You] figure both of those guys, neither one of them, Kaluka

hadn't had that type of play time and David (Bowens) obviously hadn't had that play time

inside and hadn't been the play caller. With Mohamed (Massaquoi) and (Brian) Robiskieand (David) Veikune and those guys, they're all learning as you go. Next year they're

going to be at a higher starting point. Working with the game plan, all those different

elements come into play that as you put reps together, as you put time in together, as you

put experiences in together, you get to start at a higher level the following season."

(On if Reggie Hodges punted well enough for the team to go forward with him)- "I

think it's like anything else, he's going to have to continue to punt at a level that we're

looking for. If that wasn't the case, then obviously we'd continue looking. I have someexperience with Reggie in the past. Reggie's worked in this role in the past with other

teams as well. We'll just keep him honoring that."

(On Zastudil's injury)- "I think that with a lot of different things, it's stuff that guys

work through. Sometimes it improves. Sometimes it doesn't improve. You just monitor itand work with it and see where you are each week."


11.19.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Yesterday we, I'msure you guys got the release on Steve Heiden and Dave Zastudil, put them on IR, which

is always disappointing. [We] just didn't think that they were going to be in a position to

play moving forward and thought it was the best thing that we could do at this time. Thetwo kids that we claimed off waivers, I think that both of them have chance to come in

and compete and see where they fit, whether it be initially on special teams or whether it

be special teams and some type of role offensively and defensively. We'll just have to see

how that goes.

"In terms of what we're doing today, we'll be inside again, playing in the dome, working

inside. It's a concentration on third down with some review of the things that we did



yesterday. I thought that overall yesterday was a productive day for us. It's a little bit

harder coming off a Monday night game. It's less rest for the guys, but I thought they did

a nice job with it."

(On John St. Clair not practicing yesterday)- "He should participate today."

(On if Heiden's injury is a function of him coming back from his knee injury too

soon)- "No, I don't think it was a function of that. It was getting the injury on Monday

night and the amount of time that it would take to rehab that. He was still continuing tomaintain and work through the previous injury. The combination of the two just didn't

seem, from a time perspective, that he'd be ready to play at the level that he'd want to be

able to play at and we'd want him to be able to play at in time to really continue to help us

this season."

(On if this injury is something Heiden might not want to come back from)- "No, not

at all. I think if anything he's disappointed that it went the way that it did. He's worked

incredibly hard to play this season and he'll work equally as hard this offseason to getback. I anticipate him being ready to go for next season."

(On if he would want Heiden back next year)- "I really like Steve. I think that he's a

good blocker. He's a reliable receiver. He is a good teammate. I enjoy working with Steve

and coaching Steve. I think that he's got a lot of football left in him."

(On if the kicker's injuries are an accumulation of wear and tear from not having

other kickers in training camp)- "No, I don't think that's the case at all. I've been in a lot

of training camps where you've only had the two kickers that you go into the season with.

Sometimes those things happen. We had Mike Nugent last year where he just stepped

wrong in the first game of the season and ended up hurting himself. Sometimes it's justhow the plant foot comes down or a little bit of a twist. It's such a specific skill set that

sometimes those things happen."

(On if surgery is possible for Zastudil)- "I don't think that it's been ruled out. I think we'll just see where we are here. I'd say it's definitely a possibility."

(On if he regrets trading Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards)- "When you make

the decisions, you make the decision that you think are best. I think that we've had plenty

of opportunities to score. I think we've had plenty of opportunities to move the football. Idon't think those opportunities will go away. There have been a lot of different reasons

why it hasn't happened, but the important thing is addressing those and getting thosefixed."

(On how he judges the wide receiver's progress)- "It has to continue to improve. [We]added a receiver. Chansi (Stuckey), we just thought that it would be better for this game,

with him missing practice last week, to be one of the inactives. He's part of that

competition as well. We'll see which combination of guys is the best each game."



(On if he can tell how much not having Edwards opposite Mohamed Massaquoi has

affected Massaquoi's production)- "I don't know if you can specifically point to how

the coverages would change or not change. Every team is different. Some teams you face,the coverage is what the coverage is. That's the system they run. Other teams will push

the coverage. It just depends week in and week out. He'll continue to have opportunities

and I expect him to improve the production as we go."

(On if he thinks they can capitalize on the Lions' defense and score)- "Yes, you gointo every game with things that you feel you can capitalize on. That really wasn't

different the last game or the game before. It's much more executing the game plan,

seeing the coverages that you're getting, being about to go the places that you want to goto with the ball and then if the plan you have isn't dictating the coverages you expected or

the things that you expected, being able to adjust and address it during the game."

(On if he gets a better idea of where the team is when they play a team like the

Lions)- "I feel like there are a lot of things each week that you can look at and see, get a

sense of your level of improvement, or the progress or your effectiveness. In terms of playing the Ravens this past time, I thought the defense played significantly better than

what we did in the first game. I don't know how many drives they had of over 40 or 50yards in that first game and weren't very effective in disrupting (Joe) Flacco at all. [We]

didn't do a very good job against the running game. There weren't a lot of positives

coming out of that game, but I thought that defensively this game, there were a lot of positives against a good offense with really the same people, from the Baltimore

perspective, that played against us the first time we played them. I thought on special

teams we could have done a better job this past week then we did and I was looking for

that. That's a good special teams group they have in Baltimore, but I think we have agood group as well. We missed some opportunities during the game that I think could

have helped us. Offensively, I think there were some things that we did in terms of the nohuddle, the formationing and items like that that did help us, just didn't help us enough."

(On Kaluka Maiava)- "As he gets more and more comfortable with playing inside, withunderstanding the defense, and this was true when I met him at USC. He had a really

outstanding feel for the things that they were doing there. He could explain all the

different adjustments and he had been in that system for quite some time. With a rookiecoming to a new system, playing a new position, and when I say that, he was a weak side

linebacker there, but it wasn't in the 3-4, it was in more of a 4-3 type system. It takes

time. He's worked at it. He's gotten more and more reps. He's gotten more and moreopportunities. I would expect as he keeps a deeper understanding each week, he'll

continue to improve."

(On how they find players like Chris Jennings)- "There's a lot of different ways. Some

people have connections to either coaches or front office people in those leagues[Canadian Football League], when the arena league was operating, connections there.

You track those leagues. With the new football leagues that are coming out, you'll track

those leagues. It's the same thing with Kurt Warner."



(On who in the organization is responsible for finding Jennings)- "Sometimes, Tony

(Grossi), with that the connection may not be in pro personnel. It may be a college scout

who has a good connection to the Canadian league. You try to draw information fromeverybody in the building. You don't know necessarily who's going to find out about a

player, but we always want people to share their information and then you research it and

look into it further."

(On if pass protection is the main reason Jerome Harrison is not getting more

playing time)- "He played last week. He played primarily on third down and there was

quite a bit of protection required there. He's played on first and second down. You have

three running backs and you're distributing the reps. [We] wanted to take a look at Chris,because I think he's earned a look based on the things that he's done and that was

something that we did this past week. If he continues to progress in practice I think that

will continue to be the case. It's one play, three guys and it's spread out differently."

(On Brandon McDonald getting beat by Derrick Mason)- "Derrick Mason, he beats a

lot of people. That pass play, Brandon was supposed to have help. That was part of themiscommunication. I don't think he was alone on that play by any stretch. As a

cornerback you go through different challenges during the course of the season. Theimportant thing is to be resilient and really identify the things you have to fix. Ty Law

could get beat, come right back and no big deal, go at it the same way, but he'd work to

fix the things that he had to fix. Being out there at corner, too, when you get beat or havea breakdown, everybody knows. It's usually a big play. There's times where the defensive

linemen may get beat four or five times, it's three or four yards, nobody really notices in

the pile up, but out there, you're on your own often."

(On the type of season McDonald is having)- "I think there's been some times where

he's played really well and some times where he's had some plays that he'd want back andwe'd want back. The thing with Brandon though, he is a very competitive guy. He's

competitive in practice. He's competitive in the games. It's a function of improving the

areas you have to improve in."

(On if Monday night's game was Shaun Rogers' best game of the season)- "I don't

know if it was his best game. I think he's played well in all the games. What I like about

Shaun is, they score that first touchdown, I think it as the first one, first or second one, Ican't remember, [he] goes and blocks the extra point. It's easy for a big guy on PAT, field

goal block to go push. You're doing your job and you're pushing, but you're not really

getting anything done. Shaun gets something done there. There are a lot of plays like that.

He pursues well to the football. Again, at 360 [pounds] that's not easy to do. It's a loteasier to do it at 190 [pounds]. His motor runs high. He can be disruptive in both the 3-4

and when we play him offset or in sub."

(On if Rogers' motor was a question for him when he got here)- "It really wasn't,

because in watching the game tape form last season you saw the motor on tape where he'srunning the football. That was what I based my initial impression off of, as opposed to

things being said one way or the other."



(On how well he got to know Matthew Stafford before the draft)- "I watched tape on

him, but in meeting with him and talking to him and interviewing him, [he is] really

bright, really bright. His control of his college offense, his understanding of his collegeoffense [was] outstanding. He'd go player-by-player and give everybody's assignment. He

could tell you if this happened, then this is what those 11 guys would do. If this

happened, this is what the 11 guys would do. He could answer questions by anticipatingwhere you're going next. There were times where we were going to ask a question and he

was already starting to answer it. I'm sure he's getting that same feel for what they're

trying to do in Detroit. Each week he'll improve. He has good ability to deliver thefootball. He's made some mistakes, but that's not uncommon. He's made some plays on

the move. There was a really nice roll out play against Minnesota. It wasn't complete but

throwing to his left on a rope in the end zone on a read out by the receiver, I thought it

was pretty indicative of some of the things he can do with his arm."

(On the reasons Stafford's production is low)- "I think you were right, there's a lot of

different reasons why that could be what it is. Interceptions I know affect passer rating

quite a bit and he's had some of those. There's been a lot of good throws on tape. There'sbeen some tight throws in cover two, in between the corner and safety, some nice throwson the fade ball, does a good job with the outs to the tight ends and slot receivers. There

are a lot of good plays on tape."

(On if he anticipated the struggles the team would face)- "The thing, to me, that ismost under our control and most important is to not have the turnovers. Nothing affects

outcome bigger than give-away, take-away ratio. There's been a bunch of times where

we've been on the negative side of that. It affects outcomes. It affects production. It stops

drives, all those things. That's something that I think we should be better at and you haveto be better at. You have to. The differential in points based on turnovers is significant.

It's hard to win that way."

(On if he thinks if they could improve the turnover ratio that it would positively

affect everything else)- "Yes, turnover ratio dramatically affects outcome. It always hasand it always will. The difference between an even game, a minus one, a minus two, a

minus three, the winning percentage is dramatic."

(On Detroit's secondary)- "They've played some different combinations. Another guythat's been fun to watch is (Louis) Delmas. I met with him quite a bit before the draft. [He

is a] really good kid, very tough, big hits on tape in college, bit hits in pro football. I think

he's going go to have a really productive long career."

(On why Anthony Henry did not play last week)- "I'm not sure exactly how theyfinally got to the outcome they got to."

(On if Joshua Cribbs is going to practice today)- "Yes he is."

(On Robaire Smith)- "Robaire has been outstanding. Robaire has really been

outstanding, not just in terms of his play, but the things that he does in the [class] room.



He's a guy that will have a coverage, it's called an AFC, automatic front and coverage,

based on formations. There may be 10, 12 checks based on all the formations. For him, it

changes some, but usually the defensive linemen are given the call by the linebacker,which way to go, directional call. He's the type of guy where you can say in a meeting,

‘We're going to go through this AFC,' and he'll nail 13 in a row. He'll know what the

coverage is, what the check is. That's a great example to the young guys. It's himunderstanding his job, but him understanding the whole defense and what we're trying to

get done with each defense and why. His play, I think, has been really good, stout against

the run, aggressive, physical, good finish. I've been extremely happy with him."

(On if the defensive line had the best game of the season against Baltimore)- "Theyplayed well against Baltimore. I think there have been a lot of games where they've

played well. I think it's a pretty stout group, with Kenyon (Coleman) on the left and

Robaire on the right, Baby (Shaun Rogers) inside, bring in (Ahtyba) Rubin or C.J.(Mosley) or Corey (Williams). I think all those guys have done a nice job in the different

roles that they've had."


11.20.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Just a little news,without having the two defensive captains, with both of those guys being on IR, just had

the defense yesterday vote for a replacement captain. [They] pretty strongly endorsed

David Bowens so he will be serving as the defensive captain through the rest of theseason. I personally feel it's a really good choice. He's a guy that I've known for a while.

He's played multiple positions and he's played them all well. He's always been someone

that whatever you ask him to do, he is going to do it [and] he is going to do it to the bestof his ability. He's going to try to make those around him better. I think as you've seen

over the last couple games, with him playing inside, the level of communication. I think

Eric (Barton) did a great job with communication and D'Qwell (Jackson). Going from an

outside linebacker to an inside linebacker, being responsible for the huddle, beingresponsible for making all of the checks with the front seven, that's not easy. I think he's

done it really well. Another strength of his is the mentoring of younger players and just

his overall approach to each game, to each day. I was happy with that. Today we will

continue to work inside in preparation, obviously, for playing the first game inside thisseason. [We are] really on our typical preparation path, [there's] no strong variation

there."

(On David Bowens playing only 20 percent of the snaps early in his career)- "I'd saythat 20, I would imagine, that was the minimum for him. You are always trying to find

good roles for him if he wasn't going to be the starter. He always had a period in the

game where he may go in for two or three series as outside linebacker, he may come in



two or three series at inside linebacker. He'd have a designated role in dime defense

where he was in each series for that. He worked on the goal line and that position

flexibility, I would imagine, probably came to 20 or well over 20 plays a game."

(On explaining why Bowens doesn't have many career starts but has had a long

career)- "I completely understand why he's played as long as he has. He's got a greatapproach in season. He's got a great approach during the offseason. He is really smart, so

he can fit into any system. He's a great guy. He's got toughness. He can rush the passer.He can do a lot of things. The longevity part I completely understand. Why he didn't play

more early on? That I am not sure of. I would have loved to have him. I love having him

now. I would have loved to have him earlier on."

(On if playing indoors can help get the passing game going)- "I am always hoping thatis going to be the case, where we can get the passing game rolling. Playing indoors, you

are guaranteed good weather, which usually helps. Although I don't think we have had

very many games where the weather hasn't been good. It's pretty unique from my

experience with being in Cleveland. [We've had] pretty amazing weather so far."

(On if Joshua Cribbs can return to all of his roles on Sunday)- "I anticipate Josh

playing all of the roles he normally plays this week."

(On if he and Jim Schwartz learned about ‘the processes' from Bill Belichick)- "Ithink the process part is just the reality. I think it's a reality. I think Jim's had a lot of

experience. He's coached a long time. He's seen a lot of different things. He's been part of

some really good teams. You might lose some guys in free agency, you might have to

kind of start over, based on whether it's the cap or the draft or whatever it is and you gothrough that cycle. Even though he was with one team for a long time I am sure, I am not

sure when it happened, but the ups and downs where you go through a year and you haveto take that approach. He is a really smart guy."

(On what he remembers most about Schwartz from their days with the Browns)- "I

remember, I'd say smart is one of the things and a great worker. He's got a great work

ethic. He is constantly looking for innovative ways to do things. There's a lot of analysis,

I forget what it was, he was using regression formulas for a while to evaluate tendencies.Was he a math major at Georgetown? He might have been. I'd probably have to bring

somebody in to help me with that part of it, but I think he was able to do it himself."

(On his relationship with Shaun Rogers)- "Shaun and I get along really well. It's been

fun getting to know him. With the Halloween party and seeing him with his daughter, Ihad my kids there and we were talking about that. We were talking this morning, our

wives both were working at a homeless shelter the other day together, and just sharing

some of those experiences. [It is] fun to see some of the guys that you only see in thisenvironment, typically, with their kids. It's nice to be able to take a step back and just

enjoy each other's company from that perspective. There are a lot of good conversations

we've had. He's been a good guy to get to know."



(On if Rogers dressed up for the Halloween party)- "No, he didn't dress up for that

Halloween party. It's funny watching him chase around a little one. I'm used to him

chasing around big ones."

(On the right side of the offensive line)- "Really, at the guard spot, it's been more than

two guys because you've had Hank (Fraley) in there for a bit, Rex (Hadnot), Floyd(Womack). [We] went through a tough spot there, Rex got hurt during camp and then

Floyd got hurt early in the season and both guys, I think, were doing a lot of good things.They're moving a little bit past the injuries. Each week it gets better. There has been some

changes in there at different points, which goes back to why you work those guys in a lot

of different spots, because you don't know who's going to be there and when someone'sgoing to have to step in and fill the role. I think John's (St. Clair) had some good games. I

think there have been some games where there have been some struggles. He's very

consistent in the way that he approaches things and all three of those guys are."

(On if the injuries on the offensive line caused any problems in developing

chemistry)- "The good thing is that they had all worked in there and they had worked indifferent spots. Hank had been in there. John had worked in there a little bit, but he's been

out at right tackle. Floyd's been in there. Rex is in there. All those guys had worked withthe other offensive linemen, so that's been a positive because it wasn't the first time that

they had worked with Floyd or Hank or any of those guys. When you miss time with an

injury and you come back, it does take a while to come back and get in the flow. Ithought Rex was having a good camp and then Floyd got dinged early on. They're both

back, but it takes a little while."

(On it seeming like Jerome Harrison is upset)- "In terms of that, you have to talk to

him. Anything that he wants to talk about, he can come talk with me at any point, just

like all these guys can. When you have three running backs, and I think really with ChrisJennings, Chris has done a nice job. Chris has really worked hard to create opportunities

for himself. Unfortunately there's only one running back. It's not like some other

positions where you can play multiple guys at the same time. You can create somepackages like that, but there's one. You have certain things that you like Jamal (Lewis) to

do. You have certain things that Jerome does. You have certain things that you want to

see Chris do. Try to build in the flexibly so that they all can work in each of the roles if they have to."

(On if he watched the Miami at Carolina game last night)- "No, I don't even know

who won."

(On the plusses and minuses of kicking a 45-yard field goal versus going for it on

fourth-and-three)- "I think there's a lot of factors. I'm sure they talked to the special

teams coach, talked about the range, talked about the comfort level there. You get the

field goal blocked and it's a tie game. You miss the field goal, it's from the spot of where

the field goal was kicked. Fourth-and-three, you look at the percentage of conversionrate. We actually did a whole study on if you're kicking form this yard line versus a

fourth down and one, two, three, four, five. Percentage of kicking the field goal and



things were positive. I think the one thing you see with Cincinnati, as well, is they've

dealt with tough situations throughout the season and [have] been very resilient and won

some tough games. [They are] 7-3 now, they lead the division. Outside of a fluke playagainst Denver, [they] really should be 8-2. As you look at them defensively, really

collectively, but defensively, when they've been able to force turnovers and the offense

has been able to protect the ball, Marvin's (Lewis) winning percentage is impressive. It'sclose to .900 percent. That's been his trademark. That was something that he's always

been very successful at doing, is creating turnovers, whether it was here, whether it was

in Baltimore, where ever he's been they've done that. They got a couple against us. Theygot one in the end zone right in the end zone. They had the one where they stripped the

ball out and returned it for a touchdown. Last game we did a much better job protecting

the football and that's something that we're going to have to do, as well, this weekend. In

the running game they're able to penetrate and create some negative runs. They havesome pressure packages like we see each week and they'll change them up a little bit and

we'll have to deal with that.

"Offensively, (Chad) Ochocinco is as dangerous as ever. Laveranues Coles is a guy I'vetalked about before, know really well, I think he's made some really nice contributions.[He is a] tough guy, great competitor, great teammate. Andre Caldwell, right on down the

line, they have some weapons in the passing game and the running game with the

emergence of Bernard Scott and the addition of Larry Johnson. We have our hands fullthere and I don't think we did a good enough job in the running game last game. They

average close to 5.1 yards a carry. In the return game, (Bernard) Scott's handling some of

that. He had that impressive return against Pittsburgh. Caldwell, he's been dangerous andthen with Quan Cosby, he does some nice things in the punt return games. It will be a

challenge for us on special teams. I thought we did a nice job last time we played them on

special teams, but it will have to be at the same level, if not better, to achieve anywhere

near the same results."

(On if he has spoken with Jim Schwartz)- "Yes, I talked to Jim for a while. We cleared

the air. I like Jim. We've always had a good relationship so we talked through that. The

bottom line is we didn't do enough to win the game. Jim and I are fine."

(On if he will use Jerome Harrison at Cincinnati)- "Jerome is live for every game. Allthree of those backs are. I had a good conversation with Jerome last week. I anticipate

him having a good week of practice. Chris Jennings has done some good things. It's a

nice situation with those guys being as competitive as they are. I could see a situationwhere all three backs are up. We'll see how the week goes from a special teams

perspective, from a numbers perspective, but I could see all three of those guys being up

or Jerome being up and Chris being down. It just depends on how it goes."

(On if Harrison seemed disappointed about not being part of the game plan lately)-

"That's the nice thing about any conversation is you can go through and talk about some

of the things that you can do better, some of the things I'm looking for, some of his

expectations and just have a very clear vision of what you have to do collectively, my



expectations, his expectations and what he has to do to be active. I thought it was a good

talk. You like to do that anytime that a guy has a question."

(On if it was disappointing to not have Brian Robiskie and David Veikune active at

Detroit)- "I don't really look at it that way. I look at it as bringing the guys that do the

best job during that week and give us the best chance to win. Marcus Benard was activeand that's positive. Here's a guy that's worked his way up and made a case for himself and

had a chance to play. Chansi Stuckey had been hurt the week before, he was down. Hewas back. I thought he had a good week of practice and goes out, has several key

receptions during the game, so that's positive as well. It's no different for those two guys

either. They're live all during the week. Whoever makes the best case during practice willbe up and how they fit in the [special] teams game will play a role as well."

(On Robaire Smith's season)- "He's had an outstanding season. He's as tough as I've

been around, really physical. You almost have to slow him down in practice against the

scout team, just because he is so physical, he is so competitive. [He is a] really bright

guy. Learns his job, learns the concepts of the whole defense. I really like him. [He has a]great personality, pretty funny guy. I'm happy he's here."

(On if Smith's return from his Achilles injury is remarkable)- "I hadn't looked at it

that way, Mary Kay (Cabot). [I know] coming in, he had had the surgery, he wasrehabbing. Just by judging from his rehab and those things, it looked really positive in

terms of his approach and the progress he was making and even the early part of practices

and things. He's a pro. He goes out every day. He works. It doesn't matter what the drillis. It could be a drill that they're running during special teams, he's doing the best he can

at it. That's why he's played as long as he has. You love to be able to point at guys like

that and say, ‘You want to know how to play eight years, 10 years, however many years?

Just watch him. Watch his approach. Watch the way that he studies. Emulate that and youhave the best chance to reach your potential.'"

(On if he thinks the offense turned the corner)- "What I was really happy with, Tony

(Grossi), is the plays that were there to be made, we made them. We worked on the nohuddle and have gotten better at that. The protection, I thought Brady (Quinn) and Alex

Mack and the whole group did a nice job with identifying the different looks, and they

had a lot of different looks, and getting the protection where it needs to get to. It was anice use of different tools by Brady and the receivers and taking advantage of some of the

things they gave us. Those are all things that we've talked about through the course of the

season. Those are all things that we've done, we just haven't done them to our capacity.

To see that, I was encouraged. I think they were all encouraged. You don't want to be likea one hit wonder. You have to go out and do it the next week."

(On if he should expect a new level of offense by this point in the season)- "I expect it

every week. To me it's not, ‘We should really be clicking by Week 11,' you want to see

that each week. The other key thing was no turnovers. [There is a] huge, huge differencein what can happen offensively when you don't turn the ball over. [There were] very

limited balls that were catchable and dropped. [There were] very limited misses on



throws that were makeable. You start chipping away at those things, those self-inflicted

wounds, where you're stopping yourself and now you're going to move the ball."

(On if the game plan was for Brady Quinn to use the pump fake or if it was

instinctive)- "You try to incorporate that anytime you're throwing deep balls because you

want to be able to hold the safety, so if you're going to you're to the right you want to beable to try to hold them to keep them out of the mix. I think it's something that maybe we

did a little bit more last week, but it's part of the program each week."

(On why they waited until Quinn got back in to emphasize the no huddle)- "I've

always really liked it. There are plusses and minuses to both ways of doing it. If you're

stationary, you can usually anticipate what the coverage is more often than not. You can

see different looks. You can really key in on certain things and you see that with the NewEngland system, the Indianapolis system. That's one approach, the stationary read and go.

The other approach is the no huddle, which can force them to declare quicker. There may

be some things with shifting and motioning, where you don't have as clean a read, but

you get an advantage in terms of their adjustments aren't as clean. They can't get to whatthey want to get to as quickly as they'd like to get to it. I took both approaches. [My] first

year in New York we ran no huddle every snap of the whole season and then [at]different points throughout the next two years [we] did the same thing. I like it."

(On if when they made the quarterback change is when they went to the no huddle)-

"We practiced it each week with D.A. (Derek Anderson) and that was still part of the

offense. [We] just moved to it a little bit more with the bye week where we had sometime to look at it and discuss it. It might have been more a function of that than anything

else, being able to take a step back and look at it and evaluate it."

(On if Robiskie's production is not what he expected)- "[I have had] just so manyexperiences with young guys where they hit at different times. Some guys hit reallyquickly. Some guys it takes a while. David Harris didn't start right away in New York,

then got an opportunity to play and did a nice job, but he wasn't ready to start even

though he was talented, even though he did some good things, he just wasn't ready toassume that role and that's a guy that's played inside linebacker his whole career and is a

really bright, hard working guy that cared. [He] just wasn't ready at that point. Some

other guys are able to step in right away and be really effective. Some guys it takes a year or so. David Givens, when we first had him in New England, [he had] a lot of dropped

balls initially. He just kept working at it and ended up doing really nice things, but he

wasn't ready at that point."

(On fans thinking it was lame to blame the loss at Detroit on the Lions' injuries)- "Interms of those things, it wasn't like I was trying to shy away from accountability because

at the end of the way we're accountable for losing the game and for not making enough

plays. That's me, that's the coaches, that's the players. That's what it was. I think I was

frustrated with the situation and probably expressed that more than I probably shouldhave, but at the end of the way we're responsible for it. We had plenty of opportunities to

win the game and we didn't. That wasn't good enough. I think that as we move forward,



what I'm looking for is for us to be able to play complementary football. We've shown

what we can do offensively. When we don't turn the ball over, when we don't have self-

inflicted wounds, we can move it effectively. We've shown what we can do defensively.[There have been] different points throughout the year where that's been very effective.

On special teams it's the same thing, but we have to put all three together and play

complementary football. Game in and game out you have to play with the game intensitygame in and game out. You see signs of it, but it has to be consistent. It's something that

we're committed to. It's something that work is ongoing. You feel like you learn some

things each game as a team, as a unit, as a staff and you try to take that learning and applyit to the next game. As this process goes on, [I'm] looking to see continued progress.

Everybody's committed to it. Everybody's frustrated with where we are. Everybody's

determined to fix it. That's what we do each day, work as hard as we possibly can to give

the fans what they deserve, which is a consistent winning team that plays at a high levelall the time. That's what we're committed to, that I'm committed to, that's what the caches

are committed to, that's what the players are committed to and that's what the

organization is committed to and that's not going to change and they deserve it. They

deserve it. We're going to work as hard as possible and as diligently as possible to makesure that happens. That's ongoing and there's no lack of resolve by anybody here."

(On why Robiskie and Veikune have not played much)- "Robiskie has played quite a

bit the games he's been active. I'm not sure his exact play time numbers. His production,that needs to improve. There's no doubt about it. He realizes that and that's something that

he's working at. Each week we have to make decisions. We have 53 guys and we can

only take 45. Some of those decisions are based on special teams and who can give us thevalue there. When you're in that situation it starts there for you. You have to make a

contribution there. When you get your opportunities on offense and defense you have to

make them count."

(On Josh McDaniels' trash talking with opposing players before his game and if

players have tried to get him started during pre-game warm ups)- "I don't know what

happened with Josh out there. No, not really. I can't remember and even if that was the

case, you have a game to play so you just focus on that."

(On if any players have tried to engage in trash talk with him before a game)- "Idon't remember that happening. That's my personal experience. Like I said, I'm not sure

what Josh's experience was."

(On if the Lions having the last ranked defense affects how he looks at the offense's

performance against them)- "What I really look at, and I know it's hard to see becausethe production hasn't been there offensively, I look at the different opportunities where

we had a chance to move the ball throughout the course of the season and there's been

plenty of them. We turn the ball over or we drop a pass, whatever it is, those were againstdefenses that were ranked differently then where Detroit may have been. The execution,

to me, is what I looked at and what I was really encouraged by."



(On if the game against Cincinnati has been their best game of the season)- "We

didn't win, but I was really happy with the way that we approached the game. I was really

happy with the resilience of the group and it didn't matter what happened in the game, wefought the same level. They had that chance to kick the extra point and to block that, I

thought that was outstanding. There were different times in overtime where they had

chances and we were able to stop them. I'd say from an approach perspective, I reallyliked that. I think there have been times throughout the course of the season where there

have been some really good things, but putting it together is what we have to do."

(On if he thinks Chris Jennings can be a featured back in the is league)- "It's really,

really early for that. He's young. He's inexperienced. He's enthusiastic, which is allencouraging. He's made some nice plays. He had a nice play against Cincinnati where he

was almost caught in the backfield and picked up eight yards. That feature back role, that

takes some time and there's a lot of things to it that you have to do. He is chipping awayat establishing a role which I've been happy with. He's come a long, long way from when

we first got him. [I'm] looking forward to him to just keep moving along that path."


11.27.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Did everybody

have a good Thanksgiving? [Mine] was great, hung out with the boys. My sister's herefrom out of town. My brother-in-law just got in. Some guys from the building that didn't

have family in town came over, so we had a good group. [We] hung out a lot. [My]back's a little sore from picking up the kids. My three year old wanted to wrestle a lot. It

was good stuff.

"Yesterday we didn't have the afternoon meetings, so we just pushed things a little bitback today just to make sure that we got the tape covered from yesterday and still have a

similar amount of time for installation, game planning and things like that. That's why we

had the later start. I should have got you [the media] those times. I thought I did, but I

didn't. You saw that we claimed Matt Roth off waivers. He was assigned to us. Matt's a

guy that came into his own, I thought, last year as an outside linebacker. It was the firsttime that he had really played that role. [He is] a tough guy. He was, I think, a two-time

wrestling champ in high school. You like those guys with the wrestling backgroundsbecause they understand leverage. They understand hand placement and things like that.

He was tough to handle whenever we faced him in New York. It's good to have him here.

We'll see how quickly he is able to get all the information and that will determine howbig of a role he has at the game on Sunday.



"In terms of today, the other interesting thing this morning, we had a lot of guys that have

never driven in snow, never dealt with snow. I think they're in a little state of shock.

November was the third best ever. I kept telling them, ‘Look, it's going to snow.' Andevery day we'd come out and it's beautiful. They're getting used to that. I think Mohamed

(Massaquoi) went and bought some Timberland's, his first winter jacket, all that stuff. It's

like, ‘Get used to it, buddy. This is the beginning.' We will roll through, do our standardFriday prep. Like I said, the only real difference between today and yesterday was just

cutting off some time in the afternoon to get them home with their families and putting a

little bit of time here on the front end to make sure we cover everything we need tocover."

(On if Miami was trying to move Roth to defensive end)- "I didn't really get into that

with Matt at all. I just know that when we faced him he was impressive, I thought, in the

preseason last year and he hadn't played in any regular season games at outsidelinebacker to that point. Talking about him, they had Joey Porter on the other side, they

had him on this side, he did a really good job of collapsing the pocket. [He is] a strong,

physical guy. I don't know what he had against us. I think he had a couple sacks. He'stough to deal with from that perspective."

(On why Roth only played four games this year)- "Again, I didn't get too deep into that

with him. Things change sometimes year-to-year. Situations change year-to-year. I don't

know what exactly happened. For me, it was more a function of seeing him as an outsidelinebacker in, not in exactly the same system, they play a little bit more gapped down

guys than we do, but he was playing the outside linebacker spot there which is a

relatively close comparison."

(On the odds of Roth being able to step in and play right away)- "That's a good

question. He's spending a lot of time with Matt Eberflus, extra time, to try to get ready.[We are] giving him reps in practice. It is hard to come to a new place to pick up all the

terminology, even though it may be the same concept it's just translating it into what you

know takes some time. Hopefully, with his background and not being a rookie, that'll goquicker."

(On if seeing a former second round draft pick and starter on the waiver wire

makes him think the player can have a significant role in future years)- "Yes, youlook at all those opportunities that come up and you try to think both short term, ‘How

could they help us right now?' and what's their contract status. Do you have them for a

couple years? Is it something that you'd have to deal with directly after the season? The

nice thing about claiming guys or bringing guys in, even if it's just to learn about them,it's valuable because you see them in meeting rooms, you see them on the practice field.

It's so different then when you are drafting, because you don't get the same exposure. You

don't get the same contact."

(On if Jason Trusnik could move more to inside linebacker with the addition of

Roth)- "Jason has to work both inside and outside now. He has been backing up David

(Bowens), Kaluka (Maiava). He played inside there before, not in games, but he has



worked inside before. I think if anything, it gives you a little more flexibility as to what

you can or will do."

(On how the team has changed since playing Cincinnati the first time)- "We hadD'Qwell (Jackson). We had Eric (Barton). We had Steve (Heiden). We had Dave

(Zastudil). We've lost some guys that played key roles in that game. All that being said,we've had other guys that have stepped in and done a nice job. I think on both sides of the

ball we've done some different things, whether it be the no huddle or shifting andmotioning, some of the things defensively in terms of our approach to different

formations, but they've done some different things as well. It evolves throughout the

season. The funny thing about your season is you go in with a plan of how you're goingto play it and often times something else hits and then you stay with that and an area that

you weren't going to emphasize becomes a huge part of what you do. Typically in the

offseason you really like that stuff, you think, ‘We're going to build off this,' and the nextseason something else hits. It's like a lot of the diamond fronts, the bear fronts, the 4-6

stuff, we had never really done that in New England until we played, the week of

Thanksgiving, against Atlanta, put a bunch of that stuff in, had eight sacks, then thatevolved over time and it became part of our package. We hadn't been playing much cover two in 2001 and Tampa [Bay], I think had won the Super Bowl or Tampa been pretty

dominant defensively, so we incorporated some of that against Indy [Indianapolis] the

second or third game, we won like 40-something to 14 and that became a big part of [our defense]. It was a different type of cover two then the typical Giants cover two, because

they played a ton of that in New York when Bill (Parcells) and Bill (Belichick) were

there. We just changed it. It was a different approach, it was more of an eight man dropand that evolved. Sometimes you go back to the playbook and say, ‘That was a great

concept. We should bring that out of the attic.'"

(On if he thinks the team is better overall than in Week 4)- "I like to think that we'vemade a lot of strides in different areas. It's different because you've taken out someplayers that had really significant roles. Eric Barton and D'Qwell played all the snaps

inside at that point. Eric was calling the defense. D'Qwell was helping to call the defense

and both those guys are gone now and I think David's done a nice job. Kaluka's done anice job. Guys have stepped in. It's hard to go apples-to-apples. They have Larry

Johnson. Some of the things that they're doing offensively have evolved because of

success they've had in different areas. It's hard to say that definitely."

(On if Cincinnati looks like a tough team)- "I was talking on the conference call, Ithink one of the things that impresses me is the motor of the defense. There's a lot of guys

to the ball after every play. There's some big hits that happen down the field that aren't by

the secondary necessarily, [but] by defensive linemen chasing or the linebackers chasingand the guy gets stood up and they come and blow him up. Even in our game, I thought it

was a good indication of how they play where Jerome [Harrison] got stood up and

somebody came around from the backside, had the awareness to get the ball out. They

make a lot of plays like that. Those are effort and awareness plays that you appreciate asan opposing coach."



(On how you get a team to be tougher)- "You're constantly working on that. You coach

off of situations that you've been in. I thought we showed a lot of toughness in that game,

not just physically but mentally, where you're down 14-0. We had come off the, who'dwe play before, Baltimore, come off a game where we didn't respond very well to

adversity. We were down 14-0 early and come back and respond and fight. They go up,

we block the PAT. It was a lot of back and forth and that takes physical toughness, but italso takes mental toughness to know, ‘That's a situation. So what, so what. We have a

bunch of time [to] go back and respond to it.'"

(On if he has seen ups and downs in the team's toughness this year)- "I think overall

it's consistency, is more what's been a little bit up and down for us. I thought last gamewas a good example of that. Things hit, clicked offensively and we didn't do the same

things we had been doing from a technique perspective defensively and that was

disappointing. Even on special teams, I think we're a good special teams unit. I didn'tthink that we played to our potential last week. That's not taking anything away from

what they [Detroit] did, but you have to go out. You can't just roll it out. Even last year in

New York, I thought we had a lousy week of practice leading up to the Denver game. Atthat point we were 8-3. We went out and played exactly like we practiced. There was alot of hype. A lot of we were just going to roll it out there and win games, and you can't

do it, because everybody else sees what your record is. Everybody else responds. You

better play with the same intensity. You better practice with the same intensity and wegot smoked by Denver. It wasn't a surprise. That's what I said to the guys after the game.

I said, ‘Anybody shocked by this outcome? Look at how we practiced during the week.

What did you think was going to happen? [We're] going to show up and win the gamebecause of our record? It just doesn't work.'"

(On Chad Ochocinco)- "He didn't have a lot of yards against us, but like he usually

does, he had impact plays. He had two touchdowns. You only have to be wrong on him acouple times and he kills you. [He has] great hands, very good intensity. The margin of error for a guy like him or Calvin Johnson, it's so small that you drop off a little bit and it

kills you."

(On how serious Shaun Rogers' injury is)- "I think that with Shaun, Vic (Lawrence

Vickers) and Robert (Royal), I think we have a shot to see all three of them practicetoday. I'll wait until we get out there to make sure, but [they've] been moving along here

throughout the course of the week. I'm sure a little turkey doesn't hurt anybody."

(On who would play inside if Rogers can't play)- "(Ahtyba) Rubin's played inside

there. Corey's (Williams) actually played a little bit at the nose position. C.J. Mosley'splayed some at the nose position. Any of those guys could go in and do that."

(On if Carson Palmer's stats reinforce the need to have a franchise quarterback)-

"Everybody wants one. You're always looking for that position to play well and usually

when that position plays well, you're in every game. Like any other position, you cancontinue to improve at it. I think we've had spots of good things. Last week it clicked,

now it's, can you do it the next week, can you do it the week after? Can you have those



same performances week in and week out and not be up and down? [It's a] constant

challenge. I think Brett's [Favre] playing pretty well right now and it's made a difference

for him."

(On how important these last six games are for the Brady Quinn)- "I wouldn't say

that it's just important for him. It's important for all of us. These are all opportunities,each week to go out as a group and improve and build on the lessons of the weeks before.

Some of these lessons have been learned in a very hard fashion, but they only have valueif you take something away from them. If you don't then they're just tough losses. They're

just tough experiences. The value in anything is what do you get out of it? What do you

take away from it? How do you learn about yourself? How do you learn about your teammates and how do you respond? Teddy Atlas, I was talking to him, he's in Russia

now training a fighter, he called me and said, ‘You have the greatest human MRI

machine in the world, because you get to see how everybody deals with adversity. Youget to see how everybody responds to difficult times,' and it's true. It's true."

(On if he still has some questions about exactly the kind of quarterback Quinn canbe)- "I think I have a very high comfort level with what I think a lot of the guys can be.

One of the things that come up often times with players and my communication withplayers or talking about my approach is, I view it as, ‘This is what you can be and my job

is to push you as hard as I can to achieve that potential.' Sometimes you don't even know

how good you can be. Sometimes you don't even know what your potential is becauseyou frame of reference is college or your frame of reference is limited, but it's my job to

make sure that you reach that potential, whatever it is. Whatever bar it is, I have to make

sure that you reach that and collectively that we reach that. Sometimes it's through

positive reinforcement. Sometimes it's through pushing. Sometimes it's through differentapproaches, but that's what I am committed to doing, is to make sure that guys achieve

their potential."

(On where he thinks Quinn's potential is)- "You saw a lot of elements of it last week,

where [there were] just some really smart decisions. You come out. You see theformation. You see that we're outnumbered in the running game and you throw a quick

look pass to the receiver. It's not on a script. It's not necessarily a part of the call, but you

know that's something that you can do to respond to a situation that's not very good. If theprotection doesn't look very good over here we're going to get hit. We're going to have to

throw it quick. Being able to change the protection to get that picked up to allow the route

to develop, hitting some of those deep balls that we hit, all those things are things yousee. Now it's, can we do them on a week in and week out basis, which I believe we can,

but we have to actually do it."

(On if he is confident the team is over the loss at Detroit)- "Yes, and that's another part

of the process, is learning how to not dwell on the past, but to learn from the past and notto look too far in the future. That's a tough skill to learn, because you're surrounded by

revisiting what happened and they're always talk about two, three weeks down the road or

whatever it is. It's hard to always be in the moment, but the best chance you have to be



successful is to be in the moment. It takes discipline. It's a learned skill, I think, like

anything else."


11.30.2009


(Opening statement)- "A couple updates from the game, in terms of Big Baby (Shaun

Rogers), he is going to be going on IR, so not very good news there. With the other three

players that were injured, with Brodney (Pool), he had a concussion, so we'll have to waitand see on that. With concussions, we take that very seriously. We spent a lot of time in

New York researching that and researching the best ways to evaluate when to bring a

player back, the safest way to bring a player back. I carried those things over here and

we'll go through that process and just see where he is throughout the course of the week and evaluate as we go. With Kenyon (Coleman) and Kam (Kamerion Wimbley), it will

be a ‘wait and see' type situation. That's going to take some time and just see where we

are during the course of the week.

"In terms of what I said to the team this morning and how I felt about the game, I thought

that we started slow. I thought we started slow in all three phases, from the opening

kickoff to the first offensive series. We did a few things in the first offensive series that I

liked, but I thought it was too slow from what we had outlined and what we wanted to getaccomplished, and the same thing defensively. I thought in the second half we played

better, had opportunities. We had opportunities throughout the course of the game, we

just didn't take advantage of them. Offensively, Cincinnati did a good job with some of the looks that they gave us that were a little bit different. We handled most of them. Some

of them they got us on. I thought we had some opportunities for completions that we

either dropped or were missed throws and those were the things that we didn't have theweek before. I'm happy with the fact that we didn't turn the ball over. At 13-7 it's a good

situation and we just couldn't continue on the momentum that we had from the first drive.

I really felt like if we had come out better in the first half, things could have been

different."

(On where Rogers' injury is located)- "It's like his lower leg and his ankle."

(On if Rogers has anything broken)- "I don't really want to get into specifics of it."

(On if the team's record has anything to do with putting Rogers on IR)- "No, that's

never been the case with him. He is going to need surgery and this is just where he is. He

is very disappointed. He wants to be out there. It hurts. It's just unfortunate, reallyunfortunate."



(On if the team's approach to concussions has been affected by the NFL's emphasis

on the injury)- "No, we've tried to be very aggressive with that in New York and here as

well. It's just one of those things that you do everything you can to make sure that you'renot putting the player at any greater risk and that you have the best information available

when you're making those decisions. It's important to us, organizationally, and it's

something we take very seriously."

(On how Pool's concussion history will be factored into his return)- "Medically, Idon't get involved with the specific parts of that, a lot of that I have to more or less allow

the lead to come from the medical staff. My emphasis and our emphasis is safety and

proper evaluation and things like that."

(On if he thinks the NFL is on the way to installing preventive practice measures

against concussions)- "I don't know all the different things that are being discussed. I

think everybody's open to whatever puts the players in the best position to avoid those

things."

(On if he thinks hits have become more violent over the past couple of years)-

"Again, I'm not sure. I remember over the course of time there being a lot of violent hits.

I think, if anything, the NFL's done a great job of really emphasizing player safety.

Sometimes you get a penalty that you might disagree with, but you understand the intentof why they're doing it is to try to protect the players and you respect that. That's

everybody's goal. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, understanding that injuries are a

part of the game, but trying to minimize risk wherever you can."

(On if there is a special helmet Pool can wear)- "I'm sure we have researched all thosethings. We'll take the steps that we need to take. In terms of the specific helmet, I'm not

sure, but I know that anything that is out there that could possibly either be preventive or after someone has had one give them more protection, we're all for it."

(On what the team loses when Rogers is out of the lineup)- "He's big. He's disruptive.

They have to deal with him from a game plan perspective. It's difficult from that

perspective. Coupling D'Qwell (Jackson) and Eric (Barton), really that whole interior's

changed dramatically from the start of the season. I really think that (Ahtyba) Rubin'sdone a nice job throughout the whole season, the whole offseason, training camp. He's

really developing in that role and this is a great opportunity for him to continue to

develop in that role. He has done a real nice job."

(On if they will have to add defensive linemen to the roster)- "We'll look at that,whether it's some combination of the active roster or the practice squad. [We will] kind of

see what's available, who's available, how they fit."

(On where the breakdowns in the run defense occurred at Cincinnati)- "There were acouple different spots. With (Bernard) Scott, you have to keep him inside. You have to

keep him within the tackle box. He has excellent speed when he gets to the edge. He has

very good ability to cut. [We've] seen that on some of his kickoff returns and things like



that. I thought he did a nice job finding the crease, whether it be directly outside or in that

c-gap, the softness in the c-gap. I thought our tackling at times led to extra yards that

really shouldn't have been the case. They have a big, physical offensive line. LarryJohnson, he's been successful for a long time and he's a good back."

(On if the offensive design for Cincinnati was short passes)- "We called verticalpasses yesterday, like we've called throughout the course of the season. Sometimes

they're there and you take a shot. Sometimes you don't have it deep and you want to getthe check down, get a positive play. Some of it's a function of protection where we

weren't able to get it to the deeper receiver because we didn't have the blitz picked up or

had to go to the hot site. They blitzed a little bit more than they had the previous gameand they had up until this point."

(On if Quinn gets rid of the ball too early sometimes)- "No, if you're outnumbered you

have to go to either the site adjust, which is the outside player or the hot, which is the

inside player because you don't have the numbers to pick it up."

(On the perception that on passes to Mohamed Massaquoi, Quinn throws to one

spot and Massaquoi is not there)- "I don't think there have been a significant number of

breakdowns in terms of what the assignment is. There's a couple times where Mohamed

was a little deep when he should have been maybe two or three yards more shallow.[There were] a couple times where the throws weren't there. I don't think it was a

fundamental lack of understanding by the players as to what the adjustment is. That does

happen from time-to-time. That's always the goal, defensively, is to show one coverage,change the coverage and that changes the quarterback's read, changes the route

adjustment. We're trying to do it. They're trying to do it. [We want to] force them into

post snap reads."

(On the area where Ahytba Rubin has made the most improvement this year)- "[Heis] very good with his hands and his hand placement inside of the center's chest. I think

he's gotten better at shedding the blocker and being more patient with shedding, because

you can, if the running back's starting to your right, you throw him off too early and go toyour right, he'll cut back to the void that you create. You have to be patient and know the

right time to throw the offensive player off and I think that's improved for him. His block

recognition, understanding where the double teams are going to come from, what hisreaction should be on those blocks. [Those are] all things that come with time and

experience and I think he's improved in all those areas."

(On if Brandon McDonald and Coye Francies will get more playing time if Pool isout)- "With any of the playing time, it's got to be earned. I think that it will depend on, aswe look at San Diego, where we're going to have Mike Adams, whether he'll work back

at safety or work at corner. We've had different combinations of people working at those

different spots. Some of it's going to be a function of what we see that they're doing. With

Coye, I think he needs to keep working and establishing a role, a defined role, not that hehasn't, but he has to make even more of a case for himself."



really important. That's been good. I think that when you have the opportunity to catch

the ball, which is such a fundamental skill set and something that we work on

consistently, you have to be able to maximize those things. Those are the things that wedid do in the Detroit game and you saw the difference. I thought that we did that well at

spurts last week. I thought Mohamed made a tremendous catch going towards the tunnel

on our sideline. I thought Mike Furrey had a really nice catch. I thought guys at differenttimes made some really nice plays, even Greg (Estandia) on the scramble, third-and-five,

rolled back in and made the catch. Two plays earlier he really should have had a catch

and dropped it, which was right there. It was consistent concentration, looking the ball in,tucking it away and then turning and running."

(On if he thinks catching the ball is the easiest area to fix)- "I think they're all

important. I think that we've thrown the ball, made all those throws and need to continue

to make the throws when the guy's open. From a protection perspective, there are goingto be things each game that are different. There's going to be things designed to beat the

protection, then it's a function of being able to hit the hot or the site. Three or four times

yesterday I thought Brady did an excellent job with that. In that last drive there, hittingChansi for a first down when it wasn't picked up. The more you do that the less likelythey are to pressure. Even the tear screen to Josh, the third down play, I think it was third-

and-14, we had blockers out there, missed the guy and he tackled Josh for no gain. They

were bringing pressure off the other side. The week before we had hit it against apressure look in Detroit and went for 34 yards. The difference between getting that initial

block and not is the difference between that play going for nothing or significant gain."

(On if they saw something from the Bengals defense that caused them to not use the

Wildcat at Cincinnati)- "No, not necessarily. We had certain plays up. I think you sawthe play, the direct snap to Josh, throw back to Brady. You had another third down play,

it was just designed a little bit differently. We tend to get a very specific type of adjustment when Josh is lined up at the quarterback position, so we tried to get him theball a little bit different way where they couldn't get in that same front and coverage.

Even though he was hitting the same spot, essentially it's the same number of blockers,

just trying to build it a different way to take away the standard sort of front we've beengetting."

(On the reports that Charlie Weis has been fired from Notre Dame and the type of

relationship he has with Weis)- "I like Charlie. I've always liked Charlie. I worked with

him New York, then worked with him again in New England. I've been friendly andtalked since he's been at Notre Dame. I haven't heard any news one way or the other. He's

a really good football coach. I respect him a lot. That's really all I've thought about that

situation."

(On if he would look into Weis because of his relationship with Quinn)- "I reallyhaven't thought about any of that and don't know what Charlie's situation is. I hope he

hasn't gotten fired and I wish him the best. He's a good friend. He's a good coach. I don't

know what his status is."



(On if Pool has had any other concussions this year)- "No."

(On if there would ever be a time he would tell a player with multiple concussions to

retire) - "I think that the best thing I can do is have them listen to the people that reallyunderstand the injuries. I don't know enough about each of the specific injuries to really

give any sort of advice as to how to treat the injury or respond to the injury. I want all theguys to be safe and to be smart and you be supportive as well. In terms of specific advice

related to specific injuries, I think each guy has to really spend time with the doctors andmake that decision themselves."

(On if Quinn will be the starter)- "Yes, Brady will continue to start."


12.02.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are you doing? Just gettingready for the Chargers, pretty much whatever area you watch with this team, they've been

very successful throughout the course of the year. You look at their defense and one of

the things that you notice right off the bat is the volume of giveaways that they've beenable to create. It's a zone blitz team so they'll bring combinations of blitzers and typically

play zone behind it. It's primarily a three-deep zone, but sometimes you get a mixture of a

couple of other things and they do it from a lot of different looks. They have veryeffective rushers when they do bring them, so that's going to be something that we're

going to have to deal with both in the passing game and the running game. The pressurethat they've been able to put on quarterbacks has been successful in generating sacks as

well. That's lead to some key turnovers. Really when you look at the Kansas City game,the score was fairly lopsided and most of those are the result of turnovers that they were

able to generate. I've been happy with the way the offense has operated the last two

games and going nine games with a turnover and being able to get to the point now wherewe've had two in a row here without having a turnover, so that's been something that

we've improved on. [It's] something that's going to be very important again this weekend.

"Their offense, it doesn't matter who you want to talk about, they can produce, they can

score. I think one of the things that jumps out at you, outside of (Philip) Rivers'

quarterback rating and his number of TDs to interceptions, is the volume of plays thatthey've had of 16 or more yards. Almost 20 percent of all their pass plays go for 16 plus

yards. They've done a nice of protecting the football. They've done a nice job in terms of sacks allowed. [They can] give it to either of the backs or the fullbacks and both those

guys can hurt you in the running game.

"On special teams, [they have] good coverage unties, good skill guys. Facing (Darren)

Sproles over the years, he can take it straight ahead and beat you with his speed that way



or he can change directions, go the wide field and create some problems in that area as

well. It's a challenge. It's a big challenge against a good team. The other thing that I've

really liked that they've done is not have very many penalties and I think that's helpedthem as well."

(On the status of Brodney Pool)- "It's not looking very positive. I'll have moreinformation for you. He's definitely not going to play this weekend and there's a chance

he won't be playing again this year."

(On Kenyon Coleman and Kamerion Wimbley)- "I think we have a shot with both

those guys. We're going to have to see how the week goes and see how it plays out."

(On if Pool is around the team still)- "He's here."

(On if Pool will have to consider not playing again)- "I think with that, Tony (Grossi),

we have to first move through this part of the decision making process and get all the

information and see where we are and then you really discuss moving forward at a later point."

(On what he will do at safety this week)- "There are a couple different options. Mike

Adams had played there quite a bit. Mike Furrey's played there quite a bit. Bubba (Ray)Ventrone, Hank's (Poteat) played there at different points throughout his career and

throughout his time here as well. There are some different combinations that we have."

(On if he would be comfortable putting Brandon McDonald in a starting role)- "Yes.Situations change each week and just because someone moves out of the starting role for

a little while doesn't mean they can't move back in and play at a higher level than they've

been playing and continue to improve."

(On if it is difficult to talk with a player about not playing again)- "As I said, wehaven't talked about the long term. That discussion, I think, is a discussion for a later time

period. You never want to have a conversation about injuries with anybody, but

unfortunately it's something that is a reality. It's never a fun conversation, but they're

always important."

(On if he has filled the roster vacancy)- "We haven't done anything yet. Like I said, this

is something that we're still moving forward on."

(On what happened on the play that injured Pool)- "In terms of the specific thing, I'mnot really sure."

(On if Pool was injured on a helmet-to-helmet or helmet-to-knee hit)- "I can'tremember if it was actually helmet-to-helmet or whether it was helmet to some other pad.

I'm not totally sure."



(On if Pool's injury happened on the play Coleman got hurt)- "Again, Marla

(Ridenour), I'm not exactly sure when the timeline was."

(On how he would feel if the league made a rule about practicing without helmets)-

"Tony (Grossi), I haven't really thought about it. I think a lot of those decisions, the

league spends a ton of time on. [They] consult all the experts in the field and researchthoroughly. That'll be a discussion, I think, for the different offseason meetings.

Whatever the plan is collectively that is brought up and adopted we'll adapt to. I think that it's important to leave it up to the people that really understand this a lot better than I

do."

(On what input the coaches have in guiding the league's decisions regarding

concussion)- "Again, I don't know what the range of options are. It hasn't been somethingthat you delve into significantly right now, but it is something that's important. I know

that they are working on it and they'll continue to work on it and consult people. I do

think it's important for the experts, the people that really understand all the nuances of it,

to get their feedback and collectively try to make the best decision."

(On if the emphasis on concussions is overdue)- "I just don't feel like I'm enough of an

expert on the topic. I'm totally in support of whatever can help in terms of player safety,

especially anything that has long term affects. You try to minimize risk whenever youcan. I'm in support of that. I just don't feel qualified enough on this topic to really give a

lot of insight on it. I can say that it is important. It's something that we've studied, that

we've worked on, we take seriously and will continue to take seriously. We'll take asmuch guidance as we can on it and just always put the players in the best position."

(On if he ever had a concussion when he played)- "I don't think so."

(On if they could accomplish the same things in practice without helmets)- "I

honestly haven't thought about it, Tony (Grossi). I think it's tough in a lot of areas. Part of the reason you wear helmets is to protect against guys bumping heads by accident. I don't

know what the right answer is there."

(On if they went back and determined if Pool's preseason injury was a concussion)-

"I know that all the injuries, we have a lot of tests that go into it, base line tests andcomparative tests. There's a very detailed process. It's something we stress, so we went

through the complete process. We wouldn't put anybody back on the field that wasn't able

to be cleared medically to do so."

(On if Pool will be placed on injured reserve)- "Again, Tony (Grossi), that's somethingthat I'll have more information for you probably either later today or by tomorrow."

(On if he expects the Chargers to run the ball a lot)- "I don't really know what their

philosophy is going to be. They have a lot of good options. Give the ball to LaDainian

Tomlinson. Give the ball to Sproles. Throw it to (Antonio) Gates. Throw it to VincentJackson. They're all good. Take your pick."



(On what he would do if he was the opposing coach in this situation)- "I've been part

of different scenarios like that. I remember a game where the whole secondary for the

other team was beat up. It was all new guys. I think there was an anticipation offensivelythat we were going to score a ton of points and I think we lost like 19-6. You just don't

know. I think the important thing is the guys that do have opportunities to come in take

advantage of those opportunities. I have a lot of faith in (Ahtyba) Rubin. If Kenyon can'tplay, whether it's C.J. (Mosley) or Corey (Williams), both those guys I think will do a

great job. They played significantly throughout the course of the year. We moved

different guys inside. Jason Trusnik [has] never really been a heavy inside linebacker, or really a starter fulltime, he has 10 tackles last week. I think that's the positive part of this,

is guys get a real opportunity to step up and show the things they can do. I've seen so

many times where you're pleasantly surprised by the way that they respond. These guys

all have been working hard and they've all been studying. It's another really good lessonfor the group that you just don't know when your opportunity will be and you don't know

whether it's going to be for 10 plays or 10 games or five games or what it's going to be.

You want to make sure when you get that chance you really maximize it. I remember

Curtis Martin always used to tell a story, when he first got to New England, I forgetwhich backs were in front of him, and he told those guys, ‘You better hope that I never

get in.' They all laughed, you know he was a rookie. He was serious. I don't know if youguys know Curtis, but when he talks he's not joking about what he's saying. He told them,

he said look, ‘You better hope I never get in, because none of you guys are playing

again.' He got in and none of them played again, but it was a big joke when he first said

it. Sometimes you get that shot and you don't come back."

(On if he remembers when Antonio Gates came out of college)- "I don't. I wasn't part

of that evaluation. I know there's been a boatload of trying to find the next Antonio Gates

and it doesn't really happen that often. He had played football [before], so he did have a

football background. We tried all different kinds of guys. We tried out a Rugby Unionplayer from Australia, one of their best players, in New York. [We tried out] a basketball

player a couple times. I can't remember his name now, but he was the heavyweight

champion from Ohio State, wrestler. He hadn't played football and we brought him torookie mini-camp a couple years ago. We had him and the kid from, I think it was, Iowa.

Both of them had been heavy weight champs back-to-back years, tried them out."

(On how he rates Gates as a tight end)- "How would you rate him? He's really, really

good. He's really, really good. They can split him out and he can run routes oncornerbacks and safeties and do that effectively. He has a great ability to adjust to the ball

wherever it's thrown. Often times when you look at tight ends, some tight ends may have

really good hands, but most of the routes that they catch are in stride or clean catches.The tight ends that are able to adjust to balls thrown behind them or thrown high, those

are the ones that have incredible value because often times they're in traffic, they

quarterback's got to throw it away from a linebacker that may be in front of them or somebody coming down and their ability to pluck it from different spots. That was one of

the things I liked about Dustin Keller when he came out, is you could see on tape the way

that he could adjust to the football almost around the whole clock, all the different spotson a clock. It's easier said than done."



(On the keys to limiting Gates' production)- "When you face guys like this you try to

do a lot of things to stop him. I've seen it all tried with him, whether it's playing nickel,

where they have a DB on him. I've seen some teams put their best corner back on him.I've seen him get jammed up at the line of scrimmage. I've seen him get double teamed

from a linebacker and a safety, from two safeties. You see it all. They can move him

around, split him out, put him in different personnel groups. It's not like the other groupof skill players aren't very dangerous for this team. With Rivers, he's more than happy to

throw it down the field to any of the other guys, as well and they've been effective there."

(On Corey Williams at nose tackle)- "He's worked in there, more so throughout the

course of the season than in mini-camp and training camp and he's done a nice job. Thething about him is he's a little different than your typical nose, because he's got some

good wiggle. You can stunt him and do things like that that you wouldn't maybe do with

just a pure mauler type. That adds an element of uncertainty for the offensive line. He hasdone a nice job in terms of taking on the center, being stout, so that's a possibility. C.J.'s

played in there as well and he volunteered to do that. He wanted to try it out and I thought

he's done some nice things in there."

(On if he assumes there will be less double teams with Shaun Rogers not playing)-

"Typically in a 3-4 defense there's only so many ways that you block it. If you want to

run a straight ahead direct run, you double team on the nose to the backside WILL

linebacker, they fan out. There are not that many variations of the blocking schemes thatyou get. They have to account for the front seven to get a hat for a hat, so it's just

numerically how you want to do it. You can double team on the end if you wanted to,

some teams do that. It's a change. It's sort of new over the last, I'd say, four years."

(On if he has seen any difference in LaDainian Tomlinson over the past couple

years)- "He has eight touchdowns. Dramatic differences? I don't think there have beendramatic differences with him. I see him make guys miss in the hole. I see him get the

edge. I see a lot of the same things that you've come to appreciate over the years. They do

mix Sproles in quite a bit and you understand why. He's a guy that's explosive as well."

(On if a bad record can affect injuries)- "No, I think when guys get rolled up on or

whatever it is, it's not a function of what your record is, it's just a function of what

happened in the game. I've been part of seasons where you may not have had the seasonyou wanted and haven't had a ton of injuries. I think a lot of teams deal with injuries

throughout the course of the season. It's important to be able to have depth. Almost every

team in the league has lost somebody significant and lost other players as well. You don't

go in planning for it, but unfortunately it happens. When I say planning for it, you'realways planning depth wise, but you're anticipating these are the players that are going to

play and ideally play through 16 games and then what's your contingency if they can't."




12.03.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are you doing? As you know,

yesterday we put Jamal (Lewis) on IR and Brodney (Pool) on IR. [It is] obviouslydisappointing for them. Jamal has had such a tremendous career and [this is] not the wayhe wanted to finish it up. I can't thank him enough for the contributions he's made, his

work ethic, his toughness, his commitment to the younger players and all the things that

he's done just in my short experience with him. With Brodney, I really thought that hehad continued to develop throughout the course of the season. I think that the strides he's

made in the deep part of the field and understanding the system, all those things have

been real positives. It's not the way that he wanted to finish the season either, but it wasreally the best decision right now for the players from a medical perspective. We claimed

Ramzee Robinson off of waivers. [He is a] cornerback. We currently have one spot open.

We'll see how the week goes in terms of how we're going to fill that spot.

"With practice today, [we are] working on third down and reemphasizing some of thethings that we did yesterday. They'll do some similar things on first and second down that

they do on third down. There are some game plan specific things that we'll have to adjust

to once we get into the game. They are a multiple team in terms of their attack

offensively and defensively in that area, so we've got our work cut out for us here today."

(On if Lewis suffered brain trauma)- "I'm not going to get into specifics of the injury.

When we were aware of him having symptoms we did the testing and at that point the

doctors felt it was best for him to go on injured reserve, so that's the decision that wemade."

(On if Lewis was hurt during the Cincinnati game or before)- "The first that we were

aware of it was after the game, actually not directly after the game, but the next day.

Immediately, we started testing and that's when the doctors made the decision. Wewanted to go through the whole process before and talk to everybody and make sure that

we were as thorough as possible before making the final decision, but that was the

process."

(On if Lewis is seeing a specialist today)- "With both he and Brodney, they've gonethrough a series of tests. They'll continue to do that. We'll do everything organizationally

and in working with them to make sure that we get all the information possible, not just

in the short term but in the long term."

(On if there have been more concussions this year or if the NFL is just taking them

more seriously)- "In my experience in New York, we always treated [concussions] very

seriously and tried to do everything possible in terms of pretesting, post testing, anything

that we could do to make sure that player safety was the priority. I think a lot of teams dothe same thing. In terms of trends, I'm not sure what the trends are, what the numbers are,



but I can tell you that personally, from a head coaching perspective, it was a priority for

us in New York. It's been a priority here. The emphasis is on player safety."

(On the league's emphasis on concussions)- "I think the league each year tried todevelop things that protect the players and I think that's a great thing. They spend a lot of

time researching it. They talk to a lot of different people, the leading experts in the fieldand I think that's very positive. The more that we can keep guys healthy and on the field

the better it is for everybody."

(On if he encourages players to wear mouth guards)- "Really with all protective

equipment, I think there's benefit to all of it. There's a reason for all the different

components of protective equipment. The mouth guard in relationship to concussions,

again I'm not sure what that study is, but I know that if it has any positive affect there, it'sa good thing."

(On if Lewis had complained about concussion symptoms before Cincinnati)- "The

first that we were made aware of it was this week. Immediately, we started testing andthat's when we found what we found and then went through the process."

(On how the decision to put Pool on injured reserve worked)- "With any injuries it's

driven by the medical staff. You make sure that you have all the information. You go

through all the testing and then you make a decision after that. It's as thorough a processas we can possibly have and again, the priority is on player safety."

(On if Pool's season would still be over if his injury had occurred earlier)- "Again,

it's based on the doctors and what they think and what the staff thinks collectively. It's not

where you are in the season, what your record is. It's none of those things. It's based on

player safety."

(On if the doctors gave Pool a timeline for returning)- "We talked about it more in

terms of the season and we'll address moving forward after that."

(On if he is convinced Lewis will retire)- "That's really Jamal's decision and that's a

very personal decision for each player. I'd rather leave that question up to him. Whatever decision he makes I'll support."

(On if the team will do anything Sunday to honor Lewis)- "Marla (Ridenour), this is

so new that we haven't really talked in terms of those things. Really the emphasis has

been on preparing for the game from my perspective. Obviously with this news and thistransition, that's taken a lot of time as well and it's an important thing. At the game, that

wasn't something that I personally talked about with anybody. He has had a tremendous

career and I respect all the things that he's done."

(On if the team goes outside of their medical staff to evaluate head injuries)-

"Anytime there's a specific injury, what we're always going to try to do is get the best



information, however we can do that. If it's independent, it's independent. Whatever we

need to do to get the best information is what we always adhere to."

(On if Lewis and Pool have only seen doctors in Cleveland)- "Yes."

(On if he thinks players have a false sense of security about safer helmets)- "I reallycouldn't answer for all the different players. I know that as an organization you're trying

to get the best possible equipment. You're always looking for trends. It could be related to

concussions. It could be related to dehydration. There are often new things that becomeavailable. I know there were some items that became available this year in terms of

dehydration that we tried during camp. You're constantly looking for anything that can

protect the players. It could be in the form of a helmet. It could be in the form of types of

undershirts again for hydration, things like that. Best practices, you're always searchingfor best practices."

(On why he did not say anything to the media on Wednesday about Lewis' injury)-

"It's like anything else, Tony (Grossi), you have to go through the process and go throughthe testing. Until you have concrete information, that's what you do."

(On if the team needs another running back)- "We usually activate two more often

than not. We'll look at different guys. We've brought different guys in not just week but

all throughout the course of the season at all positions. We have Thomas Brown on thepractice squad. He's done a nice job. We'll evaluate all those things. Typically we bring

two to the game and that's what we have on our roster."

(On if the team needs a running back better than who they already have)- "I think

that both those guys (Jerome Harrison and Chris Jennings) have done a nice job when

they've had opportunities. Jerome has had some good games. I like the progress thatthey're making. I think Chris Jennings is a guy that has done a good job with the

opportunities that he's had and he's working to create more opportunities and they'll havethat now. Again, you never want to see anybody injured or lost. It is a great opportunity

for younger players or guys that maybe weren't in that lead role to make a case for

themselves and step up and be productive."

(On how much injuries complicate an already difficult season)- "Injuries happen atdifferent rates each year. You're constantly stressing flexibility, depth. I know we talked

about that a lot during training camp and the early part of the season. There's the

counterargument about continuity versus flexibility. You just don't know when it's going

to happen. You don't know at what rate it's going to happen. You don't anticipate losingtwo middle linebackers, but it happens and it's happened [to] different teams, different

places, different positions. You're constantly trying to build depth. Hopefully the guys

that you have there and that have been working there then step up and are able to fill thevoid."



(On if the league mandating the use of an independent neurologist is in affect yet)-

"Often times you do that anyways, but that's something that's going to be in place. I think

anything that helps the process is a good thing."

(On the specific hit that triggered Lewis' symptoms)- "As I said, Tony (Grossi), the

first that we were made aware of it was on Monday. At that point, that's when we did thetesting."

(On if Lewis said when he was hit)- "It wasn't really that type of discussion. It was moresymptom-based and that's when we initiated the testing."

(On what symptoms Lewis complained of)- "I'm not going to get into specifics of all

the different things."

(On the upside he sees in Pool)- "I've seen him make progress throughout the course of

the year. I was happy with a lot of the things that he was doing in the deep part of the

field. [I] really liked the range that he showed. I think he became a better communicator as the season went on, as he got more comfortable not just working in the system but

working with whether it be Abe (Elam) or Mike Adams or whoever he was back therewith. Those things are all positive. Like with any new system, as you get more

comfortable you tend to play faster because you're not thinking through the adjustments.

You're not thinking about what your responsibilities are. It's much more of a reaction typething. I was pleased with that. I would imagine that any of the guys that come back who

have had experience and reps would continue to improve. It's always a plus and you're

always able to do more and more individually and collectively."

(On if Pool has a fierce enough personality to come back because he is soft-spoken)-

"I've known a lot of guys that are really soft-spoken off the field but play with a greatintensity on the field. I don't think necessarily the personality off the field is a direct

relation to the personality on the field. Again, with the future, he's had a lot of good reps,a lot of good experience, a lot of good progress so I anticipate him continuing along that

path."

(On if he thinks Lewis is a Hall of Famer)- "I don't get a vote in that, but I think he's

had a tremendous career. You hope, you hope [he makes it]. He's done a lot of goodthings. He's had an impressive career."

(On if Lewis had a chance to talk to the team before he left)- "That wasn't something

that he and I talked about or he mentioned him wanting to do. I'd be happy for him to dothat if that was something that he'd like to do."


12.04.2009




(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are you guys doing? Today what

we're doing is we're going to clean up some things from yesterday in the third down work that we did. I thought there were some good things defensively, but this is similar to, say

Baltimore, with the shifting and the motioning and things like that, so you have to reallyunderstand what the final formation is and where the different pieces are. They have so

many ways to build formations and so many players that can really produce big plays if you're not exactly sound on what you're doing, so that's something that we'll review a

little bit here this morning and also go through the red area and goal line and move

forward from there. That'll be the focal point this morning slash afternoon."

(On how he will approach the short week coming up)- "We experienced the samething last year [in New York]. We played New England on Thursday night. The nice

thing about that and the nice thing about our situation is it is a conference opponent, so

there's some familiarity with who you're playing and what the scheme is. I think those

games are always a little bit tougher when it's someone out of conference or you have noexposure to. That's tough. It's tough as it is just to get the same level of preparation. The

other nice thing is both teams are working the same amount of time. You may not be ableto do all of the things you'd like to do in a typical week in terms of changing the scheme

or how extensive the plan can be, but the familiarity does help. You have to be conscious

of where the guys are physically. You can't really take the same approach from thatperspective either. You're balancing that. You're balancing the level of install."

(On if he will back off reps for some players in the San Diego game in preparation

for the Steelers game)- "No, probably not. That wouldn't be the approach, typically. I

haven't done that in the past."

(On if he is going to let the players play their normal amounts on Sunday and see

what happens on Thursday)- "No, I mean you look at it. I've played these games

before. You try to play the best players that give you the chance to win. It would be hard

to go through and say that's the right number of reps in each game. You don't know howmany reps either sides going to have. Are you going to have 65 snaps on defense? Are

you going to have 75? Are you going to have 50? You don't know until the game plays

out."

(On if they will be moving guys around in the secondary)- "The positive thing for us isthat Mike (Adams) has played both corner and safety so he has that ability. Hank (Poteat)

has played bother corner and safety. Mike Furrey's been working on defense. Ray

Ventrone has gotten reps throughout the course of the season and some reps in games. [Itwill be] a combination there."

(On if he is comfortable starting Furrey at safety)- "Yes, I'd be totally comfortable.

He's started 11 games there in the past. I'm not sure how many interceptions he had, I

think he had four or five interceptions and was third or fourth on the team in tackles,



somewhere in that range. [That is] pretty incredible. He started 11 games and either the

next year or the year before he had 98 catches. That's pretty versatile."

(On if Brandon McDonald's role is still in sub defense)- "He's been rotating through aswell. Each week what we do with that, Mary Kay (Cabot), is just evaluate the week of

practice and look at how they did and the matchups and kind of finalize it towards theend of the week."

(On how the secondary has looked during the course of the week)- "We have gotten acouple new guys. What we try to do in practice is mix the players in different periods so

they are working with different people. They get the same number of reps that they

would, but you want to have those different combinations because you don't know when

they're going to be working together. That's something we've always tried to do. It's notalways the same guys getting the same reps all the time, hearing the same voices all the

time. That's always helped us. We try to do that defensively every week with every

position, because you don't know."

(On how challenging the possibility of having four new defensive starters is)- "It's

challenging. We don't have a lot of guys in the same spots that they were in at the start of

the season. I think [there are] like three or four. Look at David Bowens, he started but he

was outside. Both inside linebackers aren't there. Nose [tackle] isn't there. Really, if Kam(Kamerion Wimbley) couldn't play, and I'm optimistic that he can, that would be

different. Same thing with Kenyon (Coleman), if he's not able to go [we] really have to

see where he's at, that's another new spot. There's quite a few new guys. What you like isto see the way the other guys respond. I think Jason Trusnik is a good example of that.

[We] really brought him here to play a role, continue his role on special teams, continue

to develop as an outside linebacker. [He] ended up starting, then he's moved to inside

linebacker. He's played both spots in the same game. He's led the team twice in tackles.David Bowens, working at outside linebacker then he goes inside. Ahtyba (Rubin), him

getting the chance that he's getting. Mike Adams working at corner and safety. I think it's

a really great opportunity for guys to establish themselves as real solid contributors."

(On if Bowens is even more of a coach on the field now)- "Yes, he's great that way. He

understands the whole defense. He's able to help communicate the calls. I really think the

group has done a nice job. You're always working to get a high level of communicationand having some new pieces in, that heightens it and I think they've responded well.

They've done a lot of stuff as a group outside of just what we do in the typical day,

working together on their own, making calls, sort of simulating the game through tapes so

that they all have to communicate and I think that's been helpful. I've seen some progress.There hasn't been a significant amount of mental errors considering that there are so

many new pieces."

(On if he spends more time teaching in practice than he would like to at this point in

the season)- "You're constantly teaching. Some stuff you do have to spend time on thatyou wouldn't typically spend time on. Some of it [is] learning guy's names. We've had

quite a few new faces come through, but it's good though. What's exciting about it is it's a



challenge. You saw what Matt Roth was able to do. [He] comes in, [is] here two days.

Being a veteran guy, being in a similar type system that helped him, but everybody was

helping him. Coaches were helping him, he was working hard himself, David Bowensknew him from Miami. The guys really responded to him. It's almost like a real sense of

community, everybody trying to help everybody else out to be successful."

(On how the Braylon Edwards trade has worked out so far)- "I think with any trade

you have to really let it play out, but I've been happy with Jason (Trusnik) and I've beenhappy with Chansi (Stuckey). Chansi's been able to come on a little bit more over the last

couple games. He had that one set back with the injury, but I think he's getting more and

more comfortable working with the group that we have. We have the potential now for two other young players here in the future and you have to see who those guys end up

being. [We] probably won't know the value for a couple years, like drafts, you can't really

evaluate a draft for two or three years down the road."

(On if Kaluka Maiava could start this week)- "Yes, he could start. He could start at

any point. He works like a starter does. I'm not hesitant at all to ever start him. I think he'sdone a really nice job for a young guy. Most of those guys, they're getting ready for bowl

games now and this is a whole new world. They'd be off doing exams. I don't know howlong it is until a bowl game, but there's a lot more football to go and they've already

played a lot of football. They're all working through that as well."

(On if he looked at Maiava as a situational player when he was drafted)- "You're

really looking at him as a third and fourth down player when you [draft him]. He's not atiny guy. He's 235 [pounds]. Typically though, we're looking about 250 [pounds] for

those inside guys. D'Qwell (Jackson) had similar size. [I've] had a few guys kind of in

that middle range that have been very effective. They may not be able to go down and

take on the blocker exactly the way that a thumper would, but they find ways to do it veryeffectively. Roman Phifer played inside there. He was a bigger guy, but his style wasn't

the just blow it up type."

(On if it important to give Brady Quinn these last five games to define he is)- "I think every game that you play you have a chance to define those things. I think that every

game that you play you learn some things and you develop a little bit. The important

thing is to keep that development going. On the flip side of that, sometimes when youaren't playing you have to use that time as well to continue your development."

(On if Brian Robiskie could be active this week)- "Yes and really every week is a week

that he could be active. It's not a set pattern where he's going to be down for two and up

for three. Every week you have that chance. He had a nice day yesterday and I anticipatehe'll have a good end of the week here today."

(On what he is not seeing from Robiskie that has caused him to be inactive when

Matt Roth stepped right in and played)- "Matt Roth is a much older player, a much

more experienced player. He has a lot of reps in the system, a lot of play time. It's notreally apples-to-apples. Often times with [being] inactive, it's not a function of what



they're not doing, it's a function of what somebody else is doing. A big component of that

when you're in that fourth, fifth receiver role or fifth corner back role, fourth safety role,

you have to contribute in a meaningful way on special teams or you have to have a veryspecific role in a very specific package that you do better than somebody else. If you

don't have one of those two things that always guarantees that you're on the 45, then it's

going to be a week-to-week type situation."

(On what Mohamed Massaquoi needs to do to gain consistency)- "It's hard to say that,‘if you this one thing you're going to be productive.' Sometimes the coverage dictates

how many balls you get. If you're rolling over the top of somebody or it's heavier in your

direction you're going to get less balls. Sometimes it's a function of does the quarterback get the ball to you? It's not just one defined element there. He's another guy that will

continue to grow and continue to mature and hopefully be a guy that can have those

productive games week in and week out."

(On if Massaquoi is performing equally well in all games)- "With receivers, it's

different. Your production is often dependent on what the defense does and someone hasto get you the ball. It's different than a running back where they get those touches and

you can determine how many touches they get. With receivers, you can't guarantee howmany touches they're going to get in a game."

(On if he was expecting more out of Robiskie)- "I'll tell you, with draft picks it's

different. Every guy's different. Every situation is different. I've seen it go a lot of

different ways. You get some undrafted guys that come in and play a ton. You get someguys that are drafted high and they may not play as much and [it] really hits the second

year or it hits later in the season. I don't think there's any set pattern for draft picks or

young guys in terms of they have to develop over this timeline and this is the grid. It just

doesn't work that way."

(On if Alex Mack is a good NFL starter or a good rookie)- "I think he's played pretty

well throughout the course of the season. That's not an easy position to play. From my

perspective, I think he's played well. Do I think he could do a lot of things better? Yes,but that's true with every position. He's come in, he's played every snap. He's done a good

job mentally. He's done a good job physically. He's been consistent. I think he's got a

long, bright career here."

(On how disappointing it would be to have the game blacked out)- "I knoweverybody is working to make sure that that isn't the case. Obviously, we'd love to have

all the fans there and all the seats filled. It's a great feeling. It's a great environment. I am

always excited to have if that'd be the case."

(On if he gets a sense around town that the fans' frustration level has grown

throughout the season)- "I am not really out of the building very often, I see my kids. I

understand their frustration. We're all frustrated. We all want better results. We are all

committed to getting better results. I understand it. I get it. We're working to fix thatevery day, diligently, consistently as a group and it will happen."



(On what he is shooting for as they go through the last five games in relation to his

career)- "For me, it's not really about the career. With me, it's about being the best

possible head coach I can be and preparing the team as well as they possibly can beprepared. To giving them the best possible opportunity to be successful every week. To

making sure that we are consistently making progress and building both short term and

long term. As I've said before, sometimes the progress isn't as apparent as we'd want it tobe, but as long as we're moving forward that's what's most important to me, is to

consistently be moving forward."

(On if he has a seen a situation like this with so many injuries and roster turnover

before)- "In New England a couple games, I don't know what the stretch was, but youguys remember Don Davis? He played linebacker, a really fast linebacker. He started for

us at safety. Troy Brown, who was a receiver, he started at star. Earthwind Moreland, I

think he came in off the street, he started at corner. Randall Gay, he was a rookie freeagent, he started at the other corner. I can't remember who we had inside. Larry Izzo at

one point played some safety for us. You mix and match and they did a great job. Those

guys did a great job. Watching Don Davis, he was 240 [pounds], playing safety, he wasfluid, smooth. He did a good job. Troy, he was transitioning into more of an O and Dplayer.”


12.07.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good afternoon everybody. A couple things, we're going to putC.J. Mosley on Injured Reserve. We signed Derreck Robinson, a defensive lineman. I

feel like I've been talking about this quite a bit, but it is obviously disappointing for C.J.

He got a chance to play even more than he had been. He had been contributingthroughout the course of the year and that role was going to increase. It's just tough for

him. I'm just disappointed for him.

"In terms of the game, I thought that the best thing we did was when faced with the

situation that we were faced with at 27-7, it would have been very easy to kind of let therest of the game play out. I never felt that for a second form the guys and really liked the

way that they just fought back. They fought back and got to a point where we're onside

kicking for an opportunity to get the ball back and go down and score. A lot of things hadto go right during that time period for us to get into that position. What I'm looking for is

consistency and to not dig that deep of a hole. It's a skill to be able to deal with adversity

and fight through the adversity and play out the four quarters, and I was pleased to see

that. I was also really pleased to see some of the performances by guys that got either their initial opportunity or another opportunity and really took advantage of it. I think all

in rookies counted for about 13 receptions. That's really good progress from that group.



"I think, defensively, one of the things that is challenging when you play a team like San

Diego is dealing with their weapons but then also having to deal with the different spots

that they're going to be in and communicating out the adjustments and reallyunderstanding how you have to play the different calls. I don't think we did a good

enough job with that yesterday. Regardless of who's in or who's out or what's happening,

it starts with communication. If everybody's not on the same page, in terms of what'sbeing played or who fits where, it's hard. It's really hard when you have guys like

Antonio Gates or (Darren) Sproles, or take your pick. They can turn a small mistake into

a really big play, which they did yesterday.

"I thought on special teams, there were times we played really well and some plays that Ithink we could have done much better on, especially in the kickoff return game. We had

some good returns, but I thought that we had a chance for a couple other ones that could

have been big plays and potentially game changing plays. We have really transitionedinto Pittsburgh. We are starting to work on the scouting report, presenting the scouting

report to the players, presenting some of the gameplan to the players on a limited basis

here today. We'll have a walk through a little later this afternoon. Tomorrow is our biggest preparation day. The next day will be more of tying it all together and gettingready to play another difficult team to prepare for and obviously a team that, whenever

you play them, you anticipate the opportunity to play them."

(On how different the short week is)- "They're tough. It's better when you're playing anopponent you're familiar with because you do have some things to draw on, which is

always positive. We played New England last year on a Thursday night and, not that

getting ready for New England is easy, but at least there was a lot of familiarity. We

played Dallas one time on Thanksgiving. It was a little bit harder, because everything wasso new. The key thing is to just zero in on what you want to get accomplished, make sure

that those things are understood and understood in a very thorough fashion. You probablycan't do all the things that you'd normally do during the course of the week, but the thingsthat you do do you have to make sure that they're done well."

(On the difference in Brady Quinn the last three games)- "I think it's collective, really

when you look at it. I thought the protection yesterday against San Diego was, for the

most part, outstanding. Very few times was he pressured. I thought those guys held upwell and not just the offensive line, but the tight ends that were involved, the backs that

were involved. I think there were some really good throws, but also some really good

catches. We've come in here enough times talking about balls that were dropped thatwere easily catchable balls. I thought yesterday there were some balls that were caught

that were really difficult catches, and that helps, too. I think his awareness of what the

defense is giving us and if it's not there, not trying to make something happen justbecause you feel the pressure to make something happen, but going to the check-down or

going to the underneath receiver. I think he's made good decisions there. When he had

chances to throw it down the field he did and I they were really, I thought, solid

calculated risks based on what we were getting. Overall, offensively, we have improvedsignificantly the amount of turnovers from the bye week until now. We've improved in



the red area. We've improved on third down. That's a function of all the different areas

improving."

(On if he is happy with Quinn's in-game decisions)- "Yes, I've been happy with hisoverall decision making. There were a couple plays yesterday where I would have liked

him to get rid of the ball sooner, whether it was the strip that we had in the red zone, or the sack that we had there on second-and-one. I understand what he saw and both those

plays I thought were really well protected. One just came off the left side a little bit late.He probably had no sense of that happening, just because he was behind where Brady

was initially. Some of that's just the time clock in your head, ‘I've got a maximum of this

amount of time because something's probably going to get cut free.'"

(On if anybody was open on the two-point conversion)- "It would have been tight.With that, though, if it's not there, you really just want to almost like you would on a last

play, throw it up. If it gets picked it doesn't matter. Either you get a batted ball or you get

into a tight spot or whatever the case may be, a penalty, you just have to keep it alive."

(On how he gets Quinn to establish some consistency)- "That's really the goal. I think

even yesterday, I thought we played much better in the first and fourth quarter than we

did in the second and third quarter. I think, defensively, we could have helped by not,

obviously, allowing them to hold the ball as long and provide some more opportunitiesthere. Consistency, to me, is the goal across the board, because as we've talked about, one

really good kickoff return, one really average kickoff return, one really good defensive

series, one really bad defensive series. The scheme doesn't dramatically change. Theopposition doesn't dramatically change. You can't relax. There can't be any moment

where it's not the same exact approach and you're looking for that within games, within

weeks of practice, within seasons. It's so important just be able to approach it day in and

day out the same way. It's not an easy skill to learn and it takes a lot of discipline."

(On if he thinks he would see more consistency from Quinn if he had been starting

all season)- "I think that, offensively, we've made improvements, collectively. I'd like to

think that regardless of who was at quarterback, we'd be performing better. The things Iwas happy with both guys, there are things I was unhappy with across the unit. I think as

a group we're playing better and that's reflected in the different areas. Third down, we've

made substantial amount of gains. That's been a problem area for us. Since the bye it'sincreased significantly. Same thing in the red zone, substantial gains there. Turnovers,

there have been substantial gains there. You keep working at it. You keep addressing the

problems. It's deliberate practice and you're going to get improvement.

(On Brian Robiskie)- "I think he had a really good week of practice. There's a strongcorrelation in my mind that how you practice is usually how you play. I think he had a

really good week of practice last week. I think Evan Moore is a good example of that,

too. He's had two really strong weeks of practice and got an opportunity. You never now

with a guy you haven't seen play in a game, how he's going to respond. A lot of the thingsthat he did yesterday were things that we've been seeing throughout the course of time

that he's been here. That's always somewhat of the unknown when you have a guy who's



standing out in practice. You put him against another uniform in a game situation, how's

he going to respond? That's how Chris Jennings got bumped up. The next step is, ‘okay,

during the game what do they do?' I think he had an outstanding week and it reflected inthe way he played."

(On if something as simple as Moore coming in can provide a spark for the offense)-"I think anytime you can insert someone with six catches for 80 yards, that's good. It

helps. I think J.C. (Jerome Harrison) had a really nice day yesterday, both running theball and catching the ball. What I really liked about him yesterday was his blocking.

That's something that we've talked about. I don't know if you remember the play where

Brady sprinted out to his right. I thought he had an outstanding block on the edgepressure guy. He really sealed the edge on the backside and allowed for that long

completion to take place. He's capable of doing that at all times and I thought he made

some strides there."

(On if he has seen enough improvement in Quinn to feel comfortable about the

quarterback position moving forward beyond this year)- "Really, what I'm lookingfor right now is the next game. That, to me, is the most important thing because as Tony

(Grossi) said, it can be up one week and down the next week. You need to see theconsistency, not just from the quarterback position, but from all these positions. You

want to see Brian come back and have the same level or production, or Evan. Mohamed's

(Massaquoi) had some 100-yard games. He's had some quiet games. We've had somereally good protection and we've had some games where the production wasn't as sound.

Chris Jennings has flashed at different points. What we do week in and week out, the

things that we've improved, can we maintain that improvement and then address other

areas and improve in those areas? That's what you have to find out and you have to see."

(On what happened to the offense in the second and third quarters)- "We had the onedrive there where we had second-and-one. We didn't take a shot and got sacked on the

play. Those second-and-ones plays; the important thing is whether you're running the ball

or passing the ball is, if you're running the ball you can't bounce it out. You don't' want tobounce it out and make it third-and-four. If you're throwing the ball, you want to be able

to take the shot, if it's not there you get rid of it. You live to fight another day. Everybody

has a different approach on second-and-one. That would have helped us. We were in aposition where I think we could have either scored or gotten close, sustained the drive,

that type of thing. I don't think we did a very good job defensively, in terms of three-and-

outs. They held the ball a long time. That limited the opportunities as well. [It was] acombination of things."

(On what convinces him that the Chargers didn't stop fighting)- "I talked to Norv

(Turner) after the game and the first thing he said was how impressed he was with the

way the guys fought and he wanted me to tell the group that. He said that we had a toughgroup of guys, which I agree with. That was his feedback. I think that when you're a team

in San Diego's position, you've got a lot of things riding on every single game. You don't

let down."



(On if the fact that the team is still playing hard speaks for how they feel about

him)- "I think it's a good group of guys that care about what they're doing. They work

hard. I haven't sat back and questioned their work ethic at any point. I think they care. Idon't think it's gone the way that any of us has wanted it to go. I think they appreciate the

progress that they have made in different areas. It's a good group of guys. They care

about what they're doing. They care about each other. They care about the team. I can'timagine them playing any other way."

(On if C.J. Mosley is headed for surgery)- "I'll find out here shortly, but I would

imagine that's probably the direction it's going."

(On if he thinks he'll have to convince Randy Lerner that the team is headed in the

right direction)- "I believe in what we're doing wholeheartedly. I know that the outcomehasn't been what I've wanted. It hasn't been what anybody's wanted. I also knew coming

in here that things don't happen overnight and that you have to work at it and you make

progress in different areas. We're constantly focusing on that. There are things that

happen, whether it be on the field. There are things that happen, organizationally. There'sevolution in terms of the coaching staff, the approach. There are a lot of things that go

into building a successful organization over time. It doesn't happen overnight and Iunderstand that. That's something he and I talked about coming in. I've been in a lot of

different situations like this and to do it the right way, it takes time."

(On if he expects Lerner to stick by him)- "I think that we share the same vision and

understand that it's not easy. It's not easy to build something that lasts and that cancompete year in and year out. It's important to do it the right way. There's no one set

formula. There's no one set timeline. You have to come in and make good decisions

every day. You have to commit to doing it the right way. That's what we're committed

to."

(On what Jerome Harrison can do on the field to that leads him to believe Harrison

can be a featured back)- "He's done a lot of different things that you'd look for from a

feature back, whether it be catching the football out of the backfield, you saw him on the,what we call it a ram pass, where he kind of bent up the seam coming out of the

backfield. He's caught screens and check downs and different routes like that. You see

him run the football. He's been able to run it effectively inside. He gained over 100 yardsagainst Cincinnati. He's done some good things on the edge. I've had a back that has

some similarities, with Leon Washington, and I think Leon has a chance to be an

outstanding feature back. Picking up the blitz, blocking consistently is something that he

does and he's continuing to work on. Very rarely is he going to be facing a guy that he'ssubstantially bigger than. There might be a stalemate every now and then, but usually he's

going to fight size a little bit. You have a player with that much better leverage, hand

placement, things like that."

(On if it took Harrison's body a couple weeks to recover after the Cincinnati game)-

"I don't remember any difference, in terms of his prep or even feedback from him or the

trainers in terms of where he was physically."



(On if it would give him any satisfaction to end the Steelers playoff hopes)- "What

would give me satisfaction is to go out, play good football and win the game. That's what

I'm looking for. To be able to play Pittsburgh though, at home, I've been looking forwardto this for a while. I think we all have. They're a good football team. I know they've gone

through a stretch here where it hasn't gone the way that they've expected it to go, but just

understanding what it's like coming off of a Super Bowl and the challenges that you face,difficulty just makes you hardened. It makes you more resolved to get it fixed. I'm sure

that's what they're experiencing right now is, ‘We're going to get this fixed.' I'm sure we'll

get their best."

(On Oakland's drive at the end of the game against Pittsburgh)- "We just got theOakland game in a little while ago, so I haven't watched the game yet. They are fifth in

the league in defense. They have generated a ton of sacks. They're pretty good,

defensively. I didn't see the way Oakland did it, but we'll look at that."



(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. What we started yesterday is really, I

covered San Diego with the group and then the coordinators went through and started our

work on Pittsburgh. We tried to get a jump on the scouting report, the first and seconddown information, the first and second down plan. Today is trying to fuse reviewing that

and introducing the third down, the red zone, two-minute, everything's condensed. We

have to try to push a lot of information through, push a lot of adjustments and game planspecific things through here today. We'll review it tomorrow. It'll be a little different than

a typical Saturday would be prior to the game, but it's the same for both teams. Obviously

with Pittsburgh there's a lot to get ready for. We had our problems last game. Theproblems that they create week in and week whether it's defensively, the different

combinations of rushers that they bring, the effectiveness of the rushers, even when

they're bringing four. They are second in sacks and number one against the rush. They are

able to create of negative plays there. They created some negative plays against us. Theyhad the two sacks late for strips. There were some negative plays in the running play,

kind of the same thing, generating that through pressure. Being able to identifying where

they're bringing it, picking it up and then being able to move forward from that.

"Offensively, I think they're still very explosive from a running game perspective with

(Rashard) Mendenhall averaging five yards a carry, that causes issues. You have to do

certain things to try to stop the run, which opens up some things in the passing game. The

one thing with Ben (Roethlisberger), whether it's been my time here or New York or NewEngland, is he is able to generate so many plays that go longer than the standard play

would. He's very strong in the pocket. He's elusive in the pocket and the receivers do an

excellent job reading out and creating some opportunities. It hit us two or three times last



game. That's something that you have to deal with, something that everybody deals with

and he's outstanding at it.

"I think on special teams, they really create some problems in the return game withStefan Logan. He's elusive. He can change direction. He can get the wide side of the

field. He's got that type of speed. You just see him progressing as the season goes on.[There are] some explosive plays there.

(On Troy Polamalu)- "He's outstanding. Just remember him in college and seeing thethings he did, I know he got off to a little bit of a slow start when he first came in, I don't

know how much he played as a rookie, I can't remember. I don't think it was a full-time

type situation. He has great instincts, both run and pass. You saw the play he made on

Josh's (Cribbs) throw where he was able to cut in front of the throw and make theinterception. He's difficult to pick up as a blitzer. He has really good instincts in the

running game. He's a sure tackler. In the passing game, he's made some plays. I think it

was Tennessee, was it the first game of the season, that pick he made in that game. It was

special."

(On why he has been looking forward to this game for a long time)- "I think that one

thing you understand is the consistent rivalry. I know we haven't been on the plus side of

that rivalry, but it doesn't change the emotion that goes into the game. It doesn't changethe feeling that goes into the game. I remember the Pittsburgh games back when I was

here the first time and playing them and that feeling. To be able to do that at Browns

Stadium, it's something you look forward to."

(On the Steelers coming off of four consecutive losses)- "The games they've lost nowhave been by a total of 15 points. Two of them have been in overtime. I watched the

Oakland game, that last drive they had a chance to end it with an interception. [Therewere] two pretty amazing catches that sustained that drive. They're a very good footballteam. They've lost some close games. They know how to win. They're resilient. It may

not have been reflected here recently, but just in experiencing coming off a really

successful season and going into the next, when you're faced with adversity, it hardensyour resolve more so than anything else."

(On how the Steelers defense changes without Polamalu)- "They've done a lot of

things defensively very well for a long time. Those things remain consistent and they still

do them well. Over the course of time a lot of different players have played in that systemand done a great job. They're able to plug the next guy in, he fills a role and he

understands how to fit and the strengths and weaknesses of each of the calls. It's hard to

replace a player like him, but the next guy will step in and I'm sure [he'll] do a great job."

(On how the Wildcat offense has evolved since the first Pittsburgh game)- "I knowwe talked about that a little bit in the weeks following. You add some plays. Some plays

may be specific to that week and you don't carry them through to the next week. Some

stay on the call sheet and you just decide when you want to get back to them. It's like anyspecific package, it starts with sort of a core group. You add on things that you like. You



try some new things. Some things come off. Some things get added on or stay on. I think

if anything the package has widened a little bit since the first time we met."

(On how the use of the no huddle affects the use of the Wildcat)- "It hasn't reallyaffected it. At this point, Brady comes up, he calls the play. Everybody hears the play and

goes. It doesn't change who calls the play or any of those things, it's just you do it fromthe line of scrimmage and people adjust."

(On Joe Thomas being named to USA Football/NFLPA's All Fundamentals team

and why it's called that)- "I think most really good players have outstanding

fundamentals. I'm sure they're calling it that because the site is for teaching younger

coaches and has different levels. It's actually a great program. One of the things they

emphasize, whether it's the pee wee football or whoever it is, is making sure that the kidsreally understand the fundamentals of blocking and tackling. I think that's how it got the

name. I think he's got outstanding fundamentals. I think he plays with a really good base.

I think his hand placement and his punch is excellent and something he consistently

works on. That's a key part of playing offensive line is the width of your base and your ability to time up the punch so that you're delivering the maximum amount of blow,

especially on a pass rush situation, that you can. That takes the sting out of the rush andthen you're not dealing with the momentum at that point."

(On if he thought there was only time for one more play on the play they used a one-

man rush against San Diego)- "There was only time for one play. We wanted to have a

couple guys on the sideline to deal with that, but you also wanted to have enough depth incase they went jump ball. Those are the two decisions there. You either play for the field

goal or you throw it deep and try to get the jump ball and take a chance on if you throw it

in bounds, whether or not you can get the next play off."

(On Joshua Cribbs saying if they beat the Steelers that the fans will forgive them for

the rest of the season)- "I'm not really looking at it that way, Tony (Grossi). I'm looking

at it as being able to beat Pittsburgh. The things that we're trying to do moving forward

are important and that's billed on the progress we've made. Obviously this is a specialgame because of who it is. I'm looking to keep moving forward."

(On why Cribbs has only thrown one pass since the Pittsburgh game)- "We've had

other ones up. We haven't been open. The deal is, if it's not open, keep it and that's a

pretty good option."

(On if the Wildcat would be harder to defense against if there was more of a passingthreat involved)- "One of your receivers is the quarterback. It's just a function of

whether or not you can get the guys open, whether or not you can protect it, whether or

not it makes sense. Really, I don't think many teams that run the Wildcat throw with anykind of high percentage. You want to have it enough so it's an option and you have to

honor it."



(On how Alex Mack as progressed this season)- "I think Alex gets better each game. I

think the way that he gets better is his comfort level. At first, I felt like he sped things up

a lot of times. He wanted to get to his assignment quickly and make sure he took care of his job, which is great, but there's a tempo that you have to do that at. That's pretty

common with the young guys is, ‘I want to take care of this.' You go quickly and you did

your job, but it's not really the exact way that you want them to do it, whether it's thecombination blocks or pulling or whatever it is. His comfort level there has increased

significantly. His ability to communicate with the rest of the group, his ability to identify

fronts, all those things I think have improved. I think his base and his balance and hisdrive blocking have improved. I've seen significant gains as we've gone throughout the

season."

(On how Mack played against Casey Hampton earlier this season)- "He did pretty

well. Hampton is one component of it, but there's so many of these zone blitzes andthings like that that you can't zero in just on him. He's a big enough problem, don't get me

wrong, but you also have to deal with the linebackers, you have to deal with the potential

safety blitzers, the secondary pressure. There's a lot of stuff going on and it's effective."

(On how difficult it will be for Quinn to recognize all of the problems Pittsburgh's

defense presents)- "I thought Brady did a really nice job against San Diego last week

and they run quite a bit of zone blitzing. I wouldn't say the percentages are exactly equal,

but it's up there. I thought he did a nice job IDing where the pressure was coming from.He changed some of the protection calls at the line of scrimmage to get us to a point

where we had the numbers to pick it up and that opened up some things. The one thing

about him is he'll study it. He'll pick up some things from the first game, even though he

wasn't playing. There's also going to be some variations, some things that are unique tous."

(On what struck him about the Pittsburgh game in his first stint with the Browns)-

"It was a great atmosphere. Not just the atmosphere of the game, but even during the

course of the week, the feeling during the course of the week, you feel it. It may not besomething that is spoken about at that point, but it's just understood. It's different."

(On if Steelers week is more intense)- "I think that would be one way to describe it. I

think that year we might have played them three times, playoffs in '94."

(On why the team is still giving up long plays)- "Last week, the first long play I think, Idon't think, I know was the result of us not communicating the adjustment. We were

supposed to have a player out in the flat. The other thing that we didn't do very well, and

what you want to do in the secondary, is if the player has the ball in space you alwayshave to hold the sideline. What that means is you can't get sealed inside by a receiver

down the field because all of your help is coming from the inside out. You have to make

sure that that player cuts back in to where the pursuit is coming from. We didn't hold the

sideline on that play, so not only was there not a player in the flat when there wassupposed to be, but then down the field not holding the sideline, there's no chance. You

have no chance."



(On if rivalries have diminished in the age of free agency)- "I wasn't here for the

period before free agency. When I entered was free agency, so it's have I've known. I

think the faces may change, but the spirit stays the same."

(On if there is something about Ben Roethlisberger that makes him unique)-

"There's a lot about him that makes him unique. He's got great arm strength. He's gottremendous strength. He's got the ability to avoid to his right, to his left and throw really

accurate passes on the move. He can scramble and hurt you that way. We had him lastgame where they were going to throw a screen, the screen was covered. He was able to

scramble to his right, our left and pick up 13 yards. We had the play covered. He had the

awareness, found a seam in the pocket and picked up 13 yards. Not every quarterback cando that. He's got a real good sense of where the rushers are. Even though he's not looking

at the rush, he's got a good feel of where his pressure points are and where he can escape

to."

(On Roethlisberger having good numbers against Oakland despite losing the game)-

"His numbers have been good all year. He has a 100.2 quarterback rating. I've played himmultiple times over a lot of different years and he's created problems regardless of what

team I've been involved in. He's a really good quarterback. I think he's gotten better eachyear, not just in the things that he can create from a broken play perspective, but coming

up to the the line of scrimmage, assessing the defense, seeing where the weakness is and

taking advantage of it. Just the mechanics of running the offense, he's got great control of that and he has the ability when things don't go well to make something happen."

(On Quinn going 126 passing attempts without an interception)- "It's been a point of

emphasis for us offensively, not turning the ball over. I know we had the strip sack. You

look at the give-away, take-away ratios and the affect those have on outcomes, it's huge.

Being able to protect the football for the passer is really twofold. You have the presencein the pocket and protecting it from that perspective and then also the decision making

down the field and when to take chances, when not to take chances, where you have to

put the ball in order to make sure the defensive back doesn't have a chance to get it. Ithink that's been positive for us across the board. I think the other thing that's really

helped is us taking advantage of opportunities that we've had. At earlier points I felt like

we were dropping really catchable balls. Over the last few weeks I feel like we've caughtsome difficult balls and that's a big distinction."

(On what Robert Royal's lack of production is a result of)- "Robert's been bumped up

a couple different times throughout the season. He's worked aggressively to get back on

the field. It hasn't gone exactly the way that he's wanted it to go from a healthperspective, but sometimes that happens. The thing that I respect about Robert is he

works really hard to get ready to play. He's a professional in that aspect. He's a

professional in the room. He does a good job with him teammates. Like I said, I think theone thing that's set him back is he has had a series of different things that he's had to work

through."



(On if going against Pittsburgh's defense will gauge where Quinn is at)- "I think

actually he's faced some pretty good defenses, Baltimore, Cincinnati. San Diego's defense

was good. This is another good defense. [They have] a different style, but it's going to bea challenge for us offensively, as a group, because he's one component of it. [They are]

number one in rush defense. Being able to run the ball effectively, being able to deal with

their moving pressures in order to run the ball effectively. Being able to pick up theblitzing linebackers and understanding where they're coming from in order to get the

passing game going. Taking advantage of balls that are thrown and being able to catch it

in tight coverage, because there will be some tight coverage. I think all those things aregoing to be challenges this week. It's a good group across the board that can generate a lot

of negative plays."


12.11.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good afternoon everybody. Just watching the tape, it reinforced alot of things that I felt coming out of the game. I was really happy with the way the guys

played and happy that they were rewarded for it. I think that throughout the course of the

year they have worked hard and things haven't always gone the way we wanted to go, butwe have made strides. Sometimes those strides are apparent and sometimes they are not

as apparent. You look at a game where a guy like Marcus Bernard contributed two sacks

or Brian Schaefering with his sack and a half and the play time that he had. Kaluka(Maiava), Evan Moore, Chris Jennings, Mohamed (Massaquoi), right on down the line -

some of the new players, guys playing different positions. They've worked hard to learnthe entire system, trying to build in versatility, things like that that have come into play

and I think like any part of the process this stuff is learned. It is learned over time. I washappy that they were rewarded for that. I also just wanted to thank the fans that came out

last night. They were pretty amazing, especially during that last drive ho loud it was. It

was cold. It was cold where I was sitting. It had to be cold where they were sitting. Theyfight through everything so it's great to have them."

(On how important it is for players elevated from the practice squad to take

advantage of the opportunity)- "I think it's extremely important. It's important for the

guys to know that if they work hard, if they continue to improve that they have a chance.

They have a chance to come up to the 53 and then they have a chance to come up to the45. That's why, organizationally, we spend so much time, whether it be the post practice

work with those guys or the extra meetings or things like that, to continually developthem because you don't know when you are going to need to call on them. You want to

make sure that they are progressing the same way the other guys are who may be taking

more of the game plan specific reps. That stuff has huge value. It's good to see those guysget a chance and take advantage of that chance."



(On having to teach new players on the roster)- "There is some element of that and it

just depends when they get here. How extensive their background is before they get here.

A guy like Matt Roth, he has things to draw on from his NFL experience, defenses thathe can associate. Usually, that learning curve is quicker. Some other guys that you may

get late you have to accelerate everything. There is a sense of community and everybody

takes part in it. It's the coaches, the guys at their position they help out. Guys at other positions, they help out. We embrace guys that come here and everybody wants to help

them be successful."

(On if Joshua Cribbs looked better on tape today)- "It looked pretty good yesterday,

too. He did a lot of different things and he did them well. Whether it was his returns, himrunning the ball, catching the ball, making tackles, it was a pretty impressive

performance. There are so many different elements to it. He is a fun guy to watch."

(On if there is anything new with Cribbs' contract)- "Nothing right now. It's

something that we are looking into and want to, obviously, move forward with."

(On if something will get done with Cribbs' contract)- "Yes, I imagine that something

will get done."

(On the ideal number of plays for the Wildcat in a game)- "It's hard to say. Some of it

depends on the effectiveness. Some of the other stuff depends on balancing that out withthe fact that he is the returner on both kickoff returns and punt returns. What you don't

want to do is eliminate his effectiveness there because it is such a huge field position

change, or the potential for that every time he touches the ball. You are balancing out the

snaps at receiver, the snaps in Wildcat, the snaps on special teams and he does thecoverage units as well. He gets a full game, reps wise, from all those different spots."

(On the win against Pittsburgh goes a long way towards next season)- "For me it's

really just a great opportunity for the team to experience some of the fruits of their labor.To be able to do that against a team like Pittsburgh, who we haven't beat in a long time. I

think it's outstanding. There's that intensity. There's that rivalry. There's that special

feeling with playing them. These guys have worked hard and I know you're probably

tired hearing the word process, and I've said it 1,000 times, but learning how to win ispart of that. Learning how to deal with adversity is part of that. Learning how to play

complementary football is part of that. I think we did a lot of those things last night. It's

great to be able to now point to that and say, ‘ok when we do these things, we can all seewhat happens.' I've never questioned the way these guys have approached things, but it is

nice to now say, ‘When we do this, look what's possible.'"

(On if he got a special message from anyone)- "I got a message from Randy (Lerner). I

talked to Jim (Brown) after the game. A lot of different friends around the league sentsome notes. Andy Reid sent a note. You appreciate things like that just because it's nice

of them to take time to do that."



(On if he talked to Randy Lerner in person)- "We just exchanged texts and I'll talk to

him a little bit later here today. It was pretty late when I finally got out of the locker room

and got going and I think he was heading back to se will catch up."

(On what was said in the text message)- "It was a nice, positive message"

(On if he is worried about his future)- "That really hasn't been my emphasis at all or

focus at all. What I'm concerned about are the guys, the team, coaching team and

continuing to move forward. I believe in what we do. I know it works. I know it is goingto work here. I know we are going to win a lot of games here. I know we are going to

have a team that week in and week out the city is going to be proud of. These guys are

good guys working towards the same goal. That to me is the essence of winning. It's

going to happen."

(On if the players coming closer together)- "I see them getting closer and closer as they

get to know each other more and spend more time together. Everybody interacts with

everybody else; it's not by position group. They have a good time with each other. Theysupport each other in meetings. It could be me asking a question and they try to help each

other out. They use words like ‘family' when they talk about each other. That's what you

are looking for. You are looking for chemistry. You play harder for guys that you like.

There's a different level of intensity when you care about each other and reallyunderstand that everybody is working for everybody else."

(On if there is any uncertainty about bringing someone in)- "I think anybody that we

can bring in to help is a positive thing. I believe in what we do. I believe it to my core.

I've seen it work. I know it works. I am confident in it. I mean that in a sincere way. I'veseen it. I've experienced it. I believe in it. I believe in good people. I believe in hard work.

I believe in discipline. I believe in a team. Those things are truth. It's truth in sports. Youhave those things, you win. I've experienced it."

(On if he has talked to Lerner about next year)- "That's never been talked about. I

wouldn't look to do that. My emphasis, my focus, everything is on this year, is on these

guys, is on moving forward each day."

(On Rob Ryan's defensive scheme)- "A big part of playing good defense is being on thesame page. What we always look for every play, defensively, is communication, disguise

and pursuit. Really, the starting point is communication. When everybody know what we

are playing and it's sound across the board, each person understands their role in the

defense. Usually, you play good defense. There were times during the earlier part of theseason maybe we did too much. There have been times where maybe we could have done

a little bit more. Finding that balance, and you have to get used to this defensive approach

I think. I think it's different than a lot of approaches because it is so game plan specific.You do a lot of things in training camp, you study core concepts on how to run the

defense, but week in and week out it's different. It's specific to Pittsburgh. There's a lot of

learning that goes on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday so there's a lot of adjustments thathave to take place. Communication is so important. It's a shock to the system I think,



when you first get exposed to it. I remember when we went to the Jets initially with (Bill)

Parcells and (Bill) Belichick and that group. It's just dramatically different when you get

a whole game plan on Wednesday and there's 10-15 new defenses in it or changes in theway that you are going to do it, if you haven't done that before it's hard to get adjusted to.

Once you do, then the guys start looking forward to Wednesday to see what the plan is,

and that is different."

(On how to judge Brady Quinn's performance with the wind)- "The wind definitelyplayed a part in it. You are looking for accuracy. I think there were some throws that we

could have been more accurate with. I thought some guys made some pretty nice catches

as well. I am always looking for mechanics, regardless of the weather. I thought Bradydid a nice job with that throughout the course of the night last night. The wind does play

a factor in some of those throws and you have to take that into account but it factors in

for both guys. You can do some different things when you have wind than when youdon't."

(On if the players are coming around to him now and buying into the system morethan when he first got to Cleveland)- "I really have found that anytime that you make a

change, and you are dealing with that change, it is difficult. You have to learn about eachother. Everybody loves progress but not a lot of people love change. Usually they go

hand in hand, most often they do. That's also part of the process, part of the growth, is

understanding what the objectives are, understanding that everybody is working towardthe same thing and understanding that we all depend on each other. Our success and

failures are all going to be based on how work together and how we operate s a group. It

does take time. I never really have looked at it as selling guys on it. I look at is as

teaching and exposing guys to new ideas. Exposing guys to ideas that may be different,that may be out of their comfort zone but you want them to try it. You want them to

experience it. You want to show them how it works. It's nice when they can see it work and feel it work and really understand it."

(On if he has the support of the players)- "I haven't felt at any point where there wasn'tsupport. I think that often times it takes a while to understand that the open door is truly

open. It's not a slogan. It's not what you say so you can refute something someone else

says. It's true. Sometimes it's hard for young guys to come up and talk. Sometimes it'shard for anybody to come up and talk. It can be a little bit like going to the principal's

office. You have to try to convey as much as possible the importance of doing it and the

value in doing it."

(On if he came into Cleveland more heavy-handed than he would have somewhere

else)- "I know this might be hard to believe, but I actually came in here a lot less heavy-

handed than when I went to New York. I swear. I thought I was making major

concessions. Like I said, it takes time. My high school coach used to say, ‘Discipline isn'tsomething you do to somebody. It's something you do for somebody.' I've never wanted

to instill discipline for the sake of being in charge. That's not what it's about. It's because

it helps you win games. You have one breakdown in 11 guys, it affects the whole play.You've got a community. We've got guys from all over the country. We have got a range



of ages. Like any community, there's got to be rules so that everybody can operate

efficiently. That's all they are there for and nothing else. I don't want guy's money. I don't

want to exert power to exert power. I want the group to operate efficiently. That's thegoal. It's it."

(On what he would say to a football ‘czar' about his record)- "I would imagine thatanybody who would merit the title ‘czar' would look a lot deeper than just the record.

Like I've said, I'm transparent. There's been rationale for all of the decisions. There's beena thought process. Some of it's been good, some of it's been bad, but there's a reason

behind it. Anybody who comes in can take a look at it. They can sit down and talk to the

coaches, sit in on any meeting, watch our practices. They have seen other practices,watch our practices. See how we operate. Come to our meetings. See how we teach. See

how we function as a staff because it's good and it's right. I'm confident in it. Come take a

look because it's a good product."

(On if he has told Cribbs that they will take care of him)- "He and I have talked about

that and he knows how strongly I feel about him and the contributions he makes and allof those things. You want to move forward with the next steps. Timetable don't know;

structure don't know. All of those things are to be determined, but he knows how I feelabout them and he's a guy I really appreciate more than just for what he does on the

field."

(On how he would sell himself to a czar)- "I feel good about the approach we have

taken here. I feel good about the things that we have done here. I don't feel good aboutwhat our record is and nobody does. I understand the situation I initially came into. I

understand the things that we have done throughout our time here to continue to move it

forward. Anybody that comes in I am excited to talk to. I feel good about it. I don't feel

like it's going to be a function of selling. It's just going o be a function of showing whowe are, what we believe in, the things we have done, and I think that anybody who comes

in will appreciate those things. At the end of the day whatever happens, happens."

(On if he is more comfortable with his job now)- "I feel going into the offseason, youare starting at a totally different launching point than where we were last year going into

the offseason. You are talking about hiring a staff, evaluating the players, moving into

free agency, trying to get ready for the draft, moving your families. There are a thousandthings that go into entering into an organization. Going into an offseason where that's not

the case, than you are focusing more on free agency, the draft and your frame of

reference is a lot different because you have sat in the meetings with the players. You

have gotten to know them. You have seen them play. You have seen them play your schemes. It is radically different. Your starting point is so much more advanced than

where it was. I can get home now. That's real progress."

(On if he will enjoy the fact that they beat Pittsburgh)- "Yes, definitely. Even last

night I probably stayed up later than I probably would have that's because I was hereback in '94 and '95. I don't think we beat them those years and it sucked not beating them.

It's nice to beat them. It's important and it's important to the city. It's important, I get that.



I got a note from the guy who dropped off the paper this morning. I really appreciate it

and I get it."

(On David Bowens' leadership)- "He is outstanding. He was outstanding when hewasn't calling defenses. He's got an energy that's contagious. It's important to him. It's

important for him to do everything the right way. He works with everybody. He involveseverybody into the defense. To go in and to play a new position, now he's played there

before, but he hasn't been the signal caller before so that's new. To be the captain, all of those things are new. I think he's handled it great. The guys give him a hard time for

being old and having gray hair and things like that. That wisdom has been a huge benefit.

I can appreciate a little bit with the age with an experience the other day. Julie went toJake's school and they were discussing the word cold. She was in the back of the room.

C-O-L-D, they took the C out and just had blank space and they wanted the kids to fill in

a letter. The first kid went and I think he said T or B so then they call on Jake and say,‘Okay, Jake what do you have?' ‘D-A-D' Julie was thinking, how sweet he misses his

father. The teacher says, ‘Why D-A-D?' ‘D-A-D, dad, old.' Everybody sees things

differently. Everybody when they get a chance operates differently and I appreciate theage jokes.

(On if someone comes in and cleans house and if he thinks it would be a mistake)- "I

think whoever comes in, whatever happens I am excited to work with that person. Like I

said, I believe in the things that we are doing. That's in the future and really that's not myfocus what so ever."


12.16.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? A couple things

just to start off, a few announcements, in terms of the Pittsburgh game and last week JoshCribbs is going to be named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, which is

outstanding and well deserved. He also won our offensive player of the game from last

week. David Bowens was the defensive player of the game. Blake Costanzo was specialteams [player of the week] and Titus (Brown) was the practice player of the week. Again,

I can't emphasize enough how important the practice player of the week is. It was a short

week, but Titus has been doing a great job so it was kind of a combination of things.

"In terms of Kansas City, I think there are a lot of similarities between where the twoteams are right now. I've known Todd (Haley) for a long time. He was the offensive

assistant in New York when I was the defensive assistant. I know his dad really well,

Dick Haley, who is arguably one of the best personnel men in the NFL. Just getting toknow Todd and working in that same capacity, even though it was on the other side of the

ball, he is really smart, very, I think, innovative. He learned under Dan Henning and



Charlie Weis and I see a lot of that in the offensive play calling. He's tough, in terms of

what his expectations are and guys meeting those expectations. I think that even though

they haven't won as many games as they would have liked, they've been in multiplegames, won in overtime. A couple others they lost by six points or less. I see a lot of

improvement as the season has gone on.

"Offensively, I know Matt (Cassel), [I] was there in New England when he first came in

from USC and watched his development over the years. I thought he played really wellagainst us last year when he was in New England. Matt has the ability to make big plays

down the field. He has the ability, like a lot of the quarterbacks we've faced, to extend

plays. His 44 rushing attempts I think is fourth behind, (David) Garrard, Aaron Rodgersand Vince Young, so he can create some plays like that. When he gets going he makes

some really impressive throws. He's a smart guy, a really smart guy. I think the other

thing that they've got going offensively is the running game has emerged. 5.2 yards acarry for (Jamaal) Charles. With the passing game, picking up Chris Chambers during the

season, he's been a huge asset. The returner, Dwayne Bowe, with 86 catches last year, 33

before he had to sit out the four games. He's a guy that can hurt you all over the field.

"Defensively, it's really the third week in a row now we've faced a 3-4 defense. All these3-4's we face, even though it's three down linemen, four linebackers, they're all different.

Playing these guys in Arizona, playing this group of coaches in Arizona last year, one of

the trademarks of that defense last year, and I see it here, is how hard the guys play, theway they pursue to the ball and they make a lot of plays, chase type plays, effort type

plays, which it's coached. It was the same thing in Arizona. It's the same thing here. With

Tamba Hali, I think his transition to the outside linebacker position has been a successful

one. He leads the team in sacks. He creates a lot of pressure. He's going to get better as hegets more and more comfortable in that role. Mike Vrabel is a guy I've known for a long

time. [He is an] Ohio native. He's right there with the rest of that group, with Rodney(Harrison) and (Tedy) Bruschi, in terms of his knowledge of the game. [He is] incrediblycompetitive. He could remember defenses that we ran two and three years prior and site

them and give the specific play and how it worked. I imagine he'll eventually go into

coaching and he'll be outstanding. I'm sure his leadership has been a good thing for themdefensively.

"On [special] teams, they haven't really given up a lot of big returns at all this season.

They've been excellent with their coverage units. In the return game, again with Charles,

he had the 96-yarder against Pittsburgh. They blocked a punt against Baltimore, blockedanother punt against Washington. [They have] done some creative things in the kicking

game in terms of the fakes, two surprise onside kicks, so there's going to be a lot of areas

we have to prep for there."

(On if Mike Holmgren is here today)- "No, he left, I believe, either this morning or yesterday night."

(On how his meeting with Holmgren went)- "I've known Mike for a while, not as well

as maybe I know Andy (Reid) or Bill Parcells, but we actually had a good conversation at



the owner's meetings a few years back. We had bought a home in Cape Cod and the

importance of having one place where the kids could go every year and we were just

talking about that and his thoughts on it. We actually revisited that conversation. He hadgiven me some really good advice back then. We ended up getting the house and have

been really happy with it. We talked a little bit. We visited some last year before the

Seattle game, which was his last home game there. I think he's a good guy. I know himsome through Andy Reid and through Bill Parcells. I thought it was a good conversation.

He is obviously very talented as a coach. It was a good, positive conversation."

(On if he sensed a strong interest on Holmgren's part)- "I think this visit was

something designed for both sides to get to know each other. That's really what it was."

(On if Holmgren could be a sounding board for him if he joined the team)- "I think anytime you can bring in someone with a wealth of experience as not just a position

coach and coordinator, but as a head coach, it's great. It's great to have those guys. Bill

Callahan was on the staff in New York and he had been a head coach and he was great.

Some things come up where you're like, ‘Hey what do you think about this? How wouldyou handle it? What was your approach?' To hear another voice, it's positive. I've made

calls, like Dick Vermeil, guys like that that maybe weren't on staff, but have thatexperience because they've been through most things. They've seen most things. They've

handled a lot of different decisions. It's good to be able to bounce those ideas off

somebody else."

(On if Holmgren seemed like he would take the offer to sit it on meetings and

observe the team)- "We didn't really talk about that. My stance on that is really the

same."

(On what he talked about with Holmgren)- "We talked about a lot of things. The team,different aspects of the season, things like that. I'm not going to go into the play-by-playof it."

(On if it is tough to trade away a veteran player)- "It always is. When you have a guy

like Mike Vrabel, I mean he's a special guy. You can't coach his toughness. You can't

coach his instincts. [He is] a guy that wasn't highly drafted, worked his way up. Really,we had brought him in initially as a special teams player and he established himself as a

really good defensive player. Even talking to (Jason) Trusnik when he was a young guy

first starting out, I talked to him about emulating a guy like Mike Vrabel whose work ethic, every day in practice [he] worked. He knew the defense, not just his assignment,

knew the defense, could draw up the defense, could coach the defense. I'm telling you, I

wouldn't be surprised if he's not coaching major college football or pro football at somepoint and be really successful. He's a wealth of knowledge."

(On Vrabel's versatility)- "He's got good hands. Mike used to be on the show team and

he'd want to play safety on the show team. He'd disguise stuff. He used to frustrate Tom

(Brady) to no end, because he'd disguise things. They'd go back and forth. It was greattoo, because it brought energy to the practice. He's get Tom all fired up. That whole show



improve the team. Each decision affects the other decision. I think sometimes as a

coordinator or a position coach you get a little bit of tunnel vision, you see how it affects

you. As a head coach, you have to see all of those things. He's got a wealth of experience,which is outstanding."

(On if he expects other candidates to interview)- "You know, Tony (Grossi), I'm reallynot looking to get that involved in the process. What I'm looking to do is coach the guys.

That's what I want the guys to focus on, the coaches to focus on. It's Kansas City for usand that's the most important thing."

(On if there is any advantage to having a czar here before the end of the season)- "I

haven't been involved in czar searches before, so I don't know what the best path is. I'm

not sure what the best path is. I think the most important thing is to get the right person inplace and to move forward, whether that's today, whether it's three weeks from now.

Whatever point it is, the key thing is to get the right person and move forward

organizationally."

(On if his coaching philosophy could mesh with Holmgren's)- "I think often times

you're labeled with family trees and philosophies and things like that, but the philosophy

that I think we all want is winning. Whether it's West Coast, East Coast, it's winning.

Mike ran really physical, demanding training camps. I don't think there's anythinginconsistent about that philosophy. His goal is to win. That's it. However you get to that

point. Again, going back to Bill Callahan, one of the most attractive things about him was

he brought experience in that system that we were able to incorporate offensively. Bringin Brian Schottenheimer, he's more the digit system offensively and that family tree and

that was really positive. (Brian) Daboll brought, I don't know if there's any title to that

offensive system, but whatever that is. Taking the best things from each component of

that and building your system, I think, is the best approach."

(On if Holmgren's coaching philosophy would conflict with the type of players he is

looking for)- "No, I think all coaches appreciate smart, tough, hard working guys, guys

that are competitive and selfless and guys that football's important to. I think that'suniversal. Again, with drafting, it's the right guy and it's trying to figure out the right guy

for you. Sometimes you have to appreciate a player's value, but know he's not right for

you. Once you determine what's right for you then you determine the players that areright for you."

(On what was challenging about facing a Holmgren-coached team)- "It's been close

to a year since we played them. I'd say there's a lot of challenging things about facing the

West Coast offense. They're going to create levels, whether it's levels on the outside,levels on the inside. There's going to be quick hitting plays. There's going to be

misdirection. There's going to be multiple personnel groups. All those things are

components of it that come into play."

(On Jamaal Charles)- "With Jamaal, he's elusive. There are a lot of plays on tape,whether it's him as a kickoff returner or him as a running back or even him as a receiver.



There's a great play where he catches, it's either a 40 or 60-yarder on (Antonio)

Cromartie, was it Cromartie, it might have been (Quentin) Jammer. He's one-on-one with

the corner, runs a double move, catches a great, I'm not sure if it was 40 or 60 [yards], butit was a pretty impressive catch that way. You get him into space, whether it's a check-

down or screen, he can make a lot of people miss. What I really like about him is a lot of

times the elusive backs aren't the most physical backs. They can make people miss. Hecan also run through some tackles. Each team that faces him is appreciating his ability to

create plays in a couple different ways."


12.17.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are you guys doing? Goodmorning Alexis (Martin, Browns Kids Club Jr. Reporter for a Day). How are you doing?

Yesterday's practice, I thought that we got a good jump on what we're trying to

accomplish in terms of not just the scheme but also the way that we need to stop the coreplayers and also our attack, things like that. I do think there are some things that have to

be cleaned up. I'd say especially defensively, continuing along the line that we've had

with the communication, because there has been quite a bit of shifting, more shifting thanmotioning from their (Kansas City's) offense, which will change the call from one thing

to the other. It happens pretty quickly, so getting a feel for that is something that we're

going to have to continue to work on here today. Moving to third down, we've made a lotof progress, I think, offensively in terms of our third down conversion rate. This is a

really good team on third down defensively. That's going to be a challenge for us. I likethe group of pass rushers they have. I know the sack numbers haven't been as high as

probably they have hoped it to be. One thing they do really well though is when they doget to the quarterback they usually get the ball out. There are quite a few hits on the

quarterback that don't translate into sacks, but they do apply quite a bit of pressure. A lot

of that, some of it comes from designed pressure, some of it comes from games and someof it comes from just sheer effort and intensity, the way they rush, which is pretty

consistent with the defenses he (Clancy Pendergast) coached in Arizona as well."

(On what the team needs to do in the final games to prove it is making progress)-

"I've seen quite a bit of it. One of the things that I really liked against San Diego was

down the way we were down, coming back, putting ourselves in a position to at leastchallenge there at the end of the game with the onside kick. If we had gotten the two

point conversion we wouldn't have been kicking the field goal there. We would havebeen going to tie the game. That's a really important lesson against a very good team. I

thought that the way that we played against Pittsburgh, where it was complementary

football, and I know you've heard that word a ton of times here, but it really was. We dida nice job in the kicking game establishing field position, downing punts inside the 10.

Offensively, being able to move the ball, run the ball, use up the clock, things like that.



Defensively as well, the coordinated pass rush, where we saw sacks from a lot of

different people based on the scheme and that's something that's traditionally part of what

we do defensively. I want to see the complementary football and then the other lessonsthat we've learned throughout the season continue to be applied to the next game and the

two games after that."

(On if he is looking to see what Brady Quinn can do in a game without poor weather

conditions)- "I'm not sure what we're going to get in Kansas City. I wasn't really lookingat it in terms of that. The weather's going to be the same for both quarterbacks. What I'm

looking for from Brady is the same type of operation that he's had and when we do get

the opportunities, being able to take advantage of the opportunities. Again, I've liked thesteps forward that we've taken offensively and I want to see more of that."

(On how he accounts for the improvements in the run defense)- "It's pretty consistent,

Tony (Grossi), with what happened in '06 in New York. You install the defense and

there's a way to play it. Even though you're playing it and it looks like it's supposed to

look, it's not really operating like it's supposed to operate. As you build up reps, as youbuild up a better understanding of how it all fits together, usually you make some

significant jumps. We improved significantly in New York after the bye, which was atthe same time, midway through the season, because it started to hit for a lot of guys. It

started to clear up for a lot of guys, exactly how you have to fit, how each piece works

together. When you do that, when you can play the scheme with all 11 parts sitting in theright spots, it gets better."

(On how long it takes for a team to learn what to do against an unknown player like

Marcus Benard)- "That's a good question. I'm not sure what the right amount of tape

would be for him. He played in the preseason. You could look at some of that stuff. He

played a little bit against Detroit. You really have to work off the tape that you have. I'mnot sure what the right volume is. The other thing, whether it was Marcus or Kam

(Kamerion Wimbley) or Matt (Roth), it was all linebackers in there. David Bowens, they

were all working in different spots at different times. Ideally, you'd like to be able to runthe same defense, but just switch whose role is whose, so that you can't count on, ‘Okay,

Marcus is going to be on our offensive right side and he's going to use these few pass

rushing moves.' One time it's Marcus. The next time it's Roth. The next time it's Kam.They may all be doing the same thing from a concept standpoint, but it's different bodies,

different people doing it."

(On if he was tempted to play Brian Robiskie more against Pittsburgh after his

performance against San Diego)- "He played quite a bit against Pittsburgh, in terms of his percentage of play time. A lot of that stuff is packaged-based. Chansi (Stuckey) may

be in one package or (Mike) Furrey and Brian may be in a different package. If one

thing's working maybe better than you expected or not working as well as you expected,one of those groups may get bumped up, may get more reps. Even with Pittsburgh, our

base defense didn't have nearly as many reps as our sub defense, so a guy like (Ahtyba)

Rubin didn't have a significant number of reps in the game, but that was just because of their approach and the packages that we played against it."



(On how Ahtyba Rubin has played in place of Shaun Rogers)- "He's played really

well. He has a nice base. He has good hand placement. He's improved throughout the

course of the season in reading the core blocks. There's not a wide range of blocks thatyou're going to get as a 3-4 nose tackle. You can also use the back to anticipate where the

pressure points are going to come and he has a much better since of that. I remember with

Mike DeVito, his rookie year, [he was] similar to Rubin in the sense that he played with agood base, was strong, good hands, but he couldn't put together how the back played into

the blocking schemes. He'd get beat on some stuff that he had seen a ton of times and

then the next year he came back, it really broke for him and he was so much better atplaying those things. I see Rubin, as the season's gone on, his feel for what's coming and

anticipating those things has gotten a lot better."

(On if Rubin has surprised him since he does not look like a space-eater type of

player)- "He's pretty thick. I'm not sure what he weighs, but he's pretty thick. Comparedto Shaun, it's hard to make that comparison, there's not a lot of Shaun's. He's really thick.

Him, Kris Jenkins, Ted Washington, those are big, big men."

(On if Rogers was sometimes too quick for his own good in the run scheme)- "I think

that his reactions were so quick that he would sometimes get to the point of attack beforethe rest of the defense had gotten there. Even though he was reading the play the correct

way, it was at different tempos, so a crease would open up that wouldn't typically be

there. That happened on occasion. I wouldn't say it was just all the time, but there weretimes where he was like that. He just has great instincts and speed for that size."

(On Corey Williams' development)- "I think he's made strides throughout the season.

One of the important things that I was looking for is consistency in the base defense and

really embracing and understanding how you have to play the techniques. The two-gap is

different than what most teams play. Even though Pittsburgh, San Diego and Kansas Cityare 3-4 teams, it's much more one-gap than it is two-gap. They're penetrators, where this

is more of a read and react and there's patience. I was looking for that to continue to

improve and I think he has throughout the season. It was nice to see him go in and play aswell as he did. I think that he's played well at different points throughout the course of the

year as well."

(On if the play calling has improved over the last four games)- "I think the executionhas improved. I think that's what it's come down to. When you look at the things that

we've been able to do, not turning the ball over, that's huge. It gives you extra drives. It

gives you field position. Our ability to convert on third down, it gives you more plays. It

gives you more chances. Those were two areas that we've struggled with. As we'veimproved in those two areas, we've moved the ball a lot more effectively, we've score

more points, we've held the ball longer. Just look at the jump in those two categories. It's

been the same approach. It's game plan specific. It's trying to maximize our strengths.There hasn't been a fundamental shift in how we approach our opponent. I think the

biggest thing is we've executed better. The protection has improved."



(On if the no huddle offense has been the key to the offense's improvement)- "I've

always been a fan of the no huddle. I think it does create problems. I think we've run it

well and it's not easy to do. I do think that has helped. I think that even when we weren'trunning it if we had caught more of the balls there were catchable, if we had held on to

more balls that we ended up turning over, I think the production there would have been

significantly better as well."

(On if the success of the sub defense against Pittsburgh alters the way he looks at the

run defense)- "No, not necessarily. Usually it means that you're doing a good job in base

if they shift to a different personnel group. I think if we were getting gashed we probably

wouldn't have seen as much 11 personnel, because we were holding up well. It shifted theother way."

(On Joshua Cribbs saying he is optimistic about getting a new contract before the

season is over)- "I don't have the timeline, but I can tell you I really like Josh. I really do,

not just as a player, as a person, as a part of the organization, his dedication, his sacrifice.

He is selfless. I really like Josh."

(On if he has to wait for the front office to be established before he can negotiate any

deals)- "Throughout the course of the season, you've seen we've brought in quite a few

players, whether we brought them in or claimed them off waivers or signed them fromthe practice squad, whatever the case may be. We're operating in that same pattern."

(On if he has to wait until the front office is worked out to negotiate a long term

deal)- "What we're doing is really taking the same approach, is looking at things short

term, looking at things long term. I'm sure the addition of a general manager or whatever that title becomes, that's going to be an important component of all the things that we do

moving forward. As you go through the season there's a lot of things that still have to getdone, still have to be addressed, still have to be looked at in the same context of how doesit affect now, how does it affect the salary cap, how does it affect the plan, those types of

things."

(On if he was looking at any personnel acquisition for the following year at this time

of year when he was with the Jets)- "I didn't really do that. In terms of exposure tocollege players or potential free agents, that wasn't something that I would do towards the

end of the year. It just wasn't, I didn't think, very effective because there's so much

happening from a coaching perspective. I always like to start that after the season."

(On if he does any work on college players now)- "I didn't do it there. I'm not reallydoing it here. The scouts are doing a great job. They were in last week. They had their

preliminary meetings. I think we've really made some strides there. That's following the

consistent pattern here, as it did in the Jets. All the different staffs are doing that now.You get the reports, the first layer reports. It's all follows the same pattern. It's pretty

consistent around the league."



(On if it is tough to evaluate Joe Thomas' season given the team's record)- "I don't

think it's hard to evaluate him. I think he's been outstanding. I think that every week he

faces somebody that's pretty impressive as a pass rusher and very rarely do you hear thatperson's name. I think this week he'll have his hands full as well with Tamba Hali. Very

few times you look out and say, ‘Joe Thomas didn't get his block,' or ‘Joe Thomas was

beaten on that play'. With an offensive lineman, the less you're mentioning him, usuallythe better it is. I think Joe is really good, especially at this point. He's got a young career.

He's just going to get better and better."

(On how close Eric Wright is to being a Pro Bowl cornerback)- "You'd have to look

at it in the context of a lot of other corners. What I can tell you about Eric is, coaching alot of different guys, I think he's very good in pass coverage. I think he's got excellent

feet. I think he's very fluid. I think he's got really good instincts and ball skills. I think the

one area that he can continue to improve is run support and tackling. That's somethingthat he and I have talked about. As someone from a coverage aspect, I think he does an

excellent job. Eric's a very smart person. One of the things that you always want corners

to do is continue to build their library of receivers so that they have something they candraw on, when I face a big receiver, when I face a shorter quicker guy, when I've got half field help. There are certain styles of receivers that you face. There are certain guys that

you face, that he's going to face multiple times. He has the ability to really understand the

scheme, really understand the player that he's playing against and apply those things, aswell as being gifted athletically and physically."


12.18.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. Today, we have a few things we needto clean up from yesterday with the third down approach. They do a couple things just a

little bit different than what we've seen on third down. We just have to be able to

recognize it defensively and make sure that we have the right check for what they are

doing. There's a little bit of communication with that yesterday and I think we'll have thattaken care of here this morning. Offensively, I thought that overall the execution was

better than Wednesday. I think there will be a few things that we'll revisit in the running

game here today and a couple things on third down as well. I like the approach

throughout the course of the week and look to finish the week strong."

(On if he knew how he was going to split reps at running back going into the

Pittsburgh game)- "There's a plan going into the game, and then we evaluate it during

the game to see who's being more effective, which types of runs are being more effective.If it leans more towards J.C. (Jerome Harrison) then he'll get some more carries. If it

leans more towards Chris (Jennings) then he'll get some more carries. In last week's case

Josh (Cribbs) got some more carries."



(On if he would go into a game saying Player X is going to get most of the carries,

knowing that plan could change)- "It's more, ‘These are the packages that we like.' You

put those out there. You run through the plays that you like and see how it's going. If it'shitting like you expect to hit then you'll stay with it. If not, you may transition into

something a little further down the list."

(On Robaire Smith)- "I think he's improved. [We will] really have to see today and it

will probably come down to a game-time decision with him."

(On how much Cribbs could carry the ball and still be effective on special teams)- "I

don't know if there is a set number. Most people play, if they play a full game,

somewhere around 65 plays on average. Now, that can vary on how demanding the

position is or the focus of the position. I'd say it depends how many special teams playsthere are, because that number can vary each game. How many returns does he have?

How many kickoff returns? How many punt returns? Those things affect it. How many

snap do you want to use him as a receiver? That would affect it. He is on the coverage

teams as well. It's hard to say, but a full game would be about 65. He's just in a spot thatis very demanding. He is going to take a lot of hits between the kickoff returns and the

punt returns. He is going to be involved in a lot of physical plays on the coverage plays.You have to take that in account."

(On where he feels like a guy like Cribbs could be most effective, either running the

ball 12 times and catching a few passes or in the return game)- "I think if you are

carrying the ball 12 times a game and catching a few passes, you could still return like hehas been. I thought that he was very effective last week. He really did what you said. He

returned the ball, caught a pass, made a tackle and ran the ball. That's a pretty effective

game. The other nice thing about Josh is, anytime he is in there, if he is in a different spot

than say the Wildcat position, there is always a threat. There's the threat of him on thereverse. There's the threat of him on the catch-and-run. That dictates some of the

coverage as well. Even if he is not getting the ball, having him there and having him there

in a capacity where he can actually run a standard play is important. You want to be ableto put your normal offense out there and run those plays, so that every time he is in they

can't check the defense. If they do start checking it then the plays that you have designed

based on your normal offense should be very effective against it, because you know whatthey are going to be in."

(On what putting Cribbs solely at running back would do to a defensive

coordinator)- "I think, as a defensive coordinator, that wouldn't be a bad thing. To have

him in a standard offensive set as a running back, you can now run your standarddefenses, because those plays are going to be traditional type plays. We've faced a lot of

good running backs throughout the season and you have different things to deal with

those guys. One of the nice things about Josh is, when he is in the Wildcat you gain anextra blocker. Someone has to cover the quarterback, the quarterback becomes a runner

and you gain extra players, whether it's the fullback and a guy that would be in a tailback

position. That's where the numbers part of it comes in."



(On if he is still trying to settle the secondary)- "I think it's going to stay game-to-game

throughout the rest of the season. The configuration of the secondary will be game-to-

game. One of the nice things is Mike (Adams) has shown the ability to go out and playthere [at corner] and be effective and go back at safety, play there and be effective. We've

had different combinations at safety, worked some different guys in at the slot or the guy

who covers the inside receiver in sub. Ideally, that's what you have throughout the courseof the season is the flexibility to say, ‘Okay, this is where the biggest problem is.'"

(On if he is trying to matchup the secondary to the players the opponent has)- "What

you'd like to do, Jeff (Schudel), is through the course of the season always have the

ability to dictate the coverage, push the coverage wherever you want to push it to. Then,be able to take people and say, ‘He's the best to cover him. He's the best to cover him.'

Defensively, you always want to [have that] and really offensively too. If Kam

(Kamerion Wimbley) is best on a certain guy, then you would move Kamerion over thereto that spot. It could be the right, it could be the left, it could be a walk around type

person. In order to do that, Kamerion has to have the ability to move to those three spots.

That's why I never liked, during training camp, saying, ‘Okay you are the right corner,'and then they get all their reps as the right corner. You get a game or two into the seasonand you want to cover a certain receiver and now he has to play over on the left and he's

got no reps. Our approach has always been, ‘Alright, today you are on the right.' From a

safety, it's not strong and free, it's right and left, so you have to know both spots. Thathelps because you don't know how you are going to move them around. Same thing with

the d-line, you saw Robaire, when Kenyon (Coleman) got hurt, go over to the left hand

side. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but the types of blocks that you get on the leftare different. The volume of runs you get on the left are different. He's worked there

throughout the course of the year, so you can do that. Corey (Williams) playing some at

the nose. He has to have those reps, otherwise you get 10-12 games into the season and

say, ‘Go play nose.' It's like you get 10 that week and that's hard."

(On his relationship with Todd Haley and if they are facing similar situations with

their teams this year)- "Todd, we've known each other starting in '97 when we worked

in New York. He was the offensive assistant, I was the defensive assistant. Really, it wasthe flip of the relationship that I had with Schwartzy (Jim Schwartz), where I was the

offensive assistant and he was the defensive assistant. You end up spending a lot of time

with him. You have to handle 8,000 different things. Are the schedules right? Are they

posted? Does everybody have a copy of it? Do we have to change the films? Are the cut-ups done? There are so many things operationally that you're always dealing with each

other to make sure the practice flows fluidly. It's sort of like a team within a team. He's a

funny guy. He really has a good sense of humor. He's bright. He's tough and demanding.He was making the transition into football at that point, there was no intimidation. It

wasn't too big for him. His dad is an outstanding evaluator. He has been for a long time.

He had that experience growing up around football and with Dick Haley. It was nice,even when we were evaluating talent as young guys to be able to draw on some of his

background from his dad and things like that. It is a similar situation. He's looking to

make progress each week. This is his first time around, but he understands his problemsmay be a little different than the problems that I'm facing, maybe a little different than



what Schwartzy's or any of the first year head coaches. We've talked a few times during

the season about different issues or questions. He has a big family. He's a good dude."

(On if Kenyon Coleman will be able to play this weekend)- "Yes, I think he should befine. Kenyon really hasn't missed too many games over his career. This is a little bit of

new ground for him. I think he'll be ready to go and he'll be effective."

(On if there was anything that drove him nuts about Haley)- "What did he say on the

conference call? Did he draw first blood? (joking) I loved everything about him. It's likeany other relationship. I spent more time with him than probably anybody else. I'm sure

there were things that he couldn't wait to have a break from at the end of the season and

the same with me. You just learn to appreciate each other. When you share an experience

like that, it's a bond you have for a long time."

(On why he is one of the only head coaches in their first year with a team said to be

on the hot seat by the media)- "I don't know why that is. Why is that guys? Why are

you talking about it? (joking) I don't know. I read somewhere the other day, ‘Romewasn't built in a day.' I thought that was a great quote. Someone threw it on my desk and I

thought, ‘Wow, how appropriate. How rational and insightful.' That's the way it is. You

can't fix all the different things that need to be fixed right away, but you're encouraged by

the things you do make improvement with. It's not always easy. You kind of want to putit in the microwave, have it hot and have it ready. It's not like that."

(On if he has started to put together a wish list of offseason needs)- "I don't like to do

that until the end of the season because you want to be able to take a little bit of time and

move away from things and then come back and evaluate it. At the end of the season,depending on how you finish, you could be harsher than you should be or you could be

not as objective as you should be. I've experienced both those and learned from boththose things and realized you need to take some time to step away and go back and look at it objectively, look at it critically and really assess where you are. You don't want to

make emotional decisions or quick decisions. I really have been part of both those

situations and it's not the right way. It's not really fair to getting the right answer."

(On if he has prepared a selling kit to present to whoever becomes the general

manager)- "No, not at all. I won't spend any time putting together a selling kit. I think I

could sit down with anybody at any point and go through step-by-step decisions that were

made, things that were done both with a short term vision and a long term vision. Anyaspect of the organization, draft, free agency, player acquisition, salary cap, medical, PR,

operations, department by department. I feel pretty good about us doing it without over

pointing it."

(On if he wants the new general manager to step back and evaluate his work as a

whole before making any decisions)- "I really do believe that anybody with a wealth of

experience, especially if they've had coaching experience, understands the different

components that go into it. There have been a lot of really talented coaches that haven'thad good seasons. That sometimes happens and you have to look at it in a lot of different



ways. Going through that in different places as an assistant, whether it be DBs or a

coordinator, whatever it is, you get different perspectives on it. I know as a head coach,

when I first got the job there were times where I'd sit in that seat going, ‘God, Iunderstand exactly why Bill (Parcells) and Bill (Belichick) did this. That never made

sense to me, but now I get it.' I call those guys up sometimes and be like, ‘I get it. I'm

sorry. I complained about this. I completely understand why you did what you did.'Sometimes when you look at the world through your lens, that's the only evaluation that

you make, but when the lens softens and you look at the other situations involved, it's

different. It's kind of like become a parent. I say some things that my dad says or mymom used to say and it's like, ‘Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that.' It just changes,

because you learn and you experience things. It's a good part of the process. They always

chuckle when you call them, too. Bill Parcells, he'd go, ‘Oh, it's not all it's cracked up to

be is it Eric?' ‘Yeah Bill.'"

(On if a general manager with head coaching experience would be able to step back

and evaluate the team as opposed to a career personnel guy)- "I really think it

depends on the person and the experiences that they've had. If you've built differentteams, if you've been a part of different teams, you've experienced a lot of things as well.I imagine they'd look at things as a big picture type philosophy."

(On why national writers are saying he would no longer be with the team if Mike

Holmgren was hired)- "I don't really look at that, what the speculation is. There arestories that come out that often times have no merit, facts, backing, at all. Some do. I'm

not kind of doing the score card of different opinions. With Mike, he and I have talked at

different points, whether it's at the owner's meetings or prior to us playing them last year.

He's a good guy. The conversation wasn't any different than those other times. I wouldn'tcharacterize it as different."

(On if he wants Holmgren to take the job)- "I don't want to get into that component of

it. What I will say is, I want someone to come here that can help us improve, that can be

part of giving the city of Cleveland what they deserve, which is a consistent winner year in and year out and a team that they can be proud of on the field and off the field. That's

what I believe in. Being in Cleveland as a younger coach and being here now, the passion

hasn't changed and what they deserve hasn't changed. They want a team that works, caresand is passionate and fights and is smart. I mean it's so obvious and it's so deserved. My

job is to give that to them and not just one year, but every year. That's what they

deserve."

(On if he thinks his fate is tied to these last three games)- "I'm not really look at it thatway, Jeff (Schudel). I've been a head coach for four years now [at] different places,

different experiences, different players. I feel good about the things that I've done in that

role and there's a body of work there. Each situation is different. Anybody that comes incan evaluate that. I feel really good about the things that I've done in this role. Has it

always produced the results that you wanted? No, because the goal is to win every game.

You make decisions as you go and you continue to improve and progress."



(On if there is any urgency to get Corey Williams more reps)- "With the d-line, it's a

lot of the same approach. Last game we had a different package with all linebackers and

defensive backs. That wasn't a function of a lack of faith in the defensive line, it's justwhat we thought would be effective. We'll take the same approach this week. Whether it's

the nickel, the dime or the base or the other variations we have, there are all those

packages. [There are] some where he may be the first guy, some where he may be thesecond guy. Last week, the amount of sub personnel that they played with really dictated

what we played with and the numbers got changed a little bit. It'll also be based on what

we're getting and what's being effective for us."

(On if he is disappointed with the timing of the meeting with Holmgren)- "You facedifferent things that could potentially be distractions and we've faced a bunch throughout

the course of the year. It doesn't change the guys in the room. It doesn't change the

coaching staff. It's hard to talk about the importance of focus and concentration andworking at the task at hand and then allow yourself to be distracted by something like

that. It's not fair to the coaches. It's not fair to the players. It's not fair for anybody in that

group to do it because there have been so many positive things. That'll continue tohappen as long as we take the lessons that we've learned and apply them to the next week.Once you take a step back, you could move backwards."


12.22.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are you doing? A couple things,just announcements from the game, players of the game this week, probably hard to

figure out who the offensive player of the game was. Jerome (Harrison) got that honor

and also gave game balls to really the whole offensive group, coming a yard away fromthe team record. Just watching the tape again showing it to them this morning, there's

some great blocks. Lawrence Vickers was outstanding. I thought that Joe Thomas and

(Eric) Steinbach and some of their double teams and Rex (Hadnot), I mean those guys

were really impressive. The receivers down the field, the same thing. It was a reallygroup effort. They all got game balls for that. (Joshua) Cribbs was the special teams

player of the week. I did the same thing with the return team, gave them all game balls as

well. Defensive player of the week was (Ahtyba) Rubin. What I liked most about what he

did during the game is he played the blocks really well, the core blocks, but some of thehustle plays that he made down the line of scrimmage, especially for a guy his size and he

did it throughout the game, I thought was excellent. Our practice player of the week wasCoye Francies.

"The other news that we have is we had to put Brady Quinn on injured reserve this

morning. He sustained an injury on the quarterback keep there late in the game and just

won't be able to play again this season. D.A. (Derek Anderson) will start this week, with



Brett (Ratliff) as the two and Cribbs will be the three, so we'll get him a few reps working

at quarterback. We signed Scott Kooistra, offensive lineman.

"In terms of Oakland, looking at this team I've seen them do a lot of good things as theseason's gone on. They've won three out of the last five against three pretty good teams.

The way they won them, I think, is the most impressive thing, coming back late in thegame, making plays. [In their game against] Pittsburgh, there's some really outstanding

catches late to sustain that drive. Cincinnati was kind of the same thing and then getting aturnover late on special teams, Denver scoring with 39 seconds left, they built

Philadelphia earlier in the year, so they've played some good football. I think they've

gotten better as the year's gone on. Offensively, what we'll have to deal with is apenetrating defense. These guys are a big, physical, penetrating group. I think it's over 10

percent of their plays, the rushing plays that they face, go for negative yards. They've

been generating a lot of pressure on the quarterback. They're 15th in sacks. They're 10thor 11th in red zone defense, which has helped them quite a bit, especially in these close

games. On third down, they've been outstanding. We have our work cut out for us there.

It's a lot of man-to-man tight coverage where they really challenge you and they'rebringing the rush hard up the field.

"Defensively, they have a little bit style of running game than what we've faced here

recently. They have three good backs, whether it's (Michael) Bush, (Justin) Fargas,

(Darren) McFadden, they all can hurt you. Like I said, there are some things that we haveto adjust to in terms of the style with which they run the football. They've generated some

big plays. The young kid (Louis) Murphy has a couple really big plays. He had a great

catch against Pittsburgh on the sideline to get a first down. Dealing with this tight end

(Zach Miller), and he hurt us last year when we played them, he has excellent hands,good run after the catch. He's a true tight end. He can block, he can catch and he's

dangerous in the passing game. As I said, I think that they've had a lot of uncertainty atquarterback. They've had a lot of changes, a lot of injuries there, but the things thatthey're doing from a scheme perspective have been sound. To be able to put different

people in there and still move the ball against some good defenses, I think says it all.

"On special teams, you have really, arguably the best tandem in terms of punter and

kicker. They don't give you many chances to get much done in the return game. I think the longest punt return against them is 23 yards. (Sebastian) Janikowski can hit from

forever. The thing just flies off his foot. I don't know where field goal range is with him,

but it's back there."

(On what Quinn's injury is)- "A foot."

(On what happened on the play Quinn got injured)- "He just got injured on that run

that he had, the quarterback keep late in the game on the sideline. Looking at it, he

wouldn't be able to play this week, wouldn't be able to play next week. Really, it's going

to take a little while."

(On if Quinn will need surgery)- "Don't know that yet."



(On if someone stepped on Quinn or if he turned wrong)- "It's hard to tell on the film.

The angle that you have, it's hard to see exactly what it is. He and I were talking about it

last night and even he wasn't sure exactly how it happened."

(On Quinn being able to finish the game at Kansas City)- "It was only one more play I

think. One or two more plays."

(On if he was injured on the quarterback sneak for 13 yards)- "No, the bootleg, late

[in the game]."

(On which foot Quinn injured)- "I think it's the right."

(On Derek Anderson's state of mind)- "I think it's positive. He's been positive

throughout the process, just like Brady was. We've had a few moving parts throughout

the season, offensively, defensively, guys stepping in and they've responded well. I

expect the same thing from D.A."

(On how he would assess Quinn's season)- "That's something really I go back and look

at after the season. I think he had done a really nice job. We made a pretty radical

transition going to all no huddle. I thought that operated very effectively and got better as

we went and it helped us quite a bit. Last game, I didn't know if you guys remember, wecall it a bubble screen, where (Chansi) Stuckey kind of bowed out. That was one of those

plays that wasn't called. They had a lot of people in the box. Brady saw it, got it out to

him, we got the first down. Those types of things are the types of things that you'relooking for, because you have the play called and sometimes it's not going to be very

good and they have their forces massed at a place where it's not going to be successful.

To understand where you can then attack them is important. I thought that he improved

with that throughout the course of the season. Even the ball handling on the one that hekept, (Mike) Brown was right there on the edge. I remember looking and thinking, ‘Oh

man, this isn't going to be very good,' but the way that he sold the run it sucked Brownlike a hard edge down the line and there was nobody there. It doesn't seem like that's a

big deal, but that was the difference between the play working or it getting blown up."

(On if they will be able to run the no huddle with Anderson)- "Yes, he's been working

on it. He worked on it during training camp. I'm comfortable that he'll be able to go outand do it effectively."

(On if Quinn has shown enough to be considered as the quarterback of the future)-

"I think he's done a lot of good things, I really do. I think that a lot of things that I washoping for at the beginning of the season we really started to see in the later part of theseason. I think the no huddle helped him quite a bit. His ability to do that as well as he

did helped us. We've improved in quite a few categories. I'm not saying that's the only

reason. I think that over the course of time we've gotten better as a group, but I think that's been positive for us. We'll just see where we are."



(On how much of a concern Quinn's passing numbers are)- "I think that's something

that we definitely have to improve on. We're not going to have the running game

production that we had last week very often. I mean, I think that's a pretty uniqueperformance by any stretch. The other thing that I know he'd like to have back from last

game, and so would I, were the turnovers. We've done a good job of protecting the

football and that's critical. It's critical. When we've stopped turning over the ball, thegames have changed. The games have changed for us. Our give-away, take-away ratio,

we obviously need to generate a lot more defensively than we have. We gave one away

last game, the one that hit our young linebacker in the chest could have been an easy one.It's a combination of those two, protecting the ball, being able to run it over. There have

been some good things. I thought Chansi, last game, had another solid game with five

catches. I really like the catch he had on the sideline. The play right after the catch on the

sideline I think is another example to point at, at Brady's progress and the offense'sprogress. Not sure whether it [the catch] was in or not, him being able to go up, get the

snap off quickly, not give Kansas City the chance to challenge. We've called that a couple

times throughout the course of the season. You guys probably remember the one early

against Baltimore and that looked a lot different. It was a lot less effective. It was positivethat we were able to do that."

(On if he feels comfortable with the receiving corps right now)- "I think we'll look at

that, like we'll look at any other position. Going into this season, we didn't really have alot of depth at receiver and that was something that we had to address in the draft, taking

two young guys as early as we did. That was a real need position. They've come on.

They've shown different things at different times. I think they'll both continue to develop.I think adding Chansi helped. I think Evan Moore has been a really pleasant surprise and

good pickup for us. There are some positives. We need to see how that growth continues

and always need to look for opportunities to improve."

(On if Quinn can be fairly judged based on the parts around him)- "I think that youhave to look at what the situation is and put it in a context, like you would do any other

position. I think the positive is we have a guy that really understands quarterbacks

coming in to help out, so I think he'll be able to shed some like on this as well."

(On if 13 starts in three years is a fair number to judge a quarterback by)-

"Everybody has a different opinion on that. I've heard, what is it, 1,000 snaps. I don't

know. I don't know what the exact number is for that. You see some guys that bounce

around, don't get an opportunity, suddenly get an opportunity and play really well. A guylike Kurt Warner, he was in the arena league for a while and suddenly gets a chance and

lights it up. (Doug) Flutie was up in Canada. I don't know at what point it really hits. I

think the thing that you see is hits different for different guys. (Matt) Cassel hadn'tthrown a ball, or maybe he had a little bit of burn late one year against Miami, one of

those games that we had in New England."

(On his reaction to Mike Holmgren joining the Browns as club President)- "It's the

same as we've talked about before. To be able to bring somebody in of his stature, reallyhas a wealthy of knowledge. The experiences that he's had, in terms of winning on a



consistent basis, I think that's outstanding. Plus, the strong offensive background that he

has, I think that's great as well. I know he'll be in here next week. What I'm going to

continue to focus on is coaching the group and that's what the players are focusing on, isgetting ready for Oakland, the coaches as well. Like I said, anytime you can add someone

that's really smart and has a wealth of knowledge, it's a pretty good situation."

(On if he had any contact with Holmgren over the past week)- "Nothing really had

moved forward during that point. Last night was when it moved forward and we werepretty deep into game planning and it was pretty late when we found out. We'll see how

that goes."

(On how switching offensive systems can affect a quarterback's development)-

"Again, it's tough to say. Different guys have switched systems at different points. I think Kurt Warner switched systems out in Arizona when the new staff came in and he was

pretty effective. I'm trying to think of the system they run in New Orleans and how

similar that was to San Diego. I think that was kind of a switch [for Drew Brees]."

(On if it would be easier to switch systems when you have been playing as long as

Warner)- "Yes, I'm just trying to draw parallels between quarterbacks. With Cassel, he's

switching systems. There have been some good things and some things that haven't been

as good. I think anytime you make an adjustment like that, it takes time as well. To beable to pinpoint and say there's one formula for evaluating any position, there are always

the variables, the receiving corps, the protection, the opportunities, the system. All those

things are variables that you look at. What you're trying to look for are what are theconstants, what factors are there regardless of all the variables. You feel those constants

are strong enough that as you change the variables and improve the variables, that's going

to improve as well. I don't think it's an exact science by any stretch."

(On if Randy Lerner has given him any assurance that he will be given every

opportunity to move forward with the team)- "We didn't talk about that. I talked to

Randy last night just about Mike and him coming to terms. The timeline and things like

that, that wasn't the focus of our conversation."

(On if it is good to hear Holmgren say that he likes to give everyone a chance to

prove themselves)- "Yes, I think if you've coached and you've been a head coach you

understand the different things that go into any season. Mike, his last year in Seattle had a

tough season, they were 4-12. You go through those things. We were 5-11 in NewEngland with Bill (Belichick). Jeff Fisher was taking a lot of heat early on. He did a nice

job turning that around. I think it hits at different points. There are always variables to

every equation. The key thing is to look at what the situation was, asses it and see howyou want to move forward."

(On if he knows when he will get clarity on the long term with Holmgren)- "I haven't

talked about that. I haven't focused on that. I won't focus on that. I won't focus on it this

week, won't focus on it next week. That's really a discussion for after the season.



Whatever the decision is, the decision is. I'm very comfortable with the things that we've

done and I know the things that we're building here. It's not going to be a focal point."

(On if he thinks winning the last two games is important to his job security)- "I can'tsay this enough, it's not keeping a score card as to what's important for job security. It's

not putting together a power point presentation or a resume or any of that stuff. That's notwhat I'm focused on. I'm not trying to be flippant or anything like that, it's just I believe

in the things that we've done. I believe in the progress we've made. I know what kind of staff we have. I know the different situations that we've faced. I feel comfortable with

where we're headed and the progress we've made."

(On how happy he is that the team is coming together)- "I'm happy for these guys.

These guys have worked like crazy here. Just ask them, they'll tell you. They've workedhard. They've worked tougher. They've supported each other. We've brought in new

players and they've embraced those new players. I'm proud of the way they're playing.

Whether it was against San Diego, the last two games, the different things that we've

been able to do. It's good stuff and it's good stuff for them. They deserve those things.They've earned it. I want them to take advantage of the opportunities they have here this

week and then the opportunity they have next week."

(On what he sees in Charlie Frye on tape)- "There wasn't a ton of tape so you're goingto have to go back and research it some more. I think there's still some uncertainty as to

how that's going to unfold this week as well. We're going to have to look at the scheme.

We're going to have to look at what the consistencies have been in the scheme regardlessof who the quarterback is and then be able to plug in the strengths and weaknesses of the

quarterback based on the things we can anticipate are going to happen regardless of who's

in there. There are some serious variable as to who's going to play."

(On if he doesn't know what quarterback they will face this weekend)- "I don't think it's a certainty right now."

(On if he has looked at Frye's Browns tape to see his strengths)- "There's some of

that. You could look at some of that as well. You do that at times when it's a guy that you

don't have a lot of familiarity with. The only thing that's tough about that is, again, youdon't know what they were being asked to do here versus what they're being asked to do

there. You do try to, like I said before, find something that is part of him regardless of

what system he's in."





(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Today we will

finish off our week of preparation and the guys will be off tomorrow for Christmas. I've

used this schedule quite a bit over the years. I don't think we've missed anything in termsof our preparation. We just moved it up a day. We will have a normal Saturday on

Saturday. It's nice to allow the guys a chance to spend some time with their kids, wake up

with them as they're opening their presents or family that's in town, however they chooseto celebrate it. Today, we'll follow a normal Friday schedule so it will be the red zone,

goal line, review of first, second and third down. I think that Oakland's done a really nice

job defensively in the red zone. That's another area of strength. That's another reason thatthey've won the games they won. They have been able to hold teams to field goals instead

of touchdowns. We have quite a bit to do there. They have been able to score in the red

zone at critical times, late in the game. That's an area of improvement. Their third down,

their red zone are both areas that I've seen get better as the season has gone on."

(On if his holiday shopping is done)- "I did. Julie and I are not supposed to be

exchanging gifts, but I got her some anyways because I know she will. She pulls the same

trick every year, ‘We are not going to do anything.' She got me the first time and that'snot good. I'll put the boys' names on it and it will be from them. She's not getting me withthat trick again."

(On how serious Joshua Cribbs was considered to be used on defense and if it's still

something to think about)- "I would think about. I've always taken this mindset withplayers, often time in high school they play everything, in college there are some guys

that carry over and when you get to pro football it is so specialized that very rarely do

you see guys play other spots. There are some guys that if they are in a role offensively or

defensively and they are getting 20-25 plays a game there and they can contribute on theother side of the ball and they have those skill sets, why not use that? It takes a special

guy to be able to do that because there is a volume of information. It is a different way of looking at things. I think there's real value in it. We've done it with a lot of different guys.Even in New York I worked Jerricho Cotchery a little bit at corner at one point, Wallace

Wright, Brad Smith some at safety, Shaun Ellis at tight end. I think at the end of the day

they are football players and if they have that skill set and can handle the load, you trythem. If it works great, if it doesn't work I don't think you are any worse off. The other

nice thing is it builds flexibility. If you can get reps from a guy on both sides, it's great."

(On if Cribbs has a defensive player's mindset)- "Yes. He is a physical tackler. He is

very aggressive. He has good ball skills in terms of his ability to locate the ball, pluck theball. He'd be great with interceptions. He'd be a dangerous returner if he got a pick. I

don't think it's going to happen short term, it could be something that evolves."

(On Nnamdi Asomugha)- "I talked to Rob (Ryan) a lot about him. What Rob liked so

much about him is, he said he is really, really smart and committed to being the bestplayer at his position. He is always working. He is always, not just studying receivers, but

he is studying other guys that play the position. When you combine that kind of athletic

ability, that kind of talent with what Rob explained to be his work ethic, it's hard to stop



the improvement. It's hard not to see the improvement and sometimes dominance that he

has."

(On if quarterbacks don't throw on Asomugha)- "I think you look over there. A lot of times when you look over there and the guy is not open then you look the other place.

Maybe you don't there as long sometimes as would. He is impressive."

(On if Rob Ryan helped out the offense this week)- "I know he and Brian (Daboll) met

about different things. Brian ran some ideas by him. There are some things defensivelythat carry over from when he was there and there are a few things that are different.

Wherever he could help, he did."

(On if anything changes for rookie receivers going against Asomugha)- "You better

run precise routes. There's not a lot of margin for error. If you don't run your routecorrectly of if you telegraph your break points, guys like that make you pay with an

interception. They don't make you pay with just a big hit or broken up pass. It usually

translates into a turnover. Not that we're not looking for him to be crisp on everything,but you get with players like that and a little mistake could become a big mistake."

(On if John St. Clair can play this week)- "Not sure. He's made some progress. Corey

(Williams) has made progress as well. There are a couple guys battling colds here today

so we'll see where they are at in terms of practice. I'm not sure with a few of them, wemay be down a couple guys."

(On coaching Richard Seymour)- "He was great. He came in his first year and we used

him a little bit at nose tackle. He hadn't played nose, I thought he did a really good job

playing that position when we asked him to. He's a really good person. In terms of talent,

he's strong. He can throw people around. He's got excellent first step quickness for a manthat size. Like Baby (Shaun Rogers) does, the way that he can penetrate, Seymour can do

that as well. Just watching him from his rookie year to where he is now and how hedeveloped and his commitment. It was important for him to get better. He wanted to

spend time with the older guys. He wanted to figure out what they were doing and that

from day one. That's probably why he's become the player that he has become."

(On how the wide receivers have improved)- "I think they've all got a better sense of just how things work. The early part of the season, everything is new ground. You go

through training camp, you go into preseason games then the tempo changed dramatically

when you go into the regular season. You think you've kind of gotten it figured out

coming out of the preseason games, but that's not even close to what happens once youget to the regular season games. That's a little bit of a shock. Just routine, they develop a

routine. What's best in terms of the way they study the information, take care of their

body, everything is a feeling out process early on. I think these guys have gotten muchmore comfortable with the offense, much more comfortable with the things they are

being asked to do and there's less thinking, there's more playing. That's important. Brian

Robiskie's had a really good week of practice so far this week. He's made someoutstanding catches and I hope that translates into the game."



(On if there have been less dropped passes at practice)- "Yes, I think that we've

improved there. I don't want to black cat it, thanks for asking (joking). I definitely think

there's been improvement across the board. They are practicing at the tempo that theyplay at and making some catches that at times are difficult catches. Those have been

translating into the game. Sometimes the most important catches at practice are the

routine catches because they are easy to kind of lose your concentration. That's easy tohappen in the game as well."

(On Matt Roth)- "Matt's been great. I think he's done an excellent job in terms of fitting

in with the group. The guys seem to really enjoy having him here. He's tough. That would

be the first word I would use to describe him. When he sets the edge, that's what an edgeis supposed to look like. It just stops. There were a couple plays against Kansas City last

week, the tackle is coming out and he just jolts him. Boom, the edge is set. It's good to

watch. I had to watch it for all those years in New York when he was setting he edge onus."

(On David Veikune)- "He is doing what I'm asking him to do and that's to remainconsistent. As we identify different areas we want him to improve in, to really work at it.

One of the areas was his ability to press the guards. I think that's gotten better. The block recognition, which I think is the toughest things that a person goes through from having

their hand in the dirt to going back, is recognizing all the different things that can happen.

The other thing that he's improved on is his communication. Being an interior guy, youdon't just have to get lined up yourself, you have to get everybody else lined up as well.

It's coming up, it's getting the call from the coach, giving it to the group, making the

adjustment, recognizing the blocks. It's a dramatic shift in responsibility from having

your hand in the dirt and being in an even front or an over front and your two jobs arespill the outside run and contain on pass."

(On how Derek Anderson has looked running the no huddle)- "He's looked good. He

ran it in the early part of the season even though we weren't running it as much in the

games. We were still practicing it at different periods. In the Pittsburgh game, in thesecond half, most of that was no huddle. I thought he did well there. He's done well this

week too. There really haven't been times where the clock is running down or we don't

have guys lined up correctly or any of those things. I think it's been pretty seamless."

(On why the Dolphins put Roth on waivers)- "I didn't get into that with Bill (Parcells)

at all. Sometimes it's just best to part ways. There may be multiple reasons. There may be

understandable reasons. You just make a decision and you move forward. I'm sure their

criteria is the same as ours, they thought it was the best thing at the time. It just happens."

(On a possible blackout)- "Our fans have been great throughout the course of the

season. It's been loud. They've endured quite a bit of cold there when we played

Pittsburgh. I am excited to have them there and look forward to seeing them there."




12.30.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. A couple announcements from last

game, our Players of the Game this week offensively were Alex Mack, defensively wasMatt Roth, on special teams it was Nick Sorensen. As you guys know Joe (Thomas) andJosh (Cribbs) made the Pro Bowl yesterday, so it was a really positive day all the way

around from that perspective. The other position I didn't mention was the practice player

of the week and that was Thomas Brown. I like to think that's the most important awardthat we give out, in terms of Players of the Week, because the show, the look that we get

is critical for the preparation in the game.

"In terms of Jacksonville, as I looked at this team, there are a lot of new players. They're

7-8. They really lost three games by four or less points. They are very disciplined,number one in the NFL in penalties, which is a real testament to them. Defensively, they

don't give up a lot of big plays. They don't give up a lot of big plays in the passing game.They don't give up a lot of big plays in the running game. They force you to go the long,hard way. There's going to be some game plan specific pressures. It's not necessarily the

Pittsburgh-type situation where it's 50 percent pressure and you're dealing with it every

down, but there are things that are going to unique that we haven't seen. That shows up

every game. If you don't handle it, the amount that you have to deal with increasessubstantially as well. You look at the fumbles they've recovered, they have 10 fumbles

recovered. It's a little deceptive because they've forced 21. You see that on the tape,

where down the field they're getting the ball out. It always hasn't quite bounced their way,but they're working at it. Those things change pretty dramatically and they can change

quickly.

"Offensively, it really starts with the running game. When you look at this running back,

he is small in the sense, small isn't really fair, not very tall, but he is well built, excellentcenter of gravity, really good balance, really good burst, vision. He's carried the ball 296

times. He's caught another 50 balls. The amount of production he's had is pretty

impressive. He can blow the game open at any point. With (David) Garrard, similar toBen (Roethlisberger) in the sense that he can extend plays with his feet. He's the second

leading rusher. There's a ton of plays where guys have a chance to sack him and they fall

of him or he makes them miss. He's deceptive like that. Then he creates something downthe field that wasn't open prior to him moving. That's a challenge and we've had that

challenge throughout the course of the season from different teams. I think with (Mike)

Sims-Walker, he's a good example of a guy, this is his third year. The first two years hehad 16 catches. This year he has 61 catches and seven touchdowns. He has developednicely this season, has become a big play threat for them. He is complemented by Torry

Holt, who I remember watching coming out of college. You see the crispness of his

routes. He's very deceptive. He runs excellent patterns.

"On special teams, I'd say the most impressive thing they do is punt coverage. They give

up four yards per return. The most amount of yards they've given up in a game,



cumulatively now, is 26 yards in one game punt return wise. That's hard to do. We'll have

our work cut out for us there."

(On why Mack won Offensive Player of the Game)- "I thought he made a lot of outstanding blocks. Often times the offensive line goes overlooked. A guy can have a

really impressive day, but they don't put up any stats. There's nothing tangible to look atand say, ‘Okay, well he got this many carries or this many receptions.' When we watched

him collectively as a staff, I thought he did a really nice job getting things communicated,getting to his blocks. [He had] some extra effort blocks that sprung some big runs, where

he got his guy initially and then came off on another guy to change it from a four or five

yard run to a 10 to 12 yard run, so all those things combined."

(On if the way Mack handled the confrontations with Richard Seymour factored

into him winning the award)- "It's so easy and natural to respond, especially in the heat

of the moment and if you're getting baited. It's hard to have that poise to just take a step

back and realize that, ‘If I can draw a penalty here it's going to be really good for us.' I

thought he showed excellent poise there."

(On if he anticipated Seymour trying to bait Mack during the game)- "Not

necessarily. I don't think it was something that we pointed out where he has a track record

of doing that. I talked to Richard after the game, talked to him a little bit before the game.Rich, he's a great guy. I don't know if he got caught up in the moment or what happened

there, but he's a really good person and really good player."

(On what the players get for earning Player of the Week)- "They get their picture up.

Kind of like employee of the month, you get your picture up. They get a little bit better parking, a game ball. You can't give them anything outside of that. It has to be salary cap

compliant."

(On if more extracurricular stuff goes on than people realize)- "I think it depends onthe team and it depends on the player and it depends on what kind of player you are. If

you've shown the tendency to react, then you're going to get a lot more of it. There's

nothing better than to know somebody's a hot head and then to be able to get them to hit

you or get them to be worried about what you're saying instead of playing the coverage. Ihad a player in New York who was like that. We were playing St. Louis at St. Louis and

they did it to him. He got a 15-yard penalty and it's like, ‘Look, you can't see what's

going on here? You can't see what they're doing to you?' He got a lot better as the year went on. Sometimes it's just that awareness that you are a target. Once you know that,

that can help too."

(On the most impressive thing about Mack's season)- "It reminds me a lot of Nick's

(Mangold) first season. If I could cut the lap running, the early snaps from New York thatfirst year with Nick and with Alex, it'd be like watching a mirror image of the two guys.

They're both really conscientious. [They have] excellent balance, strength, character,

intelligence. It's a hard position to play. It's a really hard position to play and as a youngguy, to go in and start 16 games like he has, it's impressive. You're counted on to get the



communication to both sides of the ball, to hear the change of the snap count, if you

make a mistake the ball's on the ground. There's a lot of responsibility. For him to come

in and start 16 games like he has, I think he's played really well. I think he'll continue toget better. He's a lot more comfortable in his skin, in his role. He's playing, more playing

than thinking."

(On if he sees Mack getting to where Mangold is now)- "I think he has the potential to

do that. I think he has the work ethic to do that. Nick was really diligent and Nick committed every offseason to getting stronger and bigger and more knowledgeable. He

found good mentors. I can see the potential for Alex to do a lot of the same things. I'll

probably hook them up in the offseason and have them talk to each other, because I think there are probably a lot of things that Nick could help him with, even if it's like the

difference between your first year and your second year, or how he approached the

offseason. Nick's that type of guy that he would help without feeling like he was givingup some sort of competitive edge."

(On if Mack and Mangold are similar players)- "Yes, I think there are a lot of similarities, but there are some subtle differences between the two. I don't really want to

highlight the differences between either guy, but they are both really similar in the type of player that they are in terms of long term potential and growth and teammates and stuff

like that."

(On if the team aimed to get Mack during the draft)- "You identify a range of guys,

because where we were picking you're not sure who's going to be there. There are 8,000mock drafts and you don't know how exactly it's going to come and whether or not there

will be any trades, which could change dramatically who you take, whether or not you'll

have the ability to trade. What I would say, Tony (Grossi), is there was a range of people

and when we got to where we were I was pretty happy with getting him."

(On if Oakland was Mack's best game)- "It was probably his most complete game. I

think he's played really well in some other games. I thought Kansas City, he had an

excellent game as well."

(On if he thinks wins at the end of a season can carry over to the next season)- "Ithink it's something that you can draw on if you experience it, if you were a part of the

group that did it. I think it's a good thing to be able to point back to and talk about. When

you have a group of guys that share that experience, it resonates when you talk about,‘Remember when this happened.' There are a lot of different lessons from this season that

you'd be able to point back to and talk about and draw on."

(On if there was a turning point that led to the current win streak)- "No. I don't know

if you remember me talking just about where we were in New England. We were playingSan Diego and we stopped them on like fourth-and-one, or a big third-and-one, or

something like that. They had to punt to us. We ended up scoring, winning the game

there and then we went on that run of how many consecutive games leading up to theSuper Bowl. That was probably when the transition took place, but it was a function of a



lot of stuff leading up to that point. I think most people point to that game, but that game

to me was just when you finally sort of got over the hump."

(On if there has been anything this season like the point in New England to help the

team turn the corner)- "In terms of a defining moment, I don't know. There's been a lot

of things that I thought were good, whether it was one good thing on special teams or itwas one really good thing offensively or one really good thing defensively, but they

weren't coming from all three phases or the defense was having a bad day, the offensewasn't able to compensate for that, you get in a hole, being able to dig out of the hole.

Sometimes it's even individual players. You drop a pass early, being able to put that out

of your mind and come back and make the next play. There are all of those differentthings that you saw, but it was a spot here, a spot here, a spot here. It was the same thing

in the building. You see some guys where the light comes on, in terms of how they have

to study. I think Kamerion Wimbley made a ton of progress from the beginning of theseason with how he was approaching the game plans to where he is now. It's dramatic. It

was a very different exposure for him, because we change on Wednesday, we change on

Thursday, we change on Friday. It's not the same as it was last week. Sometimes you getso caught up in exactly what the paper says instead of trying to learn the concepts thatwhen the paper changes it screws up the way you've learned. It's more rope memory than

it is conceptual memory. He and I were talking at the Halloween party and he just was

explaining to me how he's changed the way he studied. The amount of errors that he'smade from a mental error perspective is dramatically different. It's great to see. It's kind

of the same thing with Bryan Thomas. He struggled with it early and then got it and was

really outstanding later on."

(On his reaction to Lawrence Vickers not making the Pro Bowl)- "I didn't really havea set reaction to who made it or who didn't make it. I was really happy for Joe and Josh.

These questions always come each year, ‘This guy made it. This guy didn't make it.' Youcan't control the voting. You can't control any of that stuff. I'm really proud of the wayLawrence has grown this season. His consistency in blocking has been really good. The

huge thing that we worked on with him was his hand placement. He'll tell you, I was on

him every day, every meeting. I'm sure he was sick of hearing it. I haven't had to say it inweeks. He used to come with this really wide reach, sometimes it was holding. He

couldn't generate the power. Now, when he goes and blocks it's consistently power angles

and he worked at it. I'm sure it was to shut me up, but he worked at it and worked at it. I

think it's really paid off for him and I'm happy to see the way that his blocking hasevolved."

(On if he would be comfortable with Mike Holmgren's planned hierarchy with a

general manager)- "Like I've said before, anybody that we can bring in that can help us,I'm all for. You get smart people looking to do the same thing, committed to the same

thing, it's great. Fill the building with as many as you can, players, coaches, front office.

Everybody working towards the same goal, it's a really good thing. It's a good thing to be

a part of. I've been a part of it before. It's fun to go to work."



(On if he will have questions about how the team will operate in his meeting with

Holmgren)- "I haven't really thought about the structure of the meeting or anything like

that. I think it's just more of a conversation between two people. That's what I'm lookingforward to. I talked to him the other day and we'll sit down either Monday or Tuesday."

(On if he is anxious to meet with Holmgren)- "No, I know this may seem hard tobelieve, I'm anxious for this week. I'm anxious for the guys to have a good week of

practice. I'm anxious for us to go win the game. These guys have worked hard andthey've made a lot of progress. They've been great in terms of not focusing on external

things and really focusing on what's important. It's not fair for me to be focused on

something that's external. I need to focus on what's important, which is Jacksonville andmaking sure that I do the best job coaching these guys this week to get them ready to

play."

(On if it has been hard to not think about Holmgren)- "No, I don't think so. I don't

know if it's fortunate or unfortunate, but you've been in different situations throughout

your career where there's a ton of stuff happening externally. You can't control that, butyou can control the things in front of you. That's always the most important thing,

because the future, if you worry about it, what value does that have? It comes soonenough."

(On his thoughts if he were asked to go in a different direction with his

coordinators)- "Again, all that stuff is in the future. I think that offensively, just look at

the progress we've made there. We've doubled our point total since the bye. Every major category is up. It takes time and that's just how it works. Same thing defensively, there's

been some really good plans. There's been some plans that I wish we had back. Rob's

(Ryan) an excellent coach. Brad's (Seely) an excellent coach. I wouldn't have hired them

if I didn't feel that way."

(On if he wishes Holmgren had been here to see how the team is run)- "I think

everybody has a different approach to the way they do things. One's not necessarily better

than the other. Everybody has a different way to do things."


12.31.2009


(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Just one

announcement, Mike Furrey was named our Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee,

which I think is well deserved. Some of the things that he's done off the field, I think, arespecial. Both him and his wife do a lot of work in the community. I was really impressed

with the toy drive that he put together and filling up a tractor trailer full of toys and

getting all the guys involved and being able to distribute them in a lot of different areas



around Cleveland. For such a short amount of time to put something like that together

and to make it such a nice event is a good indication of who he is and what he believes in.

It's year around for him, so hopefully that'll be something that he wins because I think it'sgreat. I think it's well deserved.

"Today we'll move into third down. Really offensively, they've (Jacksonville) done anexcellent job throughout the season on third down. They have a lot of different ways they

can convert. One of the biggest ways is with the quarterback either extending the play or running with the football and he's done that quite a bit. We're going to have some

challenges there. I think that one of the areas that we've improved significantly in is third

down defense. It's going to be an important day for us in that area. In terms of yesterday'spractice, I thought overall it was good. I feel like there are a few things that we need to

just get ironed out on both sides of the ball. On special teams today, we'll work on punt

and punt return. I told you guys yesterday that they are probably the best punt cover teamthat we've face throughout the year. Anytime the most amount of yards that you've given

up on returns in 26, that's pretty hard to do over 15 games. We'll have a lot to prepare for

there."

(On Brian Robiskie's status for the game)- "I'd say it's not looking good, Tony(Grossi). I'm hoping, but not that optimistic. Jake (Allen) will probably get another

opportunity here. He's a guy that I think has consistently improved since he's gotten here.

There were a few hiccups here and there with really understanding the system, but I'veliked the way that he's worked. He has good speed. He has a good feel for running routes

and I'm excited to see him get a chance to play."

(On how he would characterize Robiskie's rookie year)- "I think that what I really

liked, and you saw it last game, is he got a much better sense as the season went on for

how to run routes. He understood what the route was, where to go, things like that, but Ifelt like he got a better feel for it. I'd say the best example of that was the third down

conversion that he made where he caught it underneath. Instead of extending it and trying

to run lateral, he turned it up right away and was able to get the first down. I thought hehad a really excellent week of practice last week, as well and that's been more and more

the pattern for him and the season has gone on. I think that each guy develops differently

in terms of production. You just look at Sims (Mike Sims-Walker), the guy is in theleague two years and has 16 catches and this year has 61 catches and seven touchdowns.

It hits a different times for different guys. I was trying to think of the receiver that Brian

and I were talking about the other day that we drafted in New England from Notre Dame.A seventh round draft pick, [David] Givens. One year, I think it was his first year, he had

seven catches and nine drops. He was another guy that as he got going it really took off

for him and he ended up having a nice career. It hits at different times for different guys,but I've liked the progress he's made. The other thing I was really excited about for him,

there's two tackles on special teams, the key block against Kansas City really saved the

touchdown on Josh's (Cribbs) second kickoff return. That's huge progress and important.

I think he'll continue to develop as a receiver and continue to develop in other areas aswell."



(On how he would compare Jerome Harrison to Maurice Jones-Drew)- "I'm not a

huge fan of comparing. I think your point is really important, he has done it for longer.

I'm really pleased with the way that Jerome has developed this season as well. An areathat's gone underappreciated with him, because of how much production he's had in the

running game, is the things that's he's done in the passing game. On that touchdown pass

to Mohamed (Massaquoi) he really saves the play with his awareness and coming back inand getting the block that he gets. There were multiple times, I think, especially over the

last four or five weeks where he's been impressive in that area. It gets lost a little bit, but

it's key, because it allows us to do things that maybe we weren't being as effective doingprior. I'm happy with that. You have to really see over time how he continues to

develop."

(On why Harrison has gotten better in blitz pickup)- "I think he's improved his

technique, which was important. He's improved the way that he's taken on the blocks,because as they're coming in if you sit and are stationary, you're going to absorb the blow

and with him, most of the time the guy he's blocking is bigger than he is. I think he's done

a nicer job of aggressively going up and fitting it with his hands and a good base, whichnow stalemates it or puts him in a lot better position to compensate for the usual sizedifferential."

(On how much he pays attention to size if a player is not prototypical for his

position)- "It's hard. What you do is you have the ideal, the ideal height and weight andspeed and all those things, but then you also have to look at production. You have to look

at playing speed versus timed speed. There are so many exceptions to the rules. You look

at a guy like Wes Welker, his production is through the roof and he's an undersized guy.

Leon (Washington) was an undersized guy. Deion Branch was an undersized guy. You'dlike them all to be a certain height and weight, but they don't always fit into that mold.

[There are] some small corners. I had Ray Mickens. I had Aaron Glenn. Both those guyshave played really well. Asante Samuel, height is probably what you want, weight, he's alittle bit slighter than most corners. It's hard to say. I've seen some big guys play small

and a lot of small guys play big."

(On if he would like Matt Roth at just one spot in the future)- "I think he'll stay

outside and play that type of role. I think with a training camp under his belt, with atraining camp under (Jason) Trusnik's belt, you have two guys there that are both stout.

Jason's had, I'd say, a real advantage by playing both inside and outside. He can play

outside linebacker and now he's played inside linebacker. That gives you a lot of depth,because he can make the roster in either spot, however you want to slot him. If you had

another outside linebacker you wanted to keep you move Trus to inside and play him

there. If there's another inside guy you wanted to keep you could do the same thing.Really, that's where [David] Bowens has value too. He's played both spots. Now when

you get those guys that are 6'3", 250 [pounds] and thumpers and you can bring them

inside or outside, you can get big on somebody in a hurry if you want to. We had a

package in New York, I think it was called Texas because everything's big in Texas,where you move Shaun Ellis out to outside linebacker at 290 and then take all the biggest

guys you have and you put them in. It's like a goal line package, but yet you can run all



You're not worried about it. It's just what we do. There's that comfort level of, okay, we'll

get it right between walk throughs, practice, quizzes. Nobody bats an eye anymore. Same

thing offensively, shifts and motions and new plays and game plan specific things. Whenyou first deal with that it's like, ‘Oh my God,' but now it's just what we do."

(On if he thinks the offense and defense being ranked 32 are an accurate portrayalof the team right now)- "I think it's accurate in the sense that that's what it is over 15

games. If you look at the first eight versus the last seven, it's so dramatically different inalmost every statistical category. I think we scored 78 points in the first eight games and

149 in the last seven. Defensively, the amount of points given up is down significantly.

Turnovers, you look at interceptions and fumbles, the volume is down. The amount of sacks given up, that's down. The amount of sacks we have is up from, I don't even know

what it is, 12 to 16 or 12 to 19, something like that. I'm not sure exactly what that is.

Time of possession is up, all those things, red zone. Red zone's been good, I think,throughout. Third down defensively the last three games has been about 25 percent. You

look at it as a progression and it looks a lot differently than if you look at it as a group of

numbers. That happened in New York as well, where the first eight games, [there were]too many 30's. The last eight games, we were top ten in most things."

(On if this is an important game for Derek Anderson or just another game)- "I think

it's an important game to all of us because it's out last opportunity to play this season.

When you look at the quarterback position or any of these positions, you're not going toevaluate it off of one game. You're going to look at the games that they played this year,

probably last year. You can look at training camp. You can look at OTAs. You don't like

to make a decision without looking at all of the different things that go into it. It's an

important game because it's our last one. I know we're all committed to keep movingforward. That's where the importance comes."

(On how he balances the stress of being overworked)- "I thought you were going to

say overweight. I was thinking, ‘Accurate, probably the whole staff' (joking)."

(On how he balances the stress of being overworked and his health, family and the

future)- "I think unfortunately you leave all that stuff to the offseason, in terms of your

health. You try to go the extreme the other way and make sure you get enough sleep,

you're eating well, you're exercising. For me, the best stress relievers are the boys.Nothing changes my perspective as much as they do, because they're not worried about

any of that stuff. It's just so much fun to go spend time with them. Jake smoked me three

times in Wii Boxing the other night. Now, he didn't tell me how to punch the first fight.

Stuff like that, where you get to experience Christmas again as a little kid, because of allthe things that they're experiencing. Even New Year's, any of that stuff, it just puts things

back into perspective."

(On if he can relate to what Urban Myers is dealing with)- "Yes, you definitely can.

You work a ton of hours. You invest so heavily during the week for that game on Sundayand when you lose it's miserable and when you win you're happy for a little while, but it's



not where near as much as when you lose. Everybody's vested. Everybody's trying to find

that edge to help the team be successful. There are definitely all those issues involved."

(On how Anderson fits in the West Coast Offense)- "I don't know if there definitelyhas to be one formula for running an offense. I don't know what exact characteristics

would have to be part of that formula. I think the key thing is can you run the offensewell? Can you understand where the reads are? I think there are consistent things for

quarterbacks and different quarterbacks would be good in different systems regardless. Ithink Tom Brady will probably be good in any system he runs or Peyton Manning, he'd

be good in any system he runs. You probably wouldn't want to put a stationary guy in

like a move the pocket, bootleg-type offense, otherwise, I think it's traits."

(On if Brady Quinn was able to avoid surgery)- "I think that's still something thatwe're going to investigate. There hasn't been a conclusion there."

(On what happened to Quinn's foot)- "Like I said, on that play it's hard to really tell

what the thing was."

(On what is physically wrong with Quinn's foot)- "I don't want to end the old year on abad note here, Jeff (Schudel), but I don't want to get into that."

(On if he needs to see a guy like Harrison stay healthy over an extended period of

time getting the number of carries he has gotten the past couple of weeks)- "Yes, you

want all those guys to stay healthy. It's a constant debate, what's the right number of touches for a running back. Is it a smaller back 15? Is it 25? I've heard that whole thing,

‘He can only have 15 touches a game and that's his limit.' I'm thinking, ‘Well, why? Why

is that the magic number? Why is 15 what he gets?' I don't know. You want any back to

be able to go through 16 games and handle the things he's being asked to do. I don't knowif there's always a magic number where if you give him just this amount of plays then

you have the best chance of him lasting."

(On if he has any New Year's resolutions)- "No, what do we have, quite a few hoursleft to hash that out. None jump out right way, but I'm sure when I get home tonight I'll

probably squeeze a couple in. [Jeff Schudel: "Give us a call."] Give you a call? ‘Dear

guys, No bus rides to Hartford.'"

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