Fisher, Schottenheimer … 11/6 … transcripts

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – November 6, 2014

(On the amount of false start penalties called at University of Phoenix Stadium by the visiting teams)
“I think, gosh, we survived Kansas City and last week was loud as well. Again, we don’t make a big deal over it. We won’t…we’ll have a sound period somewhere Friday. I’m actually more concerned about (Cardinals QB) Carson (Palmer) pulling our defense offsides because he’s really good at that with the hard counts and things like that.”

(On if the Cardinals offense runs through RB Andre Ellington)
“Well, I mean they’re using him out of the backfield. He free releases a lot. They create match-ups on linebackers and defensive backs. He’s got great quickness. Then they use him in the running game. Their running game’s not real sophisticated, it’s just very affective. They double both tackles and come off on the linebackers. They cover you up and you can’t find him. He’ll bounce outside or cutback, a lot like (Kansas City Chiefs RB) Jamaal Charles.”

(On if Arizona still throws a lot of deep balls with Palmer)
“He’s going to take his deep shots. Carson’s leading the NFL in third down passing right now, about 65 percent completion. He’s converting over 50 percent of his third downs. Their numbers aren’t there particularly because he didn’t play three games. I can’t remember when I faced a quarterback that’s converting 50 percent of their third downs. That says a lot for him and his understanding and what they’re doing with him.”

(On the challenges Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd present for the secondary)
“You’re going to have to play team defense. You have to try to recognize when they’re going to go to which one of them. They’re both outstanding receivers. Larry’s still very, very good. Just a big catch radius that makes him so hard (to cover) and Carson’s extremely accurate.”

(On getting WR Tavon Austin more touches)
“It’s part of the game plan and that’s what you do. Like everybody, you’re going to spread the ball around. He’s involved in it. At this point for him in the punt return, it’s not going to be the last one he puts in the end zone, I know that. He’s got a good feel for that.”

(On if the reason the blitz packages were so affective last week was due to the fact the defense is more familiar with Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams’ scheme)
“No, we had the right things on at the right time. We’re adding a little bit and we wanted to fill up the rush lanes, the escape lanes for (49ers QB Colin Kaepernick) ‘Kaep’. That was our number one priority. Then of course getting there is a bonus but if you can fill up the rush lanes then you’ve got a chance to make him throw it down the field. We got good pressure and we got good four-man pressure as well. A number of our sacks came from four-man rush.”

(On Palmer’s ability to play in the pocket)
“He’s really good in the pocket, he steps up, he knows…he’ll step up in either gap if you get the outside rush. He has a good feel for moving in the pocket. What he’s done for years is he keeps his eyes down field. The eyes don’t come off on the rush. His eyes are down field all the time. He’s got a natural, instinctive movement and flow in the pocket and that’s what makes him affective. That’s why he’s not getting sacked very often.”

(On if looking at the pass rush instead of looking down the field will mess with a quarterback’s rhythm)
“Yeah it does. It really destroys everything. You look at the pass rush, then you try to find a way to get out and duck around. By that time the route concept has changed.”

Rams Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer – November 6, 2014

(On how he gets offensive production going again this week)
“Obviously, this will be another challenge this week. We’re at our best when we’re balanced, when we can get the running game going. We all got to do a better job of converting third downs that helps us. This will certainly be a challenge. They’re playing really, really well on defense. Again, the secondary’s outstanding. A lot of respect for what they’re doing defensively (Cardinals Defensive Coordinator) Todd Bowles does a great job. It comes down to execution, us doing our job, guys making plays, taking things one play at a time. Hopefully, it’ll be a good week for us to get back on track.”

(On if the challenge gets tougher for QB Austin Davis the more he is seen playing)
“We believe in what we do is more important than what they do. But yeah, when you get a scouting report on a guy it’s a little easier. We haven’t put ourselves in a position, going back to Kansas City, we’re in a game where we could kind of stay balanced, we had to throw the ball around a little bit. Last game, I thought we made the plays we needed to play against a great defense. This week, again, it’ll be another problem just because of playing out there in Arizona and the noise, another great defense. Again, what we’ve got to do is to take care of the football. They’re number one in the league at taking the ball away.
They make a lot of plays doing that.”

(On if Arizona’s defense is as varied as any he’s seen)
“I think so. Creative, whatever you prepare for you’ll get something different. It’s one of those games we say, ‘You got to trust what you see, trust your rules.’ They come with different packages, different people. They played Dallas a bunch of four-man fronts. They played a bunch of Bear against Oakland, they do different things. Very creative. How do you mask that? You do what you do and say, ‘Hey guys, get ready to adjust on the run.’”

(On if Coach Bowles blitzes a lot)
“Yeah. They come a lot. I think they’re the highest in the league on third-down, if not in the top two or three. They come from a lot of places.”

(On if he missed WR Brian Quick last week more than he thought)
“Quick was playing really, really well. I just think it was a situation where San Francisco’s a really good defense. Missed a few plays here and there, had a couple shot plays we weren’t able to get off. It’s a new week. Another challenge, throwing the ball on the edges against CBs (Antonio) Cromartie and (Patrick) Peterson. I think we’ve got some things that we like that we can take advantage of. It’s going to come down to us executing. ”

(On if it’s a focus to get WR Tavon Austin more involved)
“I think so. We obviously have plays that are designed for ‘Tav,’ passes, runs, different things. Gimmicks, if you will. We don’t always get to him. But, I think last week you saw him make a couple big plays for us in the passing game, third-down conversions, he should be good with that stuff. When the games going you go in with a mindset of, ‘Hey, let’s do this during the game.’ But, when the game gets going you kind of go with what you’re seeing on film or what you’re seeing on the pictures and try to adjust. But, he can help us just because he’s so explosive.”

(On if he senses any frustration in Austin because he is not having many explosive plays this season)
“I do think so. He comes to work every day. He had a big punt return last week called back, or offsetting penalties, I guess. It’s just we’ve seen him break out before. We’ve seen that happen in Indianapolis, Chicago things like that. You never know when it’s going to happen, but when it does it comes in bunches. I think he’s a guy that gets in the rhythm of things and when he’s feeling really good, he’s got the hot hand. I don’t sense frustration with him. I think he’s a competitor. He wants to do what he can to win and when we get him the ball, he’ll make the most of those chances.”

(On him getting WR Stedman Bailey involved too)
“Obviously, we have one ball. Can’t get everybody involved. We’ve got tight ends that want the ball. We have packages of plays. What you try to do in the passing game is come up with progressions. Where the ball can get spread around, we tease the guys all the time we say ‘you want the ball? Get open, because Austin will find you, he’ll read his progression.’ A lot of good players and that kind of comes with the territory.”

(On why Arizona has been so effective on run defense)
“Number one it’s an eight-man front. They’ve got safeties down all around the line of scrimmage. They jam the front, which means the cover the center and the two guards. The linebackers play as fast downhill across the line of scrimmage as probably anybody I’ve seen. It’s just an aggressive scheme. They move, they penetrate, they knock people back, which makes it hard to find running lanes. ”

(On if they trust their corners to play good man-to-man defense)
“Absolutely. So they can funnel everything inside and trust that those guys will do their job on the outside. Again, they don’t give up a lot of very big plays. They have been penalized some on the back end. Terrific, terrific run defense and then of course they mask that with the pressure that they bring on third-down. It makes it difficult.”

(On if he feels Arizona is one of the best in the NFC)
“Absolutely, Absolutely. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They cause problems. Again, they cause problems different then say San Francisco. San Francisco’s good, but you know where they’re going to be. We’ll go in on Sunday and we’ll have a plan of what we want to do, but we’re going to have to adjust on the sidelines. You’ll probably see us scurrying around a lot saying ‘Hey, here’s what the pattern is.’ And we’ve got to be ready for it. I think they’re one of the best that we’ve gone against this year.”

(On how Arizona’s defense has been so successful in the fourth quarter)
“I think they’ve had the lead quite a bit. So that helps. Teams are trying to throw the ball, get back. They all have great ball skills. Being around Cromartie in New York, he’s got great ball skills. We all know about Patrick Peterson, (Tyrann Mathieu) the Honey Badger’s got ball skills. I think it’s been a product of they’ve been up, teams have had to try to go and throw it. They bring all those pressures. Sometimes they’ve got free runners so the quarterbacks just kind of throwing the ball to get it pushed and they come down with it.”

(On how Davis has been during in-game changes)
“He’s been really good. Again, couple weeks back when we were playing really, really well he was the same guy. He’s the same guy now. He adjusts well. He sees things really, really well. He knew on the interception last week. He said, ‘Hey I saw the guy, I thought I could get over him.’ The one (S Antoine) Bethea got. He just underthrew the one. Again, just very, very poised and he handles all the adjustments and things we do really, really well. Having a veteran center with Scott (Wells) and some of the stuff we’ll see protection wise certainly helps.”