Fassel, Goff, Austin, Britt, Gurley, Donald … 12/24… transcripts

Rams Interim Head Coach John Fassel

(Opening remarks)

“Clearly a tough loss. Seemed like it’s a little bit more of the same and I feel bad for our players that really work hard during the week and commit to each other to keep the season going and to fight hard. It’s tough to know what to say after the game when you’ve got a two-score lead when it’s six minutes left in the game. Kind of a replica of the Miami game where we just couldn’t convert third downs into first downs on offense and then just couldn’t get off the field in critical situations on defense. We started decent, how we wanted, and then obviously in the third quarter we just couldn’t get anything going on offense, I think our defense got tired and I think that caught up to us at the end of the game. Much respect to our players for hanging in there. We’ve got one more week and I’m sure they’ll bounce back and be resilient, but it’s sure tough to know what to say because it seems like it’s kind of the same thing that’s happened.”

(On what he thinks is the reason for today’s loss)

“We couldn’t get enough first downs on offense in the third quarter and then we got the ball with a one-score lead with four minutes left in the game. Then we go three-and-out, so we just can’t get enough first downs on offense and I think that catches up to your defense in the last six minutes of the game, which I think is almost just like the situation against Miami. About six minutes left in the game, we got the ball inside the 50, we had a two-score lead, we couldn’t make a first down, and then they start making chunks they converted to touchdowns. Let’s face it, it comes down to a two-point conversion. We stop them, we’re at hands team, we get the ball and it’s over. They get a two-point conversion, take a one-score lead and return the kick to the 40-yardline, twenty-five or so seconds left in the game, we’ve got three timeouts, we only needed 15 yards-minimum and then we throw the interception.”

(On the feeling he had after QB Jared Goff threw the touchdown pass to TE Tyler Higbee)

“I even looked at the scoreboard and said, ‘we got a two-score lead, our defense is playing good, got a little momentum scoring a touchdown, let’s finish it.’ We kept life in them at the end of the game by not getting a couple extra first downs and burning more minutes or burning their timeouts. They scored two touchdowns. It flips quick.”

(On P Johnny Hekker’s record-breaking performance today)

“As hard as it is, there are positives that come out of the game. (P Johnny Hekker) Johnny’s had a historic season punting the football with his inside-the-20 numbers, his net average, which is a reflection of his punt-cover team. (WR) Kenny Britt goes over 1,000 yards for the first time since 2007 as a Ram. But I’m proud of Johnny. He comes every day, he’s a leader, he’s tough, he’s good and the guys respect him. I love him and I’m proud of him. I wish we could’ve got a W to make it a little bit sweeter for Christmas tomorrow.”

(On the difficulties with containing 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick’s athleticism)

“He’s tough especially when he’s running in space and he’s pumping the football. You don’t know whether to jump and deflect it or run through and tackle, or maybe you have to leave coverage to go tackle him and then he throws the pass to an open guy, so he’s tough. We’ve played him now, in our era as coaches, ten times and he’s tough to tackle in space especially when he gets outside of the pocket. What do you do? Do you abort cover and tackle him, sit in cover and let him run, or when you go make a tackle he’s tough to get down. He made a great play and he beat us to the goal line by a yard and that’s a game of inches. We lost.”

(On the matchup between the Rams offense vs the 49ers defense)

“That’s a good question. You look at San Francisco and they’ve been struggling on defense. We’ve been struggling on offense. So a struggling defense was better than a struggling offense today. I’ll also look at the tape to know exactly why, but Todd (Gurley) made a big emphasis on running the football and I think he averaged 2.9 a carry. Just not good enough. We tried to tinker a little bit with the lineup just to get a spark, try to find something and it just wasn’t there.”

(On being in this head coach position)

“I love it. It’s unique just based on the situation, but it’s tough to know what to say at this point in the season after the game. How do you send a message to the guys that either inspires them or pisses them off? The last week-and-a-half or whatever it’s been has been a great experience for me. I hope someday to get the opportunity to do it. From a special teams coach’s perspective, it’s a long route. I wish we’d have won today because that was an opportunity as an interim coach to win your first game and we lost it. It’s not about me, but it’s a great experience being a head coach. It’s tough to stand up here and say, ‘we should’ve won the game, but we didn’t.’”

(On the decision to make T Greg Robinson inactive)

“We talked on Monday about making a little bit of a change to our offensive line just to try to get something going in the run game and to shore up some protection. We weren’t using (T) Greg (Robinson) as a scapegoat for any of the problems on the offensive line, but we felt getting (G) Jamon Brown into the game. We knew we could bump (G Roger) Saffold to tackle. We got (T) Pace (Murphy) number 72, a rookie, some reps at right tackle just to see some guys perform that haven’t played a lot of football that going forward we know they’re going to be part of the Rams, hopefully.”

(On motivating his players to play well in their final game after a loss like this)

“I have an idea. I’ll share it with you maybe next week, but it’s something I’ve used before with special teams and I think it’ll be something they can really think about. Whether it motivates them or not, it gives them something to think about for the rest of their lives. Maybe you ask me the question next week, Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll tell you what it was. I don’t want the guys to know before I talk to them about it. There’s always something there that you can get to the guys with and they’ll listen. Like we talked about yesterday, when the going gets tough what type of men are we? What type of players are we? We’re being evaluated and our performance matters, and the players and coaches know that, so I’ll hit them with something. I’m not going to let my last week as an interim head coach just kind of fizzle and die out, be done in a week and call it an offseason. I’m going to do my best to get this team a win and say, ‘one day I won the game as a head coach in the Coliseum.’”

(On the toll that the changes this season have taken on the team’s performance)

“It’s taken a mental toll for sure. We’ll all look back on it I think as a very unique experience. I think there will be a lot of good memories that have come from the players and coaches perspectives, just being a part of history with the whole change and the transition from St. Louis in 2016 to Oxnard, to Irvine, to some monster road trips, so when it’s all done, right now it’s a horrible feeling to be where we’re at. We’ve lost 10 out of the last 11, but I hope in a month or two, when we look back the players will be like, ‘that was crazy. I formed some good bonds. There were moments of really cool fellowship.’ They probably won’t remember the games that we lost, although we’ll remember losing a lot of games. Hopefully with really good guys in the locker room, they’ll look back and there will be some good memories. Hopefully the last game of the season next week is a good memory.”

***

Rams QB Jared Goff

(On if he felt confident after his touchdown pass to TE Tyler Higbee in the fourth quarter)

“I felt real good, I felt real confident in where we were. I felt good about where we were, but at the end of the day, we have got to score more points than they do. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that again today – it’s tough and it’s hard. I’m really trying to hope that these days and these games will be, ultimately, really good for us in the future. And I think they will, I really think they will – I’m optimistic about it, I’m not losing confidence in myself and my team. I understand I need to be better, we all need to be better – especially offensively if we want to win games.”

(On how he feels he played)

“Ups and downs. I thought there were some good things we did, I thought there were some, obviously, bad things I did. An interception early doesn’t help, fortunately, our defense got one back, so that kind of helped there, we were able to score off theirs. But at the end, just trying to make a play late, trying to get a chunk play and unfortunately, they made a good play. Again, like I said, we need to be better, I need to be better, I need to be better for us to win.”

(On why he thinks the team lost today)

“A lot of reasons. It’s a collective effort, but ultimately, offensively, it’s been the story all year, we need to play better. Our defense is pretty damn good when they’re off the field, and get some time and we’re not going three-and-out every time. Ultimately, the offense needs to play better – it starts with the quarterback, it starts with me. As the leader of the team, the leader of the offense, I need to be better – better than I was today, for sure.”

(On playing against the team he grew up rooting for)

“It was good. Obviously, I grew up a fan of theirs, but when the whistle blew, it was another team that we had to go out there and try to beat.”

(On the hardest part about teams adjusting to him)

“I don’t know if they’re doing anything too crazy to mess with me – at least today they weren’t. It’s kind of hard to explain, it’s not like they’re mixing crazy stuff up. But they do do stuff differently than they do on tape at times – I don’t know if that’s just for a rookie quarterback or that’s in general in the league. Again, I’m still new and still learning, but I think most teams have done a pretty good job defensively against us. Again, we have to be better offensively.

I’ll say this, to all the fans and everybody that came out today, we’re appreciative and understand where we are. We know that they understand where we are. It’s just hard, I know they see it – it’s hard in the locker room, it’s hard for all of us. But I promise you guys it will get fixed – everything in my heart and soul to get it all fixed.”

(On what it will take to get it fixed)

“We’re obviously going to have some sort of a change this offseason, that’s kind of inevitable. Hopefully, with that, it brings a lot of different stuff that can help change and can fix the issues we have. Again, I don’t think we have bad players, I don’t think we have bad coaches, I just think we need to put it all together. And, ultimately, it’s on us – and it’s on me, it comes back to the quarterback every time, it’s on me. I need to be better. Every day in practice I need to be better and every day on Sundays I need to be better. I promise everyone out there, all of the Rams fans, that I’m going to do everything I can, everything in me, to make that happen and get this thing fixed.”

(On how much easier it is on the passing game when RB Todd Gurley is able to get going and they have a stable running game)

“It’s huge, it helps a lot, for sure. You see any good team in the league, any good offense in the league, they’re probably running the ball pretty well. That’ll set up the pass, as well as setting up other runs, setting up screens and stuff like that. When we get him (Gurley) going, it obviously helps and it did early when we had him running the ball. I thought Todd did a good job today and I thought our O-line blocked pretty well.”

(On the motivation with one game left)

“It’s about pride at this point. I think today was about pride, as well. It’s about who you are a as man, what’s your character like. Everybody in the locker room, I believe, has good character. I believe in them and don’t expect to see anyone quit. We know the situation we’re in – it’s not easy, it’s not fun, but at the end of the day, it’s about character and it’s about caring for the guy next to you.”

***

Rams WR Kenny Britt

(On what it means to him to reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark this season)

“It means everything to me. After eight years in the NFL, I finally get my first 1,000-yard season. It’s special, even though it comes from a season that we weren’t expecting. It’s some good things, and it’s some bad things.”

(On his outlook of today’s game)

“We got to find a way to finish, just period. That’s always been our problem throughout the season, is just finishing. That’s what we got to do.”

***

Rams WR Tavon Austin

(On his reaction to losing the way the team did)

“Everybody knows how I feel right now. It’s kind of self-explanatory, to be honest. We had the game. We were up by 14 in the fourth (quarter), and we gave it away. That’s where we’re at right now. We got one more game left. So, hopefully we finish strong. I’m going to keep on pushing strong, and hopefully our guys do to.”

(On scoring his first touchdown at home)

“Yeah, it felt good to finally score my first one at home. I had some great blocks. It was a great play at the right time. I saw the lane, and just used it.”

(On the feeling when an opponent completes a come-from-behind win)

“You look at it – we lost two games like that now – a this is our second one at home. I don’t really believe much in luck – I believe in God. That’s the only person I believe in. We got to strap the pads up and come hard.”

(On why the Rams lost today)

“Basically, just making dumb mistakes like we’ve been doing previously. Not making the big play when we need to. Basically, just losing focus. I think we probably gave it up, and thought the game was over. But, it wasn’t.”

***

Rams RB Todd Gurley

(On if the team felt too comfortable after going up 21-7)

“That’s football. Nothing is in the bag. We done went through this before. We’ve played this game our whole life. We know nothing is ever over until it says ‘0:00’”

(On why the Rams lost today)

“We didn’t do a better job on offense. We should’ve kept the ball, kept the defense off the field, and we didn’t do that.”

(On how the team gets motivated for their last game next week)

“It’s football. It’s another week. It ain’t like we never lost before, and we ain’t never won before. Same game we play every week.”

***

Rams DT Aaron Donald

(On his frustrations with today’s outcome)

“It’s horrible. I don’t know what else to say. We just keep losing and we just need to keep trying to find ways to win and finish games. Definitely frustrating. I’m tired of going home mad every week.”

(On being on the field a lot as a result of what was happening on the offensive side of the ball and how much that played into the loss)

“It doesn’t matter. They still put points up. We were in the lead. We were still in the game. We were winning in the fourth quarter and we didn’t finish. It’s not the offense, it’s a team game and we lost as a team today.”

(On what he takes from a game like this)

“You’ve just got to finish games. The same thing happened (against) Miami. We’ve just got to finish, play consistent, and just finish. That’s all I can say.”