Fisher, 11/10 … transcript … + Wagoner & Thomas: Fisher sticking with Davis

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – November 10, 2014

(Opening Statement)
“We had a chance obviously to look at it and it really hasn’t changed since last night. Just disappointed for the players and all the good things that they did, to let things slip away with seven minutes left to go in the game. I thought we did a lot of good things defensively against the run, pressure on Carson (Palmer), the tipped balls, the interception, those kinds of things. It was a winning effort except for the one deep ball. Offensively, we knew we were going to have our hands full with protection and the run game, but we still put ourselves in position to have a chance. The three turnovers obviously, clearly, at the end were the difference in the ballgame. I thought we matched pretty well with them from a special teams standpoint. So, as we have said too many times, too often, the 24-hour rule’s in effect and we’re going to move on. We’ve got a huge challenge this week. Players know exactly what happened yesterday, and they’ve got a perspective, so we’re moving forward.”

(On how he felt about the penalty on TE Lance Kendricks after watching it on tape)
“I think they’re going to call that half the time. It’s within the rules. It was just unfortunate timing for us. It was a great hit, great block. He’s blocking someone that’s shorter than he is and he has the responsibility…the blocker, in Lance’s case, has the responsibility, it’s all in his hands to avoid hitting him in the head and neck area. The defender was ducking, Lance was ducking. It just happened.”

(On if the call was made because of where on the body Kendricks made contact or because it was a blindside block)
“A blindside block only applies to the head and neck area. The defensive player gets defenseless player protection with respect to a blindside block. The blindside is coming back towards your own end line and/or parallel. The parallel part went in a couple of years ago. I’d say it’s the correct call. You don’t like it. His other option in that case was to go low or lower his target area and you surely don’t want to see guys going low in those instances because of the potential for injury. Really we’ve got the ball on the 4-yard line. Instead we’re backed up on the 35.”

(On if he’s upset at Kendricks for committing the penalty)
“Oh no, no. Lance is playing good football right now. You can’t fault anybody. That’s just the unfortunate part of some of the things that happened. Now, those are all…this is a player safety issue and that’s why this rule went in. So, I can see why it was called.”

(On if the ‘parallel’ distinction means that blocks like the one Kendricks delivered are illegal even if the player being blocked can see it coming)
“Yeah, if the blocker is blocking back towards his own end line or is blocking parallel to the end line, then it potentially is a foul. There were a number of hits that the (competition) committee looked at a number of years ago, you really couldn’t tell if it was back towards the end line or parallel, so they added parallel to it just to add to player safety. Now, the defender turned, so it happened pretty quickly. If the defender is just running and you’re lining them up, I don’t think it’s called. It’s just one of those things.”

(On if he’s considered making a change at quarterback)
“No, (QB Austin Davis) didn’t have his best half. He missed some opportunities. He made a couple bad decisions and he had trouble seeing at times. The last couple of weeks, he’s thrown four interceptions, but we’re going to hang in there. He’s working real hard, so we’ll see where it goes.”

(On if protection has been an issue lately or if Davis has been holding onto the ball too long)
“Well, that’s the case at times. Give the defense credit. There’s going to be an unblocked rusher and you have to get rid of the football. The quarterback’s got to get rid of the football. He’s got to see that. Austin, he can’t take a sack in field goal range. After the series where we had the penalty, we’re looking at a 53-yard field goal. He’s got to throw the ball away. It’s a three-man rush. So, it’s a combination, a quarterback combination. We had a one-on-one at a tight end position where we had an issue. We’ll credit the defense. We had a couple pass rush games where we got soft, but the ball has to come out.”

(On if Davis is starting to get frustrated)
“The position’s hard to play. This defense has done this to a lot of quarterbacks, good quarterbacks. He’s disappointed, but that’s part of playing the position. You’re going to…sometimes you’re going to have a hard Sunday as a quarterback. He’s disappointed in what happened, but he’ll bounce back.”

(On if he personally senses Davis is frustrated with his performance)
“I’d choose a better word. I don’t know what you’re saying frustrated, yeah. Disappointed, whatever, he’s not pleased with what happened yesterday, we’ll say that. He’ll bounce back.”

(On if receivers are getting consistent enough separation)
“We had opportunities. We had a number of opportunities for some significant catch and runs yesterday.”

(On how OL Joe Barksdale has done this season despite his challenges against Kansas City)
“Kansas City was tough. That was a tough matchup for him, but he’s battling. He’s playing well against the run. I think we just started talking about him in Kansas City because he had a hard time. Prior to that he was playing solid football. He’s battling. He and (OL) Davin (Joseph) are working as best they can together and communicating. It’s going to appear soft at times. That happens against good defenses.”

(On LB Alec Ogletree’s improvements since the Seattle game and how he’s come on)
“He has. He’s played good football. We’ve made a concerted effort to get him behind the ball, (Defensive Coordinator Greg) Coach Williams has. That’s where he’s best, just running and slipping blocks and taking on blocks. He’s been much more productive. Good pressure. Ball skills, hands-on. When he caught the, one he anticipated, read the formation, recognized the route that was coming and put himself in a position to make another play. He’s playing much better in the last two weeks.”

(On if Ogletree got teased for not getting by Cardinals’ QB Carson Palmer)
“Yeah, I’m sure he did on the plane last night. Carson did have an angle. Still, he can gather and let Carson run by and go back inside. It was a 44-yard return, maybe the outcome’s different.”

(On the lack of offensive production over the last five games and if it’s ascribed to good defenses)
“It is. It’s all about that in our opinion. We talked about it as a staff. We had in the last six games, four of them have been on the road, each team’s playing good defense. We just got to become more consistent running the football, protecting. I think the big thing right now is our third-down. We converted one third-down yesterday and that doesn’t give you a chance to accumulate the touches that you want.”

(On the play in the secondary with the return of both CB Janoris Jenkins and CB Trumaine Johnson)
“Well, ‘Jenks’ came back and played well, made tackles. Felt pretty good today, so we assume that he should be close to 100 percent this week. ‘Tru’s’ second game back, he was affective. He was recognizing things. He was tackling. He was doing things. We missed Lamarcus (Joyner). We had to change things. Fortunately, we got Janoris back so we can move E.J. (Gaines) in the nickel. E.J. went inside and played inside. Tells you a lot about him, he’s gone from outside to inside just during the course of a game. Then of course, we packaged up with (S) Mark (Barron) and I thought that was productive for us. Lamarcus will clearly be questionable this week. I don’t necessarily know…I can’t really predict where Marcus (Roberson) is, so we’re down in numbers. I think one would assume we would expand the safety package with Mark.”

(On how Gaines played when he was moved into the nickel spot)
“He was fine. He got his hands on the ball. Didn’t have any problems…we didn’t have to scale down the third down package per se. He prepares mentally for it and thought he plugged in nicely.”

(On Barron’s impact on the game yesterday)
“He did, the sacks, the pressure, the contact. On the first completion in the zone coverage was a huge hit. Even, I think, you get a sense for his physical stature out there. There was a screen pass and the guard was out in space and he took the guard on. Most DBs would be tumbling or go low. He took the guard on high bounced off and got an assist. He’s a physical player.”

(On if there’s any chance DE Chris Long practices this week)
“There’s a chance he’ll get on the field. We’re going to discuss it tomorrow with him. He has a 21-day window to practice once he steps on the field (before he counts against the roster). There’s a chance that we’ll have him back on the field this week.”

(On the status of WR Brian Quick and LT Jake Long surgeries)
“Yes, both of them had surgeries. Jake is rehabbing, doing well. Brian, I encouraged Brian to come out to practice. It’s going to be probably another week or two before he comes out. There was significant damage to his shoulder. However, he will recover 100 percent, but it’s going to be a slow process. It’s going to be a training camp thing.”

(On if there was more damage to Quick’s shoulder than they anticipated)
“Yeah, he did just about everything you possibly can to the shoulder. You talk about rotator cuff, labrum, bicep tendon, just everything. It was a successful surgery, a successful procedure, but he’s going to be immobilized for quite some time.”

(On giving up a return touchdowns)
“Well, we’ve had eight. We’ve had one on teams and seven on offense, four interceptions and three fumbles. It’s hard regardless of who you’re playing to overcome a gift, a score like that. Credit them for creating the plays. Our ratio is eight-to-two right now. We’re not getting those scores on defense. It’s hard to overcome, especially yesterday with the two and the additional turnover.”