Fisher, 11/24 … transcript

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – November 24, 2014

(Opening Statement)
“As I said last night, our team played really, really well and played very hard. Played well enough for us to win this game and we didn’t. So we go on. There were a lot of things in the game that took place, but looking at it, looking at all three phases, they played hard. Considering the fact that we were down by 10 with three minutes left to go and we had a chance to win this game, I was very proud of them. We’ll bounce back and our focus as we speak right now is on Oakland.”

(On if he feels this team is closer to being where he wants them to be)
“This is a good football team. It’s competitive. For the most part it’s been in every game. We’re making plays and I think we’ve improved. I think we’re significantly better. We’re going to play one game at a time. Again, I can’t expect any more out of them. They’re working hard. They’re practicing. They love coming to work. Every week is a different challenge for us, but they respond every week.”

(On if he’s disappointed that the ‘breakthrough’ hasn’t taken place yet)
“Yeah, looking at big picture, it’s frustrating. We’ve been there. We’ve been competitive and we’re going to keep playing.”

(On the officiating in Sunday’s game)
“You know, every week we play a different opponent and there are different challenges associated with the teams that we play. Unfortunately, it seems like every week is an adventure with the officiating. We deal with it and we move on. They’re doing the best they can. (NFL Vice President of Officiating) Dean (Blandino) is doing the best he can from a consistency standpoint. That’s what he’s striving for. It is inconsistent week-to-week. There were some things that I disagreed with yesterday but you can’t change it. There was a number of things in the game that I disagreed with, but that’s part of it. That’s the way it is.”

(On the officiating crew that called Sunday’s game leading the league in calling the most penalties per week)
“We knew that going in. I knew that this crew’s going to throw and we talked about it. They were incorrect at times during the game. They missed some things as well. It’s just part of our game. It’s the human element in the game. There are things that… like I said last night, I clearly disagreed with. I didn’t see it. I didn’t know who’d seen what. They had enforcement issues, but at the end of the day, they did get the return correct. I disagree, I feel bad for WR Tavon (Austin) because we go to San Francisco and we were called out of bounds and we’re called for an illegal block above the waist and it’s not. So, they take a touchdown off the board. We had the same thing happen yesterday. That’s just part of it.”

(On if he can explain the spotting of the ball after Austin’s punt return)
“They got it correct. It was incorrect, I had a discussion with (Line judge) Jeff Seeman and then they went out and talked to (Referee) Carl (Cheffers) and then they eventually got it correct. The ball ended up being spotted at the right spot. That’s all I can say. The ball should have been on the 4-yard line where Tavon went out of bounds. ”

(On why the return was called back in spite of offsetting penalties being called)
“According to them, the first foul was during the kick, not after the kick. So if you have two fouls, post-possession fouls, or two fouls after the kick then it’s different, then there’s a re-kick. According to them, there was supposedly a foul during the kick on the line of scrimmage. I didn’t see it, we’ve been looking for it today. Seriously, we looked all over the place for it. We just didn’t see it.”

(On if it was a line of scrimmage foul)
“On the line of scrimmage foul, Yeah.”

(On if the flag was thrown further down the field)
“No, that was the second one. According to them, there was a foul just as the ball was… after the snap during the kick.”

(On if they looked everywhere possible for the first penalty called during the return)
“We did. Yeah, we did. We even looked at some other games and didn’t see it (laughs). ”

(On if San Diego’s foul was hard to spot)
“San Diego’s foul was legit. Their punter was penalized for a low block.”

(On if both penalties during the return were thrown after the 40-yard line as opposed to where the ball ended up)
“That was close to the line of scrimmage. That’s a penalty where the flag went down, where the umpire saw a hold. ”

(On if WR Kenny Britt was held on the last play)
“He was held. Yes. Sometimes that’s not called.”

(On the officials not calling any illegal contact or defensive holding penalties)
“Well, they called offensive pass interference on Kenny. That was ball was incomplete so we kicked a field goal. Sometimes your guys are held and Kenny was grabbed on the last play, but that’s no reason to throw the ball to Kenny. You guys saw it, (RB) Benny (Cunningham) came open and Shaun just made a bad decision.”

(On the first interception thrown by Hill)
“That was good defense. Really good defense.”

(On if the interception was thrown late)
“No, he was on time. We’ll credit their defense for that. That was a good defensive play.”

(On if there is any reason he can point to as to why it took WR Stedman Bailey some time to have a performance like he did yesterday)
“No, he’s been obviously doing really good things for us on special teams, but it’s Shaun throwing the ball where the ball’s supposed to go. I was really disappointed in the call that brought back Sted’s big play that got us inside the 10 (yard line) when they called the hold on (T) Greg (Robinson). You can see what he can do. He had really good run after catch and was very productive.”

(On if he has seen any improvement in Bailey over the last few weeks)
“It’s just games and situations and opportunities. We’re settling in right now to a really good group. When we go with three with Kenny and Sted and Tavon, we’ve got a good group out there.”

(On why RB Tre Mason didn’t have a touch on the final drive)
“We were behind. You’re going to throw it a little bit when you’re behind.”

(On if Mason is not in the hurry-up packages)
“He’s in all the packages, yeah, but when we go to our two-minute offense usually Benny’s in there.”

(On if Austin is getting more reps)
“Well, he’s getting more touches. We try to get Tavon involved whenever we can and I think the more touches he gets the better we’re going to be offensively.”

(On the performance of the defense this season)
“The last couple weeks we’ve played some great quarterbacks. We only gave up seven last week and we gave up 20 or something like that. So, I think our defense is playing well. We missed some tackles against some good backs, but they’re playing well. We’re playing good enough to win on defense.”

(On if Hill has overcome the loss)
“He’ll be fine.”