Fisher, Boras, Keenum … 12/22… transcripts

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – 12/22/15

(On if he relaxed this weekend)
“You relax once the season’s over. I don’t think you really get a chance to do that. Some of the guys got away. The players got away obviously, which was good. Everybody showed up yesterday. We had a good meeting, had a good workout and then obviously, we’re on to Seattle. Good team, they’re playing well. (Seahawks QB) Russell’s (Wilson) playing really well right now and their defense is the old defense. Yeah, we’ve got our work cut out for us, but we had a good day. (QB) Case (Keenum) really did a nice job today. He was decisive and spreading the ball around and we’re early in the preparation week.”

(On if Keenum’s decisiveness comes from him being comfortable as the starting quarterback)
“Well, it is. I mean, if you look at what he’s done…gosh, we went to the end of regulation in Baltimore in his first start. He missed a game and then he came back, so he’s 2-1 as a starter. This will be a big challenge for him. I mean, it’s not easy to go in there and play. But, he’s got the personality that I think it takes to go in there and be successful.”

(On if Seattle does anything differently than they did in Week 1)
“Well, they lost a couple on the road. They’ve been dealing with some injuries. (Seahawks RB) Marshawn’s (Lynch) not playing right now. Obviously, they miss (TE) Jimmy (Graham), but Russell’s playing really well. I mean, he’s just making plays. He’s extremely accurate, extending plays with his legs. The defense is always well-coached. There’s not a lot of holes in their defense, so you’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities.”

(On Wilson being one of the top quarterbacks in the league right now)
“Those numbers are in the last four or five games. I mean, he’s thrown 29 touchdown passes this year and just a few interceptions. The offensive line’s settled down a little bit and again, he understands. He’ll take a sack if he needs to or he’ll throw the ball away if he needs to. But, the guy’s got a ring. I mean, he’s a good player. We’re going to have to obviously deal with him first and foremost and then, of course their run game, which is regardless of who they’re handing the ball off to, they create seams and lanes. So, you’ve got to be in good places on defense.”

(On LB Alec Ogletree not practicing today)
“He did not. Yeah, we’re just throwing that out there at him right now. He’s working inside. He’ll be out over the next couple of days. We’ll see how he moves and then we’ll kind of push him as best we can, but not going to put him in a position where if he’s not ready, we’re not going to play him. But, I want him to have the opportunity to potentially get a few snaps against San Francisco. We’ll know early in the week next week. We’ve got a busy week and busy weekend, especially with the holiday and then the travel. Then we’re traveling, as you guys know, from Seattle down to San Jose and then we’ll be training in Napa next week, so we’ve got a lot of things to do.”

(On if it’s important for him to get Ogletree a few snaps at the end of the season)
“I’m hoping. We were hopeful when the injury took place at Arizona that he would be back. Realistically, from a medical standpoint, the doctor’s said, ‘probably not’, but we want to give him that chance. I want to let him try to…you set a goal out there for him and so we’ll see. We’ll know probably in the middle of next whether he can go or not.”

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Rams Assistant Head Coach/Offense Rob Boras – 12/22/15

(On if things have calmed down a little bit)
“Not when you start looking at this (Seattle) defense. The nerves crank back up, just start all over again.”

(On if he got any time off this weekend)
“Yeah, it was great. Good to pretend to be a dad and a husband for a day or half and come back to work, so it was kind of nice to get reunited with the family.”

(On if he watched any football games this weekend)
“A little bit. The kids always seem to have it on. Not that I’m lying down on the couch watching it, but if they have it on, we’ll sit there and watch, yeah. Of course I did.”

(On what challenges Seattle presents)
“They’re real talented, as we know. I don’t even know where their rankings are, but this is what the eighth time I think we’ve played them since we’ve been here. They’re talented. D-line, linebackers, the secondary, I mean, they’re the real deal.”

(On if there is anything he can take away from playing them in Week 1 this season)
“I mean, you obviously wanting to look back, really not even the first game of the year last year or the year before because they haven’t changed a whole lot. We haven’t changed structurally. So, you’re going to try reformation things. We know who they are. They know who we are. It just comes down to us doing what we do better than they do what they do. They haven’t changed a whole lot.”

(On if it’s almost impossible to trick a team that’s so familiar)
“It’s hard. They’re real disciplined. I mean, they’re a well-coached, play hard football team. So, it’s hard to get trick plays on any of those types of teams.”

(On how pleased he was with QB Case Keenum’s efficiency in Thursday night’s game)
“Oh, Case played outstanding. Really, the whole offensive across the board, guys stepped up and it’s been that way really, for the last two weeks. Starting the third, Case…again, I’m not sure what his numbers were, but the ball was complete. When it wasn’t there, he was smart and didn’t force it. On a team coached by (Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach) Lovie Smith, if you don’t turn the ball over, you have a chance to win. That defense has always been built on creating turnovers and scoring. That was the challenge to all of our guys that had the ball. Case, even those he had to take a sack twice, those were in situations where he didn’t force the ball and something bad happen. So, sometimes it’s the decision when the ball wasn’t thrown that are the ones you compliment him for the most.”

(On if one of the sacks on Keenum was a screen pass)
“Yes, a screen and a naked. They grabbed the back on one of them and he made a great decision. It was before the half. If he throws an incomplete ball, they might get the ball back before the half. At that point, you want to make them use their timeouts, keep the clock running. That’s hard to do as a quarterback to put that all together.”

(On Keenum’s decisiveness)
“I hope he’s feeling more comfortable. I don’t think the game plan should take credit. It was a short week. He just believed what he saw. That’s what he kept telling himself, ‘I’m not going to overthink it. I’m going to see what I see and I’m going to believe it and let it go.’ He did that.”

(On the importance of the receivers catching the ball)
“I mean, we all know it takes everybody – the quarterback, the receivers, the backs. They’re all responsible, so when the ball doesn’t touch the ground, that makes it a lot easier.”

(On why Seattle is effective on defense)
“Well, it’s one, they know exactly where they’re supposed to be. There’s probably not a whole lot of offense that they haven’t seen and they know how to adjust to. Playing there, obviously with the crowd noise, they’re more effective at home because it’s harder obviously, when you’re late off the ball. But, again, they know exactly what they’re supposed to do. It’s hard to get them out of position.”

(On the tight ends getting the ball more last game)
“I’ll go in that room and tell them that that was the reason, but no. Again, it was Case trusting the progression. A couple of those catches that Jared (Cook) made, he wasn’t first in the progression. It was Case trusting it and working through it and the ball got to him. Again, it was Case doing his job, the tight ends being where they’re supposed to be, but that was not the intent going in.”

(On if he’s still spending time in the tight ends room)
“A little bit, yeah. Trying to help (Offensive Assistant) Kenan (Smith) out in there, but not exclusively. But, that’s where I’m most comfortable, so I like to go home every once in a while and go and see how they’re doing.”

(On the continuity on the offensive line these last few weeks)
“Oh, without a doubt. (Offensive Line) Coach (Paul) Bou’s (Boudreau) been doing this for 29 years. This probably might be the most frustrating just because of all the change that’s happened and that’s hard. Anytime you can have those guys, just with their line calls and it’s going to be a bigger challenge this week, obviously with the noise being on the road. But, anytime you can have that continuity, it’s that unspoken word that those guys know what’s going to happen before it happens. That’s what you build with reps and with time.”

(On how much of a challenge the noise level will be for him as a play caller to get things to Keenum)
“Well, hopefully upstairs it’s not too loud. It’s going to be harder for (Quarterbacks) Coach (Chris) Weinke to get it to him. We have contingencies in place because it’s different playing in there, so that’s part of the preparation that we’re going through now is to try to make sure that we have the contingencies in place, so if he can’t hear, we can still get him a play and we can still hopefully be effective.”

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Rams QB Case Keenum – 12/22/15

(On what his weekend off was like)
“It was good. It was quick. Spent some time with family. Obviously, it was a lot better winning Thursday. It was good. Reload, recharge, get ready to go. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week.”

(On what is different about Seattle now from the first time the teams met this season)
“It’s been a really long time, a full season. A few different players, but it’s Seattle and they’re still a really good defense. They still line up and run what they run. But, they’re a great defense and great players and the great players make that defense go.”

(On if knowing what Seattle is going to do makes it easier to know how to attack them)
“It does and it doesn’t. We have to line up and beat them and no matter what coverage it is. It’s about recognizing it. They line up to it different ways and they mix it up. They mix it up every now and then. They tend to mix it up against us sometimes, too. Divisional opponents you play twice, so it helps sometimes to mix it up. You still have to line up and play. You still have to line up and beat them. They’ve got some great players over there.”

(On if the offense is more confident now)
“I think we’ve got some good feelings going, but we’ve got to continue to work and get better. There’s still things that we can work on and improve and continue to get better. We’re going to be in a hostile environment. We’re not going to be able to hear very much of anything. This will be my first time playing at Seattle. I played at Kansas City though. My first start was at Kansas City when they were going back and forth who was the loudest outdoor stadium. So I have an idea of what it’s like, but I’m sure it’s going to be really loud. It’s something we’re definitely going to have to deal with.”

(On if he feels like he’s getting more comfortable as the starting quarterback)
“Yeah, obviously it takes time any transition that you make. Just recuperating after a game, after the hits you take. Getting into a rhythm of how to reload, how to recharge, how to get your body feeling back right and attack the next week. To take your time off and then go. Obviously, the past couple of weeks have been different just with the changes that we made and then a Thursday game. Any time you get a little extra time to prepare for the Seahawks it’s nice.”

(On if he feels like playing a defense like Seattle is an opportunity to make a statement about how he can play in this league)
“I’ve said it before, anytime you step on the field I think it’s a statement. You’re adding to your resume anytime you step on the field. That’s how we accumulate resumes in this league. It’s what you put on film. Anytime you do that, especially against a team like Seattle, who’s for the last few years have been playing a lot of really good football, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

(On what ways he feels he’s a different quarterback from his previous times as a starter)
“I’ve always concentrated on getting better. I’m always getting better. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse – somebody told me that. I take every experience I get, every game experience, every practice experience and I put it in a database and I try to learn from it, try to grow from it. I grew from the first year I played. The first year I watched, I didn’t play. I was kind of treated as a redshirt here, I was practice squad. The next year I played and had some good things, had a lot of bad things. I learned how to battle through. Then the next year I was here and then back again and got a win, so you accumulate. That’s what being a veteran is about, is accumulating experience and experience is priceless. It’s just a matter of keeping battling through the tough times and enjoying the good times.”

(On if there’s any substitute for participating in the game)
“No, not at all. There really isn’t. Game experience, especially at the quarterback position, is priceless in this league. You have to learn from it. You have to get better and you’re going to go through tough times. It’s not a perfect science. Obviously, some guys have it figured out better than others and have had a lot more success. You try to take stuff from them and how they do the game, how they play the game, how they prepare and you try to fit it to your own game and what works for you.”

(On what distinguishes Seattle as a defense)
“For them, it’s their players. They’re solid. Starting up front across the board. Maybe led by (DE Michael) Bennett. Great, solid players up front. Their linebackers do a great job filling the run and then dropping into their zones in pass or covering in man. And then their back end with (S Kam) Chancellor and (S Earl) Thomas and (CB Richard) Sherman, all of those guys. You can go down the list. The type of players they have are definitely people that we need to know where they are every snap of the ball.”

(On how tough it is to stay in the pocket and go through his reads with people flying at him)
“It’s tough, but it’s fun. It’s why I play the game. I love having the ball in my hands. I love throwing the football. There’s nothing like quarterback. Some people call it the toughest position in sports, but I think it’s a blast. I wouldn’t rather play any other position or do any other thing.”