TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher (11-22-16)

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post-Practice – November 22, 2016

(On his plans for Thanksgiving)
“We work – that’s how it always is with Thanksgiving. But uniquely, as far as our schedule goes, it will give the players an opportunity to get home – particularly because Thursdays the day off. As opposed to, in years past – where we would come in, get all the work done, try to get them out early, and then come back in Friday. We have Friday travel. But, they’ll come in and they’ll get their work done, so they’ll have the afternoon off. ”

(On what went into the thinking behind releasing CB Troy Hill)
“Every situation is different, circumstances are different. I was disappointed in his choices, as they related to Friday night and Saturday morning. I didn’t think he put the team first. I got information, and we made the decision. Because Troy was truthful with me in our conversations the last couple of days, I also said that I’m not going to rule out a second opportunity. I think people deserve second chances in life. I think he learned from it, but I was just disappointed in his choices.”

(On if the team will experiment with different personnel groupings this week)
“We are, we’re going to continue to do so, and it’s competitive. I’m not going to confirm or deny any lineup changes, but there’s a chance that there may be one or two.”

(On what CB Michael Jordan brings to the defense now that he’s been brought up from the practice squad)
“Michael is so excited, he’s so excited. It was really fun to talk to him today. He understands our system. He’s played really hard in practice. He was productive in the preseason games. He understands that there’s maybe a 50/50 chance of him being active this week, just because of numbers and things. But, he’s really excited. The guys are really excited for him to be elevated him from practice squad. We made another tough decision, and (DB) Dwayne Gratz did a nice job for us, but we got another move or two to make as far as the secondary is concerned. Tough decision with Dwayne, and we’re going to try to keep the door open for him as well.”

(On if the Saints defense will allow QB Jared Goff more time to throw)
“Their defense is improving week after week after week. I know they’re not pleased with the points allowed and their rankings and things. There are some similarities between their defense and our defense from a scheme standpoint. I would expect them to try to put pressure on Jared – you have to go in to every game, from this point on, anticipating that. So, we’ll have to get the ball out as quick as we can and the run game should help us.”

(On if he thinks Goff will feel more comfortable taking chances this week)
“He’s comfortable. He’s really had a good couple of days, he’s excited about the rest of the week.”

(On if he’s concerned about the experience level at cornerback right now)
“I’m not concerned because I trust Michael and I also trust (DB) Blake (Countess). Blake is a versatile player that can go inside the slot and go outside. I’m really pleased with what we’ve gotten thus far from (DB) Marqui (Christian) as well – not only on special teams. I think you’d expect to see Blake doing quite a few different things on (special) teams.”

(On the costliness of the penalties late in the game)
“Each one of the 15-yard penalties in the two-minute drives were significant. I’ve done two-minute studies for years and the one way to pretty much assure giving up points is have a 15-yard penalty on defense and not giving up points is to have a 15-yard penalty on offense. There’s a lot of factors when you look at two-minute offense – actually, sacks will trump penalties, but we didn’t get any sacks. They were definitely costly, the penalties. And we had penalties that shouldn’t have been called and we had penalties that should have been called, that’s always the case. In close games, you look at it, someone needs to make a play.”

(On if the penalty on T Greg Robinson was a heat of the moment penalty that he instantly regretted)
“Yes. Yeah, it was not necessary. He’s pursuing, he’s hustling down field, he saw a collar and he pushed. It was unfortunate because that was a big first down for us that was called back.”