**
HC Chan Gailey**
Monday, December 17, 2012
Q: Let's start with injuries…WR Marcus Easley?
A: Marcus (Easley) has a hamstring. He will definitely be out this week and we will see if we can get him back for the last game or not. We will have to wait and see.
Q: Does C Eric Wood have a shot this week?
A: He has a shot. He is not going to practice Wednesday, but it looks like he may try to get out there Thursday.
Q: LB Arthur Moats?
A: (Arthur) Moats is out. He is not going to make it back.
Q: So that is injured reserve for him?
A: I do not know. We will have to wait and see. He is not going to make it back.
Q: How do you take your players to task for not doing their assignments versus not breaking their spirits?
A: To be honest with you, that is always the balance you are shooting for—to keep them going by encouraging them enough, but balancing out by showing where mistakes were made and where we have to get better. That is always the balance you are shooting for when you are coaching. That is what coaching is about.
Q: How can you explain a defense that has given up 45 points four times in one season?
A: Well we all know that some of those points that have been given up were 10 yards and returns—things like that. So I think you have to look at the overall play and the first half there were not any of those really the other day. At the same time, we have played extremely well in a bunch of other games and we had played very well in a lot of games in a row. I look at some progress that is being made. It is hard to talk about progress today, I understand that. I still think there are some things that have taken place that have given us some things that we can do and that we are good at.
Q: Has this team given you enough to look forward to next year?
A: To be honest with you, I am focused on this game and the next game. That is all I am focused on and that is all I can be focused on. No matter what the situation that is what I would be saying.
Q: What was the problem defending the read-option runs? Guys said you practiced against it.
A: Yeah, we did practice against it. I said it after the game and I still believe this—the speed of what you see in practice and the speed of what you get in the game are two different things. You try to simulate it as much as you can, but all of a sudden you get in the game and they are hitting the gap and the quarterback is around the edge. It just happens so much faster. You have to be able to adjust after the first couple of plays. We just did not adjust after the first couple of plays to the speed of the game.
Q: Do you start to look at your preparations since they are not translating into games?
A: We evaluate everything at the end of the season. I try not to vary too much from the course during the season itself. I think the players get into a habit of the certain ways that you prepare. It has been successful in the past, so I tend not to evaluate during the season but make those kinds of changes during the offseason if need be.
Q: Do you consider tinkering with the lineup now?
A: The focus is to win. We are going to put the players on the field to help us win games. That is the responsibility of an organization and for me in particular is to win games.
Q: What has happened to stop the success of the screen game?
A: People are assigning guys to the screen game a ton now. We have defensive linemen that are sometimes not rushing in certain situations because of screens. We find that they assign a linebacker or two sometimes to the screen game. It is becoming more and more difficult because of our success with the screen game. It is becoming more and more difficult to get some screens done.
Q: Is there a counter-move? A: Right now it takes you out of it until you take their awareness away a little bit
