Head Coach Chan Gailey
Monday, October 1, 2012
On having to play San Francisco with an offensive line that is not at full health:
It is not your ideal situation obviously, but we have guys that we have a comfort level with that have played in games. Maybe we are ahead of the game compared to two years ago.
On OG Kraig Urbik saying he would miss at least one game:
Yeah.
On OT Cordy Glenn's status:
Yeah, same.
On if Glenn and Urbik are week-to-week:
I would say it is going to be a week or two. It may be two minimum on both of them, but we are not going to rule out the second game today. I have not been very good about doing that lately. We are going to say it is probably two, but I do not know about that.
On if there was any good news that came out of the game versus the Patriots:
The punter punted well.
On if RB Fred Jackson and RB C.J. Spiller both are OK:
Fred and C.J. both came through OK.
On how FS Jairus Byrd is doing:
He has a hip bruise. It will take a few days to get it moving again. I think he will be fine.
On what adjustments could have been made yesterday:
We tried to play eight in the box and they were still running the football, so we have got to make sure we play more on their side of the line of scrimmage. We played on our side of the line of scrimmage too much. We have to play the game more on their side of the line of scrimmage. We have to create more penetration, get the linebackers more downhill and things like that. That is the one thing you can do to create a difference. If (when) we play them again, that would be our thought process. How can we play more on their side of the line of scrimmage?
On if the base defense was a mismatch against New England:
It is, but you have to choose what you want (the Patriots) to do there because you do not match up nearly as well.
On his satisfaction with the defensive game plan:
That was fine. I am fine with it. I have complete confidence in Dave (Wannstedt), what they are trying to do and where we have our people situated. That is the majority of it, is where do you have your people situated. We have our people in the right spots. We are sound. We just have to continue to get better. We have to be able to stop the run—which we did for two games and we did not for two games. I think we are capable of doing that.
On if how the cornerbacks played against the Jets is an exception to his satisfaction with the defensive game plan:
To me that is more of a thought process that we were not playing tight enough coverage. I think we have done a better job of that as of late—playing tighter coverage with our secondary players and getting on top of people.
On if there were too many broken tackles yesterday:
Yeah. A lot of missed tackles. We had a lot of missed tackles yesterday, way more than we have had in games before.
On how to stop a team's running game when they have a good passing offense as well:
That is a concern and that is where you have to weigh who do you put in there, how do you play your ends, how do you play your tackles and how much do you blitz to try to offset some of that. We know the problems. How do you try to offset some of that?
On the team needing to be more mentally tough:
It has not been a concern, but you cannot be ahead 21-7 in the third quarter, and if we are mentally tough like we need to be, that game does not end up the way it ended up. That is my responsibility is to work on the mental toughness and the mindset of this football team.
On his thoughts on the defense, which was thought to be improved coming into the season:
After a game like that, you are dissatisfied with a lot of things. Let's not just pick out one thing. There are several things you can pick out. We are still a team. We all depend on each other. You cannot turn it over and expect them to hold it out every time. In the first half, we turned it over and they kept them from getting scores. It all works together and I think that is some things I have to work on the mindset for this football team and creating a sense of urgency every snap of every game.
On if the veterans can help him create a sense of urgency and mental toughness:
Sure they can. But we cannot put that all on the players. It starts at the top.
On his assessment of DT Marcell Dareus:
I think he has become a lot better football player than he was last year. I really do. He had lapses yesterday, just like a lot of people had lapses yesterday. We have to get everybody at that high level every snap. That goes back to what I was alluding to earlier, a sense of urgency every snap of every game.
On a veteran player saying you have to stay on Dareus:
I do not see that, and again, I am not hands on with that side of the ball as much. So I do not see it. I watch it and I see it from afar more than I do hands on. I know his production has been pretty good this year. That is a lot of what I go by. The stuff on the side, there has been, to be honest with you, a lot going on in his life this year. I hate to evaluate all of that by this year.
On if WR Donald Jones and TE Scott Chandler are OK:
Got the report on Chandler this morning, I did not get the report on Jones but all indications are both will be fine.
On why turnovers seem to be contagious for this team:
No. I wish I could (point to something), but I cannot. A lot of those happened late, especially with the interceptions when (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is trying to make something happen down the field—which I do not like, but I understand a little bit. But we have not been a team that fumbles and we fumbled twice the other day. You cannot fumble against a good team at the one yard line and expect to have a good finish to a game.
On if he is concerned about the loss lingering:
It is not because I am not going to let that happen. Getting back to the mental toughness part, that cannot happen. Of course, I will not see them from now till Wednesday. They will be around a little bit tomorrow but that is my responsibility to not let that happen. You cannot let one loss cost you two.
On if the turnovers are the main reason the offense has not been consistent:
I think you have to say what is consistency? To me, the turnovers have been the thing that has been the most inconsistent, by far the most inconsistent. Everything else has been kind of on par. It has just been the inconsistency factor of turning the ball over so much, which we do not want to do. We do not like to do. We talk about not doing it. We have had way too many.
On if QB Tarvaris Jackson could have come in when the game got out of hand:
No. He was not active.
On if giving up 100 points in two division games so far causes him pause:
Again, you can throw statistics and numbers out all you want to if you get punts returned and you get interceptions returned and all of a sudden points start piling up. Short field and points start piling up. I am more concerned about how we play, the intensity and quality of play than I am the numbers that are thrown out there right now. Our quality of play is not where it needs to be.
On if he would consider resting Jackson or Spiller:
Yeah, if they need some. If they need some sure. Anybody that needs time, we give them time.
On the rotation of Jackson and Spiller:
I was trying to split it about even and I think the carries were fairly even. Or the plays were even. I do not know if the carries were even, but the plays were even during the course of the ball game. That was trying to not put too much on either one of them.
On if he envisions that same split going forwards:
Do not know. I do not know yet.
On the health of the running backs going against San Francisco: It is very important. We need to have all hands on deck to win this one. We need as many guys out there. This is another big game. Then next week will be another big game. They all are big. There is, what, 10 teams with a winning record right now and after night there will be 10 teams. All the rest of us are kind of piled up in there. You have to start to separate yourself at some point during the season.
