Tampa
Bay Buccaneers
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HEAD
COACH JON GRUDEN
OCTOBER 21, 2002
(Injury Report)
“Brad Johnson has a left rib fracture, he’s going to be doubtful
for this week. I don’t want to say he’s out, but he is doubtful
for this game. Keenan McCardell has a slight fracture of his left scapula,
we are going to list him as doubtful for this game. I don’t want
to list him as out, he has played through injuries before. But those two
players appear doubtful for the Carolina game.”
(Making
the offensive line better)
“We’re going to accentuate the positive. We’re going to
keep believing, keep working. We have a lot of pride in that room and
some good players. It is not all on their shoulders, it’s on all
of our shoulders and we need to work together to improve. The great thing
about this business is this week gives us the opportunity to show we can
do that. We had progress last week. I think we ran the ball real well.
Yesterday, Philadelphia was an outstanding defensive football team, which
they have been the last year and half, two years. I am not going to stand
up here and be critical of anyone. I will say this though, we need to
play better, particularly on offense.”
(Offensive
output after seven games)
“It’s going to be a concern until we begin to find the end zone
and finish drives. When you say we’ve upgraded the talent, you could
stand up here and talk about how much better we are in certain areas than
we have been and you could have a lot of debates, but you don’t want
to do that. The bottom line is production, finding results and we didn’t
have enough results yesterday to win a football game against a good football
team.”
(Starting
quarterback for Carolina game)
“If Brad (Johnson) can’t go, it looks like Rob (Johnson) will
take all the snaps on Wednesday. I think if you ask Brad Johnson today,
he’ll tell you he’s planning on playing. But if he can’t
go, Rob will be the starting quarterback.”
(Progress
of Rob Johnson)
“He doesn’t get a whole lot of work on the practice field during
game week preparation. He gets a fair amount of work on Friday’s
practice, but he’s a guy that I think moved the club yesterday when
he had his opportunity. He’s an athletic guy that’s played in
this league and has a good feel for our system, and hopefully, if he is
asked to play, we expect him to play well.”
(Changing
play calling with a different quarterback)
“It’s a possibility. Rob’s a guy that would be more apt
to take off and run if the opportunity presents itself. That’s a
little more his game. But again, Brad Johnson is a fine football player.
He’s played well for us and we’re a 5-2 team and a lot of that
is because of Brad Johnson. So we are concerned about his health, but
we will remain optimistic and confident that Rob Johnson will play well
for us.”
(Normal
healing process for a rib injury)
“It could be anywhere from one to two weeks. I think it is going
to be a pain threshold type thing. How much can he take? He can take a
lot. I’m not going to paint a real bleak picture until I see Brad
Johnson on the practice field Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday myself.”
(When
he realized Brad Johnson was hurt)
“He got hurt early in the game. He got hit early and felt he could
continue. I think on the last interception, the outside breaking pattern,
he just didn’t get much on it. I think the injury caught up to him
as the game went on, for that reason we made the switch.”
(Any
previous thoughts about switching quarterbacks)
“It was a tight football game and Brad (Johnson) felt he could go,
and I’m always been a guy to stick with your guns and go with the
quarterback that tells you he could play. Brad’s a veteran player
and he knows how he feels, and I have a lot of trust in him.”
(Concerned
with special teams)
“I was concerned yesterday. It’s been a strength of ours, other
than our field goal team with the Cleveland game. Brian Mitchell had as
much to do with the outcome of yesterday’s game than anyone. The
field position he established in the return game was significant. I don’t
think we had a drive in the second half that started outside the 23-24
yard line, a lot of that was due to Brian Mitchell’s returns. But
it’s an area we’ve been strong at. Our net punt has been good,
though it wasn’t yesterday.”
(Concerns
with lack of defensive stops late in the game)
“Third and eight, we had a couple of good stops on 1st and 2nd down,
then 3rd and eight they caught us with an inside run, then they caught
us out flank. Our defense played well enough for us to win, give them
two big plays, I thought they did a good job yesterday against a very
talented Eagle offense. I thought Brian Kelly really stepped up and played
one of his better games as a Buccaneer. Looking at the tape, I was impressed,
other than the long touchdown play, and the long run by (Duce) Staley
late. It wasn’t because anyone gave up or wasn’t any other reason.
Third and eight up the middle run, maybe we didn’t expect it at that
time, but it was unfortunate.”
(Coverage
on the long touchdown to Todd Pinkston)
“It was a tough down for (Dexter Jackson). We were in a two-deep
zone, it was a bootleg-pull-up pattern. They had an outside receiver streaking
down the sideline and they had another receiver running down the middle
to occupy the two-deep safety and Dexter’s in a tough position there.
We didn’t get a great read route but that happens sometimes and (Donovan)
McNabb threw a beautiful ball. Normally, Dexter’s range can overcome
that on a deep ball, but McNabb is special in some ways. He made a great
play.”
(Did
Warren Sapp’s absence on that play affect the outcome)
“I’m not going to stand up here and make excuses. Warren is
a great player and he might have disrupted that play, but that’s
beside the point. He wasn’t out there, he wasn’t able to play
at that particular time, and it didn’t work out on that particular
down.”
(Pass
to Keyshawn Johnson in the end zone)
“We put Keyshawn up on the safety. We tried to get a post-pattern
to get Keyshawn in the offense on that particular play. Dawkins just made
a heck of a play, honestly. The ball maybe wasn’t exactly thrown
where Keyshawn expected it, or wanted it, but they had pressure. They
blitzed us on that particular play. We put the ball up, we just didn’t
come down with it. In a clean pocket, Brad might have pulled Keyshawn
to the opposite post, on the other side of the field. It was a zone blitz
and you either throw the ball hot in that situation, or you stand in there,
take a lick and fire the ball to the post. And that’s what Brad did.
I think that the duress he was under, maybe he didn’t place the ball
where he would have if he had a clean pocket.”
(On
the loss putting this team in perspective)
“We have a good team and I’m going to tell America that we have
a good team. We lost yesterday 20-10, but we had our opportunities on
both sides of the ball, and in the kicking game to play better. I’m
not going to stand up here and belittle our football team for very long.
We are 5-2 and we have a chance to win our sixth football game next week,
and by God that’s what we are going to do. We lost to a very talented
football team coming off of a bye, at their place. We did not play well
enough in the kicking game or on offense to win, we did however play very
good on defense. We just need to deliver some clutch plays on the offensive
side of the ball and we need to establish better field position. It’s
a tough business from an offensive standpoint in Veterans Stadium on your
own 20-yard line. But we can improve and we feel like if we can take care
of business and continue to improve throughout the season, maybe we can
have another opportunity to play Philadelphia later.”
(On
change in protection packages at Carolina)
“We are going to change protection. We’ve been working hard
in trying to create matchups in our favor and utilize different personnel
groupings to help us in that area. Julius Peppers, with the pressure Carolina
applies, you bet (protection) will be as important as it ever is. This
is a very physical defensive football team. All you have to do is watch
them play Green Bay in Lambeau. If it wasn’t for a couple of trick
plays it’s a long day for the Packers three weeks ago in Lambeau.
This is a good football team and protection will be a huge, huge factor
in terms of winning this game.”
(What
do you tell players after loss)
“We try to remain poised, honestly. It’s been a long time since
we lost a football game and when you win five consecutive games, it’s
a shock to your system when you lose. And especially a game in Philadelphia,
when you want to win so bad for obvious reasons. But I think the big thing
is the will of the men, in the room, we have is capable, together, to
overcome adversity. We lost to the New Orleans Saints at home in our first
game and it was a very difficult moment in that locker room, just as it
was yesterday, just as it is anytime you lose. I think the big thing is
to keep working and understand how close we are to where we want to be.
And at the same time let’s meet the challenges ahead in terms of
work. We have to be honest with ourselves and at the same time remain
confident.”
(The
play of Julius Peppers)
“He’s a good player, there’s no question. For a rookie
to come in here and establish himself as quickly as he has, has been impressive.
They use him very creatively. John Fox is a guy that not a lot of people
are familiar with but he’s a great coach. What he did with Michael
Strahan in New York speaks for itself. The guy understands football, he’s
great with players and Peppers is a guy, physically, that has a criteria
that you’re looking for. He’s a very impressive football player.”
(On
Brian Kelly’s play)
“Brian is a pro football player. He’s a physical guy, very good
tackler, long arms, good playing speed, tough, smart, he’s instinctive.
He gets overshadowed a little because of Ronde (Barber), that’s justifiable.
Ronde’s a good looking guy and all that other stuff. But Brian is
a good, solid, steady football player that’s physical, that can cover
and is playing with a lot of confidence right now. It’s that time
frame. He’s a full-time starter right not, it’s his job and
we really respect what he has done the first seven games.”
(When
starting quarterback will be named)
“I’d like to (know) here after this meeting. But sometime standing
in front of you guys after a win is a little bit easier than after we
lose. The players are probably easier to interview after we win than after
we lose. But to stand up here facing adversity is exciting for the Buccaneers.
It’s exciting to see how we handle the next chapter in this season.
But we want to know, obviously, quick, but at the same time it doesn’t
look good. The man (Brad Johnson) has a fractured rib and that’s
a tough duty about being a quarterback in the NFL.”
(Preparing
game plans for each quarterback (Rob or Brad Johnson) and if a flack jacket
could be worn by Brad Johnson)
“We’ll be assembling a Johnson plan. We’ll have something
for the Johnsons. (A flack jacket) might help the situation, but the big
thing is when you’re sore, your range of motion is inhibited. A flack
jacket would help you if you get hit again, but it wouldn’t ease
the pain. Again, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brad Johnson is ready
to roll on Wednesday, really I wouldn’t be surprised if he was waiting
in my office when I leave here. We need to respond to injuries in a logical
way, and we will do that. I know that they will respond. I have seen them
respond. When we lost to the New Orleans Saints, we went to Baltimore
and played a tough Raven team and that was a real challenge. Beating Cincinnati
after coming off of a short week and an emotional week after beating the
Rams, this is a good football team. You would like to coach this team,
anyone would. And they will come to the hunt on Sunday, and we will find
a way to win.”
(Concerns
about Carolina’s starting quarterback)
“(Randy) Fasani is a guy that can really run, he moves around well.
(Chris) Weinke is a big guy that can throw the football. They are a little
like us right now, you have to play the cards you’re dealt with.
That’s the NFL, that’s why you keep three quarterbacks and train
them all.”
(Where’s
the team in the playoff picture)
“I really don’t know. I really don’t have any idea what’s
going on in other team’s organizations. I don’t want to stray
away from that bulls-eye or we’ll get our head knocked off. We’re
just going to continue to look at our next opponent and if we are fortunate
to get in the Super Bowl tournament we will deal with whomever we have
to deal with at that point. Right not it’s about winning another
game, and improving in some areas that we need to improve.”
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