Jump to content

Marvin Lewis and Carson Palmer Press Conference Transcripts

oldschooler

Recommended Posts

oldschooler Hall Of Fame

oldschooler

Posted
Posted
[quote][size=5][b]Marvin Lewis Press Conference [/b][/size]
December 26, 2007

[b]Opening comments:
ML:[/b] The guys who didn't practice were T.J. Houshmandzadeh with an ankle, Dexter Jackson with a calf and Rudi Johnson with a hamstring. The guys who will miss this week's game are DeDe Dorsey, Eric Ghiaciuc and Madieu Williams. Willie Anderson (hamstring), Dhani Jones (shoulder), Domata Peko (ankle) all had limited practice today. Again, we're probably in pretty good shape, as good as we've been.

As we look forward to the Dolphins ... early on in the year, I noticed a couple things saying that if they were 0-15 at this point, that when the Bengals came, that they would have a great opportunity to win their first game. Our guys are real excited to go down there and play football. It's a chance for some of our guys who are from that area to go home and play. It's going to be exciting and important for us to finish the season on a high note with another win. I was glad we came out and finished the season here at home with a win for our fans, and I know there's a large contingent of people from Cincinnati traveling to South Florida for this game, so it'll be fun.

They're a team that has some weapons offensively. They've had some injuries. But they found a couple of backs who have done a good job when they've gotten opportunities. They make people miss. they run strong. They're good cutters. They have good quickness. They've made some good plays that way. They have receivers that have explosive speed over the top, and have opportunities to make big plays that way. They have a returner in Ted Ginn who's scored four times this year. They have some weapons.

Defensively, they've really put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks throughout the season even though they haven't had leads. Teams have been able to run the football more, so their numbers are more skewed that way as far as rush defense. They've made some explosive plays in special teams. They have the ability to make plays on offense. I'm not sure which quarterback we'll see. And they're probably a little better football team defensively than what their numbers show.

[b]Q: What about Jason Taylor makes him so good?
ML:[/b] He's got great leverage. He's got long arms. He's had an ability since he came out of Akron --- you looked at him and you knew he could be a very productive rusher in the NFL. For a guy of his body weight, he plays with good anchor. He's got leverage, can bend his knees. He's a great knee bender. He plays extremely hard and he's a smart guy. So he's what you want as a pro. He's been fun to watch in his career. He's done a fine job."

[b]Q: You get to see another 3-4 defense. Do you have any advantage having seen it so much over the course of the season?
ML:[/b] We've played a lot of teams with the 3-4, so their looks and other things, we should be familiar with. It comes down to identification, which our guys do an excellent job at. We are used to it. You're correct in saying that, because of the identification from playing the teams in our division, week in week out.

[b]Q: How do you feel about the rematch between Levi Jones and Joey Porter?
ML:[/b] This is a football game. What went on months ago doesn't play much into this, and shouldn't. They're both pros, and both fine pros. We have a football game to play and that's what's important.

[b]Q: Have you seen progress in Levi Jones, since he had a few problems early in the year?
ML: [/b]I have been very pleased with what Levi has done this year. He has really kept himself going physically. He's in some pain out there, and he's not quite all the way right. I think it will take another offseason to strengthen himself to where he gets back to the form before he was injured. He's fought hard to keep himself in the lineup. The guys around him see that. They know the pain he's in and that he has to drag himself up to his feet.

[b]Q: How important is it to have Willie Anderson back to finish the season?
ML:[/b] It means a lot to the guys. I think he shows the veteran players and the young guys what it is, and that you don't just chuck it in. You come back and play, even if there's nothing on the line. Willie had nothing on the line, except for proving how good he is, which he did last week. We saw the type of quality player that he is.

[b]Q: Leon Hall has really come on lately:
ML:[/b] He's made a lot of plays. He does a great job of tackling. He has effective blitzes and he's obviously good in coverage. He's done a better job of playing to his strengths on each and every play, and I think that has enabled him to play with more confidence.

[b]Q: Do you feel that with Leon (Hall), Chinedum (Ndukwe), and Marvin (White) in the backfield, it brings a tougher brand of football?
ML:[/b] The guys did a good job last week. This is a physical game, and they did a good job of tackling. The guys are young, and they make some errors, and this will be another week. One week doesn't make a season.

[b]Q: Life in the NFL is all about change. Some of the guys in the locker room right now won't be here next year:
ML:[/b] That's part of the way it goes. That's the way the system is set up. It enables guys to go out and play extremely hard and to the best of their ability, and to reap the benefits of that.

[b]Q: Do you anticipate offseason issues developing quickly?
ML:[/b] Don't get your hopes up. I think sometimes (media) tend to jump the gun on things. For the most part, we've redone coaches' contracts each and every year. We'll make decisions as we move forward, but we're not going to have any earth-shaking news on Monday that you can run home about. We're going to evaluate our players and coaching and try to move forward. We have to make a better football team. We have to build a team that can win games in this division week-in week-out. That's what we're going to look at. We have to make sure we get back on track. I know injuries have played a part, but that's no excuse. When you have injuries, your good players have to step up. We didn't do a good enough job as coaches.[/quote]


[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6559"]http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6559[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldschooler Hall Of Fame

oldschooler

Posted
  • Author
Posted
[quote][size=5][b]Carson Palmer Press Conference [/b][/size]
December 26, 2007

[b]Q: You've seen a lot of 3-4 defenses. Will it help this week to have a reference point?
CP:[/b] I think so. At times you go into games like this and come into a game plan where you're going off the previous week, and it's all about identification. As long as you ID the front you're fine but if you have trouble identifying it and one guy is off here or one guy is off there, that's where they get sacks. Like you said, from Cleveland and all of the teams we've played in the past within our division, a lot of the stuff you see from pissburgh, you see the same things with these guys. It's all about getting IDs right and getting on the same page, and figuring out a way to block it. If these guys figure out a way to confuse you at all, they can get to the quarterback. I think they're third in the league in sacks (per pass play). They do a good job of that. So with a new center, we have to do a great job of pointing guys out, figuring out who's who - who's a defensive lineman, who's a linebacker - and getting the big guys on the big guys.

[b]Q: T.J. Houshmandzadeh leads the league in receptions, but how cognizant of that are you, and how much would you like to get that for him within the scope of winning the game?
CP:[/b] The first goal is to win. Everybody is worried about the win - T.J. is worried about the win. I'm sure in the back of his mind he'd like to get that, and as an offense in the back of our minds we'd like to get that for him, but nothing comes before a win. No personal stats or records or anything. I hope for T.J. that he gets it, and I hope that Chad gets the yardage deal, but first and foremost we're going to Miami to get a win.

[b]Q: How tough is it to block Miami's record out of your mind and take this as dangerous game?
CP:[/b] It can be, and it would be if we weren't in the situation that we're in. It's not like we're 13-2 coming into this game. It's two average teams going at it, and we have to play better than they do on Sunday.

[b]Q: Are you glad that they finally have a win coming into this game?
CP:[/b] Yeah, it takes a little bit of pressure off of us going into that game, but any time you see a fellow division team lose it's a good thing. Seeing Baltimore lose that game was good.

[b]Q: Would you be surprised by any coaching changes?
CP:[/b] No, I won't be surprised.

[b]Q: How many changes do you think there will be?
CP:[/b] I don't know. I'm not worried about that right now. I'm worried about Miami. We've got too much to worry about with what they do on defense and the looks we see. I'm just trying to get the game plan studied right now, figure out what we're going to do on third down and then tomorrow move on to the red zone After the season is after the season. We're still playing, we're still going into Game 16 right now, so I'm not worried about what's going to happen after that.

[b]Q: Which players would you like to see re-signed?
CP:[/b] To be honest, it's the same situation. I'm not going to talk about that until we're in that situation. Right now we're just trying to find a way to get that next win.

[b]Q: It must be exciting to play in nice weather in Miami after what you've played in lately:
CP:[/b] I can't wait. Chad and I were talking about how the last five or six games have been either a ton of wind or sleet or rain or whatever. The field conditions have been bad. He gets to go home - we have a couple of guys on our team from Miami. We already checked the weather; it's supposed to be 80 degrees. It makes you jealous of the West Coast teams and the teams from the south that get to play in that weather, and of course the indoor teams that play half of their games in perfect conditions. We're excited. As a passing offense, any time you can play in the sunshine with fresh green grass that isn't dead, you have an advantage.

[b]Q: Not mud:
CP:[/b] It's not mud, it's still alive, it's still growing. You don't have to worry about sleeves or wearing tights underneath your football pants. It will be 80 degrees. It will be nice.

[b]Q: As a senior with the USC Trojans you beat the Iowa Hawkeyes. What do you remember about playing in Dolphin Stadium?
CP: [/b]I remember it's a beautiful stadium. It's the best grass I've ever played on. Actually in the Sports Illustrated players poll, it's always rated as the best grass in the league, them and Tampa. It's a beautiful stadium. I remember seeing a lot of Cardinal and Gold in the stands, and the other half was black and yellow with Iowa fans. It was humid - humid at least for the wintertime - but it was great weather conditions, and we're looking for the same this week.

[b]Q: Has the running game suffered due to injuries?
CP:[/b] I think so. In past years we've been extremely confident in the running game and gone into games knowing Rudi (Johnson) was going to get 100. It was just whether it was going to be 120 or 140 or 150. We've struggled for a number of reasons in that area this year. Anytime you're not as successful in one category as you've been in the past, you're at a loss, and obviously that was a big part of this year. We've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of work to do in the running game and in the passing game. Marvin consistently talks about stopping the run on defense and running the ball on offense, that's how you win, so we know that's a key to this organization, getting back to where we need to be. That needs to be a huge focus for us this offseason and we're going to work extremely hard in all of the OTAs and all of the camps and practices we're going to have in the offseason. It's a number of different of things.

[b]Q: Would you like to see Willie Anderson come back next year?
CP:[/b] Oh, yeah. This team loves Willie, and we're definitely a better offense with Willie on the field. I can't imagine why he wouldn't go into the Hall of Fame. A lot of guys we've played against have said he's the best they've played against left or right tackle. That's putting Willie up there with Walter Jones and Jonathan Ogden and a number of guys playing either tackle position. Any time you lose a guy like that you'll be hurt, so we'd love to have Willie back.[/quote]



[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6558"]http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6558[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cinci1fan1 Pro Bowler

cinci1fan1

Posted
Posted

[quote name='oldschooler' post='614064' date='Dec 26 2007, 05:44 PM']Q: Do you anticipate offseason issues developing quickly?
ML: [b]Don't get your hopes up. I think sometimes (media) tend to jump the gun on things. For the most part, we've redone coaches' contracts each and every year. We'll make decisions as we move forward, but we're not going to have any earth-shaking news on Monday that you can run home about. We're going to evaluate our players and coaching and try to move forward[/b]. We have to make a better football team. We have to build a team that can win games in this division week-in week-out. That's what we're going to look at. We have to make sure we get back on track. I know injuries have played a part, but that's no excuse. When you have injuries, your good players have to step up. We didn't do a good enough job as coaches



[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6559"]http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6559[/url][/quote]


So we ought to live with chuck again <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bengals1181 Hall Of Fame

Bengals1181

Posted
Posted
[quote name='bengalsfan850' post='614160' date='Dec 26 2007, 11:27 PM']the part about palmer not being surprised by possible coaching changes is intersesting [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/39.gif[/img][/quote]


not totally. I would think most (sensible) coaches wouldn't make any major offensive changes (coach or player) without discussing it at some length with their franchise QB. Not that its necessarily going to be an offensive change, but I'm confident that Marvin probably confides in Carson more on his long-term plans than any other player on the team.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...