FS Charles Woodson nearly intercepts a Brian Hoyer pass. Photo by Tony Gonzales
HEAD COACH TONY SPARANO
On the game: "Obviously, came up short again out here. I thought the kids' effort was really hard out there on the field today. I thought they played with a lot of energy, a lot of passion, a lot of enthusiasm. We didn't play smart football all the time and any time you come on the road and you turn the ball over three times, and you have a couple of penalties that we had out there today in some of those situations, you're not going to win. You're not going to win anywhere, whether it's home or it's away, and that's something that obviously we did. From that end there, that wasn't good enough. We closed the cushion there at the half to a score, came in the locker room and the guys felt really good about where we were. We went out there, our defense got us a stop. I thought our defense played outstanding today, particularly on third down. I thought they did a really good job of getting them off the field and giving us opportunities and we just didn't do enough to capitalize on some of those situations. We have to do a better job there. It starts with me; I have to do a better job. We all have to do a better job at that point. For a long time in this game we were involved in this game and we had another close football game right up until that last score on the road like this. We just have to learn how to tug that rope a little tighter in those situations and that's something that we have to learn to do and we're not there yet."
On if Darren McFadden's fumble was the turning point in the game: "There's a lot of things that are turning points in the game. You can point to a lot of things during the course of the game as you go through it, but obviously we had the ball down in there. Darren was running the ball well. I'd give Darren the ball in that situation a bunch of times. The kid made a nice play, put his helmet right on the football and the ball came out of there. At the end of that fumble, and then again this kind of keeps happening each week, it's like this one giant series these last three weeks where they take the ball, they have a couple of chunk plays in that drive, a scramble play that ends up being a big hit, and then they go down and score. So we turn the ball over there with a chance to go ahead and maybe really swing the momentum our way and then they go down the field and score. That's where all phases have to work together and that situation, obviously, we didn't do it. I thought Darren ran the ball hard to today."
On the fake field goal: "Honestly, it was my call. It was something we saw on tape. I think had the play been executed properly, obviously we didn't have a great exchange there, I think had the play been executed properly and the ball had got out a little earlier, then I think we had a good chance at it. But it was a call on the road in that situation, down and distance-wise with where we were there, that I thought we needed to take a chance. You don't come on the road here and play to lose. I understand those are the calls that get second-guessed…I got it. But that one is on me and we came here to win. We were going to do everything we could to win the football game."
On Derek Carr: "I really have to watch the tape. I thought Derek battled hard out there. I thought he fought hard. You could see even towards the end there…we may have had a couple of drops in there…but there's some things he's going to look back at - there was a protection issue down there that [Paul] Kruger made a sack on. It was kind of a similar scenario that happened with Houston several weeks with JJ Watt coming off of the edge where we slid a protection one way and that type of thing. There was a little bit of non-communication or miscommunication there and I'm sure Derek would tell you about that too. So there's some things he's going to be able to look at the tape and learn from. The great thing about Derek Carr is that he doesn't settle. He's going to go out there and he's going to learn from the film tomorrow and I thought the guy competed his tail off right to the very end of the ballgame. I can't ask for any more from the kids that way. They played with a lot of passion and a lot of energy. We did a lot of things to change up our routine to come out here and that isn't the reason we lost the football game. It's just another missed opportunity for us in some of these situations where we put ourselves in a good position to win a game on the road and didn't win it. We have to win those football games and we won't settle until we do."
On touchdown with DJ Hayden on the field: "Honestly I didn't see it. I didn't see that portion of the play. It happened, at that particular second I was kind of over with the line trying to fix something really quick and then came back, and I didn't see that particular situation and that deal so I'll have to watch the tape to give you an honest answer."
On Hayden's defensive playing time: "We feel confident with him. We had to use a small package with DJ this week. He was involved in some special teams and he was involved down there in the red zone. I don't know what his play count was, but we certainly didn't want to just throw him out there and play a ton of plays, but wean him in a little bit. As I said to you guys earlier in the week, we really needed to make that decision when we felt like the player was DJ was healthy. I felt like he had two solid weeks of practice and we weaned him a little bit. Little by little he'll get more and more."
On Benson Mayowa's hustle-play to make the tackle: "He made a heck of a hustle play there. I actually almost thought he was close to knocking that ball out. Those are the things that with this team right now that are really positive things. No one is going to want to hear that, I understand that, we're where we are. But these kids are hustling and they're getting around the football and something good is going to happen. The ball pops out of there on a kick, Olawale makes a really good play, and the ball pops out of there at their end of the field, and we're just not there to cover the football. I thought Benson, at times, particularly early in the game, he set the edge really good on the run. This team wanted to run the ball against us, but they really…I thought our guys did an excellent job that way. I felt like defensively they executed the plan really well right up to the end there where they got the easy score."
On TJ Carrie's injury: "Something with his back. We'll evaluate here later on, but he kind of came down funny on it, so we'll see where he is there."
On the right tackle position: "It was a little period there where you see Menelik [Watson] on the field in one scenario there and he had a little bit of a shoulder-stinger-thingy, so I got Khalif [Barnes] into the game there. And then, to be honest with you, I was worried whether or not he'd have enough power and that type of stuff, but then I put him back in. We'll have to watch the film to see how Menelik ended up. But going into the football game, I was going to kind of rotate that around a little bit just to keep Khalif going as well in that situation and see how it worked out."
On punting on 4th and 5 with a little over six minutes left: "It was a tough call. In that situation I felt like there were still six and a half minutes left, maybe we'd have a chance to get the ball twice there. And I think we did end up getting the ball twice, maybe it was once, I'm not positive. I felt like we had two more opportunities there to get the football. Had a couple timeouts and felt like, at that point, I needed to use the timeouts to keep time. Obviously, we did a good job of using the timeouts and utilizing that scenario early in the ballgame there in the first half and towards the second half. I just felt like at that point I needed to use them to keep time for the offense. Six and a half minutes left, I didn't feel like it was the right time to do that in that situation."
QB DEREK CARR
On success in the passing game but lack of touchdowns: "I don't know. Again, those are always hard things to say without seeing the film, seeing this play, this coverage, all those things. On the field it's hard to tell. Like you said, I thought we moved the ball pretty well; we moved it efficiently, but obviously not enough. We lost so we have to go back and look at those things we need to do better."
On if it was the plan to attempt so many passes: "Again, that's something for Coach Sparano and Coach [Olson] to talk about. For me, the game, the ebb and flow of a game, things can change, things can go a certain way based on coverages they played, fronts and pressures, all those things. When the play comes in my headset, I just do as I'm told and try to do it to the best of my ability."
On if starting 0-7 will hurt his development: "Not at all because I'm too strong of a person. I give everything that I have. If we were 7-0 right now, I'd be the same guy I am right now. That's not going to be a problem for me. As long as I'm picking up the pressures, handling my protections, going to the right place with the football, we're getting better. We're getting better…obviously, the wins aren't there, but to answer that question, I'm not worried at all."
On the fumble late in the game: "So they were playing man and 51 was kind of eyeing me; he was rushing but he was at the line of scrimmage, so I turned to run. I pumped it to Dmac [Darren McFadden] because they had no one for me, so I pumped it to Dmac and I went to take off to run and it would have been a big gain and just my guy was right there. Right as I turned around, I ran into him. It's just one of those, 'really, does that have to happen,' one of those things. Saw the coverage fine, saw what they were doing and I just tried to take off and make a play."
On 3rd down throws being short of 1st downs: "Those are things that when we turn the film on, whatever that play is called, what is that route supposed to be run at, what coverage are the playing, where am I supposed to go with the ball. There is so much. I wish I could have a detailed answer for you, but there's so much that goes into it. It just depends on what they're playing and what our play call is, so it's tough to say, 'hey, this is the answer,' because there's so much that goes into it."
On the effort of Charles Woodson: "I told him coming off the field, I said…and he doesn't need to hear it from me, but as the leader of this time, I just walk around and try to encourage dudes…and I said, 'hey man, keep your head up.' He already knows that; I don't need to say that, but I told him, 'man, I look up to you. I appreciate your effort. I appreciate everything that you do.' That man is giving his heart and soul, just like I do, just like all those guys do. WE give it everything we go. To see what he's doing and for him to come to, not just the games, but at practice he gives everything he has. Those are the things that some people don't see. At his age and what he's done in his career, he could say he doesn't have to do those things, but he continues to do them and I respect the heck out of him."
On frustration with different issues being at play in the losses: "It is hard. I would say this – we played hard. We played with effort. We played with energy. You can tell in the past three games, same result, but it's a different team. We're not the same team. It's not just a flat feeling on the sideline. There's not just a feeling of, 'oh here we go again.' It's a different mindset. We're changing the culture. Obviously the wins aren't' there yet, but we're changing it. Now when it comes to when the games happen it's just this or this or this…things are going to happen. Like you said, a guy put his helmet right on the right spot. I ran into my own guy trying to make a play versus that coverage, which is something we talked about all week. 'Hey, versus this coverage, make a play with your feet.' So I go to do it and it just so happens that my guy is right there. It's things like that that are so tough. But for me, it's easy because I just keep working hard. I just continue to work hard. I don't know what else to do. Even when I was winning in college, all I did was work hard because I always want to make myself better because I think that gives us the best chance."
On why it's a different team now: "I don't know, honestly. I'm not a head coach and I don't know how those things go. I don't know why it's different. I don't know why it is because we loved DA [Dennis Allen] just as much as we love Sparano. I don't know what the difference is, but we are playing different. I don't know what that is. I don't know if its our mindset change or what, but I'm excited man because we're going to keep working. I'm going to keep working. I'm not worried about anything. I'm going to keep working and that's all I know to do."
On working with Kenbrell Thompkins: "If he continues to make one-handed catches like that, I'm going to keep throwing to him. I mean, my goodness. We all saw the play. That's a tough grab on a great corner. He's a good player. I think the world of all our receivers. I give them all chances all the time. He's done a great job of coming in and learning and putting the extra effort in. Coming in really early in the morning and sitting with Coach Gilmore, taking Coach Gilmore's time. He's helping him, getting him ready. It's a special thing. It means a lot to him, you can tell."
RB DARREN MCFADDEN
On what happened on the fumble: "I got hit and put the ball on the ground. That's what it was."
On what it's going to take to execute on critical plays: "We just have to go out and keep fighting and finish the game. We can't go out there and play like we did today."
On if he felt the ball was tucked away: "I put the ball on the ground and it is what it is. I take full responsibility for it. I caused it amd things went downhill after that."
On frustrations of being winless: "It's very frustrating, but it's one of those things where you have to stick with it and keep fighting and stay the course."
TE MYCHAL RIVERA
On the frustration of the loss today: "It is definitely frustrating, but all we can do is look forward. Look forward and move ahead and keep fighting like fighters do."
On what it is going to take to make the plays in critical situations: "We have got to look at the film and figure it out. We obviously haven't figured it out yet. So we have to figure it out and, like I said, keep fighting."
On if it is easier said than done to stay positive: "You always have to stay positive. In life you are going to have things that knock you down and you get nothing done with negativity. You've got to stay positive."
On if it was nice to get involved in the offense early: "It was nice, but it means nothing without a win."
On what Head Coach Tony Sparano said to the team after the game: "Keep fighting."
DL ANTONIO SMITH
On if anything strategically was done to stop the run today: "Nothing strategically, we just made it a point to stop the run. I think this is the second week in a row we've had a zone-running team. Those zone-running teams run it the same way so it gave us an advantage playing against it with the side-to-side running and the ball cutting back."
On what they do differently against that offensive alignment: "(We) get penetration. With other running schemes, you've got double-teams and they run powers, counters and dives. Those are mostly downhill hit and runs. With that zone-running it's a side-to-side cutback type of style. There are two different ways of playing it."
On if it is a challenge facing the Browns running style: "Not really. You've got to penetrate one side and on the other side don't get cut. That's the bottom line; if you get cut they are going to get a big run so you've got to stop them from getting cut on the backside and play the front side tough."
S CHARLES WOODSON
On if his body is holding up after so many years of playing: "My body feels good. I never envisioned playing this late in my career, but here I am, still able to go out there and do my thing. I'm having a lot of fun."
On the difference of third down defense compared to previous weeks: "We did put a little bit of emphasis on third down when we started this week. We did a really good job on third downs. It was just some other parts of the game that faltered today."
On frustrations of being winless, especially as a veteran player: "It's frustrating. We went out there and fought hard. We felt good about the game. There were a couple of things here and there. They capitalized on it."
On what they do now at 0-7: "All you can do is go to work. That's really all you can do."
