Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: Just a couple things on tonight. No. 1, injury-wise, the only injury I have to report is Willie Smith with a low back. I don't know the exact extent of it but he wasn't able to finish the game. He went out with a low back, but that was really the only injury of any type of significance that we had in the game. Obviously, some bumps and bruises will show up tomorrow, but we'll find more of that out tomorrow. As far as the game in general, I thought there was some positives, but obviously some negatives. Positives that I thought we had in the game, I thought defensively, I thought we played the run extremely well. One of the things that we went into this game is we wanted to be a physical team in this game. And really I thought we were a physical team in this game. I thought our guys played with effort. I thought our guys ran around. We didn't always play as smart as we needed to play and that's where we have to continue to improve. We've got to eliminate some of the big plays, but I thought our run defense was good. I thought at times we bent but we didn't break. We made them kick field goals. I think we were 1-for-3 in the red zone. So there was some good things that we did in the game. Offensively, I just don't know that we were ever really able to get into a rhythm offensively because we only played 19 plays in the first half. They doubled us time of possession in the first half so it was hard for us offensively to really get much of a rhythm. But tonight, I did think we ran the ball well. I thought Terrelle took us down on a couple field goal drives. I thought he did some good things with his feet, moving around, scrambling around for some yards there. That was good. Obviously, we didn't like the interception that he threw there in the second quarter. And then I thought our second half offense wasn't what it needed to be. I thought we needed to play better second half. Again, we couldn't really get in much of a rhythm. That's really kind of how I thought the game went. With that, I'll open it up to questions for you guys.
On if he learned anything new about Terrelle Pryor: No, I thought it was kind of what I expected. This guy is a good athlete that can create and make some plays with his feet. The one thing that I thought is I thought he managed the huddle. I think there's still some meat left on the bone there that we have to try to improve on, but I thought he, for the most part…This is a loud stadium and I don't know that we had a lot of execution errors as far as snap count and cadence and that type of stuff. In that regard, I was pleased.
On starting quarterback Week 1: I'm not telling you, but yeah.
On reason for not sharing who the QB will be: Well, you have to think about competitive reasons too, so I we'll keep that in house and we'll announce it at the appropriate time.
On if he'll wait until the first game: I don't know, we'll see.
On if Pryor did enough to earn the job: I thought he did some good things. There's still a lot of improvement that he's got to do. I did think there was some good things that I saw and, again, it was kind of hard to judge on tonight's performance just because we only had 19 plays and it was hard for us to really get in much of a rhythm.
On Menelik Watson: I thought overall he did a pretty nice job. I'll have to go back, obviously, and look at the tape, but I didn't see guys just running around him left and right. I didn't see him with a lot of mental errors out there playing. So I think for the first time out again in this environment, in Seattle, against a good football team, I think that's something for us to improve on, something for him to grow from.
On Pat Sims: He did some good things early in the game. I think he's going to be a guy that's really going to be able to help us in our run defense and really shore up and solid up the middle of that run defense. Again, this was the first time this preseason where we were able to get our starting defensive line all together. I thought we did a nice job of stopping the run. Really, there was a couple times where we were able to get to the quarterback too, so that was good to see.
On defensive issues with roll-outs and bootlegs: It's guys doing their job and getting your eyes in the right spot and that's what happens most of the time. Guys put their eyes where they're not supposed to be and they don't see, especially when we're in man-to-man coverage, and most of those we were in a man-to-man coverage when they were hitting the guy in the flat. It's obviously something we have to continue to shore up and work on because we'll continue to see it until we get it stopped.
On Matt Flynn physically and if he'll practice next week: Yes, that's our anticipation that he's going to be ready to go when we take the practice field again on Monday. He'll be ready to go.
On if him sitting out was precaution: Giving him some rest and let his arm liven back up a little bit.
On the punter competition: Again, I'm going to hold onto that, but I think it's been a good competition. I think both those guys have done some good things. We'll let you guys know at the appropriate time who we decide to go with.
On if he's not saying for competitive reasons: Also competitive reasons and I want to have an opportunity to talk to them
On DJ Hayden: Again, it's his second time out, first time out on the road. There's still a lot of growing that this kid's got to do. I think every time he goes out there, he's going to continue to get a little bit better. I saw him throw his body in there one time on a low tackle and so that was good to see. There wasn't any hesitation there. As I go back and look at it, and he was one of the culprits on one of the plays in the flat, he was just sinking too much. They'll be a lot for him to learn from, but I'm glad he's able to get a couple preseason games under his belt before we hit the regular season.
On staying in running formations with Pryor when down 16-3 in the 2nd quarter: We were in our offense. There wasn't any reason to get into a panic mode. It's 16-3. You're on the road. You want to stay in the same rhythm of your offense. We were able to do that and we were able to get ourselves down there, get a field goal right before the half, go into the half at 16-6, and we're getting the ball back to start the 3rd quarter. I think the worst thing you can do sometimes, especially when you're facing a team that's got a really good pass rush, is to just get into drop back mode all the time and let those guys tee off. So we wanted to stay in a normal offensive rhythm and I thought we were able to do that and we were able to go down and get a field goal.
On not playing Darren McFadden and Charles Woodson: McFadden was a healthy scratch. Charles was sick so we decided not to play him in the game.
On not playing Stefen Wisniewski: Coach's decision on Wisniewski and [Khalif] Barnes. I wanted to hold both those players. We had a lot of guys that I expect to be on this football team that didn't play in the game tonight.
On if McFadden was close to playing because he suited up and stretched: No, I wasn't going to play him. I wasn't going to play Wisniewski and I wasn't going to play Barnes.
QB Terrelle Pryor
On his performance: I think I had 16 plays. We'll be better. I'll be better.
On his readiness to start: I feel like I am. Just today, I'm still angry at myself after that pick. At the end of the day, we drove down on the next drive and got three points before the half. We were still in the game. There are things I did today that I can grow off of, definitely. I think that's the main key. But I'm definitely ready.
On where he's made his biggest strides from Week 1 until now: Staying in the pocket. I was in the pocket a couple of times today waiting on somebody for a left-side throw. Also getting on the edge, making plays when things aren't there when we get pressure. I definitely did that well today, I thought, too.
On when to decide to run or stay in the pocket and read defenses: You can go on the pitch on the diagrams, but what was out there, nothing was open. Those were the times I ran. Just playing smart football. I just try to get better.
On how he's adjusting to differences between college and pros: Accuracy. Timing with receivers. I think I've definitely gotten better with that. Making strides. Today I threw one to Rod (Streater), I believe, and he didn't even get out of his break yet. That's just throwing with timing and understanding where he's going to be at. He made a great catch there. I thought what I did bad today was throwing that pick. I was late. That's something that just can't happen. We were moving the ball, I thought, and got three points two times, and I believe we could have kept it moving on the first drive. We've just got to make that play.
On if he's satisfied: I'm satisfied. I threw that pick. Besides that…but, you know, you can't have that. I know that everybody knows that. I thought we moved the ball well. It's hard to tell without having, especially when I was in there, I didn't have Wiz (Stefen Wisniewski) in there, I really didn't have my guys, the guys I was working with all week. At the end of the daya it's just about getting better, and now it's crunch time. I'll be ready to go.
On if he feels he's earned the right to start: I don't really want to get into that. It's going to be coach's call. Whatever he thinks is best for the team. At the end of the day, it's all about the team. If it's me leading, I'll lead to the best of my ability, we'll get things done. If it's Matt leading, he'll get things done, too. That's it.
QB Matt Flynn
On if the struggles of the offensive line and his level of mobility hurt his chances of being the starter: There are a lot of things we have been cleaning up protection wise. A lot of it is miscommunications and things we need to get cleaned up. Everyone from the quarterback to the running back to the offensive line, everyone has a little part of responsibility in that. The other part of is just to try to play my game. Keep us on schedule as an offense and get the ball out of my hands.
On how he would describe the preseason: I felt there was a lot of good things. I don't judge the preseason by just what happened in some of the games. It's about seeing where you are at as a player and a football team and I think overall things went well. We would have liked to put some better stuff on film game wise but that's what its for. To understand where you are and what you have to work on. We have a lot of things to clean up but now it starts for real. We have to pick it up and make those adjustments.
On how his arm feels: My arm is good, I got a little rest this week and I will come back next week fresher.
On if it was hard to rest: Definitely this week. I have a lot of friends on the other side in Seattle. It would have been fun to get out there and play against them a little bit.
On if he thinks he knows who the starter will be in Week 1: I don't think so. We'll see. I can't control anything that happens, I can only control what I do.
