Marrone Monday Media Session

Head Coach Doug Marrone
Monday, October 6, 2014

Q: Injuries?
A: Scott Berchtold: Just real quick on the injury front. Ron Brooks was discharged from the hospital earlier today and he is traveling back to Buffalo with one of our athletic trainers as we speak. Everybody else finished the game.

Q: How is Ron [Brooks] doing?
A: I really can’t answer that, other than the fact that he was discharged from the hospital just like anybody else would. Like [Scott] said, he’s with one of our athletic trainers coming back here. He’s flying back to Buffalo, I think, right now.

Q: Does it appear he dodged a serious injury?
A: Yeah, [considering] the fact that he’s walking out.

Q: How uplifting is that news about Ron?
A: Obviously, it’ one of those things. It’s difficult. It was scary the way he fell with the neck and head area. Then, to get reports that he’s released and coming back here is comforting.

Q: What did you think of the job Stefan Charles did filling in for Kyle Williams?
A: I’ll tell you, a couple of things happened. Kyle didn’t play. When you look at it, Marcell played about 57 plays, which is greatly increased. And he played 57 plays at a very high level. I think that’s important. I think that Stefan Charles and Corbin Bryant really stepped up and played they. They really did. I thought our inside guys played very well in the game. They made some key plays. They had a lot of internal push in the pocket with our ends collapsing it to create some sacks to try to get the quarterback off the spots. That’s a very, very positive thing for us.

Q: Can you talk about the job Marcell has done on the field this season?
A: I think I said it before. He’s a little under-the-radar statistically, but he’s been winning all of his matchups and playing extremely hard. I give him a lot of credit. During the week he was running extra on the side, knowing that he had to get himself ready to go. [He did that] without anyone telling him to do that.. He did it on his own and he’s just been playing very, very well for us.

Q: What did you see on film that was different from the quarterback production in the first four games?
A: I thought he [Kyle Orton] made some throws to [Marquise] Goodwin, to [Chris] Hogan. One was on first and 30. Obviously, we got the ball to Robert [Woods] over the middle. I think it started off a little bit tough for someone just getting back in there again, but I thought he played well. He did. Now the focus is to make sure that everyone around him gets better. There are a lot of things on that tape that we don’t want to put out there. Our running game and doing a better job up front. I thought the tackles did a nice job in pass protection against two very good defensive ends. I think, inside, we weren’t able to get up on the linebackers and, when we did, we were getting split on the doubles. We’ve got to do a better job of that.

Q: What led to C.J. [Spiller] gaining just seven yards on nine carries?
A: It’s [The Lions have] a very difficult defense. They were the top defense in the league. It’s very difficult. You’ve got to hit in 100 miles per hour and go and break tackles. There’s not going to be a lot of free areas and getting him in space and things like that. We tried to do that with a couple of the screens and swinging the ball out to him. It’s just a matter of doing a better job all-around.

Q: There was a large stretch of the game where he didn’t see a lot of action. Was that a benching?
A: No. I just think we were rotating in and Fred [Jackson] was playing well and we were probably throwing it at that point being down two scores. We probably had Fred in there more from the protection standpoint, but it wasn’t a benching.
Q: We saw less of Mike Williams and more of Chris Hogan and Marquise Goodwin. How much is that Mike or how much is that Chris and Marquise?
A: Well Marquise we’re just getting back and with the speed on the field we wound up hitting the go, which was a big play in the game. We’re looking to bring him back and increase where he’s going in certain looks. The matchups. That’s what it really comes down to. We had Chris in there playing some of the slot stuff. Mike’s more of an outside receiver. We’re just trying to find that right combination. Robert [Woods] and Sammy [Watkins] are receiving a lot of snaps. We’re trying to get that managed to where we can get the most production. And a lot of that comes from looking to see what you have to do each, how you want to attack a team and then really managing the snaps with the receivers and the tight end position. Scott [Chandler] is playing well and he’s playing a lot of snaps.

Q: How comforting is it to have a guy that can boot it through the end zone when you need him to.
A: I think it’s extremely comforting, from the standpoint of that’s why I think you’ve seen us now keeping the specialists up. We have a kickoff, punt and a field goal kicker. It’s been very productive for us. It really has. To be able to do that, now you can kick it out of the end zone. It’s the 20 [yard line] and it’s the last play. Very difficult, on a final play, to get it in there. If you squib, you don’t know. You don’t know if you are going to be able to punch it through or if will hit off of somebody’s leg and you still might have a shot for a Hail Mary and some point. When we came out and they were playing the squib and they brought everyone up, let’s just kick it through the end zone and play defense and get the ball.

Q: Jordan has really performed well in a job where perfection is almost expected. He’s got to keep those numbers up, doesn’t he?
A: He does. When you have those types of guys, one out of every x- amount of kicks they’ll toe it, which means they get under it a little bit and you get a return. The good thing about it is that, when he does toe it or get under the ball, we have a great hang-time, so we’re able to get the guys down the field. Again, it’s taking a play out of a game, especially when you have people back there that can take it to the house at any time. Everybody that hasn’t been around special teams, it’s amazing the amount of schemes that you have to prepare for on returns and punt returns and things like that. The better the player is back there, they more things you’re going to have to cover because they’re going to attack you every which way.

Q: Is there any updated from the league on the laser incident?
A: Obviously, I reported it. And then I hand it off to Russ [Brandon] to handle it with the league office. I haven’t heard anything from it since. Obviously, Monday’s are tough for us.

Q: How you been through something like that before?
A: No, I haven’t been through anything like that before.

Q: Are you worried that you might see it in future games.
A: I think the league will do their job and come out. Obviously, it’ll be something that has to be addressed.

Q: What are your thoughts regard the ownership situation this week? How exciting is that?
A: There are things going on. In New York, the owners are getting together to approve the sale of the team. We understand that. I think there’s going on the outside, but on the inside were preparing to do our best to go out there and win a football game. From that standpoint, it really hasn’t changed anything for us.

K Dan Carpenter
Monday, October 6th, 2014

Q: What happened on the kick where you were bothered with the laser pointer?
A: I mean obviously there was a laser pointer on the field. They were shining it on the spot and on Colton [Schmidt].. Obviously, it’s something that happens; something you usually don’t get prepared for. It is what it is. [The NFL is] looking into it and we’ll see where that is.

Q: They were shining it on the carpet where you wanted Colton to spot the ball?
A: Yeah. The times I noticed it was when it was on the spot on the 50-yard field goal and then apparently they we’re shining it up on Colton’s body and on his face. I didn’t notice that part of it. I just saw it when it was on the ground on the spot.

Q: Was it terribly distracting for you?
A: I noticed it. I’m not blaming it for a missed kick. I talked to Colton about it. Apparently it messed more with him if they’re shining it on him, because the side that it was coming from on that direction is more at my back. I guess it wasn’t really an issue for me.

CB Corey Graham
Monday, October 6th, 2014

Q: Where are your thoughts on division race that’s going to get a whole lot hotter this week?
A: You know that, going into the year, if you win your division then you’re in the playoffs. That’s our goal right now. We want to get into the playoffs, so we’ve got to win our division. This is a big game this week with New England coming in here.. Knowing this is a division game and they’re tied with us right now at the top, this is a special week for us. We’ve got to make sure that we’re prepared and get ready to go out and win this game.

Q: Is it more special with the change in ownership?
A: We know. We know the situation. We know what’s going on. We hear about it. We talk about it a little bit, but it’s not really important to us. As of right now, we just try to focus on playing football. Obviously, we’re happy we’re moving on to the next stage, but when it comes down to it, its just about playing ball. We just played ball. We’ve just got to prepare for this game. You guys saw the game last night. The Patriots looked good out there, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.

Q: Similar to the when the new owner was announced, are you excited to see the crowd crazy again?
A: I expect that every week. It’s just like they say from a defense. When you play well and show what you can do, coaches will expect that every week. The fans expect that every week and that’s exactly how we feel. The fans have been special all year. Every time we’ve gone out there they’ve been cheering for us, they’ve been behind us. It’s unreal. They’ve been pushing us to play better, so we expect it every week from them, just like they expect us to give our best every week.

WR Sammy Watkins
Monday, October 6th, 2014

Q: Did it feel good to go out there in the fourth quarter and make the type of plays you were drafted so high for?
A: Most definitely. My job is to go out there and make the biggest plays on the field at the most critical times. I think I did a great job. The offense did a great job with moving the ball and giving our kicker a chance to kick the ball.

Q: What clicked for you guys the second half?
A: I think it was all rhythm. We started passing the ball. Guys started getting into the game and guys started realizing that we can actually play with those guys. Once our offensive line started holding up [Ndamukong] Suh and [Nick] Fairley, we started moving the ball, we started running the ball, we started mixing it up.

Q: How good did it feel to come through and lift this offense?
A: It felt great. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. They had the number one defense and we knew that it was going to come down to us making plays. I think that at the end of the game and throughout the game, we made the plays that were presented to us. The line did great and Kyle [Orton] threw the ball pretty well.

WR Robert Woods
Monday, October 6th, 2014

Q: That was a huge win for you guys, right?
A: Yeah, big win. We had back-to-back losses. Had to bounce back. Happy to get a win on the road and we’ve got to get ready to face New England.

Q: What did the presence of Kyle Orton in the huddle do for you guys?
A: Energy. He’s fired up leading the team down. Not backing down. Telling us, ‘Let’s pick it up.’ When he’s fired up, we’re fired up. We’re confident with the ability of winning games. He just took it over for us and got us back in the lead and finished the game.

Q: How much does it keep your chins up to have such a good defense?
A: We’re always in the game. Our defense is playing very well, getting turnovers for us and getting us the ball back. They’re playing awesome right now. We’ve just got to do our part and put up points and get winning games.

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