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STEELERS at REDSKINS SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009 KICKOFF IS AT 7:30 P.M. FEDEX FIELD POST-GAME QUOTES
REDSKINS QUOTES
HEAD COACH JIM ZORN
*
*On the fake punt:
"We saw a little something and we planned it out. It was a bit scary to call it that deep in our territory, but I called it. Also it was fourth-and-ten not fourth-and-two, so we really had to go in and get it. But we had confidence that it was going to go and it was a success. Rock [Cartwright] did a really nice job making the cut up the field."
*
*On Quarterback Jason Campbell's performance:
"I didn't know that it was one-of-seven for ten yards. I thought he stood in strong. We would have all liked to have completed the ball on that first play deep, but Troy [Polamalu] did a nice job. I haven't seen it but I've heard it was offline. I was really excited about how he stood in there strong. I asked him to throw some more vertical plays. We got shut down one time on one of the longer throws, he couldn't get it off. Overall, there was not a lot of production but I thought he was still in command of what we were trying to do."
*
*On his decision of calling more verticals:
"I want to be able to mix. I want to be able to see what our receivers can do. We were trying to work on separating from defenders. A lot of people are proud in the line of scrimmage because our run game has been decent. I wanted to see what we could do one-on-one."
*
*On if he was pleased with the offense's overall performance:
"I was much more pleased. We ended up converting third downs. We were one-and-eleven a week ago and I think we were nine-of-seventeen this game. We definitely improved in our third down conversion. We even converted a couple of fourth down plays, so I was very pleased. What I am looking for as far as improving is continue to improve our route running down the field, continue to improve our poise under pressure and try to execute very well, and we did a lot of that tonight."
*
*On fullback Mike Sellers' injury status:
"He is going to be fine. Somebody's knee hit the inside of his knee. It is just a bruise, it is a contusion. The other slight pull that we had was Ladell Betts, an oblique muscle in his back."
On what he wanted to see out of running back Clinton Portis:
"I wanted to give him a couple of carries. I had a screen that we called for him and it was not successful. I think he did a nice job blocking in there and got to run the ball a couple times. He showed that he had a little burst. I think we accomplished what we had planned for him, with our coaching staff and what we had to do to get him the ball and get him some carries."
On quarterback Chase Daniel:
"Chase [Daniel] had a wonderful night. He had six-of-eight. I think he had [58] yards and he was poised. We are working on some tempo things. He was excited, he hung in there, he got a nice scramble for a first down, he threw to Fred Davis for a touchdown and Marko Mitchell for a touchdown. I was excited for a guy not getting a lot of reps to perform with some poise. Just like every second group out there they want to do well and they certainly did."
PLAYERS
QUARTERBACK JASON CAMPBELL
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*On throwing deep and being aggressive early:
"Yeah, that's something we talked about, just trying to take a shot deep. We'd like to complete them, but at the same time it does more for us than just putting up yards in the stat book. It gave us opportunities to back them off of us a little bit and to let some underneath routes come open. Last week we didn't get a chance to take any shots deep so it was good."
On how deep balls contribute to opening up the running game:
"It helps out with the running game because it gets an extra man out of the box and that's what you need. Throwing the ball deep puts that threat in the defense so they have to back up a little bit. There will be a couple times where we'll be able to hit them and complete them and keep moving. One thing we have to do is continue to take those shots."
On if the offense was better this week than it was against the Baltimore Ravens:
"I felt like we played with more passion. I felt like we came off the ball well and ran the ball well. We had a 14-play drive against a defense like Pittsburgh's and you could see they were doing a little bit of everything, standing guys up on 3rd down and bringing a lot of pressure. I thought our offensive line did a good job of picking the guys up and the receivers trying to get open as quick as possible. You know they're bringing heat, but you don't know from where when they're standing guys up like that."
*
*On how it felt to move the ball on the opening drive:
"It felt good to get there and get playing. We wanted to take some shots. It gives the opportunity to back the defense up and try to make some plays downfield. They did a good job of covering our screen plays and we had to dump it. Overall, we moved the ball well. They played good defense too."
On the offense gaining confidence from moving the ball on the opening drive:
"We got into a rhythm. We were moving the ball and we were feeling comfortable. We tried to make quick decisions and take what they were giving us. That is how we moved the ball downfield on the first drive."
On what the offense can approve on for next week:
"We took out shots and hopefully we can start hitting them. You have to take them in preseason. We will start hitting them soon. It feels good to comfortable with the guys and throw a couple passes downfield in the game."
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*REDSKINS DEFENSIVE END ANDRE CARTER
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*On playing with defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth:
"It went well. It is preseason so we only had a few snaps with each other. He is still getting a feel for the defense and we are still getting a feel for each other and that will come with time. We will play all the first half and some of the third quarter against the Patriots so we will have a lot more opportunities to play with each other."
On allowing the Steelers to convert several third down opportunities:
"We need to be disciplined. The penalties kind of hurt us. We want to be aggressive but you need to be smart too. We got to find that medium and we will look at it and analyze it and go from there."
On the potential of the defense to generate pressure on the quarterback this season:
"Every week is a little progression. We have a lot of talent but with talent comes hard work and everybody knows that. We are never content on being dominant. We want to be great and excel on a high level."
REDSKINS QUARTERBACK CHASE DANIEL
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*On getting a chance to play this week after sitting out the Baltimore game:
"To get out there and get hit finally made me feel alright because I am a physical quarterback. We played like coach wanted us to and bear down and get completions."
On throwing two touchdowns:
"Anytime you can go out there in your first NFL game and throw two touchdowns it is something you dream about. It is something I have been dreaming about since I was 6 or 7 years old. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would go out there and throw 2 touchdowns. It was a great feeling."
On making an impression after not playing last week:
"It is good to go out there and get on some film. I got three series under my belt. I got to keep working hard in practice and getting better. I still made some mistakes out there on some run plays and some pass plays. That will come along with experience. I still have a long way to go."
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*TIGHT END FRED DAVIS
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*On Chase Daniel in the huddle:
"He seemed confident. He slang the rock; running it. It's like he knew what he was doing."
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*On his touchdown catch:
"I had a feeling it could come to me. When I saw that the safety bit I was like, 'Please throw it. I'm open. I know I'm going to be open.'"
REDSKINS DEFENSIVE TACKLE ALBERT HAYNESWORTH
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*On his preseason debut with the Redskins:
"It was good to get out there tonight and knock some of the rust off. We have all the time in the world. We just need some time to gel together and we can accomplish a lot of great things. We could be one of the best defenses in the league."
*
*On Brian Orakpo:
"Brian created some great pressure off the edge. He was all over the field and made a lot of plays. He is a great young talent."
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*REDSKINS WIDE RECEIVER MARKO MITCHELL
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*On his confidence being in the starting lineup:
"My confidence level from the first time I got here is real high because I understand the offense real well and I understand the people that I'm around, and know where I need to be. My confidence is real high right now."
On his touchdown catch:
"That was just a typical play that I normally make. The coach was going to call my number, so it was up to me to answer."
On hearing Coach Zorn calling his number on the touchdown play:
"When I heard that it was called in the huddle, I kind of felt like Chase was going to come to me because I've built a lot of chemistry with the different guys that I have practiced with and he has enough confidence in me and me making a play for him."
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*REDSKINS LINEBACKER/DEFENSIVE END BRIAN ORAKPO
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*On how he feels at linebacker:
"I am getting better and that is the main thing. [London] Fletcher, Rocky [McIntosh] and the rest of the guys are really helping me out to get acclimated to the position. Repetition is key and I can only get better through practice and in the games it will be natural for me."
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*REDSKINS RUNNINNG BACK CLINTON PORTIS
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*On his first game of the preseason:
"I thought we had a pretty good drive. We sustained a long drive. Special teams kept it alive and gave us an opportunity. We made a couple plays on the drive. That was the difference for us. We want to sustain drives and make plays. Unfortunately, we did not come up with seven but it was a good start."
On how comfortable he felt:
"I felt good. Once you step on the field you have to be in game mode. It's always fun to play football."
On what he wants to improve on for next week:
"We got to get a touchdown and finish a drive. If we have another big drive, of course we have to finish. We cannot get stopped at the inch line and come up with three points. We have to finish drives and keep sustaining the momentum."
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*REDSKINS CORNERBACK FRED SMOOT
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*On the progress of the second and third unit defenses from last week's game against Baltimore:
"It kind of caught our younger guys off guard. They did not really know what to expect. We have a lot of young guys that are fresh out of college. As long as we got better than we were last week, we feel fulfilled. If we can come out against the Patriots next week and we perform better then we feel fulfilled. When it comes down to it, we want everyone to be healthy for Week 1 because the NFC East is not a joke."
HALFTIME QUOTES
REDSKINS HEAD COACH JIM ZORN
*
*On Jason Campbell:
"Very good, he is doing a great job on his decision making. I can only think of one occasion where we had some miscommunication – on a third-and-three play at the beginning of the second quarter. He did a good job getting the team down the field on our first drive. We should have scored a touchdown, but the Steelers did a great job. We got stopped and we have to get better at the goal line."
*
*On the interception late in the half:
"Well we don't want to see those turnovers. The guy was making a great play on the ball, a good defensive play. I'll have to see it on the video to see what happened. We were fortunate that they didn't get any points off of that turnover. We are competing hard. We're trying to keep it more open, trying to do some more things downfield and see how our players respond."
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*REDSKINS QUARTERBACK JASON CAMPBELL
*
*On how it felt to move the ball on the opening drive:
"It felt good to get there and get playing. We wanted to take some shots. It gives the opportunity to back the defense up and try to make some plays downfield. They did a good job of covering our screen plays and we had to dump it. Overall, we moved the ball well. They played good defense too."
On the offense gaining confidence from moving the ball on the opening drive:
"We got into a rhythm. We were moving the ball and we were feeling comfortable. We tried to make quick decisions and take what they were giving us. That is how we moved the ball downfield on the first drive."
On what the offense can approve on for next week:
"We took out shots and hopefully we can start hitting them. You have to take them in preseason. We will start hitting them soon. It feels good to comfortable with the guys and throw a couple passes downfield in the game."
*
*REDSKINS RUNNINNG BACK CLINTON PORTIS
*
*On his first game of the preseason:
"I thought we had a pretty good drive. We sustained a long drive. Special teams kept it alive and gave us an opportunity. We made a couple plays on the drive. That was the difference for us. We want to sustain drives and make plays. Unfortunately, we did not come up with seven but it was a good start."
On how comfortable he felt:
"I felt good. Once you step on the field you have to be in game mode. It's always fun to play football."
On what he wants to improve on for next week:
"We got to get a touchdown and finish a drive. If we have another big drive, of course we have to finish. We cannot get stopped at the inch line and come up with three points. We have to finish drives and keep sustaining the momentum."
