Joemailman
09-16-2007, 08:12 PM
PACKERS POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mike McCarthy
Opening Statement:
I'll start off with the injuries. Tony Palmer had a finger and did not return. Chad Clifton had an ankle and did return.
What was the difference for you guys offensively, especially in the second half?
At first I thought we got into a rhythm early. We wanted to come out and get into the game and start fast in the first quarter especially because we had to play a good game on the road with the atmosphere that we had coming into the end of the year. I thought we got into a good rhythm early and we hit a patch in the second quarter where our protection gave penetration in the running game. Outside of that we did a good job of adjusting for the most part particularly in our pass protection and our guys played extremely well in the second half.
Seemed like Brett Favre got better as the game went on, especially on that 9-9 TD drive.
I thought he was very sharp and once again we cleaned up the pass protection in the second half, enabling him to get back here and deal the football. That's what we wanted to do in the game plan, spread it around, pick out players and do a good job of picking up perimeter players with yards after the catch and the running backs also did a nice job there too. That's the kind of rhythm you like to play with on offense.
Is this as complete a game as this team has played under you?
I think it's clearly one of them. I thought the special teams once again were very good and I thought the big hit that they made and the fumble recovery really gave us a chance to pull away in the football game. We still have a lot of work to do, we're 2-0 and we'll continue to work to do well against San Diego.
You finished well last year. How important is it to keep the momentum going this year?
Very important, we want to win them all. We're at six in a row now. Our guys' confidence is building and I think that's very important. But still we have work to do and there's a number of things that happened in that game that we can learn from and we will learn from this week. But I'm very happy with the way we started and finished the game.
What did you do to clean up the protection specifically?
Fundamentals. The line movement was favorable to really handle the run and the pass in the second quarter. I thought our guys did a good job protecting at the part when Chad Clifton went out of the game and we had Palmer go out and we moved a few guys around. But we stayed with just basic protection and I think the three step game helped us also throwing the football. But there was no big scheme adjustment or anything like that.
It's six in a row now, do you think people are starting to pay attention to this team?
We're getting way too much attention right now. We're 2-0 and we've got a long ways to go. We're a football team that's got a lot of improvement ahead of us. If no one notices, I'm fine with that. We play San Diego at home this week and we're really focusing on taking it one game at a time because of the things we need to improve on.
Brett has become the all-time winningest QB. How much do you guys talk about that?
We didn't talk about it during the week. We gave him the game ball after the game. The All-Time in anything in this league is something monumental to achieve so we gave him the game ball. 149 victories. I think that speaks for itself.
What is the ultimate barometer for a QB?
I think it's wins. I know there's a lot made of statistics and TDs. I think it's clearly wins. When you go out and win over that period of time, I think that's the ultimate compliment a QB can have. To me if you ask me what's the biggest record to have, I think he just accomplished it.
Brett Favre
When you are as on as you were in the second half do you really need an effective running game? You seemed to just be carrying the team?
It all depends. I thought we were executing the short passing game as well as we have in recent memory and to me I think that offsets the running game if we are struggling. They go hand-in-hand. As we threw the ball better, when we spread them out and did run the ball, what DeShawn (Wynn) did at the end there is what can happen. At some point you have to play one or the other. You have to eliminate the short passing game. For us, I think that phase of our game has been there. It is about good decision making first of all, and from a receiver's standpoint, exact routes, because it is short and the ball is out quick. My decision is obviously always critical, but in those situations it is extremely critical and it opens up the run game. Did we need it today? I guess not, but next week probably so, probably who knows? Today it worked for us.
What does it mean for the confidence of the team to get off to a 2-0 start?
It is sure better than 0-2. I hope our team, with being as young as we are, or as they are, I know what is ahead of us and to start 2-0 with as many question marks as we had or have I am pleased. I can't say enough about this team and the way that we have handled adversity. Once again, we have a long ways to go and it only gets tougher. The more we win, the better we play, the more there is a target on your back, and how we handle it, and I have said this about my own career, how you handle success is ultimately as important as how you handle adversity. If we start believing what people are saying, and I don't know what people are saying, but we are 2-0; we have a lot of work to do. Including myself, today was great from an offensive standpoint, something we didn't do last week, but I know we play San Diego next week and the walls can crash down on you quickly. It means a lot, it means we are 2-0, but we still have 14 left and they only get tougher as we go.
You have six in a row in the regular season, what does that say about this team?
I wouldn't call it six in a row, I know it you go back to last year it counts, but this is a new year and there are a lot of new faces once again. To me, I don't think we have played all that well. If you look at last week, our defense played outstanding and our special teams played great. Today we played pretty good on offense but there were still some opportunites that we left out there. To be honest with you, going into these two games there were question marks about our offense, about our team, and I would be the first to say that from my end. Wondering where we are? Where do we stand? What are we trying to do? What do we hang our hat on? Yet we are 2-0 and today was a lot more effective offensively. For us it is a lot of minuses but winning the game is the most important thing. If you want to call it 6-0 I don't know, because I don't feel like we are a 6-0 team right now. I am not downplaying our team, I think what we have done is outstanding, but I am going to keep riding away as long as I can, but we have to continue to get better week in and week out.
Winningest quarterback in NFL history, does that mean a lot to you?
Maybe one day down the road. It won't mean a lot if we lose next week. The most important play is the next play; the most important game is the next game. What you have done in the past is in the past. I thrive on the fact that I have played in a lot of games and if they want to say that I have won that many, great, but the most important thing on my mind right now is trying to find out a way to beat San Diego, which could be very difficult.
You downplay how you played, setting a record, and getting a game ball, but you must feel pretty good about it?
Yeah. I am not going to sit here and lie to you, I am not going to turn it down, but I have always been about the team. That hasn't changed. They do give out, from day one, when I was in fifth grade, they give out trophies for individual achievements and that hasn't changed. I would much rather take a win. I have said this all week and in the past; I think it is unfair that a quarterback gets labeled with wins and losses; I think it is a team effort and last week is a perfect example. I didn't do nothing last week and they gave me a win. I give it to our defense and special teams, but it does mean a lot.
Nick Barnett
On the expectations:
I don't think we are going to sneak under the radar. I don't think we have for the last two weeks. I think teams came expecting to play. The Giants in that first half came out and were trying to be physical with us. They had a lot of intensity, so we matched it and played football.
Corey Williams
On the interception:
It was going to be a screen. Eli had a lot of pressure on him. He was dropping back and Kabeer did a great job of picking up the running back so he couldn't go to him. He threw it right to me. I caught it and took off. I didn't see him till the last minute. We have a good thing going. We just have to continue it.
Donald Driver
On the offense:
It was a good thing for us to take care of business. Last week the offense wasn't clicking but today we were clicking pretty well. That is the thing that everybody kept dwelling on, that the offense hasn't put points on the board. We wanted to prove everyone wrong and put up some points.
On winning the first two games:
I haven't felt like that in a long time. That is a good thing to be sitting at 2-0 and we have a big game next week against San Diego. The offense has to play well next week so we take care of business.
A.J. Hawk
On the game:
We were just getting a little more familiar with how they were trying to attack us. They have some talented players that make plays but we got stops when we needed to.
On the Packers offense:
It keeps us off the field. I think our offense does a great job of sustaining drives. They did that very well today.
On Brett Favre:
He looks good most of the time. Today he looked great. I think the offensive line gave him time to throw and when he has any time at all, he is just going to pick teams apart. He showed that today.
Charles Woodson
On the Packers defense:
Our defense is an 'in-your-face' defense and we are going to stay after you all game. They moved the ball on us pretty good in the first half and second half our defensive line got after them a little bit. They closed the pocket down on them. We just buckled down in the second half and made some plays.
Bubba Franks
On the offensive weapons:
We have so many weapons in this offense it's hard to find who the 'go-to' guys are. Brett is doing a good job of spreading it out and we are happy to receive whenever we can.
On Favre:
Brett played a great game. I think he plays pretty much every game a great game. He played great today. I think his change of pace kind of threw the defense off. They were having trouble getting lined up with the snap count.
Tramon Williams
On the kick returns:
We got one right before halftime that was called back. We came out in the second half knowing that we had to get the momentum. The guys were blocking great. They had so many holes and I had to choose one. I chose it and made a play.
**
Head Coach Mike McCarthy
Opening Statement:
I'll start off with the injuries. Tony Palmer had a finger and did not return. Chad Clifton had an ankle and did return.
What was the difference for you guys offensively, especially in the second half?
At first I thought we got into a rhythm early. We wanted to come out and get into the game and start fast in the first quarter especially because we had to play a good game on the road with the atmosphere that we had coming into the end of the year. I thought we got into a good rhythm early and we hit a patch in the second quarter where our protection gave penetration in the running game. Outside of that we did a good job of adjusting for the most part particularly in our pass protection and our guys played extremely well in the second half.
Seemed like Brett Favre got better as the game went on, especially on that 9-9 TD drive.
I thought he was very sharp and once again we cleaned up the pass protection in the second half, enabling him to get back here and deal the football. That's what we wanted to do in the game plan, spread it around, pick out players and do a good job of picking up perimeter players with yards after the catch and the running backs also did a nice job there too. That's the kind of rhythm you like to play with on offense.
Is this as complete a game as this team has played under you?
I think it's clearly one of them. I thought the special teams once again were very good and I thought the big hit that they made and the fumble recovery really gave us a chance to pull away in the football game. We still have a lot of work to do, we're 2-0 and we'll continue to work to do well against San Diego.
You finished well last year. How important is it to keep the momentum going this year?
Very important, we want to win them all. We're at six in a row now. Our guys' confidence is building and I think that's very important. But still we have work to do and there's a number of things that happened in that game that we can learn from and we will learn from this week. But I'm very happy with the way we started and finished the game.
What did you do to clean up the protection specifically?
Fundamentals. The line movement was favorable to really handle the run and the pass in the second quarter. I thought our guys did a good job protecting at the part when Chad Clifton went out of the game and we had Palmer go out and we moved a few guys around. But we stayed with just basic protection and I think the three step game helped us also throwing the football. But there was no big scheme adjustment or anything like that.
It's six in a row now, do you think people are starting to pay attention to this team?
We're getting way too much attention right now. We're 2-0 and we've got a long ways to go. We're a football team that's got a lot of improvement ahead of us. If no one notices, I'm fine with that. We play San Diego at home this week and we're really focusing on taking it one game at a time because of the things we need to improve on.
Brett has become the all-time winningest QB. How much do you guys talk about that?
We didn't talk about it during the week. We gave him the game ball after the game. The All-Time in anything in this league is something monumental to achieve so we gave him the game ball. 149 victories. I think that speaks for itself.
What is the ultimate barometer for a QB?
I think it's wins. I know there's a lot made of statistics and TDs. I think it's clearly wins. When you go out and win over that period of time, I think that's the ultimate compliment a QB can have. To me if you ask me what's the biggest record to have, I think he just accomplished it.
Brett Favre
When you are as on as you were in the second half do you really need an effective running game? You seemed to just be carrying the team?
It all depends. I thought we were executing the short passing game as well as we have in recent memory and to me I think that offsets the running game if we are struggling. They go hand-in-hand. As we threw the ball better, when we spread them out and did run the ball, what DeShawn (Wynn) did at the end there is what can happen. At some point you have to play one or the other. You have to eliminate the short passing game. For us, I think that phase of our game has been there. It is about good decision making first of all, and from a receiver's standpoint, exact routes, because it is short and the ball is out quick. My decision is obviously always critical, but in those situations it is extremely critical and it opens up the run game. Did we need it today? I guess not, but next week probably so, probably who knows? Today it worked for us.
What does it mean for the confidence of the team to get off to a 2-0 start?
It is sure better than 0-2. I hope our team, with being as young as we are, or as they are, I know what is ahead of us and to start 2-0 with as many question marks as we had or have I am pleased. I can't say enough about this team and the way that we have handled adversity. Once again, we have a long ways to go and it only gets tougher. The more we win, the better we play, the more there is a target on your back, and how we handle it, and I have said this about my own career, how you handle success is ultimately as important as how you handle adversity. If we start believing what people are saying, and I don't know what people are saying, but we are 2-0; we have a lot of work to do. Including myself, today was great from an offensive standpoint, something we didn't do last week, but I know we play San Diego next week and the walls can crash down on you quickly. It means a lot, it means we are 2-0, but we still have 14 left and they only get tougher as we go.
You have six in a row in the regular season, what does that say about this team?
I wouldn't call it six in a row, I know it you go back to last year it counts, but this is a new year and there are a lot of new faces once again. To me, I don't think we have played all that well. If you look at last week, our defense played outstanding and our special teams played great. Today we played pretty good on offense but there were still some opportunites that we left out there. To be honest with you, going into these two games there were question marks about our offense, about our team, and I would be the first to say that from my end. Wondering where we are? Where do we stand? What are we trying to do? What do we hang our hat on? Yet we are 2-0 and today was a lot more effective offensively. For us it is a lot of minuses but winning the game is the most important thing. If you want to call it 6-0 I don't know, because I don't feel like we are a 6-0 team right now. I am not downplaying our team, I think what we have done is outstanding, but I am going to keep riding away as long as I can, but we have to continue to get better week in and week out.
Winningest quarterback in NFL history, does that mean a lot to you?
Maybe one day down the road. It won't mean a lot if we lose next week. The most important play is the next play; the most important game is the next game. What you have done in the past is in the past. I thrive on the fact that I have played in a lot of games and if they want to say that I have won that many, great, but the most important thing on my mind right now is trying to find out a way to beat San Diego, which could be very difficult.
You downplay how you played, setting a record, and getting a game ball, but you must feel pretty good about it?
Yeah. I am not going to sit here and lie to you, I am not going to turn it down, but I have always been about the team. That hasn't changed. They do give out, from day one, when I was in fifth grade, they give out trophies for individual achievements and that hasn't changed. I would much rather take a win. I have said this all week and in the past; I think it is unfair that a quarterback gets labeled with wins and losses; I think it is a team effort and last week is a perfect example. I didn't do nothing last week and they gave me a win. I give it to our defense and special teams, but it does mean a lot.
Nick Barnett
On the expectations:
I don't think we are going to sneak under the radar. I don't think we have for the last two weeks. I think teams came expecting to play. The Giants in that first half came out and were trying to be physical with us. They had a lot of intensity, so we matched it and played football.
Corey Williams
On the interception:
It was going to be a screen. Eli had a lot of pressure on him. He was dropping back and Kabeer did a great job of picking up the running back so he couldn't go to him. He threw it right to me. I caught it and took off. I didn't see him till the last minute. We have a good thing going. We just have to continue it.
Donald Driver
On the offense:
It was a good thing for us to take care of business. Last week the offense wasn't clicking but today we were clicking pretty well. That is the thing that everybody kept dwelling on, that the offense hasn't put points on the board. We wanted to prove everyone wrong and put up some points.
On winning the first two games:
I haven't felt like that in a long time. That is a good thing to be sitting at 2-0 and we have a big game next week against San Diego. The offense has to play well next week so we take care of business.
A.J. Hawk
On the game:
We were just getting a little more familiar with how they were trying to attack us. They have some talented players that make plays but we got stops when we needed to.
On the Packers offense:
It keeps us off the field. I think our offense does a great job of sustaining drives. They did that very well today.
On Brett Favre:
He looks good most of the time. Today he looked great. I think the offensive line gave him time to throw and when he has any time at all, he is just going to pick teams apart. He showed that today.
Charles Woodson
On the Packers defense:
Our defense is an 'in-your-face' defense and we are going to stay after you all game. They moved the ball on us pretty good in the first half and second half our defensive line got after them a little bit. They closed the pocket down on them. We just buckled down in the second half and made some plays.
Bubba Franks
On the offensive weapons:
We have so many weapons in this offense it's hard to find who the 'go-to' guys are. Brett is doing a good job of spreading it out and we are happy to receive whenever we can.
On Favre:
Brett played a great game. I think he plays pretty much every game a great game. He played great today. I think his change of pace kind of threw the defense off. They were having trouble getting lined up with the snap count.
Tramon Williams
On the kick returns:
We got one right before halftime that was called back. We came out in the second half knowing that we had to get the momentum. The guys were blocking great. They had so many holes and I had to choose one. I chose it and made a play.
**