They Said It: week of Aug. 29

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, praising WR Michael Crabtree, who was activated off of the PUP list on Tuesday, as quoted on nevadaappeal.com: "He's an explosive receiver. He catches the ball extremely well, does a great job of getting yards after the catch. What I have seen being around him this training camp is that he's a football guy, smart guy. He's really good in the meetings. He's been outstanding in his participation. I think that's going to bode well for him and hasten that ability to get back in the lineup."

Raiders rookie RB Taiwan Jones, quoted on buffalonews.com on the need to slow the down game mentally: "The hardest thing was trying to slow myself down. I was so anxious and excited that I was able to showcase my talent against another team that I was a little too fast sometimes. I just had to slow things down, take a deep breath and try to be patient. My biggest problem is when I hear 'Hike!' I just want to go. A lot of times you have to be more patient and let the blocks develop. I just have to remind myself to slow down."

Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable, discussing the growing pains of starting to rookies on the right side of the line, as quoted on theolympian.com: "We can all see where they're at — they're not there yet. So how you handle the time crunch, we talked about it from day one. We didn't have OTAs (organized team activities), minicamp — all those sorts of things. It can't be an excuse. If you notice, we try to give them as many reps as we can. We're probably playing that group more than you normally would. But we need to. And I think Saturday was a perfect example of how much they need to continue to play, and continue to grow."

Titans head coach Mike Munchak, discussing second-year DE Derrick Morgan's recent setback from a left ACL tear he suffered early in the 2010 season — Morgan underwent arthroscopic surgery on Monday and will miss at least the first game of the season — as quoted on tennessean.com: "When you think something is wrong and you can't find the answer … it's almost like a relief to have a scope and find out there was actually something there they could fix." Added Munchak on his club's RB situation without holdout Chris Johnson: "You hope we can have him here this weekend, but we are running out of time for that to happen. If he is not here, we have to address the running back position as we approach the Jacksonville game. We can't afford not to be at full strength for that game."

Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez, who has appeared in only three games the past two seasons because of injuries and is currently dealing with a hamstring ailment, acknowledging the possibility he could be part of the team's final cuts, as quoted on indystar.com: "I understand it's a realistic possibility, probably more so this year than ever before." Added Gonzalez: "I think (it would be) because of the injuries. My No. 1 goal coming into camp was not missing practice or a game. Obviously that hasn't happened. That's been pretty disappointing."

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Jets head coach Rex Ryan, quoted on washingtonpost.com hyping the Dec. 24 matchup between his Jets and the crosstown rival Giants, following Monday night's chippy preseason battle between the two clubs: "I don't know if there are any tickets available for that Dec. 24 game, but I think we just sold them because that was a typical Jets-Giants slugfest right there. It was a fun game, man. That was two good football teams going at it. Obviously, it's a preseason game, but it's great competition. The fireworks will fly Dec. 24, that's for sure."

Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, discussing the comfort level between QB Sam Bradford and new WR Mike Sims-Walker, as quoted on washingtonpost.com: "The quarterback is comfortable with him and I think that's important for a wide receiver. He's really grasped the playbook."

Lions DT Ndamukong Suh, quoted on telegram.com responding to critics who continue to call him a dirty player: "I'll consider myself a dirty player when my mom calls me a dirty player." Added Suh on the scuffle he got into with Patriots OG Logan Mankins after the whistle blew in Saturday night's 34-10 dismantling of the Patriots: "I don't regret it at all," Suh said. "What I find funny about the situation is that I wasn't the one called for the 15-yard face-mask penalty, and I also didn't know you could get fined for defending a teammate." 

Raiders new head coach Hue Jackson, brushing off his defense's horrible showing against the Saints Sunday night — Oakland has allowed over 400 yards of offense in each of its first three preseason games — as quoted on thereporter.com: "I think it's easily fixed. I feel comfortable and confident that we'll get them addressed and taken care of. There were some positive things from last night. Obviously there were some things that we all wish we could do better and I know we need to do better before we start this season. But I'm very comfortable and confident. I know the men in that locker room. I know what their goals are, what their aspirations are and we're going to go get it done."

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley thinks 2005 first-round LB Derrick Johnson, who is coming off a career year, has still not reached his potential, as quoted on news-leader.com: "You know, Derrick, like I've said, he did some really good things last year and he did some really good things in training camp. But you know, I think Derrick can be even better, and that's the exciting thing for all of us. And I think he's shown some of that right now."

 

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/08/31/they-said-it-week-of-aug-29

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