They Said It: week of Jan. 3

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011

Jets nickel CB Drew Coleman, quoted in the New York Post on the assignment of covering undrafted rookie WR Blair White Saturday night: "I hope he's not as good as (injured Colts WR Austin) Collie," who torched Coleman for seven catches, 123 yards and a TD in the 2009 AFC Championship game. "But he's a good talent." Added Coleman on playing alongside Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie: "I definitely feel like every game I go into it knowing that I'm going to be the primary guy that they're trying to pick on."

Eagles WR Jason Avant, discussing the success the Giants and Vikings have had blitzing QB Michael Vick with DBs recently, as quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "The Packers do the same blitz and they're better at it. So we better get ready for it, and I think we're prepared for it."

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, quoted on seattlepi.com talking about the availability of his quarterbacks, Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst, for Saturday's matchup against the Saints: "Matt looked solid, he had a really strong day. Charlie's a little banged up from the game, but they both made it through the practice and they'll both be available for us game time. At this point, there's no reason to say anything more about it." Carroll continued when asked if he would name a starter before Saturday: "I don't know that. I'm going to get all the days in here. Each day's important for us, to see how we're doing, see how Charlie's doing, just figure out where it is. I feel very comfortable with what we're doing as far as turns and reps. Both the quarterbacks are dead into this as much as they can be. We'll have them both available. I would think both are going to be ready to play the football game, so that's good and we'll figure who's going to start in a little bit."

Steelers S Troy Polamalu, quoted by the Associated Press sharing his humble opinion of being named the Steelers' most valuable player by his teammates: "It's just uncomfortable winning anything like this. Football is such a perfect team sport, it's hard to make anybody, especially our team and the way we play on defense, a most valuable player. I've never been a fan. If I was ever a coach, I probably wouldn't ever have an award like this." Added Polamalu: "I don't know if it's been my best year, but it definitely has been the most challenging year given the circumstances that we've had on defense."

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, sharing his view of having a bye in the first round of the playoffs, as quoted by The Associated Press: "It's just like having a bye week during the regular season. You try to improve your team. If you've improved it, then you've used the time well. If you don't, then it's a waste of time."

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011

Colts RB Joseph Addai, quoted in The Indianapolis Star explaining that he doesn't enjoy blocking, but it will be very critical against the Jets' frequently blitzing defense on Saturday night: "I hate it (taking on blitzers). Serious. It's like life. You do stuff you don't like to do 'cause you have to do it. If you're, 'Yeah, I want to block a linebacker,' something has to be slightly wrong with you. You have to have that 'want' in order to do it well. "But if that was a test question -- 'Joe, would you want to do it, yes or no?' — I'm going to pick 'no' every time. But it's a 'want to' when you get out there because you know you have to."

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, on cutting down on his interceptions this season — Roethlisberger's 1.3 percent interception rate is the lowest of his career — as quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Maybe it's just lucky, maybe it's just not taking too many of the crazy chances I took before. But I don't feel I'm playing a different style of ball. Maybe I'm just making better throws."

Dolphins RB Ricky Williams, quoted in the Palm Beach Post explaining that it is time to move on from Miami: "It was an experience for me, and I learned a lot about myself and I got better as a football player, but at the same time, I didn't enjoy it. It seems like now is the time to move on." Added Williams: "You can't go 7-9 and say everyone loves what we're doing. And I think any time you don't have success and you're not winning, people are going to be unhappy, and they're not going to love what they're doing and they're not going to buy into it and believe it."

Jets QB Mark Sanchez, explaining how much the experience of playing in the playoffs last season will help the second time around, as quoted in the New York Post: "Once you've played a playoff game, you know what it's like. Just like starting your first game, you kinda get the jitters out. We've done it before, we've been in this Indianapolis stadium before, so we're ready for the challenge." Added Sanchez: "It's a different feel. You can't really describe it. It's just … it's bigger [chuckle]. It's faster. You can feel the intensity. You feel … you just feel what's riding on the game. You don't want your season to be over, you want to play again. And we want to play again next week."

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer lauding the play of QB Aaron Rodgers this season: "In 16 games we played this year, 14 times our quarterback performed better than our opponents. At the end of the day that is what you're looking for (Rodgers missed one game and part of another due to a concussion)." Added McCarthy: "I think [Rodgers] has had a good year, but it's time for him and the offense to put their best foot forward when we go to Philadelphia."

Monday, Jan. 3, 2011

Browns WR-RS Josh Cribbs, quoted on ESPN.com sharing what head coach Eric Mangini, who was fired on Monday, told the team in the locker room after the team's 41-9 drubbing at the hands of the Steelers on Sunday: "He told everybody he loved them. He said just what a head coach is supposed to say. We went out there and played for him throughout the year. We tried to do what he asked us to do. He was appreciative of the opportunity that we gave him."

Vikings QB Brett Favre, who was inactive for the third consecutive game on Sunday, quoted in the locker room following Minnesota's 20-13 season-ending loss to the Lions about his plan to walk away from the game for good, as quoted in the Detroit Free Press: "It's time. I know it's time. And that's OK. It is. Again, I hold no regrets. I can't think of too many players offhand that can walk away and say that." Added Favre: "It was an honor to play. I just know it's time. It was special. I don't know what else to say. To play 20 years in the National Football League — as a kid, we always dreamed of just playing in the NFL. To accomplish the things that I was able to accomplish individually and from a team standpoint was way more than I ever dreamed of."

Ravens WR Derrick Mason, voicing his frustration over his team's offensive play-calling, as quoted in the Baltimore Sun: "I guess that has to be the theme of the playoffs — whatever is being called, we have to make it work. We can no longer point the finger. We've got to make it work as an offensive unit. There's no more excuses because excuses are going to get you beat. The teams that make excuses are going to have to sit at home next week, so we can't make anymore excuses. Whatever play is called, we've got to make it work, so you can't blame Cam [Cameron]. Whatever it is, we have to make it work."

Colts P Pat McAfee knew teammate Adam Vinatieri's 43-yard game-winning field goal over the Titans on Sunday to clinch the third seed in the AFC playoffs was good from the moment it left Vinatieri's foot, as quoted in the Indianapolis Star: "I can tell. It's all about the sound. The way he's hitting the ball, you just know." Added McAfee: "I've never seen a guy kick the ball as good as Adam Vinatieri's kicking right now.''

Seahawks DL Raheem Brock, who registered 2½ sacks and a forced fumble in Sunday night's division-clinching victory over the Rams, explaining where he found his motivation to have a big night, as quoted in The Seattle Times: "I hate rookie quarterbacks and I wanted to hit him [Rams QB Sam Bradford] as much as possible. I'm not going to let a rookie quarterback take me out of the playoffs."

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/01/06/they-said-it-week-of-jan-3

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