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HC Chan Gailey**
Friday, November 16, 2012
Q: How about some injury reports or how guys came out of last night's game?
A: I think everybody came out fairly well to be honest with you. Kyle looks like he is going to be fine and I think everybody else. Was there anybody else that comes to your mind?
Q: QB/WR Brad Smith?
A: Yeah, his hamstring is bothering him a little bit. He was able to go back and it is going to be a little ongoing thing, I think, until we can get that thing healed completely.
Q: What are your expectations moving forward for DE Chris Kelsay and RB Fred Jackson?
A: We hope to have them both next Wednesday for practice. That is not set in concrete, but we hope to have both of them.
Q: How is Jackson feeling in general?
A: I think a lot better. He would answer that better than I can, but the report I get is that he feels a lot better. The steps that you have to go through now, everything is going according to plan.
Q: After all the criticism, to get this win on national TV how much did it mean?
A: It is great to win. I do not care how you do it. I do not care how you get it. It is hard to win in this league. It was great to have it on national TV and in front of a great crowd that was really into the ball game. It was great for our organization, for our football team and for everybody involved. You cannot downplay the significance of a win like that. So it was good, but it is one. We know what is ahead of us and what has got to be done.
Q: NFL Network's Mike Mayock said you guys run screen passes better than anybody else in the league. Can you talk about that and how important those are?
A: They are really important because we do run the football, we do throw it and that is the sort of in between play. It is a pass, but it is the way of getting the ball in the hands of somebody you think can go make a play for you. So we try to devise as many different ways as we can to get the ball in the hands of play makers. Screens are one good way to do it and we have been fortunate to be very successful with them thus far. Hopefully it keeps up.
Q: You talked about this last night but after a Thursday night game, when you win it you essentially have a mini-bye. Is that advantageous?
A: I think it is. I think they should be really rested and refreshed coming back in here Monday and getting ready for the next ball game. It will be a tough ball game. We have to go down to Indianapolis and play. But I think they will be ready. I think their mind will be better and their bodies will be better.
Q: Coaches taking the weekend off? I know you guys do not like to take days off.
A: No. We will work Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening.
Q: You dipped into your depth at defensive end. What did you think of DE Kyle Moore?
A: Kyle has really made a lot of improvement. I have to say Shawne Merriman played pretty good yesterday too. I think those were positives the way those two guys played. Kyle has played the run a lot better. We always knew he could rush the passer pretty good, but he has learned to play the run a lot better. That has been good for our football team.
Q: What was the thinking behind not having RB C.J. Spiller in the game while the team was in the red zone at the end of the first half?
A: Well again I go back to we have certain play situations where if we know we care going to throw the football anyways, if it is not something he might be vital in then we will put Tashard (Choice) in there or we will put Fred (Jackson) in there. Whoever it might be to give him a blow, to pass protect and slip out if we need him to slip out. Things like that. We do not do it a lot, but we will do it some down there. We will do it anywhere on the field if that is what we think we need.
Q: So it is not that Spiller is not a part of the red zone package?
A: Yeah, right. It is just those situations.
Q: Where do you think this secondary would be without CB Stephon Gilmore?
A: I have no clue. I do not know how to answer that question to be honest with you. He is playing very well. He is doing a good job. He has become a better player to me each week. He is becoming more knowledgeable, understanding the game and what he needs to get done. I think he has become a better player each week. I cannot answer the question of where we would be without him. I do not know.
Q: It seems like in the last three weeks Stephon Gilmore has taken on more of that role of going against the number one guy? That seems to be changed from the beginning of the season. Is that accurate?
A: Yep. That is an accurate statement. We have done that. I think a lot of that will still continue. Whether it is an every snap deal, I do not know but I think a lot of that will continue.
Q: That is based on his development?
A: Yes. Yeah, sure.
Q: After a win, how far in the back of your mind do you still have some of the concerns that are plaguing this team?
A: Yeah, you still have those concerns but it is a lot easier to talk about them after you won a game. Guys take criticism a little bit better when you won the ball game. What it does to me is it proves to our guys they do not have to be perfect to win. If we go do a lot of things better than the other team, we can still win. We do not have to be perfect, but we strive for perfection.
Q: The defense has taken a lot of blame. The way they closed the game, what does that do for their mindset going forwards?
A: Only time will tell on that but it has got to be a boost to everybody's thought process, morale or whatever term you want to use. They finished it strong. That was a strong finish defensively. I give a lot of credit to our kicking game. Put the punt at the one yard line. That helps now. The way Shawn (Powell) knocked that ball down there helps to make them go 99 to get at least one drive going.
Q: What is the update on DE Mark Anderson and CB Aaron Williams?
A: They said they have not ruled them out for this week. I think we are more on the 50 percent than we are the 70 percent probably play. I think we are still at the 50 percent mark that they might play this week.
Q: How about the job CB Leodis McKelvin has done in place of Williams?
A: He has done a really good job. He has had a couple issues with penalties here or there, but for the most part he has really been on top of his game out there at corner. It has been fun to watch to be honest with you. He has done a good job. He is athletic as we all know. We all have seen. He is such a big part of our return game and we will see where this thing goes. When Aaron gets back, I do not know exactly what is going to happen?
Q: McKelvin looks like he has more energy or confidence in the return game the past few weeks.
A: To be honest with you when he goes out there I feel like he is going to return every kick for a touchdown. I guess I am kind of shocked when he does not. That is how much confidence I have in him. I think he has…I think you are right. He looks like he is trying to return every kick for a touchdown right now instead of hoping to make some yards.
Q: Has your confidence in him changed over the last few games as opposed to before?
A: Yeah. I think when he first got that first one, I think it was Kansas City. I cannot remember, but I think it was Kansas City. Once that happened all of a sudden we started getting a couple more returns here or there. I think the confidence level of everybody went up.
Q: Did you see something on film to target Miami CB Nolan Carroll?
A: No but we knew we had an opportunity to maybe go deep a couple of times there. So our thought process was there mentally to try to do that a couple of times. He had not given up a bunch of deep passes or anything, but we thought we could.
Q: FS Jairus Byrd's interception ranks pretty high on the highlight reel for the season?
A: I bet it does. I hope it does not to be honest with you. I hope it is down the line by the time we get to the end of the year, but right now it does. It certainly was an unbelievable catch.
Q: LB Bryan Scott talked about Byrd's footwork and he noticed it since Byrd came here as a rookie. Did you notice it at first?
A: I think that footwork is in tune with, somebody asked about instincts yesterday. He has great instincts. I think guys that have great instincts and anticipate things, their feet seem to go where their brain tells them to go. I think that is part of it to. He does not waste many steps. That is the best thing about it. When he makes a decision to go somewhere it is not like he has to gather to go. He can react quickly and he does not waste steps going where he needs to go.
Q: How much further ahead is he having Aeneas Williams and Gill Byrd?
A: Well probably it helps, but probably having Gill as a daddy helped as much as anything. The genes are good.
Q: Does Byrd rank pretty high up there for his position in this league?
A: He has done a great job this year and I cannot rank them all. You start trying to rank guys then you leave somebody out, but he is certainly playing as one of the top safeties right now I would think.
Q: What does the defense getting stops do for the special teams? We have not seen too many punt returns from McKelvin this season.
A: We have not and when we have stopped some people it has been closer to the 50 so you do not get a punt return. It was great to get a couple of stops backed up so we could get some punt returns. If that continues I think we will have great field position and hopefully our offense does better in the red zone and we score more points. So it all works together. The defense plays better, special teams gets more opportunities and the offense has short field. All of that plays together. That is what makes the game so great.
Q: How much does it affect a defensive player when he knows he is going up against a rookie quarterback?
A: I am not sure that plays into it that much this time of year. Unless it is his first game or his second game. Then you kind of know you maybe can rattle the guy a little bit. When the guy has played eight or nine ball games at this point you probably figure he has seen a lot and you are not going to rattle him a lot. I think everybody else makes a much bigger deal out of it than the players do because they see some of our rookies playing pretty well and know maybe we cannot rattle them. So why should we be able to rattle that other guy?
Q: With a guy like Gilmore ten games in now, a lot of that being a rookie is…
A: He is closer to being a second year player than he is a first year player. A true first game rookie guy. Cordy Glenn falls in the same category. I think that those guys are becoming more and more mature as they play and learning every week.
