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POSTGAME QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 20, 2009
Q: On defensive end Antwan Odom’s five sack performance:
“Obviously that is a great individual performance that doesn’t happen very often in the NFL. I really felt like last week’s game was the coming out that Antwan needed. I am glad for Antwan because he has had to persevere through some tough things and now he is doing the things we expected him to do when we brought him in here.”
Q: On the defense and special teams:
“I thought we didn’t play very well in the sudden change area, but I thought for the most part we hung in there and battled. I thought our special teams rounded out and played well. It was obviously a hard fought football game, and one that you feel good about when you win.”
Q: On getting contributions from multiple players:
“You look around this room and you have so many guys today that had some kind of contribution and I think that is big anytime you play a football game that way.”
Q: On running back Cedric Benson and the rushing attack:
“It was a big first down that he got in the drive before the last field goal. They outnumbered us and he bounced outside and was able to make a couple of guys miss and take time off the clock. Those are big plays. We have been able to gain that by changing the style of people that we have and now we have some backs that can make some people miss.”
Q: On the win:
“It feels good to be able to bounce back, especially after last week and the way we lost that one. We wanted to be able to come into Lambeau and win a game against a spectacular team.”
Q: On the Bengals offense:
“This was a big step for us as far as what you saw last week. I think we moved the ball pretty well. This is more like the offense of old.”
Q: On the Packers defense:
“They’re awesome. I really love the privilege of going against Al (Harris) and Charles (Woodson) and Nick (Collins), they’re really good.”
Q: On jumping into the stands:
“It was fun. I had a little indecision about where to jump at first. I didn’t want to disrespect their tradition so I was asking as I went along the line and found some Bengals fans that said it was OK. I respect the Packers and what they have going on with the leap, so that’s why I did it that way.”
Q: On his five sacks:
“I still think it’s a dream, I’m wondering when I’m going to wake up. We worked together as a defense and I was coming free on a lot of one-on-ones and getting to the quarterback.”
Q: On coming off last week’s loss:
“We had to bounce back and show everybody that we could fight in the fourth quarter and win, and we did that.”
Q: On the disappointment of the loss:
“We didn’t play very well today and my disappointment is to not play your best football at home. It was a major emphasis for our football team in the offseason. We have not played to the standard that we need to play at home, especially with this great home-field advantage that we have with our fans, our stadium and so forth. That’s the most disappointing part for me. When you emphasize something for your football team that doesn’t get done, that falls solely on the responsibility of the head coach. We didn’t play very well offensively, we didn’t play very well defensively, and we didn’t play very well on special teams. So, we’ll get back at it tomorrow and we’ll get it cleaned up. We’ll move on, we’re 1-1. But it is disappointing to have a home loss like that. That’s something that we need to fix.”
Q: On giving up five sacks to Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom:
“Our pass protection is a negative right now. First of all, running the football will help that. I understand that, but when you set a plan, you put things into your plan, they are done with good reason and with the focus of putting players in the position to be successful. And we’re not protecting the quarterback very well right now. I’m going to have to look at it. I don’t know if he was holding the ball on some of those and so forth. That will come in the film study.”
Q: On Packers penalties:
“Well us having 10 penalties probably didn’t help. We didn’t play very well today. I don’t take anything away from the Cincinnati Bengals and Marvin Lewis. They came into our home and beat us. And that’s not right. We need to change that around here. It’s a focus and we’ll stay after it. Our fans deserve better. We have an incredible environment that we’re playing in, and we didn’t take advantage of that today.”
Q: On going away from the run game in the second half:
“The second half, we had the one series there in the third quarter and one at the beginning of the fourth quarter, we actually had a couple runs that we, based on the defense, that went to the pass. That happens sometimes. It wasn’t by intent. I wanted it to be more balanced there on first and second down. I didn’t come in here today to throw the football all day long. We wanted to start the game throwing the football. There are some things we wanted to get going on our perimeter with our perimeter players versus their perimeter players. That was just the focus to start the game.”
Q: On the sacks they allowed:
“We’re going to have to look at the film. I think for the most part we had the correct protection adjustments. It’s either I’m holding it too long or we’ve got to hold up a little better or maybe a combination of both, but we’ll check that out tomorrow.”
Q: On losing Chad Clifton and its effect on the offensive line:
“We feel like we have six starters with Scottie (Wells) being a guy who’s played for us a number of games and has done a good job. We feel confident with Daryn (Colledge) as well at left tackle. We’re confident in both those guys, we just need to do a better job as a whole unit, myself and the guys up front.”
Q: On if Cincinnati did something to take Greg Jennings away:
“They were rolling a safety to his (Jennings) side a lot. We tried to get him the ball at different points, just weren’t very successful doing that. They did a good job at it, good scheme. (Leon) Hall’s a good corner, but we still liked that matchup. Just (Jennings) and I were a little bit off today.”
Q: On how a disappointing loss like this affects the team’s psyche:
“I think adversity is always good for a team. We’re going to have to respond properly to this. We’ve got to go to St. Louis next week and get a win. We need to have a good week of practice. Offensively our two weeks of practice have been average. We haven’t been practicing the way we’re capable of practicing and I think young guys and old guys alike need to focus in a little more on practice and practice like a professional.”
Q: On the referee’s explanation of the final play/penalty:
“I didn’t look to the left so I couldn’t tell. They said Greg (Jennings) false-started. If he’s watching the ball I find that hard to believe, but I haven’t seen the film. I didn’t watch that precisely. I was looking at the clock the entire time. It felt like we were all lined up.”
Q: On the offense in general:
“Very inconsistent. Offensively we didn’t get it done. We shouldn’t even be in that situation at the end of the game.”
Q: On if it’s hard to believe the offense is struggling this much after a dominant preseason:
“No, it’s not hard to believe. We don’t execute, plain and simple. You know, I think the inability of some guys with different calls, different things, and it all starts up front from us being able to protect A-Rod. You can’t do that. And that’s just executing the play correctly, know what you’re doing. If you don’t do that, you’re kind of putting yourself in a hole.”
Q: On the Bengals offense having a good day vs. the Packers defense:
“They just had a good scheme to execute well. They gave us a lot of different looks, unbalanced sets, three tight end sets, and just made some plays. You know, I give credit to their O-line and Cedric Benson. They all played really well.”
Q: On if playing vs. the 3-4 defense a lot helped the Bengals:
“I guess maybe a little bit. I mean their offensive line is used to going against the 3-4 a lot. You know, when it comes down to it, football is football is regardless of what you’re doing, it’s who makes more plays, and they definitely did that today. They outplayed us. They came in here and beat us on our own field, so that’s tough.”
Q: On winning a big emotional game last week to losing this week:
“Yeah, that’s what you try to guard against, I think, in the NFL. They hardest thing is to be consistent. And obviously we didn’t start out very consistent this year. To come out, playing as well as we did in the first game and then come back with a performance like this, obviously it’s something that you can’t do if you want to win games. The good thing is we have a game next week and we need to make sure we don’t play like this next week and I’m positive we won’t.”
Q: On if they underestimated the Bengals running game and Cedric Benson:
“I wouldn’t say so. I would say from a defensive perspective, it’s a lack of execution. They ran right into our grill. They didn’t do anything fancy, it was the stuff that we prepared, but we didn’t execute to the highest level. And you have to give them credit. They did. They obviously executed better than we did, and that was the difference in the game.”
Q: On if there’s any way to know if everyone is set in a hurried end to the game like today:
“Yeah, when he (Aaron Rodgers) calls the cadence, you snap the ball.”
Q: On if it’s up to Rodgers on when the ball is snapped:
“Well it’s up to everybody to get up there and get set. Figuring time is of the essence. I don’t know what happened at the end, I just know what they called and it’s unfortunate for us, the way it went.”
