Sept. 25, 2007
On Rutgers:
"I don't see a whole lot of weaknesses. They're probably the best defense we've played, easily. They run a very different scheme than a lot of teams we play. They're extremely good. On offense, they're very balanced. They can run it and throw it. "
On the team rebounding from the loss at Wake Forest:
"We had a good practice last night. Our kids suffered a tough loss last week, but I think they're rebounding fine. We're going to be tested this week, but I think our kids will rise to the occasion. You just have to keep one game at a time. Obviously, we have a tough road ahead of us. We have some very good teams coming up. We have to improve, we have to get better. I wouldn't say that this is make-it or break-it time."
On the offense's growing pains:
"The first thing we have to do is we have to stop getting sacked. I don't really know what the answer is other than to just give the guys as much help as we can. Last year, I think we had 19 sacks and this year we have 16 and that's not just the offensive line. It's the whole coordination of running the routes and making assignments. It's a multi-faceted problem. The strength of our team right now is the ability to run. We have to stay on schedule and when we get off schedule, that's when we run in to problems. I thought we were fairly loose for the first three quarters of the game. "
On the wide receivers:
"I see our wide receivers improving. LaQuan Williams made a nice third-down catch and run on Saturday and I think he's doing a pretty good job of blocking. I see Isaiah Williams getting better. I think he's improving on his blocking. I think competition is a wonderful thing. He also made a few catches for us on Saturday. Danny Oquendo is a reliable guy; we count on him quite a bit."
On the tight ends:
"I have to try and get Joey Haynos on track a little bit. He hasn't played as well as he did last year. We've talked about it. He wants to do well; he's just having some trouble. I think Dan Gronkowski has improved quite a bit and is playing very well."
On Rutgers' running back Ray Rice:
"He's a very strong runner. He has good vision, good acceleration. He breaks a lot of tackles. That's our major concern. We didn't tackle well last week; we missed some tackles. "
On the fourth quarter performance in the Wake Forest game:
"I didn't think Wake Forest really rushed the ball on us. I thought they did a better job throwing the ball on us than rushing it. That didn't happen really until the fourth quarter. I kind of looked at and said, `Was it a conditioning thing? Was it a momentum or emotional thing?' But I mean, Wake Forest was tired, too. I think it was more of a momentum thing than anything else. We ran the kids pretty hard last night and they seem to be fine."
On helping the players with the loss:
"I told them that there's going to be things in life that are worse than this. You just have to go through it and learn. I told them that everybody's accountable. We have to look at what we did wrong and see if we can get better for the next game."
On playing No. 10 Rutgers on the road:
"Coach (Greg) Schiano has just done a fabulous job. He's really doing unprecedented things with Rutgers' whole program. My hat's off to him. They're a very, very good football team right now, maybe the best team we play."
On the Wake Forest loss:
"It's already out of my mind. It's one of those things where you have to take it for what it is and you have to move on. We learned from it and now we're getting ready for the Rutgers game."
"You have to take good things from everything, there are going to be different things that happen in every game and you have to learn from those and learn from your mistakes. I think we understand that we played well and when it came down to the end of the game we didn't do our job so the only thing that matters is the win."
On running back Ray Rice:
"He runs hard. He's a determined runner. He's not going to give up with that first contact. You have to make sure you bring your pads with you otherwise he's going try to continue to run. You're not going to be able to bring him down because he runs very hard and he's going to keep trying to get that extra yard."
On the Rutgers game:
"Every game is another opportunity for us and we are willing to step up and do our best to come out with the victory. I think the coaches once again have put together a good game plan for us and I'm excited to go out there and play against a regular offense this week after playing against a lot who did different reverses and sweeps."
On the significance of the upcoming Rutgers game:
"Every game is pivotal. We try to win them all if we can. This game is very important to us but we approach every game as if it's our last."
On the concerns of Rutgers being a top 10 team:
"They can throw the ball, they can run the ball, they have a great running back, pretty good defense, they're undefeated right now and they're getting the job done. We are just going to approach it like any other game. We want to win, we have a great game plan and we're just going to execute it."
On the importance of remaining positive and confident:
"We lost two weeks in-a-row and we just have to get this nasty taste out of our mouths so its very important for us to stay focused, go out there and execute and try to get a win under our belts get some momentum going."
On the best advice from his brother, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis:
"He told me to `Never let anyone outwork you' because people are watching at all times even when you think they're not."
Senior Defensive Lineman Dre Moore
On the challenges of Rutgers and Ray Rice:
"It's going to be a big challenge. He has a big offensive line in front of him and he always falls forward, in watching the tape on him we see that he is very strong"
"We have to play the run well and finish the game, and not give these guys any kind of breathing room. We have to be careful with the ball and try not to turn the ball over at all."
On the recent losses:
"We don't take it as a personal challenge. Defensively, we come out there with our own goals that we set that week in practice and we use those as our measuring sticks through out the game. We don't look at how many points they've scored on other teams throughout the year."
On the Wake Forest loss:
"We played a great game against Wake Forest besides that one quarter, but we have to keep our confidence up."
On Rutgers' defense:
"It looks like they're just going to have a lot of people in the box and try to press at the receiver so I think it's a big game for the receivers to try to get open. Just about every pass they're going to be pressed on us, so it's definitely our time to see what we can do."
On getting over the Wake Forest loss and keeping focused on the next game:
"The next day we decided we needed to forget about it and the only way we can move on is just by forgetting about last week and worrying about next week."
On playing a top 10 team such as Rutgers:
"This is another chance for us to beat a top 10 team. You don't get many opportunities like this twice in a season so this is a great opportunity for us"
On challenges of getting the offense in gear:
"The thing with us is there's always that one person breaking down on the play and offense is different from defense, you need all 11 people to be perfect in the play in order for it to work. So I think it's more that than anything."
