Browns Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan press conference 10-2-09

(On how he survives a rough start to the season)- “I’ve had rough starts before. I’ve been part of defenses with rough starts before. The Monday night against Denver was about as low as I’ve ever felt. I had to hold a press conference after that one. That was a beating. This week, obviously, we weren’t where we need to be. There are some things we can definitely clean up to get better. The simple fact is we have to. Our tackling has to improve, or our defense isn’t going to be where we want it to be. Giving up big plays has to stop. If we’re in a three-deep coverage and they throw deep, we’re looking for the turnover, not the completion for 82-yards, or whatever it was. There are things that we have to improve on, absolutely. Our guys are in there getting the plan, understanding it. We’re working harder than we’ve ever worked. Results have to come, and they will. I’ve been around this thing a long time, professional football. I’ve had my brains kicked in before. It’s just unfortunate you come here in Cleveland, two of the first three games have really been things that you just never could dream of, of a poor start, but hey, those happen. This is pro football. Every team we’ve played has been undefeated. Eventually we’re going to win ours. We’ll just work harder and it’ll all come together.”

(On if there is more than just cleaning up to do)- “Well there’s a lot of cleaning up to do. Like I said, when you look at it, it’s really big plays, also we’ve missed some tackles to give up big plays in the running game. Last week with three walk-in runs, it’s unacceptable. We’re just getting everything cleaned up. Those runs were a result of lack of communication. They’re unacceptable and we’re working on it. We have to get better. We want to have a great defense. We haven’t lost confidence, and I haven’t lost confidence in the fact that we will have a great defense. Right now it doesn’t look that way, but like Teddy Roosevelt said, it’s not all about the critics, I don’t think this is a quote, but it’s about the guys in the arena. The guys in the arena have a lot of pride. We have a lot of pride on defense. We’re going to fight back. It’s unfortunate, obviously, with such a great following as the Cleveland Browns have. Everybody wants to win right away and that’s what we’re all fighting to do. I wish we all could. I wish we could be 3-0 like some of these other teams that we’ve played every week. That hasn’t been the case but, heck, we’re just going to keep working until we do get there.”

(On when the miscommunication happens on defense)- “It’s really the communication breaking down when you see a formation, certain formations that we have style of play that we want to play with, certain defense that we want to play with against certain formations. If it’s not properly communicated, we had a couple problems with the edge of our defense, and if that’s never addressed and never handled and we’re not on the exact same page, you get those walk-in touchdowns, which are embarrassing to all of us.”

(On if he has thought about making some personnel changes)- “I think, which is a great question right there, you’re always looking to improve. You always look to improve, especially when things aren’t going well. When they’re going well, you still want to improve but it’s like, ‘We’re all right.’ You can tend, as a human being, to overlook some things. Right now, when things are so rough, we have to get answers quickly. Whatever the combination might be, we have to arrive at a point where we play great defense. Right now, with the body of work, and when you look at the numbers, we’re not doing that. I’m the most optimistic guy around, but that game last week was not how we wanted to play that game. We didn’t play well and it just didn’t go well. It was disappointing for all of us. The next meeting was probably our best meeting of the year, where we get guys in there, get them focused, you want to do right. I better watch my language here because I get excited but, heck, we want to play now. Let’s go back out there and get this thing right. We have some fighters over there. Sometimes you get knocked down. You have to get back up and do the knocking down yourself. Right now we got caught on our stool. We have to come off that stool and get some wins.”

(On if they will look at anyone new for the nickel position)- “When you just look at it from most eyes, you’re watching it on television, you think that it’s all the one player, but it’s absolutely not. It depends on the coverages, obviously, and things like that. Hank’s (Poteat) a very bright guy. He has great talent. He’s a savvy veteran. It’s definitely not all Hank Poteat, absolutely. He’s a very skilled player and I think he’s one of our better players in sub defense.”

(On if he talks to Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll about the negative press)- “The one thing is, with Eric as our head coach, he’s used to winning every week. His preparation makes us win. He does a phenomenal job. Right now, if we listened to all you guys, and you guys do a great job of handling, obviously, the media and all the things you do and right now your job’s tough too. The bottom line is we’re going to be a great team. We work hard. We have players working hard. Eventually this hard work comes through. All you can do is go back on facts and the history that we’ve been through, me and Eric. We didn’t win a Super Bowl the first year we were in New England, we struggled, but we got better each week. By the end of it, we had a lot of Super Bowl rings and that’s where we want to be with this team. It doesn’t happen overnight. ‘Hey, I want to be a Super Bowl champ again.’ Well, it’s not going to happen unless you work your tail off and you have everybody around you, not just one person, working their tail off. If it was up to hard work we’d be a 3-0 because Eric works harder probably than any head coach in football so, heck, we’d be undefeated, but it’s more than one man. This job is a team. It always is a team sport. It’s always about everyone in the building and we’re fighting. We’re working and eventually the work’s going to pay off.”

(On how the team perceives Mangini)- “To be honest with you, and I know it’s probably a national story about whatever you talked about, something about people, the way they perceive Eric, that’s not the case at all. I can’t really handle that question because I don’t really know what you’re talking about. I know our guys love Eric. They’re working hard for him. We’re going to be alright. It’s just, right now, everybody’s going to take a shot at the leader. He’s out in front, they’re knocking him down. I’m catching a couple of them, not near as many as Eric is obviously, but I’m sure they’re coming. We have a lot of fighters here. Eric’s a great fighter. All we’re doing is working our hardest. We’re meeting together tirelessly to make sure we’re getting everything done correctly and just give us the best chance to win. If you fault Eric for anything it’s because he’s working so darn hard. We’re all working so darn hard because we want what everybody wants, and what you guys want, is to win.”

(On how you know when it comes down to talent and not just working hard)- “I think, obviously, and that’s a great point, I’ve only made like two tackles in the league so far and they were out of bounds, where I got pissed and hit somebody, but it’s about really our players adapting to our system, our style of defense, our style of play. When it comes together, it’s a thing of beauty. I mean, you see it. You win every Sunday and that’s the facts. As soon as we can get there, is that an easy thing? Right now, obviously, we’re struggling a little bit, but we’re going to pick it up. It’s just the way it is. Great things, they don’t happen overnight. Right now we’re climbing that mountain and we just have to keep climbing. We’ll get there.”

(On if it is too early to play David Veikune)- “I think the young man has lots of talent. Really comparing him to our other guys, he’s very young. I mean, he’s three weeks into his career. To put him out there right now, it wouldn’t be fair to him, or anybody else. He’s constantly improving. I think his physical play and the way the practice were this week, he’s much better. Again, is he ready to take the reins of being middle linebacker in the National Football League right away, I don’t know if any rookie is. That might be a harder position to play than quarterback. I don’t know quarterback, but shoot, I’m going to say it’s harder.”

(On if he has to change how he defends Cincinnati)- “I know you guys have great history with Cincinnati, playing them twice a season. I’ve played them one time. This quarterback is tremendous, so obviously their offense is going to start with Carson Palmer. I really have been impressed with the way they’re running the football. Their stretching blocking is a new running style for them. (Cedric) Benson’s doing a great job. They’re very committed to it. They’re running a check with me offense, which is they’re reading what type of defense you’re in and either checking to a run or a pass or a run from one side to the other. That’s what they do and they’re doing a great job. Here’s another team, realistically, that could be 3-0, with the one short falling to Denver. They’re doing a great job. They’re playing a complementary game. They’ve been very successful.”

(On facing tough quarterbacks)- “In the NFL, that’s how it is. You have the best of the best and the best in the world. I don’t know if (Brett) Favre was 6-5 but, heck, they’re all big and they all can throw it. The thing with Carson Palmer that makes him so special is also he’s a very intelligent quarterback. He’s very smart at reading the defenses and he makes all of the throws, obviously. He’s very talented. Obviously, they have a super group of receivers that start with Ochocinco, absolutely.”

(On Brian Daboll saying that the offense has to react to what the defense shows them)- “That’s a great question. I can’t answer for Brian. I’m not sure exactly the instance he’s talking about, or exactly what he was referring to Les (Levine). I think you have things that a defense, a look we got last week, we had an overload blitz coming off of one side. Obviously, they checked to a running play to go outside of it. We were supposed to have a contain guy out there, so they checked to play that scored a touchdown against us. That’s how things are. Everyone has the eraser. I say we have it on defense, because we get the final say on how the play’s going to be played. On offense, obviously, they’re in an attack mode. They’re going to think they have all the answers and to attack situations certain ways. Defense always has to be able to react to the offense.”

(On if the defense can dictate a game)- “Yes, absolutely. When the communication’s right, you have a much better chance to play great defense.”

(On why Cedric Benson is having success in Cincinnati)- “I’m not sure. We played Benson when he was in Chicago. This guy here, he really looks good. It looks like he’s been reborn, going out there to Cincinnati. They’re using him really well in the style of runs that they have. He’s been very, very successful and has been outstanding.”

(On the interior line)- “Right now, everybody’s taking runs at us about the running game, and rightfully so. We’ve been giving up big plays. If you look at the overall numbers, they’re freaking ridiculous, but it’s big plays. I mean it’s big plays. It comes down to, if you’re going to be a sound defense and a great defense and a good one, you have to be sound. You have to set edges on the defense. You have to tackle well. If you don’t do that, you’re going to give up a big one like that and you’re not going to have a good defense. Right now we’ve done that every week. We’ve given up a huge run, so the numbers are ridiculous. The numbers don’t play. We have to play better. We have to have some great games. We need to play more sound. That comes on me. Right now, you try to do something that it’s not getting communicated, that falls right on the coach, nobody else, it comes right on me. I know, heck, I’m a better coach than that and I’m a better teacher.”

Browns Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll press conference 10-2-09

(On what will be different with Derek Anderson)- “I am expecting him to go out there and be able to run the offense, convert on third downs, make sound decisions in the passing and running games with the check with me’s and with the MIKE points, be accurate. That’s what was expected of Brady (Quinn) as well so it’s not much different.”

(On how he has done)- “Not good enough. It isn’t even close to good enough. We’ve scored one touchdown so I’m not going to be in the business of making excuses. I think we all need to do better. The execution needs to be better. The two things that I continue to stress to the players is turning the football over, you have no chance, and third down conversations. We have to start with those two things. You sit back and you study the film, however long you want to stay here, in terms of what they do on second and one-two, what they do on second and three-six and you formulate tendencies as to what they have done in their previous two games or previous four games in the preseason. In this case we have seven games on them plus the game we had on the Jets so it’s eight games you are really trying to identify the defensive coordinator’s tendency. Throughout the game sometimes that switches and you have to switch with it. There are a lot of calls that I’ve been very happy with and there are some calls that you wish you had back. You don’t stop the preparation. You just keep on studying it. You keep on analyzing it. You say, ‘How can I improve?’ You start with you. That’s what you do. You don’t look at anybody else and you go from there.”

(On evaluating third down)- “When you are preparing for the game on third down, first down, second down, red zone, two minute, whatever it may be, you come up with plays that, say they are a split safety team, but once in a while they play post safety. You try to have answers on every play for it. There’s sometimes where they play something completely different that you haven’t prepared for and then that falls back on the 11 guys that are out there to make sure that they make the right decision based on maybe a look we haven’t seen or haven’t talked about.”

(On what philosophically he could do better)- “Philosophically, the approach that we have on offense is overall as a unit myself, the players included. The first thing is we have to do is protect the football. The second thing is we have to execute. The third thing is we have to play physical. Sometimes that doesn’t happen on every play. There’s certain plays, like I said Jeff (Schudel), that maybe you call a pass and you’ve got cover two and dang you wish you had cover three. You say, ‘Should have had that one back, should have went to a run on that play, should have had it with a check with me.’ You are constantly self evaluating yourself to make sure that you are doing the best job that you can do. That’s what we are going to continue to do.”

(On how to get a quarterback to cut down on interceptions)- “When you are looking at interceptions, I think a lot of times it’s not just the quarterback. It’s the route depth. It’s the protection for the back, the protection for the linemen. You make sure that he really understands the coverages, where to go with the football, where not to go with the football, when not to hold it too long, when to just ahead and take the sack. You are constantly talking with the quarterback every day.”

(On the run game)- “Early on in the game we run the football and then we get down. I think the score and the situation, a little bit, determines what your calls are based on where you are in the game. Down 20-0 or 27-3, you have to start letting it fly a little bit. Early on in the Minnesota game, we were running it. We were running it against Baltimore and Baltimore had us on a couple of negative plays, but we also got a couple runs on them too. They are a pretty good defensive front team. I think score, situation dictate how you are calling the game.”

(On if he hasn’t been able to get the run game going the way he would have liked)- “I am not pleased with any of it right now. You have a couple good plays here or there then you fall back. The one thing that I am pleased with is the attitude of the players. It’s a long season, 0-3 is where we are at. They go out there with a sense of purpose and they were focused this week. There’s no name pointing or anything like that. We are sticking together and we are going to do everything we can and give everything that we have got to get us out of this thing.”

(On if defenses are looking to take away screens)- “I am sure defenses are looking at all of it. We ran about six or seven screens last week. I am sure they are looking at the inside, the outside and based on the defensive front and the package that you get, screens work a bit little better versus other teams than other ones. We ran a bunch of them last week.”

(On if he has fallen in love with Anderson’s big arm and that’s why he is the starter now)- “I am not ‘in love’ with D.A.’s big arm. I understand what you are asking totally. I think that’s why D.A. was named the starter this week is because we feel he gives us the best chance to win. The kid has met with me a long time this week and with Carl (Smith) and everything, but we have met quite a bit together late nights these last couple days. He’s really excited about his opportunity and he should be. He is doing everything he can to go out there and make sure that he is on top of all of his stuff.”

(On the 51-45 Cincinnati game in 2007)- “I am kind of more focused on seeing what they did against Denver and Pittsburgh. They have a pretty good defense. I went back and I studied. I think Pittsburgh and Denver had 10 first downs in the second half. The focus that we have been on is what are they doing with (Mike) Zimmer? How are they playing this year? What can we do to try to take advantage of it? You have to make the right decisions out there. That’s the number one thing. You have to get in, make the right decisions and deliver the ball on time and in an accurate fashion.”

(On if Cincinnati pressures as much as Baltimore)- “I think they pressure a little less than Baltimore. They don’t not do it. They’ll come after you. They have some good rushers out there. They really do a good job with their front four of generating some pressure. When they blitz, they usually get home. You have to be on your P’s and Q’s in terms of the backs and the protections you are going to get and the looks you are going to get. You have to be up on it.”

(On if the offense dictates the defense)- “I think it goes hand and hand. You have your plays offensively that you have particular reads on and I think you have to game plan for what they do defensively too to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are.”

(On if Braylon Edwards has to run precise routes)- “We are looking for precision from Braylon and from all the guys, not just from Braylon or the quarterbacks, the line with the hand placements and the backs. I think you have to work on that on a daily basis. You guys (the media) are out there early during our route period and that is just something that we constantly work on the precision, the timing. If you are going to be 18 yards on the inside edge of the numbers, we are going to be at 18 yards. If we are going to be stacked on a receiver 35 yards down the field, we are going to try to give ourselves four yards of room to make sure that there is an accurate throw. There are things that Braylon does really well, there are things that D.A. does really well and there are things that we can always improve on.”

(On if Edwards is running precise enough routes)- “Braylon, I think, has done a pretty good job, but none of it has been good enough. I am not just saying Braylon. Myself, it’s not good enough. When you are not producing and producing the way that we have produced, you can’t make excuses about it. It’s not good enough. No one is good enough.”

(On if he is less aggressive because it’s his first year as offensive coordinator)- “I think that, Jeff (Schudel), like I said, you are here and you are preparing and you try to put the team in the best position to be successful and you are practicing the plays that you think are going to work for Sunday. I don’t think that would change from year one to year 10. I would be doing the same things. Making sure that I am trying to give everything that I’ve got to put us in the best position.”

(On if the play calls would be the same eight years from now)- “I can’t answer that question. I don’t know eight years from now. I am sorry I can’t. It’s not my eighth year, it’s my first year.”

(On Joshua Cribbs’ low yards per catch average)- “I think the routes that he’s been asked to run, whether it’s the unders, short little passes are the ones that he has run. He has run some deeper ones too where he hasn’t got the ball. If you remember, I know it was the preseason, he ran that in cut that I think Derek threw to him on the left hand side. There was a penalty there but he has run some deeper routes too. He does run some shorter routes and the one’s he has gotten the ball on have been the shorter routes.”

(On the level of optimism)- “You come in after a loss, and really you lose like we lost last week or you lose by one. A loss is a loss. You put so much effort into it during the week that when you lose its disappointing. You have some sleepless nights there and you try to do everything you can do to get better and the guy’s attitudes have been really good. They have been frustrated when we come in and we have a loss and they are disappointed just like everybody else is but as we move on to the next following week, they have a good attitude. They go out there at practice and they work extremely hard. They ask good questions. They are not down on one another. They are supporting each other. Our focus is on working and getting better. It’s a standard answer but that’s what we focus on every day. Make sure we understand what they are doing, make sure we understand what we are doing, stick together and keep on improving the techniques that we need to improve.”

(On if he has a comfort level as a play caller)- “We know what we want to do going into the game. Again, situations, circumstances dictate it. A comfort level? I wouldn’t say a comfort level, I’d say it’s just not good enough. That’s the bottom line. It’s not good enough right now. It needs to be better and we are doing everything we can to make it better.”

(On dealing with the national criticism)- “I just work. I do my very best. I understand what needs to be done. You keep on studying, analyzing, putting the best plays out there that you can put out there and you don’t concern yourself with the outside circumstances. You worry about what you can do to help your players be better for that week.”